Into the River

Into the River Chapter 22

Rainystar announced, "Raincall, you have proven that you cannot live in our Clan. I banish you. If Raincall is found on our territory after dusk, then treat her like a rouge.

Raincall retorted, "Then banish me! I'm done with this Clan of incompetent warriors and disobedient apprentices." She turned and walked out of camp with her head and tail held high.

Back in the apprentice's den, Leafpaw said "Well, I guess that's that then,"

Lavapaw joked, "Raise your tail if you're going to miss her. Nobody?"

Clawpaw replied, "I just hope she doesn't come back." I do too. Everything still hurts from her punishments!

As they chatted, Doveripple padded into the den. "Good timing, Doveripple," said Leafpaw. "We were just discussing how Raincall's banishment will affect the Clan."

Doveripple nodded in acknowledgment. "I'm here to take you three on a border patrol," she announced. "We need to make sure that no other Clan has been trespassing on our territory."

Lavapaw's eyes widened with excitement. "Yes! Let's go," she said. Clawpaw and Leafpaw followed suit, and the four cats set off on their mission, with Doveripple leading the way.

As they patrolled the boundary, Clawpaw's attention was caught by a faint scent on the ground. He leaned down to sniff it, but before he could identify it, Lavapaw padded right into her.

"Oops! Sorry, I got distracted," Lavapaw apologized.

"It's fine," Clawpaw said, still trying to identify the scent.

As they continued their patrol, the scent grew stronger. Suddenly, they heard rustling in the bushes. Doveripple signaled for them to be quiet and crouch down. They waited in silence, their eyes trained on the bush. After a few moments, a small ball of tightly packed moss rolled to a stop at their paws.

Clawpaw sighed in relief, "It's just a moss-ball."

Leafpaw stepped back, "It smells funny."

Doveripple kicked the moss ball aside and continued on the patrol. The rest of the patrol carried on without anything interesting happening. When they got back to camp, Flowerkit raced up to them.

"Did you see anything interesting? Was there any scary stuff? Did you fight SkyClan? Why do you smell weird?" Flowerkit began to jump up and down. Hailkit came over and bounced excitedly.

"No, we didn't see anything interesting," Doveripple said, gently pushing past the kits.

Teethkit jumped on Clawpaw and bared his teeth. Clawpaw fell over and growled back. Lavapaw crouched down and let Hailkit climb on her shoulders and began to walk around with big, heavy footsteps. Doveripple padded off to the warrior's den. Leafpaw padded off to the apprentice's den when Marshleaf asked her if she could help sort herbs. Flowerkit happily followed Leafpaw into the medicine den.

"Hey Clawpaw! Will you show me that move again? You know, the one for fighting badgers," Teethkit said. Clawpaw led Teethkit to a small grassy area and began to practice battle moves. Lavapaw followed with Hailkit on her back.

Lavapaw looked at Hailkit, "Watch this." Lavapaw set him down and leaped over Clawpaw, arcing gracefully and landing a blow to the ear. Clawpaw looked stunned for a moment and batted Lavapaw down, mid-leap. She pushed her up and spun, sending Lavapaw spinning to a tree. Lavapaw jumped at the last second and licked her paw.

"Wow! That was so cool! Will I be able to do that when I grow up?" Hailkit asked excitedly.

"Of course, you will," Lavapaw said reassuringly, "In fact, if I end up being your mentor, that will be the first thing I teach you."

Teethkit interrupted them by letting out a huge yawn.

"Oh my," Clawpaw said, "We'd better get you back to the nursery!"

After the three kits had been sent back to the nursery, Leafpaw, Lavapaw, and Clawpaw shared a large pigeon and curled up to sleep.