Redpaw shivered in his short coat. He was grateful that the thick forests of ThunderClan's territory broke some of the cold winds. His short fur was not made to endure a leaf-bare outdoors. It made him grateful to Hawkstar that he had been invited to join the Clan, though he was still trying to wrap his head around there being four more Clans he had not yet met. These forest-dwelling cats were numerous and somehow united in their goals. Would life inside one of the other four Clans be so peaceful as this one?
Redpaw wished to be back in his nest, bathed in the warmth of his fellow apprentices. He could tell that the young warrior she-cat, whose fur was long and looked soft to the touch, was less disturbed by the cold weather.
The apprentice shook the snow from his paws every few steps. His green eyes turned to the sky. Since he had been run out of the city, Redpaw had not had much time to relax. So focused on survival, he had failed to notice until now that he could see the stars from this spot in the forest. The sky from the city was usually to foggy to see but one or two stars. He had adjusted to the pungent, wild smells of the forest by now, but was stopped in his tracks at his view of the stars. If his brother was alive, could he see so many stars from his new home, too? A brief sadness stung the young tom.
Redpaw tapped Sablefire with his tail. "Does your sky look like that every night here?" His breath clouded in front of his face, reminding him how cold he was feeling moments ago. He shook the snowflakes from his striped back and shivered again. The youngster wondered why the stars did not warm his pelt like the sun did. They're too small, he figured.
Redpaw closed his eyes and tried to imagine what a Moonpool might look like. A small pond with the reflection of the full moon came to his imagination. He wondered what the territory around it looked like and which of the five Clans owned that land. The newcomer was having a hard time understanding the concept of neutral grounds like the Clans' gathering place, the Ghostly Flats. ThunderClan's warriors had been so stern about Redpaw taking care not to wander too near the borders. The only thing keeping one of the Clans from claiming that land, he figured, were the ghosts.
The apprentice furrowed his brow at having been called silly. She was the one talking about traveling to ponds on the moon, not him. Just a little too young and shy to protest, he let Sablefire's comment pass, but not without a defiant flick of his tail. Redpaw looked down and again shook the snow from his cold ginger paws. His ears stayed trained to the molly, listening more carefully to his mentor this time. He felt like he had been trying to play catch-up on Clan traditions since his first encounter with Hawkstar.
The striped tom's head snapped to Sablefire at the word 'kin.' If this StarClan mumbo-jumbo was real, did this former medicine cat have knowledge on his mother and his brother? Then his gaze followed the warrior's to the starry night sky. Watch down on me? That was the last thing he wanted to hear. Sablefire had said it herself: no living cat could touch the sky. If his mother and brother were looking down on him now, had they moved on from this life? Redpaw had hoped his kin were gazing up at the stars, not down from them.
"How do you know that?" He demanded, "Do you know something I don't? Did StarClan tell you?" There was great urgency in his tone, yet the youngster was not even sure if he subscribed to the idea of ancestor cats hunting among the stars. But Redpaw was desperate to know where his brother had gone.
Redpaw's ears twitched at his mentor's words. He looked down at his paws and shuffled awkwardly when Sablefire warned him to mind the Clan's boundaries. The only reason he was under her training now was because he had had wandered onto ThunderClan territory in search of sustenance. In his desperation to survive Leaf-bare, he had not paid any attention to the scent sprays and claw marks left behind by ThunderClan's warriors. Perhaps if he had known that such a large and healthy colony of cats had left those scent marks, he would have heeded the warnings. Perhaps he would have been too delirious from hunger. The younster was glad for the Clan's fresh-kill pile.
"Yyyeah--yes ma'am," he mewed not-so-convincingly. The apprentice was at least glad to be given a morning to relax. His head had been spinning from all the new information over the last couple days. These cats had so many rules and rituals; it was nothing like the chaos of the city. Redpaw had to admit to himself that life seemed more functional where twolegs were not present.
The ginger tom's head snapped quickly to face his mentor. "What do you mean you were coming back from the moon?" He sneered. Young and naive, he was not familiar with the Clans' ways of naming their landmarks. "Even the tallest twoleg nests can't reach the moon. You can't fool me with something that ridiculous." Redpaw flicked his tail in a matter-of-factly way.
Between strengthening her own battle training and now being responsible with an apprentice the molly had quite the handful. It was almost as if she had little to no time by herself. Unsure as to why Hawkstar had given her the chance to train Redpaw as there were tons of experienced warriors. Perhaps it was the sole fact that both came from somewhere else, and could easily bond over the foreign nature that was thunderclan.
Deciding to take her apprentice out for a stroll maybe to even hunt for a bit as a way to slow down for a moment. "I know things have been a lot, I know it has for me personally so we aren't going to do anything big. If you scent anything to hunt feel free to practice those hunting skills we've been working on... Tomorrow morning you can have the morning off to relax, maybe even explore the territory if you'd like just make sure you stay within the borders." she rambled out softly as she continued to pad forward.
When she noticed that Redpaw had stopped walking and was several feet behind her she blinked slightly and made her way back towards him. Having been well acustomed to the weather it didn't bother as much. The moment it caused knots her fur was a totally different story. Casting her blue green hues up into the sky looking between the opening the tall trees had granted them.
Hearing what he had to say Sablefire couldn't help but let out a soft purr a smile tugging the corners of her maw. "I suppose when the weather isn't bad and no clouds are in the skies it's like this. I know when it warms up its like theres a thousands of fires up in the night sky... When I was your age I remember looking up every time we were out late picking herbs or when we were coming back from the moonpool...." She whispered softly moving her gaze down on the tom below her.