Moonpaw walked with the RiverClan patrol away from the border. That orange WindClan apprentice looked strangely familiar. It couldn't be from a Gathering, because she never talked to other apprentices there. So where. . ?
Moonpaw flicked her tail. Oh well. Instead her mind drifted to her dream.
She and Lily were taunting the dog.
"Foxdung!"
"Mousebrain!"
Although the dog obviously couldn't understand, it definatively reconized the tone. It stopped, its head snapping back and forth, deciding between Lily and Moon.
But it hesitated a second to long.
Bear jumped on it from behind, his tiny claws slashing every surface he could see. Lily, Fox and Moon joined him...
"What a strange dream," Moonpaw muttered under her breath. She had a weird feeling the apprentice had something to do with it. But that was ridiculous. Why would she ever dream about a WindClan apprentice?
There were some respectful nods as she entered the camp. She had demonstrated at a very young age that she was very wise and her opinion was now valued, as Spashstar singled her out for advice. There were whispers that she would become the leader when she was older. Of course, the other Clans couldn't understand that. They never listened to their apprentices.
She purred a little as she remembered the expressions of the two WindClan warriors. The young one had gaped at her. He'd acted like a kit!
"Would you like to go to the next Gathering?" The voice of Waterpelt cut through her thoughts.
Moonpaw nodded. "Sure."
Waterpelt paused, looking awkward. "Sorry for getting out of control back there. I just got. . .carried away."
"It's all right. It was all smoothed over."
"Thanks to you. I don't know what we'd do without you. We'd be in a dozen battles at this point."
Moonpaw smiled. "Oh, I don't know about that. I'm just there to remind you to use your heads. You'd see sense eventually."
Waterpelt purred. "I guess so. But warriors don't often see sense."
"Too true."
They both purred again and walked over to the freshkill pile. They each selected a decent-sized fish. They ate in amiable silence for a while.
"Did you really barely smell WindClan?"
Moonpaw looked up at Waterpelt's unexpected comment. "Yes, it was very faint. It could have been a rogue."
"Or a WindClan cat that washed off his scent in the river."
"True. That's why I reported it was WindClan. It seemed the most likely at the time. But they honestly didn't seem to have any idea what we were talking about."
Waterpelt nodded. "They did seem clueless."
"And indignant. 'Who'd want to eat those slimy, scale-covered things anyway?' " She purred. "That's true, at least. No other Clan eats fish."
"Unless they're hungry."
"Very, very hungry."
Waterpelt paused. "They didn't seem very well-fed to me. Maybe it was them."
"They're WindClan. They're always skinny."
"True."
"They'd probably say that we're fat."
"They wouldn't dare!"
"They probably would, and you know it."
Waterpelt nodded reluctantly. "You said you're going to the Gathering, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I'll go tell Splashstar."
Moonpaw nodded, but her mind was once more on the WindClan apprentice. Who was her? Maybe the Gathering would help her figure it out.
