Honeypaw hesitated.

Spidernose was her mentor, and she knew that her mentor was brave and smart and capable, but Stonefall had said to stay here...

”Are you sure, Spidernose? What if...” the young tortoiseshell mewed timidly, her ears twitching a little. She didn't want to come across as disrespectful, but she was also absolutely terrified that something would happen. She stepped forward, feeling entirely too small next to Moosepaw, and went to push herself up against Spidernose once more. But then Spidernose made it clear she was leaving, turning to head to the entrance of the Warrior's Den so Honeypaw fell back to Moosepaw, sitting poised, her tail lashing behind her agitatedly.

”We can't just sit here,” she finally meowed to the older apprentice, ears flattening on her head in agitation. ”We should go out there. We should fight the rogues. We should do something. Don't you think???”

By the light of the setting sun, Spidernose reassured Honeypaw, and tried to instruct her on how to fight. It was basic stuff, rudimentary. It was also great advice, and Moosepaw admired the ease with which Spidernose spelled out basic combat to the new apprentice. The comfort each of the clanmates offered each other warmed Moosepaw more than the modest body heat they shared. It was still hard for the young tom to completely relax, but he gave it his best shot. A small deep purr rumbled through his chest, barely audible in the gentle light.

In the distance Moosepaw heard a small amount of commotion, as footsteps padded towards the warrior's den. His body tensed despite his relaxed position, but he calmed down when he heard Sunfur's voice. Spidernose spoke with Sunfur, and Moosepaw carefully tookin the conversation. As she left the warriors den, his eyes moved to Honeypaw. She seemed unsure of their position, which was not surprising. She spoke up suddenly, expressing her doubts.

"Although it feels wrong, we should be patient. None of our clanmates will be quiet if commotion erupts, and we have to trust their judgement and fighting prowess." Moosepaw said resolutely. Despite the confidence and matter-of-factness in his voice, he shifted into a position he would be more prepared to rise from, muscles tensing and untensing under his fur. "We don't just follow our superior's orders because we of the warrior code, nor because we think we know best. in this case, we follow Spidernose's orders because we trust our clan. We understand what the potential threat is, and we understand our clanmate's capabilities. I don't think a couple of mangy rogues could take down all our clanmates without a sound. Doesn't that sound a bit ridiculous?"

He shakes his head. "No, I was told about them by one of Starclan. I can't remember his name. All he said was that there were going to be others, soon. I only got a glimpse of them, so I didn't know what it meant." He sighs. "I don't know how to talk to you about any of this. My life is filled with signs, so many that I have a hard time telling future from present. Like how I knew that you were going to get a thorn in your paw half a moon ago, or how Honeypaw is trying to decide whether or not to hide in the apprentice den, or attack the rogues." He speaks so matter of fact, like he prepared this conversation in advance. He sighs, then looks around, confused. "Strange....I could have sworn I smelled someone...."

Spidernose, too, passed a lingering gaze over her new apprentice and her denmate, giving both apprentices a faint, reassuring smile before she slid out of the warrior’s den after Sunfur and slunk across the camp. Maplestream seemed okay, at least, so that was good, she hadn’t been hurt. By these racoons, or whatever else was lurking about in their territory. Another possibility, Spidernose considered, was that these strangers had been attacked by something after all, and it just hadn’t been racoons. But that of course left a far more concerning possibility. They couldn’t smell racoons, and little else other than their own scent markers, or the strangers’ scents, nearby the camp. So what was it that could have attacked them?

Well, one thing was for sure, at least if they went out hunting, then she, Sunfur and Stormheart could take a look at it. “Sorry you have to rush out with us again so quickly, Stormheart.” the she-cat mewed a sincere apology to the other tom as she fell in next to him to wait whilst Sunfur tried to speak to the Clan deputy and tell Stonefall where they were going. “You must be tired...but at least Maplestream is back okay, I guess? That’s a huge relief. Did you guys see anything else, while you were out looking for her?” Spidernose asked, wanting to be as prepared as possible for whatever they might see when they went out into WillowClan territory again.

Stonefall sighed as Maplestream mewed that she hadn’t sensed the raccoons when she was out, instead focusing on other things, but before he could inquire further Maplestream was asking to take a nap and Stonefall felt guilt rising up through him. She looked absolutely exhausted and as Deputy, he should have noticed that sooner.

”Of course, Maplestream. Rest easy.”

He stood and stretched a little, scanning the camp and noticing Sunfur’s tail waving erratically. The long-legged Deputy trotted over, light green eyes focused on every moment in the camp, every tail twitch, noticing Duskwing sitting in front of the Nursery as he’d asked. He dipped his head in greeting to Sunfur, Stormheart and Spidernose, voice quiet as he asked, ”Sunfur, what’s going on?” Stormheart looked as exhausted as Maplestream had and Stonefall was inclined to send him to rest, but the other tom looked as determined as Sunfur did, and Spidernose looked the same.




Honeypaw felt a little shame cloud her mind as Moosepaw spoke of trust and duty, shuffling her paws a little.

”You’re right, Moosepaw,” she mewed softly. ”I just so badly want to help. Don’t you? Sitting here doing nothing, it just feels...wrong,” she finished with a quit huff, sitting upright and kneading the ground a little with her claws. Then she stood, her slim body silent as she trotted forward closer to the entrance of the Warrior’s den and looked out over the camp.

Her bright eyes took it all in. Duskwing guarding the Nursery, Stonefall approaching three of the Clan’s Warriors, the lingering air of doubt and anxiety that hung over everyone. Every part of her yearned to be moving, to be helping, to do something.

But she was too young. Too small. Useless.

Anger filled her at the thought of being useless and she turned back to Moosepaw, a determined glint in her eye, her small frame poised and taut, almost regal even though she was so small.

”I can’t just sit here, I have to do something. Are you going to help me or not?”

The elder apprentice nodded in affirmation to Sunfur, pride for his clan shining in his eyes. He sat resolutely watching from the entrance of the camp with a rigid demeanor. Then Honeypaw–dear, sweet bloodthirsty Honeypaw. Honeypaw happened. At first he accepted his reasoning, clarifying her intention and her inner turmoil. Moosepaw could relate to that, the feeling of urgency, the desire to want to just do something. That emotion at the pit of your stomach that made it impossible to rest on your haunches. Moosepaw knew he couldn't just insist or repeat himself. Instead he had to bend a bit in his conviction. Maybe she'd listen to a cat that wasn't the same rank as she was, new apprentice though she might be.

"If you'd like, we can talk with Stonefall. I think we should stand guard, but we can ask our steadfast deputy what he thinks is the best move. Would that satisfy your curiosity?" Moosepaw's voice was an attempt at steady, but he was internally conflicted. He wondered internally at the unlikeliness of their situation. These rogues are conveniently timed. Both our leader and our medicine cat are away, and now they appear claiming nonsense about raccoons at our heels and rats in our nest. Could this even be a coincidence? Moosepaw let out a sigh. He was already tired, wired awake at this point only by the adrenaline coursing through his vein. Still, he had a responsibility to watch over Honeypaw. If a fight broke out she was the most vulnerable by far, and so he made a promise to himself to protect her.

He nods, and takes off after her. "I hope no one goes into my den while I'm gone. Some of the herbs I keep are deadly if you don't know how to use them. And they are deadly. Like Foxglove. It helps with heart issues, but it can also can kill you by just stopping your heart. If you don't know the exact amount of seeds to eat, normally only one or two, you could kill yourself with them." He shudders, but keeps running. "I have to be careful when I gather plants and herbs. I don't want to accidentally gather water hemlock or death berries. They're fatal if eaten." He keeps running, and pants, trying to catch his breath. "We're. Almost to our border. Only a little more to get back to camp." He stops for a moment to gulp down some air, then takes off again, heading as fast as he can back to his den. He bursts into the camp, fur on end, tail fluffed out like a bush, and dives into his den. He carefully goes over his herbs, making sure that they're all still there. He lets out a breath, seeing that all of them are still where they should be. He then races out, and stops outside the warriors den. "Good. All three are here." He sits down, tail whipping around, betraying his stress and anxiety. "Are any of you hurt? Did anyone eat any of my herbs?"

The she-cat’s ears flicked back slightly as she listened to Stormheart recount what their search patrol had discovered in the territory. Well, perhaps that was when their new guests had encountered these raccoons. Though...if they’d been attacked, surely Sunfur and Stormheart would have smelt the raccoons there, too? Oh, she hoped Fernstar would be back soon, their leader could decide what to do.

Spidernose couldn’t be too mad at the other tom for asking, even if she felt like a mockingbird, repeating the same few sentences over and over. It wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t there when she explained this to Sunfur, though. So, Spidernose filled the other tom in for what she hoped might be the last time. “While you and Sunfur were gone, this group of rogues...maybe loners, I don’t know, came into camp, all scratched up. Said they’d been in a fight with raccoons or something.” she explained, lashing her tail as if to confirm that Spidernose wasn’t sure how true their story was, either, but nonetheless they didn’t have solid evidence to back it up otherwise. They’d just have to wait and see, and hope StarClan would keep WillowClan safe from any nefarious intentions. “Stonefall didn’t want to turn them away because of the warrior code, but we didn’t want to leave them unsupervised, either. Just in case they are rogues that are trying something suspicious, you know? So he assigned them to sleep in the nursery, since there’s no one in the Clan using it right now, and Duskwing’s sitting guard.”

It made sense, of course, better to keep the strangers separated from their Clanmates until they could be sure they were trustworthy. It’d be far worse to let them mingle with everyone and sleep in the warrior’s den, only to find one or more of their own cats had been injured because the strangers had hurt them in the night. As Stonefall was briefed on Sunfur’s idea, the she-cat remained quiet, though she did look across at the deputy and blink at him gently, almost as if she wanted to give him some form of reassurance and say. It’s okay, we’ll be fine...we’ve got this.

Stonefall glanced over at the empty fresh-kill pile and felt guilt gnawing at him for not thinking of sending out a patrol himself. Too much had been happening with the loners showing up, coupled with his anxiety about making sure everyone was safe while Fernstar was gone...he hadn’t even thought to send out a hunting patrol. Spidernose's kind eyes blinked softly at him and he tried to focus on that, on her comforting scent, on everything about her...not on the yawning pit of guilt that threatened to swallow all of his thoughts.

His tail lashed in a little bit of irritation at himself, ears flicking back for a moment before Fernstar called for a Clan Meeting and he turned his head, gratitude washing over him at her presence on the Highstump.

”Come,” he meowed quietly, trying to mask his shame and disappointment at himself. ”Fernstar is calling us.” He turned to trot over towards the Highstump, lingering a bit near Spidernose, sharp light blue-green eyes glancing at her before turning to face up at Fernstar, hoping that she wasn’t too disappointed in him.

Being Deputy was so much more pressure than he’d thought.

Meanwhile, Honeypaw had been about to retort at Moosepaw about how asking Stonefall didn’t make sense because the Deputy was clearly busy, but then she heard Fernstar’s clear voice and her heart soared. She didn’t even say anything, just darted out of the Warrior’s den, her tiny body bounding forward before skittering to a stop a little bit away from Stonefall, gazing up at her foster mother and leader with affection and pride shining in her eyes.

Then she glanced back and meowed, probably too loudly, ”Moosepaw, come on! Clan Meeting! with no thought for the fact that all of the other cats in the Clan could probably hear the over-eager young apprentice.

It was at that moment, of course, that their leader and medicine cat darted back into camp, and Spidernose’s attention was immediately drawn to the older she-cat as she trotted past them. The warrior had scarcely mewed a greeting of “Welcome back, Fernstar…!” before Fernstar was scaling the Highstump and calling a Clan meeting. When Stonefall beckoned them over, Spidernose mumbled a quick, polite excuse to Sunfur and Stormheart. Well, I guess our hunting patrol will have to wait. This could be important, we should hear it too. she concluded.

Noticing the stone-grey tom hesitating and glancing in her direction, her expression softened sympathetically and she wove delicately through the small crowd of cats as they gathered to come up beside the deputy and settle herself down there, close enough for their flanks to just about brush against one another, and after a moment of thought, she carefully and gently draped her tail over his. That was subtle enough that Stonefall could pull away from the contact if he wasn’t comfortable with it, but still there if he wanted it.

She couldn’t imagine how he must be feeling right now, with everything that had happened during the night, and she couldn’t say for sure what would happen now that Fernstar was back to assess their situation, but what Spidernose could do was offer him comfort in that moment, in the only way she knew how.

Stonefall had lost himself in thought as he waited for Fernstar to speak, his claws reflexively digging into the cold earth. But then he scented something familiar approaching, turned his head to see Spidernose delicately sitting next to him, her flank brushing against his, and for a moment he forgot about all of his problems. There was only Spidernose’s warm body against him, her tail draped over his tail and he instinctively let out a quiet purr.

He twined his tail a little more tightly around hers, an acknowledgment of the current that had been quietly running between them for what felt like moons at this point. But being Deputy had been a difficult challenge, something he hadn’ tbeen prepared for and didn’t want to fail, so he hadn’t let himself dream. And yet...here she was, as though she knew anxiety and self doubt were coursing through him.

Ancestors above, she really is perfect…

He turned his head towards her ever so slightly, not wanting to draw too much attention away from Fernstar and what she was going to say. He kept his low voice quiet, nothing more than a quiet murmur as he spoke.

”Thank you. And I want you to know that no matter what happens...I will always have your back,” and gave her the softest nudge with his nose to her neck, keeping his tail wrapped with hers as he turned back to watch Fernstar and wait for her to speak, sitting as tall as he could, bolstered by Spidernose’s strength at his side.