the colt and the eight gauge [elk x fox]

[Pyro]

It wasn't really training. Hell, half of what Elkstep did was hardly mentoring. 'Go take a dip in that stream and tell me how deep it is. Why? Well maybe you'll know if you quit standin' here yappin'.' 'Go hunt. Pile looks small.' 'Take a spin around the border, see if any StreamClanners are startin' to eye our side.' Yes, very little of his 'training' was actual training. A lot of it was just sending Foxpaw off to figure things out on his own. Lots of paws-on junk. You didn't learn by talking, you learned by doing. This time though, was surprisingly different. He'd seen Foxpaw out of the corner of his eye as he was leaving camp to go on a solo patrol, and in a spark of inspiration or stupidity he'd called his apprentice to his side. Still wasn't really training. They'd just been making the regular round a warrior would make, like Foxpaw was already a warrior. Probably wouldn't do much for his arrogance. Elkstep had a feeling only a sound beating would do in the end. Why, he might even be the one to deliver it if the circumstances were right. Point is, nothing truly educational had come up in conversation...but Elkstep was bound to talk about anything just to make sure things weren't too quiet, so saying that wasn't quite right. Foxpaw probably learned a few things, about guns, horses, Mexico, the best prey to eat, the loosest women about, ad how to treat the ones what weren't loose...but nothing that actually pertained to warrior training. Safe to say, Elkstep wasn't the best teacher. Never been in the position of one before, so maybe that was why. But you couldn't say he was making an effort either. Or...maybe he was, in his own roundabout way. Roundabout. Odd for him, seeing as he was the type just to steamroll through things. speaking [bg=000000][atrb=width,428,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[ambird]

Trying to pull a solo stunt, again he got called over by his mentor, Elkstep. Well, sure, mentor was what the Clan would call it. But, Foxpaw himself wasn't entirely sure if some of the stuff he had to do was even qualified as actual training. He didn't mind that, however. Getting go jump into the stream? Fun stuff, man. Especially when he got to go and shake off all of the water from his pelt on unsuspecting she-cats. Oh, going and sitting in the girls nests and getting them soaked? Hilarious. Their faces of anger, mostly horror, were down right funny. Well, except when the smart ones went and called over a warrior. Which, of course had to call for a scolding. He never told them that his mentor had him jump in the stream. Foxpaw liked Elkstep, and having the other warrior's go and tell on him to Cedarstar wasn't on his agenda. But, Elkstep did occasionally teach him needed warrior skills. Well, "needed". That was normally when other warrior's were around in the training hallow, so it had to look a bit like training. The last time they had been walked in on by one of the more serious mentor's, and Elkstep had told Foxpaw to count every single leaf that had fallen from that Leaf-fall. And, well, the other warrior had been pretty angry. So, from there they tried to at least make it look a bit more like the norm. Well so far that was working out pretty well. The fact being, nobody really asked about what kind of training they did. "So, what are we doing today, oh wise and noble mentor of mine?" he said, sitting down to like his paws clean of the dirt that had collected while he tried another one of his mastermind sneak attacks. Of course he liked his mentor, but he liked doing whatever he wanted to do. Yes, that sounded totally un-apprenticelike. But, he liked having equal ground with his mentor. Life didn't last forever, and wherever he went after that, he would rather be able to say that he had a blast while alive then just 'living a perfectly normal, warrior dedicated' life. Or whatever his father had called it when his sister had asked him about behind a great warrior. Before she.....went away. He didn't talk about it, because it was something he let go of. How? His attitude, of course. [bg=272a2f][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

Wise and Noble? It was a good thing Essie wasn't here, or she'dve laughed herself to death...And well, Elkstep wasn't quite ready to give her up again. Brought a bit of a smile to his face though, thinking of the unlikely pairing of words that had just been used in reference to him. Foxpaw was being a smartass, yes, he knew that. No cat, not even his ma, would have ever called him wise. Noble? Maybe. On a very, very good day. But those were few and far in between, and he was quite certain that none of his clanmates knew of those handful of times he'd done something of a charitable and noble nature. This of course, was besides the point. The point being, what was he going to with his apprentice? He kinda figured they'd just give the borders a check then head in. He just...God. He didn't know how to do this whole 'teachin' thing. Seriously, what the hell had Cedarstar been thinking, oh wait. That's it, he wasn't.Or maybe he had been thinking, thinking that an apprentice would level him out. Alright, what did the other warriors do with their dibbins? Taught em to fight, bla, bla, bla. Foxpaw would probably like that. But the border probably wasn't the best place to that. Might give the other clans bad ideas. Couldn't hunt either. There was a chance the prey would run clean into another clan's territory. Screw it, he'd just let Foxpaw decide. "Well, for starters we are not gettin' pedicures so you can get your face of of your paws. Shoulda cleaned up right after instead of waitin'." Elkstep turned back around, scanning the border. Nothin'. His manner though, seemingly relaxed in wake of the peaceful boundary, had an edge to it, as though he didn't believe the picture of a quiet border set before him. That was how he was though. Everything he did always seemed to have that certain edge to it. So the warning in his next words, the warning that Foxpaw should be careful about his reply, was pretty much built in. "What would you like to do, oh honored apprentice." It wasn't often, after all, that Elkstep asked for another's input. speaking [bg=000000][atrb=width,428,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[ambird]

Foxpaw smirked as his mentor eye-rolled over the whole 'noble and honorable' remark. He enjoyed being a smart-ass. Sure, he'd get in trouble for it, but it was worth the other guy's expression. The ginger tom also knew, however, that his mentor harbored some issues. He didn't pry, but he could occasionally see his mentor have a glazed off look, obviously in deep thought, but he'd never learn about what or why. And...part of him didn't want to know. A cat's problems were his own. He'd learned that at an early age, plus he knew Elkstep well enough that he didn't want anyone's help when it came to the touchy-feely stuff. He'd probably sooner rip your vocal chords out than admit he ever needed help. At his remark about pedicures, Foxpaw's whiskers twitched in embarrassment at the dig about being dirty. He just grinned, however, ignoring the fact that his ginger fur was tinted with dirt. Eh, as far as he was concerned it was just like battle scars! Except...you know...just dirt. Foxpaw looked around, trying to figure out what Elkstep was doing. Ooh! Deciding what they were going to do. Well, obviously, he told himself. Sure, the stuff his mentor had him to do wasn't considered "normal" training. Heck, just yesterday Elkstep had told him to go sit in a puddle from the rain that had recently fallen. He'd never gotten a reason why he'd gotten his butt all wet, but he didn't really mind. His mentor was abstract, and was way cooler than all those supposed "real" mentor's. He could hang around with Elkstep, Shrewstorm and Hawkheart. Instead of hearing about stupid hunting techniques or learning about "the way of the warrior" he got to hear about pranking Cedarstar(which, he'd definitely have to try sometime) and insulting people without them even realizing they'd been humiliated. He was, to say the least, shocked when Elkstep spoke up and asked him what he wanted to do. Not many ever asked Foxpaw that, but Elkstep was someone who never asked anyone. He wasn't quite sure when he realized he wasn't breathing out of shock and utter uncertainty. What if him the wrong thing? Or....what if he was denied his decision. Or....or...or! No. He shook his head, chasing out doubts. He really did like an idiot at the worst of times, didn't he? "I guess hunting...or training..." he muttered. Ya see, he didn't really get the whole 'practical' training thing. He'd rather be doing something that somehow taught him a lesson(or at least, that's what he thought). [bg=272a2f][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

Hunting. Or training. Well that just about narrowed it down to everything one could do with an apprentice. Excusing tossing them off a cliff. So, once again Elkstep was left to ponder out what they'd be filling the rest of the day with. "Huh. Well, whatever we do, it sure can't be here." He moved away from the border, beckoning Foxpaw to follow with an unceremonious flick to the face with his tail. The warrior was sore tempted to take him all the way to the training hollow, but going there would probably mean ~interaction~ with his fellows, something which he was not in the mood for. So 'things necessary for survival in the wild' it would be. "Foxpaw, are you familiar with the herbs that will stave off infection?" Oh, you didn't think I meant hunting, did you? Elkstep's hopes were decidedly low in this endeavor. It would be well worth anyone's time to learn extra skills such as these, but he had a feeling that clan cats were set in their 'one profession, one area of expertise' ways. How many warriors thought they didn't need to know what the hell a medicine cat was puttin' on them just because it was the medicine cat that was doin' it? And what happened when the medicine cat wasn't near by? Now, admittedly, he may have been looking for a reason to go against the flow of ye olde' training course, but damn it, didn't some lesson always leap out of his impromptu sidetracking? [bg=d6d5ae][atrb=width,500,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[ambird]

Foxpaw blinked a few times before responding. "Nope! It's kinda funny though, isn't it? They expect apprentices to be well-rounded and dung like that, then they make 'em do one thing alone. Why wouldn't they want cats knowing this kinda stuff?" Foxpaw just sort of began to ramble on about nothing to do with anything. That was until he realized he still had to, y'know, remotely act like a somewhat honorable cat. Or at least, what passed as 'boring apprentice doing boring stuff with his mentor', as Cedarstar had said. Well, more like "if you don't listen to your mentor the consequences can be..." actually, yeah Foxpaw hadn't really been listening. Sure, he'd gotten in trouble a buncha times because Cedarstar couldn't crack a joke. He was pretty stiff when it came to harmless little things like switching out moss with mouse turds, tricking kits into eating things they shouldn't and pretty harmless stuff like that. .....Well, it was harmless if you were smart enough to not trust anything Foxpaw gave you. Cause, it probably...maybe....possibly..could be bad? All in all, he just did it to see the other guy's reactions to his tricks. Of course, the laughter only lasted so long before stick-in-the-mud's came along. Like Littlewhisker. Of every cat in the Clan, she was probably the worst when it came to these things called "rules". Then again, Gingerstripe wasn't really any better, now that she was all lovey-dovey with Cedarstar. How a fun-loving cat like her ended up with him, Foxpaw would never know. Then there was Cedarstar himself. It was like he purposely hated on everybody Foxpaw liked. Elkstep, Shrewstorm and Hawkheart. Maybe the didn't have the greatest reps, but they were generally nice. Well...they liked him? Yeah, they may not be the kindest, or the most...er...rule-following, but they at least didn't get their whiskers in a bunch when he did something that would be considered "disgraceful of our ancestors". Okay, Littlewhisker was the buzz-kill of the Clan. After he started thinking about it....there were a lot of Forestclanner's in higher positions. Cedarstar himself(well, duh), his mate, his two bff's had a pretty large sum of power with the elder's and senior warrior's and then of course even the deputy was Forestclan! Cripes! "Hey, Elkstep, you ever notice this before? Like, everyone close to Boringstar has some sort of authority. What's with that?" [bg=272a2f][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

You're a fountain of knowledge." Elkstep chuckled. Hardly, but at least his apprentice wasn't putting up any resistance at learning something a little less rough and tumble. Marigold, Foxpaw. Quite the useful plant. Down on the border I used to keep tabs on wild growing bunches and the twolegs that usually kept some in their garden...Ha, there's a story. I'll never forget the time a fake plant was almost the end of me...In any case, you'd do well to remember marigold if you remember anything. The petals stave off infection and you can use the leaves to dress the wound." Who would have thought he was such a brain on plants, eh? In the realm of the clans though, where there were healers out the wazoo, Foxpaw probably wouldn't need to know much more than eat, sleep, fight, but a complete, and as he said, 'well-rounded', education wouldn't hurt him. It wasn't like his father was tossing him the occasional 'hey, [blank] could save your life one day, learn it.' And Elkstep for one wished his own father had shown more of an interest in doing something other than replacing Mum and beating him. "When we get back to camp I'll show you what the plant looks like. From now on, whenever I see or smell an herb, I'm going to tell you-wait. What?" Somehow, while Elkstep was mulling over his thoughts, the conversation had turned from herbs to Cedarstar. Cedarstar. The wonderfully biased tom they all called leader. If their was a cat in the clan that Elkstep had to pick a bone with, Cedarstar was that cat. And so were all the rest. But mostly Cedarstar. "Oh, I've noticed. Mistuh Cedarstar is a goddamn, despicable, vile, biased sonuvabadguh without the slightest amount of decency to admit it." Speaking [bg=d6d5ae][atrb=width,500,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[ambird]

Curious, Foxpaw listened as Elkstep explained the plant in front of him. He was interested in what he was saying(for once in his life, it seemed Foxpaw actually had an attention span), especially that whole fake plant thing. Why would you want one anyway? Two-legs sure were stupid sometimes! Inevitably, his last remark had strayed Elkstep's thoughts from the whole teaching-herbs-things. He was sort of regretting that, because he was generally fascinated by that. Oh, no, he'd never be a medicine cat in his life(that was for the cat's who'd rather chat with dead cat's than go out and actually do the handiwork Starclan requested of the Clans.) It was funny how he could get anybody and everybody off-topic. Whether he always meant to was whether or not he was paying attention. Like right now, for instance. He'd been lost in his own thoughts, half-listening to Elkstep. Then he heard the Boringstar insults and he perked his ears up, not really shocked by Elkstep's word usage, but by the fact that he would so openly say it. Though he had to agree with most of what he'd just said. The orange tabby hadn't started out hating the leader, just thinking that he would get in the way of all the fun stuff Foxpaw could be doing with his time. But, then he saw all the stuff he accused Elkstep, Shrewstorm and Hawkheart of doing. Sure, they did like maybe half of what he accused them of(and most of it wasn't considered "good"), but that still didn't give him the right to always turn his stupid nose into their business because he always assumed that they did everything that went wrong with the world. And then a thought struck him. "Hey, Elkstep, I think Cedarstar's a fake plant," he started, more than likely receiving the weirdest look from his mentor,"That plant nearly killed ya, right? Well, he's the same way. Deceiving the Clan like that plan deceived you and all and saying he doesn't favor nobody, then he turns around and does. That kinda stuff'll be the death of everybody, won't it?" he somehow turned a truthfully stupid comment into something worthwhile. But that was Foxpaw for you. [bg=272a2f][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

Elkstep blinked. He hadn't thought of things that way. Perhaps there was more to his apprentice than met the eye. Especially his eye. "Why Foxpaw. How shockingly astute of you." he grinned. "Of course, I don't think Cedarstar has managed to nearly kill me yet. It wasn't that Elkstep coveted a high rank for himself. You wouldn't catch him dead as a nurse...and his previous experiences as a leader did not leave him itching for more. It was just that he'd seen bias before. He'd seen it lead to worse things, and if the words of ForestClanners were anything to go by, cedarstar had seen it lead to worse as well. He should know better, and yet he either didn't know better or didn't care. As a leader, it was Cedarstar's job to serve the clan as a whole, not just those he knew on an intimate level. Loners and rogues could boast journeys of their own, and had they not conformed to clan life despite the differences to their previous life? They'd changed their names at the drop of a hat for chrissake. "It's not right, Foxpaw. And I hope no one's trying to convince you otherwise." Elkstep took a breath to calm himself. "Now where were we?" ----------------------------- words;; 209 notes;; in which elkstep has reasons. |8< music;; not today. :c [bg=d6d5ae][atrb=width,500,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[ambird]

"Well, I wouldn't say that. More like they've been pestering me to see if I like you as a mentor. And I keep telling them I do and they keep saying there's something off about that and then I just tell 'em what the heck are ya talking abo--" Foxpaw stopped his bantering and just stopped to think about whatever they had been talking about before he had gone on this strange tangent of his. "Herbs...and stuff." he finished. He had this strange feeling he should have just dropped the whole 'who'd been telling him this' kinda stuff. Because he really didn't mind Gingerstripe, Littlewhisker or any of the others who had shown that they really liked Cedarstar. Well, in the case of Gingerstripe, Foxpaw just sniggered. Now, he didn't mind them but Cedarstar was another story. Maybe it was just because he always was suspicious of Elkstep for no good reason other than just to blame him for things going wrong(or, at least, that's what Foxpaw thought he did). Many cats thought Foxpaw was just oblivious to the obvious disdain Cedarstar felt for Elkstep, but Foxpaw wasn't a stupid cat. Even if he wanted to pretend he didn't notice the looks Cedarstar would ever-so casually send Elkstep's way whenever the two would go out to train, Foxpaw couldn't ignore certain things. Like when they went on patrols. Cedarstar always deemed it necessary to make sure they were going to be patrolling and nothing else. He said it was 'because Elkstep doesn't train you in the ways of a warrior, but more like a kid-sidekick. And that's not what warriors are meant to be' or some garbage like that. It hurt Foxpaw a little that Cedarstar didn't trust Elkstep. Elkstep was his mentor. A cat that Foxpaw had believed in and trusted from the moment Cedarstar rechristened him Foxpaw and gave him into the capable paws of Elkstep. Or, so Foxpaw had thought. Had Cedarstar really just gave Foxpaw to Elkstep because he didn't see any potential in either of them? Foxpaw curled his lip at this and dug his claws into the ground. He couldn't think like that! He just...couldn't...or was there some other reason? If Elkstep was more liked than Cedarstar, was the leader jealous? But why would he be jealous of him? Or was he scared of him? Because he could turn cats on the leader if he really wanted to or...? Foxpaw shook his head, and was tempted to hit himself against a tree or something. There he went again. His mind going off and making the most idiotic ideas ever. Where did he even get some of these ideas?! Elkstep leading a buncha cats against Cedarstar? He just didn't see that happening. From what little of the atmosphere Foxpaw could read, Elkstep was teetering on being content with his life and slowing going into the breaking point of no return. So maybe he wasn't that good at reading cats... [bg=272a2f][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

Elkstep was trying, he really was. So far it seemed as though the only thing Foxpaw had learning during this outing were that his mentor disliked Cedarstar, Cedarstar disliked that he disliked him, and the properties of one herb. Not exactly productive. "Maybe I should stick to the curriculum." he muttered. But every time he tried to get Foxpaw some learnin', they got off track. Or at least, today they both seemed particularly distractable. He sighed, rubbing his head with a paw. "And who is asking for reviews of my performance?" Honestly. Was it even any of their business? How he trained his apprentice was between him and Foxpaw, maybe Cedarstar when it came to testing and discipline. His clanmates' supposed concern was insulting. Hadn't Cedarstar, though prone to favoritism as he was, hadn't he given Elkstep Foxpaw? The small tom would grudgingly admit that that had to equate to some amount of trust between them. Were his clanmates incapable of accepting that? Or were they honestly curious as to what he was doing. Peh. "I bet they only ask because they think I'm filling your head with nonsense and Cedar-hate." The warrior scratched the ground in frustration, shaking his head. "Do they think I'm a bad influence? A threat? That I'll turn all I can against Cedarstar? Bunch of crazy clods." Elkstep had done rebellion before. It did not end happily. Besides, he wanted change, not destruction, however often the two went hand in hand. He just wanted Cedarstar to see the choices he was making. How could non-forestclanners prove themselves to be just as good as clanborns if they were never given a chance beyond joining the clan? "I don't hate Cedarstar, Foxpaw, just his biased decsions." A surprising admittance, considering his previous vehemence. "It starts at ranks, but who's to say it will stop there?" And rumors...well if Cedarstar heard them they might drive him to further bias. Elkstep shook his head once more, expression souring. Foxpaw wouldn't learn anything besides how to doubt a leader at this rate. "Let's give this talk a rest for a few minutes and try to get some training done." he wanetd to just release Foxpaw for the day, but if he did, the ginger tom would probably end up brooding over things and spreading rumors. Best to distract and tucker out, then release. "I can show you a few good areas to focus on when fighting, if you'd like. I want to keep the herbs to one a day so you don't go crazy or get bored with 'em." [bg=d6d5ae][atrb=width,500,true] [atrb=border,0,true]