Silent As A Mouse

[**xRainyx**]

<sup>Silentpaw slowly padded into the clearing, exiting the apprentice den. He opened his jaws into a large yawn, arching his back into a satisfied stretch. What a night... Silentpaw thought grumpily. Didn't get any sleep thanks to my mouse-brained dreams keeping me awake.

After finishing a dull stretch in the growing sunlight, he looked up. The sky was a milky blue, swirled in a pale golden light dripping off the sun. The sun was rising above the horizon slowly, as if it had the whole day to waste just rising up into the sky. Which it did. The scene relaxed Silentpaw, taking his mind off of the restless night.

Soon enough, he took his gaze off of the sight, now his mind concentrating on what to do next. He couldn't leave the camp without at least one other warrior, and he wasn't sure that the dawn patrol took off or not. Either way, he felt confined at camp. A sigh slipped through his throat.

Instead, he wondered off to the fresh-kill pile, his stomach clenching in pain due to his hunger. Reaching his destination, he grasped a small mouse in his jaws, taking it into a shadowy corner in camp. He swiftly took bites of it, which there had been barely enough meat to even finish it with three bites.</sup>

( Anyone is open to join ^_^ )

[Roxie !]

A young tabby apprentice sat near one corner of the camp, grooming herself intently. As she smoothed her ruffled pelt, her ears tilted towards the entrance of the camp, listening intently. Satisfied with her cleanliness, she stood suddenly and swept the camp over with her warm yellow eyes. The ShadowClan camp was unusually empty and still, and the newly named apprentice, Brindlepaw, was becoming restless. She hadn't seen either of her sisters all day, and had been hoping to catch Hazelpaw or Maplepaw returning to camp. Seeing as they had not yet made an appearance, however, she shrugged and padded across camp to the apprentices' den.

Brindlepaw poked her head inside, giving a quiet meow of greeting--but no one was inside. Her whiskers twitched, and her eyes narrowed slightly. That's funny. Where could they be? The apprentice mused to herself. Perhaps they were out training. Her paws pricked with longing at the thought. She couldn't wait to really get started on her own training. Brindlepaw wanted to learn to fight and hunt; everything that a real warrior did. Speaking of hunting, she cast a glance over at the fresh-kill pile. She wasn't particularly hungry herself, but if the pile was low, she thought perhaps that she could convince one of the warriors to let her tag along on a hunting patrol. Brindlepaw didn't know much about hunting yet, but such a patrol would be the perfect learning experience.

Her gaze wandering slowly away from the pile, she noticed subtle movement out of the corner of her eye. Brindlepaw turned curiously, just in time to see another apprentice padding off into another corner of the camp. Her dark ears twitched warily; she wasn't sure if he wanted to be bothered. Brindlepaw wasn't one to rush into things--in fact, she almost always completely thought over everything she did before doing it. But, her boredom and urge to speak to someone won out in this case, and she padded over to the other apprentice, her tail raised in friendly greeting.

"Hello," The tabby mewed cheerily, stretching a bit before sitting down a couple of tail-lengths away from the tom. "Silentpaw, isn't it?" Brindlepaw added as an afterthought. Only a day ago, Brindlepaw had been made an apprentice, and she wasn't completely familiar with all of her den-mates yet.

[**xRainyx**]

<sup>Silentpaw perked his ears up at the sound of approaching steps. A sweet scent swarmed over him, only to figure out it was that new apprentice. He didn't know her well at all, he never really went into the nursery and only caught a glimsp of her out of the nursery a few times. Besides that, he had never really talked to her.

But he wasn't wanting to, either. He wasn't the social type and wasn't into meeting or talking to new cats, let alone start conversation with one who happened to walk past. But, he couldn't just lay there and say nothing. Maybe they could do something useful.

Heaving himself up, he straightened up into a high position, his tail wrapping around his paws in a neat fashion. "Greetings. Yes. Brindlepaw, correct?" Silentpaw meowed calmly. "What do you want?" he added in a bit more darkly, still a little groggily from his lack of sleep.</sup>

[Roxie !]

Brindlepaw nodded once in confirmation when Silentpaw guessed at her name. She tilted her head slightly to one side, curiosity seeping into her gaze. This apprentice didn't seem to be one to talk much, nor did he seem to happy to see her. The tabby she-cat blinked several times, taken aback by his sudden change of tone when he spoke again. She swished her tail from side to side, something she had a habit of doing when she was slightly nervous. Brindlepaw wasn't quite sure how to react, but at last she forced herself to reply.

"Only to talk, unless you're busy." She answered, slightly put off. But her smile, though it had lessened slightly, stayed in place. She didn't know much about Silentpaw, and being an optimistic cat herself, she assumed that perhaps he was merely having a bad day. Or maybe, she thought, he was simply bored, like she was. Brindlepaw shifted her amber gaze to the camp entrance and then back again, searching for something else to say. Eventually, she settled for voicing aloud her previous plans.

"The fresh-kill pile seems kind of low. I was thinking, if we found a warrior, maybe they'd take us out on a hunting patrol?" Brindlepaw suggested, growing more cheerful again at the thought. Not only would this serve to distract her, but it would also be doing something productive. The young apprentice didn't know much about hunting yet, but she desperately wanted to learn.

She wondered quietly how much Silentpaw knew about it. He'd been an apprentice longer than she had; surely his mentor would have taught him all about ShadowClan's hunting techniques by now? Brindlepaw hoped that was the case. It'd be nice to have another apprentice along if she went on a patrol--while she was talkative enough among her den-mates, Brindlepaw was still somewhat shy around the warriors of the Clan. She hadn't even spoken to her new mentor, Frecklenose, much.

[**xRainyx**]

<sup>Silentpaw liked the idea. It would give him a break from the suffocating camp, and it would also help the Clan out as well. It was the perfect solution, and he thought that as well earlier, but he hoped that the two apprentices would find a warrior. Maybe they could find both of their mentors if they were lucky.

Nodding slightly in agreement, the tabby tom stood up, his tail swiftly swaying out of the position on his paws to where it belonged. "Lets just hope we find a warrior." Silentpaw mused, brushing past her. "We can't just wake any warrior up. Maybe we can sneak in the warriors den and see if anyone is awake..."

Without delay or waiting for Brindlepaw to agree or disagree, he stalked toward the warriors den, slipping inside it. Adjusting to the slight darker area, he scanned the den for any early risers.</sup>

[le Dawnz]

The warrior den was nice and quiet, all except for the light snoring of one of the warriors dozing in the back corner. But that was easy enough to ignore. A ginger and white tabby she-cat was lying curled in her nest across the den from the snoring cat. Her pink nose twitched, the little freckles peppered across her muzzle dancing slightly. She opened her mouth in a wide yawn, untangling her limbs and climbing to her feet. All without opening her eyes. She stretched, her forepaws reaching for the exit and her tail curled over her back. When she was through stretching each other legs, she finally opened her eyes. They were blue, like her late father's.

Frecklenose wasn't remorseful about her parents deaths. Not anymore anyway. She hadn't gotten the chance to know Goldenstar very well, but Thornleaf had been fairly close to his kits. At least until they were apprentice. He died shortly before they became warriors. They were shocked at first, because there didn't seem to be a reason for his death, but they grieved and moved on. Frecklenose wasn't the type to dwell on the sad events in her past. She pushed forward, and became a well-respected warrior of ShadowClan, and now she finally had her first apprentice.

She had been taking a small nap, having been on watch the night before, and now planned to go fine Brindlepaw to take her for her first battle training session. She'd showed her the border yesterday, and it was time to begin the rest of her training. The she-cat wasn't too nervous, but she did have a bit of a weird feeling in her gut about being responsible for the successful training of the future warriors of the clan. Trotting toward the tunnel that led into camp, she didn't see Silentpaw entering from the other side and smacked right into him.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, waiting for her eyes to indentify the apprentice in front of her. She recognized him as Dustfall's apprentice, Silentpaw. "Hello, Silentpaw. Are you looking for Dustfall?" she asked, smiling a friendly greeting.

[Roxie !]

Brindlepaw was slightly suprised by Silentpaw's sudden agreement, but she didn't complain. After a brief pause, she nodded, more to herself than anything, and stood up. The little apprentice followed Silentpaw to the warriors' den a little more cautiously than she had originally intended. She'd never been in this den before, and while a part of her was curious to see what the inside looked like, she was hesitant to disturb any of the warriors resting there. Slowly, Brindlepaw padded over to the entrance, stopping a bit behind Silentpaw and peering over his shoulder into the interior of the den.

No sooner had she gotten there than a warrior emerged from the den, bumping right into the apprentice before her. Slightly startled, Brindlepaw stepped back a pace, before realizing that this cat was her own mentor, Frecklenose. Immediately, the tabby raised her tail in cheerful greeting, but then paused uncertainly. She was still so new to this whole apprentice thing--perhaps this wasn't the correct way to greet your mentor? She considered this warily, and at last settled for a clumsy but respectful dip of her head.

Brindlepaw's whiskers twitched as she listened to Frecklenose's question, which had been directed at Silentpaw. She blinked nervously, carefully considering how to address her mentor. "Actually, Frecklenose? We were wondering if...well, if it's okay with you...could you take us out on hunting patrol?" The tabby asked, the tip of her tail twitching hopefully.

Still, though, Brindlepaw worried that perhaps Frecklenose already had something more important to do. Maybe they were simply bothering her right now; wasting her time. Perhaps the young apprentice thought things through a little too much at times.