there i go, turn the page
|
Post by bones on Nov 23, 2023 18:52:51 GMT -6
#s://i~postimg~cc/t4DTqCK3/lichenflight-POSTINGIMG~png #s://i~postimg~cc/t4DTqCK3/lichenflight-POSTINGIMG~png | lichenflight, and if you lack the strength of your own...
honey, hold out your hands, and take it from an old man
[teaching time!] |
It's quiet, save for the sounds of paws on packed snow covered in a thin layer of ice; and even that, is muffled by the usual mist the hovers about in the air. "Birchpa'." The gentle call becomes a warm, coiling breathe of fog as she pauses to peer back, lopsided grin tugging as her muzzle, "Stay cloos - don' wanna loose ya."Lichenflight means it mostly in a teasing manner - after a little over fourteen moons of training the silver bicolor, she knew the youngster couldn't really get lost out here - and it shows in the inflection of her tone, but she winks her good eye just in case. (Though, according to Snailpaw as well as her late nephew, it's hard to tell when she's winking, given the old weaver only has the one eye available... but that's never stopped her before and certainly won't keep the cheeky bicolor from doing it until she's put in the ground.) Part of her wishes she could have brought Alderbranch along - seeing as she was helping him here and there with his transition from warrior to weaver - but shrugs of the thought off with the sentiment of giving Birchpaw the proper one-on-one attention the younger molly deserves. She waits for her apprentice to catch up, beaming at her and flickering her white-tipped tail gently past Birchpaw's long whiskers to playfully tap the other molly's nose. She'll miss going out like this when the apprentice earns herself as true name in a moon or two, but for now Lichenflight'll focus on enjoying the fact she is getting to dote on and teach another member of the next generation of Mistclan cats. "We've go' a new layir o'ice a-bout." She comments unsheathing her claws to tap faintly on the untouched ground in front of her white paws - it tings, briefly, before giving under the miniscule pressure, but that's all the proof needed. "Must've grown overnigh'..."She gives her apprnetice half a moment to let that sink in, before going on: "Need t'be extra careful wit' trees righ' now; can y'tell meh why?" |
|
|
|
Post by shy on Nov 23, 2023 20:32:47 GMT -6
#s://i~pinimg~com/564x/20/47/f6/2047f68163bdded29c2852e07df23c08~jpg birchpaw, It was cold. Too cold. Birchpaw padded after her mentor, but was largely focused on watching the snow crumble under her paws. Snow hadn't entirely lose its charm yet, and the thin layer of ice on top was fun to break. It didn't take much before it shattered. An unwelcome though entered her mind, she wondered if the river had frozen, if ice covered its banks. Her paw once more broke through the ice, and for a heartbeat it felt like water, not snow, on the other side of that thin layer. Lichenflight's voice broke her out of the trance, brought her back to the present. She hurried, hoping through the snow until she was closer. It felt colder now. " Sorry, got a little distracted." Her heart raced, though not from the effort spent catching up. She tried to ease her thoughts back to training, back to work. It wouldn't be long before she'd be a full-fledged weaver. Birchpaw needed to be ready. " Yeah, it's... pretty." The ice had lost some of its charm, at least the stuff on the ground, but the ice clinging to the trees was a different story. " We need to be careful since it'll be hard to climb, the bark might have ice and will be slippery." That was right, right? |
|
there i go, turn the page
|
Post by bones on Nov 28, 2023 19:42:18 GMT -6
#s://i~postimg~cc/t4DTqCK3/lichenflight-POSTINGIMG~png #s://i~postimg~cc/t4DTqCK3/lichenflight-POSTINGIMG~png | lichenflight, and if you lack the strength of your own...
honey, hold out your hands, and take it from an old man |
She nodded along with the sentiment - ice was pretty; one of the few silver linings to the season... "Ah thin' ya'd've liked mah ma." The older bicolor muses with a chuckle, gently leaning into her apprentice; as soon as their shoulders solidly bumped, she was snapping back up straight and starting off again: "She luved t'Leaf-Ba'e moons - always ha' somet'in' nice t'say 'bout icicles hangin' fro' t'tree limbs 'n' sno' on t'ground..."Her father had always made a point to take her mother for walks out in the forest in Leaf-Bare, even when they had kits. She vaguely recalls Ma bashfully retelling how she always liked Whitenose's thick, longhaired pelt, because it reminded her of freshly fallen snow. She'd been, unsurprisingly, equally overjoyed when all her kits had some form of white on their coat too... Circling a large tree trunk, Lichenflight beckoned the silver tabby molly onward, deeper into the forest. She didn't really speak much further than that, just pausing every couple of tail-lengths to make sure Birchpaw was keeping up. The snow only got deeper as they moved further north... Then, finally, the half-blind weaver came to a stop and shuffled a bit to her left. "But yer right - gotta be careful climbin' today." Reaching out white paws, the molly dug a bit and then swept a mass of snow aside, revealing a tiny sapling: "Ice can kill lil trees like this too, s'we weavehs need t'keep a eye out an' try t'help the ones we can...""Yer also nah safe dow' here either, though." She winked, crouching down and dragging her good eye up exageratingly slow: "Ice 'n' snow adds weigh' t'limbs, 'lready frail 'n' weak this late in t'season: makes 'em more likely t'snap too." |
|
|
|
Post by shy on Dec 2, 2023 20:43:55 GMT -6
#s://i~pinimg~com/564x/20/47/f6/2047f68163bdded29c2852e07df23c08~jpg birchpaw, " It is pretty." Birchpaw stared up at the trees as she walked alongside Lichenflight. She tried to imagine what her mentor's mother must've been like. It was odd to be reminded that cats long past had walked these paths and stared up at icicles along the same trees and admired their beauty. Silence fell between them, with only the muffled sound of paws on snow to keep them company. It was a nice sound. Eventually Lichenflight stopped, and Birchpaw circled closer to get a good look. Her mentor unveiled a sapling buried in the snow. How many trees like this got buried in leaf-bare? " Mhmm... I'll keep watch for others." While it was small now, one day this sapling would be the shade that protects her clan's backs from the sun and snow, and shelters their prey. That was one of the best parts of weaving, knowing how important it would be for those here long after she was gone. Birchpaw turned her eyes to the branches above as Lichenflight pointed out the danger they held. It was easy to imagine how horrible a fate was in store for any cat unlucky enough to be below a branch broken by the weight of the snow. She shivered, thankful that leaf-bare would be over soon. " Should we trim weak branches before they fall if we notice them? Or is it too hard to tell?" Birchpaw had been training for many moons snow, but it was her first time experiencing the season as an apprentice. Last leaf-bare she'd been but a kit in the nursery. " Or is it too dangerous to try?" |
|
there i go, turn the page
|
Post by bones on Dec 21, 2023 16:31:16 GMT -6
#s://i~postimg~cc/t4DTqCK3/lichenflight-POSTINGIMG~png | lichenflight, and if you lack the strength of your own...
honey, hold out your hands, and take it from an old man |
She intones calmly at Birchpaw's comment, straightening back up with a slight stiffness, "Like t'is one - far too small, far too young t'put much effo't in now; plenty o' otheh half-buried saplin's 'boot worth t'time. Weh'll make rounds lookin' fer 'em lateh..."Stepping over the tiny sapling with care, the older molly presses in to the apprentice's size casually, gaze following her own back up. A good question... "If'n tha'un's still 'ere ina half moon, though, tha'll be a differen' story." Her gaze dances down the tree trunk, then over to the sapling and all the way back up to the barren canopy. "Ah think ah'll leave it'na yer care, Birchpa' - check on it, make y'own decision, 'n' do what ya wan' fer'm there." The branches overhead look thick enough for her tastes; nodding to herself, the old molly does a quick trek about the circumference of the trunk first and then rises up onto her back paws. Her claws dig into the bark as she rests her front paws against the cold wood, but she doesn't immediately jump to start climbing. "Both." She finally answers, making sure to give the younger molly a proud grin: "Unless t'branches ahlready hangin' 'n' danglin', ya can neveh tell fer sure whose broken or no' 'n' testin' each 'n' every branch is a fool's errand - besides a risk o' fallin' yaself, y'could break of' perfectly good branches ina process, which'll hurt th'tree in t'long run."Flexing her claws, she gestures with a tail sweep for Birchpaw to move back: "Wha' weh can do, though, is go up 'n' knock ou' th'branches ahlready hangin' - controls t'damage 'n' risk, good fer t'trees too. Ah'll let ya watch meh firs'... Jus' keep ya distance."She rocks from side to side on her hind legs, tail swaying, then burst upwards; her other set of claws dig in and then she is making her way up the trunk - her progress is not as fast as some younger cats, but there's a fluidness in how she winds her way higher and higher into the branches that speaks of moons of muscle memory. Finally, she pauses on a thick branch and peers around purposefully. |
|
|
|
Post by shy on Dec 27, 2023 16:41:33 GMT -6
#s://i~pinimg~com/564x/20/47/f6/2047f68163bdded29c2852e07df23c08~jpg birchpaw, Birchpaw stared sadly at the small sapling as her mentor spoke. We cannot have them all. She knew that. More than most, she understood that. Life can be cruel. But it still stung to imagine this little sapling, and so many others, not making it to newleaf through no fault of its own. Too small. Too weak. Maybe it sprouted too late. Lichenflight was right, as always, there were other saplings worth the effort. But still, when she said the sapling was in Birchpaw's care now, her heart filled with determination. She would save this sapling. " Alright. I'll do what I can." She gazed lovingly down at it, wondering if Aspenrain would have any advice to help. Then her eyes followed her mentor's gaze, up to the branches above them. She made sure to stay clear as Lichenflight skillfully climbed. Her words echoed in Birchpaw's mind, controlling damage. Taking out the branches that were already clearly broken and hanging. It made sense. " Be careful!" She called as she watched. Even though Lichenflight was an expert in the truest sense of the word, there was no escape from the thought of watching the older she-cat get hurt trying to teach her. She'd already lost one mentor, and even after all these moons she feared losing Lichenflight as well. |
|
there i go, turn the page
|
Post by bones on Mar 2, 2024 12:14:07 GMT -6
#s://i~postimg~cc/t4DTqCK3/lichenflight-POSTINGIMG~png lichenflight, | | she-cat/molly (she/her)
mistclan
weaver |
The barren oak was a younger sort, not quite as towering as it's fellows; the higher she climbed, pushing upwards with her back legs and therefore only loosing sinking her front claws in order to maintain a smooth squirrel like movement, the more she was pleased to see its youth made for a healthy canopy. Even if that meant it was not a great tree to teach on, it was reassuring that the next generation of tree were doing well. Finally, she came to perch on a sturdy upper branch and peered down at Birchpaw a ways below. She flashed her white tail tip down to her apprentice, touched at the youngsters concern but trying to keep the silver tabby's attention in the right place. "Don' rush climbin' a tree, take time t'give 'em a look o'er." Her voice didn't echo as it should have in a barren forest, muffled partially by the mist the persisted to hang over the woods; "This 'un's rath'r well t'do, bu' ah'll give i'nother looksie..."She twisted in place, peeking about the trunk as best as was safe, then up and down. Ah, yes: further up, a dangling half of a branch. Taking a moment to flex her claws and shift on her white paws, she called over her shoulder: "'Ere's th'only 'un ah can see - it's han'in' a bit o'bark, see, so tha's ho' ah kno'."Then she was off again; in the barrenness of the branches, it was easy to trek how she moved around the trunk in a spiraling ascent, not rushing as she went. Still, moons upon moons upon moons of muscle memory carried her up faster than most, knowing where to sink her claws in deeper to the bark for better holds and able to spot loose patches to avoid. |
|
|
|
Post by shy on Apr 3, 2024 14:58:04 GMT -6
#s://i~pinimg~com/564x/20/47/f6/2047f68163bdded29c2852e07df23c08~jpg birchpaw, Birchpaw watched her mentor work, fighting the rising fear in her throat. Even though logically she knew her mentor had climbed these trees countless times in the worst of weather, the irrational fear persisted. She'd be fine. And she was, safely climbing the oak. Her voice cut through the apprentice's fear, as the urge to listen and learn helped keep it at bay. Lichenflight was more than fine, she was in her element up in the tree. Alert, aware, able to keep Birchpaw's education and safety in the treacherous environment in mind without compromising either. " Good catch! I'll keep an eye out for branches like that." She wanted her mentor to know she was listening, taking mental notes, learning how to stay safe in the coldest moons. |
|
