Flamepaw's Quest

Chapter 7

Flamepaw awoke one morning, finding all the other cats had risen and had now gone off with their mentors. Frightened by this, she ran outside, finding Dusktail waiting impatiently by the fresh kill pile.

"I was just about to come and wake you up. The morning patrol left forever ago," he complained.

"Sorry," Flamepaw gasped, out of breath from rushing towards him. Her stomach grumbled, though she supposed training was more important than breakfast.

She'd been an apprentice for seven sunrises, and for seven sunrises, she'd been struggling to adapt to the new lifestyle. Her body had not adjusted to waking up early since she was used to sleeping into late morning as a kit. With no friends to wake her, she often slept through the early morning until Dusktail found her and woke her.

As for training, it had mostly just been common sense about boundaries, predators, and gathering moss for the elders. She knew it was wrong to be impatient and seek to practice battle moves and hunting moves, but she was becoming bored with Dusktail's style of training.

"Can't I at least nibble a mouse?" Flamepaw asked as her stomach roared.

"There's no time. We're already late on our schedule."

"Why didn't you just wake me?" Flamepaw asked.

"It's not my job to wake you, but yourself. Find someone to do it for you if you must."

Flamepaw glanced down, feeling like she'd failed so far as an apprentice. Her mother often visited her and asked how she was. Brownpelt often spoke to her, claiming they'd be going on patrols together soon. She doubted Dusktail would let her this early in training.

Flamepaw knew Dusktail was only trying to be the best mentor, and she did believe he was a good teacher, but she just found him so boring. She wondered if Goldstar had really made the best choice in assigning him as her mentor.

"What's the plan for today?" Flamepaw asked, trying to spark a bit of conversation.

"We're going to learn some beginning hunting moves," he explained.

Flamepaw grinned, beginning to bounce.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing," she responded, coming to a halt. Though she began to walk normally, she could not keep the large smile off her face. She was finally going to learn something exciting!
"But first...moss," Dusktail informed her.

"What?" Flamepaw asked. "But I usually collect that last."

"Yes, but No-Claw has mentioned his moss is a bit damp or flat sometimes. He didn't want me to talk to you, of course, but as your mentor, I want you to be the best apprentice you can be."

"By collecting the best moss?" Flamepaw asked. "How does that have anything to do with being a warrior?"

"You learn to follow instructions and perfect what you've been taught. You'll need that for when you learn actual battle and hunting moves."

"When will I need moss though?" Flamepaw asked.

"When your nest gets old, you'll learn to collect more and make it nice. That's why we fetch moss for the elders. They don't have the strength to stray into the woods too often to fix their nests. Plus, if you plan to have a mate and kits someday, you'll want them to sleep soundly, won't you?"

Flamepaw tilted her head. Mate? Kits? She supposed she'd never thought too much about it before. She had not been drawn to any tom here, and she supposed she wouldn't for awhile.

"Fine," she growled, following Dusktail towards the river beds. It was a beautiful day, and she gasped to see a duck sitting by the pond.

She glanced at Dusktail to see if he was looking. She then stepped forward, focused on catching the duck. Perhaps she did not even need Dusktail to teach her hunting moves. If she caught this duck, he could teach her battle moves instead.