it's a miracle / natalina
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It felt good that everyone was home again. Bisoncharge was safe in their den alongside Tawnydove, Mothshine's smiley attitude was brightening her day, and Bosie's gentle nervousness kept her watchful over the young boy. Everything seemed to be put back in it's place and so Natalina was... pleasantly surprised to find how relieved she was. Truthfully she never thought she'd settle in this well but... it'd happened. And she was happy it did, for now she had shelter, a home, friends, and a job. An important job at that, and so today she was out trying to find herbs to heal the wounded from their battle with the rats. She herself was a bit scratched up, but nothing her mediocre healing skills couldn't take care of at the end of the day when everyone else had been treated.
Suddenly, a newer scent wafted through her nostrils, one she recognized as Thunderclan. They hadn't been able to completely rid of the scent of the other clan, and while Natalina didn't find it unpleasant it was certainly a bit weird. She emerged from a bush and spotted a shadowy figure in the distant, her pelt glimmering in the sunlight that peaked through the trees. A small smile curled her maw and she padded toward them, expecting it to be someone delivering news but surprised to find it was someone who looked around her age... how intriguing.
"Hi," She called out softly, wind-chime-like tones fluttering through the air as she moved forward, cutting through silence with polite ease. She hoped he wouldn't be like that unpleasant Shadowclan apprentice she met too long ago. "Thunderclanner, right? Is everything okay?" Perhaps they were visiting someone here - wouldn't that be fun! Like a little cross-clan romance, though if she remembered right that was probably forbidden. The red point birman sits down a few foxlengths away, crystalline orbs studying the tom and dropping the herbs in her mouth by dainty paws.
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A smile crept on to the young tom's face as the SkyClanner acknowledged him - and it seemed she was friendly enough, too, as she came straight over to him. He noticed her dropping some herbs on the ground, and wondered whether the molly was a medicine cat or just gathering herbs to be helpful. Shadepaw couldn't imagine being a medicine cat, especially not at the moment. He couldn't imagine having the lives of other cats in his paws everyday - it seemed like way too much responsibility. Plus, Shadepaw couldn't imagine not hunting, or feeling a powerful thrill after a good spar. Or not taking a mate... Shadepaw knew that if he was a medicine cat, that was a rule he wouldn't intend on following, but he supposed that at least some of them followed the rules.
He wondered what this pretty birman thought of StarClan - Shadepaw knew that medicine cats were supposed to have a special connection with their starry ancestors, though it was very obvious that StarClan had been absent for quite a while. Of course Shadepaw wanted StarClan to come back, but at the same time, he resented them for leaving in the first place. He remembered one night a while back, when he had laid upon one of the rocks at Sunningrocks, begging StarClan to lead him on the right path. They had stayed silent, and it had pushed Shadepaw into training in the Dark Forest. Fury rushed through the small cat's pelt just at the thought.
"Hey," he greeted in response, his voice surprisingly deep for a cat of his size and age. "Yeah, I'm a ThunderClanner! We've been doing fine," of course they had, it was so much easier without SkyClan crowding up their camp, though Shadepaw got the impression that probably wasn't the best thing to say to a SkyClanner. "But what about you guys? No sign of those rats, right?" Shadepaw knew what it was like from experience for an entire Clan to be in danger. He was only very young, but he'd been through a few disasters. A nasty sickness had struck ThunderClan when he was just a kit, and quite recently, dogs had invaded ThunderClan territory as well, and they had been forced to reach out to ShadowClan for help. Shadepaw guessed it would only be a matter of time before ThunderClan's next 'incident.'
"that's just what gangsters do."
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It was a relief to find out that he wasn't dangerous nor was he here for any particular reason, as far as she knew. From what she'd heard most of the Thunderclanners didn't enjoy her friends being around too much, but she was grateful that they'd helped them out. What that meant down the line, Honeypaw couldn't be sure - she didn't exactly understand the whole enemies and alliances thing yet, but maybe she'd understand down the line. Curious blue visionaries focused on the jet black tom a few foxlengths away from her and she realizes she's taken a few extra seconds more than she needed to response. How embarassing!
Honeypaw flashes a stunning smile. "Ah, I'm glad you guys are doing well. And nah, not anymore." She says with a soft sigh, glad they didn't have to deal with those vermins anymore. She was still tending to the rat bites and injuries of her clanmates from chasing them out which had been a whole ordeal but she'd prefer that over being separated from them again. Tufted ears swivel in his direction, head tilting ever so slightly. "Ah, I forgot! My name's Honeypaw. And you are...?" The name felt odd rolling off her tongue and she resisted the urge to scrunch up her nose. Juniperstar had gifted her with the name as a formal induction to Skyclan after she'd been around for a moon or so, and yet it still didn't quite feel right to say it. But she didn't want to confuse people so... she just went with it.
( totally just realized that by this point she'd have her apprentice name my bad!!! )
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//it's fine! <3
She had a pretty smile, Shadepaw noted. That didn't necessarily say much for her personality - a manipulative cat could easily hide behind a pretty smile, though honestly, the molly seemed friendly enough, and Shadepaw saw no reason to regard her with suspicion.
"That's good," the small tom answered after she responded to his question. He meant it - he was glad that the rats weren't bothering SkyClan anymore. Not necessarily for this she cat's sake, but for the sake of the elders, the queens and the kits. He didn't want such vulnerable cats being put in danger. "Honeypaw," he repeated her name, finding it quite comfortable to say, completely unaware of the discomfort the SkyClanner had felt upon using such a name to introduce herself. "That's a pretty name," he added, hoping the compliment wasn't too weird. It made sense - pretty cat, pretty name. "I'm Shadepaw." The tom then answered her question. Shadepaw wasn't necessarily such a pretty name, but he took pride in it, and he felt that it suited him.
Looking in the direction of the herbs that Honeypaw had placed on the ground, he decided to voice a thought which had drifted into his mind several moments before. "You training to be a medicine cat?" The ebony furred tom asked, bright eyes still looking at the herbs. If she was, she was bound to be busy at the moment taking care of her Clanmates after the whole rat situation. Shadepaw wasn't too concerned about wasting her time - he was hardly the most considerate of cats. But he'd needed a way to advance the conversation, and this seemed like a pretty good option.
"that's just what gangsters do."
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He thought it was a pretty name - how nice. It was good to know someone thought so, even though she knew her former name was much more beautiful than this odd wildcat name. Nonetheless, her smile widened ever so slightly at his compliment and she nodded. "Thank you. It's rather new actually so it's nice to hear you say so." She mews honestly, tail coming to curl around her paws and beginning to gently tap the ground. Shadepaw - what an interesting name, though it certainly fit him. She wondered momentarily what his suffix would be when he eventually received one, but she supposed she should get to know him better before she began to think of some.
"Your name is nice too, Shadepaw." An inkling of flirtiness creeps into her tone as it eases into something more playful, the formalities falling away. She'd always loved to be the graceful and mysterious girl-next-door, but it was in her nature to be more mischievous and... somewhat authentic. The young medicine cat apprentice had more trauma than the average kittypet, and so a lot of the things she did were a facade, forced to draw in felines to become her friends. Usually it worked, so she stuck with it, even at the price of being somewhat in-genuine, although it was more avoidance than malice.
His question surprises her until she looks down at her paws to see the herbs which she'd momentarily forgot about, but Honeypaw wouldn't let him see her surprise as she looked up and the smile resumed. "Yep!" Faux cheeriness laced her tone and there was a slight pause before she answered. Hoping he doesn't prod further, she returns the question. "What about you - an average ol' apprentice?" The birman teases tilting her head.
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"New?" the small tom answered, surprised. The she cat looked young - but not super young. How recently had she gotten her apprentice name? Or had she been bearing a non-clan name up until recently? "If you don't mind me asking," Shadepaw knew that he could be touching on a sensitive topic, "What was your old name?"
The molly's slightly flirtatious tone did not go unheard by Shadepaw. The tom was somewhat flirty by nature, and so he was very good at picking up the signs himself. "Why thank you, Honeypaw." He met her gaze, bright green eyes not even blinking. The ebony pelted male shuffled slightly closer to the border, though he decided against crossing - he didn't know how Honeypaw would react to that.
It seemed he had guessed right. Something about the young birman's cheeriness didn't seem quite right, but he decided against questioning it for now as Honeypaw put forward a question of her own. "Yeah, just an average, plain, warrior apprentice!" the shorthaired tom let out a snort, dramatically placing a small paw on his chest as he spoke. "My mentor's Pumpkinstrut," he resisted the urge to point out that she was the Clan deputy - there was a decent chance that Honeypaw knew that already, though it was difficult not to boast about it. "She's a really good mentor - I've learned a lot from her, but battle moves are probably what I find the easiest to get down," Shadepaw was holding back a fair bit of information here, however - such as how terrified he had been during the recent rat battle. Truth be told, the little tom was a coward. But of course, this pretty SkyClanner didn't need to know that - nobody did. Not even his friends, not even his family. "How long have you been training as a medicine cat?" Shadepaw asked.
"that's just what gangsters do."
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He picks up on her dialogue about her name and her ears twist forward a little bit, surprised that he's interested enough to ask. The pretty she-cat moves closer, smiling softly as she speaks. "It was Natalina. I just joined Skyclan a little before we were pushed out of our territory." She pauses, knowing this could change his entire opinion of her but she says it anyway. "I used to be a kittypet - not as lucky as you clanborn folk." It wasn't so black and white as she made it out to be but it was all that anyone really knew as of late, besides Bisoncharge anyway. She didn't see herself opening up that information to the public anytime soon, that she'd been a little bit of a loner and was practically forced to join Skyclan to survive.
His flirty words back are a pleasant surprise, black eyelashes fluttering over her large blue eyes that glittered playfully. How exciting that he was reciprocating. He carries on by answering her question and she can't help the small laugh that bubbles up in her chest as he places his paw over his over, whiskers twitching with delight at his playful demeanor. Well, wasn't he an easy one to talk to - she could appreciate that.
Pumpkinstrut. Honeypaw only knew the name in passing - Thunderclan's deputy if she'd heard correctly from her clanmates in the recent days. "That's Skyclan's deputy, right?" Before Tawnydove had chosen her as his apprentice (or had been commanded to by Starclan) she was mentored by one of the senior warriors, Cloudednight. Often times she wondered what that would've been like - would she be better at it? Maybe not with her hunting skills but her fighting skills weren't too shabby considering what she'd experienced in her life.
"I'll make sure to remember you're a skilled fighter so that I can steer clear when I come to steal Thunderclan's prey." It's a joke - she turns her nose up and closes her eyes, a snide and amused smirk curling on her maw.
At his next question she looks back at him, mentally trying to pick out when she'd been appointed. It wasn't that long ago but it felt like forever when she thought about it. So much had happened in the time she'd been picked. "Ah... a little under a moon ago I think. I didn't even know what it was when I was chosen... it feels like it was so long ago." Honeypaw seems to go somewhere else for a split second, the end of her sentence trailing off as she stared off to the side.
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Perhaps Honeypaw would expect Shadepaw to judge her because of her past - but she was mistaken. He had nothing against former kittypets, he didn't even have anything against kittypets in general. Shadepaw wasn't a close-minded fool. He knew that there were other ways of life besides being a Clan cat, and he respected all of them. Although Shadepaw was happy in his Clan, happy to be beside his friends and family, he felt as though Clan cats were often way too judgemental of those who were not like them. So what if a loner wanted to live by themselves? Other cats could quite honestly be a pain in the tail, so Shadepaw understood such a desire. So what if a kittypet wanted to live an easy life, food simply being placed by their paws? It sounded rather relaxing. Shadepaw knew that he was a Clan cat through and through - the Clans were where he belonged. But he wasn't blind enough to not be able to see past his own nose and understand that every cat preferred to live their life in a different way, and that that should be respected.
"Natalina," he repeated the name, his tone gentle with no sign of mockery, giving the SkyClanner a small smile, trying to let her name know that his opinion on her hadn't changed after finding out her past. "Another pretty name - I'm noticing a reoccuring theme," he then inquired, "If you don't mind me asking, what was it like being a kittypet?" Although he knew that the life of a kittypet was certainly not a life he wanted to live, he still couldn't help but find himself a little curious. Kittypets were so different from Clan cats after all - they didn't need to hunt, or fight, they were always safe and warm... they were lucky, he supposed. But at the same time, they would never understand the excitement after a good hunt, or the connection a Clan cat had with their Clanmates. Admittedly, Shadepaw himself was not the best at forming emotional connections. Most of his Clanmates meant absolutely nothing to him. But there were a few that he cared about - a few who he would give his life for in a heartbeat.
"Yeah, she's the deputy," and personally, Shadepaw thought that Pumpkinstrut was brilliant at her job. She worked hard for her Clan everyday, and he respected her more than Flamestar - though he had to admit that that was probably personal bias as he felt a strong connection to Pumpkinstrut as she had been mentoring him for several moons now. He then lets out a slight laugh at the birman's joke, playfully nudging her shoulder from across the border, though still not crossing. "You wouldn't dare." The young tom purred.
"Being a medicine cat must be hard," Shadepaw commented. "Honestly, I couldn't do it," he gave a shrug. "Remembering all those herbs, being quick on your paws to help your Clanmates... I couldn't do it." Another compliment, yes, but Shadepaw was also being genuine as he spoke about himself in this situation. He was a swift cat - he could imagine being able to gather herbs swiftly and diligently, but... he doubted he would be able to remember every single herb. In terms of intelligence, Shadepaw was rather average. Sometimes he chose the most intelligent option in a situation - and sometimes he chosr to do whatever was downright stupid. So Shadepaw had to admit, in terms of his brain, he was rather hit and miss.
"that's just what gangsters do."
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She's surprised to find there's no malice in his voice when he repeats her name and there's a flash of shock in her eyes as she watches him mull it over. There's the slightest jump in her chest and for a second she's confused - talking to toms was never a problem for her, but this one was... very considerate. Just like how it was talking to Bisoncharge. Honeypaw shoves down those feelings but has trouble holding them down at his next words, looking down at her paws and smiling slightly. Looks like someone was getting to her.
"Thanks." She murmurs, his smooth kindness filling her tufted ears. She glances back up at him, blue eyes lingering across his features for any sign of a joke but when she doesn't find it she answers. "I've never been asked that before." She says gently, tilting her head as she thought. Her kittypet life... wasn't exactly the ideal one. Full of abuse and hiding, she'd had the privilege to escape out of a window and never look back. But... she didn't want to tell him that - firstly because she hated that those twolegs had bested her and secondly because she didn't want his pity. They were hitting it off - why put a damper on things now? "It was kind of boring. Twolegs are convenient for things like injuries but most of the time it's lonely." Honeypaw realizes her answer is too short and quickly continues. "But I'll admit, it was nice to have a warm bed and food readily available. It's just a lot more exciting to be out in the open and social." She nods her head - it was a white lie, but it should be sufficient enough to stop the questions, right?
She notes his expression as he speaks about her - he clearly thought of her as godly. His eyes sparkled with admiration and it made a smile curl across her maw, ears swiveling forward. Her teasing comment was met with a gentle push, which she responded to by sticking out her tongue and scrunching up her nose, whiskers twitching with amusement. "You never know. I might have garbage hunting skills but maybe I could." Her voice is airy as she suppresses the bubbling laughter.
Another compliment is received and it makes her happy to know that someone's acknowledging her hard work. She'd been thrust into the job unwillingly but the position had grown on her, despite her rapid attempts to keep up in their dire times of need. "I won't lie it sucks sometimes." She doesn't think about the words before they leave her mouth and she mentally kicks herself. Mouse-brain. "But it's nice helping everyone out. Plus I'm a terrible hunter and I probably wouldn't be the best fighter so I'm glad there's something for me." Again, she's lying a bit but parts are true so she carries on without dwelling on it. "I mean you help others too. Just in a different way than I do - ya know? Are you enjoying your training?"
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He couldn't help but wonder whether his words were getting to her. Shadepaw wasn't necessarily the best at understanding situations and feelings - sometimes he could, sometimes he couldn't. But Honeypaw seemed flattered by his compliments, judging by the way she looked down at her paws, the way a slight smile appeared on her maw.
Shadepaw knew he didn't necessarily have to be kind. He wasn't exactly a good cat - he felt nothing towards anybody besides a select few, and got angry incredibly easy. While he had once loved StarClan, he was slowly starting to despise them as they had betrayed both him, and every other Clan cat. Maybe his feelings were wrong - nasty, even. He knew many cats might feel differently about him if they knew the real him - perhaps including Honeypaw, but that didn't matter. Being kind had its benefits - potential friends, grabbing the attention of an attractive cat such as Honeypaw... it was worth it, he supposed.
The black tom nodded at her response. "Yeah, that makes sense. You meet plenty more cats living in the Clans though, so yeah, it's much easier to be social," while Shadepaw didn't have a huge group of friends, he considered himself quite sociable. He wasn't shy, that was for sure. "You said you joined SkyClan only recently - have you gotten to know all your Clanmates yet?" his whiskers twitched as he continued to speak, green eyes shining. "Every Clan has a ton of cats. I'd imagine it takes a while to get to know them all." Shadepaw wasn't too fussed about 'getting to know' everybody. Sure, he liked talking, but he'd rather be chattering with his friends instead of a stranger.
Shadepaw smiled, amused by the molly's joke, before listening to her response to his question. His smile grew a little wider as Honeypaw pointed out that she didn't always like her job. That made sense, and he appreciated her being honest about something she didn't like. He was sure quite a few medicine cats would give their jobs a glowing review, even if that wasn't necessarily how they felt. He got the impression that Honeypaw hadn't meant to say it, but still, he approved of it.
"If you think it suits you, then it probably does," the obsidian pelted male commented, licking a paw and drawing it over his torn ear. "And I bet you'll get way better at it, too. Y'know, one day you're going to remember all of those herbs... like, all three hundred of them," he laughed slightly. "Being a medicine cat wouldn't be for me, not at all. I like my training - a lot. I find it easy, but I know lots of others find it super tough," he shrugged. Perhaps he was boasting a little. He really did find his training quite easy, though he knew that there was room for improvement. As much as Shadepaw tried, he still found himself insecure, frightened, even, terrified of failing his Clan, of failing himself. But he didn't speak about those insecurities - he had built himself a powerful image and he was determined to keep it, no matter how damaging it was for him on the inside. "I find all areas of it good, but fighting's probably what I'm best at," or rather, sparring. Being in an actual fight petrified Shadepaw - the rat attack was a pretty good example of that. But once again, that was information that Honeypaw certainly didn't need to know. "I find it exciting - it's cool to spar and stuff, being active, constantly having to be on your feet... it's not for everyone, but I like it."
"that's just what gangsters do."