Birchpaw's Training! (Private)

[Flamepath]

Flamepath yawned and shook out his fur as he woke up from his sleepy state. He had asked one of the senior warriors to take care of sending out patrols today as it was his new apprentice's first day of training, Kestrelpaw. Not only was Birchpaw his apprentice, she was also his enthusiastic daughter. Normally Flamepath would try and avoid pairing family members together for training purposes but they were short on warriors these days and he just couldn't help it...he wanted to train at least one of his small Flamepaths himself!

He shook out his fur and exited the warrior's den, a clump of snow landing on him as he brushed the side of the hallow. He flicked the snow off and went to find his daughter. As he walked on the rock and packed clumps of snow, he glanced at the sky. It was cloudy -no wind- and the sun was shining brightly. Thankfully her first day of training wouldn't be during a unbearable snowy day. The deputy poked his head in the apprentice's den and called out to her with no reply. She had already woken up. Confused , he exited the den and scanned the camp for the new apprentice. "Birchpaw?" he called out hoping she would appear soon.  

[Kestrelpaw]

Birchpaw had woken up early in preparation for today events. After all, it was her first day of apprentice training and she wanted to impress her father! She had gotten up just after sunrise and ate a quick breakfast, then spent time waiting. And waiting. And waiting... She waited for about two whole minutes before getting bored. Deciding that it wouldn't be a sin to get just a few more seconds of shut-eye, she slunk back off to her den. Only, in a moment of tired of tired misjudgment, the apprentice had re-entered the nursery and subconsciously slept in her former nest next to her siblings and mother.

The sound of her name being called awakened Birchpaw. Groggily she sat up in her (former) nest. Confused, she looked around, trying to pick up where the voice was coming from. Dad! she thought, jumping up. The tabby-and-white she-cat bolted from the nursery and entered camp. Her pelt was disheveled from sleep but there was a big, excited grin on her face. It didn't take her long to spot her father and mentor.

"Daddy!" she mewed in an exited tone, racing over to the deputy. She skidded to a halt next to him before remembering that he was her mentor now and she needed to be professional! In a more serious tone she said, "oh, erm, I mean good morning Flamepath, sir! I hope your sleep was sufficient, ready to start the day?" she tried to keep a straight face as she looked up her father, random tufts of fur ruffled all over her pelt, but in the end she couldn't help but let a smile twitch at the corner of her lips.

[Flamepath]

Flamepath couldn't help but smile widely as Birchpaw bounded towards him. He watched as her paws skidded to a halt and her demeanor changed automatically. HE tried to hold his tongue but he couldn't help it and just busted out laughing, whiskers twitching with amusement. He just couldn't look at his daughter and expect her to speak to him like that, he did respect her level of dedication. " Good to see you ma'dam" he greeted with a small dip of his head, teasing slightly.

"All joking aside though...no need to be so official and serious!" he said, nudging her side playfully. "I have a lot in store for us today. We are going to go all the way down the cliff to the Treeclan boarder and hopefully maybe we will start for a hunting lesson." he explained to her. He flicked his tail towards the entrance of camp, " I am ready to start the day, are you?" With that he started walking towards the entrance, waiting for his daughter to follow suit.

[Kestrelpaw]

Birchpaw grinned as her father laughed, glad she was able to see him smile. The tabby-and-white apprentice let out an over exaggerated sigh of relief when her father said she didn't have to speak formally. "Good," she mewed, "I don't think I would have been able to take speaking like that all the time," she nudged him playfully back, although it was more of a nuzzle than a nudge.

Her amber eyes gleamed as she listened to her father describe what he had planned for the day's events. Her tail swayed in a happy, dog-like motion. "Totally!" she replied, trailing quickly after her father.

[Flamepath]

(Sorry for not responding in 20 years! This past week had been SO SO SO busy for me.. I had the end of my swim season which involved lots of competitions and had an art gallery in which I was featured in so I had to do stuff with them xc....but I have returned)

Flamepath flt pride rush through him as Birchpaw eagerly joined him as they headed out into the territory. The cliff was blanketed with snow, it gleamed with the sunlight and it strained his eyes it look at it too long. There were already trails upon trails of pawprints in the snow where his fellow clan-mates over the past few days had been walking to take care of their responsibilities. The direction where they were headed was heavy with tracks, as it was a commonly taken route to go down the cliff-side. He shook his pelt as he began trotting though the shallow snow. "Alright Birchpaw....we are headed to Treeclan! Now this shouldn't be too hard but for the sake of testing your navigational skills....which way are we headed?" he asked as he looked down at his daughter.

To their left was the slowly sloping cliff headed downwards, the bottom where all the trees in the forest lay was not visible from here. And to their right was a slightly uphill incline that lead to the mountains and cliff drop off. Flamepath flicked his tail as he waited for an answer from her.

[Kestrelpaw]

(it's more than fine! after all it's not like i'm the best at responding to threads quickly [sorry about that, by the way]. anyway, take as much time as you need to respond to threads, after all it would be pretty weird to prioritize rping with internet nerds on a cat website over all the other cool stuff you've been doing [which sounded pretty cool by the way, i hope you had fun! ( =^nun^= )~].)

Birchpaw's amber eyes stretched wide as she eagerly took in the territory. Of course, this wasn't her first time out of camp, but it was still a breathtaking sight. She shook her head a bit as the sunlight that reflected off the surrounding snow hurt her eyes a bit, causing her to blink in a fruitful attempt to get rid of the uncomfortable strain. The tabby-and-white she-cat followed swiftly after her father, although she did take time to let her paws fall into the paw-prints that were left by the earlier patrols--having to stretch her slender body out to fit them.

The young she-cat blinked as she was addressed, but after a few moments she straightened up and looked around for an indication of where the two could be going. TreeClan... Birchpaw thought, looking past the deputy and letting her eyes follow the two paths. She couldn't make out where the one that slopped down lead, and was about to inform her father that it must be the second path before she realized that the second path seemed as void of trees as the first. She kept her eyes on the second path for a moment, her gaze traveling steadily upward. There don't seem to be any trees up there, she thought, perusing her lips before deciding to go with the first path. She wasn't too sure where it lead too, but at this point it seemed more promising than the second.

"That one..?" Birchpaw mewed, nodding towards the first path that slopped down. Her tone was somewhat questioning, since she wasn't completely sure of her answer.

[Flamepath]

(I am glad you understand! I just worry and feel bad about sucking at responding.. and have randomly been busy for once in my life, I am usually very the opposite of busy cx...and in cause you were wondering, I did have a bunch of fun ^w^)

Flamepath nodded and turned to the path leading downwards. "Yes that is correct. The forest and prairies are more at the base of the cliff while the mountains where Iceclan live...they sort of grow off of the cliff. They are the same giant rock almost. " he said explaining the layout of all the clans territories very bluntly and simply. He gave her a small smile and stretched his paws ,which were growing cold from standing still, before starting to walk to the left down the path. The snow had many prints in it already and was packed down in places. The vast snowy land stretched far in front of them but was no where near flat like Fireclan might be. Scrawny trees, leafless bushes, and dead patches of tall grasses were scattered around them, poking through the snow. Besides the plantlife, the whole territory was jagged and textured by the rock formations and large stones everywhere. Tehre were going to be lots of spots where they would have to climb down carefully , drop-off, and as they walked Flamepath knew they were about to approach one in only a few fox-lengths. He raised his tail and motioned his daughter to stop.

"Alright Birchpaw, we have a ways to go yet but in front of us is a bit of road block. It looks safe and normal but if we take a few more steps..." he said as he guided her slowly forward to where they were just almost on the edge of the drop-off and able to look down at the ground below them/ "You can clearly see there is a large drop. You will eventually learn where most of these are but you always have to be cautious when going downhill to make sure you do not fall." he warned her as he took a step back and sat on his haunches. He raised his forepaws and made paw gestures as he spoke. " On the cliffside, there are many drop-offs. Places where the rock stops abruptly and creates a miniature cliff of sorts. They can be dangerous and difficult to get down when it is snowy, rainy, or the rocks are covered in morning dew" he explained as he got back on his feet.

Some of the drop off had dug out paths and places to walk down the rocky dirt, something like a series of ramps. This drop-off had a few small dug out spots to stand and walk as you made your way down, but there were spots where they would have to carefully jump to the next flat spot. "We will take it slow and I will show you how to get down first and then instruct you from the bottom. Do not worry too much, it is really quite simple when you get the hang of it!" he said with an encouraging tone as he brushed against her cheek with his muzzle.