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[color=a2d39c][h2]Mallownose.[/h2][/color]

"[color=a2d39c]Good day, Sandfire, Bravefeather.[/color]" he meowed to the two warriors as he passed them, their apprentices seemed to be tumbling towards the tunnel at light speed and he knew they would have to catch up with them. He liked the siblings but more than that, he liked [i]Sandfire.[/i] Sandfire was always a kind she-cat, at least to him, they seemed to get along and he tried to offer her a "good day" whenever he could. Sometimes she got it through mouthfuls of herbs and sometimes he said it while hurrying out of camp. She was a good addition to their clan. He had heard the most amazing things of her hunting skills and he had tucked away a note to hunt with her some time so he could see them in action. 

She was practically a legend as far as hunting went and though he was almost as lopsided as a badger, he was sure he could talk her into a hunting trip some time. Maybe then he'd get to have a good conversation with her and not distract her from her mentoring duties. He hadn't gone on a good late night hunting trip in some time and Warmpaw could hold the den down for him if he did. It would be good to bring prey back and good to finally get to know the she-cat who seemed to pass him glances so quickly that it made his head spin. He often wondered if there was moss in his fur or maybe blood on his muzzle from freshkill and he'd spend moments trying to clean his fur to figure out why he was suddenly so glance-worthy. He decided he'd ask her if there was something in his fur.

Warmpaw however, only had eyes for Snowpaw, he had seen the look before in many lovesick cats. He looked at her as if she had set the stars in the sky one by one and it made Mallownose stifle amusement sometimes. He understood why the young tom might like her, she was very smart and she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. He thought it was innocent though and he didn't have the heart to confront his apprentice. If his moony eyed looks became something more or if the two seemed to become friendly then he'd poke his nose in to remind him of the code they had sworn by. It wasn't against the code to develop a crush, these things just happened sometimes but if it went beyond that then he would have to intervene.

He almost felt sorry that the young tom wouldn't ever be able to pursue Snowpaw, they would never be able to become mates some day. It was something fatherly and he knew it, Warmpaw had practically become his son over the moons that he had known him. Any father would want to see their son get his first mate but they were sworn under the same code and he had to watch out for him now. Warmpaw mentioned Puddlefoot and his jade green eyes swung to study the tom with shock before he spoke of his appreciation for Mallownose. Warmth flooded the tom and he was smiling at him before he knew it. 

"[color=a2d39c]Do you mean that?[/color]" he said through a throaty purr, his eyes shining as he stopped at the Riverclan border alongside his apprentice. The stepping stones were very slippery and often hard to cross but Mallownose had enough experience with it by now that he begin to cross them with careful paws. "[color=a2d39c]You've been like a son to me and I'm so proud of all of your progress so far. You'll be an even better medicine cat than me someday.[/color]"

Leaping off the last stone, he steadied himself and waited on his apprentice to cross. "[color=a2d39c]That's not so bad, it's easy to forget where things grow but one day you'll have to travel over here without me and you've got to remember where to find the tansy. A medicine cat collecting herbs isn't a crime. A lost medicine cat-[i]well[/i] you'll look awfully silly to whatever Riverclan patrol that stumbles across you.[/color]"

Pressing forward, the white tom stuck out like a sore thumb on the grassy terrain and he moved with a collected gait. His pawsteps barely made a sound as he pressed further through the unfamiliar territory. Tansy grew closer to their camp then he would have liked but they couldn't very well chase him out for collecting an herb. "[color=a2d39c]Remember to snip the stem and don't uproot it, it'll keep growing if you leave the roots. We'll just grab a few clumps and get them over the border and then we'll head towards our border closest to the Twoleg nests to collect some catmint because there shouldn't be so much of it.[/color]"
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