The Search

| Chapter 3 |

Pebblefall was intercepted by Sandwhisker while he was on his way to the medicine cats' den. The brown tom's eyes twinkled as he meowed, "Hey. You're in luck, because Poolripple just stocked up on moss. Plenty of that for us to build your nest with."

Pebblefall waved his tail cheerfully. "That's great. I was hoping to make it now."

Sandwhisker flicked an ear, padding into the medicine cats' den ahead of Pebblefall, who followed the brown tabby inside. He wrinkled his nose at the strong smells of the herbs, and he sneezed softly as he went deeper into the den to get some moss. How does Poolripple stand this? he wondered, sneezing again.

"Hey, take some moss yourself," Sandwhisker chastised playfully, his mew muffled by the wad of moss in his mouth. He nudged Pebblefall with his tail lightly. Pebblefall snorted and batted it away before walking over to grab some moss. Poolripple, who had just entered the den, cast the two friends an odd look, but they both ignored it.

With their jaws full of moss, the two cats walked to the warriors' den. Inside, Pebblefall glanced around for a moment before choosing a spot next to Sandwhisker's nest. The two toms set down their balls of moss, and Pebblefall began patting it into shape.

Sandwhisker sat in his nest, watching his friend work. Trying to help me would only make a mess, Pebblefall figured.

"You know, when I moved in a half-moon ago," Sandwhisker began with a fond glance around the warriors' den, "I thought it was amazing to finally be a warrior, too," the tabby sat aside and mused.

"And?" Pebblefall questioned, not looking up from his moss. It was quite a bit harder to knead it into the shape of a nest than he had thought it would be. It kept springing back.

"And I've come to realise that it's not all that different from being an apprentice in many ways." Sandwhisker stretched lazily, yawning. "I have yet to lead a patrol, and honestly, I'm not that interested in leading one. Other than even that, most things are the same."

Pebblefall flicked his tail as he sat on his nest, forcing it to stay in the shape he wanted. He paddled at the moss a bit more, scowling at it, but stood up when he saw that it wasn't changing its shape anymore. He curled up on it to test it, and sighed contentedly at the softness.

Noting that Pebblefall was done with making his nest, Sandwhisker stood up, stretching his legs. "Do you want to get something to eat? I'm starving," Sandwhisker confessed, his whiskers twitching guiltily.

Pebblefall purred in amusement, flicking Sandwhisker's belly with his tail as he padded out of the den. "One of these days, you're going to turn into a giant furball from eating so much," he teased.

"Look who's talking," Sandwhisker laughed, padded after Pebblefall. "Either way, fancy some squirrel?"

Pebblefall snorted. "No way did any patrol bring back squirrel. Our hunting patrols don't go that close to the trees. Fishbrain," he added with an affectionate flick of his tail on Sandwhisker's ear.

"I know that!" Sandwhisker defended, giving Pebblefall a shove with his shoulder. "I was thinking we could go catch one, silly."

Pebblefall licked his lips. "Why not?"

A short while later, the two friends settled down next to the fresh-kill pile with a freshly-caught squirrel. Sandwhisker took the first bite. "Oh, this is a good one," he said while chewing.