Frogpaw's Training

"Frogpaw, get up. It's time to do some training!" Thrushstar called into the apprentice's den before walking back to the clearing in the middle of the camp to wait.

Frogpaw quickly awoke, sprinting out of her den. "Greetings, Thrushstar. What are we doing today?" The untrained apprentice said shyly.

Watching the apprentice dart out of the den was a fun sight to see. Looking down at her, Thrushstar stood up once more and continued towards the entrance. "First of all, we are going to go on a border patrol. Afterwards, we might do some hunting," he said as he exited the camp.

OOC: I figured since you were so far behind, we can do both patrols in one topic to make it a little faster. That way, as soon as we're done with this, I can make your assessment and get on your ceremony~

OOC: ok. Sorry for the late reply

IC: "Okay! I'm excited about that," She purred, following the leader.

OOC2: Writers block

As they walked into the territory, Thrushstar looked back on occasion to make sure that Frogpaw was still following. When they arrived at the first border, he paused, hiding in the bushes next to the Thunderpath. "Here is the first border. Do you know where we are Frogpaw?"

Glancing around, unsettled, she took a simple guess having heard elder's tales of a dark rumbling path with monsters skid around on it. "The.... Thunderpath?" She guessed unsurely. Catching a whiff of the horrid stench caused her to look away. "It smells like crow food." She declared quietly.

"Correct," he replied, not taking his eyes off of the hard black path as a monster rushed past them, sending up debris and an even more putrid smell, ruffling the fur of the leader. "This is the border we share with Thunderclan and Windclan. This is our most dangerous border. Always be careful when you're here. The monsters here stick to their path, but if you get their way, they will not stop."

The apprentice nodded urgently. She desperately wanted to head off, especially because of the lethal 'creatures' that whizzed past watching cats. Flicking her tail in partial annoyance, she thought, Can we please, please go now?

Taking a short moment to mark the border, Thrushstar quickly made his way back through the bushes deeper into Shadowclan territory, moving away from the Thunderpath. "Come," He said simply, moving on to the next border. It didn't take long for them to make it. Not too far from the Thunderpath was a large section of trees that seemed to reach the sky. It was still a weird feeling as the mud of Shadowclan turned to solid ground as they reached Highpine. "Here is our border with Skyclan. Well, now it's Windclan again." The thought of having such neighbors made him feel sick to his stomach. "This is Highpine. Normally, this is our most peaceful border, but lately things have changed. I hope they will go back to normal soon."

Quickly she followed him, breaking into a run at one point. "WindClan again... SkyClan border... I hope things will go back to normal really soon, too, Thrushstar," She replied to his statement softly, opening her mouth and tasting the battle-stained air. "There was clearly a battle here a while back... It still smells of blood, faintly, though," She said reportedly.

"It seems that way," the leader replied solemnly, staring deep into Sky/Windclan's territory as if he were waiting on someone to appear but no one did. Instead, he found himself simply standing there awkwardly in silence, listening. When he pulled himself out of his thoughts, he finally began walking towards the last border. "We will move on from now. This border looks clear." He marked it quickly before moving on to Carrionplace.

"Okay," Frogpaw headed after him, peering back at Highpine. I just know things will get better. I know they will! She thought, whipping her head around to follow Thrushstar.

The leader continued on in silence, pondering over what to do with Windclan. It was a difficult time for everyone and leafbare wasn't making it any easier. Tensions were high and threats loomed, but he didn't really know what to do. Shadowclan was growing but still not big enough. 

As they drew closer to the final border, Thrushstar shook away his thoughts. The fence to Carrionplace stretched up high in attempts to mark its own border, but he had never figured out if it were to keep things out or to keep its mysteries in. Not that it mattered. The leader liked to stay away from this place. "Here is our final border. This is Carrionplace. It's where the twolegs throw things out. Such a waste," he sighed but didn't take his eyes off of the wasteland in front of him. The smell was horrid but it didn't seem to phase him anymore. "This place is also very dangerous. The rats that live here can't do much harm alone, but they travel in groups and will try to kill you if they're hungry enough. Speaking of rats, never hunt them. They are full of diseases and you can taint an entire pile of fresh-kill with one of them."

Frogpaw nodded urgently, closing her mouth quickly. "I'll... Keep that in mind. I'll probably never come back here." She spoke rapidly, grunting.

"Good." With that in mind, Thrushstar marked the border quickly and, with the flick of his tail, motioned for Frogpaw to follow him. As he walked, he looked up to see that the moon was still fairly high. Plenty of time for some hunting. "How do you feel about doing some hunting, Frogpaw?" he asked. It was a good time to teach her as long as she was up for it.