[Captain]

Originally Posted by Undercover

Smallpaw trailed behind his mentor, his jaws parted for scents of prey. The forest was huge, and he couldn't believe that ShadowClan territory was so vast. Well, The young tom cat concluded to himself. ShadowClan was a pretty big clan. His paws landed lightly on the peaty ground, which was still working on soaking in the tide of water that had swept through his territory. He had wondered how so much rain had to fall to cover this much land.

Smallpaw flicked his black and white tail, listening to his mentor speak. He quickened hos pace so he was padding beside her, and glanced quickly down to make sure he was placing his paws right. The small apprentice didn't want to stumble around like a half-blind badger; he took pride in his smooth, quiet, and even gait. As the spotted apprentice jumped neatly over a root, he waited until his mentor had finished speaking before offering a polite response of agreement.

"That sounds like a reasonable idea." His eyes shone with pleasure. It was nice in the pine forest, with the wind in his fur and the sound of birds surrounding his senses. The forest, despite the recent flooding, smelled fresh and homey; it was the scent that bathed his tongue whenever he stood near the entrance of the camp as a kit. Now, he could actually go exploring for himself! "Is it far from here?" The agile tom wasn't tired yet, but he knew that as far as the two cats traveled away from the camp, they would have to double back and trek the same distance back. Smallpaw hoped he wouldn't grow to weary.

Blackfrost lifted her head slightly to peer up at the dense, overhanging trees that gently swayed above them due to a chilling breeze that now went through the forest. It was certain that the cold, unforgiving season known as Leafbare was almost upon them, soon bringing so much white snow that would make the nights difficult to sleep through and prey harder to find. Despite this, the shecat knew that it was just simply routine and every clan would have to go through it, one way or another. The mentor drew away from these troubling thoughts of the near future, however, when her ears twitched to the sound of her apprentice asking a question. She glanced at the young male, Smallpaw, who now walked beside her at a respectful, brisk pace. Her tail swished behind the shecat in a back-and-forth motion as her whiskers twitched with amusement. “Don’t worry about that, it is nothing you cannot handle.” Blackfrost assured him, “There will be times in the future where you will have to travel farther than these hunting grounds, so it would be beneficial for you to get used to traveling this far now. As your mentor, I will make sure that you get plenty of exercise though, so you’ll be a fast, strong Shadowclan warrior that the clan will be honored to have. We aren’t that far away now though, come along.” With that being now said, the black-and-white-furred warrior quickened her pace through the undergrowth until they reached the known Riverclan border that was divided with a small, shallow stream of water running through the woods. “This is where our hunting grounds stop and Riverclan is just over there, take a whiff and see if you can smell anything interesting.” Even though they were not in Riverclan territory, the easily-noticeable smell of fish twitched in her senses, so it would be no challenge for Smallpaw to pick up the Riverclan scent that was before them.