Twitchpaw's Assessment

As the first calls of the early morning birds began to flutter through the air, announcing the arrival of a new dawn, the sun broke up in the horizon, bright red rays of sunlight covering the expansive plains that composed FireClan’s gorge.  The camp was already bustling with movement, cats of all ages moving and assembling into groups.  With the limited time to work the cats of FireClan had each day before the heat stroke sun rose high into the sky disabling them from continuing their chores for hours they had to do as much as possible during the mornings, making sure that the later evening patrols could be back home before the unsettling cold of the gorge took over with cats still out on the job.  The petite, ginger figure of the FireClan leader could be seen accompanied by her two toned deputy, the two of them giving orders and responding questions to every cat that approached them, the she cat’s brisk, business like tone making it clear that she considered no task too small and that she expected everything to be in tip top shape throughout the clan’s grounds.  Especially today, seeing as how for the first time in longer than she cared to remember, she would be taking an apprentice out for an assessment, and apprentice who had already failed her first assessment once and had been unable to continue her training with her original mentor due to the plague taking him along with so many of the others who had been lost.

                ”Is everything set, Twopelt?” Kindlestar asked, turning to the tom who currently accompanied her with a serious look, wanting to make sure everything was right in the camp before she headed out with the apprentice.

                ”It is as far as I can see.  I’ll stay back and take help out while you are gone.  That way you can concentrate on your apprentice’s assessment,” Twopelt responded, a gentle smile on his face as he realized why his mate seemed much more tense than usual this morning.

                An embarrassed smile crossed Kindlestar’s features, and she twitched on ear as he spoke, her dark whiskers twitching.  She was used to Twopelt’s ability to read her mind most of the time and his unrivaled need to help out in any way he could, but it always made her feel self-conscious whenever he already had solutions to questions she hadn’t asked yet, making it clear just how much attention to detail he paid to her well-being as well as that of the clan.  Butterflies churned in Kindlestar’s stomach as she felt like nothing more than an apprentice with a crush once more, something she was used should have been used to feeling by now around her mate, yet she had been unable to do so.  Twopelt’s calm, endearing personality clashed so much with hers, she couldn’t help but be both calmed and flustered by his presence and help despite how many moons they had been together now.  StarClan forbid she let him know this, though.

                ”Thanks, fuzzball,” she mewed in response, nuzzling his chin affectionately as she looked up.  ”Hopefully Twitchpaw will be able to control herself this time enough to pass her assessment.  I know she’s ready… she just needs the confidence to do it.”

                Having said this, the leader padded off towards the apprentice den, stifling a purr of amusement as she saw Blackfire and Scorpionpaw throwing daggers at each other while Viperfang and Brightpaw had one of their usual yowling matches first thing in the morning.  She had hoped that giving these two savage cats an apprentice would give them a sense of responsibility bigger than simply shredding intruders to shreds, but so far that seemed to have missed the mark.  The apprentices themselves seemed to have no sense of respect either, and she was partly ashamed to admit that one of them was her daughter, although a glimmer of pride made the shame more tolerable… after all, it took a cat with some serious stones to be yelling so casually at one of the most vicious cats in the clan.  Poking her head inside the apprentice’s den, she quickly spotted who she had been looking for.  In a corner of the den, shivering up a storm, the form of Twitchpaw could be seen, nerves evidently getting the better of her.

                ”Good morning, Twitchpaw!  I’m sorry I couldn’t be down here earlier today, the tardiness is on me,” she mewed with a purr as the apprentice turned a confused gaze towards the leader, hoping to settle her nerves slightly by showing a good mood.  ”Well, now that I’m here, what do you think we tackle this assessment together?  I was thinking that maybe we co-“

                As Kindlestar spoke, Twitchpaw’s gaze turned from confusion to apprehension… and then straight out into panic, her eyes wide and bulging as the fact that it was the leader who would be taking over her assessment this time around making her all but hyperventilate and attempt to claw her way out through the rocky den’s walls.  Kindlestar’s ears flattened as she realized that maybe taking over this assessment had been a mistake.  She had hoped that her presence would calm her; after all, she was a fairly small cat with barely any intimidating features.  Most cats from other clans who had never seen her in a fight usually wondered how such an unimpressive looking cat could command what was known as the most savage of the five clans.  Yet the look on Twitchpaw’s face was the opposite, and Kindlestar couldn’t help but wonder how the apprentice had not begun to froth foam from the mouth with the shivers that were running down her body.

                Oh StarClan…  This is going to be a long day.