"Leopardheart's gone!" A shrill screech sounded in Duneclan camp just as the sun was rising. Gingerpaw jolted as she awoke, fur bristling. Half asleep she sat there for a few seconds. Was she late getting up? "She's gone! She's left her kits!" The voice came again. Gingerpaw's brain finally realised what was being said. With urgency she left the apprentices den.
Ferretwing a cream coloured queen with a dark face stood outside the nursery ,a look of panic on her face. Her breathing was rapid. Willowheart emerged from the warriors den. "Are the kits okay?" She asked in the calmest tone of voice she could muster. "They woke me up because they were crying, they were cold and hadn't been fed. I'm close enough to kitting so I should be able to feed them" Ferretwing looked back at the nursery nervously. "Go back in there and see if you can get them to drink, at least keep them warm. I'll go and talk to Nighstar" Willowheart gently nudged the young queen reasuringly. "Focus on them for now, they need you"
"What's going on?" Lizardglare asked, stern face blinking sleep from his eyes. "Leopardheart left camp and her kits. Ferretwing is looking after them, mum has gone to get Nighstar '' The camp was beginning to bustle as cats woke up to the news. It wasn't the usual early morning positive atmosphere. There was a fearful uncertainty, a need to know why this would happen, why a queen would just up and leave. Greywing had been about to go into the nursery, but just started sobbing outside. His friend Oddeye was there to comfort him. Cloudfang arrived shortly and encouraged Greywing to be there for his kits in their time of need.
Gingerpaw sat bewildered by the situation. It felt sour that a mother would leave her kits like that. But who was to say she'd willingly left? It could be a kidnap? Maybe Silentpaw was awake, she'd feel better if he was. She padded sullenly to the medicine cat den. She must have been thinking deeply because the pair collided at the entrance. Thick ginger fur ended up tangled in Silentpaw's gangly limbs. "Sorry!" Silentpaw looked at her confused. "Do you know what happened?" She asked him urgently. Silentpaw nodded and looked away from her, a culpable look on his face. "Did you know she left?" Gingerpaw asked loudly. He shook his head vigorously in denial and frowned at her. "Oh okay...sorry"
"All cats old enough to swim like fish, gather beneath the high boulder for a clan meeting!" Nighstar's serious voice rang across camp. Gingerpaw gasped and began to make her way over, leaving Silentpaw behind. A sizable group of cats had already congreated at the foot of the large sandstone boulder. Willowheart and Lizardglare sat off to the side. Lizardglare's face was neural and unreadable.
"It's come to my attention that our clan mate Leopardheart has gone missing, leaving behind her kits. The kits are safe, they're being tended to by Ferretwing and their father. We can't assume that she left willingly, so for now this is being treated as a potential kidnap" Cats erupted into conversation with questions being shouted at their leader. Gingerpaw saw Nighstar frown. "Quiet down!" She snapped." We have to assume the worst case scenario. Lizardglare has organised a search party that will go out as soon as this meeting is over. I want everyone to stay vigilant and be sensitive to each other's feelings. If anyone has any information I want you to come to me immediately. Thank you" The black she-cat dipped her head and leaped down from the boulder.
Gingerpaw saw Cloudfang quietly exit the crowd and go to speak with Nighstar. The pair slipped off without anyone noticing. The crowd was bustling again with conversation. Lizardglare leaped up onto the boulder, muscles rippling under his pelt as he did so. "Duneclan, I need your undivided attention. The warriors who will be joining me on patrol will be: Hedgefoot, Oddeye, Ghostfalcon,Daisytail, Crabfang, Briarshine and myself. Patrols will be out one after the other all day, any cats going out for other reasons need to remain vigilant" A orange paw was raised. "Yes Gingerpaw"
"What do we do if our mentors are out on patrol?" She shouted up at him. "You have a free morning until they get back" Lizardglare responded simply. "Any more questions? No? Good. Cats on patrol meet me at camp entrance. Meeting over"
Gingerpaw calculated who was also going to have a free morning. It was her, Shadedpaw, Glowpaw and Treepaw, an older apprentice who she hadn't spoken too much. Her train of thought was disrupted. "Shadedpaw to Gingerpaw, can you hear me? I repeat, is anyone in?" A tufted paw was being waved a few inches from her face. Instinctively she bit it. "Oh hi Shadedpaw" She mumbled through a mouthful of fluff. "What in Starclan? That hurt!" He pulled his paw out and licked it as if he were injured. "No it didn't! It's a flesh wound if that" Gingerpaw scoffed playfully. "I could easily give you something to cry about" Shadedpaw rolled his eyes, a smile on his face. "Are we just going to sit here and talk or can we get something to eat, i'm starving"
Silentpaw sat from afar watching his friend talk and have banter with her new friend. He wanted to join in, but how could he when he couldn't even contribute to a conversation. She was progressing in leaps and bounds and he was trawling behind her socially. "You can always talk to me, I get you. Anyways, if she's a good friend she'll make time for you" Lilytail's voice was a little reassuring and even if only a little he felt grateful for it. His mentor finally emerged from the leader's den. It was a couple of feet behind the boulder, up on the sandbank that protected camp from the wind. Cloudfang greeted his apprentice with a nod. "We've got to journey to the Moon crystals today so this morning we have to be productive. This afternoon you can rest up and talk-I mean hang out with your friends before we go" Cloudfang smiled sheepishly at the end. Silentpaw pretended he didn't notice.
Silentpaw padded after Cloudfang as they left camp. "Today we're looking out for Daisy and Dandelion. Daisy leaf is very common and great for easing joint pain. I'm low and Firsky and Mousewing both have sore joints. Dandelion is a great painkiller" Silentpaw nodded to let him know he understood. It was another sunny day, however the wind had a cooler chill after passing over the sun-drown place. He spotted a clump of daisies, so stopped and pointed, a little proud that he'd spotted it and not his mentor. The white furred tom just kept on plodding onwards down the trail. Silentpaw sighed and resorted to jumping up and down to try and create some kind of noise. The repeated crunch of the sand finally caught Cloudfang's attention.
"He cheated! We said no sand kicking at the start of the game!" Gingerpaw complained as Treepaw skittered away from her with the ball of moss. "No we didn't" Glowpaw corrected her. "Remeber: One rule, there are no rules" Shadedpaw shouted back at her as he chased after Treepaw. Shadedpaw threw himself at the smaller brown tom, clawing the ball of moss out of his mouth. They grappled outside the elders den, hissing and spitting.
"When I was an apprentice I didn't play with moss like a kit! Can you keep it down, my joints are killing me!" A gravelly old voice echoed from inside the elders den. It belonged to Troutfin. The two young toms paused mid-fight, Shadedpaw mantled over Treepaw, half the moss-ball in each of their mouths. Troutfin continued to complain from his den.
"I spend my entire life fighting for this clan only to be plagued by the younger generation!" Gingerpaw started mouthing over his complaints, wobbling her paws and knees like she was an elderly cat and crossing her eyes. Shadedpaw bit down onto the moss ball trying not to laugh. Treepaw gave them away, laughing loudly. "Can't respect your elders? I'll come up there and teach you myself!" They heard the shuffling of arthritic paws as he began to travel slowly up the tunnel. The group bolted all in different directions as he emerged. Gingerpaw hid in the warriors den with Glowpaw and tried to calm herself down. "Pah! Cowards! Too scared to face yer fears!" Gingerpaw had to sit up and clamp her paws over her mouth, her eyes watering a bit. "You won't be laughing when your picking ticks off me back with mouse bile! Just you wait!"
"The patrols back!" Treepaw yelled from his hiding place, dirtplace. Shadedpaw emerged from behind the nursery. Lizardglare entered first with Crabfang leaning against him. The deputy had a look of fury on his face. Crabfang was holding his back leg up gingerly, blood clogged in the fur. He had scratches on his face and front legs, the tom was gritting his teeth each step he took. Gingerpaw rushed over to the group, concerned for her mentor. "Crabfang are you okay?" She asked looking up at him.
"What do you think Gingerpaw?" Brambledip spat. He had a foul look on his face and a scratch across his cheek. "Brambledip its- it's fine. We found Leopardheart but it doesn't seem like she wants to come home, I tried to convince her and she just leapt at me" Crabfang's voice was hoarse and he was clearly trying to put on a brave face. The gash on his leg was deep. It was intended that way.
"Where's Cloudfang?" Lizardglare demanded. "He left with Silentpaw I think, I saw them leave a little while after the patrol" Shadedpaw chipped in. Gingerpaw wondered why he'd been watching Silentpaw leave, guess it was useful. He had however been ignoring her when she was talking. "I'll get him in the medicine cat den. If you see Cloudfang arrive tell him he's needed and it's urgent" The apprentices nodded in unison as the patrol dispersed. Gingerpaw looked dismayed. "I hope he's okay. Guess I have no mentor for a bit...More time for mossball!" The others shook their heads disapprovingly.
Treepaw and Glowpaw had both left camp with their mentors, leaving Shadedpaw and Gingerpaw with even more spare time. They'd decided to take an afternoon nap. Mossball was a physically taxing game after all. Cloudfang and Silentpaw had arrived but both had been busy dealing with Crabfang. She'd tried to go in to see Silentpaw but Brambledip had shooed her away. He had a herb poultice on his cheek so at least he looked ridiculous as he scolded her. Gingerpaw crashed out in her nest. Shadedpaw had decided to move him closer so they could actually chat in their half-awake state. "But if we get on with Meadowclan so much...what's the point of even having borders? Why not have a mega clan?" Shadedpaw sounded like a cat on poppy seed as he rambled on. "Because we're Duneclan and they're Meadowclan, We're different. They like flowers and we like grass and sand"
The pair both looked up as Brambledip as he marched into the den. He paused as he sneered down at the pair. "Oh dear, you two have become friends" He sounded exasperated as he shook his head. "Gingerpaw, until further notice I'll be mentoring you"
That was enough to cause Gingerpaw to bolt upwards "What!" She yelled. "I mean.." she looked left and right as Brambledip narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, must have been asleep" Shadedpaw slapped his paw to his forehead. "We're going to be swimming. Hurry up" Brambledip told them. Gingerpaw's face contorted into one of horror.
It was late afternoon and the wind had subsided, leaving the sun to warm the land. Silentpaw dozed in the sun, warming and comforting like a mother is to a kit. Or at least most mothers. The sand bank above the medicine cat den offered a private sunning spot and an excellent look out post. Crabfang had been put to rest in the medicine cats den. The wounds in his side were deep, according to Cloudfang he'd need therapy to strengthen the damaged leg. It was hard to pierce through skin, let alone a layer of taught layer of muscle. Peering up at the sun he guessed he should eat for the journey ahead. He wasn't sure how to feel about this journey, what to expect, what to expect of Meadowclan's medicine cats. He'd never met a Meadowclan cat before. What if they were weird? He stretched out, walking his paws down in front of him to deepen it.
Quietly he padded down into camp again. It seemed anyone who was in camp had his idea of taking an afternoon nap and basking. It was eerily relaxed compared to the tension of the morning. Greywing seemed to still be tense, constantly going between the nursery and sitting outside the camp entrance and staring out at the dunes. He sat down by the fresh kill pile and picked out a few minnows to eat. As he sat down to bite the first minnows head off, a miserable looking lump of matted orange fur trudged into camp behind Brambledip and Shadedpaw. Shadedpaw's fur was looking sleeker, a few drops of water sparkling like opals as they fell to the sand. He assumed a swimming lesson had just taken place. The orange lump of matted fur trudged over and sat with a thud next to him.
He looked Gingerpaw up and down with a dubious look on his face. "Swimming lesson. I couldn't do it so Brambledip made me swim until I could do one lap of the training
pond". With a tentative paw he nudged a minnow for her to eat. She made some sort of grunt as a thanks. "Come on give her a nudge or something, cheer her up!" Silentpaw took Lilytail's advice and gave her a gentle Cheer up type nudge. He recoiled a little as she threw him an unappreciative glare. She wasn't in the mood. He looked down at his minnow and bit its head off, keeping his head down as he chewed in the uncomfortable silence. He relied on Gingerpaw to keep the chat going. It's not like he could. Maybe she'd wish him good luck, it was half moon and this was important.
He was beginning to think that Shadedpaw was a more interesting friend than he was. Shadedpaw could strike a conversation.
"Silentpaw it's time to go" Cloudfang's voice interrupted his thoughts of self pity. Gingerpaw peered at him slowly, guilty eyes beneath the fur hanging over her face. It was evident she'd only just remembered. "Go-Good luck buddy! I hope it's fun" She smiled at him, but Silentpaw doubted its authenticity. He dipped his head at her curtly and stood up, stretching out his paws and legs. Cloudfang nodded towards the camp entrance and wordlessly they left, leaving Gingerpaw to feel guilty by herself.
Here we go, some nice cat drama for Duneclan. I played around with swapping POVs about more but I'm not convinced if it worked or came off as jarring. Question for this chapter is: What do you think is going to happen with Gingerpaw and Silentpaw's friendship?
Reviews and constructive criticism are hugely appreciated :)