I Believe...

For the short time so far that Fernpaw had been an apprentice, she was definitely enjoying it!  The ability to leave camp...learning how to hunt and fight with the best mentor ever...cleaning the dens...wait, maybe not that last one.  In all though, it was pretty enjoyable!  There was just one thing she hadn't done yet, and that was get to know the other apprentices.  So far, she and her sister Mintpaw had stuck together like they were joined at the hip, but Fernpaw was beginning to feel a little adventurous.  She wanted to get to know more cats, make some new friends, all that cool stuff!  And, as she always said, why wait?  With a bounce in her step, the bi-color tabby padded up to where most of the clan was gathered around the fresh-kill pile for their afternoon meal, and grabbed a good-sized mouse off of the top of the stack.  After looking around for a moment, she quickly caught sight of a silver spotted tabby apprentice, and trotted over to introduce herself.  She looks familiar...but what is her name?  Something like...Shinepaw, Silverpaw?  Oh!  Shimmerpaw!  With a broad smile, Fernpaw gazed down at the she-cat, and muffled a greeting around her mouse.  "Hey Shimmerpaw, can I eat with you?"

Shimmerpaw grinned at her Clanmate and nodded. "Yeah, sure you can!" she moved over to make space for Fernpaw.

'Awesome!"  With a smile, Fernpaw plopped her brown tabby and white body down next to her fellow apprentice, digging into her meal hungrily.  She took a few bites and swallowed before speaking up with a friendly question.  "So, how's training going for you?"  She took another bite of mouse, but didn't wait to swallow before adding curiously; "Who's your mentor?"

"Eh, it's all right. My mentor is Cloudroar." she said dismissively. "How's your training going?"

(occ: I'm so sorry I took so long to get to this Dx)

Fernpaw nodded, and finished off her mouse in a few quick bites before replying to her new friend.  "My mentor is Rippedsky, so he's usually pretty busy.  I haven't actually trained with him yet...but I've been tagging onto patrols, and battling with some of the other apprentices from time to time...I would say it's going pretty good!"  The tip of her brown tabby tail flicking calmly, the young she-cat turned to groom her pelt a bit; it was still messy after a hunting foray.  She went about flattening the ruffled patches of fur until she noticed something..."Ew, a tick!"  Her nose crinkling in disgust, she was about to fling the bug away but then remembered that it wouldn't work; only mouse bile could really get rid of them.  With an exasperated growl, Fernpaw hissed under her breath; "Great...now I'm gonna have to stink of that StarClan-forsaken bile for the rest of the day!"  Clambering reluctantly to her paws, she suddenly stiffened before bursting out laughing.  "Haha, oh sorry, I guess those kit stories really got ingrained into my mind.  I mean seriously, who still believes in StarClan?  Dead cats in the sky?  Pfft, that's probably the strangest kit story out of the bunch!"  With a quick flick of her ears, she walked a few paces, before calling over her shoulder; "Hold on, I'll be back in a flash!"

Shimmerpaw smiled and nodded, then froze. Wait a second. Did she just...? The spotted she-cat stood up and put a paw in front of Fernpaw, frowning. "Could you repeat that again? Cause if you said what I think you just said, StarClan help you after I'm done with you." she stared intensely and accusingly at her fellow apprentice. She had hoped to become friends with Fernpaw, but mentioning StarClan in such a way... She knew StarClan was real. How dare Fernpaw make fun of them!

(occ: I am so terrible xD  Sorry, once again, for the delay)

Fernpaw jumped back a bit, deeply shocked when Shimmerpaw stood in her way, threatening her in a voice low and ringing with intensity.  For a moment her murky green eyes clearly reflected her surprise - and slight fear - but after a long moment her pupils narrowed into slits.  "I said, that StarClan is nothing but a foolish tale to entertain kits.  Do...do you seriously believe that there are actually dead cats living in the stars?"  A sputter of laughter spilled from her jaws.  "Oh come on Shimmerpaw, grow up!  We're not kits anymore, we don't have to keep pretending to believe those stupid stories!"