[rockheart]

Rockheart woke to the rising sun, cramped from the long night in a small nest. He got up and stretched, his back arcing as he let out a long yawn. It sure feels strange to be in the midst of so many cats again. He had left StoneClan a long time ago, travelling on a quest of self-discovery. He had recently returned, and probably wasn't completely trusted by the clan yet. At least they had agreed to let him return, which was a start.

[Fate Admin]

Honeypaw sat at the center of camp, pushing a small ball of moss back and forth between her paws. Falconstar was busy again and she had to wait for more training time with him. Sighing, she batted the ball of moss away. and flopped down to her side. She had gotten up early with the hopes that maybe she'd catch him before he had made plans to do anything else, but her hopes had been dashed.

The pretty golden she-cat had grown a bit since her first days as apprentice to Falconstar, in those moons when he was still deputy. She missed those moons... he had more time for her then. She knew he made time for her when he could, and that being leader was not an easy job. She understood that he knew her training was important; it meant one more warrior for the Clan. But there was only so much time in a day....

She rolled over onto her belly and stretched her paws out above her head, claws extended and scratching at the sandy ground beneath her. She stayed stretched out like that for a moment before rolling over onto her belly again. Looking around at the shadows of camp, she stood. It was always shadowy inside the rockpile, with little bits of sunlight popping through here and there. But outside, lying on the lower rocks of the rock pile that had been warmed by the sun... that's where she wanted to be! She glanced around, wondering if maybe some cat wasn't too busy to sun with her.

[rockheart]

Rockheart watched as the young cat rolled around. He began to pad over, when he noticed her look around. She seemed to be looking for somebody. He continued toward her anyway, deciding to wait with her, if she wanted to talk. He had learned that some cats could be quite prickly in his travels, especially if they had had a bad day. The apprentice ahead of him looked like she was in a good mood, though. As he reached her, he nodded respectfully. "Hello, I think this is our first meeting. I'm called Rockheart." He hoped she would volenteer her name as well. "I noticed you seem to be waiting for somebody. Would you mind much if I asked who?"

[Fate Admin]

As another cat padded up to her, she sighed relief. She recognized him as the newcomer, for her anyway. They said he had been a StoneClan cat before but he left for some reason, and now he was back., "Hello Rockheart. I'm Honeypaw.... I'm... waiting for anyone, I guess...." She scraped a claw through the sand absentmindedly, "Being the only apprentice gets... boring... and kinda lonely." She sighed again, but then perked up a bit, "I was just waiting around to see if some cat might wanna go sun on the rock pile with me. Would you like to? They say you've been all over the mountains. I'd like to hear about the other places you've been."

[rockheart]

Rockheart's ears twitched in surprise as the apprentice seemed to open up to him. "I can understand your feelings. When I was an apprentice, I was also stuck with the boring chores most of the time. Of course, I wasn't the only apprentice then. There were five of us, playfighting and having a good time together. The only problem was my legacy. I couldn't go a moon without getting into trouble of some sort. The clan really had their hands full with me. By the end of my training, though, I had grown into a respectable cat." He shook his head, clearing away his memories of being an apprentice. "But you didn't ask to hear about that, did you? Before I start on my journey, let me tell you why I left in the first place. Although I was a respectable cat, I felt as though there was something out of place in my life. So, one night I snuck out, determined to find what it was." He paused, "Do remember that every cat learns differently. Some are perfectly happy to serve their clan above anything else, while some cats, like medicine cats, have a greater loyalty to StarClan than any other clan."

[Fate Admin]

Honeypaw listened intently. She loved stories, it was the reason she really liked taking care of the elders. If she was polite and respectful and did a good job, they told her stories about when they were apprentices and warriors, and stories their elders had told them from a long, long time ago. She nodded briefly as Rockheart paused. She remembered stories about cats leaving the Clan and finding happier lives elsewhere. Just because one cat enjoyed a certain life didn't mean every cat did.... Her pretty blue eyes never left the older cat and she sat attentively, her tail curled around her paws, ears pricked. She wasn't one to judge another, she liked hearing other cats' stories, cats who had much different stories than her own were the best. Perhaps it was because she was still so young, perhaps also because she always seemed to be alone and wished for others to include her more, but she was very open-minded.

[rockheart]

Rockheart's whiskers twitched in amusement as the apprentice listened attentively. "Whoever your mentor is, they are one lucky cat. You can learn a lot by listening, and that seems to be your strong suit." He waved his head, "Come on, let's grab a spot in the sun before I tell you about my journey."

[Fate Admin]

At the mention of her mentor, she glanced down at her paws. She was the one that was lucky to have the leader as her mentor, or thats what so many cats said anyway. She already thought Falconstar was a great mentor before he became leader.... Shaking the thoughts away, she stood, almost having forgotten her original plan to bask in the sun. She slipped out of the large hole in the rock pile that served as the camp's entrance and glanced around briefly. Hopping up a couple rocks, she laid on one that would be big enough for both her and Rockheart, one that was soaked with sunlight and sent warmth spreading the very tips of her whiskers, "This one is really good!" She stretched out on her belly and rested her head on her paws, her eyes still politely on Rockheart, waiting for him to continue his story.

[rockheart]

Rockheart stretched out beside her and continued. "Leaving StoneClan's territory was kind of sad but also exiting, as striking out into the unknown always is. I often thought fondly of the clan during my adventures. The trek up the side of the mountain was long and exausting, and I endured pounding rain several times. Once, the ground even gave way in a mudslide that almost pulled me over a nearby ledge! I didn't think I'd ever get the taste of mud from my pelt. When I had finally reached the far side, the world which from here seems so small looks quite different, a land so large a cat could never see the end of it. I made the trek to this land, and lived in the forestland beyond the mountain for some time as I traveled, and met some foxes and badgers along the way as well. Now, a patrol of cats may be able to chase off a fox, but when you're alone it's best to run, and run fast. I barely escaped from that, with the help of a friendly loner called Raven. He and I journeyed together a ways, sometimes over open ground, through forests, and even through a twolegplace. The rats there gave us a fit, though, nasty little rodents they are. Raven was on watch at the time. He heard their little claws from a distance and warned me, so we were ready when they attacked, but it didn't do too much good. There were hundreds of them, with shining eyes and twitching noses. We put up a good fight for the circumstance, but were forced to retreat, having to leap onto a twoleg fence, then onto a twoleg nest. I'd still like to go back there and teach those rodents a lesson or two! Anyway, after dawn came, the rats were gone, so we left the area, and reached a large stream, where we camped and got much-needed rest. By the next morning, we were ready to go, and we padded to an old tree I had seen when I went hunting the previous night. Using that, we cautiously crossed the river, and after another long trek we reached the end of the land, a place loners in the area called the Sun-Drown Place, because the sun sinks into a body of water larger than any river. Seeing that place revealed the thing I had been searching for - the feeling of being free, of being able to run for moons without tiring. I still feel like that whenever I think about Raven and our adventures together." He rubbed his pads against the stone beneath him entergetically. "At first, we were complete strangers, but by the end of it all we felt like brothers. It was hard to split up after that. I returned here, and who knows what he's doing now."