Chapter 9! You're probably thinking 'when are things going to happen?'. Well... the answer is I'm going to take my time. No point in hurrying things. Plus, the characters need to develop more. I'll take it as a compliment if you say 'rubbish', but it's true. Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw have only just started to show what they're really like. So... yeah.
'You're Apologising?'
Kestrelpaw chewed her prey thoughtfully, listening to Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw chatting away amiably. It was amazing how much Sparrowpaw had changed since they left SkyClan. Almost as if he now felt free of responsibility and criticism. She wondered whether he had always been like this, but had just hid it from everyone because he felt that he needed to set a good example for those younger than him, or maybe because he had seen how cats reacted to her and felt that it would be better to hide his fun side away. She got on with him so much better now that he didn't always say 'that's not allowed' or 'behave sensibly'.
Squirrelpaw laughed at something that Sparrowpaw had said, startling Kestrelpaw out of her thoughts. She looked curiously at the tortoiseshell she-cat. Come to think of it, Squirrelpaw had also become easier to get on with. More unrestrained. Maybe this journey had had something to do with that. It had allowed everyone to enjoy life more. She wondered if journeys always did this. Glancing at Harepaw, she changed her mind. He had become quieter and much more reserved than he had been when they had left SkyClan. It was almost like something was wrong with him... Kestrelpaw felt an unexpected twinge of guilt when she realised that he had only become like this shortly after she had yelled at him. She may have hated him, but it didn't make her feel any better when she realised that she had made him feel bad. It was tempting to think 'well, so he should'. But it had been a week ago. Nobody should continue to feel bad after one week, in Kestrelpaw's opinion.
She sighed as she realised what she was going to have to do. It was worth a try, although she hated knowing that this would be the easiest way to stop her from feeling guilty. He had hurt her feelings... but she prided herself on being a better cat than he was. Which meant that she would have to be more compassionate than he would have been had he been in her position. Kestrelpaw mumbled something about how annoying this was under her breath, and made her way over to Harepaw.
Squirrelpaw's head jerked up interestedly when she saw Kestrelpaw heading towards Harepaw, and she nudged Sparrowpaw. Her eyes alight with curiosity as to what the other she-cat was going to do, Squirrelpaw whispered to Sparrowpaw. "Hey, look at that."
Sparrowpaw's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and he purred. "I think Step Two is working well."
Squirrelpaw snickered, and nodded in agreement. "So do I. What did you say to him?"
"Oh... only that Kestrelpaw was right, and that he was selfish, etc.," Sparrowpaw explained, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "I knew that would make him mope. And I knew that..."
"She would feel guilty," Squirrelpaw finished, and then the two settled down to inconspicuously watch what Kestrelpaw was going to do and say to the object of her annoyance.
Kestrelpaw's shadow fell over Harepaw, who refused to even look up from his prey. He was gazing at it as if it was of great interest, and Kestrelpaw snorted in disbelief. He really was being ridiculous. He could, at the very least, acknowledge her presence. But no. He was lost in his own little world of sulking. Ugh. How immature.
"I've come to apologise for yelling at you," Kestrelpaw said stiffly, and Harepaw's head jerked up in astonishment at her words. The shock on his face was really quite funny, and Squirrelpaw stifled a snigger, as did Sparrowpaw.
"You're apologising?" Harepaw said incredulously, his eyes widening.
"Yes, I'm apologising. It's really, really irritating to have you moping around all day and night. There are far better things for you to do than that. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought that you were really feeling bad about what you said to me. Unfortunately, I do know you better, and therefore I can only conclude that you were feeling sorry for yourself," Kestrelpaw said sharply. If there had been a patch of stinging nettles nearby, then she would have shoved Harepaw in them. Serve him right for behaving like a kit. Some yarrow would have been nice, but, fortunately for Harepaw, there weren't any around at that particular place, or he might have found himself feeling rather unwell.
"I'm sorry," Harepaw muttered reluctantly, avoiding her eyes. He hated being brought down to this level, but it was the obvious thing to say in this situation.
Kestrelpaw nodded absentmindedly, and then did a double take. Wait. What had he just said? Had he just said sorry? Great StarClan. What was the world coming to? And then the strangest thing happened. Afterwards, she didn't know why she did it, but she was heartily glad that she had. Kestrelpaw began to laugh. Once she started to laugh, she couldn't help herself. She roared with laughter.
Harepaw stared at Kestrelpaw in bafflement. Why was she laughing? What had he said that was so funny? Then, much to his irritation, he began to laugh as well. Laughter was like that. It was catching, like an illness. If somebody began to laugh, really and genuinely laugh, then it was hard not to laugh yourself. No matter how angry you were, it just happened. Harepaw realised this after he began to laugh so hard that he couldn't get up from where he was lying down.
"Look! Look!" Squirrelpaw said in excitement, and she looked expectantly at Sparrowpaw. The only reply she received was a chuckle that got louder and louder, and she realised that Sparrowpaw was laughing as well. And then, of course, she herself was laughing. She didn't know why she was laughing, and neither did Sparrowpaw. That was just the way of laughter. You laughed because others were laughing.
Once Kestrelpaw had managed to get control of herself, she shook her head in amazement. She felt immensely better after laughing, and she understood why her mother was always going on about how good laughter was for your health and mood. Birdheart said that, too. Kestrelpaw was astonished at how true it was, yet she was also happy that it was true. Finally, there had been something to laugh about. Harepaw didn't look too unhappy any more, either. Which was a good thing or bad thing, depending on how you looked at it. If he was in a good mood, he was more likely to insult her. At that moment, though, Kestrelpaw didn't care. So long as everyone was in a good mood, then she really didn't mind one bit.
"Well, I accept your apology," Kestrelpaw added as an afterthought.
"I meant it," Harepaw insisted, and then returned to the prey with renewed appetite. Kestrelpaw padded over to where she had left her prey, and settled down to eat it happily, glad that they were now on good terms, or, at least, reasonably good terms.
"No, we're going that way!" Kestrelpaw argued fiercely, her head jerking towards the right. The kestrel nodded vigorously in agreement, which should have settled things had she been up against any other cat. Unfortunately she was up against a certain tom that had once again become rather aggravating, although not as aggravating as he had once been.
"Idiot. It's that way! He said so, and I trust him, not your birdbrain of a companion," Harepaw disagreed strongly, and nodded towards the hare, who had been the one to start the argument by telling Harepaw about his thoughts on which way they should go.
"If my companion is a birdbrain, then yours is a harebrain!" Kestrelpaw said rudely, and look down her nose at the other apprentice, daring him to object.
Harepaw, being Harepaw, did object. "Birds have smaller brains than hares! Look at the size of that kestrel's head! My companion is definitely smarter, and therefore we are going this way! Come on, you two."
Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw exchanged looks, and said nothing. They weren't going to go the wrong way because of some stupid argument. They would wait until they knew which way to go, even if it meant asking for directions from another cat. Seeing as they were near a Two-leg place, it shouldn't be too hard to find a plump kittypet, or, better, a streetwise loner, that knew the right way to go.
"Why don't we just ask for directions?" Squirrelpaw ventured after a few seconds, during which Harepaw and Kestrelpaw glared heatedly at each other. The hare and the kestrel did the same, and Squirrelpaw would have found it comical on any other day, in any other situation. However, on this particular day she was too tired to bother laughing.
"No!" Kestrelpaw and Harepaw said angrily, turning their glares in Squirrelpaw's direction. The tortoiseshell didn't flinch, instead heading towards the Two-leg place to ask for directions. Sparrowpaw shrugged, and followed his friend.
"Um... well, see you!" Kestrelpaw darted after the two apprentices, leaving Harepaw standing there uncomfortably for a few more seconds. Then he reluctantly followed the rest of them, muttering all the way about 'stubborn she-cats' and how he hated them.
Squirrelpaw leaped lightly up onto a white thing that Kestrelpaw didn't know the name of. It seemed to have been put up deliberately to stop creatures from getting in, and Kestrelpaw felt extremely uncomfortable as she followed the tortoiseshell she-cat who was padding along the white thing as if she had been born to do it. The four cats walked along the white thing for several minutes, and then Squirrelpaw spotted something. Jumping down, the she-cat darted after a black figure, and the other three followed her quickly, unwilling to be left behind.
When they caught up with her, she had cornered an apprentice aged black tom, who was hissing and spitting ferociously. Kestrelpaw's own fur bristled when she saw him, and she stepped up to where Squirrelpaw was busily grooming her fur, as if there wasn't a thing unusual or even remotely scary about the black tom. Sparrowpaw and Harepaw paused as they, too, spotted the black tom. When the tom realised that he was largely outnumbered, the look in his eyes turned from anger to a slight hint of fear.
"What do you want with me?" he spat out, backing up against a much larger version of the white thing that Kestrelpaw and her friends had walked along.
"Your meat," Squirrelpaw said seriously, and then, when the tom's eyes widened in horror, she laughed at her own wit. "Kidding. No, we only want directions."
The tom relaxed slightly, sizing them up and then evidently deciding that they weren't much of a threat. Kestrelpaw felt rather insulted at the insinuation that she was a weakling. She bet she could beat this tom in a fight any day. After all, she had been trained by a warrior. This tom had probably never been trained in fighting in his whole life.
"Why?" the tom asked suspiciously, but his fur was no longer bristling. That was a good sign, Kestrelpaw supposed. Although, she wouldn't have minded fighting somebody. Preferably Harepaw, but it wouldn't have looked so good if she was fighting somebody on her side.
"We're... well... lost," Squirrelpaw admitted reluctantly, and the black tom's eyes lit up with amusement.
"Lost? You don't happen to be a bunch of kittypets, do you?" he snickered, and Harepaw bristled angrily, as did Kestrelpaw. They were both waiting eagerly for the chance to attack this tom.
"No, unluckily for you. Now... give us directions, and we'll be out of here," Squirrelpaw said calmly, unaffected by his insulting words. Kestrelpaw didn't know how any Clan cat could not be insulted by a stranger asking if they were a kittypet.
"Directions to where?" the tom asked curiously, and it was then that he noticed the kestrel, the sparrow, the hare, and the squirrel. "Why do you have prey following you around?"
"None of your concern!" Kestrelpaw snapped before anybody else could reply, and Squirrelpaw shot her a warning glance.
"They're not prey!" Harepaw added, which earned him an extremely disapproving look from Sparrowpaw, which he ignored.
"We need to get to... a place of big waters," Squirrelpaw said uncomfortably, not happy with having to tell another cat where they were heading. The other three apprentices looked uneasily at the black tom, certain that he would start laughing and declaring them mad.
"Big waters? You don't happen to mean... the Wide-Waters?" the black tom asked with even more curiosity in his voice, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully as he look at the four with renewed interest.
"Yes! Yes, that place," Squirrelpaw heaved a sigh of relief as she realised she wouldn't have to describe the place to him. It would be hard when she hadn't ever seen it.
"But... that's far away! It would take... oh, I don't know... a moon or more to get there. Where have you come from?" he asked in astonishment, genuinely interested in the reply to his question.
"Um... I'd rather not tell you. Can you just show us the way?" Squirrelpaw begged, and the tom reluctantly nodded. He led them out of the Two-leg place and padded over to where Harepaw and Kestrelpaw had been arguing. Then he turned to them, and Kestrelpaw looked at him suspiciously, as did Harepaw.
"I'm only telling you if you allow me to come along," he announced, and Kestrelpaw and Harepaw let out a hiss of frustration, both thinking along the lines of 'I'd rather go to the Dark Forest and back then have you along with us, stuck-up mousebrain'. Which was really quite funny as, less than a moon ago, Harepaw and Kestrelpaw would've thought the same thing of each other.
"Why would you want to do that?" Squirrelpaw queried, flicking her tail at Harepaw and Kestrelpaw to silence their murmurs of protest.
"I've always wanted to go there. I've heard great things about the place from my mother. Everyone in my family has been there at least once! Please let me come along!" the tom's voice was pleading, and Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw sighed, and then nodded.
"What? No! He can't!" Harepaw and Kestrelpaw said with identical looks of horror.
"Of course he can. Don't listen to them, they're just in a bad mood because they think you're going to get all the attention," Sparrowpaw advised the tom, who was looking delighted.
"Thank you," the tom said gratefully, and then began heading not right or left, but straight ahead. Squirrelpaw snickered at the resigned looks that had come over the two apprentices' faces.
"We were both wrong, then," Kestrelpaw sighed, and began to follow the tom. She had already decided that she wouldn't like him. He wasn't meant to be on this journey, and he was almost as bad as Harepaw because of his... his... come to think of it, Kestrelpaw couldn't find anything wrong with the tom. As the minutes ticked by, she finally settled on finding out what he was really like before judging him. That, at least, would be fair.
Unfortunately, Harepaw didn't quite feel the same way. He wasn't, and had never been, a very fair-minded cat. It just so happened that he had decided he would hate the tom because he felt exactly as Kestrelpaw had felt a few seconds earlier: that the tom wasn't meant to be on the journey. At least Kestrelpaw had been asked to go on it by the kestrel. This tom had just barged in and decided to come along. Therefore, Harepaw decided not to like him. Even more unfortunate for the black tom was that, once Harepaw decided something, it was very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to make him change his mind.
Five! Hurrah! Five cats on the journey! My favourite number! And, before you ask, no, I didn't do that on purpose. I just thought it would be interesting to have a cat who had been brought up in a very different way join the other cats. Or, at least, quite differently.
