archerz

The song of a nightingale awoke him, crying from the very top of a branch that shook in the wake of the light spring breeze. The sun barely squeezed thinly through thick, white clouds that puffed up like white nameless creatures trying to protect themselves from the last touch of winter's cold; this all threatened a soft afternoon sprinkle, but nothing more. For the moment the world look nice. Not wonderful or spectacular, but a fine day all the same. Yet for Mindlesspaw, even the most perfect day ever created couldn't have seemed as brilliant or bright as that morning.

It had been that way for the last week, and that didn't appear to be changing any time soon. He was now an apprentice, this was the period in his life he had been waiting with unbridled anticipation for, and now that it was here it felt wonderful. Training - even in the most mind-numbing things he'd already practiced a hundred times in his anticipated lead-up to his ceremony - was something he met with all the cheer and energy as if it were some great gift or adventure. For him, it was. It was the first step on the path to being something great and admirable. Perhaps a leader or a deputy, perhaps a cat of such merit and skill he would be remembered in Storyteller's tales for generations, or maybe he'd be able to do things that would give him stories to one day make him a respected Storyteller himself. Who knew? Yet he was certain there was something in him that would change the world, it just required hard work and dedication.

Trotting out from his new nest in his apprentice den, he gazed up to the little plain brown bird that had decided to harmonize him awake. With a slightly amused smile slipping across his maw, the black apprentice called up a small greeting to the bird. "Good morning to you too." He half laughed at the ridiculous sentiment of talking to the bird, and yet - and yet the little bird seemed to look down at him with some sort of darker sentiment in its fragile little features, its black beads of eyes glimmering something near somber. With a breath that seem to quiver the entire tiny creature's body, it let out a long note, high and long that seemed as if both in mourning and in warning. With that it took a final look down at the confused apprentice, before taking flight into the distant, cloud shrouded horizon.

Mindlesspaw watched it go with a shrug. Bizarre or not, it was a pretty bird with a pretty song, and a rather delightful way to be woken up to meet a new day. With a small stretch, the apprentice took to looking around camp to see if he could find his mentor, or any other warrior who could be bothered to take him out hunting or teach him a thing or two.