Hawkbite padded up to the apprentices den. They'd already gotten fighting in, but he'd failed at showing her the territory so far. Weird order, but y'know, it was happening now. That's all that mattered. "Starrypaw! Let's go explore some places," the Enforcer spoke into the dark den. It was still early morning, sunrise. He wanted to do this before the heat of green-leaf took over.
Starrypaw
Post Count: 37/100 One With The Warren & Kitty Softpaws Purrk Active
Was Starrypaw supposed to be awake at such an early time in the morning? Probably not. Did that stop her? Not one bit. Apparently, though, her nightmares didn't care one bit. So Starrypaw sprawled in her nest, right eye twitching as she listened to the apprentices around her snoring. Maybe she was even gnawing on her paws without realizing it. Yeah, that was definitely why her paws felt soggy with spit.
Glancing up at a familiar voice sounded, Starrypaw felt her heart tingling with glee. She lurched out of her nest, not caring to be silent as she flung herself at the shadow standing at the apprentice's den entrance. "Sir Bits!" The messy-furred apprentice squealed, grinning ear to ear. "I love exploring! Once-" Starrypaw bit down on her tongue at the last second. Whoops. She'd almost snitched on herself.
Hawkbite was just barely able to take a step back when Starrypaw came shooting out of the den. An amused purr left the larger toms body as her excitement seemed to shift into him. It was contagious, he had to admit it. Although, he barely caught onto the 'once'. Hawkbite was about to question it, but decided he didn't want that headache right now. "I need to take you around the territory, we're late to getting to it, so let's get on going!" the Enforcer spoke, waving his tail as he started moving towards the camp entrance with a small grin. "Last one there has to clean out the Elder's moss!" he blurted out, taking off into a run.
Starrypaw
Post Count: 38/100 One With The Warren & Kitty Softpaws Purrk Active
Emerald hues glittering with unchecked excitement, Starrypaw bounded after her mentor on feather-light, soundless paws, beaming from ear to ear. "Not fair!" She yelled after her mentor, trying to catch up and ultimately failing to keep pace with his longer strides. "The only reason I'm losing is because I don't know where we're going." She huffed, not-so-happy to be losing.
"If we were racing fairly," Starrypaw said, gaze shimmering with mirth. "I'd beat you anyday." She puffed out her chest with pride, believing a hundred percent in her words. And then, in a quieter voice, even though the words were still considered fond; "Old man."
"Excuses, excuses. You could never beat me, Shorty" Hawkbite retorted with a smirk as they made their way through the camp entrance.
The tabby continued on, not pausing to wait for Starrypaw as they made their way through the marsh. The pine trees were sheltering them from the blazing sun above. He couldn't imagine how WindClan must feel right now, the heat just melting those cats. Ick.
Of course, the first place to pop up was the Moonlit Grove. They'd recently restored the area so it wasn't traumatizing for cats anymore. The bodies were safely underground. However, a shudder overtook the tom as the memory of the giant spider came back through his mind. What a chaotic scene. "Okay, so here's the Moonlit Grove," Hawkbite finally spoke, pausing in the area. The scent of dog was still faint. "Usually is smells of herbs and flowers. Elmshadow has said some herbs grow abundantly here so keep that in mind if we ever do an herb patrol," the tabby spoke, turning his gaze towards the younger feline. "Right now, the scent of dog is still faint, but it'll go away with time. Anyways, we honor our dead here. Each mound you see is a grave," the Enforcer spoke solemnly. Unlike some cats in the clan, Hawkbite respected the dead a little more. The tone in his voice would be enough to show it if Starrypaw picked up on it.
He let his apprentice take in the scenery, awaiting any questions or concerns. If nothing, he'd begin to move on to the next place.
Starrypaw
Post Count: 43/100 One With The Warren & Kitty Softpaws Purrk Active
Starrypaw hopped alongside her father mentor, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she listened to him talk. Her ears swiveled in his direction at the little jab, and Starrypaw puffed out her chest with incredulity. "I'm not short!" She squawked indignantly, but turned towards their surroundings anyways.
She stared at all the graves they passed in Moonlit Grove, pressing her mouth into a thin line to keep from allowing her lower lip to wobble. Was her mother here? Moonkit? Vulturekit and Willowkit? Starrypaw didn't know. Her family had never been declared dead, they'd just gotten up and gone missing, disappeared from her life. Perhaps... Starrypaw didn't know why, but she'd never imagined them as.. dead. She'd always kept up her search for them, as a kit and now as an apprentice, and the thought of them being deceased, buried in the ground, felt like a punch to the gut.
Nodding quietly, the black and white female scurried after her mentor without another word.
The Enforcer continued along quietly. That was the hardest area of the territory for him so he'd move along quickly if given the chance. The discomfort would radiate off his pelt if Starrypaw picked up on it.
The tabby tom moved through the trees, coming up to a section of the territory he rarely visited, mostly due to the spiders, The Icy Heartlands. "I don't like this area," Hawkbite finally broke the silence followed by a hard swallow. His green gaze was widened with discomfort once more, but he worked up enough bravery to take a few steps under the cobwebs that hung from the trees. "This is the Icy Heartlands, a place great for finding cobwebs for Elmshadow and to run away from spiders," He spoke, flicking his tail with a grimace. "I don't come here very often, but some cats thrive here. You can decide in your own time, but I won't be leading us very far into that!" Hawkbite spoke quickly, turning tail and padding quickly away to the trees free of the death webs.
"Now, come along, I'll show you where we're going to practice hunting!" he chirped over his shoulder, changing the subject and hoping to pique some interest from Starrypaw.
The Enforcer continued along quietly. That was the hardest area of the territory for him so he'd move along quickly if given the chance. The discomfort would radiate off his pelt if Starrypaw picked up on it.
The tabby tom moved through the trees, coming up to a section of the territory he rarely visited, mostly due to the spiders, The Icy Heartlands. "I don't like this area," Hawkbite finally broke the silence followed by a hard swallow. His green gaze was widened with discomfort once more, but he worked up enough bravery to take a few steps under the cobwebs that hung from the trees. "This is the Icy Heartlands, a place great for finding cobwebs for Elmshadow and to run away from spiders," He spoke, flicking his tail with a grimace. "I don't come here very often, but some cats thrive here. You can decide in your own time, but I won't be leading us very far into that!" Hawkbite spoke quickly, turning tail and padding quickly away to the trees free of the death webs.
"Now, come along, I'll show you where we're going to practice hunting!" he chirped over his shoulder, changing the subject and hoping to pique some interest from Starrypaw.
Starrypaw
Post Count: 59/100 One With The Warren & Kitty Softpaws Purrk Active
While her mentor remained silent, Starrypaw hopped after him on feather-light paws, emerald eyes picking up on their surroundings with newfound rapt focus. "Icy Heartlands." She repeated, casting a sideways glance at her mentor as he mentioned not liking it much. Grinning broadly, Starrypaw laughed outright at her mentor's mention of spider-phobia. "You're scared of spiders?!" She giggled, the sound morphing into an amused cackle.
Attempting to bump her shoulder against Hawkbite's flank, Starrypaw beamed up at the warrior with a happy grin. "I'll protect you from aaaaalll the spiders, Sir Bits!" She announced, chest puffing out with pride -- and then halting midstep in thought. "Orrr maybe I'll put them in your bedding." It was an idle threat, a tease, one that Starrypaw wouldn't ever follow through with. She knew what it was like to carry fears to the nest.
Her ears perked at the mention of hunting, ears swiveling excitedly. "Hunting! I wanna learn hunting!!"
His ears heated up with embarrassment as his own apprentice laughed at his phobia. "Tch-" The sound escaped his mouth at the mention of being protected. However, his tail tip flicked at the thought before the next disrupted his peace.
Hawkbite nearly tripped over his paws at the mention of spiders in his bedding. He could instantly feel his fur crawling in disgust. "I will personally squash you if you ever do that!" He exclaimed, his green hues were wide as they stared at Starrypaw for a moment.
The subject was dropped on his end as they came up to the Training Cliffs. "This is where a majority of our training will happen," The tom explained, his tail guiding the apprentice along quickly, trying to avoid the subject of hunting right now. Tour first, then hunting. That was his rule today.
They quickly moved along to the other side of the Icy Heartlands. Hawkbite gestured towards the cobweb infested trees once more. "So we were just on the other side of that. So here we come across Shadow's Break. It's a great place for hunting, but we must be so careful here. Almost everything you see is an herb that Elmshadow uses. We can't destroy it," He explained as his gaze shifted over the beautiful area. The creek running nearby was a pleasant sound, so much different from the eerie silence of the Icy Heartlands.
Starrypaw
Post Count: 65/100 One With The Warren & Kitty Softpaws Purrk Active
Starrypaw's wide eyes took in their surroundings as she continued to trail after her mentor, for once having stayed silent. She was not under the habit of keeping mute for long periods of time, because there was always just so much to talk about. Now, though, she stared at her surroundings with a wide, happy smile, expression glimmering with delight every time Hawkbite pointed out a new name.
A new title to give the places she'd explored in a random order on her own. She hadn't had names for them -- she hadn't even come close to finding all of these landmarks. Now that she was being showed them, it brought her delight to know she'd be able to recognize them. "Training Cliffs." She breathed, awed by the sight. The young molly didn't even put up a fight, seemingly having forgotten about the hunting by now as they continued onward.
To Shadow's Break. "Oh, it's so pretty!" Starrypaw whispered, voice hushed with reverence. She was practically tiptoeing around at this point, not wanting to disturb anything at all. "Poor plants, always afraid of being stepped on."
I Can Show You the World! [p]
