Duskpaw sniffed the RuneClan border, following the instructions that Nightsky had given him before being called to the leader's den. RuneClan was bordered with IceClan by the river that trailed from the mountains from IceClan that continued onto RuneClan's territory. The rest of RuneClan territory was blocked by a thick border of green trees and boulders.
It was different that IceClan's territory. The camp was set in a valley in the side of the mountain, with many caves to use and provide shelter. Most of IceClan's territory was mountain but a thin forest of varies trees sat at the mountain base and continued on until it reached FlowerClan's territory.
He had already scented and seen FlowerClan's border. The mountains in the IceClan territory had also continued onto the FlowerClan prairies and had shrunk as the rocks approached the thick forest. Inhaling the unfamiliar scents of a different Clan and its cats, Duskpaw thought about his apprenticeship. Duskpaw didn't like being alone on the first day of his apprenticeship. He sat on the IceClan's side of the border unconsciously, thinking about his mentor.
'I shouldn't be alone here. This is what a mentor should do to an apprentice on their first day; otherwise there would be no need of a mentor.' Duskpaw thought, oblivious of the ruffling noises of the bushes on the other side of the border. 'He hasn't been too friendly either. Does he dislike me? But I haven't done anything to anger him… have I? Or, does he know?'
Duskpaw though of the day before, the day he had been made apprentice. His 'brothers and sisters' had traveled the territory while Nightsky had been teaching him the way of the apprentice.
' "An apprentice must not question their mentor's judgments. The mentor is to teach the apprentice and the apprentice is to be ready to learn," Nightsky lectured.
"So why don't we go out into the territory and you can teach me to hunt or we explore the territory," Duskpaw replied. Nightsky sighed.
"Anticipation is bad. Just going out and learning without knowing a bit of knowledge about it?" Nightsky sarcastically asked. "That's a suicide. Does a cat go into battle without knowing how to battle? No. First the cat must learn the moves in order to properly execute them."
"Then, how to I learn the moves?" Duskpaw asked.
"By listening, and observing," Nightsky answered. Duskpaw saw Coldpaw walk behind Nightsky and give him a sympathetic gaze.
''Great. I got a lecturing mentor. I didn't think young cats that acted like elders existed' Duskpaw had thought. The whole day Nightsky had lectured Duskpaw on the history of the Clans. Duskpaw fell asleep halfway as his mentor had gone on and on and on about the Clan names, and the leaders before the current.'
Shadows stretched onto the ground, unusual shadows belonging to cats, as Duskpaw thought yesterday over. Eyes, brown and green, peered from behind the veil of green shrub. A golden brown tom and a white she-cat with dapples of brown and black emerged from the bush silently. Duskpaw looked at them with glazed eyes. He focused on the cats in front of him and scrambled up from his sitting position, trying to run back to camp.
'Fox dung! Why today? I haven't even gotten any battle training,' he thought breaking into a run. 'I can't win against two warriors!'
"Quick! Before he calls any others!" the white she-cat ordered. The golden brown tom dashed towards the apprentice, a gold flash, appearing next to Duskpaw. The tom tackled Duskpaw to the ground with much force, causing the tom to fall to the ground as well. The white she-cat looked at the two collapsed cats. Duskpaw scrambled up but was caught and held down by the tail by the white she-cat.
Duskpaw tried scratching her leg or at least try to move it from his tail. His tiny claws hit the skin and broke through it but not deep enough to break blood. The white she-cat flinched back a bit, but enough for Duskpaw's tail to be released from the white she-cat's grip. The golden tom tackled Duskpaw as he ran, the two toms rolling. Duskpaw lost consciousness as his head hit the ground with added pressure from the tom laying on his head.
"Get up Thistleclaw!" she hissed, ears flattened against her head with haunches raised. The golden tom scrambled up, glaring at the she-cat in silence.
"What do we do with the young one?" he asked. The dappled white she-cat looked at Duskpaw with her green eyes. The she-cat sniffed Duskpaw and drew back a bit surprised.
"He doesn't smell like IceClan," she told her clan mate. "He smells different from them. A certain fragrant that I can't describe."
"You're wasting time. Should we take him back or not?" Thistleclaw hissed. The dappled she-cat nodded, turning to bolt into familiar territory of the sandy and rocky desert. "Wait!" The she-cat turned back. "You carry him back, Dappledwind. I already put some energy into this mission."
"Fine" Dappledwind mumbled. Reluctantly Dappledwind picked Duskpaw up by the scruff and followed her clan mate, careful of the hazy brown apprentice in her jaws.
'Why, he's no more than a kit.' Dappledwind thought. "Maybe a moon older or two. So light, such a nice odor....'