Riley
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Post by Riley on Dec 19, 2022 8:17:52 GMT
Melodypaw struggled to not drag the fish through the ground as she carried it into camp. It was a genuine struggle. The fish was nearly as big as she was! It was the biggest piece of prey she'd ever caught, land prey included. She was so excited to show it to Flare! Let her littermates try to take this achievement away from her. They'd see she was just as good as they were, and Flare would finally treat her with respect instead of just his baby sister he needed to take care of!
Only, when she finally looked around, Flare's distinctive ginger pelt was nowhere to be seen. Actually she didn't see ANY of her brothers' distinctive ginger pelts. Immediately she felt her fur prickle with annoyance. The one time she WANTED the furballs around and none of them were anywhere to be seen.
Who could she share this with then? If there were any elders or queens she'd give it to them, but they didn't. Not unless Violet and Jay tried for a third litter. The thought of not being the baby anymore was weird though so Melodypaw promptly discarded that idea and moved on.
Shellspots was sitting by her den, alone. Weirdly enough she was the only one visible. Were the others in their dens? Was everybody out on patrol? Melodypaw had no idea, but even still, she hesitated to approach. Shellspots was... scary, sometimes. She and Flare tried to keep their disagreements quiet but it was an open secret how often they argued. Everybody saw it but nobody spoke about it.
Maybe this was a chance though? A chance to get on Shellspots's good side so she'd be easier on Flare. With that decided, Melodypaw craned her neck upward a little more and approached her leader with determination in her gait. "Shellspots! Look at this fish I caught!" she mumbled around it, loud enough to be heard. Maybe not clear enough to be understood.
Kaeldra
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Post by Kaeldra on Jan 8, 2023 5:18:28 GMT
Shellspots || she/her || 43 moons It was a quiet day in camp, for once. Many of the warriors had gone out either on patrols, or hunting, or training with the apprentices, and the apprentices that weren’t training were attempting to catch up on their duties. This left Shellspots to sit by her den and stare off into space and think. Not planning which part of camp to restore, not debating where to look for new warriors next, just... thinking about nothing much in particular.
Then she heard a muffled call from the camp entrance that might have been her name, and she looked over to see Melodypaw waddling toward her with the biggest fish Shellspots had ever seen. Apparently she didn’t have to worry about stocking the fresh-kill pile, either.
“Did you catch that, Melodypaw? That’s incredible!” Shellspots purred. She had a feeling Melodypaw might have said as much already, but she hadn’t been able to make out the young she-cat’s words through her mouthful of fish. “This greenleaf certainly has been kind to us,” she remarked, pleased that her Clan was eating well after the hungry moons of leaf-bare.
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Post by Kaeldra on Feb 26, 2023 0:51:41 GMT
Shellspots || she/her || 43 moons Shellspots smiled indulgently as Melodypaw told her about her catch. Though she was older than Heronpaw and Minnowpaw, the tortoiseshell apprentice had always had a bit of a kit-like quality to her personality. While it wasn’t something she particularly wanted to encourage, she appreciated the lighthearted joy Melodypaw brought to the group.
“That was good thinking to check there! Working smarter, not harder, hm?”
Her nose wrinkled as she imagined what the prey would smell like after sitting in the sun until her brothers got back to camp – she wasn’t entirely sure of when that would be, as Flare was the one to organize patrols and training – and she nodded solemnly. It was a shame he wouldn’t get to see her amazing catch, but it wouldn’t do to waste such a promising piece of prey…
The silvery she-cat held back a snort at Melodypaw’s comment on her father, opting instead for a polite laugh. That was true enough; while Jay was the oldest cat in the Clan, she had a feeling she’d have to force him into the elders' den when it came time.
“That’s very kind of you, Melodypaw, thank you. If you’re sure you don’t want to save it until your brothers get back, I’d be honoured to share it with you.”
Shellspots dipped her head politely toward the apprentice. She was glad to see that Melodypaw was doing her best to adhere to Clan values, even if it was made harder by the fact that they weren’t the biggest Clan yet. Despite her misgivings with Flare in recent moons, she was glad to know he was instilling such qualities in their future warriors.
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Riley
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347 Posts
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Post by Riley on Mar 20, 2023 1:44:40 GMT
The praise had Melodypaw's tail lifting in pride. "That's what Jay always said too, when he was teaching me to hunt ages ago!" she mewed. "He used to say that while the easiest way isn't always the BEST way, there was no point in making things harder than they needed to be. And I knew the past couple of days had been hot and that the water level had gone down a bit but there were still pools around so I thought there'd be like little minnows or something. This was a happy coincidence."
Melodypaw ducked her head a little at Shellspots calling her kind, and Melodypaw grinned to herself. "In the interest of honesty... You wouldn't have been my first choice to share with, even excluding my family. If Bayou had been around..." The thought of the pretty she-cat made Melodypaw soften, and she released a sigh that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than moony-eyed.
She snapped out of it after a moment, shaking her head, and nudged the fish toward her leader. "Here, first bite goes to you!" Age before beauty, after all. Melodypaw had enough self preservation though to not say that outloud.
Kaeldra
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Post by Kaeldra on Mar 22, 2023 6:30:55 GMT
Shellspots || she/her || 43 moons Shellspots nodded in agreement; Jay had many little pieces of wisdom, and this was definitely one of them. As nice as it was to make valiant efforts for the best prey, sometimes a little luck and ingenuity were all one needed.
Melodypaw’s blunt honesty that Shellspots wouldn’t have been her first choice caught her off guard, and she couldn’t stop a burst of laughter from escaping. Of course, leave it to the young tortoiseshell to say exactly what was on her mind. She never was one to beat around the bush, was she?
“All the same, I appreciate the gesture,” she assured Melodypaw once she had composed herself. Then the apprentice prodded the fish in her direction, and Shellspots bent her head to take a bite.
The fish was rich and tender, and Shellspots’ whiskers twitched in delight as she chewed. Not only was it large enough to feed several cats, it was delicious to boot. The tabby swiped her tongue around her mouth as she finished the morsel. She let out a pleased purr, and inclined her head to indicate Melodypaw should enjoy some as well.
“So, you and Bayou are getting along well, then?” Shellspots decided to ask, smiling a tad impishly. It was a bit of an understatement; the two seemed to be heads over tails for each other, but Shellspots would play dumb for a bit longer to see how Melodypaw would react.
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Mar 25, 2023 3:21:38 GMT
Melodypaw couldn't say she'd MEANT to make Shellspots laugh, but she couldn't say she regretted it either way. If there was one thing Shellspots and Heronpaw had in common, is was that laughter from either of them was a rare occurrence. Though if she said that to Heronpaw's face he'd probably swat her for comparing them.
Shellspots took a bite from the fish, the pleasure on her face almost making Melodypaw giggle. Imagine enjoying something so much just the taste made you purr! Melodypaw hadn't found a piece of prey that made her react like that yet, and she tried a bite of everything new she was allowed to. So far her favorite fish was carp and her favorite rodent was squirrel, but she hadn't found a favorite bird yet.
Maybe she could ask Bayou out on a hunt specifically for birds. She'd have to ask permission from Flare or Shellspots to take Bayou to the oak forest, to the places her family used to hunt for birds. And if she showed Bayou her favorite spots and where she'd grown up, oh well!
Shellspots broke through her thoughts, and this time Melodypaw did giggle. Even if it was a little sheepishly. She avoided Shellspots' eyes by ducking her head down and taking a small bite of the fish, quickly chewing and swallowing. "We... yeah, we are. She's great, I'm great, we're great together. I mean we aren't like, TOGETHER together, but also like. I wouldn't object if she wanted to be? I've never..."
She swallowed again, even with nothing in her mouth, and looked away. "Before Flare brought us here, the only cats I'd ever known were family. I'd never had friends I didn't share blood with. Now I have Bayou and Heronpaw and Minnowpaw and Canarypaw and Pandora and you and Bluepaw. And Bayou is..." She sighed again, even more dreamily, before glancing at Shellspots in hesitant embarrassment. "You know what I mean?"
Kaeldra
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Post by Kaeldra on Mar 31, 2023 2:08:22 GMT
Shellspots || she/her || 43 moons Shellspots’ eyes sparkled as Melodypaw ducked her head shyly, taking a bite of the fish as if to stall her answer for a few more heartbeats. Ah, young love.
Despite the apprentice’s protestations, Shellspots didn’t think it would be long before the two of them were officially an item. It pleased her to know that her Clan was growing enough for romance to be blossoming; it meant that there were enough paws keeping things afloat and cats were comfortable making this their home. This was why she was working so hard.
Her heart warmed as Melodypaw listed off all of her new friends, the ones not related to her by blood, and was flattered to hear she herself counted among that number. It had taken some time, but the lines between families seemed to finally be eroding.
“I do,” she nodded in understanding. “Family is important, but community is just as much, if not more so. We’re made stronger by being together and supporting one another. And of course, all the better if you can find a special someone to share your life with,” Shellspots added with a knowing smile.
She paused for a moment, considering. Melodypaw was being so open with her, she figured she ought to return the gesture with some candor of her own.
“You know, I found a cat like that too, once. I miss him every day, even though I know leaving to come here was the right decision.”
She wasn’t sure if Melodypaw would know who she was talking about; she had mentioned Comet to Violet some time ago, but somehow she doubted the other queen would have been going around gossiping to her kits about Shellspots’ love life.
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Riley
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347 Posts
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Post by Riley on Jun 4, 2023 19:51:58 GMT
The knowing look in Shellspots' eyes had Melodypaw's ears going warm in sheepish embarrassment. They went flat against her head all on their own, and Melodypaw attempted to cover it up by licking a forepaw and dragging it over her ear.
She doubted it would fool the older she-cat but it was worth a shot, right?
Shellspots surpised her though, opening up in response about her own past romance. Melodypaw eyed her for a moment, pondering how to respond. Flare would make a joke about it, she thinks. Something about 'well yeah, your kits had to come from somewhere!'
But, as much as she loved him, that was the problem with her big brother. He made a joke out of everything because humor and making light of things was his go-to response. He didn’t stop and think if he SHOULD make light of things.
So no, Melodypaw would not joke about Shellspots' past mate. Especially since he hadn’t been around when she started RiverClan and Melodypaw had no idea why. "What was his name?" she asked curiously.
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