Learn With Me [c]

Woolypaw followed behind Stormdance, tail high with excitement. The weather was perfect for training, a soft breeze rufflung his thick fur. Stormdance seemed a little nervous, he noted, but he supposed that even a great cat like him would be worried about his first apprentice. Woolypaw, for his part, tried to stand as tall and confident as he could to ease his mentor's mind. He was determined to show him just how good of an apprentice he could be. And it seemed to work, as Stormdance grew more visibly confident as they walked. "Will we be covering the whole border, then? I've never been so far out- do you reckon we'll see enemy cats? Will I be able to smell them, at least?" He hoped something exciting would happen- not a fight, necessarily, but even just seeing something out of the ordinary would be amazing for his first time going outside of camp with his mentor.

Woolypaw looked around curiously as Stormdance mulled over his question, taking everything in. This was the furthest he'd ever gone out of camp, and it was exhilarating. Already the scenery was different from anything he'd known; plants he'd never seen before dotted the landscape and he could hear far clearer the birdsong he only got snippets of from camp. His walk turned to a happy trot subconsciously as he tried and somewhat failed to keep the excitement in.

His excitement faded only a little as Stormdance informed him that they probably wouldn't spot any enemy cats. He had been hoping to see what other Clan cats looked like... But maybe it was a good thing, he reckoned, since he doubted he'd win in a fight against enemy warriors. Still, it would've been fun to at least see them. "Will I really be able to tell their smells apart? That's really cool, if I will." He trotted up to the river at Stormdance's behest, watching the water softly flow past him. If he looked really close, he could see a few silvery shapes in the water- fish! He couldn't tell quite what kind they were. Maybe minnows?

He looked back up at Stormdance, who had sat down. "ThunderClan territory, wow! It's really smart that we have a river for a border, seeing as we're the only ones who swim. We can get to them but they can't get to us!" He grinned, delighted with how cool RiverClan was. He tried to calm himself down a little, then, so he could concentrate on Stormdance's instruction. He closed his eyes and leaned towards the other side of the river. He took a deep breath and tried to identify the smells. He could definitely smell the river, just as Stormdance had said. He tried his best to ignore it, which wasn't too hard since it was a smell fairly familiar to him. He could vaguely smell the greenery on the other side. He'd seen the trees before he'd closed his eyes and now he could smell them- ThunderClan was definitely more wooded than RiverClan. There was an odd smell there too, once he reached past the trees... Cats! Those were cats! His eyes shot open. "Stormdance, I smell them! ThunderClanners! It's a very far-away smell but there's definitelt cats on the other side of the river! They smell like RiverClanners, but... Earthy?" He hesitated a little at the end, unsure what actually differentiated their scents. He could tell they were different, but the specifics were lost on his untrained nose.

Woolypaw beamed at the praise, glowing. Stormdance's assurance that he'd get better at it with time only widened his smile. He nodded, not in answer to any question but moreso to dispel the excitement in his body urging him to move. "Thank you, sir! Do they all smell different to you, then?" He looked back out at the ThunderClan side of the border, trying to catch another whiff- but then he heard Stormdance walking away and he had to trot over to catch up with the grey tom. He listened as Stormdance once again confirmed what he'd said, sending a warm glow of happiness to his chest. He was doing well! He hadn't been worried about disappointing Stormdance per se, but it made Woolypaw quite happy that he'd gotten every answer right so far.

He looked down at the river as they walked, eyes darting back and forth as they followed the silvery fish that danced through the current. The river really did provide for them. The fish were so plentiful and reproduced so fast that it was hard for any RiverClanner to go hungry. Woolypaw himself had put on a lot of weight since kithood owing to the fish, padding his body with protective fat that Mother assured him was healthy and would come in quite useful in Leafbare. He listened to Stormdance's warning that the river wasn't infallible and noticed a few loose rocks offering a bridge of sorts across the water, as if to prove his mentor's point. "I see! I suppose that's why we need patrols. Are apprentices allowed on defense patrols? I would love to help defend our Clan, even if there was no fighting or anything. Could you take me on one?" It was more of a hypotherical question than anything, but properly encountering other cats and their scents would probably be very good for his education.

He returned Stormdance's smile with his own playful grin, whiskers twitching. "Yeah, me too! And we can swim. I'd like to see a SkyClanner who can do that!" As if on cue, Stormdance showed him the SkyClan-ThunderClan border. There really were a lot more trees on the other side of the river, trees which gradually shifted from deciduous to evergreen as they walked further by the SkyClan border. He looked up, amazed at the height of some of their trees- RiverClan had trees, of course, but they paled in comparison. "Wow." He said softly. "Those are pines, right? Do they really climb those? It seems... Awfully high up." He sniffed, smelling the overpowering fragrance of sap. How did they hunt with such a distracting smell around? "Surely it must be harder to hunt with all those trees?"