BlindPaw felt the dirt coursing between his pads, he lifted his nose to drink in the scents as he stopped, the forest smelt so good, so fresh, much better than the camp. He felt the spark of amusement and remembered another cat was there, and it jolted him back to reality, while he looked to where he sensed the mood sheepishly.

"Are you ready? GorseStar did give you extra things to learn, based on your heightened senses from your blindness, like Sound, Smell, and Agility." SoftSong informed BlindPaw, his voice sounded like a song he could forever drown in. BlindPaw pulled off his best skeptical face.

"Really? Doesnt that seem a little...extra?" BlindPaw snorted, flicking his ear. GorseStar has no respect for me, so why should I show him anything? He thought bitterly, remembering all the mean words that were said behind his back, all to be hidden from him like he was a newborn kit, did anybody think he had a brain?

A flare of surprise shot from SoftSong, causing BlindPaw to slightly cringe, before SoftSong started laughing. "Yes, young apprentice! Although you show little respect for GorseStar, he did this for research on blind cats, since we havent had one in ages, atleast since GorseStar had been born, there was nothing." There was a long silence, before SoftSong spoke again.

"I think he chose me to do all these extra tasks with you, is because im patient, he knows that, and he knows how to manipulate minds and put them on the course he wants them on, although I can easily see through him, I pretend to fall for it anyways...He hates when he doesnt get his way, like a fussy kit having a temper tantrum." SoftSong explained, his emotions so baffling that BlindPaw could barely even put words together.

"oh.." was all he could squeak, before SoftSong's mood shifted to something more agreeable. "Lets get started then, shall we?" he sensed SoftSong smile warmly.

BlindPaw nodded quickly, his heart racing against his chest, his first training session! He could sense the reflex of SoftSong's muscles as he turned away, and BlindPaw's heart practically sang in his chest.

"So, lets start with the basics first...what about Hunting first? Like all the crouches and things you should do?" He could hear SoftSong's voice, now in a singsong tone, his fur slightly bristled, his heartbeat slightly slower, and his eyes pinned on BlindPaw.

He quickly replied, looking sheepish at his spacing out, "Er- yes, yes, that'd be great. Where are we starting?" BlindPaw let a small smile peek at the side of his lips, before trying to look neutral again before SoftSong noticed.

SoftSong's mood shifted happily, causing a small throb in BlindPaw's head. "Lets start here, and work on your hunting crouch." SoftSong suggested, his tail brushed against leaves on the dirt as he came closer to him, BlindPaw let himself tune into SoftSong's heartbeat, fixing a focused look at he crouched.

BlindPaw did as he imagined, as he felt when other cats did it, their muscles flexing in response to their limbs, the way BouncePaw told him he'd learned. He kept his tail slightly off the ground, he fixed all his weight equally on himself, he slightly ducked his head, and flattened his ears against his head.

A spark of approval came from SoftSong's mood.

"That's exactly correct, how'd you learn that?" SoftSong murmured to BlindPaw, he could sense the tom's mood mingling with suspicion now, so BlindPaw replied smoothly, making sure his voice sounded convincing. "BouncePaw told me how he'd learned, so I just imagined it in my mind." He shrugged noncommittally.

SoftSong's mood shifted again, no suspicion left, and BlindPaw felt eternally relieved. "Alright, start walking forward in that crouch." SoftSong ordered, he could sense the slight tint of roughness in his voice that no other normal cat would notice. But BlindPaw tuned into SoftSong's heartbeat again, clearing all thoughts, just focusing on his own muscles and his agile but vicious movments.

He silently placed on paw in front of the other, making sure not to put too much pressure down on the leaves to make them crack, for that was a way to scare prey away. Then he stopped at the motion he sensed, a tail flick, the wind of it slightly battered across BlindPaw's face for a moment.

"That was great, BlindPaw." SoftSong's voice came in beside him, almost making him jump out of stance. But BlindPaw just lifted his head, placing his breezy blind gaze on SoftSong's. "Thank you, SoftSong. Should we try it on real prey?" he suggested, trying not to sound too pushy, or too desperate.

He could feel the smile peeking across SoftSong's face. "Not today, BlindPaw. Were just learning the stances." SoftSong's words ended in a chuckle. BlindPaw looked away, slightly annoyed, but didnt show it, he wouldnt show it.

So, he just turned back to look at SoftSong again. "We can learn the fighting stances though, fighting basics, but probably best to test your agility and hearing before that, so you can get a good picture at where im at." SoftSong said in a suggestive voice, he could sense SoftSong's smile getting wider. BlindPaw nodded, getting up from his stance, carefully taking in his surroundings and calculating where all the things were before he focused on SoftSong again.

"Im sure I can do it without those things, but we can try." He snorted, trying not to let a teasing look cross over his neutral expression. "Then first things first, with agility, we see how fast you can go –without bumping into objects, how fast you can strike–like, on target – and how fast you can react." SoftSong listed, almost making BlindPaw's mouth drop.

"I feel like im in medicine cat training.." BlindPaw remarked dryly, while SoftSong burst into laughter at this. "Yes, yes..." he mumbled out of breath, before continuing. "Lets start on how fast you can go, shall we?" SoftSong's tail fell on BlindPaw's shoulder, leading him a bit of ways, while BlindPaw calculated his every step, where every solid object was, what to avoid, all with his senses.

They finally stopped, the dirt more wet here, making his pads squelchy and dirty. "You run from here, and I'll follow you, we stop when I think you should stop or you bump into something." SoftSong said roughly, his mood signalling he wasnt joking, as if his tone wasnt enough.

BlindPaw nodded vigorously, digging his claws into the dirt. "Ready...GO!" BlindPaw bolted off, his senses bursting in a wide range as he stretched his hearing to their furthest, trying to register every solid object, every speckle of dirt, he was so focused on that he forgot what was in front of him at this moment and not the future.

His head collided with something stiff, causing him to yell out in shock and pain, before panting heavily. How could I bump into something? I...I've never bumped into anything since I was a kit, how could I let today slip away this easily? His thoughts were unbearable, he felt more closer to tears than ever before, he felt like a failure, he couldnt learn when he bumped into things, he couldnt.

A strong sense of worry spilled into his mind, he instantly recognized SoftSong's emotions, and a small faint voice.

How could I–

Faster than I thought–

Found h–

And BlindPaw could sense the heartbeat and responding muscles of the tom, now that he was closer, his fur bristled in worry, his eyes wide with the same emotion, as he barrelled down to BlindPaw, his sense of direction straight at him.

"You worried me to death! What were y–" SoftSong scolded, he was so close to BlindPaw that their fur brushed, and he could feel the turning of SoftSong's head to gaze at the tree. BlindPaw looked at his paws, flicking his tail, shame washing over his fur like the sun.

He could sense SoftSong's mood change to sympathy. "Did you crash into this tree, BlindPaw?" SoftSong demanded, trying to make his voice demanding and hard, but utterly failing with his mood. BlindPaw looked away, shame still beating through his fur in waves.

"Why dont you check the elders for ticks instead? We can try again tomorrow." SoftSong put his tail tip on BlindPaw's shoulder, his knowing gaze on BlindPaw, but he tried his best to avert the toms eyes as they walked silently back to camp.

BlindPaw aggressively pressed the mouse bile to DoeBelly's fur, causing her to yelp and scold him, while BlindPaw muttered a sorry, he could sense the approaching of his brother, taking a deep breath of his freshly killed mouse scent, tuning into his heartbeat and the way his muscles responded to his moving, the way his mood bounced with happiness.

He hadnt even noticed the tom had entered the elders den, and the smell of mouse bile cancelled out his freshly killed mouse scent. "Hi BlindPaw!" BouncePaw exclaimed cheerfully through a mouthful of mousebile, as he sensed the tom crouch down towards TwistedWish.

"Hi, BouncePaw.." he murmured in response, keeping his eyes carefully trained on the mousebile, the scent making it hard to miss. "I learned how to fight today, since I already mastered the hunting crouch, and caught some prey." BouncePaw announced, his mood overwhelming with pride, making BlindPaw slightly cringe.

"Did you go out with your mentor today?" BouncePaw continued on, not minding that BlindPaw didnt answer his last question. "Yeah, I did." BlindPaw grit his teeth slightly, his pelt burning with envy for BouncePaw.

"What'd you do?" BouncePaw prodded, his mood curious. BlindPaw sighed, his chest heaving with a pit of rock. "Well, turns out GorseStar said I have three extra things to learn since im blind, Agility, Smell, and Sound, but I mastered the hunters crouch..."

BouncePaws mood bubbled with anger. "How dare he! That makes your training extra hard, and long too! I wanted to be a warrior right with you, right beside you! And I WILL!" BouncePaw shouted, and BlindPaw wouldve thought all four clans heard him. "But um, I think its great you mastered the hunters crouch.." he answered more sheepishly.

BlindPaw's pelt burned hotter with envy. "Yeah, it's good..." he murmured, then turned to the sleeping DoeBelly. "You dont have anymore ticks, ill be leaving." he sensed her slightly twitch, and her mood clicked that she registered it. He turned to where BouncePaw was, the beating of his heart was slightly more quicker.

"can you handle OddLeaf too?" He muttered, then feeling a tiny flex in BouncePaw's head muscles, he quickly trotted out, leaving a troubled and hurt mood behind.

BlindPaw flopped down on his moss bed, sensing FurzePaw and OddPaw were close, their minds slowly ticking to decide whether or not to go to the apprentices den. He tried tuning into OddPaw's calming heartbeat, dozing off before he heard a cruncchhhh

His head bolted up, his mind clicking in his surroundings. A feathery scent drifted up his nose, and the mood of a headachingly happy kit followed.

Skykit.

He thought self-consciously, as he had said he would roll in flowers with her yesterday, but ended up not doing that. He could sense the tiny heartbeat as he could also feel her peek her tiny head in. "BlindPaw!" she yelped, his mind clicked and clicked at where she was, until she stopped.

"What is it, SkyKit?" he muttered, unmoving to even acknowledge the kit. Her mood changed slightly, but he ignored that too. "I got you a flower, since Hare'sShadow took us out to the flower patch and we played there, and I thought about you, so I got a flower." he sensed a proud smile come off her, as the flower floated to the ground. BlindPaw turned to acknowledge it, softening a bit.

"Wow, uhm...thanks?" he murmured, snagging the stem with his claw, and pulling it towards him. SkyKit's mood floated with pride, and he sensed her nod. "Bye!" she said abruptly as he examined the flower, his brain clicking all the details together, the kit floating around in his mind.

How...sweet