A Chance Encounter

[Yoko]

The night air was new and fresh. The scent of the river, dark and softly weaving around the camp, seemed to enshroud her. It was just dark, and somewhere in the distance there was a faint orange glow where the sun had once been and was lingering just out of sight. The rest of Silverpelt was dark violet and the first warrior was just rising.

Pebblepaw yawned, tired from a long day of apprentice chores. Her paws were a little heavy and her head was really low. With dull gray eyes half-lowered, she trailed through the camp like a ghost. Life in camp seemed to be going along splendidly without her.

Before she even realized it, she was heading for the camp entrance, not really sure where she was going, but also unable to bare the smiling and soft chatter of her Clanmates. She did not fit in here. She had to get out. Suddenly, she eased from a slow walk to a swift, almost hurried, trot. Her eyes were so fixed on that camp entrance she hardly noticed her other Clanmates anymore, particularly her fellow apprentices.

ooc: *nudges Amber to post Cloverpaw secretly*

[Amber]

Cloverpaw had spent the majority of the night lounging around and actually taking a nap. She never really took naps, but it felt good to her, and now she was refreshed. The orange she-cat padded out of the apprentices den and scanned the clearing. Looks like the usual was going on, so pretty much, nothing interesting. She did, however, notice her friend padding away. As if something struck Pebblepaw, the other apprentice had quickened her pace. What in the world was going on? Curious as to where Pebblepaw was going and what she was planning, the apprentice ran after her friend, catching up after some time.

"Pebblepaw! Where are you going? I was just coming out of the den to see if you wanted to hang out or something." Cloverpaw called out to the gray apprentice. She was feeling a little lonely without Ivypaw and Pebblepaw was like another sister to her.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Graypaw yawned and rolled over a bit to reach the fur on his back. He was in a happy bliss, having had a rather good day- no, week, and he seemed to be in a perpetually good mood. His mentor was recovering and would hopefully be back to warrior duties soon- that was good but it wasn't like he was impatient for that. He had been getting along extremely well with Shellclaw and the two had gotten a lot of training done in they days that they had been working together. Of course he wished his mentor well but he also wasn't eager for the end of his training with the tom warrior.

He had trained a bit this morning, did a few chores but mostly had a relaxing day. Glancing around camp, he saw that since sunset there were still several cats out and about, enjoying the night and the break from the hot weather during the day. He saw two familiar she-cats near the entrance of camp and watched curiously. He hadn't been hanging out with any of the other apprentices recently- not that he ever did, but now it seemed like it was even less- and he was curious to see what Pebblepaw and Cloverpaw had been up to. He knew that they were close friends but hopefully they wouldn't mind some company. Getting up, Graypaw bounded merrily over with an enthusiastic smile on his face.

"Hi, what's up?" he simply said with a hint of curiosity.

[Yoko]

Pebblepaw halted midstep and turned to Cloverpaw a little bewildered. She had no idea where she had been going, but was now in the awkward position of explaining it. She tried to remember what had upset her so she could explain that she had been trying to escape it. But that seemed silly to her now. She looked down at her paws, her gray eyes scrunched as she tried to think of something.

"I-um-well you see-my mentor-and then every cat was so happy- and I wasn't," she mumbled.

Couldn't she even say a simple sentence. Her head jolted up at the sound of Graypaw's voice, and she felt chills now that two pairs of curious eyes were on her.

"I...was going...hunting..." she mewed sofly, her face burning.

It wasn't exactly untrue. She did not know where she had been going, so she might have very well been going out to hunt. She inhaled deeply, and mewed more confidently, with a shy smile, "Yes, I was going hunting. Would you two like to come?"

Her eyes widened, had she said that really? She added quickly, "I mean you don't have to if your busy!..I just thought...since we're friends and all...it would be...fun."

[Amber]

Cloverpaw stopped the glares at her friend when another set of pawsteps approached. The questioning with Pebblepaw would continue in a moment, looks like there were more distractions to happen. Turning slightly she noticed the younger apprentice, Graypaw nearing them. What could he possibly want with them? Just idle chit chat? His question was a good one, she was still wondering what was up with Pebblepaw. "Nothing much with me, the usual." was her calm reply. Turning back to her friend she continued her glare.

What in the world had gotten into Pebblepaw? She was speaking sentences that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Even Ivypaw was more talkative and had clearer sentences than that. Whatever her friend had been saying at first was not nearly the same as what had finally come out of her mouth. Cloverpaw was wondering what she was originally going to say, but she wouldn't pressure it.

"Hunting? I would be glad to come. I need to get out of camp and do something, my paws are itching." Cloverpaw nodded eagerly. "Count me in, you know I'm always up for doing something." she added. Turning to the tom of the group she smiled slightly. "You wanna come with us? I don't bite, and I don't think Pebblepaw will."

[Yoko]

Pebblepaw shivered. They wanted to come too? Oh no! She should not have lied. The guilt washed over her immediately. And now they were going to see what a terrible hunter she was? How awful! But she took a few deep breaths, certain that it could be worse. She laughed nervously at Cloverpaw's words.

"O-o-of course, I won't bite!" she mewed with a light airy laugh.

She felt warm all over now. They were her friends, weren't they? She turned around and started to lead them out of camp, but she paused, thinking that might be rude. So she backed up to walk next to Cloverpaw, but low and behold, she was standing next to Graypaw as well! One glance at him, and her gaze went straight to the camp floor. This would be an interesting hunt.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Graypaw watched curiously as Pebblepaw spoke, a little more than she normally did, even inviting them to go hunting with her. She quickly backed up and claimed they didn't have to go hunting if they didn't want to, so he supposed she was still her normal self. Oh well, Graypaw was pondering whether or not he should go with despite that. He hadn't hunted today, although he had been relaxing for a while and was thinking of going to sleep early. But Shellclaw wasn't around, so... why not? Pebblepaw and Cloverpaw were friendly and he always enjoyed hanging out with others.

When Cloverpaw invited him to join as well, a grin broke out on his face. "Sure!" he said enthusiastically, eyes lighting up at the thought of the three of them being out with no mentors. He hadn't done that before so this would be exciting. As they made their way out of camp Graypaw trotted along beside the two she-cats, unaware of Pebblepaw's nervousness.