[Fawn]

B I T T E R N W I N G
Warrior of RainClan. 15 Moons. She-Cat.

If there's love in this life, there's no obstacle

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The snow was finally starting to melt. Thank StarClan.

Glowpaw, like most of the other apprentices, had been confined to the camp as the windchill dropped below manageable temperatures. What with the Clan being so tense lately (if tense was truly a strong enough word), several arguments had broken out, and actual fights had threatened to boil over into serious violence. Speaking of fights...

Bitternwing still felt a small stab of guilt, every time she saw her apprentice's split ear. She's too young to have such a wound, her heart had cried at the sight. And to have that wound inflicted by a Clanmate—it's unheard of. If Bitternwing possessed a sterner, more forceful disposition than her far kinder one, she would have scolded Coldpaw and Pikepaw to StarClan and back.

At least Glowpaw's injury had healed sufficiently, and it hadn't dampened her spirits any. Collecting the sweet ginger and white she-kitten, Bitternwing led her apprentice from the stifling confines of RainClan's camp, guiding the way to the wooded cove. The ground had begun to lose some of its stiffness with the first few hints of snowmelt, and it lightened Bitternwing's heart a little to know that they were, at long last, beginning to recover from leafbare. Well, maybe not recover, but at least put their suffering at an end.

The days ahead would be difficult, make no mistake.

"Keep up, please." Bitternwing mewed softly, turning in the squelchy, muddy cove to smile at her apprentice. "We're going to be getting reacquainted with the territory today, Glowpaw. And, if we're lucky, we'll see a few prey tracks." It wasn't often that RainClan cats hunted land prey, but with the rivers and streams still frozen, it wasn't as if she could begin educating the inquisitive young feline on the differences between trout and cod, or minnows and other kinds of fish.

Animal tracks, on the other paw, were quite distinctive—and easy to recognize once you knew what to look for. The pretty brown and white feline, her legs already speckled with mud and dirty slush, awaited Glowpaw's eager nod or any questions she might have.

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That can't be defeated.

Word Count: 387 Words
Tags: @ghostlight
Notes: Territory Exploration Thread