I'm Aching to Go, but You're Just Aching

The late greenleaf morning was cloudy, just like Halfpaw's mood. Gray, swirly, and boring. A few sparrows and larks chirped harshly overhead, seemingly giving orders to the cats below. The chilly, dry air smelled like rain, Halfpaw's favorite. who didn't love getting soaked, freezing to the bone?

Despite her bad mood, Halfpaw wanted badly to go out into the territory. Actually, she was in the bad mood because she wanted to go into the territory. Though her ceremony had been many sunrises ago, she hadn't gotten to leave camp once. Once! How was she supposed to prove her potential to Lichenkit, or train to be the greatest cat in the clan if she was stuck inside camp all day? Watching her fellow apprentices leave was making her antsy. When would Dandeliondapple get better?

Dandeliondapple had gotten badly hurt by the mist during the last gathering, and Halfpaw supposed she should just be glad that she was even alive. She hadn't really had any chance to get to know her mentor, and the few times she had gone to visit her, she had been sleeping and Halfpaw had been told that she was not to wake her. She was healing, she supposed, and rest was much needed. But maybe Halfpaw should try and visit her again. An apprentice should at least know a little about her new mentor. Padding over to the fresh-kill pile, she tried to think of what she would talk about with Dandeliondapple. What could they talk about? She picked out the plumpest squirrel from the pile, and dragged it over to the medicine cat's den. The squirrel was almost as big as Halfpaw, and she was too small to pick it up completely off of the ground, so it's fur stirred up a cloud of dust. Halfpaw choked, dropping the squirrel. When she finished coughing her lungs up, she choked out, "Fox-dung!"

When she finally had dragged the heavy squirrel into the medicine cats den, she stopped. She didn't really know what to do; should she invite herself in, or wait for the medicine cat? After a moment of thought, she whispered into the quiet den, "Dandeliondapple? Are you awake?"