I didn't want to go anyway...

[Heathclaw]

"Ha, ha, ha!" replied Shadepaw gleefully, bouncing around a bit on the tips of his paws. Everything felt right again, in a way that it hadn't since their pre-apprentice days- not counting the little adventure that had gotten them barred from the gathering in the first place. "I gotcha, I gotcha, I gotcha gotcha gotcha!" cheered the stringier cat, dancing around his brother, and then darting upwards to lightly bat at his brothers face. "Hahaha! I guess Whitestar didn't teach you everything after all!"

Oops.

The problem with Shadepaw was that when he got excited, his brain tended to disengage from his mouth. It hadn't been a big problem before, but then again, he'd never had to put a leash on his thoughts before, either. He fumbled around for a change of subject, fur fluffing out in embarrassment, and then latched on to one. "Aheh... So! What should we do, now that we have the whole camp to ourselves? I know! Let's race! I bet I can get to all the dens and back here before you do!" And with that he darted off, making for the leader's den.

[ivyy]

[/i] gathering this evening. Thornpaw had of course blamed Shadepaw for enticing him into sneaking out of camp; but now that he’d been served his tail on a platter he didn’t feel any anger towards his brother. ”I gotcha, I gotcha, I gotcha gotcha gotcha” the dark pelted apprentice sang at Thornpaw, prancing and dancing before swiping out playfully. Hahaha! I guess Whitestar didn’t teach your everything after all!”

This made the beefier brother’s ears perk, his hazel eyes flicking towards his brother in doubt.

His brother didn’t honestly think Whitestar taught him everything, right? Thornpaw sincerely hoped not… Really, that would explain some of Shadepaw’s strange behavior lately-Thornpaw’s train of thought was broken as his brother blurted out a second challenge and darted off. Deciding to abandon the interesting thoughts his brother’s slip up had provoked until later, the apprentice sped after his brother towards the leader’s den. He had nearly caught up with his brother when he realized he had no chance of stopping in time to avoid collision with Shadepaw. So, in a split second decision, Thornpaw leapt up onto the ledge that allowed access to the leader’s den, and went tumbling in with a yowl. [/justify][/ul]

[Heathclaw]

Shadepaw used the time darting towards the Leader's den to quickly think about the words that had just escaped his mouth. Did he really believe that Whitestar taught Thornpaw everything? No. But Whitestar was ThunderClan's leader. Any training that Thornpaw got would be far better than anything he, Shadepaw, could receive. And wasn't it true that the leader's apprentice usually became the next deputy? The last thing Shadepaw wanted was to be left behind, chasing after his brother's footsteps. Together. Always.

"Come on, ya big doof! Can't catch me!" teased Shadepaw, turning around to catch his brother's progress- and flinching towards the ground at the prospect of a sudden head-on collision. Fortunately, Thornpaw's reflexes were better off this time- his brother leapt right over him... and tumbled straight into the leader's den by accident.

Shadepaw breathed a sigh of relief- colliding with a cat the size of his brother would not be fun- and then ran into the den after him. "You big dummyhead!" Shadepaw teased, bumping noses with his brother. "Thanks." He turned around towards the exit, and then realized that they had just been given a rare opportunity: they were alone in the leader's den! Shadepaw's fur tingled with excitement- they'd be in so much trouble if they were caught, but the only people who cared were at a gathering far, far away!

"Hey, Thornpaw! Forget the contest for a bit... check this place out! So... this is where Whitestar hangs out all day, huh? Looks pretty boring, dontcha think?"