private Tell everybody I'm on my way || Patchpaw

[Rabbitnose]

Rabbitnose had woken earlier in the morning, the sun barely starting to rise. He was restless, excited. He sat outside the warriors den and watched his breath puff as he breathed in the cold morning air. He wasn't usually up so early, but he couldn't help it. It was quiet and peaceful, and he laid with his paws tucked under him as time ticked by and the camp began to stir.

His first apprentice! And he adored her. He was going to do his absolute best. He was going to teach Patchpaw everything he knew.

And so! After he was sure she had awoken for the morning, he approached her with pep in his step.

"Good morning, Patchpaw!" He greeted her with a smile. "How about we explore the territory today?"


​

 

[Patchpaw [in.]]

THERE'S A WORLD THAT WAS MEANT FOR OUR EYES TO SEE​

---

The tiny molly had just slipped out from the apprentices' den rather earlier than most of the other apprentices at the first crack of dawn's light. Patchpaw stretched all of her limbs out into the morning sun, greeting the frosty chill of the fall air with a trill against her striped calico fur. It was her first day as an apprentice: what she should do first, she had no idea, there were so many different choices!

Just as she began to wonder, a cheery voice calls her name, and her ears perk with excitement. That must be Rabbitnose! And if that's Rabbitnose, then that means there must be something he wants to teach me! Patchpaw leaps to her feet and bounces along as though even the slow morning and quiet waking of the birds couldn't subdue her cheery spirits, eyes and ears sparkling with liveliness.
"You mean I can finally leave camp? Through--through the barrier? Out into the territory?" Already, the idea was thrilling, and she was more than ready to start! "Meet you outside, Rabbitnose!"

Almost immediately, she was sprinting off towards the ThunderClan camp entrance, laughing the whole way along.

Patchpaw slowed down upon reaching the tunnel and she slips through, heading up. This was such a new experience already! She loved the feeling of the bracken against her fur and the thorns tugging against her pelt before she broke through to the other side. The whole forest was at her little white toes now, and all sorts of strange new scents reached her nose that she couldn't figure out; she could still smell the various scents of cats who have walked back and forth through the barrier of wonders and the smell of the camp itself, but anything else was a complete mystery to her. The trees were thousands of times her height, the wind sharp against her twitching nose, and sounds that she'd never heard before ringing in her ears. She had only seen this once before when her father first brought them to ThunderClan, and it was hardly even a glimpse. However, now that she stood in the bright, broken-up sunlight cascading through the thick tree canopy surrounded by thick undergrowth, the memory flooded back to her with a fresh, new perspective.

"It's--it's gorgeous... I've never felt this way before, I can hear the trees and the birds, a-and the breeze, it feels wonderful!
It was all quite so overwhelming with all that she could do now that she hadn't even noticed Rabbitnose approaching.​

 

[Rabbitnose]

Her excitement was contagious. His expression brightened as he wiggled his tail.

"Yes you can!" He was practically as excited as she was. They were gonna go on an adventure!!!!

He trotted after her, not wanting to have her leave his sight. The forest was theirs, but it was still dangerous. Who knows what's lurking out there!! There could be a fox. Or a badger. A DOG. THE WORLD WAS TERRIBLE and he had to prepare her for it!!!

He stood by her and took in the sight as well. "It truly is, isn't it? The world is stunning when you stop to take it in." He said. As a former wanderer, he could attest to the beauty of nature.

"We're gonna head this way, to the sandy hollow! That's where we'll be practicing combat. And then we'll go to the border with Riverclan! The river is pretty, too." He said, tilting his head in the designated direction.

"Perhaps on the way, I can show you some hunting techniques, too." He suggested. Who knows, there could be prey, and prey was important.


​

l

 

[Patchpaw [in.]]

THERE'S A WORLD THAT WAS MEANT FOR OUR EYES TO SEE​

---

”Then let’s go, I wanna go see the whole territory!” Patchpaw bounded forwards ahead of Rabbitnose towards the destination he had pointed. She had such a bounce in her step, and every so often she’d purposefully crunch down on some random fallen leaves or chase after them like a kit chasing a moss ball in the nursery. Even while he was trying to keep her in his line of sight, she almost instantly ran over to a shrub with a huge spiderweb stretching across the whole thing, and a golden and black spider sat in middle of it.
”Hey, this spider’s golden! It’s golden!” Patchpaw squeaks with excitement, and she gives a little laugh as she runs back up to Rabbitnose’s side.

It took a while to carefully herd the rambunctious calico in the direction they were originally meant to go, but eventually, the two of them ended up at the sandy hollow with Patchpaw peering in from above.
”Looks sandy. Is that what we’ll be using to train, right? Fighting and hunting?” She asks curiously, looking back at Rabbitnose with curiosity sparkling in her amber eyes. ”Does this mean I’ll get better at fighting? Oh, I hope so!! Then I can finally beat my siblings! They always win, it’s super annoying but I could never win over them. I guess it’s also cause I hate hurtin’ ‘em. Get what I mean? Like, you just feel so awful for hurting somebody and you didn’t even mean to do it! Or worse, you DID mean to do it! I can’t imagine.”

And just like that, she was off again towards the RiverClan border, skipping through the fallen leaves merrily with a trill.​

 

[Rabbitnose]

He took off after Patchpaw, easily catching up to her and keeping pace. He watched as she crunched the leaves and chase them, and he'd laugh. She ran over to a bush with a funky looking spider on it.

"Yeah, it is! Careful though, bright colors usually mean something is venomous." He said. He had never seen a spider like this before. It looked suspicious. What are your secrets, arachnid.

And just like that, Patchpaw was off again and he was right on her tail. When they reached the sandy hollow, he was warmed up and ready to run laps around the forest.

"Yep! This is where apprentices train. We'll be here quite a lot! Careful not to get sand in your eyes, though. It's not fun." He said. He spoke from experience.

He smiled as she went on about being able to beat her siblings. Badgerstrike always beat him when they were kits, though....Badgerstrike was just built different.

"Yeah! You'll be beating them in no time." He said with a wink. "It's a terrible feeling when you accidentally hurt someone. That's why you should always be aware of your own strength!" He added. "In battle, you may have to hurt someone on purpose though. You'll have to be ready for that, so perhaps after some hunting lessons, we can do that!"

He bounded off after her. For the first time, he has forgotten his fear of water. He felt no apprehension about heading to the river. All he felt was excitement. He was excited to show and tell Patchpaw all about the territory.

He was still going to warn her of how dangerous the river could be, though. He didn't want her to experience being swept away like he had.
​

 

[Patchpaw [in.]]

THERE'S A WORLD THAT WAS MEANT FOR OUR EYES TO SEE​

---

Patchpaw turned her head to watch Rabbitnose, giggling with excitement. Boy, her mentor was really trying to keep up! She should probably give him a moment to catch up, but she was far too excited for that, and so she turned back around to see the riverbank steadily approaching. Sunningrocks was very close by! Without a moment of hesitance, she took a brave leap below the surface of the water when the stinging cold depths pierced her pelt and the current brushed past her tiny body. She squeaked as she popped her head back up, paddling to shore with her teeth chattering. Thank StarClan she had only gone half a fox-length and the river was calm today.
”Oh, cold, cold cold cold!" Patchpaw shakes herself off, scattering cold droplets everywhere before twisting to try and lick some of the cold water off. ”Too cold! Didn't think it was gonna be that cold! I thought it was gonna be, you know--at least lukewarm!" Leaf-bare's close, though, so I probably should've expected that, Patchpaw thought grumpily to herself.

She stepped back up to Rabbitnose's side with an embarrassed laugh. ”Sorry. I probably should've waited for you instead of jumping in, huh? Wait--does this mean I trespassed on RiverClan territory?! Oh, no!" She perked up with a look of fright, though it was quite amusing with her awkwardly-splayed splindly legs and drenched fur.​