Chapter 9

"Well, are you coming?" Leafpaw growled, standing a few pawsteps away from Crowpaw, who stood stone still, dreading collecting herbs with the ThunderClan she-cat. "I don't want to take all day."

The dark gray apprentice sighed. "I'm coming," he spat, padding toward her. "Where's the best place to find tansy?"

Leafpaw nodded toward a large oak tree. "Past the oak tree there's a little grove where a lot of tansy grows. It'll be the best place to look."

"Then let's hurry and get some so we can get back to Sunningrocks. I don't want to miss out on what's left of the fresh kill pile."

The tabby she-cat glared at Crowpaw with cold amber eyes. "You don't care about anybody but yourself, do you?"

A wave of anger crashed over Crowpaw. Trying hard not to attack the Medicine Cat apprentice, he barged past her toward the tree, holding his tongue. Don't scratch her! he thought to himself. Squirrelpaw will never forgive me for hurting her sister, even if it's Leafpaw's fault.

The tabby she-cat followed the WindClan tom silently. Crowpaw glanced back at her once to make sure she was still there, and he saw she was lashing her tail madly. The ThunderClan apprentice was just as angry about collecting herbs with him as he was.

"Stop," Leafpaw said suddenly. "This is the place."

Crowpaw looked around. Sure enough, fresh tansy sprouted from the ground, covering a wide range of the soft forest ground. Turning back to Leafpaw, he growled, "How much do you need?"

"As much as you can carry," she replied, picking some soft-looking leaves.

The WindClan apprentice stared at the tansy patch, looking for leaves like the ones Leafpaw was picking. The two young cats worked silently side by side, collecting as much tansy as either cat could hold.

"This amount should be good," Leafpaw meowed when they had collected a large pile. "You did well, Crowpaw," she meowed, sounding as if the compliment was forced.

"I wish I'd been hunting instead of collecting measly herbs, but I had to help ThunderClan somehow," Crowpaw replied with an exaggerated sigh. He had given up his precious time to help her when he could have been feeding both of their Clans!

The tabby she-cat narrowed her eyes. "Collecting herbs is just as worthy a task as hunting is," she hissed. "These herbs could save someone's life."

Crowpaw shook his head angrily. "Right now, these cats need food to save their lives, not tansy leaves!" He quickly grabbed some of the leaves and stalked away from Leafpaw. How could she not be grateful for the help? I spent all afternoon collecting herbs for her and she can't even thank me? How rude!

"Oh good! You brought tansy," Cinderpelt meowed when she saw the lot that Leafpaw and Crowpaw brought back.

"I hope this is enough," Crowpaw grumbled.

Cinderpelt nodded happily. "It is. Thank you so much for helping Leafpaw."

Crowpaw sighed. At least someone was thankful for all his hard work. "You're welcome," he mewed as politely as he could.

He turned to head back to where his Clan had settled. Mudclaw and Tallstar were sitting at the base of a birch tree, discussing something quietly while watching Nightkit play with Ferncloud's kit.

"Mudclaw, I'm back," Crowpaw announced, dipping his head to the deputy.

"Excellent! Onewhisker told me he sent you collecting herbs with Leafpaw. I trust you were a help to her, right?" his mentor meowed.

Crowpaw nodded. "Of course I was. Collecting herbs is a worthy task of any cat," he lied, saying the same thing Leafpaw had told him. "I would rather have been hunting, though."

Tallstar glanced up at the apprentice. "Cloudtail told me you caught a shrew this morning. Ferncloud wanted to thank you for it- it was Birchkit's first taste of real prey."

"Is there anything left?" Crowpaw meowed hopefully, scanning Sunningrocks for a fresh-kill pile.

Sadly, Mudclaw shook his head. "All the rest of the prey went to Whitetail and the elders. If you want something, you'll have to go hunting for it yourself."

The WindClan apprentice sighed, disappointed that there was nothing left to eat. "Yes, Mudclaw."

Slowly, he turned around to see Squirrelpaw stalking toward him, with Leafpaw following closely behind.

"Are you serious?" the ginger she-cat hissed. "I told you to be nice to Leafpaw, and what do you do? You act like spending time with her is the worst thing ever."

Crowpaw glared at Squirrelpaw, anger raging inside of him. "I should have been hunting! I was doing better than you were!" he snarled.

Squirrelpaw rolled her green eyes, dismissing the dark gray apprentice's claim. "I'll have you know that after you left I caught a squirrel."

"And where is it now?" Crowpaw growled. "I've been working all day and I'm starving!"

"I gave it to Whitetail. Honestly, you are the most selfish cat I know. We're all working hard and we're all hungry, Crowpaw. That doesn't give us the excuse to be jerks about it!"

Leafpaw pushed in front of her sister, glaring at the WindClan tom. "If you ever get sick or are injured, you'd better not come yowling to me!"

Squirrelpaw nodded. "I don't know what Feathertail sees in you, because all Leafpaw and I see is a worthless piece of fox dung!"

(Revision date- April 6, 2014)