"Okay- hold still now," his uncle chastised him lightly as he continued to smear more cold streaks of freezing cold mud and slush into his sides. Charlie didn't think he'd ever been this cold in his life- well, discounting that time he accidentally got locked into his old two-leg's ice box- but he'd been found again just moments later and then warmed up next to a nice warm fire. He'd loved his two-leg... boy what a long way from home he was now.
"Ah- that's cold! Why do I have actually look cold and disgusting when I meet the clan cats for the first time again?" the tom-kit asked with a look of distaste evident on his maw as he saw the dark streaks marring his fur. "Because-" his uncle began sharply, pulling back to view his handy work, "you need to look like you're weak and injured so they'll take you back to their camp to see their healer. A clan cat wouldn't leave a kit like you in this snow to die." as if on cue a light snowfall began to fall from the sky, flakes weightless in the air as if gravity itself hardly existed.
"But I'm not a kit anymore," the boy protested, stamping his front two paws which had begun to grow numb in the freezing slush of snow on the ground. "I'm almost seven moons! How old are you anyway?"
His uncle purred in amusement at the reaction from his nephew, whiskers twitching as he chortled about the question, "Much older than that I'll tell you. Come,"
His uncle gestured towards the top of the hill they were standing on, asking for him to follow. He led him to the top of the hill, before them lay what seemed to be a sea of bushes. "There," he pointed with his tail, "The moonhigh patrol will be here any minute now to mark the border. Make sure you're seen." His uncle told him.
"And if they try to attack me?" Charlie asked, glancing towards his uncle who- as his turned his head, seemed to have all but vanished! Suddenly, Charlie felt a deft paw press between his shoulder blades, prompting the young brown and white tom-cat to begin tumbling down the hill in surprise!
His body somersaulted awkwardly until he landed in a clump at the bottom of the hill, his sides and the bottom of his chin each sporting nasty cuts along their surface. Ugh. That did not feel good. In the distance Charlie thought he might be able to smell an oncoming threat.. a group of cats! It must be the patrol!
'Remember your role,' the velvety voice of his uncle played in the back of his mind, prompting the young cat to close his eyes and put his head down in order to make it seem as though he'd been passed out in the territory.
H A Z E L P A W
The fluffy apprentice walked ahead at the mouth of the patrol like it was her job, and not the senior warrior whom Gravelstar had named the one in charge today. Not like she valued anything that tom had to say to her anyway. How could her mother have left so suddenly and left someone like that in charge? What did she see in him? Hazelpaw just couldn't understand. She had known Gravelstar as this meek, cowardly, timid warrior who couldn't speak up against a foul-mouthed apprentice. How was he supposed to run a Clan? She certainly wouldn't be accepting it anytime soon.
Nose stuck high in the air, the grey molly trotted up to their border like she had done many times before. Not like anything exciting ever happened. Border patrols were probably the most boring chore she had ever been assigned in her life, but no matter how much she complained, Gravelstar wouldn't let her change duties for the day.
Snorting to herself, Hazelpaw suddenly stopped in her step. StarClan, something reeks! Her face scrunched up in disgust. It almost smelled as foul as the dirtplace tunnel. Hesitant to get any closer to something that smelled so awful, but also curious with a deep need to know what could cause something so pungent, the ThunderClanner crept closer to the source of the scent. Before her laid an awkward scene. Some sort of oddly proportioned creature was sprawled over like fresh-kill. Its position was so...strange and seemed like it was toppled over unexpectedly, with the bizarre way its limbs slumped. More than that, why was it pretending to be unconscious? Its eyes were closed, but its ears twitched as she approached and its nostrils flared as if panic was not too far away.
"What in StarClan's name is this supposed to be?"