Learning Time! (Kiba)

[Midnight]

Sunblaze's golden eyes were bursting with happiness. He couldn't believe he'd been given an apprentice, and he was just very happy about it. I'll be the best mentor this Clan has ever seen! Sunblaze had vowed to himself, deciding that it was true. "Mintpaw!" The golden tabby cheerily called into the apprentices' den. The sky was blue, clear, and the sun was rising. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground from the previous night and most of the snow that had collected over leafbare was beginning to melt as the season turned slowly over to newleaf. "Mintpaw, I'm going to show you the territory today!"

[kiba]

Mintpaw yawned as she heard her mentor's voice. She sat up and then she shook her pelt and groomed her fur down so that it was smooth. She padded out of the warriors den and looked at her mentor. She nodded, too shy to really say anything. Her eyes were curious as to what the territory looked like. She also wondered if her mentor was mean or nice. She hadn't really talked to him before.

[Midnight]

Sunblaze flicked an ear in sudden embarrassment. It wasn't a feeling he, well, felt, too often because he rarely caught things other cats said or did that would embarrass him. The golden tabby decided to cool himself down a bit, padding calmly out of camp, but once he was out of MidnightClan's camp, his calmness lasted for only a few more seconds.

"First of all, you should know that StormClan, which is to the left of us, and the border is a river, is full of nasty fish-breaths! StormClan cats think they're all big and tough and cool, but they're not, so don't be fooled!" Sunblaze meowed. He essentially described himself without even realizing it.

"LeafClan is a bit different. They're to the right of us, the border marked only by scent. They're smelly, too, but they're just dumb and annoying." Sunblaze said. "We're heading for the StormClan border first," Wanting a worded response from his apprentice, Sunblaze added, "Okay?"

[kiba]

Mintpaw noted the moment of calmness and quickly followed. She nearly jumped when he became all hyper all over again. She stayed slightly behind him and listened as he explained Leafclan and Stormclan. Her eyes wondered around, taking in the surroundings near the camp.

Her ear flicked as she heard his question. She was about to nod when she realized he wasn't looking. "O-okay," he muttered quietly. She tripped over a root suddenly and fell straight on her face and chest. She laid there for a moment, ears flattening with embarrassment.

[Midnight]

It worked! I got it now. Sunblaze thought, proud of his accomplishment at pretty much making the she-cat say something. Just don't look at her. It would seem rude, maybe, to some cats, but to Sunblaze, it was just a way to train his apprentice.

He heard something fall to the ground and turned back, scratching what he thought about not looking at her. That would only work when talking to her, maybe.. "You alright?" Sunblaze asked, bounding over to her and trying to help her up. "You're going to get your first scar without even being in battle!"

[kiba]

Mintpaw let the tom help her up. Her lip was bleeding slightly, her fang had punctured it. She looked away with embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry," she replied. She licked her chest, trying to calm herself down. She then looked at him, waiting for him to continue the tour. She tried to ignore the sharp pain, but it hurt badly and she let out a slight whimper.

[Midnight]

"Sorry for.. tripping?" Sunblaze asked in confusion. He scented a very faint trace of blood and heard the tiny whimper that the apprentice gave. "If you need to go see Lotusmoon, you can, you know. We can see the territory later, or even tomorrow."

[kiba]

She shook her head quickly. "No, no! I'm fine. Just bit my lip is all," she replied, clearly not wanting to make her mentor have to wait to train her. She knew he was excited and she didn't want to ruin that.

[Midnight]

Sunblaze purred contentedly. This she-cat seemed shy, but at the same time, enthusiastic, or at the very least, a bit eager, to train. That was good in Sunblaze's book. "Alright, good to hear!" The golden tabby said before bounding forward. He easily cleared fallen trees, pushed through the thick undergrowth of MidnightClan's territory with ease, and kept a steady, fast pace until he was close to the river, which is where the warrior slowed his pace until he reached it.

"Alright, this is the river. Don't cross it, you'll get torn apart by StormClan cats." Sunblaze mewed with a mischievous look in his eyes as he warned Mintpaw of the 'threat'. Trying to scare her, really, quite clearly. "Anyway, they hate it, but we fish in this river often enough, just like them. It's another source of prey that both StormClan and MidnightClan share, so why not take advantage of that? It's not like they can get every fish in the river! Get the scent of the river, fish, and the area a bit, then we'll move on to LeafClan's border."

[kiba]

Mintpaw shook her gray fur and followed as best as she could. She couldn't jump like he could over logs and such, often having to crawl under them, if there was room, or jump twice to clear them. She walked through less dense undergrowth and nearly lost him more than once. Finally, they stopped at the river. She was exhausted already. She sat down, ears drooping and breathing heavily. She listened to the tom, though.

She breathed in the scents and then suddenly, her stomach growled a bit. She perked up, once again, embarrassed. "Can we take a break, Sunblaze?" she asked, almost afraid to ask.

[Midnight]

He was at the edge of the undergrowth that started away from the strip of dirt that surrounded the river on both sides, facing in the direction of LeafClan's border, when Mintpaw asked for a break. Slightly disappointed, Sunblaze turned back in the direction of the river, looked at Mintpaw, sighed, sat down, and nodded, "Yeah, I guess. Only for a few minutes, though." Maybe training Mintpaw would be harder than Sunblaze thought.. If she was out of energy this fast, then Sunblaze might have to slow down, and that thought almost made the tom groan in annoyance.

(Silly, dumb Sunblaze.)

[kiba]

"Thank you," she replied, looking at him. She then looked across the river, flicking her tail back and forth. Her mind was wondering what it was like to be in the other clans. What was it like to see Midnightclan as the enemy instead of the other way around. Suddenly her ears perked. "Look Sunblaze," she replied, getting to her paws and looking curiously across the river.

-----

Blackfeather padded out of the bushes on the Stormclan side. He stopped when he saw a Midnightclan warrior and apprentice. He flicked his tail and narrowed his eyes before turning away, a disgusted look on his face. He sat down by the river and began waiting for a fish.

-----

Mintpaw looked up at her mentor. "He's by himself. Don't cats usually hunt together?" she asked.

[Midnight]

Sunblaze padded over to the she-cat to see what it was she was pointing out to him. When the golden tabby noticed the StormClanner, he narrowed his eyes to mere slits.

Distracted by the warrior, it took a few minutes for Mintpaw's question to click into Sunblaze's mind, "Yeah, they do. At least, in the Clans they do." The MidnightClan warrior wondered exactly what that tom was doing so close to the border alone. If he had an apprentice or other cats with him, Sunblaze wouldn't have questioned the warrior's presence, but alone? "Hey, fish-breath!" Sunblaze yowled to the tom, his neck fur beginning to bristle, "Get back here, fish-breath!"

[kiba]

Blackfeather looked up, his blue eyes blazing at the insult. "What do you want fox-dung! You should know to respect senior warriors, even if they're from a different clan," he snapped, standing up. His fur bristled with anger and he flexed his claws into the muddy ground that was next to the river. He looked at the apprentice that the tom had with him. "And teaching an apprentice to disrespect senior warriors too. You're no more of an apprentice yourself," he added, lashing his tail.

-----

Mintpaw looked up at her mentor, shocked at the insult. She then looked back at the now hissing Stormclanner. She shrunk back a bit. "Oh no, sir. I would never insult a senior warrior," she replied, just loud enough to be heard over the river. She hoped her mentor wouldn't get mad that she had called the other cat a 'sir' instead of an insult.