The sun was beaming down over the DawnClan territory, warm enough to seep through the pelts of even the palest cats. Frostpaw was one of them. His white furs where glistening in the sunlight, his green eyes bounding from one tree to another. Today he was participating in his first-ever patrol, and he was excited but scared. Frostpaw had never had very good smelling skills, so he wouldn't pick up on the scent of mice, squirrels or birds as quickly as his clan-mates would.
"It's time to go, Frostpaw," called Heavybreeze, the clan's deputy.
"I'm coming," Frostpaw replied, padding away from the centre of the camp, toward the slope where Specklenose, Icemeadow, Heatherfang and Cloverpaw where already waiting. Heavybreeze joined the quintuplet in an instant, and they where on their way.
The grey pelted deputy led the cats through the forest, and before Frostpaw knew it, the five where in a densely forested area. The trees where so close together, the patrol had to go single file in between them.
"Okay, Frostpaw, do you smell anything?", Frostpaw's mentor, Specklenose asked.
"Um, uh... No, I don't. I'm sorry." He shook his small white head and Specklenose sighed.
"What about you, Cloverpaw?", Heatherfang asked, clear that she was trying to prove her apprentice was better than Specklenose's.
"I smell... vole. And robin, but it's a bit stale. As if it was here shortly before we arrived." Heatherfang simply smirked and nodded her head, pointing toward the trunk of a tree several tail-lengths away.
"Smells like it's coming from over there, try and get it, Cloverpaw." The brown and grey flecked apprenticed inched toward the tree, ears pricked and body almost slithering along the forest floor. She stepped over and around leaves and sticks, until finally she pounced at the vole which had made itself apparent as it nibbled on a leaf.
Gosh, I wish I could try and catch something for once... Frostpaw thought to himself, before shaking his head internally. No, I'd probably scare it away and get laughed at. Unless... His sharp green eyes picked up the sight of a scuttling several trees away, and he glanced at the rest of the patrol before slowly heading over to it. He would find his way back afterwards, surely. As he approached the source of the scuttling, he heard a victory yelp from Cloverpaw, indicating she had caught the vole. Frostpaw shrugged and continued toward what he now thought was a mouse.
"Where's Frostpaw?", asked Heavybreeze, who seemed not at all worried the small apprentice was missing.
"He was probably ashamed of his poor hunting skills and went back to camp," Cloverpaw boasted.
"You're probably right," Heatherfang laughed, turning toward the deputy. "Shall we head back then? Catch a few things on the way."
Heavybreeze nodded and the five cats walked away, back toward the camp.
Crack.
Crack.
Frostpaw turned his head from where his clan-mates had been moments ago, only to realize he had stepped on several branches, in turn scaring his prey away. He brushed it off and started searching for something else to catch. He saw something land on a branch of a tree not far off, and he slowly made his way over to it. It seemed a robin, and Frostpaw was feeling excited. Robins where the favourite prey of his mentor, and if he caught one he would surely be given some sort of appreciation. As he neared the looming tree the bird had settled itself upon, it flitted to another. The apprentice huffed, but didn't give up as he followed the robin. What he didn't realize was the bird was leading him further and further from camp as it hopped from tree to tree. When the robin finally flew off, Frostpaw looked around for the first time, unsure territory being the only kind that he saw.
Perhaps I crossed the DuskClan border? The small cat asked himself as he turned in circle upon circle. Maybe I just haven't visited this part of DawnClan yet? He stepped around trees and peeked around bushes, his anxiety and fear growing by the second. What will happen when they realize I'm not in the camp? Will they come looking for me, or sit and laugh? Frostpaw brushed the scarring thought off and continued to look around for something familiar.
"Hey, you there!" A call came from the distance. "I smell DawnClan!" Frostpaw shivered. As he couldn't smell as well as the others, he wasn't sure whether he would be met with the familiar and friendly face of a SunriseClan cat, or the scowl of a DuskClan, or even SunsetClan. He didn't know how far he had wandered off.
"Um, yes?" Frostpaw called back, his fear tweaking his voice into a high-pitched squeak. "I'm sorry, I'm lost! Please, I just need to find my way back to my territory!"
Three cats emerged from behind some bushes, an angry look on the face of each one. He could tell now that they where so close that they where DuskClan, which wasn't good. A larger beige cat chuckled, smirking in the same way Heatherfang always did. A glint of evil in his eyes, which where fixated on the small, shaking white apprentice before him.
"Fresh meat," he laughed, and the two cats accompanying him snickered in chorus.
"What are you doing, wandering so far from your safe little haven?" A bulky grey cat spoke now, and she prodded Frostpaw's side with an unsheathed claw as she hissed.
"I'm- I'm sorry, I was chasing a bird and I must have followed it over the border-"
"Prey-stealer!", the beige cat yowled, and ran up beside his clan-mate He bit down hard on Frostpaw's ear, and he squealed in protest.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry! I'm such a mouse-brain, please don't hurt me... I wasn't stealing anything, I didn't even catch it."
The final cat, a regal but fierce looking reddish-brown one, snarled at the apprentice. "Liar!" She slashed her claws over Frostpaw's side, and the small cat could feel the scarlet blood oozing through what he knew was an open wound.
"Please, please don-"
His plea was cut off by growl, then a bark from a large animal. The eyes of Frostpaw's attackers grew wide in fear as they scampered off toward safety. A badger emerged from the shadows, and the apprentice's eyes soon matched the DuskClan cats', and he began to back away. Lucky for him, the enormous animal seemed angry only toward the DuskClan cats, and the apprentice was able to safely escape, his thoughts pegged on the badger as he ran. They're probably leading the badger toward their camp, I'd better go warn Ivorystar of the impending danger. Frostpaw ran in no specific direction at all, through the trees which got thinner and thinner, before opening up into a clearing. Once again in a place he could not recognize, the apprentice's breathing became scattered and frantic. He stepped warily along the sun-bleached grass. The crunch of the turf underneath his paws was satisfying to hear, and told him he was in the SunriseClan territory.
As the white cat approached what he suspected was the entrance to the camp, his excitement of safety and help was overpowering, and he could think of nothing that would make him regret the decision he was to make. Frostpaw simply bounded into the camp. Familiar yet confused faces greeted him and lead him toward the leader's den.
"Willowstar, a DawnClan cat is here to see you." A short black cat with knowledgeable eyes padded out, a small smile lingering on her lips.
"Frostpaw, what brings you here?" She sat in front of the white cat, and cocked her head slightly.
"I am lost, can someone take me back to my clan?" The leader shifted in her spot, looking up to the sky in thought.
"Perhaps. How did you get lost?"
Frostpaw explained his predicament and how things had unravelled, and the black cat's gaze flickered over to his wound several times.
"My dear, they hurt you?" Willowstar looked over the wound, touching the surrounding fur gently with her paw. The apprentice nodded, and the leader frowned. "Gingerspring!", she called out, and a suiting ginger she-cat approached.
"Yes, Willowstar?"
"I want you to escort Frostpaw here back to the DawnClan border." Gingerspring nodded and flicked her tail, wordlessly telling the tom to follow. He did so, and the warrior led him across a plain, the trees speckling their path, the humble lambs grazing in the distance.
After what felt like a moon, Frostpaw's aching paws reached the border into his own clan. The SunriseClan warrior dipped her head, an apologetic look in her amber eyes.
"As much as it pains me to say it, I must leave you here. Please, take care." Frostpaw nodded and smiled, turning toward the forest which lay ahead of him.
"I will. Thank you so much." He padded off into the shade, and Gingerspring took to the trek back to her own camp.
StarClan, please don't let this happen again... Frostpaw pleaded, shutting his eyes, stopping and tilting his head to the now star-spangled sky for good measure. He began walking off again, and was soon met with the ravine leading down into his place of birth, DawnClan. The leader caught sight of him in an instant, and Frostpaw ignored the angry glares from his clan-mates as he bounded after Ivorystar into his den.
"Frostpaw, where have you been?", he shouted, pacing back and forth. "I've been worried sick."
The apprentice nodded, bowing his head in respect. "I'm sorry, I went off to chase a robin and the patrol abandoned me. I was lost, but a SunriseClan warrior led me back to the border." The leader nodded, and sighed.
"Please don't do it again, but I do need you to sleep now. Go on." Ivorystar attempted to usher Frostpaw back out, but he remained tethered to the spot. "What do you want?" The leader asked, now frustrated.
"I wandered into DuskClan by mistake, and I was attacked, before a badger chased them off." The black cat's gasp echoed around the large den, and his eyes where wide.
"Go to Beechfur at once, let him tend to your wounds. I will take care of the badger issue."
Frostpaw padded into the Medicine Cat's den, and was greeted with yet another angry face.
"What in the name of StarClan!", shouted Whiteleaf, sweeping the apprentice's paws from under him, sending the white-pelted six-moon to the floor. "I had hoped something had killed you. We all had hoped." The Medicine Cat approached, but quickly backed away as he noticed Frostpaw's father. He had never liked his son, and he had never been happy around him. The older cat slashed at Frostpaw's side, over the same spot that the DuskClan cat had, deepening the wound. Wincing, Frostpaw shut his eyes in fear and pain, almost gasping for air. I'm... I'm lost in my own Clan.