{Open} Testing a Myth

Smokepaw was frustrated. He was supposed to train today, but all of the warriors had their own apprentices. This would be the third sunrise in a row that the white and gray tom hadn't been able to train with a warrior and had to practice on his own. "Stupid, mouse brains" he grumbled quietly as he padded across the moors. "Busy furballs." It just wasn't fair that Smokepaw was the only apprentice without a mentor! Even if he had one at some point, he didn't now! Nothing worked for him because when he trained with the other apprenticed, he got it down too fast and was too impatient for the others. He couldn't train with a warrior alone 'cause all of the warriors had their own apprenticed that they couldn't leave behind. He knew he shouldn't be frustrated at his clan or the warriors. It wasn't his fault that they had so many apprentices. If his father wasn't an elder then they could train together. It just wasn't fair.

Breathing in to give a heavy sigh, a sour stench made him cough and look around. Somehow Smokepaw had walked all the way to the badger set. this place had always intrigued him and made him curious. The rumors that the smell went all the way into riverclan territory couldn't be true. It would be smelt back at the camp too if that was the case. The only way those rumors might be true is if the set was so deep that it led to Riverclan territory. That could be tested. The apprentices were always told not to go into the hole because it could collapse, but what if it did lead into Riverclan territory? Windclan could do so much and be way better off. Smokepaw just had to check it out.

With no other cat around that he could see, the tom padded down into the hole and moved until it got dark. It was harder to see inside of the set than Smokepaw thought it would be, and this place smelt so bad that he couldn't tell if any cat or creature had followed him. It made the apprentice's fur prickle at the thought that any creature could be behind him waiting to kill or scare him. Hissing in annoyance at himself, he continued to walk only a couple of more tail lengths until he hit a wall. His pelt brushing against the walls as he turned around proved that he had reached the end of the set. "I knew it. What a disappointment." A playful smirk crossed his maw. "Too bad there aren't any she-cats with me. Flirting would be fun down here."

Birdpaw had been laying in camp, completely and utterly bored. Flamestrike, her mentor, had decided to give her the day off after their hard training session yesterday, and left her in camp while he went off on patrol. If he had asked her, she would of said she was completely and totally up for patrol. Depending on what he said, she might have pulled out a few choice words for the occasion. Unfortunately, the occasion never came. And here she was, bored and lonely in camp. She rolled in her spot, the only sunny spot the camp had at the moment. Her limps stretched out and she let out a huge yawn. All around her was activity. Every cat was moving about preparing for the coming leaf bare, and Birdpaw was stuck in camp because her mentor didn't want to exert her. The tan tabby apprentice groaned as she rolled into a sitting position. Her bored gaze traveled across the camp and she spotted the form of her fellow apprentice, Smokepaw, leaving the camp. With nothing better to do she followed him. The tom walked aimlessly about the moor. Birdpaw slunk behind him, far enough not to be noticed, but close enough to know what he was doing. Birdpaw held back a gruff laugh. He was whining over not having a steady mentor. It was just three days since his last one gave up on him. She rolled her eyes. It's what you got for being to smart for your own good. Smokepaw finally stopped at the old badger set. Birdpaw watched him curiously, and then watched as he went in. She sighed. Why did she even follow him? She crept over to the entrance of the badger set, and poked her head in, just as he said "Too bad there aren't any she-cats with me. Flirting would be fun down here." She laughed and called into the hole "Right, because a tom sulking over not having a mentor is super attractive." [bg=4b525c][atrb=border,0,true]

Shrugging as if to say 'oh well', Smokepaw headed for the entrance just as a laugh echoed through the hole. Giving a startled hiss, Smokepaw smacked his head on the roof of the set when he was surprised by Birdpaw's voice. "Great Starclan!" Okay, she'd gotten him. Smokepaw had been scaring himself and Birdpaw had walked in on the right time. It was a little funny that he'd jumped so hard, too. With a murrow of amusement and a grin, Smokepaw spoke. "Guess you caught me." The white tom smirked and padded toward Birdpaw, attempting to purposefully bump into her. He let out a playful purr regardless and shook some of the loose dirt from his pelt.

Smokepaw knew Birdpaw mostly by name. She wasn't as playful or as receiving of flirting as the other cats were, and was said to be just a little sarcastic. Oh, she was perfect to annoy. Smokepaw just hadn't had a chance to yet. "No one said I'd be sulking with a pretty she-cat like you around, Birdpaw." the gray splotched tom had a twinkle in his crystal blue eyes. "I don't think any cat could sulk in the capture of your sun-like eyes." The 8-moon old apprentice flirted with every she-cat even remotely close to his age and most of it was in good fun, but what he said was mostly embellishment and never a lie. If he liked a feature of a cat, he told her so. Of course, flirting wasn't his only forte. Smokepaw thought that he played the best tricks on any cat, even if the other cats didn't quite think so.

Birdpaw watched Smokepaw exit the den with a bored gaze. She moved out of the way, but she caught his attempt to bump into her. She just glared. Obviously not at all smitten with his smooth ways and cheesy pick up lines. She flinched as he shook the dirt from his pelt and it hit her in the face. Yes, super smooth moves there, she thought. If he thought his playful purr and loveable bump were enticing, he needed to go see Cloudstep. She sat down outside the entrance of the den Smokepaw had just come out of. She was already bored and thinking about different things she could do. She was already out of camp with permission, she could just disappear for the rest of the day and cause havoc. That would show her mentor what happens when he is afraid of being to hard on her. "No one said I'd be sulking with a pretty she-cat like you around, Birdpaw. Smokepaw's voice brought the tan she-cat out of her reverie. "I don't think any cat could sulk in the capture of your sun-like eyes." Birdpaw caught the twinkle in his star-blue eyes. She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Smokepaw," she said "How cheesy can you get? That was pitiful." Birdpaw knew that Smokepaw had a reputation of being a flirt with the girls, but she didn't care. She once had too deal with Thornpaw. Once...before he died and left her alone. Siblings gone, adopted parents gone, her only real friend gone. She had turned hard and cold and more sarcastic since that dark time in her life. But she wasn't going to let Smokepaw get under her skin. "You're going to have to come up with new lines if you want to keep your status and WindClan flirt." [bg=4b525c][atrb=border,0,true]

[atrb=border,0,true] Smokepaw knew about Birdpaw's sarcastic tendencies well and was not at all surprised by the glare she shot him after his attempt to be playful. If he was known as the Windclan flirt, she was known as the Windclan hard-tail. He'd heard rumors about her being sarcastic and rude toward senior warriors as well. Smokepaw thought that he had stepped far enough away not to hit her with the dirt from his pelt and smiled nervously as a quiet apology. Seriously, Smokepaw. How cheesy can you get? Cheesy? Ouch The small, grey-splotched tom blinked at the white she-cat near him for a moment and gave an amused purr. She just loved trying to put cats off."Cheesy? Most cats like when I compliment them like this." With a slight chuckle, Smokepaw flicked his ears at her and puffed out his chest."Change my lines? I have infinite lines that make most she-cats smile if not swoon." Swoon might be an overstatement, but he loved to embellish his talents. The small, splotched apprentice shrugged and looked Birdpaw over. He had a great plan to tease her a little cropping into his mind as he watched the she-cat respond to him. A momentary glint of mischievousness flashed into his pretty blue eyes.

[/color=7b737c]"My, My Birdpaw, could you be hiding a crush?"[/color] The tom smirked, tip of his tail twitching "I wonder just who it could be on. It's the only reason that you would dislike my comments so much." Ruffling fur was his second favorite pastime to flirting with the she-cats in his clan. Smokepaw enjoyed teasing and playing tricks on the harder-to-impress cats in his clan that wouldn't fall for his cheesy one-liners.

Birdpaw was a little more difficult than his normal crowd as there really wasn't a lot to talk to her about. She didn't really seem to like conversations anyway. "So, you wanna sit around while I tease you more, or do you wanna actually do something? The set unfortunately doesn't really go that far."

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Word Count: 331
Muse: Meh, it's okay

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