Sunrise woke slowly from her pitiful rest. The morning was gray and dismal, bringing no cheer to the forest. Water clung and dripped from any surface it found purchase on, though not a drop had fallen from the clouds as of yet. The air was humid and heavy, bearing down on the cats suffering in its suffocating pressure.
"Oakclaw told me we're on patrol this morning," her sister, Lightfeather, mewed wearily, stirring beside her. "Should you wake Ashpaw?"
Ashpaw was Sunrise's rebellious little apprentice. He wouldn't take kindly to being woken to this dismal, headache inducing day. The young gray tom was unofficially being apprenticed by both of the sisters, though he was technically only under Sunrise's authority.
Darkstar had approached them before the ceremony, while they were engaged in a heated discussion involving the sparse number off kits in Gladegrass's most recent litter.
"I want you to understand," he had meowed with all of his gentle authority, "that though there is only one kit between you, no acknowledgement is being made of any distinguishable abilities in the chosen cat. You are both equally talented, and I think Ashkit would benefit from your active participation in his training, Lightfeather." Which had confirmed Sunrise as the official mentor.
"I think I'll let him sleep through this one," she grunted, rising to her paws.
"You're too flexible with him."
"Probably," she agreed amiably, working her way around the sleeping bodies and to the entrance, leading under the cavernous folds of the thorny, low-lying bush. "But if I change face now, I'll never hear the end of it."
"And you let yourself be intimidated," Lightfeather mewed with a sharp hint of wry humor, following her out the tunnel and into the full force of the gray light. Small as the sisters were, Ashpaw was miniscule in comparison. Sunrise's tail gave an amused flick.
They paused in the center of the clearing. "Of course, of course." She blinked against the early morning sun. "Who else is on patrol?"
"Raveneye." The she-cat had mixed emotion in reactions to this.
Raveneye was a lithe, wiry tom not too many seasons older than they were. He was as black as the darkest night, with the exception of an expressive white circle around his left eye. Though Raveneye was efficient and pleasant to work with, there was a mysteriousness that surrounded him, like a thousand brooding secrets traveling in his notable wake.
"Why, is there a problem with that? I could ask Oakclaw to change positions, though I don't think he'll like being woken…"
"No, no, it's fine," Sunrise assured her. "But doesn't he seem a little… tense to you?"
Lightfeather shrugged. "As long as he's not gnawing on my back." Sunrise's eyes crinkled in the grin she was unable to bear.
Raveneye emerged from the den behind them, taking a long, fond look around his home.
The Duskclan camp was a small glade in the conifer forest surrounding them on all sides. A tiny gray patch of sky rested high above on the tips of the mighty, largely inedible trees. Darkness pressed in from the shadows lingering in their grasping arms. The resulting atmosphere was slightly claustrophobic, but if raised in this small shelter, a more open space would seem as exposing as bare rock on the tip of a mighty hill.
To one end of the clearing was an enormous, grizzled looking rock. Moss hung agelessly from its weathered sides, lending personality to its otherwise flavorless surface. Some mighty force of past times had rent the boulder in two neat pieces, split straight down its middle. The resulting twins leaned against each other helpfully, slightly askew in their alignment. The pool of dirt that gathered at the top sprouted with dandelions and other weeds during the rainy season, giving it the appearance of a mussed head growing green hair and an old, brown beard.
Darkstar's den rested in its gut. Sandy, cool, and dry, with a spring bubbling gently in its farther reaches, the little cave was occasionally sacrificed as a refuge for the latest patients dependent on Fadinglight's skills. Sunrise often found herself staring in envy of this small piece of heaven.
Across from the boulder was the single entrance into camp. Since gorse brush grew heavily around the fringes of the glade to take advantage of this patch of sunlight, the cats of Duskclan had woven the branches of the spiny bushes into a nearly impenetrable wall. Included in this population were the two monstrous bushes that formed the warriors' and apprentices' dens. Under their dry, mossy embrace, it was difficult not to feel protected from the world and its danger.
Raveneye crossed the tightly packed earth of the clearing, silently joining them. He sighed, pulling in a great draft of morning air, and then gave the sisters an expectant stare.
"It'd probably be best to check both borders," Lightfeather said finally. Sunrise held back a groan; it promised to be a long, monotonous patrol that morning.
"I could go with Smokepaw to the old foxden," Raveneye offered, since that was also expected for them to examine.
"Nightclan has been acting suspicious lately," Sunrise implied reluctantly. "It'd be better if we stayed together for at least most of the border."
Raveneye nodded thoughtfully. "We'll split after that. Wait here, I'll go wake him." He bounded off towards the apprentices' den, whose insufficient number of inhabitants was dangerous to the future of the clan. Sunrise settled on her haunches.
"Sunrise?" Lightfeather suddenly asked, startling her from an exhaustion induced 'catnap.'
"Yeah?" she mumbled, straightening.
"You fell asleep sitting," Lightfeather mewed amusedly. "Did you sleep well last night?"
"No," Sunrise complained. "It was too wet, I think." Her sister nodded.
"It's probably going to rain later today."
"You have that feeling too?" she turned to Lightfeather. "Like a storm is going to hit, and hit hard?" Lightfeather shrugged.
"Anyone can sense it. Even Raveneye didn't sleep well last night."
"How can you tell?"
"Oh, please. Even you can see signs of exhaustion," she mewed, flicking Sunrise with her tail to take the sting from her words. The mentor shook her head heavily.
"I'll be tripping over my tail out there. And we should catch some fresh kill," she whined, eyeing the meager selections the pile offered. Lightfeather sighed at this added responsibility.
"If you hadn't said anything, we might have pretended ignorance, you know."
"Technically, we still can," she hinted.
"Why, you naughty, misbehaving kit," Lightfeather admonished in a fair mimic of Gladegrass. "I ought to wring you by the scruff for that." Sunrise coughed in way of laughter.
Raveneye approached with Smokepaw.
Smokepaw was larger than Ashpaw in size, though he paled in comparison to his brother's mighty personality. His pelt was the perfect earthy gray, which allowed him to mix and hide in a crowd, if he ever got up enough courage to face one.
Sunrise nodded in greeting.
"We should go, the sun is rising," Raveneye pressured.
"All right," Lightfeather agreed, taking a twisted leap towards the entrance. Sunrise followed, the wet air rushing exhilaratingly against her tired face as they streaked competitively across the sparsely grassed ground towards the outer world.