𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗥𝗦ᶠᵃⁿᶠⁱᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿ 一 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔷𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔱 [𝟑]

❆☾𑁍𓆱ᥴhᥲρtᥱr 𝟺𝟶𓆱𑁍☽❆

𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚣𝚎

There was a thick fog over the forest that morning. It hid the burning orange light of the rising sun behind a grey wall and gave the air an unpleasant dampness.

With half-closed eyes, Amberhaze lay in her nest, head resting on the edge, while all around her her denmates prepared for the dawn patrols. She, on the other paw, still felt too weak to get up. Last night had been restless, full of dark dream fragments.

I'm sure I'll sleep better again when I know where Larkwing is. Amberhaze rolled to the other side. Her little sister's hollow was bare, her scent long gone.

"Are you coming, Amberhaze?" Birchpelt meowed to her. "We've both been assigned to patrol the MoonClan border."

With a long yawn, Amberhaze tore herself away from the empty nest and stood up — a little too hastily, though, as she staggered slightly.

There was a worried glow in Birchpelt's green eyes. "Are you alright?"

Still half asleep, Amberhaze nodded. "Slept badly, that's all," she croaked.

Heat shot into her cheeks. What kind of voice is that? Of course something embarrassing like that only happens to me!

At least Birchpelt was nice enough not to flinch a whisker. "I'll wait for you outside, yeah?"

As soon as he was gone, Amberhaze dropped onto her rump. Sometimes she really could be the biggest mouse-brain. Since the last Gathering, she had experienced a change she had never thought possible. Birchpelt talked to her. He had never done that before. Amberhaze almost even assumed he didn't know of her existence, though of course that was an exaggeration.

Secretly she was happy about that, but it also overwhelmed her. Birchpelt took time for her and she wasted it right away, never being able to meow more than two words at a time without her tongue seeming to tie itself in knots.

Why he hadn't left her alone long ago was a mystery to her. Or why he, who came from such an influential family, had ever gotten involved with a low-ranking she-cat like her in the first place.

"Last night you literally destroyed your nest," Elderpelt's voice rang out. "If you continue to have trouble sleeping, you should ask Fruittail for poppy seeds."

Amberhaze turned her head towards her. The warrior with the pretty, grey-cream tabby and white fur stood next to her hollow and licked her chest fur. She, on the other paw, looked as fit as if she could circle the entire territory. No wonder, since she was usually one of the first to go to sleep at night.