Robinpaw hissed, her pelt bristling. She swiped at the white pelted cat in front of her, stumbling. She felt the cat shove her lightly, but it was more than enough to knock her off her wobbly paws.
"Good. You almost had it that time!" Cloverpatch mewed. Robinpaw grumbled. "Why are we doing this? You saw me, I can fight just fine!" Cloverpatch looked at her apprentice. "This is important, Robinpaw! You need to know how to defend yourself in the best way you can or else..." Cloverpatch trailed off, shuffling her paws around, and Robinpaw made note of a scar on the white cat's forepaw.
Robinpaw sighed. "And how would that be?" Cloverpatch hissed. "I mean, you need to know what to do when you hurt a paw, or an eye? How would you do it then? Would you just sit back and die?"
Robinpaw stood up. "But I'll be careful, and that won't ever happen! I won't end up matching you, ever!" Cloverpatch growled. "You can never be sure, can you? Certainly your mother didn't know what would happen when she let her apprentice go on patrol without her, just the same as Bristlefur didn't know her son would make it, so she was willing to let him die without trying? NO CAT IS EVER SURE, ROBINPAW!"
The tabby apprentice hissed. "If you're just going to yell at me, then I'm leaving!" Robinpaw turned, and ran off.
Cedarpaw fiddled with the pile of moss at her paws, sighing to herself. She'd been busying herself with camp duties to distract her from her declining vision. She noticed a brownish-gray looking blurred mass. She recognized the scent of Rockpaw, and stiffened.
Much to Cedarpaw's surprise, the larger tom sat down beside her. There was a moment of silence between them, until Rockpaw broke it with a soft chuff. Cedarpaw glanced at him, and then back at her own moss. "So. How's it going?" He mewed. "I never understood why cats would want to volunteer for camp duties. Isn't it boring?"
Cedarpaw chuckled half-heartedly. "I like it. It's nice and quiet." Rockpaw was silent for a moment, and then he draped his tail over her flanks. Cedarpaw shivered for a second, and leaned into his pelt., purring.
"Hey, Rockpaw!" Cedarpaw yelped, startled as the tom stood up, an apologetic look on his face. "I have to go." Cedarpaw sat up, and watched him go off to follow huge white cat, and began to absently groom her paw.
A gray blue mass of fur stopped next to her. Cedarpaw turned to the cat. "Pondfur?" The tall she-cat mumbled something unintelligible. "What'd you say?" Pondfur hissed. "Be careful."
Robinpaw padded into the apprentice's den. It was dark, and most of the cats were asleep. Except for one. Sunpaw, Cedarpaw's littermate. The tom smiled at her as she curled up in the nest. To her surprise, the bedding was fresh, and soft. Maybe Sunpaw changed it? Robinpaw wondered as she fell asleep.
sorry this took so long!