I'm Bored, Let's Play TAG!!

[Crane]

Pantherpaw pranced through the long grass, which was higher than her head. She knew there was a tall rock somewhere around here, where she could play without grass going up her little black nose and making her sneeze.
As she made her way through the grass, the clouds that had been lurking all morning disappeared, sending beautiful sunshine about. Thank StarClan for that, or Pantherpaw would have walked right into the rock and smacked her head. The grass had grown since the last time she came to play here, and it was harder to find the rock.
"Yes, I found it!" she crowed triumphantly, scrambling up the cool stone. From her vantage point, she could see for ages in either direction. The Yellow Plains was aptly named, there was tall yellow grass to be seen in every direction, with a scattering of trees, rocks and thorny plants. Although Pantherpaw didn't like the smell, this was the best place to play, because the warriors only came here to hunt, and with all the grass it was easy to hide.
Ugh, one problem with nobody being here; there was nobody to play with either! The small black she-cat huffed, plopping down on the rock and waiting for something interesting to happen.

[Silver]

Rainpelt rolled luxuriously in the tall grass of the Yellow Plains, exposing her white belly to the sun. Not far off, Breezefur was plucking burrs from her long, velvety coat. "I miss the Nursery already," Breezefur halfheartedly complained, pulling out a thorn that had gotten tangled. Rainpelt rolled back onto her paws, sighing exasperatingly. "You're kits are half-grown! Why, the might even be warriors by Green-leaf!" Rainpelt rose to her paws, padding through the swaying grass. Breezefur hesitated before following her friend. "I know, I know... Oh, but it was such a joy to play with all the little ones, and I did try to help Windblaze when I could," Breezefur sighed, picking her way through the grass carefully, pulling her long tail close to her body. Rainpelt rolled her eyes, making sure Breezefur didn't see. She loved Breezefur and her kits dearly, but she always made such a fuss about them! They were almost as good as the warriors, but that didn't stop her friend from treating them as if they're apprentice ceremony was only the day before. Still, she did it with care and affection, and no one could doubt Breezefur was an excellent mother, even if the kits father was a story still unexplained.

Pausing, Rainpelt was startled by a lithe black figure leaping up onto a rock she had almost missed in the sea of grass. She grinned. "Well, well. Speaking of which." Quickly, Rainpelt dropped into a hunter's crouch, slinking toward the stone. Her pelt blended with the hues of the field, a wonderful golden honey color. Breezefur tried to flatter herself, aware of the trick Rainpelt was about to pull. When Rainpelt was within a yard of the rock, she suddenly rose and ran at it, before leaping to tackle poor Pantherpaw. "Surprise!" she cried, crashing into the apprentice and batting at her playfully.

[Crane]

Was that rustling? Pantherpaw's ears swivelled, trying to locate the faint noise she had heard.
Probably wind, she assured herself, no apprentice is that stealthy. Nonetheless, she stood up to have a look, putting her straight into the path of Rainpelt's tackle!
"Surprise!" Rainpelt shouted, as the two rolled off the rock and into the grass. Pantherpaw mewed in shock, before freeing a paw and returning Rainpelt's affectionate bats.
"You'll never beat me!" taunted Pantherpaw cheekily, struggling to worm her way out of Rainpelt's grasping embrace. Soon she got loose enough to squirm away. "Success!" laughed Pantherpaw, getting her footing back.
Once she was re-balanced, she dove back into the fray, trying to knock poor Rainpelt off her paws. She growled playfully as she lunged.

[Silver]

Rainpelt growled as Pantherpaw slipped out of her grasp, although it was broken up by her chuckle. "You'll never beat me! the apprentice cried. Rainpelt rocked back, ready for Pantherpaw's return strike. "We'll see about that!" she taunted. Breezefur, watching with an amused gleam in her eyes, leaped up onto the rock to watch the mock fight. The movement caught Rainpelt's gaze, and she turned her head just in time to miss Pantherpaw's charge, and by consequence was knocked off her paws as the she-cat barreled into her. Rainpelt let out her breath in a huff, taken off guard. "You cheeky little-" she laughed, attempting to flip Pantherpaw onto her back. Breezefur watch, her tail flicking excitedly. "Get her, Pantherpaw! Take her down!" she hooted, earning herself a mocking glare from Rainpelt. "No fair!""What to you expect? She is my daughter!"

[Crane]

Pantherpaw purred proudly ((ooh, that's a tongue-twister)) as her mother cheered for her, but was interrupted by Rainpelt's paw. She tried to dodge but was flipped over successfully, exposing her jet-black underbelly.
"No!" she giggled, "Warrior down, warrior down!" Rainpelt's paw was on her chest, pinning her. Suddenly, a burst of inspiration struck. She pulled her hind legs up and kicked Rainpelt's paw away, hoping to knock her unfortunate aunt off balance and escape. She rolled to the side as her back paws connected, then leaped to her feet. Her breath was starting to come a little faster now, as adrenaline surged through her body. Rainpelt was too smart to fall for it if she used the same surprise tactics again.
Bunching up her muscles, she prepared to charge. And so she did, straight for Rainpelt's side. But at the last moment, she jumped up, trying to land on Rainpelt's back, and either throw her to the ground or cling on for dear life.

[Silver]

Rainpelt grinned when she successfully flipped the black apprentice over. "Tag. Your it," she smirked, flicking her tail triumphantly. But Pantherpaw wasn't done yet. The young she-cat rocked back and kicked her paw away, scrambling to her feet. Rainpelt nodded, approving. "A decent move. But you still can't beat me!" she taunted. Pantherpaw charged, and Rainpelt quickly dropped to spring out of the way. Which worked to her advantage, as Pantherpaw leaped for her, landing awkwardly on her back. Quickly, the honey warrior rolled onto her back, squishing the apprentice. Breezefur hooted with laughter on the side-lines, her sides heaving for air. "Don't smother her!" she chuckled wickedly. "Looks whose talking," Rainpelt shot back, trying to keep her weight mostly on top of Pantherpaw. "I'm just big boned, mind you!" Breezefur countered.

[Crane]

Pantherpaw mewed pathetically as Rainpelt rolled over onto her and trapped her. The apprentice crinkled her face and spat honey-colored fur out of her mouth. Gross! Well, now she'd have to escape, before her aunt completely crushed her. She giggled at the thought. Crushed to death in a play-fight, that would be terrible.
Pantherpaw knew when she was beaten. Although she was still growing, she still wasn't a match in strength for Rainpelt at all. She exhaled defeatedly.
"Fine," she shouted, so Rainpelt could hear her, "I give up! You win!" Well, that completely sucked. Pantherpaw had a very wide competitive streak - losing was not one of her favourite past times. Now she'd have to keep honing her skills until she could beat Rainpelt.
She smiled in spite of herself. That was her newest goal - beat Rainpelt.

[Silver]

Rainpelt rolled off Pantherpaw without complaint. "You put up a good fight," she purred, playfully batting at the apprentice's ears. She caught the determined gleam in Pantherpaw's eyes, and made a mental note to watch her back from now on. Blackclaw's daughter would not let the defeat go by easily. Breezefur leaped down from the rock, trotting over to the pair. "You two were perfect," she purred, echoing Rainpelt's praise. She turned to Pantherpaw, appraising her daughter. "Look what you did, Rainpelt! She's filthy!" she mewed, reaching forward to smother her daughter in cleaning licks. Rainpelt chuckled, backing away slowly. Pantherpaw was as rebellious as her father, and she couldn't imagine the apprentice tolerating being cleaned up like a kit. The sun was warm on her back, and the mock-battle had put some energy and good cheer back into her weary paws. With all the talk about ThunderClan and RiverClan, she had almost forgotten what it was like to take a break and just play around.

(Short post fail)

[Crane]

Pantherpaw purred loudly at Breezefur's praise. Yes, she had done well, hadn't she? She glanced up at her mother's face as she surveryed the state of Pantherpaw's fur.
She was delighted when Breezefur exclaimed how dirty she was. If it showed up on her black pelt, she must be as filthy as her mother said she was. Now, she could go back to camp and proudly show off to the other apprentices.
Or not. Breezefur leaned forwards, drowning Pantherpaw in licks. The apprentice grimaced. She hated being cleaned. Her ear twitched in time with her mother's licks. After her and Rainpelt's play-fight, she was too tired to protest or run away.
In fact, the warm sun, the comforting presence of her mother and her tired limbs made Pantherpaw drowsy, and she found herself struggling to keep her eyelids open.

[Silver]

Rainpelt watched with amusement as Pantherpaw gave in to Breezefur's bathing. "I don't remember your father being so fussy with you, Breezefur. Wonder where you got it," she chuckled. A little weary from the play fight, Rainpelt laid upon the warm grass, stretching out luxuriously. She swiped her tongue over her speckled white paws, beginning to groom herself. "So how is training, Pantherpaw? Your mentor treating you alright?" she asked between licks. She tried to remember Pantherpaw's mentor, but her mind hit a road block. The face was there, just not the name. Mildly frustrated, she looked to Breezefur for help, but the fluffy she-cat was lost in her own world, her rapid tongue strokes seeming automatic. Rainpelt took a moment to admire the pair. They couldn't have been more different, with Breezefur's plush white-grey hair and Pantherpaw's ebony fur. Breezefur had a larger build, as well, but Rainpelt supposed it could be because Pantherpaw was fully grown yet. She imagined that day, when Pantherpaw became a warrior. For the first time, she almost wished that Blackclaw would be there to share the moment with them.

[Crane]

Pantherpaw glanced up from her paws as Rainpelt settled down.
"Yeah, training's okay, I suppose. But Ghostwalker's always really busy with Clan stuff, what with ThunderClan and RiverClan being up to no good," she complained. "I get stuck in camp a lot. Maybe I should ask him if we can actually train tomorrow."
She remembered how proud she'd been at her and her sibling's apprentice ceremony. She had the Clan deputy as a mentor! Of course, Eaglepaw ended up with Spicestar, but still. It wasn't like they did much training either.
She hadn't seen much of her littermates much recently, anyway. Although they all slept in the same den, that was sleeping time. During the day... She should ask if they could have a training session together, that would be fun!

[Silver]

Rainpelt sighed, twisting around to wash her back. "Riverstar and Duskstar have bees up their butt if they think they're going to get away with all this," she growled, biting down on a tick. Breezefur shot a warning look at her half-sister, pulling away from Pantherpaw, finally satisfied that she was clean. "Can't blame him. Perhaps me and Rainpelt could teach you a thing or two. I'm sure Ghostwalker wouldn't mind," she purred. Rainpelt's eyes gleamed at the opportunity. She had always wanted an apprentice. She was sorely disappointed when she wasn't assigned any of Breezefur's kits, as they were probably the last set of kits for their generation. "You know, maybe we could even convince Spicestar to let one of us take over training. It would sure make it easier on Ghostwalker," she said slyly. Breezefur nodded in agreement. She wanted her daughter to be a strong, respected warrior as much as anyone, and there was no way that would happen without some proper training. Not to mention she trusted Rainpelt with her life.

[Crane]

Pantherpaw snickered at Rainpelt's use of the word bees, missing the warning glance her mother shot at Rainpelt. Pantherpaw purred as Breezefur finished cleaning her, and sat in position so that the three cats formed a triangle.
"That would be great!" Pantherpaw cheered enthusiastically at Breezefur's suggestion, "Can we start now?"
But she listened calmly - for her anyway - as they spoke about taking over from Ghostwalker. Of course her impatiently twitching tail gave away what she wanted to do - run back to WindClan camp right now! And ask then train and hunt and fight and become a warrior!

Pounce. Yes, got it! Spicestar quickly killed the rabbit, then buried it and padded off to find another one. Now was a good time to be hunting - with the sun out, the rabbits were out as well. Of course, the heat was uncomfortable with Spicestar's thick ginger pelt. He was used to it though.
His pricked ears suddenly picked up a faint trace of voices. He heard his name mentioned, and started walking leisurely to the source.
When he got there he saw Rainpelt, Breezefur and Pantherpaw sitting together having a chat. There were scuffle marks in the dirt near them, maybe they'd just finished with a play fight.
"Afternoon," he greeted sunnily, "My ears are burning!"

[Maybe that was a bit too convienient? Ah well]

[Silver]

Rainpelt and Breezefur both looked up, surprised. "Why, hullo Spicestar," Breezefur said cheerfully. "We were just chatting about you and Ghostwalker," she purred. Rainpelt nodded, her ears twitching excitedly. What wonderful timing, Spicestar. Odd that he's out and about all by his lomesome, though, she thought, kneading the ground with her paws. "We were discussing how busy you and Ghostwalker are these days, and how hard it must be to train an apprentice on top of all that. Rainpelt and I were going to teach Pantherpaw a trick or two, and it occurred to us it might be better for Pantherpaw as well as Ghostwalker to let Rainpelt take over her training," Breezefur continued. Neither she-cat could imagine Spicestar saying no, but Rainpelt was prepared to argue if need be. An apprentice of her very own! The thought excited her. It was about time, after all!

[Crane]

Spicestar listened carefully as Breezefur explained about Ghostwalker being so busy nowadays, and suggesting she and Rainpelt took over Pantherpaw's training. Spicestar pondered this. Breezefur had a point - he hadn't once seen Ghostwalker taking Pantherpaw out. And more than once he'd noticed Pantherpaw sneaking out of camp, which was dangerous if she went by herself, especially if there was anything nasty roaming the wide WindClan territory.
However, was it a good idea to let family members train her? Well technically Rainpelt was Pantherpaw's half-aunt, so that would be okay. Besides, Pantherpaw was eager to learn, so maybe two mentors was better than one.
He purred. "That would be fine," he agreed, "I'm just on my way back to camp now, so I'll tell Ghostwalker when I get back," he informed them, before turning tail and bounding off, his ginger fur steaming out behind him.

Pantherpaw squealed excitedly when Spicestar gave them the tick of approval.
"Let's go hunting! Or should we do some more fighting? I bet I could take both of you on!"