"Ferrettooth, either you get yourself together or go pay Frecklesong a visit! Hollyfall get your apprentice under control before we scare off the clan's future meals!"
Turtlesnap let out a silent yawn as she listened to the dark brown tabby's ramble; the tortoiseshell she-cat's spotted fur still thick with her leaf bare coat. Frozenpaw, the singular apprentice on the patrol, practically charging ahead and into the nearest tree, or just trying to catch one of the warrior's tails; as her mentor tried to keep up with her and get her to settle down. The early blooming flowers poking out of the roots of trees and the last leaf fall's mold, as the pale early morning sun rose over the twisting tree tops.
The cold breeze ruffling the six cats down in the clearing below the tree tops, as the silvery gray tom; Silvernose, lowered his head to the ground to get a good whiff of the floor, his shoulders tensed up as he pressed forward. The elder warrior that was near the front of the group barely managing to stay on his paws as he swayed from side to side, his eyes narrow slits as he fluffed out his dusky brown tabby coat.
Turtlesnap stopped to taste the air as she looked to the side; her eyes narrow as the tips of her ears rose up higher. A crow's call echoed through the thick forest as she could see it perched up on a tree branch, before taking off into the sky and disappearing over the trees that were starting to regrow their leaves very slowly. The tortoiseshell she-cat cuffed the ground before turning back to her patrol that was now far ahead of her, the dark brown tabby, Bristlebark, was watching her and seemed to be opening her maw to say something before Turtlesnap ran up to Silvernose's side.
The silvery gray tom looked over his shoulder at her; he gave her a smile before crushing it back and looking away. Turtlesnap tilted an eyebrow as she nudged the warrior's side, who nudged her right back with his own shoulder as they both laughed. Ferrettooth slowed down to beside the both of them as he drowsily stumbled forward, the dusky brown tabby tom barely managed to keep his eyes open.
Turtlesnap nudged the elder warrior's side, and his head jolted up for a moment before settling down again. As his dark amber eyes stared down at the ground before him, blinking slowly as the silver around his muzzle shined in the sunlight; Turtlesnap watched the tom's neck spasm as he bit back what could only be a cough. The tom stumbled back to being a couple of paces ahead of the pair as Turtlesnap was shoved a little harder by Silvernose.
The tortoiseshell she-cat returned the notion with a shove of her own, swatting at his muzzle with sheathed claws as she laughed. Both of them just bursting out in uncontrollable laughter, as Silvernose swung a paw back at her playfully as the sound of the patrol leader were drowned from their hearing by each other's own fun.
"Turtlesnap, I don't believe twig snapping is what your name is referencing!"
The tortoiseshell she-cat snapped out of her thoughts as she stared down at her paws, her paw pads hurt under her paws as she found the twig that was now broken in half. As she lifted her paw off she looked up at the dark brown tabby that was now turning back to the patrol, as she carefully stepped over the twig she dropped her shoulders and fell back in line with the rest of the warriors. The tip of her tail brushing the twig behind her as she stared ahead of her, Silvernose pressed against her side as he spoke.
Silvernose's whiskers twitched as he looked skeptically at her; Turtlesnap rolled her eyes as she shrugged in response. As she tasted the air there was a fresh scent of prey nearby, perhaps a den if she could tell by the overlapping scents. She paused to mark the tree nearby for the hunting patrol before she raced back to Silvernose's side. The silvery gray tom alert as he looked left and right, ears twitching as he eased himself up as the tortoiseshell she-cat arrived back at his side.
As the patrol moved forward slowly there was an uneasy feeling deep in her gut, as her eyes wandered left and right at the forest around her. "Hey Silvernose, do you…"
"Feel like we're being watched?" the silvery gray tom finished for her, "Yeah, I certainly do… but I just can't pinpoint why."
"I know the feeling."
Turtlesnap curled her muzzle at the stench of the thunder path the closet that they got. Her eyes flickering over at the sight of the foul border between the two clans; she could barely see the other side of the dangerous edge of the forest. As she held her breath there was something drifting towards the cats. They paused at the borders and sniffed the ground, before moving down a safe distant away from the danger.
But Turtlesnap drifted a little further away from the rest of the border, as she looked over the border she perked her ears at the sight of the dark brown tabby fur that also stopped to look over at her.
"Turtlesnap, you better not think of it!"
Turtlesnap dropped her head before scurrying back to the back of the patrol, Bristlebark raised an eyebrow at her and the tortoiseshell she-cat brushed it off.
"Are you doing alright?"
"Yeah, I just… never mind, it wasn't important." She murmured.
Silvernose flicked his ear but didn't press on, his eyes looking down at his paws as he took a deep breath. The warmth from the sun overhead heating up their pelts, as the cold was chased from the air by the winds. The tree branches swaying and creaking in the breeze as the patrol just pressed onwards. "It truly is a wonderful morning isn't it?
"I honestly wish I wasn't out here, I figured a rest over in sunning rocks would do me some good." Turtlesnap answered.
Silvernose covered his maw with his paw, as he let out a small chuckle. "I think just about everyone shares that same thought; it is a shame that we have to do our duties first though."
Turtlesnap smirked at this as she watched the ground ahead of her. "Well I suppose that we'd just have to hold out until we could then."
Turtlesnap giggled as well before she was shoved into from the side, a little bundle of silvery gray fur soaring over her head as the apprentice slowed to a stop. "Sorry…"
"I would have thought that you would have worn yourself out by now." Silvernose commented.
Frostpaw smiled as she hung her head a little low towards the ground, before she bounded off again. The patrol that slowed down to crouch beside the river to take a drink from the long journey around, Bristlebark readjusting herself to look back up at the sky; Turtlesnap could see something flicker in the she-cat's gaze before it disappeared as everyone straightened up.
"We should all be getting back to camp now; the hunting patrols should hopefully have brought back something for our efforts." The she-cat murmured before turning around and leading the way back towards camp.
Turtlesnap turned tail but she felt a cold feeling on her shoulders as she turned to look behind her, there were two prying eyes that were watching her before disappearing on the other side.
A/N: Oh thank StarClan it is over, you have no idea how long it took me to think up every possible way to just describe Turtlesnap's actions. I am trying to describe more and save the main characters' breaths until what is for me the second page, and it is laboring when I want to say something.
Also I know about my Old Flames Burn series, but I just can't bring myself to write any more. I decided to just rewrite it for the time being as I work up the urge to write again, sorry to disappoint but I am excited about this story. I know I said this about a thousand times already, but at least with this one I can hopefully slow down.