Silverpaw and Ravenpaw pad out into SkyClan territory, heading toward a patch of forest where slush chills the forest floor.
"I'm not too good at climbing trees," Ravenpaw mumbles, falling back behind Silverpaw.
"I'll teach you, then," the silver tabby replies, offering her friend a reassuring expression that wasn't quite a smile.
"Featherstar gave me a lesson the other day."
Ravenpaw whistles out a breath, ears pricking alertedly.
"Alright..."
Silverpaw glances around at the forest; rays of sun peek through the clouds, promising some sort of a bright day.
The silver tabby pauses in front of an oak tree with wide, gnarled limbs, perceptively sizing it up before deciding to climb it.
"Watch," she murmurs to Ravenpaw, crouching down and leaping up; she lands gracefully on a lower branch and glances expectantly down at her friend.
"Nice," Ravenpaw chuckles, warily eyeing the tree.
"Are you coming?" Silverpaw prompts, raising a brow.
"Oh! Um- yeah, sure," the black tom mumbles, leaping up and scrabbling up onto the tree limb.
"Good job," Silverpaw mews, swiping a paw over her ear to fix her ruffled fur.
Ravenpaw neglects to acknowledge the praise and glances at his friend.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Growing a bit concerned by the black tom's tone, Silverpaw nods slowly.
"Go ahead."
Ravenpaw hesitates for a moment, letting out a quiet sigh.
"Why don't you smile? Like...ever?"
Sputtering out a breath, Silverpaw coughs a few times before looking Ravenpaw back in the face.
"Well, I-" the silver tabby mews, trailing off into nothingness after a few heartbeats of awkward silence; her fur bristles up.
Ravenpaw tips his head, lavender eyes glimmering deeply with understanding.
"You don't have to answer...I think I get it."
"And what do you get?" Silverpaw retorts, sounding a bit more defensive than necessary.
"This is an observation," muses Ravenpaw, brow furrowing in thought, "-but I remember when my sister's...uh, friend went missing. It tore her up so much that she had just started smiling again when I left to come here."
"So I think that maybe something is causing you to not want to feel anything anymore, so you don't get hurt."
Silverpaw considers this for a moment, feeling her stomach clench.
"Maybe you have a point," the silver tabby mews ambiguously, glancing off into the trees.
"Yeah! Maybe I do," Ravenpaw purrs, seeming pleased with himself.
"Why don't you try smiling?"
Silverpaw tenses again, feeling her grip on the tree bark tighten.
"Come again?" she mews, glancing warily at her friend out of the corner of her eye.
"You heard me," Ravenpaw replies with a bit of facetious exasperation.
"See? Try doing this!"
The black tom grins brightly.
YOU ARE READING
𝚂𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 || 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜 #2
Adventure''The Clans are plagued by darkness, but a seer of truth will bring peace.'' As Wavepaw of RiverClan begins her apprenticeship, the shadows of a scandal that shattered her family push her to uncover the secrets that bind her Clan's past to an uncer...
