Soulpaws training.

[misty]

Soulpaw was sitting down in the training area, waiting to train with her mentor, Haggarstar. She had been psyched when she found out her mentor would be Haggerstar, the leader of DawnClan! She made a promised to work extra hard to not make a fool of herself. She had gone to bed early while some of the other apprentices stayed up a little late, though she wasn't supposed to talk about it. On the way up she had seen other apprentices training with their mentors and she could not wait. She had been itching to train all day. Her grey and brown dappled pelt was shiny and smooth and her indigo blue eyes were glittering with excitement. Her long, graceful tail was flicking back and forth and her ears were pricked for the sound of her leader and mentor coming up the shallow rise.

[@pple]

As if it was on cue, a black-furred she-cat walked through the clearing, her paws stepping on the tall grasses as if she took control of the grasses. After all, she was the leader of DawnClan. A beloved queen of the grass fields and wild pastures that looked toward her with grand admiration.

The wind seemed to love her as well. They brushed against her as lovers, purring and caressing her as she stopped at the edge of the hill, looking down toward the training field. There, she spotted a dappled pelt of gray and brown colors. Smiling brightly, she was happier those days after the big fight with her mate, Zephyrwind. Although, they did not talk ever since, Haggarstar had decided to take on another apprentice, having missed being a mentor.

"Hello, Soulpaw," she called after the pretty she-cat. Yellow eyes shone in the red star that dwelled high in the indigo sky. Soulpaw's eyes were the same color as the sky. Haggarstar considered giving her apprentice her warrior's name, Soulsky. However, she kept it privately. With a smile, she was glad to see her apprentice, waiting so patiently for her.

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[misty]

Soulpaw meowed,"Hello Haggerstar. What are we going to learn today?" She stood up, her muscles rippling under her smooth pelt. She could not even try to hide the excitement in her voice. Her white paws slightly circled by the grass. She looked up, enjoying having the sky over her instead of tree branches. When she looked back her mentor and smiled, ready to train. "Are we gonna hunt, or fight, or maybe even..." She stopped talking as soon as she realized she was rambling on, which she had a tendency to do when she was excited. Though her mouth was shut her tail kept flicking around behind her. The breeze ruffled her fur and she fluffed it up a little. She was so used to the warm nursery that she did not realize how cold it could get just sitting there.

[@pple]

"What do you want to do?" Haggarstar asked her cheerfully. It was ages ago since she was a mentor. If it were up to her, she would choose hunting first. She wanted her to explore the whole territory first then practice some hunting techiques.

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[misty]

"How about we explore the territory!"She suggested."You could show me where there were battles, and famous landmarks, and the boundaries and all the other cool stuff!" She began to paced with the excitement of seeing all the historical battle places and the borders to other clan territories. She looked at her mentor to either approve or deny her request.

[@pple]

Haggarstar knew this apprentice was smart. Clever, also. Her indigo eyes sparkled with excitment that the leader herself could not stop smiling. "All right, then. You lead me, Soulpaw," Haggarstar replied.

[misty]

She hesitated a moment,"Are you sure Haggerstar? I'm not very good with directions." She scuffled her feet on the ground. The breeze ruffled her fur and she meowed,"OK..." She walked to the right for a while, scenting the air with her mouth open. There was a different scent than she was used to, definitely not Dawnclan. Soulpaw meowed worried,"Whats the smell?" She looked at her mentor for an answer. It had not hit her that it could be a loner, rouge or other an other clan's border, she only knew that it was unfamiliar and could be dangerous.

[@pple]

The scent hit her nose too. It was not a loner or a rogue. Not another clan enemy, but a familiar scent across the fields she caught so many times before in her pawsteps.

"That is a rabbit for you," Haggarstar replied. "We can hunt later. You can go on. I will tell you where to stop far ahead. We will see the boundary line between FireClan and DawnClan."

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[misty]

She nodded and continued walking, drinking in the scent of rabbits and hares. As she walked, the rolling his became more flat and there was a line of woods in front of them, lush and green in green-leaf. There was also a more strong smell, definitely other cats, but unknown to her. the fur on her back slowly bristle and a growl emitted from her throat. She asked her mentor,"Whats that scent? Its unfamiliar but its still got cat in it? Could it be Fireclan boundary line? You told me that we'd see it."

[@pple]

Haggarstar paused, flickering her long tail at Soulpaw, but the leader thought the apprentice did not see her warning signal. She wanted her to stop and move back, but it seemed like Soulpaw was padding away. She hissed after her, "Soulpaw. That's FireClan territory. Come back to my side."

[misty]

Soulpaw heard Haaggerstar call and ran back to the border, where she meowed,"I'm sorry, i did not know." She looked at her paws, ashamed of not listening to her mentor. She did not mean to, she was just excited to explore the territory and see the other clans border. She was upset that her mentor was angry with her, at least she thought she was. Even the wind seemed to scold her. She sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws with a sigh.

[@pple]

"It is all right," Haggarstar whispered softly. "You are lucky no FireClan cat caught you. But now, you know the boundaries." She explained softly to her apprentice about the boundary line and helped her with the scent markers. "That is where you will do on the patrols with other warriors when you become a warrior."

[misty]

She scented it and meowed,"Yes Haggerstar. SO that is where FireClan lives? Why are they called fireclan?"Soulpaw asked her mentor, her eyes glistening with curiosity. She scented the are again, remembering the scent so she knew if a fireclan cat was on their territory and so she would never cross the border again.

[@pple]

Haggarstar let out a mrrrow of laughter. Her eyes glistened with humor as she heard questions popping out of the apprentice's muzzle. She knew that all youngsters usually were curious. "That, you will have to ask a FireClan cat." And she nodded, pointing with her tail toward the territory where FireClan lived.

[misty]

She asked,"But how? I mean, we cant go on their territory can we?"She than meowed while walking near the border,"How many other clans are there? Are they all like Fireclan territory? Did Dawnclan and Fireclan ever fight? If so, where?! Can we see the places where battles were?" She flicked her tail excitedly."Do you think we will see a patrol? Will we talk to any cats? Will we have to fight?"" She asked her mentor, lashing her tail behind her, ready to go. She began to walk along the border, using the scent to make sure she did not cross.

[@pple]

"At Gatherings," Haggarstar answered her first question. Then she moved along to her next series of questions, "There are four clans. MistClan and MoonClan. MistClan cats love to swim. MoonClan cats hunt in depth of darkness." She nodded solemnly, "Yes, we fought FireClan many times right here for the rights of boundaries."

[misty]

She mewed impressed,"I get to go to gatherings! There are four clans, how do we all fit? Swimming, gross! And the dark, how can Moonclan see? And right here!" She stood back, looking at the stretched of earth that had held so many battles."Have we ever lost? How many cats died? What do they look like? How do they fight?" She meowed as a new set of questions can tumbling out of her mouth. She crouched down and lashed her tail as she swiped her paw forwards at a imaginary Fireclan warrior. Her eyes narrowed and she pounced, as if she was aiming for a mouse.

[@pple]

She smiled at more questions.

"We are the fastest runners out of all other three clans. We could outrun all of them in a fight, really. Thanks to our long legs." Using her long tail to gesture. "MoonClan cats have their special talent to be able to see in the dark. I think it is really unique. That's what made every clan different and special."

She shook her head, "We lost and won some. It is same for them. FireClan cats usually have flame pelts and very small unlike us. We are bigger and swifter than them." She watched her apprentice pretending to fight an imaginary enemy warrior.

"They use claws a lot," Haggarstar simply stated.

[misty]

She meowed trying to figure it all out,"Ok so we are the fasted so when they use their claws, we use our speed. Moonclan has a adaptation to help them see in the dark. We have won and lost some fights though, it will always be ours in the end."She meowed the last part will a glint of pride in her voice.She then asked, looking up,"When will we learn fighting and defensive moves?"

[@pple]

"It will take time," Haggarstar simply stated. "After all, it is your first day." She laughed, "You will be surprised if you find yourself tired at the end of the day." She twisted her tail, as if she stiffened at some unknown scent. Then she dropped in the hunter crouch. Stepping forward deeper in DawnClan territory, long grasses knew her move and suddenly obeyed.

They hid her black pelt, making her one of the shadows in the open fields. As the queen of fields moved on slowly, she quickly pushed her legs forward as her claws hooked in a flash of white color. It was a rabbit. It struggled in her jaws, but she softly crushed its neck with her teeth. After a few minutes, she sent silent prayers to StarClan and looked toward her apprentice. She wondered what her apprentice's reaction would be.

[misty]

She just gaped her mouth than exploded,"That... was... AWESOME! How did you do that? It was like awesome! You have to teach me that! Please, please please..." She gave her her sad face and meowed,"Pretty please... i will do anything! I will rid the elders of ticks just teach me that!" Soulpaws eyes began to glow with the thought of doing hunting."

[@pple]

Haggarstar shook her head, "Another time. Remember that you are leading me around the territory." She glanced around the fields and noticed that the sun was going down slowly, but it will go down. It always had in her countless moons of life.

[misty]

Soulpaw scoffed,"Fine."But remembering she was not only her mentor but her leader she perked up and walked along the border. After a little bit of walking Soulpaw heard the soft bubbling of a brook. Right before she got there she asked Haggerstar,"Do i still have to rid the elders of ticks?" When they got to she river, where the ground was more boggy and the mud sucked at her paws she meowed,"How does Mistclan do with this everyday?" When she lifted her paw out of the mud with a small sucking sound she mumbled softly with a look at disgust on her face as she looked at the mud covering her grey dappled paw,"Gross." She slowly made her way to the river where she dipped her paws in one at a time to get the mud off. When Soulpaw got all the mud off her paws she waded in a small way to get the mud off her belly fur. When she took the long way back to where Haggerstar was she meowed,"I like the grass MUCH more than the mud and the water and the fish. I swear, one swam against my leg. It was slimy and cold and gross" She shivered remembering the feeling on her fur.

[@pple]

"Be happy you are not a MistClan cat." That was all Haggarstar could tell her apprentice. Of course, it was disgusting to be in mud and all of that, but the leader, herself, knew that it would be different if she was born a MistClan cat. Probably not, but who knew. She only smiled, a careful one, this time, "Good thing it is not raining today. It would be more sticky, then." She pointed it out calmly.

[misty]

She nodded and meowed,"Were there any large battles with Mistclan?" She tipped her head t the side, imagining the scenery of a fight, the group of cats, writhing beneath each other. The tension in the air fight before both clans started, the feeling of victory, and the feeling of loss. SHe could picture herself, fighting with her clan to the very death.

[@pple]

"Some, but not recently," Haggarstar answered her questions calmly, with a serene look on her face as she looked ahead across the horizon to the MistClan territories. "They have a long history of alliance with us."

[misty]

"A alliance? You mean like, we work together, I thought the clans were always against each other." She meowed, curious of how the clans could work together."What about prey, does that mean we share it?" She asked, not remembering to ever see a fish in camp.

[@pple]

"No, Soulpaw," Haggarstar smiled once again. "DawnClan would help MistClan if they need our assistance in battles, but they do not ask for our help that often. However, we always make sure no MistClan trepass on our lands." Her eyes were lightened up with some amused memory, but she did not share.

[misty]

She thought about it for a moment than meowed to make sure she got it correct,"So we help each other in fights, but we are still enemies. That's a little complicated." She thought hmm... so much to learn!

[@pple]

"Yes. Life is complicated, but you will get used to it," Haggarstar told the apprentice, giving an affectionate lick on the apprentice's head.