Ghostpaw's training with Redfeather {P}

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    Early morning light filtered in through a thick veil of ferns and gorse, bathing the apprentice's den in a muted light. Such light would have awoken Ghostpaw, had she not already been awake. The gray-white she-cat blinked yellow eyes and turned her face downward as a stray band of sunlight assaulted her. As she sat staring at her splotchy white paws, a shiver of excitement and apprehension ran through her. Today would be her first lesson with her mentor, Redfeather. While she liked the lanky red she-cat, her personal feelings couldn't quell her anxiety.


    But she forced herself to suppress the unwelcome feeling, and she slowly rose to her paws, pushing out of the apprentice's den and into the ThunderClan camp.

    The post was edited 1 time, last by Łιттᴌε Łσттε ().

    Early morning rays of gray, leafbare light were streaming into the warriors' den. Redfeather blinked and squinted her green eyes in protest; as weak as the beams were, they still stung a little bit considering the darkness of her surrounding. Stubbornly, the she-cat lay there and stared back into the light, challenging herself to keep her eyes open. After a few moments her eyes began to water, so she blinked hard and stood up, keeping her head down to hide the tears. She didn't want any cat to think she had been crying.


    Stepping out into the snow, Redfeather shivered and fluffed out her feathery red fur. A glance toward the fresh-kill pile made her cringe. It was depressingly small, and what little prey was there had a thin layer of frost covering it. She wrinkled her nose and decided she'd lost her appetite. Perhaps there would be time for hunting after her training session with Ghostpaw. Or perhaps that would be the focus of today's lesson -- Redfeather hadn't decided yet.


    The sound of rustling ferns and gorse nearby made Redfeather swivel her ears around instinctively, her gaze following shortly after. She recognized the splotchy young she-cat as her new apprentice, Ghostpaw. Attempting to stifle the sudden butterflies that had arisen in her stomach, Redfeather made her way over to the apprentice.


    "Good morning, Ghostpaw," she greeted in a tone as friendly as she could muster. "I see you're up nice and early. Are you ready to begin training?" She fell silent, feeling the silence pressing in awkwardly around her as she tried to decide what to do and say next. What should they begin with? She'd never had her own apprentice before, and her own training had been so long ago that she couldn't quite remember the typical course of action.


    "...W-what would you like to do today? We could do a tour of the territory, or delve right into hunting or battle training...," Redfeather let her voice trail away uncertainly, hoping the Ghostpaw hadn't noticed her embarrassing stammer.


    ooc; Oh MAN. Sorry for writing such a freakishly long post. BUT I'VE MISSED THIS. ;_; I'll try not to be quite as wordy next time.

    OOC: It's perfectly fine, don't stress too much about it. :D


    IC: IC: The apprentice surveyed the camp unblinkingly as she curled her tail around her paws. For the earliness of the hour, there were quite a few cats meandering about the clearing chilled with the breath of leaf-bare; she was one of the few apprentices up. The full affects of spending the night in a fitful half-sleep hit her, and Ghostpaw stifled a yawn. Is it really that early? Her eyes traveled from a group of warriors sharing tongues to the pitiful fresh-kill pile, and then to the warrior's den, where a lean red form was slipping out of the entrance. Redfeather. Again, she felt a prick of nervous excitement.


    Ghostpaw murmured a greeting as her mentor approached. When she asked whether she was ready for training, she nodded shortly. She waited patiently for her mentor to assign the first task for her training, as was a little surprised when she asked of her opinion. With a quick glance at the sad fresh-kill pile, Ghostpaw was about to suggest hunting when she realized that she hadn't seen the whole of ThunderCLan's territory. She had passed through it to get to ThunderClan camp and to escape attacking wolves, but most of the northern part remained unexplored. "Maybe a tour would be best first," she admitted, a touch embarrassed that she didn't already know the territory.

    The warrior's eyes followed the apprentice's to the minuscule freshkill pile. A twang of anxiety rose in her stomach again, but she tried to quell it and focus on the agenda for the day ahead. Observing the splotchy she-cat's reactions to her words, Redfeather began to get a sense for what kind of cat Ghostpaw was. She's quiet, like me. That could either prove to be a relief or make for multiple awkward silences in the future..., she analyzed, pressing her paws into the ground nervously at the thought. Well, she reasoned with herself, trying to relax, At least she's not going to be one of those high-strung, unmanageable apprentices.


    Redfeather nodded and meowed, "Right. A tour it is, then." With that, she turned and head for the camp entrance. She expected Ghostpaw to follow, but gave a little flick of her tail just in case. Glancing back at the gray-and-white cat, she added with the faintest hint of a smile, "If we have time afterwards, perhaps we can fit a little hunting in too." Redfeather pushed through the opening and stepped out into the snowy wood. Where to go first? she wondering, pausing momentarily. Then, making up her mind, the red tabby turned and headed east towards Snakerocks and the Great Sycamore.

    Ghostpaw liked her new mentor. She seemed like the type of cat who the apprentice could get along with fairly easily, without having to fight for her kindness. The silence that lay between them as Redfeather thought over things in her head was comfortable, and she felt herself slowly beginning to relax. Today's going to go fine, she told herself, hoping by all means that it would. Just a tour. I can handle this. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Redfeather rose to her paws and began moving towards the gorse tunnel that served as the camp's entrance. She jumped to her paws and followed, keeping just behind the warrior. When Redfeather mentioned hunting, she nodded her head a little enthusiastically. Realizing the warrior may not have seen the gesture, she mewed, "Sounds good."


    As they pushed their way through the thorned tunnel and Redfeather began moving eastward, Ghostpw followed with a curious flick of her ears. She had been this way only once, and it had not been as far as she guessed they were going. The she-cat was silent as they padded along, preoccupied with absorbing all of what surrounded her.

    There was silence as the pair walked. The forest was still and silent that leafbare day; the clouds that covered the sky matched the white snow that blanketed the ground, making the atmosphere seem bright despite the lack of a visible sun. Redfeather liked days like these. The serenity that pervaded the air allowed for her own thoughts to dominate her conciousness. Not now, though. Today she had to concentrate. Ghostpaw was with her.


    The red warrior couldn't tell if the silence between them was uncomfortable or not. Glancing behind her, she noted that Ghostpaw seemed perfectly at ease. This reassured her, and turning her attention back to the path before her, Redfeather felt no need to shatter the stillness of the moment by making useless idle chitchat. She twitched her whiskers contentedly.


    Presently the Great Sycamore loomed out of the distance. Trotting up to the base of its trunk, Redfeather sat down and curled her fluffy tail around her paws for warmth, pressing her body against one of the tree's massive curving roots. "This is the Great Sycamore. This is where I'll be teaching you how to climb trees. Once the snow has melted off the branches, that is," she explained, leaning her head back and peering up into the tree's limbs until she could no longer tell where the tree ended and the snowy branches began.

    The chilly leaf-bare wind ruffled Ghostpaw's fur as they padded along. But contrary to being chilled by it, the apprentice found it was actually making her more comfortable. She hadn't realized until then just how stuffy the apprentice's den really was, and the cold air was both a relief and a mind-clearer. Her eyes wandered as she thought, eventually settling on the large shape that was slowly getting closer as they neared their destination. Her face took on a look of curiosity followed by incredulity as she realized what the mass was.


    It was a tree, a huge tree. While Ghostpaw supposed it wasn't giant, it was still the largest tree she had ever seen. She joined Redfeather at it's base and looked up with her. Wow. The only thing the apprentice could think to say was, "How many squirrels do you think live up there?" She imagined them running across the branches in newleaf, hunting squirrels and birds as they climbed higher and higher. Her whiskers twitched with amusement. Then another thought struck her. "Is...is it hard to climb?" Ghostpaw mewed, unable to keep a slight undertone of apprehension out of her voice.

    The post was edited 1 time, last by Łιттᴌε Łσттε ().

    Redfeather sensed Ghostpaw sit down next to her, but did not break her gaze from the treetop. In response to the apprentice's question about the squirrels, the warrior merely twitched her whiskers. She'd never really considered the idea before. It would be a logical assumption, and the area around the tree had always been one of her favorite hunting spots. It was known for its abundance of prey options; the roots of the sycamore provided the homes of many little critters. Redfeather had whiled away many greenleaf hours hunting by herself in the shade of its great leaves.


    "Hard to climb?" Redfeather repeated thoughtfully. "At first, yes, it will be. We'll start off with the low branches and work our way up," she explained slowly, mapping out her training plans as she went. "But I promise you, by the time I'm done training you, climbing this tree will be a sinch. Don't worry." The warrior stood up, lightly flicking her tail over the splotchy she-cat's shoulder as she did so in a reassuring gesture. "Let's press on." Turning east again, Redfeather made her way towards the nearby Snakerocks.

    Ghostpaw listened to the lanky red tabby with pricked ears as she spoke about climbing the tree, and was comforted by her words. So it doesn't sound impossible... Before that day, the gray apprentice wasn't even aware that apprentices were trained to climb trees. It was something she found she was looking forward too, though. Ghostpaw accepted the comforting gesture from her mentor silently, but gratefully. As Redfeather made to move on, she rose to her paws a little precariously and hopped off the root to follow her.

    Snakerocks was not far away; soon the outlying rocks became sharp grey outlines in the crystal snow. Not wanting to venture too far in, Redfeather leaped on to the closest wide, flat rock she could find. With delicate swipes of her paw, the she-cat brushed off as much snow as she could before seating herself on top of it. The stone itself was not much warmer than the snow, and the red warrior wrapped her tail stiffly around herself in an effort to stay warm.


    "This is Snakerocks, so named for the adders that live here. It's a good place to hunt, if you're careful. Prey is abundant, but the presence of the snakes makes it a less popular choice for hunting patrols. We'll save this excursion till later on in your apprenticeship," the warrior mewed with a somewhat stern glance in Ghostpaw's direction. As soon as she'd done it, she regretted her action -- sternness was unlike her and didn't feel like the right approach to take with this apprentice. She wanted Ghostpaw to stay away from Snakerocks until she had more skill, but that probably hadn't been the best way to express her feelings. The warrior looked away with an awkward flick of her right ear.

    Ghostpaw bounded along behind the ginger warrior, perhaps more confidently than she should have been. Checking herself, the gray-white apprentice slowed her pace more and focused her attention on her surroundings. I'm not going to be the apprentice that forgets her way around after being shown, she told herself firmly. She was so focused on the task that she nearly ran into one of the outer stones that Redfeather had jumped upon. She sat quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment as she gazed up at the other cat with her yellow eyes.


    "Snakerocks..." Ghostpaw murmured to herself as Redfeather explained. A dim recognition flared in her thoughts. One feeling rose up with the word that she hadn't expected: a slight sort of fear. Must have heard one o the others talking about it. The apprentice was brought out of her thoughts again by the sternness tinging the warrior's voice. She was slightly taken aback, but then wondered if her mentor had noticed she was drifting off into her own thoughts and mentally berated herself for not paying more attention. "...Good for hunting, but we're waiting 'till later. Right." Noticing how her mentor had turned her head away in an awkward sort of way, she added, "Where to next?"


    OOC: Sorry about the late reply. >.<

    ooc; No problem. I love your username and such by the way. "Her father promised her everything and nothing." :)


    bic; At the sound of her apprentice's voice, Redfeather looked back at her. Where to next?"Um," the warrior began, trying to think of the most convenient route. "The Thunderpath. Also a dangerous spot, and not that far away, either. This way."


    With that, Redfeather leapt off the stone and, skirting around the edge of Snakerocks, headed in a northeastern direction. Perfect, she thought to herself as she walked, We'll visit the Thunderpath, then Twolegplace, then cut through Tallpines to the Treecut place, and from there deal with the western territories.


    Already, Redfeather was beginning to detect the foul stench of the Thunderpath. She wanted desperately to wrinkle her nose against the offensive odor, but stopped herself when she remembered the Ghostpaw was with her. She felt she ought to prove herself stronger in front of her apprentice, so the warrior swallowed hard but kept her face relaxed. Out of the corner of her eye, Redfeather observed Ghostpaw to see when she would first notice the smell, wondering how strong her senses already were.

    OOC: Gahh, I've been busy with homework. Over BREAK, of all things. >.> Thank you~ I often wonder how many people recognize it. ...I try to pretend I'm not obsessed, but I think I am. xD


    IC: Ghostpaw nodded and followed her mentor, casting thoughtful glances at Snakerocks as they padded around the edge of the smooth, snow-covered stones. The apprentice was somewhat afraid--as well she should be--but also found a certain intrigue in the challenge of a hunt where you would be thinking and guessing carefully so you could return to camp alive. She suppressed a shiver and, realizing she had slowed while thinking, quickly trotted so she was back behind Redfeather again.


    The first signs of the Thunderpath came to her on the air; the gray apprentice was aware that as they padded on, the crisp, pristine smell of the leaf-bare air was slowly taking on a different scent, the likes of which she had never experienced before. Suddenly the stench hit her and she had to wrinkle up her nose in disgust. "Well that's foul..."

    ooc; No problem, really :) I've been busy with friends and New Year's partying and such, so I haven't been on in a couple days. Next week I'll be out of town for a day or two as well, and I'm not sure what kind of internet availability I may or may not have.


    bic; Redfeather nodded in approval. Ghostpaw's senses weren't as finely honed as they could be, but that was to be expected of an apprentice her age. The warrior knew she would turn into a fine warrior with perfectly sharp senses in time.


    "That's the Thunderpath, and yes, it is quite foul. It's also dangerous. Best to give it a bit of a berth. Monsters run up and down it and will not stop for you. If a Monster runs straight at you, odds are you won't live to see another sunhigh," the warrior mewed grimly. Catching sight of the filthy grey strip of land ahead of them, she stopped short, unwilling to move any closer. It was a busy day on the Thunderpath for some reason. Monsters were trundling up and down it, and Redfeather thought it best to keep Ghostpaw at a distance.

    OOC: It's okay that you were gone! But hey, I came to warn you that I won't be on a lot until next friday probably, because of school finals and all the last-minute homework. That's why I haven't been able to get on, so I apologize! >.< I will reply when I get the time, but wanted to tell you.


    IC: The wind blew.

    Ghostpaw felt a prick of pride as her mentor nodded her approval, and a sort of confidence in her pawsteps had had been absent before. As her mentor spoke, the smaller gray apprentice absorbed her words in an eager silence, all the while staring ahead of the red tabby in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the dreaded Thunderpath. It wasn't long before her yellow eyes alighted on the slab of hard stone that pervaded forest scenery. Ghostpaw stopped beside Redfeather, ears pricked as she listened to the roaring of monsters streak by on the path. "How do they catch prey if they're so noisy?" she mewed, leaning forward slightly to get a better look.