Yolopaw was so excited! He was finally an apprentice! He looked at his mentor, Fluffballfur, and saw her gazing at Stupidhead. She padded over to him and spoke to him for a moment, before they both walked over to the new apprentices and paused, looking down at them.
"Today, we're going to show you around the territory. I hope you will be able to remember a lot today. We're going to learn borders today, and perhaps Fluffballfur will show you a hunting crouch," Stupidhead explained. Yolopaw wondered what the other Clans were like. Moorclan and Stormclan were the Clans that bordered Dumbclan, but there was also Sunclan and Moonclan, across the lake. Yolopaw hoped he would make a new friend at the upcoming Gathering. Or maybe he'd meet a cat today!
"Yolopaw, are you coming, or not? Because if you're not, you can check Greatbelly for ticks!" Fluffballfur's voice dragged him out of his thoughts. With a start, be bounded after the rest of his patrol.
At the Stormclan border, the patrol stopped. Clumsypaw opened his mouth to ask why, but Fluffballfur covered his muzzle with her fluffy tail, giving him a warning glance. Stupidhead raised his nose in the air, his ear twitching. He lowered his head and turned to the apprentices.
"Do you smell that?" he questioned. "That's Stormclan. There's a patrol coming this way right now." His voice sounded tense and strained. Yolopaw wondered why Stupidhead seemed so worried, until five cats pushed their way through the undergrowth on the other side of the border. Aside from one smaller cat, they were all HUGE. The smaller cat must have been an apprentice, but he was still terrifyingly larger than Clumsypaw and Yolopaw.
The lead cat stepped forward. He was a huge gray tabby, with piercing blue eyes. "What's this," he rumbled in a voice so deep, it must be able to shake mountains. "Is Dumbclan trying to steal territory again?"
Fluffballfur snarled, but Stupidhead flicked his tail at her, then said, "we never tried to steal any cat's territory. You must be getting old and imagining things, Shadewhisker. We're merely showing some new apprentices around. You shod really be less hostile. If may provoke a Clan to attack..."
The tom, Shadewhisker, lowered his eyes, disgruntled. "We have an apprentice here who's never been in battle. Dont have me give her a surprise assessment using your two kits."
Stupidhead just rolled his eyes and turned away. "See you at the Gathering, Shadewhisker."
"What was that about?" demanded Clumsypaw after they were deep in the woods, away from the Stormclan border.
Fluffballfur sighed. "At the last Gathering, Stormclan's leader, Darkstar, Shadewhisker's father, accused Dumbclan of trying to steal their territory. We have done no such thing. Yes, we went on their territory to speak with Darkstar, but obviously they decided to use our scent from then to accuse us of land-stealing. Jumbopelt, Dumbofur, Mittenpool, and a few other warriors," Fluffballfur mewed, glancing at Stupidhead at this point of the story. "Went to the border to lay in wait for one of their border patrols. When the patrol came by, they attacked. Which just made it seem more like we were trying to steal their territory. Stormclan and Dumbclan have been at odds since then. Fortunately, the Gathering is tomorrow night, and Giantstar plans to try and fix all this. Hopefully he will. Our Clan is in danger of full on war." Fluffballfur jumped up as soon as she finished her story. She trotted away through the woods, giving no indication of where she was going.
The patrol came to a sandy clearing, where Fluffballfur walked to the center, raised her muzzle, and suddenly leaped, landing on a mouse a few tail-lengths away. She turned and looked at the apprentices. "Now you try," she suggested. Clumsypaw immediately began dashing around the clearing, trying to find prey, but Yolopaw just stared incredulously at his mentor.
"How?" he asked. "You didn't teach me how. You just caught a mouse then told us to do it."
"Yes. You will learn from your mistakes, and learn how to hunt that way. That's how I learned. From my mistakes. And now I'm the best hunter in the Clan."
Yolopaw decided she had a point, and turned back into the woods, inhaling silently, trying to catch a whiff of mouse. He pinpointed a scent, and padded over to where he scented it. He saw a scuffle, then another, closer by. He watched for a moment, figuring out the mouse's path, then gathered his haunches underneath him, and pounced, landing where it would end up going next. He felt a furry mass under his paw, and looked down to see the mouse pinned under his paw. He leaned down, nipping the mouse's neck, making a clean kill. He turned around to see Clumsypaw still dashing about, falling and tripping over his own paws numerous times. Yolopaw purred in amusement, then sauntered over to his mentor, dropping the mouse at her paws.
Fluffballfur gaped in astonishment. Not even she had caught prey her first day. Maybe she was being replaced...
Back in camp, the two new apprentices settled down in their new nests, talking about their long day. At one point, Clumsypaw didn't respond to Yolopaw's question, so he looked over at him, only to find him sound asleep. Yolopaw smiled at the other tom, then laid his head down, quickly drifting off.
The next morning, Yolopaw was awoken by Giantstar's yowl from the center of camp. He stumbled out of his den, only to find Mittenpool and Fuzzyfluff standing next to each other, their tails entwined.
"We would just like to announce that we're expecting kits!" announced Mittenpool. Fluffballfur ran to Mittenpool's side and nuzzled her shoulder. Yolopaw was confused for a moment as to why his mentor was showing such affection, before remembering that Mittenpool and Fluffballfur were sisters. He purred in joy. Their Clan was growing larger and stringer every day.
It had been about two moons since Mittenpool had announced her pregnancy, and Yolopaw and Clumsypaw were sleeping in the apprentices den, hoping that they would finally get to go to the Gathering the next night. A sudden scream shook the camp. Every cat was jolted awake. Healingskills was out of her den in a heartbeat, herbs clutched tightly in her jaws. She crossed the camp, disappearing into the nursery. Fuzzyfluff paced outside, until a bat flew above his head, and he fell over in fear. He was deathly afraid of bats. No one knew why.
"Come on. Let's get back to sleep." Yolopaw nodded in agreement, but another shriek laced the air. Sleep was obviously not an option that night. The sun was peeking over the treetops when Healingskills stumbled out of the nursery, her fur unkempt. But her eyes shone with joy. "Two kits," she called out. "Sunkit and Darkkit! Both little she-kits!" She trailed away to her den, obviously hoping for some rest herself.
Later that day, Giantstar was about to announce who was going to the Gathering. Yolopaw and Clumsypaw had gotten the day off, due to their restless night. But now they were wide awake, standing in front of their leader, both wishing over and over again that they would get to go to the Gathering.
"The cats coming to the Gathering tonight are Gangstahood, Stupidhead, Dumbofur, Jumbopelt, Clumsypaw and Yolopaw. Get something to eat, then meet me by the entrance. Tonight we show the other Clans what we're really made of."
And with that slightly ominous note, Giantstar promptly fell over and rolled to the entrance to wait for the other cats.