A terrorized yowl awoke Puffyfur. She sprang out of her nest and hurried outside. Raspthroat pinned Frostystar to the ground, her claws digging into her chest. She strained to bite her throat, but Frostystar was pushing up on her neck.
"Hey!" Branchtooth knocked Raspthroat away with a huge paw.
She stumbled off, hissing, before heading back into the nursery.
Branchtooth nosed Frostystar to her paws, and started talking, "This was a bad decision Frostystar, the Clan isn't happy. You can't just tear them away from each other. You get your rump on Leader's Rock, and," he coughed loudly before continuing, "Tell the Clan that they won't be separating."
"The Clan is to big Branchtooth! The camp can't contain all of these cats!" she wailed.
"Build a new camp then! You don't need to tear them apart!"
"I can't Branchtooth. I can't take it anymore, with all these cats to take care of, I just can't do it, so the Clan needs to be smaller." Frostystar lowered her head.
"Maybe you can't, but Darksun, Longpebble, Hareclaw, Pricklefur, Rippleblaze- I mean Blazeripple, Berrytail, all these cats could do it! Don't just give up. Retire from being a leader, I'm retiring from deputy. There will be a younger, stronger leader and deputy! Now go tell the Clan." Branchtooth nosed her towards Leader's Rock, "We can be elders, without a care in the world." He murmured, half to himself.
Puffyfur wasn't upset that she wasn't recommended to be a leader, that wasn't the life she wanted.
###
Pricklefur was out on a hunting patrol with Rosecloud, Mumblestripe, and Dapplepaw. They split up, and he just happened to stumble across a good camp. Near Moonfalls, there was a big dip in the ground, surrounded by a thick forest. There were huge bushes growing in the dip. A pile of rocks was at the far edge.
The bushes were hollowed out, with only an outer layer of brambles. It was like a huge den. The same had been done to the other bushes. In back of the pile of rocks was another hollow bush. Ferns hung down in the entrance. He walked in. A soft nest was built inside. There were a lot of nests built in the other ones too. In one of the bushes, with a bramble screen built across to another den, was a small hole, filled with clean water. A large pile of moss was next to the pool. As he went further in, he noticed a path. It led to a small opening. There was a big flat rock. It was surrounded by a bramble screen. A path led to a garden full of herbs. There were herbs growing everywhere! They were also surrounded by a bramble screen. He went back to the den. A hole led to a few nests. The nests were surrounded by a bramble screen that went across to another den. Pricklefur went out of the den and looked at the others. It was like a camp a Clan would live in. There was a huge den, that would be the warrior's den, two smaller dens, apprentice's and nursery, the den he just explored, medicine-cat's den, the smallest den, most likely elder's, a big rock pile for clan meetings, and the leader's den behind it. There was a spare den. There was even a fresh-kill pile in the corner of the camp! The fresh-kill pile was huge. This camp was much better, and larger, than the camp they lived in. A path led to a sandy, flat place, perfect for sharing tongues. A flat rock on a small plateau would be perfect for sunning. Back in the trees was a small burrow, wide, but not deep, would be great for getting out of the hot sun. In a pool near the edge of the camp was a very mossy spot that had some herbs. Also there was a flat, grassy place nearby, in a clearing, for training apprentices. There was even a sandy clearing in the trees perfect for kits to play, with some towering rocks for cats to watch over the kits. This camp was so much better than the one he was in! He barely recognized this place! The cool place was newly dug, the paths were new, and the bushes had been hollowed out. He hurried back to camp, forgetting about hunting, to tell Frostystar. (OMG magic!)