Apprentice Den

A nice, cozy den where the apprentices sleep after a hard day of training. They may be practicing fighting moves or the hunting crouch, just outside of the den.

Dustypaw padded outside of the apprentice den, stretching and shaking his pelt. He had just woken up, and sleep still clouded his eyes, but he was in a good mood and was looking forward to training with Larksong. It was a nice day, for leaf-bare.... The sun was out, and the light felt good, even if there wasn't much of it. Dustypaw turned his head, looking for other cats. He was feeling talkative, a mood that he wasn't in often.

Splatteredpaw padded around the clearing, looking for someone to converse with. She looked down at her slow-moving paws, making sure to put one after another carefully. this is taking too long, she thought, breaking into a skip. She stumbled almost immediately, but caught back on. A smile grew upon her mouth, coming upon the apprentice den. "Oh!" she looked at Dustypaw, her light amber eyes bright. "Hello!" she chirped, whiskers twitching.

"O-Oh! Hi!" replied Dustypaw, smiling. "It's Dustypaw!" He dipped his head at her, swishing his tail in a friendly manner. "How're you d-doing?"

Splatteredpaw dipped her head as he did, returning the smile. "I'm doing great! How about you?" she flicked an ear, blinking at him.

"I'm well, t-thanks!" he replied. "I haven't started much t-training yet, though. I'm looking forward to l-learning how to fight, and e-e-epescially hunt!"

She giggled at the way he was stuttering. "I'm just starting training, and I know it's going to be lots of fun!" Splatteredpaw grinned at him.

DartPaw padded into the Apprentice Den, looking tired. He glanced at the two other apprentices and plopped on a nest, yawning and stretching out his paws.

"I'm s-sure it will be," he agreed, nodding at Splatteredpaw happily. "But to be c-completely honest, I'm not so sure ab-bout battle training. N-Not much of a fighter," he admitted, shivering at the thought of war among the Clans. He watched as Dartpaw entered the den, nodding to the fellow apprentice with a small smile. "Hi, Dartpaw."

OOC: Sorry for such a late reply.

OOC: That's fine.

Dartpaw glanced up at her and dipped his head. "Hello." He buried his face once again into the warm moss.

"Have you just gotten back from tr-training?" he asked Dartpaw, bring a paw up to his face and licking it absentmindedly. "I haven't learned m-much so far. I wish." He sighed softly, flattening an ear.

"Yeah." he replied muffled. "Training is such a hassle. I wish it could be so much easier. After training my paws always hurt. I hate it!" He curls his paws around the edge of the pillow-like ball of moss and shuffles his tail. "Do you like your training to far?"

Dustypaw looked at Dartpaw curiously, surprised to see the apprentice talk so negatively about training. Most apprentices whom he had talked to had loved training, and praised their mentors abundantly. "I-It's all right," he said, too shy to admit that he really hadn't been training much at all.

Dartpaw takes his face from the moss, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. "Lemme see your paw." He places his paw next to Dustypaw's and looks down at the two almost equally size paws curiously. That's so weird..." He mumbles to himself.

"Wh-What?" asked Dustypaw nervously, drawing his paw back and tucking his tail around it. "Is there something wr-wrong with my paw? Should I see the medicine c-c-cat?" His eyes widened frightfully.

He shakes his head slightly, still concentrated on his paw. "No... not your paw, at least. It's just... I thought your paw would be bigger... how many moons old are you?" He glances at the apprentice.

"Eight," replied Dustypaw, ears flat against his head as he reviewed the last few words in his head. What if there really was something wrong with his paw? What if it's really bad, but Dartpaw won't tell me because he doesn't want to be rude? Or what if he isn't telling me because he hates me and wants me to get hurt? Oh, no! Dartpaw isn't my friend at all! His eyes widened, but Dustypaw forced himself to remain still, determined not to show any weakness to his maybe-friend. "But I've been t-told that I'm small. F-For my age, that is."

Dartpaw nods. "Oh! It all makes sense now... that is truly odd." He had a interested yet curious expression on his face and a small smile on his muzzle. "You are older than me yet I have slightly bigger paws! Strange indeed." Dartpaw raised an eyebrow then nodded in agreement to himself. "You've been an apprentice for a quite awhile. I mean, 2 moons isn't short."

"H-how old are you?" asked Dustypaw, suspicions still fresh in his mind. "Y-yeah but...I m-m-might start over soon. I....I th-think I w-w-want to become a m-medicine cat apprent-t-tice." He stared down at his paws, feeling himself blushing underneath his fur. A medicine cat wasn't a very manly position.