Wings of a Butterfly

[whitewhisker]

Blazing sunshine swamped the RiverClan camp in the early afternoon of yet another greenleaf day. It had not been greenleaf for long, but that summery feeling was in the air again. Bees hummed their own little tune as they made their way about the few flowers that littered RiverClans island, collecting pollen to take home to their family. They lead busy lives those little creatures, it was something that Whitepaw enjoyed doing, should he find a quiet moment in camp, just to sit and watch as bee after bee trundled around on each flower before buzz buzz buzzing off to the next, continuing around and around in circles for almost hours at a time. Today was one of those days. The apprentice had cleaned out the elders bedding, taken them fresh-kill and water, checked them over for fleas and also shared tongues with them for a while. His mentor Willowfur didn’t seem to be around and no other cat had told him to do anything else, so he had wandered just out of camp to his favourite flowery spot and had been sat for the past half hour watching the bees. His black paws were tucked comfortably under his chest and his tail was curled around by his side, the tip of it lightly thumping on the grassy floor in rhythm to the striped insects’ song. His eyes closed lazily for a few seconds as he soaked up the sun, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. He realised with a short mrrow that at that moment in time he was the exact opposite of the bees, who were warm and fuzzy on the outside!

Whitepaw had been on the receiving end of a bee once, admittedly after he’d poked at it with his paw, but he had only been a kit then and that was the kind of silly thing that a kit does. He didn’t want to repeat the experience, it had ended with painful throbbing lump on his head, a trip to the vets and some foul tasting substance every meal-time for about a half moon or so. Not exactly your average idea of fun. The tom was quite happy to just sit and watch them now, instead of trying to play with them. Butterflies on the other paw, they were completely harmless, and so incredibly fun to bat around a bit. At the same second he’d been thinking about them, a beautiful orange and brown butterfly decided to land on one of the flowers the bees had been so busy pollinating. Mistake number one.

The small tom went deadly still. His eyes open and staring. He moved silently into a crouching position and took a stealthy step towards the pretty creature. He was about a whiskers length away from the flower when the butterfly took flight, twirling itself into the air, spiralling away from the deemed threat. Mistake number two.

Nothing was considered more fun to the apprentice than a chase. He bounced after it on springy paws, leaping gracefully into the air at intervals when the butterfly hovered a little lower to the ground. It seemed to be rather dim-witted as instead of flying higher to escape the predator, it flew in circles around and around the flower patch, closely followed by Whitepaw. He continued to launch himself into the air, his eyes never taken off the intended target, even when he was falling back to the ground without his catch. His patience finally paid off when a sudden gust of wind caught the butterfly off guard. It dropped lower than previously and the well-timed leap from the black cat earned him a toy to play with. A grin split his face as one of his claws snagged in the pretty orangey wing of the insect and as he pulled it down to earth he felt no remorse whatsoever that he was about to end its life. It was a butterfly, they were made to be played with.. weren’t they?

[Leopardstar]

Mistypaw watched Whitepaw from the shadows with interest. Here he was catching a butterfly when that was her favourite thing to do. I cant do that now im almost a warrior thoughshe thought ruefully. That thought shocked her. Almost a warrior! How exciting! Although she would always be treated as a kit to the senior warriors it would be soooooo much fun. The little voice inside her began rambling off about how exciting it would be while she tryed to shut it down. It was annoying and had a mind of its own, almost like another cat was living inside her. Attempting and failing to shut it down she started to think of other things like....... What her warrior name would be! This excited her even more and she became a hive of excitement while the voice talked ten to the dozen inside her head. Oh shut up! she mewed quietly, getting fed up.

All at once she remembed that Whitepaw didn't know she was there. If he found out she would be soooo embarrassed. Luckily she was sheltered good enough that HOPEFULLY he didn't hear and spot her, but already doubt was sinking into her. Oh you stupid furball! she mewed to herself. Like nobodies going to make connections with why im watching Whitepaw she continued. Everyones going to know that i like him! Too bad im going to be a Warrior soon she thought sadly. No more pleading my Mentor to share the training grounds with them!

A sadness settled over her as she watched him. Maybe he'll be made a warrior soon after me she thought hopefully.

[whitewhisker]

As an apprentice, and a bad one at that, Whitepaw was never actually paying attention to anything going on around him. Apart from butterflies and bumblebees of course. The little tom gleefully plucked off each of the pretty orange insects legs one by one before trailing a single claw over the patterned wings, cutting them in half so very delicately. It was not an act of cold blooded maliciousness as some cats might have thought, it was what was considered the most fun in the entire world to the immature boy. He was so focused on the death of the butterfly that he did not spot Mistypaw hiding behind him in the reeds. If he had, he would most probably have blushed.

As it was he completely ignored her and carried on shredding the wings into ribbons with an ecstatic look plastered across his young face. He was still breathing heavily from the chase and instead of bending over the deceased he decided to plonk his black bottom down onto the grass with a plop, his hind legs and tail sprawled out beside him with that casual elegance that only a feline can achieve so easily. As a cloud passed over the sun, throwing him into shadow, the tom hooked the butterfly on one claw as he had to catch it and flicked it quickly into the air, watching it float gracefully up and then lunging wildly at it with his jaws as it fell back down again. This bizarre move was repeated several times, the lunges getting wilder and less accurate with each turn as the little cat became ever more frenzied with his kill, eventually rolling onto his back and pummeling it, or attempting to, with his back paws. Butterflies in general aren't the best thing to practice kicking on, being so small that you can barely see them once you're holding them. All the while he did this, the apprentice was yowling to himself, lost in the game.

'Gotchaaa! Oh no you don't ShadowClanner, I'll get you! I'm twice as fearsome as you'll ever be, foxdung!' he practically screeched as he brutally murdered the ShadowClan cat.. aka, the butterfly. It was beginning to look really rather ragged and bits of wing were starting to fly off with every kick received. Whitepaw rolled onto his side again, the now not-so-pretty insect sandwiched between his forepaws, claws sheathed. His eyes lost focus on the creature as his mind began to wander again and it was not until he was certain of what he was seeing that he actually let go of the battered animal, springing to his paws with a startled 'mrrrow'.

He'd spotted a pair of cats eyes gleaming from the shade by the reeds just opposite him.

He was being watched.

[Leopardstar]

Mistypaw watched has he brutely shredded the butterfly to pieces and she had to admit it was a bit gruesome. Shuddering gleefully she was like a ball of static energy in the dappled sunlight of her hideout. Twitching her ears, she looked at the poor, rather dead looking butterfly in the clutches of it's killer. The sun was getting higher in the sky to the point where it was blinding and she noticed by looking behind her that it had driven most, if not all the cats into their dens.

By now Whitepaw was yelling at it, accusing it of being a Shadowclanner. It looked like fun and Mistypaw really wanted to join him but knew that trying to talk her way out of this one would be a feat too big even for her! By now her mucles were hurting to the point of.... well... alot of pain she supposed. Stretching out lazily she nestled down in the leaves and continued to 'stalk' him from under a leaf.
A shaft of sunlight shone right in her eye at the moment Mistypaw really didn't want it to, causing her to hiss in surprise. Things like this always happened to her. She was either in the wrong place at the wrong time or everything just went wrong completely.

Gaining back her eyesight Mistypaw looked just in time to see that Whitepaw had spotted her and happened to be looking directly at her.

She was caught!! "Oh foxdung!" she muttered

[whitewhisker]

Squinting slightly in the glare of sudden sunlight on the reeds, the little tom tried to make out who was watching him. They were within the camp, so surely it would be a RiverClan cat. But what if it wasn’t? What if ShadowClan were invading and one of their Warriors had just been sat watching him pretend to kill one of their Clanmates?! Wild crazy thoughts sped through Whitepaw’s head, as they tended to do when he was nervous or uncertain. They also tended to magnify in stupidity and all logic abandoned him. For one thing if ShadowClan had been invading there would have been a hell of a lot more noise coming from the main camp, and also, the Warrior wouldn’t have just sat there watching him, it would’ve been likely to try and kill him, being that he was so distracted at that point in time. However none of these sensible afterthoughts followed through into the apprentices head and as such he leapt to his feet in pure terror, his yellow lamp-like eyes fixed on the silhouette under the reeds. His black fur raised to stand on end, but he was so small anyway that it made little difference, definitely not very scary. He drew back his lips in an attempt at a fierce snarl, but only a weedy back-of-the-throat gurgle emerged. He was such a poor excuse for a Clan cat.

‘Who’s there?! Why are you watching me?’ he called out, still panicking slightly, ‘Face me, coward!’ For such a talent-less creature it was surprising that he would call the ‘ShadowClan’ cat a coward. They were well known for their evil deeds, proud natures and fighting prowess. Being called a coward by any cat was not something they would let go easily.

The butterfly had just been left on the floor, it’s fragile body was picked up by the wind and skimmed across the top of the grass for several feet before getting caught up in yet more of the reeds that surrounded the tiny island campsite the RiverClanners called their home. There it stayed, not being able to get blown any further and now not having an immature apprentice to play with it. It was a sorry sight, wings shredded, legs scattered around the clearing as it had been shaken roughly in the little cats mouth, but that had been its fate. Whitepaw was a big believer in fate. Some things happened for a reason, be it good or bad, and they all ended in the same place anyway, so what was the point in fussing about ‘where life was taking you’. The tom had no idea that this encounter with Mistypaw could shape his entire future in one way or another..

[Leopardstar]

Mistypaw heard him and slowly crept out of her hiding place in the brambles, her ears lying flat on her head. The motor-head mouth in her head started up again. He'll yell at you, not like you, but she kept her cool.... She hoped!

Dark storm clouds APPEARED to cover the campp but Mistypaw knew it was probably her imagination. She got ready to turn and run.

[Leopardstar]

Mistypaw suddenly realised that running wouldn't be the best option. I have to go out she thought. He'll never know it was me and that i like him if i dont. He'll just wonder about it and then forget. Ill be no better off.
Gathering up all her courage she took a deep breath and stepped out from her hiding place. All at once she felt ridiculous. "It was me" she mewed nervously. Standing next to the brambles her grey/blue coat stood out sooo much it was impossible to believe that she could hide behind it without being seen.
She waited nervously to what his reaction would be.

[whitewhisker]

(OoC: Sorry Leopardstar!! I didn't realise you'd posted again! ^^

After the brave words he had carelessly spat out, the little tom was ever more surprised to find that it had not been a murderous ShadowClanner stalking him, but his fellow apprentice and close friend, Mistypaw. She was a very pretty young she-cat, a little bit older than himself and nearing her Warrior ceremony. He would miss her company when she left the apprentices den. As she stepped gracefully from between the brambles, looking highly embarrassed at being caught watching, Whitepaw's fur lay back against his skin and he visibly relaxed.

'Mistypaw? What were you doing in there?' he called out, his yellow eyes widening at the nervousness in her posture and the way she looked at him as though expecting a clawing. He suddenly smiled sheepishly as he remembered the way he'd acted.. Spitting insults was no way to make a friend feel at ease. He walked over to the blue she-cat with a warmer smile on his face and a slight purr tickling his throat.

'I'm sorry I yelled.. I just thought it might have been some other cat..' he reassured her, 'But what were you doing in there?' he peered past her to the spot she'd been sat in, trying to see if there was some freshkill on the floor.. as far as he could tell there wasn't. He was curious, but decided not to push it, he'd already made her nevous and would hate to be put in the same situation himself. The black cat sat down in front of his friend and looked aimlessly about himself, at a sudden loss for things to say. He wasn't the most social of cats and therefore wasn't fantastic at the petty chit chat the Warriors seemed to use so easily. His little brain whirred with possible questions, but he found fault with all of them and so they never made it past his tongue.

[Leopardstar]

Thants cool! ^^
Realising he was waiting for her to answer she piped up, 'I was uhhhh....'She was about to make up a lie, but realised it would be no good. She was a bad liar if ever there was one. 'I was.. watching you!?' she squeaked. She felt like a rabbit trapped in a corner with no way out.

The sun shone brightly over riverclan casting a sheen ver the river. It was beautiful. All at one that voice started up again, nervous this time: You stupid furball, he's going to think you're a complete idiot with no brains. Stupid, stupid, stupid! What were you thinking!

[whitewhisker]

The little tom was completely baffled by Mistypaw's reply.

Watching him?

Why would anyone want to watch him? He was probably the record breaker for the worst apprentice ever to exist within the boundaries of the four Clans. As he sat gaping oddly at his friend his brain was slowly ticking along in a blissful kind of stupidity. He blinked at her and tried to hide some of his obvious confusion with a cheesy grin and playful humour.

'Well I am worth watching' he jokingly boasted, 'Did you see me kill that..' Whitepaw had turned around to find his toy butterfly had vanished. He raised an eyebrow quizzically and scanned the grassy clearing for it.

'Oh. Well I had a butterfly, but it's gone now..' he turned back to the grey she-cat, wagging his tail in an almost dog-like fashion. In a sudden burst of nervous energy he launched himself into the air in a brilliant twirl, mrrowing with laughter as he landed and raced across the flower patch to hide between the sweet smelling wild-flowers. His yellow eyes glinted cheekily from the mass of petals and his black bottom was quite visible atop them, wiggling playfully in a request for a game of tag with Mistypaw.

[Leopardstar]

Mistypaw felt relieved that he hadn't been annoyed with her and that it had turned into a game of tag. She sprung up in one quick motion and dashed off after him, her paws pounding loudly on the hard soil. Looking up in the sky she saw his almost-dead butterfly attemping to fly off in a lopsided fashion. Grinning an evil/mock grin she sped up almost reaching the flower patch that she knew conceled him and skidded to a halt at the last minute.

She would try a different approach.

She veared off down the hill towards the lake before doubling up behind him.