Warriors - Burnt Skies

Chapter 7

Blizzardpaw narrowed his eyes. Did Dawnpaw really just tell him to shut up? Honestly, he was sort of impressed - the light brown tabby was usually calm and collected. He opened his mouth to reply but Emberpaw cut him off.

"Ok, everyone calm down," Emberpaw said, flicking his tail.

Of course. Emberpaw trying to be the peacekeeper. Couldn't he just be quiet so that Blizzardpaw and Dawnpaw could sort it out themselves?

"Dawnpaw is right - we should investigate the herb smell," Emberpaw continued nervously after nobody responded.

Blizzardpaw narrowed his eyes. Why was Emberpaw suddenly taking the lead? Previously, Nightpaw had been the one trying to diffuse the argument. He glanced at the dark she cat, just becoming even more confused. She was staring into space, eyes wide and tail down. She looked... Terrified?

Blizzardpaw opened his mouth to ask what in the name of StarClan Nightpaw was doing, but was cut off by Emberpaw once again.

"Dawnpaw and Blizzardpaw should go and investigate - me and Nightpaw will scout the area."

The light grey tabby growled under his breath. That was the second time Emberpaw had cut him off just as he was about to speak and it was just to announce that he would be stuck with the she cat he had just had an argument with.

"Can't I do something else?" Blizzardpaw grumbled, pawing the smooth wood of the fence and noting how his paws quickly ached from the narrow frame.

"No - you're coming with me," Dawnpaw muttered, grabbing him by his scruff of his neck onto the ground below.

The fresh grass brought a feeling of bliss to his already sore paws - they ached from a combination of standing on top of that StarClan cursed fence and fighting Dawnpaw earlier.

Blizzardpaw shook out his tabby pelt before trotting after the cinnamon tabby she cat that was already a few tail lengths ahead of him.

"So where exactly are we going?" He asked when he caught up.

"I don't know. Wherever this herb trail leads us, I guess," the apprentice beside him murmured distractedly.

Blizzardpaw growled in annoyance. Why did his fellow apprentice - the cat he was stuck with for probably the rest of the day- have to be so mundane? He had gotten her to argue back once, but there was no sign of that fiery spark inside her again.

The grey tabby pulled himself up yet another fence, glancing around at the top. He sniffed the air, noting there was a slightly tangy scent left behind by something strong - smelling. Blizzardpaw saw in the distance a white bundle of fur pulling itself over the rim of a plank of wood, which he assumed was one of the many, many, many other fences in this place.

"Dock," Dawnpaw muttered from beside him.

"Yeah, I can smell it," Blizzardpaw responded bluntly. "Did you see that?"

He flicked his tail to where the white fur had disappeared.

"It was a cat - probably our herb thief," the light brown tabby beside him replied after a moment. "Let's go."

They caught up the cat fairly quickly - whoever it was was going at an extremely slow pace.

"It feels like we're chasing a snail," Blizzardpaw said as the scent started to get stronger and stronger.

Dawnpaw didn't look impressed at his attempt at humour - in fact, she completely ignored him. The grey tabby tom realised that he had been completely dependant on Emberpaw for his daily dose of jokes and without them, no matter how exasperating they were, he missed the calico apprentice. If they were even apprentices anymore - they were technically loners.