Private Thread Coyote Spots [2LN20]

Snoozing it the eerily empty den that Coyotepaw had to herself, the young she-cat found herself surprised to be woken by the soft voice of Leopardrose. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes before scrambling upwards, Coyotepaw noticed she has slept in much longer than she had anticipated. With her head hanging low, she walked out of the den, mumbling a greeting to Leopardrose. She wondered if she would get yelled at for sleeping in, despite knowing her mentor wasn't the sort of cat to do that. Avoiding the bengal she-cat's gaze, she shook her ticked pelt lightly, hoping to fluff it up a little and keep out the cold. 

Coyotepaw had been training for a few weeks now, but felt like she was getting nowhere. The cats of ThunderClan still spooked her, and she found herself missing the days where she would cuddle up against Bravesong's side. Leopardrose was nothing but nice to her, but she was forever wary, anxiety creeping through her body any time they trained. Despite her slight mistrust, Coyotepaw looked up to Leopardrose, and dissapointing her was the last thing she wanted to do. 'Sorry for sleeping in' she said quietly, her orange gaze still avoiding that of her mentors. 

'Yeah, but I should be awake when everyone else is...' she mumbled, finally looking up at Leopardrose. She was relieved to see a smile on her face, and felt herself relax a little more. She wasn't sure why she was so worried in the first place. Leopardrose was nice, really nice, but for some reason she had to keep reminding herself that. 

Exploring had been Coyotepaw's favourite part of training. As a kit she had always yearned to see what was outside camp walls, and now she finally got to! Her eyes visibly brightened, and she gave Leopardrose a small nod. She reminded her that it was okay to speak up, but Coyotepaw just gave her a small smile. She didn't like speaking up. With her littermates she was loud and rambunctious, but something stopped her now, her mouth always feeling glued shut as her brain jumbled itself with thoughts. 'I think that sounds good. I... I like exploring. Hunting is good too.' Well, hunting moves is what Leopardrose had said but Coyotepaw felt it was too awkward to correct herself.

'I don't mind, really.' Coyotepaw wanted to learn everything she could, she wanted to prove herself to everyone, to dispel the weird looks she felt she sometimes got from the cats of ThunderClan. She didn't know how they felt really, but Moosestar, and those fierce-whatevers scared her, and anytime she was under their gaze she felt herself shrink into her pelt, guilt for something she hadn't even done seep through her bones. 

Coyotepaw followed behind Leopardrose, giving her a nod as she indicated for them to leave. Instead of her usual wary distance that the kept from most of the cats, she stuck to her mentor's side like a burr. She didn't know why, but it felt better, that maybe Leopardrose was protecting her from everyone else. 

'I.. I didn't know you came from outside too' Her words intrigued Coyotepaw, what was her story? Was she abandoned just like she was? Or maybe her family brought her here? Too scared to actually ask, she shot Leopardrose the tiniest glance, as if to ask if she could tell her anything else. 

A distasteful thought then popped into the lilac ticked's mind, had Leopardrose been chosen as her mentor as she was a respected warrior... or did they only trust an outsider to trust an outsider. The thought left a sour taste in her mouth, as she frowned slightly before brushing off the thought. She had more important things to do, like training!