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Continuing with the story…

Chapter 4

Dustpaw's POV

"Stop laughing," I hissed at Heatherpaw. She didn't stop laughing.

She had started laughing when I came into the elder's den, pelt bushed out, covered in moss, and embarrassed. Heatherpaw had started to laugh harder and harder within the minutes, and by now, I just think it's really annoying.

"I said stop it!" I growled at her.

Nope. Didn't make any difference.

"Okay, Heatherpaw," Thistlewing rumbled from the back of the den, "Making fun of others is for kits, and you ain't a kit anymore, aren't you?"

Heatherpaw lowered her head in shame and nodded. Oh, so whatever Thistlewing says you obey, BUT NOT YOUR OWN BROTHER! I thought angrily at her, What happened to sibling love?

After a while, when both Thistlewing and Swallowsong weren't paying attention, Heatherpaw started giggling in my ear. Yeah. Completely dissipated. Come on, Heatherpaw. What's so funny about this?

I could literally hear Heatherpaw say, Everything, Dustpaw, everything.

Everything.

I spun around and lightly cuffed Heatherpaw. Her eyes widened and then narrowed, as if to say oh? You want to challenge me? Challenge accepted.

Heatherpaw hissed and retaliated with swiping her paw at my ear, "Hey! What was that for?" I winced as her slightly unsheathed paws grazed my ear.

"You were being too annoying," I growled back, pushing her back with sheathed claws. I wasn't going to hurt her, besides, she's my sister, right? Siblings don't hurt each other.

Or at least, most siblings don't.

"Now, Dustpaw, Heatherpaw," Swallowsong began, "I think this is going—"

Heatherpaw gave a loud battle cry, so loud that probably Thunderclan could hear it, even from all the way across the lake, and leaped at me. I yowled in pain as she dug her now fully unsheathed claws deep into my right shoulder before leaping back, smirking at me. I stared at her, shocked.

"Heatherpaw!" Thistlewing growled at her, "This isn't acceptable! Stop this—"

What should I do? My pride told me to attack her back, but my mind told me not to. I sighed, and pushed my pride away. She was my sister, for Starclan's sake! She wouldn't hurt me too bad. You didn't push away your pride when you hurt Blossomkit, my mind whispered softly to me, but I hid that thought deep away in the corner of my mind. I sat down and watched Heatherpaw rage. Better let her let it out before it got really out of control.

Bad choice.

Heatherpaw's ear twitched before she leaped on me, pushing me onto my back.

To make the long story short, let's just say that I was stuck in the medicine cat den with a very annoyed Rootsong for two sunrises, and Heatherpaw was stuck taking care of the elders for one moon.

Though I may have let my pride take over, and I may have not let her get away without a few scratches. What can I say? Sometimes Heatherpaw's mood swings were really harsh.

—

I glumly swiped at a stray rock, sending it flying at Rootsong. Rootsong dodged it and glared at me. It was BORING staying in the medicine cat den.

"I need to go out to gather some herbs. You are not permitted to leave the medicine cat den. Both of you," Rootsong mewed, fixing his glare on Lakepaw and me, before turning around and slipping out of the den.

Lakepaw rolled onto his back, "Don't mind his attitude. Rootsong isn't usually grumpy, he's just worried." The blind tom had just woken, sending Rootsong into a huge relief.

"It's boring in here," I complained, shaking off a stray leaf from my pelt, "I want to go out."

"Relax," Lakepaw mewed, "At least you'll get released today. I'm not allowed to go out until next quarter moon."

I grabbed at the rock again and started playing with it. I guess he's right, though I'm not really eager to see Heatherpaw again…

I sighed and curled up in my makeshift nest, closing my eyes. How could Heatherpaw attack me like that? I did nothing to her, didn't claw her (well, maybe I did, but it was only a little!) nor did I insult her. I opened my eyes a little, staring dully at sleek fur.

Isn't this how Blossomkit felt? My mind whispered softly to me.

—

"Wake up."

I opened my eyes only to find Snapfrost crouching right in front of me, so close that our noses could be touching. I shrieked and leaped up from my temporary nest, fur bristling. I hissed at Snapfrost, annoyed.

Snapfrost tilted his head at me, and I swear that I could see a little smirk working up his face. "I thought that apprentices would be kinder and more respectful to their mentors," he mewed.

I groomed myself, still keeping one eye on Snapfrost, "I was just surprised, that's it."

"You're really easy to ruffle, aren't you Dustpaw?" Snapfrost observed.

He's right, you know, my mind said, toughen up, Dustpaw.

Shut up, I snapped back and pushed that little voice to the very corner until it almost popped.

Almost, but not quite. I wish it did. Really wish it did. You know that annoying little voice in your head that snickers at you every moment?

Hey! The voice protested.

Oh, you're back, I replied sarcastically, now go away.

Snapfrost was watching me curiously. "Okay…" he mewed, "Rootsong has given permission to let you out, though he did tell you to watch your wounds, especially that flank wound. So unless you want to stay here, we're exploring the territory today. Vipersong volunteered to go with us." He turned away and started padding out of the den.

My eyes widened. Vipersong! The deputy is going with us to explore the territory? I quickly followed Snapfrost.

"Be careful around Vipersong," Snapfrost cautiously warned me halfway there, "She's pregnant. It won't be long until she'll be moved to the nursery."

"Who will serve as deputy then?" I asked him. Surely if Vipersong was stuck in the nursery, she couldn't serve as deputy for the time being. Rootsong would make sure of that.

Snapfrost snorted. "Knowing her, Vipersong will probably bound out of the nursery every day screaming WAKE UP for dawn patrol and then go on every patrol she assigns. Then argue with her mate, Snowpelt, about staying in camp until their kits are born and ready to go out of the nursery."

When we arrived there, Vipersong and Snowpelt were facing off, pelt's bristling, ears flattened. Snapfrost sighed. "And there they are."

"You CANNOT go outside the camp right now," Snowpelt snapped, "It is too danger—"

"I know it's dangerous! This danger is a part of life, Snowpelt, and you cannot change that I have decided to go on this patrol," Vipersong shot back.

"Don't you know that Hawkpaw has been taken? You could be taken too!"

"We have seven cats on patrol, and it's just a tour around the territory. Don't you want these apprentices to get a chance to know their territory? We can't have a clan without cats knowing their territory!"

Meanwhile, Heatherpaw, my fur stood up a little when I saw her, but I smoothed it, was cowering behind Emberbird and Ivypaw had slowly crept from Cloudyflight's side to mine.

"Technically, I think that Snowpelt makes the most sense," she murmured in my ear, "It is too dangerous for an expecting queen to wander around out of camp."

I nodded, and murmured back, "But you know Vipersong is Vipersong. She won't give up without a fight."

"ENOUGH!" Emberbird suddenly shouted, and pushed himself in between them, "There are apprentices here! Are you trying to set an example for them so later they'll know how to have a fight."

Vipersong and Snowpelt finally seemed to notice that we were there and flushed. "Err… Just promise me you won't get hurt, Vipersong, or I'll be very angry," Snowpelt mewed.

"Trust me, I will. I'm the deputy. I'm always very careful," Vipersong said dismissively, flicking her tail over his shoulder, "You be careful too."

Snowpelt narrowed his eyes precariously, and without answering, turned away and slipped into the warriors den. Great Starclan, what a troublesome relationship! If I get a mate, I hope we don't fight like that, I thought as he entered the warriors den.

You probably won't find a mate, my mind snickered.

Didn't I tell you to go away? I asked grouchily back.

Technically, since you are the one who made up me in the first place, I can't go away unless you forget about me, the voice replied back.

What interesting logic. Actually, I can't understand you, I shot back, before pushing that voice to the corner of my mind.

"So, shall we go?" Vipersong said, starting to bound around us.

"In a second. First, Heatherpaw wants to say something to Dustpaw," Emberbird replied. I pricked my ears up in interest as Emberbird pushed Heatherpaw in front of me.

Heatherpaw's head was down and she shuffled her paws, refusing to look at me. Finally, she blurted out, "I'm so sorry, Dustpaw! I didn't mean to hurt you! Please forgive me!"

Heatherpaw's POV

"I'm so sorry, Dustpaw! I didn't mean to hurt you! Please forgive me!" I blurted out, shame tinted my voice. It was true! I really didn't mean to hurt my brother! It was just, when he pushed me, my instincts took over! And, to be honest, it was me who started it. I flattened my ears in shame.

I peeked up slightly at Dustpaw after I made my statement. Dustpaw met my gaze, his left ear twitched a little. "It's okay," he mewed slowly, "It was just an accident, after all. Now, raise your head and act like a proper cat."

Relief burst through me, and I lifted my head happily. Dustpaw smiled softly at me, but some of my relief dashed out once I saw his gaze slightly stiff.

"Okay, now let's go," Vipersong mewed, turning towards the camp entrance. Dustpaw followed right after her, but I could see how he winced on every step. Shame washed through me again.

I'm sorry, Dustpaw! I really am!

Dustpaw's POV

The territory was fascinating.

It was just so big and magnificent. The mentors and Vipersong showed us everywhere!

Except maybe Vipersong was a little too active.

"And this," she announced loudly, "is the half-bridge where Emberbird fell in the water pushed by two indignant apprentices named Hawkpaw and Lakepaw, who you probably know."

Our eyes widened. "Why?" Ivypaw asked.

Vipersong smirked. "Well, Emberbird caught them out of the camp on the half-bridge during a storm and tried to lecture them on the warrior code. Lakepaw, being the obedient apprentice he is, tried to go back to camp, but accidentally barreled into Emberbird, and then Hawkpaw decided it would be fun to join in, so plop, in Emberbird went!"

Emberbird was starting to turn really red now. "Now Vipersong, I think it's time to stop now—"

"Aww, Emberbird! You're so terribly boring, no wonder Hawkpaw and Lakepaw pushed you in. Loosen up! Have some fun and stop living under a rock! Can't you see I'm trying to make touring the territory more fun?" Vipersong teased him.

Cloudyflight and Snapfrost snickered while us apprentices watched them in wonder, for some random reason.

"Only Starclan knows why Shimmerstar made you deputy," Emberbird muttered.

"Oh? Because I have so much more superior humor compared to you," Vipersong countered amusingly.

Unfortunately, Emberbird didn't see the humor in it, "Oh? I'll show you—"

I watched amusingly as they continued back and forth, back and forth. At this rate, Windclan will come over to see what's happening!

A slight rustle from the bushes behind me made me leap. I spun around and stared into them.

I swear I saw two pairs of glowing eyes glaring back at me.

I screeched and leaped backward, fur bristling. The others hadn't noticed anything wrong until I leaped. "What happened?" Vipersong asked worriedly.

"T—T—There are eyes in the bushes!" I whimpered. I know I seem like a wimp right now, but there were truly eyes in the bushes!

"Let me see," Snapfrost mewed, before he slid into the bushes.

"Don't go in there! It's dangerous!" I hissed, but Snapfrost came out of the bushes without a scratch and with confusion in his eyes. "There's nothing in there," he mewed.

"Let's get back to camp in case there is," Cloudyflight said grimly. Our mentors and the deputy herded us back to camp, but I couldn't shake off that uneasy feeling.

"It was just an illusion," Ivypaw tried to assure me, "A trick of light."

I hope what Ivypaw said was true.

Unknown POV

I watched as the group of seven cats approached our hiding place. Three were young and inexperienced, but the other four could be potentially dangerous for us.

The cat beside me eyes were trained on the apprentices. "We should get them," he mewed excitedly. I whipped him on the head with a twig. "What was that for?" he protested, rubbing his head.

"We are only two cats," I hissed, "And they have seven cats. How are you expecting us to catch them?"

"But…"

The young ginger cat suddenly whipped around, staring into our hiding spot, and leaped back, yelping. "Great," I snapped at him, "Now you gave away our hiding spot. We'll have to get them next time, you fool."

With that, we slipped away into the silence.

A/N: Next up will be Blossomkit's POV, hopefully Blossompaw by then.

See you!

Ravenyfrost.