Brightpaw, possible WindClan patrol
A tour of the territory for the new apprentice.
WindClan territory
7
I am my own man, I make my own luck...
✧ ⭒ ✧ ⭒ ✧ ⭒ ✧ ⭒ ✧
An apprentice? In the midst of one of the harder times WindClan had faced? Well, Badgerstar liked to think he saw potential in Brightpaw. The tom had energy and seemed like he would listen well to orders. For Badgerstar, that was all he could ask for. A lazy apprentice wouldn't survive in the midst of Clan life.
About a good chunk of the sun's journey across the sky ago, he'd woken up Brightpaw and ushered him out of camp. That had been dawn, but it wasn't quite sunhigh yet. They still had time left in their enormous tour of the rolling hills of the moors.
"So, what do you think thus far? It can be a lot, but this is your home and your territory now. You will learn every inch of it before we're through with your training. If I'm correct..."
Badgerstar stopped abruptly mid-stride.
"We stop here on this edge. Too far ahead is the Gorge. Deep in it is a river and a death sentence if you don't heed the cliff's warnings."
Brightpaw's eyes had been wide and sparkling throughout the whole tour so far. His excitement and joy with his new status of being an apprentice was already through the roof, only magnified by all the new things he was seeing. He marveled over every little thing he saw, no matter how insignificant, and bounced around as he tried to take it all in.
"So, what do you think thus far?"
"It's amazing!" Brightpaw replied, "It's also way bigger than I thought it'd be-"
Badgerstar suddenly stopped and Brightpaw nearly ran into him but stopped as well just in time. He blinked quietly as he listened to his mentor's warning.
Brightpaw peered over the edge, "Whoa..." then he shuddered, "Scary. Why would it-" then he stopped himself, he didn't want to ask any dumb questions and look stupid in front of his new mentor and the leader at the same time. You'd drown, of course, or something like that.
"Our territory is so big, how do you keep track of it all?"
I am my own man, I make my own luck...
✧ ⭒ ✧ ⭒ ✧ ⭒ ✧ ⭒ ✧
It was almost amusing watching Brightpaw's eyes bulge out of his skull. This was the apprentice's first time outside of camp and, while the view from it wasn't bad, the world had been a mystery until now. Badgerstar still remembered his first tour of the territory. When he stopped to ask Brightpaw about what he thought, it was partly rhetorical, but really he just wanted to know what he was in for attitude-wise.
An amused mrrow left his throat. "How else do you think we feed an entire Clan for generations? Our territory must be vast for the rabbits and hares we capture."
Then it came time to stop just before the sharp decline towards the river. Having been carved out for generations by moving water, the cliff's lip sagged dangerously when approached without caution.
"It's not actually alive, Brightpaw. But the earth can tell you a lot. The very edge is brittle, so we stop a foxlength or two prior just so it doesn't collapse beneath us."
There was a pause. "Even if you didn't hit the rocks... only RiverClan cats swim well enough to have a chance at survival."
He took a turn to one side to continue down WindClan's natural border, taking them from Wind Hill to the Rockfield. "There's patrols for the borders and for hunting within our territory, but landmarks are a large part of it. We passed Wind Hill on our way here and the Rockfield is up ahead. Once we get to the Flatlands, we'll turn back. Beyond the Flatlands is Trespass Point and Fourtrees."
The plan seemed simple to him, but he realized he was going a little fast. "You'll get it with time. Don't worry."
Brightkit listened attentively as the leader... his mentor talked. It was still such a crazy idea that he was being mentored at all, being mentored by the leader was even crazier for him.
"It's not actually alive Brightpaw..."
"Ohhh..." Brightpaw listened closely as Badgerstar spoke but only after he was done did he realize what he said, "Collapse?! It can do that?" Brightpaw took a step back, as though the ground underneath him could cave in at any second. The gorge was dangerous, he'd remember that.
Brightpaw blinked blankly as Badgerstar explained the landmarks. "Ohhhhhhhh..." it made sense they used landmarks, of course, but he couldn't help being a bit confused with the plan of where they were going to go.
"Y-yeah, I'll get it eventually!" hopefully.
