Taking Flight--a Warriors fanfiction

Chapter 6

"Come on, Twitchpaw!" Trailblaze bounded along the forest grass, pausing to wait for her. The grey she-cat glanced around, hoping there were no predators around as she darted toward him. Eeveepaw had no problem with keeping up. He was running with the wind ruffling his fur and loving every second of it. 

Twitchpaw wished she could be as brave as him on the ground. Patrolling here was just so different from the trees she was now used to. The grass under her paws was way softer than hard bark, and the scents were way different too. Up in the trees, Twitchpaw smelled squirrels and birds and fresh air. Down here meanwhile there were new smells she couldn't quite recognise. Eeveepaw's mentor was running alongside him, although Alderwing did occasionally let him run ahead as she turned back toward them.

Twitchpaw was so relieved that the first session was just exploring the territory. Hopefully it would take up the whole day and they wouldn't have time for sparring or anything later.
"So, tell me a bit about yourself," Trailblaze mewed to Twitchpaw as she caught up, amber eyes shining. "What do you like? Where did you come from? Are you excited to start training?"

Twitchpaw blinked. Which did he want her to answer first? She decided to go with a safe answer just in case. "I mean—I guess I am looking forward to it."

"That's great! I am too." Trailblaze mewed kindly. "I'm not great at hunting since I first trained as an engineer, but I'll do my best to train you." He tilted his head as if expecting her to say something. The grey she-cat could only think to nod. Mouse-dung! She thought after the moment had passed. I should have said thank you.

They caught up to Eeveepaw and Alderwing as they padded past the stream, flowing past mossy rocks and thick ferns. "This is where we soak moss for our water supply in camp," Twitchpaw's mentor mewed. Twitchpaw noticed the sponges of moss and plants smelling like the medicine-den growing around.

"And that's EchoClan territory." Alderwing added, pointing her muzzle toward where the forest melted into a rocky gorge. The stream flowed directly between the high rock cliffs of the territory, stopping where a great stone lay farther along. In the distance, Twitchpaw could see silhouettes of cats walking along the rock faces. She wondered if Foxpaw and the other engineers were among them.

Eeveepaw sniffed at the border curiously. "Can we go say hi?"

Alderwing shook her head, green eyes sparking with trepidation. "The warrior code says that we cannot hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory. Maybe don't go too close to the border, Eeveepaw." The brown apprentice frowned in disappointment but took a step back.

What if we accidentally step over the border? The thought flashed in Twitchpaw's mind. Does that count as trespassing? Will we get in trouble if we don't follow the warrior code? The last thing she wanted was to accidentally get her Clan chased out of the forest, so she decided to be very careful while going near the border. Or maybe stay away from it altogether.

"Our border patrol has already marked the border this morning," Trailblaze mewed. "Don't worry, both of you will get to go on border patrols too!"

Okay, maybe her staying-away-from-the-border plan wasn't going to work after all.

Eeveepaw smiled determinedly. "Twitchpaw and I will mark the border so well that no cat would dare step across!" He turned towards her. "Right, Twitchpaw?"

She shrugged and flicked her ear at him in agreement. If marking the border would keep enemy cats off their land, she sure hoped he was right. Although she wasn't entirely sure if the EchoClan cats really were their enemies--hadn't a few of them just been in RobinClan camp a couple sunrises ago? They hadn't seemed like a threat then, but perhaps their warrior Clanmates would be. She figured it was better to be safe than sorry.