up and at 'em - p

[Redfang]

Redfang had gotten used to early mornings long ago; the days of staying up until the moon had begun to set and sleeping in as late as he pleased had ended upon his becoming an apprentice. He'd even come to appreciate the serene silence of the world in the hazy moments before the dawn, when the animals of the night and the animals of the day were trading places and all sound ceased for just a few glorious heartbeats. He also had grown quite fond of eating a quiet breakfast as the morning sun colored the sky in shades of red and pink and orange and sound once again returned to the earth. This particular morning, he had something extra to look forward to; he had a new apprentice, and one who seemed easy to annoy at that. Although Redfang found himself maturing with each passing day, it seemed his roots of mischief would never completely leave him. And so it was with great joy in his heart that he peeked into the apprentices' den and called in a voice hardly more than a whisper, "DarkPaw, rise and shine!"

[DarkPaw]

Darkpaw awoke easily he was not one for deep meaningless sleep. Stepping from his dull new bed he narrowed his optics as the male who had called to him had said Darks own name in such a unfitting sentence. Scrunching his nose as if disgusted by such comments. He weaved his way out side. With tail high and ears upright he scanned the longfurred male known as his mentor. Pshh. He looked more like a dirty cotton ball. "Rise I did but don't expect any shining." He said quite tartly.

[Redfang]

Redfang felt the shadow of a smirk flicker across his lips, though he kept it from forming fully. Darkpaw seemed to be a 'dark', 'broody', 'too-good-for-this' type of cat, one of two prototypical archetypes that seemed to make up the populace of apprentices in his, and likely all four, clans. The other group consisted of cats that were 'cheerful', 'enthusiastic', and 'ready-to-start-the-day'. There was a third group, of course, one that consisted of those who approached training in a hugely varying number of ways in regards to attitude and drive, but he found that typically the first two were the most common. He'd had two apprentices thus far who, more or less, fit into the second group. He also found that there were several, rather predictable paths a cat could take as a teacher; he tended to gravitate towards the group that was stern, but gave out compliments when they were warranted. However, he knew himself well enough to say with confidence that his teaching style was not confined to this category, and would likely change based upon the attitude of his apprentice. He had fun with more cheerful apprentices, but he also suspected that this apprentice would be fun to train in his own way. "Right," he said, a smile on his face that more than made up for Darkpaw's lack of "shine" as he promptly ignored the apprentice's words. "I'd suggest you eat something. Busy day and all," he added, before turning around and making for the entrance with long, quick strides, where he would wait for the "rebellious" young tom, whether he chose to get his breakfast or made for the entrance and ignored the advice of his mentor.

[DarkPaw]

Dark could tell that he was being assessed well in the mind of the dirty cotton ball... umm DCB. Once finally being spoken too he rolled his eyes. Though he new it would be better to eat and move on he felt like it was a test... a test of his personality? well lets test him back. Dark gave a few thought to it before asking the DCB "Aren't we supposed to hunt for the clan before eating our selves?" he said innocently enough. Though his eyes let on his other motive. What would he have to do to snap or make red her slip up? He raised his tail and strutted to his mentors side. "Isn't there a code on this kind of stuff?" he said bluntly as he walked past his mentor into the tall gassed world beyond.

[Redfang]

"Right, the warrior code. Good to know you're aware of the most basic of rules that govern the clans," Redfang replied, a smile still on his face as he followed the young tom out of the camp. "However, the particular rule you're talking about only applies to what you catch; you bring it back to the clan, you don't eat it yourself. That doesn't extend to eating breakfast, but if you feel like it's unnecessary to eat before we walk around the entire territory, looking at our borders, well, you just don't have to eat," he added cheerily; he doubted they'd get around to hunting today, and so if the apprentice wished to forego eating for no other reason than to be contrarian, he could do that.

[DarkPaw]

He was irritated his tacit had failed but nodded. "I'm glad to see you know more than you look." He gave a curt flick of his tail. Stepping aside he allowed the DCB to lead the way after all this was darks first encounter with the world out side.. looking around he couldn't say he was too impressed. "Until I've learned to hunt and pull my own weight I don't think breakfast should be one of my priorities" he said with a air challenge. Giving a glance to his rather dull surroundings he added "Shouldn't we get going?"

[Redfang]

"Yes, well, I'm full of surprises," he said, walking past the apprentice and moving in the general direction of the TreeClan border. His eyes widened a bit, surprised at Darkpaw's reply about his breakfast, though, with his back to the younger tom, he wouldn't notice; the comment seemed remarkably mature, more mature than he would have credited the apathetic little ball of soot to be. Maybe he'll prove to be teachable after all, he thought, before calling over his shoulder to his apprentice, "Yes, that is what I'm doing, but feel free to wander the territory by yourself if that suits your needs."

[DarkPaw]

Muttering to him self..."Sure are you old coot" He watched as he was being left behind? He sighed. Why must RedFang toy with him so. He was almost tempted to head off in the other direction but thought better of it knowing he would probably get lost and he didn't need that. Following the irritating feline he called. "You going to tell me anything about the clan were headed too? or is that for me to figuar out on my own?"

[Redfang]

Redfang grinned at the irritation in Darkpaw's voice, and he laughed at the question. "No, I don't plan on saying a word until we get there. Try to notice the shift in terrain, and figure out which territory we're heading toward through logic," he said, not bothering to look over his shoulder. Though the treatment might have seemed spiteful, he was simply doing what he thought best; it was good for apprentices to reason things out on their own, for it was that perception that could determine how well fed the clan would be, and which battles would be won. Though there was no definitive sign yet, the prairie had gone from static flatland to being dotted sporadically with small shrubs, and the scent of TreeClan was just discernible on the breeze, not that a cat who'd never left the camp would know that.

[DarkPaw]

Dark tailed behind and though he hated the idea did indeed take a look at his surroundings in all honesty it was dry and boring that all he could make out of it. He didn't notice the scent changes mainly cause he wasn't sure what he was smelling. He did note things seemed to be thinning out towards there destination so he guessed. RockCLan or TreeClan. He then noticed the sound of a kind of rain??? leafs? "TreeClan?" he called out to Red.

[Redfang]

Redfang had heard the rustling of a great many leaves several heartbeats before Darkpaw said anything, but still he was impressed; he hadn't expected the younger tom to make the connection. "Correct," he called out, the expansive forest suddenly rising up in front of them like some great wall as they crested a small hill, the sounds of birdsong and rattling tree branches drifting out of the greenery to greet them. Much as Redfang loved FireClan, he often despaired at the utter lack of anything out on the prairie, and he actually enjoyed walking the borders, soaking up the breaking of tedious monotony for a short time before he inevitably went back to the camp. "Make sure you memorize the scent," he added after a moment of scanning the fickle shadows of the forest; he doubted he had need to explain the importance of such an exercise, and so he didn't, letting his apprentice take in all the sensory information he could.

[DarkPaw]

As the clearing broke he was greeted by a mass of trees, now those were interesting. Dark looked up but couldn't find some of the highest of branches. Impressed until his mentor told him to learn the scent well no duh, he thought grumpily. In-taking a deep breath he was greeted by a strange small it wasn't that it was unpleasant just strange to his nose. He also was able to hear song birds? he didn't hear to many of those back at home and was almost pleased by the sound. Turning he realized he had almost smiled! "Are we going to stand here all day?" he huffed ready to move on feeling as if he might never want to leave the peaceful clearing if they didn't. And that scared him.

[Redfang]

Redfang didn't bother with responding to his apprentice's question, he simply turned and began to walk in the direction of IceClan. Once again, he said nothing about where they were going, he simply led Darkpaw forward and let him make his own guesses. He did, however, think that it may be pertinent to go over information on TreeClan. "TreeClan cats, as you may already know, are extremely agile; they have to be, really, or they wouldn't be able to navigate the forest as effectively as they do. It's also ill-advised to fight TreeClan cats on their own turf; they have the greatest of advantages when it comes to mastery of their domain. If, for whatever reason, you do find yourself in a fight with a TreeClan cat on TreeClan territory, keep an eye on the trees, and use speed to the best of your ability," he called over his shoulder, then fell silent, content to let the younger tom think over the information as they walked over ever-roughening terrain, the ground imitating the unevenness of the mountains that were already coming into view, great, soaring monoliths of stone that seemed to go beyond even the clouds.