Hey dad!

[me]

Singedpaw, a young tabby/siamese cat from ThornClan, emerged from a narrow entrance tunnel into his camp. Almost bursting with the news he had for Specklefeather, he charged over to the leader's den and almost dove headfirst into it. But, as he looked around, he saw to his dismay that the leader wasn't there. Great.

Backing awkwardly out of the den, he sat down flump! in the middle of the camp, and glanced around, looking for some senior warrior or even a younger warrior to tell what he knew. Darkkit... useless. What use would a kit be for a border patrol? He spotted Branchwhisker eating a mouse at the entrance of the warriors' den. Equally useless. The cat was a warrior, at least, but he'd probably go off into some weird philosophical debate of the kind that always left Singedpaw feeling like his fur had been rubbed backwards.

Who else, then? He sat contemplating this for several moments, then sighed and reluctantly got up and began padding towards the apprentices' den. Maybe Greenpaw or Wolfpaw or Timberpaw would be in there, and although he would prefer to talk to a warrior, letting them know would certainly be better than nothing, right?

Suddenly he heard a rustle at one of the main entry tunnels to the camp, and whirled around, trotting quickly towards the noise. He recognized those footsteps in particular better than those of any other cat. "Hi, Blizzardstorm!"

[Timberpaw]

A Siamese tom walked into the ThornClan camp with a plump vole firmly clamped in his jaws. His ears swerved to the side when he heard his son, Singedpaw, meow his name in an urgent voice. Calmly as possible, Blizzardstorm trotted swiftly over to the fresh-kill pile and placed the rodent in it. He noticed how well it was stocking up, and it was great. Nodding to himself, he turned his icy-white-and-black body around and glared down at Singedpaw. He remembered Timberpaw, Wolfpaw, and Blizzardstorm's own apprentice, Greenpaw, in a heartbeat. Wolfpaw was a silver tabby, who was the medicine cat apprentice. Greenpaw was a dark grey tabby with sparkling green eyes that dazzled him when they were training. Timberpaw was a chocolate brown tom, blinded in one emerald eye by birth, but making apprenticeship seem so easy. Only six moons, and he was training greatly with Arcticfire, his mentor. He wondered where the calico she-cat was at the moment. Maybe sleeping, or hunting by herself. Raising an eyebrow, he mewed curiously, "What is it, Singedpaw? Has something happened?" It was a gentle meow, something that he usually never used on anybody. After his mate died, his world was all about Singedpaw.

Blizzardstorm sat down on his sleek, fat, white haunches and looked around. He didn't know where Greenpaw was, and if he did, perhaps they could go hunting. But maybe his son, Singedpaw, wanted to go practice battle moves or hunt? I'm not his mentor! he insisted once more to himself. He hated when he thoughts things that he wasn't supposed to be thinking. But he didn't know if he was the only father who thought that like. Sighing to himself and suppressing a heavy shiver from the biting, freezing cold, he asked, "Is the forest on fire?" Well, young Blizzardstorm would know this, since he just got back from hunting, but he wanted to know what was making Singedpaw so jumpy.

[me]

Singedpaw ran over to his father, purring as loud as he could, and rubbed his head hard against the other cat's side, arching his back and waving his tail happily. "Hi, dad!" He meowed through the purring. After a few moments he backed away and sat down, lashing his tabby-striped tail around excitedly. "You'll never guess what happened!" However, he managed to remain still and waiting for in his father's reply for only about a millisecond before he leapt up again and gouged his angled claws into the ground.

"We had a short training session today, just about hunting, and Sorrelthorn said that I had caught enough to and I was old enough now to explore the territory by myself for the rest of the day, and I went to the place that used to be BreezeClan's territory, and I found their old camp!" he mewed excitedly, and then continued, "but that's not the exciting part. I smelled a MireClan cat, and I saw it, and then I snuck up on it and jumped out in front of her and snarled." He growled loudly for emphasis. "It was weird though. She was an apprentice, not a warrior, and she was a medicine cat apprentice. Said that she'd just wandered over by accident across the border looking for herbs... anyway, I didn't want to attack a medicine cat, or bring her back to camp and show her where everything was in our territory, or tell her to just stay there while I went back to get a warrior, so I escorted her to the border. That's it. Did I do all right?" He asked, looking up at his father hopefully.

[Timberpaw]

Blizzardstorm purred happily as his son trotted cheerfully over to him. The siamese tom was to delighted and curious to meow any more words, and watched as Singedpaw backed away from him and sat down on his slim, ivory haunches. Blizzardstorm heard a gush of words tumbled out of his mouth, and the deputy listened eagerly to what he said. So his own son went into the BreezeClan territory? Did he know how dangerous that could be? Did he go by himself? Sometimes rogues hung out around there, but one if one had attacked Singedpaw. Perhaps he would have never come back. How would Blizzardstorm react to some cat saying that his son died with no point. He wondered why Singedpaw was so excited, when Blizzardstorm was bubbling with frustration and fear. He didn't want to show his son this, so he kept his face looking blissful. He didn't want to make his son angry at him for not approving. And he drove out the medicine cat apprentice of MireClan? Wasn't that Larkpaw, the delicate she-cat with bengal dappled fur? She was beautiful, of course, and if she would have followed the path of a warrior, toms would be trailing behind her tail all day, and perhaps she would make a good leader. But beauty didn't mark it all; Blizzardstorm found out that a personality was the strongest. He didn't care if the cat had a pushed-in face, as long as they were kind, they would do, like Nightheart had been. She was a black she-cat with piercing green eyes that shone like newleaf grass. Blizzardstorm missed her deeply, but he knew that it wasn't the time to think about his past and moan about it.

Nodding, he hesitated, not knowing what to say. He was boiling with madness, but he sighed inwardly, sucked in more air deeply, then mewed carefully and slowly, "I think what you did was for the best, Singedpaw." Blizzardstorm looked down at him and added quickly, "But please have more sense next time, for me. Some cat from another Clan could have killed you when you went into BreezeClan territory and found their camp. You know how I would feel if I lost you, son? But what you did with Larkpaw was great, Singedpaw, and showing her the border was an excellent idea instead of shedding blood. If you would have attacked her and left her wounds, MireClan would remember this, and probably want revenge." Now Blizzardstorm wasn't angry anymore. Grinning thoughtfully, he concluded brightly, "That's good that you were using all of your warrior skills while you were away from your mentor. I'm proud of you!"

[me]

Singedpaw lowered his head and let his tail droop in the face of his father's anger. "Well, I thought I was allowed to go into BreezeClan territory now, after all, it's not theirs anymore, half of it's ours and half of its GaleClan's," he muttered. "And they're long gone. Besides, I haven't heard of any rogues living there..."

But at his father's next words he looked up, excited, and sat up straighter, fluffing his chest fur out and appearing much happier. "Thanks, Blizzardstorm. I was kind of unsure about what to do when I saw the MireClan cat, but I'm glad I made the right decision."

He trotted away a few steps and began sniffing through the freshkill pile. "This is a weird creature," he meowed, pawing at a hairless, mole like animal. "I think I'll try it. I don't like eating fur -- or feathers." The siamese tabby apprentice took a cautious bite, then a larger one, apparently liking the food. "yum -- delicious!"

"So, what's this about rogues on BreezeClan's territory?" He swallowed a bite of weird-mole, then continued. "It's the first I've heard about it. Did something happen while I was gone?"