Ashpaw's Hunting Patrol

"I'm glad to see how much you have been improving just in one day, Ashpaw. You can always go to the river for fishes but land prey is also a good source of food." He said with a proud smile. Then he approached the corpses of the fresh-kill and looked back at the she-cat. "For now we hunt enough prey in this hunting patrol so we should walk back to the camp. Soon I will give you some swimming lessons and I will show the territories during a border patrol so you should prepare yourself for the next days. Are you ready to go?" He purred before picking up two of the three fishes and one of the rodents ready to head back to the camp. It was nice first day for him as a mentor and he started enjoying being a teacher for the younger cat. He really wished that in the future he would train more young cats like her.

Ashpaw nodded, all too proud of her progress. "Yeah, I'm ready to go," she meowed, "but just one more thing." Picking up the prey, she went to the river and swatted water on Jaystream. "Race you to camp!" She meowed with a mouthful of prey. She knew that almost no other apprentice would have dared to do that, but with her experience of her mentor today, it seemed that he was a fun loving, kind cat. Looking back, she gave a teasing smile, her warm eyes giving their rare shine, that only appeared when she was excited. Oh Starclan please say I didn't make a mistake.

The tom blinked surprised by the sudden words of his apprentice. He didn't expect that she would treat him like a "friend" to play with. Jaystream finally ended smiling, defiant and playfully, and started running with his long legs behind her at first. She reminded him to Cinderpaw, his best friend and the cat that when he tried to defend her he got the scars of his chest.
The warrior soon reached the side of the she-cat because of his bigger size and gave her back a teasing smile showing her excitement too The older cat liked Ashpaw and was happy to have fun with her after a day of training. After all, being an apprentice didn't mean to be training and working all the time.
The tabby cat put his paws on the camp first and waited for Ashpaw, panting happily. He left the prey on the fresh-kill pile and turned his head back to the she-cat. "That was an awesome race! Maybe you should be a Windclan apprentice, Ashpaw." He said jokingly.

Ashpaw breathed a sigh of relief as she reached camp and Jaystream wasn't mad. Or maybe that was excitement. She had no idea. She hadn't had this much fun and felt this free in, well, forever. "Thanks." She meowed, "And thank you for the training, I learned a lot today..." She trailed off, thinking of all her progress in the single day. "I'm excited for when we start swimming! Thanks!" She took her mouthful of fresh prey and put it in the pile, so proud to have become an apprentice. She then went into the apprentice den, and decided to rest for a bit, her first day of training complete.