Target Practice (Closed)

Pale light shone on the marshes, a joint effort shared by the moon and stars alike. It offered little vision for the Shadowclan cats as they made their way through along the path, gentle breezes coming every so often to provide them a form of relief from the Greenleaf heat. As the tom finished scenting one of the few trees that marked their border he turned to face his fellow patrol mate. There had been a time in his life that Sablestrike enjoyed meeting the cats of his clan, though that enjoyment had seemed to dim after his stay at the Highstones. Now however, things were different.

He would begin to socialize with his clan again, but he would start small. Honestly the tom felt bad for making Ravenpaw his first target, but he couldn't deny how perfect she was for the task. "So, Ravenpaw. How is the life of an apprentice treating you so far?"

"Boring." She drawled, rubbing her head against a tree to further scent the area. It wasn't actually boring, though. She enjoyed learning about how to hunt, fight, and protect the clan. Even the elders had an interesting story to tell as she picked ticks off their backs. "I do enjoy the company of my clanmates, though." This was true, the other apprentices were welcoming, and her mentor was great. Ravenpaw stepped over a puddle and bounded back to Sablestrike. "I could ask you the same about being deputy, couldn't I?"

Her whiskers flicked in amusement. "What is it like? Stressful? Annoying? Enjoyable?" Suddenly having to plan patrols and organize every cat seemed to be a lot.

The tom made a mental note to check in with Ravenpaw's mentor. If she was finding his training boring then that would need to be remedied. "That's good. You should love your clanmates as if they're your own kin, and trust them with your life if it comes down to it." There had been a time in his life that Sablestrike hadn't expected his clanmates to care for him, but Forestbreeze's selfless act of shielding him from a dangerous dog bite had changed that thought process. Now and always he sought to protect his clanmates and hoped that he could be someone that they would all rely on. With a flick of his tail Sablestrike resumed their patrol.

Golden eyes fell on the apprentice as they walked. "I suppose you could." The deputy responded with a chuckle. "It feels right, if that makes any sense to you." There had never been any doubt in the tom's mind that he was destined to be a leader of Shadowclan, though he had assumed it would be after Leopardsun retired. "It's not too different from being a warrior, but the added responsibilities can be a tad stressful at times. I have far less free time than I did when I was a warrior, but as long as I'm being useful to Leopardsun I'm fine with it."  

As the warrior paused to scent another tree an idea came to mind. "What would you say to an extracurricular activity?" Backing away from the tree Sablestrike dug a paw deep into the mud. "My mentor taught me how to fling mud at your age. I was completely awful at it, ended up missing my mark and only hit something when the sun started rising." Sablestrike brought his paw up and hurled the glob of mud, nailing the tree with a wet thud. "I'll give you three chances. If you can manage to land a shot on your target I'll let you ask me a for a favor. You can ask it of me at any time, anything at all, and I won't question you either." He had offered Cicadasong the same kind of reward once and it had seemed to be an excellent motivator for her, surely it would work on Ravenpaw. "A favor from a deputy is quite the reward I'd say, think you're up for it?"