Shadepaw's Border Training

Fallencloud awoke to the sound of chirping crickets, the soft lull gradually pulling the warrior from her nest with a short stretch, informing her of the presence of coming night. Blinking open her eyes, and adjusting to the luminous glow of dusk flooding in from the entrance, the light grey she-cat carefully picked her way through the mess of cats still slumbering inside the den. After a moon of reunion with her home, Fallencloud had returned to her usual way of life – something she preferred to the constant vigilance and anxiety of battle – waking just before the moon and in the presence of her clanmates. Now she no longer woke, agitated, to the rising of dawn as she did in her stay in RiverClan; Fallencloud was finally back to ShadowClan's proper sleeping routine, and a comfortable nocturnal living under the glow of the moon. But most importantly, Fallencloud was eating healthily: frogs, birds, rodents; the perfect array of prey that she could actually stomach, unlike the fish RiverClan seemed to be forced to eat.

So it was concluded that the warrior was in bright spirits as she exited the warrior's den, looking to the clouds and watched the edges of the sun depart from the trees. Enjoying the cool mud beneath her pads as the breeze combed through fur, Fallencloud's eyes unconsciously drew towards her former den, where uneasiness seemed to seep through the warrior's pelt and a small sense of guilt grasped her. She had an apprentice now, a responsibility, and the life-impacting event had apparently slipped her mind until the knowledge confronted her. The warrior often went hunting alone in the early hours of dusk, a pleasure reserved for herself – but she felt the sense of duty and guilt overwhelming, and opted to do something she vaguely knew that all mentors did, and something her apprenticeship lacked. Yet hesitation seemed to seize her, slowing her pace as she headed to wake the young she-cat. When she received the apprentice to train, Fallencloud had felt weak, though she wouldn't admit it, and half-scared at what the quality of her own efforts would add up to. It made her shrink within her pelt – the thought that she might fail at what her own mentor successfully achieved. Was she ready to handle such a responsibility? Fallencloud's ears flattened; she would have liked to speak with her former mentor before she took up such an ordeal, but recently Nightwing hadn't been available, something she understood, as the black she-cat was deputy and had more important things to do. Though her former mentor no longer formally held the title, Fallencloud still believed her to be a role model and guide.

Before she would lose her nerve, the light grey she-cat hastily made her way into the apprentice den, and, finding Shadepaw's pelt amongst the darkness, prodded her softly.

It took a few moments to find the right words. “...Time to train, Shadepaw.” she mewed, waiting for the apprentice to rise.

Shadepaw stirred in her nest ignoring the first prod. The second prod woke her instantly. She shot up fur fluffed and tail puffed up her eyes wild then she noticed her mentor and relaxed.

Fallencloud couldn't help but purr softly as the she-cat's alarmed expression, and laid a reassuring tail on her shoulder, indicating for Shadepaw to be silent. Though Fallencloud was more than a little nervous to train an apprentice for the first time, she could feel a small bite of confidence rising as she progressed. Surprisingly, she was looking forward to getting to know Shadepaw - which dulled the anxiety of teaching her everything she needed to know.

Whispering softly as not to wake the other apprentices, Fallencloud bent down toward the she-cat's ear. "I'm going to show you the territory today." she mewed, feeling the words come to her naturally.

Shadepaw nodded and picked her way through the apprentices den.

Following her apprentice and passing her as she slid through the entrance, Fallencloud padded briskly toward the exit of the camp, motioning for Shadepaw to follow. Her paws beat softly against the hardened ground, before lightly pressing against the muddy earth. She knew, from experience, that it would take a little adjusting to get used to the amount of exertion of a warrior, but decided to take it slow, only walking just fast enough to stay a tail-length in front of her apprentice. 'Her apprentice' sounded like such a foreign term - yet she repeated it inside her head anyway, and seemed to grow accustomed to the fact that she was now a mentor, and not the apprentice.

Shadepaw followed her mentor out of camp. She held her tail and head high as she followed.

Fallencloud slowed her pace as she approached the center of ShadowClan territory, admiring the faint glow of the sun setting slowly over the horizon. For this particular event, the light grey warrior was glad that they lacked the clusters of trees other clan's had. It allowed her a better seating to beauty of dusk - even if, when she awoke, she could only catch the glimpse of it before the moon took it's watch. She glanced behind her, and, seeing that Shadepaw was following, swerved into the direction of the Burnt Sycamore, eager to show her apprentice their future training location.

By the time the fallen tree came into view, night had officially begun. She padded briskly, stopping at the base of the large tree in the dryer area of the clearing. She remembered the nights she spent here, training with Nightwing. Though she was glad to be where she was - a warrior - a small part of her wished she was still Fallenpaw, apprentice of ShadowClan. During her rushed training, Nightwing had been the cat closest to her - one of the only ones she felt comfortable confiding in, somecat she was dependent upon. Without any other cats her age, Fallencloud had no close friends in ShadowClan. And since her new life lacked the need for Nightwing's constant presence, she felt, in an odd context, alone, despite her living with so many other cats. She wasn't miserable - Fallencloud enjoyed her solitary hunts - but something seemed missing, the knowledge of it gnawing at her.

"This is the Burnt Sycamore." she mewed to Shadepaw. "It is an adequate spot to train because the earth is firmer - and without mud, it's easier to balance." Fallencloud informed her, snapping out of her own thoughts.

"Cool.."shadepaw mewed as she padded to the burned sycamore.

Eying her apprentice's interest in the area, Fallencloud walked in the direction of ThunderClan territory, motioning for Shadepaw to follow.

"This is where we'll train later." she told Shadepaw. "But for right now I'd like to show you the Thunderpath."

Padding slowly, Fallencloud paused for a second, remembering her own experience near there, and how she hadn't visited the damned place since the incident. Turning her head to face her apprentice, she added, "When we get there….Be careful. Don't be a mouse brain and do things without thinking." Don't be like me. The warrior hoped she wouldn't have to do what Nightwing did - she wasn't sure if she was fast enough.

Shadepaw followed siliently. As she followed she shuttered when she heard the word thunderpath but then shook it off and nodded.

Assured that her apprentice had heard her, Fallencloud walked briskly toward their destination, and inwardly shuttered as she remembered her eager pawsteps the first time she had been here. The warrior instinctively knew when they arrived. The dread flowing of the hardened black stone was enough to chill her, but she padded forward with a firm face. She needn't look scared of something she had moved past long ago.

"This...This is the Thunderpath." she mewed, her voice hard. "Monsters - those shiny beast running across? - this black path is their domain, and if you cross into their territory, they will kill you." She emphasized her words with a pointed look. "ShadowClan nor ThunderClan have any claim on it - not that they'd want to." She added quietly.

Deciding to explain, Fallencloud brushed her pelt against Shadepaw's, as if to comfort her as the monsters raced by, and herself. "Two-legs ride in the monsters' bellies." She mewed, repeating the words Nightwing had told her many moons ago. She held her tail erect and nodded toward the other end of the black stone. "That's ThunderClan territory on the other side. They have a lot of trees on their land, so they mostly eat birds and rodents - no frogs."

Hey my name is shadow paw im a warrior cat in the all warrior cats clan we meet always meet in the world bakoy in sarepia forest we do not rule the forest we are 2nd in place there so right now i am in... world bakoy so stop by!

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