warriors: in the trees

chapter eight, moon eight

"Dry."

"All of it?"

The brown she-cat shook her head. "About half. The big one is still full I think-"

Floweringpaw listened intently to Marshsound. Applestar had sent her and Firsky to go check on the Silverpools after two moons with no rain. No surprise, they were going dry.

There was no clan meeting called. The beige leader turned from Marshsound and trotted into his den. The brown tabby turned back, shocked by Applestar's sudden dismissal. She locked eyes with Floweringpaw, but not even a second later, she padded off.

Hailpaw, who was lying next to Floweringpaw, in the clearing, cleared his throat. "That's not good," he commented.

Floweringpaw snorted. "No, I thought it was great," she sarcastically snarked.

Hailpaw gave his white paws a lick. "How do you feel about Stella?"

Floweringpaw thought the cat was strange: she had weird sayings and didn't smell like the clans, and something seemed... off. She would not explain where the scratches came from. She would not accept food brought to her. She would not tell Flickerdrop or Willowtuft what happened to her kit.

"I have no idea. Once I find out what happened to her, maybe I'll have an opinion."

Hailpaw nodded, agreeing with the gray she-cat "I'm shocked Applestar hasn't said anything to your brother yet. I mean, he brought a loner into camp."

"Same! Does he know how dangerous that is?"

Floweringpaw paused. She, of course, was in no place to judge some cat for reckless behavior.

Whatever.

Floweringpaw got to her paws and stretched. "I'm gonna head out of here," she informed Hailpaw.

The anxiety in camp was absolutely through the roof with the visitor and new whispers of a drought, and Floweringpaw needed a break. Hazelpaw was out training with Snowfreckle. Thrushpaw and Briarpaw were on patrol. So, she marched up to Adderfur (who said they "didn't have time to go training with the loner in camp") and asked him permission to leave.

The tortoiseshell tom was parked in between the medicine den and the leader's den. He watched over the camp like a hawk. Even Ivylight didn't keep such a sharp eye on everyone at once.

He blinked once he saw Floweringpaw prance up. "What do you want," Adderfur grumpily asked. Not the best way to greet your apprentice.

"Is it okay if I go for a walk?" Floweringpaw asked innocently (definitely not sassy at all).

Adderfur mumbled something Floweringpaw was incapable of hearing.

"What?"

"Yes! Fine! Go!" Adderfur snapped. He turned away and grumpily padded off.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the moss bed.

Finally, Floweringpaw was able to get out of camp. "Watch for more loners!" Hailpaw called. She barely acknowledged the white apprentice.

Breaking out of the camp felt like a breath of fresh air. The birds were singing overhead, songs to StarClan begging for water. The summer had grown intensely hot; Floweringpaw woke up sweating every morning. The drought didn't help.

Floweringpaw decided to go check on Silverpools. She descended the slope and found that they were... barely. Marshsound was right. This water won't last the whole of Greenleaf. Please StarClan, send us rain.