Early Morning Training

[Cherrypaw]

"Sure, I know plenty of apprentices!" Cherrypaw responded, listening to Sparkpaw and treading after Oceanstar and Brightpaw. She was careful where she put her paws, aware that her lack of tail impaired her balance, and not wanting to make a fool of herself by tripping, and maybe even hurting herself.

Her eyes lit up, and she decided to speak. "Oh, I know Aloepaw! He seems pretty cool, but he can be.. coarse, sometimes. And I met Berylpaw, and Firepaw, they're nice! And of course there's Thunderpaw, he's pretty much my best friend.." Cherrypaw rattled off, hoping that she wasn't forgetting about anyone.

"Are we gonna see any Rockclan cats? Or Treeclan?" Cherrypaw asked. She didn't have any battle training, and the idea of other clan cats frightened her. But Oceanstar was with her, so at least Cherrypaw would probably be safe.

[Oceanstar]

Oceanstar was glad to hear Sparkpaw had taken a liking to Batpaw. He'd hoped the Iceclan apprentice would be able to find some companions during his stay. It was his hope that Batpaw's friendships could ensure Iceclan's allegiance in later days. And if not, then he could always simply hold the apprentice hostage. Oceanstar purred. It seemed Sparkpaw and Cherrypaw had both settled in quite comfortably.

His ears flickered at Brightpaw's words, understanding the warning for what it was even if the apprentice's didn't. He was keeping an eye on Aloepaw and his other sister Almondfire, worried they were a danger to the clan. Sparkpaw and Cherrypaw didn't need to know those things though. He did feel a surge of protective anger at the thought of any harm coming to either one of them though. The sun stones appeared soon enough and Oceanstar began leaping onto the large surfaces, appreciating the warmth they still held. "Perhaps," he replied, already casting his nose about for some. "But if we do we will not engage in conversation, we have much ground to cover today." That, and he ad no wish to put two untrained apprentices in danger. "We often fight for domination of these stones. Ownership of them has passed between Fireclan and Treeclan for seasons. For now, it marks out border, but someday soon I hope to claim the entire bundle for Fireclan."

[Sparkpaw]

Sparkpaw tipped his head curiously to the side, drinking in her words slowly. "Nothing is at it appears?" he whispered to himself under his breath, not really sure how to interpret that. Does she not like him? he eyed the older apprentice curiously, drops of doubt forming in the corners of his mind, could... could she be the cat that attacked Aloepaw? He held back a shudder at the thought. Aloepaw had told him that another FireClan apprentice had attacked him, but he hadn't given him the peace of mind of knowing exactly which one of his denmates had done so. No, the orange tom blinked, clearing his head, Oceanstar wouldn't take us out with a dangerous cat... right? Sparkpaw decided to stop thinking about, wanting to have fun on his first day out of camp. He would worry about all of this some other time! 

His ears perked up when Cherrypaw asked if they would be seeing cats from other clans. He'd doubt they'd be as entertaining as he had once believed them to be though, after all IceClan cats didn't really have gills, which likely meant that TreeClanners were not, in fact, half-squirrel and RockClan cats were, most likely, not made of impenetrable stone. He was a little disappointed at the fact, but he guessed that he would still be interested in meeting another clanner despite the fact.

Sparkpaw's eyes widened curiously as the group approached the sun stones. He had never seen rocks this big before! Or of this color! He followed Oceanstar's lead, leaping up onto one of the large rocks, barley making it up with his front paws and having to scramble to keep from falling back down to the ground. "They're so warm," the apprentice purred loudly, sinking down and splaying himself out on the rock, letting the heat penetrate his belly and surge through him.

[Adaline]

Brightpaw tried not to listen to Cherrypaw talk about her family, as if they.... She shoved away that line of thought. These kids likely had never seen those two at their worst, seen what they were capable of without remorse. They didn't need to know either. She'd just need to keep her trap shut and focus on this tour. She pretended she didn't notice Sparkpaw take a closer look at her and tighten his expression.

She didn't need to think about if Sparkpaw saw something ugly in her.

"Possibly. Hopefully not." She replied in response to the query Cherrypaw made, as to whether they would come across cats of the other two clans that Fireclan bordered.

As they came upon the Sun Stones, Oceanstar leapt ahead onto one of the stones, with Sparkpaw following suit. Though, he didn't seem to have the greatest sense of balance yet. It seemed like he would take the time to explain a short bit about the border here. She knew all of these things, Eveningwhisper having explained them to her on her own territory tour... A long time ago when she'd been a newly minted apprentice... Then the tortoiseshell leader made his own comments on whether they would meet other clanners. Seemed he shared the same opinion. 

Though... Personally... She wondered as to the true wisdom of viciously fighting over the rocks... It wouldn't kill anyone to leave the borders where they are. 

But, she'd keep such thoughts to herself.

She cleared her throat. "We've got a long of ground to cover. We should move on." She turned and started walking to their next destination: The Old Tractor Path that marked the border between Fireclan and Rockclan.

[Cherrypaw]

Cherrypaw's eyes glimmered in awe at the thought of being in a battle. She didn't have any training, but maybe one day she would be able to help defend her clan and take back this bit of territory. Certainly, then Oceanstar would be proud of her. The bobtail felt a need to prove that Oceanstar was right in taking her on as an apprentice, and that she would be a valuable asset to Fireclan. 

She nodded her head at Oceanstar's words, and then took a moment to look at the scenery around her, memorizing what the border looked like, and how it smelled.

Cherrypaw was glad to get away from the Treeclan border, as she hated heights and things that needed to be climbed. She wasn't a squirrel, and she couldn't climb things, in fact, Cherrypaw had a hard enough time balancing on flat ground, and she didn't want to imagine what it'd be like living in an area surrounding by trees, or mountains, or cliffs..

"Okay." She didn't look back as the group moved away from the border, already feeling her paws start to ache. Cherrypaw had never walked such a distance before, and it was starting to get exhausting, but she wasn't about to complain, not in front of a senior apprentice and Oceanstar.

[Oceanstar]

Oceanstar stretched his legs and picked up the pace. They still had quite a lot of ground to cover and he was sure Sparkpaw and Cherrypaw would tire quickly. This was their first time out of camp after all. His nose twitched as the scent of moss drifted in on the wind. The blossom pond was nearby and Darkstar changed course, heading for it.

He padded up to the overhand protecting the pond and glanced down. Thankfully the small pond still hadn't frozen over, though the flowers that surrounded it were long dead. He waited for the other apprentices to catch up. "This is the blossom pond. It's one of the only section of water in Fireclan that doesn't risk freezing in leafbare. For that reason, it is very valuable." He glanced at Brightpaw, waiting to see if she'd more or continue leading on to the border. It wasn't far, since the blossom pond was filled from the river that ran through Rockclan and into Freclan.

[Adaline]

Brightpaw wasn't sure she wanted to push Sparkpaw and Cherrypaw so hard, but Oceanstar clearly had other ideas, judging by his increased stride. She repressed the urge to huff and picked up her pace as well, matching his speed without too much trouble. She cast a brief glance over her shoulder at the junior apprentices behind her, to see how they were doing.

Soon, they arrived at Blossom Pond. To her, the Pond was as it always had been. An unfrozen body of water, yet surrounded by dead flowers. She'd never seen the Pond in any sort of warm season where the flowers would be alive. She only knew what flowers that weren't shriveled up looked like due to her experience with the medicine den, with the herbs shoved into storage.

She listened to Oceanstar give a brief summary of the Pond. She cleared her throat. "The border between Rockclan and Fireclan isn't far now." She told the apprentices, before starting off again, at a slower pace than the one that Oceanstar had set.

[Sparkpaw]

Sparkpaw leaped off the sun stones, pain shooting through his paws as he landed on the ground. He hissed, scrunching his nose up. He lagged behind for awhile, taking a second to lick one of his pawpads, then shook out his pelt and raced up to Oceanstar's side, panting a bit while trying to keep up the pace. He skidded to halt next to the blossom pond, leaning down to sniff the water curiously. He took a few laps of the cool water, relief washing over him. "It's tastes good," he purred, leaning down to take a few more laps of water before sitting back up and running his rough tongue over his muzzle. "What's the RockClan border like?" the orange tom asked Brightpaw, turning to look at her and tipping his head curiously to the side.

[Cherrypaw]

Cherrypaw delicately jumped from the stones, making sure not to lose her balance as she did so, and then scurrying a bit to catch up with the rest of the group. Once arrived at Blossom Pond, Cherrypaw personally thought it was very pretty. Even when frozen over and devoid of life, the little body of water was still different from anything else she'd seen before, since the bobtail had only ever seen the grassy, flat land that was the Fireclan camp.

The she-cat followed along, listening intently to everything that Brightpaw and Oceanstar had to say, but decided not to speak- she didn't  have anything important to say, and it was a time for learning, not conversations.

[Oceanstar]

Oceanstar took up the rear as they started walking, a content smile on his maw. His apprentices were clearly tiring but that was too be expected; he was glad neither of them had complained as of yet. He had hoped water from the pond would keep them energized for a little longer at least.

He settled himself to walk beside Cherrypaw, content to let Sparkpaw and Brightpaw chat away. They neared the Rockclan border and Oceanstar lifted his head to scent the air. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, which he was glad for. "Nearly home now," he promised Cherrypaw, fearing her silence meant she was getting too tired.

[Adaline]

Brightpaw blinked, turning head to see Sparkpaw asking her a question. He even tilted his head a bit, which Cloudclan darn it, was kind of adorable in a sort of little brother kind of way. "Well... The border Fireclan shares with Rockclan is mostly like this thunderpath of dirt. Monsters probably went up and down it a long time ago, but have thankfully long since gone. You can tell by the strange pawprints they have left in the dirt." She explained. "Also, it smells. Though, I suppose all the borders smell."

She looked over her shoulder past Sparkpaw briefly, to see Cherrypaw. She seemed to be listening instead of speaking, so she returned her attention to the ground in front of her. She'd rather not trip unexpectedly at possibly the worst possible moment.

At least, it seemed like Sparkpaw was... Comfortable talking to her. She'd almost thought earlier he was wary of her. She supposed he had less of a reason to be suspicious of cats he didn't know all too well than she did.

She missed seeing Oceanstar's small smile, having already moved her eyes again. She heard the tortoiseshell's quiet reassurances to the younger female apprentice, however.


((I honestly had no idea how describe the Tractor Path. Is this good?

[Sparkpaw]

Sparkpaw listened to Brightpaw intently. Thunderpath..? he had heard about those from the queens! They were long strips of black that monsters ran along. The fur along his spine pricked, worried, although he calmed down when the older apprenticed said that the monsters were long gone. He had never seen a monster before, and hopefully he would never have too. They sounded terrifying. "Will there be two-legs there?" he asked curiously. The tom remember that monsters always had two-legs with them. Two-leg's didn't sound nearly as scary as monsters though, they just sounded like big dumb cats that didn't have any fur. He had been told that they walk on their hand paws too! They sound so strange, Sparkpaw had always wondered what they actually looked like, and was interested in getting a glimpse at one.

Now that he was talking with Brightpaw, Sparkpaw felt a little guilty for thinking bad of her. She seems pretty nice, still, he wasn't able to shake the squirming feeling in his gut. He had been uneasy around the other apprentice's ever since Aloepaw talked about being attacked.