breezing through life [o]

Though she sometimes felt like she was drifting along more than anything, Lightningpaw couldn't say she minded. She liked taking things at her own pace: sure, Creamsky had charged ahead into warriorhood a while ago now, but she didn't feel any burning need to chase after him. She wasn't sure why- it wasn't like she had ever been known for her patience- but it felt right to let things stay as they were.

It probably helped that she didn't hate doing the things she was expected to, and that Stoatclaw had (intentionally or not) given her more freedom than most apprentices seemed to receive; she'd been motivated to train on her own and had the chance to practice her skills at her own pace. She was sure that soon it would feel stifling, and she would need to race toward the future at full speed once again, but for now...

This, running in circles in a patch of icy sunshine in SkyClan's camp, suited her just fine.

"Hey, Emberpaw!" Lightningpaw greeted, cheerful as ever. Emberpaw was one of the younger cats in SkyClan, and every new addition to the apprentice's den was a welcome one- not just because it meant that Lightningpaw, as one of the older apprentices, had less work to do on the average day; but also because every new denmate was a potential friend. "Yep, that's me- Lightning!"

She bounced on her paws, pausing in place for just a moment as the younger apprentice asked what she was doing. "Running! Don't you ever get the itch to just run for a bit? It's fun, it's not terrible training, and it gives me somethin' to do when everyone's busy!"

The older apprentice carefully considered Emberpaw, curiosity in her icy blue eyes as she immediately launched into an interrogation. "What about you, Emberpaw? Are you settling in okay? Your mentor's not too hard on you, is she? And is everyone else bein' nice so far?"

It wasn't that she expected any cat to be mean. But Lightningpaw still felt it was important to show concern for her clanmates' well-being, just in general.

"My mentor's Stoatclaw! He's pretty cool," Lightningpaw answered Emberpaw's question with her usual enthusiasm. "And I'm doing great! I've been training for a while- so I'd like to think I'm pretty good by now, y'know? Not that I don't have a lot left to learn, but I spend a lot of my time refining techniques n' stuff now."

She grinned, eyes sparkling in the light. "I'd love to race you sometime! Well, I mostly end up running through the trees, but y'know- sorta feels like flying, once you get fast enough. Or at least what I imagine flying must feel like."

"That sounds awesome! It's brilliant, I don't know why I didn't consider it sooner!" Lightningpaw bounced on her paws, observing Emberpaw with renewed respect. This apprentice wasn't just a new friend and denmate, she was also a source of great ideas. "We can't go now, but we should definitely do that. Anyway! What sort of stuff have you been learning lately?"

"Oh, this and that, y'know? At this point I'm mostly practicing and working on my weak spots, since I've got the basics pretty much down." Lightningpaw spoke with confidence, waving a paw dismissively. "It's nothing super interesting, though. No fancy advanced techniques or anything! Really, I've mostly been working on my hunting crouch... I usually just chase it 'til I catch it, or it gets out of sight. It's fun, but I guess it's not as efficient?"