𝔅𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱ℭ𝔩𝔞𝔫

Patchpaw smiled at her mother's optimistic prediction for both her kits' assessments. Her hunger quenched for the time being, she said goodbye, leaving her grumpy brother to Snowdapple, and padded away in search of another apprentice to socialise with. At times like these, Patchpaw found her comfort came best from her denmates, though she knew she would have to have new denmates soon, with no one but Sleekpaw to accompany her transition to the warrior's den. "Daisypaw?" she called, sauntering near the apprentices den and searching for the agreeable she-cat, hoping she hadn't yet been taken out yet by her mentor.

Oatkit's gaze clouded slightly as she continued to listen to the elders. She didn't want to ask about famous rogues as she usually would when a type of infamous enemy was mentioned. Were there really cats who would attack a fellow clanmate? That seemed terrifying to the young she-kit. "No one would do that in our clan though. Everyone loves their clanmates. And you would know if they were really bad, wouldn't you Hootshade and Alderstripes? You know everyone in the clan, since they were first born."

Sleekpaw glared a little as Patchpaw departed, leaving him to go and chat with her many friends. "I know I'll do well," he affirmed. "I can't wait to start showing the clan all that I can do. We need every warrior we can get with father's patrol gone, don't we? I wish we could become warriors earlier to take over."
This made perfect sense to Sleekpaw, who truly believed he was more ready than some young warriors. "How long will they be gone do you think? If they spend a day going to the thunderpath, how far will they have to go past there?"

"Excellent. One more warrior would suit us perfectly," she told the red warrior, then saw another russet tom approach. "And it looks that we're on our way," she smiled, and meowed, "Oakfur, thank you for asking. I'd like for you to join Articflame and I on a border patrol. If you're both ready, we can start immediately." She flicked her tail with readiness, eager to serve the clan in a more active way than planning and thinking. And besides, Oakfur was the perfect warrior for her to spend time with. Honeypaw's disappearance affected him the most, she was sure, and her long disappearance weighed heavily on Sparrowstar, not only for the she-cat's wellbeing, but for the morale of her young mentor.

Badgerheart slowed his pace as the midday sun blazed down on the dark ground of the thunderpath that lie at the bottom of their territory's slope. "Is everyone alright so far?" he asked, though he knew crossing through their territory was nothing unusual for any of his companions, he wanted to get in the habit of checking in with their wellbeing even this early on. The senior warrior's patched pelt felt warm already, after a hard run and an unusually warm leaf-fall day. He had directed them as close as possible to the tapering off of the apprentice's scent trails at the thunderpath, he prayed that the trails would continue once they crossed. Directing his attention to the apprentices, but also to the warriors, who had just as little experience as the younger cats with the other side, he meowed confidently, "I know that the sun doesn't shine as brightly over there," he glanced to where the ground became a valley, and hid itself from the BrightClan slope that caught all of the rays, "But you can see that it's just more forest. We'll cross in pairs, each mentor with their apprentice, and I'll be waiting on the other side. It's just forest. We can get an idea of our surroundings just like you practiced in training, like we've always done."

Taking a deep, assured breath, the black and white tom nodded brightly to his patrol. "I'll go now. Be sure to watch the sides of the thunderpath, though it seems quiet, monsters are terribly fast." He stepped with massive paws closer and closer to the ditches that hugged edges of the black path. Closing his eyes, flickers of Snowdapple, Sleekpaw, Patchpaw, and his unborn kits glimmered in his mind. As he opened his gaze, he thoroughly checked down and up the thunderpath, before dashing across and coming to a halt on the dark side. He turned around, his heart pounding, and quelled the tremor in his voice. "Alright. Come on over," he called to his companions. He couldn't help but glance around him, but saw nothing except dense pines, too dim to make out farther than a few trees away. To his relief, the only thing that was the same was the scent of forest.

Patchpaw let out a cheery giggle as Daisypaw emerged from the den. "Don't tell me I woke you up. I hope you were napping because you were finished for the day, not because you were just waking up!" she joked, knowing Cindernight probably wouldn't have let her apprentice get away with that. "I wish we could go exploring, like in the Granite Tumble caves or something today. Sleekpaw and I used to have such fun hiding in them when we were still allowed to leave camp on our own. And I'm old enough too," she pouted slightly. It wasn't fair, in Patchpaw's opinion that just as she became a mature apprentice age they all had to stay in camp unless accompanied by a warrior. But, she feared what could happen if any apprentice were to leave alone.

Sleekpaw was surprised by her answer. "The next full moon?" He narrowed his gaze at Snowdapple. How could she say so certainly when none of them were familiar of the vastness of that territory? Why did she want him to return by then? "How do you know that?" However, Sleekpaw began to realise that it would be the very best for his father to return by then, or else he would miss their warrior ceremony. Or worse, their warrior ceremonies would be delayed until the patrol's return.

Sparrowstar nodded to Oakfur's eager response, he did look as ready as she had ever seen the warrior to be. Duty will keep us all together now, she thought, thanking StarClan for the wellbeing of their own clan still. "Nothing in particular. Just to make sure we have the most security as possible in our own territory before leafbare sets in. We can start along Granite Tumble then move uphill to Rabbit's Ridge." With an enthusiastic flick of her tail, she took off toward the tunnel, and exited into the calming woods of their territory.