Mother/Daughter Bonding [closed for Willow]

Her first apprentice, her own (albeit adoptive) daughter. It felt like a blessing, and a curse. She had to be a role model in more ways than one now, and she wasn't entirely sure she was up to the task. Still, she was willing to try, though it still felt like just yesterday that she had been on her moonstone journey, or even her assessment. But thinking back to her apprenticeship also brought back memories she would rather forget, and so she shook her head to try and erase them from her mind. Today was a happy day, not one for solemn remembrance.

Carefully and quietly, she made her way into the apprentice's den for the first time in what both felt like ages and just yesterday. Careful not to wake most of the still-sleeping cats, she gently prodded Nightpaw with her paw. "Come on, Nightpaw, we have training to do," she purred.

Nightpaw woke with a start. The little black she-cat had spent her first night in the apprentice's den. It was a comfort to be able to sleep near her brother who had had his apprentice ceremony at the same time as her own, but she missed the feeling of safety and closeness to kin that a kit grows accustomed to associating with its mother's smell. Despite this, she had been having a restful night's sleep filled with dreams of stalking mice and chasing squirrels until someone woke her. Who dared to disturb such a pleasant rest? Realizing it was Lilacfall, her adoptive mother and mentor, who had softly prodded her awake, the young apprentice scrambled to her paws and answered in a hushed voice as not to wake the others, "Alright, alright, I'm up."

She gave her sleek fur a quick grooming before following Lilacfall out of the apprentice's den and into camp. Nightpaw ventured to speak a little louder now that they were a good distance away from the sleeping apprentices and asked, "What are we going to start with today? Am I going to learn how to fight? I wanna learn how to chase off those pompous ThunderClan cats, slimy RiverClanners, and no-good WindClan rogues! We'll show them to fear the honorable name of ShadowClan!" Her first day of training! Nightpaw could barely contain her excitement at what knew things she would learn and how at the end of the day she'd be one day closer to becoming a warrior.

Lilacfall purred in amusement. "Why won't we start with the basics? Showing you the borders, and then the basics of fighting." Normally, she would have started with hunting, something she was more familiar with and more skilled in, but her daughter seemed particularly excited to learn how to defend her Clan. There would be time later, possibly even later today, to teach her to provide for it equally - especially as the weather grew colder and the once-bountiful prey grew scarcer.

"Does that sound alright?" she asked softly, making her way to the camp's entrance.

Her blue eyes shone with glee in the pre-dawn light. In truth, Nightpaw would have been pleased no matter what Lilacfall had chosen to start with. "Of course! That sounds great!" she answered excitedly in a hushed voice as mother and daughter slipped through the thorny tunnel that shielded the camp from would-be intruders and into the marshy expanse of ShadowClan territory dotted by skinny, tall pines. Nightpaw had padded a few steps ahead of her mentor. She parted her jaws and closed her eyes as she tasted the air, drinking in everything she could smell. She was out of the camp! What a thrill to hear and see and smell and taste and feel it all! The young apprentice looked back at Lilacfall and asked now that they were outside the camp in a normal voice, "Where to first?"

OOC: Sorry about being late with my response!!

(ooc: nah, it's fine!)

"The Thunderpath," Lilacfall murmured, wanting to get it out of the way quickly, and leading the way as close as she dared bring her daughter. "Across the Thunderpath are WindClan and ThunderClan's territories. Can you scent them from here? It's very dangerous, so you should never get close to it, let alone cross it. ...Did you understand all that, Nightpaw?" The warrior paused, waiting for her apprentice's answer. Perhaps she was moving too quickly, or not quickly enough. Still, she wanted to make sure Nightpaw knew everything Lilacfall could possibly teach her. It would undoubtedly take time, but sharing her knowledge with an apprentice was something she had looked forward to a long time ago, and she wouldn't let the events that had happened throughout her own apprenticeship dampen her happiness now.

The Thunderpath! Nightpaw echoed silently in her mind. Every kit had heard stories about the horrible fate many'a cat had met on the Thunderpath from twolegs and their loud, foul-smelling monsters. The dark apprentice's fur stood on end, half expecting one to jump right off the surface of the twoleg-constructed pathway that wound through the Clans' territories and head straight for her. She solemnly nodded her head in recognition of Lilacfall's warning before sniffing the air. "I smell the forest on the other side of the Thunderpath. I think I can smell ThunderClan. What does WindClan smell like?" she asked, parting her jaws to taste the air again.

Lilacfall thought back to the Gatherings she had attended. ThunderClan had smelled like their forest home, RiverClan like the fish they ate, SkyClan similar in her mind to ThunderClan but also not at all, ShadowClan like home, and WindClan like... Well, usually like rabbits, if she was being honest. "Rabbits, I suppose? Maybe other things that live in the moors," was the answer she said out loud, though she sounded just as unsure as she felt. "I try to stay far away from the Thunderpath, so I've only caught their scent at Gatherings." It was hard for her to catch the scent of the other Clans from across the Thunderpath anyway the couple of times she had gotten close enough, if she was being completely honest - it smelled like monsters more than anything to her.

"Ok. Yeah, I think I smell them too." Nightpaw insisted after smelling the air again. She was anxious to put as much space between her and the Thunderpath as quickly as possible. "Where should we go next?" The young she-cat's fur was puffed out in an effort to keep warm. The early dawn light had yet to warm the chilly leaf-bare air. She purred softly and pressed her pelt up against her adoptive mother's. Nightpaw was grateful to be spending time with the one cat in her world she felt completely at ease with and unconditionally loved by. Sure, she was a loyal ShadowClan cat, knowing she would die for her Clan and her Clan would die for her, and she adored her brothers to the moon and back, but being chosen as a helpless kit by the young inexperienced mother endeared her to Nightpaw like nothing no other cat had ever done or said in her life. That, and Nightpaw was grateful to share Lilacfall's body heat for the moment because it was cold outside!

"There's the Highpine that serves as a border between SkyClan and ShadowClan," Lilacfall explained, leading her apprentice towards that border next. "But this is the only other border that's important right now. There are other places I'm sure we'll find time to explore on a day when the weather isn't so cold, like the marshes or the carrionplace." She, too, was grateful for the shared body heat. "Now we can start on battle training if you'd like. Somewhere closer to the camp, of course, in case something happens."

Nightpaw diligently took mental note of all that her mentor explained to her. She took in all the sights and smells of her Clan's territory, gazing up at the tall pine forest with wonder. It was all so new, but this would become all too familiar to her in time, this land, that she would fight to the death to defend. The mention of battle training caused the young apprentice to perk up with special interest. "Yes, let's!" she meowed excitedly. The leaf-bare sun was finally providing a sufficient amount of light and warmth to renew Nightpaw's energy for the rest of the day's adventures.

(ooc: alright, battle system time)

Lilacfall led Nightpaw to a relatively clear and empty area of the territory before finding a suitable practice target - a rock that rather reminded her of the one that was used in her own training. "Okay, I'm going to start by demonstrating something simple on this rock," she declared, with a seriousness in her voice that was far too serious to be genuine. She approached the rock carefully, and struck it with her unsheathed claws.

Lilacfall used Front Paw Strike on the Rock, dealing 8 damage and costing 10 stamina

Lilacfall
40/40 HP
110/120 SP

Rock
0/0 HP
0/0 SP

Nightpaw carefully watched her mentor as she demonstrated a battle technique by striking with her paw at a... wait what? "Is ShadowClan in danger of being overrun by rocks?" she taunted at Lilacfall, letting out a mrrow of laughter. She lashed her tail from side to side and dug her claws into the cold, damp ground, anxious to try out something for herself.

OOC: short. Let the fun begin!

OOC: May I join in?

Scar watched the two cats from behind a tree. "Ha those weak cats, helping each other. Cats work best alone." Scar thought. He walked off without the cats seeing him.

OOC: Sorry, but this is a closed topic.

Lilacfall purred in amusement. "Perhaps, if we don't fight them off before they sneak up on us. Now you try it, Nightpaw. To protect the Clan from invaders! Be they flesh and fur, or rock and... Well, just rock, I suppose." Perhaps, Lilacfall mused to herself, having an apprentice would be less worrying than she had initially expected. And certainly more fun, especially because she was at ease around a cat she knew - particularly one she had raised herself. "Once you can fight off this rock, maybe I'll even let you take me on." The words slipped out without a second thought - she rarely fought at all. But it wasn't as though her daughter could possibly seriously hurt her, and Lilacfall would be careful not to seriously injure her, so ultimately she supposed it was harmless. It was only an offer, anyway.

The impatient young she-cat confidently padded up to the rock and batted at it with a sheathed paw. She snorted at the defenseless target, gazing at its stony surface with contempt. "This is hardly going to improve my warrior skills," Nightpaw complained in a half-whining voice. When was she going to get to the fun stuff? The important stuff? She had to learn to fight real enemies to defend her Clan and to hunt to feed her Clan.

Nightpaw used Front Paw Blow on the Rock, dealing 4 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Nightpaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Rock
0/0 HP
0/0 SP

OOC: Let me know if I messed this up, lol.