Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
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Skunkpaw flicked his tail as he stood at the head of the apprentice den. It had only been a few days since the latest batch of apprentices had been promoted, and Aspenstar had ordered for all of the apprentice pairs to get to know each other by completing a partnered task. It was an unguided excersize, no adults were invited, and the leader intended it to be more of a bonding experience than an actual tactical experience.
"You in there? If we don't hurry, Aspenstar is going to come bother us," he called in. He was unsure how he felt about training with the other tom. He had always expected that it would be Puddlepaw that he would end up with. But, he supposed it wasn't bad to expand his social circle, which meant that he needed to at least make an attempt.
The silver tabby had been grooming his ears as the other walked into the den. Ceruleanpaw knew he was supposed to do the bonding exercise, but he was getting used to the idea that he was no longer a child, and this was his real life. Ceruleanpaw felt out of place being partnered with Skunkpaw, since the tom seemed close to his brothers.
Skunkpaw’s voice rang out as he was mid draw of his tongue lazily making its way over his shoulder. He flicks his ear back and slowly stands, taking his time to stretch out his limbs. Ceruleanpaw was an interesting sort of fellow. He didn’t show off like this in front of the she-cats, but then again, maybe it was because he didn’t feel the need to compete against them.
“Goodness Skunkpaw, don’t get your ears in a twist. It’ll be just fine.” The tom had a light transatlantic accent (seriously, how the hell did he develop that???). He gives a smile and dips his head in polite greeting. “I don’t believe I’ve properly introduced myself. I’m Ceruleanpaw. It’s a pleasure to be training with you.”
He, too, had been surprised when he had not been paired with Puddlepaw. It had always been a natural assumption that this would be the case, as the only cat that had ever been close to the brothers other than, well, the brothers, was Rabbitpaw, and Skunkpaw still didn't really know where Violetpaw stood on the Rabbitpaw issue. But, the rumor was that he and Ceruleanpaw had been matched based on preliminary skill, that the upper staff knew that his brother would not provide him the challenge that he needed. He was unsure if the rumor was true, but he supposed it didn't really matter.
"You didn't see Aspenstar threaten to imprison some kittens the other day? She's in a bad mood since... well..." Skunkpaw shrugged. "Better to be safe than sorry." He shifted lightly, before giving the tom a curt nod. "Skunkpaw. I am interested to see if we," and by we, Skunkpaw really meant you, but Ceruleanpaw didn't have to know that, "rise to the occasion of being top apprentice pair." He then shifted awkwardly again, unsure of exactly how this was supposed to go. "So... bonding?"
Puddlepaw most definitely would've dragged his brother behind. While the young tom was an astounding worker, and he was stubborn enough to keep going until he got to where he wanted to be, he wasn't as quick to think as Skunkpaw was. Challenges had never come easy to him, even if they were as simple as kit challenges could be. Ceruleanpaw, on the other hand, was quick witted and ready for anything. He was almost cocky in that nature.
"Aspenstar wouldn't ever do it. Bad mood threats are rarely seen out," the tabby tom starts walking to the entrance of the den, settling near the entrance as he hears Skunkpaw start to speak again. "Ah, Skunkpaw. There's no question that it'll be easy for us." Again, cocky. That attitude would get him into trouble some day. "Bonding.... mmm. I suppose we should leave camp?"
Skunkpaw blinked at the tabby tom. Although he probably was right, it felt like the duo shouldn't test Aspenstar's limited patience. Oh well, he thought to himself, didn't much matter, did it?
"I hope you are correct," he then meowed with a raise of his brow. "I am vying for the top apprentice spot; you'll have to pull your weight." He flicked his tail, turning to the entrance of the cenote. "Come on, let's get on with it, then," he meowed, waving his tail to get his training partner to follow. "I've wanted to examine the old bear cave. Maybe we could start there?"
Ceruleanpaw gives Skunkpaw an almost glare, a look up and down. The other cat seemed to be used to being the leader. That was going to cause rifts between them for sure. However, Ceruleanpaw also looked forward to the challenge. It would be a constant race of who was the better apprentice.
"Oh, no questions that I will." He puffs out his chest, stands a bit straighter. "I have big plans, Skunkpaw. You don't need to worry about me doing my part." His blue eyes twinkle with pride. "Yes, let's go to the cave." Despite wanting to take the lead, Ceruleanpaw forces himself to stay shoulder to shoulder with his partner.
He blinked absently at his training partner's words. He didn't necessarily believe him, although he supposed he had no real reason not to. But, letting cats have the benefit of the doubt was not something he was particularly good at, at least without seeing tangible evidence. That evidence would be provided, for better or for worse, when the two trained together for the first time.
They walked in silence for a moment. Skunkpaw easily matched his stride, careful not to fall behind it. He didn't necessarily mind if he was the leader or not; ideally, he would love his partner to be his equal. Ceruleanpaw had a lot to prove, though, before the tom would see him as such.
Soon, they reached the cave entrance. It was then that the smell made his face twist. It was sickly sweet, like prey that had sat out for too long in the August sun. That couldn't be good. "You smell that?" he asked, breaking the silence for the first time since they had started their walk.
Ceruleanpaw’s blue eyes scan the area as they walk through. He hadn’t really been out of camp much yet, so he was taking in all the different sight, smells and feelings around him. He enjoyed the soft crunch under his paws of earth that wasn’t cave rock, and seeing trees and heating the soft rush of water from somewhere.
The silence was a tad awkward, but not unwelcome. Ceruleanpaw wouldn’t have known what to say, considering they didn’t have many things to talk about together. First time training, first time talking really. It gave the apprentice time to focus and learn how the sounds around them differed from how they sounded in the cenote. Walking on the forest floor had a different, muffled sound rather than the almost silent sound of walking on rock.
Ceruleanpaw scrunches up his nose and hisses softly in response to the smell. “What /is/ that?” His ears flicker uncertainly to the cave, searching for any sound of danger. Hearing nothing, he glances at Skunkpaw. “Are we going in?” For the first time since he’d interacted with Skunkpaw, he showed a slight bit of vulnerability.
He frowned slightly; the smell was overwhelming, but it was intriguing. "I think you have a faint idea of what it is," he replied to his training partner. The scent of death was unavoidable. He found himself getting closer and closer to the den. There was something in there, a mystery that he could solve. Precisely the challenge that he wanted, and on the first night, too.
He glanced back to Ceruleanpaw, his gaze blank. "I have to," he meowed with a nod. "I do not blame you if you don't want to join me, though," he offered, giving the tom an out if he wanted it. "Otherwise, here we go," he meowed, before entering the den.
His tail thrashed in slight frustration, and he swallows the nausea he feels building in his throat. The grey tabby looks at Skunkpaw and gives a slow nod. The smell was undeniably the scent of death. Ceruleanpaw wasn't going to stay behind either, even though the sense of danger and worry was overwhelming. The fur along the back of his neck stands on end, but he pads in right behind him.
The body in front of them was a larger, decaying version of Ceruleanpaw. They had the same black swirls over a silvery-grey coat, the same splashes of white along their chest. The only difference between them was that the cat in front of them didn't have Ceruleanpaw's deep blue eyes, his were green under the glassed over look of having passed on. Behind the scent of decay was a similar scent to Ceruleanpaw's as well. His eyes widen in fear, and he whimpers softly. Although he'd only seen his father once, and the memory was blurry, it looked like him. "oh no." he breathes. "what... what happened to him?"
The tom... didn't expect the other cat to have such a strong reaction to the body. Of course, it was kind of... disgusting in an absolutely fascinating way, but the cat was completely unfamiliar to Skunkpaw. He raised a brow, before closing the distance between him and the body. He circled it twice, his gaze analyzing it as quickly as possible. "Tom, middle aged," he hummed, mostly to himself as he thought aloud. "The incisions here," he pointed to the tom's side, "are too deep to made from a cat's teeth." His words were methodical, perhaps a little detached in the way a scientist was detached from its subject. "I would guess maybe a dog, or a particularly large fox."
He then looked to his training partner, concern crossing his gaze. "Something wrong?"
Ceruleanpaw clenches his eyes shut and his jaw tight, ignoring the blood that pounded in his ears. Cursed cursed cursed continued to run through his head, the world around him feeling uneven and woozy. He’d heard the whispers of the others in the nursery, that he was cursed, left behind by negligent parents who didn’t care. Left to fend for himself. Ceruleanpaw had never felt the loneliness he was pre-destined to have, not until this exact moment. When he finally opens his eyes again, they’re hazy and glazed over, with a dead look in them. Again, the word cursed repeats over and over.
“That’s my father.” He says, voice flat and emotionless. The world stops spinning around him, his mind goes blank and quiet. The words lay thick in the air as he said them out loud. “That’s my father. He abandoned me. I suppose karma got to him.” The words he spoke were lifetimes older than him.
"Oh," he meowed, suddenly feeling his ears burn. He had been so analytical about the death, and now he realized that maybe he shouldn't have been. The only solace he had was that he didn't know. How could he have known? Skunkpaw's head lowered, his gaze concerned. "I'm... sorry."
He didn't know what to say. He knew that sorry wasn't going to help his partner. He didn't know how to help the other tom; emotions were not something the tom was too familiar with, at least not heavy ones. "Is there anything I can do? Maybe we should get out of here..." [div style=hT
Ceruleanpaw snaps out of his moodiness and anger, a complete 180 from where'd he been before. "Head up, bud. Not your fault. We should report back to Aspenstar that there's something capable of killing cats in the area." Suddenly, he was calm and collected, nonchalant like they didn't just come across his dead dad. Ceruleanpaw turns, looking the deceased male once over. Quickly, he closes the gap between them and shuts his father's eyes, at least as much as he could, and comes back to Skunkpaw. "Let's find a stream to wash up at." The grey tabby quickly leaves the cave, never looking back again.
Skunkpaw's eyes widened into saucers. What in the world was going on? Just a second ago, the tom looked like he was about to cry, and now he was the one giving him a pep talk? Is this how this socialization thing was supposed to go? The tom wondered if this was why he had always stayed close to his littermates and practically no one else. "Good idea," he meowed after a second, before bounding after. "I... don't think the threat is super recent... I didn't smell any fresh scents, did you?" His tone was awkward still as they walked.
oh no, young Skunkpaw. That’s not how socialization goes. Ceruleanpaw was just a wreck of a cat. The charm and wits he held about him hid the fact he was deeply sad and really quite self conscious. “I don’t think so. Hopefully it was just some dog who scurried back to its ugly twoleg.” Again, emotionless, like he had absolutely no connection to the dead male. He stops and scents the air, while also listening for water. The air around them was fresh and clean, the only animals being them and prey. “Stream’s this way.” The tabby starts making his way to where he heard the rushing, a soft whoosh in the otherwise quiet forest.
Skunkpaw nodded at his words, although they deeply unsettled him. Why was he being so la-dee-da about it? He missed his brother; at least he understood Puddlepaw's mood. Skunkpaw padded alongside him for a long moment in silence, trying to figure out what he should say next. After a while, he settled on the following: "You know, it's okay to feel something right now, anything?" He wasn't good at this stuff, he really wasn't. He'd never had to be good at this stuff. Trauma and loss? Those were other people's problems, not his. "Do you ... wanna talk before we get back? We could take a detour?"
Ceruleanpaw laughs off Skunkpaw’s words, though the feeling in his stomach was eating him alive. “Why would I care? I don’t even know his name.” Lie #1. He knew his father’s and mother’s names. Falconscreech and Gentlelamb. They left soon after Ceruleanpaw was weaned, middle of the night without anyone’s knowledge. “What is there to feel? They left, they obviously didn’t care enough to see me flourish into a warrior.” Even when he was sad, he still had an heir of pretentiousness. Who the hell used a phrase like flourish out loud? Honestly, if Skunkpaw smacked him, the narrator of this text wouldn’t even blame him. When they get to the stream he wades in, closing his eyes to allow the water to flow across his feet. Quietly, he murmurs, “I never thought I’d see him again. I wonder where my mother is.” It was the closest to vulnerability he was going to get at this moment.
He flicked his ear at his partner's interesting word choice, although he said nothing about it. It felt a little rude, even for him, and he wasn't even that perceptive of concepts like rudeness. He didn't say something for another long moment, his gaze focused on the ground in front of them as he considered something. Was it a good idea to ask? He wasn't sure. It was hard to predict how the other cat would react, but maybe Skunkpaw felt deep within him that he really had no choice. He at least had to give him the option. "If you want to find her, we will figure out how," he meowed after a moment, blinking a few times. He wasn't exactly sure how this would be done, but the child prodigy would be able to figure it out somehow, right?
The tom takes a deep breath and stays still, the water rushing over his back at this point. A feeling pulled him deeper and deeper into the water, but he broke his trance and came back to the bank. "You think she's out there?" he asks, trying not to let too much hope seep into his voice. Ceruleanpaw sighs softly, "I'm sorry." he murmurs, not looking Skunkpaw in the eyes. "You're being nice, I'm being an ass. That was a lot more than I expected my first day out." If the two were going to work well as partners, he had to swallow his pride and calm down.
