"Wasppaw! Rainpaw! Kestrelpaw! Wasppaw! Rainpaw! Kestrelpaw!"
The chorus rang out through the clan; a sea of cheering cats. Cheering for them.
It made Kestrelpaw feel proud. Important. She was already hitting off on a good note.
It took several minutes before the clan parted and started back on their clanly duties. The only cats left were their mentors. Amberheart and Crowpelt looked excited, but Cindertooth looked as though he felt like an apprentice was a waste of time.
"Today you will just be getting a tour of the territory. You will see the borders and learn to recognize the scent of other clans," said Amberheart with a teacher tone.
Crowpelt nodded his dark gray, almost black head. "Yes. Tomorrow you'll start your apprentice duties, so don't get too excited."
Kestrelpaw wasn't sure what apprentice duties were, but she hoped they were fun. The tone Crowpelt said it with made it sound as though it wasn't worth looking forward to.
The three mentors looked at each other. "Well, I'll take Kestrelpaw to the GladeClan border," said Amberheart. "If you guys want to take your apprentices to—"
"Me and Kestrelpaw stay together," Wasppaw interrupted sternly. "Or else... I'll claw you!"
Cindertooth smirked as though he found the idea ridiculous. Wasppaw shot him a withering glare.
"Alright!" said Amberheart. "Let's not start any fights. Let's just all go together."
Kestrelpaw was flooded with joy. She couldn't wait to see the territory.
All six of them set off, first trekking toward the GladeClan border east of camp. Kestrelpaw was amazed with all the sights. Prey was scurrying through the trees and earth, rustling the branches. There were so many trees, yet the sky was still open to the clouds. She never really imagined what the territory outside the camp was like. She hadn't really thought there was much more land other than the camp. Now she realized their land was much more wide and vast than she could've ever imagined. Everything felt alive. Looking at it all gave her a burst of excitement.
She flicked Wasppaw in the face with her tail. "Race you to that oak!"
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Wasppaw was off, strongly bounding over there with his muscular limbs. Kestrelpaw had a moments hesitation after Wasppaw, giving her a disadvantage right off the bat. She kicked out her legs and tried to go as fast as she could, but she had never gone at a pace faster than a walk and she found herself tired quickly. Nevertheless, she kept going even though it was clear who was going to win.
A white cat appeared in the corner of her eye. She was surprised to see Rainpaw racing too, and actually doing much better than Kestrelpaw.
Wasppaw was the first to reach the oak. Rainpaw made it just mere seconds before Kestrelpaw. Kestrelpaw was out of breath, her legs feeling numb. Wasppaw looked completely unfazed, and Rainpaw didn't look nearly as tired as her. She had never expected Rainpaw to beat her at anything. The apprentice looked so weak. He was giving her a smug look in which Kestrelpaw returned with a malicious glare.
Wasppaw was prancing on the tips of his webbed toes, smiling wide and showing his teeth. "Aw, yeah! You guys didn't stand a chance. Looks like I already have super-speed skills."
Kestrelpaw playfully cuffed him on the ear. "Stop showing off!"
"Well I can't help it if I'm just naturally amazing," he smugly said back. He striked a pose, standing with his chin up, chest out, one paw raised, and his hind paws back, showing off his muscles.
"Yeah, yeah!" said Kestrelpaw with a smile. He might have been just a little arrogant and a show off, but in a way that made her like him even more.
When their mentors finally caught up they started trekking towards the border again. The trees started dissipating, opening the sky up more. The scent of fresh grass hung in the air, mixed with the scent of cats. They were nearing the GladeClan border.
From what she had heard, GladeClan was the friendliest clan, always welcoming and only fighting as a last resort. Their territory didn't have many trees and was mostly just fields of grass. Kestrelpaw couldn't imagine living without the shelter of trees.
Their mentors stopped them at the border. A small stream trickled through the land, forming the perfect border. The stream was small so that a new apprentice could just leap across, yet it was wide enough that you couldn't just step right over. The stream was surprisingly fast, splashing droplets of water over its borders. Kestrelpaw felt one land on her nose.
"We could just wade right through it as though it's not even there!" For some reason, Wasppaw sounded very excited about that.
"No," said Amberheart. "It's actually a lot deeper than it looks. A cat your size would drown trying to wade through."
Wasppaw snorted as though he didn't believe it, but didn't argue.
Next they started heading north, towards the BrookClan border. They followed along the edge of the stream. Crowpelt said the stream was very long, traveling all the way into BrookClan territory. At some point a GladeClan patrol passed by on the other side. They actually seemed like they wanted to talk and they were thrilled to hear that CloudClan had new apprentices.
"GladeClan cats," muttered Cindertooth after they left.
Kestrelpaw was surprised at how long their border was with GladeClan. It seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, the stream started to curve away and they started heading deeper into the trees. The GladeClan border finally ended and a new smell filled the air. It smelled just like Thistleleap, an awful odor. GladeClan smelled bad, but BrookClan smelled a lot worse. The stream turned and headed straight into the territory and their mentors had to stop them from accidentally crossing the border.
"See that tree?" asked Amberheart, gesturing to a fallen tree with her tail.
"Yes," said Kestrelpaw.
"That's the border. Don't ever pass the tree."
"We call it the Fallen Oak," added Crowpelt.
After exploring that, they headed west, towards the MarshClan border. MarshClan lived in the deeper, darker part of the forest. Morningleaf had told Kestrelpaw that since they spend most of their time in darkness their hearts darkened too, making them the grumpiest and unfriendliest clan. They showed no mercy to anyone who crossed their border, not even to harmless kittypets.
By the time they got close enough to smell it the sun was setting and the temperature was dropping. They decided to head back to camp after seeing the border.
The forest got denser and more cramped from trees. The air smelled fowl, even worse than GladeClan and BrookClan combined. Kestrelpaw found herself gagging.
"Doesn't it smell lovely?" joked Crowpelt.
"Just as lovely as you smell," replied Wasppaw. Crowpelt looked at him as though he couldn't figure out if he was joking or not. Finally, he turned his head forward again.
Amberheart stopped them and pointed to the border with her tail. It was a small cliff, but wide enough that Kestrelpaw wasn't sure if she could leap across. There was a fallen boulder that stretched across and worked as a bridge if they ever needed to cross the border.
They started heading back to camp. Amberheart said they'd explore the south side of the territory tomorrow.
"Can we start training instead?" asked Wasppaw.
"Usually you start by learning your territory," said Amberheart.
Wasppaw narrowed his eyes. "But I want to start training tomorrow!" he complained, sounding a little like a tired kit.
"Sorry, but you need to see the whole territory before you can start training," said Amberheart, sounding impatient.
"Then can we see the rest of the territory now?"
"It's too late," said Crowpelt, jumping in. "The sun is already starting to set. It'd be dark by the time we get back to camp if we stay out here any longer."
"I don't care. I want to start training tomorrow," said Wasppaw, thrashing his tail.
"Well, maybe if we have time we can start tomorrow," said Amberheart, padding away quickly before Wasp-paw could argue further. He snorted. "I would be a much better mentor."
Kestrelpaw and Rainpaw each picked up a mouse and Wasppaw picked up a thrush from the fresh-kill pile once they got back to camp. They ate together quietly. They didn't say a word, making it awkward.
Night had fallen, and Kestrelpaw ached with tiredness. She couldn't wait to go to the hollow and tell her mom about her day. Then curl up in her soft fur.
She started heading in the direction of the dirtplace.
"Where are you going?" asked Wasppaw, coming up beside her.
"To the hollow," said Kestrelpaw, feeling an upset pang in her stomach as she said it. Part of her wanted to go back to the hollow, but another part of her didn't. Part of her wanted to stay with Wasp-paw.
"But you can sleep in the apprentices' den now, right?"
"I'm not sure," said Kestrelpaw, sliding a glance over at the dirtplace tunnel. "But I'll do it anyway."
Neither of them said a word as they picked two empty nests right next to eachother and curled up, tail folding over their paws.
Kestrelpaw felt happy, happy to be an apprentice and happy to be together with Wasppaw, but at the same time she felt lonely. She missed her mother's soft fur, and she missed how her mother would lick her cheek before bed. She wished she had talked to her more earlier today.
Feeling tired, weary, and sad, she drifted off to sleep and fell into a deep dream.
A/N::
I hate this chapter. It was long and boring and had a bad ending. It was just... ugh. I spent like an hour editing it and couldn't get it how I wanted. After this it will (hopefully) pick up speed. I just had to describe what the territory was like.
Oh, and I included a map I drew of the territory. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, so it's just okay.
//Edited