OakClanTigerblaze was surprised that Elmshade had agreed to his plan so easily. He'd expected her to resist his orders, but she had given in quickly, probably because she realized that he was right and that there was no time to waste in finding Bearpaw. Turning to Jackdawpaw and Splashfeather, he meowed, "Alright, let's go," and continued along their side of the stream, towards the outskirts of their territory.
Splashfeather hesitated a moment. No cat seemed to question Tigerblaze's authority.
But does he have as much authority as he thinks he does? she wondered uncomfortably. Could a warrior, even a senior one like him, just command cats to cross the border without their leader's permission? She didn't think so, but given the unusual circumstances, perhaps an exception could be made. Plus, she didn't want to be the one to challenge him, not when Elmshade and Lostnight had gone along so easily with the plan. She quickly trotted after the tom, slowing into a steady pace alongside Jackdawpaw. "Do you think that was okay?" she asked him quietly, so that Tigerblaze couldn't hear. "For him to just...have them cross the border like that?"
Riverstripe stood back as the cats finally managed to pull Dappleleaf and Ivypaw out, and only realized he'd been holding his breath when he let it out in a relieved sigh. "Do you need any help?" he asked as he padded up. The question was half directed at Robinwind and half at the two soaked cats. He wanted to help in any way he could.
"Happy to see me, are we?" Sunflare bumped his own head ever so gently against Poppykit's, a wide smile on his face. He watched with love as his son then teetered over to Cedartail and Lynxfoot. "That's Cedartail," he told the tiny tom-kit, pointing with his tail towards the brown tabby tom, "and that's Lynxfoot," he nodded at the long-furred silver tabby she-cat. He knew Poppykit wouldn't know anyone's names yet, or even understand what a name was, but it was good to talk to the kits anyway. When Cedartail complimented the kits' beauty, he nodded in agreement. "They get it from their mother, don't they?" He gave Creamflower an affectionate nuzzle as she followed Poppykit over. "Poppykit's a social one," he observed aloud to his mate, before his gaze turned to Dustkit, who was still hiding in the nest. "Now Dustkit, on the other paw...She's a bit shy, isn't she? I wonder who she gets that from..." As he pondered this, he couldn't help but purr at how captivated Lynxfoot looked by his kits. The she-cat had been so aggressive just a moment ago, but now she looked like she was in love. "Thinking of having some of your own?" she asked the silver tabby teasingly.
EagleClanDarkpaw just rolled his eyes at the apprentice before padding after his mentor. He'd wanted to take the rear of the patrol, but Goldenrose already had with Wolfpaw and he didn't want to stick too closely to them while the she-cat was trying to focus on her own apprentice, and so he walked just a little behind Deertail, silently, keeping watch for any prey nearby.
"That's alright," Littleflower said gently. "It's harder to focus with an empty stomach. I'm sure we'll have better luck next time." She gave a small nod at Quiverheart's suggestion. "That sounds good. Come on, then." With a flick of her tail, she made her way towards the stream.
"I don't think that's true," Nightwish meowed back. "If you're awake with nothing to do or you look bored, then yeah, you'll probably be invited on a patrol. But the same is true for warriors." She didn't want the apprentice to think that cats were only nice to him because they felt sorry for him. "Besides, you're a good hunter, even though you're young." She gave him a nudge. "But I'm sure you'll get a new mentor soon." She was about to ask the apprentice if he had a particular cat in mind that he'd like to mentor him when Acornspots' words caught her attention. "Yeah, now that you mention it...I do smell a little bit of OakClan," she murmured.
Southstar knew there was no use in arguing with his deputy. But although he wanted to go with her, he could see from the absence of warriors in both the den and the camp clearing that most cats had already gone out to hunt or patrol. Even Deertail and Goldenrose seemed about to head out, with their own apprentices in tow. "Alright," he meowed reluctantly. "But I should stay here and watch camp." He said this as if she were expecting him to go with her, even though she hadn't even implied as much. "Just be careful. Maybe you could have another cat go with you." He spotted Stagleap and Frostpetal talking and nodded at them. "You could ask them to join you."
