"If the opportunity arises, and cats are needed to travel to RiverClan, I'll insist that you be apart of that. You could see them for yourself if it made you feel better. Okay?"
An intense feeling of warmth and affection for her mentor spread through Snowpaw's fur, and she purred loudly.
"Thank you, Tabbyfur," she meowed gratefully, bowing her head ever so slightly. Her mentor's sympathies had eased the tension in Snowpaw's chest, and for the first time since the morning, she felt the tensity in her muscles loosen. Little, imaginative scenarios flashed behind her eyes, and she wondered exactly when this momentous occasion would arise. With Tabbyfur's promise, Snowpaw paws, which had itched to bound into the Riverclan camp and check on her father and siblings, now felt relaxed and at ease. Tabbyfur's suggestions had pricked another curiosity in Snowpaw's mind, one she felt more confident voicing to her mentor.
"Tabbyfur, do you know why I've never been to a Clan meeting? I'm ten moons old...certainly old enough to have gone already, I think...Do you think you could maybe, err, mention it to Hawkstar?"
Sandfire and Bravefeather
The apprentices had bound far ahead of their languid mentors, who walked behind slowly, savoring the tastes and scents of the forest around them.
Bravefeather wondered apprehensively if it would be safe to bring up Mallownose in the quiet seclusion of the forest. Surely, no other cats besides the apprentices walked around them, and if anyone else did, Bravefeather was sure he would have heard them.
"Sandfire," he meowed, averting his eyes so as not to rile her up too quickly, "What is it with you and Mallownose?"
Just as he had predicted, Sandfire's fur spiked into thin, angry bristles, and she bared her teeth ever so slightly. Her fur seemed to burn anger, and Bravefeather edged away from her, now desperate to catch up with the apprentices. But his sister's tongue was fast, and before he had taken a few steps ahead of her, she was spitting all sorts of angry profanities at him. Bravefeather had learned there were certain times when toms should not breech into the lives of she-cats, but he thought, Sandfire, who was his sister, would have been more open to discussing whatever bothered her.
Then, all at once, she beautiful she-cat seemed to dull in vigor and her eyes fell to the brown dirt between her paws. For a few moments, they walked in tense, but quiet silence, and then,
"I think I like him, Bravefeather." What Bravefeather had hoped he had simply been imagining had been truth, then. Sandfire had feelings for Mallownose, whatever those feelings were.
"You can't," he whispered quietly.
"I know," she snapped, scowling. Her tail lashed furiously.
Their conversation dulled, with Bravefeather being at a loss for words. They had come upon their flitting apprentices at the Great Sycamore, whose fur seemed to be bristling with eagerness to get hunting.
Bravefeather purred at the sight of both of them, young strong cats who would grow into fine, powerful warriors. Or so he hoped.
"Sorry for taking so long, Shadowpaw, Stonepaw," Bravefeather meowed, speaking for his sister, who was still brimming with anger.
"Shadowpaw, why don't you see if you can find anything among the roots of the Sycamore." Bravefeather would never admit it to the apprentice, but he feared sending him anywhere near Snakerocks, where dogs, snakes, and the occasional fox lured. Nor was he exactly pleased with the idea of sending Stonepaw closer to the Snakerocks, but he trusted that Stonepaw seemed less likely to test the limits of a resting adder.
Sandfire seemed to think the same thing, and, trying to sound less angry, she whipped her tail in the direction of the Snakerocks.
"Why don't you see if you can find any prey by the Snakerocks, Stonepaw. I'll accompany you. Just be on the look out for adders and dogs," she meowed in warning.