Xeno X Cooper RP

<sub><b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Lounging about the dry scape of the well-trodden land that marked the earth as the tribe's camp, Xeno stretched her legs outward and sent her toes straight into the side of some unlucky cat's ribs. The groggy, once slumbering she-cat paid this obstruction no heed, however, as she slowly ventured into the realm of the wakened mind, urging herself to get up and greet the new day. Slowly, shakily, Xeno got to her paws and arched her thin back in a high stretch, holding the pose until the satisfying pop of her bones signaled that the deed had been done. Releasing, she relaxed into her paws and gave a hearty breath of relief. She had woken up refreshed. No longer did her feet hurt beyond the dull ache of toes needing cracking, nor did she really wish to linger in her chosen spot of sleeping. In fact, the faint cursed and sleepy mutters of the cat she formerly kicked rather drove her to leave the general are rather quickly.

Making her way towards the edge of the camp, which hardly seemed like much of a camp at all in her eyes...err eye,she felt her stomach gurgle with a hungry churning and instantly, she felt her will quickly deflate. She had forgotten to eat the night before. As a young, strong member of the tribe, she was only of the last in the ranks to eat- which she could put up with. However, if she feels too tired and simply skips her daily meal to head to bed earlier, what gives her the right to a meal in the morning? Nothing. She'd simply have to wait till later in the day to eat. Or, one would guess she could pick something up in the woods during the day, so long as she brought back to the camp twice as much as she put into her belly. Xeno could live with that. But, the idea of potential battle training on an empty stomach made her feel all the less motivated to move any further. As she contemplated her predicament, pacing along the edge of the camp's exit, the she-cat had forgotten of the plans to train with another member of her scholarly rank.</blockquote></sub>

<sub><b>[ Cooper || White/Blue-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>A strong smell of sickness and domination flooded Cooper's senses, completely disorienting him and reducing his brain to a sending single signal: Run.
This dead, ashen forest was definitely not familiar at all to Cooper, it didn't even seem like it would be in any part of Nandryx.
It was still coming? The large, bulky black creature had been chasing Cooper for an eternity, it seemed! At least it was smart, it knew Cooper would eventually give into fear, collapse and display himself as prey for the beast. The Siamese scholar had burned out all of his energy, and fell onto his side.
<b>"Hello?! Is anyone there? Help me, please!"</b> he pleaded, practically staring straight into the endless eyes of death.
The beast roared, spraying Cooper with a black, tar-like substance, and shaking the small scholar. Raising a mighty clawed paw, the creature licked its lips, eagerly awaiting to shred Cooper apart.
<b>"Earth Spirit, save me!"</b>

Bolting stiffly upright, Cooper unsheathed his claws and ripped small cracks into the dry earth. Desperately trying to calm himself and regulate his heavy breathing, Cooper gently laid his head on his paws, and gazed around with bleary eyes.
<i>It was..... a dream? It seems I am back with my tribemates, but it felt so real.... What is wrong with me?</i> he thought, slapping a paw to his face.
<b>"Will you quiet down over there?! Ugh, Spirits, you're always making so much racket!"</b> a cat called from afar, hissing.
<b>"S-Sorry!"</b> Cooper stuttered back, confused.
<i>Why did that happen? What... Ah, I need to eat. That'll clear my mind.</i>
Stretching himself out, a sharp pain stung from Cooper's right paw. A hiss quickly escaped from his mouth, too quickly however, and Cooper bit his tongue as well. Puffing out his cheeks, Cooper first examined his burning paw. It had still been in the ground from when he awoke, terrified and confused from his nightmare. Cooper saw that when he had tried to stretch himself out, his claw had gotten stuck, and he had pulled on it a bit.
<i>Earth Spirit, could I go a single day without injuring myself?</i>
Carefully sheathing his claws, Cooper finally got to his paws, and headed to the fresh kill pile. Lashing his tail and ears, he inspected the pile of prey, looking for the best one to eat. Choosing a plump sparrow from the pile, Cooper lowered himself to the ground and started at his breakfast. Quickly scanning the area, he noticed a black she-cat coming towards him. Wolfing down a few bites, Cooper lashed his tail even harder.
<b>"H-Hello there! You're Xeno, right?"</b></blockquote></sub>

<sub><b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Xeno threw her head backwards to look over her shoulder at Cooper, flinching at his words. As she watch him approach her, she turned around to face him, offering the Siamese a small nod. <b>Err...yeah. You're Hewitt. We're supposed to go tr-"</b> She frowned, wrinkling her nose at his scent. Her jaw then dropped. <b>"You....already ate? But I thought-"</b> Xeno's belly rumbled angrily in protest. Copper had eaten this morning, even when it was against the rules? She had known the older cat to be a bit skittish, so many he had a special condition? Or did it just slip his mind? Nevertheless, Xeno grimaced and sighed.

<b>"Well, I suppose we should be going. Any idea of where you want to to train?"</b> Her lone eye seemed to burn a hole into Cooper as she glared in his direction, her eye glowing a bitter green.</blockquote></sub>

_{<b>[ Cooper || White/Blue-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Cooper tried his hardest to hold back hissing, his tongue still hurt, and was probably bleeding. He had to be as normal as possible here; this was an apprentice, and they have to go through the same training Cooper underwent to become a scholar.
<b>"That's actually my kit name, but it's alright. A-Address me however you wish to."</b> Cooper meowed, smiling awkwardly. He flinched at Xeno's words; it had indeed slipped his mind. His nightmare had him completely engulfed this morning.
<b>"I-I'm sorry! Something was chasing me to no end, I awoke petrified and with a bitten tongue and a pulled claw and I just...."</b> Cooper's blue eyes paled. He was no longer looking at Xeno now, her green eye was burning a hole through his fur.
<b>"W-Wherever you would like to go, Xeno."</b> he stuttered, flicking his ears.</blockquote>}

<sub><b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>A snort sounded aloud as Xeno turned way, leaving her back to face Cooper. She had to suppress a growl at his timidity and stuttering words. And hearing 'that' name fall from his lips once more made the black cat's fur skin prickle.

<b>"Fine. If we're just going to be training, then we can do it outside of camp. No need to wander off too far."</b> Xeno's words were tart and taut as she began to stalk away from the Siamese cat, her silky tail lashing in annoyance. Her ears flicked, and claws grazed the earthen floor as she padded away, seething in her own silence. Her hungry, annoyed, brooding silence.</blockquote></sub>

_{<b>[ Cooper || White/Blue-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Flinching at Xeno's words, Cooper lowered his head in shame, and put a paw to his face. <i>Really, this again? Try harder.</i>
He set his gaze to the black she-cat once again, though he couldn't keep it where he wanted to.
<b>"Alright then. T-Though I will have to properly explain what I did."</b> Cooper replied, ashamed of himself. Doing that in front of an apprentice, what was he thinking?
Getting to his paws, Cooper followed the apprentice, his fur prickling anxiously.</blockquote>}

<sub><b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>As they walked for a short amount of time, the pair soon entered a little band of trees that was too small to be a named wood, but large enough to act a foresty training ground. Once she felt they had walked far enough, Xeno turned around and sighed before taking a sturdy stance. Flicking open her once closed eye, she blinked blankly at the shy tom and awaited his own pause.

She had heard him say he'd need to explain a few things, to which Xeno was understanding. As she gently cocked her head to one side, she meowed<b>,"So....how do I summon my powers?"</b> The question in and of itself sounded rather innocent, as if she were a kit quizzing an older cat sporting seasons of experience how they would ignite the bright color of their tattoos. It seemed as if all traces of the cat's formerly irritated attitude had passed like a violent storm and now all that remained was a gentle rainbow.</blockquote></sub>

_{<b>[ Cooper || White/Blue-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Fur prickling quite uncomfortably, Cooper followed the apprentice into the training area. <i>I feel bad, doing that in front of an apprentice. A-And does she feel uncomfortable being called Xeno? She flicks her tail if I do.</i>
<b>"I should explain- O-Oh. Ok."</b> Cooper stuttered, crouching.
<b>"Just concentrate, and locate the power inside of yourself. To me, it sort of feels like a tendril, you have to wrap yourself in it. It won't feel like much at first, but if you keep the contact with it, your power should burst free."</b> He explained, his tattoo starting to flash a pale blue, then slowly fading away. Cooper didn't think he need to use his powers quite yet.
<b>"You try."</b> he nodded at the black she-cat.</blockquote>}

_{<b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Xeno dipped her head in response and nodded slightly, understanding the tom explanation at least somewhat. She raise her head and closed her eye, taking a stance as if to draw out power from the ground. She held it for a moment, her body rigid as stone.....<i>but nothing.</i> Nothing occurred. Her eye flashed open in a vibrant hue of annoyance before she quickly tried again...and failed. Again, she tried for a third time, but only managed to end up on her rear from her posture being too tense. She hissed a few curses and glared back up at Cooper. <b>"Hey,"</b> she snapped. <b>"What am I doing wrong?"</b></blockquote>}

_{<b>[ Cooper || White/Blue-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Cooper frowned, padding around the apprentice. He couldn't let his perfectionism show here, that wouldn't be a good thing to teach Xeno, but he didn't want her to become frustrated, he knew he needed to help her as best he could.
<i>O-Ok... Just look at what she's doing now, see if any improvements could be made.</i>
Though she had only one eye, Cooper was able to tell what she was thinking through it. She was confused at his explanation, and angered that nothing had happened. Angered that she couldn't do it.
He walked around to the apprentice's front, and smiled. <b>"Just relax, don't be tense. That makes it harder for you to draw it out."</b> he explained, rubbing his tail over the apprentice's back.
<b>"It's.... more of a mental thing. You don't really have to do anything physically until you know your power is within reach for use."</b> Cooper explained.
<b>"Have you used your powers before?"</b></blockquote>}

_{<b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>The she-cat furrowed her brow and groaned, burnt out and allowing for the adolescent to try soothe her. Under regular circumstances, Xeno may have waved away his kind gesture and continued her work, but the rhythmic motions felt nice on her tense back and she continued to let Cooper do so. His kind words resonated in her head and her ears flattened. <b>"Not...not since the day I got my tattoo. I'm not so sure why now is so different. How come it only happened in that dream?</b> Her tail lashed side to side as it swept over the ground furiously. However, despite her frustrated demeanor, her voice was full of upheaval and disappointment.</blockquote>}

_{<b>[ Cooper || White/Blue-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Cooper could clearly see that the she-cat didn't quite appreciate him doing that, but he figured that a sliver of her could get used to it.
<i>Perhaps I need to be aggressive.... No, no I couldn't do that.</i>
<b>"Really? Hm.... Would you like to see my powers, maybe?"</b> He asked, smiling encouragingly.</blockquote>}

_{<b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Xeno's eye flashed with an appreciative gleam as she nodded swiftly in response to Cooper's words. <b>"If you think it'll help!"</b> she couldn't help but blurt out, and instantly her black pelt felt hotter than usual. Why was she getting so worked up over a little bit of light that glowed from a mark on her body? Was it because she felt lesser than lose around her for her lack of ability? Or was it simply guilt that she didn't believe in the so-called 'spirits' who had blessed upon her a new name and tattoo in a scene that Xeno only saw with her logical mind as a dream?</blockquote>}

<sub><b>[ Cooper || White/Blue-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Cooper flinched, surprised at her sudden interest and warm aura. Perhaps she just wanted to be as strong as everyone else, or perhaps it was a thing of self-pride? Cooper thought he could see that within her; she wanted to prove herself as strong as any other cat, but at the same time he still wasn't quite sure. He wasn't very good at analyzing other cat's feelings yet, though he could notice smaller things. And Xeno... she confused him anyway, her seemingly cheeky and wily attitude was something Cooper hadn't seen in another cat yet.

<b>"I-I feel like it would. It may show you what you are doing wrong, and how you can improve."</b> Cooper meowed, slowly walking away from Xeno to demonstrate. He wasn't sure about this internally, he rarely ever used his powers since he wasn't too comfortable about it. Actually, he'd probably only used them 2 or 3 times.
Stretching himself out, he looked straight at Xeno, trying his best not to look away.

<b>"I-It might help to concentrate on one thing for now, you could learn how to do it in the heat of battle a-another time."</b> he explained.
<b>"T-Try putting your focus to a single thing, and keeping it there. Do as I said with reaching for your power. And other cats can summon their power at w-will, but they couldn't do it their first time either. Don't feel bad about not being able to bring it out."</b> Cooper went on, trying to be as good of a mentor as possible.
<i>Earth Spirit, I sounded so bossy. I can't believe myself right now, how could I ever be assigned an apprentice?</i>

<b>"I'm going to do Grasping Roots."</b>
Still keeping his gaze on Xeno, Cooper readied himself. As he searched for his skill, he noticed Xeno paying all of her attention to Cooper.
<i>S-She's got it already, good.</i>
Finding Grasping Roots, Cooper's tattoo started glowing a faint blue, as it extended its roots to his right paw.
As the leaves bloomed onto the stem, the tattoo glowed a deeper blue, until it was wholly formed. Finding some small roots, Cooper pulled them above ground, spraying dirt and grass everywhere. Flinching, Cooper hurried over to Xeno, leaving the roots in place behind him.
<b>"I-I... I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to get dirt all over you, Xeno. Are you alright?"</b></blockquote></sub>

<sub><b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Xeno watched Cooper with carefully as if her life depended on it. She furrowed her brow in surprised and confusion as the roots from beneath the ground began to creep out from their earthy confines and send a spray of dirt in her direction, as if their own will taunted her about their powers being true and not an illusion. She shook the dirty lumps from her fur and gave Cooper a sympathetic look when he began to apologize profusely. <b>"No no, it's alright. But I still don't understand..."</b> She smiled sheepishly in discomfort. Maybe she had been wrong in coming to the tribe all those moons ago. She certainly didn't show any prospects of being able to use whatever powers she had been supposed granted by the spirits. <i>The Spirits!!</i> Quickly, she whipped her head around to face Cooper and meowed urgently,<b>"Hey!!

<i>"What can you tell me about the Spirits?"</i></b></blockquote></sub>

<sub><b>[ Cooper || Blue/Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>The Scholar tilted his head, his expression thoroughly confused. Her tone was different now, she didn't seem to be questioning her own ability; she was questioning the Spirits themselves. Cooper wanted to figure out Xeno further, but he really didn't want to pry into her personal beliefs.
<b>"The... Spirits?"</b> His gaze flitted around the area, and Cooper sat down.
<b>"I'm not the best with Spirit lore, but I could try. There are 7 spirits, each representing the 7 tribes. Fire, Light, Earth, Water, and so on. Each one blesses a cat with their trademark power, and creates them specially to suit their needs or wants, though sometimes that can make a cat hate the Spirits; perhaps for putting them in a certain tribe that they don't like."</b>

<b>"The Spirits try their best to protect every tribe, though they aren't around for every cat's personal needs."</b> he explained.</blockquote></sub>

<sub><b>[ Xeno || White-Earth || Earth Tribe Camp ]</b><blockquote>Xeno frowned slightly at Cooper, confusion clouding her gaze. <b>"Yeah, but....what do you think about them? Do they help to give you powers?"</b> Xeno pawed at the ground as she awaited the Siamese tom's response. She didn't understand. How could these cats gain powers from anything, let alone something as ludicrous as spirits?! It defied all logic. And that's all Xeno had to look at.

<b>"What do those spirits have to do with me?"</b></blockquote></sub>

The sky above was beginning to darken with the violet and indigo touches of dusk staining the vibrant pink and orange that blanketed over Nandryx. Snow no longer fell, but the chill of the evening air was still enough to keep the snow-laden ground crunchy and dry. A songbird cried shrilly in the distance, far from where the frigid white dust touched, surely.

A dark form like a shadow arched against a bony tree, scratching its side as if taking a moment to rest. A green eye illuminated from the dark face of the she-cat and her slender head turned to look over her shoulder.

Although tension between the Tribes was still rising, the fearful hold of the plague and freeze had loosened its grip on the Tribe, and as the cats recovered and the thaw began, life could return to somewhat normal. Normalcy was just what Xeno wanted.

The Green-Earth had heard with her great big ears a rumor that herbs were beginning to sprout up on the far side of the Daywatch Grove. A wonderful thing, she was certain, if the rumor was to be true. And as a scholar, such was her duty to prove either true or lie of the claim.

She had been pleased to return to her scholarly duties, and even more so when her dearest of tribemates felt well enough to accompany her. With how fired up the neighboring tribes had become and how Earth Tribe was beginning to rebel against all the changes attempting to take place in Nandryx, it was becoming a practice to form bigger parties during outings. And even scholars whom preferred lone excursions were heeding the practice.

Xeno, however, was enjoying herself. Despite liking to do things herself, the black cat always loved exploring with a partner or team. And after her training with a particular Siamese tom, Xeno had an open invitation to a study buddy.

Any time that Cooper was available to leave on a trip, Xeno always seemed to be the first one to start towards the camp entrance after him. The only times when the black cat didn't study alongside her friend was if she had missed him already or on the rare occasion that Adalin promised a trip herself. It had been that way for moons, until everything turned sideways; when Cooper fell ill and Xeno took up the role of a substitute soldier.

The two had left camp rather early, with Xeno thinking about Cooper the entire time. She knew that he was stronger than he had ever been previously, but with his handicap, the tom's speed was severely slowed. The she-cat tried to establish a good time for the pair to leave with enough time to return before nightfall, but such now was not the case. Night was already beginning to climb over the world and cover it up in darkness, and the two had only gotten to the edge of the grove closest to Earth Tribe's territory. The rumored herbs would still be a good few hours walk away, and after moving along the mountainside, Xeno was unsure if her tired legs would be able to carry her any further tonight.

Head turned over her shoulder, her eye picked up sight of the Siamese shortly behind. She had tried to monitor her speed to stay in time with him, but the she-cat's long legs and stride made it easy for her to move ahead. She often caught herself moving too quickly and would stop for her companion to reach her before continuing more slowly. Only then to accidentally move ahead once more. It was probably true that after all her fluctuating speeds of strides, the she-cat was more tired than the Blue-Earth.

<b>"So,"</b> she called over with a slightly haggard breath. <b>"What's the plan, Coop?"</b>