A Lovely Day [SmallLily]

[Ki]

The sun was shining above the gorge, bathing it in sunlight. The sky was bright blue, and only a few feathery white clouds stretched across the sky. Smallpaw felt fantastic. His foot was healing up nicely. Now Sandcloud had instructed him to get exercise for it. If he didn't feel any pain in it at all on this walk, then he could get back to training in the morning. (Not that he would tell her if he did feel any pain while walking. Smallpaw wanted to get back to his training!) He'd visited with Creamfoot for the morning. When the old bat finally shooed him away so she could nap, Smallpaw figured it would be the perfect time to head out for his walk. Maybe he could even hunt a little while he went out. Of course, he wasn't supposed to. But what Sandcloud and Frostwing didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Besides; he'd probably be hunting in the morning anyway. The morning patrols returned, and he informed Spottedsky he was going out before beginning to head up the path that led out of the gorge.

If he wasn't in view of the camp (And Sandcloud and his aunt by default) he would have sprinted up the path. It was just such a good day. The sun, the wind, his healed paw.

[:c a i:]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,407,true]"Smallpaw!"

[/color] came a bright, chirpy voice from somewhere near the apprentice den. The owner of it came bounding across towards the camp exit, her silky fur ruffled by the breeze. Lilypaw had been grooming her already immaculate tri-colour fur when she'd seen Smallpaw, her newest friend, making his way out of camp. Naturally, Lilypaw hadn't even hesitated before rising and leaping over to him - if he didn't want her company, then he was out of luck, because she caught him up quickly and padded alongside him on her long legs.

"Where are you going, Smallpaw? Want some company?"[/color] she chattered excitedly with all her typical confidence and high spirits. She had apparently bounced back from the disaster that was Hailwhisker remarkably quickly, potentially as a result of her newfound friendship with Smallpaw. She could concentrate all her attention and affection on the little tom instead of thinking about her failed relationship. It was an astonishing recovery, really, to go from sobbing her heart out at the river to being the bubbly, beautiful cat she usually was. Maybe all the other cats were right when they said she'd forget all about him in no time.

"Are you sure you should be up? Hmm, we can go for a walk. Where do you want to go? How's your foot?"[/color] Lilypaw talked almost without pausing for breath, her words a rapid jumble of cheerful questions. Smallpaw would probably struggle to get a word in edgeways, but she found she had an awful lot to say when she was around him, and she felt no hesitancy about saying exactly what was on her mind. It was liberating, really.[/td][/tr][/table]

[/center]

[Ki]

Hearing a bright, happy voice calling his name made him pause. He looked back and grinned, seeing Lilypaw run up. She looked beautiful as always. Soon she was at his side and walking beside him. Seeing her this friendly and cheerful lifted his spirits even more. He'd known that Lilypaw was like that deep down. Seeing her show it just made him even happier. She talked very quickly, almost without taking a breath. That took skill. Smallpaw chuckled lightly. "Just going for a walk. And I'd love some company." He smiled brightly at her. Smallpaw got the feeling that, even if he wanted to be alone, Lilypaw probably wouldn't have let him. But he was glad to have her along. Their newfound friendship was just another thing that made his life so wonderful.

"Sandcloud says my paw is almost fully healed. She thinks I need to be exercising it, so she told me to go take a walk sometime today. And if it doesn't hurt, I can be back to training at morning." Smallpaw mewed happily. The prospect of going back to training excited him greatly. This time, of course, he'd be more careful. He wasn't going to end up in the medicine cat den again because of some stupid accident. "I'm not sure where I'm heading, though. You can pick where we go, if you like." It didn't matter much to him. Whether it was the river or the Cliff Forest or even the old barn. Absolutely nothing could bring his mood down today.

[:c a i:]

"Hey, that's great, Smallpaw!"

[/color] Lilypaw mewed, giving the tom a friendly hip-bump. She loved how he got so excited about everything and doubted he had ever taken anything for granted in his life. Not like her, she thought ruefully, who always assumed everything would simply land in her lap. And for the most part, it had. Still, hanging out with Smallpaw meant that she was at least gaining some sort of perspective these days. She'd started being a lot more attentive to her training, much to Lionstripe's surprise. She felt rather guilty when she realised how lazy she had been and made an effort to get up on time and not spend half the day dilly-dallying when she could be zooming through her apprenticeship.

After all, she did want to be a warrior. Lilypaw sounded very young, and she couldn't wait to leave that behind. She hoped Smallpaw would be made a warrior too, and soon, because he really was a bit more mature than her, she had to admit, albeit reluctantly. And yet she had the advantage, because she'd never spent more than one morning in the medicine cat den, and because she was naturally able. It didn't seem very fair.

"OK, uhmm, let's just go towards the forest, I guess."[/color] Lilypaw shrugged flippantly, idly heading in that direction. "Well, it's great that you're back to training. I'm sick of hearing the other apprentices' silly sob stories about their training. Maybe you can shut them up, because if I have to hear another of that Kestrelpaw's tales, I swear, I am going to make her eat her nest..."[/color] and Lilypaw was off, chattering animatedly about the ongoing politics of the apprentice den where the young cats were jostling for superiority. She didn't stop for breath much, and that meant Smallpaw would struggle to get a word in edgeways, but somehow she didn't think he would mind. He was great like that.[/blockquote]

[Ki]

Smallpaw walked along with Lilypaw. He remained quiet, listening to her chat. She talked very quickly, making it hard for him to speak. Though truly, he didn't mind. Sometimes Smallpaw would take after his aunt and father, listening but not really speaking. No use talking just to talk. But he liked it when Lilypaw did it. She could be extremely witty and funny when she wanted to. Besides, he wanted to know what was going on in the apprentices' den. Who was fighting, who was closest to being a warrior. To some it was a competition. But Smallpaw never viewed it that way. It wasn't about who was 'superior', it was about doing your best to help your Clan. To be the best you can be, and help your Clan work towards that ultimate goal: survival.

When Lilypaw eventually paused, Smallpaw decided to speak. He smiled at her and said, "So how is your training going? Your mentor is...Lionstripe, right?" He didn't know what type of mentor Lionstripe was. Ravenfeather, his mentor, was very laid back. Very patient, but she knew his limits and pushed him when he needed pushing. His aunt, Spottedsky, was an extremely tough mentor. She was very strict and hard to please. But she was always strict and hard to please. Not that he didn't love her. Spottedsky had nursed him and his brother. She was the closest thing he had to a mother. "I always feel kind of bad for Kestrelpaw. I know my aunt can be a tough mentor sometimes. She's tough all the time, really. But she means well."

[:c a i:]

"Oh sorry," Lilypaw mewed sheepishly. "I forgot Kestrelpaw's mentor was your aunt. No, I doubt it's Spottedsky's fault that she's so snappy all the time, that's just Kestrelpaw."

[/color] Lilypaw snorted, inspecting a small pile of leaves she spotted at the corner of the path before bounding on slightly ahead and turning to look at Smallpaw.

"My training's... okay."[/color] she shrugged. "Lionstripe's my mentor, yeah. He's always trying to get me to put more hours in, but... I don't know, I guess I've just taken it for granted that there's always going to be tomorrow; always another day where you can do all the things you need to do." she paused, wondering if she was making any sense before she resumed talking again, her tone almost cautious. "For me it's always been kind of like... you might as well enjoy today if tomorrow has to be full of obligations. But it doesn't really work like that, does it?"[/color] she laughed ruefully, scuffing her paw on the earth underfoot.

"I'm going to try harder. I guess I should be further ahead in my training than I am, but I haven't tried that hard. Not like you."[/color] she looked at him with a smile and shrugged again. "You deserve a warrior name far more than I do, Smallpaw."[/color] she said. "And I hope you get it soon."[/color] she was sincere; she had become close to the tom in the past few days and she'd come to appreciate just how much he had to deal with in comparison to someone like her, who'd had everything given to her on a silver plate. She was almost rooting for him to get his warrior name more than she was for herself.

She'd always admired courage. And if Smallpaw was anything, he was courageous. [/blockquote]