An early morning patrol (closed)

Sitting near the camp entrance, Tinylegs waited for some cat to join him with his long tail curled neatly around his tiny paws. A chilly, early morning Leaffall breeze ruffled his fur as he sat in silence, enjoying his own company. The little white tom had just finished training Russetpaw last sunrise and while he could've just sat around camp and rested, he'd decided to help out and lead an early morning patrol around the borders, seeing that it was a better time passer than just laying in his nest.

Moonlight smiled at her mate as she walked towards him with a huge smile on her muzzle. While the chilly breeze wasn’t exactly pleasant for her thanks to her short fur she could easily ignore the discomfort if it meant spending some time with him “Hey Tinylegs. I guess you’re going out in a patrol? Mind if I join you?” As she spoke she nuzzled him lovingly.

With a ginormous yawn, Fernpaw slipped out of the warm apprentice's den and out into the chilly morning air, fluffing up her brown tabby and white pelt in defense against the cold.  Normally the young she-cat detested being up this early; she was only here upon her mentor's orders.  He was sick in the medicine cat's den and unable to train her, so she had been ordered to join one of the daily patrols without him.  Pfft, I thought having the deputy as a mentor would be fun!  Fernpaw quickly rebuked her thoughts; it wasn't her adoptive father's fault that he had gotten sick, she just needed to be patient.  That was one thing though, she had never been very good at.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Moonlight and Tinylegs near the camp entrance, and made a beeline towards them.  For a moment though she hesitated; they were mates, what if they wanted to go out alone?  Well...there's no harm in asking.  She trotted up to the pair of senior warriors and purred a friendly but slightly cautious greeting.  "Hey, are you guys going out on a patrol?  Can I join you, if that's okay?"

Hearing pawsteps approach him, Tinylegs turned his head to see Moonlight, his beloved mate walking towards him with a smile on her muzzle. Standing up, he reached up as far as his little neck would go and met her cheek as he began to softly purr. If there was one thing he loved most in the world, it would most definitely be his mate, whom he cherished with all his heart.

"Yes, I'm going on a patrol," he started between purrs. "I would love if you joined me," he replied with a chuckle. He didn't know why she'd bothered to ask when the answer would always be yes, no matter what day or what mood he was in.

Giving his front legs a stretch, the tiny white tom let out a yawn. "I guess let's-" before he was able to finish, Fernpaw, his granddaughter, had trotted up to them asking if she could join. While he would always want alone time with Moonlight, the more the merrier.

"Of course you can come," Tinylegs mewed with a smile. Turning back to his mate, he hoped that letting Fernpaw join them didn't upset her. "Shall we get going?" he asked and began making his way to the camp entrance, ready to get started.

Moonlight turned her head towards Fernpaw when her voice reached her voice. While she always liked to spend time alone with Tinylegs, the rest of her family was just as important for her and would never turn down the chance of spending some time with them. This, of course, wasn’t an exception. Plus, she was aware of Rippedsky’s condition and knew that the young she-cat was in need of some training. Bit her and Tinylegs were Senior warriors with a lot of experience backing them up, so she really saw no issue on sharing some of their own secrets with Fernpaw to help her with her training until her mentor got better “I agree with Tinylegs here, Fernpaw, feel free to join”.

At Tinylegs last question she nodded almost immediately “You were the one that started this patrol, so lead the way” She had to hold back a Sweetheart on the very last second to avoid potentially embarrassing the smaller warrior in front of their granddaughter.

(I'm lame and forgot about this ack)

Fernpaw's eyes lit up with excitement as her grandparents gave their permission for her to tag along with them; not only would she be able to explore the territory and learn more about being a warrior, but she would also be spending time with her family!  Of course, she regarded Rippedsky as a father-figure in her life...but there was nothing else like spending time with those who you truly shared blood with.  For a moment she wondered if she should wake up Mintpaw, so that her sister could tag along as well, but by the time the thought crossed her mind the trio were already about to leave.  With a bounce in her step, she trotted after Tinylegs and purred; "Yea, let's go!"

OOC: sorry for the late response, Thanksgiving had me busy ;;

IC: Padding through the territory, the trio of cats made their way to their first destination, the Thunderpath border. "Let's patrol the Thunderpath border and then do some hunting," the small warrior mewed to the two she-cats as they kept a steady pace through the thinly wooded forest.

OOC: Apologies...school + illness = Not the best for activity

Moonlight smiled and nodded before starting to walk, careful to stay behind Tinylegs to let him lead but at Fernpaw’s side like she was a fellow warrior instead of an apprentice. The path to the Thunderpath wasn’t that long, but she would be lying if she said she felt comfortable with the stench. She understood the need to check this part of the territory, but understanding and liking were two completely different things.

With a short sigh she started to check all the scent markings, only focusing on those where the scent had started to grow old. Not that it was exactly easy to do though, as the awful smell coming from the Thunderpath easily overpowered most of the remaining scents.

Fernpaw trotted briskly beside Moonlight, trying her best to keep up with the taller warriors with her still short legs.  Still being a fairly new apprentice, the routine of checking borders and making their way through the territory still held a decent bit of excitement, and a few times while they walked the brown tabby and white she-cat veered off to sniff a stale prey trail, or to look at a strange flower or herb.  She had an adventurous spirit, just like her mother, and she was proud of that.  Soon enough, the trio broke through the undergrowth and caught sight of the Thunderpath ahead, it's strange black ground spurning Fernpaw's curiosity.  After checking the markings alongside her grandparents, she padded closer to the dangerous path and sniffed it, curling her lip in disgust.  What made it smell so bad?  She placed a single paw onto the warm pavement, it's solid texture so unlike the feeling of soil and leaf-mold she almost recoiled in surprise.  Her murky eyes took in everything, and her heart glowed with enthusiasm.  There's so much stuff to discover...it's all so cool!

Sniffing the air, Tinylegs wrinkled his nose at the harsh smell of the path. He and every other cat hated his place, but the border needed to be marked, so they didn't really have a choice but to suck it up and patrol this area. Making his way a bit closer to the actual border, the small tom marked a couple areas near the path and looked across. Per usual; nothing abnormal.

Glancing around, he spotted Fernpaw a few foxlengths away from him, a bit too close to the Thunderpath for his liking. "Fernpaw, don't get so close to it," he mewed loud enough for her to hear. The last thing he needed was for some cat to get injured on his patrol. If that ever happened, to any of his clanmates, he didn't know what he'd do with himself.