A learning opportunity (Closed)

Swiftpaw was really bored but as everyone else was busy she couldn’t leave camp. She hated being deaf mostly for this reason, everyone saw her as weak and that she couldn’t be out all alone when so much can hurt her. Everyone treated her like a kit and even though the love was amazing the smothering wasn’t. Swiftpaw was laying down in the sun, letting her light and dark brown fur get warm when she noticed Shrikepaw. The other she-cat looked as bored as Swiftpaw was but Swiftpaw couldn’t ask for her friend to come over as she didn’t learn the words yet. She waved her tail in greeting as she tried to call Shrikepaw over.

Shrikepaw was in camp, having finished a hunting patrol earlier. She hated being in camp, mostly because she felt like she had no real friends in SkyClan, and so she was basically just laying by the apprentice den with a grumpier than usual look on her face. Her ears pricked a bit as she noticed Swiftpaw, though. The other she-cat was gesturing for her to come over, and Shrikepaw shrugged before getting to her paws and padding over.

"Er, hey Swiftpaw." She made sure to look at the other apprentice as she spoke so she could read her lips easily.

She rolled over and sat up as Shrikepaw came over. She smiled at her friend before noticing the apprentice looked like she didn’t like being in the camp. Swiftpaw couldn’t have agreed more and than got a good idea. She nodded in greeting before gesturing towards the entrance with her head. “Can’t. Go. Alone. Walk?” she tried to say asking to go on a walk to get away. With Shrikepaw coming with she would be allowed to leave which meant the two apprentice would both get what they wanted.

Shrikepaw was probably the closest with Swiftpaw of all the cats in the Clan, which was sort of sad considering there was somewhat of a language barrier. Still, it seemed like they had similar ideas of how to spend the day, and so the black and white she-cat nodded.

"Sure, let's go!" They should probably have a warrior with them, but well...Shrikepaw would be a warrior before too much longer.

Swiftpaw padded towards the entrance before looking back to make sure she was coming. After she saw Shrikepaw following, the brown she-cat headed out and looked around. She loved the territory but as she wasn’t allowed to go out much it was a great adventure every time she did. “Thanks.” she mewed before going back to exploring.

Shrikepaw waved a paw to signal that it was no big deal. After all, she had definitely wanted out of camp just as badly. She couldn't imagine not being allowed to go explore whenever she wanted...Although technically she was still supposed to have a warrior with her. Not that that always happened, though.

"Which way do you wanna go?" she asked, her ears pricked so she could hear anything approaching. She felt kind of responsible since she had to be the ears for both of them.

She looked around before motioning towards the way to the big tree. She loved the tree but wasn’t allowed to go near it as lots of things hanged around it. She could easily climb trees like the others in her clan but of course no one thought she was able too. Birds and other predators could easily get her in a tree without her realizing so even though she loved to climb, it was a thing that never happened.

Shrikepaw let Swiftpaw lead the way, mostly because she felt more at ease with the ability to keep an eye on the younger apprentice. If anything happened to Swiftpaw, she'd really never hear the end of Breezebranch's nagging, and she didn't want to have any more reason to hear the queen talk than necessary.

Approaching the big tree, she nudged Swiftpaw with her shoulder. "You wanna climb it? I'll race ya to the top." And with that she began to climb.

Swiftpaw had a huge smile on her face and she ran after Shrikepaw and into the tree. She wasn’t as fast as Shrikepaw but at least she was allowed the climb the tree. As Swiftpaw climbed, she thought about everything she knew about Shrikepaw. The older apprentice was loyal to her clan and also didn’t get along with her mother. Shrikepaw also didn’t like lilypaw that much since she didn’t like smoke. So far Swiftpaw noticed Shrikepaw wasn’t really herself around everyone else. She smiled at the thought and kept climbing.


(This is what Swiftpaw thinks, sorry if it’s wrong)

Climbing was one of the few ways that Shrikepaw had to truly feel free. She loved being in the trees in a way that she loved few things. It was one thing that made her feel her connection to SkyClan, with every leap to a higher branch her strong haunches reminded her that she did belong, even if sometimes it felt like every cat in the Clan was against her.

She paused for a moment, glancing back down to see if Swiftpaw was keeping up. Shrikepaw knew that the other apprentice was fully capable, if given the chance, which was something that she didn't see Breezebranch doing very often. Not that Breezebranch gave many cats chances, really.

Swiftpaw smiled at Shrikepaw when she looked back and kept going. SwiftPaw knew she wasn’t going to beat Shrikepaw but at least she was having fun. Swiftpaw loved the wind in her fur as they climbed higher and wished everyone could see that she was really doing something amazing.

Shrikepaw stopped before the top of the tree, just as the branches began getting thinner, too weak to hold their weight. She gestured with her tail for Swiftpaw to also stop, and just looked out at their fantastic view of the territory.

Swiftpaw stopped and looked at the pretty view. She had never gone this high before so was happy that Shrikepaw let her. She smiled up at her friend before starting to climb down. Even though Skyclan cats were known for their jumping skills she didn’t want to risk it.

It was a nice moment. No matter Swiftpaw's mother or her actions, those were not a reflection on the deaf apprentice. Shrikepaw could certainly see herself and Swiftpaw being very good friends. She followed her back down the branches until she was at a safer height and then she dropped from the tree, her strong legs more than capable of catching her.

Swiftpaw climbed down and ended up next to Shrikepaw. She smiled at her friend before getting an idea. She pawed at Shrikepaw trying to get her attention. “Teach. You. Me.” she mewed at Shrikepaw once the apprentice looked at her.

Shrikepaw's ears pricked. "Teach... you?" she questioned. She nodded. Whatever Swiftpaw had in mind, she was interested.

“I. Teach. Then. You. Teach.” she mewed. She wanted Shrikepaw to learn her way of speaking and for Shrikepaw to teach her more words that she could use when speaking.

Shrikepaw nodded, curious as to how this was going to work. "Okay!"

Swiftpaw first smiled at Shrikepaw before licking her nose. “Play.” she mewed after raising her head back up.

Shrikepaw had seen this sign with Swiftpaw and her siblings, but now it made more sense. She playfully batted at Swiftpaw, feeling a little out of place. How long had it been since she had played?

Swiftpaw smiled before pouncing on Shrikepaw. She never played with anyone outside of her family so she was happy to play with her friend. They went back and forth for a bit before Swiftpaw got pinned and gave up.

Managing to pin Swiftpaw, Shrikepaw smirked and touched noses with her. "Pinned ya," she laughed.

Swiftpaw got out from under Shrikepaw and tried the new word. “P-pi-pin-pinned.” she mewed with a big smile.

Shrikepaw purred and nodded. "That's right!" For being deaf, Swiftpaw was pretty good at communicating. That was good. "Do you have any other words for me?"

Swiftpaw thought for a moment. She had been practicing a special new word but she wasn’t sure it was ready. She decided to just go with it. “Sh-shr-Shri-shrike.” she said still not knowing how to say paw yet.