The Search

| Chapter 13 |

Pebblefall could already tell that the journey was going to be a lot longer than he'd originally anticipated.

Of course, he didn't expect it to be short by any means. It was a journey, after all. It wasn't really meant to be short; journeys were long, tiring, which he supposed was the reason why cats had traveling herbs before going on them. Traveling herbs helped with energy, cured  appetite... everything he really wanted right about now.

The sun was happily bouncing around in the late afternoon sky, shimmering brightly down upon the two traveling cats. It smiled politely, creating a pleasant sort of warmth. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, only the endless open blue plains. Though the sun appeared to be inching closer and closer to the horizon.

It'll probably be sundown soon, Pebblefall thought.

It was clear that both cats were tired. Sandwhisker's pawsteps were slow and his whiskers drooped. Pebblefall's ears flicked lazily, eyes moving slowly as he looked around. However, it was also clear that both were in considerably good spirits. Sandwhisker, despite his fatigue, had a smile upon his brown tabby features. Pebblefall, of course, had a similar smile.

All the way there the two had talked, and truthfully, it had been really nice. Pebblefall loved talking to Sandwhisker. He was so intelligent in his speech, he had a good sense of humor, and overall, he was someone that Pebblefall liked being around. At the beginning of the journey, he'd been overjoyed that he could finally spend time alone with the warrior.

But as it continued, he found it more and more difficult not to say anything that would give his secret away. He couldn't let Sandwhisker know, because once it was out in the air, then it could go anywhere, and that was the last thing he wanted. Pebblefall had unintentionally decided on letting the conversations be directed by Sandwhisker.

Whenever the warrior offered up a question to Pebblefall, he always found himself getting flustered and anxious at his replies. However, it was just something else to shove down and away. It was something he couldn't see, but sometimes little bits of it slipped out. His flurried comments were always present, but they had faded somewhat recently.

Although, now that he was alone with Sandwhisker, they'd flared again.

"I still can't believe you made up that lie and the guard believed it!" Sandwhisker paused momentarily and laughed at the notion. "You were looking for herbs in the dark! StarClan, I thought they would've turned around and slapped you across the face!"

Pebblefall's ears warmed as he padded alongside the lake. In order to get to the Horseplace, they had to follow the lake in the opposite direction that he and Poolripple took to get to the Moonpool. After that, it was essentially smooth sailing.

"Come on, I had nothing better to say!" protested Pebblefall, looking over to Sandwhisker, who had stopped by the lakeside. The sun reflected off the lake's smooth and true-blue surface, and as Sandwhisker opened his eyes, it reflected prettily into his gaze, too.

"You could've said anything else. What about scouting the territory?"

"That's looking!" exclaimed Pebblefall, rolling his eyes. "See? You're just as bad as I am!"

"Not true," scoffed Sandwhisker. "You didn't let me finish!"

Pebblefall paused, rolling his eyes. He stayed silent though as if to indicate that the tom could continue. Snickering, Sandwhisker did so.

"You could've said that you were scouting the territory for later, and lied and said you were going to come back, so when you didn't, it was just like you'd gone for herbs!"

Pebblefall rolled his eyes again. "Sounds like a good way to cause panic. I can already see it: cats running around, screaming 'Our medicine cat is gone!' with their fur all spiked up."

Sandwhisker pushed him good-naturedly and their fur brushed. Pebblefall's figure seemed to tingle momentarily and he looked to the ground, pelt heating up. Forcing himself up, he padded alongside the lake though paused to wait for Sandwhisker, who had doubled over with laughter.

Sandwhisker snickered and continued along at a quick pace. Pebblefall followed, of course, and then he realized that the tom had veered right away from the lake.

"Wait, Sandwhisker, you're going the wrong way," called Pebblefall, and the warrior turned around with a swift and curious tip of his head.

"What? I thought we were-" At these words, Pebblefall motioned with his tail at the lakeside, and then turned back to stare pointedly, though not rudely, at the warrior. "Oh!" Sandwhisker was swift to head back over, laughing a little, and he padded up to the water.

He stuck a paw in and moved it around for a little, and then he looked up. "I'm thirsty," he declared.

Ear tips warm, Pebblefall approached the water and dipped his head down to the surface. He lapped up a bit of the water and then sat back down at the edge, looking at Sandwhisker as if to say 'Was it really that hard?'. The tabby snickered, but he shook his head in response to what Pebblefall had done.

"No, I want water for the trip, too. I'll be thirsty later on so it's best we bring some water," he explained, and he looked to the sky. "And if it gets dark, we can't exactly just travel back here whenever we want. We're going to Horseplace, and I don't know how much water is there."

"So what you're telling me is that you want me to go fetch some moss and soak it in the water?"

Sandwhisker turned around and grinned. "Yep!"

Pebblefall turned away to hide the small smile rising upon his features, and he cast his gaze around the territory. From what he could tell, they were still near to RiverClan. The scent of fish still was present within the air, and it was familiar enough that he could easily assume they were close to RiverClan.

Though, he wasn't exactly sure if there was any moss around. So, he simply navigated his way around a few rocks nearby, scenting the air, narrowing his eyes as if it would help him see the moss better. And it did, as he soon spotted it growing at the base of a rock. He approached it and unsheathed his claws, scraping a bit of it off the rock.

The tom padded back and smiled at Sandwhisker, who let out a cheer at the moss hanging from his jaws. With a small smile, Pebblefall approached the water and dunked it in. Sandwhisker nodded and then headed up to the lakeside, lapping up a bit of it.

"Really?" Pebblefall asked, and he nodded as he licked his jaws.

"Yep!"

Pushing down the warmth that rose within his belly, Pebblefall continued along. He was sure to keep close to the lakeside until he figured it was time to veer off. He tilted his pawsteps sideways and motioned for Sandwhisker to follow. The tom turned.

"Where are we going?" Sandwhisker asked, padding after him.

"Horseplace," Pebblefall answered and Sandwhisker laughed.

After a moment or two, Pebblefall thought he spotted something up in the distance. It was a somewhat tall stick of sorts, and it seemed to be protecting something. He wasn't sure what it was made of, but it almost looked as though someone had chopped down a tree and had stuck it into the ground.

"What's that?" Sandwhisker questioned.

"You think I know?" Pebblefall replied. "I don't know. We're barely close to it."

"It might be Horseplace," Sandwhisker answered, a note of excitement clear in his tone.

Pebblefall continued walking along, tail flickering. "Do you think?"

"Yeah! Come on!" Sandwhisker called, and the tom began to run. His tail waved in the wind like a banner of a flag, and his limbs moved swiftly in order to head toward the object in the distance. With a soft sigh, Pebblefall picked up his pace and dashed after the warrior.

"Wait up!"

"Never!" The cry of Sandwhisker echoed to his ears.

Pebblefall couldn't ignore the warm and fuzzy feeling rising up within his belly any longer, though, with a smile that wouldn't fade till he got closer, he picked up his pace.

Written by Lamb <3
Edited by Solstice