A patrol with Tinypaw

Crowstar stood at the entrance of his camp waiting on his son and apprentice. This would be Tinypaw's first patrol, and the leader had some concerns, but he still believed in his son. He wanted to find out if his son could live up to the expectations of the other apprentice's and warriors despite his small legs. He wanted his son to be a warrior. He closed his yellow eyes for a small moment, then opened them. This would be the start of some hardship for his son.

Tinypaw woke up with a jolt. Training was this morning! He remembered, jumping out of his nest and stumbling over the other sleeping apprentices. Trotting out of the den and almost tripping over his little legs, a smile never left his face. "Ready to start training?" Tinypaw meowed to his father, walking up to him. There may have not been much hope for the deformed cat, but he wouldn't let that get in the way of training with his father.

"I'm always ready for anything, that is why I'm leader." He responded in a sort of loving tone. "You should be asking yourself that question seeing how you almost over slept." Crowstar said. The black warrior stood from his spot, and turned towards the entrance slightly. "Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover, and I got to be back around sun high for some leader stuff." He said to his son. With a flick of his tail, he walked out of camp, with a slightly slower pace than normal so Tinypaw could keep up.

Tinypaw kept quiet and followed Crowstar. His father's stride was huge compared to the little cat's paws could walk and he had to work extra hard to keep up. Like Antdrop, his father wasn't usually the one for deep conversations, though the small white tom was interested in something he said. Leader stuff? Walking next to his father, he looked up to him. "What leader stuff do you do?" He meowed, almost tripping over his own paws, and needed to give a little boost of energy to be next to his father once more.

Crowstar almost paused in his stride when his son asked him what kind of leader stuff he did. He had forgotten for just a moment that his son was recently gained his apprentice rank so he was going to be a bit nosy still. "Well I have to make sure everything is running smoothly, and everyone is doing what they are supposed to. I also have to make sure that our claim to thunderclan territory doesn't get taken back, and also I have to sustain good relations with Riverclan, and Fishstar." The leader explained as they moved through the territory. They would reach the borders soon, and that is where things started for every apprentice.

Tinypaw listened intently, intrigued by his father's wise speaking. He followed in silence, almost tripping over his long tail while not looking where he was going. A leader, wow! The apprentice had just begun to fathom what it meant to be a warrior and now thoughts about what it meant to be a leader were racing around in his mind. "Wow! It sounds like hard work, but it must be fun!" He meowed in reply. Just liked every other apprentice, Tinypaw imagined himself standing on the Tall Branch, appointing mentors to apprentices and giving clan news at the gatherings. I wonder if I could ever be a leader? He asked himself silently. Not with my weird body. The little tom reminded himself, letting his tail droop to the floor. Will I ever even become a warrior?

Fun? Well it sounded that why before he ever stepped up to deputy, and then when he became deputy he started learning the truths about being leader. In his opinion he was still learning as to what a leader does. In his opinion he became leader too soon, but Breezestar never would have appointed him if he felt like Crowstar wouldn't have been able to do it. Eventually the black leader stopped and looked around. Yeah this was where the original border was between Thunderclan and Skyclan. "Alright Tinypaw, this is where the border would be if Thunderclan still had their territory. Memorize this area because Thunderclan might take their land back. There will also be scent markers if that happens." The leader informed. They still had to go all the way to the other side of the territory and see the Shadowclan border.

With a silent nod, Tinypaw followed Crowstar. He listened as his father talked about ThunderClan and wondered why they didn’t have their territory anymore. Ask questions later. The small cat reminded himself. "Okay, I think I have a pretty good picture of it." He meowed, looking up and down the border. He didn't want to show any weakness, but the short cat was so thankful for the little break. He'd never have to walk this far, and it was definitely a big step for him and his endurance. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, though he kept his thoughts to himself. Maybe Crowstar was like Antdrop and didn’t like talking too much, Tinypaw decided.

Crowstar decided to move on when his son said he had it. "Come on let's go we have to move through Thunder- I mean the rest of our territory as well." The black leader moved on, stepping into former thunderclan territory. The brush was going to get thicker, and the trees hung lower. Traveling through the under growth was going to be hard for Tinypaw, and using trees to avoid might be an option but he felt like his son couldn't really do that quite yet.

Tinypaw took in a nervous breath as they reached the other part of SkyClan territory. The scenery was notably different and he wondered why the brush suddenly got thicker. I didn't know we had this much territory. He wondered to himself, following his father's lead. The trees hung lower than usual and the tiny tom suddenly felt extremely closed in. Trying not to make a ruckus while he walked, Tinypaw padded onward, determined to show Crowstar that he wouldn't slow patrols down. Remember what Ghostpelt said, I'm going to become a great warrior! He remembered his talk with Ghostpelt not too long ago. Him and his sister had a meaningful little chat, and he was truly grateful for her faith in him. Trudging on, he hopped over a fallen branch, and swerved under bushes. "I, never knew we had this much territory." Tinypaw meowed, crouching down and awkwardly crawling under a dense bush that blocked his path.

"Well this is partially ours." The leader said as he moved around in the brush. "We share this territory with Riverclan, if we run into any of them today we will treat them with respect and kindness. If we run into some Thunderclan cats then we have to chase them out." The leader explained though he really hoped they wouldn't have to get into a fight on Tinypaw's first patrol. The leader would probably handle all of the combat if it came down to it. "We are almost to the border." He informed his son.

Tinypaw stayed quiet as they neared the border, excitement prickling at his paws. This was his first patrol and he wondered what or who they might run into, though he knew fighting wasn't always the best option.

Finally they reached the Shadowclan border. The scent of the night time clan was in the air, as well as the scent of Riverclan and Skyclan. Though the smell of Riverclan and Skyclan probably smelled a whole lot nicer than the Shadowclan scent. The leader turned to his son. "What do you smell Tinypaw?" Crowstar asked. There was also the faintest scent of Thunderclan but it wasn't something Tinypaw would notice at the moment, and it was nothing for the leader to worry about.

Soon coming to a halt, the mixture of scents in the air was overwhelming for the small cat. Sniffing the air, he tried to make out the different scents, which was somewhat hard since he hadn't smelt them before this patrol. "Uh, I think ShadowClan and RiverClan, cause of the musty and fishy smell, but I don't know the third," he meowed, looking to his father. "The scents all kinda mix together," Tinypaw added in a bit of a discouraged tone.

That was a good start. "That musky scent is certainly Shadowclan. They live on a marsh area so it smells a bit weird sometimes, and Riverclan is certainly a fishy smell, they eat mostly fish since that is their main source of prey. That third scent we don't have to worry about for right now." The leader turned and looked up the border they would be following. "Don't worry. Eventually you will be able distinguish each scent, this is only your first patrol. You have plenty of time to practice with it." He will also be able to do the same with prey when they practice that.