Coalpaw strode out of the den, breathing in the sweet scent of forest and looking around, appreciating the warmth of the sun on his pelt. That was when he felt an enormous weight on his tail. Hissing in surprise, Coalpaw whipped around, only to see a familiar grey pelt. "Good morning, Coalpaw!" Mistpaw purred. Coalpaw sighed, relaxing his muscles. "Good morning, Mistpaw." He mewed. Mistpaw butted him in a friendly manner. "Come on, Coalpaw! Cheer up." Mistpaw's eyes sparkled with eagerness.

-

Thornfire blinked open his eyes to see the sunlight streaming into the warrior's den. Growling with frustration, the golden tom sprang up to his feet and strode outside the den. He caught up to Littlestar, seeing his leader resting on a rock. "Littlestar, I'm sorry I woke up late." Thornfire apologized in his usual stiff and formal manner.

-

Desertlark was already up, seated near a rather warm and sunny grey rock, tail occasionally twitching up and down in a satisfied manner. Desertlark purred to herself. "Nothing like the sun in the morning." She mewed to herself, licking her right forepaw and beginning to was her face. 

"Think nothing of it," Littlestar mewed in an amicable way, eyes twinkling. Swallowing the last of his mouse the leader stood up quickly, leaping off of the sunning rock to meet up with his deputy. "I've been thinking about the dawn patrol," he meowed slowly, coming to a stop next to the larger tom. "Though I know it's your job to think of the cats who should go on it, I was thinking of tagging along on this one. Of course, if you already have some cats lined up, I'm willing to take another patrol."

--

Blinking his eyes irritably Frostfang padded into the clearing, dropping his large offering of a quail and a mouse onto the fresh-kill pile. Tail twitching with anticipation he wondered if he would have to go on the dawn patrol this morning, though despite his quiet excitement he was already worn out from his early hunting. Trotting up to Desertlark he meowed a quick hello, stretching out on the rock close by to her and closing his eyes. Might as well try to get some shut-eye, he thought blearily.

--

Trotting out of the apprentices' den with Harepaw padding behind her slowly, Sweetpaw glanced at the other two apprentices, her blue eyes bright. "I can't wait for today!" she meowed excitedly, sliding to a stop next to her friends. "I wonder what Falconwing's gonna teach me. Maybe hunting~"

--

Swatting Sweetpaw for her infallible joy at learning, Harepaw sat down next to her with a large huff, his eyes drooping with fatigue. "I just want to sleep," he muttered anxiously, his brown tail twitching with annoyance. "This mousebrain kept me up last night with all her flinching."

--

Padding carefully from the medicine cats den where he'd been staring off into nothing since a little before sun-rise, Starpaw yawned widely in the sudden light. Sitting in the warm light the tiny tom began to lick his rough fur, shaking his head every now and then to dislodge turfs of fur that got caught on his barbed tongue. Pricking his overly large large ears as talking began to drift from den to den the apprentice looked towards the youngest voices; the apprentices. Watching them, body fluid and graceful, he felt a sharp stab of envy. He really wished he could join them on patrols, hunt along with his mentor, or even perhaps make friends outside of the realm of medicine cat duties. Casting the thoughts from his head with a soft sign the small cat began to sort through the herb stores in the dampness of the den. "Need more burdock and perhaps some water mint if I can find it. Might as well stock up now rather then find out we have none when we really need it." He muttered to himself, stretching out one abnormally long back leg after another.  

---

Placing one large paw over his ear facing the mouth of the den, Silentpaw opened one bleary eye and scowled furiously. He hatred morning, a lot. But he might as well get up before his mentor called for him. Arching his back in a stretch the young tom cat looked outside of the den once before walking out to make sure no one was waiting to pounce on the next unsuspecting cat. It had happened before with his brother. Sitting down in the first patch of sun light he could find, Silentpaw began to groom his short fur, washing away and reminders of sleep. Taking a quick glance around for his mentor his amber eyes clashed with a pari that matched his ow perfectly. Lips curling back in a vicious hiss Silentpaw jerked his body away from his father and stalked off, tail waving proudly in the air. 

---

Watching as both of her sons, or adoptive sons, going through their morning routines Falconwing shook her head in humor at the sheer differences between the two brothers. The she-cat knew she should be either looking for a patrol to join or her apprentice to train but the morning warmth felt to good on her relaxed muscles to move. But if she did not get a move on Sweetpaw would surly come looking for her with a complaint. Getting to her tiny paws the young warrior trotted towards the leaders den, having not seen Thornfire that morning and suspecting Littlestar would be giving out patrol orders instead. Calling out a quick, formal greeting she poked her fragile looking head into the cool den and dipped her head in greeting. She was not expecting the deputy to be there as well. "Oh, i'm sorry!" She meowed hastily. "I hope I was not interrupting something. I was just going to ask if perhaps me and Sweetpaw could go on a morning patrol along the Brookclan border? She's not gone there as much as the others." Face burning from embarr*censored*ment, the young warrior wondered if she should leave or wait o be dismissed. 

---

Having been up for quite a while,  his past mistakes haunting his dreams, Fallenbane watched as the clan woke, his cold amber eyes scanning from one cat to the other in silence. Having already washed and more then ready to leave the confines of the camp the older warrior felt a tug at his heart as Starpaw stepped from his den, his mangled looking body grotesque. And it was his fault. Looking away, he was not surprised to meet the hostile eyes of his other son, Silentpaw, who almost instantly bolted from him. They were his mistakes in physical form. Huffing, the orange warrior padded slowly over to the apprentices den and searched for his apprentice. Once finding her he grunted in slight annoyance. "If you have not eaten yet then do so and meet me at the camps entrance. We will be learning the basic's of fighting today." Without another word to Mistpaw he slunk into the shadows of the camp's edge, tail almost dragging the ground. 

Mistpaw purred in amusement and batted at Harepaw. "Is someone still not quite awake yet?" She asked him. "Then you can go back in the den. Coalpaw doesn't seem very energetic today either."

"Hey!" Coalpaw mewed indignantly. "My eyes may seem a little droopy today, but we just woke up! You can't expect all of us to be energetic little furballs, Mistpaw." Coalpaw's eyes sparkled.

They both shut up when the apprentices saw Fallenbane. "Uh, alright then, Fallenbane!" Mistpaw chirped. "Well, see you guys. Maybe our mentors will decide to have an entire training session with all of us in it." Mistpaw's ears twitched as she trotted towards the fresh-kill pile to pick out a mouse.

-

Desertlark inched away from Frostfang to give him a bit more room. "And a good morning to you too, Frostfang." She mewed, tail swinging from side to side. "Were you up hunting last night?"

-

Thornfire shook his head. "Littlestar, we can't risk having the leader out on patrol. The other Clans, especially BrookClan." His eyes shone with slight concern for Littlestar. Thornfire's ears pricked when he heard Falconwing. "Falconwing! Just in time." The golden deputy mewed. "Why don't you lead a patrol? You could take your apprentice, Sweetpaw, with you too. And choose two other cats to go along." Thornfire felt a slight twinge of satisfaction in him. At least Littlestar wouldn't be patrolling, just yet. 

"And let the deputy rake my ears off for missing training?" Harepaw pointed out in a plaintive tone, glaring at Mistpaw for even daring to suggest such a thing. "I can't believe that Littlestar gave me, the laziest apprentice, the deputy for my mentor!"

"Maybe that's because he wants you to stop being lazy?" Sweetpaw meowed with a grin, nudging her friend's shoulder. "Stop being so anxious. I'll go with you to meet him. Besides, Falconwing's already talking to Thornfire about the patrols." Purring as she pushed Harepaw towards the sunning rock she glanced back for a moment and meowed a quick good-bye to Mistpaw and Coalpaw.

Approaching her mentor Sweetpaw bounded ahead, leaving poor Harepaw to the mercy of his mentor. Padding up to Falconwing, Sweetpaw dipped her head at the leader and deputy before battering at her mentor's tail. "What're we doing today?" she asked loudly.

--

"Couldn't sleep," he meowed shortly, though he gave up on the though of trying to go to sleep again. Desertlark would probably want to keep on talking. Sitting up with a groan Frostfang began cleaning his white fur, every flash of his tongue revealing the long white fangs that he had been named for.

--

"Alight then Thornfire," Littlestar meowed, sighing heavily. "I won't go this time. This time." Giving the deputy a roguish grin Littlestar leaped off the rock and stretched out, yawning loudly. "I know you asked Falconwing to choose, but it might be a good idea to ask Leopardwind and Coalpaw to go with you, Falconwing. Leopardwind's only a new warrior and you have more experience with patrolling and apprentices alike."

--

"Over here Silentpaw," Graypatch meowed kindly, padding over to her apprentice with two mice in her jaws. "I thought you might want some breakfast before we go train. I was thinking of teaching you some battle skill, and that'll take some energy."

[Fail >C]

--

Leopardwind perked her ears up as she neared the apprentices' den, noticing that Graypatch had already gone to see her own apprentice. "Looks like you and Silentpaw are the only ones left," she meowed brightly, padding closer to Coalpaw. 

Dipping her head to Thornfire as he gave her her duties, she beamed at being trusted to lead a patrol. She was glad to see that, though she was a newer warrior, she was at least somewhat trusted for certain tasks. "Of course!" She chirped happily. Something was sudden weighting down her fluffy tail and the scent of her apprentice made her grin. "Someone's energetic this morning." She purred, batting Sweetpaw's ears gently. "I'm leading a patrol along Brookclan borders this morning. It will be good for you to learn the make-out of the territory." Littlestar's voice cut the rest of her words off and she dipped her small head towards the leader. "Of course! Come on Sweetpaw, lets go get Leopardwind and your den mate." Padding from the den she almost instantly spotted Leopardwind's spotted pelt. "Littlestar wants you and Coalpaw to join our patrol along Brookclan." She meowed, somewhat embarr*censored*ed. Leopardwind was a older more experienced warrior after all.

---

Watching as his apprentice scuttled to the fresh-kill pile Fallenbane mentally went through a list of beginners moves that he would be trying out during their training session. Why, out of all cats, had Littlestar given him a apprentice? Would Thunderbird or Fawngaze not have been a better choice?

---

Nearly jumping out of his fur as his mentor suddenly began to talk right beside him, Silentpaw scowled at himself for allowing himself to be snuck up on. Shaking out his short, dense fur, the apprentice nodded slowly, excitement starting to bubble up. "Battle training? Of course Greypatch." He meowed, padding around his mentor excitedly. 

Mistpaw looked up from her mouse, picked clean. She slowly made her way to Fallenbane. "Is there a problem, Fallenbane?" She asked the much older tom hesitantly. 

[Eneh. Fail D< ]

-

Thornfire watched his leader leap off the rock. "Well, he certainly is energetic for a leader." The tom mewed grudgingly. At least he made Falconwing relatively happy. It was rather unusual for him to pick out a young warrior, but the she-cat had just been there at the right time. "Well, time to get Harepaw." The deputy heaved himself up to his paws and made his way down the rock and to the apprentice's den. "Harepaw?" The golden tom mewed. "Ah, there you are, Harepaw." He saw his apprentice near the mouth of the apprentice's den. "Come on, then. I think it's time we hunted. Haven't gone out for a bit, have you?"

-

Coalpaw managed a faint grin at his mentor. "Yup. Last ones left." He echoed her words. The young tom sprang when he overheard Falconwing telling his mentor about patrolling. "A patrol?" He mewed. "That sounds fun. I haven't been on a patrol for ages." He grinned. 

-

"Well then, perhaps you should sleep." Desertlark said, finishing up her daily wash and looking straight ahead at the AshClan camp.

[Fail #2 :3 ] 

[Agh, sorry. D: Errm...lemme see if I can post later. xD]

[And lol, Stray said the opposite of what I said in my post. :3 It doesn't really matter though.] 

"At least I can get some exercise," Leopardwind meowed with a small smile. "And you too, come to think of it," she added, prodding Coalpaw's belly. Rumbling with amusement the she-cat flicked her tail and padded over to Falconwing, her ears twitching as the camp became louder now that the cats were waking up. "Brookclan, eh? Hmm...they've been getting bold recently." The spotted warrior pulled a face of disgust as she thought of the lying, thieving cats. "Expanding their territory most likely." 

--

Littlestar paused as he landed on the soft ground and recalled that Thunderbird had asked him a question. Flushing delicately at his indiscretion the tom looked over his shoulder a answered the she-cat quickly. "It seems mostly taken care of for today," he meowed with carefully chosen words. "I think you'd do better taking out a hunting patrol too. We'll want to stock up on food before Leaf-fall sets in."

--

"Not really," Harepaw admitted, scuffling his paws in the dirt. "A-and I didn't get much sleep last ni-" The apprentice's words were cut off by a huge yawn, and it was apparent that Harepaw's attempts to stifle the noise weren't working. "Sorry Thornfire," he meowed sheepishly, ducking his head with embarras.sment.

--

"I can just see Littlestar ordering me to go hunting or something," Frostfang meowed grumpily, his tail twitching with agitation at the thought. "I'll take my chances and stay awake. I don't want to be caught slacking off on the job or whatever."

--

"It makes me happy to see enthusiastic apprentices," Graypatch mewed cheerfully. "I'm glad that you're at least energetic today." Turning around she beckoned with her tail, and began padding away slowly. "Hurry up if you want me to teach you a new dual battle skill," she teased loudly. 

"Hey!" Coalpaw mewed in indignation. "I'm rather fit, if I do say so myself." He grinned. Coalpaw's ears flattened when his mentor talked badly of the BrookClan cats. Coalpaw didn't enjoy battles, and also didn't like it when other warriors talked bad of the other warriors. 

-

Thornfire sighed. "And why did you not sleep, Harepaw?" He asked his apprentice in a calm voice. "You did know that we would be training the next day, right?" Thornfire's tail twitched, knowing that he shouldn't express his anger towards his apprentice.

-

Desertlark rolled her eyes, wondering if the tom would stop talking. "No worries." She said, resting her tail tip on Frostfang's shoulder in a reas-suring manner. "If I see any cat, especially Thornfire or Littlestar approaching, I'll tell you, alright? Now go sleep. Littlestar wouldn't like tired warriors on patrol."

Fur prickling on the back of his neck in anticipation, Silentpaw bounded after his mentor. "Coming!" He yowled and swiftly caught up to his mentor, tail twitching in anticipation. "Are we training with other apprentices and mentors or alone?" He asked, eyes suddenly catching a flash of ginger. Eyes suddenly slitting in anger, he jerked his head back towards Greypatch and away from Fallenbane who was watching his own apprentice. "Please tell me we're training alone." He muttered.

---

Looking down at Mistpaw, Fallenbane sighed softly and looked up towards the sky as if for patience or peace. Really he was not sure himself which of the two he needed more of. "Nothing is wrong Mistpaw. Greypatch and Silentpaw are going to the training grounds as well. Maybe we can work with them." Getting to his large paws the tom padded up to Greypatch, nodding in greeting. "I could not help but over hear your working on dual training. Would it be alright if me and Mistpaw join you?" He asked. 

---

Falconwing chuckled at Coalpaw's indignant meow about his fitness, green eyes kind. "Your perfectly fit Coalpaw, don't let your cheeky mentor tell you otherwise." She purred, grinning at Leopardwind. The other she-warrior seemed like a easy-going, friendly cat; one she hoped she could become friends with. But speaking of Brookclan reminded her that they should be heading out on the patrol. "Yes, i'm hoping they will learn to keep to their own borders pretty soon before we have to intervene. A battle before Leaf-bare could not end well." Flattening her own ears the calico warrior started towards the camp entrance then towards the hostile clans border. "What do you scent Sweetpaw?" She asked her apprentice, using her own senses.