A New Form || A Warrior Cat Fanfiction Series \\

/+Chapter 23+\

"Please... Just take my position, I can't stand Hickorypaw's loud snoring!" Northpaw pleaded on behalf of her sleep schedule. "Northpaw? You look... exhausted?" Echopaw looked at her tired state, "What does it look like?! Hickorypaw has the Mistwhatsit fever and I can't sleep through all her snoring!" She ranted continuously about her night while the sun rose over the once-cold forest, warming up anything in its reach as the rays cast long shadows across the camp. 

"Did anyone say my big sister is sick?" A voice called, which made Echopaw sigh deeply, clearly enough, it was Smokepaw. The two didn't get along very well as apprentices, but when they were kits, they got along, it was suspicious to hear they didn't like each other suddenly. The stiff alders from the apprentices' den rustled a bit, causing a few dead leaves to fall. Slanted light-gray eyes peeked through while Northpaw lay on the ground.

"Yes, Northpaw over here did." Echopaw pointed to the tabby she-cat lying on the ground face-flat as Smokepaw emerged, He expected Smokepaw to be worried about his kin, but the light-blue tom looked... gleeful? "She is? Yes finally!- I mean oh no!" He exclaimed, his face changing emotions swiftly. 

Echopaw stared at him for a couple of moments, before saying, "I didn't know Hickorypaw's been bothering you that much lately." He commented, "Huh? Pssh, no!" Smokepaw scoffed. "Come on, you find your sister annoying, she teases you, and now you are glad that Hickorypaw is sick, isn't it?" Echopaw said, slanting his eyes at Smokepaw. "Besides, you can't deny that you're the youngest of Cloudpuddle's litter, and Whistlepaw is the oldest, like me with my siblings." He continued, while Smokepaw glanced briefly at Northpaw who was asleep face-flat on the dusty ground then back to Echopaw. 

"What's with all the blabbering over there?!" Someone yelled, resulting in cutting off the two's conversation. "Who said that?" Smokepaw whispered to Echopaw, "I don't know." He said, making Smokepaw glare at Echopaw, the colorpoint tom returned the glare, not knowing the deputy heading their way with a frown.

Tumblewing cleared his throat, catching both the apprentices' attention. "Both of you," He mewed, the two fixed their posture and dipped their heads in respect. "I want both of you to guide two newcomers to Shiveringstar's den once they arrive at camp. They would be coming at sunhigh sharp." Tumblewing looked at Northpaw,  "Wake her up, and tell her to locate and bring back the newcomers." He said to Echopaw before flicking his tail and walking off.

Northpaw groaned, "Newcomers? Who?" She slowly got up, adjusting the light that shone directly into her eyes. "I don't know," Echopaw shrugged, "You said 'I don't know' two times now!" Smokepaw complained, "Really? The last thing I want to do is team up with you!" Echopaw shot back. 

The two toms bickered at each other, hurling words in sentences Northpaw could not catch within earshot range. 'I might think, this reminds me of me and Echopaw, Sheepaw, and Oddpaw when we were young kits, lost in a fog in our camp.' Northpaw thought, twitching her tail as in goodbye. She doubted that they would have seen her sign.

The feline dragged her tired paws throughout the clearing and at the foot of the tunnel. She mentally prepared herself because she did not see any cats outside the Clan, considering she always did not get picked to go to the gathering. It would be nice to have new faces around, but it's too sudden.

A thought came to her mind, what do these newcomers want? Especially in Leaf-fall?

She sighed, walking through the tunnel until she set a paw on the entrance. A bunch of dead leaves piled up on the ground, and the air was much colder than inside the camp.

Northpaw lifted her head, taking in the fresh familiar scents that wafted through her nose. She went ahead, walking at a slow pace. Her eyes were still tired, and her limbs felt heavy.

"Now, sure this forest is quite big for a small Clarn, I'll tell ya, brother" An unfamiliar voice spoke. Northpaw heard the felines before she got to smell them, it must be the two new newcomers Tumblewing spoke of. And the voice sounded feminine, with a slight foreign accent. Funny.

"That's why boundaries y'see? They's be all content with it cause they got a place to call home, and the feastings are plentiful 'round here." Okay, that was an entire accent, and very heavy with foreign slang. 

The bushes on the far left of Northpaw rustled roughly, "Though, I still don't rightly understand how they manage to get by in these harsh weather conditions' 'round here. It's always snowin', wouldn't be too much of a surprise if they lost a springlet or two, maybe even an old-timer. " The feminine voice spoke, sure, the two newcomers were completely foreign. It would be hard trying to understand their slang words. 

"Probably because of how most of us got thick fur coats, even the kits." Northpaw thought in silent response. She didn't leave her guard down, just in case.