Caɾղaցe Ɱօօղ ~𝙰 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌

26🌙

"I'm so tired paws could drop off." Tinypaw sighed as they padded side-by-side into the apprentices den. Cheetah was just in front of them. "Me too," she said. Her paws and tail dragged as well.

Rowanpaw was in the corner with her head lowered. She twitched her ears as they all walked in.

"This is what the warriors have been dealing with. Imagine getting a few winks of sleep then waking up to the sound of a wolf attack on the camp. It's back to more of that, Crescentpaw."

Crescentpaw sounded weary as she agreed with her sister. "Yeah, I pray to Starclan they don't attack us anymore. That would be a miracle wouldn't it?" She mewed with feeble hope.

"Don't say that," The brown chestnut she-cat warned. "It could very well happen tonight. Or right before dawn." Crescentpaw shuffled her paws, unsettled because her littermate was right.

This makes me feel worse about my plan.

"Let's sleep over there!" Tinypaw cut in before Cheetah could flop down. Rowanpaw gave them a condemning glance, as if they were weird.

"Thank Starclan. The chattering kittypet will be farther away from my nest now." She complained with her paws crossed, but all three she-cats ignored her.

They settled in a nest beside the back wall. Cypress shrub needles brushed against their stretched out tails. Crescentpaw tugged a few twigs out of her belly-fur with her teeth, flinging them far away from the nest.

"Hey. We need to talk about something when you get the chance." Tinypaw lowered her meows to an urgent whisper. It was clear she was trying to supress her anxiety, as she turned with her backside facing toward Rowanpaw.

"Don't say anything else about it. But it was very hard to hide my... problem today." Her voice was quieter than the chirping crickets outside the den. She folded her forepaws under her chest against the spare nest of moss. "Sooner or later we're going to need a better solution."

Crescentpaw kept an eye on their sister, benevolent as she gazed between the other apprentices.

The tabby-and-white she-cat thought she could see a half-open yellow slitted eye, but Rowanpaw hadn't moved. If she'd heard anything she was pretending not to. With her tail curled around her paws, Rowanpaw's head was lain flat against the nest-bottom. Still lying down, then. We came in a little bit loud while she was trying to sleep...

"Say no more." The apprentice's silky meow was hushed.

The bracken beneath each nest was dusty and crumbled. It crunched under Crescentpaw's weight as she laid down. The dark den-space adjacent to them had room to spare. But there was no need for more nests; bare patches of weeded-out earth lay dark and smooth in the gloom.

There was once a time when Riverclan had lots of apprentices, and queens and kits and elders. But those days were gone.

Until someone brings them back.

She felt a stir of resilience in her gut. Cheetah talked a bit more, but she was inclined enough to notice that the apprentices needed their sleep.

And Crescentpaw especially. Because she had something very special planned for tomorrow's sunrise.

By the will of Starclan, please Riverclan ancestors. Help me wake up early enough, she prayed before she fell asleep.

🐈‍⬛

Another cat's paws were resting on her flank when Crescentpaw awoke. She drowzily pushed them off without thinking, never realizing it was Cheetah.

Her first reaction was to close her eyes and go back to sleep. But then she flung them wide open, remembering the plan. It's time to go.