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| - "RiverClan, to your dens!" Dapplestar commanded, raising her voice to be heard in the rainstorm. A few cats immediately bundled into their dens, their slick pelts flashing around and disappearing like colorful fish in a torrent of river. Only a few cats remained, drowsily padding off to their dens or hiding underneath bushes. Out of the few cats out of safety were two apprentices. "What are you staring it?" Cherrypaw asked, her paws making slushing sounds as she walked over to her denmate. Brackenpaw was looking off into the distance, precipitation pattering down on his golden-brown pelt. Cherrypaw craned her neck to look into the tom's amber eyes. "Have you been hypnotized by the rain?" She joked. When he did not respond, she continued. "I wonder why your name isn't Waterpaw. Do you think your warrior name will be Brackenrain?" The tom still didn't answer and Cherrypaw finally shoved him with her paw. "Stop being such a statue and answer me!" The golden apprentice finally spoke. "I'm just thinking how you would react if your warrior name was Cherryrain." "Oh," Cherrypaw meowed, still stunned by his final response. "I wouldn't mind. Cherryrain is a pretty name. Brackenrain, however, is not." Brackenpaw laughed and Cherrypaw turned to go to the apprentice's den. "Coming?" "Yeah," Brackenpaw shifted his paws a little bit. "But the rain is just so...so..." "Beautiful," Cherrypaw finished, then rolled her eyes. "Bracken, you have a whole lifetime to stare at rain. We're RiverClan! And you'd better get moving before Dapplestar bites your ears off." "I would do no such thing," A jokingly offended voice said to their west. "Am I really that scary?" Cherrypaw ducked her head in embarrassment while Brackenpaw laughed. "Careful 'bout what you say, Cherrypaw." "It's fine." Dapplestar laughed. "Anyways, she's right Brackenpaw. You'd best head back to your den." Cherrypaw realized that they were the last ones out in camp. "You can go on the next stream patrol if you'd like," Dapplestar continued. "Really?!" Brackenpaw asked, waving his tail in excitement. "Yes," Dapplestar meowed. "If you want." She paused and her whiskers twitched in amusement. "Now head along to your nest, or else I might bite your ear." Brackenpaw and Cherrypaw exchanged amused glances, then strolled towards their dens, and eventually curled up in their mossy nests with the other apprentices. "Okay, at this point I am going mad," Drizzlepaw shouted. "One week! One. Week. That is so long. We could have learned so much then." "Calm down, Driz'," Seapaw rolled her eyes. "We get a break. How can you not love that?" "I agree with him," Skypaw shot, scooting next to Drizzlepaw. "Being confined in a dull, boring den is not a break. Especially with stinky nests, you know." "You could actually be a little more grateful," Cherrypaw pitched in. "At least we have a place to go to instead of staying out in that wretched storm." "What do you care?" Skypaw snapped. "Why don't you go bow down to our leader and give such thanks to her for making us wait so long to be warriors." Cherrypaw rolled her eyes. "Okay, now you're just whining-" "Can you cats stop?" Brackenpaw raised his voice to be heard. He was staring outside. "We'll wake up the whole Clan!" "You already did," Mosstail stepped in, his tabby pelt drenched in downpour. "That being said, can you keep it down? The queens are really tired and hungry, and so are their kits. We're sending out some warriors to see if they can catch some fish, but now that we realize you cats are so restless, you can come with us." He frowned disapprovingly. "Yes!" The apprentices cheered, much to the deputy's shock. "This is such a bad idea!" Cherrypaw shook her head. "At this rate, we'll have to beg at ShadowClan's paws for a morsel of carrion." "Wait," Brackenpaw meowed suddenly. "Where's our patrol?" It then occurred to Cherrypaw that she and her denmate had been walking off in distance, while their clanmates were off fishing. The ginger apprentice slapped her head with her paw. "Silly!" She shrieked while Brackenpaw hooted with laughter. "Silly, silly, stupid she-cat!" She turned and glared at the golden-brown tom. "And tom!" "Okay, I'm sure our patrol knows where we are now," Brackenpaw shaked his head in amusement. "Don't joke!" Cherrypaw said harshly. She glanced around quickly. "And the stupid rain washed away their scents." "Best weather ever." Brackenpaw mused. They padded along the riverbank in silence. From time to time, Cherrypaw was aware of Brackenpaw's pelt inches away from hers - yet wondered why she was noting such little things. A silly she-cat, yes. "Do you think they might be hunting here?" Brackenpaw asked. The ginger apprentice shrugged. "Beats me." They padded closer to the river, and even closer. "Maybe we should start hunting and at least meet up with our patrol with prey?" Brackenpaw suggested. Cherrypaw wordlessly nodded, and they both left "if we meet up with our patrol" unsaid. They quietly inspected the storm-reflecting water, and it was getting easier as the load of rain was slowing down. Minutes passed by with no fish. Or at least, no view of fish. Suddenly, Brackenpaw surged forward and pulled out a wriggling object out of the river. "What are you doing?!" Cherrypaw demanded. "You're supposed to kill it before - why are you staring at it?" Brackenpaw shook his head. "This isn't fish, Cher'." "What?" Then...what is it? The ginger she-cat leaned forward, curiosity sparkling in her blue eyes. The living creature thrashed around. Cherrypaw gasped. "A kit!" "I can't really detect it's scent," Brackenpaw meowed. "But the Warrior Code says to save kits no matter what. So we did do a right thing." Cherrypaw stroked the kit's snowy-white flank with her tail, and the small tabby creature whimpered and rolled over. "We need to get this little fella back to their mother." Brackenpaw shook his head. "In this storm? Let's get it back to camp and see what Minnowpelt can do for it." "It?" Cherrypaw asked. "Kits have genders, you know." Brackenpaw wrinkled his nose. "Are you suggesting we check?" "She-cat," Cherrypaw said after a moment. "Anyways, we obviously have to get this kit back to camp first. So we can't hunt after all." Brackenpaw nodded and they took turns carrying the kit all the way back to camp. After a rest in the blackberry bush, Cherrypaw lifted the sleeping kit up and they walked on in the direction of camp. Brackenpaw was silent, in deep thought, and he'd occasionally glance over to see if the kit was okay. They eventually ran into their patrol, and surprisingly yet disappointingly, saw no fish. "Where have you two been?!" Mosstail asked, furiously. "Wait," Drizzlepaw interrupted. "Is that fish?" The other apprentices' faces transformed into pure joy until Reedheart cut them off. "Of course not!" Cherrypaw and Seapaw's mother ran over and inspected the kit as Cherrypaw set her down. "It's a kit!" "She," Brackenpaw corrected. "We need to get that little thing back to camp." Skypaw meowed. Reedheart picked up the kit and held the kit in her jaw, as the tiny creature began to wriggle in protest. Skypaw continued, "What kind of mother would leave her kit out in that weather?" Mosstail sighed, "We don't know, but we do need to get her back to safety. This weather is not suitable for kits." And the patrol padded on to camp. The rain had finally cleared up a bit for cats to wander about in camp, sharing tongues with other ranks. Dapplestar and the others were quite disappointed they had no fish so the whole camp had resorted to eating wild berries while Dapplestar and Mosstail planned a negotiation with ThunderClan. As for the kit, Waterfall had offered to nurse the kit while she expected her own. Dapplestar had named the kit Stormkit, as the Clan had found her in the drastic storm. And cats born into such weather were considered StarClan-approved great warriors. Like Crookedstar and Oakheart, for example. Now Cherrypaw was just lying down on the some of the cool stone rocks bordering the camp. Brackenpaw, Skypaw, and a few other warriors were out searching for berries while the rest of the Clan got to relax in the gloomy weather. It was like a very humid night, what with the dark sky. Cherrypaw wondered if this was what WindClan felt like in every storm: exposed. She also wondered how the other Clans were coping with the storm - ThunderClan was obviously doing best as Mosstail wanted to look to them for prey. In fact, Cherrypaw was in so deep thought that she didn't notice her sister padding over to her. "You must have had such a great rainstorm adventure," she said as Cherrypaw nearly jumped out of her skin. "with Brackenpaw." "Why are you saying his name that way?" Cherrypaw asked hastily. "There's like, no reason to say his name that way." Seapaw lay down on the boulder next to Cherrypaw. "Come on, Cherrypaw," Seapaw rolled her eyes. "There's no reason to be coy." "I'm not!" Cherrypaw swatted her sister with a paw. "We're not like that! And Great StarClan, we're only apprentices." "The age where the romance begins," Seapaw sang. "Stop that!" Cherrypaw snapped. "What if I teased you about Drizzlepaw?" "Drizzlepaw?" Seapaw scoffed, tossing her head back. "His ever so protective sister won't let me get any near him." The she-cat paused thoughtfully. "Not that I like him." "Sure." Cherrypaw smiled sweetly. "Skypaw wouldn't want fantastic cats like me near her dopey brother," Skypaw laughed. "Now stop changing the topic!" Cherrypaw blinked, acting confused. "You know you like him," Seapaw shot. "And if you didn't, why do you hang around him so much and not anyone else. Like me," she added under her breath. Cherrypaw took Seapaw's words in careful thought, much to her sister's glee. "All right! How about we go hunting together tomorrow morning!" After a long hunt with Seapaw and finding only three fish (which only fed the nursery), Cherrypaw lay down on the boulders with all of the apprentices, just talking about life. But Cherrypaw didn't talk.. She was watching Brackenpaw who was grooming his pelt. It seemed adorable yet weird at the same time. Every time he slightly tilted in her direction, she looked away. Why did Seapaw have to make everything awkward? "So I'm glad my mentor gave me time to explore the territory because I found a lot of lakes and glittery streams that no cat has probably ever seen before. It was so beautiful! I need to show you guys sometime," Skypaw said in a bragging tone. "I found a large lake once that didn't look like it was touched for some time," Brackenpaw mused. "So which one are we going to?" Drizzlepaw asked. "Who votes for Brackenpaw's place, stand by the oak, whoever votes for Skypaw's place, go by the moss-patch." The cats moved around until they finally found their desired positions. Cherrypaw, Brackenpaw, and Seapaw stood by the oak, and Drizzlepaw and Skypaw retreated to the moss-patch. "Well, I guess we know who wins," Skypaw said, with an almost unnoticeable note of disappointment. "Let's go!" Brackenpaw led the way to his lake, the patrol of apprentices following. "This is beautiful, Brackenpaw," Cherrypaw said, astounded. "I know, right," The pale ginger tom said. Then, "Hey! This could be our place!" "Oh." Cherrypaw tipped her head. Did he just say that?" "Awesome idea!" Seapaw cheered. "Let's come here everyday!" Skypaw added, and Drizzlepaw added, "After we finish our training for the day." "Yeah, yeah, Driz'" Skypaw muttered but the smile on her face stayed. Oh. Cherrypaw realized Brackenpaw meant this for everybody. What if we did have our own place, just the two of us? The apprentices explored for a while and Seapaw and Skypaw began collecting seashells while Drizzlepaw waded in the water. Cherrypaw started picking pretty flowers. "Hey." Brackenpaw said and Cherrypaw jumped. "Oh, hi. I'm just picking these nice roses. Maybe the new kit will want to play with them?" "Yeah, good plan." Brackenpaw said awkwardly. "Do you like this place." Cherrypaw looked up. "Oh, it's nice. When did you find it?" "A moon ago." Brackenpaw said. "I came here every now and then, but you know, training." "Why didn't you tell me about it?" Cherrypaw asked with a hurt expression. "Oh, well," Brackenpaw shuffled his paws. "I never actually found the time." "Well, you'd better make it up to me." Cherrypaw narrowed her eyes, only joking. "Maybe we can come here together once." 'Til we run out of road in this one horse town 'Cause I don't know how it gets better than this 'Cause I don't know how it gets better than this
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