Territory-Touring

[Kitty]

As the sun was a bit past its peak in the clear blue sky, a dark-colored tom was leading his new apprentice through their territory. Dreampaw was his first apprentice ever and he was going to do a good job with him. And since it was the yhoung tom's first day in the apprentice den, it was usual for them to go on a tour of the territory.

Which, of course, was what the two toms were doing.

"Watch out for the place right up here," Scorchclaw warned over his shoulder, looking to the younger tom. "Its really boggy and muddy. If you aren't careful your paws might get stuck." His mind flew back to a time in the middle of his own lazy apprenticeship that he got stuck in this same place. His mentor had had to dig him out - something that, had it not been he who was stuck, Scorchclaw would have found quite humorous.

He reached the boggy place and crossed over it carefully, and then there they were. Their first stop on their tour. The foul-smelling Carrionplace.

"There it is," he announced. "Carrionplace. Rats live there, but we don't often catch them because they're disease-ridden and once, many moons ago, they got many of our Clan sick. We lost many to StarClan, so the elders say."

[nightstorm]

Dreampaw listened to his mentor's advice, and stepped as lightly and cautiously as he could. The muddy feeling on his paws was slightly uncomfortable, and the young tom narrowed his eyes. "I had no idea ShadowClan was so muddy," he complained with a small purr. Hearing the word Carrionplace, Dreampaw looked up quickly.

His amber eyes shone golden with excitement, and Dreampaw bounded forward, checking himself before he ran straight into a mud pit. "I don't see any rats," he commented. "And I can't smell them either, over this stench..." He wrinkled his nose. "Does it always smell like that? How do the rats stand it? And is that why they make cats sick? Why don't the rats get sick and die? And what happens to the rats that do die?" His excited gaze looked up towards his mentor's.

[Kitty]

Scorchclaw held off a mrrow of laughter at his apprentice's comment. "Of course ShadowClan in muddy. We live in a marsh, Dreampaw." He nudged the younger tom gently with his shoulder. "But don't worry. You'll soon have webbed paws like the rest of us!" he chuckled. He'd heard several different cats at several different Gatherings say that of the ShadowClan cats. The black tom thought it was funny, because his Clanmates obviously didn't have webbed paws.

The breeze suddenly switched directions for a brief amount of time, bringing the scents of Flintpaw, Eclipsepaw, Emberpaw, Twistedclaw, and Lizardeye towards the toms. For a moment, Scorchclaw was perplexed, but then remember that they were on hunting patrol, and returned his attention to his apprentice.

Whiskers twitching in amusement at Dreampaw's many questions, the warrior had to sort out the answers to them before he could say anything. "Well, the rats are inside Carrionplace. And yes, it does, but as your training progresses you'll be able to pick out other scents around the smell." He considered for a moment before answering the next question. "No...its the rats that make cats sick. We don't know why it doesn't kill the rats, though. No one knows what happens to rats when they die, either."

Turning away from Carrionplace, Scorchclaw set off at a trot towards the Thunderpath. "Come on, Dreampaw," he called over his shoulder.

((I'm just gonna leave the thread here, if that's alright. o-o ...pretend that it follows them wherever they go.))

[nightstorm]

Dreampaw looked up at Scorchclaw as he trotted off, and, with excitement thrumming under his pelt, the young tom ran off after his mentor. He was going to see the Thunderpath!

((Moving to Thunderpath...))

Amber eyes widened, and ginger ears flattened against Dreampaw's skull. The noise was deafening, and the smell....well, horrendous! Dreampaw glanced at Scorchclaw, and backed up a few steps. "It's so big!" he meowed. "Do the monsters ever chase after cats that get too close? How do they go so fast? Where did the Thunderpath come from? What is that black stuff it's made out of?" The apprentice paused for breath, and took a step forward. He briefly wondered what it felt like, and he nervously took a few more steps towards the black expanse.

With a shaking paw, he reached out to touch the Thunderpath. It was warm, hard, and the smell made his eyes water. Suddenly, another monster zoomed past, and, in the space that followed between the next two monsters, Dreampaw dashed back to his mentor's side, eyes wide with surprise. There was no fear any more, only a burning curiosity.

[Kitty]

Scorchclaw was remembering his surprise at the Thunderpath when he first saw it. The smell was as foul as ever, but Sorchclaw was used to it by now. Dreampaw was nervous and shocked, and again came the questions.

The black tom answered them as best he could. "They mostly ignore you when you go close, but they have chased cats before," he explained. "Monsters are very fast runners. Next time one goes by, try and look at its legs. They're different from ours." For the next question, though, Scorchclaw had no answer, so he said simply, "The path that they run on is made out of some icky Twoleg stuff. Its best-"

Too late. Scorchclaw had been about to say "Its best not to touch it", but there the apprentice went, heading up to the Thunderpath. Scorchclaw let out a low hiss as Dreampaw touched the hard black stuff. Of course, he'd done the same thing, so Scorchclaw didn't call him back.

Until he heard the monster coming, that is.

"Dreampaw!" he yowled. "Get back!" A little too late. The monster zoomed past, and Scorchclaw could feel the wind coming off of it tug his fur. It was one of those that ignored cats, thoguh, because it carried on on its stinky way. Dreampaw scrambled backwards as two more monsters followed the first, both with shiny white pelts. His eyes burned at the stench, but then they were gone.

"Well, now you've experienced monsters up-close and personal. Not too pleasant, hm?"

[nightstorm]

Dreampaw listened as his mentor answered his questions, and he looked back at the Thunderpath with new interest. "They're huge!" he commented, his whiskers trembling with excitement. "But they really aren't that pleasant...too stinky!" He looked up at Scorchclaw again. "So most monsters ignore us then? That's good...I wonder what they ea-"

Just then, another monster rushed past, and this time, Dreampaw was able to study it a little more. It had a dark blue, shiny shell, with black, round, and rapidly spinning feet that made him dizzy to watch. His eyes widened even more as he spotted a Twoleg hanging one of its forelegs out of an opening in the monster's side. "It eats Twolegs?!" Dreampaw gasped in awe. The Twolegs were so big and terrible...anything that could eat a Twoleg had to be dangerous. The young tom backed away a little more.

[Kitty]

Amused, Scorchclaw laughed. "Of course it doesn't eat Twolegs. Twolegs wouldn't fit in their mouths!" he meowed. "But if you ever see a Twoleg with a monster you'll see that its belly unfold and then the Twoleg can climb right it. I dunno how it works, but the Twoleg gets in and folds its belly closed again, and the noise must wake the monster up because that's when it starts moving."

He hoped taht made sense. It didn't really to him as an apprentice, but Dreampaw seemed to be a bright one, with many questions. If he didn't know already then he'd learn. "I"ll show you sometime," he promised, and turned to head down the Thunderpath at a steady jog. "C'mon, we're headed to the Tunnel," he called over his shoulder. The Thunderpath Tunnel was the easier access point to Fourtrees for ShadowClan cats, much easier than waiting for a break in the monsters for each cat to run across individually. From there, they'd go up the WindClan border, to show Dreampaw around and to keep an eye out for WindClan intruders. YOu could never be too careful, after all.

[nightstorm]

Dreampaw listened with perked ears, as Scorchclaw explained how Twolegs got in and out of the monsters. "Twolegs are strange," he muttered, his eyes watching the monsters that continued to roar on past, ignoring apprentice and mentor as the two cats crouched on the side of the Thunderpath. Dreampaw looked up as Scorchclaw called to him over his shoulder.

The ginger tom bounded after his mentor, until he was by Scorchclaw's side. He was proud of the way he could keep up with the experienced warrior, and again vowed to be the best apprentice he could be. "The Tunnel?" he asked. "Where does it go? And what do we use it for? Does ThunderClan know about it?" His eyes were as wide with curiosity as ever.

((Short post))