Sunsplash groaned as the glare of the sun hit her eyes through the woven branches of the warrior's den. She reluctantly opened her eyes and looked around the den, letting out a small sigh of relief when she saw that she hadn't overslept.
Better get up before Cobrastrike gives me a week's worth of dawn patrol, Sunsplash thought as she got up and stretched.
Sunsplash smoothed down her ruffled up fur before making her way to the cats gathering around the clan deputy for patrols.
"Sunsplash, you're up," a friendly voice behind her quipped. She turned around to see Goldenstripe padding toward her with a warm smile on his face.
Sunsplash smiled back at him, "did you doubt that I would wake up?" She asked jokingly.
"Well considering how late you went to sleep last night, I would," the golden tom teased as he playfully shoved her.
"How did you know I went to sleep late?" Sunsplash asked, feigning suspicion, "have you been stalking me?"
Goldenstripe laughed, but he didn't say anything and simply smiled mischievously.
Sunsplash was about to say something, but was interrupted as Cobrastrike called for her to join the next hunting patrol. She waved goodbye to her friend with her tail and went to join the cats waiting by the entrance. She swept her gaze across the gathered cats, smiling softly as she saw that her former apprentice, Smokeheart, was leading the patrol. Although she couldn't deny that she was surprised, she didn't think that Cobrastrike had trusted the former rogue enough to lead any patrols. Despite him having faithfully trained under her for several moons and having been considered a loyal member of the clan by many, the deputy still showed distaste toward him. She looked back at the scarred tom, wondering what could've caused the change in heart. She didn't have much more time to ponder this as Smokeheart lead the patrol out of camp and into the forest.
Sunsplash took in a deep breath as they wandered out. Newleaf was in full swing, as evidenced by the pink flowers that covered the trees and their petals that floated gracefully to the ground, filling the air with a sweet scent.
"You're acting like you haven't been outside in moons," a gruff voice commented disdainfully at her.
She turned to face the cat who had spoken to her, Moonstep. The dark-furred tom had never really liked her, and he took every opportunity to insult her or test her patience. It took every ounce of her being to not fluff up and spit a retort. Instead she resolved to ignore his comment and move on with the patrol as if he had said nothing, she found that to be much easier.
Smokeheart stopped and turned to face the patrol, though when he did he looked surprised, as if he forgot they were there. He scanned the group for a moment.
"Sunsplash, Stagfoot, you go and hunt by the river. Moonstep and I will hunt by the fallen tree," Smokeheart instructed before padding off with Moonstep trailing behind.
Sunsplash was glad that her former apprentice had the sense to not stick her with the tom that hated her so. She turned to follow Stagfoot as he headed toward the river, keeping her nose up in the air. She couldn't smell anything except the flowery scent of the trees, and she could tell by his expression that Stagfoot was in the same situation.
"How are Flutterfall and the kits?" Sunsplash asked curiously, deciding to strike up a conversation.
"They're doing good, thanks," Stagfoot responded gruffly, more out of concentration than out of rudeness.
"Those kits of yours are quite the charmers. Just yesterday, Pinekit was trying to get me to bring him on my patrols," Sunsplash purred fondly, "I imagine if I didn't have the foresight, he would've convinced me."
"They are mischievous, and they know you have a weakness for kits. I'm afraid that Cobrastrike doesn't have that," Stagfoot meowed with an irritated flick of his tail.
Sunsplash sighed, wincing slightly as she remembered the near altercation Stagfoot and the deputy had a few sunrises ago. Cobrastrike had gotten upset with the kits when they tried sneaking out of camp, and when Stagfoot had stepped up to argue for his children, he became enraged. If Cherrystar had not broken them up, Sunsplash imagined that Stagfoot would be held up in the medicine cat den rather than hunting with her.
"I'm sorry about that, you know Cobrastrike can be rather passionate," Sunsplash meowed empathically, having been on the receiving end of the deputies 'passions' several times herself after taking up Smokeheart as an apprentice.
Stagfoot huffed, "more like he's a big hothead. Who yells at bunch of kits for something like that anyways? And then at their father directly after? As if I don't know how to take care of my own kits," his hackles raised slightly as he lashed his tail, "and if you ask me, he's just upset things aren't going his way anymore. He's been like since Cherrystar allowed Smokeheart to join SakuraClan."
Sunsplash nodded in agreement, "tell me about it," she muttered quietly with a small sigh.
Stagfoot shook his head, trying to calm his nerves. Sunsplash felt bad for unintentionally riling the tom up and didn't talk again until they met back up with Smokeheart and Moonstep. She spoke with Smokeheart through the squirrel she caught as they made their way back to camp. She deposited her catch into the freshkill pile upon their return, Moonstep following close behind her.
"Guess Halfkit is as useful as Cherrystar said she'd be," Moonstep meowed rudely after dropping his own prey into the pile.
Sunsplash bristled slightly at the backhanded compliment, why must he always bring it up like that, she thought to herself.
Moonstep padded away before she could reply, but she was glad for it. She would hate to lose her resolve in front of the clanmates that did respect her. She turned to walk off as well, but stopped as she was called on.
"Sunsplash," she turned to face her leader, who was sitting in front of her den. The green-eyed she-cat beckoned her over with a flick of her tail and she reluctantly obeyed.
"I'm sorry that he feels the need to call you that," Cherrystar meowed as Sunsplash approached her, "I know that you don't like it when that is brought up."
Sunplash pinned her ears back, "it's alright. I usually just ignore him. After all, it would be foolish to react to such kit-like behavior," she meowed, repeating to her leader what she would very often tell herself. She was grateful that Cherrystar did not bring up what that was. Her abandonment was not something she liked to be reminded of.
Cherrystar nodded, "I'm impressed by how well you keep your temper, perhaps you could teach me how to do the same," she meowed with a faint smile.
"Well, I think you already do that quite well," Sunsplash meowed with a small chuckle, "most of the time it's difficult for others to know what you're thinking."
"Do you find it difficult?" Cherrystar asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"Not really, but I'm good at reading others," Sunsplash replied.
Cherrystar snickered, "of course. Perhaps those mismatched eyes of yours are meant to represent your StarClan-given gift."
"Don't be ridiculous, plenty of cats have eyes like mine…" Sunsplash couldn't help trailing off as she said that.
The only other cats that commonly had mismatched eyes like hers were the cats of MountainClan, making many wonder what her true parentage was. Of course, there was no way to prove that was true. Not only did Sunsplash's coat not match that of any cat from MountainClan, but her petite build was far removed from the the bulky, muscular body that the cats of MountainClan were well known for. Even so, she had a distinct memory of overhearing a group of senior warriors suggesting they take her back to "where she came from" as a kit.
"Is something wrong?" Cherrystar asked, breaking Sunsplash out of her train of thought.
"Huh? Oh, no, I was just… thinking," Sunsplash meowed. She was silent for a moment before speaking again, "I actually haven't eaten today," almost as if on cue, her stomach growled.
Cherrystar chuckled, "you should take care of that then, I must speak with Cobrastrike," she meowed, pointing the tip of her tail toward the brutish tom, "clan business."
"Now there's someone who could learn to control his temper," Sunsplash meowed.
Cherrystar sighed and nodded, "he does try…" she meowed forlornly, her voice trailing off as if she was lost in thought.
Sunsplash frowned, quickly deciding to change the subject, "have you eaten yet today? I could get you something," she offered.
"I'm fine, thank you," she meowed with a small nod, essentially ending their conversation.
Sunsplash nodded and padded over to the fresh kill pile to eat. She watched Cherrystar pad over to Cobrastrike as she picked up a mouse from the pile. She turned away once they started speaking, not wanting to invade their private conversation. She looked around for a place to eat, spotting Pebblefur already tucking into a sparrow beside the medicine cat den and padding over to her.
"Hey, mind if I join you?" Sunsplash asked with a friendly smile.
"Not at all," Pebblefur purred, returning her smile.
Sunsplash sat beside the silver she-cat before she began eating. Despite the fact that she currently was not in very good standings with the deputy, she did get along very well with his mate, Pebblefur. They ate together in silence for a few moments.
"I know Cobrastrike can be a bit rude at times," Pebblefur said, suddenly breaking the silence. "It's just… he wants to be listened to. He is the deputy after all, he just has to be stern to keep everyone safe. Especially with those rogues hanging around."
"I understand," Sunsplash meowed, smiling softly. Even though Pebblefur was normally very quiet, she was never afraid to speak up on behalf of her mate, "but did he really have to shout at Stagfoot and his kits?"
Pebblefur was silent for a moment as she thought, "I suppose not. He just gets frustrated sometimes, you know? He's working hard on getting better with his temper, he really is."
Sunsplash nodded, "I know," she meowed kindly. Though she wasn't sure if she believed it.
They both finished their freshkill and talked about other, unrelated things. They had a pleasant conversation until Cobrastrike came over and offered to take Pebblefur on a hunting trip, leaving Sunsplash by herself. She watched the peaceful camp let out a content sigh.
She caught sight of Flutterfur sitting outside the nursery with her three kits. Owlkit, Pinekit, and Toadkit wrestled and chased each other playfully, which brought a smile to Sunsplash's face. She couldn't help feeling a sense of longing as she watched the little family, having always wanted one of her own.
However, since she didn't know of any tom in the clan who was romantically interested in her, that want seemed very far away. Sunsplash shook her head and decided to get her mind off her desires with patrols, resolving to worry about that another time and not waste it dreaming.
Birchleaf, a slim, pale tabby, padded out of the medicine cat den, she spotted Sunsplash and sighed in frustration.
"Think you could come collect herbs with me?" she asked, somewhat reluctantly.
Sunsplash chuckled at the young medicine cat, "don't act like it's such an inconvenience to ask," she teased.
"Well, it kind of is. I could just leave if it weren't for Cobrastrike's stupid rule…" Birchleaf muttered.
After Birchleaf's mentor had died, Cobrastrike had proposed that she be accompanied by a warrior when she went to perform medicine cat duties outside of camp. Cherrystar agreed with his proposition, since rogues had become an increasing threat in the past few moons and Birchleaf didn't know how to fight. Being the independent young she-cat that she was, Birchleaf was very much opposed.
"Why can't someone just train me to fight?" she asked.
"Because medicine cats don't need to know how to fight," Cobrastrike responded.
"Well, obviously that doesn't apply anymore if I need to be protected," she retorted, "I think you're just afraid of what I could do."
That remark got a very hot headed reply from the deputy, and their conversation evolved into a full blown argument. Exchanges like those had now become the norm for the two.
"He just wants to keep you safe," Sunsplash meowed as she stood up and padded over to Birchleaf.
"He wants control over me, and the clan. One of these days I'll teach him that he doesn't have to be so controlling, mark my words," she meowed self-righteously.
Sunsplash rolled her eyes, but didn't say anymore as Birchleaf started padding out of camp and trailed behind her.