Creamfluff's Hope

*/\* Chapter Twenty-two */\*

Creampaw stepped backward as Thrushwing fluffed out his fur. "We didn't even cross the border!"

"That young one did!" A pale orange tom hissed, looking at Creampaw. "Her paw was over the border!"

"And you scented that from your camp?" Thrushwing spat, ears flat and teeth bared. "She's a young apprentice! Give her a break!"

Creampaw looked at the three cats on the patrol. There was the pale orange tom that she recognized as Dawnrunner from the Gathering, a fluffy white tom that looked familar, and a small golden-brown tom who looked to be about Creampaw's age.

"Sunnypaw!" She suddenly said, recognizing the tom. Sunnypaw whipped around to face Creampaw and hissed at her before noticing who she was.

"Creampaw!" He said, blinking apologetically at her. "Sorry about my Clanmates. They're a little strict when it comes to borders."

"I can see that," she muttered. "I placed a toe - a claw - over the border. So what? We aren't even hunting; we're refreshing border markers."

Sunnypaw nodded. "Like I said, my Clanmates can be strict when it comes to borders." 

Creampaw nodded back and cast a glance at Dawnrunner and the white tom. She remembered him to be Cloudtuft, Sunnypaw's mentor. Thrushwing looked like he was using all his strength to keep himself from launching himself at the two toms.

"MistClan, always up to trouble like usual," Cloudtuft muttered to Dawnrunner, side eyeing Thrushwing. Thrushwing took a deep breath and slid out his claws.

"No, Thrushwing!" Creampaw yelped, running toward Thrushwing and grabbing his tail with her teeth before he could jump. Thrushwing growled and looked at Creampaw. "We already have trouble with ShadeClan. We don't need trouble with FeatherClan, too."

"Pfft, we wouldn't even be starting it. They're asking to get their ears clawed!" Thrushwing glared at Dawnrunner and Cloudtuft. 

"What about that alliance you were telling me about?" Creampaw reminded him. Did his memory refresh every two seconds?

"Well, what can I say, Creampaw? Those things don't last forever. Let's go." Thrushwing gave a lash of tail before whipping around and walking away. Creampaw gave Sunnypaw one last glance before following her mentor back to camp.

"FeatherClan accused us of crossing their border," Thrushwing scoffed as he reported to Blizzardspots. "They must have nothing better to do with their miserable lives!"

Creampaw couldn't recall ever seeing her mentor so cross. "I did put a toe over the border, so I guess you can't blame them."

"Yes, you can!" Thrushwing hissed at his apprentice. "You put a toe over the border, not a claw, a paw, or a tail! They also called us prey stealers. We were a border patrol! Those cats don't have eyes or noses, apparently!"

Creampaw suddenly remembered how she'd looked at Sunnypaw when they'd run into FeatherClan. She now just noticed the softness in his eyes instead of the anger in his Clanmate's tones and eyes. He'd smiled at her; he hadn't accused her of crossing the border or stealing prey. He wasn't at all like the cats Thrushwing described. She wondered if he'd be at the next Gathering. Maybe she could introduce Softpaw to him and get to know him better. Maybe they could be friends, or-

"Creampaw! Are you even listening?" Thrushwing hissed.

"Thrushwing, calm down!" Blizzardspots growled. "Creampaw can choose if she wants to listen to your ranting and hissing about cats you don't even know. We get that you don't like them, but Creampaw might not even know a single cat from FeatherClan and you're bringing her into this!"

Creampaw wanted to say that she did know someone from FeatherClan, but she didn't want to sound weird or creepy. 

"Creampaw, do you want to stay and listen to your angry mentor?" Blizzardspots said humorously as she looked at Creampaw. The cream furred apprentice shook her head and Blizzardspots nodded. "I don't want to either, but I kind of have to." 

Creampaw smiled before walking away. Rainspeck and Aloeheart weren't in camp, so Aloeheart must still be hunting while Rainspeck was somewhere else. Creampaw looked at the fresh-kill pile. All that sat there was two mice from Acornstar's patrol. She didn't know if the elders had eaten yet, so she decided to leave the mouse there.

"Creampaw!" Softpaw's voice called to Creampaw as he ran through the entrance to camp and toward the cream furred she-cat.

"Back already?" Creampaw's eyes widened. "Wow, that was a quick tour of the territory. Just a simple step took moons for me. What did you do?"

Softpaw was fidgeting with excitement while Silverleaf led Butterflypaw to the medicine den. The two were carrying some herbs in their mouths, but when Butterflypaw opened her mouth to talk, a gust of wind blew through the camp and scattered Butterflypaw's herbs across the camp.

Butterflypaw's eyes widened, and she meowed an apology to Silverleaf. 

"It's alright, young one," he purred. "That's happened to me before, way more than I can keep track of. Go on and pick them up."

Creampaw turned back to Softpaw who had begun explaining what he'd seen on his territory tour. "Silverleaf and Amberstorm led us to Moss Rocks, and we ran into a ShadeClan patrol! Silverleaf protected us and said he was looking for herbs, so we didn't fight like Amberstorm said we would. The ShadeClan cats smelled funny, and they said they'd get us soon."

Creampaw looked up at the sky. It was just noon, the sun shining warmly over the camp as it slowly disappeared under the treetops. ShadeClan must have started patrolling Moss Rocks more in order to claim them as their own.

"But then we visited the whole territory! The ShadeClan border, the FeatherClan border - but you weren't there, - and even the Mist Falls!" Softpaw purred while he said this, bouncing up and down in excitment.

"Mist Falls?" Softpaw's explanation of his tour left many questions in Creampaw's mind. "But you aren't supposed to go there until your eight moons old!"

Softpaw shrugged. "Amberstorm and Silverleaf led us there and said as long as we didn't fall in or even touch a drop of water, we were allowed to go there."

Creampaw began wondering if she should tell Acornstar what the mentors had done. But I've finally earned my Clanmate's respect. Even Cloverpetal stopped talking to me!  She looked over at the gray and white tom whose fur was littered with the petals of clovers. He laid next to Nightmoon as she slept peacefully. Would it be right if I tattled on the cats who supposedly know what they're doing?

But Creampaw hadn't even noticed Cloverpetal's patrol come back from hunting. Hawkpelt and Juniperseed were sharing a thrush they had caught, happily chattering like starlings. 

"Well, I'm going to go and ask when Amberstorm is going to start training me for battle!" Softpaw dug his claws into the ground and raised his rump in the air and running away. 

(I usually write from 1,000-1,300 words, but I cut it short cause I need to say something.

I was looking back at my writing and noticed I've got the timelines for some chapters all mixed up- like when Creamkit is a moon old kit, Sunnypaw is in the apprentices list, but when Creampaw goes to the Gathering when she's seven moons old, Sunnypaw is claimed to be Creampaw's age [I think I said his age was eight moons old... yeah.]

Let's just say that he was made an apprentice early because he's a special child [hey it happened with Goosefeather] 

But if you see anything else that looks like it doesn't match up with the time in the story in one of the chapters, I'd be glad if you could point out my mistakes for me to fix!)

[I also think Creampaw went to a Gathering when she was six moons old, but I can't remember]