Two Apprentices, Different Clans

It was a bright, warm day, the sun high in the sky. A young Eevee made her way through the snowy areas that made up Fubuki Clan's territory, until she reached the edges where the snow disappeared and made way for different grasses and shrubbery. Eventually she reached the area that she recognised from the descriptions of the clan elders to be the  mutual hunting grounds, the area where all clans were allowed to hunt in peace. Kaori had been rather curious upon hearing about the area and so had opted to check it out, perhaps bringing something back if she could successfully use the few skills that her mentor had taught her in their lessons so far. Her ears stood to attention as she listened out for anything that sounded remotely like prey.

The bright warm day had little affect on a foul mooded small creature that made her way through the celestial territory. It huffed, "Of all knights HE was the only one available to mentor me, and he wont even bring me on a training session because he's 'too busy'"

The small creature was pink and small, stubby legs proving it difficult to maneuver over large objects such as fallen trees or boulders that blocked her path. The feline creature kicked a small pebble into a nearby bush, causing it to rustle and scare off a small bird she could have caught had she been careful. The bird chirped loudly in fear and warning to any other prey in the area, ruining chances of finding prey.

Jacky wasn't a scout, but with how little prey that was in their territory, Rikai needed all the help it could get. She did not feel obligated to hunt for those in her clan, but more just to feed herself. Her selflessness was that of a tiny pea, as the spoiled brat made her way around the neutral territory. She had been wandering about, looking for something to fight and train since her lazy mentor was "too busy" with his duties as Head Knight to do anything with the skitty. She wondered how he would even understand how to fight since he was bipedal and she had to walk on four legs, would she have to stand up on two as impossible as it was for her?

She gave a growl in displeasure and sat down, not attempting to calm herself much as she stared at her paws in front of her, her grim reaper's scythe of a tail lashing back and forth as if reaping the souls of dead. Although her tail held no sharpness, her fur was far too fluffy and the bone did not break her skin to form a weapon as useful as it would be.

The feline only sat there, pouting in frustration that she could not be in training right then like the other apprentices were. Would the others be able to fight before her? What if she were attacked? What if...some rogue attacked her, and she was injured...would that scare the Head Knight into training her? Although that would be a bit painful, was there any way for her to fake it perhaps? No...the healers would call out her bluff and ruin her plan.

The skitty's fur only began to stand out on its ends, giving a bigger and spikier appearance as her anger grew.

Hearing the rustles and chirrups of birds fluttering out from the nearby undergrowth, Kaori tried to remember all she'd learned from her mentor so far in order to put it to the test. She trod lightly on her paws, spreading her weight evenly as she moved. Unlike Jacky's mentor, Kaori's mentor was very similar to her in stature, being bipedal and feline-esque. This made it easier for the Luxio to teach his apprentice from experience rather than just knowledge, something that Kaori was grateful for.

Being a rather small pokemon, Kaori his easily in the undergrowth, following a sound that she was drawn to out of curiosity. It didn't sound like prey, but it didn't sound like the rustle of leaves or tree branches either. A few moments later, Kaori popped her head out of the undergrowth to see if she could spot anything, quickly ducking down again mere milliseconds later as she spotted pink fur a short distance away. Panicking for a small moment, she wondered who on earth it could be before remembering that she'd purposefully come to the mutual hunting grounds and figured it was understandable that others be here. Nevertheless she used her more naturally coloured fur to her advantage, remaining hidden for as long as she could. Everyone always said that Scouts were meant to be stealthy... perhaps she could put herself to the test.

With a small grin, the young Eevee continued to follow the sound that would later prove to be the lashing of a Skitty's oddly scythe-shaped tail. She made sure to put her limited knowledge of hunting as well as her common sense to the test as she drew closer to the other feline.

The skitty took no notice, having had no training yet thanks to the oh-so-fantastic head warrior of Rikai. The feline merely continued to pout, trying to devise a plan to force her mentor to perform his job.

The skitty's tail waved back and forth, as if trying to slice the tips of the grass below it off of the blades. The feline ear twitched as she finally decided sitting around and pouting wasn't going to get her anywhere. She would just have to devise a plan for another day, since she obviously wasn't going to come up with some brilliant plan within the next ten minutes of sitting around and pouting like the spoiled and wild brat she was.

What if she could train herself? No...that wouldn't work. Asking someone in the clan to train her? No...they would tell her to go to her mentor for that. Asking a Pokemon from another-no! Out of the question! She may have had no sense of rules, but even she knew better than to go to another clan. The Don would have her head rolling across the floor for sure!

Kaori continued to take small, quiet steps towards the skitty, daring to poke her head above the grasses of the mutual hunting grounds for just a few moments. She was rather enjoying the fact that, because her fur blended in with the surrounding environment, she was almost invisible to the being with bright pink fur. Silently, the young Eevee challenged herself to see how close she could get without alerting the Skitty to her presence.

Skitty was a feline pokemon, similar to Kaori, which meant it was entirely possible that she shared the Eevee's acute sense of smell. With this in mind, Kaori made a special effort to remain downwind of the other pokemon, putting all of the skills she'd learned so far to the test. Even if she didn't catch anything to bring back, practice makes perfect, right? She just hoped that Kuroro didn't mind her coming her on her own.

Jacky shook her head wildly as a leaf tickled her ear, she scratched the tickling spot before finally deciding to get moving. The feline stood up, trying to remember where she had come from since she was too busy pouting to remember where she had been. She turned in attempt to recognize her surroundings, only to spot a strange brown and tan creature crouching and attempting to blend in with a boulder behind it.

The skitty's fur stood on end once more as a hiss erupted from her jaws, "Who are you? You're not from my clan! Why are you following me? You think i'm just going to lead you right to the Don's base? As if!" She began to jump to conclusions, fearing only the worst due to having little training and knowing little about the other clans other than how dumb they were.

Due to the wind, the skitty could not scent where the pokemon was from, but she figured that she stank of Rikai, and her loyalties were obvious. The skitty's tail stood high on its end as the feline attempted to make herself more intimidating, since her current appearance lacked intimidation.

Usually the skitty would rely on her charms, but she was too frightened by the thought of meeting another pokemon not from Rikai without having proper training. There was also the chance of this pokemon not being male or not preferring male pokemon, which would have resulted in an awkward situation which was avoided thanks to her fear.

"Busted," chuckled Kaori quietly, before she sat up, dropping her hunting stance and making a quick glance around, realising why she'd been spotted. The boulder she had crept in front of had done nothing to hide her from view, the greys of the rock making her stand out like a single tree in a vast expanse of moorland.

"Sorry," she began, realising from the Skitty's reaction that she had scared the other Pokemon, "As far as I know this is mutual territory. I just came here to see what it was like and practice my hunting skills...." she replied, trying to quell the Skitty's fears, her ears drooping to the sides slightly. She didn't want to make an enemy in another clan just yet after all.
"I promise I had no intention of following you back to your territory."

Though the Skitty smelled distinctly of something she assumed was the scent of one of the other clans, Kaori had not yet been shown which smells belonged to which clan and so found herself asking, "So what Clan are you from?"
The comment on the 'Don' should have made it rather obvious to any other Mizu clan member, but Kaori had never really asked about their neighbouring clans as she hadn't felt any obligation to as a baby. This small tidbit of information currently meant nothing to her. Instead Kaori attempted to seem friendly, genuinely curious about this new face. It got kind of boring when you knew everyone you shared a clan base with after all.

The skitty eyed the eevee with suspicion, "What clan are YOU from?" she retaliated, her foul mood contributing to her foul response.

"Why should I tell someone where I come from when they don't even introduce themselves?" She spoke. Her tail waving wildly again as the scythe beheaded invisible souls behind her. The pink and tan fur still stood on its edge as the kitten pokemon watched the eevee for any signs that it was about to attack, well she from the sounds of her voice.

What would the Don do if she was here speaking to a different clan member? Would he call treason and have her killed? Would the Don be forgiving for once or not even care? The skitty knew almost nothing of her clan's leader, just that he was to be feared. He was the only reason she never strayed too far from camp as a hatchling or went out of the territory or traveled farther from the mutual grounds.

Kaori blinked, taking a small step backwards at the hostility that the Skitty was showing. She hadn't intended her first meeting with a member of another clan to go this way at all. She was just curious. Was everyone going to be as suspicious of everyone's actions? From what she'd heard of the mutual hunting grounds fighting wasn't supposed to break out here anyway. Remembering that point, Kaori regained her confidence and answered the Skitty.

"Mizu Clan," she said simply, though she continued after a small pause, "Though, really, whatever clan you're from i'm pretty sure you don't need to be this aggressive to a mere apprentice. What on earth am I supposed to do? I'm not even trained in fighting or anything," she paused, her gaze landing on the Skitty once more with a small smile as if she was entertaining a thought; her ears had returned to their natural positions and were stood almost to attention so that she could hear what was going on around her.
Kaori found a slight amusement in the idea that this Skitty might well be scared of her. Though she had no way to tell or not, it was still fun to entertain the idea as she'd never really considered herself scary.

The skitty was hesitant, but held up her end of the deal, "Rikai."

Jacky made sure not to mention her name, since the eevee hadn't given her own. The feline pokemon seemed to relax a little, her tail waving back and forth more slowly. This other pokemon claimed to be an apprentice from Mizu Clan, an untrained one at that. Perhaps a Healer or a scout? Either way it was ridiculous for not a single clan member to know some form of defense.

The thought only made the skitty falter in her own mind as she remembered once more that she had no form of trained defense other than waving her teeth and claws about wildly in hopes of hitting another. Jacky was aware of the rules against fighting in this area, but wasn't quite sure if the other clans would keep their word to it, contributing to her rather nervous reaction to the Mizu Clan Apprentice.