Learning The Territory [Closed]

Dustcloud stretched outside the warrior's den, her silvery pelt dull despite the morning sunshine shining down on her. She glanced over at the fresh-kill pile, her belly rumbling even though she had no appetite. Her ribs showed through her stomach, but she didn't think much of it. The tabby warrior knew that she could go longer without food and that the growing apprentices needed the prey more than she did, so she shifted her gaze from the pile to the apprentice's den. She'd gotten a new apprentice recently- Featherpaw. He'd need to be shown the territory before he could do anything, so she figured that'd be a good place to start. She ducked into the small area where the apprentices slept, blue eyes scanning to find the younger cat. When she finally laid eyes on him, she padded over to where he slept soundly, gently prodding his side with a gentle paw."Fe-Featherpaw, it's t-time to wa-wake up. Your tr-training... st-starts today." Hey crackly voice wasn't something she'd want to wake up to, but if she didn't wake him up now, there was no telling how long she'd be left waiting. She padded out of the den, continuing onto the camp entrance, where she sat, waiting patiently for her apprentice to emerge from his den.

Featherpaw roused slowly, his green eyes opening to see Dustcloud before he yawned sleepily. He moved onto his paws quietly and made his way out of the apprentices den carefully to avoid accidentally waking up any of the others. He stretched once he was clear of the others nests and let the dawn sun warm his orange coat. His pace compared to most apprentices in this moment was sedate. He was in no hurry, and a quick glance towards his mentor told him that there was no point in rushing.

He smiled cheerfully and padded up to Dustcloud.
"Hey Dustcloud. What are you going to show me today?" He mewed curiously. He tucked his white tipped paws under his tail while they spoke at the camp entrance in an attempt to conserve his warmth from the cold snow.

Dustcloud looked at Featherpaw, tilting her head to the side slightly."Well, n-nothing until you g-go eat s...something. I c-can't ex-expect you t-to... g-go out o-on an em-empty st-stomach. I'm not th-that bad of a m-mentor." She said jokingly, motioning towards the fresh-kill pile with her tail. Her statement was quite antithetical, as she hadn't eaten anything herself. I'll eat after everyone else. She sat and waited while Featherpaw ate his breakfast, curling her tail over her paws. Her notably thin fur didn't give her very much protection against the Leafbare chill, so she was shivering slightly. She'd been out in the territory enough to basically re-memorize the entire expanse of land. She may be getting old, but her memory wasn't fading that much, in fact the silvery she-cat was very alert lately, keeping her senses on point in case she needed them, whether it be to catch an extra peice of prey or detect a predator, or possibly a trespasser, on ThunderClan land.

The orange tom tilted his head at her joke, then turned towards the fresh-kill pile. He looked back at her with concern. She didn't smell like she had eaten. With a plan in mind, he then walked over to the fresh-kill pile. He selected an unlucky squirrel which he brought back to Dustcloud and set in front of her pointedly.
"Why don't we share?" He suggested pointedly. It didn't feel right to eat when his mentor hadn't even done so. Featherpaw found himself wishing not for the first time that leaf-bare would let go of it's grip on the forest already. He longed to see what things looked like without the snow, for the days of prey a plenty in Thunderclan.

Dustcou shook her head at the apprentice."You go ahead. We've got some work to do, so don't dawdle." She laid down in front of the prey, watching the young tom intently. She wouldn't go easy on him, but this was his first time out so she also wouldn't be too tough.

Featherpaw watched Dustcloud, his tail flicked uncertainly before he finally began to eat the skinny squirrel. Perhaps they could hunt on the way back. The idea perked him up a little as his belly urged him onwards to finishing his meal. He turned hopeful green eyes on Dustcloud as he eyed the camp entrance with eagerness.

"Are we ready now?" He asked, giving his face a brief washup as he spoke.

"Ready when you are." The she-cat said quickly. She turned to leave the camp, hoping for Featherpaw to take the notion and go as well.

ooc: no muse, srry

Featherpaw followed behind her eagerly. His eyes absorbing every sight as they climbed out of the camp walls with awe. Even burnt and covered in snow, the forest was huge and vast to the new apprentice.

(OOC: You don't have to force yourself to post if you don't want to ^^ Take your time, there's no rush.