This is not going to work out

Rapidpaw by TeachMeToLearn
Ravenwing by sharkbait

Rapidpaw snuggled deeper into his nest, covering his nose with his tail tip. He could hear the rain pattering outside the apprentice den. The sun was up, thin rays of light peeked through the dark grey clouds he could hear the warriors waking up, and most of his den mates had already left for training. The young Tom refused to get up. He wasn't a morning cat, he hadn't slept well, and he didn't particularly like training. Rapidpaw folded his ears back, trying to silence the noise of the waking clan, finding comfort in the familiar darkness.

His bright blue eyes fluttered half lidded, sightlessly looking up at the roof of the den. He sighed with frustration, realizing he wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep until the cats outside quieted down. He thought perhaps if he waited long enough everyone would just forget about him and let the dark Tom sleep. He frowned to nothing in particular and went about grooming his face..

~

Ravenwing awoke to chatter among her clanmates, like they were a flock of sparrows. She sighed, realizing that she'd been assigned an apprentice only days prior and needed to shape herself up. She was certainly surprised; a blind cat mentoring an apprentice wasn't that common. In retrospect, she felt exceptionally humble and honored that she'd been gifted an opportunity. Ravenwing had yet to fully get to know her apprentice, Rapidpaw, but she was fairly certain she'd do the best she could to be his friend and mentor. Rising from her nest after a short wash, the feline padded out into the drizzle. She stuck her head inside the apprentice den, blinking sightlessly. "Rapidpaw, are you awake?" she prompted quietly, picking out his scent. Immediately, she knew he was by the sound of a tongue rasping. "Are you ready for today?" she asked, a grin on her face to exploit her enthusiasm.

~

The blind tom didn't bother glancing in the she-cat's direction as he halted in his grooming. Rapidpaw had been assigned Ravenwing as his mentor, his third thus far, and despite her being the only other blind cat in River clan, he had been surprised to be assigned to her. He was actually older than her, which made him only resent the idea more. "Stomach ache, not feeling it, maybe later." he brushed her off with a flick of his tail, sounding perfectly fine as he went back to grooming his flank. Her enthusiasm irked the tom. He was rather difficult to get along with, especially when anyone who was genuinely wanted to get to know him, tended to get the sharper edge of his sassy remarks.

~

Ravenwing wrinkled her nose at his distaste for the day, and she lashed her tail. "I don't care, get up," she snapped. "And if your stomach hurts that bad, I'll have Wolfsmoke to give you yarrow," Ravenwing wasn't about to have this; she took her duties incredibly seriously. Sass, after all, is what she's best at. "Let's get a move on," she ducked away from the den, growling to herself. "Fish and feathers, you'd think I'd get more respect. Shouldn't he have his name, by now?" she muttered to herself, sitting down.

~

Rapidpaw lashed his tail as he stood with a furious frown. He could hear her muttering to herself and resisted the urge to snap back rather smartly that he didn't need someone's pity to earn his name. Instead, he bumped her shoulder with a sarcastic, "sorry, didn't see you there." remark as he headed towards the entrance to the camp, his tail held high. Rain droplets bounced on his back and slid down his oily dark fur. It seemed most of the older cats had left already, leaving the camp quieter then it was before with just the noises of a few tired apprentices and bouncing kittens with exhausted mothers on their tails.

~

Frowning, Ravenwing smirks. "The joke's on you," she sneers, padding after him. 'StarClan forbid,' she thinks, pelting past her apprentice, pausing to locate direction. She still couldn't figure out why he was still an apprentice, his training has lased far more than six moons. Ravenwing felt he knew quite enough, and now she feels rather insulted that she'd been given a blind and disrespectful cat for her first apprentice. Shaking her head in defeat, she lets out a drawn sigh. "Okay, where ever you'd like to go or do, just lead the way," she mutters, wishing at that time she could see anything.

~

Rapidpaw shrugged, his mood not improved in the slightest. "Whatever." he snapped, turning in the direction of the river and trotted off through the muddy ground, avoiding the protruding willow roots with ease. The over hanging branches helped to shield the too cats from the majority of the rain. With it's banks swollen to exponential sizes, it took no time at all for the trees to open up and the sound of roaring water to ring in his ears.He padded down to the edge of the water, the river swirling around his belly fur as he waded in belly deep.

~

Ravenwing padded closely behind, her whiskers twitching every so often. She was listening closely, noticing Rapidpaw took a leap into the river. Shrugging, she sits on the bank a little ways upward; Ravenwing tilts her head slightly to the rain, listening for what her apprentice might or might not do.

~

Rapidpaw floated out into the river until his paws no longer touched the rocky bottom. He drifted in the current a little further down river where the current was notably weaker and swam across to the other bank where sunning rocks glistened in the rain. His paws kicked up gravel as he stood on the opposite shore. He took a moment to shake the excess water from his pelt and turned his back to the river. His striped ears angled down, listening for the fient sounds of tin feet on stones. The muggy scent of watervole met his nose but the rain muddled it. He frowned to himself, crouching low with his tail out behind him.

~

Ravenwing observed from the other side, listening intently to what Rapidpaw did. She didn't bother to say anything, he obviously knew more than she did. With a sharp inhale, the she-cat moves, heading upstream where her favorite hunting spot thrives. It was close enough in case he needed her and called to her. There, she began to hunt. Or, at least try to. She was far more interested in what he was doing, little did she want to admit it.

~

Rapidpaw held his head low to the ground. To sighted cats, it probably looked like a wonky thunder clan hunting tactic, but that was simply the way he did things. His first mentor had attempted to teach him to fish, but the task had been very difficult for him. Instead, he had picked up handing by the river. He still enjoyed fishing, an he was successful from time to time, but he felt more useful when he could actually bring a decent catch back to the clan.

He gracefully glided forward, all of his working senses focused on the small area around him. The sound of tiny scrabbling feet caught his attention. A plump water vole scrabbled over the smooth, slick stones, too busy foraging for food to notice the grey tabby Tom creeping up behind it.

~

Ravenwing observed him carefully, listening. She could see why he'd be so frustrated; he knew so much and was only blessed with another mentor, a blind one, nonetheless. She continued to listen to him hunt, intrigued at how much more he knew.

~

Rapidpaw inched forward, his heart raced in his ears, almost drowning out the delicate sounds of the water vole scuttling along the wet stones. He placed one paw in front of the other, slowly, focused intently on his every movement. HE did not want to get this one wrong, more than any other time. Rapidpaw wanted to prove himself to his new 'mentor', he wasn't a useless kitten, this young tom could fend for himself.

Every muscle in his back tensed with every movement, his weight shifted to his haunches as he prepared to pounce, this was always the hard part. Rapidpaw had a hard time precisely pinpointing exactly where prey was, and being just a little short, or a little long meant his catch got away. The river clan apprentice shoved these thoughts out of his mind and forced himself to think about now. He let out a silent breath and leaped, clearing the space between him and the prey, he nearly squealed with joy when he felt his paws hit something solid, something wriggling and smelling strongly of water vole. He made quick work of it, silencing it's cries with a swift nip to the back of it's neck.

~

Ravenwing listened carefully, flickering her tail. He had everything pinpointed to exactly what he was doing. She was extremely impressed when he managed to catch it. Ravenwing snorted, turning back to her fishing pond. The feline bent her head, her whiskers brushing the water carefully. Why couldn't she have an apprentice who was so barb-tongued?

~

"You got a problem?" Rapidpaw snapped, placing his catch at his paws. He had heard the she-cat's snort and he didn't appreciate the assumptions that went along with the gesture. He raised his tail above his back, the tip twitching with annoyance. He didn't have time for such things.

~

Ravenwing smirked," Yeah, but it's stuck with me," she snapped back, twitching her tail. "Great catch," she deadpanned, not bothering to lift her head from the shallow pool. She refocused her attention on the pool, listening to the splashes of the fish. One sounded particularly close and she lashed out a paw, swiftly bringing a fish back with it. As it flopped on the muddy earth, she pierced it's gills with her teeth, killing it easily.

~

"Whatever, I don't need this." the tom snapped, turning his back to the she-cat and diving rather loudly into the river. HE swam across, back to the bank Ravenwing fished at. He shook out his pelt, not looking at the she-cat as he took off down the beech. His claws scrapped against stones as he kicked up gravel in his wake. His ears pinned back against the rain. It wasn't long before Ravenwing was out of sight, or would have been if either of them could see. He took shelter under the willow trees rustling in the soft wind. They helped to shield his back from the rain and their semi-sweet scent provided a homely comfort.

~

Ravenwing groaned. "What a kit," she snorted. Running away? That's not how you deal with problems. Ravenwing shrugged, picking up her fish, trotting down the the vole in which he left. She scraped earth over it so he could come back later. Turning, she headed back into the reeds for home with her kill. He could catch up if he wanted. Or not.

~

Rapidpaw was not about to come back to camp after that. His tail lashed angerly behind him as he fumed, stomping around the thin under brush that clung to the edges of the willow trees. A set scowl screwed into his maw though no one was around to see it. He walked for a while, no where in particular, just walking. He needed to get all his frustration out before he went home for the night, otherwise he might actually do something he regretted. His claws dug tiny trails in the mud where he walked. Rapidpaw didn't realize how late it was getting until he paused to listen for a moment, the insects had become louder as the sunlight had become dim. With a sigh, The young tom started back tracking, winding his way back through the willows the way he had come. He may have not been in the best of moods, but if he didn't get back before dark, he was sure to get an earful, more then he was already bound to get. He found himself again by the river and dug up the vole he had caught earlier in the day, trying not to gag from the taste of mud in his mouth. One reason he didn't like burying his prey in the open, but he had just left it and that was what he had to deal with as he started up the hill towards the river clan camp.

~

Ravenwing had made it home what seemed like hours ago, she absentmindedly groomed her fur in the furthest corner of the RiverClan camp, lazily ignoring the cat's questioning tension as they passed her. The black feline was furious, she couldn't understand why he wouldn't just treat her like a normal cat. He didn't have to like her, all he had to do was respect her. Groaning, she sat up and padded over to the fresh-kill pile, picking out a few minnows. She couldn't stomach much, thinking about Rapidpaw kindled a nervous flame in her belly. Settling back into her corner, she ate.

~

Rapidpaw padded into camp, slipping through the new barrier the clan had erected to protect them from the raging river. He didn't seek anyone, instead, skirting the edge of the clearing to his own secluded spot beside the apprentices' den. He didn't bother going to the fresh kill pile, everyone would have already eaten if they had wanted to, so he went about munching on his own catch, trying his best to brush off the dried mud as he did so. The tom hadn't realized how hungry he had been until he started eating.

~

Ravenwing was listening, and heard him come back through the camp. "What a little brat," she growled, resting her head on her paws. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day, she thought sarcastically.