Dusk's Petals (Closed)

Pansyface was almost giddy with excitement as she made her way across the dimly lit clearing to the apprentice's den. It was her first day of training with her very first apprentice Duskpaw, and the gray and white patched she-cat was overcome with anticipation. This is what she had wanted to do since she was a kit, serve her clan loyally as a warrior, training apprentices, hunting and fighting....and this is where she was going to stay, no matter how much else she had to give up.

"Duskpaw, it's time for training." After poking her head into the dark, quiet den and calling for the young she-cat, Pansyface stepped out and waited by the fresh-kill pile, paws shuffling in the dust. She remember her apprentice training with Cherrymist fondly, and hoped that she could be just as good of a mentor to her adopted niece as her sister was to her. Eyes locked on the apprentice den, the young warrior waited for the she-cat to emerge.

The smoky Maine coone she cat opened her eyes slowly before she stretched and stood. She blinked for a moment before she have a small smile and exited the den ready for her first day of training.

Pansyface purred a greeting when Duskpaw emerged from the den, jumping to her paws energetically. "Good morning, are you ready to go?" Waving her patched tail towards the fresh-kill pile, she gave her apprentice the chance to grab a quick meal if she wished before setting out to explore the territory.

Duskpaw glanced to the fresh kill pile before she decided it would be ok to wait and looked to her mentor and gave a brisk nod"yep I'm ready."She mewed.

Pansyface nodded, green eyes shining with friendly excitement.  "Great!  Let's head off then."  Leading the way out of camp, Pansyface took a deep, calming breath of all the fresh forest scents, feeling her paws fall into the familiar walking paths between the trunks and stones.  Turning back to make sure Duskpaw was following, the warrior purred; "First, I'll show you the river and the ThunderClan border."  With a twitch of her ears, Pansyface began to run, leading the way towards their first destination.

Europe a nodded and followed after her mentor having no problems keeping up. She smiled a bit as she followed looking around for a brief moment before she mewed"will we run into any Thunderclan cats?"she asked out of curiousity.

Hearing her apprentice's curious question, Pansyface turned her head slightly as she ran, managing to reply between dodging roots and boulders.  "Maybe, but it's not likely.  We're out pretty early to meet any of their hunting patrols."  Seeing a ThunderClan cat, or patrol, would be a fun event to say the least, but Pansyface's true fear was that they would catch a glimpse of a cat across the RiverClan border.  A cat with a bright ginger and white coat, and stunning golden eyes..... Quickly banishing away her thoughts, the gray and white she-cat pushed through a thin barrier of plants to reveal the riverbank, and turned to gauge Duskpaw's reaction.  "This is the river that serves as a short border with RiverClan.  If we follow it, it will branch farther away into the forest and leave us at the ThunderClan border."  Padding along the bank at a much slower pace, she tried to push down the sad feeling that threatened to rise up and suffocate her as she gazed at the sparkling waters.

(ooc: do you want me to throw in Leopardclaw as a short ThunderClan encounter, for fun? ;D)

Ooc sure sounds good to me

Duskpaw blinked for a moment. She then nodded that did make sense.she followed up until they came to the river and she she cat blinked her golden eyes in aw"wow it's so pretty"she mewed as she joined her mentor

"It is, isn't it?" Pansyface smiled as she noticed her apprentice's amazement at seeing the river for the first time. Truth be told, Pansyface used to come here on a regular basis when she was an apprentice to wind down after a long day of training. Now though, the place held too many bittersweet memories to be relaxing. "I guess having such a pretty hunting ground would be the only benefit of being a RiverClan cat." Flicking her tail, she led Duskpaw along the riverbank until the winding waterway twisted off deeper into ThunderClan territory. Now, they walked beside the scent markers of mingled ThunderClan and SkyClan scent. Scrunching up her nose, the pretty she-cat nodded to the border and began to speak. "This here is the border with ThunderClan. We-" Suddenly, the fur along the warrior's spine pricked, and her ears swiveled. Signaling for Duskpaw to stay quiet, she picked up the sound of approaching paw-steps. I was about to say that SkyClan and ThunderClan are on fairly friendly terms, but it's always better safe than sorry.

~~~~~~~~~

His mind laid heavy with thoughts, Leopardclaw walked through the forest, not caring if his paw-steps made too much sound. He wasn't hunting, and wasn't planning to; he just needed to escape camp and calm himself down. After what had happened with....him the spotted tabby warrior needed some time to unwind and comprehend his thoughts. It seemed though that he had gotten too wrapped up; he was very close to the SkyClan border. Good thing I noticed in time... He was about to turn and walk the other way, when he heard a muffled voice coming from the other side of the border. Could it be....no probably not, but....should I take that chance? Hazel eyes narrowing, the muscular tom began to carefully make his way over to where the voice came from, prepared to attack. With a growl, the tom pounced through the bushes with fangs bared, only to come face to face with two SkyClan cats; a bi-color molly and her young dusky-colored apprentice. Panting, Leopardclaw quickly calmed himself and forced out an awkward apology. "Oh! Um...sorry about that I...I was expecting someone else..."

Duskpaw nodded listening intently. The she closely followed her mentor an intent but eager expression on her face as she followed her mentor to the Thunderclan border. She stopped though when her mentor signaled her to be quiet. She crouched quietly out of an old habit of having to be quietly. The she cat blinked as the the spotted tabby leapt out. The still somewhat kitten fluffy appre tice fur fluffed out in surprise as she looked at the warrior.

(ooc: ahhh I'm so sorry! I forgot about this topic, forgive me Dx)

Pansyface jumped, her fur puffed out so she looked twice her size, when the strange golden ThunderClan tom launched himself out of the ferns, clearly scaring her and Duskpaw.  Once the tom explained himself, Pansyface only let out a spiteful snort.  "Who could be so important to warrant an attack on sight!?  Oh fine, I guess I forgive you.  Now, shove off!  You're on SkyClan territory!"  Instinctively stepping in front of her young apprentice, the patched she-cat fixed a hard glare on the tom-cat until he stepped back over onto his side of the forest.

---

Not wanting to cause any trouble, Leopardclaw quickly obeyed the warrior's command, backing up until his paws were safely back over the borderline.  Dipping his head apologetically, the spotted tabby tom mumbled a quick "Sorry about that" before backing off into the dense plant life, hazel eyes shining with slight irritation.  Geez, she was sure a fun cat to deal with!  Well, I guess it's understandable; I did scare her apprentice.  With a sigh, Leopardclaw continued on his solo patrol, looking for that dreaded gray tabby pelt...

Its fine))

Duskpaw made her fur lie flat as she stood back up once the golden Tom was gone.

Pansyface flicked the tip of her tail in an annoyed manner, and let out a tight hiss once the spotted golden tom had vanished into the bushes.  The nerve....well, ThunderClan cats have always been too nosy for their own good.  Beginning to calm down, Pansyface flashed her apprentice a reassuring glance and waved her tail with a purr.  "I guess that's a lesson for you, never let your guard down when near clan borders.  You never know when some could jump out at you."  Hoping to ease Duskpaw's frayed nerves, the bi-color she-cat led the dusky young she-cat a bit deeper into the SkyClan forest, hoping the familiar scent of her own clan would help put her at ease.  "Now, before we continue on, I want to do a little bit of training.  Show me your best hunting crouch."  Pansyface bent down in a perfected crouch, letting the apprentice see what she needed to do.