Idea from Iris06's comment: If you want to have a say in Swamppaw's warrior name, check out the poll on my profile :)

Staring into the pool once again, Silverwhisper was satisfied with the successful infiltration of Swamppaw's dream. It didn't take long for her dream to find him, and soon she was at the pool staring up at him.

Before she could start a greeting, he spoke a command: "Jump in."

"Jump in?"

"Yes. How can I teach you to fight verbally? I need you to be here. As much as I would love to enter your dreamscape, the land there isn't very stable, and will fluctuate with your thoughts. I doubt you want me to know what you are thinking either."

She looked dubiously at the surface of the water, and poked it with a paw. He touched the paw with his own, assuring her that the trip was possible.

Her paws came out of the water and grabbed the ground by the shore. He stepped back as she awkwardly hauled herself out of the pool. She seemed surprised to find that she was not wet, but quickly became taken with the land. "So this is what Deadclan's territory looks like! It's a perfect copy of Bogclan!"

Then she bowed to him suddenly. "Oh, and thank you for trying to save that one time!"

"You saw me?"

"Yeah, but Tornfoot got me first." She raised her head up, her eye making contact with his.

Silverwhisper just hmphed. "Swimming is a wasteful activity. You have already experienced the danger. Why swim when you can hunt fish from shore?"

"Well it's fun."

"You almost drowned."

"I'll try not to in the future."

Silverwhisper himself preferred basking in the sun as a pastime. The Bogclan cat, it seemed, would not agree. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

He led her beyond the swamp. Trees rose around them. He had previously scouted a clearing for their training.

"Are we in Bushclan territory?" she asked.

"No, we are not in any clan's land. This is where a forest would be if there were no twoleg buildings. Deadclan cats do not often come here, so it should be ideal for our training sessions. Now climb that tree."

Swamppaw looked at the tree. It loomed above the two cats, much taller than the reeds and grass that he knew she was used to. "Climb that?"

"Yes. It would be very difficult to fight in say, Bushclan, if you didn't know how to travel in a forest. First, I will teach you this, then I will teach you to fight how I was taught."

Swamppaw's eye roamed up and down the tree. It seemed that the Bogclan cat was unsure of where to even start. Fair. Sighing, Silverwhisper approached the tree himself. He found good purchase points to pull himself up, and did so until he was sitting on the first branch. Looking down at the small brown cat, he still saw traces of uncertainty.

"Take the same route as me if you have to. Look for good places to hook your claws onto. Don't be afraid of falling, the height isn't too much."

She copied him exactly, and was able to shakily pull herself onto the first branch with him. He moved to another branch so that she would have ample room. "Good," is what he rewarded her with. "Now to climb a dozen more trees."

She groaned.

.

When she finally woke up, she was exhausted. For some reason it seemed to be that her training in Deadclan used up her actual energy. Some fighting training, she had spent the whole night climbing trees!

She practically fell out of the apprentice den, and stumbled to the freshkill pile. The sun was shining into the camp, and she was happy to suck in its warmth. She grabbed a fish fresh from the early morning hunting party and tore into it ravenously.

"Someone's hungry," came the voice of a tom-cat.

She paused to see who was speaking. It was Minnowpaw, her honorary older sibling, and apprentice to Nightfang. "Yes. Famished."

Another apprentice joined them. Their brother Frogpaw, apprentice to Snakeshadow. "Fine morning this."

She eyed them. "Yes, fine morning. Do you want something?"

They looked at each other. Minnowpaw spoke. "Do we want something? I'm not sure."

Baffled, Swamppaw just dug into the fish. If the fish was what they wanted, she would be sure to eat it as quickly as she could.

Frogpaw sighed. "Yes, we want something. Look up, will you?"

Choking down the rest of the fish meat, Swamppaw fixed her eye onto Frogpaw.

He tensed at her gaze but mustered his words: "Listen, you're the apprentice of Tornfoot."

"Yes, and you are the apprentice of Snakeshadow. What, do you want to trade or something?"

"No, we just want you to deliver a message to him."

"Well tell it to him them, don't drag me into this."

Minnowpaw coughed. "Ah. Well." Her brothers bounced a look between them before giving it to her in the form of four tilted eyes. "You see, Tornfoot is a very scary cat. Grumpy too, like an elder."

Well they weren't completely wrong, if somewhat exaggerated. "Well spit it out then. If it's not fishbrained, I might tell him."

"Well actually the message is from Nightfang," said Minnowpaw.

"Nightfang is a warrior, not an apprentice. At least you two have an excuse to be fish."

Minnowpaw shifted uneasily. "Nightfang isn't... on the best of terms with Tornfoot."

"So she told you to tell Tornfoot, but you decided to tell me? I should tell Specklestar to tell Deadclan to tell Gravelfur to tell Tornfoot at this rate. The whole camp is gonna hear the message before he does."

"Just tell him that Nightfang is going to court Stormgaze."

"What does Tornfoot care if Nightfang courts Stormgaze?"

"Well Stormgaze is Tornfoot's sister. Their father is dead, so Nightfang thought it would be appropriate to notify Tornfoot."

"Is there such a rule in courting?"

Minnowpaw shrugged. "Mudmellow says there are such rules. The father has to approve right?" He turned to Frogpaw who nodded.

"I've never heard of such a thing!" declared Swamppaw.

"Heard of what?" Grasswhisker joined the morning conversation. "And why are you making such a raucous by the freshkill pile?"

"Is there a rule in courting that says one has to tell the father of the one they court?"

Grasswhisker eyed her. "Why do you ask?"

"Frogpaw and Minnowpaw said it was so."

The older cat shrugged. "There are rules that one can follow, but they aren't required. If a she-cat wants her father to approve, then I imagine that the rule could be observed. I suspect you are talking about a father who dislikes the requester."

"Hmm. Something like that." Swamppaw pondered the situation. She would have to bring it up with Tornfoot later. Frogpaw and Minnowpaw fled the discussion as their mentors called them.

"Ah, and," Grasswhisker brought Swamppaw's attention back to him with a poke of the tail. "If any cat wants to court you, I would like you to tell me first. I would, in this case, be your father."

"Ah, naturally."

"And." Grasswhisker poked her again. "Wait until you are a warrior."

"Yes, that sounds wise."

"And..." It seemed that Grasswhisker would not be done for a while. Darned Tornfoot had to sleep in and let her get the lecture!