Coyotepaw slunk after his mentor, a wiry ginger rosette she-cat, as they approached the large, towering mountains.
His mentor didn't speak or acknowledge Coyotepaw as he started to lag behind, his legs much shorter than hers.
Once they reached the long tunnel that stretched up towards their camp, made in a hollowed mountaintop, the wiry she-cat shoved him in front, taking up the rear so he couldn't try to run.
"Scarletwillow!" Coyotepaw's mentor called toward a muscular, long-furred dark ginger tom sunbathing on top of a large rock once they reached the top.
The tom opened his blue eyes and slid off the rock, tilting his head when he saw the ashamed apprentice.
"I need to speak with Sandystar about a disobedient apprentice," she demanded, gesturing toward Coyotepaw.
"Right away, Fawncreek," Scarletwillow meowed, rushing up a rock and into a small cave above them.
Behind the dark ginger tom, a tall, marbled mackerel ginger tabby tom took a few steps out, his cold, mismatching eyes focused on Fawncreek.
"Sandystar, my apprentice failed to complete the assignment I gave him and got caught by two AshClan cats," Fawncreek mewed, dipping her head in deep respect.
"The filthiest of clans," the mackerel tom grumbled. "Fawncreek, seeing as this is this young cat's first, and hopefully only, time getting caught, how about we let him off light? What do you suggest?" The tall tom's amber and green eyes glimmering with malice as he flashed the two cats a toothy grin.
"Yes, Sandystar. I think, if his punishment is to be light, he should clean the medicine den for two moons," she meowed richly, flashing a small glance at her apprentice.
"Ah, quite a fitting punishment. Go, apprentice, see what needs to be cleaned in the medicine den," Sandystar meowed harshly, pointing his tail to a large crack in the stony walls of the camp.
Coyotepaw, very grateful he got off easy, dipped his head and rushed away, his tail curled around his hind leg.
"Coyotepaw, what brings you here? Is it Sandystar?" asked a scrawny, spiky-furred gray and white tom, his tone quickly turning disapproving as he mentioned the ginger leader. He paused in his menial task of soaking moss to listen to the large tom.
Coyotepaw shifted his paws, unsure whether the medicine cat would agree with his punishment or not. "He, uh, punished me for getting caught on another clan's territory," he murmured, staring at the ground in shame.
A short, ginger tabby she-cat with a heavily scarred muzzle poked her head out of a different crack in the den, a few stray leaves on her head. "This punishment again, huh?"
"Again?" Coyotepaw thought he had gotten off surprisingly easy. It made sense that this would be a common punishment.
"Shellpaw's short legs aren't great for stealth, so she gets caught more often than not. She's become somewhat of a normal part of our life," the first tom explained, soaking another mossball.
"Coyotepaw, why don't you start on Cardinalpaw's nest? He's been out collecting herbs since dawn and will be grateful for a fresh nest," the she-cat suggested, ducking back into what Coyotepaw figured was the herb storage.
He nodded and walked past the tom into yet another crack in the wall, this room full of only nests.
"Which one is his?" he called through the crack, unable to differentiate through the muddled scents of herbs.
"The one decorated with flowers. He enjoys the smell while he sleep."
As Coyotepaw worked, carefully taking the flowers out of the nest and rolling the dirty moss up, a new scent entered the den, smelling of murky water.
"Shellpaw, what did you do this time?"
"Hey, Grasswillow. Fell in the river and a BranchClan apprentice had to rescue me," an annoyed sounding she-cat meowed. "Where's Mousewhisper?"
"Right here, Shellpaw," the ginger she-cat poked her head out of the herb storage again.
"Coyotepaw is also here getting punished," Grasswillow remarked.
Grasswillow saying his name snapped him back to reality and he went back to the nest, packing the moss down much more than he knew it needed.
"Hey there," a voice meowed behind him, clearly directed toward the only cat in this part of the den.
Her silky voice made him flustered and his paws slipped on the dirty moss, causing him to slam his chin on the stone.
"Ouch, you okay?"
Coyotepaw gave a small nod and recovered himself, trying to focus on the moss under his paws.
"What'd you do to get sentenced to the medicine den?"
He opened his muzzle, but only stutters came out, making him embarrassed.
"C'mon, I'm one of the rare few who don't bite," she purred jokingly, ducking in front of him.
He did a double take of her heavily, heavily scarred gray tabby pelt and her stunning green eyes.
"Uhm, I, uh, got caught on another clan's territory and got sent back," he meowed hesitantly, packing the moss into an even smaller ball.
"Which clan?"
"I, uh, don't know," he admitted, his briefly forgotten shame washing over him again.
She gave him a comforting smile. "That's fine. Most SunClan apprentices don't know what the other clans are. I can teach you if you'd like?"
Coyotepaw grinned at her, happy that at least one cat in the clan wasn't completely cruel. He gave her a small nod.
"Before that, let's just focus on cleaning the nests, alright?"
——~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~——
"Whew, that took a while," Shellpaw meowed with a breathless laugh, collapsing on her haunches as they finished weaving the last nest.
Coyotepaw nodded, shoving the pile of moss and brambles against the wall before collapsing beside her.
"Ready for your lesson? Okay, the first clan we're going to talk about is probably the most well respected by SunClan, but that's not saying much," she muttered with a small flick of her tail. "They're called BranchClan and they live in the marshes, deep in the marshes. If you're caught by them, the punishment is a lot lighter than by, say, AshClan. BranchClan has drastically different rules than us, even allowing cross-clan relationships and friendships. What I personally think is the harshest, judging by the rest of their rules, is that their new warriors have to spend one night alone in the marsh to prove they can survive. That's pretty much all I know about them though."
"Coyotepaw, Shellpaw, act like you're working, Fawncreek is coming in," Grasswillow whispered to them before ducking back out.
Coyotepaw rushed towards the nearest nest and busied his paws with making the shape rounder and more welcoming, his heart racing as the familiar pawsteps came closer.
"Coyotepaw, Shellpaw, you've both been picked for the Gathering tonight," she grumbled, hardly glancing at them before turning around.
"Aren't we being punished though?" Shellpaw asked condescendingly from beside Coyotepaw, taking a step towards the much larger she-cat.
"Keep doing this, kit, and I'll have Sandystar banish you," Fawncreek hissed as she left.
"Why would you antagonize her?" Coyotepaw asked in a small, forced voice. "She'll keep targeting us!"
Shellpaw shrugged. "She'll do it anyway. May as well have some fun," she reasoned. Noticing his worried and stressed look, she gave him a small shove with her shoulder. "Live a little, Coyotepaw."
He stared at her, absolutely ashtonished as to how she was so calm.
"Hey, we're going to meet the other clans," she meowed, changing the subject.
Coyotepaw, accepting the change in subjects, nodded. "Any cats you're looking forward to seeing?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Why? Jealous?" she asked, leaning toward him.
He pulled back. "N-no! No, of course not! I'm just curious!" he mewed, taken aback by her assumption.
"I'm only joking," Shellpaw soothed, giving him a gentle head bump on the shoulder. "But, yeah. I've only been an apprentice for two moons, but Adderpaw of BranchClan is pretty cool. She's the one who taught me about the other clans."
Coyotepaw gave her a small nod with a grin. "I'm worried about seeing the cats who caught me," he murmured, his tail curling around his hind leg.
"Don't be. They won't do anything at a Gathering. The rest of the clans actually respect each other."
They sat in silence for a moment, Coyotepaw finally breaking it.
"Can I stick near you the whole time?" he asked quietly, expecting her to say no.
"Of course you can! It's not like Fawncreek will comfort you," she muttered. "I can't wait."