we're well on our way [closed]

As the sun clawed its way above the horizon, Raventail padded across the camp, threading his way through sleeping cats. Excitement and nervousness warred within him. Opposed to planning by nature, he’d thrown together some ideas based on the parts of his own training he’d enjoyed most—a tour of the territory to start, with hunting or battle practice afterward if they both felt up to it—but he was still unprepared. So much of this depended on Goldenpaw herself. Would she listen to him or lead the way? Would they get along? Raventail hoped they’d get along.

Well, there was only one way to find out. Upon reaching the pile of apprentices, he quickly picked out a striped golden pelt and leaned forward, struggling to keep his voice hushed. Waking the whole Clan at this time of day wouldn't make for a promising start. ”Psst. Hey, Goldenpaw, time to get up. Meet me by the fresh-kill pile when you’re ready.” Trusting Goldenpaw would follow in time, Raventail padded to the pile and plopped down beside it. He’d sneaked some prey earlier, the smallest bird he could find, with the intention of bringing something back to make up for it. Learning on an empty stomach had been hard; teaching probably was, too.

Dreams had evaded the young apprentice, and she slept soundly for the entire night. The nest she had made the day before was warm, and comfortable, and when her sleep was broken by a quiet voice she curled tighter for a moment before her eyes shot open in realization. Today was the day her training would start! Looking around the den, she saw her sister and one of her brothers, Cloverpaw, sleeping in their nests. She wanted to yowl her excitement to the sky, but figured that her littermates, and the camp as a whole, would not appreciate that very much. So instead, she got out of her nest as quickly and quietly as she could, and pushed her way out of the den and into the heart of camp. She almost tripped as she shook out her fur instead of grooming it, catching herself at the last minute. Her face growing warm, she wondered if Raventail had even noticed, before raising her eyes to the fresh-kill pile and noticing where he stood looking right at her. Welp, there went that impression.... Blinking away her embarrassment, she quickly finished the walk to the fresh-kill pile, looking up at her mentor. "I'm ready, Raventail. What are we going to be doing today? Are we going to hunt, or patrol the border, or practice fighting? Err.... Where are the borders?" She spoke in a hushed whisper, and her head tilted at the sudden realization that she had no idea what the territory held, so she waited for Raventail to specify what they would be doing.

In her haste to get ready, Goldenpaw nearly tripped, and Raventail became very interested in a speck of dust clinging to his chest, which coincidentally helped him hide a snicker. Having to wake up so early hadn’t dampened Goldenpaw’s enthusiasm; she had more energy than Raventail himself. It was…refreshing. Memories of his own first day as a ‘paw lingered in the back of his head, bittersweet, but bearable now. He could already feel his apprehension melting away.

Once he was sure he wouldn’t embarrass his apprentice, he looked up to find her waiting in front of him. ”First,” he meowed, flicking his tail toward the hole where the fresh-kill was kept, ”we’re going to eat. Usually we’d have to hunt for the elders, but I think Finchstar’ll let it slide since it’s your first day.” Plus, as a warrior, he was allowed to give Goldenpaw permission just this once. Raventail prepared to answer the first barrage of questions when he remembered something: the first lesson he’d learned as an apprentice. ”Oh, um—stick to something small. We’ll be doing a lot of walking, you don’t want to make yourself sick.”

Raventail gave Goldenpaw time to sift through the pile before continuing. Like a stubborn patch of fur that refused to be smoothed out, a slight smile had taken up residence on his face. ”As much as we can. If you get tired, just tell me, and we can take a break, okay?” He paused, then cleared his throat as softly as he could manage. ”Anyway, it’s easier to hunt on the moor once you know what’s out there, right? So we’re starting with borders. Ours are the Gorge and the Thunderpath.” And between them, Raventail’s favorite spot in the whole forest. That would be a surprise. ”We’ll see them both today, but which one sounds more fun to you?”

She watched Raventail flick his tail towards the fresh-kill hole and looked at it confused for a moment before he continued. "Oh, alright! Can we catch something to bring back for them because of it?" While she waited for his answer, she poked her head into the hole and scented. She smelled something weird, and as her eyes adjusted she saw a small lizard among the prey. Grabbing it tentatively by the tail, she slowly back out of the hole, looking at Raventail in a mixture of concern and disgust. Setting her choice at her paws she stared down at it, poking it once with her paw. "What even is this? It was the smallest thing in there...." She settled down next to it and took a bite, her nose wrinkling at the weird texture of the scales. Regardless, she ate quickly, hoping to just get it over with. Besides, Raventail had said that as soon as she was done they would leave, so no sense dragging it out!

Having properly finished and disposed of her small meal, she stood and shook out her fur. A small smile played at her maw, and she blinked to her mentor. "A lesson for myself, don't grab those from the freshkill pile. They feel funny." She laughed lightly, tail curling and waving in excitement as Raventail described what they would be doing that day, starting with the borders. She shifted her weight from side to side as she thought about it. They both sounded way more interesting, but she finally made her choice. "I want to see the Thunderpath first. Is that okay? Are they really fun?" She almost seemed to hop in anticipation at finally getting to run free over the moors, and she kept looking past her mentor to the entrance of camp and back, as if it was calling to her.

When Goldenpaw brought up the idea of hunting for the kits and elders anyway, Raventail nodded, relieved she’d mentioned it first. They’d be able to make up for what he’d eaten and it would be an easy way to incorporate hunting into their lesson. ”Sure, once we’re done with borders. It’ll be good practice.” Leaning forward to see what Goldenpaw was pulling from the fresh-kill pile, he gave her what was meant to be an encouraging look. ”That’d be a lizard.” Despite her initial hesitation and the disgust that followed, she finished the lizard at a pace that made Raventail’s own stomach hurt. ”If you think those feel funny, you should try frog someday.”

Finally, Goldenpaw decided on their first stop. Of WindClan’s main borders, that was the one Raventail was less enthusiastic about. Even before Murkpaw, he’d thought the Thunderpath unpleasant; it was the rare sort of loud that Raventail didn’t enjoy, and sort of smelly on top of that. Thankfully, today, whatever negative feelings he had about it were balanced by his excitement. This was a day for making good memories, not dredging up sad ones. ”Of course it’s okay, you’re in charge here,” he meowed cheerily, drifting toward the gorse tunnel that led to the rest of the moor—and their tour’s beginning. ”The Thunderpath is…well, I’ll call it interesting. You’ll see what I mean soon. Now, stay close, and try not to walk over the tunnels.”

The distance between camp and their border with ShadowClan was the same as always, but Raventail was caught by surprise at how quickly the Thunderpath appeared in the distance. He stopped some fox-lengths from the path itself and, turning back, signaled with his tail for Goldenpaw to do the same. ”Welcome to the Thunderpath. ShadowClan’s territory is on the other side; so’s the Moonstone, when you’re old enough to go there. What makes it special—and why we’re not getting any closer than this—is the monsters.”

Her long tail waved in excitement at Raventail's ready agreement. "Alright, then let's go! I can't wait!" He explained what it was she grabbed, and she whispered the word, it felt funny to say on top of how funny it was to eat! He then said something about trying a frog, and though she had no idea what a frog was, if her mentor said it was worse than a lizard she wasn't sure she cared to find out for herself. "I think I'll pass on that, if I can help it!" She giggled as she followed Raventail out of camp, their tour starting with the place of her choosing - the Thunderpath. Her head tilted at the warning to avoid the tunnels, and she looked out over the moor as they emerged from the gorse tunnel. 


The wind pulled at her fur, and in turn her paws, and despite the early morning she wanted to yowl to all of the clans that she was finally free. Turning in a slow circle, eyes wide with awe and admiration as she stared at the land that stretched before her, flat and seemingly eternal. She whispered as she finished her circle, eyes still stretched wide. "Is this.. Really all ours?..." She wanted desperately to run, to explore the edges of the horizon, the wind and her mentor as her only companions. However Raventail's earlier words, along with Barleytuft's reminders to mind their mentors, surfaced, and she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed as she stayed close to Raventail, following his pace. The disappointment was quick to fade as they traveled the length of the moor, stopping a few fox-lengths away from a black path that cut across the land like some weird scar. 


Inspecting the path from where she stood, she took a couple steps to one side, then to the other. It all looked so... strange, and uniform in it's absurdity. Raventail's voice spoke from beside her, and she looked across to the marshes of ShadowClan before turning her gaze towards the high, distant peaks of the Moonstone. That was no moor, that was certain. Before she even realized it, she breathed out "What all is out there?... I always thought that the world was just the moor, are you saying that there's more all around us? How can I ever see it all?...." She was interrupted by a loud rumbling that steadily drew closer, and she peered in the direction it came from. Her eyes were greeted by a strange, vibrantly colored... thing that hurtled down the Thunderpath at a breakneck speed, far faster than she could ever dream of running. As it flashed by, reaching a peak in it's cacophony, she flattened her ears to her head and hunkered down, fear flashing for but a moment in her eyes. The wind buffeted her fur unnaturally, and she found that she hated the sensation. "Was that a monster?... I don't like it here." She shook her fur out, turning to lick it so it lay smooth once more. 


"Where are we going next? And can we run there?"

Goldenpaw’s first question wasn’t at all what Raventail had expected. It wasn’t the Thunderpath or ShadowClan she was curious about; instead, she’d chosen to ask about something much bigger. Enough time had passed since those days that he’d nearly forgotten, but Raventail, too, had believed the world ended where the moor did. He was glad Goldenpaw would find out otherwise in a better way than he had. ”How can I ever see it all?” That struck a chord within him. He and his apprentice had more in common than he’d thought.

Before he could answer, however, the ground began to rumble, and he tensed to the end of his tail. Monsters, he reminded himself silently, forcing his fur to lay flat. Few rabbits were mouse-brained enough to make their burrows so close to the Thunderpath; instinct told him otherwise, but he knew what the rumble meant. Sure enough, a monster, clad in a violently bright pelt, raced past, kicking up dust and a new wave of the odd, sharp smell they all seemed to have. ”It was,” the dark warrior said once it had gone, sitting up, less ashamed of his own reaction upon seeing how much it had scared Goldenpaw. ”They usually stick to the Thunderpath itself, and there aren’t as many of them out this early, but—see what I meant by ‘interesting’?”

Despite the interruption, Raventail hadn’t forgotten the golden tabby's question. Hopefully, answering it would let them leave this place on a higher note; the moor had its dangers, but he didn’t want Goldenpaw to think it was all like the Thunderpath. ”If you want to start small, there’s a whole forest past the moor. That’s where the other Clans live.” He gave Goldenpaw a moment to think about this before continuing, ”It doesn’t stop there, either. On the other side of the forest, if you walk long enough, you’ll find a lake. I pretty much grew up there—I don’t know how badly you’d want to visit that, but trust me, it’s there. And a little ways past Highstones”—he gestured toward the mountains with his tail—”there’s another mountain. I’ve never been there, but Finchstar has. Maybe you could ask him.” That seemed like a lot to drop on a new apprentice at once, but Raventail had never gotten an opportunity like this before; he couldn’t help rambling.

”Long story short, the world’s a lot bigger than it looks from here…” He trailed off, looking away from the Thunderpath to where he knew the lake sat. While he had no nostalgia for the place itself, talking about all the places he’d passed through on the trip back to the moor brought up something close to it. ”It’s a long journey to make on your own. Find someone to see it with you, though, and it’ll go a lot faster. Take it from me.” Was…was advising one of WindClan’s youngest apprentices to go on a journey across the forest a good idea?

Well, he’d done it at Goldenpaw’s age. Under far worse circumstances, yes…but still. Raventail broke into a grin. ”Speaking of seeing the world, our next stop is Outlook Rock. And yes, we can run—if you can keep up.” With no further warning, the small tom took off over the hills. He was reasonably sure he wouldn’t be outpaced—he wasn’t that short—but he put some extra power behind his strides just in case.

Despite Raventail's assurance that the monsters stayed on the path, she backed away, eyes glued to the strange hard surface, just waiting for another one to leave it's trail and come crashing towards them. She nodded, still keeping an eye on the Thunderpath. "Yeah.... Interesting...." Once she had calmed down a little, she turned to Raventail, listening as he spoke of the other clan's territories, and of a lake far beyond them. She turned towards where Highstones loomed in the distance, which Raventail had pointed out, and stared at the horizon. There was more mountains beyond those? Her eyes gleamed as she continued to stare at the edge of the horizon, and nodded. "Maybe I will. I'd like to hear about it all! Do you think that someday we could get to go?"

When she turned back to the tom, he was gazing at something beyond the forest, a far away place that she could only imagine. She followed his gaze, and seeing nothing, tried to recall what he had said. The lake! "Is that where the lake you talked about it? ....Would you come with me? And Barleytuft, and Cloverpaw, and Mistypaw?" He had said it was nicer to go with someone, and who better to take than the cats closest to her!

Her mentor's face broke into a grin, and he raced away towards this new place, Outlook Rock. She hesitated a moment, surprised at his ready agreement, Barleytuft had always said no ever since she had first emerged from the nursery. She laughed as she started to run, reveling in the feeling of the wind in her whiskers and the sun on her back. She knew there was no way she would catch up, so instead she focused on enjoying the sensations of the ground under her feet and the figure of Raventail in the distance, keeping an eye on him as she pelted across the moors after him. She stumbled on a rock or a sudden dip a pawful of times, but she always straightened herself and kept pushing forward, until she was breathless, eyes sparkling with glee.

Goldenpaw took the deluge of information in stride, as enthusiastic as Raventail imagined he would’ve been if his first tour had taken place here instead of a lakeshore that was more or less a mystery to its occupants. He had a feeling Finchstar would be fielding her questions soon enough. All Raventail knew of the mountains was the battle on the way down; even that story had plenty of gaps. Maybe he could ask Finchstar himself. It would be a good way to start over. He couldn’t think about that now, though; he had a lesson to finish. With one last look toward the peaks past Highstones, he shrugged. ”Honestly, I don't know. I'm not sure how many cats want to go up there again... From what I heard, it was about as fun as the Thunderpath.”

When the golden tabby broke the silence, she also broke Raventail out of his daze. He blinked; the wistfulness in his eyes receded. ”It sure is.” The lake was fraught with memories: His first hunt, his first battle, his first friend (and second, third, fourth, fifth). It would be a bittersweet trip for reasons he wasn’t sure his apprentice would understand. Besides, would Finchstar be happy with Raventail taking one of WindClan's oldest warriors and three apprentices across the forest? Would Barleytuft agree? What would Graybriar think?

Before Raventail could come up with an appropriately mentorlike answer that took all of these things into consideration, it occurred to him that Goldenpaw hadn't asked about any of that; she had asked him. And he knew what his response would be. "Of course I would. It'd make for a good adventure.” He could have gotten lost in the thought of it again—a journey away from the moor with one of his few WindClan friends, his apprentice, and her siblings sounded like a grand idea—but he was supposed to be teaching, wasn’t he? This was the one warriorhood responsibility he absolutely wanted to get right. ”But," the dark warrior added in a rush, waving a paw, "you should at least learn how to hunt and fight first." There. He was being responsible.

As they ran, he had to wonder why he’d chosen to walk to the Thunderpath. Running was both faster and more fun; he could almost let himself relax, as if he might outrun the moor should it decide to collapse. Goldenpaw lagged behind, as expected. Every now and then, Raventail glanced behind to make sure she was still following. Once, he spotted her mid-stumble, but she was racing at full pelt again before he'd finished turning around.

Sprinting had never been his strong suit; there was a reason his name wasn’t Ravenfoot. By the time they reached Outlook Rock, the dark warrior was slightly winded himself. Padding to the towering lump of stone, he rested his side against it and waited for Goldenpaw to catch up. In the meantime, he wondered what she would make of this, his favorite spot on the territory. Outlook Rock had always been more than a pretty view to him. He remembered watching the forest come back to life day by day, trees growing taller and blooming with all manner of flowers to cover the empty patches the flood had torn; more recently, he remembered when it had felt like the only safe place on the moor. As Goldenpaw approached, Raventail tilted his head, tearing his gaze from the rock. "So, how was the run?"

Excitement filled the young she-cat as Raventail spoke of learning to hunt and fight, those would certainly be valuable things should she ever get the chance to venture into the unknown, past the confines of everything she had ever known for certain. "Are we going to do that today? Oh please, Raventail? Cloverpaw has probably already done or caught something, I can't let him hold that over me, not when he already teases that he was born only a few heartbeats before me! Teach me how to catch the biggest rabbit in all the moor, please?" Her blue eyes begged the tom, paws shuffling in the dirt as her mind echoed her request in whispering thoughts.

She tried to mirror the way that her mentor ran, pelting ahead of her. Forcing her legs to stretch out in front of her as far as they could before letting them brush the ground, pushing off again just as quickly. It felt like she was soaring across the moors, and she couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, this was what being a bird felt like, the wind helping her along almost as if it was racing with her, pursuing her with each pawstep to the dirt underpaw. She met Raventail's eyes once, and noticed that she was already smiling as she ran, digging her paws deeper to push off harder as she pelted after him with still slightly clumsy paws.

It wasn't long before her sides started to ache, her breathing labored. Still, she pushed on, fighting against the fatigue to appear to be perfectly fine, like she wasn't at all exhausted. Finally, she saw her mentor stop near a tall stone shape that stood out against the moor. She slowed down, legs shaking underneath of her with the thrill and fatigue from the run. Panting as she tried to catch her breath, she looked up at the rock before looking back at Raventail, eyes shining at his question. "It... Was... Amazing!.." She stammered between breaths, trying to slow her heart rate. She sat down as her hind legs decided they had enough, and attempted to play it off as intentional. "Just need... A quick breath.... Where are we?" She looked back to the rock as her breathing started to settle just a little bit. "What is this... rock?"

Ears twitching, he hummed in thought—though, really, his decision was made the moment Goldenpaw fixed her eyes on him. Raventail had never had any siblings to compete with. Grousefrost, his fellow apprentice, had been so far ahead in his training that trying to match him had been pointless until the very end. That had never stopped him from competing with his friends back on the shore. He imagined having a sibling, especially a sibling like Cloverpaw, was an amplified version of that. On a laugh, Raventail broke out of his semi-serious expression. ”I can’t promise it’ll be the biggest rabbit, but I could show you how to catch the fastest one. As soon as we’re done with our tour.” All in all, helping his apprentice one-up her brother sounded like a fine idea.

For her first day of training, Goldenpaw held up well. She was breathing as hard as he had been a minute ago, but her excitement seemed unaffected by it, the Thunderpath’s monsters all but forgotten. Still, he was sure the sprint had tired her out. It had tired him out. His own eyes shining, Raventail made a show of slouching back against the stone (which was a little less exaggerated than he would have liked). ”I don’t know if I have another one of those in me." He stretched and unfurled his tail. "For patrols, you usually have to pace yourself, but a run's good every once in a while.”

He gave Goldenpaw some time to catch her breath, tail twitching with excitement despite his efforts to stifle it; this and the Gorge were the parts of the tour he’d been looking forward to the most, and he wasn’t sure how long he could wait. Or, for that matter, if he’d do either place justice. ”We’re at Outlook Rock,” he chirped. ”If you climb to the top, you can see the whole forest. It’s a good way to learn where the other Clans are, especially since it's the only way we can see SkyClan and ThunderClan. Naming all of the territories from there will be part of your final assessment, too.” Just how secret was that assessment supposed to be? Raventail shrugged, mostly to himself. ”It’s also a great place to take a nap. There’s not much to block the sun or the breeze up there."

As her mentor agreed, Goldenpaw bounced up and down in a small circle, her paws still shaking from the exertion of the run. "Oh, thank you! I can't wait!!" She exclaimed as she completed the circle and sat down, gazing at Raventail expectantly. She felt a wash of relief as he said he probably didn't have another run like that, she knew she would be hard pressed to keep running. Really, she wanted to curl up and sleep.... But she would never let anyone know that. Except maybe Graybriar. There was something about being with her mother that made her relax.... Her ears perked back up and she snapped back to the present as Raventail chirped, explained the big rock next to them. "The whole forest?..." She whispered awestruck, could she really see it all from there? The excitement bubbled back into her chest and she looked at her mentor as he explained she'd have to observe from there as part of her final assessment. That time seemed so far away, but she would work towards it one paw step at a time, for sure!

"Can I go up? Is it easy to climb?" Without really waiting for a response, she placed her front paws on the stone, feeling the warmth it held. Purring, she spread her front legs so her chest was flat on the rock, her chin against it. "It's so warm!" Getting her paws back underneath of her, she crouched on the ground and wiggled her haunches before attempting to leap up onto the rock. She landed a little clumsily, but quickly righted herself before she toppled off the side, and quickly moved to the edge, looking around at everything she could see. The way they had come held a strange looking gray path that cut through the territory, that must be the Thunderpath! And the marshes beyond that... Had he said ShadeClan? No, ShadowClan! Looking in the other direction, she wasn't sure what was there, but she saw a shining mass of water in the far distance, followed by trees, hundreds of them! They looked so small from here...

"Everything looks so tiny, is it all really this small? The Thunderpath looked so much bigger when we were next to it..." She trailed off as she moved back to look down at her mentor, and felt her stomach slip into her paws. Was the ground... Really that far away?...

As he’d expected (and, if he was honest with himself, as he’d hoped), the thought of getting to see the whole forest at once was intriguing enough that Goldenpaw had two paws on the rock before Raventail could give her permission to climb it. ”Go ahead.” Of course, she was already crouched. With no further warning, she leapt—cleared the sharpest parts of the rock, and— On her landing, she stumbled. Oh no— He started to his paws, but in the time it took for him to stand, Goldenpaw found her balance. Raventail sat down again, feeling a little rabbit-brained as he recovered his smile. StarClan knew he’d had his own share of falls; most of them ended in nothing more severe than a bruise or a few tiny scratches. Barleytuft would probably forgive him for that. Still, he wanted to avoid injuries if at all possible.

From the ground, he watched the golden she-cat marvel at the other Clans’ territories, still asking questions. He could imagine which parts of the forest she was finding as she wandered across the stone—ShadowClan’s mud and marshes, the thick clusters of trees that made up ThunderClan and somewhat less crowded patches that signified a shift to SkyClan lands, RiverClan’s damp, open plains. Closest of all was the moor itself. Letting his attention drift, Raventail wondered if this was a good opportunity to point out Fourtrees. They'd already passed it, mostly because he didn't have much to say about Gatherings…

At once, he realized how quiet it had gotten. ”…Goldenpaw?” Had she gotten lost in the scenery, or…? Smile faltering, Raventail leaned back enough to meet Goldenpaw’s eyes. What he saw there somehow reminded him of the Thunderpath; rather, it reminded him of the look that had flashed across her face when the monster passed.

Only then did it dawn on him that this might have been Goldenpaw’s first experience with heights.

Raventail knew the rock’s face better than any stretch of moor. Which part made for the easiest jump; which part would hurt most if he leapt wrong. ”Um—don’t move, all right?” Hesitating just long enough to choose where to land without jostling Goldenpaw, he crouched, vaulted onto the sun-warmed stone, and settled beside his apprentice. Whether it was just nerves or a true, deep fear, he figured his presence would be more useful up here. Besides, he could get down easily enough. Despite his WindClan blood and birthplace, he'd always been most comfortable off the ground. ”It’s only small from here. Parts of it are even bigger than the Thunderpath.” There was little point in disguising the concern in his tone. With a flick of his ear, Raventail turned toward Goldenpaw. ”You know, it's not as far down as it looks, but it takes some getting used to.”

Raventail's voice broke the young apprentice out of her trance, and she nodded, still staring at the ground. It kept shifting, sometimes looking closer, other times looking way too far away. Her legs were locked, and though she tried to convince herself to jump down - she had jumped up after all, it couldn't be that far - she couldn't bring herself to do it. The tom jumped up, carefully, and relief flooded over her as he didn't jostle her at all. Taking a step backwards, the only direction her mind would allow her to go, she tore her gaze from the ground to meet her mentor's. She blinked as he flicked his ear, explaining that everything only looked small. Casting a look back out over the territories, she found herself drawn back into the view. She felt she could sit on the rock all day, watching the territories and their inhabitants. As Raventail spoke again, reassuring her that it wasn't that far down, it brought her back to the current dilemma.

"I know it's not." She did know, she had climbed up with little issue after all. As she peered over the edge again though, it still seemed so very far. Her ears lowered slightly, showing her fear despite her efforts to keep a neutral expression. She crouched, laying on her belly at the edge of the rock. This seemed to help some, the ground was a steady distance away, even if her head still felt dizzy. Looking back at Raventail, she nodded at him before closing her eyes tightly and shimmying herself off of the rock, landing with a quiet, dull thud. The breath rushed out of her lungs as she landed on her side, and she hesitantly opened her eyes to find herself firmly on the ground. Relief flooded her and she jumped to her paws, looking up at her mentor. "I did it! I got down, see! Now what?" She bounced on her paws, the excitement having returned full force. After all, if she didn't think about it, it wasn't there, right? She was back on the ground, and all was well.

Thank the stars he hadn’t startled her. A fear of heights was one thing; a fear of heights after a fall, however…and it was undeniably fear, plain in her face and the set of her ears. Raventail found himself truly out of his depth. They were already up here. Now, the only way Goldenpaw could get down would be to do it herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, and Raventail realized she intended to do just that. He cracked a grin, knowing she wouldn’t see it. Her choice to fall off Outlook Rock, however scared he was; his choice to face off against a dog, assuming things would end well whatever the odds. It might not have been the most dangerous thing Goldenpaw could’ve done, but bravery didn’t always require danger.

It wasn’t a pretty landing. Still, the moment she realized she’d reached the ground in one piece, Goldenpaw brightened as if she’d never climbed the rock in the first place. Raventail closed his eyes, stifling a sigh of relief. Below it lay the slightest hint of disappointment. He’d been looking forward to this—he’d been so sure it would save their day—and in his eagerness, he’d forgotten that not every WindClanner was as enthralled by Outlook Rock as he. Barleytuft had never been a climber, either.

At the heart of it, this was Goldenpaw’s day. Not his. Raventail thought of the Gorge’s violent, deep, noisy waters, then of Goldenpaw’s urgent request to learn how to catch rabbits, and decided the Gorge would still be there tomorrow. With that, his disappointment seemed to evaporate. It was with lighter steps that he descended, landing neatly on all four paws. ”Now…” Raventail hummed. ”How about we do some rabbit-hunting?”

Once she’d given her answer, he set off at a trot. There would be no sprinting this time; those massive ears weren’t just for show. It was a bit late in the morning to find many rabbits, but some were always curious (or hungry) enough to venture out onto the moor anyway, and he wouldn’t risk scaring them off. ”First,” he whispered some time after Outlook Rock dropped out of sight, ”we’ve got to be quiet. Second—see how the wind’s blowing?” It was easy to tell with him; the gentle breeze blew his long fur back, slightly flattening it. ”You want to be facing into it, or else it’ll carry your scent right to the rabbit. And they’re really, uh, jumpy.”

He lifted his muzzle to the wind. Almost instantly, rabbit-scent hit his nose. Goldenpaw would get some real experience after all. ”Okay.” His voice dropped further. ”To actually catch one, you need to sneak up on it, as close as you can get, and pounce when you think you’re close enough. Like this.” So saying, Raventail sank into the all-too-familiar hunting crouch, then addressed Goldenpaw again. ”It might run, and that’s fine—you can chase it, then pounce. Just, if it disappears into one of the tunnels, don’t follow it, okay?” Even without his reservations, he knew the ground beneath their paws made for a hopelessly complicated maze, and if a cat somehow did catch up, a scared-furious rabbit would be waiting for them. His explanation finished, the dark tom stayed low and turned his ears forward. "There's one nearby. Can you smell it?"