Sunfern watched as Poppyleaf mixed together sorrel, daisy, chamomile, and burnet, adding heather flower to make the mix sweeter for the apprentices. She dropped a leaf full of the herbs at Sunferns paws before walking out to take some to the others. Sunfern ate the herbs, gagging at the taste. Featherpool was murmuring softly in the den over, and Sunfern went to check on her. As he walked into the den, the powerful smell of sickness overtook him.
"F-featherpool?" Sunfern whispered, getting more worried by the second. The Moonclan leader looked up.
"Where's Goldensky? Is she alright? How are her kits?" Featherpool whispered back, her voice hoarse and her eyes milky. Her fur was matted and she was very thin.
"Have you eaten yet Featherpool? You need to keep your strength up. You need to survive until we get back with catmint. Please Featherpool! Goldensky couldn't live without you!" Sunfern pleaded, knowing the two she-cats had been friends since they were kits.
"Goldensky has you Sunfern...and if I die then I'll meet her in Starclan." Featherpool meowed roughly. She stared at Sunfern, and Sunfern stood there awkwardly until he heard his name being called. As he walked out of the den, Frostpaw trotted up to him, looking angry.
"What were you doing!? Featherpool is sick, and every minute counts! Mouse-brain!" Frostpaw hissed at him, puffing out his chest and glaring at Sunfern as if he was a kit. Sunfern flicked his tail at the frost-coloured apprentice and padded over to Moonfall, Scarfeather, and Springpaw, who was jumping around excitedly. Springpaw froze when she saw Frostpaw.
"He's coming with us!? No way!" Springpaw exclaimed. Frostpaw glared at her, and bowled her over, playfighting. Scarfeather sprang up angrily.
"Frostpaw! First you order around your deputy and then you attack another clanmate!?" Scarfeather scolded furiously. Frostpaw paused and glared at Scarfeather.
"Scarfeather relax! Frostpaw and Springpaw were just playing! And Springpaw was rude to Frostpaw." Moonfall meowed. "And calm down." She added, seeing Scarfeather unsheath his claws. Scarfeather sheathed his claws, sighed, and turned around.
"Those herbs taste really terrible, huh?" Sunfern meowed, trying to end the awkwardness. Scarfeather grunted in response and flicked his tail at the apprentices. They bounded out of the camp, only stopping to look back at the warriors. Sunfern could just make out what they were saying.
"Do you think that they will make us warriors after this mission!?" Springpaw was mewing excitedly.
"I dunno...how long have you been an apprentice?" Frostpaw rasped, seeming to be slightly annoyed.
"Mouse-brain! We were made apprentices just after each other. I've been an apprentice for four moons. And you are almost at four, right?" Springpaw meowed. "Ooh! I wonder what my warrior name will be. Springtail? No. Spring-" Frostpaw cut her off.
"Please put a mouse in it. And by the way, my warrior name will be Frostslip." Frostpaw announced proudly. Sunfern and the others raced to catch up with them. Now he could hear the apprentices conversation clearly. Moonfall and Scarfeather were talking, but Sunfern ignored them.
"Hey! You can't choose your warrior name! And plus, Frostslip is a terrible name." Springpaw meowed loudly. Sunfern put his tail between the two apprentices.
"Calm down. Let's go past the Gathering Hollow and try to cross the river. Then we might be able to find some catmint." The words were just out of his mouth when he realized that crossing the river was impossible, unless there was a bridge. Moonfall realized this too.
"That won't work. We need to walk along the river until it goes somewhere else. Maybe we'll find some huge body of water!" She exclaimed. Scarfeather nodded. They headed to the front of their territory, where the river gushed and roared.
"Do we really have to walk beside this until we get catmint!?" Frostpaw yowled over the rushing of the river. Scarfeather kicked his apprentice lightly with his paw. Moonfall shot Scarfeather an angry glance.
Ever since they had reached the river, they had been walking along it, mostly in silence. The river drowned out almost everything the cats said. Springpaw, the smallest, was keeping far away from the river in fear of being swept into the strong current. Frostpaw had been occasionally dabbing at the water, only to get tugged back by one of the warriors. Moonfall and Scarfeather were soaking from the spray it let up occasionally, as they were walking closest to the water. Sunfern was at the back, making sure no one fell behind and that the apprentices didn't fall into the water. Springpaw was now curled in a ball, as far away from the river she could get without leaving sight of the rest of the patrol.
"Springpaw! Get over here! You may be scared, but you are part of this mission!" Moonfall yowled, padding angrily over to the small she-cat. Springpaw glanced up and shook her head. She mouthed something to Moonfall, but Sunfern couldn't make out what it was.
"Let's go a bit farther, and then we can go away from the river and find somewhere to rest." Sunfern suggested. They were all weary from walking on hard rocks for hours. And plus, it was nearly sun-down. Scarfeather nodded and continued on with Frostpaw and Sunfern, leaving Moonfall and Springpaw.
"Give us a minute! We'll catch up!" Moonfall yelled to the rest of the patrol, seemingly confident. Though Sunfern thought he detected worry in her voice, he nodded and went on.
Scarfeather was standing between Frostpaw and the river, while Frostpaw tried to get around him. Mouse-brain! Do you want to get killed!? Sunfern thought to himself as Frostpaw slipped under Scarfeather and tried to put a paw in the water. They walked on in silence for what seemed like hours before Moonfall and Springpaw came bounding up to them, panting.
"Sorry," Moonfall gasped, "That-" she panted, "Took so long." Moonfall finished. Springpaw was walking casually beside her, as if her run had been nothing but a nice stroll.
"She convinced me to come and then a dog chased us but it's Twoleg called it back." Springpaw meowed happily. "Did you know I was a fast runner? I never thought my short little legs could carry me that fast." Moonfall sighed tiredly.
"Let's stop here and go find somewhere to stop." Scarfeather meowed. They walked away from the river, into a light forest with few bushes.
"Here might be good!" Frostpaw meowed from a few fox-lengths away. They walked over to him to find the frosty colored apprentice standing in front of a large bush with plenty of room underneath. Scarfeather nodded.
"Finally, you're using your head for once." Scarfeather purred. "Maybe we can do some hunting training?" He asked. Sunfern shook his head no.
"We should find some moss and hunt separately, but not too far away, just in case." Sunfern meowed. He sent Moonfall and Frostpaw out to get moss and Scarfeather and Springpaw out to hunt. He would do both. Scarfeather gave him a questioning look.
"Why can't we just go with our own apprentices?" He asked. Moonfall sighed and rolled her eyes, padding off with Frostpaw in tow. "What?" He meowed.
Sunfern glanced at Scarfeather. "Team building, mouse-brain!" Sunfern meowed good-heartedly before bounding off to get moss. He heard Scarfeather mutter something under his breath before turning and taking Springpaw with him. Before long, he found a good patch of moss and carefully picked it off of the rocks. He balled it up and took it back to where they were camping.
Scarfeather and Springpaw were there, crouched in front of a decent sized pile of prey. "I'll go hunting too." He meowed, padding off in the direction that Moonfall and Frostpaw had. He followed their scent trail, still wondering what he was doing. He started to hear pieces of what they were saying. He edged closer, sniffing for prey while trying to hear what they were saying.
"When I was born I was small, right? Well, I overheard Frostfall talking to her mate, saying that she had wanted a big strong kit to make a big strong warrior, and that she could never love me." Frostpaw was saying. "My father had to convince her to not kill me. I tried to be the best fighter and hunter, but nothing could make Frostfall happy. She had another litter with big kits. She loved them more than she would ever love me, so I decided to never be happy or love ever again." Frostpaw finished.
Sunfern stifled a yowl of anger, and he heard Moonfall gasp. He peaked out from under the bush to see the two cats picking moss from a tree. "Frostpaw, listen to me," Moonfall meowed softly. The young tom looked up at her questioningly. "I think you are a great, talented cat, and even though he might not show it, so does Scarfeather. I'd bet that even Springpaw likes you." Moonfall gazed softly at the apprentice.
Pretending not to have heard anything, Sunfern slipped out of the bush and padded to where the cats were standing. "Hello. I'm going to hunt now, Moonfall, want to join me?" He mewed. Frostpaw glared at him.
"I can't take all this back by myself!" He hissed in protest. Moonfall flicked her tail at him gently. He nodded and started rolling the moss into a ball, picking it up and taking it back to where they were sleeping.
"You heard it all, I saw you sitting there." Moonfall purred. Sunfern's fur stood up embarrassedly. "Orange tabbies don't blend in with green and brown bushes. You were like a yellow butterfly over water!" She exclaimed.
They walked in comfortable silence, occasionally stopping to catch a mouse or a squirrel, before Sunfern talked. "Moonfall," He began, trying to ignore the curious glance the beautiful she-cat gave him. "I-I want to be more than, well, uhm..." Sunfern faltered, his pelt growing hot as Moonfall sat down and stared at him.
"Friends?" She mewed softly. Sunfern nodded. "Me too." Moonfall spoke, touching her muzzle to Sunfern's. They stood there underneath the sky, warriors of Starclan slowly showing up to watch over them during the night. After a bit, they walked back and collected their prey.
"So I was chasing this-" Frostpaw was cut off by Scarfeather, who was just waking up and crawling out from under the bush where they had slept.
"Someone's in a good mood this morning." Scarfeather meowed. "You change your mind about being a big grump your whole life?" Frostpaw shot Scarfeather a dirty look and took another mouthful of the mouse he was eating.
"Oh be quiet, Scarfeather," Springpaw mewed in mock anger. "Frostpaw just feels like being a better cat today." Frostpaw looked at her warmly and the two apprentices batted playfully at each other. Sunfern looked up from the squirrel he was sharing with Moonfall.
"Alright, alright, eat up and then we have to get going again. I don't know why but I've got a feeling that we're getting close. A feeling in my paws." Sunfern meowed. Moonfall mrrowed.
"A feeling in your paws? Who are you, a cat sent from Starclan?" Moonfall purred. Sunfern jumped, remembering when Hazelbranch had sent him the prophecy. Moonfall, noticing this, said "Okay, calm down! It was a joke."
Scarfeather bit into a vole, waking himself up. "We could travel through the woods, it would be better." He meowed through a mouthful of prey.
"Flea-brain! The river could curve away and we would have no idea!" Moonfall said, pretending to be annoyed. Frostpaw and Springpaw scampered up to Sunfern.
"Can we get going now?" Frostpaw meowed, swiping a paw over his ear. Springpaw nodded quickly, her paws kneading the ground excitedly. Frostpaw flicked his tail at her to stop, and she did.
"I want to reach this catmint stuff soon! I feel like my paws will fall off!" Springpaw mewed, shaking her paws for emphasis. Scarfeather snorted. Sunfern gave himself a few quick licks and stood up stretching, Moonfall copying him. Scarfeather finished his vole and started to lick himself clean.
"Then let's go." Moonfall meowed. She bounded back towards the river, seeming to have endless energy. "Last cat to the river side is a mouse!" She yowled back at them.
"Hey no fair!" They yowled back, before chasing after her. Springpaw quickly pulled ahead with Scarfeather behind them. Sunfern ran for a bit before tripping over a root and crashing into the ground.
"Sunfern are you okay!?" Moonfall gasped, dropping back to be next to him. She helped him up, checking him over for scratches. "Oh Sunfern! It's terrible!" She breathed.
"What!?" Sunfern meowed, eyes growing wide as he twisted around to see that his biggest wound had been completely re-opened. "Ouch!" He seethed, clawing the grass beneath his feet. The wound on the side of his flank stretching to his underbelly was completely re-opened, blood trickling out and dirt lining the edges. Sunfern grimaced as the other cats turned around to help him. Like I'm a kit! It's just a cut, I can clean it up myself.
"Get some moss and dip it in water, Springpaw. Scarfeather, find some cobweb. Frostpaw, lick the wound clean." Moonfall instructed. "Oh, and we need some yarrow if you can find any!" She called to Scarfeather and Springpaw. The two cats nodded and bounded away. Frostpaw wrinkled his nose.
"I'm not licking that!" He meowed indignantly. Moonfall gasped in exasperation and cuffed the apprentice over the head. He crouched low, staring at Moonfall with a hurt expression. Moonfall looked at him coldly.
"Do it, runt." She hissed.
"Moonfall! Stop!" Sunfern growled at her. Moonfall gave him a sad look. She knows that this is the only way to make him help. He nodded, looking at Frostpaw and trying to tell him everything with a glance. Frostpaw nodded sadly, and began licking the wound.
"This taste is terrible, but it doesn't taste as bad as the bitterness in your mouth when you're hurt by someone you thought you could trust." Frostpaw mewed sadly. Moonfall sighed. "I know that everyone hates me. I hate them too." He whispered. Sunfern shook his head.
"No one hates you Frostpaw. Moonfall, Scarfeather, Goldensky, Featherpool, all of them care about you." Sunfern meowed quietly. "Especially Springpaw." He added, thinking about how the two apprentices got along.
"What!?" Frostpaw gasped. "No!" He meowed, getting to his paws. "I'm never having a mate! You can't make me!" He yelped. Moonfall giggled, and Sunfern laughed, wincing in pain.
"Hold still, Sunfern, or you'll make it worse! And Frostpaw, we didn't say you had to have a mate. We just said that Springpaw seems to like you a lot." She mewed happily. Springpaw trotted up with wet moss, and Scarfeather showed up with cobwebs over his paw and yarrow in his mouth.
"That'll do, thank you." Moonfall meowed politely. She dabbed the moss over Sunfern's gash, Frostpaw muttering about how he didn't need to clean it after all. She chewed the yarrow and spread it over the cut, Sunfern wincing in pain. Lastly, she dabbed the cobweb over his wound. "Don't run too much, take it easy. We'll walk to where we need to go, and only take as long as we need to." Moonfall stated boldly.