OakClan"Really? If only I'd been here!" Sunflare sighed. It figured his kits would be the most active while he was gone. "Oh, well. I'm sure there'll be another chance." He barely had a chance to say anything else before Beestar popped into the nursery and informed him that he was to join her on a border patrol.
As soon as I've gotten back, he thought with a twitch of his ear, but orders were orders, and he knew he was only making up for the time he'd spent in the nursery with Creamflower since the kits had been born. "I will be," he promised Creamflower, giving her ear a lick. "I'll come say goodnight once I get back. You just rest up for now." With that, he padded out of the den and scanned the camp for Weaselstripe. Upon spotting him grooming himself not far off, he made his way over to the younger tom and greeted him with a meow. "Hey, Weaselstripe. Beestar's asked if you and I will join her on a border patrol."
Riverstripe couldn't help but smile at Elmshade's enthusiasm. "Yeah, I hope so too," he agreed, glancing up at the darkening sky. His gaze traveled back to Lostnight, however, and the smile on his face faded. He wanted to ask Elmshade more about what had happened, why Lostnight had been so intent on talking with her in private and why he had been so defiant and hostile towards Riverstripe. But just as he opened his mouth, Elmshade spoke again, this time to Dawntrail, and he followed her gaze to the older she-cat. He nodded politely to the brown tabby warrior but said nothing.
Splashfeather turned to Dappleleaf with a nod. "Yeah! She helped save Bearpaw earlier." Turning back to Artemis, she replied, "That's right, I never told you my name, did I? I'm Splashfeather, and that's Dappleleaf." She tilted her head slightly. "Not that I have a problem with you, but you know...if my clanmates find you here, I don't think they'll take too kindly to you, even if you saved Bearpaw." OakClan in particular was known for their anti-outsider views, hardly ever letting any new cats join them, unlike their neighbor, EagleClan. "What exactly did you want to learn?"
Tigerblaze was thrust off of Jackdawpaw with a sharp kick from the apprentice's powerful hind legs. He managed to land on his paws, digging his claws into the ground to prevent him from skidding back too far, and, once he had regained his balance, straightened up. "That's enough." Yes, he usually preferred a better "resolution" to battle training. But it was growing dark, and the fight hadn't ended where he thought it would have. Besides that, he could see that Jackdawpaw was growing tired. Even if the dark-furred tom had gotten a lot stronger in the past few moons, he was still just an apprentice, and Tigerblaze knew when it was time to call it quits. If they went all out now, then what challenge would there be when Jackdawpaw became older? No, he would increase their training difficulty the older his apprentice got. "You did well, but you need to remember to focus on all of your opponent--their eyes, to see where they're thinking of aiming, but also their paws, to see where they actually aim.
Both paws, that is. Don't ever let your guard down because you think you know what your opponent is planning. Be prepared to guard your whole body. Okay?"
EagleClan"You don't know that," Southstar argued with Russetswirl, shaking his head. His tone was calm but firm. "Five cats are already sick, and they're not improving. Daydream is already at risk; we can't risk you too. Don't forget, there's no medicine cat apprentice, so if you both catch this illness, there won't be anyone else to help. I need you to stay healthy, Russetswirl, for the clan's sake as well as your own." Before he could say anything else, Deertail's voice caught his attention, and he turned to look at the ginger-and-white tom. His heart skipped a beat as he briefly wondered what Deertail could want to talk about with him--in private.
There's no way he could know...unless Foxcloud said something to him, he reminded himself. But that couldn't be the case. After all, she had been the one to try so hard that night to keep
Southstar from saying enough. Surely she wouldn't expose him like that, as it would mean exposing herself as well. "Of course, Deertail," he purred. "Just come and fetch me when you're ready to talk."
Littleflower eyed Swiftbadger's paw curiously, her eyes widening slightly when she saw the hole where the hook had been. "StarClan, it sure looks painful! But I'm glad you're okay." Purring, she straightened back up. "You didn't have to do that! I appreciate it though. To be honest, I would like to have another apprentice at some point...but hey, you wouldn't be a bad mentor yourself." She gave her friend a good-natured nudge. "I still feel bad for Blazepaw though. I'm sure it's hard for him, losing so much...You can tell it's had a big impact on him." She sighed, but quickly perked up again, wanting to keep the conversation positive. "Say, Oatleaf and I were just about to go out and get some new bedding for her. Would you like to come along? If your paw is up for it, that is."
"You okay?" Darkpaw asked the younger apprentice, not bothering to beat around the bush. "Sounds like the she-cats are worried about you." Darkpaw couldn't help but wonder if cats ever worried about him the way they did Blazepaw. True, Blazepaw had lost a lot more in a shorter amount of time--first his father, then his mentor, and now his mother was sick. The closest cat to Darkpaw that he had lost was his mother, when he was a new apprentice, but even then, they hadn't been too terribly close.
But still...don't they realize something's missing?Russetswirl had left Nightwish's side without a word almost the moment they'd joined back up with Acornspots and the others, and even now that they'd returned to camp, he still stuck by the speckled she-cat's side, both of them talking to Daydream about something. She blinked at them, unsure how to feel about how things had gone. She could hardly call her plan a success--she had made Acornspots jealous, but now the she-cat just seemed to be in a bad mood, and given Rustypaw's condition, Nightwish couldn't help but feel bad about the whole situation. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to be focused on trying to make a she-cat jealous in an effort to set her up with the tom she liked, not during leaf-bare when prey was scarce and when their apprentices were growing sicker and sicker by the day--yes, she was reminded again with a pang of sadness of her own apprentice, Gingerpaw, who was sick along with the rest of her family. Part of her wanted to go and ask Daydream about her, but she remained where she was, watching from a distance as cats crowded around the medicine cat. Gingerpaw's condition had only gotten worse in the past few days, as had her parents' and siblings', and Nightwish didn't want to hear any more bad news. Acornspots was already seemingly inquiring about Rustypaw after all, so she figured she could find out from her if any members of the family improved. But as for now, she wasn't getting her hopes up. Besides, Daydream already had enough cats crowding around him without Nightwish on top of them all. And though she didn't want to admit it, a small part of her was made sad simply by talking to Daydream, even if the matter itself wasn't sad. As much as she enjoyed his company, she was always reminded of the fact that they could never get too close. Turning her gaze away, she spotted Messfur and Springheart, who had seemingly just gotten back from hunting, and noticed Springheart looking curiously at the nursery. Now curious herself, Nightwish made her way over to the she-cat. "Hi, Springheart. What's going on?" she asked, following the older she-cat's gaze.
