Pearpaw and Ivyshade walked back to camp when twilight blanketed the territory. Ivyshade had forgotten her serious attitude when Pearpaw dived under her from the water, and they splashed each other in the stream.

In the morning, it wasn't Orcamask who woke Pearpaw up, but her father, Driftreed. "Pearpaw," he hissed. "Wake up Mangopaw and Plumpaw, please."

When Pearpaw looked around, he let out a soft trill. "I want to take you to the Fishing Cove. It's about time for you and your littermates to try catching some prey there."

Pearpaw nodded and prodded Plumpaw's exposed belly, causing him to wake up and scrabble at the air. "Wh- what--"

"Plumpaw! Dad's taking us to the Fishing Cove! Finally!" she padded to Mangopaw and rubbed her fur, waking her up. "C'mon!"

The family headed to the far corner of the territory, yawning. "Come now, kits," Driftreed murmured. They gathered around the rippling water, paws coated in the white sands. "fishing by the Wood-Path or the Border River is very different from fishing in the Cove. The waves bring fish but they are small and slip between cat claws." He purred as though he was reminiscing a memory. "But the deeper you go, the better fish you can find."

Mangopaw immediately ran into the waves, shuddering in the sudden cold and yelping as a shell hit her leg. "Ah!" She stumbled on a hidden rock and returned to shore, sopping wet.

Plumpaw purred. "You look like a fish!" He teased. Mangopaw splashed over, nudging her brother with her wet muzzle.

"The fish would mistake you for a branch! You go." Her eyes sparkled. Pearpaw thought she knew what Mangopaw would do.

Driftreed, who had been watching his kits tease each other, spoke. "Here, Plumpaw, Mangopaw. Be careful while wading in. There won't be any predators here, but be careful nonetheless." He waded into the water, one larger wave washing his face fur back.

Pearpaw felt a little hurt at being out by her father, but she copied his stance in the water.

"Look around," he whispered. "if you see any fish, watch it carefully. See where it's going. And then...dive!" He plunged into the cold water, resurfacing with a small, wriggling fish on his claw. "See?" he purred.

Pearpaw stared into the water. The waves made it so hard to see. How did Driftreed catch anything?

She suddenly noticed a cloud of black fish. It looked like Plumpaw did as well, as he swam to the blob and began swiping at the fish.

After a few moments, Pearpaw saw a small, gray fish, in a dip on the sea floor. The waves washed sand into her eyes, so she shut them, blindly reaching for the small, gray fish.

Her claws sank into a small thing underwater, and Pearpaw resurfaced, coughing. Mangopaw was still looking for a fish, and Driftreed's catch was far up on the sand.

"I got two!" Plumpaw yowled triumphantly, waving his paw in the air and swimming to the other cats. Driftreed purred. "That's great," he replied. "Come on, let's bring the fish up to shore and wait for Mangopaw."

Mangopaw tried in vain to snatch a fish. "It's so hard!" she wailed, struggling back to shore. "Let's go home. It's dawn already."

As they traveled back, Mangopaw managed to catch a mouse.

The cats dropped their prey onto the small prey pile. "Go get prey and meet your mentors," Driftreed said, patting his kits on the back with his tail. He walked away.

They collected a large but slightly dry seagull from the prey pile and tore into it together. Pearpaw finished quickly, leaving the other two behind to chat.

Orcamask was sitting, half-asleep, at the base of the the Stonehill. When Pearpaw walked over, she jerked up and scrambled up the rocks. "Good morning, warriors!" She called. Cats gathered around her to listen.

"Petalblaze, take a few cats out on a hunting patrol. Shellear, you too!" Orcamask looked around, uncertainty appearing momentarily in her gaze. "Erm--" she paused. "Seaplash, go instead of Petalblaze. Petalblaze and the apprentices, and--get someone to check on Ripple'eye. Plumpaw's temporary mentor will be Seasplash."

The cats sorted themselves, a few arguing over where they would go. The deputy's instructions weren't too clear.

Shorestar called, "Mangopaw, Pearpaw, Plumpaw, Petalblaze, go collect some moss from the Mossy Log. Orcamask, go with them! I'll take care of patrols for today."

Orcamask dipped her head and leapt off the Stonehill. "Come on," she said. Pearpaw could see she was embarrased from the way she held her head.

"Petalblaze," Mangopaw said politely, "will we spar today?"

Petalblaze shook her head. "Sorry, Mangopaw, not yet. We might train some more later today."Plumpaw slowed down to walk next to Pearpaw. "Something's up with that tribe," he said flatly. "Why do they hate us?"

Pearpaw whispered everything she knew to her brother, casting glances at Petalblaze so she didn't hear. Plumpaw's eyes widened.

After a few heartbeats, he said, "I'm sure there are spies in our territory, then." He sounded sure, yet unsure at the same time.

Pearpaw made a noise of acknowledgement. They walked in silence for some time, Petalblaze and Orcamask exchanging a few words.

They reached the Grass Patch a little while later, where the Mossy Log was at.

The Mossy Log was the only place moss could be found in their territory. Most nests were lined with grass and seaweed, and some were just small, shallow basins in each den.

Pearpaw heard the sound of paws scratching against dirt. Wishing she could hunt whatever creature that was, she began to cut moss off of the fallen log.

After the boring task was finished, the cats stepped back to gaze at their pile of moss. "It would be enough," Petalblaze said to herself.

Orcamask rolled up a chunk of moss into a ball and rolled it towards Mangopaw. The other cats followed her lead. Mangopaw flattened the moss balls into more sturdy spheres. Each of the apprentices clasped moss under their chins and held a clump in their jaws.

It was a long walk back to the camp. Pearpaw's moss ball unfurled and had to be left in the sand. Mangopaw dropped hers and it rolled away. Petalblaze spent a lot of time dusting it off, and there still was sand hidden in the crevices of the moss. 

"I'm tired!" Mangopaw collapsed onto her nest. "Tell Petalblaze"--she yawned--"I'll be taking a nap."

Pearpaw purred. "Alright, Mangopaw," she replied, exiting the den. She headed to the elder's den; the moss was heaped beside it. She took a mouthful and walked inside of the elder's den.

Changing bedding was the most boring duty of all. Flamenight was deaf in his old age and Rosewish was always asleep, but Pearpaw couldn't neglect her duties. She nudged Rosewish awake and she hobbled outside of the den to flop onto the sand, curling up again. 

Flamenight let out a loud purr and followed after. "Good luck," he whispered, his voice cracked and crumbled like a cliff by the sea.

Before Pearpaw could get started, Petalblaze yowled, "Mangopaw's gone!" 

Pearpaw froze. What? I saw Mangopaw a few moments ago! She ran outside. "She's in the apprentice's hole!" she yowled, skidding into the sandy ditch of the apprentice's den. 

Mangopaw was no where to be found. 

She opened her mouth to taste the air. "Tribe cat scent!" She gasped. She ran up the side of the hole. 

"Are you sure?" Plumpaw asked, worried. "It could be from a border patrol."

Pearpaw shook her head. "It was recent. Really, really recent." 

Shorestar leapt onto the Stonehill. "Warriors! We will gather a patrol and retrieve Mangopaw." She assigned the warriors to two separate patrols, led by Shorestar and Driftreed. One would follow the other, in case backup was needed in a fight. Pearpaw and Plumpaw were part of Shorestar's patrol.

As they walked to the border, worried thoughts swarmed in Pearpaw's mind. What if Mangopaw was killed? We already lost Palmdance and Duskblossom just half a moon ago...

The patrol arrived at the edge of TideClan territory. "Now, we wait," Shorestar muttered, sitting by the border.

Shellear sighed and settled down. "Do they even do border patrols?" He asked.

"Seems so," Petalblaze replied, tail pointing towards the distance. A small group of cats was approaching them. They didn't seem to be scent marking, though.

"Come on," Shorestar said. She flicked her tail and the warriors walked over.

"Come with us," the gray tribe cat said, turning around and walking away.

Pearpaw and Plumpaw had never been outside of the territory. The apprentices awed at the strange plants and avoided crawling bugs.

"Here is our camp." The gray cat began to walk away.

"Who are you?" Shorestar called. "Where is Mountain Snowcap?"

"I am Tidepool Sands," he replied. "King Mountain Snowcap is unavailable at the moment." He padded to a shadowed den, and a gray tabby reemerged.

The new cat looked Shorestar straight into the eyes. His yellow eyes were unnerving.

"And who might you be?" Shorestar said coldly.

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me." The cat smirked. "I am Lord Eagle Soars."

Before Shorestar could respond, Eagle Soars stepped in front of her. He was shorter than her by an ear. "Mangopaw will not be returned until you give us what I want."

⊹˚︵‿₊˚ʚ🐟ɞ˚₊‿︵˚⊹

mangopaw has disappeared...what do you think will happen next?

~how/why did the tribe cats take mangopaw?

~do you think mangopaw will be returned?

~what do you predict about tidepool sands and fallen snowflake? are they important?

sorry for not posting for, like, a month- school has started for me and i might not be able to post as much

published: 08.22.21

heavily edited: 09.01.21

word count: 1601