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Post by Oceanstar on Feb 21, 2017 0:39:52 GMT -6
- Cherrypaw , Sparkpaw , training time! Adaline if you'd like to join you're welcome, but you don't have to. -
Oceanstar stooped low as he entered the apprentice den, memories of his own time as an apprentice rising unbidden. He located both of his new apprentices in the low light and one at a time nudged them awake. He didn't see Brightpaw sleeping in the den, but didn't spend too much time looking either. He did hope she had remembered his offer, but wasn't planning on forcing her to help him.
"Come out quickly," he murmured, then retreated into the camp. He examined the fresh-kill pile with a tilted head. It was sadly low, but both of his apprentices would need to eat before leaving. "Pick something to share," he instructed when they appeared. "And do so quickly. We have a lot of ground to cover."
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Post by Sparkpaw on Feb 21, 2017 0:56:04 GMT -6
Sparkpaw opened his eyes groggily. He had spent the night before talking with an older apprentice named Aloepaw who he had... mixed feeling about, to say the least. Why do I have to get up so early, he thought, starting to burry his muzzle under the moss of his nest before he remember exactly who had come to wake him up. "Oceanstar!" he gasped, instantly jumping onto his paws. I have training today! Not wasting any time, Sparkpaw bolted out of the den, skidding to a halt next to the fresh-kill pile. His stomach growled loudly. The orange tom eyed a young rabbit, drooling a bit, but decided he should wait for Cherrypaw to arrive before he took anything from the pile. "Good morning!" Sparkpaw greeted his leader cheerfully, ignoring his hunger for the moment.
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Post by Cherrypaw on Feb 21, 2017 8:14:18 GMT -6
Cherrypaw had hardly been able to sleep the previous night, so anxious about her first day of training. The small she-cat woke up almost immediately at Oceanstar's touch, and after she took a moment to stretch, padded out of the apprentice's den with bright eyes. "'Morning." She nodded, looking over at Sparkpaw. Cherrypaw didn't know him too well, which would surely change over the course of their training.
Following Sparkpaw's gaze to the fresh-kill pile, Cherrypaw saw what he was staring at. "You wanna share that rabbit?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. Cherrypaw hadn't eaten since before her ceremony, she could certainly use it.
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Post by Adaline on Feb 21, 2017 8:50:13 GMT -6
Brightpaw had remembered Oceanstar's offer. It was... Different to think of him as Oceanstar, but it wasn't that big of a stretch. A name change was part of their culture. Even if the prefix changing was... Less common.
She walked into camp in the morning, though as she came in, she saw the leader of Fireclan poking his head into the apprentice's den. Darn. She should've gotten here earlier. Maybe she could still spin that she went for a morning walk. If he asked.
She awkwardly stood by the entrance of camp, not really sure whether she should call attention to herself.
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Post by Oceanstar on Feb 21, 2017 14:53:19 GMT -6
Oceanstar smiled and nodded as both of his apprentices arrived, one at a time. He waited until Cherrypaw had picked up a rabbit to share and set about eating before he spoke. "What do you think of my new name?" He asked cheerfully, feeling much more relaxed after receiving his nine lives.
His gaze was distracted by the presence of Brightpaw coming in through the camp entrance. His nose furrowed briefly in curiosity before he let the matter drop and beckoned the older apprentice with a flick of his tail. "Today we're going to be doing things a little differently," he told Cherrypaw and Sparkpaw as they ate. "This is Brightpaw, one of Fireclan's most senior apprentices. She'll be running the tour today and I'll be walking with you, acting as pleasant company."
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Post by Cherrypaw on Feb 21, 2017 19:26:22 GMT -6
"I like it." Cherrypaw responded. It would take a bit of getting used to, she still thought Jackalstar when she looked at him, but it was just like when she'd changed from Cherrykit to Cherrypaw. "It's a really pretty name." She commented, trying to think of what an actual ocean would look like, water and sand stretching for as far as the eye can see.
Cherrypaw looked over at the sandy tabby, who was introduced as Brightpaw. The she-cat looked old enough to be a warrior, though Cherrypaw thought that a cat with that much experience should look more confident. The bobtail dipped her head in greeting, and then leaned down, taking a bite of the rabbit that she was sharing with Sparkpaw.
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Post by Sparkpaw on Feb 21, 2017 19:43:58 GMT -6
"I think it's really cool!" he mewed excitedly, although he wondered why CloudClan had decided to change Jackalstar's name. "But, um," Sparkpaw shuffled his paws sheepishly, "what exactly is an 'ocean'? I mean, I heard it had something to do with water...?" He didn't think that he had ever seen an ocean before. Although he had seen some pretty big puddles! But he had never heard anyone call big puddles oceans... Distracted, Sparkpaw hardly noticed older tabby approach.
"I'd love too!" the orange apprentice replied to Cherrypaw, licking the drool from his muzzle and biting into the rabbit as soon as he could, silencing his growling belly. He tipped his head to the side when Oceanstar introduced Brightpaw and told him that she would be leading their tour. He quickly gulped down a mouthful of rabbit. "You're an apprentice?" he mewed in surprise, eye Brightpaw in confusion, "no way! You look older than my mom!"
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Post by Adaline on Feb 22, 2017 6:49:04 GMT -6
Brightpaw watched as Oceanstar beckoned her to approach. With a brief nod, she made her way over to the Fireclan leader and his two apprentices, beginning to catch their conversation.
One of the apprentices, Cherrypaw she believed the kid's name was, gave a brief nod. The other apprentice, seem wide-eyed and then... Brightpaw's eye twitched. She forced a quiet smile, that appeared genuine. "Nah, I'm not that old yet." She wondered if it was the damage to her ears and the scars... Or if she really just did look like an old lady. Eugh. Regardless, she sat down waiting for the apprentices to finish their rabbit.
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Post by Oceanstar on Feb 22, 2017 16:25:05 GMT -6
He wasn't sure if 'pretty' was exactly the word he was going for, but Oceanstar accepted the compliment nonetheless. Sparkpaw's response was a little more up his alley and the tom chortled. "I've never seen one myself, except in dreams" he admitted with a faint shrug. "It is a wide expanse of further. Deeper and bigger than you can imagine. If you stand at one end and stare, it is impossible to see the end of it." As far as he was aware there was an ocean somewhere beyond Iceclan's mountains, but far away.
Oceanstar watched Brightpaw carefully as she conversed with the other apprentices, a small smile gracing his features. He'd been afraid their rambunctiousness would rub the experienced apprentice the wrong way but she seemed to be trying, and that made him happy. "Brightpaw is one of our most experienced apprentices, you could both learn a lot from here." As soon as Cherrypaw and Sparkpaw were finished with their meal he made a beeline for the entrance, walking slowly so Brightpaw could pass him and take the lead for the future.
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Post by Adaline on Feb 22, 2017 16:38:50 GMT -6
Actually, Brightpaw wasn't sure what an ocean was either. She knew it was made of water... But that was about it. Oceanstar's description sounded a little... Scary, though. Enough water to start drowning in. That sort of death had never crossed her mind, but it was vaguely terrifying. She pushed away the decidedly morbid thoughts, to focus on the present. Which, was leading a bunch of fresh apprentices through not getting lost in the territory if they went out on their own. She... Was fairly sure that apprentices actually weren't really supposed to go out on their own....
But, obviously... Neither her or her siblings had really even known about that rule, considering no one had ever said it until the children of Pinyondapple and Hazelclaw had all become basically warrior-sized.
She wasn't sure she was the best cat to learn from... Considering her... Well, everything. She supposed she was capable in the physical sense, which was the only area she was really... Self-assured in... Which she supposed she couldn't steer this kids wrong too badly. She was just showing them the territory. Oceanstar could probably manage to undo any mistakes Brightpaw would probably make.
Then Oceanstar started moving towards the entrances, literally the second the younger apprentices had swallowed their last bites of rabbit. She looked back to the apprentices. "Since you're done eating, we can go now." She said, then moved towards the camp's entrance as well, easily passing Oceanstar.
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Post by Sparkpaw on Feb 23, 2017 3:07:18 GMT -6
Sparkpaw's eyes gleamed. "Awesome," he whispered under his breath, imagining what an ocean must look like. He pictured a really, really, really, really, REALLY big puddle; bigger than the whole of the FireClan camp! I wonder if Batpaw has ever seen an ocean. Maybe there's one on IceClan territory?, he thought as he munched on the rabbit he was sharing with Cherrypaw. He didn't know much about IceClan, except that the cats there weren't actually half-fish like in the nursery stories, but he had heard that there were a lot of water-related things in their territory. Likes streams and rivers and waterfalls. It didn't seem to impossible that there would be an ocean there?
His head perked up when the rabbit was finished, and he licked the remaining blood from his lips, watching curiously as Oceanstar began to walk away. Sparkpaw's eyes widened as he realized that the group must be heading out in the territory. Finally! the orange apprentice thought with excitement, nodding at Brightpaw before eagerly bounding after Oceanstar, trying to peek past him and get a glimpse at the territory through the camp entrance.
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Post by Cherrypaw on Feb 23, 2017 20:08:09 GMT -6
Cherrypaw finished off her share of the rabbit, feeling more alert and warm with food in her belly. The young apprentice listened to Oceanstar, and inspected Brightpaw with narrowed eyes. The sandy tabby did look much older than Cherrypaw, old enough to be a warrior. It looked as if she had gotten into some kind of fight, though, so perhaps it was her injuries that were preventing her from earning her warrior name.
She hoped that nothing would prevent herself from becoming a warrior as quickly as possible. Cherrypaw's ear twitched and her paws itched to get started with training.
Following the three other cat's out of the camp entrance, Cherrypaw tried to stand up as tall as possible, her eyes wide and focused as she stepped into the snowy plains of Fireclan territory. At least Cherrypaw's pelt blended in fairly well with her surroundings, besides for the few dark and ginger patches on her fur.
"What are we going to do first?" Cherrypaw asked, looking towards Oceanstar and Brightpaw.
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Post by Oceanstar on Feb 24, 2017 22:06:10 GMT -6
"That will be for Brightpaw to decide," Oceanstar replied, falling into step beside Cherrypaw. He was content to let Brightpaw lead and spend the time getting to know his apprentices better. He had a few interesting stories he could tell about the few landmarks they would pass and that would more than keep him occupied. As it was, he was curious to see where Brightpaw led them first.
"Cherrypaw, Sparkpaw, how had your time been in the apprentice den so far?" He asked curiously. "Made any new friends yet?"
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Post by Sparkpaw on Feb 25, 2017 3:31:19 GMT -6
Sparkpaw couldn't keep his eyes off the territory. He didn't realize everything was so... big. And open. It was both exciting and a little bit scary at the same time. His ears perked up when Oceanstar ask if he had made any new friends yet. Sparkpaw was eager to speak up. He loved talking about his friends. Well, he loved talking in general, but especially when it came to his friends! "It's been awesome! Although my nest doesn't smell like milk anymore... but I met Batpaw, he's from IceClan, oh, but, well, you probably know that already," the orange apprentice grinned sheepishly, figuring that it would we weird if Oceanstar didn't know that Batpaw was staying in FireClan for awhile. "Oh! And I also got to see Firepaw, although she isn't exactly a new friend, but it was still fun to see her! I got to meet my baby sister too, and..." Sparkpaw hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell the leader about Aloepaw. For some reason Sparkpaw got the impression that the other apprentice wasn't really into authority figures. In the end he decided to just talk about Aloepaw anyway, figuring that nothing bad could come of it, "and I met an older apprentice last night--Aloepaw. He sleeps in the nest next to me. Were gonna be besties!"
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Post by Adaline on Feb 25, 2017 7:37:27 GMT -6
Brightpaw looked over her shoulder to see Oceanstar walking side by side with his apprentices, Sparkpaw and Cherrypaw. Cherrypaw seemed curious as to what they would do next, but Oceanstar explained it would be up to Brightpaw.
.... Right. It was up to her. Since she was leading the tour and all. She could do this.
Brightpaw bit her tongue before she could start scaring Sparkpaw and Cherrypaw by talking about Aloepaw. "... Keep your minds open. Nothing is as it appears." She said cryptically, not quite wanting to tell Sparkpaw off for trying to make friends.... Even if it was with Aloepaw. The kid seemed sweet... Excitable.
'Darn it, Brightpaw!' She cursed in her head. 'Get your head in the game! Stop thinking of your personal drama and get the tour on with it! These kids don't need to suffer because your life is a total trainwreck!'
"Fireclan borders two clans. Treeclan and Rockclan. I'm going to show you the borders where our territories meet." She declared, beginning to lead the group towards the Sun Stones where the borders intertwined.
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