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Batpaw accompanied on the way home, as promised. He took up residence in Petalcloud's old den, sneering at how unkempt and disorganized it was. It had fallen into chaos only days after Petalcloud had died. Tigerpaw took an instant dislike to the arrogant apprentice; just because he was kin to the deputy and the mate of the leader, he thought he owned the place. The fact that he found ThunderClan to be inferior irked Tigerpaw as well. Still, Tigerpaw tried to put his feelings aside; Batpaw was here to help, after all.
As soon as they arrived home, Tigerpaw checked on Silvermist and the kits, making sure she hadn't disappeared while he had been gone. He was worried about her, worried she would run off to RiverClan after all, to save ThunderClan. He was relieved to see that she and all four kits were present; he played with the kits for a little while. They all had their own personalities now; Stormkit was the take-charge type, always in control and command of the others, always making the plans and games; Creek-kit was the same way, and she frequently challenged her brother, taking their games into unexpected places; Minnowkit and Swiftkit were very much alike in personalities as well, but Minnowkit wanted to be with Tigerpaw, always on his side. Swiftkit couldn't care less either way. Only Silvermist could tell the two of them apart with their appearances; even Tigerpaw couldn't tell Minnowkit from Swiftkit.
After wishing Silvermist a good night –he probably wouldn't see her the rest of the day – he left the den. It was still sunhigh, and there was plenty of time left in the day. When Whitepaw saw him, she padded up to him and opened her mouth, about to say something.
"Tigerpaw!" a voice said, and Tigerpaw turned. Brightstar was padding towards him. "Tigerpaw, why don't you show Batpaw around the territory? He'll want to know where the herbs are, and such."
Tigerpaw blinked. "I don't know where herbs are," he said.
"Show him the territory, and he can probably spot the herbs he needs," Brightstar said. "Take someone with you if you like."
Tigerpaw turned, and saw Whitepaw blinking at him hopefully. He opened his mouth to ask her to come with him, but Foxpaw beat him to it.
"I'll go," she said, and Brightstar nodded.
"Off you go, then. Think of it as a mission." She winked at them, and padded away. Tigerpaw glanced at Whitepaw – she was slinking back to the apprentice den, looking dejected. Foxpaw hadn't seen her, though.
"Let's go find the sulky furball," she said, and padded towards the medicine cat den.
"StarClan!" Batpaw exclaimed as they entered. "How much marigold do you guys use? There's signs of a large amount, but there's practically none here! Cobwebs too!"
"You're coming with us on a patrol, whether you like it or not," Foxpaw said and flicked her tail. "Come on."
For a moment, it looked like Batpaw would argue, but he simply followed them, muttering about ThunderClan's follies under his breath. They showed Batpaw everything; the Owl Tree, the Great Sycamore, the Thunderpath, Sunningrocks, even Snakerocks. Batpaw looked at the entire territory with no emotion, a blank face, simply taking it all in. Occasionally he noted things, such as where herbs were or where he might find something, but it was more to himself than Foxpaw or Tigerpaw.
"Hey, Tigerpaw?" Foxpaw asked quietly, once they were a bit ahead of Batpaw. "I'm sorry if I was rude before; it's just that even when you get in a lot of trouble, you still get to do all the cool stuff…." She sighed quietly.
"You're jealous?" Tigerpaw teased. "I was jealous that you got to go to the Gathering…so I guess we're even." He blinked at the strangeness of it.
Foxpaw smiled at him, and they continued walking along together.
Soon, they were approaching FourTrees, and had to cross the stream in front of the slope.
"We go over that slope to the Gathering," Tigerpaw explained. "See, it usually isn't very deep, but after all of the snow melts…." He took a step closer to the stream. Foxpaw let out a mischievious cry and sprang forward, pushing him into the water. He came up sputtering.
"Foxpaw!" he howled, and struggled back to the camp. Foxpaw had collapsed on the ground, laughing.
"Wet-head!" she giggled, and Tigerpaw grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her into the water. The two of them thrashed and splashed, finally coming up laughing together. Batpaw just blinked at them, looking confused.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "We should be going home by now."
"Lighten up, Batpaw. Play a little!" Foxpaw teased. "Don't make us drag you in too!"
"I'm fine, thanks. You guys needed a bath anyway, to wash the ThunderClan stench off of you," Batpaw retorted snidely. Foxpaw and Tigerpaw glanced at each other, and nodded, not needing words. Together, they charged upwards and grabbed Batpaw, dragging him into the water. He came up coughing, water streaming from his nose. Tigerpaw was alarmed, and let him struggle to the bank, where he panted.
"You're supposed to hold your breath," Foxpaw said helpfully.
"We don't have streams and rivers like you!" Batpaw hissed. "I can't swim!"
Tigerpaw blinked in surprise. He couldn't imagine not being able to swim in such shallow water. "We didn't know," he said.
"Well, now that you have half-drowned me, I'm going back to the camp," Batpaw hissed. 'Bad enough I have to be stuck with you smelly forest cats; I don't have to put up with this foxdung too!" He stalked away.
"He'll get lost," Tigerpaw sad. "We should go after him."
Foxpaw snorted. "It's much more fun to play here," she purred. Tigerpaw reared back on his hind legs and pushed her head under water, holding her for a few moments, before letting her up. Foxpaw came back up coughing and laughing at the same time.
"I'll get you!" she cried. Tigerpaw raced to the bank.
"Not likely!" he cried, before running after Batpaw.
AN: I wrote my first one-shot today! It's a short little thing about Ravenpaw, just a random idea I had. Go check it out, please? Make me feel loved? :D
Holy carp! Fifty reviews! I'm impressed with you guys! THANKS!
Congrats to Warriros06 for getting a real account! xD
Ally: Darkstar appears pretty nice, yes, but only because ThunderClan is the right one to ally with, for the time being. He doesn't want another "TigerClan vs LionClan" event that might caught BloodClan or something similar coming again.
