There's always room for friendship

Troutstep woke with the dim sun, arising to the frost bitten air. He yawned, got up, and trotted over to the apprentice den. "Hey! Barrenpaw! Lets get moving. And grab anyone else you want to come with us," the tom hissed into the apprentice den.

Barrenpaw rolled onto his back, stretching as he did so. With a yawn, the tom heaved himself onto his paws and stood up. He shook his calico fur to free it of moss, then looked around at the sleeping apprentices. "Slushpaw...do you wanna come?" He asked as he prodded the she-cat with his paw.

"Oh, hey Barrenpaw. Sure!" She mewed, getting up. She walked over with him to Troutstep. Oh, great. Hmm... Maybe I can catch a bunch of stuff or something and then he'll be nice to me and respect me...

Troutstep was going to give a hiss, but decided not to. Besides, he was the one who said Barrenpaw could bring anyone along, so he technically couldn't refuse. The orange and brown tom turned around and walked away in silence, hoping other apprentices would come so he didn't have to listen to the love birds.

Amusement lingered in the tom apprentice's eyes at the two of his friends. The tension between them was almost tangible...a great idea came to Barrenpaw. He was going to use this as an opportunity to have some fun with his mentor/best friend Troutstep. "I think we are ready to go, Troutstep. This is gonna be fun; just my two besties and me on a patrol." A teasing grin grew on his face as he drilled his eyes into Troutstep. "You two get along so well that you remind me of a father and daughter." He laughed and gave Slushpaw a grin that said I love teasing him. The tom padded forward, leading the way out of camp even though he expected Troutstep to take the lead. "Let's get this party started, right Troutstep?"

Slushpaw smirked at him at the father and daughter joke, and followed along. "Sounds good to me," she mewed, and waited for Troutstep.


OOC: How will she get hurt, then, Ice?

Troutstep lashed his tail at Barrenpaw's tone. He didn't care at first, but when Barrenpaw took the lead, Troutstep had had enough. I'm not going to let my apprentice take authority over me. he growled to himself and trotted up in front of the smaller tom. He didn't say a word, but stopped in his tracks, in front of Barrenpaw and gave him a menacing glare. The older tom then trotted a little ways ahead, leading the way. Hmph! Well this is a great start...

ooc- Uh, I was not thinking this patrol....

Barrenpaw laughed, but then grew serious. It was time to train and not play. "So, what are we doing on this patrol? Hunting? Checking borders? Training?" Barrenpaw asked with a tone that was clear of any bit of playfulness.

Troutstep stopped when he got to the river and sat down. "Recently, RiverClan has been breaking the reputation of using the word "river", he said bluntly. "Today we are first working on hunting. And not for squirrels, or rabbits. For fish, the grumpy but handsome tom eyed the 2 apprentices. "You need to catch atleast 4 decent sized fish. I will be observing you and don't worry about me. Focus on hunting," he turned his head specifically towards his apprentice. "Got that? Mr. smart fox?" he slightly curled his lips, wondering why Barrenpaw was being so cocky.

ooc-was gonna say the other word instead of fox, but we are not aloud to "swear" on this site right? and cause I guess cats don't swear XD

ooc- oh ok

ic- Slushpaw watched them bicker, but nodded at Troutsteps words, knowing not to respect him. She went to the river and looked in. Enough fish to feed us for ages. The water was fairly clear, but it was still a bit dark. She swiftly stuck her paw in, claws unsheathed and swiped a fish onto the shore. "Yum." She mewed, hoping to get back soon to eat.

Troutstep sat down and watched his "sister" catch a fish. He then looked to see how Barrenpaw was doing...

Barrenpaw perked up. If there was anything he was good at, it was fishing. The tom ignored his mentor's last comment to him and took a place next to Slushpaw at the river's edge. He slowly sunk his paw into the chilling river and waited for a good fish to swim by. Barrenpaw looked over and saw that Slushpaw had already caught one, so he focoused on catching one himself. Finally, a big trout swam by and as quick as lightning, Barrenpaw scooped it out with his slightly bigger-than-normal paws and killed it with one bite. He glanced up at Troutstep to read his expression and see what he thought about it.

Troutstep watched his apprentice. He may be an idiot sometimes, but he is persistent. He watched as Barrenpaw caught the fish. Or, maybe it's just young love... The tom's thoughts were broken when the young tom looked at him with a curious look. I guess I might as well praise him... He gave a barley heard sigh. "You did well. Good technique of waiting still and quiet at the waters edge," he gave a small nod of approval.

Slushpaw smiled at Barrenpaw as he caught the fish. She reached in and attempted to snag a fish. She missed and growled. She stuck her head into the water, and bit into the fun of a fish. She snagged it out of the water and dropped it next to the other fish. She licked her lips, searching for another.

Barrenpaw kept his face straight, but inside he was smiling at Troutstep. The apprentice turned back toward the river and caught a couple more medium-sized fish so that he had four. The patched tabby turned his blank eyes over to Slushpaw to see how she did. He liked how she stuck her head in the water to catch a fish. Though his expression was still somewhat serious, he spoke to her with a faint smile and joy in his voice. "Nice catches."