Song Setting: Glowing eyes | Twenty One Pilots

Character of the Week: Larkstar

"Psst! Frostpaw!"

Frostpaw groaned, curling up tighter in her nest to ward away the cold. It was well into Greenleaf, and in SwiftClan, that meant mist - lots of it. Cold mornings, hot days, and warm nights. As for whoever was trying to wake her up, surely they could wait until later?

"Frost-" A sharp jab in her side. "Frostpaw."

"What..." Frostpaw mumbled, shivering in the cold morning as her eyes remained sealed shut. But she was beginning to think a bit more clearly, and she soon found that the voice didn't match those of any of her fellow apprentices. Curious, she blinked the sleep from her eyes, staring in turn at each blurry cat still asleep in the den. Raggedpaw's pale tabby fur was the first thing she saw, and one by one, she identified each apprentice's sleeping form. Even Breezepaw had snuck into the den during the night to rest, and he was still quietly resting as well. So who could possibly-

"Morning!" Came a startling loud greeting.

Frostpaw nearly yelped in surprise, and a large fluffy paw clamped down over her muzzle. The apprentice found herself faced with nothing but a pair of overwhelmingly blue eyes and an eager grin, which seemed to be stuck to the face of a silver and white tomcat. "Shh, you'll wake them."

"Mmph!" Frostpaw protested, finding it exceedingly hard to breathe around the paw still covering her mouth.

The tom blinked. "Meet me outside," He said, a bit more quietly, and then darted out of the apprentice den in two impossibly fluid movements. Frostpaw slowly remembered how to breathe again, shaking her head in confusion before surveying the other cats to make sure none of them had woken up. Then, still quite flustered, she picked her way around the sleeping cats and emerged into the frigid morning air. The fog was so thick she could barely see through it, and what she could see made her less than happy. Only a small sliver of sunlight could be seen from where she stood, she doubted the dawn patrol had even left yet. 

Sitting off to the side was the silver tom, long tail brushing the frost-laced grass, and Frostpaw could see crusted mud in his fur reaching well past his paws; indicating that he'd probably been trudging around in it for most of the 'morning'.

"You're crazy!" Frostpaw hissed once she was out of earshot of the other cats, picking her way around the small patches of mud and cringing every time the earth beneath her paws made a squelching noise.

"Actually, I'm Spiritseer, but good guess," The tom teased.

Frostpaw growled something under her breath, ears pulled back against her skull in a vain attempt to keep warm. "You're a Scout, right?" She mumbled, "Is this some part of my training?" She tried to brace herself as she nearly slipped on the slick patch of frozen mud, and ended up splayed out in a horribly uncomfortable position while she tried to regain her footing.

"Quickbreeze was right, you are sharp! You certainly do need to work on your form, though."

"Quickbreeze said something that about me?" Frostpaw said hopefully, lurching forward a second time when she attempted to step forward.

Spiritseer laughed. "Well, no, but I could tell he was thinking it. Don't worry - he's hard to impress, but he'll warm up to you eventually."

"You really think so?" Frostpaw muttered, deciding not to move at all. 

At that point, Spiritseer seemed to disregard the conversation and move onto a new topic. "We'll focus on that later. Lunarlight suggested all three of us take part in your training, or at least until Quickbreeze is ready," He explained, "For now, movement seems more vital."

"It's slippery," Frostpaw complained

"If you're bringing important information back from an enemy Clan, do you want to tell your leader you were held up because the territory was 'slippery'?"

Frostpaw sighed. "I thought on their first day apprentices sat down and learned about Clan boundaries and stuff."

"I'm more into learning by doing," Spiritseet chirped, then bounded off across the camp.

"Where are you going?!" Frostpaw called after him, taking a few uneasy steps forward and flinching when mud splashed up the back of her leg.

"Learning by doing," He repeated, disappearing through the camp entrance.

"Spiritseer!" Frostpaw snapped.

"Embrace the learning!" Came the faint reply.

A muffled, "Quite down out there!" Came from the Elder's den on the other side of camp. 

Frostpaw carefully made her way forward as her paws slowly went numb, tiny droplets of soil and frost speckling her underside. Nearing the entrance, Frostpaw tripped and fell into a shallow puddle of mud. Now soaked to the bone, the forlorn apprentice trudged the rest of the way out of camp, though she was relieved to see that there were no cats posted at the camp entrance. Still tired, she continued to stumble forward; through the ivy-draped stone arch and out into the meadow beyond. 

She sloshed through the mud and out into the meadow, shaking the droplets of moisture from her fur.  Looking up, she glimpsed a flash Spiritseer's pelt disappearing around one of the numerous tall knobbly mountains that could be seen from camp, and she huffed begrudgingly. Knowing there was no possible way to be any colder, she trotted off after him, moving as fast as she could with her legs being half frozen

"Took you long enough," Spiritseer yawned, appearing to have been grooming himself at the base of the rock while he waited for the aprentice. Frostpaw grunted in response. Her chest was heaving and her throat was burning, she didn't think it was possible to still be conscious after breathing this little air. "You're a bit out of shape." He purred in amusement. Frostpaw shot him a look, wondering how this cat could have ever become a scout.

"What... are we... doing... here?" Frostpaw panted, putting all of her effort into not collapsing in front of the older cat.

Spiritseer sat up a little straighter, flashing grin that seemed to suddenly be illuminated as the first rays of sunlight appeared over the hills. "Endurance training," He informed her, "Now try and keep up."

Frostpaw had barely caught her breath when Spiritseer was off again, and this time at a speed she could keep up with - barely. "Where are we going!" She shouted after him, paws thudding rhythatically against the dew-soaked grass as she tried to match his stride.

Spiritseer picked up speed, and Frostpaw did the same, the fog blurring the landscape while small clumps of grass and soil were left in her wake. Again, she felt her stomach cramp while her ragged breathing came out in short gasps. Determined, she pushed forward, each rush of energy threatening to steal the air from her lungs. "Don't give up yet!" Spiritseer cheered, slowing for a brief moment so that their paws hit the ground in time. 

Frostpaw's mouth had gone dry and she was afraid to croak out an answer. Spiritseer laughed jovially, pushing on ahead while the apprentice struggled against her aching muscles.

Like a bird spreading its wings, the light suddenly fanned out over the meadow and the sky glowed gold and orange as the dawn finally arrived. A startlingly bright purple streaked the clouds, chasing away the deep blue that rimmed the hills. The faint chirping of crickets faded, and warmth flooded through the two cats sprinting through the meadow. The grass brushed Frostpaw's belly fur, the stiffness in her limbs was slowly dissapating. Just like that, the meadow was alive, and Frostpaw felt strangely alive too.

Frostpaw heard the crashing of the river before she saw it, and when she did, the shimmering water illuminated by the sunrise nearly took her breath away. Spiritseer had come to a halt near the riverbank and was watching her gleefully, Frostpaw could hardly get rid of the excited grin that had been plastered to her face since the sun rose. "That was amazing!" She exclaimed, taking a couple deep breaths to try and calm herself. Spiritseer purred at her enthusiasm, splashing forward into the river. 

"Come on in, the water's great!" He encouraged, and Frostpaw disregarded her precise manner of doing things, bounding through the shallows behind her mentor. Spiritseer suddenly ducked under the water, and Frostpaw froze in fear.

"Spiritseer! Are you alright?" She yowled, wading deeper into the water to try and see where he had gone. Just as alarmingly, Spiritseer surfaced beside her, showering the distraught apprentice with water. "You're terrible!" She scolded, trying as hard as possible to mask her snickering. 

"Hey, what's that over there?" He chirped, and before Frostpaw had even moved to look in the direction he was staring, Spiritseer shoved her into the water. 

Frostpaw spluttered and shook out her fur, dripping wet but completely clean of mud. "You'll pay for that!" She squeaked, tackling the larger cat with barely enough force to make him stumble. Still, Spiritseer played along, and the two tumbled about in the currents as the sun rose higher in the sky.

"You're no match for me!"

"Gidoffme!"

"Not until you surrender!" 

"Fine, fine, I'll surrender! Have mercy on your poor old mentor!"

"You have to say Frostpaw's the best."

"I will do no such-"

"Say it."

"Alright! Frostpaw's the best!"

The two arrived back at camp grinning and exhausted, and Frostpaw heard numerous groans of irritation and Spiritseer proceeded to shake water from his fur whenever he passed a group of cats.

"See ya later, Frostpaw!" He called over his shoulder, though no one could be sure exactly when "later" was.

A worn-out Snowpaw caught Frostpaw's eye, and she wandered towards him, smiling cheerily. "Hi Snowpaw! Hard day training today?"

Snowpaw looked her up and down for a moment in confusion, and stuttered a moment before remembering how to form words. "You're wet," He stated, almost as if it were a question.

"Yes. Congratulations of your exceptional observation skills," Frostpaw teased, "I've got to go and find Lunarlight. Have fun with Larkstar!" With that, she sauntered off towards the Scouts' den with a slight skip in her step, not once turning to look at the bewildered tom who stood in quiet awe behind her.

"Snowpaw, Larkstar want us to get back - Snowpaw?" Jaypaw began, stopping as he saw Snowpaw's expression. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"She's covered in mud and water," Snowpaw murmured, "And she's completely fine with it."

Jaypaw laughed awkwardly. "Oookay, I think you might need to rest for a bit." He gently put a tail on Snowpaw's shoulder and led him back towards the apprentice's den, the apprentice did little to object. 

A/N: I finally finished this, and It's not very eventful, but I found Spiritseer's personality very charming and wanted to include him more in the book. This chapter was a bit shorter than normal and I'm hoping to work some more on my WoF fan fiction, but I wanted to get something out before I moved onto that.

~Wings of Frost