"ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴏ ᴜꜱᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ." ᴛʜᴇ ɢɪᴀɴᴛ ʜᴜᴍᴍɪɴɢʙɪʀᴅ ꜱᴍɪʟᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ʜᴇʀ, ᴀɴ ᴇᴠɪʟ ꜱᴍɪʟᴇ. ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟᴀᴅʏʙᴜɢᴘᴀᴡ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ 'ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏᴇʀ.' ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ʜᴇ ɢʀᴀʙʙᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ꜱɴᴀᴘ, ᴄʀᴀᴄᴋᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀ ɴᴇᴄᴋ. ___ Ladybugpaw woke with a start, cold sweat burning her skin as her eyes snapped open, staring in fear around her, as if the giant being would attack her again. Her eyes landed on Hummingbirdpaw, sleeping soundly in his nest. But he was not giant. He was her brother, as he always had been. After Ladybugpaw had determined she was not alone and was perfectly fine, she took a deep breath and settled back into her nest, where she waited for the usual sleep to engulf her after such nightmares. But sleep did not come. After a while, Ladybugpaw could see there was no way she'd be able to return to her dream-land. So instead, she rose from her nest and padded quietly out of the den. She'd be back before dawn-patrol, of that Lady was sure. So she let her legs carry her away from camp and looked around, feeling the last bit of sleep fade away. She walked quicker as she passed the Obsidian Highlands, giving an involuntary shiver as she did so. It was the only part of the territory she disliked, as the giant stone pillars and the vast view they had at the top made her feel small. And Ladybugpaw did not like to feel small. Soon, she had reached the shores. This was very close to the place Strawberrygloom had found them on that fateful day about 8 moons before. Ladybugpaw scanned the area, remembering the days in which it had been just her, her siblings and her mother. How long ago those had been! She shook off those thoughts, before noticing a small patch of the seaweed that had somehow made it passed Seaclan. Ladybugpaw glanced down at the seaweed, her nose wrinkling, when she noticed a glint underneath. Perplexed, she approached the big green clump cautiously, reaching out to push the few sea-plants away. Still wet, the things burned her and she quickly moved her paw away. But they had already been removed and underneath were some very peculiar, very wet, objects Lady had never seen or heard about before. Curious, she dragged them out of the water, ignoring the pain, and settled down beside them, igniting her flames to dry them off. After doing so, the apprentice nudged them, and realized that it was, in fact, two things. Separating them, Ladybugpaw examined the two. One was a red with what looked like a ladybug on top but when Lady prodded it, it was flat. And bigger then a normal ladybug. Confused, she thought back to when she'd seen flowers and when squeezed, the color sometimes came out, which had annoyed her. Maybe they had squished a ladybug onto it! Feeling it again, the apprentice realized it was soft, like a petal of a flower. Maybe it was made out of flowers! But it didn't smell like one...Annoyed at her own confusion, Lady decided this was because of the sea. Other creatures and things were also designed on it, she realized soon after. A dragonfly, a hummingbird, a few black dots. What /was/ this thing? Giving up, Ladybugpaw turned to the other object. A weird brown thing with the same feel as the red thing. Looking closely, she realized that on the end of it was a small, hard thing that was clear, like water! And on the top, if she turned it, the weird grey-thing would pop up and the hard thing opened. Thoroughly confused, she placed her paw inside, "EEEP!" Lady squealed a few moments later, realizing her paw was stuck. She pulled hard and freed herself. Now annoyed, she glared at the thing. Maybe it was like a trap, just like she trapped prey. Confident once more, Lady nodded, deciding that it was definitely a trap, which gave her an idea. Nearby, a single, lucky plant grew, and on it, was a ladybug. She took the but with the shared name gently and slipped it into the clear trap, closing the grey-thing afterwords. And it worked! The ladybug was stuck! 'Whatever it is, I need it!' The apprentice thought to herself. She paused, thinking on how to carry it around. She'd seen some cats put flowers behind her ear, would that work? After feeling the clear trap hang heavily from her ear for a few moments, she decided it did not. But though it had failed, it still gave her an idea. 'Maybe I can put it on my neck! Since it's stronger then my ear but not in the way of anything! Although, my tail could work too...' After careful consideration, Ladybugpaw tried her neck first and realized that it worked! With flames extinguished, she turned to the ladybug thing. After trying and failing to do the same thing with it, she realized that maybe, she could wrap it around her paw, like the way vines wrapped around trees! Excited now, the young apprentice put on her new accessories and grinned, happy to have new decorations that didn't die like flowers. Back in the apprentice den, Ladybugpaw smiled to herself, proud of her accomplishments. And with that, she watched the sun rise and bathe the world with light once more. +-ᴇɴᴅ-+
