━━━━ the arrival of peakclan into their territory meant great explorations. patrols trekked the trails along the mountain, venturing high and low as they nosied at the tallest of points, and lowest of valleys that snuggled at the bottom of the mountains.

berrykestrel pounced atop a bird. it had been picking at the stoney ground in search of a morsel of food, or a worm. a loud squawk echoed across the empty and open rocky field and a crunch followed suit, blood tickling the back of his throat as the deputy gulped down the crimson warmth.

it felt refreshing to finally be hunting again, to finally be able to feed on prey. triumphantly, the spotted tom—cat pushed out his chest and stared out at the woodland in the distance, paws eager to taint the forest floor as he barrelled over logs in search of more prey to kill and take back to camp...

berrykestrel snapped back to reality. he craned his neck down to the floor and dropped the songbird he had caught, his paws scratching at the soil to hide its body while he ventured elsewhere to see what else he could possibly find. his eyes scanned the open area, and his whiskers jerked with excitement.

suddenly, a sound so threatening shook him. it was an ominous, terrifying growl, louder than any bolt of thunder or lightning, rolling down the steep slopes of their mountainous home.

whirling around, berrykestrel's gaze landed on the peak, where rocks tumbled at a rapid pace.

a cold claw of fear gripped the deputies heart as the threat registered in his mind. his instincts kicked in, and his paws heavily beat against the rocky terrain as he attempted to outrun the calamity that rained down towards him.

in his hurried retreat, he didn't see a gnarled root that pushed from the dirt. with a muffled yelp, he tripped, losing his momentum. his stomach flipped in sheer panic, and a bout of pain splintered across his body.

he turned, his eyes fixated on a small pile of rocks that had swallowed his tail, leaving him painfully immobilised.

berrykestrel drew in a deep breath. he pushed his paws firmly into the rocks that crushed his limb, and writhed free. pained, he staggered to his paws, and winced with each step as he navigated back up the slopes towards camp.

daisyknoll met the wounded deputy at the entrance when he pulled himself into camp.

❝ what happened— ❞ he wailed, quickly rushing to his limp, injured tail to quickly look it over.

❝ i was out hunting, by the bottom. i must've made a lot of noise and disturbed the rocks, they tumbled down on me, ❞ berrykestrel muttered quietly as he followed the medicine cat into the medicine den.

⛰︎

━━━━ almondkit clambered over berrykestrel's body as the tom—cat rested within the medicine den. his eyes slowly opened and a snort expelled from his nose.

❝ hello, almondkit ❞ he purred, pushing his nose into the kittens fur and letting his tongue roll over his head.

the kitten didn't wait around long. he allowed for the deputy's affection before he darted out the den and towards the nursery, his brown tabby coat vanishing as he tore across camp.

berrykestrel laughed. he enjoyed the kit's presence.

⛰︎

━━━━ the moon spilled an eerie, silvery light over the wilderness, painting a luminous path for the pair that patrolled. daisyknoll followed close behind his warrior peer, goldrain, as they navigated through the unfamiliar territory in search of some herbs.

goldrain's eyes narrowed. a scent caught his nostrils, one that was unfamiliar to him. while they had not been in the territory for that long, goldrain was now becoming accustomed to some of the scents, and this scent didn't carry the smell of hemlockclan, or of his own.

the warrior stopped. the hairs along his back rippled upwards. goldrain remained in front of his medicine cat, protectively arching his back as he hissed out a breath.

a pale coloured tabby sauntered from the shadows, his eyes a striking amber glow in the dark. the whiff of rogue smacked goldrain and he shuddered.

❝ what is a rogue doing on clan territory? ❞ growled goldrain, his eyes narrowed to threatening slits as he remained a protective shield of his medicine cat.

daisyknoll calmly stepped beside goldraig. the tom—cat addressed the intruder. ❝ speak up. why have you dared to trespass? ❞ he chirped with a mellowed tone to his voice.

with an audible sigh, the rogue spoke, ❝ i come in peace. my name is dusk. i've been watching you all carefully since you arrived... i wish to join you, ❞

the statement echoed in goldrain's mind. warriors don't just join a clan — they are born into it, blood of their blood.

daisyknoll sensed his companion tension, and his eyes wandered across the tom—cat before them. he turned to goldrain.

❝ we can't make any promises, as the final decision is up to gorgestar. we'll escort you to camp, ❞ the medicine tom spoke.

dusk took a cautious step closer, and followed the cats towards their camp, strenuously climbing up the mountains they claimed and into their camp.

gorgestar, having scented the unfamiliar stench of rogue fur, waited for the patrol to return and quickly interrogated them about their new 'friend'.

❝ this is dusk, he wishes to join peakclan, ❞ blurted out daisyknoll, anxiety bubbling in his stomach as he watched the leader look over the new feline.

the leader vanished and briskly called for the clan to gather and attend a quick meeting — declaring that the rogue tom was to join peakclan, under the name of duskeye's.

⛰︎

━━━━ doespots and loachpaw leaned into one another during the gathering, their jaws opening and closing quickly as they whispered to one another. the apprentice giggled at the warrior's heckle aimed at the opposing clan.

a scornful scowl from gorgestar silenced them.

━━━━ daisyknoll returned to camp, having left to patrol for herbs. but, he held no leafy greens in his mouth. instead, he clutched a small ginger kitten.

quickly, he took it to the medicine den and looked it over for any injuries or signs of weakness. the kitten pushed into daisyknoll for warmth, and the tom—cat melted at the sight of its frail body.

the kitten, named locustkit by daisyknoll, remained in the medicine den for a few days before being put into the nursery alongside almondkit.

⛰︎

━━━━ the serene silence of the fallen forest was broken only by the hushed whispers of the wind and the distant rustling of leaves. goldrain flicked his pelt as he crouched behind a collapsed log, his eyes fixed keenly on a plump rabbit contently nibbling on some grass across the river.

❝ the fatter the prey, the more it can feed ❞ goldrain muttered under his breath. the thirst for prey ignited within his fiery gaze. but as he inched closer, ready to attack, a heavy—hitting frame crashing into him, rolling him onto his side.

❝ what are you doing! ❞ hissed a disgruntled voice. the brown and white tom had an irked expression on his face, and his eyes flicked between goldrain and the border of hemlockclan.

❝ i saw a chance to catch prey and i was going for it, up until you pushed me out the way, ❞ retorted the annoyed warrior, his tail flicking.

doespot's turned to face goldrain. ❝ and risk the clans safety for a single meal? we haven't been here for long — we can't cross the border and wage war with a clan we hardly know, ❞

goldrain sighed and looked away, an unspoken protest danced in his eyes. his claws retracted as the once unsuspecting prey hopped into the distance.

from a distance, the barely audible pawsteps and hushed murmurs of an approaching hemlockclan patrol sounded like soft rustling leaves, and goldrain let his ears prick up. he had failed to notice them, but doespots on the other paw had.

❝ that is why i stopped you, ❞ the tom whispered with a growl. he looked up towards the opposing patrol that stood to the left of the river. doespots dipped his head at the hemlockclan warriors.

❝ good luck catching that rabbit, ❞ doespots said with a friendly laugh.

the warriors snorted.

with a stern glance at goldrain, doespots kept his posture submissive but assertive, careful not to show any signs of aggression or weakness.

❝ let's get back to camp. we can pick up something else on our way, ❞ doespots grunted, stalking off across the field.

━━━━ almondkit sulked in his nest. the tom—kit hugged his tail tightly, his face scrunched up as he allowed for his thoughts to flood over him.

daisyknoll entered, in search of locustkit, but caught a glimpse of almondkit. worried, he approached and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

❝ are you okay, almondkit? ❞ he mewed softly.

almondkit turned. he blinked, his eyes welling with tears. his head shook quickly. ❝ i miss my parents! ❞ he wailed, an eruption of tears flowing from his eyes as he dashed towards the medicine cat, and hugged his leg.

sighing, daisyknoll draped a paw across the kittens body, pulling him close. ❝ i know, i know. its okay, you're okay... ❞

⛰︎

━━━━ gorgestar walked quickly and quietly, her paws carrying her towards the tangled river. behind her trailed loachpaw. the leader walked her 'paw to the river, where they practiced how to swim. it may not be an essential skill, due to where they live, but a useful one nonetheless.

a cry carried in the wind, and worried loachpaw.

❝ what—what was that? ❞ loachpaw shakily asked, but gorgestar shrugged it off, and put the blame on a towhee bird that she had spotted on the walk down.

but, loachpaw refused to believe her, and argued with her mentor for the walk back to camp. 

━━━━ gorgestar yowled for the clan to gather beneath the calling branch, and watched as the clan scurried close.

❝ having mentored loachpaw for a number of moons now and i am pleased with how far she has come, with the both the crumble and the journey, and her time as an apprentice here, in peakclan ❞

loachpaw's stomach dropped. she gulped.

❝ i, gorgestar, leader of peakclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. they have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and i commend them to you as a warrior in their turn ❞ gorgestar called out, and her eyes traveled over her clan, settling on loachpaw.

❝ loachpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life? ❞

❝ yes! i do! ❞ loachpaw excitedly yelled.

❝ then, by the powers of starclan, i give you your warrior name. loachpaw, from this moment on you will be known as loachpath. starclan honours your responsibility, and we welcome you as a full warrior of peakclan, ❞

the cats roared with life and called out loachpath's name. anxiety, nerves and joy seeped throughout the new warriors bloodstream.

⛰︎

━━━━ almondkit tore his way out of the nursery. today was the day. he wasn't a little kitten anymore, he would be made an apprentice now that he was old enough. his mind soared with ideas as to who could be his mentor.

the clan had already gathered, and he skidded to a stop on the edge of the cluster of his clan—mates. he looked up at gorgestar as she talked, and his ears burned upon hearing his name called out.

❝ almondkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as almondpaw. your mentor will be duskeyes. i hope duskeyes will pass down all they know on to you, ❞

the rogue as a mentor? that alone excited the young apprentice. he had heard stories of rogues from his mother and father, how they were feared for their strength and might... and if he had one as a mentor, then he could turn out to be one of the strongest in his clan.

❝ duskeyes, you have served peakclan for a short few moons, but regardless of that, have shown to use that you are strong and capable, and are ready to take on an apprentice. you will be the mentor of almondpaw, and i expect you to pass on all you know to him, ❞

duskeyes pushed his way to the front of the crowd and waited almondpaw. he touched his nose to his new apprentices, and smiled.

❝ i cannot wait to start training with you, ❞ he softly whispered, his smile widening after he noticed that almondpaw's face radiated with happiness.

⛰︎

━━━━ ❝ come on! let's go! we are burning day—light here! ❞ growled almondpaw as he swatted his paws at duskeyes pelt. his mentor groaned as he got up, blinked away the tiredness, yawned and then stretched after standing.

❝ alright, alright ❞ duskeyes groggily laughed and led his apprentice out of camp before he raved any louder, not wanting to wake the clan.

almondpaw raced down the slope that fed into the valley between two of the peaks, duskeyes following close behind him.

❝ be careful! ❞ duskeyes called as almondpaw just barrelled down the hill and away from his mentor. his eyes flashed a serious stare his way. he raised his nose to the sky and sniffed.

almondpaw looked over his shoulder as he ran, but soon halted. his nose twitched as countless scents soon washed over him.

❝ all these scents, ❞ duskeyes began, ❝ can help you determine if you'll have prey for a meal, or if you are what becomes the meal for another being, ❞

almondpaw swallowed.

❝ you'll know all the scents soon enough. you'll be able to differentiate every clan member by their smell and their smell alone, and the smells of the territories — which land is ours, which isn't, and which is not claimed, ❞ duskeyes spoke out and he stepped closer to his apprentice.

❝ close your eyes and let the wind talk to you. let it bring the smells to you. dissect each odour one by one, it'll help you decipher what is what, ❞

following his mentors advice, almondpaw shut his eyes tight. he focused, opening to himself the what the wind blew his way. ❝ i smell something... sweet? and... sort of nutty? ❞

❝ that'll be squirrel, ❞ duskeyes muttered, walking to his apprentices side, and sitting beside him. ❝ keep going, what else can you smell? ❞

the tabby tom—cat nodded. he delved back into the assortment of odours that shrouded over him, each on elusive and foreign.

❝ duskeyes... ❞ almondpaw ventured hesitatingly after a moment of quiet. ❝ i got another one. it's a bit harsh, like... like burnt wood, and blood? ❞

duskeyes tensed. ❝ fox, ❞ he confirmed, looking to his apprentice. ❝ that's enough for today. we best get back to camp, ❞

⛰︎

━━━━ berrykestrel lead an afternoon patrol up the peaks, to scent mark their territory. goldrain blurted out stories along the wall, uplifting the glum spirits of the cats as they walked the cold heights to their destination. on his flank, remained loachpath, as she closely followed behind the older two felines, a rumble of anxiety brewing within her.

❝ and then blackclaw took the mole right from under starlingflight's paws! ❞ goldrain cackled, finishing up his tail about life back in greenclan. he glanced back to make sure loachpaw was okay.

berrykestrel huffed with amusement while the young warrior just scraped up a small smile.

the patrol looped along the territory, continuing on as they reached where the deputy wished to scent mark, as per gorgestar's orders.

forcefully pushing down a gulp, loachpath looked over the edge of the mountain they had scaled and she stumbled backwards, scared.

❝ don't gaze over, it's a long way down and it won't help with any lingering anxieties, ❞ berrykestrel spoke with a soft sigh, nudging the smaller she—cat away from the edge.

❝ we've all finished here anyway, we'll head back. if you stick between the both of us, you'll be okay. you can hold my tail if you have to, loachpath ❞ the deputy warmly smiled at her, and she nodded her head quickly, gently wrapping her mouth around his tail for extra support.

the trio slowly ambled back down the way they came, back to the safety of camp.

━━━━ almondpaw hurried towards the fresh—kill pile, eager to please his mentor. he darted towards the warriors den with a plump squirrel in his mouth, a bounty he and duskeyes had caught earlier that day, and he delivered it to the tom—cat.

❝ oh, why thank you, almondpaw. but you didn't have to bring me my meal, i have four very capable legs that can get me to and from— ❞ he started, but was interrupted by the apprentices eagerness.

❝ oh no! it's okay, i'm your apprentice. it's my duty to help out. plus, i don't mind, really, ❞ almondpaw blubbered with a cheeky grin splayed from cheek to cheek.

he exited the warriors den to allow his mentor to enjoy his meal in peace, finding something to do in camp elsewhere.

⛰︎

━━━━ daisyknoll padded carefully through what remained of the flower field, the buds having closed up and drooped during the season. accompanying him on the patrol was scrubstorm, who ambled off elsewhere chasing after a bug that fluttered by.

a knot jerked in daisyknoll's stomach, and a strange feeling waves over him. he stops, dropping the herbs he had gathered, and turns.

a soft gasp rippled from his lungs and daisyknoll is welcomed by a visitor from starclan. he quietly alerts scrubstorm, ushering him to join the both of them.

daisyknoll settles in the grass opposite the feline from starclan. jumping right into a conversation, he tucks his paws neatly under his chest, and divulges into the talk, enjoying the company of a passed peer from greenclan.

after time had passed, scrubstripe shuffled to his paws and ushered that the both of them depart and head back to camp with what they had gathered. he picks up the daisy and comfrey, before slowly leaving daisyknoll. a flick of his tail announces his farewell to the starclan cat.

⛰︎

━━━━ the last golden strands of sunlight peered across the water as duskeyes and almondpaw walked alongside the peak river, their imposing shadows flickering with the movement of the radiant orb in the sky that descended into the horizon.

the day was on the verge of drawing to a close, and the pair were hastily patrolling their territory, all the while in the powerful company of gorgestar.

a knot of unease nestled in almonpaw's belly, coiling around his intestines with a vice—like grip. this was his first patrol with gorgestar. even though he'd done countless patrols with duskeyes, his trusted mentor, the presence of the leader added a different feeling to the mix — one of inherent anxiety.

duskeyes stopped dead in his tracks, causing the smaller form of almondpaw to push into his rear. his eyes flared wide and he grunted, ready to comment on why he had stopped so abruptly.

but, then he noted duskeyes' fixated stare on a bush ahead of them.

❝ what? ❞ almondpaw squeaked.

nestled among the undergrowth was a tiny bundle of fur, helpless, lost and cold. it's tiny whimpers caused gorgestar to step forward.

❝ can you scent it's mother? ❞ gorgestar's voice pericles through the silence. she watched as both the warrior and his apprentice wriggled their head.

❝ let's get it back to camp, quickly ❞

duskeye snapped into action, carefully scooping up the trembling kitting into his jaw. gorgestar took point, almondpaw anxiously behind.

❝ what are we gonna call it? ❞ almondpaw asked, as the patrol veered close to camp.

gorgestar stayed silent, quiet in her thoughts, before she turned to the young 'paw. ❝ splitkit, her name is splitkit ❞ she murmured, looking at the two—toned she—kit that duskeyes still gripped.