Open to Join Looking to the Horizon

Stars do not pull each other down to be visible, they shine brighter.

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Skypaw followed Merryaster, not as eagerly as yesterday, she did an utterly abysmal(to her) performance yesterday on the border tour, it ate at her spirit already making her drag her paws ever so slightly as she followed the trail of her new mentor. She had disappointed enough cats yesterday, she should at least try to be a little better today.

When the two made their spot across from several stones across the river, it didn't seem like their territory given the fact that they weren't crossing over to look closer at it. The white apprentice narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, twitching one of her ears as she tried to focus. Especially since Merryaster was asking her a question.

"They seem to be drying a little faster than the land around them." She murmured with very little confidence, mostly afraid for the heartbreak of being wrong again and preparing for a correction then a metaphorical ache as she pictured a disappointed look on Lilyriver's face. "They're in the open, so the sun could reach them better..." another murmur followed as she kept her paws from the river, she wasn't confident in swimming just yet, and her paws quivered as she watched it rush over Merryaster's toes.

Despite her shivering, Skypaw's icy blue eyes still fixed themself on the stones, slowly, but faster than anything else around it, drying in the sunlight. At least it was... something?

Garden's gem, in sunlight's blaze
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Merryaster's ears perked at the answer, and rather than correcting Skypaw, she gave a small nod. She could already sense the apprentice's uncertainty. There was no need to make a simple lesson feel like another test. Her gaze swept the rocks another time.

"Some of the rocks are flater which also dries them out faster, you're right." Skypaw shouldn't have to worry about getting an answer wrong. The warrior wasn't going to be disappointed... "Sunningrocks is currently held by ThunderClan, but...I don't think that makes sense when it's so close to our camp." Skypaw needed to learn why these places mattered, a place that was once part of their home.

"Maybe one of these days we can mark the borders around Sunningrocks again." She replied a bit absently to the other she-cat, eyes a bit distant as her thoughts raced to Coldstar's ambitions and hopes for the territory.

Stars do not pull each other down to be visible, they shine brighter.

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Skypaw's ears perked at the lack off immediate correction and forced down a purr. She got it right! Was there truly a right or wrong answer? Probably not, but it pleased her to know that she had something of pride to report back to her mother, even if Lilyriver didn't ask for that, or if Lilyriver couldn't give a rats rear-end about what her kits got up to now, but the prideful, expectant look in her eyes when she and Galepaw were made into apprentices resonated deep within Skypaw more than she would let on. If she wasn't a hopeless burden, maybe she wouldn't have to.

When her mentor replied something absent about the wayward stones, Skypaw's ears slumped downward again. Did she really mean they should take the stone back? 

"But... doesn't that mean we'll need to fight ThunderClan? I don't want to hurt other cats... I don't even know how to yet." She murmured to herself, fidgeting with her paws on the ground as she grew a little more shy... almost embarrassed, the way Lilyriver was mad her feel like she needed to know everything before it was taught to her, even if Lilyriver didn't say it. Skypaw felt like she was already disappointing her. Lilyriver didn't go through the pain of kitting her just for her efforts to be wasteful.

Skypaw then shook her head, logic seeping in a little more. If she didn't know how to fight, she doubted that she'd be chosen for a takeover. "I don't want the rocks if cats will get hurt over them." She murmured under her breath, preparing to be scolded harshly. Even if Merryaster wasn't the type of cat.

Garden's gem, in sunlight's blaze
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Merryaster's ears tipped back slightly as she listened, her expression thoughtful rather than stern. She could see the tension gathering in Skypaw again and she could only offer her hypothetical reproach. "Then I suppose we should never hunt again. After all, there's always the chance to get hurt while hunting. Then...if we don't hunt, that would hurt those who can't get fresh prey for themselves."

A smile lifted into her whiskers as she shook her head. "That's not really how it works, is it?" She let the weight of the question linger a bit as she listened to the faint birdsong in ThunderClan's trees. "Fighting, hunting and patrolling are all part of being a warrior. We don't do any of those things because they're completely safe. We do them because they're necessary."

Merryaster's gaze drifted back toward Sunningrocks. "But...there is a difference between accepting fighting might happen and looking for a reason to fight. We shouldn't spill blood just because we can. If there is another way to protect our Clan, I'd rather take it."

A part of her wanted to comfort the white apprentice and give her a couple swipes across her brow, and her voice softened. "And I don't expect you to want to hurt another cat, Skypaw. If Sunningrocks ever became a battle in the near future, you won't be caught in the claw-hairs. You're an apprentice...My apprentice. My first responsibility would be keeping you safe. You don't need to prove that you're brave by throwing yourself into something you're not ready for."

Stars do not pull each other down to be visible, they shine brighter.

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At Merryaster's words, Skypaw felt every ounce of pride in her previous correctness melt and wash away with the river water. Her eyes glanced down at the river, looking at her own reflection in defeat. If Lilyriver asked about the whole outing, one little right answer won't mean much now. The white apprentice's ears drooped the further Merryaster explained. She had a point and Skypaw had made a fool of herself.

"Yeah, I guess so... I'm sorry." She murmured under her breath as she watched the edges of the rushing water ripple her reflection, like a messy, pale cloud drifting through the sky. "I just... I don't think... nevermind" She stammered over herself before eventually just giving up an argument all together, maybe if she just listened she wouldn't get anything else wrong.

When Merryaster spoke about a more diplomatic approach, Skypaw nodded. "I think so too. But I'm assuming ThunderClan hasn't heeded any of it." Her voice was laced in the kind of dread of one who knows a fight is coming, but can do nothing to stop it. She just needed to accept it.

Skypaw broke from the staring competition with her reflection and turned her attention to her mentor, more so now. "I don't think Coldstar would think to put me and Galepaw on the frontlines anyway, there's other cats for that." She added, a little softer and less... somberly strained. "Who do you think he would pick? If a battle would happen?"

Garden's gem, in sunlight's blaze
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Merryaster gently shook her head. "No need to apologize, Skypaw." She glanced toward the river again, considering the question. There were certainly cats Coldstar could choose, but she wasn't sure it was her place to predict his decisions. Still Skypaw had asked sincerely and she didn't want to disappoint her.

"If I had to guess..." Her tail curled thoughtfully around her paws. "He'd probably choose cats who are big and strong to fight paw to paw, and other cats that can run fast. Either way... cats who know how to work together would be peramount..." She blinked up, catching herself in her own thoughts as her mind catagorized nearly every cat in RiverClan.

Certainly Goosesong and Cottonbright. They were large...And Stormsquall and Hailstrike were always raring for a fight. "But I don't think you should spend your time worrying about who he'd choose...Especially not when you're still learning." She added, voice a gentle tenor at the end as she addressed her apprentice.

"That's why we're learning. Because a good warrior should understand what she's protecting before she's ever asked to protect it." The length of her tail lowered, hovering within the vicinity to the she-cat's flank to give her an encouraging brush.

Stars do not pull each other down to be visible, they shine brighter.

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The encouraging brush of Merryaster's tail only really caused Skypaw to glance at her mentor and straighten herself up, seeing the gesture as something of a 'Straighten up' rather than anything else. However... the smile on Merryaster's face and the softness in her voice ease Skypaw a little. "So Galepaw and I will be in camp then." She spoke, almost relieved that herself and her brother would be as safe as they could in camp, not matter how much he would want to rip into a ThunderClanner's fur.

Now a little calmer, Skypaw glanced over to Sunningrocks and twitched one of her ears, the rocks were still slowly drying. "It looks like a nice place to relax." She hummed softly with a gentle curl of her tail under all the pacifism she felt in the moment, the rocks would be a nice spot to lounge when she needed to, she could imagine her and a clanmate sharing tongues there with warmed pelts. 

"I bet it's a pride of ThunderClan's" She murmured to mostly herself, but glanced down at how the water was lapping at Merryaster's paws and couldn't help a little grin climb across her face. "Merryaster, your paws are all wet." She chimed in a poorly concealed giggle, hoping to change the topic as soon as possible.

Garden's gem, in sunlight's blaze
༻❁༺

Merryaster followed Skypaw's gaze toward Sunningrocks, her whiskers twitching faintly at the thought of the apprentice imagining it as a comfortable place to sun herself. "Perhaps." Was all she said even though she wondered for just how much longer.

Her teal eyes dropped toward her paws at the apprentice's teasing and she inspected her water logged paws. She turned the damp paw over inspecting it as though she had only just discovered what wetness was. "Looks like you caught me!" A quiet purr of amusement rumbled in her throat.

"Since you've noticed maybe there is something we could practice. Swimming! Let's find a nice place where we can get our paws wet properly."

Stars do not pull each other down to be visible, they shine brighter.

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Merryaster's purr drew one out of Skypaw as her mentor had allowed her joke to settle. She smiled at her, something that was beaming and... fairly rare since her first day out, a genuine smile was something that could be seen a quite precious in recent days. "Okay!"

Skypaw stood on her paws, while she had reservations about the dangers of water, every RiverClan cat knew how to swim and rarely did it make cats drown if they knew how to swim and Skypaw was certain that Merryaster wouldn't pick a dangerous place to swim for her very first time. She felt safer when accompanied by her mentor at the very least.

The white apprentice shook off whatever nerves she had and her tail rose with a friendly kind of interest that was more curiosity and eagerness to learn than anything else. Maybe she could help Galepaw swim if he ended up having any trouble with it! Now this was something she was excited for.