Ray of Sunshine (Gingerflight-CONTINUED))

<sup>Mysticpaw
You may be smart, but I'm smarter

Mysticpaw followed her mentor out of camp in a fast pace, a surprised expression plastered on her face. Gingerflight was in an extremely good mood today. But wasn't she always? Mysticpaw guessed that she was just so used to mood swings from her sister or mother that it was hard to accept a cat that always seemed happy.

Catching up to the ginger warrior she called out, "Why are you always in such a good mood? Can you teach me how to be as happy as you?"</sup>

[/sup]

Gingerflight
Gingerflight smiled back at her apprentice as she easily kept up. good she was a fast cat, would help her a lot with hunting. As gingerflight neared the sand pit she slowed down and waited for her apprentice. When she asked the questions she looked at her flicking her ears.
"I guess it just comes naturally for me..." she mewed quietly as she padded onto the sand. "I always see things in a better light, gives you a better perspective. now as far as teaching you...I can't do that. you have to teach yourself." she mewed flicking her apprentices nose with her tail.
She smiled at her apprentice and was glad she was go inquisitive. Again, she reminded her a lot of herself. Calm yet outgoing and curious. This was going to be fun.
"alright, now show me how you think you would get ready to hunt a mouse." she mewed, starting to get down to business.

Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held out heads so high
When all this world was there for us
We believed that we could touch the sky
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember.

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<sup>Mysticpaw
You may be smart, but I'm smarter

Mysticpaw cocked her head. Learn it herself? She made it sound so easy! For the black she-cat, it was a challenge to be enthusiastic about everything. Always in a good mood. Since the day her sister became more distant, she always found herself in a bad mood. She just couldn't find a reason to be happy.

Mysticpaw was distracted by the sudden change of subject. Nodding she added, "Why don't I show you on a real mouse?" Smiling, she turned her attention to the creature in question, for she had been eying it for a while now and now she finally got the chance to hunt it down. Lowering herself into a hunter's crouch, she slithered toward it, eyes locked intensely on her prey.

The apprentice paused, feeling the distance between her and the unexpected victim was in a good pouncing range. At this moment, her mind wondered off, thinking too much. At first she thought too hard about the hunt. Then she thought about her sister. Then she thought about what could make her happy. All these things whirled in her head.

By the time she got back to reality and got prepared for the final move, the mouse had noticed her and scurried away in fright, finding shelter in a hole nearby. "Mouse-dung!" Mysticpaw hissed in frustration. Why did she let herself get so caught up in her thoughts? Heaving herself up and turning around she meowed shyly, "Ah...sorry..."</sup>

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Gingerflight
gingerflight couldn't helped but watched the apprentice with amusement as she started stalking after a near by mouse. Maybe she should have stopped her, but she did to see what she needed work on. Gingerflight sat still so she didn't scare the small mouse away.
As she watched Mysticpaw closely she noticed she seemed to hesitate. her ears flicked and her tail moves rustling the leaves behind her. The rustling of the leaves alerted the mouse and it took off. Then mysticpaw seemed to realize what happened. At her little outburst gingerflight smiled warmly at the apprentice.
"it's alright. That was your first try."

[/color] she mewed quietly and licked her paw bringing it over her ear. out of curiosity, what were you thinking about that made you hesitate?"[/color]
That was one thing the small she-cat would have to learn. She couldn't let herself get distracted. It made a poor hunter and a poor fighter for the clan. But it wasn't something that she couldn't teach her.[/center]

Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held out heads so high
When all this world was there for us
We believed that we could touch the sky
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember.

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<sup>Mysticpaw
You may be smart, but I'm smarter

Mysticpaw was cooled down from the frustration she inflicted at herself by her mentor's warm meow. It was so relaxing to have a mentor so...so...happy. Gingerflight was the type to brighten any cats' day. It almost made her feel jealous. Why can't she be like that? Why can't she be as happy as Gingerflight? Maybe it was because the she-cat had someone? Someone that loved her and was always at her side?

That used to be Mysticpaw. She could have never been happier. A playful mother, a loving father, and a sister who meant everything to her. Now she was alone. Not in the nursery where she was always under the watchful gaze of her mother, the warm gaze of her father, and the presence of her sister. It was all gone. Could she ever feel that warmth again?

Gingerflight's question took her off guard. Letting her gaze travel toward the ground in thought, she easily revived the images that distracted her from her hunt. "Ah...it's nothing really. I was just thinking about what my sister was doing. It's hard not being with her as much as the old times..." Mysticpaw's voice trailed away, lost in memories. But a question brought her back.

"Have you ever been lonely?"</sup>

[/sup]

Gingerflight
Gingerflight waited calmly for the small cat to answer her. When she did it was soft and she could tell the subject bothered her. Then she asked the question and gingerlfight could only flick her ears at first response. In fact she had. At a very young age. And what about now? Sabertooth was a wonderful tom, but even he didn't see the way she did sometimes, and that was frustrating.
"Actually i have."

[/color] she murmured looking at the black apprentice. "My brother, Nightscar, when we were apprentices about your age, left Thunderclan to join Shadowclan. He said he didn't belong here. Even though i still had my mom and i dad i had lost my best friend."[/color]
She stopped for a moment and picked her paw and brought it over her ear a few times and licked down a few hairs on her chest.
"Even now i wonder if I'm separated from Sabertooth. He doesn't completely understand what i see....but he really does care for me. and i couldn't be more thankful for that."[/color] she said smiling at the apprentice.
Suddenly the sound of thunder made Gingerflight jump and look toward the Shadowclan boarder. However, the sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds. She narrowed her eyes slightly and kneaded the ground with her claws.
'It's those two-legs...starclan what are they doing?' she thought.
"alright...let's continue working on that technique."[/color] she said crouching down to where it looked like she was hunting a mouse. "Alright, when you first start off you want to be light on your feet. Mice can feel the vibrations in the ground as you move. if you keep weight off your feet, then it'll be harder for them to hear you. Now i want you to stalk forward toward that leaf over there...just don't pounce on it yet."[/color]
She flicked her tail toward a leaf in the clearing and then backed away to watch her apprentice. She was sure she could learn this quickly. Mysticpaw was smart, she just needed to learn how to deal with emotions.[/center]

Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held out heads so high
When all this world was there for us
We believed that we could touch the sky
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember.

[/size][/right]

<sup>Mysticpaw
You may be smart, but I'm smarter

Mysticpaw's ears strained to carefully catch each of Gingerflight's sorrow filled past. It felt identical to hers, except she didn't loose her sibling forever. Just to Clan life. But there was a difference above all else: Gingerflight had someone she loved and could depend on to fill that empty space in her heart. But, if she grew to be as confident and happy and her mentor, maybe she could find someone like that too.

It must have been hard on the she-cat, though, no matter how enthusiastic she was. If she ever fully lost Kestrelpaw to another Clan, she wouldn't know how she would be able to go on functionally. How did she endure something so painful? Seeing him at gatherings, patrols. Painful reminders of that day can lurk in any corner. But, Gingerflight seems as if she never had that burden on her shoulder. She was one of the best warriors to be this good-spirited and cheerful.

In a flash, the subject changed to their first priority. Hunting. Casting away any thoughts of what they had just discussed, she nodded and crouched low until her belly fur gently brushed against the surface of the earth. It seemed pretty silly to be stalking a mere leaf and pretend its unaware prey, but she tried not to be picky, following the instructions gave to her by her mentor and made light steps toward her target, almost loosing her balance from the comfort of easily walking in normal weight. If only cats were made of feathers...</sup>

[/sup]

Gingerflight
Gingerflight watched quietly as Mysticpaw crouched down and started toward the leaf. Everything looked good minus a few things. They were things that practice could easily fix. Gingerflight was actually impressed at how far mysitcpaw had grown within just a few days and weeks.
"Alright...good so far. Now...instead of having your weight on just your front paws even out. Lean back on your back legs a little. It'll balance you out and not make you fall over rro easily."

[/color] she mewed gently then crouched down. "Like this."[/color]
Gingerflight slowly slunk forward, her belly fur brushing the ground. At the moment at a quick glance she looked like a apprentice. She was small and that's how she easily got her prey. She was agile and quick. Mysticpaw would be the same well. Gingerflight could tell. She would be a wonderful warrior.[/center]

Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held out heads so high
When all this world was there for us
We believed that we could touch the sky
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember.

[/size][/right]

<sup>Mysticpaw observed her mentor carefully. In the moment of taking mental notes of the presentation Gingerflight was giving she noticed this was the easy subject for her in life. Training. Training was easy, for she could learn things quick. But unfortunately she wasn't intelligent in all areas, which made the rest of her life difficult. It was easy to learn, but hard in everything else. Social life, particularly. Will she ever learn to use her knowledge more widely?

After the demonstration, she quickly caught on to the idea, and copied the movements of the small warrior. She no longer wished cats were made of feathers when she no longer fought to keep her balance, and was satisfied with having fur, meat and bones. Actually, she felt as nimble and light as a feather itself, and was grateful for Gingerflight for pointing out her flaw. After her duplicate of Gingerflight's stalk she raised herself from the ground.

Then a sudden realization hit her, like a bolt of lightning.

Wasn't it....being helpful a quality of being friendly?

"Gingerflight..." Mysticpaw started with a nervous glance. "Did you say something about Sabertooth...? Do you two...talk often? Or recently?"</sup>

Gingerflight
The cheerful warrior of Thunderclan

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The ginger warrior smiled as Mysticpaw quickly caught on to the exercise. She was glad that she would be an easy one to teach. That way maybe they could learn a few other things besides hunting and fighting all the time. She knew it took her moon to learn certain fighting moves. They might even be able to go out hunting today is Mysticpaw kept it up.
At Mysticpaw's question gingerflight stopped and stood up looking at the small black cat. No one really asked about her or Sabertooth much. Really she didn't think anyone knew they were together. If they did, they didn't say much. She looked at her apprentice and gave a smile, but it was weak and unsure.
"we talk quite a bit. But i must say...it has been a while. We've bother been really busy and all. The two-legs have really been causing problems."

[/color] she mewed and slowly licked her paw running it over her ears. "Why do you ask?"[/color]
She let her gaze look back up at the black apprentice with a questioning look. Usually apprentices didn't as warrior about their mates or relationships. Really she didn't mind but she was curious why this apprentice was so questionable about it.[/size][/left]

<sup>"I'm not the one to be doing this..."

Not that I'm not that type to be even trying to do this... Mysticpaw thought bitterly.

"But..."

Here it goes..I hope I don't sound like a mouse-brain! I sure feel like one...

"I have an idea to get Sabertooth's attention."

Mysticpaw couldn't believe herself when she thought of this plan, and she didn't see it going too well, but it was worth a try. Anything to help Gingerflight. And, to help her social skills. It was bad enough she was a know-it-all jerk who never had humor and was already acting more mature for her own good, but to only have one friend? She had to change her ways. No wonder Kestrelpaw left her when she had the chance.

"You don't have to do it, and I know it might not be you, but...what if...you show what Sabertooth has been missing on? Get him so fall in love with you all over again? Here's how it'll work..

"I can get his attention and start talking about you. Like you are the most greatest thing in the world. And then you come in. We can freshen you up and make your pelt so spotless it gleams in the light. You slowly walk in...making yourself as beautiful as possible. Stretching, graceful steps, anything like that. Then you come over to us and only say a quick hi to Sabertooth before we start talking about training. Make your voice and looks look cute as possible. Then we walk away, and if Sabertooth calls you back then he took the bait and he's all your's. Hopefully he thought over how much he loved you and missed you. If he doesn't..."

Mysticpaw sighed. "Maybe he isn't right for you...if he still doesn't pay attention to you. Plus...we can always try this on someone else, if we do this to Sabertooth or not. I always thought Cardinalfeather was best for you..."

I'm going to get yelled at!</sup>

Gingerflight
The cheerful warrior of Thunderclan

[/color]

gingerflight looked at the young she-cat letting a surprised look slide on her face. The plan seemed very fool proof and it did sound like fun. Maybe it would get Sabertooth to look at her again. But if it didn't, she could use it on other cats. What she wasn't ready for was her apprentice's comment about the tom Cardinalfeather. She tilted her head slightly. She knew the tom and he did seem very nice, but they had never really spent much time together outside of patrols.

She looked at her apprentice. "You really think Cardinalfeather would be better for me?"

[/color] she asked softly. She hated to be so childish in front of her apprentice, but if her apprentice knew something about her supposed mate, she wanted to know too. Maybe Sabertooth didn't like her. Maybe she didn't feel the same about Sabertooth. Really she never got a happy feeling when she thought or looked at Sabertooth. She really never felt anything.

gingerflight sat down and looked at mysticpaw and wondered how this little she-cat could know so much about love? Here she was a full grown warrior and she was still having trouble with it. What did the clan teach kits now a days?[/size][/left]