It All Comes Down To This [closed]

The quiet gossip in the council of senior warriors was what drew Loonwhisper up and away. He was invited into these circles by virtue of his position, not by age, and had very little to relate to them with. He had not seen the seasons they had. Perhaps that should have made him more trusting of their opinions, and their sage wisdom. They had seen it all before, and they knew what was important, what was urgent, and what was neither. But he never liked when they talked so harshly of clanmates, much less the ones they did not understand. He rolled out from behind the Willow Branch where they all sat, chatting, and listened to the quiet trickle of the river.

It was more than a matter of misunderstanding, here. The whole camp was abuzz with talk of Ivystar, for more than one reason. One of them concerned him, though, as the matter of apprentices was one which was mostly delegated to him. Both deputy and leader watched over the training of apprentices, but only one had the final say: Ivystar.

A new smell came on the wind, hot and grimy. Loonwhisper wrinkled his nose. They were returning already. He twisted, orbiting for a glimpse of the sisters as they enjoyed the sunhigh heat. They would have never seen such creatures before. They must become acquainted with them, under the feathers of a cat who could protect them. They were far too trusting otherwise. That was, allegedly, half the problem.

"Hooo-OOO," Loonwhisper called, his eyes darkening to an evening forest, fixated on the pair. "We will go to the west border."

They would obey; Mountainpaw and Sneezingpaw loved to move.

Mountainpaw lay spread-eagled under Sneezingpaw, taking in some quick rays of hot sun before their- what, fifteenth?- round of tag. Her leg kicked twice, responding to the lovely dream she was having. Racing hares. They seemed rather more cooperative than real hares, of which she'd only seen one. It had run away from her. A shame, though she preferred playing with Sneezingpaw over hares anyway so it was okay.

A distinct call got her attention, which it wouldn't have had she not been in such a light sleep. She tapped Karbo with a beefy paw, though she knew that she was probably already awake. She was really good at waking up! mountainpaw wasn't, she always slept through being called. Maybe it was because of the snoring.

The large apprentice bounced upright and galloped over to Loonwhisper, grinning. "Hoo-hoo! Where are we going? Are you going to teach us to hunt? I already know how to hunt, but I bet you could teach me how to do it better! Or are we going swimming> Mom always takes us swimming, are you doing it instead this time?" Her eyes gleamed expectantly.