(Sorry for my inactivity!)
FireClan"Morning, Dovepaw," Tigerblaze grunted as a greeting to his apprentice when she finally arose. Turning to Pebbleclaw, he replied, "A little. We've been focusing more on fighting techniques though. But she's only been training for less than a moon by now, we'll get to it." Dovepaw had been training for less than a moon, yes, and Tigerblaze fully intended to teach her everything she needed to learn, but he couldn't help but feel like others--mainly those that talked to Lightstar--didn't trust him with her training, like they thought he was incompetent or like Dovepaw would turn out to be less of a warrior because of it. Dovepaw was Tigerblaze's first apprentice since Lightstar had become leader, and while he was happy to train her, he was sure Lightstar had some ulterior motives for apprenticing her to him.
It definitely wasn't out of the kindness of his heart. No, Tigerblaze didn't trust his brother one bit, and he knew his brother didn't trust him either. When Russtepaw popped out a moment later, he simply flicked his tail to acknowledge the other apprentice's presence.
"Sure. Have fun!" Daisyface instinctively tried with her willpower to wave goodbye to Willowcreek with her tail, only to remember half a second later that she couldn't. She had waited until her friend to leave before letting out a sigh, allowing her cheerful demeanor to fade away. Her head rested on her paws and her ears lay flat against her head. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought Lightstar was trying to isolate her. Willowcreek was the one cat Daisyface was closest to, and it was only dawn. Why did she always have to be rushed off to a patrol or something, leaving Daisyface by herself?
Oh well. I guess I should do something too. Spotting Saffronfang talking with Batpaw and Shudderheart, she rolled back onto her stomach and began making her way over to them, stopping at a respectable distance so as not to interrupt anything.
Batpaw ducked his head sheepishly, although his eyes were shining with pride at his mentor's praise. When Saffronfang pointed out Sweethoney, Adderfang, and Sootnose, he nodded eagerly and immediately started heading their way, only to stop and look back at Shudderheart, making sure his mentor was coming. He didn't want to get too carried away and run ahead of his mentor, and he certainly didn't want to seem immature in front of him. No, he was a becoming warrior, and he wanted to show it. He would follow Shudderheart.
AshClanSoftkit purred with delight as she took a bite of the mouse. "Mmm...It's really good," she mumbled around her mouthful, swiping her tongue around her jaws. She couldn't deny that sometimes she missed her mother's milk, but she wouldn't give up the juicy taste of prey for anything. "What are we going to play?" she asked her mother once she swallowed.
Southwind veered off in a separate direction to find some prey of his own. It wasn't long before he scented shrew, and spotted it not long after. With one pounce and a bite to the neck, it was done. He met up with Thunderpaw a moment later and nodded approvingly at the mouse he'd caught. "Nice job," he purred around his own mouthful of shrew. They had both caught a decent piece of prey each, and rather quickly at that, but Southwind wanted to hunt more before they returned. He buried his shrew at the base of a tree and gestured with his tail for Thunderpaw to do the same. It'd make things easier if they buried their prey all in one place, that way they wouldn't have to go around from place to place to dig it back up later on. "I'm going to try and catch one or two more things before we head back," he told Thunderpaw.
Leafpelt nodded and dipped her head to the deputy before turning to Tumblebranch and Wingslash, who had padded up along with Bramblefrost. "Guess you two are with me, then," she mewed to them, simply flicking an ear to acknowledge Bramblefrost's presence. "If you're all ready, let's get going." Not waiting for a response, she headed for the camp entrance, waving her tail behind her.
"Aww...And here I thought we'd all get to go together," Bramblefrost pouted sarcastically before shrugging. "Well, that's that. You three have fun!" He waved to the three before scanning camp for Oakpoppy and Flowersong, whom he spotted not far off with Minnowpaw. Padding over to them, he let out a friendly meow. "Hey, she-cats. Sorry to interrupt, but Oakpoppy, Flowersong, you two were just sent out to hunt with me." Turning to the deputy's apprentice, he added, "Minnowpaw, I think you're wanted by Stormcaller."
