Adderpaw looked at the long scratch on his leg with a detached sense of disappointment, the stinging so distant that it felt as if someone else had run through the brambles with Lemonshine that day.

In retrospect, chasing the rabbit had been a horrible decision, but he had been caught up in the thrill of the chase at the time and hadn't thought to stop when it had ducked into a thicket. If anything, he'd sped up, but the thing had lost him around the same time he scraped his paw and then, embarrassingly enough, Dapplebird had to fish him out.

Lemonshine had been kind about the ordeal, going so far as to claim he would have caught the rabbit had it not ducked into the thicket, but Saltpaw had almost fainted at the sight of blood and Gorsepaw, upon seeing it, had made a rather snide comment about how Adderpaw hiding from the rest of training. The two older apprentices were both unhelpful in their own, special way, although they were also two of the only friends he had. In such a small community, one couldn't be choosy.

Adderpaw stepped out into the dusk air, watching cats assemble in the camp. The purring warriors all looked exhausted from the day's work, which was understandable given the heat of greenleaf. Several of the younger warriors (relatively speaking) bounded past him as he exited.

"Adderpaw," Laurelbranch said, turning, "Would you like to come to the river with us? We're going to cool down and share tongues near the banks, get a drink or two."

"Did you talk with Owlstar about it?" he asked, cautiously.

Laurelbranch purred. "Of course we did, mousebrain."

"Well," Adderpaw said, glancing at his paw, "I'm afraid I've made other engagements. I'll have to catch up with you some other night."

As they left, he regretted turning them down, although he knew running around the fields with his paw torn open would only lead to more trouble down the line. Still, it was rare that warriors such as themselves asked apprentices to do anything, and the chance might not come up again. He stepped towards the exit, wondering if he could catch up, when a blur of copper barreled past him with a battle screech that could chill the hearts of their starry ancestors.

Adderpaw just managed to jump out of the way, fur on end, and saw his brother lying on the ground where he was just standing, a limp butterfly in his mouth.

"Hello, Geckopaw." he said to the tom, who was batting at his catch, satisfied.

Geckopaw looked like a smaller copy of his similarly named father, Ginkgotail, though there was a strong emphasis on the 'small'. Both of them shared the stout frame and puffed up tail, but since Geckopaw had never grown much larger than he was at six moons, his tail looked ridiculous, as if he was lugging around a pinecone almost his size around at all times.

"Caught thith. Gonna puddit in the apprentith den." Geckopaw informed him. "This itha big one. Caught an ethen better one earlier."

"Earlier? Shouldn't you have been training with Wheatfrost?"
"Wheatfrosth doen't want anythin to do with me." Geckopaw clenched the butterfly tighter. "He got angry so I ran offth. He didn' come after me or tell Owlstar or anythin."

Adderpaw's ears fell back, thinking of his own relationship with Lemonshine, who would have chased him clear across the territory if he get lost and certainly had never been angry at him. He didn't want to upset Geckopaw, though, so he meowed, "I'm sure he likes you. Wheatfrost is just a bit ornery, that's all."

"No." Geckopaw shook his head vigorously, and the butterfly's wings flapped helplessly in his grip, as if it was still alive. "He doen't like me at all." The tom, still upset, bounded off towards the apprentice den, likely to put his prize away.

No one has been cleaning the apprentice den, Adderpaw thought as his brother disappeared into the lopsided entrance. If someone doesn't check up on it soon, one of these days I'm going to wake up with a thorn-laden vine in my face. Whose job is that anyways?

Adderpaw made a mental note to speak with Owlstar about it later and turned back towards the heart of camp. He walked towards the medicine den, which was located in the remains of a fallen tree that also bordered the elder's den. Getting over the massive log was a challenge for apprentices and was considered a rite of passage for kits, but the warriors leapt it like it wasn't even there. Adderpaw strode around to the entrance and meowed, "Falconpaw!"

"Yeah!" yowled Falconpaw back from the depths.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"Come in here yourself, you big, fluffy rabbit-brain."

Adderpaw stepped in, scenting the refreshing tang of herbs mixed with the familiar scent of his sister. She turned in the dim light, her eyes gold and sharp like those of a hawk's.

"It's been a while," Adderpaw purred. "Sorry, I ran into a bramble thicket today. Do you think you could check it out?"
"That's my job." Falconpaw said, squinting and sniffing his paw before picking up some herbs from further back in the log, close to where her nest was. She squeezed a foul-smelling juice into Adderpaw's paw, which stung his appendage as much as his nose. "Now just let me bind it."

"On the bright side, at least I get to talk to you, right?" Adderpaw continued.

"It's only been a moon and you're already acting like we've been separated for seasons." Falconpaw said, humorlessly.

"Has it really? Just that?" Adderpaw said, feigning shock, though he'd been counting every day since their ceremony.

"You're ridiculous." scoffed Falconpaw, buffeting his face with a paw before going back to work on binding his foreleg. "For the sake of the stars, Adderpaw, I eat with you and Gorsepaw most mornings- and that's no easy feat. Gorsepaw is a piece of work, let me tell you..."

"I know, but it's not the same. Training is great, but still, when was the last time Geckopaw, you, and I were within pawlengths of each other outside of when they call patrols?"

"Does it matter? I've got a job to do, Adderpaw. So do you." She pulled the binding taut, so much so that Adderpaw couldn't feel his leg anymore. Her lip curled. She looked like a dog in the dim lighting, her ears too sharp, teeth too bright, and presence too big for a medicine cat apprentice. "Now get out of here and let me work. Magnoliaheart will be back soon and this den is a mess."

He couldn't remember for the life of him why his sister had chosen such a path. Her claws were still sharp and her muscles taut, moreso than many of the other apprentices in training to become warriors.

Adderpaw hesitated before going. He had more to discuss with her, but another glare told him now was not the time. He wondered how hard she was working, and past that, if she was really happy with that she was doing.

Adderpaw wandered the camp, searching for Gorsepaw and Saltpaw, and his ears perked at the mention of his name in the distance. "Adderpaw!" cried a familiar voice. He backtracked to a small cluster of she-cats, including his mentor, who had spoken, along with Howlclaw and Dapplebird.

"Have I told you how well Adderpaw's hunting skills are coming along?" Lemonshine purred, although Adderpaw felt more embarrassed than praised.

"You've told all of us," Dapplebird replied, "many times over."

"He's no prodigy, I assure you. She hasn't told you this is the same apprentice who fell into a thicket today chasing a rabbit, has she?" Howlclaw's cold gaze roamed over his bandaged front paw. "At least you got that fixed."

"Oh, stop it." Lemonshine mewed. "Howlclaw's just upset because her apprentice didn't catch half the prey mine did today."

"You two and your apprentices. It's not a competition." Dapplebird said, looking Adderpaw straight in the eye. "They're just excited. Before you kits, we hadn't had any apprentices for moons. Most of the potential queens were too old or too young."

"We're going to go on Bend duty soon. I can't believe it'll be his first time- he's come so far already..." continued Lemonshine.

"That's exciting," Dapplebird mewed. "I've had quite the experience myself, lately."

Howlclaw nodded, but she was watching Adderpaw instead of the other cats with her usual coldness. "Adderpaw, why don't you run along? I'm afraid us old she-cats have little to say you'd find interesting."

Adderpaw, who had no desire to listen to them gossip about something boring and mundane as Bend duty anyways, dipped his head and walked away. The dusk light was growing subdued over the camp now, the blue hues of the sky changing to periwinkle and then a deep violet, while the area close to the sun was a luminous red as the great orb set below the distant hills on the other side of the river, casting long shadows over the land.

Even more beautiful was the sight of the clan itself, the many colors of the assembled cats fading as the light slunk from their pelts. The air was abuzz with soft purrs and quiet conversations, although it appeared all the smaller cats were gathered at the other end of the fallen tree, where the two kits sat with their queen. Gorsepaw was just a ways off, stretched out across the log. He gestured to Adderpaw, who jumped up and made himself comfortable.

"Well?" Gorsepaw asked. "Where have you been?"

"Nowhere interesting," replied Adderpaw. He dipped close to Gorsepaw's ear and whispered, "Falconpaw's in a mood again. Say, have you seen Saltpaw?"
Gorsepaw shook his head. "Probably asleep early. I don't care."

Adderpaw shot him a look.

"Should I? She's not my problem." Gorsepaw yawned. "See, if you didn't act like Falconpaw's every action was your issue, you two wouldn't get into fights all the time."

"She is an issue. This is the same cat who put poppy seeds in half the freshkill."

"They never did trace that to her, did they?" Gorsepaw's face lit up with amusement. He hadn't been a victim of the poppy seed dosage, but he had enjoyed having the day off while his mentor took an unexpected nap.

Adderpaw, who had been a victim and had checked his prey for strange marks or incisions ever since, found it considerably less funny. "Owlstar knows. She has to- and one of these days, when one of Falconpaw's pranks goes too far, she's going to pounce."

"So are you trying to reform her or do you just want to be there to say 'I told so'?"

"The former, ideally, but I'll take either."
"Terrible," tsked Gorsepaw. The sun was well past set now and the moon was up, brilliant as it shone over the whole of their territory. Northwind was taking her kits back to the nursery on her back and most of the cats still in the outside portion of camps were warriors, the ones who had something to gossip about. Even Gorsepaw looked bored. "Well? You're not going to dawdle around all night, are you, Adderpaw?"

"I have to talk to Owlstar about the den," Adderpaw mewed. From up here on the log, he could see the apprentice den in the distance,

"Oh, you can't do that. Then we'd have to actually fix the den."

"What, so you'd rather have to deal with the leaking and the branches that keep coming undone?"

"I think it gives it personality. Coincidentally, I also think that you're overthinking this- and the Falconpaw ordeal. You know what your problem is? You're worried about everything. Doesn't even have to be a problem. You just like worrying."

"Do not." Adderpaw said, considering how much easier his life would be if he didn't care about anything, like Gorsepaw. Then, he considered how obnoxious it made Gorsepaw sometimes and suddenly the option was far less appealing.

Noticing his stress, Gorsepaw added, "Relax, I'm not attacking you. Now let's get some sleep."

With that, the two apprentices entered the den, where Saltpaw and Geckopaw were already sleeping. The 'personality' of the den was showing that night, with a vine hanging down just over Adderpaw's head. His paws twitched with the urge to fix it but he knew that one wrong move would just create more work for him and resolved to let the fragile framework stay how it was, if only because he could fix it tomorrow.

Gorsepaw's breath quieted as he fell asleep, leaving Adderpaw alone in the dark, staring up through the hole in the cieling no one had bothered to fix, just large enough for a beam of starlight to shine through. He wasn't sure how long he was up, or when sleep took him, but that night he felt colder than usual, even with Gorsepaw just mouselengths away.

In the following days, Adderpaw began to have nightmares about the thicket full of brambles dragging him into the earth. He began to fear the way it reflected next to no sunlight and how the holes and rows of upturned thorns looked almost like the open mouths of phantom cats. Even during the daytime, they looked ready to swallow him alive.