Cinders to Flames

Chapter 14

"Cinderfrost, I want you to go on a patrol with Berryfang and Yellowleaf. Bring Blackwhisker with you" Houndheart meowed. She dipped her head and went to find Blackwhisker. It had been a few days since she had become a warrior, and everything was going as it should.

"We're assigned to the dawn patrol." Cinderfrost told Blackwhisker.

"With who?"

"Berryfang and Yellowleaf."

"Oh great, we get to listen to them bickering the whole time." He grumbled.

Blackwhisker was right, as he usually is.

"You said we should take a short-cut, and look where you've gotten us!" Berryfang hissed.

Yellowleaf looked around. "Um, the forest?"

"No! We're lost!"

"We're not lost. We simply don't know where we are." She replied.

"Pretty sure that's the same thing."

Cinderfrost rolled her eyes. "They're worse than me and Featherpool." She said to Blackwhisker.

"Yeah. Now I'm glad I don't have any siblings." They continued through the forest for a while. Cinderfrost spotted a well-worn path.

"I think this leads back to the forest path!" She called back to the bickering siblings. They trekked along and soon enough, they came out on the forest path.

"I told you we weren't lost," Yellowleaf said to her brother. They finished the dawn patrol, and brought back a few pieces of prey.

"I don't know how you managed with her as your mentor," Cinderfrost said, glancing at Yellowleaf.

"She's better when she isn't with her brother."

"It must've been terrible when you trained with Wolfclaw." Wolfclaw's mentor had been Berryfang.

"They were both trying to get their apprentice to catch the most prey, or fight the best. It was really exhausting."

"I guess the next batch of apprentices will be in green- leaf." Cinderfrost meowed. Kits were usually born in new-leaf and then become the age of an apprentice around green-leaf.

"I wonder which cats are going to have kits?" Blackwhisker wondered aloud.

"Toadshine and Twistfoot, I bet." Cinderfrost said, remembering her conversation with Vinespring.

"Oh? I didn't know they were mates."

"I don't know if they are or not. Vinespring was complaining to me about it on a patrol a while ago." Cinderfrost chose a sparrow from the fresh-kill pile.

"You'd better bring that to the elders." Paleear meowed from behind her.

"Isn't that an apprentice job?" Asked Cinderfrost.

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't have any apprentices, and you're the youngest warriors. You might as well do something useful instead of sitting around and gossiping all day." Paleear's mew was tart, and her green eyes bore into her fur.

Cinderfrost dipped her head. "Yes, Paleear," she meowed. She and Blackwhisker headed to the elders' den.

"I'm not a fan of the elders to be honest. They always tell really long and boring stories," meowed Blackwhisker.

"I like them. They know everything about everyone and they are nice to you if you bring them food and are respectful."

They ducked into the den. It was warm and cozy inside, and Cinderfrost felt her muscles unclenching, warmth returning to her paws after being out in the cold air for most of the day.