An Apprentice Already (For DaySteam)

When Sootpaw saw the gorge, she was surprised. It's a lot deeper than what Stormpaw said it was, she thought, shuddering. "RiverClan's on the other side?" she asked, peering over to the other side of the ravine. It doesn't look much different from WindClan, she remarked mentally, atleast from here it doesn't. She scented the air. It smelled strange and foreign to the silvery she-cat. Was this fish? Sootpaw had never smelled fish before.

"Yes, RiverClan lives on the other side of the gorge. Technically they own the inside of it too, but there are many other reasons not to go too close to the edge," Nectarleap replied. He remembered how he had almost fallen into the gaping ravine as an apprentice, and he hoped Sootpaw wouldn't have to be that traumatized. But she looked cautious and sure-footer, so she would probably be alright. The scent of the fish-breaths on the other side reminded the mentor that he had a lesson to teach. What should he say about RiverClan to inform her? He ended up doing what he usually did, and improvised.
"When I first became apprentice, RiverClan and WindClan had a lot of tension between each other. One time Fishstar marched right into camp, and caused Ashstar to exile Kindleblaze from WindClan, ending the most of our tension." Even though it had been many moons ago that it had happened, it felt like less. Oh StarClan, he hadn't even met Stoneheart yet back then. "Now we don't fight as often, except for when they think they can sass us from across the gorge. Any questions?"

"No," mewed Sootpaw," you answered them." She smiled as she looked over RiverClan's side." Wait, I have one. Is that fish I smell?"

"Yes, that probably is fish that you smell. RiverClan cats eat fish, that's why they are fat and lazy. In my opinion, no warrior should eat anything with scales. So let's just be glad we eat rabbits instead," Nectarleap explained. He silently congratulated himself for how he explained enough for Sootpaw not to have any questions. Now he had told her about the gorge and one of the other four clans, but he still had a lot more to show her and tell her. By the end of the day, she would be a very educated apprentice. And the best place to educate about the other clans was where the clans met, so they would go there next.
"Are you ready to go to the next place? If you were on an actual patrol here you would mark the border, but the scent is fresh and we have places to go."

"Yeah," mewed Sootpaw," Let's go." So far, this hadn't had been so bad. Sootpaw half-expected to have had to fight or solve a dispute or something. I guess being a warrior isn't all as exciting and eventful as I thought it would be, she mused silently. The wind blew a hard gust on the two as they prepared to travel again.

OOC: Sorry for the wait, I lost internet. Also, mobile.

IC: Nectarleap nodded at Sootpaw's answer, then started running towards Fourtrees. He didn't run as fast as the previous time they had sprinted. He was going for a refreshing run rather than a test this time, though he ran fast enough to train her stamina. Once he was close enough to see the four sacred oaks, he came to a stop. No matter how many times he saw or smelled the clearing, the place always was breathtaking. Not because of the trees, but because of its legacy. He turned to see if his apprentice had arrived yet, then sat down. He realized he was panting rather heavily, he had to run hard to keep ahead of the young she-cat.
"I assume you know what this is?"

Sootpaw reached Nectarleap soon enough, breathing a little hard. She wasn't very tired, but running all this way was no easy feat for her. As she reached the humongous four oak trees, her eyes widened. "This is Fourtrees, right?" she asked," it's where the clans gather every moon!" The place looked even cooler than she had imagined it.

OOC: My computer is acting weird so there may be some mistakes.

IC: ¨Yep, this Fourtrees. There is a peaceful gathering every full moon. You will be going to your first one soon enough,¨ Nectarleap explained, ¨A few moons ago, during a gathering, the Tribe of Endless Skies came into a gathering. Most of them joined SkyClan, but two of them joined WindClan. Though Pale Light of Dusk has since passed on, Ash of Burning Forest still lives in WindClan.¨ Nectarleap didn't know why it was so cool to explain everything to Sootpaw, but he just felt important explaining common knowledge to someone for the first time.

Tribe of Endless Skies. The words sounded so foreign yet so cool to her. Ash of Burning Forest. The name sounded familiar. Sootpaw nodded at Nectarleap's words. "So we have SkyClan blood in WindClan, now?" she asked. Not everyone in her clan was pure WindClan, then. She was okay with that. As long as they were helping and serving WindClan, they were pure WindClan in her eyes.

¨Yes there is. But that doesn't mean they aren't loyal. Technically, I'm related to Ash, but I don't have SkyClan blood. Technically SkyClan has some WindClan blood too, through their deputy, Rippedsky," Nectarleap answered. Technically, Ash was his stepfather in law, being his mate´s stepfather, but the warrior didn give much thought to it. Looking at the towering oaks one more time, he turned back to Sootpaw. ¨Do you have any other questions, or are you ready to keep going? We have two more stops before we go pick up our catches.

Sootpaw nodded, "I'm ready to keep going." I wonder where we're going next, she thought.

" Okay then, follow me!" Nectarleap instructed. He sprinted only a short ways before stopping at a hard, rancid Thunderpath. It smelled like monsters, twolegs, and the ShadowClan cats on the other side. He sat down on one side of it, waiting for Sootpaw to catch up.

Sootpaw slowed to a stop behind Nectarleap. She scented the air. It smelled horrible and strange. What is that smell? she thought. She looked over her mentor's shoulder, taking in sight of the Thunderpath. "What is that?" she asked, frozen.

"This is the Thunderpath," Nectarleap explained. Suddenly a huge monster whisked by, and he instinctively took a few steps back."Monsters like those travel on it, and twolegs ride in their bellies. They are extremely dangerous to cross, many cats have died by being hit by a monster. On the other side is ShadowClan territory, which consists of marshes. WindClan hasn't had any problems with ShadowClan recently, so we are at peace and have been for a while. Do you have any questions about the Thunderpath or ShadowClan?" The young warrior was embarrassed to say he didn't know as much about ShadowClan as he did about RiverClan, but he hoped what information he had would be enough.

"What are monsters?" she asked," and why do they kill cats?" She was terrified of the idea. Those hulking beasts moved faster than she could react. How could she fight one off?