A cold Day

[OLIVEBERRY]

Oliveberry opened his mouth checking for the sharp smell of Burdock. He glanced behind him to make sure Nettlepaw was doing the same. He was at the moment but Oliveberry felt sure that he would soon have to put up with his whining about the cold and have to explain yet again why they were out here.  Catching *sent of the plant he dropped the thought of his apprentice and went to dig it up.
(*Couldn't remember how to spell it.)

[NETTLEPAW]

actions. || "speech."

Leaf-bare was awful and Nettlepaw hated every last minute of it. The days were short, the nights long, and the cold endless. If the tom had it his way, he'd never leave the comfort of his nest. The large tabby scowled, tracing his mentor's footsteps along the snow-sodden earth. His ears pinned back, amber hues narrowed against the cold whispering winds. He fluffed up his coat against the wind, though it did little to prevent the bone-chilling cold.

Nettlepaw paused as the scent of burdock flooded his glands, inspecting his mentor as Oliveberry began to dig up the herb. The apprentice lifted a paw, giving his pad a few hasty licks to ease the sting of the frost. Another gust of wind buffered his pelt and this time a low grumble of distaste rumbled in his chest. "Starclan must really be unhappy with us, to punish us as they have." Nettlepaw hissed bitterly as his tail broke into an impatient lash. Whether Starclan had doomed them or not, the clans were suffering. Prey and herbs alike were incredible scarce. They were lucky to have found the burdock, but it'd be even luckier if it'd last them the moon. 

[OLIVEBERRY]

Oliveberry finished digging up the burdock root and sighed softly. There was hardly any here. Behind him he heard Nettlepaw complaining. Again. This time though he couldn't believe what he heard his apprentice say. It was inconceivable. He hissed loudly and whirled around to face his apprentice. "First of all Starclan doesn't hate us and second of all they are NOT punishing us. Why did you even think that horrible thought." He advanced on his apprentice, just to get his point across and then to occupy his mind he asked flicking his tail towards the remaining plant. "What is the use for burdock root?" He knew and he hoped Nettlepaw knew that if he answered rudely, he would punish him.
(Bold: Speak)
(I like your table. Unfortunately you will have to put up with plain text for me as I'm not very experienced with coding.)

[LOST]

actions. || "speech."

Nettlepaw felt a shred of disappointment at the little amount of the herb it turned up. But the disappointment was short lived, as his mentor clearly did not like the tom's statement. The medicine cat whirled around with his hiss, advancing on Nettlepaw. The large tabby tom squared his shoulders toward Oliveberry, the fur along his spine rising. Nettlepaw bared his fangs, refusing to be intimidated by the medicine cat. The apprentice would make a strange medicine cat one day - everything about him screamed to be a warrior. He was massive, with vicious power and a temper to back it up. Push Nettlepaw hard enough and it wouldn't take him much to resort to violence. Some medicine cat he would be.

"Why are they doing this then, huh?!" The large tabby tom snapped back irritably. Nettlepaw didn't dote over Starclan - he refused to. He believed they brought on the misfortunes of the world, he didn't understand how someone could follow them so faithfully, so blindly, and believe that they would fix all the hate. "Oh Starclan will make it better." Nettlepaw didn't believe it.

By the time Oliveberry asked the purpose of the burdock, Nettlepaw was still running on a hot temper. He scoffed at his mentor, whirling around to stalk away. "Figure it out yourself!" The stubborn apprentice snapped viciously, turning his back to the medicine cat. He knew Oliveberry wasn't truly curious about the herb, he was merely testing the apprentice's knowledge - of course, Nettlepaw was too furious to accept that.

ooc: no worries! (:

[OLIVEBERRY]

Oliveberry noticed how Nettlepaw bared his teeth and refused to be intimidated. There was honor in that. but what he said in defense made all his hair stand up. Instead of answering his apprentices impertinent question he gave him something to be thankful for. "Think if you can Nettlepaw, what if you were in Thunderclan or Shadowclan? You would be hungry on top of being cold. And what if you were in Windclan? You would be way colder then you are now." Oliveberry aimed for what his apprentice whined about trying to drive the barb in deep. He felt sorry for those in Windclan. He knew what it felt like to be cold. Cold didn't bother him as much as it could. He had lived through it.

Nettlepaw's answer angered him. When the young cat had the nerve to turn his back to him and stalk away something snapped. Anger poured through him and before he could sort through his thoughts he lunged at Nettlepaw aiming for the soft area at the top of the tail.

[✗ Ottersplash ✗]

The tom arose from his sleep with a sharp pang of cold whistling into his thin, brown fur. A low growl and he should himself back onto his haunches - maybe a walk through the forest would warm him up a bit. Though, he knew he shouldn't complain, they had it the best of all the clans. Shadowclan and Thunderclan were starving and Windclan was freezing out on the open moorland. He had it good, there was no use in whining about it. The tom shoved himself to his paws, not bothering to clean his thin fur that was sticking up in all directions. If he was to groom it, the warmth of his tongue would only make the biting cold worse the second time around. He walked out of the camp, seeing that the medicine cats were out, he figured it would be alright to see if he could catch some fish. 

Ottersplash liked to spend the time by himself. He wasn't interested in talking with others and often would break under the pressure of trying to keep a conversation. However, as he was padding through the forest, the male voices caused him to halt and listen for a few moments. why are they doing this then?! He recognized the voice of Nettlepaw the medicine cats apprentice. Figure it out yourself! He knew the tom had quite a temper on him, but that was none of his business and he continued on through the forest, approaching the creek. However, when he turned his head to see what they were up to, he saw Oliveberry lunge at the young apprentice. His defense for all his clan mates rolled through his veins and long, slender legs pulled him between the two cats, hoping to block off the larger toms attack or take it to his own body instead of Nettlepaw's. "I know he can be a pain, but that is no way to treat an apprentice, let alone a clan mate." The brown tom spoke, which was strange for him, as he never spoke up unless spoken to. But, here he was, his voice hard and strict, teeth bared as though he was going to attack the medicine cat himself. Brown fur that was already matted, stuck up straight, allowing the cold breeze to chill his skin, but he didn't care.

Someone needed to stand up for the apprentice, whether he liked it or not.


ooc. I hope you don't mind me throwing in my timid little otter!

[NETTLEPAW]

actions. || "speech."

His mentor's words fell onto deaf ears - Nettlepaw was already beyond listening. Leave it to Oliveberry to always try and fabricated good in a situation. The apprentice didn't see it the same way. Had you asked him, he'd always been a realist - trying to see the world for what it really way. But it was no secret that Nettlepaw grounded on pessimism more than anything. The large tabby tom had already turned away from his mentor.

The commotion that followed made the tom's heart lurch. He twisted as Oliveberry lunched at him, Nettlepaw felt every muscle in his body coil up and pearly whites bare to greet his mentor. Then Ottersplash was between them - a barricade between two opposing forces like night and day. Nettlepaw was already bristling, glaring into the pelt of Ottersplash as though he could splay his enemy on the other side. His ears were pinned back, fore claws digging into the snow and frozen earth underneath. Ottersplash spoke - it should have been soothing, but it wasn't. He was sticking up for the medicine cat apprentice, though Nettlepaw would never see it that way.

The apprentice's tail lashed furiously and a snarl rumbled in his chest. "I don't need your help!" The stubborn apprentice hissed at the warrior. Then amber eyes shifted back to his mentor and menace returned to his expression. "I would have managed just fine."

[OLIVEBERRY]

As he lunged towards Nettlepaw his mind started to work again. He realized what he was doing and tried to stop but his paws slipped on the rough ground. Thankfully Ottersplash stepped between them just in time. "Thank Starclan" He whispered. When Ottersplash spoke it was with a scolding tone a Oliveberry hung his head. Submitting to the older cat. "I'm sorry Ottersplash, I don't know what I was thinking." The truth was anger made him lose his mind. He was about to tell Nettlepaw he was sorry when the apprentice spoke up and what he said chilled Oliveberry to his very bones.

Oliveberry very nearly lost his mind again but when he looked at the apprentice all he could feel was that he was sorry. "Nettlepaw really I'm sorry, I just lost myself." He hoped that Ottersplash would stay between them. It wasn't that he was afraid of Nettlepaw it was that he was afraid of himself. He was afraid of what he would do to Nettlepaw if left alone with him.

(ooc: It's Quite alright, quite alright, Oliveberry is forever grateful to Otter.)

[✗ Ottersplash ✗]

Ottersplash was to that age where he knew that Nettlepaw was going to be a little rat about how the brown tom had broke up the fight. Oliveberry dipped his head to him and the brown tom gave him a lick on the ear, both forgiveness and also told him that he had no reason to submit. And it was true. Though Oliveberry was a young, young medicine cat, he was still a higher rank than Ottersplash, which meant the respect from come from him. Now, it was his turn to scold the apprentice. If Oliveberry couldn't do it in a not so vicious way, Ottersplash would be more than willing. He turned to the brown apprentice, teeth bared and dark eyes turned in an angry expression. His fur was bristled - he looked pretty intimidating. It wasn't the long legs, but the toned muscles, dark eyes, and unnaturally sharp teeth, he was a force to be reckoned with. "We are clan mates. We help each other whether one wants that help or not. You need to learn to watch your tongue and have a little respect or you won't be able to hold your position much longer." It was a strong threat, but it had purpose.

A medicine cat was supposed to heal, and though they weren't required to have a clean attitude, it was obvious that a nasty medicine cat who couldn't follow orders wouldn't be able to hold a position so high for long. The brown warrior's tail lashed and he aimed and swatted the medicine cat apprentice hard on the top of the head, though his claws were sheathed, it as still a bit of a hard blow. He growled once more, his eyes dark, still threatening as he turned and stepped out from between the two, allowing Oliveberry to step in and apologize to the his apprentice for his motives. Ottersplash wasn't that old, hardly breaking 24 moons, but he knew the difference from what was needed and what was out of bounds. His tail still swung hard from side to side, but he stayed about 3 tail lengths from the medicine cats, allowing them to get back to whatever it was they were doing while Ottersplash stood off, making sure all was at "peace."

Tags: NETTLEPAW OLIVEBERRY