full blown heat . [fire&oriole]

[lily ♫]

The calico's dark face twitched with conflicting emotions. Part of her wanted to smirk defiantly at them all, but another wished to remain under the cool mask with which she delivered sharp retorts and scowls. Her yellow eyes glittered, heavy at heart from the absence of her brother and wishing she had a certain sly, flirty tom hanging about her. But no, it'd been days since she'd seen Runningfox, and there were other responsibilities to see to. From where she sat comfortably in the tall grasses of ZephyrClan, there were millions of things to be done.

Rising up to her paws, she stretched for a moment and opened her maw to cry out to an apprentice just as he stumbled about just a few tail lengths before her. "Firepaw!

[/u]" She snapped, her teeth clacking together as she clamped her mouth shut quickly. Narrowing her eyes a bit, she took a partial step forward, pausing to smirk a bit at the fluffy red tom. "Now, I can't have cats whispering behind my back about how terrible of a mentor I am and I know that you surely want to be a warrior someday. Meet me by the lake. And be quick about it, will you?[/u]"

Without even waiting on the tom, she whipped about and took off into a fast-paced jaunty run as the calico made her way to the first hunting session that she would have with the handsome boy assigned to her to train. His blue eyes were fierce, reminding her incredibly of how terribly she'd wanted to become a warrior. In Clan life, it was one of the only things you could look forward to doing if you didn't aspire to compete to become leader, deputy, or medicine cat.

Orioleflash's pace slowed as she approached the water, its clarity remarkable and its temperature sure to soothe her hot head and body. Slipping her paws into it, a few of the rocks beneath the flesh part of her feet rolled and she near stumbled into the body of water. It was a windy day, therefore swimming or being soaked to the bone would be incredibily unpleasant. Hopping back toward the incline of land before the shore, she stood passively waiting for her apprentice's arrival.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[Wolfy]

FIREPAW

//Out of the fire, my paws will lead me.\\

Stunned by her approach, Firepaw blinked to see his mentor barking orders at him to get to the lake. As much as he'd be offended by her tongue, he quickly sensed in the back of his mind that he would begin his training! Well, not begin more or less, but actually do some real training! The thought made his mind swivel with excitement. He wanted to bounce on his paws like a kit, but he declined his will to do so, he would look foolish. He watched the vibrant calico, Orioleflash, back away from him and race out of the camp towards the lake. He quickly began to give himself a small bath, placing loose tufts of fur back into their rightful positions. He checked everything over again really quick before standing to his paws and walking briskly towards the exit of the den, pausing to twitch his whiskers. He mustn't keep her waiting.

Once out of the camp, Firepaw busted into a sprint and raced through the great hills to get to the lake. At this time, why would she want him to the lake? It'll be too cold to actually get into the water and it'll be a little loose for battle training. Maybe she wanted to test him? Or maybe she had a surprise! Or maybe even she - he was cut short of his thought when he tripped over his paws for being too excited and rolled clumsily down the hill, stopping short of pounding his head into a rock. He exhaled sharply and looked up to the misty sky and lowered his eyes. Or perhaps StarClan's telling me to relax because otherwise I'll do exactly that in front of her.[/b] he grumbled, pulling himself up and flicking the reeds of grass that had attached to him. He sighed and turned towards the direction of the lake before trotting quickly again towards it. No one saw that...he thought quietly, cursing in his head that he had fallen.

Finally he reached the area of the lake, seeing his mentor in his view. He walked up to her, his head held high as if he hadn't done anything wrong, even though he fell and almost hurt himself...He looked up and cleared his throat to speak. "What are we doing today? Battle training? Hunting? Or maybe battle training? Or maybe you'll teach me how to attack cats that are drinking...they wouldn't suspect it," a smile creeped over his maw, "Or what about battle training? Did I already say that?" There he was again, getting too excited for his own good. But he wanted to fight and to win! He wanted all the power to lead his Clan. He wanted to fight every battle and win every battle. It was time to learn. Teach me! Teach me! His mind seemed to scream at Orioleflash. What were they doing!?

[lily ♫]

The femme's graceful body, smaller than many of her clanmates, tensed slightly as the apprentice began to rattle. "Quiet yourself, Firepaw, and I might be able to explain to you.

[/u]" She snapped before pulling her jaw shut tightly. 'Calm yourself, Orioleflash.' The female told herself, shutting her eyes for a moment and then turning to look down at the apprentice from her bright saffron eyes. "Now I'm not going to let myself beat you around in the rocks, and it's too chilly to be swimming.[/u]" As if to prove her point, a swift breeze chased her words, ruffling her fur and causing her to shiver.

Her paws were wet up to her forepaws, and she pulled at the moisture in her fur with her hooked tongue, silently cursing her decisions. Sitting back up straight, she met the boy's blue eyes and gave him a sort of grimace, with one side of her mouth pulling up in something more of an analyzing look than a smile. "What's this place good for once it gets a bit cooler, huh? It's a nice place for social time, but I don't think there's any reason for me to teach you that.[/u]" The calico meowed, rolling her eyes a bit at the ginger.

Hopping up to her feet, she crouched, waggled her rear up in the air and began crawling along, tail swirling above her in a question mark like curve. "It's one thing to hunt on the moors and it's another to hunt in the meadows and by the lake.[/u]" Standing back up straight, she looked back to the male apprentice and tilted her head to the side as she questioned him. "Are you afraid to get your paws wet or can you brave it out?[/u]"[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Wolfy]

FIREPAW

//Out of the fire, my paws will lead me.\\

Firepaw, quickly shutting himself up, started to glance back up at his mentor. He needed to calm his emotions for he was getting much too excited. He couldn't help it. What was he supposed to do? Stand like a statue? There were plenty of birds in the wood that did that for him. But Orioleflash would not be pleased with his excitement and his bundle of joy. In fact, she probably wouldn't even brag about him to the other warriors. Calm yourself Firepaw. he thought in his head. Standing tall, he puffed out his ginger chest and looked back up at his mentor.

Clearing his throat, he listened to her lesson intently, straining not to look even more of a fool than he already was. What was this place good for, other than social interactions...oh great he'd already made a fool of himself. Well, let's see. It was a lake, one of the 'most beautiful sights in all of ZephyrClan', his sister believed. She said it looked like gems in the morning and a reflection in the night, but that wasn't what Orioleflash wanted to hear he was sure. Shadedpaw could save that mysterious talk for Havocflare, her own mentor. Acknowledging the terrain of the area, he could feel his paws growing warm and looked up to see the sun beaming down on him. Of course, he could go off of that right? The rocks heated under the sun's fire beams and when the rocks heated up, of course it was a pleasant area for a cat to relax, but prey would love the warmth too! Hunting would be an easy plan here not only because of the automatic heater, but also because of the water. The water gave the shore a good vegetation, perfect for insects to climb on board, and perfect for prey to seek out food and shelter. "Well, hunting must be easy here. The sun warms up the rocks and the lake provides a good source of water. Plus, with all the plants growing around here, I'm sure insects come to see the day. I bet because of all the water, prey themselves come out more because their food is out and we eat them." He purred, satisfied with his answer, but more so hoping that Orioleflash agreed with his plan to seek out prey among the rocks and the shoreline.

Now she questioned his bravery. He scoffed in his head, the water would be chilly of course, but he was willing. He wanted to show her what he could do. He dipped his head respectively towards Orioleflash. "I'm not scared of anything. I'll get my paws wet if it means helping my Clan."[/color] he said oh-matter-of-factly. He could do anything he wanted to because he wasn't afraid. Just watch him, he'd get in the water. It wouldn't feel good obviously, but he'd get in. He'd make his mentor brag about him. He'd make her proud. He'd become leader. But why couldn't he do everything he wanted now?

[lily ♫]

All she could do was roll her eyes at the young tom. "Puh-lease, you're much too passive, I may die of boredom before I even get to teach you anything.

[/u]" She muttered, but a pleased half-smile spread itself across her face as he finished speaking. "Yes, exactly. We're tantalizing the prey by dangling a little bit bait out on the edges of our sharp, hooked claws. Very good, Firepaw.[/u]" The calico managed a purr, giving out a very rare compliment.

Shifting her weight from paw to paw, she tried curing her impatience by allowing her body to move without thought. "Do what you want, Firepaw. I'm letting you decide what kind of torture to go through. So make a decision.[/u]" Orioleflash kneaded the mixture of rocks and sand with her paws, careful not to unsheath her claws as it would be stupid to do so. Stretching her neck, her tail twitched upward, curling up into an 's' as she waited on the ginger tom.

Another sharp burst of wind drew past with chilly speed, and the female puffed out her short hair and let a shiver shake her body. She didn't personally believe she had much beauty to boast, but others occasionally thought differently. Her tongue was too sharp for loving companionship. Glancing back at the tom, she raised her eyebrows expectantly, her expression remaining neutral.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Wolfy]

FIREPAW

//Out of the fire, my paws will lead me.\\

Torture? What torture? He wasn't the expert on killing. He was only an apprentice for goodness sake. The little orange tom didn't want to displease Orioleflash though. Awkwardly he tipped back and forth the way his mentor had without thinking about it of course and thought to himself. Should he try to please her? Should he give his best answer? What was he supposed to do? Think like a murderer? Licking his nose quickly, Firepaw glanced back up at his mentor and coughed a little under his breath. "Uh, Orioleflash? Should I dig up some worms and set them out for prey? Or should I find some nuts? Or-or should I-uh, wait for your cue?"[/b] Helplessly confused Firepaw put his eyes to the stones in shame. She would never give him a compliment again. She would ignore his very presence. She would kill him.

Firepaw glanced around awkwardly and gulped carefully before walking away from his mentor and thinking hard to himself. He didn't want her to yell at him yet. He needed to try something. Carefully, Firepaw dug around in the soft bed of the watery edge and dug out some ugly bugs. It made him feel weird. He killed them as easily as he could with his small claws and set them out in front of the rocks. Maybe some sort of animal ate them. But then, he noticed some weird things blowing next to the water. Carefully he crept up to it and sniffed it. There were teeth marks in the stem of it. But he could only see that because he was right down next to it. It had a brown top on the large reed. Taking one small claw, Firepaw poked it and realized that tiny little seeds fell out of this large object. Curious now he looked around the rocks and hid his insect prey on the far rocks. He didn't want to use that method anymore, he had a different idea in mind.

Glancing back to his findings, he had almost forgotten that Orioleflash was still waiting on him. He ignored her with a wave of his tail, hoping she understood that he was thinking. The little orange tabby clawed a pawful of the small seeds away from the wetland plant and set them in a pile in front of the grey, warm rocks. Looking back up on the plant, Firepaw looked beyond that to see the lake at him. He blinked resentfully, but picked his way delicately down the sand. The water was frightfully chilly, but he wanted his plan to work. One paw at a time, Firepaw made his way into the lake biting back uncomfortable remarks. Lowering himself till he was chin deep in the water, he waited, in his pouncing position. He didn't move for a while, he was sure his mentor was getting awfully impatient with him, but he would wait. Even he was about to give up on this "plan" when suddenly he scented something other than the murky water scent. He scented a small rodent. In fact, he scented a muskrat. He despised muskrat. They were so ugly and scary looking. Of course, he'd never admit that to anyone, but Shadedpaw and Rustlepaw knew. That was enough embarrassment. But then he laughed because his brother hated them too. Then it was okay. Anyways, his target moved toward the seeds and began nibbling on them. Firepaw couldn't take it, he leaned back on his haunches and pressed forward, making a clatter of a noise from the water and bounding towards the rodent. The muskrat saw him of course, instantly from the noise and streaked back to the safety of the rocks. Firepaw bounced up and down and hissed as his prey disappeared. Orioleflash would kill him. Firepaw hopped up on the rocks and looked down to where he sat his worms and bugs and saw two water voles eating away at them. Pouncing, Firepaw took out both of them, one right after another and set them down. Of course, his first plan worked out better than his long-thought out plan, but hey, he caught two prey with one idea. That would be fine he supposed. Picking up his prey, Firepaw sulked back over to Orioleflash and laid down the two rodents. "Sorry Orioleflash. My torture didn't work."[/b] He was so depressed now. What would his mentor think of him now?

[lily ♫]

His apprehension and his confusion was enough to make her clamp her jaw shut to avoid laughing in the little guy's face. Firepaw was an impressionable kid, and Orioleflash would feel guilty if she totally derailed the first productive thing they'd done all day. So, instead of correcting him or explaining what she meant, the mentor sat back on her back legs and watched the ginger tom with narrowed eyes, a hint of curiosity gleaming in her eyes. A bit of a smirk propped itself up onto her face as she watched the boy put on a bit of a show.

She felt a small surge of pride as he seemed to pick up and get into the swing of his own idea. Being true to yourself and finding your own way to do something was a lesson Orioleflash thought that every cat should learn, and Firepaw was well on his way for that. Her smirk turned into a grateful little smile as her saffron-gold eyes opened wider to watch him even more closely. Her head tilted slightly to the side and she opened her mouth to stop the kid as he started digging around in the loamy dirt. "Fi-" She started, but managed a choked sort of laugh as he seemed to abandon his idea for a plant growing at the waterside.

She cringed a bit as he sunk down into the water to hide after he had removed the small seeds from a bit of cattail. With the wind blowing so wildly today, Firepaw was sure to catch a cold from slinking into the water like that. Scenting the air, she caught the scent of a variety of prey and flashed a short grin of pure pride at the boy, but was glad that he didn't see it. Orioleflash returned her expression back to her regular disapproving half-frown half-grimace and continued watching the show.

A muskrat nibbled at the seeds, but Firepaw was noisy getting out of the water. Eh, it was a nice try. Glancing back to where the apprentice had abandoned his first attempt at literally baiting prey, she couldn't contain her astonishment at how water voles had actually gathered to eat them. Before raising her voice in praise, she swallowed her smile and put on a solemn face as her apprentice quickly killed the two rodents and returned to her.

"Well." She began, in an irritated tone before her entire demeanor changed. Orioleflash's rare and high-pitched laughter bursted from her ginger tabby maw. "Firepaw, that was amazing! I'm so proud of you. That was an extremely creative way to catch prey and even though that wasn't what I meant for you to do, you showed that you think differently from other cats. Instead of that being a bad thing, you've caught two voles to feed our Clan. I'm really proud of you.

[/u]" The mentor purred the last sentence, stepping forward and turning about to look down and to the right at him.

She pressed her body into him to provide a barrier to the wind and a bit of warmth. Dragging her tongue across his head affectionately, she couldn't suppress her grin. "You'll freeze to death if we stay out much longer. How do you feel about going back home already?[/u]"[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Wolfy]

FIREPAW

//Out of the fire, my paws will lead me.\\

Firepaw looked up when he heard Orioleflash praise him suddenly. He smiled a little, but found it strenuous for his teeth were chattering from the freezing cold water. Why was he so stupid? Of course he'd freeze in the water, but he wanted to try. It turned out to be not a bad idea though. All the same, Firepaw almost wished he hadn't gotten in the water at all. Shivering, Firepaw glanced back up at the calico as she praised his catch. She was proud of him? The little white apprentice heard stories of how Orioleflash was the meanest she-cat in ZephyrClan. She may be tough and harsh and sometimes even bitter, but she really was nice when cats actually proved themselves. "Th-th-th-thanks Or-Or-Oriolefl-fl-ash."[/color] Ever so gently, Orioleflash made her way around him and pressed her body into his freezing pelt and protected him from the harsh wind.

Her pelt was warm and dry and everything Firepaw wanted at that very second. The air was stinging his fur where it dripped from the icy droplets. His whiskers trembling, he felt his mentor's rough tongue lap over his small head and he felt like a kit in that abrupt second when Barklace, his lately deceased mother, would comfort him. He blinked away the vision and answered Orioleflash's question the best he could, teeth still chattering, "Pl-pl-please c-can we g-g-go ba-ack ho-o-me. I-I ne-eed to th-th-thi-ink before I pl-pla-an."[/color] Firepaw's eyes were getting droopy and water started seeping out from them as the wind blew up under his eyelids. It was so cold. And he'd assume that once they were home, he'd have to take a trip to see Toxicwinter. Great.

[lily ♫]

xx closed.