Running on the Moor

The sun was high, the sky was clear, and Owlpaw was ready for an adventure. As he stood on one of the many rolling hills that made up the WindClan's territory, a smirk was fixed on his face. He had been an apprentice for a few moons now, but he had never had the time to take good use of the fact he could travel the moor now due to all of his duties; it felt like he hadn't done anything excited in forever. However, he knew he was going to get his warrior name soon; he could taste it. All of the training he had been doing was coming to a close and that meant more free time for him!

His eyes narrowed as he started to flex his back legs before he dropped into a couch, shaking his haunch as he gazed at the large open moor in front of him. Finally, he took in a deep breath and launched himself forward. He took down the hill as his fastest pace, his paws skimming the ground as he raced across the open moor. In these moments; he felt free. He loved the air rushing pass his fur and the rush he got as he raced. However, in his enjoyment of his run; he forgot to look where he was going. He was suddenly thrown forward as one of his front paws stuck a rock that poked up from the ground; sending him rolling head over tails. He gasped as he rolled until he finally came to a stop, lying on his back.

He stared up at the sky, his breathing ragged as he tried to get his heart to slow down in its breathing. However, a few heartbeats later, he raised his paws to cover his eyes as he moaned. "Smooth, Owlpaw, really smooth," he sighed as he rolled back onto his belly. He poked the paw that had stuck the rock with his other one, happy to find that it only stringed slightly. It was alright; and that was all he cared about. As he forced himself back onto his paws, he sighed as he took in the fresh scent of the moor. Flexing all of his paws once again (mostly the paw that stuck the rock) he sighed softly as he got ready for another run. Hopefully this one wouldn't end with a wipeout.

Near by a silver warrior stood and watched in amusement as the apprentice dashed about. Silverfang knew how fantastic running could be, and was glad that Owlpaw enjoyed it too. Concern grew in the warrior's eyes as she watched Owlpaw stumbled and fall to the ground in the middle of running. Quickly Silverfang made her way over to the apprentice, only to see him stand. "Are you okay Owlpaw?"

Owlpaw paused as he set the paw he was stretching back on the ground, huffing slightly as he glanced at Silverfang. Of course; even in the middle of the moor somebody had watched him wipeout on that rock. "I'm fine, Silverfang," he said with a flick of his tail, turning his whole body around to face her. "It just stings; but it isn't anything I can't live with. What about you; shouldn't you be doing...Warrior stuff, instead of watching an apprentice run around?" There was a bit of envy in his voice as he took, wishing that he was a warrior like Silverfang. He knew he still had a moon to go, but he didn't want to wait that long. However, he sighed as he shook his head slightly and just stared at her as he waited for her answer.

"Oh.. uh.. I am done for now.." Her voice grew quieter as she spoke. Even though she was a warrior, she was still new to the whole thing. She honestly hadn't been a warrior that long. The warrior's tail dropped at the apprentice's tone of voice. "I was just.. uh.. doing some.. extra hunting.." Silverfang said in a quiet tone not really wanting to speak anymore.

Owlpaw paused as he stared at Silverfang, sighing before he lowered his head. Man...He hadn't meant to make her feel bad or anything! He shook his head before he stood straight up, staring at her. "Well...If you are hunting; I'll help if you want! I guess I need more to do than just running around for fun."

The warrior's tail lifted a little at Owlpaw's new tone. With a small smile Silverfang gave a small, "Sure." The silver warrior looked around before quickly saying, "We should move to another area.. There isn't much here.." Silverfang said a little louder, but still keeping her quiet tone.

"Alright," Owlpaw said as he started to wander off slightly, but he paused to glance back at Silverfang with a slightly sheepish look. "Uh...Do you know any good spots to hunt? I normally would just follow where Stormstep would led me..." Of course, with that he could see one of the reasons he was still an apprentice; he couldn't exactly do things himself yet. He didn't know the good spots to hunt in the moor; he was sure that he would of tried hunting here which he had a feeling would of ended up with nothing. He had to learn all the things all of the elder warriors know; stuff he could teach to his apprentices whenever he got any!

"Let's head for the area near the Shadowclan border.. it ususally has something good when there is nothing over here." Silverfang said to the apprentice. She didn't really know any good areas.. but she did know enough.

Owlpaw grinned, his gaze flickering toward where the ShadowClan border sat. It was a bit of a distance; but nothing major for WindClan cats like them! "Wanna race there, Silverfang?" he said as he looked back at her, wearing a sly grin on his face. "Just for fun; thought. Winning means nothing...Other than for a right to brag!"

Silverfang looked at the apprentice with a little bit of surprise on her face before turning it in to a smile. With a nod she prepared herself to take of in a dash to get to their destination.

Owlpaw grinned when he saw Silverfang nod, and padded back over to her. Standing next to her, he turned so that he was facing toward the ShadowClan border with her. He dropped into a couch and let his tail flicker as he also prepared himself. "1..." he started, his eyes narrowing as he started to shake his rear. "2..." He placed one of his front paws in front of him, ready to take off. "3! GO!" With that he pushed himself off of the ground with all of his might and took off across the moor with a laugh; not daring to look back to see how close Silverfang was to him, but this time being smart and looking where he was placing his paws.

Silverfang held a small smile on her face as she prepared for the race. 1.. She bunched her muscles in her back legs to give a surge of paws. 2.. The silver tabby placed her paws in front of her to get the best stance. 3 go! The warrior pushed herself foward with her back muscles bounding forward off towards the destination, power surging through her muscles.

As his forced himself forward, he laughed as he raced across the moor. He loved being able to run so freely; he couldn't understand how the other Clans lived in places that weren't so open to the air; like the ThunderClan's tight forest or ShadowClan's marshy swamp that they called home. No; Owlpaw's place was clearly the free air that the moor gave him, and he wanted no where else to be.

He did spare a glance back toward Silverfang; but noticing that she was catching up, he quickly tried to push himself harder. No way was he going to lose to her; he wanted to be the faster cat in WindClan!

With a large smile Silverfang kept pushing forward. Just like Owlpaw she loved the open space, the air in her fur. The way she was moving made her feel like she was floating across the land. She loved the feeling. She loved everything about Windclan's territory, and hoped nothing changed at all.

However, as he ran Owlpaw could feel himself slowing down slightly, his breath coming in a bit ragged. Clearly he wasn't as used to running as he thought he was; and that running he ahd done before Silverfang had spoken to him had worn himself out. He glanced at Silverfang, growling softly to himself. Fox-dung...He was going to lose this race, wasn't he?