Icy: Okay, what have we got this time...? Oh yeah, we're still in this mini four-chapter arc.

Mistypaw: Aww... It's not my POV...

Stonepaw: It's not in my POV, either...

Mistypaw: You just had your POV!

Mosspaw: Yeah, it's my turn!

Icy: Okay, enough of your blabbering about whose POV it is! On with the chapter!

Chapter Twelve

Family

Mosspaw's paws itched as she sat in the middle of the camp. It was already sunhigh and she had yet to receive any orders from her mentor. She was starting to grow impatient. Where in the name of StarClan is Thistleclaw at?

Suddenly, almost as if answering her thoughts, her mentor came out of Sunstar's den. Noticing that Mosspaw was watching, Thistleclaw ran over to her.

"Mosspaw, uh... Good morning..." he meowed awkwardly.

"Uh... good morning to you, too?" Mosspaw's reply was just as awkward. He seems a lot kinder this morning... Has he forgotten about what happened at the trees? The incident at the Thunderpath sure seems to have been a good distraction...

"Have you been waiting out here very long?" Thistleclaw asked. His awkwardness seemed to be fading away. Why was it awkward for him to say good morning...?

"No," Mosspaw kept her reply short and simple. I really haven't... I was worried I'd be late when I woke up and saw sunlight coming through the apprentices' den! Those poppy seeds sure do last a long time! Mosspaw had gotten more poppy seeds from Featherwhisker after Robinwing's death the previous day. Mosspaw had secretly been relieved when she found Thistleclaw had not been waiting for her.

"Good. I'm sorry that I didn't wake you up earlier to tell you, but I just found out," Thistleclaw explained.

"Just found out what?" Mosspaw asked.

"I'm accompanying Sunstar to ShadowClan's camp today. We're going to apologize for the border skirmish that got out of control far too quickly," Thistleclaw explained. "You get the day off today. You can go hunting or something if you want, but otherwise you've got the day off. Don't stress yourself out too much. I know how painful Robinwing's death must have been for you. After all, you seemed to take a liking to her."

"Thank you, Thistleclaw. Good luck," Mosspaw added, respectfully dipping her head to her mentor.

"Thanks, Mosspaw. Take care," Thistleclaw meowed before running off to the camp entrance, where he met Sunstar. Mosspaw realized that Sunstar had left his den and had been watching the entire time as Thistleclaw had greeted her.

He sure is being awfully nice to me, Mosspaw couldn't help but think. Why? Is it because Sunstar was watching the whole time? Or is he actually sympathetic about losing Robinwing?

Mosspaw gasped as she remembered a story she had heard from Larksong. It had been about Snowfur, Thistleclaw's mate. Snowfur was Bluefur's sister, making her Mosspaw's aunt. Snowfur had been hit by a monster and Thistleclaw had taken the loss of his mate harshly. Mosspaw wondered if Robinwing's death, caused by the same thing as Snowfur's death, reminded Thistleclaw of his mate's death.

Maybe he actually is sympathetic...

"Hey, Mosspaw." Mosspaw jumped. She hadn't seen Mousekit and Runningkit pad over to her.

"Hey Mousekit. Hey Runningkit," Mosspaw meowed. She would have added more, but it would have been pointless because both of the cats' jaws were filled with moss. Mosspaw twitched her whiskers as she added the scent of mouse bile to the balls of moss. Wait a minute... Where did they get all of that moss from...?

"Mousekit?" The small dusky brown she-cat set her moss down. "Did you not attend the ceremony this morning?"

"What ceremony...?" Mosspaw asked.

"Our apprentice ceremony," the light brown tabby tom replied.

"You're apprentices now?! How did I miss that?" Mosspaw exclaimed.

"All of the patrols were back in time for it, weren't they?" Mousepaw asked her brother.

"Yeah, they were. Sheesh, Mosspaw, are you telling us you slept through our ceremony?" Runningpaw teased her.

"Great StarClan, I think I did..." Mosspaw admitted sheepishly, flattening her ears in embarrassment.

"It's okay, you can make it up to us," Runningpaw meowed.

"Really?" Mosspaw asked, her ears rising back up. "How?"

"You can help us make the elders' nests!" Mousepaw replied, exchanging a glance of amusement with her brother.

"Really...?" Mosspaw glared back and forth between the two siblings.

"Hey! Are you two trying to put off your duties on Mosspaw?" Adderfang asked sternly, padding up to them.

"Um... Of course not!" Mousepaw exclaimed. She quickly picked her mousebile-filled moss off the ground and ran over to the elders' den without another word.

"Mousepaw, wait for me!" Runningpaw exclaimed, picking up his moss and chasing after his sister.

Mosspaw sighed. "Thank you, Adderfang."

"No problem," the warrior meowed before padding off.

Mosspaw sighed again. I seriously slept through their apprentice ceremonies...? I'm a terrible friend...

Mosspaw shook her head. Why didn't Mistypaw or Stonepaw wake me up? I would have woken them up if our roles were reversed... Are we letting each other sleep through our friends' apprentice ceremonies now? What kind of family are we?

Mosspaw cast a quick glance at the fresh-kill pile, trying to force her doubts away. The fresh-kill pile was surprisingly small. Thistleclaw isn't here, so I've got the day off... I guess I'll go hunting. I'm going to catch Mousepaw and Runningpaw something to make up for missing their apprentice ceremony! Maybe I'll find my siblings and force them to get over their recent argument while I'm at it...

Mosspaw chased a finch past a few trees. She crouched down to leap up it at, but her hind paw stepped on a leaf. The finch flew up high in the air, leaving her absolutely no chance at getting it. Silently cursing to herself, Mosspaw slapped her tail against the ground in frustration. A harsh breeze suddenly started blowing. She froze as she recognized the scents in the breeze as the scents of her mother, father, and siblings. Curiosity striking the best of her, she padded through a few fronds and quickly entered the clearing her family was in. Mosspaw padded over to her siblings and sat down beside them. She opened her jaws to ask her siblings why they hadn't woken her up earlier, but the awkward silence in the clearing told her it was best to keep her comments to herself.

Bluefur closed her jaws as she finished some sort of statement that Mosspaw hadn't heard. Based on the her siblings' facial expressions, it hadn't been pleasant.

Thrushpelt opened his jaws to speak. A crow cawed in the distance and the sun suddenly crept behind the clouds, leaving the shadows to cover Mosspaw and her siblings as they waited for their father to speak.

"I had to, Bluefur! She was asking a lot of questions that I didn't have any answers for!"

Mosspaw's eyes widened. Thoughts were racing through her.

What questions? Who was asking them? Is something wrong with my family? Are there secrets in my family...?

Icy: Don't you just love cliffhangers?

Wingpaw: Wow this is really building suspense. Does it really take four chapters to address this one issue with Bluefur and Thrushpelt?

Flarepaw: Icy, is this filler...?

Icy: No... Um, actually, maybe...? I don't know...

Wingpaw: Sigh...

Flarepaw: Alright, let's go ahead and wrap up this AN.

Icy: See you next time! Look forward to the resolution of this mini four-chapter story arc!

~Icy and the crew