Warriors Redwood: Bronze

[4] Atheist Lovers and the Stars.

Rattail pounced, and he would've landed square on the back of a nice mouse if it wasn't for Halfpaw coming out of the bushes to early. The mouse spooked and ran, and Halfpaw looked ashamed, his coat practically turning red with the burning of his mistake.

"I'm sorry Rattail," Halfpaw muttered, apologizing for his excitement getting the better of him with his head ducked.

"Sorry fills no bellies, but we do, so how about we take a stroll and refocus on the task of hunting in a moment, alright?" Rattail meowed, his tail swaying a moment, before he lead Halfpaw along the forest floor, straight to the large oak.

He snickered gently at how amazed Halfpaw looked, before he was hit with a realization, "This the farthest I've taken you isn't it?" He picked up the stick and dropped it in front of Halfpaw, "Why not grab something to remember it by, you can hide it under your nest and poke your denmates with it, just don't get caught."

Halfpaw snorted, picking up the stick anyways, before dropping it, "but what about our catches?" He meowed picking up the stick again, Rattail turned to him and smiled.

"Don't worry your pelt off, I'll handle it," Rattail's ear twitched and he turned and crouched, flicking his tail in the direction of a crow, pecking at the ground, blissfully unaware of the others.

Halfpaw set his stick down silently, taking a few steps forward and watching as Rattail gave him a nod, he creeped forward with the utmost care, watching his paws carefully, once he was within pouncing range he would've launched forward, if not for him tripping and landing on his face.

The crow flew away, leaving a single feather, as if gloating that it lived. Halfpaw got up shakily and wiped a paw over his nose, pulling away with some blood, Rattail walked up next to him, draping his tail over Halfpaw's shoulders.

"Fox dung!" Halfpaw cursed, hissing at his own failure, raking a claw over the forest floor.

"It's alright Halfpaw," Rattail tried to reassure him before he was interrupted by Halfpaw.

"That was the third time today! I'm never gonna catch any prey!" Halfpaw growled, turning his head in shame. Rattail gave him a worried look.

"Let's just head back to camp, we've got some catches to collect along the way," Rattail barely whispered, pulling away to lead them back to the other catches, which were buried to prevent them from getting in the way of any other catches.

Arriving back at camp, Halfpaw carrying his stick, and Rattail with two skinny mice in his jaws, they pushed through the bracken, rejoining back on the other side, gathering at the freshkill pile, after Halfpaw dropped his stick off of course.

Dropping the two mice onto the pile, Rattail turned to Halfpaw, "Why don't you find something to eat alright?"

Halfpaw still in a sour mood looked at him like he was crazy, "I haven't caught a single thing! How can you let me eat?"

"I can't have you starving on me before you learn to make a catch, hunger is the price of knowledge, so eat up, we'll head back out next sunrise," Rattail meowed, giving a more serious cuff to Halfpaw's ear, scolding him lightly. Halfpaw breathed out a sigh and found something to eat, all the while Echotail and Spottedpaw walked into camp right as Rattail was looking to walk away, Spottedpaw was carrying a plump mouse with a proud look written all over his face, though he was a silent type.

"Rattail, look what Spottedpaw caught, I'm so proud," Echotail called out to Rattail, and Rattail watched with a pang in his heart as Halfpaw's face filled up with shame even as he was eating.

Rattail talked to Echotail a while, leaving Spottedpaw and Halfpaw to do whatever they liked, though Rattail found himself drifting off, scanning the clearing, watching as Goldheart talked with Goosefur with a smile, while finishing up a nice looking robin, he saw how Barkstar sunned himself watching over everyone with a little pride in his gaze, he saw how some other warriors talked, Shininglily and Cloversplash he believed their names were.

Things were peaceful in Rattail's home. He liked it that way, it was nice and calm, better than the constant struggle that was being a rogue, better than the constant sleeping while being a kittypet, yet he couldn't help but think about his mother and father, he wondered how they were. Since he left them.

Patch and Moon, his mother and father. He left them almost five moons before, abandoning his name of Speckle, tearing off the pesky piece of some sort of pelt that the twolegs attached to his neck, it wasn't a collar like other kitty pets, it was soft and he almost missed the feeling of it wrapped around his neck, it was comforting in a way.

Those were thoughts he really wasn't allowed to have, not this far as a warrior. No going back. That was something he told himself the first day, and every day since then. He just can't go back, he didn't want to see his mother and father's disappointment, though he knew they would have none, it was an underlying fear.

He shook his head, pulling himself back to reality, and seeing Echotail stare at him, gaze filled with worry.

"Sorry Echotail, I had my head in the clouds a moment, can you repeat what you said?" He murmured, ducking his head apologetically. Echotail looked at him with those big blue eyes, the ones that Rattail knew well, ones filled with unsaid worry, ones that would hide from the world if they could.

Rattail blinked before sweeping his tail around Echotail to pull him close. Echotail kept looking at him, not saying anything, the silence spoke enough. Echotail was worried about him and Rattail couldn't feel worse about making him worry in the first place, he must've spaced off for longer than he thought.

"No regrets now," Echotail whispered, anguish in his voice, "Don't you dare think about leaving us all now."

Rattail gulped, his heart felt like it sank into his tail, his pelt starting to feel uncomfortable, he wanted to just squirm out of it. "I'm not thinking about leaving Echotail, not this time, but, haven't you ever wondered how everyone we knew is doing? I had friends back there,"

"Oh," Echotail hesitated, likely recounting his own memories, "I don't know." He murmured, Rattail just watched him for a moment, before glancing up to the sky, the first stars of silverpelt showing their faces, Rattail let out a sigh watching them, Echotail leaning on him.

"Do you believe what's up there?" Rattail's curiosity consumed him. He glanced at Echotail as he watched the stars.

"I don't know if I do," Echotail murmured, only Rattail could hear, the clearing almost empty, the apprentices asleep, along with the elders, really only warriors stayed awake at this hour, and Rattail couldn't see anyone out. They were alone.

Rattail felt like Echotail knew him more than anything, Echotail was the one he went to trust, the one he went to for everything. If all of his clan turned against him, Rattail knew Echotail would be right by his side, he couldn't help but feel like somehow someway the stars aligned to bring them together.

"Rattail, do you think we'll go up there?" Echotail whispered, closing his eyes and burying his face in Rattail's gray fur. Rattail just sucked in a breath and let out an exasperated sigh, he was feeling more bedraggled than anything at the moment.

"You will for sure, your kind, a strong warrior, and caring to top it off, I'm not so sure about me," Rattail muttered, glancing at Echotail, breathing out another sigh, "We really should go to sleep before moonhigh, we don't want to be as slow as snails tomorrow."

"Right." Echotail stood up, stepping away from Rattail, who in turned padded after him.

"Echotail wait-" his heart pounded for a moment, his tail twitched, before he asked a question he really didn't know if he should ask, "how about we sleep in the same nest tonight? It's getting colder with late greenleaf."

Echotail's eyes lit up and he quickly turned and went into the warriors den, Rattail was unsure but he followed him, sucking in an anxious breath. He too went into the den, seeing Echotail already curled up in Rattail's nest.

Rattail's pelt warmed a little as he fluffed out, before curling up next to Echotail, appreciative of the extra warmth, finding sleep came way easier next to Echotail. He felt, to some degree, at peace in this moment, and pressed himself closer to Echotail before yawning and finally, finally, drifting to sleep.