“Like that?” Eelpaw enquired as he rose from his mouse stalking crouch. Sharpthorn gave his apprentice an annoyed look. “Don’t ask every time,” the large cat snorted back, exasperated at his apprentice’s constant talking. It was okay for him to ask as it was all part of the learning process but Eelpaw had the tendency to never shut up and to have things repeated to him a hundred times. The pair had been training since before sunrise and didn’t even notice when the sun had gone up.

Despite his disliking of the apprentice’s mouth Sharpthorn believed the lanky cat had learned well.  He ordered him with a simple gesture to repeat and with his usual swiftness Eelpaw dropped down and crawled forward as to demonstrate his mastery of the skill. “See? I’ve improved a lot!” [i]Perfectly done. If he wasn’t so annoying and thought things through I could be teaching the next most formidable hunter in the clan [/i], Sharpthorn thought as he checked his pupil’s movements. 

“Good,” Sharpthorn meowed he then climbed up a tree, despite his large and bulky body the cat quickly reached a very high up branch several rabbit hops away from the ground and quickly checked if it was sturdy enough to hold him. Once he confirmed this Sharpthorn made himself comfortable, lay down and left his fluffy tail hang down in the air.

Eelpaw knew what he had to do and he wasn’t pleased. “Sharpthorn, is this training really necessary? I mean we are the only ones that do it and after all we’ve done I’m really tired!” the thin cat protested as he positioned himself directly under his mentor’s swinging tail. “80,” was the cold response as Sharpthorn closed his eyes and proceeded to take a nap, finally giving in to the collected stress of the uninterrupted and intense training he underwent alongside his talkative student. 

“I never understand why we do everything together except for this,” Eelpaw grumbled. The grey Oriental stretched out as he prepared. He wanted to go dig up their kills and go back to camp, skipping what he thought was a pointless exercise but he knew he had no choice but to obey or he would once again end up cleaning Ash’s fur. “You want to keep count?” he asked but a sleepy grunt was the only sound that came out of Sharpthorn. “Of course you don’t…” Eelpaw sighed. He then started leaping towards the tail, counting each time he managed to touch it with his paws.

____

Meanwhile, Stormkit and Venuskit continued their placid sleep, not bothered by training or any responsibilities snoring comfortably with the rest of the kits.