Sunny Patch

[Yoko]

Glorious sunset it was and a certain calico apprentice was absorbing every last ray of it. Stretched out fully, the little apprentice lay on her side with half closed eyes. Her cheek was pressed against the surprisingly cool stones and her yellow eyes watched the steady flow of the river. She didn't mind much that RiverClan warriors might be watching. After all, it was her territory.

The day had felt like a lazy one, but actually she had gotten quite a bit accomplished. She had been out on morning patrol. The prey pile was full so there was no need to hunt. She had picked the elders for ticks yesterday, and changed the bedding for the nursery and the elder's den today. She had asked Earthfoot and Sagepaw if they needed help collecting things, but they didn't need to today. TIgerstripe seemed a bit more distracted than usual during their battle training, but she did well as always. She wasn't quite ready to turn in yet...It was so nice out here and there was nothing pretty to look at or fun to do in camp.

In the meantime, life went on, and the pretty calico found herself being lulled to sleep by the buzz of bee wings. Today was productive, but it all felt rather boring. Lionclaw and her hadn't had any patrols together today. She wondered how that was possible with the Clan being so small...

Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow? Please StarClan, I'm so bored without him...

Bored was not the right word, but she wouldn't even dare to think she was lonely. Self-pity wasn't a road she cared to travel down. Not when she was doing so well in her chores and training.

[:c a i:]

[[... e.e Heart. Tigerheart! =P]]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,410,true]It was a lovely time of day; just when the sun was starting to set and tinge the world with a beautifully warm orange glow. Most of the day's work had been done and cats were beginning to kick back and relax. Lionclaw had been busy lately as a new warrior, undertaking a lot of new duties and getting settled in the warriors' den. He'd made some new friends in there and everyone was welcoming, though somehow he felt like he had to be a lot more serious when he was amongst the warriors. He also couldn't help but miss chatting to some of the youngsters in the apprentice's den. Particularly one. Despite the four or so moons separating them in age, Patchpaw had probably been the cat he was closest to in the apprentices' den and it was odd not spending so much time with her now they had different duties. It wasn't as easy to do things together now he was expected to work with the warriors and she was busy training. It meant he had to seek her out whenever he had a spare moment to catch up with her, or else they risked not seeing one another at all. And Lionclaw certainly didn't like to lose old friendships. He'd asked a few cats whether they knew where she was, and somebody had helpfully pointed him in the direction of Sunningrocks. He wandered up amid the burnished sky and soon the warm stones of Sunningrocks came into view. Sure enough, splayed out on the warm rocks was a little calico shape, and Lionclaw smiled to himself to catch her in a lazy moment. "Hello, sleepyhead."

[/color] He purred as he approached her, prodding her with a friendly paw. "Daydreaming about me, I take it?"[/color] he joked, leaning down to settle his body beside hers, yawning as he did. Hmm, she had certainly had the right idea. It was a spectacular view today with the river and the orange sky, and the rocks still had the last vestiges of warmth from the day's sun. "How was your day?"[/color]

[/blockquote][/size][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Yoko]

(Tigerheart, heart, heart. We're going to pretend that didn't happen )

The calico apprentice stirred slowly. She must have been closer to napping than she thought because she almost didn't notice her friend approaching until he spoke. He has a nice voice... she thought, still slightly dazed. Then she purred with amusement and flicked her tail against his flank. "And suppose I was? I wouldn't say so," she teased.

She shifted a bit on her side as he came down to join her. Lionclaw seemed to be bigger, maybe more muscular, now that he was a warrior. Or perhaps it was harder to notice back when they were apprentices together? In either case, it was tough to imagine the two of them like this in the apprentice den.

She looked over the river calmly, "Same old, same old, It's amazing really, the amount of chores we've gotten done in just a few days. There's hardly an apprentice task left to do. It's almost sad for you, now that I think about it. You get made a warrior just as being an apprentice gets much easier, with the new cats helping and all..."

She paused. The new cats. She hadn't bothered using their Clan names. That was a little rude, she guessed. But did they deserve those names? She wasn't sure what to make of them. Loners being accepted into the Clan. She didn't think there was anything in the Warrior Code against it, but it unsettled her. She hadn't said much to them, although she really ought to have been more helpful in explaining the warrior code and other stuff. So long as they don't cause trouble they're okay I guess.

[:c a i:]

"Hmm... yeah."

[/color] Lionclaw mused, thinking about the two new youngsters who had joined ThunderClan recently. Lilypaw and Rookpaw. They seemed to be settling in, and obviously the Clan welcomed the boost to their numbers. Lionclaw doubted that some cats would have been quite so willing to allow two non-clanborn cats to stay if ThunderClan had been in a stronger position. As it was, though, they had to be far more lenient on who was allowed to join now that there was a desperate lack of fit and able cats. "How are you getting on with them?"[/color] he asked. "They seem nice. I mean, from what I've seen. I've spoken to Lilypaw a bit, and I think she likes it here."[/color] He said thoughtfully.

He had yet to speak much with Rookpaw, but he had had a couple of brief chats with the young she-cat and he liked her well enough. Lionclaw was a friendly cat, and though he doubted his younger self would have been terribly welcoming to two loners, he was now happy enough to welcome them as best as he could.

Lionclaw glanced across at Patchpaw appraisingly. She and Lilypaw were the same age, weren't they? Maybe they would turn out to be friends. He rolled over and stared at the sky, trying to imagine little Lilypaw getting along with Patchpaw. Who had, he noticed, grown recently. She was probably going to grow rapidly in the next couple of moons as she entered the latter half of her training. It was strange to think that it had already been four moons since he was at her stage. Although that meant it would only be four moons until she joined him in the warriors' den. He supposed it was good that he would already be there to help her out when she was a new warrior, though he knew she would cope perfectly well on her own.

But it was always nice to have a friendly face.[/blockquote]

[Yoko]

Patchpaw shifted a little on her belly. She gave her friend a suspicious look. The calico couldn't quite pinpoint her feeling, but somehow his mentioning her name didn't set well with her. And he had time to speak with her/ When? Wasn't he busy doing warrior things? Probably just the loner thing... she thought, though the feeling was slow to slide off. Facing the lazy river again, she grumbled, "Well, I haven't spent much time with them, busy and all. I'm just glad their stink is wearing off. They'll smell like ThunderClan soon, I guess."

"What about you? How was your day?" she mewed brightly. She actually had quite a few questions about what being a warrior was like, but she continued to restrain herself from asking. I'll find out for myself soon enough. Asking all those pesky questions would be like admitting she was still quite a few moons away from warriorhood.

When she was with him, four moons seemed like nothing at all. But when she thought of the space just between two Gaherings, it seemed like a lifetime. Impatience pricked at her paws. She was so focused in training and it felt like she knew a lot, but there must be a bunch more to learn. It almost made her want to race back to Tigerheart and ask him to train her for a whole moon without stopping for breaks.

[:c a i:]

Lionclaw glanced over at Patchpaw, mildly bemused at the tone of resentment coming from her at the mention of the two new apprentices. Maybe she didn't get on with them after all? Surely they couldn't have had a fight already, could they? Although, knowing Patchpaw... No, she wouldn't. . He dismissed the notion and rolled over, inspecting the gradually darkening sky above him. After all, who really knew what went on in she-cats' minds?

"Pretty good. Getting used to all the warrior stuff, more or less."

[/color] Lionclaw shrugged. The novelty hadn't quite worn off yet, but he was getting more and more used to being treated as a full warrior and having more responsibility as well as privileges. "It's going well, actually. I was on dawn patrol this morning, and I went hunting with Duckybeak and Missingbutt. I guess it was a normal day. more or less!"

"What about you? Busy training? How much longer does Tigerheart reckon it'll be?"[/color] He rolled over to look at Patchpaw, realising he was genuinely quite eager for her to become a warrior so she could come to the warriors' den and go on patrol with him. As much as he liked the other warriors, the next youngest was still six moons older than him and besides, poor Swallowfang was dreadfully outnumbered as the only she-warrior in the den. It would be good for ThunderClan to regain something resembling a balanced population. Not that that was looking very likely since there weren't any she-kits in the nursery.


[[Oops, that was a bit blah x3]]
[/blockquote]

[Yoko]

The calico's spine prickled and she shifted closer to Lionclaw. It wasn't the answer she had been hoping for, but she really didn't know what she was expecting either. Did she want an elder story, where she could pretend that she was the clever warrior, serving her Clan. Don't be silly, Patchpaw. You are serving your Clan...And you'll serve it better when your training is complete.

Patchpaw's toes fidgeted. "Well, I haven't really asked him...But he's almost always says that I'm doing well. So at least I know I'm not behind in training. Who knows, maybe I'm even ahead." She grinned. Now that was a thought hat made her happy. "But I don't know for sure yet!" she added quickly.

StarClan willing, it could be true! So long as I don't run into any problems, I might be a warrior sooner than Lily-...hmmm at the same time as Duskpaw.

"Do you think I should ask? Tigerheart I mean, about how I'm doing? I mean it's only natural I'd want to know my progress. See where my efforts should be focused."" she mewed, defending her point from the start of the question.

[:c a i:]

Lionclaw nodded absent mindedly as Patchpaw spoke, glancing over to watch her. He smiled at her response, remembering the not-so-distant past when he had been just as antsy to progress and reach warriorhood as she was now. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously when he sensed a certain... fidgeting about her, and wondered if he'd said something to upset her. She looked as if she had something on her mind that she wanted to say, but was refusing to do so.

"'course you're doing well,"

[/color] Lionclaw said cheerfully. "You always do well."[/color] He raised an eyebrow at her rather defensive question, a question which immediately came with a fierce justification, and again Lionclaw was left wondering why Patchpaw felt the need to be so defensive. What had he said? He thought back, frowning slightly. They'd been talking about Lilypaw... Patchpaw must really dislike her, then. Lionclaw shrugged and refocused his attention on the conversation.

"Yeah, why not? I probably asked Rainstorm how I was doing about five times a day when I was training."[/color] Lionclaw replied with an easy chuckle. "Maybe another three or four moons, I guess? They'll fly by."[/color]

Three or four moons. He'd be... fifteen or sixteen moons old by then. That was a scary thought. He couldn't help but think he was supposed to be very mature quite soon, which was a slightly sad thought. What if there came a day when he wouldn't be allowed to fling mossballs at his friends or booby-trap some warrior's nest?

... no more idle evenings at Sunningrocks?

No, that day would never come.

[/blockquote][[Omg sorry crap post ;_;]]

[Yoko]

The lull of greenleaf warmth was fading. As the sun faded, the calico apprentice felt colder but sleepier as well. Instinctually, she pressed closer o Lionclaw for warmth. Her head resting on his muscular shoulders as her eyes lowered sleepily. Perhaps the day had taken more out of her than she had thought. It would not be a very good idea to fall asleep here, where prying eyes could see. But she felt so safe with Lionclaw there. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for just a moment.She closed her eyes.

When she opened them it looked much darker outside. At first she thought it was really pretty, then she jolted upward. How long had she been out. Looking up, she saw just a few rays stretching in the corner of the sky. It probably hadn't been that long. But she still felt flustered.

"Sorry Lionclaw," she mewed, fluffing up a bit in embarrassment. She licked her shoulder, trying to smooth down the fur. "I didn't mean to doze off like that.

Ohhh, he must think I'm such a kit right now! Leaning all over him. I couldn't even say awake the whole sunset!

[:c a i:]

After a while of sitting in companionable silence, Lionclaw felt Patchpaw rest her head on his shoulder and glanced down. He was amused to see that she was so relaxed that she'd fallen asleep, eyes closed s she leaned on him. He smiled to himself and shifted slightly so her head rested more easily on him, and crossed one paw over the other as he watched the sky gradually darken, keeping an eye out while she slept.

All was quiet for a while and Patchpaw did not rouse. Lionclaw stayed still and tried not to wake her, unwilling to unsettle her when she looked so peaceful. Eventually, though, her eyes flickered open again and she stirred, causing Lionclaw to turn his head. He smiled at her as she shook herself awake, jolting upright.

"...hello again, sleepyhead."

[/color] he said cheerfully. "Good to know you find my company so thrilling that you fall asleep on me."[/color] he joked, flicking her side with his tail amicably. "No, seriously, don't worry. Probably did you some good. And being your personal pillow clearly comes with the job description of being your friend,"[/color] he laughed, standing up and stretching to loosen up his limbs.

"It's getting dark,"[/color] Lionclaw commented, glancing overhead. "Want to stay out longer or head back?"[/color] he asked, quickly smoothing a wayward tuft of fur with a lick. "Tigerheart doesn't need you for anything this evening, does he?"[/color]

[/blockquote][[And no, I don't mean need in a creepy way, Yoko. =P]]

[Yoko]

Her cheeks flooded with warmth for a minute. You are no boring! she nearly protested. Then she felt sort of silly for taking it so seriously. She smiled, happy hat he knew how to lighten a mood. It was dark outside, and they were right on the border at a place that RiverClan had battled many times to steal... in the past. But the Clans were at peace now, and Lionclaw was a great warrior, and she was a skilled apprentice. All of this made her feel less guilty for dozing off, but she wasn't going tell any cat if no one brought it up. His fur had been so soft, and warm. Moving on! Something about that train of thought bothered her.

"No, I don't think so," Patchpaw, mewed, momentarily thinking of her distracted mentor. He might not need her for anything, but truth be told, she probably needed to rest or she would feel sluggish tomorrow. "But I kind of need to sleep. Don't want to doze off in training, you know?" Not that she would ever do that. She'd have to have swallowed a pawful of poppy seeds before she'd embarrass herself and her mentor by sleeping on patrol or training. Still, she looked apologetically at Lionclaw. She wanted to hang out with him more. They hadn't seen each other most of the day, but she really was kind of tired. "Bet even sleepy I could still give you a good run to the hollow." She arched her brow, preparing herself for a small race.