forgive these bones i'm hiding || warrior cats

─ iii. a long cold war with your kids at the front

A/N: Title taken from "American Teenager" by Ethel Cain.

The moon was just cresting to its highest peak when the apprentice den started rustling into wakefulness.

The seven apprentices, their eyes gleaming in the night with mischief and, in some cases, reluctance, filed slowly out from under the heather bushes, crouched low together in the shadows.

Foxpaw watched as Irispaw slunk away from the group, their indigo eyes flashing in the dark. She steadily approached a pair of guards stationed just beyond the heather bushes, the faint outlines of Echochime and Whitefern barely visible in the starlight.

"Nice night out, huh?" Foxpaw heard Irispaw's chiming tone greet the two guards.

With a seriousness almost comically out of place, Palepaw flicked his tail to signal for the other apprentices to follow him as he crept slowly from the shadows. Rolling his eyes, Foxpaw overtook him easily, small paws barely leaving prints behind in the dirt, let alone sound. Palepaw let out an indignant huff.

Foxpaw weaved through the underbrush, heather sliding along the top of his spine, the soft fur of Birdpaw brushing against his tail as she followed close behind.

He side-eyed the guards, the over-excited rambling of Irispaw cutting through the night. Both of their attention still focused on Irispaw, Foxpaw slid smoothly out of the heather and into the open moor, his legs picking up until he was in a light jog.

Palepaw snickered softly as they grew further from camp. "I can't believe that worked!"

"Me either." Valleypaw muttered.

They all stopped a little ways away from camp, waiting for their missing member to rejoin them, and she did with a triumphant meow and a skip.

Spottedpaw purred. "You were right, Birdpaw. Irispaw was the much better idea."

"Thank you." They both said, in sync.

"Hey!"

"Shut the fuck up, Valleypaw." Palepaw laughed. "I want to go chase some rabbits."

Not scenting anything nearby but other WindClan cats and the occasional vole, the little troop picked their way over the moor, closer to where the hills rolled down into the lakefront.

Foxpaw had his nose to the earth when he felt a presence next to him, and he warily glanced upwards to meet Firepaw's curious green eyes.

She smiled, shuffling her paws a bit. "Smell anything?"

"Not yet." He shrugged. "Just faint scent trails. Nothing recent."

She hummed. "I hope we find some."

Foxpaw nodded in agreement, turning slightly to the right to sniff along the grass some more.

"So, uh, you think you'll go to the next Gathering?"

He raised his head back up and blinked at her. "I haven't really thought about it, if I'm being honest."

She looked at him questioningly. "Why? Aren't you curious?"

"About what?"

"I don't know. The other Clans?"

He scoffed. "My Clan is enough for me, thanks."

She made a surprised sound, but didn't say anything more. They continued on in silence, both of them trading off scenting the grass and the air for any traces of rabbit.

Their almost-comfortable silence was broken by the giggling shriek of Palepaw, followed closely by the honking laugh of Valleypaw.

"Found some!"