Snowfoot sighed as the newly-made apprentice sped around her in circles on the hard ground. Streakpaw paused occasionally to jabber out loudly what he thought about the weather, the kits, the warriors, the fresh-kill pile, and just anything in general. She stood up and headed toward one of the quieter corners of the camp, hoping that her new apprentice would cool down to the point of being able to listen to her. Unfortunately, Streakpaw noticed and padded after her, prattling on about how bossy Nightpaw was. He then broke off when he noticed his littermate, Slashpaw, running out of the camp after his mentor. Streakpaw started to whine about going to train.
"Are you ready? Can we go? I want to start training! Look, it's almost sunhigh! C'mon, let's go already!" He bounced on his paws.
Unconsciously, Snowfoot looked up to find that, indeed, the clear blue sky seemed to inch the rising sun ever closer to it's peak.
She looked back down and snarled, "You might have noticed that you're the one delaying your own training, had you been paying attention, but apparently somebody thinks he can do whatever he wants. However, since you are so insistent on it, I'll give you your first lesson. The rules. One, you will listen to whatever I say, because I am your mentor. Two, you will not talk while other cats are trying to focus, unless yo-"
"Blah blah blah," he snorted, batting at his ears for emphasis. Streakpaw's yellow eyes took on a mischievous twinkle. "I'll race you to the lake!" And, without waiting for an answer, he turned toward the exit and sped off, kicking up dust in his haste.
Snowfoot rolled her eyes at his retreating figure but sprinted after him. Yay. I managed to get a brat for my second apprentice. Lucky me.
She raced through and around the browning bushes and leaves that littered the forest floor. Although a bit of her fur had gotten snagged on brambles, she covered several fox-lengths in a few heartbeats and regained about half of the head start Streakpaw had. Straining her muscles, she darted forward and caught up to him.
"A bit slow, are we?" she remarked, smirking. She continued her fast pace and left a dust-covered Streakpaw in her trail.