Sunny Days & Dreamy Haze (tagged)

[Rogue]

Ashfrost could see the hope blossom in Echopaw's eyes, and he felt his heart warm at her obvious excitement. He pricked his ears at her question, and nodded his head slowly. It would be good for her to learn how to take on opponents bigger than her. They had gotten lucky with the badger. "Of course you can," he said, getting into a fighting stance. "Remember what I told you. Use your other senses."

He waited for Echopaw to attack, his mind drifting elsewhere. The excited, proud look on her face when she had realized that she could be a warrior after all was one of the best things that he had seen in a long time. He was glad that he could inspire that hope in her.


He snapped back to the present and fixed his green eyes on Echopaw, digging his claws into the frozen ground to steady herself for when she pounced on him. The last thing he wanted was to be knocked over by his own apprentice.

[Heron]

Echopaw backed up and braced herself, her lean body bent down to the ground in a readied crouch. How could she go about this? Jumping onto his back might seem obvious, and he was already expecting to counter her. Perhaps she could try to swipe his legs out from beneath him, as he had tried to do to her before.

As she crouched, she held her body as still as she could, peering at her mentor from over the small cluster of snow that blanketed the ground. Holding her ground, she had hoped that waiting several moments would make him more angsty.

When she leaped, paws extended, she caught sight of the scar above his eye and had flashbacks to when she was pouncing on the badger. She'd hit him with a thud, and therefore she tried to control her pounce more this time around. When her paws made contact, she lifted her hind legs in an attempt to kick Ashfrost off of his feet instead of clinging to his back.

[Rogue]

That's a good stance. Echopaw was holding herself very low to the ground, ensuring that her belly was protected. It was clear that she had learned from their last session. After a few heartbeats passed without her making a single move, Ashfrost began to get antsy. What is she waiting for? She should have made her move by now.

The grey warrior was startled as Echopaw suddenly leaped at him, her paws catching his legs; he had expected her to spring onto his back like she had done with the badger. Since he had been caught off guard, he didn't have time to find purchase on the frozen ground with his paws, and he ended up slipping and tumbling to the ground. His side struck the ground hard, the snow only providing a little cushioning, and he gasped when the air was driven out of his lungs.

In his distraction, he had unknowingly left his stomach unprotected and vulnerable. Realizing this, he struggled to roll over so that it was shielded, but he hadn't been able to get his breath back yet and he found that harder to do than he thought. The scar above his eye was stinging, but whether it was from still being relatively new or from the embarrassment of being upended by his apprentice, he wasn't sure.

[Heron]

(MY POST GOT DELETED AGAIN UGH, EVERY TIME! T__T )


Echopaw watched in disbelief as her mentor was sent tumbling. She hadn't expected her move to have been successful, her initial thought process revolving around the belief that he would pull an unexpected counter move right when she thought she'd have struck. The next thing she knew, she was scrambling for her footing and watching the long furred tomcat spiral against the harsh ground of the frozen meadow. Snow was sent up flying in flurries, and Echopaw gazed at him wide-eyed. It was what she had been hoping to achieve, but would he be mad at her for pushing so hard? Was it too much? He really wasn't an actual enemy..should she have been softer?

He seemed to be stuck trying to catch his breath, and Echopaw noticed the nearly-healed wound still on his head from his encounter with the badger. Rats! She should've been more careful, or more aware of his injury. Perhaps that was why he had rolled over onto his stomach and lay in the snow, looking quite unreadable. She sauntered over to him, inspecting him for any other serious problem. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized nervously.

Inside, she felt a warm victory surge through her veins. She'd gotten the better of him! Waiting to strike had proved successful, and her ears and whiskers twitched with excitement. Her tail lashed out happily behind her. After a moment, once again eyeing his heaving body, she decided to cover up her happiness with a passive demeanor. She sat back on her haunches in an attempt to hide her happy tail, though her whiskers still quivered excitedly. "I tried to do something different than just clinging onto you like I did with the badger," she admitted hesitantly, hoping it would deter him from lashing out or acting coldly. Although, something told her that the mentor who'd just fought and killed a badger a couple of days ago could now hold his own with a novice attack from his student. He's strong, she reminded herself, he's fine.

[Rogue]

(THIS THREAD IS CURSED T.T)

Ashfrost slowly heaved himself to his paws, wincing a little as the injuries he had sustained a few days ago gave logged screams of protest. He shook out his thick grey fur, annoyed when the snow still clung to the soft strands. Some snow settled on his muzzle, and he sneezed, causing it to blow off. He fixed his cool green gaze on Echopaw, who seemed nervous about having knocked him over. The grey warrior allowed the smallest of smiles to grace his face. "Don't look so anxious. That was very well done."

Shaking out his fur again, he began to pace slowly around the young she-cat. "You remembered what happened last time and modified it to catch me off guard," Ashfrost said, his voice giving nothing away about what he was feeling. "That's what a good warrior does. And it worked."

The grey-spotted tom halted right in front of Echopaw and met her gaze. He knew how happy she is, even though she was trying her hardest not to show it. She thought she would never be a warrior, or ever be as good as the cats who had all of their hearing. She was wrong.

"I'm proud of you," he told her.

[Heron]

"That's what a good warrior does. And it worked."

A good warrior? She felt a sense of accomplishment rein through her, and her once cold body was now heated and warm. She felt like a new kit in the middle of newleaf. Not wanting to lose her composure, she remained on her haunches, though she puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head. The bright, sunny rays were radiating down on her. Thank you, Starclan.

Ashfrost stopped in front of her and gazed at her intensely, and the young she-cat felt vulnerable. "I'm proud of you," She hadn't been expecting such praise from him so soon! Wasn't she just hurt, before they left, about him not wanting to bring her back here? Had he changed his mind? Her whiskers twitched in embarrassment and a small, embarrassed smile formed on her lips. Proud of her! Her heart was buzzing beneath her chest, and again she found it amazing that she could be sitting in the snow and barely feel cold at all.

Of course, she wouldn't even be this far without Ashfrost. As cold and sometimes distant that he was, she noticed that he flipped on and off a lot. One moment he was opening up to her and the next he couldn't be bothered. What was triggering that? Curiosity burned within her, but she found it useful to hold her tongue. She'd known that other apprentices and cats mentioned he liked to stay to himself, when she'd been minding her own business in her den. Gossip and opinions always worked that way - you got them when you usually didn't ask for them. Echopaw stood and leaned forward as though she were about to touch noses with him, but at the last second she turned her head so that she could reposition herself so that he were on her left side. Together they faced the same way, overlooking the frozen meadow. "Thank you for giving me an opportunity." she murmured honestly, and the chilly wind picked back up. She shivered.

[Rogue]

Ashfrost could see that his compliment had sent a rush of pride through Echopaw, noting the way that she suddenly lifted her head and puffed out her chest. He almost told her not to let it go to her head, but he bit back the scathing comment, wanting to let her have this moment. It was important that she felt like this, that she knew that she was anything but useless. His mind drifted back to the moments like these that he had shared with his own mentor, before everything had fallen apart. How badly he had wanted to go back to those times then. He wanted Echopaw to feel the same way, to look back on the time that she spent training under him fondly. He didn't want her to be left as scarred and empty as he was.

He froze up when she stepped closer to him, and for a heart-stopping moment he thought that she was going to touch her nose to his. Then she turned her head at the last second, and a rush of embarrassment heated up his thick grey pelt. Mouse-brain... The grey warrior pricked his ears at her next quiet words, and he gave her a little nod. It was just as he had thought, Stormfang hadn't taught her anything useful at all. Ashfrost unsheathed his claws and dug them into the frozen ground. If only he could exchange a few words with the tom who had mysteriously vanished. "I didn't give you the opportunity," he told Echopaw. "You gave it to yourself."

He felt her shiver beside him, and he was suddenly reminded that her soft striped pelt was much shorter than his. Instinctively, he shifted so that he was pressing up against her lean body, trying to share some of his warmth and block her from the wind at the same time.  Her sweet scent wreathed around him, and he tried not to breathe in too deeply.  He could feel something inside him unravel a little, and he clutched at it desperately, wanting to keep himself from falling apart.

[Heron]

She gave the opportunity to herself? She thought about his words for several moments, still not knowing what to think of her new found pride and the belief that it was something she'd been capable of all along. For too long she had been forced to practice her hunting and master her amazing technique of fetching needed herbs and cleaning out dens. She'd watched, sadly, as apprentices received their warrior names- each ceremony was like a long achievement, and with each passing sunset she felt as though it was stretching farther and farther away. She'd been understanding when Stormfang had fallen ill. Sad, even. but she knew that his life had been more important than her training during that time. It was when she discovered that he had slipped away, still ill, afraid of Fangstar's withdrawal and their lack of a medicine cat that she felt betrayed.

When Ashfrost leaned into her, she was surprised. She stiffened for a split second and thought that he had lost his footing, somehow slipping on the frozen ground and bumping into her. but he slightly wrapped himself around her, and she couldn't pull away after feeling the heat he was admitting. It was like curling up with herself in her den, except...better, somehow. She felt her own blood get hot, but this time by neither embarrassment nor pride. It was something else entirely, like a soft stirring in her stomach as she nestled against him.

An admiration feeling? Yes, that must be it. All apprentices grew to become fond of their mentors. It was a bond that was almost unbreakable at times-- the death of a mentor, whether soon or at the end of their life, affected cats in surprising ways. Would she have that with Ashfrost, who seemed so cold yet so warm at the same time? She inhaled deeply and allowed his scent to fill her, memorizing it the best she could. Now I know, whenever you're near, I'll know what to smell for. She stood still for several moments and as the silence dragged out, she almost considered asking him some personal questions. but from his friendly demeanor, the last thing she wanted was for him to close off again. Now warmer - a lot warmer - she pulled away and smiled at him, her green eyes searching his face to see how he was feeling. "Anything else we need to do today?" she wondered.

[Rogue]

Ashfrost felt almost empty after Echopaw pulled away, but he hid it by acting as if all he had been doing was warming her up. After all, that's what a good mentor did. They looked after their apprentice. He shook out his thick fur, trying to get the mattedness out from where Echopaw had been pressed against him. He flicked an ear at her question and glanced up at the sun, trying to gauge where it was in the sky. He didn't want to be near the bones of the badger when it set, just in case something came along to try and gnaw out the marrow that was hidden inside. When he calculated that they had a little more time, he glanced around the wide expanse of snowy meadow, trying to decide what to do next. They had already worked on Echopaw's fighting today. Perhaps some hunting? He lifted his head to taste the air, but he couldn't smell anything.

"Let's go patrol the borders," he told the young apprentice, finally making up his mind. "I know border patrols are sent out daily, but we're spread thin right now thanks to the greencough. Let's just make a quick loop before heading back to camp." The grey warrior flicked his tail lightly over Echopaw's back before padding toward the snow-covered trees in the distance, listening for the soft pawsteps that would let him know that she was following. He glanced up at the sky again, noting the dark clouds that were beginning to form in the direction of the camp. It looked like they were in for more snow. He glanced back at Echopaw over his shoulder, noting her short fur once more. He hoped it didn't hit until they were safely back in camp. He didn't want her to freeze to death.

The branches overhead cut off the light and left them in a cool semi-darkness when they finally entered the cover of the trees, and he slowed down to let Echopaw catch up to him.  He was in a strange mood, feeling as if he actually wanted to talk about himself for the first time in a long time.  He wasn't sure how to handle that feeling; how did you talk to someone about the things that ripped you apart inside day after day without completely losing yourself to the pain?

[Heron]

"Let's go patrol the borders," Echopaw perked up, her ears standing forward and her tail sticking straight up in the air. She was having a particularly good day, and felt different now with Ashfrost by her side. She knew all the borders already - Starclan knows she did - but patrolling with her mentor would be an exciting thing. She wondered if they would cross any Stormclan cats, and felt a bit giddy. Passing by patrols was either a good or bad thing, depending on the stress levels of each clan. With the harsh winter and the green cough, she had no doubt that Stormclan might lash out at them for no reason.

She followed him obediently, amusing herself childishly by stepping into his already-made prints in the snow. Her legs didn't sink as deep as his, a clear sign he was both heavier and larger. Her eyes rested on the back of his head, and she wondered just how much older he was. She made a mental note to ask him, hoping he wouldn't get too offended. He was still young and youthful, showing no major wear signs. She followed the gaze he had set on the sky earlier, and saw, too, that the dark clouds threatened snow fall. Her short pelt wasn't the worst thing to have in the cold; she couldn't imagine being completely bald like the cats she heard sometimes roamed the Twoleg-place. but Ashfrost's long pelt was a gift during the snow, and she envied him for it when the wind blew. Then again, she was sure he didn't like having that mass of fur in the summer; whereas she could always stay cool.


She could smell the change in the air as they neared the border, where their land met the free land often inhabited by rogues and loners. It smelled harsh and strong, like a couple of loners had passed not too long ago. Echopaw trotted forward quickly, coming up on her mentor's right side so that he was able to cover her in case anything snuck up on them. Her whiskers twitched and she turned to look at Ashfrost innocently. "Smells strong out here," she remarked, then turned to gaze over the border, where more snowy fields opened up. Across, she knew Talonclan inhabited the mountains.

[Rogue]

Ashfrost nodded grimly at Echopaw's comment, gazing out on the unclaimed land that was home to rogues and loners. She was right, of course; he could smell the overwhelming scent too, and he peered at the snow on the other side of the border, searching for fresh tracks and relaxing a little when he didn't see any. The scent may be strong, but the cats that it belonged to had passed by long ago. He turned and began to walk along the border, waving his tail for Echopaw to follow him. He glanced out at the mountains as they walked, feeling a rare stab of pity for the TalonClan cats. The snow and ice was bad enough on the flat ground of WhisperClan territory, he could only imagine the danger up high on the rocky crags of the mountains. He knew that the cats that lived there were used to it, but he much preferred to have his paws on flat ground.

They had only been walking for a short ways when the sky above them opened up, and snowflakes began to drift lazily down. Ashfrost lashed his tail, annoyed that the storm hadn't managed to hold off for just a little longer. They were halfway done with the patrol, and he didn't want to turn back now and leave the other half unchecked. Reckless things like that were how rogues and loners snuck into the territory, and now that prey was scarce he was certain that a few of them would try and find some on Clan land.

The grey warrior glanced back at Echopaw, intending to let her know that they would continue, when he saw the small pile of snow that had collected on top of her muzzle. She looked so funny that he had to bite back a chuckle, a rare thing indeed for him. Pausing in his relentless marching along the border, he padded back to her. Without a word, he lifted a paw and gently brushed the snow off of her muzzle.

[Heron]

Echopaw watched Ashfrost closely and mimicked the way he gave each detail his full attention. She could see that he was checking the surface of the snow, likely for any signs of another presence. Feeling satisfied, he marched onward and she followed him obediently.

When the sky opened up and the snowflakes began to fall, Echopaw felt cold once more. They fluttered down on top of her, large snowflakes that were sticking to her short fur. She noticed that they were sticking to Ashfrost, too, and before long he was covered in a blanket of white. She almost purred to herself in silly amusement, but then Ashfrost had padded back to her to swipe a small pile of snowflakes that rested on her muzzle.

Her eyes widened. Again, he was being both kind and gentle with her. The way he had leaned into her. The praise. And now, silently, reaching forward to graze her muzzle. She felt her blood get hot and she almost looked away, certain that if she stared at him she would become unsure of what to say. His presence was really something else - she wanted to be closer to him, to talk to him and find out what he was like. but she was afraid.

She turned her head and cast her eyes downward, deciding it was best to cover her wonder and staring with a bit a humor. I hate the snow," she remarked with a laugh, whiskers twitching bashfully.

[Rogue]

Echopaw's laugh seemed to break the spell that Ashfrost was under, and he quickly stepped back from her and averted his gaze. "Me too," he said, turning away. "It sticks to everything.". He glanced up at the dark sky that peeked through the branches overhead. "Come on, we should keep moving. We need to finish patrol and get back to camp."

He started to pad along once more, glancing back every now and then over his shoulder at Echopaw. He was having confusing feelings for the young she-cat that he couldn't explain, and it was making him a mess of emotions. Her bravery, her determination, her refusal to bow under the pressure of having a disability. They were all things he admired about her. If he was honest with himself, he just admired her all around. He shook his head fiercely, fighting back a growl. He couldn't't let this happen. He couldn't let himself...

A loud cracking above his head sounded, and he looked up just as a thick tree branch began to tumble down, the weight of the snow causing it to snap. He froze, his green eyes wide.

[Heron]

Echopaw followed her mentor, once again finding herself studying his long fur while keeping her senses alert for any nearby predators. She had been walking merrily and tried to stay focused, her own thoughts beckoning her out of reality time and time again. She'd always been something of a daydreamer, but it was particularly dangerous for her to do so given her disability. Stay attentive, she reminded herself. It was easy to drift off into another land, and forget the bitter cold that she was trudging through. Snowflakes continued to fall and stick to her nose, and she shook her muzzle every so often to clear it of a snow pile.

She'd heard the loud crack, remarkably, and hopped backward in sudden fright. Eyes wide, she watched as a large pile of snow fell from the trees and piled over her mentor, covering him completely. Her instincts kicked in, heart set into a flutter as she dashed forward, ready to begin to start digging him out if need be. Instead, she found herself staring at a snow-white Ashfrost, his ashy gray fur completely painted. Her whiskers twitched in amusement and she couldn't help but give out a small laugh, ducking her head to hide her face.

She quickly looked up and tried to hide her smile, hoping he wouldn't be put off by the fact that a snow pile had just fallen on his head. "Are you alright?" she asked through a clenched jaw, the corners of her mouth flickering. She sauntered forward and brushed off some of the snow from him with her thin tail as she walked by, rounding about him so now she were standing behind him.

[Rogue]

Are you alright?

Ashfrost couldn't even register Echopaw's question, he was too busy trying to comprehend what had just happened. One moment he had just been walking along, and the next his grey-spotted fur had been turned pure white. Some snow had gotten into his nose and he sneezed, the action causing some of the snow to slide off of him and back onto the small pile that surrounded his paws. He looked up just as Echopaw padded up to him and brushed some of the snow off of him with her tail as she passed by, rounding him until she was out of sight. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on the grey warrior; just moments earlier he had brushed some snow off of Echopaw's muzzle, and now she was brushing entire sheets of it off of him. Of course my situation is worse, it always is.

Sensing that his young apprentice was standing behind him, he turned and looked right into Echopaw's glittering green eyes. The amusement on her face showed, even though she was trying hard to hide it. Anger swelled up inside of him like a storm, and a biting remark rose on his tongue, but he quickly pushed it away. There was no point in being angry with her, she had done nothing wrong. And it wasn't like he had been embarrassed in front of the entire Clan; it was just the two of them out here. "I'm fine," he told her, giving himself a shake and causing snow to fly off of him. "Just a bad case of wounded pride."

Finally managing to get most of the snow off of himself, Ashfrost had turned to begin walking again when his eyes landed on the small pile of snow on the ground. An idea popped into his head, and for a moment he struggled with it. Don't be ridiculous, that's something a kit would do, a condescending voice in his head hissed. Ashfrost glanced over his shoulder at Echopaw, and suddenly found that he didn't care. Brushing the voice away, he swiped at the pile with his paw, covering Echopaw's face and the front of her body with the white powder.