Ready...Set..Go!

[--|Sootie|--]

Corruption on every corner

The Moonshine Creek was silent at sun-high. It always was. Except when a group of wariors were out there chasing water voles with their apprenitces and older kits. A large brown tabby tom cat was at the head of the group with two small apprenitces behind him followed by numerous other warriors and apprenitces who'd also come to train. Twinkletoes had brought his son and apprenitce Ebonypaw, and his daughter Ivorypaw wit him for some hunting practice. After the recent ceremonies there was quite an influx of bouncy apprentices who all wanted to learn and play too much. The patrol had headed out to Moonshiine Creek; Twinkletoes had seen a large shelf of ice which had recently broken away from the frozen waterfall into the small sunlit pool, and behind it there were hundreds of fat juicy water voles. The new apprenitces were about to catch voles.

Or at least that's what I'm told

'Okay you first Ebonypaw. What do you smell?' The dark pelted warrior smiled encouragingly at his son. Ebonypaw was the double of his father, but with his mother's eyes. Of Twinkletoe's two kits, Eonypw was larger and well muscled and had a dark brown tabby pelt streaked with black. He had bright piercing blue eyes but no the keenest of noses.

Somebody say a prayer for me

'Umm...I can smell the water. It smells clean and kinda like fresh air a bit when you stand on top of the Heather Cliffs.' He looked up at Twinketoes his eyes wide, pleading. Ebonypaw knew that he wasn't doing very well and was probably embarassing his father, but he just couldn't tell what noses were supposed to do. 'I think I can smell prey too. Up there,' he siad nodding his head towards the steep banks either side of the cascading waterfall. In truth, he was saying that because he'd overheard Twinkletoes talkiing to Sootstar about the new colonie of prey which had been found after the ice break. With his tail low and eyes own, Ebonypaw began to wonder how he would describe the prey's scent to Twinkletoes and the others, but thankfully his irritating know-it-all sister saved him.

To ressurect my soul

'I can smell all sorts of things. The water in the pool smells rather bitter, because it's still, until it gets to the stream 'round the back. And when a breeze blows, I can smell the forrest behind of us; which is like soil and dampness and the smulchy leaves. But the prey...I've never melt prey like that before. It has a scent a bit like mouse, but not. It's like something that's come in out o the rain. What is it Twinkletoes?' Ivorypaw was everything Ebonypaw wasn't. She was small and quick, clever and confident. She had creamy white fur which was thick but short. There were faint pale brown stripes on her pelt, and her features were tinted with pale grey. Neither her mother nor father had white fur, so it was puzzling to Twinkletoes where her coulouration had come from. Ivorypaw had eyes which mirrored Twinkltoes's. They were deep muddy brown, a very rare colour for cats and whose pigmentation had been in Twinkltoes's family for generations. She brushed her tail against her brother's shoulder; something which meant to her that she had saved him, and to him meant that she was showing off. Again.

In this city of brotherly love

_{Music by P!nk, Gone ot California}

[x-Ginger-x]

Patchpaw's short legs caused her a problem as she tried to catch up with them. As she reached them, she cannoned into Ivorypaw and laughed. "Sorry!" She grinned, before standing up and shaking off her pelt. "What'd I miss?" She meowed, looking up at Twinkletoes. Her small size was due to the fact that she was recently apprenticed. Her former mentor, Redpelt, had retired, and now she had to wait for Sootstar to appoint her a new one. But she didn't mind. With Redpelt, she had never been able to spend time with the other apprentices, because he was very independant. She grinned at her denmates.

She was excited at the prospect of training with other apprentices. It was the first time she could. "Sorry I was late, Twinkletoes." She bowed her head to the warrior. "I overslept, because I was up late last night talking to my father." She grinned apologetically.

[--|Sootie|--]

After all these years and miles of memories

Twinkletoes turned around upon hearing a crashing sound charging through the forest. Just as his neck twisted to give him a good view of any invading Ice Clanners, or rabid foxes; a small black and white ball burst into the clearning at the side of the creek, and straight inot his daughter. The large mottled brown tom stepped forward to help Ivorypaw and then realised what it was that had joined them. It was Patchpaw. The small bouncy apprenitce was recently aprenitced to Redpelt, but the elderly warrior retired shortly after and Sootstar wasa struggling to find any suitable wariors to take her on. Instead, Patchpaw was sharing everyone else's mentors, and probably learning more for it. In a way, the is the luckiest of them all; but it's still harld fair that she doesn't have a single warrior who she knows well enough in a mentoring way.He stepped up to her and helped her to stand up his face creasing slightly trying to stop the laughter which had formed inside of him. 'Hey Patchpaw. You finally got here.' He was only teasing, although he had been waititng for her to catch up. 'Let us know when your legs are big enough to keep up. I bet that one day you're just gonna grow right up liike a tree, then you'll be bigger than everyone.' As he turned around Twinkletoes flicked Patchpaw on the nose with his tail. She couldn't help it that her legs were short and slowed her down.

And I'm still chasing dreams

She's really good at pouncing instead. 'You didn't mis anythig Patchpaw. We were just sniffing out the new prey. It seems she cats hve the better noses today, so why don't you come here and see what the Ice Break has uncovered?' He tried to say it encouragingly rather than intimidatingly. It seemed that he'd somewhat lost his touch as being one of the best for teaching new apprenitices. Maybe it was since Sadowmoon and he had had kits. It some how made him feel old and that his apprenitce days were long ago. His creamy white and silver tabby pelted daughter was brilliant. She was a quick learner, remembered everything and spent time developing her own strategies. Ebonypaw however, Twinkltoes's son was the double of his moter; in every way imaginable. Soft black pelt, bright green eyes, fast as lightning, and yet struggled to remmember things which he'd already been taught. He wasn't stupi; e had great, if sometimes abstract ideas; but he was slow o recall knowledge. Ebonypaw was unsure, and hesitated with everything. Maybe Ivorypaw being so different, contrasting upset him. It was the father's job to put his kits in order. They both have strengths and weaknesses.

But I ain't looking over my shoulder

'Ebonypaw, could you run over to the front of the waterfall; up the side of the enbankment, to see how many exit holes the prey has. If you can help us to catch them all, Snow Clan will have an amazing feast tongight. Ivorypaw, you can climb up the highest tree and check the Ice Clan borders please. Patchpaw, you nee to learn the scent of this new prey, and how to trap prey. Did you ever learn tha with Redpelt?' He watched both of his kit's nod their heads in unison and bound away to their allocated spots. Now he had to show Patchpaw the best ways to do things.

_{Music by Bon Jovi, Just Older}

[x-Ginger-x]

Patchpaw laughed as she shook the snow out of her pelt. She looked up and grinned at Twinkletoes. "I sure hope I will." She meowed, with a tone of amusement attached to it. "The Ice Break..." She meowed, and walked over. She sniffed the ground and caught an earthy smell, and sneezed. "I think I found the scent of squirrel! At least, that's what the squirrels smell like back home."

Patchpaw looked up at Twinkletoes suddenly. "Thanks for taking me out today. I really appreciate it." She smiled at him. "I'm gonna learn so much from the best warrior!" She grinned. Then her smile faltered. "No. Redpelt could only teach me how to do basic defensive moves before he retired." She told him. But then she shrugged. That was the past, and this was now. She could learn much from Twinkletoes if she wanted.

[--|Sootie|--]

We were ready for adventures and we wanted them all

Twinkletoes smiled at Patchpaw's eagreness. It seemed so long ago that he was as full of energy as this apprenitce before him was. Maybe it was time he let go of things. Shadowmoon's dead by greencough when their kits were two moons old was a harsh blow. It had made him get so old so quick. 'Actually Patchpaw, that squirrel scent is quite old. You can tell because it smel more faint than other things around it. Like the grass. Which smells stronger, the squirrel of the grass?' Neiter Ebonypaw nor Ivorypaw had picked up on the fainter smell of squirrel. It seemed that Patchpaw coul see the trees without looking at the forrest. A rare skill, but amazingly useful. []b'It's great that you can smell what has been here a few days ago, but what is the most obvious thing? There is a new type of prey, can you tell where that is by its scent?'[/b] He waited for her to come up wit the correct answer, at looked for his kits while she did.

There was so much left to dream, and so much time to make it real

Ivorypaw had managed to clim up the tree first time. It wasn't just a tree; it was the tallest oak in all of Snow Clan territory. She looked over to her brother as he sniffed the ground around where the lump of ice had broken away. He'd put piles of twigs in two places already. He knew how to trap the prey well. Their small group woul cover each of the possible exits hole, and catch as many water voles as possible. Below her, close the the bank of the river were her father and the small black and white apprentice. Patchpaw was a really livley young apprenitce. Maybe her being alone with Twinkltoes might cheer him up. Ivorypaw harldy rememberd her mother Shadowmoon, but she could tell that in the last five moons since her death, that Twinkletoes had pine for her every day. She wished the was something Ebonypaw or she could do.
Doing as she was told, Ivorypaw looked across the border, scanning the rocky landscape of Ice Clan territory for any patrols about. She couldn't see any; but better warriors had had their eyes lie to them before. She squinted in the cold sunlight trying to pot every small movement the other side of the rive. There was none.

But I can still recall the sting of all the tears when _she was gone

Twinkltoes glanced up to the horizon while Patchpaw worked on identifying the scents around her. maybe Shadowmon was up there watching her family now. Would she be proud? Ivorypaw was the perfect daughter in every way. She was kind, smart and lived by the warrior code. Ebonypaw was different, but still a great and valuable member of the clan. He was a great fighter, and would die to defend any single member of Snow Clan. And him. Well he'd raised her kits almost single handedly hadn't he? Did that qualify him?

_{Music by Meatloaf, Obects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are}

[x-Ginger-x]

It's not the end, it's a new beginning

Patchpaw nodded as she listened intently to Twinkletoes' words. "The grass smells fresher," She told him. She looked up at him, waiting to see if she was right. Before she had answered him, she heard his other request. ”Umm.... It smells like...” She sniffed the air, ” Vole?” She answered. She had never covered this with Redpelt, so she was anxious to find out if she was right. She thought it was vole, because it smelled like the voles on the fresh-kill pile. But the fresh-kill pile made her wrong on the squirrel scent, so she couldn’t trust it anymore.
Patchpaw looked up at Twinkletoes, and she saw him look up at the sky. He must be thinking about Shadowmoon. She realized. ”I’m sure Shadowmoon is watching you right now, with your kits, feeling really proud of you.” She assured the tom. Patchpaw surprised herself with her unusual calmness, and grinned to herself. Sometimes, she was odd like that, but that’s just because she couldn’t be hyper all the time.
Going back to what she was doing, she sniffed the scent again, to make sure it was vole. She didn’t want to be wrong a second time. As she was sniffing, a vole stuck its head out of a hole. Patchpaw was unaware as she followed the scent a short way to the hole with the vole. The vole let out a shrill, quiet noise and ducked back into its hole. Patchpaw yelped and fell backwards. ”Yeah, I’m pretty sure its vole!” She called to Twinkletoes, laughing. A vole had just surprised her! She made her way back to Twinkletoes, the light of laughter sparkling in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Ebonypaw followed the path to the waterfall. ”Don’t worry Dad! I’ll find them!” He called back. He reached the spot, and sniffed around. Soon enough, he had found a couple of holes made close together. He tried to look inside one of them, but for some reason the sun kept disappearing when he would look. He tried to watch the light that would disappear when he looked, but he couldn’t tell. Then he realized that he was blocking out the light!! He smirked and decided it would be better not to leave his scent around the hole too much.
The young tom turned around and looked for more holes. By the time he was done, he had found ten holes. He raced back down the path and stopped at the tallest tree. ”Hey Ivorypaw!! I know you’re up there! Come on down! Unless you found intruders!!” He called up to her. He continued down the path, and reached Patchpaw and Twinkletoes. He slid to a stop, casting rocks down after him. He smiled and sat, waiting for Ivorypaw.

[--|Sootie|--]

Yeah I'll always wanna be there

The marbled brown tabby turned around and noticed that Patchpaw had followed the scent to one of the vole's holes. 'Well done, it is a vole smell, although I guess you can see that now.' He couldn't help but laught himself; Patchpaw seemed to hardly ever stop laughing. Mooncrystal had once told him that laughing was infectious. All three of the apprentices had done their job; so Twinkletoes decided to call them back. 'Come on ivorypaw, Ebonypaw. Stop agruing and get back here now. It's time to hunt!' He began to lead the way around to the side of the waterfall, following the scent of water voe and listening to his stomach growl. Why is it that he always told his apprentices to eat before leaving to hunt; but never followed his own advice himself? He picked up speed and jogged to cver a couple of the holes Ebonypaw had found. []b'Right, everybody take a couple of the vole's burrow exits holes, and try to kill as manny as you can before they escape. Patchpaw you know how to hunt mice don't you? Voles are the same principle. Let's see who can catch the most[/b]'

Those were the best days of my life

Ivorypaw's creamy silky fur was tingling as she hopped daintily down from the oak tree. She could feel the exhileration of the hunt already. Competition. Ivorypaw loved that word. When she reached the bottom and landed in a deep drift of fallen snow; she began to race after Twinkltoes and Patchpaw. She was quite worn out by the time she'd caught up with Ebonypaw to run along side of him. 'You're...getting...really...fast...y'know?' Before long, they'd all reached the hole in the side of the waterfall. 'Be careful, because it's really slippery. Dig your claws into the ice Patchpaw.' Ivorypaw was covering three holes looking for any sign of the voles emerging. Look our voleys here we come!

_{Music by Bryan Adams, Summer of '69}

[x-Ginger-x]

Patchpaw leaped up after the other apprentices. Once she reached the spot, she listened to Twinkletoes. Nodding her head to him, she silently told him yes, she had learned how to hunt mice. "Thanks, Ivorypaw! Maybe this time, I'll startle the vole!" She grinned over at Twinkletoes, then stood, with her claws dug into the ice, waiting.

She didn't have to wait long. The hole on her left, which, luckily, was the one she was watching, had a snout sticking out. Suddenly, a head followed it. Patchpaw retracted her claws and crouched down, keeping herself as still as possible, hoping she could blend into the ice. The vole didn't notice her and snuck out some more, sniffing the air. Only at that moment did it notice Patchpaw. It turned around to run back, but Patchpaw was too quick for it. She landed on top of the vole and killed it swiftly. She picked up the large, warm body and dropped it at Twinkletoes' paws. "I caught one!" She sounded surprised. "If you want, you can eat it. I could hear your stomach rumbling from over there!" She offered, grinning. Then she raced back over to her holes quietly, to watch again.

Ebonypaw turned his head and noticed his sister had caught up. "We weren't arguing Dad, I promise!" He smirked. "Hey Ivorypaw! I am? You're pretty fast yourself." He told her. He reached over and licked her ear without breaking stride. When he reached the spot. He nodded to the orders, then watched some holes. "Lookie Ivorypaw, you're gonna be a great mentor someday." He told his sister. "Or you'll just be bossy." He added, quieter, so Twinkletoes didn't hear. He smirked at her, in his funny, laidback, sort of way, then proceeded to turn his attention back to the holes.

A couple of moments later, he heard noises beside him. He chanced a glance, and saw Patchpaw catch the first vole. "'Grats, Patchy!" He called to her, and saw the smile she shot back at him. Hey, I've got a group to hang out with now! Me, Patchy and Ivory! He thought. That thought brought a smile to his face.

His breathing quieted when he heard scuffling in front of him. The young tom crouched down, retracting his claws, and fell into the age-old position. He watched, his breath held, as he watched the young water vole emerge. It came slowly, and he had to get some air, and held his breath again as the vole heard the noise inhale. But it seemed to pass it off as wind. He watched as the vole poked at some reeds.

It was his chance. He leaped forward, before the vole had a chance, and held it between his claws as he bent down. He killed the vole and pranced forward, dropping his vole down on a pile he was starting beside Twinkletoes. "Yes! I caught one!" He meowed happily, before returning to his holes to wait.