[Brunch]

@Teza


The morning had been brisk, windy and unruly as it usually was for leaf-fall, before the true cold came over the clans. The trees swayed in the wind, leaves falling solemnly to the ground, as though resigned to their fate of being trampled. The sky was darkened by a cloud formation passing by the sun, casting shadows over the ThunderClan forest. It created an almost eerie chill run from one place to another. It was shocking how quickly a bright, sunny day, filled with the chirps of thrushes and finches could suddenly turn to the dreary one that it was. Just because there was a ghostly feel that had settled upon the oak trees, it didn't mean that training of the future warriors was relinquished. Leaves crackled underpaw, and bushes groaned as the two cats moved through them. Burnetsky was in the lead, her tail flicking, and her bright emerald eyes focused distantly on her paws. As she went, she counted her paw steps, keeping track of how far from the camp they were. And just as expected, the mentor and apprentice came across a clearing, where the trees gave way to the clouded sky, where one could see the trees reach up higher and higher. Thick bushes of thistles guarded the clearing like sentinels, with a thin layer of orange and red leaves coating the ground.

Burnetsky turned on her heel to face her new apprentice, her chest fur fluffed in pride. When she had become an apprentice so long ago, she had memorized out of habit how far each place was from the clearing; it was subtle though, and no one ever seemed to notice how much effort Burnetsky had taken into her warriorship. Shaking her head softly, her stout ears pinned against her head, Burnetsky sighed. "So," she started softly, her head bowed in a submissive fashion, "Ravenpaw... Ravenpaw, for our first time out, though, though mentors typically give their apprentices the tour of the territory, we won't." For a moment, she let that hang in the air, thinking quietly to herself as she pressed her paw through the thin blanket of leaves nervously, almost anxiously. "We will instead be learning, learning the Warrior Code." The warrior code was the base to everything that the clans stood for; it was what set them apart from the typical loners or rogues. They were special, as StarClan had chosen their ancestors to lead a different life, one where they would have a purpose for living. That's how the young warrior saw it, at least.