Time stops {closed}

Time sure flew over her first day as an apprentice. By the time training was over, Daypaw found herself wandering absentmindedly towards the nursery. She stopped at its entrance, remembering that she didn’t sleep here anymore. She was an apprentice; she slept in the apprentice den now. However as she walked back to the apprentice den she realized that she hadn’t made a nest yet. Last night she’d been too excited to do that, so she’d slept on the dusty ground. But tonight, she had time. She went back to where she had slept last night, and began to clear out stray barbs and stones.

Featherpaw watched Daypaw curiously as the new apprentice made her way to the nursery. An amused smirk on his face as she made her way over to the proper den. He looked down at his own nest, he had only moved to the apprentice's den very recently himself... and with her being apprenticed on her own, she didn't have the help of siblings. He yawned and stretched out his body, still sore from his lessons earlier. The hunting around would do his aching limbs a favour as he stepped over the other nests and stood in front of her.

"You're going to need a lot of materials, would you like some help?" He offered, with a pleasant expression. "My name is Featherpaw, what's yours?" He asked softly.

Daypaw picked up a stick, and as she glanced up her eyes came to rest on a ginger tabby tom, with eyes of peridot. She turned her head quickly and spat out the stick, then turned back to him as he spoke. ”If you could help that’d be great. I’ve never really... ya know, made my own nest before.” She said, feeling a bit small admitting it. He offered her his name, and Daypaw replied with her own.

”Daypaw.” She said, with a pleasant smile.

Featherpaw smiled kindly, picking up a stray stick from the spot and moving it out of the way.
"That's alright." He said calmly, his tail flicked in delight at learning her name. "Well then, Daypaw, we should leave and gather some materials. Some moss and feathers should help make it soft. You'll need soft too, the first few days are the toughest." He added as he turned to lead the way out of the den. He knew of a few places where leaves and moss had been sheltered under dense bushes that kept away the snow. He flicked his orange tail for her to follow as he lead towards the camp entrance. "We won't have to go far."

Daypaw nodded to Featherpaw’s words, and it was very kind of him to offer his help. ”Moss and feathers sounds fantastic. Thank you so much.” She said with a light purr, beginning to move towards the apprentice den entrance. She looked around for a moment, taking in a brisk wind, then turned to follow Featherpaw as he flicked his tail. She liked the guy, he seemed cool, and he was the first to offer such help. She fell into step beside him, they were about the same height. ”So where exactly are we going? You have a secret stash or something?” She joked, a grin on her maw.

"I don't have a secret stash." Featherpaw chuckled, "Even in a leafbare like this, moss can usually grow to some extent hidden under the thickest bushes and under stumps." He advised as they breached the camp wall and headed up the long slope towards the woodlands above the ravine. He padded up the pathway then turned to keep an eye on Daypaw. "Be careful, it's a little slippery." He warned as he felt some of the ice under his paws. His claws extended for a good grip.

Daypaw nodded thoughtfully as Featherpaw explained that moss still grew in Leafbare. For some reason she assumed that since the trees lost leaves, then moss would die too. But if grasses and herbs could still grow in this cold, then why not moss? Feeling enlightened, and glad to have such an informative new friend, Daypaw trotted eagerly at his side, through the ravine that lead to ThunderClan's forest. She started to get a little in front of him, but looked back as he warned her of the slipperiness.

"Don't worry, I have good balance." She said with a jovial look, before turning back to the path and trekking up the slope. She did slip a little towards the top, but she caught herself with her back claws, digging them through the dry ground like stakes. She glanced back at the orange tabby tom, hoping he hadn't seen her little slip up, then continued up the rest of the slope.

She looked around at the many trees of the ThunderClan forest. It was really beautiful, being in camp for all those moons she had really missed out on a lot. She couldn't wait for it to get green, everyone said it was even more pretty. "Where to next, tour guide?" She asked teasingly, her tail tip flicking in content.

"Well that's good." He responded cheerfully, he had only just gotten to the top when he heard the sound of paws slipping, but since it lasted only a second, he ignored it to give her some dignity. He waited until she was next to him and nodded, proceeding to lead the way and scenting to tell who had passed by recently. The particular path they were following must have had only the early morning patrol, which meant moss would have been ignored.

"In leafbare, there isn't really one place for moss. So we just have to take a really good look around." He advised as he pawed a bush to open up the middle. No moss, but it was sheltered from the snow. He hummed thoughtfully and decided to check it in a few weeks. He flicked his tail in a motion to keep moving as he continued down to another sheltered bush. Here there was moss, curled around an old rock that must have ended up in the bushes long ago.

"Here we are. Can you squeeze through?" He asked, he winced as some thorns from the bush dug into his paws as he pulled it back, but refused to waver and let the bush trap her.

"A really good look around, got it." Daypaw repeated and confirmed, mostly for her own benefit. She began to look around, going over to a small stone and checking on it's surface. No moss there. She turned elsewhere now to the base of a huge old oak, and checked its roots. Once again, she turned up with nothing.

Daypaw turned when she heard Featherpaw say he'd found some, and she hurried to his side. He asked if she could squeeze through, and she moved her head towards where he had pulled the branch away. "Oh yeah, I can do that." She said confidently. As her friend held back the thorns, the smaller she-cat slipped into the bush and towards the mossy rock. She used her claws to shave off some of the soft green vegetation, then rolled it up into a tight wad to make it easy to carry.

"Ok, I'm coming out now!" She said before grabbing her moss in her teeth and tenderly making her way out from the bush. Once she was in the clear, she dropped the moss at her feet and smiled. "That was great, thanks for holding the back those thorns Featherpaw." She said to the tom, then added, "So I think the next thing we need is feathers right?"

Featherpaw waited patiently, he used his teeth to help keep the branch from digging too far into the pads of his paw until she was completely out, then happily let the branch close in on the bush again. He looked around the area closely to memorise it in case they need moss again anytime soon, then padded over to her happily.

"You're quite welcome." He replied, then looked around thoughtfully at her question. He didn't recall seeing any birds on the fresh-kill pile when they left... so the best option was to attempt hunting for one. "We'll keep an eye out on the ground, but we might have to hunt." He paused for a minute but discarded the new idea in his mind quickly. The trees were far too slippery to climb while covered in ice.

He padded carefully over the snow. His orange pelt not doing him any favours as it seemed to soak up the sun's rays as he manoeuvred around and eventually spotted the perfect target. A crow that was after something in the snow-covered ground. A difficult catch but possible. He signalled with his tail for Daypaw to stop and slow down before he stalked forward. His green eyes locked on the crow as it continued to peck and dropping whenever it raised it's head, his own head barely peeking above the snowline until it went back to what it was doing until he was finally close enough to launch himself at it full-force. The large black bird didn't see what was coming until it was too late, and featherpaw grinned proudly.

A hunt? Oh no, Daypaw wasn't that great at hunting yet. In fact she hadn't really tried. She'd only done battle training with Emberheart. But she didn't want to seem silly, or like she couldn't hunt at all, so she just smiled and nodded. As they trotted through the snowy forest, Daypaw noticed lots of things she hadn't before. There were so many scents, that she'd only smelled dead. Squirrel, rabbit, and tons of scents that were totally new to her. She must've just not noticed them when she'd taken the tour with Emberheart, she'd been too excited to really soak up anything.

Finally the two apprentices came across a pitch colored bird, Featherpaw alerting Daypaw to it's presence with a flick of his tail. She snapped out of her daydreaming, and followed his gaze to the crow. Her pupils dilated so that the golden part of her eye was almost fully eclipsed, she was fully entranced in the creature. How foolish it was, resting on the ground. She watched the tom crouch, and followed his lead, picking up on what to do by watching.

Flawlessly, the boy caught the bird, and turned back to Daypaw with a grin. She grinned in response, leaping up and moving towards him with such excitement. "That was so cool! They ought to go ahead and give you your warrior name, I don't see it getting much better than that." She praised, though honestly she hadn't seen many other cats hunt. She was just uber impressed, and loved to gush over her friends.

Featherpaw grinned proudly underneath the black feathers.
"I don't know about that." He chuckled, though his words were muffled, flicking his tail in amusement as he set the crow down and pawed gently to reveal soft fluff beneath the sleek black feathers. "We won't remove them here, but these are the ones you want. The soft feathers under the outer ones." He explained cheerfully before he lifted the bird again, taking it by the wing so he could still talk.

"It won't be long until you're hunting like this too!" He said confidently. "If you ever want some help though, I'd be happy to take you with me on a hunting patrol. Practice makes a better hunter." He thought about adding that it did the same with fighting, but the words stuck in his throat oddly and he decided not to. "We should have enough materials for that nest now. Let's go get you settled in."

Featherpaw grinned proudly, but his words were very humble. Daypaw would've been the type to soak up the praise and say thank you, but there was something very admirable about modesty, that perhaps the ambitious child should learn. She moved closer to look in at the downy feathers of the crow, and used her paw to gently feel them. They were definitely softer.

She moved back to let Featherpaw hoist his prize, and she beamed when he said that she would be hunting soon too. His offer was very kind too, and frankly she would not at all mind spending more time with this tom. "That'd be awesome! I haven't actually started hunting training, so it'd be nice to be able to show off a bit! I'll take you up on that offer."

Daypaw nodded when he said they'd finished, and she picked up her moss ball. "Great!" She said cheerfully, through a full mouth, and started the walk back to camp.

"Alright! I'll show you some tips tomorrow, after our mentors are done with us for the day." He offered, already looking forward to it. He thought over the best thing to help her with. Birds stuck out immediately. Their ability to fly away would cause trouble. His first attempt at a bird had ended with empty paws. He felt himself stride a little more proudly, but he refused to let it get to his head. Just because he'd done well now, didn't mean he would tomorrow.

He paused as they reached the edge of the ravine. He placed the crow down to adjust his hold so he wouldn't trip over the flight feathers that trailed the ground. Once it was secure, he slowly began making the climb down, watching Daypaw with concern.
"Be careful." He advised as he carefully walked down the frozen path.

Daypaw followed her new friend through the frigid forest, excited to see all the looks they’d get when they walked into camp with prey. She remembered marveling over apprentices bringing back fresh kill, and now it was her turn. Even though she wasn’t exactly the one who’d caught anything, she still felt proud. Her bundle of moss felt like prize enough.

They reached the ravine that lead to camp, and began to cautiously make their way down. She nodded and murmured, ”Mhm,” to Featherpaw’s warning, and this time she had good balance and in good time. Once at the bottom she turned around to make sure Featherpaw made it safely, he did have a bird hanging from his mouth and that could throw him off.