LeafClan Archive [No Posting]

[ashton.]

Briardusk was at first wary about joining LeafClan, but soon she began to feel at home. She and Frostpaw got on well, although the apprentice was ten moons younger, and she enjoyed the Clan life much more than being a rogue. "Hey Briardusk!" Ashenclaw called, trotting over to her with Frostpaw not far behind him. "Why don't you and Patchthorn go on the hunting patrol? Frostpaw and I going out to train, and Emberstar and Webfang will be patrolling the borders shortly." The young warrior nodded. "Sure thing," she replied, mewing to Frostpaw as she and her mentor began to pad away, "Have fun!" Briardusk then turned and scanned the camp clearing for Patchthorn, spotting him speaking with Webfang. She bounded up to them. "Hey there. Patchthorn, you and I need to go on a hunting patrol." "Alright then," the tom grumbled. "We should get going as well, Webfang," the leader meowed as she walked over to the group and then turned to head out of camp. "Alright, so see you guys later," Webfang called back to Patchthorn and Briardusk as he trotted quickly after Emberstar, flicking his tail in farewell.

Emberstar and Webfang padded in silence through the forest for a while before the leader finally spoke, "So, how are you liking it here?" Webfang was a bit surprised by the question, seeing as he'd already been in the Clan for a few moons now; she should have been asking the question after the first moon. "I -- I like it.. Abundant prey, comfortable dens, beautiful territory... The only problem is I have to share the warriors' den with cranky Patchthorn," he chuckled. Emberstar smiled. "Yes, he is a bit gruff, isn't he?" "Yup, but Briardusk is fine, she seems to be settling in well. She and Frostpaw are already like best friends." The she-cat nodded. "That's good. Frostpaw would probably like to have a cat about her age around, though." She felt bad for the white she-cat being the only apprentice. "Well, who knows, maybe we'll find one today!" Webfang smiled. "Cats seem to be popping up all over the place.

"Foxkit! Stop that! Mom, he keeps pouncing on my tail!" cried little Daisykit. Her brother let out a loud sigh of annoyance. "Come on, Daisykit. If we're going to be warriors we need to practice our battle skills!" Honeydapple chuckled lightly at the two of them. Daisykit was never one to get into trouble and quite the tattle-tale to be honest; Foxkit certainly already thought he was a big, intimidating, fierce warrior; and Birchkit, the smallest of them, was the quiet, thoughtful little one.

[ Training: Frostpaw
Herb hunting: Willowcloud
Patrol: Emberstar and Webfang
Hunting: Patchthorn and Briardusk ]

[ashton.]

"Willowcloud! Willowcloud!" The new medicine cat apprentice bounced around his mentor. "Can we please go herb hunting now?" Willowcloud chuckled, "Yes, of course, Applepaw, just a moment." She was in the middle of checking on the three kits, and when she was done, she gave a smile to Honeydapple, informing her that they were still quite healthy. "Alright, let's go." Her apprentice was incredibly hyper and eager to learn, racing out of camp ahead of her.

Emberstar watched as Ashenclaw began organizing patrols. She wouldn't be joining them today because she had decided to make another trip to the Moonpool. With Honeydapple's kits on the way to becoming apprentices, they would be needing another warrior or two to help out with the mentoring. As he turned to head out on the hunting patrol with Patchthorn, Webfang caught the leader's eye, giving her a quick smile before bounding out of the camp with the other warrior. Suddenly Emberstar realized how handsome he was, but she pushed the thought away. Still, her mind wandered to the idea that she should probably take a mate soon. She considered this for a moment before deciding that she would think more about it later.

[ Moonpool: Emberstar, requesting a warrior
Herb Hunting: Willowcloud, Applepaw
Patrol: Ashenclaw, Briardusk, Frostpaw
Hunting: Patchthorn, Webfang ]

[ashton.]

Frostpaw poked her head into the nursery. Immediately, Daisykit, who idolized the apprentice, noticed her appearance and bounced over to her. "Frostpaw!" Then her siblings came bounding over as well to greet the older she-cat. "Frostpaw, can you teach us some battle techniques?" Foxkit begged. Frostpaw considered whether or not to show them some simple moves, but a look of uneasiness from Honeydapple told her she should decline. "Sorry, I think you're a bit too young for that.... Don't worry, you'll be apprentices soon enough," she smiled. Sulking, Foxkit wandered off with a few grumbles of disappointment, but Birchkit was relieved that he wouldn't be teased by his brother for his unusually poor playfighting skills. "Frostpaw? You in here?" Ashenclaw called, stepping into the nursery. "Ah, hello there, everyone. Frostpaw, I believe we should be catching up on some of your training. Let's go."

Emberstar and Webfang left the camp soon after Ashenclaw and his apprentice. After a few fox-lengths of walking, the leader spoke, "Why don't we have a friendly competition?" she smiled. "I've been thinking about mentors for Honeydapple's kits since they're growing up so quickly. The first to catch something gets to mentor a kit of their choice. How does that sound?" Webfang chuckled, "Oh, it's on." "Alright, once you've caught something, head back here."

[ Prey eaten: 1 squirrel & 1 mouse, 3 servings
Training: Frostpaw
Herb hunting: Willowcloud & Applepaw
Patrol: Patchthorn, Briardusk & Tinyfeather
Hunting: Emberstar & Webfang ]

[ashton.]

Frostpaw woke earlier than usual this morning. She was thirteen moons, almost a warrior. Only one training session was left, and she was bubbling with excitement. Looking around the camp for Ashenclaw, she spotted the deputy assigning patrols, and bounded up to him, grinning almost ear to ear. Upon seeing her obvious excitement, he stopped speaking to Patchthorn for a moment. "Hey.. what is it?" "Last training session is today!" she exclaimed. Ashenclaw chuckled and told her that as soon as he was done with the patrols, they would go train, and Frostpaw trotted over to the camp entrance to wait for him.

"Patchthorn and Tinyfeather, you are going to be on border patrol," the deputy stated, and the two warriors dipped their heads in farewell before heading out of camp. "And on the hunting patrol," Ashenclaw continued, Briardusk, Dustfall, and Webfang."

Emberstar's ears perked up as she heard the last name her deputy listed. "Wait!" she called, trotting quickly toward the departing hunting patrol. "Webfang, I -- I wanted to speak to you.... You two would be fine on your own, right?" she asked the other warriors. When they nodded and proceeded to leave the camp, she turned back to a somewhat confused Webfang. "Come with me." They padded into the forest a little ways until the tabby warrior finally asked, "Okay, what's going on here?.." Emberstar sighed as she tried to think of how exactly she was going to word this. She was certainly not the best at this sort of thing, and hoped she wouldn't be really blunt about it. "So ... I've been wanting to ask you something for a little while...." She paused, the nervousness growing rapidly inside her, making her wonder if she had made the right choice and if she could actually do it. "Yes?..." The leader took a deep breath before saying, "I'm probably going to be blunt about it, because that's just me," she laughed a bit at herself. Webfang let himself smile a little and stopped walking and turned to face her. "I really don't care, I just need to know what you're going to tell me -- it's driving me crazy!" They both chuckled before Emberstar finally worked up the courage to ask him, "Will you be my mate?" Her voice was shaky and quiet, but he didn't seem to care. A wide grin appeared on his face and he licked her cheek before saying, "Of course I will."

[ Patrol: Patchthorn & Tinyfeather
Hunting: Briardusk & Dustfall
Herb Hunting: Willowcloud & Applepaw
Training: Frostpaw
Mates: Emberstar & Webfang ]

[ashton.]

As soon as the Clan returned from the Gathering, Emberstar and Patchthorn set out to find the rogue that the patrol had scented earlier. The leader hoped that they wouldn't lose it because they had been away.

Meanwhile, Ashenclaw led a hunting patrol with the other warriors and Frostpaw. As they left the camp, Ashenclaw smiled while remembering the Gathering. It had certainly gone better for them than the last one. He thought about the throng of cats and what the leaders announced, but his mind kept returning to the beautiful deputy of AsterClan. No. Stop it, Ashenclaw. You need to be loyal to your own Clan - you're the deputy, for StarClan's sake! And she's a deputy as well. Don't get her or yourself into trouble. However, his mind wandered and he let a bird right in front of him fly off. "Ashenclaw, what's wrong?" Frostpaw asked, a bit concerned. It wasn't like her mentor to be so distracted as to let prey get away. It hadn't been long since the Gathering, but still, as soon as they left the huge clearing, he had seemed to be elsewhere is his mind, never paying full attention. When Emberstar had told him they were going out to find the rogue, he had thought she said rabbit, and caused himself a great deal of embarrassment in that incident. Frostpaw was worried that something was bothering him. She had no idea what it was, but she was determined to find out. "Oh, it's nothing," the deputy grumbled."Just ... tired. Long day." Frostpaw nodded, but she guessed that wasn't the problem.

"So you enjoyed yourself at the Gathering?" Willowcloud asked her apprentice as they walked through the fields at the eastern border. "Oh, yes! I met ... uh..." Suddenly Applepaw was very nervous about telling Willowcloud. Usually he told her everything on his mind - she felt like a mother to him. He didn't know what was going on. "Yes?.." she prompted. Applepaw mumbled, "Just another medicine cat apprentice. Her name was Brindlepaw, and she taught me how to climb." Willowcloud chuckled. It was certainly like him to make friends so easily, and she was glad that he learned something while he was there. "Must have been nice to talk to someone your age? I guess you and Frostpaw don't talk a lot because she's so much older?" The fluffy ginger tabby nodded. "Yeah. Brindlepaw was really nice. I hope I can see her again soon." It was out before he could stop it. He mentally cursed himself, telling himself that he really should work on watching his tongue. His ears flattened in embarrassment, but Willowcloud only laughed. "Maybe you will." Applepaw smiled. He certainly hoped so.

[ Looking for the pregnant rogue: Emberstar & Patchthorn
Hunting: Ashenclaw, Webfang, Briardusk, Tinyfeather, Dustfall & Frostpaw
Herb hunting: Willowcloud & Applepaw ]

[ashton.]

Applepaw eyed the large oak tree towering in front of him, wondering if he should attempt to climb it. He had told Brindlepaw that he would be practicing, and he would feel pretty awkward if his climbing skills hadn't improved by the time the next Gathering rolled around. But the snow coating the tree discouraged him and he made his way back to camp, disappointed in himself. "Applepaw? Applepaw, there you are!" Willowcloud hurried toward him. "Frigidrose is kitting! I want you to help me." The apprentice gulped, trying to prepare himself for it.

Emberstar sat quietly just outside of the nursery. The pregnant rogue, whom she had renamed Frigidrose, was kitting now. The LeafClan leader cringed when screams sounded from inside the den, having no idea at all why she was staying there listening. The only reason she could come up with was that she wanted to know what it would be like for her when her kits came. She glanced down at her swollen belly, hoping that her kitting would go better than Frigidrose's. Finally she decided it best to leave the nursery and wandered around the camp for a moment before the idea struck her that perhaps she should visit the Moonpool again. Honeydapple's kits were ready to become apprentices and Frostpaw certainly deserved to have her warrior name by now. Before she left the camp, Ashenclaw trotted up to her. "Good morning! Are you alright?" The leader nodded and assured him that she was fine and just about to leave for the Moonpool. "Ah, okay then. I was planning on patrolling the southern border today with Webfang and sending everyone else out on a hunting patrol. With leaf-bare upon us, we could use all the prey we can get our paws on," the deputy stated. "Yes. That all sounds good, thank you, Ashenclaw. I guess I'll be heading off now." With a wave of her tail, Emberstar left camp. As Ashenclaw and Webfang departed on the border patrol, the deputy couldn't help but feel excited at the thought that he might see Sheepclaw.

[ Moonpool: Emberstar, requesting a warrior
Becoming a Warrior: Frostpaw -> Frostpath
Becoming Apprentices: Daisykit, Foxkit & Birchkit -> Daisypaw, Foxpaw & Birchpaw
Patrol: Ashenclaw & Webfang
Hunting: Patchthorn, Briardusk, Tinyfeather, Dustfall & Frostpaw
Herb Hunting: Willowcloud & Applepaw
Kitting: Frigidrose ]

[ashton.]

Daisypaw crept out of the apprentices' den. The sun had just barely started to rise, but she was eager to find her mentor and go out to train. Thankfully Briardusk was one of the early risers in the Clan and was sitting at the camp entrance, marveling at the snow. The apprentice quietly trotted over to the warrior and sat down next to her, whispering a good morning. "Ah, good morning, Daisypaw," Briardusk purred. "What do you think of the snow?" Daisypaw gazed out at the few white flurries still falling from the sky. "I love it! But Birchpaw doesn't. He says we'll all freeze to death." The brown tabby warrior chuckled. "Does he now? Well, I can assure you, we'll all be fine. Don't worry." The young she-cat thought for a moment. Frigidrose's kits were so tiny and frail-looking - she was so afraid they wouldn't make it. And Emberstar was going to be kitting any day now. She hoped they would all survive. Changing the subject, Daisypaw inquired of her mentor, "Do you think we can train today?" Briardusk smiled. "Of course. Maybe your siblings can come too and we can teach you how to hunt - that's probably the most important thing to be doing right now in this leaf-bare. Prey is going to be getting scarcer." Daisypaw nodded. "That'll be fun!"

As soon as enough cats were awake, Ashenclaw sent out two hunting patrols. Honeydapple was very eager to finally get out of the camp, and Briardusk showed her around the territory after promising Daisypaw that after she returned, they would train. "They grew up so quickly," the former queen murmured sadly. "Aw, cheer up," Briardusk said as she gave the other she-cat a friendly nudge. "They're going to make excellent warriors." A slight smile appeared on Honeydapple's face.

When Webfang noticed the direction in which Ashenclaw was leading the larger patrol, he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Quickly he decided he was probably just jumping to conclusions and shouldn't think such things of his Clan-mate - his deputy. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if he should have stuck around when they met the deputy's friend in AsterClan. Finally, however, he decided to ask Ashenclaw about it. "Hey, Ashenclaw, so why are we going back to the AsterClan border? Nearly every patrol has been sent over here." The deputy glanced around nervously. "Oh, erm ... well, I - I noticed the prey was, uh - better around here than anywhere else." Like that was convincing, the warrior thought. "You're not coming back out here to see your friend again, are you?" Webfang knew very well that this could possibly get himself into trouble, but it was too late to take it back now. He instantly regretted what he said when Ashenclaw wheeled around to face him, fuming, ears flattened to the back of his head. "Are you really going to accuse me - me, the deputy of this Clan - of breaking the code we live by? You know, just because the leader's your mate doesn't mean you're a high-ranking cat as well, and you have no right to accuse me of this!" Ashenclaw, seething, stormed off toward the border. "Did you really just do that, Webfang?" Patchthorn muttered, obviously disgusted with his fellow warrior's choice of action. "Ashenclaw's right, he would never betray his Clan in such a way." The black and white warrior headed after the deputy, slowly followed by the other members of the patrol, who cast uncertain glances Webfang's way. The tabby waited awhile after they had left, hesitating to follow. He sighed heavily, and slowly trodded after the patrol. He couldn't believe he had actually done that. Sheepclaw was probably only a friend, and he shouldn't have assumed that his deputy was being disloyal. He kept his head down for the rest of the patrol.

Emberstar woke up later than usual due to feeling especially tired. As she got to her paws, she felt a sharp pain in her swollen belly. She almost fell to the ground, but when she tried to stand up again, the same thing happened. The leader sighed in exasperation, hating being so helpless. She called for Willowcloud, and the medicine cat came running, expecting Emberstar to be having her kits at any moment now. Willowcloud and Applepaw helped her to the nursery where she lay down immediately. Thank StarClan Webfang left already, she thought, knowing very well that her mate would be worried sick the whole time she was kitting. "Do you need me to help again, Willowcloud?" the medicine cat apprentice asked, thinking it would be wise to go collect herbs since it was leaf-bare. "No, no, you can go herb-searching. I'll be fine." Applepaw quickly padded out of the den and the camp, not wanting to have to help with another kitting. He sighed loudly with the knowledge that he would have to deliver kits all by himself one day. The ginger tabby cleared his mind of these thoughts as he began to search for herbs - and one in particular: catmint. With all these kits arriving in leaf-bare, there was surely going to be some cases of whitecough or even greencough, so they definitely needed to stock up.

Birchpaw was very nervous as he and Tinyfeather set out on his first border patrol. What if they had a run-in with a fox? What if they got captured by Twolegs? What if they met a hostile rogue? The little apprentice kept telling himself that it was leaf-bare and none of these things were going to happen. If Foxpaw could read his thoughts right now, he would certainly comment about how wimpy his brother was and that only he was going to be the real warrior. "You okay?" Tinyfeather asked, snapping Birchpaw out of his thoughts. "Y-yeah, I'm okay...." he mumbled in his soft voice. "I should think you would be excited about your first patrol, but you look frightened. Don't worry, just because we go outside the camp doesn't mean we will instantly catch greencough." The motherly warrior gave him a warm, comforting, and infectious smile. "Cheer up now. Have fun." She rested her tail lightly on his back. Birchpaw felt a bit of a new confidence grow within him. He smiled and lifted his head as they continued their patrol.

[ Prey eaten: a small fish and a squirrel, 4 servings
Patrol: Tinyfeather & Birchpaw
Hunting: Ashenclaw, Patchthorn, Webfang, Dustfall, Frostpath, & Cloudtalon
Hunting: Briardusk & Honeydapple
Training: Daisypaw, Foxpaw, & Birchpaw
Herb hunting: Applepaw
Kitting: Emberstar ]

[ashton.]

"Frostpath!" The young warrior looked up from her breakfast to see Ashenclaw padding toward her. "You wouldn't mind going on border patrol by yourself, would you? I was hoping to send as many cats out hunting as I can." Frostpath nodded with a small smile. "Sure, no problem." "Great, thanks!" The deputy trotted quickly over to several other warriors to begin arranging the hunting patrols. Frostpath gazed after him with a bit of puzzlement. He seemed to have returned to his normal self - happy and bubbly and attentive, although they had not yet ceased their teasing for his mistaking weeds for catmint by the AsterClan border. Webfang didn't tease him, however. He knew what the deputy had actually been doing, but he didn't say anything. After Ashenclaw snapped at him, he had been quiet. With a sigh, Frostpath got to her paws and headed out of camp. Everything was going to turn out alright.

Webfang purred loudly at the sight of his new kits. The two toms, whom they had named Falconkit and Pinekit, looked exactly like their mother, and the she-cat, Heatherkit, resembled himself. Emberstar had been sleeping nearly all morning, due to her exhaustion. The kitting had been hard and had taken all of her energy. "Can they play yet?" little Shadekit mewed softly, appearing beside Webfang. The warrior chuckled, "No, not yet. But don't worry. Just wait a few days, alright?" The tiny she-kit nodded slowly. "Okay." "Shadekit, what are you doing? Get back here," Frigidrose meowed sternly. The silver tabby kit padded quietly back to her mother, who then wrapped her tail around her.

For the past few days, Willowcloud had kept an ear open for any coughing sounds, especially from the kits. She was very worried that they would catch greencough since they were so young, but so far everyone was still healthy. The beautiful gray tabby was just about to leave to go herb hunting with Applepaw when she detected sneezing coming from the apprentices' den. She hurried over and poked her head inside, recognizing the only ball of fur lying in there as Birchpaw. "Birchpaw? Are you alright?" she questioned. "Wh-what..? Oh, y-yeah, I'm fi -" he was cut off by another sneeze. "You've been outside too much, haven't you?" Suddenly the apprentice jumped to his paws, his eyes wide. "Do I have greencough?!" He was certainly terrified of the sickness. Willowcloud shook her head. "No, I don't think so.... Maybe just a cold. Don't go outside for a couple days, okay? I will speak to Tinyfeather and Ashenclaw so they don't take you out training or patrolling." Birchpaw let out a sigh of relief as the medicine cat left the den, and he sank back down into his nest. Well, at least he hadn't caught greencough, though he would still get teased by his siblings for being unable to go outside.

At first Featherpaw was somewhat scared of Patchthorn, her new mentor, but he had begun to grow on her, and she him. The shy apprentice trotted after the warrior as they headed out of the camp to train. This was certainly better than being a kittypet. She was beginning to love the life of a Clan cat.

[ Patrol: Frostpath
Hunting: Ashenclaw, Tinyfeather Briardusk, Honeydapple, Daisypaw, & Foxpaw
Hunting: Webfang, Dustfall, Honeydapple & Cloudtalon
Herb hunting: Willowcloud & Applepaw
Training: Patchthorn & Featherpaw ]

[ashton.]

"Hi there!" A mew sounded near Falconkit. "Are you awake?" The young tom slowly lifted his head, yawning and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Shadekit was standing in front of him, a grin on her face and her tail pointing skyward with excitement. "Good morning..?" Falconkit whispered, trying not to wake his sleeping siblings and mother. "Yay, you're awake! Do you want to play with Breezekit, Cinderkit, and me?" The spotted tabby tom thought for a moment. Would Pinekit and Heatherkit be upset if he went off to play with the others and didn't tell them? "Alright," he said, having made his decision. His siblings probably wouldn't mind - and if they did, they would get over it quickly. Shadekit's face lit up. "Great!" she chirped. "Come on, Cinderkit found a little bit of moss for us to play with." As they trotted off to the corner of the nursery where Frigidrose's other two kits were already batting the moss around, Heatherkit sleepily raised her head a little. She let her eyes adjust to the morning light filtering into the nursery before looking around the den. Frowning a bit when she saw her brother had left them, she prodded Pinekit to wake him. "What is it?.." He grumbled, squirming away from his sister. Heatherkit let out an exasperated sigh. "Falconkit left us. He's playing with the others -" "What?!" Pinekit jerked his head up and looked around the nursery for the missing brother, a hurt expression appearing on his face once he found him. "Well?" Heatherkit mewed. "What are you waiting for? Let's go play, too!"

Emberstar purred as she watched the kits play. Even though Frigidrose's were a moon older, they all seemed to be getting along well and no one was left out. The leader, with a sigh, gazed out of the nursery entrance and watched as the patrols were sent out. She couldn't wait to return to that exciting life - she felt so useless stuck in the nursery. But her kits would be worth it, she knew. They would grow into such fine warriors. Speaking of warriors, she had planned on requesting another one from StarClan, but she was confined to the nursery for the time being. As she looked out at the goings-on in the camp, she spotted Willowcloud padding by. Her ears perked up as she called to the medicine cat, who came rushing in with a worried expression. Emberstar chuckled. "Oh, everything's fine, Willowcloud. I just wanted to ask if you would visit the Moonpool for me? I was hoping to request another warrior, but I obviously can't leave the camp." Willowcloud nodded. "Sure, sure! I can do that." With a mrrow of farewell, the medicine cat left the nursery and headed to her den. "Applepaw?" The ginger apprentice turned his head at the call. "Yes? What is it?" He had been talking to Birchpaw, trying to cheer him up since he was seeming a little depressed with having to be stuck in the camp all day. "I'm going to visit the Moonpool for Emberstar. Why don't you go herb hunting?" Applepaw got to his paws to pad over to the herb storage area to check what they needed. "Okay." Willowcloud turned to Birchpaw and meowed softly, "Don't worry, just a little longer, and you'll be free to go." The young tom gave a weak smile, and the medicine cat left the den.

As the larger hunting patrol left, Ashenclaw fell back to the rear of the group. He was really beginning to miss Sheepclaw, but he knew he probably shouldn't see her again for another moon perhaps. The inner struggle was starting to wear on him. Noticing something was wrong with her former mentor, Frostpath slowed down until she was padding next to him. They had grown quite close through all of their time together training, and she could usually tell if something was bothering him. "Are you alright?" she asked gently. The deputy simply shrugged. Frostpath turned her gaze away, puzzled. He couldn't be more than friends with that AsterClan deputy - he just couldn't. He was loyal to LeafClan and would always follow the warrior code. She didn't know what she would think if it turned out otherwise. She ... she would be disgusted, she knew. Disgusted that the cat who had mentored her and taught her about the warrior code and to follow it always and that breaking it could possibly lead to exile would take a mate in another Clan. She anxiously tore her thoughts away from the idea as she scented a mouse not far away. She wasn't going to let this distract her like it was distracting Ashenclaw.

[ Moonpool visit: Willowcloud, requesting a warrior
Patrol: Dustfall & Tinyfeather
Hunting: Ashenclaw, Patchthorn, Frostpath, Honeydapple, Cloudtalon & Featherpaw
Hunting: Webfang, Briardusk, Daisypaw & Foxpaw
Herb hunting: Applepaw ]

[ashton.]

"Can I leave now, please, Willowcloud?" Birchpaw begged. His cold was gone, but the medicine cat had made him remain in her den for another week just to make sure it didn't come back. The poor apprentice was growing more restless every second and was dying to the get out of the confinement of the den. Willowcloud let out a little sigh. "Yes, I suppose you're free to go." Birchpaw then let out a squeak of excitement and raced out of the den to find his mentor Tinyfeather. Willowcloud smiled, glad that his cold didn't escalate into something worse like whitecough or greencough. She padded into the small alcove tucked away in the back of her den, where she stored her herbs, and began sorting the medicines. She was nearly finished when Applepaw approached her. "Do you need any help with that? Or do you want me to check on the kits?" he offered. "No, I was actually wanting to quiz you on the herbs a bit today," she mewed. He was getting older and had already helped out with kittings and had gone out by himself to collect herbs, so Willowcloud had recently begun to think about when she would give him his full medicine cat name. She thought he was almost ready, but she wanted to see how much he remembered about the herbs first.

Ashenclaw knew that Frostpath was suspicious of him. It was obvious. She was always asking if he was alright, and whenever he went out on patrol towards the AsterClan border, she would try to steer the group clear of it. He didn't know what was up with her, but clearly she didn't want him to be in a forbidden relationship. Now, he could understand how she was feeling if they were enemies with AsterClan, but no - they were allies. It really shouldn't be that bad, he kept telling himself. He knew that when he would finally tell Emberstar what was going on, she wouldn't go against it. Yes, she tried to act firm, but really she was soft-hearted, he knew. She wouldn't exile him for falling in love. But the thing was - he didn't know if he would be shunned by the rest of the Clan. He sighed as he led Honeydapple and the new warrior Stormbreeze out on the border patrol, to the western border instead of the southern one. At least he would get to see Sheepclaw at the coming Gathering. Thank StarClan it wasn't too far away now. He just hoped that Frostpath and Webfang wouldn't be attending as well.

Tinyfeather smiled as the sunshine warmed her fur. New-leaf was almost here, and the cats couldn't wait. They wouldn't have to worry so much about catching a sickness or having enough food. But the snow would be gone. That was the one thing that Tinyfeather loved about leaf-bare - the snow. It was so beautiful, and snowball fights were so much fun. It'll be nice to hear the birds singing again, though, she thought. She had certainly missed waking up to their morning songs. The patrol padded along, Patchthorn and Featherpaw in the lead, Tinyfeather and Dustfall in the rear, and everyone else somewhere in-between. Because she had been thinking about the snow, Tinyfeather had an idea for the last snowball fight of this leaf-bare. Yes, she would seem a rambunctious little kit, but she wouldn't care. Carefully and silently, she began to gather snow in her paw until it was enough the hurl at the nearest cat - Dustfall. "W-h-wh-what was th-that f-for?" the tom sputtered, quickly trying to shake the snow from his face. Tinyfeather only giggled, launching another snowball at him. "Tinyfeather! What are you doing?" Dustfall couldn't help but smile and throw a snowball back at her. "Ooh! A snowball fight!" Featherpaw squealed, leaping over to aid Tinyfeather. "Featherpaw..." Patchthorn growled, utterly disappointed in his apprentice for abandoning the task at hand. "Oh, come on, Patchthorn, have some fun once in a while!" Tinyfeather chimed in when she noticed the steely expression on the older warrior's face. Frostpath sighed, muttering to him, "They are a bunch of kits aren't they? Let's just continue the patrol...." And so she, Patchthorn, and Webfang left the three others and Cloudtalon to their snow battle. Eventually, though, it ended, and the warriors resumed their normal mature nature and bounded to catch up with the others.

[ Patrol: Ashenclaw, Honeydapple, & Stormbreeze
Hunting: Patchthorn, Webfang, Dustfall, Frostpath, Cloudtalon, & Featherpaw
Training: Daisypaw, Foxpaw, Birchpaw ]