Needling, white long grasses moved in the breeze and prodded through the still thick winter coat of the brutish looking tomcat with a face that was twisted with planned cruelties. Badgerpaw was trekking through the forest, outside of camp, in hot pursuit of Cloudpaw, the white she-cat who had been giving him trouble ever since the pair had met.

Teeth bared, Badgerpaw's mind worked to come up with something to do to her. The oaken tabby knew for a fact that Cloudpaw wanted to become a warrior - a great warrior - at all costs. He also knew that she had gone out of camp on this particularly brisk day to go hunt with her mentor. What he planned to do was simple. He planned to make a fool out of Cloudpaw in front of her mentor. The only problem was how he was going to do it. Badgerpaw decided that the best thing for him to do would be to wing it.

Pausing about halfway to his destination, Badgerpaw opened his jaws. Where had her scent gone? It appeared that she had just ... disappeared. Angrily, Badgerpaw began to kick up dirt. He was no good at scenting; in fact, he was no good at most apprentice-like activities. Being an apprentice had never particularly interested the brown tabby tomcat, but in his recent bouts of terror upon Cloudpaw, his main target, he realized how much he needed it. How could he possibly terrorize the innocent if he couldn't keep a scent? Maybe ... Maybe he needed to get together with his mentor, Sunwho's-his-face for a few lessons. Maybe he could become a warrior while he was at it. Closing his jaws, Badgerpaw found her scent once more and began to move, with more haste, to his destination.

It wasn't long before Badgerpaw saw Cloudpaw. This wasn't an easy task - Cloudpaw didn't exactly stick out like a sore thumb, did she? Her ivory pelt blended too well with the winter white scenery. Glancing around, Badgerpaw could not find Cloudpaw's mentor. for a moment, Badgerpaw became concerned. Had Cloudpaw's mentor told her to come out here and then ditched her? The scum! Badgerpaw's honey hued eyes were two-toned as they stared over at Cloudpaw; one portion of them shone with contempt and hatred, the other with sympathy for the lack of her mentor. Pausing, Badgerpaw became unsure of his next move. If Cloudpaw's mentor was not present, his plan was rather ruined, wasn't it?

Maybe he would just harass the white she-cat, instead. Yes, he would do what he usually did.

Coming over to Cloudpaw, Badgerpaw's face twisted into a snarl. "Hey, look, the baby is out of the nursery!" Badgerpaw called, his brown tabby tail twisting with his high levels of emotional confusion. He wanted to go and make fun of her, but at the same time his levels of sympathy made Badgerpaw want to go over to her and talk nice to her ... and keep her company until her mentor did arrive.

Shaking his head, Badgerpaw began to laugh. Something must be wrong with his head -- he had never cared about anyone before ... had he? Badgerpaw stopped his taunting movements briefly, as he recalled a certain she-cat. She had been the prettiest she-cat he'd ever seen. He cared for her a whole lot. Then she had gone and killed herself. Badgerpaw wasn't exactly sure why she'd done such a thing. Maybe when he, too, was dead and gone, he'd ask her.

He resumed his hateful taunt. His salmon pink tongue poked its way out of his jaws and he let several barks of hard, taunting laughter.

Badgerpaw's eyes lazily drifted over Cloudpaw's pelt as she snapped back a comeback. 'Well excuse me Mr. lazy fur, but unlike you I actually plan on becoming a warrior before I'm thirty moons old!' The tomcat's lazy yellow gaze shifted away from Cloudpaw and a laugh escaped his jaws because of her words. Mr. Lazy fur? That wasn't exactly a new nickname for Badgerpaw, but it didn't cease to rock him with laughter for whatever reason. If he truly was a 'lazy fur' then he wouldn't go to such an extense to make her life miserable, would he? Shaking his head and closing his eyes, Badgerpaw decided that it would be best to leave this retort unsaid.

His frenemy had left Badgerpaw unsure of a comeback. Badgerpaw's thoughts were usually supple with plenty of retorts, but she always left him come-back-less. Maybe this was why he hated her so much. Because he always was left comebackless and he was simply waiting for the day that he finally left her speechless before going away.

The brown tabby tom shook his head again and he illuminated a possible comment. It wasn't a comeback - or if it was, it was a pretty useless one. "Yeah? Well, as a matter of fact, I plan to go training with my mentor tomorrow morning, bright and early," Badgerpaw replied and snorted hatefully. The tomcat hadn't actually planned this meet with his mentor, so technically this comment was a lie. But Badgerpaw honestly wanted her words to cease; he hated feeling embarrassed because he was comeback-less.

Badgerpaw's gaze flickered over as Ivywhisker seemed to appear out of nowhere. As long as she was here, Badgerpaw figured that he'd have to be good. Padding over to Cloudpaw's mentor, Badgerpaw's face twisted into one of sweetness and innocence. Not many of the cats in ThunderClan knew him as being sweet or friendly, but the tomcat hoped that he could pull it off. "Can I come and train with you two?" Badgerpaw asked, tilting his head to the side and smiling his most genuine smile ever.

A plan was formulating in the brown tabby's mind. Badgerpaw had gotten a moon's worth of training; this had been enough for him to learn a perfect hunter's crouch and some fighting moves. If they went hunting, Badgerpaw figured that he could catch some prey and watch his friend/enemy fail completely at the apprentice duty of hunting. If they went fighting, Badgerpaw hoped with all his heart that the two might be pitted against each other for a 'playfight' to help with training. The large tom knew that he would beat her to a pulp.

Wouldn't that teach her a lesson not to ever give the tom a response for any insult that came out of his mouth? Badgerpaw hoped it would, so she'd become just another victim, defenseless to his insults.

What Badgerpaw didn't realize was that the reason he had picked her as the primary victim to his insults was that she was the only one who ever fought back. Cloudpaw was special.

The brown tabby moved to sit next to Cloudpaw and look directly at Cloudpaw's mentor, Ivywhisker. a look of false respect pooled into his amber eyes as she spoke. 'Well, you can if its ok with your mentor.' Ivywhisker said and Badgerpaw rolled his eyes. The brown tabby had hardly met his mentor, nor could he even remember the tomcat's name. Badgerpaw didn't figure that he'd care that he went with Ivywhisker and Cloudpaw. Did his mentor even remember his existence or that he needing to be training his apprentice? Badgerpaw illuminated this thought and left it moments later, ADHD taking hold and his mind returning to his plan which he realized to be most definitely working.

Clearing his throat, Badgerpaw realized that he had not yet spoken. Grinning, Badgerpaw made a casual 'pshh,' with his lips and nodded vigorously. "I'm positive it is okay with my mentor," Badgerpaw said confidently, his amber eyes, brimming with mischief, looking away from Ivywhisker and to the large, spanning canopy of leaves that was above them. The great sycamore's name was rightly given; the giant tree's branches covered the sun and the sky all around him. The brown tabby would've thought the the branches were part of the sky, if it wasn't for the sky that peaked through the tree's leaves.

The tomcat stood up and looked almost impatient for the next part of his plan to come into action. His excitement for his plan was had to cover up, so the tomcat didn't bother to disguise it. Badgerpaw figured that every apprentice his age would get excited about training. It looked normal enough for him to be enthusiastic and ready to go. Any cat who really knew Badgerpaw would know that he rarely got excited about much of anything and would know that he was up to something.

Gazing at Ivywhisker, Badgerpaw decided that she didn't think of the brown tomcat as nothing more than an apprentice. She didn't know him well. She would pass off his excitement as normal. Wincing, the tomcat glanced at Cloudpaw, his heart racing. She'd know that he was up to something, but it wouldn't matter. Clearing his throat, the brown tomcat spoke up. "Soooo, what are we going to learn today?" Badgerpaaw asked, his voice slightly high-pitched and quavering with overwhelming excitement. Oh boy, Badgerpaw thought, grinning before taking off, racing past Ivywhisker and Cloudpaw in the direction of the sycamore base. Running fast, the tomcat found himself tripping amongst the overgrown tree's roots and barely catching himself before he actually fell.

Settling down amongst the roots, the dirt, and the occasional fallen leaf, Badgerpaw sat, wearing a stupid, sheepish look on his face and a blood-curdling, mischievous one underneath it. He awaited Ivywhisker's reply more than eagerly.

Ivywhisker looked at Badgerpaw, debating. She tried to remember who his mentor was but nothing was really ringing a bell. She had never really trained to apprentices either, and she hoped she didn't humiliate herself. Well, it seemed like Badgerpaw and Cloudpaw knew each other, so maybe it wouldn't be so hard to control them... She hoped it was ok with his mentor like he said it probably was. All she needed was to get in trouble with his mentor when she got back. She let out a sigh and said, "Well, I guess you can come along then."

She then turned to Cloudpaw as she seemed to beg to want him to come along. Ok, maybe it wasn't begging, but it seemed like she really wanted him to come along. She guessed there was really no harm about it. It would probably be more fun for both of them to train together. She remembered not that long ago when she was an apprentice. She had always been a bit pressured whenever she was with her mentor. They had just seemed so wise to her and so in control that Ivywhisker didn't like messing up in front of them. She tried to remember if she ever had a friend train with her... oh well.

She then looked at both of them as they asked what they were going to do. She was debating between to things. Either to show them hunting techniques and have a contest, or work on battle moves. She decided to go the easier route and start with hunting. "Well, since there are two of you, I've decided to have a little hunting competition just for the fun of it. I guess whoever catches the most prey wins... I'm not sure if I'm going to have a prize though, if that's ok with you guys." She could always think of a prize, but she couldn't really think of anything. "Well, unless you guys could think of a reasonable prize at least." She went through things in her head, but nothing really popped out to her.

She looked around the Great Sycamore and scented. There seemed to be plenty of prey around. Thank Starclan it was Greenleaf. Leafbare always drove her nuts, she hated the cold with a passion. Also there were barely any prey around, and it was not fun looking for prey in cold, icey weather. The scents of the different prey calmed her nerves for some reason. She scented some mice, a couple rabbits that seemed to have been around not that long ago, and plenty of birds in the trees. She then said, "Well, do you have any questions or anything before you start?"

Cloudpaw now had a reason to let him stay, so that she could whip that smirk off his scruffy face.There was no way she was going to let him harm her training session.Why should she always get pestered by his schemes? Why couldn`t he be on the recieving end of one of his own plans for once. Her face lit up with excitement, and success. A hunting contest was perfect, absolutly perfect. Cloudpaw had trained hard to develop her skills, and she knew that the lazy Badgerpaw would have to work to keep up with her. That alone made her want to laugh at him. She was making him move. Had he really thought the whole thing through? Cloudpaw knew that it had just gotten easier to impress her mentor, but did he know how much harder his little trick was getting? She almost felt sorry for him, almost but the sheer lust for his failure kept her from caring for long. She cast a reasuring glance at her mentor,and spoke."No questions here, and as for prizes perhaps another training sessions for the both of us again." That would stir his heart a bit. How would he like repeating his plan a second time, espeacially if he failed the first. She flashed him a glance of pure challenge at him, to get back at him.

Quickly she turned and scented the air. There were loads of prey. Of course she knew that the great sycamore tree had fed the clan for many many moons.A vole scuttled across her path, and she pounced snatching it in her inscissor like claws. Turning to stare at Badgerpaw she said."Theres plenty of prey here. Sadly though it looks like I claim the first." She walked over and dropped it near er mentor."We`ll keep the piles by you so that you can keep track of them.Then in a flash she was off. Her heart beat with fire as she scented again, and caught another vole. Badgerpaw would not find her an easy mark, and she waws going to completly crush him.