Several more days passed without even a peep from Cassius and his rogues. This morning brought clear, peaceful skies to the cats that lived along the docks.
Pineheart had already missed the morning patrols, but he was perfectly content to lounge with Lionpaw, Drizzle, and Meadowshine as they stretched out along the earthen floor.
The dusky black tom started to thump the tip of his tail off the dirt. As soon as it started to move, Lionpaw tensed her muscles. As she twisted around, she caught the tip of Pineheart's tail in her paws.
Drizzle screeched with excitement as she stood and leapt. Lionpaw growled as Drizzle bowled her over.
"You two are so rambunctious," Meadowshine sighed as she rolled onto her back. The sun cascaded down the sides of the camp walls and shined like fire on her tortoiseshell coat.
"Aren't you getting to old to play like a kit?" Pineheart asked Lionpaw cheekily.
The russet apprentice batted at his tail, her eyes shined mischievously. "I'm not that old..." she purred.
Meadowshine chuckled as she rubbed her shoulder blades into the warm ground. "You are nearly old enough to be a warrior now," she pointed out.
"Am I old enough to be a warrior?" Drizzle squeaked in excitement.
Pineheart pulled his tail closer, Lionpaw still watching like a hawk. "In a Clan, you would need to train as an apprentice before you became a warrior," he informed her.
"What sort of things do apprentices do?" she asked in wonder.
Pineheart got up and into a sitting position, his attention on the inquisitive silver she-cat. "Well, they usually go practice hunting and patrolling with their mentors. They learn the territory, and what's in it. Their mentors teach them battle techniques and how to defend themselves. And when they are in camp, they help to take care of the elders," he explained.
"That sounds like hard work," Drizzle mewed.
"It is!" Lionpaw puffed, "Weaseltail would always take me out at dawn to hunt. We wouldn't come back to camp until I had caught at least three pieces of prey!"
"Wow, I haven't caught any prey for myself yet," Drizzle murmured.
"Don't you have a mentor of some sort?" Meadowshine asked in shock. She rolled over and turned her head to listen to Drizzle.
"No, usually whenever I go out with a patrol, they just all show me how to do things and take turns with teaching me things," she replied evenly.
"That sounds weird," Lionpaw muttered.
"That's just because our groups behave differently," Pineheart pointed out gently. Drizzle just shrugged, clearly oblivious as to why it even mattered.
"Well, I could train you for today," Pineheart offered, "I can take you and Lionpaw out hunting. Then you could try and catch your first prey."
He was delighted to see her eyes shine with happiness. "That sounds great!" she chimed.
"Do you want me to come with?" Meadowshine volunteered, "they're a rowdy pair."
"Sure, we can all go," he replied.
As she stood, the two she-cats bounced away excitedly. Meadowshine was already on her paws. Pineheart glanced upward, taking note of the position of the light in the sky. It would be sunhigh soon.
He trotted after Meadowshine as the two young she-cats slid down the alley of the camp entrance. The usual darkness of the close buildings still made Pineheart's pelt crawl with unease.
As they padded out into the open, Pineheart noticed that the bulky wooden objects still floated on the ocean at the edge of the docks. Dockworkers rushed all along the edge of the land, they shouted to each other as they carried things in their outstretched paws.
Pineheart turned left, towards the grassy meadow. Lionpaw and Drizzle had ran a good deal ahead, their tails waved in the air as they skipped back and fourth between the buildings and the ocean at the edge of the dock.
"Warriors walk beside the rest of the patrol," Meadowshine called after them, her voice stern.
Lionpaw stopped and trotted back to Pineheart and Meadowshine, Drizzle right behind. "I know," Lionpaw chirped, "the air is just so refreshing out here."
"I agree, but we should be traveling with a bit more caution. I'm not sure what those floating dockworker things are," Pineheart explained.
"Oh, those?" Drizzle purred, "those are boats!"
"Boats..?" Meadowshine mewed slowly, clearly puzzled.
"Yeah! The Dockworkers use them to transport their things across the ocean," Drizzle informed them. Her eyes shined with pride, happy to know something the Clan cats didn't.
"So these boats go to other land? Across the big water?" Pineheart asked in amazement. How big is this world, he thought curiously.
"Yeah but they only show up for a small part of newleaf, and won't come back until next newleaf," she mewed.
"Well, lets carry on," Meadowshine urged as she started to walk towards the meadow.
Pineheart slid after her as Drizzle and Lionpaw bounded along at the back of the patrol. Eventually, the four cats were surrounded by tall, thick grass. The stems tickled Pineheart's nose, and he let out a small sneeze.
"Alright, this is where we will hunt," Meadowshine purred as she looked at the dense grasses that enveloped them.
"How are we going to find any prey in the grass?" Drizzle giggled as she waved her tail in the air.
"Well you won't find any if you show them where we are hiding," she teased. She pointed her muzzle at Drizzle's sweeping tail, "if you're disturbing the grass, prey will know we are here," she informed her.
Drizzle quickly pulled down her tail to let it rest on the ground. Pineheart had to suppress his laughter, Drizzle really didn't seem to know how to hunt!
"So when you're stalking your prey, you need to crouch as low as you can to the ground," Meadowshine mewed as she dipped down, her belly fur brushed the ground lightly.
Drizzle imitated her, her eyes shined with excitement as she watched Meadowshine continue. The tortie she-cat started to very slowly bring one paw forward. Pineheart sat back and watched as she creeped through the grass.
"You'll want to try and make the least amount of noise you can. Any prey that's on the ground will hear you right away," Pineheart cut in while Meadowshine carried on her demonstration.
Lionpaw had crouched and glided forward with the ease of any Clanborn cat. But Drizzle looked awkward, and he tail continued to brush the grass as she padded by.
"I don't think I'm doing it right," she complained, her fur hot with embarrassment.
"That's alright. It just looks like your tail is brushing the grass. Try to bring it close to your side, or hold it above the ground," Meadowshine purred. She padded over and guided Drizzle's tail with her nose as she tucked it against her flank.
"Now try," Meadowshine chirped as she sat back. Lionpaw had disappeared, only the subtle wave of grass in the distance to show where she was hunting.
Drizzle once more crept forward, her posture improving with each step.
"That looks right to me," Pineheart grunted as he watched Drizzle cross the tiny stretch of ground in front of him. "We don't want to take too long. We should try and find some prey now," he urged.
"I think I can do it," Drizzle meowed in determination as she jumped up and whirled to face the two older cats.
Meadowshine nodded as she stood and started to lead the way through the thick grass. Ths harsh trill of a songbird erupted nearby but was cut off abruptly.
Lionpaw better leave some prey for Drizzle, Pineheart thought as the padded deeper into the leafy stalks. All around him, he could smell mouse. It was so strong, he had to resist the urge to start hunting them himself.
"Now, you'll want to pinpoint one scent," Meadowshine directed the young Drizzle, "and that'll be the scent that you stalk."
Drizzle lifted her delicate nose and sniffed the air. "I think I found something," she squealed excitedly.
"Shhhh... you still have to be quiet," Meadowshine meowed lightly.
Drizzle nodded eagerly as she turned her attention towards the scent she had found. She crouched as close as she could to the ground, her eyes wide.
The small silver she-cat seemed to hover over the grass as she inched forward. As she stopped, Pineheart held his breath. She began t wag her haunches, her gaze narrowed as she locked on to her prey.
With a mighty leap, she soared between the tall grass stalks and landed with a tremendous thud! Meadowshine hurried to her side, her tail held high in the air behind her.
"I caught it!" Drizzle's muffled meow exclaimed.
She turned, and Pineheart purred as he saw the body of a mouse dangle from her jaws. "Excellent job," he praised her.
Just then, Lionpaw reappeared from her hunt. She had a crow and a small vole crammed in between her teeth. "I feel this was a successful patrol," Meadowshine mewed happily.
Pineheart was going to agree, but something had distracted him. As Meadowshine turned to her daughter's catch, Pineheart reared back to look over the top of the grassy landscape.
At the edge of the trees, the familiar gray and white form of Cassius was just barely visible through the shadows. He seemed he was staring straight at them.
Pineheart squinted as he tried to determine what was beside the massive rogue leader. He gasped in horror at what he saw. To both sides of Cassius, rogues swarmed along the border. So many rogues, Pineheart wasn't sure he had ever seen so many in his life.
As he dropped back to all fours, he abruptly turned towards his companions. "It's time to go," he grunted. He started to push Drizzle forward with his muzzle.
"Is something wrong?" Meadowshine asked wearily, her eyes narrowed as she looked at Pineheart.
"We just shouldn't be here," he mewed frantically, "we will be safe back at camp."
Meadowshine didn't argue. As quickly as they had come, the small patrol fled back over the field and onto the wooden surface of the dock.
Yes, we are safe back at camp, Pineheart assured himself as they rushed down the alley back towards their home. As they burst into the camp, he was relieved to see the day going on as normal.
The other patrols had returned for the day, and everyone looked relaxed as they rested in the sun. Lionpaw and Drizzle took their prey to the fresh-kill pile and deposited it with the rest.
"That was fun," Meadowshine commented as she padded past Pineheart into camp.
"Yeah, it was nice," he agreed. But I can't help but feel that Cassius and his rogues are ready to strike, he thought.
Hopefully I'm wrong...