This is my first challenge for The Warriors Challenge forum. The challenge is to show the mentor's opinion of training an apprentice.
The eye of the Mentor
Flamewhisker awoke in her nest. The sunlight was pouring into the den and Flamewhisker realised it was past dawn. Her heart jumped as she realised she should be out training her apprentice; Whitepaw by now. Flamewhisker leapt to her paws and hurried out of the den. To her surprise, Whitepaw was nowhere to be seen. Flamewhisker scanned the clearing and caught a glimpse of black and white in the corner of her eye: Badgerpaw. She trotted over to Badgerpaw whilst chewing on a mouthful of mouse. "Badgerpaw, do you know where Whitepaw is?" Flamewhisker asked the young cat once she had finished her mouthful.
"She's still in her nest," Badgerpaw answered before racing over to his mentor. Flamewhisker frowned. It wasn't like Whitepaw to oversleep. Whitepaw was usually up way before den, eager to start the training for the day. Over the moons Whitepaw had been an apprentice for the white she-cat's hunting had got a lot better. At first the young cat had found hunting difficult as her patience had never been very good. But Flamewhisker hadn't given up on Whitepaw and she was now as good as any other apprentice. That had made Flamewhisker proud and it was the first time she realised that she was a pretty good mentor. Then, when it came to fighting, Whitepaw had picked up the moves very quickly and Flamewhisker had been stunned at her progress. Flamewhisker snapped out of her daydream and poked her head into the apprentices den. Immediately, she saw Whitepaw's fluffy white fur and sure enough, she was fast asleep. Flamewhisker stalked over to Whitepaw's nest.
"Up," she growled. Whitepaw's head shot up in an instant and she leapt to her feet. "You overslept."
"Sorry," Whitepaw apologized with a yawn.
"How can you still be tired?" Flamewhisker questioned. Whitepaw hesitated and glanced round the den.
"I had a bad dream last night," she finally blurted out.
"Whatever," Flamewhisker spoke. "Just follow me." Flamewhisker padded out the den and glanced quickly over her shoulder to make sure Whitepaw was following her.
-()-
The pair had been out in the forest since just past dawn and it was now past noon. Flamewhisker had decided they'd do some hunting and Whitepaw was doing badly. She had only managed to catch one mouse. Now, Whitepaw was crouched behind a bush, watching a bird hop around a few foxtails in front of her. As Whitepaw paced forwards it looked like she purposely brushed her tail across the floor, letting it rustle the leaves. As the bird flew off, startled, Flamewhisker lost her temper and stalked out behind Whitepaw. "What is the matter with you today?" Flamewhisker growled. "You have missed loads of chances to catch prey and now the Clan will only be a mouse better off."
"Sorry," Whitepaw stared down at her paws.
"Sorry catches no prey," Flamewhisker shot at her apprentice. "You're one of the best hunters in your group of apprentices. But I bet today even Mousepaw could catch more than you."
"It's not my fault," Whitepaw protested.
"It is your fault," Flamewhisker sighed. "You're the one who isn't concentrating." Maybe I'm being too harsh with her. Flamewhisker sat down and changed her tone. "Whitepaw, if anything's bothering you, anything at all; I want you to tell me now." Whitepaw glared at Flamewhisker.
"What makes you think anything is bothering me?" Whitepaw snapped. "I'm fine." Whitepaw turned and stormed off. Flamewhisker sighed. Training an apprentice isn't as easy as it looks.
I'm not too sure about this. Please review and tell me what you think of it.
