Snowpaw's Border Patrol

It was just at dusk when Thrushstripe had begun to prepare himself for the day. With the new duties as deputy, he had to make sure he was up and getting the day planned out before anyone else moved a muscle. With a heavy sigh, he stepped out of the warrior's den and stretched, quickly shaking the moss out of his fur before looking around the quiet camp. Well, it wasn't going to be too difficult to know who was going on what patrol today, especially since he had just gotten a new apprentice. Speaking of which...

Quickly poking his head into the apprentice's den, he looked around for Snowpaw. When his eyes finally landed on her, he began to think of everything they needed to do. He knew that he should teach her how to battle as soon as possible, but a border patrol was definitely more important. How could she battle something in the territory if she had no idea where she was going? "Snowpaw, get up!" he meowed loudly, hoping it would wake her up and get her moving. He didn't want to be too pushy, but this was important and he was going to push as much as he needed to in order to get his point across.

Snowpaw quickly got up startled and confused. She saw her mentor Thrushstripe and relaxed a little realizing that he was the one who had awaken her. She looked at her ruffled fur and quickly licked out the moss and dirt in it. "What are we doing today?" She asked excitedly, with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

After watching her get up and cleaned off, he began walking back towards the center of the camp, fully expecting Snowpaw to follow. She was going to know these borders up, down, left, right, and upside down by the time they were done today. "We are going on a border patrol. You can't learn how to hunt or fight in a territory you don't know!" He mewed, knowing it was completely true. Although he did know that all the training was important, he was going to make sure that she knew what everything looked and smelled like just in case... just in case of a fox...

Snowpaw practically jumped up and down. Stop it! You're acting like a kit! Snowpaw followed Thrushstripe outside and nodded maturely. "Okay. When we're done are you gonna test me?" She asked worriedly.

That actually wasn't a bad idea. They could do a little bit extra for the border patrol. He could take her around once and let her get familiar with the area and then have her take him on a border patrol. It was genius! But he wasn't quite sure how that would work out. Although he expected the best out of her, he didn't want to waste too much time simply checking the borders. There was still a lot to do tonight and taking all night on one border patrol was a little too much.

"Um, probably," he responded as he continued his walk out of the entrance of the camp past the thistles that lined the camp's walls. "So you better pay close attention. I won't go over things too much. You'll have to tell me what you see and what you smell, alright?"

Snowpaw nodded. "Okay." She kinda wanted to hunt now, but it was best she knew the borders and clans before she hunted. That would cause a lot of fighting and blaming.

Feeling slightly proud of himself and without saying a word, he took one glance behind him to make sure that she was behind him before speaking up. "Alright. First test. Try and keep up with me!" he quickly turned and darted into the territory, making sure he didn't run too fast so that the apprentice could try to keep up with him. He needed to see where she stood with stamina. Without knowing much of anything about her, he was going to have to find out almost everything in this first training session. Otherwise he won't know how to train her properly.

After what seemed like quite some time, Thruststripe finally stopped at the first border. In complete honesty, he had forgotten how thrilling it was to get his heart racing again. It had been so long since he had just ran, although he forced himself not to feel winded. Who knew what could be around the corner... But now he had decided to go to the Thunderpath first because Thunderclan was definitely a threat right now and with Windclan also sharing that border, it needed the most attention. Turning around to see where his apprentice was, he waited patiently for her small form to appear through the bushes that guarded the territory from the black path just a few fox-lengths away. "Hurry up Snowpaw!"

Snowpaw burst through the bushes panting. "I'm h-here." She said coughing a little trying to breathe.

The young deputy gave her a nod of approval when she finally caught back up to him. It was good to see her already keeping up without keeling over from not being able to breathe. But as soon as he focused back on the task, he turned towards the Thunderpath and watched as it grew more silent. He always found it weird how all of the animals of the forest seemed to grow quiet around this strange path and it was always so unnerving, but with a deep breath, he looked back at Snowpaw. "Do you know where you are right now?" He asked her, wondering if she had possibly heard stories or at least descriptions of this deadly road.

Snowpaw actually started breathing, and once she did, she wished she didn't. "It stinks! According to the elders stories, I think this is a Thunderpath." She wished she didn't mention it because she gagged after she did. Smells ten times worse than crowfood! Snowpaw thought crossly.

Thrushstripe nodded once again as he turned back to the Thunderpath. "You are correct. This is the Thunderpath. It is the most dangerous border we have. If you even think about crossing it without being careful, you will get yourself killed." As soon as he spoke, the ground quickly began to rumble. The feeling of the vibrations in his paws was something he had never really gotten used to, but he stood strong and waited for the monster that was rapidly coming closer and closer until it flashed by, blowing up dust and debris that was strewn across the black path. But along with it was also the horrid stench that stung his nostrils. Yes, the air ruffled up his fur, but it was nothing compared to the smell, even if they were possibly a little too close to the Thunderpath.

When things grew quiet again, he turned back to Snowpaw with a stern look. It wasn't really directed at her, but it was more of a hope that she was paying attention. "Did you see that, Snowpaw? Do you know what that was?"

Snowpaw gagged harder. "Yuck! Of course! That thing is a Monster! Twolegs get in their bellies and they drive them around." She said proudly still gagging a little, but ignoring it.

"Good job." Thrushstripe took a moment of silence for the moment simply to sink in. The Thunderpath was a dangerous place and the longer he stood there, the more uncomfortable even he himself was getting. He just really hoped that his message got through to Snowpaw. Finally, though, when all of the specific places were marked, he decided it would be best to continue. "Alright let's go Snowpaw. Next is the Carrionplace. Have you heard of the stories from there yet?" he asked in a somewhat curious manner. He didn't know just how many stories the queens and elders might have told the kits. He knew that he heard several of them just because his mother liked to scare him and his siblings when they were younger, but who knew how much this young apprentice knew?

Snowpaw thought for a moment. "Umm.... No.... Sorry Thrushstripe." Snowpaw looked down embarrassed that she didn't know what this Carrionplace was. "I believe it is full of rats. That is about all I know about it. I was told it a while ago." Snowpaw said quietly just in case she was wrong.

"You are correct. This is a horrible place. It's almost as dangerous as the Thunderpath. While there might be prey to catch around here, you never want to bring it back to camp. What lives among the crowfood in this area are rats. Thousands of them. While they might be a large source of food, they carry diseases that can plague our clan..." His voice trailed off as he began to think about it himself. How terrifying that would be while he was deputy or even possibly leader. What would his clan think of him.. or at least the cats that were left? "Not only that, but when rats are grouped together, they are very dangerous and can seriously injure even a warrior." He continued on, hoping that Snowpaw was getting the point. He didn't want her to make any mistakes, especially one this big... not that she was going to, but there was always the possibility with anyone in the clan.