Warriors: Silent

34

      Frostcloud eyed the heavy clouds on the horizon. Would it rain? The clouds were so far away but... a storm away from PineClan, away from her den, away from Mosspool... Frostcloud shuddered.

  She cast a glance to Buckheart, who watched Monster Path ahead. "Are we getting close?" Frostcloud asked Smudge.

  "We'll be there after dusk." Smudge nodded.

  "Will I be behind in my training?" Duskpaw asked.

  Buckheart pricked his ears, "Of course not, what makes you say so?"

  "Well, Doepaw must be going on patrols and practicing battle moves every day." Duskpaw went on quietly.

  "We've been hunting." Buckheart said with some optimism.

  "Yes but not a lot."

  Buckheart stopped, giving Duskpaw a lick on his forehead, "All this walking is making you strong, you're building muscle in your legs, Duskpaw. You're protecting a deaf cat, guarding her. You've learned new hunting techniques. Not going on a few dull border patrols won't make you fall behind." He purred.

  Duskpaw nodded slowly, "I suppose."

  Buckheart kept his eyes on his apprentice for another heartbeat, "Next time we stop for the night I'll show you some battle moves, if you'd like."

  Duskpaw's yellow eyes lit, "Thank you, Buckheart."

  Whitefur bounded ahead. "Wait!" Frostcloud cried, running after the kittypet. She didn't look frightened- but why was she running away from the cats?

  Whitefur jumped, landing on a small object Frostcloud couldn't see. She pulled to a stop next to Whitefur, who had rolled onto her her side with what looked like a bearwalker scrap in her jaws. She purred loudly and Frostcloud looked closer at the object; it was spotty-blue with brown feathers, and it almost mimicked the shape of a small fish.

  "What is it?" Buckheart asked as he and the others caught up to the two she-cats.

  "She- she's playing with bearwalker scraps." Frostcloud said, fumbling for words.

  "That?" Smudge asked with a humored tone, "That's a toy."

  Frostcloud cast an uncertain glance to Buckheart, who returned the same look. "The only toys I've seen are made of moss." She said slowly.

  "These are toys that humans give to cats." Smudge explained.

  Whitefur continued her mighty purr- one which welled deep within her chest as she rolled back to her paws. With her tail high, she followed after the patrol while they continued their way to Red Barn.

  As odd as the scrap- the toy- whatever it was is, Frostcloud couldn't deny it was nice to see the anxious, vulnerable, mess that Whitefur was be happy. Genuinely happy.

  "Is that it?" Duskpaw asked. Ahead, a bearwalker den just peeked over the horizon.

  "Yes," Smudge said, "that's the barn."

  "She's so happy." Frostcloud said with an amused twitch in her whiskers. Whitefur's tail was raised high into the air, and she strutted with a confidence she didn't previously have.

  "We must be taking her to the right barn." Buckheart said with relief in his voice.

  The cats walked in silence for some time. Frostcloud's paws began to prick in anticipation. In only days, she'll be walking into PineClan's camp, tackling Mosspool and burrowing her muzzle into Riverpelt's shoulder, then laying with Littlefern in a pool on sunlight. "I can't wait to be back in the forest." She sighed to herself.