Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 7, Part 1

Pebblefang woke up to a dull light streaming into the warriors' den, and let out a satisfied sigh. Today would be a good day. She had planned a joint training session with Ivywing, her mate. Oakpaw and Blossompaw would get to work together, which they were generally excited about.

With a yawn, she rolled over to look at Ivywing, who was sleeping soundly next to her. He looked peaceful in the morning sunlight, his chest rising and falling at a steady rate. She almost didn't want to wake him up.

With claws sheathed, the grey she-cat reached over and batted at her mate. Ivywing let out a groan, and opened one eye to look at her. Then he gave her the silly grin that she loved, and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Are you ready to get the apprentices up?" he asked, as she got up and joined him. He lazily wound his tail around hers.

"I'm sure they're already awake. Robinclaw woke Bluepaw up to go on the dawn patrol, along with Brackentail," she replied with a purr. The two cats got up, making sure to avoid waking Feathersong and Badgerpath, who had sat vigil last night.

They passed by Mottledthorn on their way to the apprentice den, who was carrying a bundle of wet moss to the nursery for Heathershine. Because her kits were not yet three moons old, the queen had to have warriors bring her water. Mottledthorn didn't mind doing it, as she was getting old enough to where getting up early was a strain. The tortoiseshell she-cat dipped her head towards the pair, then ducked inside the nursery.

Pebblefang silently padded into the apprentices' den, with Ivywing close behind her. She nudged Oakpaw repeatedly. Ivywing did the same to Blossompaw. Eventually, the two apprentices woke up . They looked at each other excitedly, then hopped out of their nests.

"Can we do hunting today? Please? No wait, we're both pretty good at hunting already. Fighting?" Blossompaw begged, as she and Oakpaw trotted after Pebblefang and Ivywing. Ivywing chuckled at his apprentice's excitement, and looked at Pebblefang, eyes glinting.

"What do you say? Battle moves today?" he asked. She nodded with a slight smile on her face, causing Blossompaw to start bouncing up and down.

They headed out the camp exit, where Batwhisker and Ravenfeather sat guarding it. Ravenfeather dipped her head towards the group. Batwhisker scoffed when no one responded, and continued talking to Ravenfeather about his catches the day before.

When they reached the training hollow, Pebblefang had the two apprentices continue to practice the leap-and-hold on each other. They had practiced it a few times before, but were still getting a hang of it. Every so often, Pebblefang and Ivywing stopped them to correct their positioning.

Pebblefang had fun. While the apprentices were fighting, she got to talk with Ivywing. When they had to instruct them, Oakpaw listened with awe and admiration. He was a great apprentice.

They eventually returned to camp, satisfied with the progress of Oakpaw and Blossompaw. The two apprentices ran excitedly over to Bluepaw and Willowpaw, who had already arrived back from their respective patrols.

The clan helped themselves to some of the prey brought back by Sedgeheart, Shadeflight, Cedarblaze, and Willowpaw. Pebblefang shared a squirrel with Ivywing. Overall, it was turning out to be a good day.

Badgerpath came over to ask Ivywing to join the dusk patrol, which he did. Pebblefang watched as he left with the tom and Feathersong, then finished off her portion of the squirrel.