Chapter 14: Friends enlighten a bad day

Day 4

"Featherpaw, wake up."

I blink my eyes open and rub them with a paw. "What do you want?"

"What did you do last night?" Jaypaw leans forward and starts sniffing my nest.

I get up, but my paws are tangled in ripped up moss and bracken. "Oh great." I grumble, still half asleep. I try to pull free of it, but I trip over and fall on my face.

Jaypaw's whiskers twitch and he starts to laugh.

"Hey! Stop laughing and help me!" I meow.

Jaypaw nods, but I can see he's holding back a mrrow of amusement(as they call it). He starts to untangle me, but it's taking forever.

"Are you done?" I ask impatiently.

"Not yet." He murmurs.

I sigh and try to find a comfortable spot without having to lie on my face.

A few seconds later… "Are you done now?"

"Wait, you've twists it around everywhere, I don't know how you did this. Honestly, Featherpaw." Jaypaw meows.

I groan. "This is taking forever; can't you just bite it off?"

"And waste all this moss and bracken? No." Jaypaw snaps. I feel my front left paw and my back left paw become loose.

Jaypaw goes to my right side.

I manage to stand up, but I'm in an even more awkward position. "Can you hurry up?!"

Jaypaw just growls.

Finally, my front right paw is free. Jaypaw goes to untangle my other paw, but I shake my head. "Wait, I think I can pull free now."

"I wouldn't-"

Thump.

"Okay, maybe you should just do it." I mew.

Jaypaw finishes getting my paw out of the tangled moss and bracken. "Can you fix up your own nest?"

"Yes,"

He nods, leaving. "Okay."

Warm sunlight made its way into the den. I must have slept in.

I duck into the clearing and take my mouse from the pile. No one probably wants to eat it...

As I chew on the stringy mouse unenthusiastically, I recall having a horrible dream last night. It was so terrible. All I can remember is someone speaking to me, but I couldn't see who they were and what they were saying.

Foxpaw walks over to me with a thrush in his mouth. "Hey Featherpaw, is it okay if I sit with you?" he meows as he puts his fresh-kill down.

"Mmhm," I hum, my mouth is full.

Foxpaw grins and starts eating. He sees my mouse. "Did you catch that?"

I flatten my ears in embarrassment. "Yes,"

Foxpaw laughs. "I wonder how you survived by yourself," he jokes.

I laugh. I would wonder too.

Foxpaw looks at the half-eaten thrush, then smiles at me. "I caught it while Icepaw went on a border patrol. Would you like the rest?"

I'm still chewing on my first bite of mouse. I gulp it down, feeling it go down my throat slowly. Ugh, I hate that feeling.

Foxpaw pushes his thrush to me. "I'm not that hungry. Here, have it."

I smile at him. "Thanks." I look at the mouse. "What do I do with that?"

Foxpaw picks it up. "I'll bury it."

(A/n I really have no idea what they do with the fresh kills' carcasses once they finish eating it. I don't think I've ever actually seen it say in print e.g. "Hollypaw buries her mouse before leaving the camp."
Do they just let it rot and leave it in the clearing as more and more animal carcasses are left there? And do they have to bury it out of the camp, or can they just do it in the clearing? I don't know. Maybe I'll look it up.)

I finish eating, and Graystripe walks over to me. "Jaypaw told me you had shredded your nest."

I bite my lip. "Oh,"

"While you're cleaning and remaking your nest, you should change the elders' nests too." Graystripe beckons his head to the elders' den.

"I need to check the elders for ticks before I can go hunting today," Foxpaw meows to me.

"If you get it done early, we might be able to do a fighting session before we go to the Gathering." Graystripe smiles.

I widen my eyes. "I'm going to the Gathering?"

"Yes. Firestar held a meeting to tell us who would be going."

I hold back a squeal. "Okay, cool."

Foxpaw and I go to the elders' den, just as Jaypaw was coming out. "Hey Jaypaw," I meow.

He didn't even so much as glance at me as he went past. I pout slightly; a bit upset he didn't acknowledge me. Did I do something this morning?

I follow Foxpaw into the elders' den with clump of moss in my jaws. Longtail smiles at us. "Why hello. Is that mouse bile I smell?"

Foxpaw puts the stick of the horrid stench down. "Yes. Featherpaw also came to change your bedding while I check your pelts for ticks."

Mousefur was stretching. "That feels so much better now,"

Longtail smiles. "I told you the medicine cats weren't too busy to help you."

Foxpaw finishes checking the elders' pelts. "I'll see you later, Featherpaw." he meows as he leaves with the stick. I finish a bit later after him. Hopefully I did it right. I triple check the nest to be sure I got all the twigs out and then go to my own nest to remake it.

It didn't take long to make, because Jaypaw had untangled the bracken and put it in a neat pile next to the shredded moss. I took the stale and the shredded moss outside, then went back to find Graystripe.

It was past sun high. I see Graystripe sitting with Millie and walk over to him. Millie smiles at me politely, and I smile back to her before looking at Graystripe. "Can we go for a training session?"

Graystripe looks at the sky."I don't think we'll have time. We need to go soon."

"It's so early How long does it take for us to get to the Gathering?" I ask him, though I already know the answer.

"We need to travel the farthest, but the trip should be interesting to you, seeing it is your first time going past WindClan territory." Graystripe meows.

I nod.

"Maybe you should eat something for energy." He suggests.

I shake my head. "Oh, I'm not that hungry."

"Eat a little bit anyway. I saw a small mouse on the pile earlier."

"Okay." I walk down to the fresh-kill pile and realise he was talking about my mouse. There are no mice left at all. I take a robin instead, and force it down, even if I had eaten not long ago.