Chapter I
"Hurry up, Icepaw!" A brilliant orange she-cat leaped up onto a log. She scrabbled for a moment, then got her grip on the slippery wood. The rotting tree had been soaked clean through; it had rained for almost three straight days and the apprentices were itching to stretch their legs.
"Coming!" the small white apprentice Icepaw had even more difficulty. She failed in finding a food-hold and fell back down on her rump. "No fair, Cherrypaw! You're bigger than me!"
This was true. Cherrypaw laughed and grabbed the little cat's paw gently between her teeth and yanked her up. They were, of course, supposed to be getting something done, but all of the apprentices had sneaked out of camp before their mentors could nab them for some training.
Icepaw landed beside her friend. But she was quite clumsy, and accidentally shoved the distracted kitten off and Cherrypaw landed in a puddle. She yipped and leaped out, shaking the water off as well as she could. "Ah! C-cold!"
Icepaw snickered. She was a bit rude when something like this happened. Whereas Cherrypaw, being the nice cat she was, probably would have found some ingenious way for drying her off, Icepaw simply blew out her cheeks trying to keep from laughing. It wasn't easy.
Cherrypaw groomed her paws. She did this when she was trying to stay calm instead of exploding on the perpetrator. Which she never did, being the cat she was. She got a mouthful of mud and immediately spat it out, causing Icepaw to burst out laughing. Icepaw didn't mean to be rude... she just was.
Cherrypaw rolled around the grass, wiping off all the water and mud. The two apprentices frolicked in the meadow for a couple minutes. Then they heard a cat pop out of the undergrowth.
"I thought you two might be here..."