Chapter 11
It was way too early to be up yet. Several cats were awake. All the noise woke me up. Cats in the warrior's den were loudly complaining about how some cats won't be quiet and go to sleep. No cat could sleep through this.
"What's going on?" Wingstar asked.
"None of us can sleep!" Flurrytail complained. "Pineclaw keeps moaning. Duskpelt is spilling out every worry he's ever had in the middle of the night. We need some sleep!"
"I suppose arrangements can be made," Wingstar said. "What do you think, Dawnfur?"
"I think this could've waited until morning," Dawnfur said. "The apprentices could move for now."
"They could move in here," Wingstar said. "There is plenty of room."
"I'll go wake them, if they aren't already awake," Dawnfur said.
"No need," I said as Mountainpaw and I ran in there.
"We'll get more moss there in the morning. For now, use what we have," Wingstar said.
She, Dawnfur, and the four warriors moving temporarily left. I was just excited to sleep in the warrior's den.
...
In the morning I had dawn patrol. With me was Duskpelt, Tallblaze, and Boulderfang.
"It is so cool in the warrior's den," I said.
"I wouldn't think that. Not with Tallblaze's fleas," Boulderfang teased his brother.
"I do not have fleas!" Tallblaze said. "Deathpaw, you have a mouse-brain for a mentor."
"She has an amazing mentor. The best mentor ever, you could say," Boulderfang said.
"Sure, and she also sees flying hedgehogs," Tallblaze said.
"Can you save this for later?" Duskpelt asked. "We do have work to do."
"I suppose we can," Tallblaze said.
"Let's do this," Boulderfang said.
"Hey, Duskpelt!" Grasstail yowled from the other side of the border.
"What does he want now?" Duskpelt muttered.
"Where's that kittypet daughter of your's been?" Grasstail asked. "No one has seen her on border patrol in a while."
"And you think every cat reports everyone they see off their territory?" Duskpelt asked.
"Well, Lightstar has made it a rule to tell her if we see the kittypet," Grasstail said.
"So she has to mention it to you?" Duskpelt asked.
"She's been in a pretty good mood. And she'd tell her warriors when a stupid thing like that shows up at the borders," Grasstail said.
"Has Lightstar told every cat you've been at the borders?" some cat yowled.
Then I realized that cat was me. Everyone stood in silence for a moment, a bit shocked.
"You're one of Duskpelt's clan-born daughters, aren't you?" Grasstail said. "A kittypet lover, just like him. A kittypet lover doesn't belong in the clans anymore than a kittypet does."
Boulderfang drew me to his side.
"You did that last time too. Your sister hates kittypets as much as I do. You're over here with your kittypet loving mate!" Grasstail remarked.
I stood still. We were all silent for a moment.
"She's not my mate," Boulderfang said, breaking the silence. "She's my apprentice, so naturally I feel like I need to protect her."
"You probably wish you could've mentored another cat," Grasstail said.
"No," Boulderfang said. "She may be my apprentice, but she's also the best friend I've ever had. I do love her, just in a different way."
"Your sister must be extremely disappointed in you," Grasstail said. "I was doing something. Right, where has Silkshade been?"
"Grasstail!" Snakeheart yowled. "What are you doing over here? I'm leading the patrol right now, so how about you do what your supposed to be doing? These cats haven't come here to see you, I suppose. Don't be over here bugging them!" She turned to us. "I'm sorry if he's been bothering you. Go on with your patrol."
The patrol carried on in silence. Nobody had anything to say. Either that or we were all avoiding talking about the awkward things that were said earlier. So we remarked the boundary without saying a word until we got back to camp.
"You all are quiet. What happened on patrol?" Wingstar asked as we came through the entrance.
"We ran into Grasstail," Boulderfang said.
"And he had some things to say," Tallblaze said.
Duskpelt then began giving the story with all of its details. Boulderfang and I both quickly found somewhere else to be. I hope I don't run into Grasstail anytime soon.