[Fate Admin]

Blacksmoke sat amongst the shadows of the Rock Pile that made up StoneClan’s camp. Their REAL camp. The smoky she-cat had not expected to feel quite as relieved as she had when StoneClan came home. The circumstances of their leaving the Valley had certainly not been pleasant, but living in the mountains had not been all that bad and she enjoyed the new experiences she had found there. Ultimately, she believed, all of StoneClan was stronger for the experience. They had gained plenty of new skills while they were away and Blacksmoke, for one, was not about to leave those skills behind them in the mountains.

Dawn was breaking, illuminating the clear leaf-bare sky a pale gray-blue as color began to return to the world. Dancing upon the snow were minute particles of light, reflecting off the brilliant white, unbroken surface. There had been a light snowfall in the night, turning everything fresh and pure, covering tracks and breaks that her Clan had previously made. This light layer of snow was flakey, powder, and not packed like the snow beneath it; churned, stomped, and molded by the paws of Clanmates. Blacksmoke surveyed the white landscape, her short fur fluffed out against the cold. Ospreypaw should be meeting her any moment now. Her apprentice, having already become rather accomplished in the mountains, would now have to learn a whole new way of life back in their rightful home.

She mulled over this fact, wondering if all of the older apprentices, the ones who had been apprenticed in the mountains, would have longer apprenticeships because of this setback, having to learn how to live in a territory they should already know like the back of their paw. She was determined that Ospreypaw’s warriorhood would NOT be delayed by this. If he could learn all he needed to become a proper warrior in StoneClan territory during leaf-bare, he should not have any issue at all handling warriorhood in the easier seasons. He had already roughed it in the mountains, learning to surivive, no, to thrive, in StoneClan’s natural territory should be easy in comparison. She was confident in her apprentice’s abilities. She would see him become a warrior on time yet.

She had been neglecting Ospreypaw’s training for the past several days, since returning from the mountains, due to recovering from an injury she had sustained during the return battle. She had not been as lucky this time as she had during the battle to chase them out. But Ivypaw had given her the go ahead to resume light training last night when she’d gone to see the young medicine cat and asked her directly. She did not want Ospreypaw falling behind because of her. A tour of the territory and a little hunting shouldn’t be too strenuous as to fall any higher than ‘light training’. In all honesty, she hadn’t much interacted with her apprentice at all since before the battle. She felt vaguely guilty for not checking up on him, but she had seen him going about duties around camp and he had not seemed the worse for wear, so it passed quickly. He wasn’t a kit that needed to be looked after and coddled, after all. She would remedy all today.

Phoenix

[Phoenix]

Ospreypaw

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Compared to the relative darkness of the apprentice’s den, the sunlight on the snow was blindingly bright, and with pale yellow eyes blinking as they adjusted to the light level, the young black and white tom paused momentarily upon the threshold of the den. The air was crisp and cold, and he shoved aside that traitorous part of him that wanted to return to his warm nest and perhaps try to gain a few more moments of sleep. But that section of his consciousness was paled in comparison to his enthusiasm that Blacksmoke had asked him to meet with her – even if it had been at dawn. Finally, they would be training again! His mentor had been wounded in a battle he had escaped from with only a few scrapes and cuts, all of them shallow and minor, and due to his relative inactivity, he had been placed on ‘elder duty’ for the duration of her recovery. To say he was less than thrilled would have been an understatement.

But it seemed as though all of that would be coming to a close – he could think of no other reason she would want to meet with him – and with an eager spring in his step, he trotted lightly over to the ebon she-cat, tail flicking lightly down by his paws and his thoughts unusually bright. His slumber had been as restless as it always was, but he still thought that day had the potential to be a very good day. He could even overlook the fact that he had no idea where he could even find StoneClan’s traditional training grounds, so long as they were practicing something and ultimately being productive instead of wasting time; the prospect of training overshadowed everything - all of the frustration and loss and anger - that had flooded his mind ever since their return. He could continue battle training in any place, and, he thought, a variety of different locations could potentially prove to be helpful in the long run. No one could truly predict where a battle would be fought, and he needed to be able to exact his revenge in a woodland or swamp as well as he could in his own territory.

And so, his pale eyes alight with an energy recently missing from their yellow depths, Ospreypaw stepped up to his mentor, body thrumming with a subtle, focused intensity. He would make up for lost time in their training session today, driven by the knowledge that, in the end, the extra effort could make all the difference. The next time he met the red-eyed demon and the gray-eyed machine in battle would be the last time, and he would leave the battlefield with victory pumping through his veins. Until then, he would train and perfect his abilities. In greeting, he inclined his head respectfully toward the she-cat. ”Hi Blacksmoke,” He spoke lightly, a small smile ghosting across his lips. ”Glad to see you’re better. What are we doing today?”

As focused on the battle aspect of training as he was, the young tom, in his eagerness, had not even considered the possibility that her lesson would consist of a different activity altogether.

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