COTTONPAW
Wind whipped across the moors as Cottonpaw raced on ahead of the apprentice behind him. He'd dragged Skipperpaw out of camp, insisting that he wanted to teach her how to hunt rabbits. She may have been a medicine cat, but she needed the skills to hunt! After all, you never know when you'll end up needing to provide for yourself! This was the reasoning he'd given, but in reality, he was reluctant to admit he just wanted to spend more time with her.
Cottonpaw's thick fur buffetted in the strong wind, pressing back against his face and making him look rather ridiculous as he stood at the top of a rolling hill, opening his jaws to scent for any prey nearby. He seemed entirely unbothered by the way his fur was squished against his face, and his heart pounded in his chest as he heard Skipperpaw approaching him. Would she think he looked stupid? He hoped so- he longed to hear her laugh.
COTTONPAW
The curly-haired tom blinked a strand of fur out of his eyes as he turned to his companion, only managing to blow more fur into his face in the process. He hadn't scented prey yet, so he figured they'd probably have to go a little further. That just gave him more time to spend with his best friend.
"What?!" He asked, feigning ignorance to how ridiculous he looked. "Is there something in my fur?!" Wrinkling his nose, he crossed his eyes as if he were trying to look up at his forehead. Suddenly his ears pricked as he heard the grass rustling further away. Turning to her fully, his eyes widened with excitement.
"I hear a rabbit! C'mon!" Without waiting for her answer, Cottonpaw dropped into a hunter's crouch and slipped away into the grass, ears pinned against his head and his paws barely touching the ground with how silently he moved. His heart hammered with nervousness, and he sent a silent prayer to Starclan that the rabbit wouldn't hear it. He wanted to impress Skipperpaw more than anything. She was his best friend, he wanted her to think he was the coolest cat in the forest...!
Skipperpaw
Big paws belonging to the longhaired tortoiseshell drummed on the moorland as she gave chase to her best friend on whatever adventure he had easily talked her into. Having grown up in the nursery together, Skipperpaw and Cottonpaw had bonded and become quite inseparable. Despair had struck the hearts of the smitten duo upon the day of their ceremony when Littlewoods had announced that StarClan had given him a sign saying that Skipperpaw was destined to follow the path of a medicine cat.
Such an announcement didn't get the pair of troublemakers down for long, though, as they found other ways to spend time together besides training together. In fact, one could say that they were possibly closer than they would have been. Skipperpaw was able to tell Cottonpaw all about her herb training, and Cottonpaw got to share his hunting and fighting training, thus expanding their conversation topics and allowing them to grow closer over the moons.
She easily caught up to him atop the rolling hill and she proudly stood at his side and faced the strong winds with him. She swept her gaze over their surroundings before her bright golden hues landed on Cottonpaw and she swore she almost blew a gasket with the sheer force of the laughter that shook her fluffy frame.
"C-cottonpaw..!" She paused to breathe, taking a deep breath and trying to steel her nerves - but instead, she found herself collapsing with more laughter. "Y-your," pause, wheeze, laugh, "fur!"