the young tom blinked sleep out of his eyes as sunlight filtered into the apprentice's den. he stretched himself out and gave a long yawn, his body shuddering with the effort. glancing around, he saw most of his denmates had already left for their daily tasks. but his brother was still here at least. ashenpaw felt a bit safer with wolfpaw close by, and whilst they didn't always sleep in nests next to each other, it was comforting to know that his brother was sharing the same den as him. they had been each other's rock in the hard first six moons of their lives. having not been named a mentor yet, ashenpaw didn't have any specific training duties to do, and as a result he found himself helping purely to keep the boredom away.
standing up, the tom moved over to his brother, before winding himself around him, beginning to groom the fur on his head idly. if wolfpaw woke, he didn't show any kind of acknowledgement. he couldn't help but think that wolfpaw must look like their father... or, he liked to think so. he didn't know what their father looked like. it was sad, really. he hadn't wanted them, so why did he care so much? with a sigh, ashenpaw's ears flattened as his mind wandered to their mother.
pepper, the pretty kittypet, who they would have been proud to show off to the other clan cats, as she was the best mother the kits could have wished for. and yet, their twolegs had to ruin that for them by throwing them outside and hoping that the elements finished them off. curling closer around his brother, ashenpaw shuddered as he felt the panic rise in his throat. what if wolfpaw did the same? what if he lost wolfpaw?! if his brother died, ashenpaw didn't know what he would do with himself. and...he didn't want to think about it either. kneading at the ground with his paws, a soft whimper escaped the young tom as his breathing quickened with the escalating anxiety.
ashenpaw
skyclan apprentice
in some ways, ashenpaw felt alien still among the skyclan cats, but they had made the young toms feel so welcome that he knew that they would be cared for here. he had always been the more afraid, and fretful of the two. as his brother licked the top of his head, his ears flicked and he let out a contented, rumbling purr. nodding at his question, he lay his chin back down on his paws.
"i'm hungry, yeah..." he always had a big appetite, he supposed it came with being unsure of where your food would come from for so long that you gorge yourself when you do have access to food. "we should probably go out hunting, though..." he mewed, "to make up for the fact we're taking from the pile..." giving his ears an anxious flick, he rose to his paws and bow in a big stretch.