Warriors: Awakening Past Book 1: Whispering Breeze

Chapter 5

Hawkpaw rushed over a log and his paws splashed as it hit the puddles of rain.
The dark brown newly-apprenticed tom bounded out of the camp for his first time alongside his golden tabby mentor.
"Alright," Thrushflight said with excitement and a twitch of his tail. "We can go to the WoodClan border, then towards the river and the forest cover. Ready?"
Hawkpaw nodded, fur bristling. "What if a WoodClan patrol comes? What do I say?"
Thrushflight laughed, turning to the side. "Let me do the talking. There's peace right now, anyway."
Hawkpaw blinked, and skidded forward. "It's so cool out here! I wish I didn't have to do other apprentice tasks in camp, because I would patrol all the time, even in the rain and snow!"
Thrushflight's whiskers twitched. "I thought the same thing as an apprentice, until I went on my first patrol in the snow. It's not fun!"
Hawkpaw kept chatting on. "Well, I like snow. And I was kitted in the snow! Then, when everyone else gets sick, I'll lead a patrol to fetch catmint. And I'll find it super quick so that everyone's okay. But in Greenleaf I'll still be on every patrol. And Dawnstar will let me lead them too, I hope. And-"
He broke off as he realized Thrushflight was purring softly. Hawkpaw stood taller, flustered. He was acting like Honeypaw now.
He tried to mutter something, but Thrushflight interrupted him. "Here's the border. You see, our territories our separated by that river. This is our side, that's WoodClan's. We're not allowed to go across those stepping stones, and we're only allowed to drink form the water."
Hawkpaw tried to peer as far over as he could see, but most of LeafClan's territory were woodland and muddy bits.
"I wouldn't want to go across there anyway." Hawkpaw purred, spinning around. "But I want to see the rest of our territory!"

"Keep your tail straight and not too low on the ground or it'll swish up the leaves." Thrushflight observed his apprentice's hunting stance. "Now bring your legs back as quiet as you can, then jump. You don't want the prey to hear you, out of anything."
Hawkpaw jumped up, his class raking on a leaf hanging from a branch, landing swiftly.
"Amazing!" Thrushflight cheered. "If that was any bird, you would have caught it for sure!"
Hawkpaw purred proudly. "Thank you." He yawned. He looked up at the sky that was dimming, it was near nightfall.
"Tired?" Thrushflight asked. They spent the morning patrolling the borders and exploring the territory, ate with the clan at sunhigh, then practiced lots of hunting moves and battle moves with Lakepaw. Lakepaw and Sandynose had already left, so Thrushflight let Hawkpaw practice some more.
Hawkpaw didn't mind that Thrushflight was giving him some tasks though, even if it was his first day. But he was getting tired.
"A little bit." Hawkpaw replied blankly. "Can we do some late hunting?"
"Not sure if that's the best idea. Only senior warriors do those." Thrushflight replied, whiskers twitching. "We should probably just get some rest."