The river flowed steadily beside the training clearing as Clawpaw trudged back to camp, her resentment simmering beneath her fur. The weight of Raincall's words hung heavily on her shoulders.
When Clawpaw finally returned to camp from battle training, she took a piece of prey to where the apprentices ate. Leafpaw and Lavapaw were already there, sharing a sparrow and chatting with their mentors, sharing some methods, and helping each other. Streamripple was smiling proudly at them from beside the warrior's den.
Clawpaw's gaze met Raincall's, and an unspoken tension lingered between them. The decision to assign her elder duties stung like a fresh wound.
"Hi, Clawpaw," Lavapaw mewed, "You look tired," she added teasingly.
"Clawsleepy!" Leafpaw taunted.
"Hey!" Clawpaw mewed, "I'm not going to sleep, okay? It's only sunhigh,"
"Alright," Leafpaw mewed. "Do you want to fish after you finish your fresh kill?"
"Sure," Clawpaw replied. How could Raincall catch me? It's not like I can do anything worse than cleaning the elder's den. "Have you caught anything yet?"
"We went night hunting," Leafpaw replied, "We each caught a minnow. Did you catch anything?"
"I bet she fell asleep before she caught anything," Lavapaw teased.
"I did not!" Clawpaw replied, "I only almost fell asleep!"
Lavapaw murmured something to Leafpaw, and they both purred.
"Stop teasing me!" Clawpaw mewed sharply.
Lavapaw took a giant bite of the sparrow.
"Or I'll call you Lavahungry," Clawpaw teased in return, "But I'll call you Lavahungry anyway,"
"Hey, I only took one bite!" Lavapaw protested.
"Well, it was a big bite," Leafpaw teased.
"Well, you're," Lavapaw paused, thinking, "LeafLeafy," Lavapaw retorted.
"Sure," Leafpaw replied, not sounding annoyed at all. "Anyway, why don't we go hunting?"
How come she doesn't get annoyed?
"Okay," Lavapaw mewed.
Leafpaw led the way out of the camp toward the river. Lavapaw was right behind her, and Clawpaw followed them. Once they reached the river, they settled into a fishing position and waited for the fish to come.
They waited and waited. And they waited.
She saw Lavapaw's eyes glaze over weirdly. Clawpaw suddenly felt very sleepy. Clawpaw fell asleep. Dreaming, she saw a group of minnows swimming toward her. She swooped a paw quickly in and out and caught a fish.
Clawpaw awoke with Leafpaw swatting her. Three fish were in a pile beside her.
"Clawpaw!" Leafpaw exclaimed, "You just caught a fish while sleeping!"
"I did?" Clawpaw asked, surprised.
"Well, you fished it out of the river, but I killed it," Lavapaw said annoyingly.
"Still," Leafpaw went on, "Who ever heard of a cat fish while sleeping!"
"I guess Clawpaw is good at sleeping!" Lavapaw mewed, seeming a little nervous. What is she hiding?
"Not like you didn't too," Leafpaw commented annoyingly.
"Let's go back to camp and tell everyone!" Leafpaw mewed excitedly, "Your mentor will be proud to have you as an apprentice," she added.
"I don't know," Clawpaw mewed, her happiness fading, "Raincall doesn't like me. He told me to clean the elder's den for the rest of my apprenticeship. He'll probably say it was just some luck or something, and that I will have to clean the elder's den some more after my warrior's ceremony,"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Leafpaw mewed encouragingly, "We will help you clean the elder's den. Lavapaw even enjoys it," she mewed.
"Well, you know you could try to wake up earlier," Lavapaw mewed teasingly.
"Leafpaw wakes up too early, though," Clawpaw mewed.
"Do not!" Leafpaw retorted, "Oh, wait, I do."
Leafpaw bounded toward something, distracted. Alone with Lavapaw, Clawpaw sighed. How does she have so much energy? Doesn't she just want to curl up in her nest and fall asleep?
"Maybe you should ask Leafpaw to call dawn every day." Lavapaw suggested, "After all, that seems to wake you up, at least."
"She already does call dawn!" Clawpaw said, "And it annoys me half to death."
"Good point! Except for yesterday, we went to Shad—" Lavapaw paused. "—y, I mean the shady tree to, umm, battle practice by ourselves." Well, now I know what she was hiding from me. Why would they go to ShadowClan without me? Well, I guess I slept for the whole day yesterday. But still, How dare they go to ShadowClan without me? Without even telling me?
"Clawpaw! Hide! I see Raincall. You'd better hurry to the elder's den before she sees you!" Lavapaw interrupted her train of thought.
She then hurried off to the elders' den, where Minnowsight and Elmtail lounged comfortably. Minnowsight blinked in surprise as Clawpaw approached.
"What brings you here, young one?" Minnowsight rasped.
"I've been given elder duties as a punishment," Clawpaw grumbled, frustrated.
Elmtail, the other elder, chuckled softly. "Ah, Raincall can be harsh, but he means well. Elders' duties aren't punishment; they teach patience and respect for those who've walked the path before you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She sighed. Could this day get any worse?