Pocket full of peonies

A warm breeze filtered through the trees as Shrewpaw lead her fellow apprentice deeper into their territory. They had left camp unaccompanied by a warrior, or rather they had snuck out while no one was looking for one purpose. Flowers. Shrewpaw had loved the looks on their clanmate's faces when gifted with those pretty little plants, and it was time to replenish her stock. Aside from the company Shrewpaw was glad to have the extra body. Two cats could carry more flowers than just one, and this way she would be able to spend more time with Peonypaw before she inevitably left Shrewpaw behind.

"We're here!" The golden molly exclaimed as various colors burst from the greenery. The patch of flowers had been a truly beautiful sight, but multiple trips to and from had shrunk the numbers of the flowers that remained. Shrewpaw felt a spike of guilt at that. Still the molly kept her smile present, nudging Peonypaw as she rushed forward to inspect the flowers. Shrewpaw had a routine for what flowers she would pick. First would always be something pretty for Copperlark, second would be another daisy to replace the one that now wilted atop her head, and third... Well, at that point she just began picking at random. This time however, an absolutely gorgeous specimen caught her eye. "You're perfect!" Vibrant, beautiful petals, and- oh, did it just wave at her? Shrewpaw knew just who to give this one to!

Tipping her head toward Peonypaw, the apprentice spoke. "Find anything pretty yet, Peonypaw?"

Peonypaw was looking around after replacing her dying peony flower. She saw a lot of pretty flowers but what caught her eyes the most were the feathers. They were everywhere! She saw started picking them up and added them to the flowers she was already carrying. She found some sparrow, Finches, Whinchats, Eagles, hawks, and even a few owl ones. she padded up to shrewpaw with a bright smile and a full mouth  

"Boo!" A mottled wanderer poked his weirdly damp head out from behind a bush beside the calico she-cat. An obnoxious cackle sounded not too long after, his lanky body padding out into the open. It was probably more funny to him than the calico, but he didn't need to make anyone else laugh! He knew he was funny.

He eyed the miscellaneous feathers and flowers, squinting a single yellow eye in question. "What curious things are the two of you up to? Building a nest?"

Shrewpaw marveled at the treasures her friend had found. Pretty flowers yes, but feathers also filled the bundle, giving the golden molly a good idea. These feathers belonged to Peonypaw though, she would have to see if her fellow apprentice would approve of the idea first.

Shrewpaw's collection this time was far smaller than it was typically, but that would be fine. Too much flower picking would lead the patch to dry up completely. A flick of her tail signaled for Peonypaw to follow as the golden molly began padding back in the direction of camp. Shrewpaw nearly jumped out of her own pelt as an unfamiliar voice broke the silence. The molly whipped around to see a downright greasy head poking out of the bushes near Peonypaw, and without thinking Shrewpaw moved closer to her friend. The stranger's intentions were unclear, but he was a trespasser on their territory. Could he be here for nefarious purposes? He hadn't moved to attack them yet... Maybe?

The colorful bundle was discarded at the apprentice's paws as she eyed the tom. It looked like he hadn't bathed himself in moons. Shrewpaw kept her guard up as she addressed the tom tentatively. "We already have nests mister, just picking some flowers... Who're you?" And why was he here, though that should have been obvious.

peonypaw was padding back to shrewpaw when a cat behind her scared her. She jumped, biting down on her bundle and then dropping them on accident, before landing on her paws with her fur on end. She looked down at her batch of feathers and flowers, some of them now damaged. With teary eyes she looked at shrewpaw take a protective stance and she followed.

Peonypaw turned to the stranger in a protective glace, still teary eyed about her loss. "That was very mean." she mewed softly slowely pawing at the good feathers and flowers, still looking at the stranger.