DuskxDove---Kill me Now

[Ember]

Dovepaw sped through the trees. She had no idea where she was going, Duskstorm hadn't taken her to explore yet. This was her first time outside of the camp. Everything smelled so different and fresh. She could hear mice and other prey scuffling about, it all smelled so good. She suddenly wished she knew how to hunt. She tried to scent her way to the hollow then something smelled awful good. She stopped and padded slowly to a bush, her head cocked with curiosity. The bush was covered in flowers and they smelled amazing. They smelled like her mother, she let the scent enter her nostrils and closed her eyes.

She found other scents to follow and smell. She just let her nose guide her. After a couple minutes of this, she remembered she was supposed to meet Duskstorm at the training hollow. She better get there quick. She began to run to where she thought it was. She stopped, where was it? Uh-oh, maybe she should've stayed with Duskstorm. Oh well, I'll just go back to camp and have someone show me where it is. Wait...where is camp? This isn't good.

She sat down, scared. She was lost in the woods. What if a badger or a fox got her and she was never found. She began running again. Maybe if she called, Duskstorm would hear her. "DUSKSTORM! Duskstorm! I'm lost, Duskstorm! HELP! Duskstorm!" She stopped and looked around panting, she was scared now. She felt her heart sink when a twig snapped behind her. It sounded like something was running towards her. "AH, no! It's a badger I'm gonna die!" She closed her eyes and ran again, refusing to open her eyes. Suddenly there was no ground under her feet and she plunged into...water. Oh no! The river! She had fallen now she was gonna drown and be eaten by a badger. What a way to go! She felt something grab her scruff and pull her out. She was looking into a very angry cat's eyes. "H-hi,, Duskstorm..." She mewed softly.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

The tortoiseshell walked leisurely, enjoying the slight wind whooshing around the sparse trees in the dull green landscape. No marsh smell, but then there was surprisingly little for the territory. It was a bit bright, and dead leaf-bare leaves still crunched around her paws or got caught in her fur, but the atmosphere was quite pleasant, really.

Or it was until she heard a familiar voice calling her name in panicky cries. Oh for crying out loud, growled the lanky warrior in her head as her ears twitched and her orange eyes narrowed. Can't she survive five minutes without me holding her paw?

Apparently not. Well, what else did she expect of a kit? Sighing in annoyance, the warrior nevertheless set off toward the source of the noise at a decent clip, the long grass brushing her underbelly as she strode rapidly through it.

Well she did, too. The little mouse-brain was running with her eyes shut (the hell?) into the foxing river. Swearing enough to make StarClan blush, Duskstorm shot forward and grabbed the tiny bi-colored she-cat, barely managing to heave her out. "Hi, idiot." She snapped back. "I almost wish it HAD been a badger instead of me, maybe it would've taught you something before you went to StarClan! I mean really, running with your eyes shut? Do you WANT to get eaten, or killed? Furthermore, do you want to drown? Can't you hear the BIG OBVIOUS RUSHING SOUND of WATER? Oh wait, you're a kit. A kit who apparently thinks she's invincible and tries to prove it by attempting suicide! STARCLAN, Dovepaw! Don't you ever think?"

Oh, but it did feel good to get all that anger out. Of course, shame was rapidly replacing it. Dovepaw was a complete mouse-brain, but it was Duskstorm's fault as well. She should've gone with Dovepaw to the hollow and shown her things along the way. She should have remembered her duty instead of acting like a kit herself. Why did Cloudstar ever make her a mentor when she could so obviously not handle it? Second day on the job and her apprentice almost dies. Brilliant.

She looked at the sky and sighed, both physically and mentally.

"Look, I'm sorry about that. It was my fault too. I am angry at you, but sometimes even when you don't do things wrong I'll still be angry because...I have mood swings, okay? I don't know why or how, but I do, and unfortunately I don't know how to get rid of them."

The next part was going to be even worse, but it had to be said.

"Look...I never asked for this job. I'm barely a warrior. You're a nice cat and all...but you need someone better than me to train you. Unfortunately, I can't change that. What would I say? 'Oh, sorry Cloudstar, I'm giving up after two days because I just can't do this. Kay thanks bye.'

A warrior sticks to things even when they don't like it. That's what being a Clan cat is about. So we're both going to have to get used to each other. I promise to try to be a better mentor if you promise to try to think. Deal?"

She held her paw to her mouth and licked it, then stuck it out, waiting for Dovepaw to respond to the promise with the same, hoping it would be all right. Please, let it be all right.

[Ember]

Dovepaw lowered her head. She had made Duskstorm angry. She hadn't meant to, but she did. She loved her mentor, but sometimes she wondered if it would've been better for Duskstorm to have a different apprentice. She loved being her apprentice, but she just knew Duskstorm didn't love being her mentor. "I am sorry Duskstorm. I'll be good and I won't do that again. I'll think next time." She kept her head low and she began walking with her mentor at her side, trying not to escalate the tenseness between them.

Dovepaw's heart ached, she never seemed to do anything that Duskstorm liked. She knew Duskstorm was moody, and she usually let her spout off and didn't care. But now she cared because she knew Duskstorm had reason to be angry. Dovepaw looked up at her mentor, there was no doubt she was upset. Dovepaw had been stupid to do what she did. She wondered if Duskstorm was going to hate her for the rest of the time she had her as an apprentice. She wondered if there was anything she could do to make Duskstorm like her. They were approaching the Training Hollow. Great, now she could fail at learning to fight, which would make Duskstorm even angrier with her.

She sighed and spoke, "Duskstorm, I know I make you mad and I know you wish you had a different apprentice. But I love being your apprentice. Your very smart and pretty. I look up to you and I wanna be just like you when I am older. I just want you to know that, so maybe you won't feel so bad about having me as an apprentice. And about the mood swings, they're a part of you. They are what makes you...well, you. Just like the annoyingness makes me...me. The moodiness is one of things I have already learned to live with and I actually kind of like it. It's like an older version of my brother...except. He's angry all the time." She cocked her head hopefully at the she-cat beside her.

OOC: AWWWW. Movie Moment

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Duskstorm looked her apprentice quizzically. "Good to know you won't drown yourself again." She sighed. The little she-cat really did seem to be put down. But in all fairness, she did need a warning to wake up or something was going to get her.

"Well, it's not so much that you make me mad - okay, you do, but I know you're not trying to. Different apprentice? I just don't want an apprentice, period." She laughed.

The tortoiseshell yowled at the sky in laughter, then still giggling tried to reply to the little she-cat. "Oh, sweet little naive Dovepaw. I'm not particularly smart and my prettiness is debatable, and it's not important anyway. HA. Trust me, I am the LAST cat you want to be like, and I am the last cat you CAN be like. We're so very different you have no idea." She breathed in and out, trying to recover from the silliness.

"Feel bad about having you as an apprentice? No, I feel bad for you having me as a mentor." she said bluntly.

"Ha, making me myself. You like my mood swings? You are very strange indeed. What, Stonepaw? Yeah. He'll probably grow out of it when he realizes he's wasting his energy. I'm normally not very angry, but like I said, I don't control this."

Duskstorm paused for a few moments, looking off into space, and thought. Dovepaw did irritate her, but she was clearly willing to try and make amends. And...Duskstorm had said they were nothing alike, but that actually wasn't true. They had both lost their parents. It was their only unifying factor, but the warrior would try to use it to connect and care about the gray and white cat.

"Okay, enough sappy talk. Let's get to the hollow and do things." Thus saying so, she got up, stretched, and padded off in the direction that would take her to the sandy hollow.

[Ember]

Dovepaw stared at her mentor. "None of the things you have just said about yourself is true! You are an amazing mentor! Don't put yourself down, because none of it is true." Dovepaw blinked up at her mentor. She hated hearing Duskstorm say those things about herself. The things she had just pointed out was what made her admire her. She wanted to be pretty and smart like her. She wished she was more serious like her. She knew she annoyed and got under the tails of every cat in the Clan. She wished she wasn't like that but she was.

Dovepaw sighed, as she took her position in front of Duskstorm. "So, what are we going to learn, Duskstorm? OOH! Can I show you how I pin someone?" She lowered herself to the ground and laucnhed at Duskstorm, claws sheathed. She hit Duskstorm and bounced off onto the ground. Her attack didn't seem to affect the Warrior. She looked up at the she-cat, afraid of being snapped at. But she could've sworn she saw a flash of amusement in her mentor's eyes. "It works better on Stonepaw." Dovepaw pointed out quietly.

OOC:: AH Sorry for shortness I didn't know what to write.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: X.X I'm really sorry this took so long, Ember. No internet doesn't help.

BIC: It was sad amusement that made the tortoiseshell’s gaze soften. Ah, the doom of innocence. Dovepaw simply had no idea, and even Duskstorm, master of dirty knowledge and unvarnished bluntness, couldn’t bring herself to spoil it yet. Let her believe her mentor was pure. She’d figure it out soon enough.

Then she frowned as the little fluffball catapulted herself at her. Duskstorm’s ears flattened from the admittedly weak impact and her claws sunk into the grainy, wet ground as she accidentally bit her tongue, the salty blood spurting right onto her taste buds.

She spat it out, shook her head, and glared at Dovepaw. Her gaze subsided after a moment, however, as she knew the apprentice had intended no harm. The orange circles were half-closed, somewhat amused as the lanky tricolor took a few steps forward and glanced back at the gray-and-white kit who looked both lost and eager at the same time, sprawled on the yellowing grass, head tilted as she spoke quietly.

“Mm, I’m sure.” Said the StreamClan she-cat. “But he won’t be your only opponent, so you’d best learn moves that will work on a variety of cats, eh?

They walked for a bit longer, and in a short while they reached a rough almost-circle of a stone wall with a floor of dust inside, the sparkling granite walls bright in the sun, incongruous against the marshy landscape.

“Training starts for real now, and this is the best advice I can give you: Be on your guard. You never know who’s going to injure you, or when, in battle. Attack can come from anywhere.”

With that the dark warrior padded smoothly inside, fluffy tail waving, and sat down in the middle of the hollow.

“Now, try and hurt me however you can.” Acting so ridiculous that my brain is in pain doesn’t count, she added in her head. Now she’d see what the little cat was really made of.

Oh sure, not much would happen, probably. But it would be interesting to see how she behaved, given no instruction or limitations. It would just be too infuriating to start off by going over all the boring basic crap apprentices learned, and Dovepaw probably wouldn’t listen anyway.

[Ember]

Hurt her?! Oh no, Dovepaw didn't want to hurt Duskstorm! Oh well, she probably wouldn't do too much damage so she readied herself. Dovepaw took her position again, she flicked her tail back and forth. She was ready. Making sure her claws were sheathed, she launched herself at Duskstorm once again. Boom, she was back sprawled out on the ground. Slightly frustrated, she got back up. She launched herself at her mentors neck, only to find herself hanging. She let herself drop and looked up at her mentor. "I'm so sorry, Duskstorm. I can't do it. I'm a failure already." She stood and hung her head. She was never going to impress Duskstorm, ever! She took a few steps back. She knew she had to keep going. Giving up wasn't going to get her anywhere. She took a new position and began circling her mentor. She had to get her this time. This was going to work, it had too. She kept her eyes focused on the tri-color she-cat in front of her. She fluffed out her fluffy grey and white fur. She kept circling, letting her paws step in even strides. She launched herself at her mentor hoping she would succeed this time. OOC:: That's okay Cloudie, I understand. I apologize for more shortness. I fail. [bg=d9f9fb][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

This is better than listening to Kitewhisker predicting doom, the tortoiseshell thought. I should pit Dovepaw against a spider, or maybe a butterfly. She’d have more luck.

She was struggling to hold in laughter as the little ball of fluff bounced off her like a frog and skidded slightly on the dusty, warm ground. Duskstorm definitely had a future topic of conversation now. It was even sillier when Dovepaw tried to cling to her neck and she shook off the dainty little claws like fleas.

When the bi-colored kit sounded so defeated, the tortoiseshell warrior tried to give her an encouraging look, but it might have just come out amused. Still, at least she was trying – heads up!

The StreamClanner automatically crouched, flattening herself so that Dovepaw overshot and FOXES! Landed on her tail. Hmm. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. She’d forgotten Dovepaw’s smaller size, which would mean her momentum wouldn’t carry her as far.

She twisted as well as she could, nose filled with the scent of dust and stone, and looked at her charge, half amused and half exasperated. “Well, you’ve got me. Now, how would you damage me?”

The best answer would be to bite at the base of Duskstorm’s tail, then while she was distracted by that, pounce on her and flip her over to rake her underbelly. Let’s see how little miss innocent puzzles it out, thought the skinny warrior.