"It's late, Jaypaw."
"I know!" A dark gray, almost black, tom hissed. Silverpelt shone in the night sky. Jaypaw had been leaving Thunderclan camp, and had barely gotten out of the brambles before his mentor, Leafpool, has spotted him. He unsheathed his claws out of anger. "I'm just going for a walk."
The light brown tabby she-cat blinked with no emotion. "No need to get angry. I just don't want you to get lost or hur-" Finally realizing what she was saying, she quickly tried to cover it up. "I... Just... Don't be too long." Leafpool scurried back into the brambles guarding the camp. Jaypaw flexed his claws, half of him tempting to claw her tail off, the other half wanting to forget it. In the end, he decided to leave it. He sheathed his claws and stumbled off.
Jaypaw figured that because of the cool breeze and the quiet surroundings, it was a nice night. His sightless blue eyes stared ahead as he bounded along Thunderclan territory. He started to smell mud and he could detect the quiet water lapping the shore. As soon as he felt the sticky substance on his paws, he knew that he had reached the lake.
Carefully, he sniffed the ground, nose almost touching the mud. At last, he found what he had been looking for. A peculiar stick, with even claw marks raked along the surface. He frowned as he pawed the stick closer. "You are all muddy..."
He let that thought trail to the part of his mind that saved all the 'unimportant' things. Leaning his ear against the stick, he listened closely. But this time he didn't hear the whispers of Rock, Fallen Leaves, or any of the others who had escaped the underground tunnels...
Where are you, Rock? Jaypaw felt his hope sink. I need to speak with you... The tom started grooming the stick. Maybe it's covered in too much mud...
"... Jaypaw?"
Jaypaw stopped in mid-lick to see his brother and sister. His sister, a black she-cat named Hollypaw, had a look on her face like 'What are you doing, mouse-brain?' His brother, a golden tom named Lionpaw, gave him an amused look. Lionpaw, in a mocking voice, asked, "Do you and that stick need alone time, Jaypaw?"
The gray tom shoved the stick back into the mud, covering it so it wouldn't be found, and hissed, "It was muddy." That made Lionpaw snicker.
Hollypaw rolled her eyes and turned around. With a flick of her tail, she questioned, "Are you guys coming?" Lionpaw nodded and sprang after his sister.
Jaypaw followed. Turning his head around, he silently added, 'I'll be back. Rock better speak to me soon...' He gave one last looked and trailed along after his siblings.
