In the Early Morning (p)

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

(For Echopaw)

I shivered as I took a step out of the warriors' den, into the ever-colder mornings of leaf-fall. I suppose I should be grateful I had thick fur, or had not yet contracted whitecough, or worse, greencough, but it was especially cold up on RockClan's cliff. But I had a routine to follow, similar to all my past apprentices, which had always started with a territory tour.
"Echopaw. Time to get up." I called softly into the apprentices' den. Hopefully that would have woken her up: I didn't venture much into the nursery or apprentices' den for fear on stepping on one of the smaller cats.

[Echopaw]

Echo found herself pleasantly surprised she even managed to sleep at all, what with the nervous, excited buzz of energy constantly pulsing through her very being and causing even her snowy white paws to tingle with anticipation. However, she'd somehow managed to settle into a peaceful sleep at some point in the night. This she could tell, when she found herself awoken by the soft call of her mentor. After a moments confusion, a thrill of excitement rushes through the child, and she hops up out of her nest and weaves her way toward her mentor. It's all she can do not to bounce up and down, and instead settle for a twitchy little tail and a happy grin. "Good morning Dapplecloud" She purrs, surprising even herself at how calm her words sound. She'd drilled herself on her mentor's name to be sure she wouldn't forget.

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

"Good morning, Echopaw" I said, when I saw the apprentice. "We'll start with a territory tour, as I said yesterday. If you're hungry, get a little breakfast and meet me outside the camp." I added, turning and pushing my way through the exit to the camp. Outside the walls, the wind had an even harsher bite, though the morning territory was as beautiful as ever, the rocky cliffs shrouded in fog, giving it a mystical look, yet dangerous to any cat who dared venture up to the higher cliffs. Luckily, we weren't going up there today.

[Echopaw]

Echo hadn't had a chance to try much prey before, and she'd only ever really shared, seeing as she didn't have much of an appetite. Nodding to her mentor, she watches her head off, before trotting over to the fresh kill pile. After sniffing around a little, Echo finds a mouse and pulls it out of the pile, careful not to knock anything else. Tail twitching slightly, she settles down to eat as quickly as she can without choking on her meal, before swiping her tongue over her jaws and turning toward the exit.

The second Echo reaches her mentor, she pauses by her side and finds herself marvelling at the view whilst also puffing her coat slightly against the biting cold of the wind. Recovering quickly, the child turns her attention to her mentor and offers her a happy grin. "So where we going first?" She questions, tail twitching slightly before her eyes stray toward the nearby cliffs in awe. "What's those cliffs over there?" She asks, unable to resist her questions.

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

I saw Echopaw emerge from the camp entrance and allowed her to look around before I spoke, or at least, tried to speak. "So where are we going first? What's those cliffs over there?" Purring, I said, "Slow down. We'll be visiting the borders to all three of our neighboring Clans: FireClan, TreeClan, and IceClan." I started to walk along the cliffside, toward the river, where the borders would begin. "And those cliffs over there are part of our territory: they can be dangerous, so I won't take you up there until you're a lot more experienced." Starting off at a run, I quickly trotted in the direction of the FireClan border, hoping Echopaw could keep up.