i'll be around to guide you [c]

The days were growing shorter and colder. Oatfluff could almost feel leafbare lurking around the corner. The moor grew vibrant with scattered, colorful leaves that crunched underfoot, the wind blowing them in from the forest carelessly. They covered the golden moor in hues of crimson and orange, even bright yellows and rich browns. Today, though, he had blinked his eyes awake at early dawn to find the camp covered in frost; the lush grasses all dying as the ground froze over. His breath had billowed in front of him in short puffs, freezing in the cold air as he'd made his way to the apprentices' den.

"C'mon, Rainpaw. Time for training." Oatfluff called softly, before walking closer and prodding her gently with one paw. It was early, and he felt bad for that - but he was taking her on the dawn patrol today, to show her how to check the borders and let her get a feel for how a real patrol worked. Hopefully, she'd forgive him for waking her at the break of dawn. He curled his tail around his paws as he waited for her to get ready, and turned to his thoughts briefly. Was she okay? Creamlily had gone missing pretty recently, but he knew the two sisters had never exactly gotten along. Still, when Heatherfrost had gone missing, Oatfluff had been a bit shaken up - even if they hadn't exactly been friends. He wondered how Rainpaw was faring, but he didn't want to dredge up hard feelings unless she wanted to talk about it. "I hope it's okay that it's a bit early. I wanted to show you how a real dawn patrol works - and hey, maybe we can do a little hunting on the way back, too!"