CotS #2: A Brighter Future (currently being rewritten)

Chapter Fifteen

Raindrop trudged after the patrol all the way back to camp. Skarmark was an extremely quiet patrol leader, and he'd said practically nothing on the way back, not about their encounter with SeasonClan or to ask for their opinions. He just didn't say anything at all to anyone. Raindrop had to try pretty hard not to feel insulted by his lack of speech. As patrol leader, he should be engaging conversation with them. Still, maybe Skarmark was the quiet type. Honeydrop spoke out a lot, so it seemed weird that her mate would be any different.

By the time they made it back to camp, it was well after sunrise. Raindrop regretted not waking her apprentice and sending her on apprentice duties – but apparently, Streamflow had helped her to do it. Raindrop could see her bouncy apprentice doing ticks with her two sisters at the elders' den, looking slightly annoyed. She tried to hide a smile – while Blossompaw was doing good, she'd probably just missed out on a whole lot of battle training, and she could see that her apprentice knew it by the look of irriation on her face! Raindrop purred quietly to herself. She hadn't even begun taking Blossompaw on any kind of patrols yet, and she was already trying to complete Blossompaw's training early! Perhaps she should start taking her on patrols. Blossompaw was just about a moon ahead of her two sisters already! Raindrop wondered what she was going to do for another four moons, and not for the first time.

"Raindrop! You're back!" Blossompaw sprung up, dropping the last bit of mouse bile carelessly on Tinyheart, who hissed in annoyance. The mouse bile stick whacked Tinyheart on the head, but Blossompaw didn't seem to notice.

"Blossompaw!" Coalsmoke chided lightly, but she wasn't looking at him. She dashed straight for Raindrop gleefully, bouncy as usual.

"Training, training, training!" she squealed, all over Raindrop as usual. Raindrop laughed in amusement.

"Hey, you reek. Go wash off the stench and we'll talk about training." Raindrop wrinkled her nose. Her apprentice reeked of mouse bile, though it was probably unsurprising. Raindrop herself had never done ticks since her apprenticeship was on the Great Journey, so, well, she hadn't really realized how much mouse bile stank. Well, now she knew!

Blossompaw sighed in annoyance and dashed off to get cleaned. Raindrop hid a smile. Her jovial apprentice, so willing to follow random orders to get training. They were almost done with fighting training anyway, but Blossompaw was still as eager as ever to learn.

Raindrop went to visit Riverflame because Blossompaw usually took a long time to wash. Surprisingly, her mate was wide awake and sitting up in his nest. He smiled when he saw her. She was like a bright ray of light in the darkness, opening the lichen flap that led into the medicine den and letting fresh air and sunlight pour in.

"Was wondering how long it'd take you to get here," Riverflame meowed with a yawn. He did look like he had been expecting her for quite some time.

"I went on the dawn patrol, and I'm going to take my apprentice out, thank you very much," Raindrop snapped cheekily. "We're not all as free as you." He smiled at her warmly.

"Well, I won't keep you. Just kind of boring. They said I almost went into a coma, you know?" Riverflame joked lightheartedly.

"Right." Raindrop couldn't see how Riverflame could joke about it. She remembered sleepless nights worrying about him, tossing and turning throughout the night.

Riverflame raised his eyebrows. "By that expression, you were very worried. I told you before: Don't worry about me. Ever. You don't need to."

"You never said that," Raindrop whispered. Were tears falling from her eyes? No way, she was tougher than that. But they were.

"Well, I'm saying it now." Riverflame touched noses with Raindrop. "Go to your apprentice. She will be waiting for you."