Still chewing on a bird wing, the warrior opted to return the friendly nod to the young she-cat as she passed by and settled down for her own lunch. Seasparkleflash tried to be friendly to all of the cats in Summerclan when he could, though he wasn't all too familiar with the apprentices in the clan, considering he had yet to be given one of his own. For a few minutes the two ate in relative silence, preferring to focus on gobbling down their prey than socializing with each other. But as he was picking his teeth with the bones, the tabby turned to his companion. "It's Cherrypaw, right? Lemonspeckle's kit. Training going okay for you so far?"

Seasparkleflash pressed his mouth shut, using all of his willpower to not laugh at the poor apprentice's coughing fit, though it was quite hard to do. As Cherrypaw's fit passed, the young tom inhaled heavily through his nose several times to calm himself down, all while taking note of her response when she finally answered him. "Guilty as charged," he commented with a cheeky smile. "Yeah, I felt the same way when I was an apprentice, back in Waterclan. But there's a good reason they keep you training for so long; the world's filled with a lot of dangerous stuff, and no cat can really predict what's coming when. They wanna make sure you're ready to deal with whatever might get thrown at us, especially if you end up facing it by yourself. Keeping you safe, you know?"

Seasparkleflash let out a purr of laughter at the younger cat's enthusiasm, nodding. "Yeah, I was born and grew up in Waterclan," he explained, his eyes shining in nostalgia. "I do miss it sometimes; it was covered in flowing rivers as far as the eye could see...our camp was right in front of a majestic waterfall, and you could hear the rush of the water at all hours of the day. It had to be double the size of Summerclan's waterfall, if not triple." The tom paused for a moment, a solemn shadow passing over his face before he continued. "I left a few moons after I was made a warrior, after a plague wiped out nearly half of the clan, including my father and little sister."

The tom chuckled awkwardly, feeling at bit odd at being labeled a poor thing by such a young apprentice. In any case, he appreciated the attempted comforting gesture. Cherrypaw's new question actually made him pause for a moment to think about it. How long had he been here now? It had certainly been a while; Waterclan had attempted to rebuild itself after the plague, lasting for two more leaderships and a civil war before finally getting wiped out along with the other Survival Clans. "It was nearly two winters ago," Seasparkleflash admitted. Geez, was he really that old? "Waterclan tried to regroup after the sickness went away, but my mom Thunderstorm wanted to stay here. I don't blame her, she lost more family than I did. Yet she always stayed so strong for us, I don't know what I would've done without her."

"Heh, I'm sure you will," Seasparkleflash meowed in reassurance, growing somewhat bashful at all of the praise being heaped on him by Cherrypaw. "You're still pretty young, you'll have tons of different experiences, both good and bad, by the time you're my age. It's just a part of being a warrior; you never know what's gonna happen next. As tough as it is, I have to do my best to stay strong for my mom and siblings, and my clan." He paused, glancing up at the white, fluffy clouds floating overhead. "You can't let yourself get beat down by the bad stuff, because there are so many cats still alive that are depending on you."

"I wouldn't mind that," Seasparkleflash admitted with a purr of fond laughter. Cherrypaw was quite the little spitfire, wasn't she? It reminded him so much of Glowwormcreep; her kind heart and boundless energy... The warrior couldn't help but feel a sort of brotherly fondness for the young apprentice, even despite only knowing her for a short time. "Well, if you're finished with that mouse there," he began, chewing and swallowing the last of his bird lunch. "How about I take you out for some hunting practice, help prepare you for that warrior assessment coming up so soon?"

(Do you want to jump ahead to Cherrysky as a warrior?)

Seasparkleflash let out a yawn as he stumbled tiredly out of the warriors' den, stalking towards the center of camp. The ginger tabby had hoped that he could grab something small from the fresh-kill pile for breakfast before deciding his itinerary for the day, but just when he was about to reach for a yellow finch, a tail swept in front of his nose and cut him off. "Sorry, pal," Ratstar chucked. "You an' Cherrysky are on mornin' huntin' patrol." Seasparkleflash sighed and gave the Summerclan a small smile, saluting with his tail as he turned to search the camp for his patrol partner. "You got it, boss. But you better save that bird for me when I get back."

"Well, you're bright-eyed and bushy-tailed already. Wish I could be as much of a morning cat as you are," Seasparkleflash commented with a good-natured laugh, waving his tail in greeting. Cherrysky was always such a breath of fresh air to be around, with her constant energy and cheerful mood. The tom was glad the two of them had become such close friends - after all this time, he still didn't have many of those in Summerclan. "You ready to get going?"

Ratstar glanced between the two cats for a brief moment, before breaking into a knowing grin. "I'll leave youse to it," he remarked playfully, before attempting to wink at Cherrysky - though with his one eye, it just looked like he was blinking rapidly. Oh well. Still chuckling to himself, he turned and padded away to assign the rest of that day's patrols.