“Yes Rainwhisker, ma’am,” Twigpaw would say with a polite dip of his head. “We’ll be on our best behaviour!” Scorchpaw added with a wave of his tail, bringing a smile to Rainwhisker’s face. “Good. I’m not too worried about you two. And I’m not worried about Chestnutpaw either, but I’m slightly hesitant about Asterpaw… she’s…” “Arrogant? Snooty? Rude?” Scorchpaw and Twigpaw would say flatly, unphased. They knew what Rainwhisker meant, and they agreed 100%. “Yeah… I just hope Robinsong keeps her apprentice in check, otherwise I have a feeling she’d start a mini war between the apprentices,” the deputy sighed, shaking her head. Soon enough, they eventually reached the Highstones. “Woah,” the apprentices meowed in unison, awed by the sight. The place was dimly lit with few fireflies. Usually there were many more in the warmer seasons, but with leaf-bare approaching their numbers dropped drastically to just a mere few. Yet the moonlight lit up the rest, glistening on the small crysals from the four giant stones that sat in the middle of the clearing. Several other cats were already there, talking among themselves and such, and the Iceclan and Duskclan leaders, Hawkstar and Needlestar, were already on the top of the Highstones. “Fascinating, isn’t it,” Flintstar mewed, speaking for the first time that night, or openly at least. This earned an honest nod from all four apprentices. “Trust me, just wait for the gatherings during newleaf and greenleaf, you’ll love those, the moon doesn’t shine as bright as it does in leafbare, but fireflies swarm this place, lighting it up like you’ve never seen before,” Oakpelt added with a smile, thinking fondly of him and his sister’s first gathering during greenleaf. “Now if you need us, we’ll be at the top of those large boulders over there, please do try not to start any fights,” Flintstar meowed, shooting a knowing glance over at Asterpaw, and she sulked slightly under the leader’s gaze. And with that, Flintstar and Rainwhisker were off, bounding towards the rocks, ready to start talking to the other leaders. “Well, wanna go see if we can make a few friends? Get to know the other clans?” Scorchpaw meowed, glancing over at Twigpaw, who hummed quietly, “Mhm,” nodding as he looked over at a beige, tuft-eared, green-eyed she cat sitting quietly off to the side by herself. “She looks apprentice aged, and approachable. She doesn’t look angry or anything,” the timid apprentice mewed, pointing to her with his snout, as Scorchpaw nodded. “Great idea, Twigpaw!” He beamed, trotting over as the medicine cat apprentice followed close behind. “Hello! We’re just here hoping to meet a few new cats,” Scorch began enthusiastically. “My name’s Scorchpaw, and this is my brother, Twigpaw, we’re from Dawnclan.” The she-cat just stared at them blankly. Silent.
“Uhmm…. What’s your name?” Twigpaw asked quietly, shuffling his paws. The she-cat’s gaze seemed to soften from it’s usual bland state at the quiet apprentice’s attempt to socialize. Extending a claw, she raised it, making Twigpaw flinch, expecting to be attacked, yet she simply shook her head a moment, raising an unclawed paw as if to say she brought peace, before doodling something in the dirt. A squiggle, and a few slanted lines. Tilting his head, Scorchpaw mewed, “Uhm… That’s a nice uhhh- river-?” The she-cat shook her head again. Twigpaw thought for a moment before meowing, “Viperstrike?” This surprised the she-cat as her eyes widened, yet her lower eyelids raised a bit as she smiled, nodding. “Wh- how’d you figure that out so fast?!” Scorchpaw looked at his younger brother. “It looks like a snake. I thought Adder but then I thought she does look more like a viper in my opinion. The adders I usually see when getting herbs are usually grey with black markings. And the clawmarks made me think, ‘either claw, or strike.’ but I thought strike seems better, since vipers don’t have claws,” Twigpaw explained Still stunned, Scorchpaw shook his head. “You never fail to surprise me, Twigpaw,” he chuckled. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Viperstrike,” he added, as she she cat simply dipped her head. “Can you… can you talk..?” Twigpaw asks before instantly blabbering, “Iamsososorryifit’ssomehthing personalIdidn’tmeantomakeyoufeelbadI’msorry-” Viperstrike didn’t seem stunned or at all affected as she placed a paw on his shoulder before shaking her head. “So you can’t speak?” Scorchpaw tilted his head. Viperstrike nodded. “She’s mute,” Twigpaw added, as Viperstrike nodded once more. “Ohhhh,” Scorchpaw nodded, before noticing another swarm of cats coming into the clearing. “Ooooh! More cats to meet, c’mon Twigpaw!” Scorchpaw meowed, as Twigpaw shuffled his paws in the dirt. “A-actually, I was wondering if I could stay here with Viperstrike and keep talking with her,” he mewled quietly. “Oh! Alright, Twigpaw, meet you back with the clan after the gathering,” Scorchpaw meowed with a smile, before bounding off. Not paying attention to where he was going, running into a burly old gray, nearly black pelted tom, who hissed, swatting his clawed paw at the apprentice. “Watch where ya’ goin!” He hissed in annoyance. “Someone coulda gotten hurt!” “Soooo so sorry, mister, didn’t mean to run into you,” Scorchpaw apologized. “Hmph, you’d better be,” the old tom rasped gruffly. “Now git-!” And with that, Scorchpaw scrambled off, leaving the old tom to grumble to himself crankily. “I wonder who that was,” Scorchpaw murmured quietly, but didn’t ponder too much on the subject. “Must be another clan- and Cloudclan to be specific, there are alot of grey and white pelts coming in,” he meowed to himself, turning his focus back to the newer cats in the clearing.
