[KARAZHAL]

The first leaf-bare dawn broke without any fanfare. The sunshine broke through the trees, leaving shimmery sunbeams on the mossy ground. Only the brisk wind was a sign of the new season. Glacierpaw smelled how the air changed, how sharp it became. It was the coldest it'd ever been in his apprenticeship. He was glad for his fur, but it was sleek and parted easily whenever the wind blew hard. Even so, he groomed himself to the best of his ability and prepared himself for his meeting with Lionstar.

The venerable Leader of TreeClan noticed that he was midway through his training as Pumafang's apprentice, and so it was time for an assessment to see his progress so far. Under the paw of the ironclad deputy, Glacierpaw had blossomed in the last three moons; he devoured knowledge and threw himself into every task with utmost obedience. He was extremely excited to show Lionstar what he'd learned so far. Pride was such a strange thing to feel, but now that he was allowed to feel it and to know there were cats interested in his growth personally, not just as a mere offshoot, Glacierpaw wanted Lionstar to know that he could count on him in the future.

He reined his nerves in as he pranced in front of the Ancient Stump and galloped around to the big roots curling in and out of the earth. Somewhere around here was Lionstar's den. Glacierpaw inhaled deeply before calling into the den: "Lionstar, it's me, Glacierpaw."

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OOC COMMENTS

☇tagged for Fawn - baby boy is ready for a hunting assessment!

[Fawn]

Lionstar

The crown is getting heavy
But they've written my name in the stars

The golden tom was quick to appear, and quicker to smile when he saw the gangly form of Glacierpaw waiting for him just outside the Ancient Stump. "Pumafang tells me your training is coming along well. I want you to go hunting with me, Glacierpaw, so I can see how much you've learned." A one-on-one session with the Clan leader was without a doubt intimidating for most apprentices - but Lionstar put his faith in the young tom's confidence, and prior exposure to Pumafang on countless occasions.

The deputy's student would have had to grow used to Pumafang's icy demeanor and high expectations for success.

How much of you has bled into him, Pumafang? Lionstar mused as he gestured for the long-legged tom to walk beside him. Before becoming a father, the act of mentoring an apprentice had been one of the greatest sources of joy for him. There were many leaders (so he'd been told) that tended to mentor only under special circumstances. Lionstar had done things differently. His time was not so precious, so rare a commodity that he found fault with sharing it with the youngest members of the Clan.

That spark of joy when they mastered a difficult technique, or that pride radiating from their whole bodies after their first successful hunt. Those simple but momentous instances warmed him to his soul.

Lionstar's tail swept to the right, altering their path once they cleared the encampment entirely to direct them to the wildflower meadow. A patrol for hunting was made of three cats or more; Demon mainly hunted in the dawn hours - but he wasn't about to tempt fate.

"How has your apprenticeship being going under Pumafang?" Lionstar opened the floor for the young cat to speak, golden ears alert and ready to catch any words Glacierpaw spoke.

I've been building up all these kingdoms for so long
It's good to be king

108 Moons || TreeClan || 300 Words || KARAZHAL

[KARAZHAL]

Lionstar's bushy fur and magnanimous smile preceded him out of the den. Glacierpaw straightened at attention, hardly resembling the kit found on TreeClan's border half a year ago. No more stilted strides in him. He was growing into those long legs and huge ears. Where he once had to crane his head to meet Lionstar's gaze, now he saw eye-to-eye with the veteran leader. Glacierpaw could easily become the tallest cat in TreeClan at this rate.

The gray tom's ears perked into the shapes of jagged branch stumps on logs. Pumafang praised him to Lionstar? Glacierpaw gave a deep purr and leaned his chin down into his white ruff, which bushed around his head and ears. "I would be honored to show you what I have learned," he said with his head bowed in respect. He stepped aside to let Lionstar pass before him and then padded after the bigger tomcat. While Lionstar led the way, Glacierpaw began thinking about his choreography and how best to impress him. He looked around at all the bare trees. He saw a couple of crows waddling around a walnut tree's base, but much of TreeClan's territory was still and quiet, except for the brisk wind rustling all of the fallen leaves. Glacierpaw kept an impassive face; the rest of his body showed his emotions, like the way his gait bounced in excitement and nervousness.

"It's awesome. I love being an apprentice," Glacierpaw replied hoarsely. Swallowing thickly, he cleared his throat and continued, "It was nice to be included in things now and not just have to watch." He made a sort of shrug gesture with his tail. "You know, in case I had to stop my sisters from getting hurt." He half-smiled. "They're big enough to be protecting themselves now." They were two moons younger than Glacierpaw, and his saving grace was Pumafang, whose demeanor scared them into staying away and not interfering with Glacierpaw's training whatsoever. The gray tom's practically blind obedience had him following Pumafang's heels like a hunter's loyal hound. Rather than succumb to the drilling, he pushed himself toward every expectation as best he could, repeating attempts over and over and over.

"Please allow me to show you my technique," he said as they passed into the clearing that used to be filled with bees and other insects. Glacierpaw stretched his front paws and arched his back to stretch his hindquarters to prepare himself for the run. His mentor had him prioritize running practice. Undoubtedly by the end of his apprenticeship, he'd be expected to run the entirety of the territory and return within the time limit.

Glacierpaw readied himself with a crouch in front of Lionstar. Overhead, a circling crow let out a squawk. He vaulted forward like a rabbit; in a blink, his tail whipped around the bend and he was out of sight. Twigs snapped. Leaves crunched. The coarse yellowed stalks of the wildflower meadow whistled in the wind. His footsteps eddied away before returning like a deer charging through the brush. Glacierpaw abruptly appeared coming around the track from the other direction. His tail rotated in the air. His muscles clenched and bunched with each full-extending stride. His hindlegs kicked off the ground and his front ones dug in, literally clawing into the earth to propel his whole body forward.

He slalomed through the thin aspens lining the meadow's edge, zigzagging like a snake in between the trees. Glacierpaw's wedge-like head was an arrow whistling through the grass. Lionstar loomed ahead of him amidst the dull blur of the landscape. Decelerating into the turn, he dug in to stop himself from crashing into the old tom. His eyes widened as one of his paws hit some mud; he wasn't sure if he could skid to a halt quick enough.

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OOC COMMENTS

tagged for Fawn

[Fawn]

Lionstar

The crown is getting heavy
But they've written my name in the stars

The calm, grandfatherly demeanor on the golden tom's face gave way to astonishment. He'd been expecting hunting techniques, perhaps even a battle move or two - what he got was the breakneck speed of a cat trained to chase down even the fastest rabbits. StarClan, that 'paw is more deer than cat. With Glacierpaw's lithe form whipping through the gaps in the trees, long limbs churning furiously, a cat with poor eyesight might have mistaken him for one.

The youngster completed his circuit around the meadow, and Lionstar raised his tail, signalling for the apprentice to rejoin him. A messy stop had Lionstar leaping back to avoid a spray of mud, whiskers twitching nevertheless to discard a few stray droplets. "This is what you and Pumafang have been working on? Your speed is incredible, Glacierpaw. Fast enough to worry LightningClan." The youngster would be a huge asset when it came to hunting rabbits or hare that crossed their scentline from LightningClan's moorlands. "I see you're favoring speed over stealth, though. How quickly can you move while still remaining quiet?" Lionstar asked, conscious of how much the wildlife had been disturbed by Glacierpaw's incredible sprint.

He had no doubts in his mind that Pumafang would have brought this to attention also; Pumafang wasn't a particularly fast cat, but Lionstar learned early on that TreeClan's deputy was a cat who valued pushing one's self to their limits.

I've been building up all these kingdoms for so long
It's good to be king

108 Moons || TreeClan || 233 Words || KARAZHAL

[KARAZHAL]

Glacierpaw's breaths came heavily through his parted jaws, but he was smiling with bright eyes and perked angular ears. His pawpads kneaded somewhat anxiously into the wet earth as he waited for what Lionstar had to say. He was just as nervous as he was excited, and more than anything he wanted to impress his Leader and prove that he'd be good enough to be called a warrior of TreeClan someday. "Yessir. Pumafang says it's my greatest threat." His tail lifted in delight. "I'm going to be his shadow." He beamed, clearly proud of this endeavor; most apprentices would be terrified at the thought of being so close to the ruthless deputy, but Glacierpaw never once felt threatened in Pumafang's presence. A deputy was meant to be scary and awe-inspiring; every time one of his friends mentioned how intimidating his mentor was, Glacierpaw could only think of how frightening he appeared to the other Clans.

Lionstar was right, though--shadows were meant to be stealthy--but the silver ticked tabby had the answer. When it came to showing Lionstar how quickly he could traverse five fox-lengths, stealth simply hadn't been a priority in his mind on the meadow circuit.

"I can be! I leap over everything in my way. Sometimes I'm going so fast I can't see what's underfoot until it's right there and then I end up stepping on it... or just charging through. Sorry..." Glacierpaw's big ears drooped. "I'll get better." Pumafang hadn't gotten around to building a steeplechase. They'd just been training on grass or any straight-aways they came across, like the borders between NightClan and TreeClan or TreeClan and LightningClan.

"I can be stealthy. I'll bring back some prey to prove it," he promised.

The tall tom put his front paws on a small mostly-rotten log to sniff the air. His whiskers twitched until he caught the scent of a squirrel. Glacierpaw leapt onto the log and followed the warm scent, ignoring the mulchy smell of the wet wood and the grass. Skillfully avoiding the crunchy yellowed meadow grass and keeping his claws sheathed, he slowly tried to hone in on the squirrel. He couldn't see it, but he could smell it and hear it biting and chewing on seedpods somewhere in the thicket. He lay low, patiently waiting until the squirrel moved so he could see the tell-tale swaying in the tall grass. When he spied the thistles shaking vigorously, Glacierpaw leapt off his log with a rainbow's arcing prowess and pounced atop his prey, pinning it down before giving it a quick death.

Glacierpaw yanked it up from its scavenged seeds and rushed immediately to Lionstar's side. He presented it to his leader without flourish. "Thank you, StarClan, for this prey," he remarked.

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OOC COMMENTS

tagged for Fawn upon your return <3