A Leopard’s Prowl Through Unknown Forests

Cherrycloud poked Leopardpaw’s side to wake him up and meowed, “Come on, we better get a move on” The sun had just begun to peak over the horizon, and she wanted to have as much time as possible today for teaching. They would be touring the territory and do a bit of training later. She waited for her apprentice just out of camp and started off into the forest when he appeared. “As I promised yesterday, we are going to be doing a tour of the territory,” she meowed and headed deeper in the forest, “Tell me what you notice when looking around” She hoped that having Leopardpaw more included in the lesson would help him learn better.

Leopardpaw groaned as he felt a paw prodding his side. He blinked awake, and the first thing he saw was Cherrycloud. Suddenly, he jolted upright, remembering how excited he was to finally get out of camp. He followed her out of the den and out of camp excitedly. "YAY! Are we going to do battle moves!?!?" He looked around, taking in the scents and sights of ThunderClan. He could mostly smell trees and maybe the slightest whiff of other cats. "Uhm... There's a lot of trees and bushes," he said. "You could hide in them!"

“That’s right,” she meowed to Leopardpaw, “ThunderClan has very thick ground-cover, which is good for ambushes and trapping out enemy. There is a lot less undergrowth in other clans, so it’s harder for them to fight in our territory.” She led him closer to the SkyClan border. Once they traveled close enough, she meowed to her apprentice, “Do you notice how the trees are starting to thin out?”

ooc: Sorry for late reply

He nodded, following the she-cat through the territory. She was right; the trees and bushes weren't as dense as before. Instead of constantly pushing through undergrowth, Leopardpaw could feel the grass under his paws. He didn't like it. Hiding in the bushes made him feel less exposed. "Is this... near WindClan or SkyClan?"

“We’re nearing the SkyClan border. The forest floor is a lot more open, since they usually hunt in the trees,” she meowed in response. Cherrycloud didn’t want to get too close to the border and risk getting into a fight, so she started to turn away. She pointed out a few landmarks on the way to the ShadowClan border and the acrid stench of the thunderpath started to appear. She turned to Leopardpaw and asked, “Does anything smell different over here?”

Leopardpaw was glad to leave the SkyClan border behind. He was interested at how all of the other clans lived so differently from them, and how there truly was a great big world far bigger than just the camp. The spotted tomcat followed Cherrycloud towards the ShadowClan border, which was quite marshy. He wrinkled his nose. "Yuck! It smells like twolegs and crow-food."

“That’s the smell of the Thunderpath. Monsters use these paths to travel. They are very dangerous, and have cost many cats lives, so don’t go near them,” Cherrycloud quickly explained to Leopardpaw. She led him to the treeline so he could see the monsters thundering past, but didn’t dare go any closer. She didn’t want any thing to happen to her first apprentice on his first day. “On the other side of the Thunderpath is ShadowClan’s territory. It’s mostly a big marsh.” She headed back into the forest, apprentice in tow, and started to make her way to the RiverClan border. After a while of walking, she heard the river and approached its swift currents. “This is the river,” she meowed and pointed out with one of her claws, “And I’m sure you can guess who lives on the other side.”