Caɾղaցe Ɱօօղ ~𝙰 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌

43 🌙

"Hey, get up. It's sunrise and Jadestar wants all cats in the clearing." It was Quietdew, poking her muzzle into the den.

Crescentpaw strolled out and into a pale-grey dawn. The sky still streamed with thin rainfall, so all of the others were gathered beneath a thick-leaved rowan tree. There was a bushy line of sedgegrass growing behind the sitting warriors.

She plodded through puddles on her way over, yawning massively with her jaws extended. Crescentpaw sat down beside Lagoonstripe, expecting to go out on patrol. But then she realized that Lagoonstripe was adamately arguing, not performing her stand-in deputy duties.

"Whether you like it or not I have to send out at least one hunting patrol. Now that we're all awake, we're going to be hungry soon. There's nothing left on the freshkill pile." Lagoonstripe squared up to Jadestar with defiance, her silvery pelt ruffled.

Alpinefog nodded, his cool gaze a lot more mediating as he took a nonchalant step between them. "We can put off the dawn patrol, but not the early hunting patrol. The hunting cats will just have to get the news from the other warriors when they return." He tilted his head in an appeasing manner.

"Fine," Jadestar eventually sniffed. "Don't blame me if information gets confused because not every cat got to hear about it."

"He just said that they will," Racoonstripe muttered.

"From the source," Jadestar hissed.

How long have they been arguing?

Crescentpaw searched the mass of sitting and standing cats for the other apprentices. Tinypaw, Cheetah, Rowanpaw, and Rainpaw were all there. They too watched Lagoonstripe, waiting for her instructions while she lashed her tail impatiently.

"Raccoonstripe, Alpinefog, Quietdew, and Rowanpaw. Take a hunting patrol to the south-flowing stream. Stay in the more exposed areas, where you can't be ambushed. If Crescentpaw and the others were attacked at sunfall then there's a chance that wolves could attack your patrol as well." She shook her head somberly.

"No time of day is safe, but we have to hunt at some point."

"I want to go." Trufflefur meowed and took a step forward. His coat looked glossy and healthy beside his rounded, oval face.

"Good. The more cats the better. If you split up to hunt ground prey, make sure you're staying close together. I want cats fishing within sight of each other." Lagoonstripe's meow was emphasized.

Trufflefur nodded.

A fat raindrop made its way through the tree cover and onto Crescentpaw's eartip. She shook it off and shivered, spine twitching. Her thick fur was still clumpy and under-groomed.

"On another note, why are you still marking the borders?" Jadestar asked after the cats meowed farewell.

"We respect and uphold the warrior code, that's why." Lagoonstripe said in a sour-sweet tone again.

"Yet you dismiss other Warrior Code rules. You don't even have your own clan leader to follow. You haven't appointed a deputy after your previous one died. Smallsmarrow, wasn't it?"

Emberfawn's face contorted into an insufferable expression. Crescentpaw almost laughed.

"There's more important things to discuss," Tinypaw snapped from farther back in the crowd.

"Good point. Thank you, Tinypaw."

"Riverclan apprentices need taught to keep quiet," Sootface muttered under his breath. The strengthening dawn light was turning his back fur to wheaten yellow.