It's Time To Begin (For Titanium)

Nectarleap was getting used to the first day of having a new apprentice routine. This was his third apprentice, after all. He padded out of the warrior's sleeping area and stretched, mouth opening in a yawn. He calmly chose a rabbit from the fresh-kill pile and ate it at a leisurely pace, not fully awake yet. After he finished, he shook himself off and started towards the apprentice den. Sticking his head through the numerous tall blades of grass, he spotted Stormpaw. Padding over to the young tom, he nudged him awake.
"Stormpaw, training," he whispered, before walking back to the central area of camp.

Stormpaw opened his light grey eyes at the warrior's touch. He yawned. "I'm coming, Nectarleap!" he called, slowly getting to his paws. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and left the apprentice den, walking over to join Nectarleap in the centre of the camp.

"Good morning, Stormpaw. Have a bite to eat before we leave," Nectarleap offered, flicking his tail in greeting. He quickly picked out a small hare and tossed it to the young apprentice, smiling comfortingly. Though it was too early to tell on this one, some of his apprentices had been a bit nervous their first day. It was to be expected. As exciting as the prospect of being a higher rank was, it was a little scary to be going new places and have pressure being put on you constantly.

Stormpaw nodded his thanks, taking bites from the hare. He licked his lips once he had finished, returning his steady gaze to Nectarleap. "Where will we be going today?" he asked politely, his tail flicking in content.

"Well, I was going to leave that up to you. Would you like to learn how to hunt, battle train, or see the borders first?" Nectarleap asked cheerfully. That strategy had worked for every apprentice so far, and he had been asked that as an apprentice. That question wouldn't just solve the decision of what to do first, but it would be a way to see what their personality was like. Sootpaw had been helpful, and Silverpaw was practical, which had been obvious from their decisions.The tricolored warrior looked at Stormpaw, waiting for a reply.

Stormpaw considered the question. Would he prefer to battle? Stormpaw decided that was most important. "Can we battle train first? he replied, after a pause.

"Okay then, battle training it is! Follow me," Nectarleap replied, beginning to trot out of camp. Stormpaw seemed loyal, he decided. Ready to protect the clan when needed, but his hesitation showed that hunting also seemed like something he wanted to do. Leading the apprentice into the expansive moors of WindClan territory, he continued until the were in an area full of rich soil and plenty of gorse bushes. Those were the best thing to practicing attacking on. He was a firm believer of no fighting classmates with claws, so they would practice that part of some elements of nature.

Stormpaw followed Nectarleap out of camp, looking around. He had never been in these parts before. He turned expectantly to his mentor, ready to tart training, and he flicked his tail.

"Okay, so first I'm going to teach you how to use your front claws to rake something," Nectarleap explained, making eye contact with Stormpaw. "Watch what I do, because I want you to try to do it. I'm going to pretend this dirt here is my enemy, and rake it deep with my claws as rapidly as I can. Here we go." With a sudden burt of energy and speed, the WindClan warrior's claws flew at the soft soil, digging deep into the ground and pulling back a ways before rising out to repeat the movement again. His paws were basically a blur of motion at that speed, though he slowed down as more dirt dug under his claws. Eventually he stopped and looked to his apprentice.
"Now you try."

Stormpaw watched with interest as his mentor dug at the dirt. He unsheathed his own claws and, upon instruction, swiped at the ground again and again and again. He went as fast as he possibly could, dirt flying up behind him as he clawed it rapidly. He sat back, satisfied with his work , and turned to face Nectarleap. "So, how did I do?" he asked.

"You did great! Just a go a little quicker nest time. Now, you have to learn how to attack with your back claws," Nectarleap informed Stormpaw, nodding encouragingly. "I'll demonstrate how to do that on this gorse bush, and then you try. Okay?" After making sure his words had sunk in, the tricolored warrior turned to face the gorse bush. Leaning backwards onto his back, he lashed out powerfully with his hind legs, claws unsheathed. In just a few strong strikes, the bush was practically falling apart. Getting up, he looked between his apprentice and the destroyed gorse bush.
"Ready?"