The next morning, it was Lightpaw's turn to stay in camp while Duskpaw and Mistpaw, along with their mentors and a couple other warriors, went hunting. Now was her chance.
"Magpiecloud? Daddy?" Lightpaw asked the tuxedo tom. Her adoptive parents were just barely stirring at the sound of her voice. Maybe they won't realize what I'm up to, she thought. Maybe I can do this!
"Yes?" Magpiecloud replied, sleepiness evident in his tone.
"Do you know where Cherrystar is?" she asked, a nervous quiver in her voice.
"What for?" he asked, confused. Green eyes blinked and a fog seemed to clear from them. "Are you unhappy? Do you want to talk to me about it?"
"N-no," said Lightpaw quickly with a flick of her ears. "I just wanted to ask her something...about patrols! I wanted to go on more patrols."
Magpiecloud's tail twitched, the only sign of his amusement and incredulity. "Alright," he replied. "She was sleeping with Silvertail and Gingerstorm when I saw her last night." He nodded in a direction and put his head back down. His eyes closed and his breathing soon became rhythmic.
Lightpaw sighed with relief. "Thanks, dad," she whispered before padding away in the direction she was shown. She found Cherrystar, Birchclaw, Gingerstorm, Silvertail, and Whiteclaw awake and talking quietly. The apprentice hovered near them for a bit, hesitating. Cherrystar probably had better things to do than listen to the clan's youngest apprentice, after all. But Lightpaw couldn't-no, wouldn't-turn back. Not now, not ever. Her mind made up, she walked up to the leader.
"Hello?" Lightpaw whispered, shaking slightly. Her tail whipped back and forth and her ears were pinned to the sides of her head.
Birchclaw turned his head to her and his bright green eyes widened with surprise. "Lightpaw!" he exclaimed. "Come here."
Though her heart was hammering, Lightpaw forced herself to take a step forward and lie down. Her vision darkened for a moment and the talking became buzzing. The feeling passed and she saw Gingerstorm looking worriedly at her. Lightpaw steadied her breathing. "Could...could I speak to Cherrystar in private?" she mumbled.
"Hmm?" asked Whiteclaw.
"CanIspeakwithCherrystar?" Lightpaw asked in a slightly louder voice.
Cherrystar regarded the light gray apprentice for a moment, cool green eyes appraising. Birchclaw looked at his sister and twitched his tail in silent communication. Why not? he was asking. A flick of Cherrystar's brows and a small dip of her head gave the answer. I suppose. "I will grant this request," she said quietly. "Please make sure that no one disturbs us." Gingerstorm, Silvertail, and Whiteclaw rose to their feet and, with encouraging smiles aimed at Lightpaw, walked just out of earshot. Birchclaw stayed where he lay, bushy tail flopped across his hind legs.
"What is it that you want?" asked Cherrystar, breaking the silence between them.
Lightpaw froze. How to say this? How to put this? Was she stupid for asking a meeting? Apprentices didn't just meet with the leader. Warriors did. Senior warriors and the deputy did.
"Go on," drawled Birchclaw. "I'll make sure she won't bite. She's never managed to pin me yet."
Cherrystar huffed with annoyance, shooting a glare at her deputy. "I'll have you know that you still haven't beaten either of us in hunting. For Starclan's sake, even Nightpaw is a better hunter than you!"
Birchclaw muttered something under his breath that sounded very rude and Cherrystar batted at his ear in response. Lightpaw relaxed slightly. She could do this. She had to. And that the leader had taken a personal interest in the apprentices boded well, didn't it? She breathed out and spoke. "Well, uhh, I was thinking that ifwesentoutsearchparties, maybewecouldactuallyfindacamp?"
"Slow down," advised Birchclaw. "Breathe." He gave her a little smile of encouragement.
Lightpaw breathed. In and out. In and out. And spoke. "Well, I was thinking that if we-I mean you-" she said to Cherryclaw, "sent out search parties, maybe we could actually find a camp?"
"It's too much of a risk," said Cherrystar evenly. "The search parties could get lost. Those remaining behind could get lost."
"Well," said Lightpaw more contrarily, "this area can easily support a group. We could just have the group remain behind while a couple others look for a suitable territory and then meet back here after a predetermined amount of time!" Cherrystar looked as though she was about to speak, but Lightpaw didn't want to wait anymore. "Look. This forest can easily support the clan. There's plenty of food and I have no doubt that somewhere, we can find your 'perfect' place to live. Remember that lake we saw near the human territory? Great water source! And we've come across a few streams. Also, there are so, many,clearings that we could fortify like this one. But we haven't seen a single predator so why bother even that? The weather's nice, too. And I just...I just..." Lightpaw's voice softened from the near-shout she was using a moment before. "I just want Cherryclan, my home to have a home," she whispered, ducking her head in embarrassment. Now that the moment of passion was over, she realized just how big of a mistake she had made. How much of the clan had heard her shouting at the leader? Looking around surreptitiously, she saw that most of the clan was looking away from her, the leader, and the deputy.
Cherrystar's tail twitched with evident irritation. "I understand your concerns," she growled, "but-"
Lightpaw exploded. "There aren't any 'buts,' Cherrystar!" she yelled. "If we don't establish a proper territory, we might as well call ourselves loners! No one joined this clan just to wander around; we joined because we wanted a stable home. A home, Cherrystar. You might not hear anything but that's because everyone else is too terrified to speak up! And I know that some-"
Cherrystar's eyes glowed with fury and her fur bristled. There was an odd sound coming from her throat and Lightpaw stopped talking, sure that she had made the worst mistake of her life. She was definitely going to be exiled for her impertinence. She shouldn't have done this. She should have backed down earlier. The leader's mouth opened...and out came a laugh, a foreign sound from her.
"You have courage," chuckled Cherrystar, "and have made your point. But don't," she said, eyes hardening, "ever talk to me like that again."
Lightpaw nodded mutely.
"I grant you, your mentor, and no more than two cats of your choosing permission to look for what you believe to be a suitable, defensible, camp." Cherrystar looked around at all the cats who had frozen during Lightpaw's shouting. "And what are you all doing, standing around like that?" she called. "This is a private matter." Heartbeats later, the camp was once more full of chattering and the leader turned back to the apprentice. "I will send out some more search parties, as you so kindly suggested. You will leave at moonhigh. Now go."
Cherrystar returned to her resting position and closed her eyes. Birchclaw's whiskers twitched and he jerked his head towards Lightpaw. Good job, he was saying. I'm proud. Heart pounding and body tingling, Lightpaw turned and walked away, full of fear and excitement at the task that lay ahead.