|
|
Post by Jaecarys on Oct 22, 2023 15:40:39 GMT -6
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/920197329640902686/1105726211239461014/sparkav~jpg #s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/920197329640902686/1105726211239461014/sparkav~jpg sparkpaw | | I have no friends but I'll be fine, I don't need them to pass the time. And when I put my resting bitch face on, I look stone cold — I'd just rather be alone. |
Reason number ten thousand she wanted to be a warrior already: this was one of the most disgusting chores. Sparkpaw picked through the fresh-kill pile. In leaf-bare, no prey went to waste, so at least there was nothing rotten, but the oldest prey got gutted first. And then the stomachs were taken to the elders, where ticks could be driven off with some bile and moss. She planned to pass off the stomachs to one of the younger apprentices—she harvested the shit, they could do the rest. Her brother had mocked her on the way out of camp, as always, but it hardly phased her anymore. What did it matter? They’d always hate each other. She just needed to keep her head down and do the best job she could. She was good at hunting, fantastic at it even. He couldn’t take that away from her. Her paws picked out a thin rabbit and two field mice. The mice wouldn’t yield much, but it’d be enough for a tick or two. Sparkpaw’s claw hooked into the rabbit, and with some effort, she opened it from chest to groin. She’d leave a lot of the insides; she was taught that there was a lot of energy packed into those bits of the prey, and through the cold season, the Clan needed every bit they could get. Maybe she’d take the rabbit to the nursery when she was done. It was awfully cold for kits. Now to just harvest the stomach without ripping it open and ruining the rabbit entirely. With a grimace, the elder apprentice gingerly nudged the bloody organs around, and gently hooked her claws where they needed to be to pull it free. ”Gross, gross, gross, gross,” she muttered to herself, knowing what vile fluid was inside. |
|
|
|
Post by tor on Oct 27, 2023 13:19:30 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/N7bQM4C/bright~jpg Sparkpaw was playing with her food. Brightpaw watched the other apprentice from a distance, determined to figure out what she was doing in the freshkill pile. There had to be another explanation for the way Sparkpaw picked through the options carefully. Maybe she was hungry, but also picky? Brightpaw didn't think it was smart to be picky in leaf-bare. Plus, she didn't think the elders had eaten yet, and if the elders hadn't eaten, Sparkpaw shouldn't be taking anything first. But... Sparkpaw wasn't eating. She was pulling some carcasses aside. Brightpaw crept a little closer but still didn't understand what her fellow apprentice was doing. Two mice and a rabbit? Even scrawny in leaf-bare, that was still too much prey for a single cat. Again, Brightpaw came back to the thought that Sparkpaw was just playing with her food. Oh - no, that wasn't it. Clearly she was looking for rotten food. Brightpaw felt better with that assumption, until she remembered the pile had been empty the day before, and anything in it now was caught overnight or in the morning. Nothing could be rotten already, especially not with snow on the ground. Reluctantly, only because she wanted to sleuth this out for herself, Brightpaw gave up on guessing and walked over to Sparkpaw, her tail raised in a curious flick. "Sparkpaw - ew!"
The other apprentice was covered in blood. Or at least her paws were, poking their way through the innards of a rabbit. "What are you doing? We don't play with food and we don't play with guts." |
|
|
|
Post by Jaecarys on Nov 21, 2023 16:41:29 GMT -6
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/920197329640902686/1105726211239461014/sparkav~jpg #s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/920197329640902686/1105726211239461014/sparkav~jpg sparkpaw | | I have no friends but I'll be fine, I don't need them to pass the time. And when I put my resting bitch face on, I look stone cold — I'd just rather be alone. |
Sparkpaw carefully pulled the stomach free and dropped it on the ground. Small, but full of nasty bile that ticks hated. StarClan above, she hated this task, hated using it more. First dabbing it on the ticks, pulling the stupid buggars free, then helping groom the stuff out. “Sparkpaw - ew!” Spark’s ear flicked, head picking up to find Brightpaw gawking at the task. “What are you doing? We don’t play with food and we don’t play with guts.” The fire-mottled apprentice rolled her eyes. ”I’m not playing with it,” she said. ”I was told to harvest stomachs. You know. For bile?” She pushed the rabbit aside, to bring to either the elders or the queens later. She pawed a mouse over next, then pushed one over to Brightpaw. ”Here, help me out, then we can leave the nasty crap with Maplefrost. I’ll show you. Split it open like this, see?”At least it would be over faster. She started to split the mouse, much more carefully than with the rabbit. This body was tiny. ”And y’know. Who says we can’t play with our food?” She kept working on the mouse, ear turned toward Brightpaw rather than looking. ”It’s gonna get eaten either way.” |
|
|
|
Post by tor on Nov 24, 2023 16:50:08 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/N7bQM4C/bright~jpg Brightpaw sat back, eyes wide as she readied herself to hear Sparkpaw's defense. She couldn't think of anything that would clarify why Sparkpaw was playing with her food. Was it a MistClan thing? If it was, she didn't know if Sparkpaw should still be doing it, now that she was in PrairieClan... "I was told to harvest stomachs. You know. For bile?"Bile? She, apparently, did not know, but just the thought of collecting bile was enough to make her want to gag. Was that any better than playing with food? Maybe less wasteful. "Do we collect bile?" She said softly, not really expecting an answer, and definitely not expecting Sparkpaw to shove a mouse in front of her. Brightpaw looked at it warily, like the mouse might spring back to life at any moment. "I guess we do collect bile. Someone has to collect bile."
She'd never done this before. Would she get it right? She listened to Sparkpaw explain and watched her start to open her mouse at the belly and felt increasingly confident she wouldn't get it right. Her paws were small but the mouse was even smaller. Surely she would shred it. "The elders say not to play with food. It's disrespectful to the animal." She tilted her head, thinking about how many times she heard an elder say something like that, and then decided she agreed. "So, I think, we should not play with food. Play with moss instead."That seemed reasonable and far less wasteful. Brightpaw hadn't taken her attention away from the mouse, but now, nervous about Sparkpaw's response, she focused extra hard. Her claw moved slowly, splitting the mouse across its belly, until she had an opening to poke through. Ew. "What does the stomach feel like?" |
|
