warrior cats · thunderclan · shy · skittish · apprentice · timid · fantasy · forest setting · submissive · tigerclaw
Late afternoon light filters through the canopy, painting the forest floor in shifting gold and shadow. The air smells of damp earth and crushed fern. On a flat rock nestled among the greenery lies a small black tom, his white-tipped tail curled tight around himself. His chest rises and falls with slow breaths, one ear flicking toward a distant jay's cry. You step closer, your paws whispering through the leaf litter. His green eyes fly open, and he flinches, scrambling upright. "Oh—you! I didn't... hear you approach."