When he and Graypaw were running, Firepaw wasn't able to catch more than a glimpse of the forest. But now that he was supposed to take everything, it seemed almost breathtaking.
Deeper in the forest, the trees were even taller, stark against the moonlight. Moss and leaves littered the forest floor, and bushes, ferns, and the odd flower grew.
The moonlight shone down on several place, creating a pattern of outlined leaves on the ground. As well as that, Firepaw could smell the prey again, and though he was tempted to slack behind and catch something, Tigerclaw's brisk pace kept him going.
Their first destination was a pile of rocks, a few paces outside of the protection of the forest.
"And here is our first stop." Tigerclaw explained, padding closer. As soon as Firepaw stepped closer, the scent of damp fur and fish clogged his nostrils, making him sneeze in surprise.
It was also that he hadn't even noticed how comforting ThunderClan's scent had become until now. It was all he could think about to stop himself from gagging.
"This is Sunningrocks." Tigerclaw calmly explained, "ThunderClan and RiverClan have been fighting over it since Forestclaw placed it here.".
Firepaw tilted his head.
"Who's Forestclaw?" He asked.
"I'm sure the elders and your fellow apprentices will see that you know later. For now, we must focus on the territory.".
Firepaw opened his mouth to persist, but one glance from his mentor was enough to shut him up.
They traveled North-word, until they arrived at a sandy clearing.
"Here is the Sandy Hollow. Apprentices of ThunderClan normally practice battle moves here, so that the sand doesn't hurt them when they fall over.".
The ginger tom cat nodded slightly, though he had to keep going when his mentor dashed off again.
Finally, they reached something at least somewhat familiar to the new apprentice, a Thunder-Path.
But before he could have time blink, a Rumble-Paw raced by so quickly it blew Firepaw's fur backwards.
"I'm sure you've encountered many of these, Firepaw." Tigerclaw spoke, his eyes turning to his apprentice.
"Yeah, but they were a lot slower!" Firepaw explained, and huffed when Tigerclaw was off again.
'Give me strength!'
He hauled himself to his paws and raced after his mentor, call outs about the fast pace the dark tabby was running at already circling through his head.
…
It was sunrise when they finally reached camp. By then, Firepaw was dead on his paws. Though, not wanting to look weak in front of strangers, he still dipped his head respectfully whenever someone greeted him or waved their tail.
Finally, Tigerclaw seemed to get the hint he was exhausted, for he pulled the apprentice close and whispered "Over there is the apprentice's den.". He gestured with his ear to a clump of brambles, and continued.
"You and the other apprentices sleep there. Now, good dreaming, and I expect you to be up when the moon rises.".
Firepaw nodded numbly, before stumbling to the den. Almost as soon as he entered, he saw four cats, one Graypaw, and the rest unfamiliar.
Graypaw raised his head and beamed.
"Hey! How was the territory?" The gray tom asked.
"Fine." Firepaw simply replied, before asking "Where do I sleep?".
"I have room by me." A pale gray molly called, to which Firepaw immediately obliged, padded over to her and gratefully flopping onto the moss.
"What's your name?" The molly inquired.
"Firepaw.".
"Oh, cool! I'm Fernpaw, and the dark gray tabby is my brother, Ashpaw! And over there is-".
"Can I just sleep?" Firepaw grumbled, "You chatter more than a starling!".
Fernpaw ducked her head and licked her paw in embarrassment.
"Right, right, sorry.".
Firepaw only heard silence for the short time he was awake, and then he felt the peace of sleep grip him in it's jaws.
…
"Firepaw, Firepaw! Get up!".
The ginger tom cat slowly opened his eyes, only to see Graypaw standing over him, an urgent look on his face.
"Good! You're awake! Tigerclaw and Lionheart are waiting!".
Firepaw hauled himself to his feet, his jaws parting in a yawn. He then preformed his usual stretch, before grooming his whiskers into place.
"Who's Lionheart?" He inquired once he was finished.
"My mentor. He's very well respected warrior in ThunderClan.".
Graypaw's eyes sparkled as he leaned in.
"And just between you and me, the mollies think he's the handsomest!" The tom snickered.
Firepaw couldn't help but snort, but was on quickly his feet as a Graypaw padded out of the den.
Following him, the ginger tom cat couldn't see much of a difference in camp from last night, minus the friendly glances he was starting to get from a few cats.
He returned each of them with a nod as the two apprentices padded out of the thorn tunnel. When they stepped into the forest, it was more or less in the same state, except the moonlight was much brighter.
Graypaw then took off, leaving his friend in the dust.
"Hey!" Firepaw called, pushing off and running after the young tom.
When they finally arrived at the Sandy Hollow, Tigerclaw and a golden cat almost his size were already there, sitting down with tails twitching in anticipation.
"Took you long enough." Tigerclaw growled, "Me and Lionheart have been waiting for ages!".
"Well, we're young cats. We need all the sleep we can get if we're to survive in the big bad woods." the ginger tom cat remarked, earning him a flare from Lionheart.
"Watch your mouth, son." He rumbled, "You could get yourself killed.".
Firepaw mentally rolled his eyes, but externally, he simply nodded.
"Alright then. Today we will be practicing our hunting crouches.".
Lionheart nudged Tigerclaw, who dropped into a low crouch, his belly nearly touching the ground.
"As you can see," Lionheart explained calmly, "Tigerclaw is downwind, blowing his scent from the prey. As well as that, he's low enough to not be seen, and his haunches are where most off the weight is, so his paws can be as light as possible.".
Lionheart's head turned to Graypaw.
"Can you tell me why he must be low to the ground, Graypaw?".
"Because something could easily see him if he was bobbing around." The gray tom answered calmly.
Lionheart smirked a bit.
"Very good. And Firepaw," He turned to the ginger furred apprentice, "Can you tell me why your paws need to be light?".
"Because prey could either hear the pawsteps, or they'd feel the vibrations.".
Lionheart nodded and said "Very good, very good.".
Tigerclaw sat up, his gaze locking with Firepaw's.
"So then Firepaw and Graypaw, how about you try these out for yourself?".
The two apprentices quickly dropped into the crouch. Firepaw imagined a fat and juicy mouse in front of him, making his stomach rumble in hunger.
"Graypaw, you look like a duck!".
Firepaw looked over, curious, and almost laughed.
Graypaw was crouched, though his hindquarters and tail were straight up in the air, making him look indeed like a duck.
The gray tom sheepishly mumbled an apology, and with some critique, managed to find an alright crouch.
Tigerclaw walked up to his own apprentice.
"Don't think you're off Scot-free either. Your paws are too heavy. One step, and the prey's going to know you're after it.".
Firepaw felt his ears burn in embarrassment, and Graypaw himself had to hold back laughter. The ginger apprentice quickly fixed his mistake, which seemed to please Tigerclaw.
"Alright, now onto different types of stalking for different prey.".
…
The moon dipping towards the tree line when, after a long day of crouching down and getting corrected, the two mentors called it quits for the day. Their apprentices were very grateful, as the incessant crouching had made them quite sore.
As they were walking back to camp, Graypaw turned to his clanmate.
"So, uh, what did you think of this?".
"It was long, boring, tedious-". A glare from Tigerclaw had him completely change his tune, "I mean, helpful, interesting, and... uh…".
Graypaw snickered a bit.
"Well, you're not too tired to see the camp, right?".
Firepaw shook his head.
"Good!" Graypaw's tail waved in the air, "I want to show you around. I think Tigerclaw was gonna do it last night, but you looked like a wreck!".
