Under the Tuscan Sun (O, Intro)

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    The sun glared relentlessly. Cypresspaw, for once, thankful that he was assigned to cleaning the elders' moss that morning. They were pleasant to converse with, but there wasn't really anyone that enjoyed the task, surely? Sweetsong, a pure white elderly she-cat, gently tapped his paw once he finished. "Go on, dear, can't keep you all to ourselves." She mewed. The seal point cat was slightly disappointed when she dismissed him.


    "Why not, I've already went on the morning patrol, and I'm pretty sure my mentor sent me here so they could get rid of me for the time being..."


    "Stay here any longer and people will think you're ready to retire." The much grumpier Missingfoot joked.


    He and Sweetsong chuckled at his jest, though something stirred inside the younger cat that he ignored. "Alright, I'll leave you guys now, take care of yourselves." He said, making his way out of the den with the dirty moss in tow, and then disposing it as necessary. Cypresspaw could feel the sun's rays hit his body and immediately pitied his clanmates with longer fur, "Hopefully rain's on the way." He muttered to himself."


    Mintpaw runs ahead of the patrol back into camp. The gray she-cat felt exhilarated rather than tired after the patrol along the borders, and guessed the nice day was energizing her. Mintpaw paused in the camp entrance until the leader of the group gave her a nod, and she took off to find something else to do. She doubted she'd have to go out again, at least until the sun stopped beating down so intensely.

    Mintpaw stops as she sees Cypresspaw hauling some moss from the elders den. She stops her skipping-run mixture to give him a friendly wave of her tail, "Hey! How are you today?"



    Cream was out in the sunlight flicking an ear to the tom as he entered out of the elder's den. Cream knew very well Cypress was his son, not that Cypress knew of this though. Flicking his eyes over to the apprentice he smiled slightly. He glanced over flicking an ear to Mintpaw as he raised off and padded up beside her. ``Hunting going well Cypress?`` The flame point asked politely. Smiling up to sweet Cypress, he was proud of his kind hearted and sweet son.



    tags

    He smiles back at Mintpaw once he puts the moss away. "I'm doing wonderful, how about yourself?" He asks in reaction, smiling back as he does so. He's not sure whether it was out of habit or out of fear from being a burden. He noted that the apprentice just came back from a border patrol yet was still energized as ever, "You must be pretty strong to deal with this heat and still able to look like you are." He commented, impressed by his clanmate's stamina.


    Slightly startled when he heard Creambounce speak, Cypresspaw turns back towards the medicine cat. "Not this morning, no..." Recounting his earlier hunting patrol. "I'm afraid they like the heat about as much as I do. Not very, and have favoured staying underground than face the weather."


    Mintpaw turns her head to give Creambounce a friendly nod, and a simply, enthusiastic, "Hi!"

    She lets out a purr of amusement at Cypresspaw, "I'm glad to hear it! Not to bad myself," she replies happily before continuing, "Ha, strong! You're funny-I like it! I guess I just am in a good mood that it's nice out, despite the heat it's good to have a nice day." In short, Mintpaw had no explanation for why she was so energized. Maybe it was her shorter fur that made it a little less oppressive in the sun. Or maybe because she was born in the beginning of leaf-fall and was always happy to see the hot days return. Beginnings of a drought or not.

    Cypresspaw was beginning to question the she-cat's sanity but decided not to say anything. 'At least one of us is enjoying it." He thought, licking his paws to clean himself in hopes that it would keep him cool. It sorta helped, but wasn't exactly enough to keep him from internally complaining. "So, any trouble brewing out there?" He asked, trying to make small talk.


    Every now and then, the tom looked to the flame point beside the apprentice. While he shouldn't feel awed by his presence since Creambounce was really just a normal cat, but he couldn't help but admire the tom. He earned respect from his clan through intelligence and knowledge of herbs, and wanted to be like that too. Except out on the field, emphasizing that he wanted to prove he could be just as great a warrior as a his siblings. The snuffed the brewing feelings with a flick of his ears, trying not to zone out and refocus on Mintpaw.

    Moonpaw walked over to the already forming group. Being the social cat she was, she decided to talk instead of do her chores her npc mentor gave her. They could wait.

    "Hi guys. How's it going?" Moonpaw saw an excited Mintpaw next to her. Must have returned from a patrol. She observed.

    "Dittoing Moonpaw." The red smoke tabby would say as he appeared, nodding his head to the group.

    He wasn't the talkative type unless there was a good conversation going. Yewstain had always been that way, and despite his attempts to be more social he wasn't doing as well as he had hoped. However, he did find himself in more social situations, so there was that. Yew didn't mind speaking to the younger cats either, as long as there wasn't a horde of them and he wasn't interrupting whatever it was that apprentices did these days.

    teeth flashing wickedly as a yawn stiffly parted her jaws, she stood still for a few tongue-curling moments as she waited for it to pass. with a fluid twist of her long tail, coyotepaw began to pad forward towards her leaner sibling and those that had greeted him, gaze lingering on the medicine den a little longer than she probably should have reason to before refocusing on the seal point. she slowed a bit, watching as he interacted with their clanmates, observing more like. cypresspaw had always been quieter than the rest of them for as long as she could remember, and even goldenpaw was beginning to crack that shell of hers-- he just seemed so distant. she hadn't gotten along with him as well as she had her other siblings most of the time, as he faded into the background a lot easier than coyote ever could even if she tried.


    nevertheless, she was swelling with too much pride from her first feathered catch to be bothered with much else and soon brushed off the questionable personality of her littermate. she continued on towards the small group, a small but rough nudge as the flat side of her head connected with his side, a friendly greeting from his most touchy-feely sibling, and free of charge to boot. "hey-o, what's up, cyp?" the large torbie spilled a quick question as she began to groom herself, pesky soot grey feathers still stuck between her claws and specks of blood lacing her teeth, "so, guess who caught their first bird today, huh?" she prodded knowingly between jerks as she pulled at a stubborn one caught on her claw like a kebab.

    Moonpaw glanced over to find two new joiners in the group. "Hi Yewstrain. How are you?" She looked at the tom. He had been a lot more talkative recently.


    "Hi Coyotepaw. Good job!" Moonpaw didn't know Coyotepaw that well.

    "Hello Moonpaw!" He said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, though the lack of clouds in the sky drained him more than usual, so it ended up kind of half-hearted. "Nothing much." Instead going for something nonchalant then try again, the seal point growing steadily frustrated by how the heat has affected him so. Another familar voice snapped him from back into reality, turning to the tabby as he joined the group conversation. "Hello again, sir." Giving a slight bow to Yewstain, whom he previously met through an improvised meet and greet set up by the tom himself.


    His eyes then turned to Coyotepaw who had a freshly killed bird in her maw. She nudged his side with her head and he laughed in amusement. When his littermate showed off her kill to the group, he gleamed, "That's so awesome!" Though he was jealous, he was also proud of his sibling's achievement. "Give us the details!"

    Yewstain dipped his head towards Coyotepaw, then to Cyrpress as he had addressed him directly. He knew birds were a tricky piece of prey for young apprentice's to catch, and admittedly, they were tricky for Yew as well. Knowing that this was a huge accomplishment for the young apprentice before him, he decided he would listen in on the story of her hunt, as Cypresspaw had requested. He enjoyed stories, though she wasn't sure how great of a story teller the young femme would be.


    Golden followed in behind her littermate. Flicking an ear to her sister she sighed annoyed. ``It's just a bird Coy'.`` The she cat grumbled as she came over. Honestly jealous over her sister's catch, How is Coy so talented at this age? Golden could barely catch the mouse she had dropped into the pile. Moving her eyes to her brother she nodded a bit in greeting to the others.

    well, she couldn't say no to gloating as much as she could manage without sounding like lightningpaw, so her mind was set. with the bird between her forepaws, beak paralyzed in its last throes, and her mentor and rest of the hunting patrol lingering by the freshkill pile, she was nearly ready. the tall young girl straightened up, all regal like, standing whilst the rest were seated so that she could better portray her story-- that is, until little miss colour-me-jealous decided to snark her way into the conversation. sure she hadn't caught anything more than a mouse on the same patrol, but goldenpaw couldn't be a warrior in less than a moon, and neither was she either. butting her head against goldenpaw's cheek to communicate her empathy, she mentally promised herself to mention that mouse of hers somewhere along the plot line.


    she had to get this just right. "so," she began sharply before easing into rest of her words, snapping their attention back to herself, "i decided to do some hunting on my own, just to show buzzardbutt over there--" she takes a moment to gesture towards her mentor with a glance and a jab of her paw, "-- that i'm just as good as the older apprentices. and the moment he took his eyes off of me, i was gone." who knew, maybe buzzardheart had let her do her own thing to see how she fared, maybe he had tailed her, but she was certain that she had lost him either way.


    "the heat's been driving away the prey, but i found this plump guy just asking for it not that long after i slipped away," she crouched as she spoke of her encounter, body tensing as she and her (flawed, but improving) hunter's crouch acted out the rest of the story, "so i crouched down and crept forward-- like this--" she willingly demonstrates, careful steps creating a tense pause in her storytelling, "and readied myself slowly, and then BAM!" her words speed up as she leaps forward, ignoring the focal point of this story (the dead bird nearby) and instead goes for yewstain, his size making a daunting adversary as she relived it, "i batted at him, but he got loose and tried to escape, i wouldn't let him though! i leapt for him, claws out, and completely missed him with my left but managed to snag him with my right and brought him back down in a storm of flying feathers!"


    all the while, she played out her actions in a mock struggle; first batting at the red smoke's face and chest, then dramatically missing and falling forward. rising, she grasped at his legs from where she lay, belly displayed, before leaping to her feet and draping herself over his back, teeth latching onto his nape. she lingered, hoping that he would sink to the ground in defeat but kicking at his feet with her own if he did not before eventually letting go. panting lightly, she turned to face her audience with a prize-winning grin, her childish nature once again falling prey to her sometimes dramatic personality, "it was just plain luck, i guess."


    tail lifting proudly, she made her way back to goldenpaw, scooping up the limp bird along the way and dropping it at her tan paws, "when i got back, buzzardheart made a big fuss--" cue a dramatic eye roll and a sarcastic tone, "-- about not going off on my own, and my little sister here caught the biggest mouse you've ever seen while i was gone!" her voice dropped low, filling with awe, and she cozied up against the long furred fem, completely at ease.

    Moonpaw sat down to hear this story of how Coyotepaw caught a bird. She honestly loved hunting over fighting and skills said the same thing. She sucked at fighting but she was pretty okay at hunting. Even she found it hard to catch a bird.


    Then, out of nowhere, Goldenpaw comes in a little upset. "Great catch Goldenpaw. To catch any type of prey right now is close to a miracle." Which was true. With the heat, mice and birds alike are nowhere to be found.


    Coyotepaw began your average hunting story when bam, she leaps onto Yewstrain as if he were the bird. She pounced and bit him and make it seem like a real struggle. Moonpaw couldn't help but laugh. It was all too comical for her. Yew never even saw it coming.

    Yewstain watched the apprentice begin her story, smiling a bit as she did so. She certainly seemed to have passion for the story was was telling, which didn't surprise Yew all that much. He watched her point to her mentor, crouch down and all the sudden, his face was the point of interest.

    Blinking at the apprentice as she bounded forwards, before his ears went flat and eyes shut to flinch at the batting paws attacking his face. The kid was lucky he was tolerant, for had he been a grump she'd probably be put on her butt at this point. But the tom let her bat at him, grab at his legs and climb on his back. Suddenly he felt his nape being bit at and a kick to his leg, telling him to go down. Picking up on the apprentice's signals, the tom would go down carefully, but dramatically to add accent to her very interactive story.

    The tom looked up at the others with a small, somewhat embarrassed smile. Once he felt Coyotepaw hop off of him, the tom would sit up again, brushing off the dust and blades of grass before looking at Coyotepaw's sister, who did the bragging for her. Yew certainly liked the child, though he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep up with her energy. His eyes remained on Goldenpaw, watching as the sister was cozied up to.

    "A mouse, huh?" Yew said with a small smile. "I'm surprised. You're both younger than me when I caught my first mouse, or bird for that matter. I wasn't stealthy enough for a mouse, or agile enough for a bird until I was about seven in a half, maybe eight moons old. Most I could catch was a puny snake and maybe a vole if I got lucky."


    Golden relaxed a bit as her sister pressed herself to her cheek, She let a small smile grace her face, and a chuckle exited her mouth once her littermate decided to pounce onto the warrior. She moved her gaze over to the more active she catching her talk about the catch she had made. Blushing softly as heat filled up to her cheeks, even others were parroting her sisters praise! Golden was flustered no doubt, but also a admittedly a bit embarrassed. Her envy seemed to picked up by the others gathered around her. ``A-ah thanks everyone! Coy's bird though it still way better! `` She purred anyways, she'll be polite as always, that was what she was focused on at least. She licked her sister's ear, as a thank you for the complement.

    Cypresspaw laughed in amusement at his sister's antics, she made one heck of a story teller and could probably rival some elders, he thought. However, Coyotepaw jumping on Yewstain caused him to glance in worry. He expected the warrior to get angry and punish the apprentice, but was surprised when he instead went along with the tale and acted with his littermate. He released a breath he didn't know he held and immersed himself back into Coyotepaw's story.


    When the she-cat suddenly mentioned Goldenpaw, he then felt guilty and was happy that Coyotepaw managed to work in their sister's work as well. "I think they're equally impressive!" There was no need to put down anyone when both have done great, he thought.