on the road again [Cays]

He was a mentor again. It had been so long since there had been an apprentice looking up at him, expecting answers, guidance, direction... Wolfstar almost couldn't stomach the thought of doing it again. He'd attended Eaglepaw's ceremony, of course - he did for most of them, but out of necessity, not expectation. He'd been a leader for moons and moons now, he'd trained a half dozen apprentices already, there were several warriors that were more suited, who would have been more beneficial, to have assigned Eaglepaw to... and yet...

The leader stared at his great-grandson's sleeping form, the night sky a backdrop to his lithe, shadowed form. "Eaglepaw," he called softly.

It was the middle of the night, the first in a while that held absolutely no trace of leafbare chill, and Wolfstar intended to take advantage of it. "Eaglepaw," he called again, slightly louder, and once the apprentice stirred, he backed away to wait.

To his surprise and pleasure, Eaglepaw wasted no time in joining him. Wolfstar greeted the apprentice with the flick of an ear, and leveled his gaze on the pale tom's face. "As you can tell," he began quietly, "it's not morning. I hope you've gotten enough rest, but there will be many times in a warrior's life when you will have to hunt, or patrol, or fight on little to no sleep."

He rose and headed for the exit, beckoning for him to follow. Together they headed for the Great Ridge. It was one of Wolfstar's favorite places in the territory, and now he wanted to show Eaglepaw. "Tell me, Eaglepaw, what would you like to learn first? Hunting? Fighting?"

As the apprentice suggested bedding in the trees, Wolfstar followed his gaze upward, grimacing more to himself than to Eaglepaw. "I, uh... no, no I don't think that's a great idea," he said. Clearing his throat, Wolfstar quickly insisted he go on, and then listened to his rationalization of why hunting would be the best thing to learn first. Wolfstar didn't disagree - it was hunting that Foxfire first taught him on their first lesson out of camp, and it made sense to start Eaglepaw the same way.

"Nothing special today," he told him. "Just the basics."

Wolfstar sank down on to his belly, inclining with his head for Eaglepaw to do the same. Together, they sat in near-silence, listening only to the crickets and the night-creatures. Eventually, the sound of a mouse scratching nearby caught their ears, and Wolfstar lowered his head right next to Eaglepaw's ear, his voice near-silent. "Track the sound, pinpoint your target, then pounce," he flicked his tail against Eaglepaw's flank, eager for him to move off. It may have been better to instruct him first, but Wolfstar wanted to see his natural ability, first.