Cloudrock's P.O.V
Cloudrock gently guided Crystalpaw on the path back to camp, who was now hunched over and limping from her "stomach ache". They reached the entrance and pushed through the tunnel. Cloudrock opened his mouth, searching for Leaffeather's scent, but he couldn't find it.
"Leaffeather has gone to the battle," Cloudrock mewed.
"What'll I do?" Crystalpaw wailed pitifully. "I can't stand this much longer!"
"Don't worry," Cloudrock reassured her. "Grassstream trained as a medicine cat when she was an apprentice, but quit. She can help you." He gestured for her to wait at the medicine clearing and walked into the warriors den. Grassstream sat in her nest, dozing off.
Cloudrock padded in front of her and mewed a greeting. "Hello, Grassstream," Cloudrock mewed. "Leaffeather and Snowpaw are both out, and Crystalpaw has a stomach ache. Would you mind helping her out?"
"Of course," Grassstream replied, rising to her paws and exiting the warriors den with Cloudrock following her. She trotted to the medicine den and disappeared inside before reemerging with a few berries.
"These are juniper berries," she mewed, setting down the herbs. "Eat them, and your bellyache will feel better soon. You probably shouldn't go out for the rest of the day, so go back to the apprentice's den and rest." Crystalpaw looked at the berries reluctantly, before eating them up, silently praying that they won't do any harm to a healthy cat.
Crystalpaw sat up, licking her lips before mewing a goodbye and retreating to the medicine den. Cloudrock watched her go, before leaving and returning to the other apprentices. He retraced his steps and pushed through the bushes and emerged to where the apprentices were meant to be. They weren't at the clearing, but Cloudrock assumed they had split off and hunted.
Cloudrock began to sniff around, trying to catch a fresh scent, but all he found was the stale scent of Mudpaw, Volepaw, and Daisypaw. He began to panic, worrying that the apprentices and gone off on their own and were in trouble, or had gotten kidnapped by Iceclan. Cloudrock broke into a run and suddenly picked up a whiff of fresh scent. He turned his head, sniffing hard and began to pick up a trail that led through the trees and toward the Darkclan border. He let out a growl before racing off, following the scent trail. As he began to near, he heard the yowls of battle, and pressed harder, breaking through the brush and appearing at the battlefield.
He saw his clanmates fighting Darkclan and saw a flash of cream and brown fur and saw Daisypaw leap over Antroot's head and land on a Darkclan warrior sneaking up behind Antroot. He was about to leap into battle when he heard Waterfoot cry out. He immediately turned his attention to his clanmate and leaped into the fray, knocking the Darkclan warrior off of Waterfoot's back while kicking the Darkclan apprentice out of the way. He wasted no time leaping at the warrior and biting down on his shoulder and flipping him onto his back. He began scoring his claws across his muzzle and ears before the warrior let out loud squeals of pain and managed to wriggle away and follow the apprentice back to their territory.
Waterfoot opened her mouth to speak before Cloudrock cut her off, "There isn't time to explain, let's go!" He raced off back into the battle and Waterfoot followed behind.
It didn't take long for Darkstar to let out a yowl of retreat and race off with his clanmates. Cloudrock stopped, panting and looked to see the three apprentices standing proudly. As proud as he was, he was still very upset they had rushed off into danger's way put their lives at risk to prove some point. Cloudrock was too tired from running from place to place to scold the apprentices and decided to withhold a lecture until later.
Daisypaw, Volepaw, and Mudpaw instantly began to tell each other about what happened at the battle where they were. Daisypaw didn't waste an opportunity to start boasting how she jumped over Antroot's head and soared over five enemy warriors before landing on one and immediately defeating him. Mudpaw rolled his eyes and noticed a shadow over him. He could see the nervous looks on Daisypaw and Volepaw's faces and slowly turned around. He came face to face with Snoweybramble, who was looming over them, his piercing eyes staring into theirs. Mudpaw nervously gulped before stepping backwards.
"I would scold you insolent apprentices about what you did," Snoweybramble mewed icily. "But it would just waste my breath and everyone is already exhausted from the battle and your punishment is up to Mountainstar." He flicked his tail. "Let's go," he mewed to the clan and bounded off.
The apprentices followed the warriors silently and reached camp. Mudpaw was slightly ashamed and a little embarrassed while Daisypaw was still insistent on being proud. Volepaw just walked calmly, but he could see anger blazing in his eyes. They appeared in the middle of camp to see they were the last ones and saw Mountainstar watching them with his eyes narrowed. Silverpaw and Lilypaw watched with curiosity and Snowpaw gave them a look of sympathy. Crystalpaw popped her head out of the apprentice's den and gave them a look that said, "What happened?"
Mountainstar slowly walked towards the apprentices before stopping and dismissing the clan. He bent over and murmured, "You will see me in my den once Leaffeather or Snowpaw has checked you over for injuries. I don't want anything distracting you from our talk." He padded across the camp and entered his den.
Lilypaw rushed over with Silverpaw. "What happened out there?" She mewed worrily.
Before Volepaw could speak, Daisypaw stepped in and stuffed her tail in his mouth to keep him from speaking. "Everything's fine. We're just going to have a chat with Mountainstar." She eyed Silverpaw smugly. "He's probably going to speak with us about our upcoming warrior ceremony, considering how well we did in the battle." Silverpaw narrowed her eyes while Snowpaw, who had overheard, rolled her eyes. Mudpaw looked at Daisypaw, annoyed. Daisypaw shot him a glare that told him to shut up and Mudpaw glared right back, but held his tongue.
Lilypaw looked confused, but said nothing as Snowpaw basically dragged them away to check them for injuries. A few minor scratches and dock leaves to solve their problems and Leaffeather sent them off on their talk with Mountainstar.
Volepaw led the three, looking nervous before Mountainstar mewed for them to come in. They all squeezed inside, considering that Mountainstar was inside, as well as the three apprentices, Cloudrock, and Crystalpaw. Cloudrock had a mixed look of disappointment, anger, and a small hint of pride. Daisypaw decided to focus on the pride part.
"Let's review," Mountainstar began. "First, you forced your clanmate to distract Cloudrock, which shows disrespect towards your denmate's feelings and wishes." He flicked his tail at Crystalpaw, who was now glaring angrily at Mudpaw. "You also disobeyed orders from not only Cloudrock, but also me." Mountainstar stood up and began to hiss. "Cloudrock explicitly told you to stay, but instead you went off on your own to go fight in a battle that you were completely unprepared for. I thought Snoweybramble and I were very thorough on who was going and who was not, but apparently I wasn't clear enough." He reached down until his nose was almost touching theirs. "You three were not meant to be at the battle, no matter what! You've been apprentices for all of two days and now all of a sudden you think you're well trained enough to go fight in a battle against enemy warriors who've had as many moons of training, if not more, than you've been alive." Volepaw dropped his head and looked at his feet while Mudpaw averted his gaze. Daisypaw looked into Mountainstar's eyes defiantly but said nothing.
He drew back, taking deep breaths and calming himself. "You disobeyed orders and put yourselves at risk. I will allow your mentors to decide on your punishment. You may leave now." Mountainstar sat back in his nest.
The apprentices shuffled out of Mountainstar's den and saw their mentors waiting for them in the middle of camp. Cloudrock brough Mudpaw away from the other apprentices.
"I'm disappointed in what you've done, but nonetheless, you need to rest. Your punishment starts tomorrow and will last until I say so." Mudpaw looked up and saw Cloudrock's gaze was completely neutral, which surprised him. He nodded before walking back to his den and lay down beside Crystalpaw and curled up in his nest. Crystalpaw pressed her fur confortingly against his and Mudpaw drifted off and fell asleep.
Volepaw walked towards Icepelt. He hung his head and stopped in front of him. "I know you're disappointed," Volepaw mewed. "But in all honesty, I wanted to stay out. Daisypaw forced me to go and I wish I didn't. I knew it wasn't a good idea."
Icepelt listened carefully. "You should go rest," he meowed. "It's late, and you're probably exhausted. I will think about your punishment and let you know what I decide on."
"Thank you," Volepaw murmured. He looked up to see Icepelt walking away and quickly padded to the apprentices den. He saw Mudpaw and Crystalpaw were already in their nests, as well as Silverpaw. He curled up in his nest next to Silverpaw, pressing his flank against her, and within moments, he fell asleep.
Daisypaw strode over to Eagleshadow. There was no sign of remorse in her eyes, which angered Eagleshadow even more. Daisypaw stopped in front of Eagleshadow and saw anger flaring in his gaze. She barely managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes and waited to hear what he had to say.
"I'm very upset with you, Daisypaw," Eagleshadow growled. "And the fact that you think it still was a good idea disappoints me further. I'm sure I can find a fitting punishment for you to fix your attitude." He dismissed her and she hissed angrily and stalked away back to her nest. When she neared the den, she saw Volepaw enter the apprentice's den. Daisypaw walked in and felt anger rise up in her chest when she saw Volepaw pressing his flank against Silverpaw's. She marched to her nest and almost squashed Volepaw, who let out a grunt of annoyance but said nothing. Daisypaw curled up and forced herself to sleep.
A/N: Sorry this took so long to update. I don't really have a reason, I just kinda kept stressing about starting high school next year so yay that's fun ^-^ Did this chapter suck? I never know what counts as bad or not when authors ask if it's bad so tell me what you think.