Riley
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Post by Riley on Jul 3, 2022 22:15:16 GMT
Before Flare had joined RiverClan, he'd offered to teach them all how to climb trees better. And he'd kept up that offer even after he joined, teaching whoever wanted to learn. He did keep it to one on one, so he could focus on the individual cat. If something went wrong while concentrating on someone else, he wouldn't be able to help. Today it was Clover's turn. The she-cat had been one of the only adults that wanted help on all of her skills, so she'd been learning alongside yet separately from the apprentices. The sun was on it's downward descent. The apprentices had gone through their training for the day, and now Flare felt comfortable leading the she-cat toward the Beech Copse where he usually gathered the 'paws. Over his shoulder he meowed, "Today is just gonna be a simple lesson. I want to see where your tree climbing skills are."They arrived at the copse, but Flare didn't stop. He approached one of the trees and leaped, climbing toward the first branch. Now he stopped, looking down at Clover. "Jump as high as you can without straining yourself. Dig your front claws in to anchor yourself and use your back legs to get yourself up. Keep your weight close to the trunk, otherwise you'll fall."Kaeldra |
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Post by Kaeldra on Jul 9, 2022 5:16:34 GMT
Clover || she/her || 20 moons
Clover padded contentedly behind Flare as he led her to the Beech Copse for another lesson, having finished with the actual apprentices for the day. The orange tom had been such a help to her since she had joined the Clan, offering to help her brush up her skills on this or that even though she wasn’t an apprentice herself. She appreciated his efforts in teaching her, especially when he already had so much on his plate with helping Shellspots run the Clan.
When she heard it would be a climbing lesson, she waved her tail in excitement. While she enjoyed all of her lessons with Flare, she definitely enjoyed the ones that weren’t fighting more. And what a good skill climbing would be to have! The tabby watched with admiration as he leaped easily onto the trunk of one of the trees, claws sinking in before he pushed himself up to the lowest branch.
“Okay,” she said, suddenly nervous when it was her turn. She had climbed a few times before, but that was a long time ago and she hadn’t had anyone to watch her back then. Looking up with determination at the trunk, tried to pinpoint the best spot to start. Then Clover pushed off with her hind legs, scrabbling as she tried to find a hold. After a panicked heartbeat, she was able to anchor herself and she quickly hauled herself up to sit beside him. “Was that okay?” She asked, slightly out of breath. Hopefully he wouldn’t make her go too high today.
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Riley
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349 Posts
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Post by Riley on Jul 11, 2022 0:33:16 GMT
Flare laid down on his branch, crossing his paws. He could see the look of concentration on Clover's face and grinned to himself. Then she jumped and Flare hid a wince as she showered the ground below her with splinters. But she did it! In a matter of heartbeats Clover was beside him on the branch, slightly panting but her eyes bright. Flare chuckled and nodded. "Well, you got up here, so I'd say it's a good start! Second lesson!" Pause for effect, and Flare's grin shifted to a smirk. "Falling with style."He remembered when Jay first did this, and he hoped Clover thought it was as cool as Flare had. Flare tipped over the side of his branch and hooked his front claws into the bark. With the anchor, instead of falling straight down, Flare's weight brought him around and up. At the height of the arc, Flare released his grip and let himself be flung into the air. After a moment of air time, Flare used his tail to adjust his positioning so his paws hit the trunk of another tree. Then, he fell forward and once again used his tail to position his paws to land lightly on his paws. After a moment, Flare trotted back up to the base of the first tree, the one Clover still stood on. "But we'll work our way up to that " He meowed casually. Like he HADN'T just defied the laws of nature. "For now, after you catch your breath, resume your spot on the trunk. Front paws up, back paws down. Then scooch your way down. It's like backwards running!"Kaeldra |
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Post by Kaeldra on Aug 9, 2022 2:52:31 GMT
Clover || she/her || 20 moons
Clover beamed at Flare’s praise, glad she had managed to do well enough on her first try. She was sure she had a ways to go until she made it look as effortless as he did, but she would make sure to practice lots on her own when she wasn’t helping with the camp.
The orange tom quickly moved on to the second lesson, and she watched intently for his next move. He began sliding down, and Clover’s heart gave a fearful little jolt.
“Oh, no– Flare, do you need–” she began, but it ended in a wail as he swung right off the branch and into the air. She watched in silent horror as he flew through the air, tail working to rotate him, before he collided with another tree and seemingly bounced off it to land easily on the ground. Even though he looked to be just fine, Clover’s heart beat wildly in her chest.
He can’t be expecting me to do that! There’s no way!
She sat trembling on her branch until he trotted back, seemingly taking pity on her and telling her an easier way to get down.
“Okay,” she said, her voice very small, but her feet refused to move. Suddenly she wasn’t sure she could do this at all. After a moment of sitting frozen and staring at the forest floor that abruptly seemed much farther away, she shook her head in dismay. “I think I’m stuck,” she admitted quietly.
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Riley
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349 Posts
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Post by Riley on Aug 10, 2022 5:20:05 GMT
Flare waited. And waited. And waited. And he'd keep waiting, for as long as he needed to, but he was starting to get worried. Clover looked frozen, like the bark had grown over her paws in the few seconds he'd been away from her. Finally her voice drifted down to him, quiet and crackling with nerves. "I think I'm stuck."
It took Flare a moment to comprehend, then understand, her words. Internally, he cursed. Not at Clover, but at himself. He shouldn't have shown off like that. He should have known better. Now he'd scared her, and that was exactly the thing he HADN'T wanted to do.
Slowly, so as not to startle her even farther, Flare climbed the tree again and settled closer to the trunk, making sure his smile was calm and soothing. "Hey, it's okay. Take as long as you need to. We're not in any hurry. We can just talk until you're ready."
He wondered if he should let her choose the topic of conversation. Maybe she'd feel better if she had some control at the moment. But the way she'd reacted, Flare wouldn't be surprised if her mind was just as still as her paws. So he casually asked, "How has RiverClan been treating you? Are you faring well?"
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Post by Kaeldra on Aug 16, 2022 0:38:29 GMT
Clover || she/her || 20 moons
Clover watched with big eyes as Flare made his way back into the tree easily, settling beside her and obviously doing his best not to take her off guard again. She smiled back, appreciative he wasn’t making fun of her for being such a scaredy cat like some might.
“Thanks,” she said softly, a bit embarrassed. Glad for something else to think about, she replied to his question with a happy swish of her tail.
“I love it,” she said honestly. “I know I still have a lot to learn compared to some of you, and I feel more like one of the apprentices sometimes, but it’s so nice being part of a Clan. There’s always someone to talk to, and I never get lonely at night anymore…” Clover sighed, remembering they weren’t even a true Clan yet. Shellspots was still waiting for her sign to become leader, and they needed more cats for sure. How amazing would it be when all the Clans were real?
“I hope the other Clans can exist someday too. Do you think they could? I know you and Shellspots are already super busy just keeping RiverClan running, and we still need more warriors, but maybe once things are more under control…”
While she didn’t necessarily want to change anything about her life, she thought things would be more exciting, more like the old stories if all four Clans existed.
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Riley
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349 Posts
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Post by Riley on Aug 23, 2022 5:29:05 GMT
Flare relaxed as Clover did. He'd made the right call, not pushing her. Some cats needed the push, and some didn't. It was a delicate balance to figure out, and he had a feeling Clover wouldn't react well if he tried to force the issue. He smiled to himself at her answer, glad to hear she wasn't lonely anymore.
He considered himself lucky to have had the family he did before joining the Clan. From his understanding, both because of Jay's stories and the cats he'd met, most loners left their parents and went off on their own much younger. But he hadn't been kicked out. He wasn't sure if it was because his baby siblings had been born before they got around to it and they just forgot to, if they kept him around because they appreciated the help, or if they just loved him that much.
Whatever the reason they kept him around, he'd never felt that crushing loneliness that Clover apparently had, and his heart ached a little for her. Without a thought for how it might sound, he meowed, "Well if you ever do get lonely, come find me. I wouldn't mind hanging out."
He didn't think further on that, instead turning his attention to Clover's second question. He gave it some thought before slowly speaking aloud, giving voice to thoughts as they formed. "If they ever do... It likely won't be in our lifetimes. We're small enough right now that even during leafbare we didn't have many problems hunting for ourselves. Once the Clan gets too big though, all the generations after us and all the loners and rogues and kittypets that will join RiverClan over the years... It likely will only happen after our grandkits have grandkits."
Flare gave a shrug, blinking upwards toward the sky. "Or there could be cats who see what Shellspots is doing and start doing it themselves. Find cats like them that want to join together and live like a Clan. I guess they'd be called a... copy cat." It was a bad no good horrible joke, but Flare grinned over at Clover with a snicker. "Eh? Ehhhh?"
Pls forgive this dumb boy. |
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Post by Kaeldra on Aug 26, 2022 1:58:30 GMT
Clover || she/her || 20 moons
A spot of warmth glowed in Clover’s chest at Flare’s words. Even with how much he had to do, helping Shellspots run the Clan, training the apprentices, hunting to keep them all fed… He was ready to make time for her if she needed the company. She looked down at her paws happily, then saw the expanse of space between her and the ground, and quickly looked back up at his face again before she could make herself anxious.
After a moment of silent thought, Flare went on, answering her question seriously. Her whiskers drooped a bit, but she knew he was probably right. As much as she wanted all the Clans to be real, it wouldn’t happen overnight. She would be lucky if she got to see one other Clan form while she was still alive. Which one would it be? She quietly hoped to herself that it would be ThunderClan. They were the ones in all the stories, the heroes.
Then something Flare said pulled her up short.
Our grandkits? As in, hers and Flare’s?
Her fur grew hot with embarrassment. Surely he hadn’t meant it like that? No, this was Flare. He didn’t see her that way, especially with how much younger she was than him. Not to mention how inexperienced she was. If anything, he probably saw her as one of the apprentices.
She shook her head, trying to clear it of the absurd notion, but now she was suddenly seeing him in a new light. What if she wanted him to see her that way? Then her mind ping-ponged in the other direction, telling her she was only feeling this way because Flare was the next closest to her in age besides Pandora, and unlike Noctus he didn’t have a mate. But any cat would be proud to have Flare as their mate, she thought, with how caring and capable he was. It was a wonder she hadn’t thought of him in this way sooner.
All of this passed through her head in the space of a few heartbeats, and then Flare was speaking again.
”I guess they’d be called a… copy cat.” He grinned over at her, and she stared blankly for a moment until the awful joke registered. She couldn’t hold back her laugh.
“I guess they would,” she agreed with a giggle, deciding to put the confusing matter of her feelings or lack thereof away for now. He was her Clanmate, plain and simple. “There have to be other cats who want to rebuild the Clans, right? I mean, we all exist!” And suddenly her enthusiasm was back. Maybe she’d live to see the return of the Clans after all.
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Oct 29, 2022 6:54:50 GMT
It took a few moments for his awful joke to get through whatever storm was going on in Clover's mind. Flare's grin widened at the giggle she gave out, considering it a win. Clover went back to the conversation, her enthusiasm not dampened a bit by his admittedly pessimistic thought process. "We do indeed!" he agreed easily. "Can you imagine a cat wanting to START a Clan, though? That takes a different kind of ambition and motivation than just joining one."
He waved a paw through the air in the direction of camp, not looking away from his Clanmate at all. "Take Shellspots. Her ambition comes from her mother who got it from her mother. Or so I've been told. So really is it her fulfilling HER wishes or is it her fulfilling her mother's? Without her mother's ambitions you and I wouldn't be here. Or at least not in this exact spot in these exact circumstances. Who knows how the wind would have blown either way?"
Flare thought for a moment before shaking his head, aware of his usual tendency to ramble. He had a point to make. "And even without her mother telling her old stories, look at everything Shellspots has had to do to GET to this point! Even before she started searching for Clanmates she had to leave her home and her mate to have her kits in a place she thought could be a home for them. Then she had to find the camp, clean UP the camp, start recruiting cats, teach the ones that needed it how to hunt and survive, then there's the whole warrior code to think about. It's a lot, and it takes a special kind of cat to do it."
He glanced away from Clover now to look in the same direction, now a small frown on his face. Shellspots had a lot riding on her ability to lead RiverClan, and a lot of expectations. Hopefully some of that pressure would let up now that he was helping, but there were times... Well, even a tree would fall if the wind was powerful enough. Hopefully Flare could help her weather the storm. "My point is. Not every cat is willing to put in the work to start something themselves."
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Post by Kaeldra on Nov 9, 2022 6:49:43 GMT
Clover || she/her || 20 moons
Who knows how the wind would have blown either way?
Clover tried to imagine it, a world in which she hadn’t run into Heronpaw and subsequently been invited to join RiverClan. A world in which she didn’t know Flare, in which RiverClan didn’t exist at all. Her heart gave a painful little squeeze at the idea, and her smile took on a melancholy quality as she sent a silent prayer of thanks up to StarClan. Even if they weren’t real, Clover appreciated that they held enough weight to motivate Shellspots to bring cats together like this.
“That’s true,” the brown tabby admitted, her voice quiet and thoughtful now. “I don’t think I’d ever be able to do something like that, even if I wanted to. No one would join a Clan with a cat like me leading it.” Clover sighed. She wasn’t brave like Shellspots, much as she wanted to be.
Trying to lift herself out of the dark turn her thoughts had taken, she looked back up at Flare.
“I bet you could, though. You’d be a great leader. I’d follow you, that’s for sure.”
Clover’s voice was soft as she admitted this. It was something she would have said regardless, but her recent revelation about her maybe-not-quite-platonic feelings for Flare made it feel more weighty. She wondered if he’d notice the way she shuffled her paws shyly, the way her eyes couldn’t quite meet his.
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Riley
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349 Posts
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Post by Riley on Nov 21, 2022 7:10:54 GMT
He could tell by the softening of her smile that he'd disheartened her. It hadn't been Flare's intention at all, and he mentally searched wildly for a way to cheer her up. The self-deprecating was new, at least from her, and Flare decided he absolutely hated that look on her face.
He'd not known Clover long, but she was always cheerful whenever they spent time together. He vowed silently that he'd try and instill some confidence in her. Then Clover looked back up at him and proceeded to catch him off guard. "I bet you could, though. You'd be a great leader. I'd follow you, that's for sure."
It was rare that Flare found himself without words. Normally he always had a quip prepared, or a retort. His ability to pull a witty one-liner from the air was one of the things he was most proud of. But for all of his skills in good-natured banter, he'd never been able to handle genuine compliments very well.
So Flare ducked his head away from her, very carefully not looking at Clover so she wouldn't see how embarrassed he actually was. "Thanks. That... That means a lot to me. More than you know." He cleared his throat, hoping to move away from the moment. "So! Um. Think you're able to get down now? No fancy tricks this time, I promise, and I'll be with you every step of the way!"
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Post by Kaeldra on Nov 23, 2022 6:31:12 GMT
Clover || she/her || 20 moons
There were a couple heartbeats of silence as Flare processed her words. He uttered a quiet thanks, seemingly unable to meet her eyes as well, and Clover felt her fur prickle hotly with embarrassment.
Why did I say that!
It wasn’t that he had reacted badly, far from it. But she hadn’t expected him to get so bashful about it, and now her heart was pounding right out of her chest.
StarClan bless him, Flare quickly changed the subject. He cleared his throat, prompting her once again to try descending from the branch she was on. Nerves of a different sort flooded through her paws, but she felt now that she had distracted herself for a bit she may be able to do it.
“Yes! I mean, um, I’ll try,” she stammered, eager to keep the focus off her earlier words. Clover lifted herself to her paws, carefully balancing on the thick branch. Reaching out with a tentative paw, she pressed it flat against the tree trunk, as if she were just going to walk down. It slipped easily against the rough bark, her claws doing nothing.
There’s no way that’ll work. I’ll fall flat on my face.
“Um,” she said again, turning back to Flare. “How should I…?”
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Nov 23, 2022 7:09:11 GMT
The way she stuttered and stammered, Flare half expected her to back out again. Especially if she'd only said yes because he'd caught her off guard and it had been instinct. If so, he could relate. Saying 'yes' to anything asked of him was also his first instinct.
To give Clover credit though, she was able to stand up this time, and even approach the trunk! Flare stood as well but didn't immediately follow, simply watching her place her paw on the tree with claws unsheathed. She didn't try to climb down though. Instead Clover's face scrunched in thought, and she glanced over her shoulder to blink at Flare. "Um. How should I..."
Warmth built in Flare's chest. This wasn't the first time he'd assisted somebody important to him down from a tree. When his siblings were only just starting to train, he'd had to help Melodypaw down when she'd gotten stuck. The look Clover gave him was almost the same look Melodypaw had given then.
He gave a reassuring blink and gestured with his forepaw to the tree trunk. "Hop on it like you're going to climb higher, but go backwards instead. Just very carefully." Flare looked for a branch close to theirs and leaped to it, only a little bit above their heads. "Watch!" He padded up to the trunk and hooked his claws onto the bark, one at a time so Clover could see.
It took a bit of maneuvering, a shuffle to the side that probably looked funny from where Clover was watching, but soon Flare was beside her again. Just from a different angle, better to watch how she got her claws into the bark. "See?"
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Post by Kaeldra on Nov 30, 2022 6:19:59 GMT
Clover || she/her || 20 moons
Clover focused hard as Flare hopped to another branch just a little ways away to demonstrate. In the back of her mind, she once again was a bit envious of the way he made it all look so easy. But, she reminded herself, surely he had started off like her too? She had to hope so, that with practice she could become as skilled as him someday.
“Ooh,” the tabby she-cat breathed. Then Flare did a weird little shuffle along the trunk of the tree, and suddenly he was at her side once more. Her eyes were wide with awe, but she nodded. Flare was watching her now, expectant and waiting, and Clover figured it was as good a time as any to get herself out of this tree. She really would like to have her paws on solid ground again.
Unsteadily, she rose on her hind paws, using her front paws to brace herself against the trunk. Then she dug in her claws, much like she had on the way up, and glanced quickly at Flare for reassurance. He gave an encouraging nod, and she smiled thankfully before turning her attention back to the task at paw. This would be the hard part.
With a heave, Clover pulled herself up and found a hold with her hind claws. Very, very slowly, she began picking her way down, moving one paw at a time and making absolutely sure it was secure before lifting the next. After what felt like an eternity and also somehow no time at all, she cautiously extended her left hind leg and jolted with surprise when it hit the grassy forest floor.
Clover let her other paws fall to the ground in turn, letting out a relieved sigh when she was safely situated on the ground. Her nerves were a little frayed, but she beamed at Flare.
“I did it!”
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Riley
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349 Posts
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Post by Riley on Nov 30, 2022 7:06:24 GMT
Oddly Flare found himself rooting for her. He tried not to watch too intensely, figuring Clover would get nervous if she thought he was judging her. Instead he gave an encouraging nod when she glanced at him, and watched as Clover copied him in hooking her claws to the bark. Little by little, bit by bit, she crept downward, and Flare was beside her every pawstep, just like he said he'd be.
Clover was concentrating so hard, she visibly surprised when they hit grass again. Flare let himself drop at once, not bothering to go one at a time like Clover did. He beamed right back at her, her delight fueling his own. "You did! Proud of you, Clover!" He reached out to ruffle the fur on her head, and only considered he probably shouldn't have afterward. Just because he often did it to his little siblings when they did well didn't mean she'd take it just as well.
He didn't say anything about it, hoping to move past the moment of instinctive affection. "Since we took a big step today... pun only MILDLY intended... I'll let you decide what to do. Should we move on to the next lesson, or go back to camp for fresh-kill? Because I don't know about you but I am CRAVING a shrew."
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