Chapter5: Harepaw

Harepaw waited by the border where he had met Beetlepaw earlier that day. He believed that he would come. Why shouldn't he? If Beetlepaw was having the same strange dreams as Harepaw, then he would certainly come to discuss them. Wouldn't he?

Harepaw sighed. What is taking him so long? Doesn't he realize how hard it was for me to come?

Harepaw thought back to when he had returned to camp with his patrol.

*Earlier*

"Alright, you two." Leaftail said. "Go ahead and grab some freshkill then meet back here."

The brother each grabbed a rabbit. One was to share between themselves, while the other was for their mentors.

Emberfoot started. "Now, today was a great day to explore the territory. How was it?"

"It was great!" Eaglepaw exclaimed, his mouth full of rabbit. "I really showed the RiverClan apprentice, Nightpaw!"

"That's not how I remember it." Harepaw purred.

Eaglepaw glared at him. Ever since they were kits Eaglepaw was the prideful, boastful one and Harepaw was the smart, stealthy one. They made a great team. They even snuck out of camp once, but they hadn't made it very far. Eaglepaw's chattering was what altered the warrior in camp as to where they were. It was still fun, though.

Even though the brothers had been known to get into trouble for stunts like that, everyone knew that they were good cats who would give anything for WindClan. Sometimes, like today, they had even pulled stunts for WindClan.

"Okay," Leaftail said, "we are giving you a choice, just this once."

At this, both Eaglepaw and Harepaw perked their ears.

"You two can clean the elders' bedding tonight, and spend tomorrow as a full day of hunting…"

Emberfoot picked up from where Leaftail left off. "Or you can go to your nests and do the bedding tomorrow, only spending half the day hunting."

Eaglepaw and Harepaw looked at each other. They both wanted to blaze through their apprenticeship, and their mentors knew it. The both thought the same thing, We can manage tonight. We need to perfect out hunting.

They then gave their mentors a look of "do you really have to ask?" This caused both warriors to purr in amusement.

"Okay, but hurry up." Leaftail yowled as the two raced off.

The brothers normally had a routine for this thing. Harepaw gathered the moss, while Eaglepaw threw out the old. This caused them to be done in half the time of a normal apprentice, and they were both settled into their nest when the sun began to set.

Eaglepaw yawned. "Wanna perfect our routine hunting tomorrow?"

Their routine hunting is where they scared multiple rabbits and herd them into the claws of multiple waiting cats. This usually worked for large hunting patrol in Greenleaf when the rabbits grazed in packs.

"Sure," Harepaw responded, drifting off into a short nap – he would have to be awake to meet Beetlepaw at moonhigh.

Eaglepaw nodded and his breathing deepened as he fell asleep.

Harepaw closed his eyes, and what felt like heartbeats later opened them to see that it was nearly moonhigh. Better get going, don't want to be late, he thought. Even though he had only slept for a couple of hours, he was well rested and crept out of the den.

"Hello, Harepaw. Shouldn't you be in your nest?" Boulderfur called. He was on watch that night.

Harepaw shook his head. "To restless to sleep, I'm going to take a walk."

The large, pale gray tom nodded. "Don't stay out too late. And don't get into any trouble." He paused before adding, "Although, I know you two only get into trouble when you are with each other." Boulderfur chuckled. The brother might be a paw full together, but apart they weren't much trouble. Even though they worked best as a team, so their mentors kept them together.

Harepaw purred. "Don't worry, Eaglepaw is still snoring as deeply as when he was a kit. He won't miss me."

Harepaw started walking out of camp, towards the center of the territory as to divert suspicion. When the camp was out of sight, he rolled in a patch of tall grass and started running off towards the border. He hoped that his fast speed and the scent of the grass would prevent anyone from thinking he snuck out to go to RiverClan.

*Present Time*

Harepaw sighed. When was he getting here? It was past moonhigh, but there was still a ways to go before dawn. Every moment counted.

There were noised on the RiverClan side of the border accompanied by pawsteps and voices. Harepaw bristled. What this a night patrol?

But no, it proves to be just the two apprentices, Beetlepaw and Nightpaw. Wait what is Nightpaw doing here? This was just with Beetlepaw to discuss the dreams!

When they stepped out to the bordered, their black pelts blended in so well, that even if you were a foxlength away, you would have to know that they were there to see them. Although, Nightpaw's eyes stood out brighter than the sun would compared to the night sky, while Beetlepaw's matched the darkness better than his pelt.

Harepaw bristled. "Why did you bring your brother? This is only about our dreams!" He hissed.

Nightpaw stared at him. "You told him about your dreams? When? During the patrol today?" He asked Beetlepaw.

Beetlepaw sighed. "Harepaw, Nightpaw is in this too, I've told him about the dreams, and he has been helping me through them." This earned a sarcastic snort from Harepaw. Beetlepaw guessed that he had kept his dreams to himself. "Nightpaw, yes during the patrol today. He saw me staring at the mountains and knew that I was having the same dreams as him."

"Well, you still haven't told me what is new about them." Commented Nightpaw.

Harepaw stared at Beetlepaw. "What happened? Is something different than the voices of the cats coming to the lake?"

"Yes, they are getting closer. They are crossing the mountains."

Harepaw gasped. "They are that close?"

Beetlepaw nodded. "Mudfur has told me about other with the same dreams in other Clans, you are the one for WindClan and we should find the ones for ShadowClan and ThunderClan."

Harepaw nodded. "Make sure you go to the gathering coming up. I believe that the other cats would be knew apprentices, same as us."

Beetlepaw stated. "There is more to my dream. There is another group of cats crossing the mountains that would help the Clans. And Mudfur said that this has something to do with remembering what happened?"

Harepaw frowned as he thought what this could mean. ""Remember what happened at the Dawn." That is what Barkface told me."

Nightpaw cut in. "Maybe each of you has a piece of the story? You each know what had happened at different points, so at the next gathering you should share it with the others."

Harepaw rolled his eyes. "Sure. Just tell me who the others are and we'll work it out."

Nightpaw frowned. "Well, maybe you could ask your StarClan guides to tell you."

Beetlepaw shook his head. "They speak in riddles. Unless they would somehow be different from the rest of their clanmates in some way, there would be no way to tell at the next gathering."

Harepaw thought. "Well, maybe they have already met? Like us? We could look for new ShadowClan and ThunderClan apprentices who know each other."

Beetlepaw stared at the ground. "I don't think I could be of much help with that part."

"Why?" Harepaw asked.

Nightpaw stood in front of his brother. "Beetlepaw has the sharpest hearing in the Clan. He can head the swish of one individual reed separated from the roar of the river." He hesitated, as if debating to tell Harepaw the rest. "But that is because he cannot smell; his ears make up for his nose. He would not be able to tell two Clans apart."

Harepaw flattened his ears. He had heard of deaf, mute, and blind cats, but never any that couldn't smell. "Oh."

Beetlepaw look to the setting moon. "We should be heading back now. I think we can wait until the next gathering to see each other, it's less than a quartermoon away."

Harepaw nodded before heading back to his own camp. Careful to sneak his was into the den and pretend he had been there all along.