opalpaw
A soft gentle breeze brushed against the land, not a sound could be heard. It was almost as if the earth simply knew the tragedy the clan had dealt with. A life was taken without a warning its reasonings unknown to those who questioned it. The young molly had barely begun her apprenticeship when it had occurred. Frightened by it, unknown to what to think of it as this was her first time to out what little medicine skills she had occurred. Grateful for the fact that her mentor Speckledmoss was so understanding and patient with her as she inspected the body of her former peer.
From the wounds the tom before her had gained to the fur wedged in between his claws she could all but determine that he didn’t go without a fight, reporting her findings to those she needed too, the vigil for the deceased coming and going in what seemed to be a blank of an eye the molly was left to her mind. Possibilities of who could do such a thing to what her findings came up from her search to just mindlessly filter through.
Having to be tasked to run out and check on some herb plants, ensuring its survival in the summer sun the molly had dipped her head in agreement before turning to go out. Perhaps she could take the moment to snoop about and see what she could possibly find without others hounding her for answers. A soft hum coming from her as she made her way towards the camp entrance.
The rest of the day passed without much incident. Ospreypaw had trouble staying present as he toured the territories with his assigned mentor, a bubble she-cat named Brightspark who loved to talk his ears off. Luckily she didn’t have much of substance to say, so he could get by with nods and well-timed ‘hmmm’s’, allowing his focus to wander.
He was jittery and excited by the time dusk finally fell, and had to force himself to be patient as he slipped out of the apprentice's den and out to the scrub-lands to meet Opalpaw. He ran up to her, panting slightly.
“Alright, lead the way!”
His muzzle formed frown when he realized she didn’t intend to tell him right this second, but he drew a calming breath and nodded. Getting angry would only encourage her to tell him less, after all. Though his temper was a wily beast that preferred he let it do as it pleased.
“Uh, okay, but are you going to tell me then, right?” Despite his best efforts, he was only an apprentice kitten. So much of his frustration still filtered through.
“You can help me if you want, sure.” He shrugged, figuring it couldn’t hurt to have an insider on his side. Who knew what intel she could provide? It was not as though he could easily go pestering other cats in SkyClan. Most found him tiresome enough as he was.
Ospreypaw continued to shadow Opalpaw’s steps rather closely. He’d been told many times he lacked consideration for the personal space of others, but it never seemed to quite penetrate his dense awareness. His two-toned eyes tracked her face hungrily, flickering over every gesture as thought it contained the answers he sought.
“You have my word, I will tell no one.”
He was surprised to find that he meant it. He wanted to know who his father was, so the stakes were personal. He couldn’t envision any need to go spreading his discoveries around, suspicious deaths or no.
The molly had heard quite a bit about the feline from others, not caring much for the gossip and drama she paid little to no attention to them. It was clear that the tom had shown some form of loyalty to his current clan so why make such a fuss.
Making her way down to a more scrub type land she hummed softly. A verity of cobwebs and marigold could be found (this is a total guess lol) in this part of the forest. Recalling what her mentor had asked for before sending her out she had made a mental note to make sure she wouldn't forget. "Well I know that you mean no harm or anything like that, quite frankly I believe your reasoning should really matter to yourself and Firestar. Why people make a fuss about minor details is beyond me." She calmly huffed before pausing midstep when the tom moved in front of her.
"Hm-" she started slightly confused before the rest of what he had to say came. Letting out a soft sigh her ears flickering slightly. "There's still quite a bit for us to figure out but we do know they were attacked... we haven't determined if it was from another cat or a wild animal..." She started out softly a small frown poking the corner of her lips.
"If'd you like I can tell you more when I hear them... but you can't really go around telling others I was told to keep it hush until we can figure it out.. okay?"
“Oh, um, sure.” For some odd reason, her easy-going demeanor disarmed Ospreypaw. He supposed he was just accustomed to cats giving him more of a cold shoulder. Back home it had often been the case.
He followed her out to the territories, his light colored paws becoming stained with rust from the red ground. All around them the scrub-land of SkyClan was oddly alien to him, and he was thankful when they finally passed beneath the shade of the trees. Though he noted that they were a different type, drier and more scraggly in appearance. Could herbs really grow out here?
“Things have been as you would expect. I’m an outsider, my reasons for coming here are suspect. But no one has directly harmed me.” He said, offhandedly.
“But that’s not really what I need to speak to you about.” He rounded on her, blocking her forward path with clear intent.
“I understand a Warrior’s body of your Clan washed ashore ShadowClan territory a few weeks ago. What can you tell me about the cause of death?”
The molly was left in her own thoughts when she heard something rustle behind her. Blinking her bluegreen hues as she turned to look behind her. Seeing the young tom she dipped her head. She had heard quite a bit about the feline, that he had originated from thunderclan and was given the blessing to join the clan. She didn't seem the hype of mistreating anyone no matter where they came from. To her as long as they were able to prove and protect their clanmates that's all that really mattered to her. "Sure! What can I do for you love? Are you feeling alright?" She asked softly letting her gaze scan the others body. To her they appeared to be fine but she could hardly be sure. "Do you mind if We can walk and talk? I gotta get some herbs for Spottedmoss, we just want to make sure we got a good stock before leafbare come" She added a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
She was curious as to what the feline could really want and wasn't sure if she should be concerned for the tom or not. Not waiting up for a response she slowly turned to walk towards the stash of herbs not too far off pausing here and there to look back at the other to make sure he as following her.
"How are things for you? No ones being too mean to you are they?" she asked softly raising a brow.
Ospreypaw woke up at the crack of dawn with the taste of earth in his mouth. He opened his eyes to see that he’d rolled out of his nest sometime in the night, and in so doing covered his pelt with a thin layer of reddened earth. He shook it off, taking note that most of his fellow apprentices were still fast asleep. It was just as well, most of them had been less than welcoming of a random ThunderClanner asking to join SkyClan. Simply having Firestar’s blessing did not ensure that the rest of his loyal Warriors would follow.
He peeked outside, momentarily awed by the way the buttery-mellow sunlight drizzled over the rim of the gorge. Birds were chirping, and the air was already somewhat humid.
Then he spotted her. Just who I was hoping to see…
He walked briskly and silently after Opalpaw, catching up to her just outside listening range of the camp.
“Hey.” He said, not realizing that in most polite company it was customary to announce oneself with a cough or a purposefully rustled leaf to alert someone to their presence, as opposed to silently appearing at their side with a soft greeting.
“Mind if we talk a bit? You’re Opalpaw, yes?”