Another busy day?

[Yoko]

It was not quite dawn anymore. The Sun's rays pierved like spears through the bracken walls of camp. The springy grass was less moist with dew. With so many cats gone, Rabbitheart felt like he lived here all by his lonesome (with his brother and father of course).

Rabbitstar, he thought playfully. Yet he knew the stresses of leadership from what his friend Ashstar told him nearly every day since she became leader. There was no way he wanted all that came with the nine lives. I'll just live the one I've got to it's best.

Suddenly, his little brother toddled out into the clearing. He was not so small anymore...He'll be an apprentice soon, Rabbitheart thought, his heart swelling. I wonder if Ashstar will let me mentor him?

"Morning Sunshine," Rabbitheart mewed with his trademark grin.

Ravenkit yawned. "Morning? It's nearly sunhigh! Did you sleep in again?"

This was only a slight exaggeration, as it was well past dawn.

"Yeah, I did," Rabbitheart admitted, but didn't look the least bit ashamed. "I'll just make it up with the later patrols and guarding camp at night."

"I don't see why the Clan does that," Ravenkit mewed boredly. "It's not as if anything ever happens."

"It's to stop the foxes from getting you!" Rabbitheart jumped forward playfully, watching his brother fall backwards.

Both laughing, they looked around at the emptiness of camp. It waqs so eerily silent that Rainstorm's sudden appearance startled the two toms.

"The patrols left?" he mewed roughly.

Ravenkit stopped laughing. Rabbitheart nodded more solemnly. Rainstorm sighed.

"I guess I'll have to take Lionpaw battle training instead then. Lionpaw!"

Rabbitheart watched his father pad towards the apprentice den. He's sleeping later and later these days...

"Come on, Ravenkit," Rabbitheart mewed. "We can collect bedding for the elders. Maybe mudpaw will come with us since his mentor is at Highstones."

[:c a i:]

Lionpaw snapped out of his dozing state and sat up sharply, looking around in guilty confusion. "Hm? Oh. Er. Yes. Um. Coming!" He gabbled, coughing slightly. He ought to have been up at the crack of dawn for training, especially since it was the last stretch of training, but he had just been so comfy... But he was up now, and in any case, it was clearly time for training since Rainstorm was shouting for him. He stood up swiftly, licked his fur flat and shook his paws before he swept out of the apprentices' den, as usual feeling rather superior about being so close to becoming a warrior. It really couldn't be long now, since he knew almost everything there was to know about being one.

"I'm here. So, what will it be today?" Lionpaw meowed in an off-hand voice, fluffing out his thick mane of fur importantly and looking around, just in case there was anyone he ought to be impressing this morning. Seeing no-one, he sat down and looked at Rainstorm expectantly.

[Yoko]

Rainstorm stood tall and proud. He had such a strong apprentice, and he was so near to warriorhood as well. Being able to teach a younger cat the moves that had served him so well in the past made him feel like a new warrior all over again.

"You're going to show me your battle moves," Rainstorm mewed. "We've been hunting a lot lately, and I want to be sure remember it all. Would you like to come see Rabbitheart?"

Ravenkit hissed with anger, but Rainstorm did not give the scrap of fur a glance.

"Sure," Rabbitheart mewed with a grin and a shrug. "It'll be a good chance for Ravenkit to see how it's done."

Rainstorm scrunched his nose in displeasure. Kits belonged in a nursery, but naturally every cat let Ravenkit do as he pleased since he was the only kit in all the Clan. Not wanting to make a scene in front of his apprentice, he mewed, "Of course, why not?"

As he padded towards the camp entrance, he heard Ravenkit whisper, "What about Mudpaw? Can't he go instead?"

"Father wants us to come. It'll be fun I promise."

OOC: Forgive my tendency to self rp, Cai. I imagine Rainstorm putting Rabbitheart up against Lionpaw in training XD.

[spike]

The apprentice was finding today terribly boring. No apprentices wanted to play, nobody seemed to be around. He had no real purpose today since Ashstar was gone. He had been lucky enough to slip away from training, one of his least favorite things. But he also had been excluded from patrols and such. He slid on by warriors, those left, and considered going to see his great-aunt, Doveheart. She always kept him company in these days.

But the young cat turned it down and settled for lying in a bit of sun. What a day it was to be lazy. He hated it though. What fun was it to be lazy? Why not play around and try to be useful? It seemed useless though and settled for looking around. He watched as Lionpaw, Rainstorm, Rabbitheart, and, oddly enough, Ravenkit moving towards the camp entrance. An itch began in his paws. The itch to follow.

Since Lionpaw became an apprentice, hardly half a moon after Mudpaw did, there was just something he didn't like about that tom. Arrogant was one. There was a sort of pride in him that just didn't feel right. But maybe that was an opinion. He had seen the tom cat be kind and helpful but it just didn't settle well witht he apprentice. Mudpaw never did deal with cats like him.

Mudpaw stood and, deciding to make the best of his lazy day, darted towards the leaving toms. "Um, Rainstorm?" he mewed nervously. "Can I, uh, just, um, follow? I really- I just don't have much. Ashstar is gone. Well, that's obvious." He gave a slightly shaky chuckle before stiffening his shoulders. "B-but I would like to follow. I just have, uh, nothing to do."

[Yoko]

Rabbitheart smiled brightly, looking back at the apprentice. "Why of course you can!" he mewed. "We were just worrying about you, you slept awful late!"

"But so did-" Ravenkit began before Rabbitheart stuffed his tail playfully over his little bro's muzzle.

The little kit sneezed as the golden fur tickled his nose. He then looked up at his brother with a false scowl, but could not hold it for more than a few moments before laughing.

"Come on then, we're wasting daylight!" Rainstorm mewed, clearing his voice. He then shuffled through the camp entrance.

[:c a i:]

((That was a very confused post, Spike...))

Lionpaw easily kept pace with his mentor, moving in a rather lordly way as he passed through camp entrance, chattering non-stop about various battle moves and catching more prey than Patchpaw. At this late stage of his training, he was well-used to Rainstorm's steely demeanour and was unfazed by whatever he was going to be asked to do. Battle moves? No problem. Lionpaw was perfectly confident he had everything up to scratch and had a gut feeling that he was going to be on top form today.

Engrossed in a long, detailed description of his last practice-battle, Lionpaw hardly noticed Mudpaw joining their group and kept moving towards the Sandy Hollow, occasionally lunging and leaping to demonstrate something. He was young, strong and full of bravado, ready for anything the world might decide to throw at him. "...And then he tried to attack like this, but I used that move you taught me last moon, remember? The one where you go like this at the last moment?" Lionpaw bounded along in high spirits, wrapping up his retelling of whatever great battle he had had last week. (He didn't add that it was with an apprentice several moons younger.)

"So, are you going to have me fight Rabbitheart?" He asked eagerly, fluffing out his mane of golden-brown fur. "Because I'm ready for anything today." He looked behind him, then looked startled as he saw Mudpaw. "Oh, Mudpaw, hello." He said, blinking in surprise. He'd been expecting a quiet day of training with Rainstorm, but their group had expanded to five already. He sighed in a long-suffering way as he eyed Ravenkit, wondering if a training ground was the place for a kit. Oh well, if Rainstorm said it was fine, then it must be.

[Yoko]

Rabbitheart paused and leaned forward so Ravenkit could scramble onto his back. The little black kit was no where near the size of an average apprentice so his weight did not seen to affect the golden warrior.

He wanted nothing more than to roam the forest with his big brother, but Rainstorm just had to invite Rabbitheart to go. Though he was young, Ravenkit was not nearly naive enough to believe that his father wanted to spend time with him.

He narrowed his dark blue eyes at Lionpaw as the apprentice sighed. That furball got all of father's attention and he wasn't even their kin!

Rabbitheart appeared oblivious to the entire exchange, he had been listening to Lionpaw's tales quietly with the occassional laugh. He knew the tom had a lot to be proud of, and probably not a lot of warriors would take the time to listen. He's going to make a fine warrior someday.

The golden warrior laughed heartily at Lionpaw's enthusiasm to practice battle with him. Careful to keep his brother on his back, Rabbitheart dropped into a crouch and playfully swished his tail. "I could probably show you another trick or two."

Rainstorm laughed, still padding forward. "He can do far more than that! Remember that battle we had with Riverclan a few moons ago? You showed that Shellpaw not to mess with ThunderClan!"

Rabbitheart chuckled, "It was more than a few moons ago," he mewed to Lionpaw.

Changing the subject so his father wouldn't go on bragging, he turned to Mudpaw, "So did Ashstar train you a lot in battle, Mudpaw. What was the last move you learned?"

[:c a i:]

Lionpaw beamed ever the more brightly when his mentor flagged up his victories and successes. He wanted to make Rainstorm proud; wanted to make him able to say that he truly had the best apprentice in the Clan! Laughing brightly, he nodded at Rabbitheart. "I bet you could!" He grinned cheekily, "But I'm going to be a warrior in about half a moon. If I keep training, of course." He added, while feeling perfectly confident that he would be able to use a full warrior name before long.

((Move to another thread?))

[spike]

Mudpaw lifted his head sharply and thought back to the training he and Ashstar had recently accomplished. Fighting wasn't his strong point, his mentor knew that. Mudpaw was a better hunter. "Well, last I, uh, remember," he started out with a slow pace to his words, "we were working on, um, group fighting. Like me fighting with others or- or, uh, a bunch of cats against me. It was kinda- kinda difficult but I'm getting the, uh, hang of it."

Oddly enough, his chest swelled a slight amount to know that he was getting better. Still, he was getting slightly annoyed with Lionpaw's confident talk. Sure, it was just a moment of self-confidence but Mudpaw was half a moon older than Lionpaw. He felt as if he was never going to surpass him none the less. Lionpaw was confident and strong. Mudpaw was a bit of a klutz and still needed work. He hated thinking about it but maybe he wasn't going to get his warrior name before Lionpaw.

"Come on," he finally suggested. "I wanna, uh, train. I wanna get better for, um, Ashstar." But on the inside, he knew it was mostly for his warrior name.