Tinypaw and Crescentpaw

Crescentpaw pushed herself hard on the way there. It had stopped raining around sunhigh, but every single sedge, bush and blade of grass along her path was laden with water. The apprentice was soaked by the time she caught sight of Racoonstripe's hunting patrol.

"It's gonna be rabbit tonight!" The striped tom announced. He was dragging a young rabbit back toward two cats sitting beside a wide river channel. The tom's neck was bent as Crescentpaw crossed the sloping hilltop she was on, nearly slipping and losing her footing on the wet grass.

"You were lucky to find that all the way out here, so close to that Twoleg bridge." Tinypaw meowed, her words hard to catch from afar.

"Yeah, but that's just what a skilled Riverclan tom can do." Raccoonstripe sounded boastful as he gripped the rabbits scruff.

"I caught a fish too!" Cheetah reached out a paw and touched a small scaly carp that laid beside her, one that she had hauled out before Crescentpaw got there.

"I'll catch something any minute now," Tinypaw said determinedly, but Crescentpaw almost couldn't hear it. Their voices were wavering and distorted on the breeze.

She was padding down the steep slope towards the three cats when a gust of wind nearly blew her off her paws.

Starclan, please don't let me fall in front of them! They were bound to turn their heads and notice her at any moment.

Crescentpaw hissed when she eventually did slip in some mud, sliding closer to the dirt-path conjoining with the twoleg bridge beyond. She picked herself up, noticing that the other cats had seen her.

A shoulder-deep brook chattered close to their paws. Water churned across stones farther upstream, throwing a thin spray of droplets into the air.

Embarassed, Crescentpaw padded through the last stretch of sedge-grass before she reached them. Her pelt was tufted with streaked mud when she made it to the hunting patrol. A few pink flowers and grass stalks clung to her flanks.

"Hey Crescentpaw!" Cheetah trilled with welcome.

"You look awful," Racoonstripe laughed as his gaze flitted over her.

Out of breath, she murmured "-needa talk to Tinypaw and Cheetah." Then she lifted her head and stared pointedly at Racoonstripe.

"Alone."

"Wait, I want to hear." The striped tom said immediately.

"Then you're nosy," Tinypaw complained, rolling her eyes. Her sister began picking the debris from her fur.

"But I want to hear as well, if it's interesting." He insisted again.

"If it's about your journey yesterday. If- as long as it's not about boring she-cat stuff like decorating shells and the cutest toms and-"

"We get it," Tinypaw meowed.

"Fine, but please mostly shut up while I say it. I haven't got any time and I've got to go." Crescentpaw smoothed her chest-fur down, exasperated that she was once again pressed for time.

Racoonstripe's eyes opened wide in disbelief. Then the hefty tom opened his jaws in a laugh, his spiky teeth flashing.

"You're leaving on your own again? Do you have a death wi-"

His mew died in his throat.

"Sorry." Crescentpaw continued glaring at him, and the heavyset tom had the decency to keep quiet. Beside her, Cheetah began quivering with anticipation.

The spotted she-cat's ears pricked up and her mouth popped open before she exclaimed "Ooh! Let me go with you this time! Please! I already saw a wolf the other night. I know what they are now."

"Go where? The Moonpool?" Tinypaw's large eyes were sharp and questioning. The she-cat's smaller muzzle and paws made her look dainty.

Crescentpaw opened her jaws, then closed them, nodding. She stared at her spotted friend incredulously, then said;

"You saw one injure Houndspots and you weren't scared?"

"Well, that's not what I meant." Cheetah clarified, blinking her golden eyes. "I meant I wasn't that scared because I was up in a tree before they arrived." The she-cat explained.

"Whenever their scent flowed into camp at sunfall that evening, the clan knew they were coming. Lagoonstripe made me climb a tree. Most of the other warriors did the same, and the only cat who got seriously hurt was Houndspots."

"Him and Quietdew tried to save some prey we had left on the fresh-kill pile. They thought letting the wolves eat it would only encourage them to come back," Tinypaw further explained.

Crescentpaw frowned. She couldn't decide whether it was brave or stupid, but they were getting off track.

"Okay." How did my littermate escape when the wolves came, though? The tabby she-cat's eyes bore into Tinypaw, but she couldn't ask in front of Racoonstripe.

"I have to head for the Moonpool now, before Lagoonstripe tries to take me out on patrol or another training session."

"Wait! You haven't even talked to us." Tinypaw sounded annoyed again. "And I'm guessing you haven't eaten, either? Your ribs are starting to show, and it's about to be Leaf-fall!"

"You can eat my fish!" Cheetah chimed in, clearly eager to share. Crescentpaw was tempted, but she knew she had to leave.

"No, I haven't. But I've still got to go now. I can hunt on the way. Windclan is empty and I might come across a hare out there, if I make it before sundown."

I probably won't be able to catch a hare. I'm really gonna regret that decision of a missed meal later. She pictured the hunger pains that would gnaw at her belly soon.

Whatever. Crescentpaw would ignore it.

A warrior can go hungry for the sake of their clan.

"There could also be wolves swamping their land after sundown. And you won't make it back before then, no matter how fast you run or visit with Starclan." Raccoonstripe warned her, but Crescentpaw was very much aware.

Didn't I already tell you to keep quiet?

"She's gonna go see Starclan," Cheetah meowed in awe.

"I bet Starclan will protect her on the journey."

Crescentpaw had to stop herself from flattening her ears uncertainly. I don't even know if Starclan will speak to a warrior apprentice.

"I'm coming with you to the edge of Riverclan's territory." Tinypaw huffed. "And this time, it actually is about boring she-cat stuff."

The nifty apprentice lifted her tail and sauntered over to her littermate, passing Raccoonstripe with a guarded expression. He wrinkled his nose.

"Bleh, okay. Lagoonstripe won't like you returning to camp on your own, though."

"She won't be alone. I'm coming too!"
Cheetah got up to touch noses with Crescentpaw, purring. The clouds behind her were fleecy and light, finally relieved of the day's worth of rain.

"Tinypaw has something to tell you, but I just missed you." Cheetah butted her in the shoulder with her head, and Crescentpaw playfully swatted at her ear.

"See you at camp, 'Coonstripe!" Cheetah meowed a cheerful farewell, sauntering off beside Tinypaw and Crescentpaw.

The three she-cats walked with their flanks brushing. Crescentpaw was in-between Cheetah and her littermate, so that she could hardly turn around.

"Hey, Cheetah! You forgot your fish!" Racoonstripe yowled after them. They ignored him. They were too busy conversing to hear his words.

"You know we're not letting you go by yourself, right?" Tinypaw looked at her sternly. Crescentpaw's face crinkled with dismay, and Tinypaw immediately displayed attitude.

"No, I'm not hearing none of it!" She spat, her tone sounding very similar to Vixeneye's in their early kit-days.

"I already know what your excuses will be. Save it, Cres. I don't care."

Crescentpaw bit her tongue. I knew this is how she would act. It's why I didn't tell her the last time.

"Oh, we're going too? I didn't know that." Cheetah sounded confused at first, and then enthusiasm crept into her tone.

"We're gonna be traveling across Windclan territory. And to the legendary Moonpool. Wow!" Her eyes seemed to glitter with anticipation.

Crescentpaw wanted to growl with frustration. A deep sense of foreboding settled in the pit of her stomach.

Perhaps it would be better to go with them...

She just hoped it didn't end up getting them killed.

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Fun Fact: Racoonstripe is fat like a stereotypical Riverclan warrior