[Deleted]

Robinflame

Ugh it it was a horrible day outside, everything was wet and slippery and she almost felt as if her fur was heavier than normal with moisture. After a thorough cleaning and some muttered choice words, Robinflame finally looked around for someone to go on an adventure with... when she remembered her apprentice. Apparently she was supposed to train the she-cat how to do things, but Robinflame really wasn't interested. Maybe... oh! She was supposed to show her apprentice the territory right? Well they could go to the tunnels  and maybe the borders. Hide and seek in the tunnels!

Excited, the she-cat bounded over to the apprentices' den and muscled her way through to her apprentice's nest, not noticing if she stepped on some cats tail or smacked someone with her wildly waving tail.

"Minkpaw, Minkpaw! You ready for some training?" The she-cat said in a voice loud enough to echo through camp, then she lowered her head conspiratorily and spoke in what seemed to be a whisper to her but was loud enough for all the apprentice to hear. "Hey look, I don't like boring stuff so we're going to go into the tunnels and to the borders to uhh learn the territory, but I'm thinking hide and seek is more fun."

The calico she-cat smiled a fierce triumphant smile, yeah this was it, at least she  could figure out her own mentoring style. Minkpaw would hopefully enjoy not having to do apprentice responsibilities, Robinflame remembered hating those.

Notes: I'm sorry it's so short
@sparrowkeeper

[Deleted]

6 Moons. LightningClan. She-Cat.

Minkpaw had been sleeping in, a content ball of warm brown fur in the centre of the apprentices' den in a nice soft bed of mosses. She had managed to get some down to add to her nest the other day, and it was like sleeping on a cloud. She was having a dream about that weird black and white RainClan apprentice she'd met, Badgerpaw. She kept trying to tell him about this awesome purple squirrel she'd found, but he kept forgetting what purple meant. She was telling him off again as a noise shoved itself into her consciousness.

"ACK!"

She squeaked, startling awake with a jolt and staring at Robinflame, who had appeared above her among the sound of dark mutterings from other apprentices in the den who'd been awoken and/or stepped on.

"Wh-Wha?"

She stammered, still half asleep as her mentor dipped her head and stage-whispered to her.

My mentor is insane.

Flushing with embarrassment at her mentor acting like this in front of a bunch of other apprentices, Minkpaw quickly got to her paws, moss still sticking to parts of her fluffy coat as the words began to actually sink in.

Hide and seek!?

She paused. That was strange, but not actually that bad. Was she still dreaming?

"Er, yah sure."

She mewed, quickly brushing the moss out of her fur with her tongue and padding out of the apprentices' den.

"Lead on?"

It all seemed rather surreal, but if this was actually happening, then maybe her mentor wasn't such a drag after all?

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Robinflame

Robinflame nearly pranced with excitement as her apprentice FINALLY woke up and then said, if a bit deliriously that she would come. Oh this would be so great, Robinflame could finally have someone else who would have fun with her-- uh, a young cat whom she could pass on all her knowledge too. She looked around self-consciously for Firestar, wondering if this was some sort of test or.... she probably just needed to calm down. While her apprentice had been muttering in daezd half-sleep, Robinflame shuffled around, sweeping her tail across several nests and some poor apprentices.

"Okay, awesome! Let's go!"

Robinflame immediately whirled, so fast her tail swept towards her own apprentice. Thankfully it wasn't super fluffy, but if it did hit her it would have whacked her across the jaw. Before the she-cat could really tell though, Robinflame was already out the entrance to the apprentice den and was paused by the entrance to camp, to wait for her apprentice.

"The best part about the tunnels, is you never know where you'll end up!" She chittered excitedly to her apprentice once the she-cat had caught up. "The tunnels run all over Lightningclan territory, thankfully its not hard to find an exit, but it is easy to get turned around under there. I gueeeeeeeess that to a certain degree we will also be  practicing tracking and scent following. I promise I won't let you get lost though." The words were said at the pace of her stride, which was quick and clipped. Hopefully  Minkpaw could manage to keep up.



@sparrowkeeper

[Deleted]

6 Moons. LightningClan. She-Cat.

Minkpaw had only just started to gather herself, gradually ascending into full consciousness, when Robinflame's tail caught her completely off-guard from left field, slamming into her muzzle with an audible WHAP.

"Great StarClan!"

The apprentice muttered, staggering slightly and shaking her head to clear it. Robinflame was already ahead of her however, and Minkpaw followed while muttering darkly to herself. She slunk up beside her mentor, carefully making sure to skirt around the tail-end this time, and glanced up at her with a slightly un-amused expression. It seemed that nothing could dampen Robinflame however, and as the sting of the tail-swipe began to fade, Minkpaw couldn't help but feel a little more excited at the prospect of her day.

It all sounded a tad reckless, involving possibly getting lost forever underground, but that was right up Minkpaw's alley. Despite herself, the brown fluffy she-cat started to grin, and as Robinflame started to run she was right on her heels.

"I could never get lost! I have a keen sense of direction."

She laughed back at Robinflame, trying not to show how out of puff she was getting with the she-cat's pace. She was still a young apprentice, and she certainly wasn't as hardened and toughened as she needed to be in order to keep up with everyone just this yet.

"Hey! Do the tunnels go into other clan territories? Could we like, end up in RainClan or something?"

She yelled as they ran.

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Robinflame

When Minkpaw finally caught up to her at the entrance and said something about a sense of direction, Robinflame winked at her.

"Sure, thats what I thought at first. But when you're underground and can't always see what's ahead of you, sometimes its pitch black and every tunnel seems the same... well lets say sense of direction is never as reliable as it seems! But that's okay, cause I know all the tricks to getting around."

Cold wet and dreary, all Robinflame's grooming had been for naught as she bounded through the territory with her apprentice at her side. Well not her side, slightly behind and puffing from the exertion, Robinflame felt her pelt heat from embarassment and she dropped back so that Minkpaw could catch up. As she made her way through the grasses and heather, she felt the mist which had settled on the plants begin to cling to her fur, leaving it slicked close to her frame. Now she was cold too.

Muttering, Robinflame did a sort of weird shaking leap, trying to get rid of the water  clumping up her fur. Minkpaw asked about other territories, and Robinflame took moment to try and remember.

"Actually I don't know to be honest. There are a few branches of the tunnels that are marked clearly with signs not to go down them for various reasons, because there have occasionally been collapses." A sparkle lit her sun-yellow eyes. "Maybe some of those tunnels actually lead to other territories and are a secret kept by the leader and deputies in case of a major war, or as a protection against us so no one can invade through them."

As she had finished speaking, they arrived at the rather droll looking entrance to one of the said tunnels, and Robinflame struck a triumphant pose. "Ta-da! Now lets go take a minute to get ourselves dry and warm again and then we can explore!"

@sparrowkeeper

[Deleted]

6 Moons. LightningClan. She-Cat.

Minkpaw raised her brows at Robinflame's comment on sense of direction, the idea of just how far reaching and deep these tunnels might be was finally starting to sink into the apprentice's thoughts. The moisture started to cling to her fur, but Minkpaw was fortunate in that the chilling cold wasn't getting through her thick pelt. She skittered to the side awkwardly as her mentor jumped, watching with mixed puzzlement and amusement

She sure is energetic

She mused, pausing as she listened to the rest of what Robinflame had to say, a spark of adventure in her eyes.

This is so cool! What if we find a tunnel that leads right into another territory?

"Yah sure!"

She mewed as she bundled into the darkness after Robinflame, shaking off the extra moisture from her fur as she did so. As they sat there, she had a moment to gather herself and to gaze into the tunnel ahead of her. After a short distance, the tunnel descended into shadow with an eerie silence. Outside the sounds of the outside world were alive and well, but Minkpaw could sense that below her there was either no life, or some kind of otherworldly underground animal that she would never have seen before. The idea of playing hide and seek down there filled her with a mixture of excitement and fear.

She glanced at Robinflame again, tail flicking with the tension she was feeling as she bounced up onto her paws again.

"So who's hiding and who's seeking?"

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Robinflame

The eerie echoing of the tunnels, particularly this close to the entrance had always made her jumpy. Even further in where there was dead silence did not make her as nervous as the  bouncing noises which seemed to come from all around here where the wind seemed to whisper in her ear and rustling seemed to come from right behind her. Robinflame could tell her apprentice was also uncomfortable, and Robinflame was glad that she wasn't the only one who found the tunnels unnerving. However, Robinflame had never let a thing like fear or nervousness get her down, and besides the dark tunnels were always an adventure. All apprentices had to face their fears right?

"I'll be hiding, and you'll be seeking. It would probably be good for you to get some practice with using your scent and hearing tracking skills. Dont worry, if you dont find me after a while I'll come find you, and then we can pop up and see where in the territory we are, sound good?" Robinflame was squirming a little bit with excitement, her eyes bright.

"Okay awesome! Now I want you to count to twenty, and I will have a head start to start hiding, I promise I wont go too far," she winked, " Now a few things for you to know, since this is your first time in the tunnels, dont go racing down them, take your time to let your whiskers feel the air and get a sense of the space around you, use your sense to your advantage. Also you can know if a tunnel has an exit if you feel air flowing from it, or even if you scent fresh air. The air can get a bit stale down here. And if at any time you feel uncomfortable, go ahead and find an exit and just wait outside, I'll find you."

With that Robinflame giggled and trotted away into the darkness allowing herself a moment to adjust before breaking into a slow loping gait. she used moons of practice to feel changes of pressure and air to turn, backtracking across her trail a few times before settling in a fork in the deep darkness, whiskers twitching as she waited to see if her apprentice could find her.



@sparrowkeeper

[Deleted]

6 Moons. LightningClan. She-Cat.

She's hiding...right...

Minkpaw wasn't really sure if she would rather have sought or hidden, but she was getting an increasingly bad feeling about going down there, let alone by herself. She bit back the feeling as best she could, the main outward sign being her twitching tail as she nodded to Robinflame.

"Yup. Sounds fine."

She managed, gulping hard and gathering her nerve as best she could. She was afraid, but there was no way she was about to let Robinflame see it. It was too late now anyway, as her mentor's tail was disappearing swiftly into the darkness, her pawsteps echoing softly before vanishing along with the she-cat herself.

Minkpaw took in a deep breath to try and steady herself, glancing out into the forest around her for a moment, savouring the wind on her face and the scents of the trees. She tried to focus on it, to enjoy it just in case she got stuck below ground. She took another breath, pausing before realising that she'd drifted off.

Foxdung! How long has it been?

She shook her head to dispel her thoughts, quickly muttering under her breath,

"Nineteen, twenty!"

Twisting swiftly around as her bushy tail scattered earth behind her, the she-cat leaped down into the darkness more out of an instinct to get it over with than the cool-headedness to know that she should have gone slower. Before she knew it there was darkness all around her, and only freezing for a moment saved her from thoughtlessly careening further into the tunnels. She stood still, trying to remember what Robinflame had told her.

Whiskers... let my whiskers feel the air...

She shut her eyes to concentrate, feeling the brush of the tunnel wall to her side. She let her nostrils flare, taking in the stale scent of the tunnels. There was a splash of life in the scent too, Robinflame's scent was still fresh, but Minkpaw wasn't really sure how best to follow it. She'd never tracked a scent before, and she stayed still since she was unsure.

A breath of fresh air brushed at her fur, and she opened her eyes to glance back the way she had come. Robinflame was right, you could sense where the surface was if she stayed still and tried to feel for it. She took another breath, turned away from the entrance, and tried to see if she could follow a scent.

She took tentative steps forward, raising her head to see if she could still smell Robinflame. The smell seemed to lead her down towards her left, so she padded that way slowly, hackles raising a little as she listened to the muffled silence of her surroundings. She kept going, following her nose until she reached a place where it seemed like the scent was all around her. She cast around, fur prickling as she drew in the stale smells all around her. She wasn't sure where the nearest exit was anymore, and her heart started pounding fast in her chest. She bit down hard on her tongue, then opened her mouth to try and get a better scent. It seemed like the scent had just ended there, and she found that the freshest trail was back the way she had come. She backtracked on herself, following the freshest scent she could find.

It happened more than once, and Minkpaw found herself padding down the same trails, but after a while the freshest scent seemed to win through. Tentatively, she padded forwards as the scent grew stronger and fresher, hope leaping up in her heart that she might be getting closer. She picked up her pace, breaking into a trot as the scent grew even stronger, and ending up barrelling straight into Robinflame with a squeak of surprise and shock

"ACK!"

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Robinflame

It was really hard for Robinflame to sit still, and as the time drew on she began to fidget almost constantly. At one point she almost gave up on her apprentice, standing up and stretching her crmaped muscles and almost yelling out into the tunnels what was taking her so long. But she finally did manage to calm herself down enough to  sit, and then eventually to stretch out in the tunnel, plopping her head down between her paws. 

She did begin to hear noises coming from further down the tunnels, and in her excitement scrambled to a crouch again, slowing her breathing. Wide yellow eyes looked on into the darkness and Robinflame's patched tail flicked back and forth as she waited. Minkpaw finally approached, and RObinflame stifled a giggle, wondering if she might be lucky enough to throw her off one last time. No chance, instead the apprentice tumbled over her in the darkness and Robinflame stood up with a strangled yelp as Minkpaw stepped on her tail.

"Well, looks like you found me." She said in a pained voice between licks on her ruffled tail. But after a second the pain and disgruntlement was gone and she beamed back at the apprentice. "Good job! Im happy you didnt get lost. I was wondering if I might need to go find you... but then I started hearing some noises and guessed you were fine." She poked her apprentices shoulder with her nose affectionately. "So, what do you think? Creepy isnt it? I used to pretend when I was an apprentice that some crazy old cat had died down here and his ghostly phantom still haunts the tunnels, his crypt." Robinflame smirked. "Well now its your turn to hide. You ready? Or need a rest?"

@sparrowkeeper

[Deleted]

6 Moons. LightningClan. She-Cat.

Minkpaw skittered to the side, feeling Robinflame's tail beneath her paws and trying to jump to the side but ending up thumping into the tunnel wall and scattering earth over her fur. As she found her feet, the brown apprentice shook herself vigorously, throwing more dirt around.

She heard the tail-step in Robinflame's voice, and winced sympathetically despite knowing that her mentor couldn't see her face,

"Sorry I stepped on you,"

She mewed quietly, ears splayed awkwardly as she dipped her head in embarrassment, her heart warmed to the praise though. She was rather proud of herself for not panicking, and the added comments on her having been able to find Robinflame added to her confidence. She raised her head and grinned as her mentor touched her nose to her shoulder.

"An old ghost cat? Well I guess anyone would go mad if they couldn't leave these tunnels. Awful lonely. If we spot him we should chat to him or something."

She licked her shoulder a few times, brushing away some of the other dirt that had stayed in her fur. The idea of a ghast down here still frightened her a little, but she reasoned that if she faked it until she made it, she'd feel less afraid,

"No worries, I don't need a rest! Start counting!"

She mewed, brushing politely past her mentor and padding away from her into the tunnels. She could smell her own scent as she went, figuring that she must be going back on her old trails since Robinflame had been camped out in a dead-end. She followed some of her own trails before pausing in the darkness.

She needed an edge to try and help her evade Robinflame. The warrior was certainly better than her at tracking and knew the tunnels well, so she needed to hide herself better. She sniffed at the stale earth below her, and an idea flashed into her mind. With a soft thump, the apprentice began to roll around on the ground, covering herself in dirt and earth-scent. Once she thought she was thoroughly covered the she-cat darted on further, deviating from her old trails and deeper into the more stale-smelling tunnels. She went on for a few heartbeats, turning left each time, then settled down in the darkness with her tail curled tightly around her, ears keenly listening out for her mentor.

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[Deleted]

Robinflame

Her apprentice looked quite abashed at having stepped on her tail, and Robinflame felt bad, but she kept on going anyway. Minkpaw did not react in a way which signaled she was afraid by the thought of a ghostly cat, and that almost made Robinflame want to pout. She would find another way to mess with her apprentice.

The young she-cat was reading to go, still energetic despite the time it had taken her to find Robinflame. It felt good to find more cats who seemed to be able to mirror her own energy, and Robinflame was proud of her apprentice for keeping up. When Minkpaw signaled that she should start counting, she began in her head.

One, two, three, four.... And then promptly lost track as she considered what she should do with her apprentice next. After this they should go up  and out of the nearest tunnel entrance and see what they found, then head back to camp. Robinflame realized that plenty of time had passed, and so scrambled to her paws and began to follow the trail.

Moons of ease and experience allowed her to follow the paths without any worry for running into walls and so she followed her apprentice's scent trail with care. Part of the way through the tunnels, she sensed something was off. The scent was too stale. Where had all the fresh scent gone? Annoyed, she backtracked until she found the freshest scent and noticed another underlying scent replacing it. Damp recently stirred earth. Impressed the she-cat felt the ground beneath her paws and could tell it had been torn up a bit, Minkpaw was adapting, good, but now Robinflame had her trail.

Using the new scent of earth as her guide, although it was hard t distinguish between old earth and new earth, she slowly made her way through the tunnels, following a patterned system of only turning left, until she came upon the concentrated scent of her apprentice.

"There you are! Good job, you almost threw me off completely. Just a hint though, try not to follow too obvious patterns, or if you do, do something to throw it off intentionally. That way if other cats are pursuing you, they will just follow your pattern." She huffed slightly. "Alright, now that we've practiced that, you ready to see where the tunnels have taken us?"



@sparrowkeeper

[Deleted]

6 Moons. LightningClan. She-Cat.

As Minkpaw lay down in the darkness, she perked her ears up to listen for her mentor. She must have headed deeper than she anticipated, because she couldn't hear so much as a peep around her. The distant whistling of the wind from outside was gone, and in its place was an almost oppressive silence. Robinflame's mention of some old ghost popped up in her mind again.

What if he wasn't lonely or friendly? What if there was a ghost down here that didn't want her here? She started to think she could hear weird noises, and curled around herself tighter, tail covering her face as she tried to take deep breaths in through her nose again to steady herself.

Scuffle

She froze, holding her breath in the pitch black around her as she listened hard,

SCUFFLE

THE GHOST TOM IS HERE OH MY STARCLAN I'M GONNA DIE OH SWEET STARS AND MOON

The apprentice tensed, hearing the scuffling sounds coming ever closer. Closer and closer... Until...

Robinflame's scent washed over her, and with a sigh of relief Minkpaw let herself relax again.

"Y-Yah"

She nodded at the advice, then grinned happily at the suggestion of finding an exit.

"Yes please. I hope we're below another clan's territory. That'd be awesome, we could be spies!"

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Robinflame

Fear scent hit her as she stood with her apprentice. What had Minkpaw been scared about? Well whatever it was, the apprentice had recovered quickly, good for her. Robinflame  was a bit skeptical, cocking her head slightly to the side at her apprentice's words. She still highly doubted they would find a tunnel that led to another territory, mostly because Robinflame had explored most of the tunnels, except for the forbidden ones... but she wasn't about to do that with Minkpaw. That apprentice was too young for that. But maybe Robinflame could explore with Harestrike? A little excited smile crossed her muzzle as she considered it, but that would have to wait.

"Okay then Minkpaw, let's head..." She paused, taking in a deep breath and trying to orient herself to the freshest flow of air in the pitch black. "This way." Robinflame set a slower pace this time, slowly making her way through the twisting tunnels, allowing Minkpaw to follow her and still get used to the feeling of enclosed space and darkness. Minkpaw had shown resilience so far, but most cats suffered discomfort in the tunnels if they remained too long. It wasn't long before they reached an exit, and Robinflame paused halfway up the branch, where the light began to shine through. "Take a moment to let your eyes adjust to the light." Once that had been done, they emerged from the tunnel on the edge  of a small slope. The ground dipped lower here, and the earth was damp and even a bit sticky beneath Robinflame's paws. The tall grass gave wave to low shrubs, ferns and other bits of undergrowth, and Robinflame's mouth watered as she caught a faint scent of vole.

Robinflame turned to her apprentice, smiling. "Well it's not another territory, but it certainly isnt where we started! Do you know where we are?"



@sparrowkeeper

[Deleted]

6 Moons. LightningClan. She-Cat.

As Robinflame began to pad out of the tunnels, Minkpaw kept close behind her, tail trailing gently along the walls of the underground caverns to help orientate herself. She kept her nerve as best she could, taking comfort in the presence of the warrior in front of her whenever she started to feel frightened again, and following the scents and sound of her mentor closely until she began to distinctly smell the fresh air of the outside world.

She started to see a halo around Robinflame's form, face perking up happily as she thought of getting outside again, of tasting the fresh air on her tongue again and getting free from the claustrophobic surroundings. She was about to rush past her mentor when the she-cat turned to speak to her. Minkpaw dipped her head sheepishly, pausing to let her eyes adjust before they continued, but she kept her gaze trained on the light ahead.

Once they were moving again, Minkpaw rushed out into the fresh air, taking a massive breath and puffing up her chest as she looked around her eagerly. After so much time in the stale air of the tunnels, the soft wind in her fur and the taste of the air was a sweet release. She grinned at Robinflame as her mentor popped up next to her, and glanced around at her question.

"Erm... Erm... Well it's grassy, so is it near the flooded grasses?"

She hazarded a guess, tasting the air and listening keenly to the sounds of the world around her. She caught a prey scent and tried to see if she could spot it or hear it, recognising the smell as similar to that of the vole she had caught when Harestrike had taught her.

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