Exploring the Forest

[Blackie]

Blackpaw slipped through the bushes. Her tiny paws didn't make a sound as she traveled lightly over the ground. Nostrils quivering, she picked up the sents of prey and plants all around her. The soft breeze stirred the smels, blending them into confusing patterns. A mouse shook a clump of weeds nearby. Blackpaw tensed and got ready to spring. The mouse, not suspecting it's enemy, scampered off to another clump of grass in search of seeds. Caught up in the excitement, Blackpaw shot after it. The mouse squealed in alarm as it hurried away. THe little apprentice lost her footing and slid. Before she could stop herself, her head collided into a tree.

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

A small brown tabby tom stalked through the trees. His golden amber eyes peered ahead of him, his strong vision catching the sight of even the smallest movement of leaves. He let his tail drag along the ground, his eyes looking dully ahead of him. His mind raced like a speeding bullet. Everything he did, everywhere he looked, he saw the broken body of Ivypaw. He saw her beautiful tortoiseshell pelt, matted and stained with crimson blood. He saw the jaws of the dog, snapping in every which direction.

Farpaw sighed, flexing his claws as he came to an abrupt stop. Why hadn't he done something! The one time a crisis happens, and he's frozen with fear. Now he knew that Ivypaw probably hated him. He hadn't spoken with her since that terrible day. Gritting his teeth in a silent pain, Farpaw continued walking, just trying to clear his head. But no matter what he did, he saw Ivypaw. Her beautiful tortoiseshell pelt, her sparkling eyes...

The scent of ThunderClan wafted into his nostrils, and for a second he felt a flicker of hope. Farpaw quickened his pace, his small body easilly manuevering through the dense forest. After a few moments of quick walking, he saw a small black she-cat crash into a tree. For a moment he was stunned by the random event, before he allowed a small chuckle to escape his lips.

"What'd the tree ever do to you?" Farpaw asked, his voice still slightly dull.

[Blackie]

Blackpaw spat viciously and stood up. Swaying dangerously, the little aprentice turned to glare at Farpaw with her round, gold eyes.
"The tree," she hissed. "Got in my way."
She flicked her tail dismissevely and turned back to the tree. Growling, Blackpaw scratched at the tree. She was such a klutz. Why couldn't she be patient?
Blackpaw looked over her shoulder at Farpaw. She sniffed loftily.
"What are you doing, anyway?"

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

"And I'm sure if the tree could move, it'd know not to mess with you," Farpaw growled sarcastically, not in the mood to be spat at. Snarling, he felt his neck fur rising. When Farpaw was upset, it was best not to hiss, spit, snarl or really act aggresively at him. No matter what, it'd just fuel his fire. Farpaw was a fighter. You start a fight with him you'd better be willing to finish it.

Just as he was about to turn around, Farpaw heard Blackpaw's question. At the moment, he felt no need to answer her. But he still needed something to clear his head. Sighing, Farpaw narrowed his golden amber eyes at her.

"Does it really matter?" he asked in a low voice. "I'm not doing anything. I'm just walking and trying to clear my head. Maybe hitting my head on a tree will help me." The last words were meant to be mocking, though he doubted they had any affect on the she-cat. Farpaw was putting little effort in his insults today. He just wasn't into it.

[Blackie]

Blackpaw shrugged. "I could help with that, if you want. Teaching a cat as mean as you a lesson wouldbe fun."
Forgetting her size, Blackpaw lowered herself onto all fours and padded up to Farpaw. Her tail puffed out and she drew in a deep breath.
"Well, would you like to practice with me? You certaintly can't be afraid of little me."
Blackpaw's eyes fashed with eaerness. Shed make up for her clumsy hunting in a mock battle. She could fight this apprentice.
Blackpaw crouched and lashed her tail. "C'mon, don't be scared."

ooc:UGH! I am so braindead! Such an awful post!

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw scoffed. "Afraid? Of you? Ha, funny." But Farpaw could feel his pelt bristling in anticipation. It had been awhile since he'd practiced with battle-training. Maybe a little practice would clear his head and take his mind off things. He lashed his tail, a small gleam appearing in his golden amber eyes. His determined expression looked rather humorous on his small body.

"Scared?" Farpaw mewed. A moment later he lunged, planning to land on Blackpaw's back and pin her down. "You have no clue who you're talking to."

[Wolverineclaw]

Wolverineclaw clawed through some bramble bushes in time to see Farpaw leap at Blackpaw. He sat down and set the mouse he'd just killed between his paws. "What do you think you're doing?"

[Blackie]

Blackpaw squeazed out from beneath Farpaw. Yowling, she whirrled around and batted at Farpaw's muzzel.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Blackpaw hesitated an d turned to Wolverinclaw.
"Farpaw's being a bully!" she complained.

[Wolverineclaw]

Wolverine rolled his eyes. Why did he always have to find the fighting apprentices? He sighed. "Farpaw, what happened?"

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw snarled at Blackpaw. So she was putting all the blame on him? Typical. StarClan, why were cats so difficult to understand these days? He glared back at Wolverineclaw. Snarling, he said, "Blackpaw ran into a tree and I gave her a hard time, so she wanted to have a mock-fight." He turned to Blackpaw. "What? Was I too much of a challenge to fight?"

Sighing, Farpaw turned away from the other cats, keeping his back to them. He sat down, wrapping his tail over his paws. This day couldn't get any worse.

OOC:Bleh post. Brb, dinner.[/color]

[Wolverineclaw]

"Look, I don't care if you fight. But get your mentors around or something. I'm not getting blamed when one of you limps back into camp." He flicked his tail at them. "You both have mentors, right?"

[Blackie]

ooc: I don't have a mentor yet, hehe

Blackpaw frowned at Farpaw. "You were not too challenging, I just wasn't rady."
The little black apprentice turned to the black warrior and sniffed. "I'm having a poor hunting day. That's why I ran into the tree." Blackpaw flicked her tail angrily. "Farpaw made fun of me."

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw ignored both cats, flicking his tail dismissively. He felt so... angry. Even if most of this was his fault. It got him to thinking, was everything his fault? It was his fault Ivypaw got hurt. Maybe he was just... bad luck. He flexed his claws, gritting his teeth in a silent amount of pain and blinking away tears. No way in StarClan would he cry in front of Blackpaw. Blinking away tears, Farpaw squeezed his eyes shut to try and block out the memory. He kept his back to the cats, planning on just ignoring them.

[Wolverineclaw]

Wolverine sighed again. "Farpaw, if another apprentice runs into a tree, that isn't a reason to make fun of them." He laid his ears back. He sounded like a father. Huh.

[Blackie]

Blackpaw turned her attention to Farpaw. The apprentice wasn't saying anything. If it had been her she would have jumped up to defend herself.
"Farpaw?" she mewed.
The little apprentice stood up and padded to the young tom's side. She could see the apprentice was deep in thought and concentrating. A rush of guilt came over Blackpaw.
"I'm sorry I got mad and fought with you, Farpaw."

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw kept his eyes closed, his ears flattened against his head. He wanted to block everything out. He wanted to just... relax. His mind still raced, much to his dismay. He was ashamed of himself for acting this way, for wallowing in self pity. This wasn't like him at all. He growled, not at Blackpaw or Wolverineclaw but at himself. Hearing Blackpaw's apology he shook his head.

"Don't worry about it," he muttered. "It was my fault. I'm sorry. I haven't... been myself lately." Finally he opened his eyes, looking at Blackpaw and then at Wolverineclaw.

"Sorry for giving you both a hard time," he mewed to both before standing up. "Maybe I should just go."[/color]

[Blackie]

"Don't go!" Blackpaw squeacked. "Mabye you could help me hunt? I'm not very good at it."
Blackpaw's whiskers twitched wildy with her eagerness to make friends. Suddenly, she was as bouncy as a kit.
"We'll catch more prey than any of the aprentices, and then we can play! Please Farpaw! Don't go."

[Wolverineclaw]

Wolverine glanced at the sky. Apprentices. "Since you're mentors aren't around, I'll take you both hunting, if you'd like."

[Blackie]

"Ya!" Blackpaw mewed. "Let's go, Farpaw, please! Let's have fun!" Blackpaw prodded Farpaw's side with her tiny paw.

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw really, truly at that moment felt like a mousebrain. Self-pity never described him in any way, and if anything he never felt any pity toward himself. He took life as it came, and normally didn't fret about it. But when things were his fault, he normally blamed himself, scolded himself and gave himself a hard time. He had to learn to just to accept mistakes.

He nodded in response to the two cats, letting out a soft purr at Blackpaw's eager response. "Ok, I guess." To respond to Wolverine he mewed. "That'd be great if you could take us hunting. I haven't seen my mentor in ages!" He put on a forced smile, turning back to Blackpaw.

"Ok, ok!" He mewed. "Let's go!"[/size]

[Blackie]

"All right!" Blackpaw yowled happily. "This'll be great! I want to learn as much as I can!"
Blackpaw bounced into a crouch and began to scurry forward with her tail straight up in the air.

[Wolverineclaw]

"You're moving too fast, take it slow." Wolverine scraped dirt over the mouse he had caught earlier and followed after the apprentice. "And slow you're breathing down. Mice can hear anything."

[Blackie]

Blackpaw forced herself to stop and catch her breath. She looked back at Wolverineclaw. Her gold owl's-eyes sparkled. "What if the mouse runs away?" she mewed.

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw watched, his tail wrapped over his paws, as Wolverineclaw instructed Blackpaw on her crouch. He vaguely remembered his mentor telling him the same thing when he first started his training. Now he mostly trained himself, though occasionally he'd train with some warriors who had time on their paws.

"Lower your tail as well," Farpaw mewed, crouching low. He kept his tail level, just so the tips of his fur touched the ground. "Like this?" he mewed, more of a question to Wolverineclaw then and instruction.

[Wolverineclaw]

"Then you try to chase it. But you want to kill it before it knows you're there." Wolverine sat down, tail flicking. He glanced back at Farpaw and nodded. "Yeah. Good, Farpaw."

[Blackie]

Blackpaw lowered her tail and wobbled forward. A mouse hole was infront of her, but she didn't notice. Her paw got stuck and Blackpaw landed on her nose.
"Ouch!" she spat. "Mouse-dung! I hate hunting!"

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw bit his lip, struggling not to let out a chuckle as Blackpaw tripped. Because of his good vision, Farpaw rarely tripped over anything, though occasionally his paws got in his way. He padded over to Blackpaw, smiling reassuringly down at her.

"You've gotta pay attention to the things around you, not just the prey." He flicked his tail, his gaze moving a little ways away toward a rustle in a bush. Flicking his ear to signal to stay quiet, Farpaw got into his crouch. He moved gracefully, his paws moving across the ground ever so lightly. Just like before, he kept his tail above the ground. With a mighty leap, Farpaw lunged forward, hearing a muffled squeak as he swiped a paw over a vole's head. The vole lay limp at his paws. Proudly Farpaw picked up his prey, setting it down near Wolverineclaw's to bury it.

[Blackie]

Blackpaw's eyes stretched in wonder. "Wow," she breathed. "I'll never be that good. I'm too clumsy." The little apprentices whiskers twitched and she hung her head.

ooc:brain dead

[Cinder.and.Flightfall]

Farpaw frowned, shaking his head. "You're right, you wont. Not with that attitude at least. Trying another reassuring smile, he mewed "You just need to practice." The sound of rustling again caught his attention. He barely moved, using his tail to pont toward the prey and signal or Blackpaw to try this time. He waited patiently.

ooc: me too.[/color]

[Blackie]

Blackpaw pointed her nose in the direction of the rustling. She took a deep breath and put one paw forward. She could do ths. Afterall, she had only just become an apprentice. There was time to grow and learn before she became a warrior. The little apprentice slowly made her way to the hidden prey. Then, in preperation, she rolled her shoulder muscles. That prey was hers! With an excited yowl, she launched herself forward only to land a tail-length from the vole that raced away in a panicked zig-zag of a trail.