The ferret that got stuck in mud.

Trotting to the apprentice den, Mudfoot poked his head in, looking for his new apprentice. "Ferretkit!" He meowed with a cheery tone. He was always glad to have an apprentice and couldn't wait to start training. I don't care if she stood up to a warrior, she can't be that bad. Honestly, every kit had an attitude, so he was curious as to what she really did. I couldn't have been that bad, could it? So bad, that even Thrushstar was worried about giving the kit her apprentice ceremony? Mudfoot had no concerns, and hoped he and this apprentice would hunt as clanmates instead of enemies.

Ferretpaw yawned, groggily shaking her legs. She was cramped in the den aaaall night. She didn't think apprentices were such space hogs!

"That's... Ferretpaw, to you!" she giggled as she heard her kit name. The excitement was still overwhelming. I'm finally an apprentice! Maybe I can fight a cat for real now.

She recalled the rogue's murderous gaze and shivered. She just wanted to protect the medicine cat. She found her first role model in Silverfern and wanted to make the former medicine apprentice proud of her. If she didn't hold medicine cats in such high regard, she wouldn't have put herself at risk.

But her mistake was behind her now. She prayed that Mudfoot wouldn't judge her on her spur of the moment recklessness. After all, she was bigger now. Her voice was fuller and less squeaky, and her fur had rid itself of the downy softness of kithood. She stood proudly in front of her mentor. "What are we doing today?"

Mudfoot winced as she corrected him. I called her by her kit name? He couldn't belive himself. Great way to start off training. The fluffy tom hoped she didn't think he was a fool, although Ferretpaw did seem pretty relaxed about it. Maybe she's just as nervous as I am? He wondered to himself.

Walking out of the den, he turned around when he padded a little ways across camp. "Since it's your first training, we'll do a border patrol and some hunting practice." It wasn't the most exciting patrol, but it must be done.

"Awesome!" she hooted, scrambling past her mentor and towards the exit. She took a look around with a satisfied stare. She heard a bird chirp and a couple cicadas buzz in the greenleaf sun. She started sniffing the various trees for scent markers. "That one smells like Eaglefeather!" She turned back to her mentor with wide, excited eyes. "It's so beautiful out here! No wonder we're the best Clan!" She threw her front paws on the tree to rub higher up the trunk, leaving a small scent behind. "Am I doing it right?"

Mudfoot trotted after his apprentice, a pur growning in his throat. "Whoah there, slow down there tiger." Be chuckled, catching up to Ferretpaw. Honestly, she was moving so fast he didn't hear mich of what she said. "Well, I don't know many ShadowClan cats who climb trees, so unless you want to be a SkyClan cat, I suggest we do what our clan does." Mudfoot meowed with a smile. The sky was growning darker by the minute and he was glad he picked this time to do a patrol. "Do you know what ShadowClan is known for?" He wondered if the apprentice knew. It wasn't a bad thing if she didn't, he was just curious.

"Well, everyone who goes out to hunt does it at night. It's really weird! Isn't it harder to see the prey?" She pricked her ears, listening to the occasional rustle of a cricket in the grass. "Every Clan does something weird, though. RiverClan freaks me out the most. Who wants to eat a slimy, bug-eyed thing that swims in the water? Ick! StarClan forbid I break the code, it won't be with a RiverClan tom, I'll tell you that!" She realized how loudly she was talking. I probably scared away every morsel of prey in all the territory! Her face heated up. "Sorry," she whispered, "I talk a lot. I'm just excited. There's so much to see and I've been out for only a few moments!"

Before he could get a word out, she started talking again. I can't blame her, I was that excited too. At least she seemed to know when she talked to much. "Don't say sorry, you're just excited, I'm not going to yell at you." Mudfoot meowed with soft, uderstanding smile. "And I'd have to agree with you about RiverClan, I could never eat fish." He stuck out his tounge in a "ew" sort of way, giving a wink. "And for us, it is actually easier to see in the dark. Luckily for us, it's getting dark soon so we can test your skills. Show me what you about stalking prey." Mudfoot sat down.

Ferretpaw let out a kittish growl and threw her legs out in front of her. Her back legs were stretched out and her tail was lashing behind her. She looked like a little feisty dog with her eyes narrowed and her tail wagging. "Have I got it yet? I bet if I did this to that slimy rogue he would've ran with his tail between his puny legs!" Her unsheathed claws struck the blade of grass in front of her menacingly.

One moment, she was an overly excited apprentice, cautious of how she acted, and the next, she was a vicious blood thirsty cat. This might be harder than I thought. Mudfoot would need to work extra hard to teach her what it meant to be a warrior, but that was okay. Besides, he was a mentor for a reason.

Still keeping a positive attitude, he nodded his head. "You have the main idea, but don't stand so stiff." Standing up, he gave his fur a shake, and took a loose fighting stance. "Being stiff legged will lock up your joints, thus making it harder to dodge out of the way." Lashing his tail back and forth, he looked into Ferretpaw's eyes. "Try to pounce on me." The tom knew she didn't know much, but the best way to teach is to show.

Ferretpaw snickered and kneaded the ground with her claws. "Okay, Mudfoot, but tell me if I need to go easy on ya! I'm a fierce fighting machine!" She loosened her legs and bunched up her muscles, springing forward with her sheathed paws outstretched with means to slam her huge body into her mentor.

"I bet you are!" He laughed. Watching the she cat's movements, he could guess where she was going to jump. Anticipating her pounce, the tom easily stepped out of the way, sending the kit the fall behind him. "Never let your enemy guess your movements. Sometimes, it's even good to pretend you going to do something when you are actually going to do something else." Mudfoot meowed with a smile.

Ooc: So I was thinking this would be like a fun patrol/battle training/hunting and if you don't know how to use the battle system, we can plan to do that in the next patrol, if that's okay with you?

OOC: Okay, battle system in the next one sounds good ^-^

Ferretpaw tumbled into the grass where Mudfoot previously stood. Dirt covered her nose and she rubbed it off with a huff. "Okay~!" she sang, sauntering to the right with a big smile. I won't miss him this time! Suddenly, she shot up from the side, twisting as she left the ground and springing to the left. Her huge paws slammed squarely into Mudfoot's chest.

Although Mudfoot thought he could outsmart Ferralkit, apparently she'd caught on. He could see what she was planning but let it go. She still has a lot to learn. Somewhat surprised at her choice of attacking, the tom stumbled backwards after her blow. "Good job!" He exclaimed. "Very good way to use your head. I can tell you're a fast learner." He wasn't lying to her, what Mudfoot said was the truth. "You did very good, but do you know what you could've done better or can improve?"

Ferretpaw thought about it. "Well, if you were actually trying to kill me, I'd probably have my claws out. And knocking you clear over would help too, I guess!" She giggled and shook her fur, which had become ruffled. "But you're the mentor, so I guess it's your job to tell me what to do."

If I were about to kill you? Her words rung through his head. "Very good observation, but fighting a cat is not all about killing." His facial expression and tone turned a bit more stern. "A lot of times, you don't even need to kill the cat whom you're fighting." He pointed out. Mudfoot didn't want to seem like someone who disliked fighting, but Ferretpaw needed to know how the world worked. "And yes, knocking me over to expose my belly is a great idea. Unless you aren't strong enough to bring the cat down." Mudfoot said, giving his back leg a good stretch. "But we'll get to those next time. We should start hunting before the prey goes to sleep." The sky grew darker as the moments past. Starting to walk, he looked back to his apprentice, making sure she was following.