~Sunset RiverClan~

[Yoko]

Puddlepelt sighed as she uncurled from her nest. She was startled by the odd scents for a moment before she realized she was in the Medicine Cat Den. She glanced down at her paw nervously, as if expecting it to be gone. Though it throbbed in dull stings now that she had stirred it, she could see beneath the poultice that the swelling had gone down. She sent silent thanks to Shadestripe, unsure if the Medicine Cat was further in the den or out elsewhere.

Quietly, the gray-spotted she cat hobbled on three legs over to the camp entrance, leaning against the wall of the den. The camp clearing was beautiful. The sun touched the tops of the trees, searing the leaves black and turning the sky a beautiful orangish red. The clearing looked darker, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust. She could see kits playing, and nearest were Hollykit and Skunk-kit. They were playing an odd game with the mossball, carrying it over sticks. She heard Skunk-kit exclaim: "Nice score, Hollykit! But I'm still winning!" Shortly afterward, he tripped over the stick he was carrying the mossball over, falling onto his side. Poor Skunk-kit.

Puddlepelt heard pawsteps outside the camp entrance. Many pawsteps. She worried that it might be an attack and braced herself though the thought of her fighting was ridiculous in this condition. Then she remembered hearing earlier something about patrols and relaxed. The patrols to search for other traps must be returning. She wondered mildly if Spottedfur had been among them. He had not been to see her since earlier and all likeliness...he would not. The thought stung, but she straightened her expression. She would see him again. She would make sure of it. Not out of dependence, but because she knew this was right. They could not let go without ever having tried. She stared at the camp entrance, expecting Willowstar to enter first.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Willowstar headed the patrol back toward camp and entered the clearing. Behind her were Crowstripe, Shellclaw and Graypaw, making up the small patrol that had searched half of RiverClan's territory. It had taken longer than expected, but they hadn't found any more traps. She was a little discouraged and wondered if they had missed one, but she assured herself in thinking that the trap Puddlepelt was caught in was unlucky. Maybe the other patrol had found more.

Looking around the camp, the tinted red as the sun set, she figured she ought to make an announcement about what had happened today. But she would wait until Patchclaw's patrol returned and see if they had found anything. Instead she turned to Shellclaw. "I want to talk to you for a second, Shellclaw." She said, her tone casual and not at all accusing.

Graypaw overheard Willowstar and slowed his pace as he entered camp. He saw Puddlepelt outside the medicine cat den and wondered if she was fine already. She didn't look terribly bad, and he hoped she would be okay soon. Glancing at Willowstar and Shellclaw, he lingered by, curious of what they were saying.

Rabbitkit lay in a shaded part of camp, watching the sky as it turned red and orange. He hadn't done much for the rest of the day, after his fishing trip with Otterkit, Leopardfang and Cindertail. Speaking of the two warriors, where were they? He hadn't seen them for a while and wondered if they were still out. He wasn't bothered by it, only mildly curious. His aunt Patchclaw was also nowhere in sight; she was probably out of camp too. Rather bored, he laid his head on his paws, still watching the sky.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Spottedfur slipped into camp shortly before the trap-searching patrols, his jaws laden with the prey that he and Puddlepelt had caught while they where out hunting. It was rather cold by now, having lain unattended for a while during the fiasco with the trap, but it was still edible, and that was what counted. Bringing their catches over to the fresh-kill pile, he dropped them there and considered taking something for himself. He wasn't hungry, though, and decided that he would give the rest of the Clan first pick. Perhaps he would eat later.

Looking around, he felt his eyes drift towards the medicine cat's den and found himself looking at Puddlepelt. She was watching the camp from just inside the entrance of the den, favoring her wounded paw so it didn't touch the ground. Spottedfur was pleased to see that it didn't look as grisly with the blood cleaned off of it and the swelling decreased. He told himself that she would be back on her paws in no time, gliding across camp in that customary way of hers. He knew a bit of her habits; he watched her, sometimes, as she went about camp.

Realizing that he was staring, the black and white warrior silently reprimanded himself, and padded over to her. He wasn't going to stare like a fool when he had four working legs. "Puddlepelt," he greeted her in his usual, cool manner. "Is your paw doing any better? It looks like the swelling went down."

[Yoko]

As she had expected, Willowstar was first through the entrance. She hoped that the patrols had not found any more of those horrid two-leg traps. For the life of her, she could not understand what two-legs meant to use them for, but with such hairless, senseless, creatures, who could even guess?

Shellclaw was just behind the leader. His head high and his expression pleased. Puddlepelt gave him a dull smile, which her brother returned with a bright one. She could not understand how her own littermate could fail so miserably to understand her wants and needs, and yet Shellclaw did. He seemed to care nothing for the disaster he had caused earlier that day. Puddlepelt's eyes brightened at the sight of Spottedfur returning. He was carrying prey, and amongst that prey, she saw the squirrel she had so sloppily caught that morning. She gave a small smile. The day had not been a total waste.

Is he coming this way? Puddlepelt thought, unsure, though he was staring at her as if he might. Then she looked worriedly at Shellclaw, but luckily he had turned to face Willowstar. Relieved, she turned back to Spottedfur.

"It does feel a lot better," she replied softly, "Shadestripe did not mention it being broken or anything, so I suppose it'll only need time to heal up properly."

She gave another anxious glance at her brother, who was still chatting excitedly. Then she quickly shifted her eyes back to Spottedfur, hoping he hadn't noticed. Graypaw was standing next to Shellclaw...

"I'm a bit worried about Graypaw's training though. He's coming along excellently, and I'd hate to delay his training due to some silly accident of mine."

Shellclaw looked at his sister in the Medicine Cat Den and smiled brightly. She would be proud of how Graypaw had been so focused on the task. And how thorough he had been at checking for those dreadful traps. Of course, he had seen the one that she had gotten caught in. The scent of her blood was all over it....Poor, Puddlepelt. But she seems better now...I knew she would be, now that she's away from that tom.

He was distracted by Willowstar's mew. He raised his brow. The leader wanted to speak to him?! "Yes, is something the matter Willowstar?" he mewed with a friendly smile. "I'm glad we didn't find anymore of those traps, aren't you?"

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

"Yes, that's a good thing," Willowstar said curtly, nodding at Shellclaw. She was glad to see he was in a good mood, even with his sister recovering in the medicine den. Perhaps he was happy that they hadn't seen any more traps. It would assure that no other cats would meet the same fate as Puddlepelt.

"I'm actually worried about something else. We don't know how long it will be until Puddlepelt recovers and I don't want Graypaw to fall behind on his training, since he is the youngest apprentice." She glanced at Graypaw quickly, seeming to realize she was talking about him when he was standing right there. "I'd like you to take over Graypaw's training, at least until Puddlepelt is able to fully resume her warrior duties."

It might have made more sense to get another warrior who already had an apprentice to do it. However Shellclaw could use the experience and it would probably help that he was related to Graypaw's mentor.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Spottedfur studied Puddlepelt's paw as she spoke, not willing to take her word alone on its condition. The lithe warrior didn't doubt her honesty, but he wouldn't put it past her to belittle her injuries to stop her Clanmates from worrying. However, it appeared that she was accurate in her assessment; the paw was still swollen and obviously injured, covered in dried herbal concoctions and stained faintly with blood, but it did look less serious than it had before. Whatever Shadestripe had done to it looked to have done the job, and for that he was grateful.

Raising his dark green gaze back to Puddlepelt's amber one, the black and white tom regarded her silently while she spoke. Her concerns were valid; with ShadowClan larger than ever, it wouldn't do to let Graypaw's training slacken, even though he suspected that RiverClan very nearly approached the other in size. Angling his head to look at the young grey tom, he scanned camp and saw Willowstar speaking with Shellclaw.

The black and white tom blinked, his eyes trained, unmoving, on the talking pair. "There is nothing silly about Twoleg traps on our territory," he said, not turning to look back at her. "You could easily have been killed. I'm sure Willowstar has taken your injury into consideration, though. In fact, I believe she is taking care of it as we speak."

[Yoko]

Spottedfur's concern warmed her to her paws, though deep within her her pride protested against it. She did not even feel the need to explain that when she said "silly" she meant her own carelessness to stumble into an obvious, although admittedly dangerous, trap.

Puddlepelt glanced over at Willowstar and her brother. What did Spottedfur mean?

"Oh really?" Shellclaw mewed, shocked at first, then his eyes shone with pride...and arrogance. "Why, thank you, Willowstar! I assure you you could not have chosen better! Graypaw and I have already been getting along quite well, right Graypaw?"

He glanced at the apprentice, not sure if he had been paying attention and not caring.

"Well, I suppose I had better go and break the news to Puddle-..." he mewed, trailing off as his gaze fell upon Spottedfur beside his sister at the Medicine Cat Den. "-pelt. Will you please excuse me?"

He dipped his head respectfully towards his leader, the only she-cat the arrogant warrior would ever bow to. Then he trotted in a rather fierce pace over to his sister. He barely restrained himself from tackling Spottedfur, but he stood close enough to count the other cat's whiskers.

"Puddlepelt," he mewed, without taking his gaze off SPottedfur. "You'll be pleased to know that I'll be in charge of Graypaw's training for the time being. Willowstar clearly felt that I'm long overdue for one of my own."

This last bit he emphasized, looking at Spottedfur still and insinuating that the white and black cat was not of higher stature than him just because he had recieved an apprentice first.

"That's nice to know, Shellclaw," Puddlepelt mewed clearly embarrassed of her brother's behavior but Shellclaw ignored this. She's just trying to impress her tom-friend, but he won't be seeing her anymore anyway.

"Puddlepelt," Shellclaw mewed sharply. "You're tired. Go get some rest."

Puddlepelt was livid. She held back an idignant gasp and a stream of curses she was about to lash her brother with. Who was he to cause such an uproar and order her to bed. But she could see that arguing would just make the situation worse.

"It is getting dark. Goodnight Spottedfur," she mewed tenderly, silently asking forgiveness for her brother. She then added pointedly, just to sting her brother. "I'll see you in the morning."

She turned and nearly forgot her injury as she stalked away, but she just avoided stepping on her injured paw. Her stalk turned into a determined hobble, but she was sure that both had gotten the point.

Shellclaw was angered by his sister's insistence on hanging around Spottedfur. He wasn't good enough for her! He was too quiet and solitary. Surely he would not give her all the attention and affection she deserved. And if they had kits he'd probably shun them! Besides, he didn't want to see his strong-willed sister turn into some overly cheerful queen. She was made of tougher stuff than that.

"Yes, goodnight Spottedfur," he mewed coldly, brushing by the warrior to make way to the fresh-kill pile.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Willowstar watched as Shellclaw excused himself to speak with Puddlepelt and Spottedfur. That had been quick, but she was content that he agreed to take over the apprentice's training. He looked very eager about it and she hoped he would be a good choice for a mentor. Now that that matter was settled, she just had to wait until news about the other patrol came back. She sat down by herself, drawing her tongue through her thick silvery fur to occupy herself.

Graypaw barely had any time to react before he heard Willowstar say that Shellclaw would be his temporary mentor. Because Shellclaw then agreed but just as quickly left, going toward the medicine cat's den. Graypaw watched him go, then glanced up at Willowstar who didn't seem to notice. This was unexpected, but he guessed it made sense. He would still need to keep up with his training, after all, even though his mentor wasn't able to train him herself.

A few moments later he saw Shellclaw go away from the two other warriors and head for the fresh-kill pile. Graypaw didn't have anything else to do, so he guess he should go over. He padded across the clearing until he reached the gray and white tom. "Shellclaw?" he asked. "So, you're going to help me in my training, I guess?" His voice a little uncertain, he looked up at him and waited.

[Yoko]

Shellclaw ripped at the fish beneath his claws. Fish. Now that's real RiverClan prey! he thought, trying to distract himself from the anger in his belly. Puddlepelt was clearly going to be stubborn about this Spottedfur thing, and he had to be prepared for a long battle of wills! He snapped out of his thoughts to look up at Graypaw. He smiled widely, a scale in his teeth.

"WHy yes, yes I am," he mewed. "Well, you sure look like an eager one. Good, cause I've got tons to teach you. We start in the morning! Right now, relax and get some sleep. I have a feeling we'll be busy tomorrow!"

He sounded like a confident apprentice himself. This was quite exciting indeed.