a tired training [CLOSED]

Ratpaw sighed, feeling... tired.

His fur was matted with mud in little streaks; grease seeming to cling to the edges all across his lanky form, slumped just outside the entrance of camp. The dark tabby felt haggard, like he should have stayed in his nest until the morning rose. But Olivelily had told him -- in a tone far too cheery for the early hour -- that another warrior was going to take him hunting that night, and to wait outside the brambles. Right away, of course!

With her recent litter, it was little surprise that Olivelily's trainings had slowed. Not that Ratpaw minded solo hunting trips, or patrols with his clanmates -- it allowed him much more time to look for treasures, and part of him appreciated the freedom. Even if he took it to extremes, at times.

Like spending the entire day by the Thunderpath, picking up various acrid-smelling leaves and shiny round things.

Now he was just tired. Not that it had been a waste -- Ratpaw had collected many treasures -- but it still had him sighing deeply once again. The apprentice flicked his ear, waiting for the warrior to arrive. Hopefully their hunting would be short.

Blazeflight had not been on many hunting trips since her... accident. She'd only been on patrols with warriors, they'd excluded the apprentices so she had time to get used to her new way of living. But with Olivelily just having a new litter of kits, Ratpaw needed to get out, at least on a patrol, if not to train. Her red fur was groomed down, and she wasn't as disheveled as she usually looked nowadays. As soon as she caught sight of the apprentice hiding in the underbrush, she limped towards him, a glint in her eyes. It'd been so long since she'd been able to go on a wholesome patrol with an apprentice, and even though she wasn't sure if she was physically ready, she was eager. "Hi, Ratpaw." She was sure that Olivelily had already told him what he needed to know, so she flicked her tail, motioning for him to go first.

Ratpaw blinked as the she-cat came through the brambles.

Or, rather, stumbled, it seemed like. Her bright fur stood out even in the darkness to his keen eyes, even as he rubbed sleep from one with a paw, still a bit blurred. He'd felt impossibly tired, but the moment the warrior -- Blazeflight, he recognized -- came through the camp's entrance, Ratpaw froze.

Staring.

Where did Blazeflight get that? Where in the territories had this she-cat been?

The warrior greeted him, flicking her tail as if to motion him forward, but all Ratpaw could do was stare; impossibly distracted by Blazeflight.

Blazeflight stopped in her tracks when she didn't hear the soft footsteps of Ratpaw trailing behind her, wincing just a little when she felt his eyes burning into her pelt. Her accident, as the Clan had started to refer to it, had happened before he was even born. Answering questions had become routine. "It was a tree." She looked over her shoulder to the dark-colored tom, ready to answer the overabundance of questions that would likely follow. "If you don't mind, I'll answer your questions as we walk. We don't have all night to sit and stare, you know." She pointed her ears towards the camp exit, hoping the young apprentice would take heed of what she said.

A tree? Ratpaw thought, flicking his ear. What was Blazeflight talking about?

The dark tom heard the warrior's words with on ear, distracted. The warrior was looking at him expectantly but all Ratpaw could see was the she-cat's ginger shoulder...

That leaf... It was too much. It was perfection.

Talk as we walk? he remembered, but before Blazeflight could walk forward into the territory, his heart jolting.

"No!" he mewed, suddenly rushing closer -- Blazeflight might drop it! It could fly away -- Ratpaw might never see another!

The leaf that landed on the she-cat's shoulder was thin, and a rich, rich green -- shaped like a soft, rounded star. He was standing close to the warrior now as he examined it -- could take in her scent -- and he blinked.

"Can I have this...?" he asked, ears flicking to the treasure across Blazeflight's shoulder. It was on Blazeflight first, the apprentice had to acknowledge with a sad flick of his tail. She might want it for herself. "If you're all right with it..."

'Are you kidding me?' The she-cat turned around quickly when Ratpaw yowled at her, running forwards. 'That's just absurd!' When the young apprentice stood next to her, inquiring about a simple leaf, she couldn't help but smile. "Yes, Ratpaw. You can have the leaf. But we need to hurry up and get out there, so try to move quickly." She gingerly picked up the leaf between her teeth, careful not to pierce the thin plant that had, somehow, stuck to her fur. Holding the star-shaped stalk out towards the dark-colored tom, she gazed into his eyes, still full of that youthful wonder.