Cloudpaw awoke from the apprentice's den. Gently walking out in a daze to start the day, she was shocked to see her clan mates already near the fresh-kill pile. strolling up to them, she sat behind them, listening up onto their conversation.
"So, did you hear what that tom was doing near our camp?" meowed Foxpaw.
Seedpaw responded with a full mouth of crow, "Nah, buh did you hea abouh whah the 'eade 'as doing las nigh? I hea'd thah we're going to hafe a mee'ing becauhse of it!"
Mousepaw looked over to Seedpaw, "Finish your food before you talk, mouse-brain..." he meowed.
Cloudpaw coughed lightly, getting the attention of her den mates. "So, how is everyone?" She mewed, putting on a fresh face.
Foxpaw scooted over, allowing for Cloudpaw to grab her own prey too, sure, it would mean she would have to hunt now so as to make up for the prey she would eat, but it was the thought that counted. Cloudpaw gently lowered her self onto the floor next to her two good friends, and grabbed a older looking mouse from the pile before her.
"So, how did you sleep, Cloud?" Seedpaw asked, cleaning off her messy morning fur, "You sure did sleep in pretty late! I though we were going to leave you behind today and you would miss a day of training or something!"
Mousepaw waved his paw nonchalantly, "Don't be rediculous, Seedpaw! Cloudpaw's mentor would of awoken her if she didn't awaking in time for training. Snowstar would of never allowed for an apprentice to miss a day of training!"
Cloudpaw opened her mouth in protest, but stopped her self to continue thinking, when Foxpaw got the opportunity to continue his conversation, "I heard there was a black cat riiiight out side our camp opening, from what my mentor tells me he said that cat looked way to fat to be an outside kittypet!"
"You don't say? Maybe he was like, a lost nest living kittypet? Eheheh... I heard that sometimes two-legs let nest living kittypets out side during greenleaf!" Seedpaw said, with an air of matter-of-factness to her voice.
Mousepaw responded quickly, "Seedpaw, what is a nest living kittypet?"
Seedpaw laughed lightly, and looked over to the light grey tom next to her, "It's like, a kittypet that spends it's whole life inside of a two-leg nest, you tipsy crow!"
Cloudpaw had already drowned out the conversation between Mousepaw and Seedpaw. Though they were her best friends, she couldn't really care for the topic they were bickering on about. She had other things to worry about, such as the possible tests of strength she might or might not have to do today. Nightripple, Cloudpaw's mentor, said yesterday she was going to test her bonds... Though, in retrospect, she had no idea what "bonds" could mean. Perhaps it would mean something regarding her defensive ability?
"Cloudpaw."
Maybe it had to do with the ever fearful sky oak? Climbing it would be an easy task for Cloudpaw...
"Cloudpaw!"
The tan cat was brought back to reality by the call of Foxpaw nudging her.
"Cloudpaw, Nightripple is coming!" Foxpaw whispered through his teeth, pointing to the ever graceful jet black she-cat coming to the fresh-kill pile.
Cloudpaw hurriedly ate her mouse, and sloppily cleaned her hair. It was no match to her mentor's silky fur, and she felt disappointed to know she could not be properly compared to the person she was meant to be taking after. Mousepaw and Seedpaw stopped their conversation so as to see the outcome of the older cat's appearance near the four's eating circle. Cloudpaw smiled nervously at her mentor, Nightripple not making any difference in facial movements.
Nightripple sat down right behind Foxpaw and Cloudpaw, Foxpaw moving over some to make room for the larger cat. Nightripple smiled in thanks, and placed a plump mole onto the pile, seemed she only came over because she had just went on a hunting patrol... Cloudpaw sighed in thanks to starclan, she wasn't all that ready to move just yet.
Mothsight, Nettleflight, Meadowmark, and Heatherpatch all came behind Nightripple, all of them carrying their own catch. All of them forcfully pushed them selves into the circle of cats near the fresh-kill pile. The apprentices all left, leaving the older cats to talk about there own day near the pile. Cloudpaw looked back as she walked with Mousepaw, Nightripple looked so... Normal, compared to what Cloudpaw thought her mentor was like. Nightripple was just casually talking to Mothsight and Nettleflight.
"Cloudpaw, come on! You can't keep up unless you keep moving!" Seedpaw called out behind her self, Cloudpaw had slowed down to the point of stopping so as to admire her mentor.
Cloudpaw snapped out of her daydream, and continued onward with her friends.
Shadepaw was running, chasing the stinging, forceful air going across his face. Dapplecloud, Shadepaw's mentor, was grinning as he ran aside his apprentice, who was amazed could keep up with the ever fast Dapplecloud. The mission was still unclear for Shadepaw, they were just told quickly to chase after a cat Snowstar said something about. Shadepaw wasn't listening into the conversation that morning much, anyway, he just liked to run. Though, he notice that Snowstar was with Scarletsight in his den, and he looked very nervous...
Dapplecloud stopped instantly, and Shadepaw skidded to a stop, it was hard to stop so instantly when he was just mindlessly running. Looking over the scenery, he noticed that he was now in a hardly lit area with large pine trees enclosing the sky... Was he in Shadowclan?
Shadepaw scowled up to his mentor, "Why are we in Shadowclan!?"
"Stay low..." Dapplecloud whispered, and he lowered him self to the ground, a noise came from a near by tree.
Shadepaw did so as his mentor, and the two trotted to a near by bush, and just as they did, a Shadowclan patrol came from a near by shaded path.
Darkclaw, Shrewstreak, and Eaglepaw approched the area Dapplecloud and Shadepaw were just in, with Eaglepaw in front of the lead.
"I swear I heard some cat talking out here!" Eaglepaw claimed.
Darkclaw sneered, "It was probably just a mole... which you most likely just scared off."
"Don't take us off the path again, Eaglepaw! We've already dealt with you trying to poison a Queen with a rotten frog and almost walking into Thunderclan today, we don't need more of your work!" Shrewstreak hissed at Eaglepaw.
Eaglepaw looked over the path again, Shadepaw could feel his heart practically beating out of his chest and could tell his pelt was out in the open for them to see, but regardless Eaglepaw and the two cats left on the path they just came on. Dapplecloud left the safety of the bush when he was sure the cats had left, but Shadepaw felt too weak and unsure to leave.
"Shadepaw, come out here." Dapplecloud commanded under his breath, Shadepaw objected for a moment, but lifted him self onto shaky legs and walked back to camp with his mentor.
Coming back into Camp with Nightripple, Cloudpaw gleefully went to the fresh-kill pile with her large stock of fresh kill in tow. Placing down her and Nightripple's catch for the day, she looked to her mentor and smiled warmly.
Nightripple licked her apprentice's head in gratitude, "You did great today, Cloudpaw. Positively amazing work!"
Cloudpaw bashfully lowered her head, "It was nothing, if anything, I'm the one who should thanking you! You taught me all that I know, and you're the one who let me out today."
Looking up to the sky, Cloudpaw thought about her day. It wasn't so hard, just a quick border patrol and hunt, nothing a cat like me can't take!
"I'll be off then, you can eat and enjoy the rest of your day, Cloudpaw." Nightripple said, sending Cloudpaw back to reality. Cloudpaw bowed her head and watched as her mentor went out of camp again. After she left, Cloudpaw walked over to the Apprentice's den. Inside the cave was Mousepaw and Seedpaw, both of them replacing the dense moss inside the den with fresh moss, but stopped their work once they realized Cloudpaw had entered.
"Soo, how was your day?" Seedpaw said playfully, putting down the moss she had in her mouth.
"Well, it wasn't that bad, just a patrol and hunt... Yours?"
Mousepaw spat out his mouth full of moss, and grumpily replied in place of Seedpaw, "Horrible, we had to replace the moss in the Warrior, Elder, and now Apprentice's den!"
Cloudpaw glanced at the two's work, it was mediocre... "How about I help? Nightripple said I could enjoy the rest of the day, so..."
"Sure! We would love the help, Cloudpaw!" Seedpaw grinned.
"Yeah, just take out these piles of old moss," Mousepaw said, pointing his tail in the direction of the dirty moss.
Seedpaw sprang up as if she had just touched cold water, "Oh, dear, also get more moss!"
"Al-all right... I'll be on my way then, be safe!" Cloudpaw said, a little off put by Seedpaw's surprising surprise.
Shadepaw came back to camp, exhausted and panting. Dapplecloud on the other hand was perfectly fine, and walking in front of his apprentice, straight to the fresh-kill pile. Shadepaw heard a audible sigh from his mentor, and smirked. So Dapplecloud was as tired as his apprentice?
Leaving behind the way he had come, he walked to a near by stream. Sitting down and lapping at the cool current of the water, he relaxed some and caught his breath. The sun was still high in the sky, Shadepaw noted as he looked up to the shrouded sky. The canopy was to dense to get a good look of where exactly the sun was, but it wasn't dawn or sun set, so it must still have been day. The area he had sat down was a clearing with a stream cutting through it abruptly, and oaks that grew tall and wide near the top, a usual for Thunderclan.
Sighing, Shadepaw tried to remember details about today. Eaglepaw in Shadowclan sure was a mess up today... And he was still not sure of why he was running in the first place. Playing with the stream, he placed he paw into the water. A nice surprise, it felt good to let his paws just sway with the water...
Cloudpaw was sitting near two trees, separating the vain the moss had inside the tree's bark. It was a hard job, but it gave her time to think. She stared off into the distant between the two trees, admiring a spider web that glistened with the morning dew still on it. It was much colder over in the shade of the semi-tight forest, but it was still reasonable and enjoyable.
Picking up her attained pile of moss, she set forward to the spider web, and sat down. Looking at the trees suspending the web in the air, she saw no moss in the general area of herself. There was no spider on the web, from what Cloudpaw could tell, but it was beautifully made and reminded her of the beauty of starclan at night...
A rustle behind her made Cloudpaw turn her ears, but it must of been nothing, for not another noise was made. She focused again on the web.
How beautiful, I could just float for ever on this i-if I wanted too...
Cloudpaw closed her eyes, she was drifting off into the calming serenity of the day's warmth of her back...
But then she remembered that she was in the shadows of the trees, and would most likely not have any warmth on her body from the sun.
She slowly looked behind her self, terrified by the prospect of someone so close to her she could feel their body heat, but was surprised so see no one behind her.
She turned back around, and picked up her moss pile, but when she looked up from her dip to get the moss, she was shocked to see someone eye to eye with her. All she could see were light amber eyes that had flecks of white in them, and she was too scared to move.
"Hey, yeah, how's it going?" said a calm and friendly voice, who seemed to be oblivious to their closeness.
Cloudpaw freaked out and clawed her self away from the cat, trying to catch her breath from the shock.
The cat in front of her was a fat, jet black tom. She remembered what Foxpaw had said about a fat tom near the camp...
"Sorry about scarring you, but it's nice to meet you!" The tom said, losing his smile for a moment before gaining a toothy smile.
"Wh-who are you?!" Cloudpaw asked, her voice quivering in freight.
The tom sat in contemplation, looking up to the sky as if it had the answer, then responded, "I'm Knytt, yeah, that sounds good."
"Knytt?" Cloudpaw asked, it was a peculiar name...
"Mmhm, Knytt! So, hows it going with the moss picking?" Knytt said, pointing a paw to the pile of moss Cloudpaw had dropped.
Cloudpaw stood in shock for a moment before responding, "Ah... Fine, great..."
"Do you need help?" Knytt asked, moving to the moss pile on the other side of the web. Going through the web, he gently picked up the moss with his glossy web-covered mouth.
Cloudpaw smiled a little, though she was still unsure about this tom and had not moved a muscle since she had gotten away from Knytt.
Knytt moved closer to where Cloudpaw laid against a tree she had her back too, and motioned for the she-cat to follow with his tail. Cloudpaw followed, her muscles sore from having to move so dramatically at once. The two made their way back to Thunderclan.