Ravenpaw watched with amusement as Stormkit rolled on the nursery ground, caught in a tussle with Dustkit that was obviously going her way. Her kit-fluffed brown tabby fur was bristling, and she had mock aggression in her eyes as they broke away. She dug her sharp kit claws into the ground, snarling playfully. Dustkit stared back with a similar snarl. He launched himself forward on unsteady paws, and Stormkit squealed and ran back to Goldenpool's nest, tucking behind her golden tabby mother, though after a moment her glowing gold eyes peaked over her mother's back, ears flat.

Dustkit ran for her, and she disappeared again. Dustkit scrambled into the nest and raced over his mother's side, and she grunted with amusement. Dustkit raised his head again, searching the nursery, and Ravenpaw guessed Stormkit wasn't there. As he turned his head away, Ravenpaw spotted Stormkit sneaking out from under her mother's neck where she had tucked herself away, and she raced to Ravenpaw, hiding behind his lean frame right as Dustkit looked back again.

Stormkit squealed, and Ravenpaw looked back to see that Heatherkit had come from hiding and attacked her sister. Yowling in his weak kit tone, Dustkit bounded on his soft, stubby legs to his sisters and cannoned into them. Ravenpaw scooted away from the tussling kits, watching them in amusement. Stormkit was getting overpowered by both her littermates, so he decided to nudge Dustkit with his nose to free his sister, and added a small push to Heatherkit.

The kit squealed like she had been wounded and rolled away with amusement, while Stormkit leaped up and tackled Dustkit, mewling and wiggling. Heatherkit tried to attack as well, wanting to team up with her brother, but Ravenpaw kept her back with a paw, so she went for his muzzle instead, small kit-claws swiping at his whiskers.

Ravenpaw scooted away, then got into a playful crouch, whiskers twitching. Heatherkit rocked her haunches and was about to leap, when Ravenpaw was distracted by a cat calling for him from the clearing. "Ravenpaw!" He straightened, much to Heatherkit's disappointment, and waved his tail in goodbye before leaving the den and emerging into the pale sunlight.

Jaypaw looked over his where he was licking his paw, and stood, shaking out his fur. "Mossrain said you'd be in there! It was a big surprise," Jaypaw taunted playfully, and Ravenpaw purred.

"What do you need?" He touched his brother's cheek with his nose, enjoying his forest-cat scent.

"I'm going out to get moss, and I thought you'd like to get some herbs. When I asked Mossrain about it, he said to grab feverfew and dock. One should be by a big patch of moss, but I can't remember which."

"That'd be dock," Ravenpaw was proud that he knew the answer. Wanting to prove his self worth, he added, "dock's used to soothe scratches, while feverfew cools down a cat's body temperature."

Jaypaw showed no sign of recognition, and after a moment he flicked away for the camp entrance. Feeling like he was annoying his brother, Ravenpaw ducked his head and pattered after him, trying to keep his pawsteps quiet. They almost made it to the forest entrance unnoticed.

"Where are you two going?" The brothers turned their heads in excitement at the voice. Boulderclaw was padding over, Blossompaw no where in sight, to Ravenpaw's slight disappointment. 

"I'm going to collect moss for Dappletail and Ravenpaw is getting herbs," Jaypaw answered innocently. Almost too innocently.

"Do you want some company?" Boulderclaw asked calmly.

"No!" Jaypaw squeaked, fur puffing. "Just some brotherly time," he mended after a moment.

Boulderclaw looked at them suspiciously, then meowed, "stay near camp. Those Twolegs are still out there." Then he turned and padded away. Jaypaw let out a sigh of relief and hurried from the camp, bounding down the rocks.

Ravenpaw scrambled behind him, and asked as they reached the forest ground, "so where are we really going?" He greatly suspected his brother had been lying about their intentions.

"I want to explore," Jaypaw answered, "without Foxpounce on my tail all the time. I want a break from constant training."

"I don't know," Ravenpaw said hesitantly as he followed his brother through the bushes. "We could get in trouble, and Mossrain is expecting that feverfew and dock..."

"We'll pick some up on our way home," Jaypaw meowed confidently, taking a happy little leap over a tree root. Ravenpaw took a careful step, not wanting to trip, before hurrying to catch up to his brother, avoiding a bush while Jaypaw pushed right past it, his thick fur keeping him free of scratches.

The two littermates continued on for some while, in the direction Ravenpaw remembered taking to get to the Gathering. Traveling along a heavy trail, grass flattened from generations of pawsteps, the brothers got farther and farther from camp and closer to the territory boundary. Ravenpaw's pads were raw and burning by the time they finally entered the clearing of the Gathering Hollow, and Jaypaw took a deep breath of air.

Ravenpaw sniffed as well, then flinched as a branch cracked somewhere in the trees. "Did you hear that?" 

"Hear what?" Jaypaw was barely listening to his brother, going to the stream in the hollow and taking cooling licks. Ravenpaw hurried to stay by his side.

"I heard something, in the forest." Ravenpaw suddenly remembered his father's warning, and felt dread drop into his gut, weighing him down. "What if it's a Twoleg? Or one of their dogs?"

"No way!" Jaypaw snorted. "They're way down near SageClan territory, where they found the Twoleg! They're no where around us." He leaned down to continue drinking, but stopped when there was rustling bushes, and looked over. Instead of fear or surprise in his gaze, Ravenpaw could see excitement in Jaypaw's eyes.

Ravenpaw opened his jaws to say something, but then a cat slipped from the bushes. Her fur bristled, light green eyes flashing with anger. "What is he doing here?" Blossompaw hissed, looking at Ravenpaw.

I'm sorry for the short chapter and the extremely long break (and the bad writing) but I've been having the worst writers' block with this story. I hope you can still enjoy.