Bramblepaw's Training

[Willowfoot]

The apprentice nodded and wondered where they would go next. Through two tall rocks, he spied a lake.

((I once saw a drawing of the clan territory. It had a lake on it.))

[Sleetfoot]

Oh, I'll have to stick that into my drawing then **

Sleetfoot followed the young cat's gaze and saw the lake. He nodded quietly and stood, walking over to the lake. "Thre are only a few fish in here, so we can't take to many."

[Willowfoot]

Bramblepaw walked clumsily up to the lake. He hovered his paw over the water, mistaking a rock for a fish, and tried to "catch" it. However, his claws never touched the bottom even though he was in the shallowest part.
"Brr!" he exclaimed, "It's Greenleaf, but the water's freezing!"

[Sleetfoot]

The white tom let out a hearty laugh then pointed with his tail to the other end. "It is Greenleaf, but it isn't to far past the night. See, when the sun has been asleep for the whole night, it makes things cold. That is why it is cold at night. The same thing happens to the water." He sat still on the edge of the small lake until his eyes locked onto a fish. He waited a few more seconds before quickly dipping his paw int he water, coming back out with a fish. "The water isn't that bad." He smiled.

[Willowfoot]

The appretice sensed a flicker of envy inside him. "That's because you weren't always MountainClan. You're used to the cold."

[Sleetfoot]

Coming from any other cat, Sleetfoot probably would have just turned around and left, leaving him to find his own way back to camp but he knew that Bramblepaw didn't mean anything by his comment. Instead, he just stood up and dug a hole for the fish to keep it hidden from other prey. Then he started back towards the boarder, motioning for Bramblepaw to follow.

[Willowfoot]

Seeing that Sleetfoot averted his gaze and didn't respond, he flinched. Bramblepaw didn't mean to hurt him. His tail drooped and his ears pinned back as he looked at the ground and said, "I'm sorry. I..." he stuttered, not knowing what else to say.

[Sleetfoot]

Sleetfoot sighed and turned back to look at his apprentice. There was grief int he younger tom's eyes and Sleetfoot smiled lightly. He padded back to his apprentice and let his tail fall over his shoulder's. "It's all right. It's just that I miss my homelands and I feel responsible for some of the terrors that happened."

[Willowfoot]

Bramblepaw looked up at him, wanting to ask what happened, but Sleetfoot's eyes betrayed sorrow. The apprentice wisely decided to stay out of this matter.
After an awkward moment, Bramble paw asked, "So... where are we going next?"

[Sleetfoot]

**Yay for awkwardness **

Sleetoof smiled slightly and wrapped his tail around the young cat's shoulders. "Let's finish with the boarders.

[Willowfoot]

Bramblepaw cleared his throat. "Right," he mewed. He knew deep inside him that he should let the subject drop. However, the instiable curiosity of his kithood got the better of him, and he decided he must know what happened. But he couldn't just go right out and ask Sleetfoot to tell him. Hm...

[Sleetfoot]

The white tom sighed. He could feel something eating away at the small cat. He turned to look at him. "Sometime I will tell you. But not now, and not today. We must travel the boarder now or we will not make it all the way around today." Sleetfoot wasn't sure if he should be happy that the little cat was interested, or saddened that he was such a mystery to the cats he had come to love.

[Willowfoot]

The little tom frowned as much as a cat could frown. How did Sleetfoot know so easily what he was thinking? "/Because,/" said one part of his mind, "/he's Sleetfoot./"
He tried to keep his thoughts on the border, but he just couldn't. He was going to explode if he didn't say something, and the border was boring so far anyway. Bramblepaw stopped in his tracks and held his breath. "Sleetfoot," he said in a low voice, "Yesterday when I was named Bramblepaw, I made a vow that I wouldn't let you down, because if you don't do well with me, it'll mean trouble for you." He opened his eyes, now full of regret. "I'm letting you down," he said, "Dont let me let you down."

ooc: *ruins the mood*
Bramble: Don't let me let you let me let you down!

[Sleetfoot]

**Aw! I started crying, that was so cute! I could just see his little face **

Sleetfoot's eyes widened and he turned to sit beside the smaller tom. He laid his tail around his shoulders and lowered his head to Bramblepaw's level. "You are not letting me down, Bramblepaw. It's your first day as an apprentice, there is nothing you could do to let me down. I know how ready you are for this." Then he winked. "I know this is troublesome and boring, but the quicker we make it around the boarder the quicker we can do more fun stuff, like battle practice."

[Willowfoot]

Bramblepaw looked down, then looked back at Sleetfoot, his face now showing confidence, the same confidence that he had shown yesterday.
"You're right." Bramblepaw blinked, and averted his gaze for a short moment, before looking back up and saying, "Thank you."

He now looked forward to finishing the border very quickly, so that he could train to fight and hunt: the sruff he'd been practicing for since he knew what the apprentices were doing. They weren't playing like he was-- they were training.