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Stalking through the dense undergrowth, Zephyr listened closely for any sign of prey. In the quiet of a gentle rain, nothing stirred and the young tom found himself grumbling Inwardly. While the coolness of the gentle rain felt nice, it made hunting and tracking difficult. Letting out a quitting sigh, the wide apprentice padded to a clearing in the forest where a tree had fallen recently and watched the clouds. Already lost in thoughts of future days and what it might be like to be a warrior, the mute tom watched the graying clouds as they went from the darker black that was typical of a storm to the lighter shades of a storm that was ending. Zephyr worried quietly if he could be a warrior. Without a meow, a voice, he could not take any oath be it warrior or medicine cat and the thought of being denied warriorship scared the ginger tom.

As the rain ended, Zephyr wondered what the clan would be doing and if he should report to camp and do his duties. As the only apprentice in the clan, Zeph worked his tail off and he told himself that the elders could go a day without being checked for ticks or having their bedding replaced. It took a moment of inward arguing and funny faces to convince himself that real warriors didn't shirk their duties. With a huff, he thought that he hated those moments where he beat himself in an argument.


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Words: 262
Tags: Open
Notes: my little muty will be a fun doing challenge. Yeay

[vividcolors]

The dirt was soft under her pads, rain streaming down her pelt as the clouds dropped. Slipping through the trees, not particularly doing anything, Genevieve found herself in the Thunder forest. In the nine moons she had been living in Boneclan, she had found little comfort. She enjoyed the clan, of course, but something disturbed her. Was it the eerie silence that surrounded camp and everything around it? She didn't know. She often found herself out in the territory, wandering around in her thoughts. It's like she didn't know what to do. She had no current goals, no competition. Just a territory she called home and cats she called clanmates. But in a way, she was also happy. Whether is was that she had cats that just might care for her wellbeing, or that she was apart of something that one day would be so big, it honestly didn't matter. She was finally at peace.

When the rain came to a slow stop, she glanced at the sky as the clouds were barely clearing and the sun was peeking out. Her thin fur was left dripping, mud sticking to her soft pads. She came to a stop at a clearing with a fallen tree, spotting a familiar figure. Zephyr. Relaxing her tense muscles, she smoothly padded towards the young tom. "Hello, Zephyr." She meowed, pausing nearby him. Her dark blue gaze hovered onto the only apprentice in the clan. She held a large amount of sympathy for him. He was a mute and the only apprentice in Boneclan, who also had very few warriors. Honestly, she wouldn't mind helping him out if it came to it, but it seemed most cats would just leave apprentice duties to apprentices. Leaping onto the log, she sprawled out almost comfortably.

[Deleted]

Zephyr

Zephyr moved quickly to the side to allow his older clan-mate to sprawl out on the log. Brightened by her appearance, the smaller ginger tabby nodded his hello, eyes showing his genuine pleasure to have company. She was one of a few warriors who didn't get frustrated with his inability to speak, and as such Zephyr was always welcoming of Genevieve's company.

I wonder why she's out in the rain. Giving the pretty calico she-cat a look that questioned politely why she had been out in the rain. Of course he knew it really wasn't much of his business, but he enjoyed a conversation despite his inability to speak. Zephyr remembered quietly when he had been a kit and had tried many times to speak only to be disappointed and saddened that he was not like his clan-mates.

Of course, he had quickly gotten over not having a meow, although he had gotten close to making noise once or twice. It was almost amusing to see the cats of other clans, and even rogues, be stunned by his appearance. It was even more fun to silently flirt with she-cats a little.

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Words: 186

Muse: Not bad
Notes: colored italics are his thoughts since he can't talk.

[vividcolors]

Genevieve noticed his look of questioning pretty quickly. However it took her moment to figure out what he probably was asking. "Oh, the camp was real quiet and I needed some fresh air, so I went for a walk." She answered his question. She looked at him for a moment. "We're you... Training? Collecting moss? Hunting?" She guessed. She didn't think that Zephyr would be out here for nothing. She had always been pretty fond of Zephyr. When she first arrived he was one moon old, as far as she knew the only kitten. When they all found out of his inability to speak, she would go in the nursery to visit him. She enjoyed the younger cat's company. He wasn't as... cold, as some of the other cat's in this camp. He was very friendly and warm, and somewhat comforting to be around.

Genevieve layed her head on her paws and layed her tail next to her feet. She closed her eyes, feeling the soft breeze gently blow on her face. Sometimes she felt that she was changing somehow. Maybe it was influence from Anubis or Demosthenes, or was she just rotting like wet metal? It was like darkness were somehow creeping into her, and she did her best to push it away. That was mostly why she went for a walk, actually. She had needed time to think.

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Zephyr

Nodding in understanding as she explained her reason for being out, the ginger tabby apprentice blinked back at her when she paused. Her return question took a moment to answer as Zephyr shook his head at her first few guesses. When she guessed hunting, he nodded and sat up on his hind legs to expose his forepaws. No prey in the rain, not even a sniff. The tom mused inwardly about how no reasonable creature would have been out while it was raining. But then Genevieve and I wouldn't be out. He thought, closing his own eyes to take in the breeze. And I'm sure that Genevieve is reasonable.

Zephyr took a moment to look over Genevieve. The he had heard storied about the pretty she-cat's past, but he had to wonder if they were true. Yes she had a scar, but many warriors had them. The tabby apprentice just couldn't imagine that a cat as kind and fun as Genevieve had been given such a hard start in life by Starclan.

[vividcolors]

Upon seeing the young tom's nod, Genevieve wasn't surprised he was hunting. Even in the rain he often would be doing something. Not the kind to huddle in the den, as far as she knew. She hoped another apprentice came in soon so that he wouldn't have to work so hard- however, working so hard is a great way to show openly how useful he is to the clan even though he didn't have a voice. Finding herself watching him, she turned her head and looked back up at the sky. There wasn't much to say- well, it seemed like it anyway. Sorting through the kind of things she'd already said, she looked for a conversation that was new to start up. "...It's very quiet back in camp. I wonder if it's because of the lack of members or because of the kind of members we already have." She meowed, then added, "Well, besides Marrowfur. She's a big talker."

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Zephyr

Why it was always quiet, huh? The young ginger tom had always thought it was quiet with him around because no cat wanted to deal with him. Now that he saw that Genevieve was having the same problem, he figured it was because of the type of cats they had in the clan. Marrowfur was the only cat who seemed to want to talk, and it made Zephyr huff in amusement at the thought of her never-ending chatter. It almost made him feel normal when she told him stories.

He had not noticed that the older she-cat had been watching him and shrugged, unable to really figure it out either. Perhaps if they had more cats, then there would be more chatter and sharing of tongues in the clan, but he imagined not. Their leader seemed to dislike the rituals of clan life. Ruffling a tuft of fur on his head, Zephyr caught a momentary glimpse of prey and took off after it, returning a few moments later with a damp, but warm mouse in his clutches.

[vividcolors]

Genevieve watched as he dashed after the prey. Once he returned, she gave him a warm smile. "Great catch," She meowed. The tom sure looked very fast and agile, the way he leaped off like that. She wished there were more cats like Zephyr and Marrowfur, but as of now there was not so she would have to make due with the eerie silence. They had a very strong leader who would do very much to lead them away from every clan custom there was. She wouldn't be surprised if he took away sharing tongues. But then, you cant stop your cats from gossiping and sharing news, so that would be ridiculous. She didn't know too much about the other clans and she didn't want to know much, either. So every time he took away another clan custom or changed something, she really didn't mind the change because whatever he changed was usually something the other clans did. "So what do you think about Demosthenes? Do you think it's a good thing that he changes all the customs or no?" She asked just to start up a conversation.

[Deleted]

Zephyr

Standing a little taller from her praise, the golden apprentice buried his kill and jumped back into his original spot on the log. There was a moment of what Zephyr perceived as contented silence before Genevieve spoke up again and her question made him search his head for a moment. Demosthenes was a good leader who was strong, but fair to the cats in his clan. It was odd for so many clan things to be missing, though, as he had spoken with other apprentices at gatherings.

Those cats had called it strange that he did not train with a mentor, or that they did not use the typical rituals of most clans. To Zephyr, though, it was all he knew. With a shrug, the young tom tried to convey his indifference to the changes. He had not known a true clan before Demosthenes like many other cats had, and it did not bother him. What he did hope to experience was the mid-day gossiping ritual that the clan apprentices called sharing tongues. Cats didn't gossip in his clan, they barely spoke at all. You can't speak anyway, Zephyr. he signed at himself.