iT iS tIME
It was some days later, as Falconstar gazed up at the gleaming of the moon nearly full in the dark sky, and rested in the beams shimmering from it that slightly caused the edges of his den and his pelt to glow white. He was seated at the edge of the Shoutbox, looking from the moon to the clan camp and back again.
“Many of our apprentices will be made warriors soon,” he spoke aloud to himself, his voice failing to carry so that only he could hear, “and kits are on the way. Good things are happening.”
His gaze drifted to the apprentice’s den for a moment.
“Maybe the fire in my dream won’t come.”
He curled up into a ball, allowing the cold of the stone to comfort his pelt in contrast to the earlier sunny day.
Hollykit was watching Scarletpaw and Ashpaw play together, admiring their deep bond as sisters. Flamepaw observed beside her, every now and then letting out little growling noises, and a small laugh when one of the other apprentices topped over midst their game.
“Flamepaw, why do you like to growl a lot?”
Hollykit squeaked quite suddenly, turning her wide eyes to look at the ginger apprentice, whose expression seemed to flash with surprise and perhaps even slight discomfort at the question. But immediately it disappeared, and the calmness returned to the apprentice’s face, which always looked so out of place on her childlike figure.
“
Be silent, minion,” Flamepaw replied, though her voice was more gentle than usual, since she bore much warmth for this kit and yet was reluctant to admit it, “
you ask too many questions.”
Hollykit returned her innocent gaze to the scuffling apprentices, and then after a moment’s pause she whipped her head around to look at Flamepaw again and mewed,
“Why do you call everyone ‘minion’?”
Flamepaw sighed exasperatedly and stared at the sky, as if willing StarClan to send some cat to hush the little kit.
“
Minion, please,” Flamepaw grunted, “
I wish to enjoy the sisters’ violence!”
“I wish not to,”
Hollykit squealed, and then rushed with extremely and almost intimidatingly nimble paws to the nursery, in order to talk to her friend in the lady cat’s belly: the friend who was the only one who ever understood her.
- - -
“Anything to report?”
Falconstar murmured to Pricklepelt, his fill-in deputy for the time being, while Beka raised Hollykit.
“Somewhat,” replied Pricklepelt.
Falconstar’s eyes widened, and he asked with a bit of startledness,
“
Somewhat? Pricklepelt, be honest with me. What could you possibly mean by
somewhat?”
“I somewhat mean what I somewhat mean,” Pricklepelt mewed, nodding as if having said something philosophical.
Falconstar shook his head and sighed, then mewed,
“Is there any activity from TheOtherClan? Foxes? Badgers? Worse?”
“Oh,” whispered Pricklepelt, “far worse.”
“Far worse?” echoed Falconstar, increasingly concerned.
Pricklepelt’s gaze turned to the side, off into the distance, looking as indifferent as ever.
“Somewhat.”
Annoyance began to grow in Falconstar’s already unsettled nerves, and he asked,
“What is it?”
“It is extremely sad. It is the worst news upon all worst news,” replied Pricklepelt.
“It is?!”
“Somewhat,” Pricklepelt replied.
“Great StarClan!” exclaimed Falconstar, and then he took a moment to mutter under his breath how StarClan wasn’t actually great, “what could it possibly be?!”
“I’m leaving the Clan,” Pricklepelt mewed.
A moment of silence passed, then Falconstar replied,
“Oh.”
Another moment of silence.
“Well, have fun with that. Holacanolafur, you’re the new deputy.”
Holacanolafur looked up.
“
Yesss!” he mewed.
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Featuring
✿Lonely Lord Cactus✿ as Pricklepelt for a special farewell appearance