+ T.he Songbird S_ings + //Frost//

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[/i] That was the sound of pawsteps on the grounds as cats came filing into camp. A hunting patrol and dawn patrol had just returned back, and most cats were settling down to share tongues and eat before sunhigh. Shading herself under a tree was a sandy brown tabby. Her pelt blended in with the dark brown ground, giving her a type of camouflage. The small cat grunted with effort as she rose to her paws. She knew her mentor, Badgerlight, would be arriving in camp soon.

Hauling herself onto her paws, she trudged over to the fresh-kill pile, grabbing a small finch. She knew she wasn't supposed to eat before she hunted, but how could she hunt on an empty stomach? It was new-leaf, anyway, so the prey was plentiful. Mintpaw's best traits enabled her to be a glorious hunter, anyway, so it wasn't like she wouldn't make the stupid bird up later. Picturing the rest of the day in her head, she apprentice settled down. She lunged at the bird, ripping off a small chunk. Swallowing it, she licked her lips and dove in again.

By the time she was done, she was surprised her mentor was not there yet. It wasn't sunhigh yet, but they should have already been out. Had he gone on a patrol without her? Suddenly feeling guilty for sleeping late, the apprentice stood up and padded back to the fresh-kill pile. Taking two mice, she gradually hauled them to the elders den. Peering her head inside, she called a warning and dropped them for the elders. Backing out cautiously, she felt a little better. At least she had done something, now. Slowly, she stalked back to her spot and lay down. Where was he?

OOC: Wow, this sucks. I am terribly sorry.[/center]

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&& I am sweet but deadly ~

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/28hmlp3.jpg] "Whaddoyouwant?" His first words of the day, slurred out as a clan mate had somewhat forcefully prodded him awake. Somewhat reluctantly he had then gotten up. A small group of cats had gathered for the dawn patrol and he was a part of them. The sun's rays had just barely began to penetrate land as the party began to move out, a weary Badgerlight following in step with them. By now, the morning had reached its prime peak. A day that was to be slightly warm but accompanied by a blissful breeze was upon them, and the tom inhaled deeply the fresh, crisp air as they returned to camp. The things he had to do today! The tom gave a low purr of amusement to himself at the thought before accidentally stumbling into another cat. Only slightly concerned, Badgerlight gave a mumbled apology and shuffled away. The responsibilities he had now, being a warrior. It seemed just not that long ago at all he was just an awkward apprentice himself; one that was all body and clumsy, stubby legs. Since then, he had since grown into his size some, but still wasn't all that surefooted - as he had just proven. The tom found himself to be a young cat though, and he would not lounge around like some lazy elder. Determination set in his jaw, Badgerlight set out to find his apprentice. The dens had since been cleared of any cats that valued their tails, and all of the patrols were done for the time being. I did have plans with Mintpaw today, didn't I? The tom wondered briefly as he tried to remember. It was in the middle of his contemplating that the male's forest eyes caught the small she-cat emerging from the elder's den. "Good thinking, remembering to bring prey to the elders." The burly tom praised mildly as he stepped toward his apprentice, a mysteriously mischievous grin playing at his face. "You look like a kit who's been caught outside the den." The tom teased in a rumbling baritone as he gazed down at her. "Never had that problem, you see." He began, pausing to stress his point as his body lounged with pretended arrogance to the side. "I never got caught." With this came a sly wink and a cocky, daring grin.

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[bg=40D051][atrb=width,300,true][atrb=border,0,true][th] × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × The apprentice was just beginning to think her mentor had given up on her when she heard his rumbling voice. Purring at his praise, she held her tail high. It might not have been much, but apprentices lived to be praised by senior warriors and mentors. Her purr dying down, the sandy she-cat looked at her mentor thoughtfully. "So are we going to do something or what?" She asked, ignoring his arrogant comment. She made a note, though, to ask him about his apprentice days one day. Not waiting for him to answer, she shot up onto her paws. "Can we go hunting? Pleeeeeease?"

[/color] She said, her green eyes sparkling. She crouched down, wiggled her back, and lunged at invisible prey. Pretending like she caught it, she licked her lips. "Let's practice fighting moves! I've been practicing with the other apprentices. Watch this!"[/color] She shouted. Flattening herself against the cool ground, she let her belly touch the ground before she lunged forward, rearing up on her hind legs. Her left paw slid, making her lose her footing. Falling off balance, she landed with a thud in the sticky mud.

Frustrated, she hauled herself to her paws, and shook out her pelt. Hoping to spray mud on her mentor, she took a quick glance and crouched down again. "Let me try it again..."[/color] She murmured, more to herself than Baderlight. Lunging forward again, the she-cat reared up, this time slashing the air before she fell. Trying not to let her face show her frustration, she hardened her expression and rolled out of the way, to make it appear as if she was dodging someones strike. Springing to her paws, she stared at her mentor excitedly. "Did you see that, Badgerlight? Did you see that!"[/color] She chirped loudly. "I clawed and then dodged! That way, the opponent would miss and I could catch the with surprise again!"[/color] She said, feeling proud of herself.

Realizing her mentor had probably done the same move before, she lowered her gaze to her paws. Great, not only had she managed to mess up twice, but she had sounded foolish in front of her mentor. Embarrassment flooding her pelt, she shifted her paws nervously. Hopefully Badgerlight would over look it. What if he thought she needed more training? Shock flooded her. What if he wouldn't let her become a warrior!? The tabby's eyes grew to the size of moons as she stared at her paws.

× × × × × × × × × × × × × × ×
&& I am sweet but deadly ~

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/28hmlp3.jpg] The tom straightened up from his macho pose as he chuckled roughly at his own joke. There was no shame in laughing at oneself if it was funny; he cracked himself up all the time. Some of the other cats just didn't understand his jibes, or ignored them, like Mintpaw did now. Only slightly disheartened, Badgerlight caught the female in a now critical gaze. An invisible 'brow' lifted up over one of his eyes as he eyed her with scrutiny as she bumbled word after word, not allowing him any time to really get anything in. "Wel -" He began before the young cat launched into another tirade of her questions and pleas. While he might have acted like a stern mentor, Badgerlight would have done nearly anything the excited Mintpaw wanted too. He would not tell her that though, it'd just ruin his fool-proof teaching methods. His jaws clenched as a murmur of humor tried to escape at the apprentice's antics. He wasn't laughing at her, that was for sure, but sometimes things could be taken the wrong way. Although Mintpaw appeared to be getting a bit overzealous, Badgerlight couldn't help but notice the near perfection of the youthful predator's hunting crouch, and the neat movements as she displayed her fighting technique. So interested in watching her he was that, whenever she fell the tom almost leaped forward to assist before getting a nice splatter of mud across his face and white chest. A disgruntled murmur rose up inside his throat before dispelling into some that might have resembled a chortle. Admittedly, she had got him good right there. The tom's eyes widened somewhat in surprise as Mintpaw enacted an idea maneuver; one that he had yet to teach her. He could have meowed in growing satisfaction for his apprentice, but restrained as to maintain his hard demeanor toward his apprentice. It would do no good for her if she knew how big of a push-over he was, because then they'd never get anywhere with her training! "Very good Mintpaw." Badgerlight meowed, voicing his approval of the student's technique. "But what if your opponent comes down on top of you before you rise?" The tom puzzled in light tones as he began to pace out of the clan's main living area. "Maybe we should leave the camp first though. Don't want the other apprentices to get jealous of how well you're doing, hmm?" Or anyone to get hurt. The tom mused to himself wily as he glanced over his shoulder to see if she was following.

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[bg=40D051][atrb=width,300,true][atrb=border,0,true][th] × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × Eyes growing wide once again, the eager apprentice listened to her mentor, taking in what he had said. She hadn't been taught much for fighting; she was still young. But she had watched the older apprentices train, and she thought hard to remember what to do. "Oh! That's easy." She said, pretending like she knew. "You would scratch their belly, right?"

[/color] She asked, whiskers twitching.

Seeing her mentor begin to pad out of camp, Mintpaw followed, trembling with excitement. "So we are going to practice battle moves?"[/color] She mewed. Her tail twitched as her mentor spoke. "We don't want the other apprentices getting jealous..."[/color] The apprentice purred with amusement. "Why can't I let them see? I want to prove I'm going to be the best warrior!"[/color] She mewed, quickening her pace to keep up with her mentor.

"Besides,"[/color] She began. "- I want them to see me!"[/color] The she-cat said loudly. "I'm tired of getting picked on..."[/color] She added absently, her mew more of a whisper. Still padding onward, she began to feel discouraged. "Aren't you even proud of me? I tried so hard to learn those moves!"[/color] She complained sharply. "You never taught them to me!"[/color] She added, wailing. It wasn't fair, he was treating her like he didn't care whether she tried hard or not.

The apprentice stopped in her tracks. "I bet you don't even want an apprentice, right?"[/color] She said, her face puckered. Why did she have to get the mean mentor? All the other apprentices mentors taught them everything, from hunting in the deepest undergrowth to fighting the fiercest warriors. Her mentor had barely taught her any fighting moves; she'd had to learn them all on her own. Tail drooping, she carried on after her mentor, her paws heavy.[/center]

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&& I am sweet but deadly ~

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/28hmlp3.jpg] As he began to leave the bustle of the clan behind, Badgerlight deliberated on just what he needed to do. The tom had been putting an uncanny amount of thought into training his apprentice. She was his first, and honestly he knew to himself that he had little idea of what he was really doing. He was a warrior and he could do all of the things that came with that title. What eluded him was how to pass these qualities and skills off to someone else, especially someone so young and eager to learn. Mintpaw looked up to him, and he had no clue on how to be the idea role model. For now, he had gotten off pretty easy with what he had been doing. She had been eager to learn from him, and she was progressing well for the few short weeks they'd been training. It was only a matter of time though before Badgerlight knew he would do something, even say something wrong, and by Starclan he would be completely out of luck then. What he didn't know yet that he was about to make one of those mistakes now. "Right." He confirmed with a firm, agreeable nod of his dark head. Instead of straightening it though, Badgerlight twisted it to face Mintpaw oddly. "Oh, but I thought you wanted to go hunting?" He interrogated slyly, his eyes narrowing into bright, earthy slits. "Indecisive apprentices." The tom huffed dramatically to himself, but not without a certain note of playfulness to his ways. Before her knew it though, the light-hearted conversation they had been having had transformed into a bitterly worded battle. Badgerlight felt himself mentally reeling from the onslaught. What the male had thought to be a witty, complimenting comment completely turned on him in a matter of moments. "Come on now." The stocky cat meowed in calmly defensive tone. "You know how proud I am of you Mintpaw! You knew a move that we've yet to get to in your training down to the whisker. What mentor wouldn't be proud?" His heavy tones came across now almost softly as he tried to soothe the distressed apprentice. Stopping, he turned on heel to face the she-cat, a troubled expression capturing his lips. "It's nearly every warrior's dream, to have an apprentice. To be given the chance to pass on something they know so someone else can use it." The usually booming tones of the tom had lowered in pitch until they were at the point of almost being whispers, sincerity leaking out of every corner of them.

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[bg=40D051][atrb=width,300,true][atrb=border,0,true][th] × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × As her mentor spoke of how proud he was, Mintpaw couldn't help but let out a purr of amusement. Pride swelled in her chest, giving her the urge to puff it out. After licking her chest furs down, she sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws, continuing to listen to her mentor. "Who cares if it's every warriors dream if they don't act like it!" She challenged, a little deflated. She frowned. I know he's proud of me, and I know he's trying, but it feels like I'm getting nowhere! She thought gruffly. Scraping the ground with her claws, she knew she ought to say something, but she didn't know what. She was never good at comforting people, but she would try her best. "Well, why don't we start practicing?"

[/color] She said awkwardly. She shuffled her paws on the ground. Tail twitching, her eyes began to gleam. She should show Badgerlight how hard she's been practicing by surprising him. Waving her tail on his nose, she darted into the undergrowth. Pausing to think for a moment, she searched for a clump of ferns.

She had heard warriors who came and went in camp that if you wanted to surprise someone, you had to hide your scent. Making sure the wind was in her favor, she she-cat dove into a clump, careful not to rustle it. Once she was satisfied, she scrambled up, pressing herself low to the ground. Thinking back to her hunting training, she flattened her tail, whiskers quivering. Slowly slinking forward, she moved about four fox-lengths before swishing some ferns with her tail. Quickly, she darted forward, hoping to trick Badgerlight.

Preparing herself for a spring, she coiled her body and kneaded the ground. She wanted to make him nervous; to trick him into searching for her. Then, she could spring, and show him what she could really do. Parting her jaw, she scented for him, not daring to stick her head out of the thicket.[/center]

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&& I am sweet but deadly ~

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/28hmlp3.jpg] A reassuring wave flooded the tom as he watched his word sinks in with good effect. The purr was an automatic signal of her getting his point. A light stream of air exhaled from the tom from breath that he had not even been aware of holding. As he continued to eye his apprentice warily to see if there were anymore fight left in here, a thin smile pulled at his lips before being brushed away. Apprentices were so switchy, but easy to please where a cat could not help but love them. By then, Badger knew that the small misunderstand was over even as the she-cat got out one last minute, ditch effort to challenge him; only out of pride more than care. Even so, the male felt it right to have everything out in open light. "I'm no expert at this whole thing if you can't tell." He spoke begrudgingly, a half-hearted, sarcastic smile taking his lips. "Anyways." Badgerlight began again, a different, ore airy tones capturing his voice. "I can't go around praising your every move. You'd get a bigger head than you already have." The tom ended his words on an amusing note, a gruff laugh fleeing from the confines of his wide chest as the cat before him took up a suggestive stance. A feline 'brow' at this point, outwardly skeptical of the feline's movements. "I won't make it easy for you." The burly tom purred as his body loosened into a fluid, snake-like movement and edge closer to the ground. A pair of glinting viridian eyes followed trailed the retreating form into the brush with apparent interest, but waited to follow. The warrior's ears twitched in calculation as they picked up the soft scuffling from the thick undergrowth in front of him. Soon though, the area went silent and the tom glanced around warily as he awaited the attack that he could sense was soon to be upon him. His thick, layered structure scraped the earth as he stepped elegant circles around his defensive perimeter with trained, precise movements. He was the hunted here, but it was surprising how fast that could change. Badgerlight's muscles tensed as a faint rustling erupted at his left flank, and he swiveled to quickly face the presumed threat. A low purring rumbled from his jowls as his eyes scanned the area and the clump where the disturbance had come from. It had been much too gentle for an active cat, but also too low for any kind of critter lurking about. The only option left - a trick. Yet the male did not give this knowledge away, and continued to eye the bushes there warily. He opened his month slightly and tested for scents, but only out of practice. Somehow, Mintpaw had figured out how to cover her scent, so finding her that way was fairly useless; there were always other ways though. Provocatively, the mismatched male traced the small open space around the edge of where the undergrowth began, seeming distracted by something as he rustled limbs with his tail.

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[bg=40D051][atrb=width,300,true][atrb=border,0,true][th] × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × Seeing Badgerflight check the undergrowth where she had just previously been, Mintpaw couldn't suppress a whisker twitch of amusement. Paws itching to attack him, the apprentice bit her tongue to stop herself from lunging out of her hiding in the undergrowth. She knew she had to wait for a little bit, to build suspense. Waiting for what seemed like moons, the gruff apprentice yawned. Her tail flying up to her mouth, she tried to muffle the sound. It was too late to preventing it from escaping her muzzle, but she could certainly quiet it. Tail quivering, it seemed like forever until she finally stopped yawning. Clamping her jaw shut, she looked down, pelt hot. Her mentor had probably heard her, and now he knew where she was. An idea sparked in her mind. If she were to snake back to the spot where she had made the rustle, he would think she was still in her original hiding spot. Eye bright, the sandy apprentice attempted to stalk silently through the gorse bushes and brambles. Flank snatching on a thorn, she gave a silent curse. Why couldn't she get things right? Angrily, she slammed her paws down on the ground, not caring if Badgerlight heard or not now. Figuring she might as well finish the stupid attack, she waited a moment, and flung herself out of the undergrowth. × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × && I am sweet but deadly ~