As good a day as any [Twix - training thread]

[ℓυиαя]

Tags: Twix

The grass danced as a dark tom stalked past, lean muscle rippling under a short furred coat as he made his way back to camp. By this time of morning, the sun had already risen, the tom having watched it as he did every morning from atop the fields of WhisperClan. It was one of the few things that got him out of his nest at all in the morning.

It was the only time he got to see her.

This morning however, his day didn't mentally end with the rising of the sun, his body having risen for another reason that morning also. Today, was Duskpaw's first training with him as her mentor and if he were honest, he had no idea what to think. With the dulled interest, there was a painful mentality that marched with it. No doubt, this wouldn't work out entirely well for either of them : what, with a mentor stuck in his head and an apprentice spooked by her own shadow. Shaking his body out as he entered camp, he strode over to the entrance to the apprentice den and poked his nose in, hoping to find her here.

"Duskpaw? You here?"

[Twix]

There was a few moments of silence before something finally stirred deep within the apprentices den. Duskpaw had been laying on her side, where most of her ginger fur was hidden in the mossy nest she had made. Only her black fur remained showing in the bit of light that filtered into the den. The little she-cat had made a nest as far away as the other apprentices as she could, all the way at the back of the den. Slowly her head raised and her eyes blinked open to see Cedarfoot, looking in from the entrance. He seemed so far away. At the sight of a cat she recognized, she quickly got to her paws, her fur ruffled, and made her way quickly but carefully to meet him. A heartbeat later she was standing outside the den beside the dark tom. "Here!", she squeaked.

[ℓυиαя]

He saw her easily rise from her nest, the bright orange of her fur giving him visible signs of movement as she tiptoed her way towards him. Reaching his side, the dark tom looked down at her as she squeaked her greeting and he nodded in his silent way. Casting his mind back to his apprentice days, he wasn't surprised when the memories he was greeted with were full of colour and vibrancy. 

They always were.

His and Berrypaw's mentor had been close and so a lot of their trainings had worked in well together. It was more fun that way but somehow he didn't think that Duskpaw would thrive in that environment so instead he flicked his tail. "First day as an apprentice, Duskpaw. How are you finding it?" Turning around, the tom looked over his shoulder and gestured she follow him with a flick of his head. First, he would have to get her out of the camp - a feat that would most likely prove difficult based on her reluctance to leave the nursery a few moons ago. "We will start off looking at our borders." That was safe, unthreatening and a good thing to do on a first training session. 

[Twix]

She looked around the clearing for a moment. Her home and the only place she had ever been. She knew she would be leaving her safety, the walls of the camp that kept her hidden away from the rest of the world. The young apprentice didn't know if she was ready for it yet, but she knew she had to try. His question ringed in her ears and all she did was give a small shrug. "Technically we haven't really started yet.." Which was true.

but.. at least she could admit that she was, deep down, excited to begin. The fact that she knew and, seemingly already trusted Cedarfoot, made a lot of her worries settle within her. A lot, but not all. She trailed after the dark tom as they approached the exit of camp. "The borders... Okay." Not the most exciting, but that was totally fine by Duskpaw. It would be interesting to see what kind of territory the other clans had. "They.. won't attack us for being near the border though, will they?" but her nervousness and anxieties still had to ask such a question.

[ℓυиαя]

"Technically we haven't really started yet...."

A valid point but from here it would take off and she would no doubt wonder what had hit her. He sensed her start following on behind and he made a conscious effort to keep his pace slow enough for her to keep up. "Yes, the borders," he reiterated after her, weaving between his clanmates before they broke out of the camp and entered the vast WhisperClan territory. 

He wondered if he would still have enough time to see her before the red hues disappeared from the sky, green eyes searching the horizon for her in a last minute attempt. She were gone, the beauty of the suns rays replaced with a cornflower blue. but he had known that already, hadn't he? At least he knew hope was the last to leave him.

"They.. won't attack us for being near the border though, will they?"

He almost missed her question and his mind whirred to catch up, his paws slowing as he tried to piece together what he heard. When he got it, heartbeats later, his whiskers twitched, showing a small glimmer of humor and he looked over to her. "No, we will stay on our side of the border. Though, if anything happens, I'm sure you'll have my back." Green eyes flashed and he pulled ahead again as they neared the Stormclan border - the large fields giving rise to a tall forest that carried shadows in its branches. "You know what clan that is?" he asked, pausing and looking over at her.

[Twix]

Duskpaw followed close on his heels. She kept up easily with Cedarfoot at the pace he was going, and stayed close to his side to the point where the fur would occasionally brush. Green-yellows eyes darted nervously back and forth across the stretches of meadow and grass, alert for any signs of danger. She glanced upwards as well as she followed him- constantly checking the blue skies for eagles and hawks. Nothing showed besides small patches of clouds, drifting lazily across the sky as the sun began to rise over the hilltop. It pushed away the night and dark hues of the sky, to turn it to shades of light pink and blue.

The little cat's fur spiked nervously along her spine even though peaceful silence stretched all around them. All that was heard was their paws steps in the springy grass of the moor. It took awhile but she finally got an answer to her question. She was glad to have the reassurance she needed. Knowing that if there were to be danger, that Cedarfoot would look after her, just as she had thought. but it wasn't enough for the she-cats fur to lay flat again, even though their was peaceful silence stretching out across the moor. The only sound was their paw steps in the springy grass. Soon they came upon what she figured must have been the border. The ground sloped upward, a large hill looming in front of them. On top she could see trees arching their way into the skies, blocking out the sky and the wind, leaving nothing but shadows. Her fur fluffed up as she stared, trying to see passed the darkness that shrouded the forest of pines. "S-Stormclan.. right?" She said the words but her eyes never left the top of the hill that marked the end of the moor. Her anxiety was evident, from the tightness in her voice and the stutter that accompanied it. Her once bristling fur was now fluffed up around her neck and spine, her tail bushed in worry. The apprentice looked as if she were about to fight off a whole family of badgers.

[ℓυиαя]

OOC: ...Twix c: Thank you for waiting - have had a busy last few weeks x 

"S-Stormclan.. right?" 

Due to his green eyes never leaving the small she cat, Cedarfoot saw as her already fluffed up fur shoot higher as her eyes were fixed straight ahead at the looming border. She was scared and not in the wary type of way but in something deeper. She looked so small standing there in the long grass, the innocence radiating from a frozen body. During his days as a fresh apprentice, he had been excited and full of energy. For Duskpaw, it seemed this was the last thing she would rather be doing.

Nevertheless, this had to be done.

Nevertheless, she had guessed correctly.

Turning his eyes away and back to the looming forest, the dark tom nodded. "Very good." A flick of his tail had him trotting off again, following the border around about a tail length away. In an effort to make her feel a bit better, he went on - the meaning there but lacking the nurturing tone. "They have no need to attack us unless we do something to them first. Come." Raising his nose to the air, Cedarfoot checked the strength of the scent markings, sensing that indeed they had been gone over earlier that morning. "Luckily, we only have to worry about one clan border," Cedarfoot went on, trying not to make comparisons between Duskpaw and the late Berrypaw.

One shy, the other fiercely confident.

One innocent, the other fiery.

One fearful, the other fearless.

It was safe to say, he would never find another cat quite like her, a thought that both caused his heart to lurch and settle comfortably. Starclan, he missed her. 

[Twix]

Yellow-green eyes darted away from the looming forest to watch as her mentor began to move away, following the border. The she-cat's paws didn't move for what seemed like ages as her gaze moved from the darkness in the forest and Cedarfoot's dark pelt. Her legs seemed to shake and tremble, daring them to collapse underneath her and leave her stranded in the grass for something to come and pick her off. I'm fine. Everything's fine.. Her fluffed up tail swished behind her and slowly, her limbs began to carry her towards the only thing that felt like safety. It only took her a moment to cross the space between her and Cedarfoot, her fear causing her to move faster than she thought possible on such shaky legs. As she reached his side, she began to feel somewhat better, and her fur seemed a little less fluffed. but the little apprentices eyes were still wide, constantly throwing her glance around for signs of danger and looking back over her shoulder towards the border. It was as if she expected something to be on the hunt for her, and the wide open spaces of the meadow meant there was nowhere for her to hide. She moved a little closer to her mentor. He said he'll protect me. I have to trust him. What choice did she have?

[ℓυиαя]

He sensed her nervousness and soon the small apprentice trotted over to him, so close he could feel the heat from her smaller frame. Green eyes slid across and met with yellow ones as she eyed the border nervously. Never had he seen someone so deathly frightened of nothing before and while it was sometimes a breath of fresh air, it was not needed in a warrior. If that was what she was determined to be, then she would at least have to pretend. The two continued in silence until finally, Cedarfoot veered away from the border into the fields of Whisperclan, an action that would cause Duskpaw to also if she were close to his side.

Reaching a clearing among the tall grass, Cedarfoot turned to face her and checked the space around her before pinning her with that forest green gaze. "Alright, lesson 2. Hunting. Show me your best hunters crouch, Duskpaw." Somewhere among the long grass he would find her strength among the fear. Somewhere he would find her passion and help her to kindle her love for being outdoors and away from camp.

Hopefully - not so much that danger came looking for her. That had already happened once in his lifetime.

[Twix]

Duskpaw followed in his pawsteps when they came to a sudden turn, and the apprentice didn't miss a step. She glanced back at the border one last time, and she felt more relief than she could ever express to be walking away from it. Her fur finally returned to it's normal, sleek state, and she followed Cedarfoot a little more calmly now. The two cats stopped in the middle of a large field and she finally moved away from him, ears pricked to listen to his words- and anything else that might be lurking by.

Alright, lesson 2. Hunting. Show me your best hunters crouch, Duskpaw. The she-cat gave a determined nod before crouching down, tucking her paws neatly and steadily beneath her. She kept her tail lifted off the grass and her gaze focused as she stared ahead of her. She restrained herself from gazing all around her to check for danger, like she naturally would, and instead stayed completely still. The black and ginger cat may be afraid of just about everything, but prey wasn't one of them- and she had to show her mentor that she was at least good at something. All that time spent cooped up in the nursery, she would take time out of her day to practice this same crouch to stalk her siblings.