Lesson one: (Closed patrol)

Birdflight walked over to the apprentice's den with a smile on her face. It was dawn so she knew her apprentice wasn't anywhere but his nest. The calico warrior gave a breathy sigh as she stepped inside. This was where she slept not too long ago. She spotted the tom and reached a paw to nudge him. "Toadpaw, time to get up! We're going on a border patrol." she whispered. The she-cat exited out of the den and waited by the entrance of the camp for him.

Toadpaw groggily stirred from his nest in the apprentice den. Uncurling, he stretched lazily and yawned. Mumbling to himself, he muttered, "Is it time to get up already?" After taking his sweet time washing his face, front paws, and ears, the somewhat more alert new apprentice finally emerged from the den and looked around.

Spotting his mentor, the young swirled brown tabby bounded over, a bit more excited now since he realized that he was finally going to start his long-awaited training. Cheerfully, he meowed, "Hiya', Birdflight! What're we doing today? Are we fighting? Exploring? Hunting?" He fixated his eager blue-green eyes on his mentor.

Birdflight gave the apprentice a playful smirk. She chuckled before getting up. "Well, we're going to explore the terrirory and patrol the borders. I decided this so we can knock this stuff out early so we can get to the good stuff, like hunting and battle training. Maybe even along the way I can show you how to hunt, however, you'll be able to try it tomorrow." she explained. The she-cat licked her chest fur a couple of times before heading out of camp. Her first destination was the heart of the territory.

Once the two got there, the calico warrior turned around and looked at her apprentice. "Toadpaw, do you know the common prey found in Thunderclan territory?" she asked. The warrior wanted to know how much the apprentice knew already, so she didn't go over things he already knew.

Following Birdflight out of camp, Toadpaw looked all around him, taking in the lush greens of the forest with interest. At Birdflight's question, he broke out of his state of admiration for his surroundings and sat down on the forest clearing for a bit. Scratching his head with his hind paw with one eye closed, he guessed, "Um, like... Is it rodents and birds? Oh, and maybe squirrels? That's what we eat all the time in camp, anyway."

OOC: Squirrels are rodents, though.

"Very good Toadpaw! Mice, squirrels, and birds are the more common prey here in Thunderclan territory. Since we're near Windclan and share a border with Shadowclan, we can sometimes spot rabbits and lizards here. When they're here, its Thunderclan's prey." She gave her apprentice a nod of approval before heading deeper into the territory.

Birdflight stopped a few lengths away from the Thunderpath. "This is the border we share with Shadowclan. What can you smell here?" she asked the younger tom.

Toadpaw beamed with pleasure at the praise and got up, following his mentor deeper into the territory. Stopping a few mouse-lengths away from Birdflight, he looked at the stretch of dark gray substance in front of him. Taking a whiff, he recoiled almost instantly and flattened his ears in disgust. "P.U. It smells like something died here! What is this?"

Birdflight gave an amused chuckle. "Well, what you're smelling is the scent of twoleg monsters. Monsters are huge things with shiny pelts. You can sometimes see twolegs getting in their bellies. They usually stay on the thunderpath but on occasions, the vear off its path and stray into our or Shadowclan's territories. Monsters give off the scent you smelled. It's so strong, it can make a kit go blind! Don't worry though, you won't be seeing any right now." The she-cat turned around and led Toadpaw to the next border.

The river came into view. It had a fresh scent to it. She stopped and took a deep breath. The warrior turned and looked at the apprentice. "Toadpaw, tell me, what kind of prey do you think lives there?" she asked while directing her gaze to the Riverclan territory.

"Glad to know! I'll be steering clear of this place for a while," Toadpaw mewed with amusement. The generally good-natured apprentice followed her to the next area.

Looking at the river, he remembered his outing with his siblings, when they had decided to secretly visit their RiverClan father, Otterleap. "I've been here before- no doubt fish are here!" He declared this with confidence. He remembered seeing the silver shine of tiny creatures darting in the shallows of the water. He also vaguely remembered his father having told him and his other siblings about fishing in RiverClan while he was still raising them in their birth cave.

Sniffing the air, he noted, "It sure smells here too- not NEARLY as bad, though, and it's a lot different from Thunderpath!"

OOC: Toadpaw is part-RC, and he was born in the Mistwalker's Cave; in his early kithood, he was raised by both of his parents and so was probably exposed to some RiverClan notions. Not sure if his heritage is supposed to be public knowledge among the clan or not, though.

OOC: That's alright! Birdflight doesn't know. Try to keep it a secret though~

IC: "Well done Toadpaw! You're well informed about Riverclan that's for sure! Let us keep going to the Skyclan border!" she said with a smile. The she-cat led her apprentice to the Fallen Oak, the border between Thunderclan and Skyclan. The warrior turned around and gazed at the tom. "Can you tell me at least one thing you know or think you know about Skyclan?" she asked.

OOC: I see, thanks.

IC: Toadpaw smiled back before following her to the Fallen Oak. Unlike with RiverClan, he didn't know much about SkyClan at all. "SkyClan, huh...? Don't tell me- they can fly?!", he asked incredulously.

Birdflight let out a purr of amusement. "Of course they can't fly. Something they can do, which is as close to flying as cats can get, is their ability to jump much higher than the other four clans can. Skyclan is now a mixture of tribe cats and a newer generation of Skyclan. Some of the four clans have taken cats from the Traibe of Endless Skies to train them as warriors." The she-cat flicked the apprentice's ear with her tail. "It seems that everything at all borders was calm and how it should be. C'mon, you have done well today! Let's head back to camp, where you can pick the best prey from the freshkill pile for yourself." The warrior led her apprentice back to the Thunderclan camp.

OOC: Alrighty!~ this is the end of the topic! Imma put up their hunting training/patrol soon so be on the lookout for it!

OOC: Excellent; thanks for being so quick!

IC: Toadpaw was awestruck. "Jumping high sounds really amazing, too! I already love jumping! To jump like SkyClan, though... That sounds incredible."

The apprentice was happy at the praise and mewed, "Thanks, Birdflight!" He followed her back to camp. All in all, the patrol had been a good start to his training.