I want a friend! (Sacrifice!)

[Spottednose]

Midnightkit watch the older cats around the camp, from the entrance of the nursery. She sighed. She was so bored! She wished she had a friend, or someone to talk to, or do something with. All she could do was sit at the entrance of the den.

A couple minutes passed, and she was still bored. She began singing softly to herself. She loved to sing, and had a beautiful voice, yet she was afraid to sing in front of other cats. Once the song was over, she continued watching the camp around her. She soon became bored again, and began to sing another song.

[» Sacrifice]

"You have a nice voice."
A voice said. There were no cats around though, so who could it have come from? Suddenly, a grey tom dropped out of the tree, landing with a gentle 'thud' sounds on the soft dirt of the nursery. Shaking the dust from his pelt, the voice belonged to no other then the apprentice Shadowpaw. He had been apprenticed to Silverstar before she had died, and although it had been a while, and he had gotten a new mentor, he was still very unsteady about discussing her, or anything about death and StarClan. Maybe it was because he had seen too much of it in his lifetime. His adopted mother, his adopted siblings, everything had gone bad for the tom, yet he still kept on, day after day, hunting ducks, and doing the best he could with life.

"Shadowpaw."
He said, coughing slightly from the dust, before grinning a lazy smile at her.
"I'm Shadowpaw."
He stated, after he had stopped coughing. Grey eyes looking curiously at her, Shadowpaw, sat down. He had always loved kits, they were so fun to be around. He was, in truth, terrified of warriors, and usually was found around the nursery. All the queens loved him, as he had a sweet nature. Many loved him beyond that, but he didn't know that, nor did he return the feelings.

[Spottednose]

Midnightkit stopped singing, as soon as she herd the voice. If she had been a two-leg, she would have blushed. "I... er... th... Thank you.." She stuttered. "I didn't know anyone was listening.... I don't sing in front of other cats..." She said. "I'm Midnightkit." She said. "I was just singing, because I was bored. I don't have anything to do." She posed, before she continued. "What where you doing up in that tree?" She asked.

[» Sacrifice]

Chuckling slightly, Shadowpaw shook his head.
"Relax. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."
He said it in a way of kindess, not a way of insult, as it would seem from any other cat. He could understand her problem, he couldn't hunt very well if he was being watched all the time. He had needed a looser mentor, someone who would point out faults, but be a friend to him the whole time. He was lucky upon who he had gotten. Silverstar had been wonderful with that, and Zebrastripe, well, that tom was just amazing all on his own. It was even better though because he could feel Shadowpaw's pain, hidden behind a mask. By far, probably the one warrior that Shadowpaw wasn't terrified of.

"Your not the only one who gets bored. Apprenticeship is fun, but there isn't too much to do that doesn't involve working. I was simply enjoying myself."
Grey gaze glancing up at the branch he had been on, Shadowpaw turned his attention swiftly back toward Midnightkit, turning his head to the side slightly.

"You could climb it if you wanted. I'll catch you if you fall; so you'd be safe."
The tom offered, with a shrug.

[Spottednose]

"Thanks," She said, to his first comment. When he referred to her climbing the tree, she remembered once, when her and her brother Soaringkit had suck out of the nursery, to go into the forest. They had climbed up a tree, and both been very good at it, but a bird had knocked her brother off of the limb, when he had poked her egg. He had been fine afterwords though. "I've climbed a tree before. It was fun." She said happily. She walked up to the tree, and climbed up it, stopping, on the branch that Shadowpaw had been on earlier. "You coming?" She asked. She smiled down at the tom. She liked being high up in the tree.

[» Sacrifice]

Raising an eyebrow, Shadowpaw snorted softly, but in good humor.
"You are aware kits aren't suppose to leave camp, correct?"
His voice had gentle humor in it, but also a bit of concern. He, now that he was an apprentice that is, could understand the need for kits to stay inside. There were dangerous out there that kits didn't know about, and if anything had happened to any kits, Shadowpaw would be crushed. He loved kits of all types, even if they didn't like him. Maybe it was their spirit that drew them to him, who really knew these days.

"Of course."
Quick as a flash, the tom was in the tree, scaling it like he had been doing it all his life, until he was just a branch higher up then Midnightkit. Grey eyes twinkling playfully, he was obviously in good spirits. Maybe they would have a race to the top, as long as nobody fell out of the tree again.

[Spottednose]

Midnightkit shrugged at his first comment. She stared up at him with playful eyes. She jumped up to the branch that he was on. "I love climbing trees." She said happily. "What do you want to do now?" She asked. A bird caught her attention, and she watched it fly from one tree to the next, as Shadowpaw replied.

[» Sacrifice]

"I love climbing them; its the falling out that bothers me."
The grey tom said with a shrug. He had no fear of heights; rather, it was a fear of falling, and landing badly. Falling was over in a moment, it was the landing that told you if you lived or died. For the moment though, the branches were thick, stable enough to keep the weight of both cats without any worry about falling. Watching the bird slightly as it flew off, startled by the two cats in the tree, all Shadowpaw had was a shrug.

"Whatever you want to do. I'm open for anything."
So true, he didn't have anything planned today. His mentor was off somewhere, and with al the patrols already out, he felt as though it was just a day of relaxation, and a chance to enjoy himself.

[Spottednose]

Midnightkit shivered as he mentioned falling. She hated the thought of it."It's not falling that scares me... It's the landing." She said. She thought carefully, and tilted her head as she thought. She looked up to the top of the tree, then looked all the way down. She looked at all the branches. They all looked thick, and sturdy. "We could race to the top if you wanted." She shrugged. "That is if your not afraid that you'll loose your footing..." She smiled playfully at the tom. Her eyes twinkled. She had said it playfully, not as a challenge. She had simply meant that it might be fun to climb all the way to the top. She hoped he didn't take it as she meant that she thought she was better than him.

[» Sacrifice]

"I'm in agreement with you there. I've seen, and heard of so many accidents, its amazing I still climb."
The excitmenet had gone out of his tone, replaced with a sober, somewhat grim tone. It was true though; so many accidents came from not falling out of trees, but trying to land the fall. It was rare, but sometimes someone could walk away from a fall, but most of the time, well, there was no real way to consider that without grasping onto the tree for dear life. And that was the last thing he wanted to do, because he would really like to get out of the tree, before the next day. That thought made a small grin flicker onto his grey pelt, and with a determind shake of his head, he turned his attention back to Midnightkit.

"I have fleet feet; no matter the fear of falling."
Shadowpaw said with a grin, quickly leaping away from the kit.

[Spottednose]

Midnightkit laughed as he leaped away from her. She quickly caught up to him, and tried to pass him, but couldn't manage to get passed him. She jumped from limb to limb, climbing up the tree. "This is fun!" She laughed as she continued climbing. He was still in front of her, but just barely. Though he was fast, she was able to keep pace with him, even though she was behind him.

((I hope you don't mind that I put that he was fast...))

[» Sacrifice]

The apprentice was moving slower, but still fast. The branches in this tree, as they climbed higher and higher up, were getting thinner, and was actually starting to worry about falling. For a younger cat, like Midnightkit, the branches could easily support weight. But for the much larger, and muscular Shadowpaw, things were hanging in the balance that could so easily shift. Yet, as he shook his head with laughter, purposly blocking Midnightkit from getting ahead of him, all sense of danger had left the tom, something that probably wouldn't end very well at all. Already, the branches were starting to creak, although one could think that it was only the wind. How wrong they would be.

And then suddenly, it did happen. Right after Shadowpaw leaped from what he thought to be a sturdy branch, Midnightkit a couple branches below, it snapped, plummeting to the ground, leaving Shadowpaw stranded, grey eyes worried as he looked at the gap.
"Stay back! The branchs could be unstable!"
He called to Midnightkit, tone offering room for no argument. He knew how to survive a fall; Midnightkit did not.

Eyes blazing, he spoke in a clam way, irdering the young cat, his intentioms only for her own life, not his.
"Get back on the ground; I can't trust the branches up here. Don't argue with me."

[Spottednose]

Midnightkit had stopped as soon as she saw the branch break. She listened closely to Shadowpaw. She nodded when he told her to go back to the ground. She had, had no intention of arguing with him. She picked her branches carefully, as she started the slow decent out of the tree. She stepped on one branch a little to close to the end. It made a creaking sound, and she carefully made her was closer to the trunk of the tree. She was extra carefully after that to stay closer to the trunk.

Once she reached the last branch of the tree, she turned around, hugging the tree trunk, and crawled down. Once on the ground, she looked up at Shadowpaw. "Are you going to be ok?" She asked. Her green eye's full of worry.

[» Sacrifice]

Stormy eyes watching the kit closely, Shadowpaw breathed a sigh of relief as she managed to get to the ground; now he would be able to focus on his own problem. And what a problem that was; at such a dizzy height, there was no way one could look down to gauge everything when there was such a fear of falling. Determination was something that had always been strong in him though, and ears flattening, Shadowpaw plotted his way down; aware that a mass amount of it was chalked up to fate, and good luck. He would only hope that he did have some luck.

"With any luck, yes."
Shadowpaw called down to the kit, although he wouldn't meet her green eyes. Taking a breath, Shadowpaw seemed to freeze for a moment, before he leaped from his branch. For a moment, it was as though he was suspended in midair, and then, he was falling. Ears pulled all the way back as the wind raced at him, Shadowpaw turned himself, trying to land on the branch. However, luck wasn't with him, and he flew right past it, landing with a 'thud' on the next branch below. For a moment, he just sat there, dazed from his fall. He hurt, probably bruised, but he was alive.

Shakily getting to his feet, Shadowpaw managed to get down the tree, although he was obviously still not sure about everything right now. He had landed pretty hard, after all.

[Spottednose]

"Are you ok?!" Midnightkit asked. "It looked like you hit that first branch really hard..." She said. She looked at him worriedly. She hoped he was alright. "I'm never going to climb trees with anyone again! Each time I climb a tree with someone else, something bad happens." She said. She posed before continuing. "It's my falt... I shouldn't have suggested going to the top of the tree... I should have known the branches got thinner, and couldn't support as much weight." She looked down to the ground. It was all her fault!