BreezeClan"Ah...But that's not always true, is it?" Morningpaw pointed out. "Warriors are still woken up if they're chosen to go on dawn patrol. So, you can't always sleep as late as you want, huh?"
"Yes, you're right," Lilacfeather meowed. "It is a good feeling..." She trailed off as she followed the tom's gaze to Newtpaw.
But it's been a long time since I felt it. Not wanting to dump her worries on the tom, she changed the subject. "Do you have any guesses as to what his warrior name will be, or should be? You've spent the most time with him after all, so you must know him best."
Magpieflight studied Tinybear carefully before going on. "Oh, I think you're valid alright. But probably not in the way you think you are. " He flicked as he tail as he padded onward, still focused on keeping his senses alert for any nearby prey. "You say you're scared of not being valid, but as what? As a BreezeClan cat? A warrior? Perhaps a queen, one day? You're being awfully vague, and I think I know why." His gaze pierced his Clanmate's. "On some level, you want honesty, but you want validation even more. But the truth is, I can't be honest with you or validate you if you won't be straightforward with me. So tell me, what are you
really scared of? What don't you think you're 'valid' as?"
Softfrost ducked his head a bit shyly--he hadn't meant to stare at her. He cast another glance at the rest of the patrol ahead before deciding to take it upon himself to make the decision to split up. Hunting patrols hardly ever stayed together anyway. Waving his tail for Shrikewater to follow, he veered off to the right, checking back to make sure she was following.
MistClan"No, thank you, that's alright," Darksun replied to Lostfoot's offer. "Now that he's here, I might as well take him on patrol with me. But feel free to take this bird back." She nudged the bird toward Lostfoot with a paw before turning back to Flarepaw. "Well, ready to go?"
Graytiger popped out from the other side with a triumphant "Yes!" before trotting over to Ripplewhisper. It was only then that he noticed Lostfoot and Flarepaw, and blinked at them curiously. "Hi, Lostfoot, hi, Flarepaw. Are you two joining us?"
Ferretclaw nodded, following the scent through the tall grass. She stepped carefully, since she wasn't sure how close she was to the rabbit and didn't want to scare it off. As the scent grew stronger, she slowed down and eventually came to a stop when she saw a pair of tiny ears poking out from the grass. Lowering herself, she slinked quietly towards the creature, weaving her lean body through the grass until she was just a fox-length or so from the creature. Then, pushing off with her hind legs, she leaped. She missed the rabbit by barely a mouse-length and it began to run off, but she darted right after it and was quick to catch up to it, slamming her front paws down on it and delivering the killing bite to the neck. She held it up proudly.
Minkface suppressed a humorous purr as she followed the tom out. She didn't usually like hunting parties of two, as she felt they could be awkward and didn't bring back much prey, but Stoatspine was an easy tom to be around, and she felt confident they could catch enough on their own. "What are you hoping to catch?" she asked as they padded through the camp entrance.
