[Hellion]

Death doesn't discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints,
it takes and it takes and it takes

Sunnyheart brushed past Tallstrike on their way out of the camp. The taller warrior nodded in greeting to the bulkier, golden tabby that was Sunnyheart's tired form. The young warrior had been told by Redscar to head toward the TreeClan border to remark the border and with his new apprenitce it would serve as a good training. Flicking his tail to signal to follow after him, Sunnyheart didn't wait long before picking up his pace.

His fear of the snow was warm in his chest as he spotted a few frosty patches on the ground. The snow would be falling soon, Sunnyheart dreaded those deads. Scenting the air he frowned when the only scent of food was long faded. Leafbare had just begun and already it was difficult to hunt. The dread from his chest grew bigger, starvation was number two on his list of fears. Whispering a prayer to whoever listened, Sunnyheart begged for food.

"We have to be careful when we mark the border, our lines need to be strong," Tallstrike spoke which stole Sunnyheart's attetion, something he was grateful for. The stress of his adoptive parents and the loss of his sister's best friend was enough to make it easy for Sunnyheart to dwell on the sad. So anything to distract him was wonderful.

"I agree," He meowed before coming to a halt and looking toward Bumblepaw. "Can you tell me why we mark the borders three times a day at least?" Sunnyheart asked his apprentice, standing in front of him. Doing his best to remain neutral but friendly. Bumblepaw was young and mistakes were bound to happen so Sunnyheart tried not to worry if he got it wrong.

Sunnyheart

background image | @calico, tallstrike is an npc | table by phoenix

[Deleted]

'Can you tell me why we mark the borders 3 times a day, at least?'

Bumblepaw thought for a few moments. He didn't know much about the golden form that was his mentor - only that he had been adopted into LightningClan. He had nothing against the tom - far from it, he wanted only to impress him. 

He flicked his head from Sunnyheart to Tallstrike, looking for a surreptitious hint. Tallstrike immediately figured out what he was doing and shook his head, not obviously so that Sunnyheart could see, but just enough to tell Bumblepaw that he'd be getting no help from him.

It was time to answer, lest he appear to Sunnyheart like he was a mouse-brain (which he really didn't want to do, he wanted his mentor to be proud of him and like him.)

"We check them at least 3 times a day... because we cannot trust the other clans not to try and intrude, or make their territory bigger, or take prey that doesn't belong to them?" 

Bumblepaw ran through all the reasons he could possibly think of, his tone neutral albeit hopeful, looking up at his mentor to see if he had anything right. 

198 / Hellion / hopefully sunny/bumble can be friends for a long time

[Hellion]

Death doesn't discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints,
it takes and it takes and it takes

Sunnyheart waited for Bumblepaw to speak, his tail still flicking back and forth. Tallstrike had turned his attention toward the air and scented something tasty but judging by the wind it was likely too far to be bothered to find.

After a moment Sunnyheart thought about answering for him but stopped himself because Bumblepaw opened his mouth to speak.

A smile eased its way over Sunnyheart's tired features. "Correct, we have to make sure our borders are well marked to avoid know when others are trespassing," Sunnyheart's tone was equally as neutral was hinting at praise as a subtle undertone.

"We are almost to the TreeClan border when we are there I'd like for you to find one of their markers and tell me what can you notice about their scents," Sunnyheart instructed before nodding his head toward the direction of the border. He took the lead with Bumblepaw near his side, Tallstrike lingering in the back.

Sunnyheart

background image | @calico| table by phoenix

[Deleted]

Bumblepaw!

9 Moons, Tom, Apprentice of LightningClan

Bumblepaw obediently nodded. The closer they got to the border, the more confused the scents became. It was no longer just the reassuring heather-tinged scent of LightningClan that Bumblepaw noticed. There was an underlying scent that was creeping up his nose and making his ears wrinkle in consternation. It smelt odd. It smelt earthy and so different to what he was used to. There was a sense on this border that it was regularly trodden and marked and re-marked by many different cats. Bumblepaw was fascinated by it all.

"It smells... it smells like trees. Fragrant. Earthy. It smells... odd.".

He was embarrassed at his lack of descriptive-ness, but he didn't know how to describe the scent that was assaulting his nose. It wasn't bad, per-se, it was just odd. Tallstrike suppressed a smile. At least the young cat was enthusiastic. 

152 Hellion Notes Muse

[Hellion]

Death doesn't discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints,
it takes and it takes and it takes

Sunnyheart was ever paient for Bumblepaw to take the time and study the smell. Unlike his natural born clanmates, Sunnyheart had to learn all the scents. He didn't have the luxary of simply knowing which scent was for home. In fact Sunnyheart considered the distant and fading scent of the hollow they were found in to be his first home. Not that it mattered anymore. He had grown to consider the warmth of the warrior's den and the camp as a whole to be home.

As his apprentice made a decent effort to describe what he was scenting, Sunnyheart let a smile show on his face. A form of praise.

"Very good," He added flicking his tail toward the scent marker and taking his own whiff. "It's important to remember that TreeClan is known for having a lot of undergrowth in their territory. Their scents are often heavy with it. Our scent is closer to fresh air, crisp and sharp. It doesn't linger because we have a lot of space for it to spread about," He explained pointing in the general direction of StoneClan.

"A StoneClan scent will smell like dust. Their territory is equally as open as ours but they have a harder terrain to navigate. They always seem to have some sort of rock dust on their pelts," Sunnyheart added as his attention shifted away from the StoneClan border and back toward Bumblepaw and TreeClan.

"What do you know about TreeClan" He asked, not really sure what to expect in his apprentice's answer.

Sunnyheart

background image | @calico | table by phoenix