< Uhh... I know that Dapplefawn and Foxpaw are out hunting. Oh! And I think Fawnpaw and Hazelpaw are by the river. But as far as I know, everyone else is in camp. >
A s p e n p a w slowly began his descent down the tree. With each careful pawstep down the trunk of the large oak he had climbed up, he felt he was climbing closer and closer to something good. Something important. When the brown tabby apprentice was no more than a few tail-lengths from the ground, he leaped, landing gracefully in a soft patch of grass. Glad that his temper tantrum was over and he could go about his day, the Tom smiled happily and sniffed the air absentmindedly. He instantly caught a whiff of the sweet, familiar aroma of Dovestripe. Aspenpaw stiffened. He slowly turned his head, his green eyes focusing in on his mentor. She appeared to have just returned to camp. The apprentice quickly bounded into a nearby bramble thicket, ignoring the sharp pain as thorns pierced his skin. He peeked his head out slowly? Only enough to see, and tried to locate Dovestripe in the clearing. I hope she doesn't find me! he thought nervously to himself.
R a i n s t a r's blue eyes flickered over to Owlwing. The kits! She had nearly forgotten about Bramblepath's kits, the ones Owlwing had taken in under her wing. She turned her head away from River and the other unfamiliar cat to focus her attention on the queen. "Of course, Owlwing! I had nearly forgotten about your three kits. Their apprentice ceremony will be..." the she-cat paused in mid-sentence, trying to think of how long it would be until the apprenticeship of these kits. "Soon. But, I'm sort of in the middle of something, Owlwing, so if we could talk in more detail later, that would be marvelous." The overwhelmed leader focused her attention back to River once more, awaiting the Tom's reply.






