Upon jumping back into her den, she was startled to find Blackpelt waiting for her, his tail lashing anxiously. She could tell that something was worrying the medicine cat and she pricked her ears towards him. "What is it Blackpelt? You should be resting for our journey. Do we have enough traveling herbs for the both of us?" She hoped she would be able to get enough sleep before they would have to leave at dawn, she couldn't travel tired. Seems like every cat wants to corner me before I set a paw out of camp!

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Duskwing gave Moosepaw a wry smile as he asked his questions. Sure she could tell him what she wanted, or she could let him figure it out. With a quick leap forward she charged towards him and dragged a sheathed paw across his side before skidding to a stop and spinning around, teeth bared in a fake snarl and tail lashing. "An enemy won't give you the courtesy of attacking first," she meowed, still in a fighting stance, "You have to make quick decisions and take advantage of any opening."She knew that Moosepaw was more than capable, but he had a tendency to overthink things when he should be making snap decisions. "Show me what you've learned," she repeated waiting for his move.

Moosepaw flinched a little at the paw that racked across his side. Turning around he realized what needed to happen. Dipping low he got into a strong low stance and eyed Duskwing. Tensing his body in anticipation he rushed toward Duskwing and thought to himself, I need to use my size to my advantage and take into account Duskwing's agility. Approaching Duskwing as quickly as he could, Moosepaw lead with a charging tackle and right before he struck her he ducked low and got underneath her. Using his strength he used his momentum to flip her up into the air. From there he used both of his paws and struck her on the side as she came back down. Backing up, Moosepaw maintained a low tensed crouch and kept his eyes trained on Duskwing, trying to gauge what she might do next.

Fernstar swallowed the anxiety she felt at the strangeness of what Blackpelt was reporting. She had to be strong for her Clan; they would worry enough while she was gone, they didn't need to see her fur ruffled. She tried to smooth her pelt and sat in front of Blackpelt with a warm but curious look. "Followed? What do you mean? By an outsider?" If there were strange cats lurking outside their borders, she wondered if the Clan would be in danger from rouges. Of course Brambletail was a very capable deputy and she was sure the Clan would be well looked after while she was gone; but the worry still wormed in her belly. If someone had intentions of following them to the Moonpool, maybe it would be a good idea to bring Sunfur along. . .

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Duskwing flipped herself around enough that when hit the ground she was more on her feet, bracing herself when Moosepaw slammed his legs into her side, "Good." As he backed up and watched she darted forward using his lowered stance as an advantage as she leapt into the air up and over his head. As she landed she spun and slammed both sheathed paws onto his hindquarters before dancing back away from him. He was certainly getting better, learning to use his bigger size to his advantage and hit hard. Whenever Fernstar got back from speaking with Starclan, she would speak to her about his assessment and warrior ceremony. He was more than ready for it.

Moosepaw looked back over and saw a tree near Duskwing, thinking quickly to himself, Maybe I can use that tree to my advantage, it might be a little over the top but I want to show her what I can do. moving into another charging tackle Moosepaw shot straight at Duskwing, dodging by her at the last second he bounded up the tree to get a bit of height on her. Using every agile bone in his body he jumped off the tree and twisted in the air and aimed to use the full weight of his body to get the pounce on her. Crashing into her body with his sheathed paws they both went tumbling with Moosepaw landing on top of her triumphantly. "How did you like that? I'm trying my best to use misdirection like you taught me."

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Fernstar's fur lifted along her spine and her eyes widened. Her thoughts raced as she got to her feet and began pacing back and forth in front of Blackpelt, trying to think of how this could be possible. My Mother told me the Dark Forest was destroyed in the Great Battle. . . How could it be resurfacing? The Dark Forest can't exist without StarClan; so why wouldn't they have prevented it? Are they powerful enough to stop it? She tried to smooth her fur and sat down to address the medicine cat. "How did you hurt yourself? What were you doing there?" In her anxiety, she began to wonder if Blackpelt truly WAS being followed by the cats of the Dark Forest, or if he was CHOOSING to be there. . . Medicine cats were the only ones who could visit the Dark Forest in their dreams as well as when the journeyed to the Moonpool; but she wondered why Blackpelt would have any reason to be going to the Dark Forest willingly? Shaking herself free of her thoughts, she gazed at Blackpelt, waiting for his response. Her journey to the Moonpool might be even more important than she had originally thought. . .

Duskwing grunted as she hit the ground, but felt the same flash of pride for her apprentice at his abilities. "Very well done." She pummeled his underbelly with her hind legs until she slammed both of them hard into his stomach and flipped his larger form over her head and onto the ground. She rolled onto her feet and shook the dirt out of her pelt. "Now show me some of the defensive moves I've taught you. Pretend I'm larger than you are and show me what you'd do." She fluffed her fur up to make herself look bigger and lumbered towards him. She moved slower than she normally would to both sell the ruse a bit better and give Moosepaw time to respond in the way he thought would be best.

Moosepaw flinched at getting tumbled over by Duskwing. Maybe he should have thought about her using those hind legs to pummel his stomach. I shouldn't be so flashy, I need to be more practical. Hearing that Duskwing wanted him to practice defensive moves, Moosepaw moved into a more defensive position keeping his muscles loosely tense. Moosepaw eyed Duskwing critically waiting to see what she did. When he saw her puff up he had to try his best to hold in a snicker. Duskwing looks so funny with all of her hair puffed up like that... focus Moosepaw, focus. Thinking critically, Moosepaw thought to himself, I should wait until she gets close and then use my speed to get behind her... I can do a lot more if I stay away from the front paws.

Once Duskwing got closer to Moosepaw, he used his speed to dash around the side of whatever animal Duskwing was pretending to be and raked his sheathed paws across the side of her coat and backed up once again, doing his best to keep his stance loose to take better advantage of his speed and this creatures apparent lack of speed.

Folding his ears back and squinting his eyes against the wind, the skinny black tom snaked quietly over the short grass and stopped quickly by the roots of a large tree, lashing his tail in frustration. He glanced behind him to make sure his patrol was close behind. A strong brown tom and a pure white she-cat crested the slope and stopped alongside the black tom. Opening his jaws to taste the air around him, his ears perked at the scent of cats nearby. They were close. "Why do the winds never blow in one direction on this strange land?!" he hissed. The many rapids and tall trees provided very strong and unpredictable winds that changed direction frequently. How do these cats catch any prey here? he thought irritably. Every piece of prey in the forest would scent you before you could get a paw close! I can't imagine how they're hunting enough to feed themselves in THIS leafbare.

He snapped his head back in the direction of his patrol as the white she-cat raised her voice. "I hear voices from over there!" The she-cat pointed with her muzzle in the direction of a row of large cedar trees that faded into more dense bushes and longer grass. The tom growled with satisfaction and began quietly padding in the direction of the cluster of voices. The white she-cat and the brown tom followed close at his heels. None of them had eaten for sunrises. They were exhausted. But they knew why they were here. We found them. . . He smirked.

Duskwing reeled around as Moosepaw zipped by her; keeping her movements slow and awkward which was not easy for the slender she-cat to do. She was naturally quick and agile so reminding herself to focus on imitating a larger creature felt odd. "Bigger enemies will use their size and weight against you, and they usually stay low to the ground which makes them hard to knock over." She turned and lumbered towards him rising up onto her hind legs for a brief second to bring both paws down towards him. She aimed just a little in front of the apprentice so that when her paws hit the ground they sent up a puff of snow and dirt directly into Moosepaw's face. While he couldn't see she ducked her head low and slammed into his chest with her full body weight; bowling him onto the ground before flopping down on top of him and batting at whatever she could reach with slow but powerful strikes of her sheathed paws.

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Maplestream watched the small patrol turn back towards camp, the small skinny stray at their heels, looking about anxiously. She flicked her tail in amusement at the skinny tom's behavior. It was evident that he was not accustomed to wild territory; given away by the shiny kittypet tag hanging from his neck. Fernstar is going to throw that thing into the rapids when she sees it! That's if she thinks he can cut it as a Clan cat. . . Fernstar was very receptive to accepting new cats into WillowClan, especially in this harsh of a leaf bare; but Maplestream knew her selection wasn't at all random or unconditional. Accepting a cat into the Clan who could not pull their own weight could be just as damaging as not having enough cats. The last thing the Clan needed right now was another mouth to feed who wasn't helping to feed other mouths.

Looking down as the patrol left, she wondered if she should follow them back to camp and see how Fernstar was going to deal with the newcomer. But she quickly jerked her thoughts away from the newcomer; her task was more important. It was important that she completed her task; not just to spare herself the anxiety, but for Fernstar's safety as well. Her Clanmates would wonder where she had gone, but she couldn't be concerned about that now. It would only be a day or two; and she needed to keep her friend safe. Making sure the patrol was out of sight and noticing the direction of the wind, she quietly jumped down from the tree she was in and looked around. She could see where the glade of tall trees thinned out onto flatter land and approached the rapid nearest to camp. She would make her way in that direction. When Fernstar leaves with Blackpelt at dawn, they will almost certainly follow the rapids. It's the easiest way to explore territory and makes it harder to get lost. I need to make sure not to let my scent linger for too long. . . Padding sideways into a cluster of bushes, she found a pile of wet leaves. Much to her disgust, she knew the musty smell of the damp dirt would be an excellent way to hide her scent. She flopped down and rolled over on the pile a few times making sure to dampen all her fur. Shaking her pelt and cringing at the scent, she broke into a run following the edges of the rapid. She would be back before anyone noticed she was gone. . . she hoped.