Chasing the wind [open]

Lightpaw yawned and stretched in the early morning light. His legs had grown long and his frame had become muscular over the span of his training, and nothing was separating him from being a warrior besides an actual ceremony and a bit more experience. He felt ready, but that wasn't up to him; it was up to Eaglethorn to tell Falconstar when Lightpaw would be ready, which was not now. The tall white tom looked wistfully at the fresh-kill pile, but he knew the code. He wasn't permitted to eat until he had hunted for his clan first. Lightpaw licked his short fur flat and then sat by the entrance of the camp, where a hunting patrol would soon form.

Just like Lightpaw, Dawnpaw had also grown and she also looked a bit different - she looked stronger. Her legs did have grown just like they did for every windclan cat. Her fur grew slightly longer over her training, Dawnpaw shook the moss from her light ginger fur. The apprentice slipped from the den stretching her legs out, her ears twitching into a perk as she spotted familiar white fur. Her features turned into a small smile, approaching the tom. "Oh hey Lightpaw! How aree you this morninng?"

Icepaw yawned, a piece of moss stuck to his nose. He heard the older apprentices outside but wasn't really in the mood for a morning chat so he tried to slip past them.

"Dawnpaw!" Lightpaw purred at his fellow apprentice. "I'm well this morning. How are you?" He was certainly pleased to see her, his tail flicking around his perfectly white paws. He almost didn't catch the young gray tom trying to get past the two chatting cats. Lightpaw's blue eyes narrowed momentarily at the smaller apprentice and he quickly got the impression that this tom--Icepaw, if he recalled correctly--didn't care for pleasantries at the moment. "Well, Dawnpaw, I was just looking for a few cats to join me on a hunting patrol. Suppose Icepaw there would join us if we asked?" He asked in a teasing tone, as he had no doubt that the gray apprentice could hear them.

Almost as soon as Icepaw slid out of the den he heard Lightpaw's teasing tone and saw his gazing stare. What to say, what to say. He thought fast. "Um, he-hello" Icepaw stuttered, slowly walking over to the other apprentices. "Great day? Isn't it?" He spoke shyly, looking down at his paws.  Sometimes he wondered why he was so afraid of apprentices like Lightpaw, when he knew that he could most likely take the white ball of fluff down. Trying to be more confident, Icepaw stood up strait, puffed out his chest, and gave a small hiss under his breath, realizing he was he was almost the same size as Lightpaw. Maybe this will show Lightpaw I am no coward. He thought, meeting Lightpaw's cold gaze.

Ashpaw glanced outside the apprentice's den, awoken by the voices. "Is that you, Lightpaw?" she yawned. Looking out, she saw the three apprentices gathered. "Oh, hey. Why are you all up so early?"

"Oh, sorry to wake you Ashpaw" Icepaw said, still attempting to gain some respect from Lightpaw. "I heard Lightpaw mewing about going on hunting patrol" He remarked, giving Lightpaw a sharp glance. He usually didn't care what other cats thought of him, but now that he was a apprentice, that was going to change. From now on, no more acting like a shy kittypet that nobody knows or cares about. He thought to himself, still not over the fact that this apprentice (only a few moons older) belittled him. "I think I'll go, why don't you come with us?" he mewed nicely to the gorgeous she-cat.

"That sounds fun," Ashpaw mewed brightly. She gave her light gray pelt a shake. "Icepaw, isn't it? When are we going?"

"I don't know." Icepaw replied with a smile. He always had feeling for Ashpaw but never knew how to show it.

Lightpaw dipped his head kindly to Ashpaw with a pleasant smile. He hadn't noticed Icepaw's sharp gaze. "It certainly is me, Ashpaw." He considered her to be a close friend, mostly because she was the first apprentice he'd met after his own ceremony. Ashpaw was even older than Lightpaw and Dawnpaw, and she was probably expecting her warrior ceremony any day now. The tall tom stood, smiling at the gathered cats, and flicked his tail to the camp entrance. "We can leave right now, as this looks like enough for a patrol. I'm sure the warriors won't mind us being out alone since most of us are fairly close to being warriors ourselves." Lightpaw trotted to the tunnel, taking a few steps out into the open air and feeling the rising sun's warmth on his white pelt. It would be a good day of hunting. He could feel it in the breeze that stirred his whiskers.

Ashpaw smiled and followed. "You coming?" she meowed to Icepaw. "Where do you think we'll hunt?"

Icepaw stopped for a moment to feel the fresh breeze ruffle his fur but then heard Ashpaws voice calling for him."Coming!" he said as he bounded over to the other apprentices. "You guys know better than me were to hunt, I guess I'll follow you." he said to the others as he followed them to the tunnel. He was a fairly new apprentice and didn't know the territory that well, so in this situation, he was perfectly fine following their lead.

It was at this point that Eaglethorn, Lightpaw's mentor, showed up, looking at the apprentices with a slight smirk. "Heading out somewhere? I don't remember apprentices being allowed out of camp without their mentors."

"Uhh hello, Eaglethorn!" Icepaw replied startled, quickly turned around at the sound of the highly respected warrior's voice. "We were going to get our mentors but we thought we should scout out were to hunt first so we don't waist time on the patrol." He said with a some what guilty tone, not wanting to get in trouble and lessen his chances of becoming a warrior, and always be thought of as one of those disobedient apprentices.

He winced at his mentor's remark. "Well, I thought that since I was old enough it would be okay." Lightpaw said, dipping his head respectfully to Eaglethorn. He grew nervous, kneading the ground with his claws. "Since we're not allowed to go out without a warrior, could you lead us?" He asked, hoping his mentor wouldn't turn him down. We should have gotten out of here faster. Then we wouldn't have been stopped.