A twoleg nest is a very strange place for a cat to be. The first thing the apprentices realized was that everything was so… giant. It was hard not to think of how something might fall down on you and crush you.
"We have to be careful," Gingerpaw was explaining. "We're in another cat's territory, so we have to make it clear that we come in peace."
"The air reeks of kittypet scent," Waterpaw commented. "We're bound to find them soon." And then they heard a low, unfamiliar voice.
"Just what do you think you're doing here?"
The three apprentices turned around in horror, to find the two kittypets. One was a plump black and white tom with green eyes; the other was a tabby she-cat with amber eyes. The she-cat had challenged them, although her voice had no hostility, only curiosity. The apprentices looked at each other nervously, and then Gingerpaw stepped forward.
"I'm Gingerpaw and this is Waterpaw and Tulippaw," she said, introducing the others. "We come in peace. We're from Cloudclan."
"Ohhhh, so you're those annoying forest cats," the tom said. Gingerpaw growled and started to object, but Waterpaw shoved her out of the way.
"Yes. We've come to-"
"Learn about twolegs?" guessed the she-cat.
"Yes exactly- no wait- what?" Waterpaw stumbled, confused.
"You know, Twolegs are very fascinating creatures," began the tom. "Did you know that they use groups of symbols to represent words? I'm starting to understand them. In fact, I can read the ingredients on a bottle of mustard."
"What's mustard?" asked Tulippaw.
"Tulippaw!" Gingerpaw hissed. "That's beside the point!"
"Oh right, sorry," said Tulippaw. The tom snatched a brightly colored container and both he and the she-cat began to study it.
"Hmmm, let's see here: distilled vinegar, water, mustard seed…" the tom began listing.
"Umm… excuse me, this is very interesting, but we need to-"Tulippaw interrupted.
"Salt, turmeric, paprika…" the tom continued.
"Look, we need you to-"Waterpaw started.
"Spice, natural flavors and garlic powder-"
"LISTEN!" shouted Gingerpaw. The two kittypets looked up at her. Gingerpaw took a deep breath and started to explain.
"Look, we didn't come here to learn about twolegs. We came here because we need to ask you to stop hunting on our territory." The kittypets stopped and looked at each other.
"Why should we?" the she-cat challenged, this time with anger. "We have every right to be there."
"No you don't!" Waterpaw objected. "You can't hunt on another cat's territory!"
"Hunting is the only way we get food," added Tulippaw.
"Well, why can't you just eat twoleg food?" asked the tom, appalled.
"Twoleg food? No way!" spat Gingerpaw, disgusted. "We're wild cats; we don't accept food from twolegs!"
"Well, you should," argued the tom. "Twoleg food tastes great!" He paused to think. "Well, most of it does, anyway. The other day I bit into some Twoleg thing and it was disgusting!"
"Yes," sighed the she-cat. "That's because you bit into a used diaper."
"Oh," said the tom, looking sick.
"It's against our rules to take food from twolegs. The forest is the only way we get food, and if you keep scaring off our prey, we'll starve!" wailed Tulippaw.
"Tulippaw, don't make us look weak!" hissed Gingerpaw. But she continued.
"If we don't have any prey to eat, the clan might disband. Or worse, we'll all starve to death!"
The two kittypets glanced at each other and started whispering among themselves. Then, the she-cat turned back to them.
"Alright," she said. "We'll find someplace else to hunt."
"Thank you so much!" exclaimed Waterpaw. Just then, Sunstar, Rosepetal, Vixenstep, and Ivyblaze burst into the nest.
"Oh no," moaned Gingerpaw.
"Yay! More forest cats!" the she-cat mewed excitedly.
"Gingerpaw! Waterpaw! Tulippaw! What in the name of Starclan are you doing!?"
"It looks like you're in trouble," the tom said.