[ti]Private[/ti]No Time For Caution

[Taako]

KingHarry
Snowsight knew the forest like the back of his paw, he knew the clan's camp even better. There'd been a period of his life early on where things had been difficult, where everyone had told him that he would never make a warrior of himself, but Snow was both stubborn, and bad at listening, so he'd trained and fought extra hard to prove himself, and he continued to do so every single day of his life.

He saw that in Milkpaw, he saw himself in the little tom, and he'd been trusted with making him the warrior he believed he could be. Snowsight intended to do that, but for cats like them, it took baby steps, it took starting at the bottom and clawing to the top. He wasn't going to lie to him and tell him it was easy to overcome a disability like this, but he knew first hand that it wasn't impossible.

His paws easily found the apprentice den, ears flicking every direction as he picked out the sounds of his clanmates around him, going about their daily routines, it was a sound he loved to hear. He could hear a few of the other apprentices in the den too, but his nose picked out the familiar scent, and he gave the white tom a nudge, "Milkpaw, it's Snowsight, can I borrow you?" He purred, warmth for his apprentice in his voice. He really did want to make this cat the best warrior he could be, not for his own pride, but for Milkpaw.

[KingHarry]

Milkpaw had heard another cat coming - he was blind, not deaf - be he still jumped when he felt someone touch him. Huh? Who was- Oh. Snowsight? Instantly, he relaxed. It was just is mentor; everything was fine.  

The apprentice turned on the spot. Any of his clanmates would be able to see that he had overshot a little and was still not facing Snowsight, but seeing as the two of them were both blind it was hardly like it mattered. For all they knew, they were both talking to thin air.

"Uh... Okay?" The young tom responded. "Are we going somewhere? Because I don't think I'm ready to hunt or fight yet. I'm a bit... Well, it's not like I can just leap into it like the others, is it?"

He was nervously rambling now. Somehow, Snowsight had managed to make being blind work. What if he couldn't do the same though? What if he just ended up being useless - his mentor disappointed in him and his leader moving him to the elders den before he could even get his warrior name?

[Taako]

Snowsight either didn't notice or chose to ignore the slight jump from the little apprentice, as well as the way he overshot turning to face him. None of those slip ups mattered, and even he still did silly things like that from time to time...Firechase loved pointing such things out to him in that cool utterly annoying purr that he got. He chuckled and shook his head, lifting a paw to gently nudge his shoulder.

"you're not ready for all that, not yet." He wasn't going to lie to the kit and instill that foolishness in him, Snowsight was confident that he could grow into a fine warrior, but he would have to work twice as hard at a slower pace than the others, the same as he had when he was an apprentice. Milkpaw had the advantage of working with a mentor who understood the world they lived in from the point of view they had, "we're going outside of the camp, but not to hunt or fight just yet." He purred out the words in a warm, strong voice, then turned, brushing his tail across the apprentices back to signal him to follow.

"The more you become familiar with the world around you, beyond the safety of the camp, the easier it will be to find your way around." He chuckled softly, "but you don't have to be perfect at it, I still stumble sometimes." After a storm when the wind blew down branches he tended to struggle, but it was temporary, "you'll learn how to let your ears and your nose make up for your lack of sight." He let the confidence slip into his voice, "but first we can just take a walk through the territory, with time your paws will know the way on their own."

[KingHarry]

"But..." Milkpaw's whiskers twitched nervously for a brief second. "What if we get lost? Or attacked? Or... Anything!" He'd got lost in the territory once before and, quite frankly, he did not want to do that again. Being lost was terrifying, especially when you had no idea how to find your way home again.

Snowsight sounded confident, though. Milkpaw supposed that either his mentor was a really good liar or he actually knew what he was doing - and the apprentice was more than happy to believe the latter. Carefully, he stepped forwards and bumped into the other. If they were going out of camp, Milkpaw was going to quite literally stick to him. That way he at least couldn't get lost on his own, right? And it would a little less terrifying to be stuck outside of camp if there was somebody else with him.

[Taako]

Snowsight chuckled softly and flicked his tail over the small apprentice's ear affectionately, "I've been in and out of the territory many times, and I've never gotten lost!" He purred, before adding in before the tom could object, "you're not there yet, but you'll learn, nothing is ever hopeless!" That had been a lesson that he'd been forced to drill into his head, against all the other voices telling him that he couldn't do it, he wanted the little tom to have the same lessons embedded deeply when he eventually became a warrior.

He didn't mind when Milk pressed close, only making a motion of draping his tail over his back as they walked, so that even if he did happen to peel away a little bit, he'd still know Snow was close, "like I said, for now I only want to take you out on a patrol through the territory, you'll need to become familiar with every scent and sound before you can navigate on your own." He chuckled and looked thoughtful, "when you're more comfortable, I've got some special training exercises in mind." He'd been pondering on these for a while, whether he became Milk's mentor or not, he'd intended to bring them up.

When they were a good enough distance from the camp, he inhaled deeply, "what can you smell, and hear around you?"