𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 〖ʷᵃʳʳⁱᵒʳ ᶜᵃᵗˢ〗

XII

Antstar leaped atop the Speaking Stone, his chocolate fur rippling in the soft breeze as he looked over his Clanmates with nothing but pure pride and excitement. "Good morning, MorningClan, and I am excited to announce that it is time for this season-cycle's Festival of Joy!" He called. The excitable calling of cats echoed after him, yowlings and exclamations echoing around the camp.

"There will be multiple competitions occurring today, all run by Petalcloud." Antstar said, turning to the molly who was seated next to him. A flower crown woven from marigold and daisies sat primly on her head, her ears just barely peaking over the layers of vines. Gently, he stepped off the side of the Stone and joined the rest of his Clan, a few cats purring and strolling up to greet him.

"The first competition will be leaf-gathering. Stoatnose, Goosethroat, Cherryear, please step forward." Petalcloud announced, looking to each cat as she called them.

"Are we sure this is a good idea...?" Maplewhisker murmured speculatively, glancing to where Palebriar and Spiderpaw were seated beside him. Palebriar simply shook her head as Spiderpaw shrugged.

The three cats stepped forward. Stoatnose stood a notable distance away from the other two mollies, while Goosethroat looked rather uncomfortable, squished in between the two mollies without much respite. She visibly breathed a sigh of relief when Petalcloud began to explain the rules.

"You will be given pouches," the senior warrior explained as Marigoldpaw distributed them to the three she-cats. "You can gather any type of leaf within them, and you have access to all of the territory to do so. You may want to keep track of the movement of the sun, however." She clarified, her eyes sweeping up towards the sky. "At sunhigh, you must be back in camp. Myself and two assistants will take your pouches from you and count up your leaves. If leaves fall out, they will not be counted if they fall out before you reach the fallen tree. Do you understand?"

The three mollies nodded cordially.

"Good. Ready? Set? Go!"

Immediately, both Stoatnose and Cherryear tore out of the clearing. Interestingly, Goosethroat watched them both with a calm expression, before turning tail and heading off in a completely different direction. As soon as they were gone, Petalcloud turned back to the gathered cats. "I am going to ask every cat who is not participating in the dash to the stream and back to go and sit in the treetops about halfway between the stream and camp. Hornetclaw, could you please show everyone what I mean? The cats who are staying behind will be myself, Hollyfang, Rainwhisker, and Comfreyheart. Once the race has finished, everyone is expected to return to camp."

Hornetclaw nodded and stood, turning to the gathered cats. "Let's go," he shouted above the excited chatter. Soon enough, the remaining cats—being Antstar, Robinclaw, Fleckleaf, Honeystream, Palebriar, Maplewhisker, Marigoldpaw, Larkpaw, and Spiderpaw—followed after the tom. His tail waved high as a flag as he led them through the territory, until they came to be in a grove of trees with thick roots and strong branches.

"Up here," he explained. He leaped into one of the trees with ease, climbing into a branch with a high enough vantage point to make sure that everyone else was finding their own branches without trouble.

As Spiderpaw clambered up next to Palebriar, with Maplewhisker relaxing on a branch just slightly below them, she turned to the molly with confusion. "Uh, how do we know that the cats will run through here for sure?"

"It's pathed," Maplewhisker said. "I had to go to each tree and paste cobwebs on them to mark which ones they had to run in-between. They'll be coming here for sure."

The cats quieted as there was suddenly a loud thundering of paws. Hollyfang tore through the bushes, leaving the branches dancing in the wind. Just a few pawsteps behind him was Comfreyheart. After a few moments of breath, Rainwhisker shot out as well. Despite bringing up the flank, she was still dedicated and determined to catch up.