Yaaaay, training!

[Kitty]

Training his apprentice was pretty fun. Rabbitpaw was a playful young tom, and Darkfoot couldn't help but like training him.

At the moment, the young warrior was leading the way to the river, his apprentice in tow. His sister, Gingertail, and her apprentice, Otterpaw, were also accompanying them. They were going to learn to fish, something that Darkfoot was not particularly good at, but Gingertail excelled in. Curse his extra-toed clumsiness that kept him from fishing well.

"Yaaay, fishing!" Gingertail squealed in a kitlike manner, following happily along behind her brother situated between the two sibling apprentices. She and Otterpaw had gone out training a few times since she received him as an apprentice, sometimes with their siblings, sometimes alone. Overall, she was happy with her apprentice, and training him was fun! So much more amusing then just sitting around camp all day, or fishing alone.

But he did seem to take up time... Gingertail hadn't gotten to see Dustfur in a while! But wait, she shouldn't be thinking about him. He was in another Clan. But maybe she could see him tonight, at the Gathering....hopefully Willowstar would let her go! And hopefully he'd be there too! Wait a second, she was thinking about him now. She had to stop that, he was in another Clan. But there was nothing wrong with being friends with him, right? After all, she had several WindClan friends! Sure, they were all she-cats...but still!

Focus, Gingertail! she instructed herself. You've got an apprentice to train! She just had to focus, not think about him (great, she was thinking about him when she was telling herself not to think about him. This was so complicated.) Just focus on training Otterpaw.

They were at a part of the river that was more shallow and calmer than some other parts, and Gingertail pulled up short. "Hey, this looks like a good place! Let's stop and fish here, kay?"

Darkfoot turned and looked out at the river. Gingertail was right, this was a pretty good place to stop and fish. The water was shallower and calmer here, making the fish easier to spot than in some deeper, faster-moving places. And the apprentices could practice swimming, too (Darkfoot wasn't entirely sure about how good they were at it yet). "Alright," he agreed. "Rabbitpaw, Otterpaw, what do you know about fishing?" He ignored a glare that Gingertail sent his way, no doubt for 'training her apprentice' or something of the like. She'd get over it; he was just helping, after all.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

He still couldn't believe that he was an apprentice!

He was no longer Rabbitkit, but Rabbitpaw. He hung out with the other apprentices, slept in the apprentices' den, and trained with his new mentor. He even got to do chores! Most of the other apprentices seemed to dislike them but so far Rabbitpaw hadn't seen anything too bad about them. Although he had already gotten some strange looks from Mottledfur while cleaning the elders' bedding, he supposed overall it wasn't so bad. Darkfoot was a good mentor and they got along, and though Rabbitpaw was sad that his mentor hadn't turned out to be Leopardfang, the senior warrior seemed to be too busy anyway with Cindertail and Rabbitpaw wanted to train as often as possible, not worry about whenever his mentor was away from his mate.

Today would be a fun day, too! He was training with Otterpaw and his mentor Gingertail, and as far as Rabbitpaw was concerned, four cats was always better than two. As they neared the river he picked up his pace, heading toward the shore with a little skip in his step. Fishing! He knew how to fish, Leopardfang had taught him! The brown tabby smiled proudly, waving his tail from side to side as he spoke up. "Leopardfang started to teach us, so we know a little bit. Right Otterpaw?" The water looked calm today too. He hadn't had any real experience fishing but he guessed that the calmer waters would make it easier. If not, maybe they could try hunting land prey, or learn battle moves! All of the possibilities and things he would have to learn in the upcoming moons buzzed through his head, distracting him so much that he had to make himself focus on the present. Fishing. Right.

[/justify]

[hedgie]

Most would think that a change so big would be hard to adjust to, but Otterpaw was proving, with every day of training, that they were wrong. As the days had gone by, he'd started to look just a bit older. It wasn't much, and he was really the only one to notice it, but his pelt was starting to look just a bit more sleek and shiny than it had not that long before. Then again, he was probably imagining things, but he liked to think that he was starting to look older.

Hanging out with the other apprentices had done much to expand his social life. Now, he had friends beyond his brother and the two sisters, Shadowkit and Streamkit, back in the nursery. Training had been going rather well so far. Even the chores seemed okay, and Gingertail was a fun mentor. He'd been afraid he'd get some stuffy, strict cat as a mentor, but he'd been wrong. He threw himself into the tasks set in front of him, set on being one of the best cats in RiverClan.

Today was going to be fun! It always was whenever he and Gingertail trained with his brother and Darkfoot. He'd though that he wouldn't see too much o his brother, but they'd lucked out, getting a pair of sibling mentors. He raced after his brother down to the river, coming to a stop beside him. "Oh yeah!" He chirped, grinning. "They tried to teach us, and Rabbitpaw was good at it..I just kind of fell over, but we know some stuff. Like, how there's different ways to fish and what to look out for." The silky-furred brown tom's slightly stubby tail waved out behind him.

He'd expected that they would do something like battle training or something exciting...but this would do. Fishing was fun, too.

[Kitty]

Gingertail gave a little nod as she headed down to the water. She blinked sympathetically at her apprentice when she heard his tale of falling on his first fishing attempt. "Oh, its all right, Otterpaw!" she meowed in an attempt to comfort him. "Every cat slips sometime when they fish! I still do sometimes!" And slip down hills and run into thorn bushes and...admit it, you're a clumsy cat, Gingertail. With that thought, she took a leap into the river, splashing all cats in range.

Really, Gingertail? Darkfoot shook his head in irritation at his sister, splashed by the water sent towards he and the apprentices from the force of her landing in the river. "Well, I hope you haven't just scared off all the fish," he commented dryly. "Ah well. We'll make do. Come on, Rabbitpaw, Otterpaw. Show us what you know." He beckoned with his tail to the two sibling apprentices while a dripping dejected-looking Gingertail climbed out of the water, mumbling an apology.

What a mousebrain, he thought affectionately, blinking at the ginger she-cat, hoping to convey that it was okay. She could be so scatter-brained sometimes, but he loved her all the same. She was his sister, after all.

You mousebrain, why didn't you think of that?! Gingertail mentally scolded herself as she climbed out of the water. Any fish would've had to hear that splash. Hopefully they weren't scared off, like Darkfoot said. She mumbled an apology and shook her fur free of the clinging water, further dampening those nearby. With that, she took her place next to Otterpaw on the edge of the river. "Lessee...you know not to let your shadow fall on the water, right?" She'd have to try hard to make up for that mousebrained mistake. Hopefully the apprentices weren't too upset with her, especially since she may have just scared off all hopes of prey for this little expedition.

((Bleh. >.< Its better than nothing, I suppose.))

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Rabbitpaw gave a little excited jump as he neared the water. But he was careful not to actually splash the water too much- that would scare the fish away. Remembering all that Leopardfang had taught him, to be completely still and patient and to not let his shadow fall in the water, he moved closer to the edge, peering into the river and hoping that he wouldn't mess up too much on his first try with his new mentor. If he caught a fish on his first try, that would be the best! Rabbitpaw smiled at the thought, and it was another several moments before he remembered his task and focused on the water once more.

After some time a few shadows started to move beneath the surface. They were small, but to be expected for how close they were to the shallow water. Crouching down a bit in concentration, Rabbitpaw studied the shadows, trying to pick out one that would be the easiest to catch. Then he lashed a paw out at the water, claws unsheathed, and flailed beneath the surface once he realized that he hadn't hooked a fish on his paw. A dejected moan escaped from his mouth as he pulled his soaking paw out of the water, his tail drooping. "I caught a fish once, I swear!" he said to Darkfoot, willing for the warrior to believe him. It had fallen back into the water, but it had still counted as a catch in his eyes.