-- edgeclan [1x1]

Anxiety was gnawing at him like a half-starved wolf. This clearly wasn’t the first time he had left camp when he shouldn’t, but this was the first time he was doing it with somebody else, and not only that, but he was sneaking out with Moonpaw, and to add even more to all this, they were going to track down the creature he had spotted the night before. There was so much more that could go wrong than usual when he snuck out - everything from Weaselpaw messing something up to Moonpaw getting in trouble or even them coming across the creature only to find out it was hostile. A lot was being put at stake here, and Weaselpaw couldn’t keep down the thought that maybe he just needed to tell Moonpaw that he wasn’t interested in this anymore and that they needed to just head back to their dens to sleep the rest of the night, but he shook it off rather quickly. The plan was already in motion, and he wasn’t about to disappoint Moonpaw. He also wasn’t about to give up time he could spend with her, and finding the creature did mean something to him. He didn’t know what yet, but he wanted to find it with some other cat so that maybe he could even believe that he had spotted something in the woods.

The ginger and white tom took a moment to calm his nerves, and once he felt okay enough to continue, he quickly and quietly slipped away from his nest. Sneaking out was easy for him as he did it a lot to just get away and be by himself, and it didn’t take him long to sneak his way toward the back of camp where, fortunately, Moonpaw was waiting for him.

A small smile pulled at his lips as he spotted the familiar dilute calico in the shadows. ”Sorry if I kept you waiting,” he murmured as quiet as he could, not wanting his voice to carry and be heard by any nearby cats or by any of the warriors guarding camp for the night. It didn’t look like Moonpaw had been waiting for long, but either way, he wanted to apologize just in case.

Relief from hearing that he hadn’t kept Moonpaw waiting for long had Weaselpaw slacking his body, letting loose his shoulders that had been tense. He let out a sigh before looking at the molly as she asked her question. ”I…” He paused his words, amber eyes shifting back down toward the ground. If he was being honest sleep had been hard to come by. That didn’t surprise him, sleeping had never been that easy of a task for him, and anticipation for something like this only made it harder for him to successfully sleep. ”I got enough,” he answered after a moment of silence. It wasn’t that big of a lie, if it was even a lie at all. He could function pretty easily on a small amount of sleep.

Without wasting any time Weaselpaw followed after the calico as she made the way out of camp. Weaselpaw gave one last look around the camp to make sure no other cat had noticed them. With the coast looking clear, he placed his attention back on Moonpaw, ears swiveling forward as he heard her next question enter the air. ”I was out near Clearwater Pond, so we don’t have to go too far.” The body of water was relatively close to camp, close enough that they could have a good amount of searching and still be able to get back to camp before even the earliest waking warriors noticed their absence.

Weaselpaw momentarily froze under Moonpaw’s gaze, a paw hanging high in the air and his maw parted open just a tad as if he had been trying to breathe through his mouth rather than his nose. He looked at the other apprentice with wide eyes, a sliver of anxiety shining in their amber depths. Was she going to say something about his lack of sleep? Was he going to have to convince her that he was honestly feeling much better than he had this morning and that he was able to go on this little adventure with her? He didn’t want to ruin his chances of spending time with Moonpaw, and he didn’t want to ruin his chances of tracking down this creature he had spotted the night before, but if this came down to a battle of convincing then he might as well tell this outing goodbye.

Luckily for him, it seemed as if Moonpaw was going to drop it. The bi-colored tom let out a relieved sigh, his body finally relaxing and his paw landing back on the ground with a soft whisper against the short grass. ”Ah, um,” Weaselpaw stammered out, not having expected Moonpaw’s questions. He shook his head, clearing his throat as he did in hopes that it would help him answer the rather simple inquiries Moonpaw was throwing his way. ”It looked huge, Moonpaw,” he told the molly after a moment, scrunching up his nose as he tried to remember enough details for them to go off of. ”I didn’t even get that close to it, but I bet it was bigger than even an elk!” He had only seen an elk once in his life so far, but the creature had been huge. ”I bet it’s bigger than a moose, too,” he added, knowing that moose were even bigger than elk, though whereas he had seen an elk before, he had yet to come across a moose. But from what he had heard, moose were terrifyingly large, and Weaselpaw could only imagine the fear he’d feel if he ever came across one.

Weaselpaw had to stop himself from almost running right into a thorny thicket as he tried to focus on Moonpaw and her questions more than where he was going. Luckily he was able to save himself from any embarrassment and managed to swerve just in time to miss the briars. Even still he leaned his head down and gave a few licks to his chest, hoping Moonpaw hadn’t caught his almost failure.

Once he had gotten over that little spell, he swerved his ears in the molly’s direction, deciding he might as well use his eyes to look at what was ahead of him and use his ears to focus more on his companion at the moment rather than the other way around. He scrunched his nose in thought, trying to remember if he had been able to smell the creature or not. ”I...don’t think I got close enough to smell it,” he admitted after a moment. ”Maybe if we find a scent trail we don’t recognize it could be the creature.” Or a surplus of other things, but he kept that thought to himself rather than say it aloud to Moonpaw, all the while unaware of her speaking softly to what he would have perceived as herself.

Silence didn’t bother Weaselpaw like it did most cats. With silence he didn’t have to worry about speaking and slipping on his words or saying something incredibly dumb. In silence all he had to do was worry on focusing, and even if he still sucked at that, he did it a lot better than a lot of other things.

He was actually content on staying silent out there with Moonpaw for longer, actually feeling somewhat useful for once as he put his tracking skills to the test. He had always been told he had impressive tracking skills once he actually got over his nerves and concentrated, and right now he was able to do just that; he hadn’t picked up anything unusual yet, but Weaselpaw could make out the sharp scent of an owl nearby, and beyond that was the faint smell of an EdgeClan patrol that must have been this way early that very morning. Beyond that, though, he didn’t get much else, and that was disheartening to say the least.

The fur along his spine bristled slightly in surprise when Moonpaw broke the silence. He froze, eyes going wide as he looked up at her like he was a kit that had just been caught in a lie. ”N-no… No, I haven’t,” he murmured, quickly looking down at his paws as they shuffled across the ground. ”I, uh...should I have?” He questioned, unsure on whether or not this was something he should have told some other cat. He probably should have told Salmonstar and Shadowcaster that there was a new potential threat on the territory, or at the very least he should have informed Lightflame, but Weaselpaw has no idea how to even start trying to explain what he had saw to any of the older cats. He could have tried telling Sagewatcher, or maybe even one of his adopted siblings, but he had no idea on what to say, so Moonpaw has been the best option, and even then he had been reluctant to tell her.

Unlike Weaselpaw, Moonpaw had a good head on her shoulder. She was able to think things through where Weaselpaw could barely even look at a bug without having some sort of panic attack over something or another. He wasn’t level headed or anything like that, he was just a nervous apprentice that couldn't do anything right. Or, well, according to Moonpaw he had done one thing right, but even then it wasn’t like it was a big thing.

Even still her slight praise brought a surge of warmth running through him. He smiled softly through the darkness of night toward the molly. ”Yeah...you’re right, it is good I didn’t tell, and now it’s just-” He stopped his statement midway, noticing that Moonpaw suddenly seemed distracted. He tilted his head to the side, looking at her as his smile from earlier turned into a frown of concern. ”Moonpaw? You alright?” It sounded like he could pick up her voice as well, but she clearly wasn’t talking to him, and if she wasn’t talking to him, then who was she talking to?

Despite Moonpaw's reassurance that she was fine, Weaselpaw didn't feel all that inclined to believe her fully. He hated that he felt that way, he wanted to believe the molly completely, but something felt off, something was odd. He couldn't place a paw on it, but Moonpaw seemed to be avoiding something. While Weaselpaw wasn't good at many things, he could easily tell when another cat was playing the same game he played on a daily basis, and that was the game of avoiding the real answer. The more he thought about it the more he realized that was just him being an expert liar, and he didn't like the sound of that, but...well, that's what he was, he supposed. Or maybe not a liar, but just somebody who didn't give the full truth. Yeah, yeah, he liked the sound of that better. 

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get lost in those sort of thoughts. He could think about everything he wanted to later.

Trapped in his thoughts, he had missed whatever it was that had startled Moonpaw enough to back up into him and try to hide in his fur.

Warmth flushed the tomcat when he realized just how close Moonpaw was to him, but he tried not to focus on that. Something had spooked her, and she was clearly turning to him for some sort of comfort. 

"Where...where was it?" He whispered, swiveling his ears around in all directions to see if he could catch sound of anything, his eyes darting around the forest in hopes of catching sight of something. He parted his mouth as well, drawing in the air around him for any odd scents. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, at least not yet, because he knew Moonpaw had seen something out there. She was brave, and if something had startled here, then that meant there had to be something truly out there.

Right. They should investigate. That was the whole point for them being out here in the first place, to see if they could track down whatever it was that Weaselpaw had spotted the night before. Now wasn’t the time to be scared. Now was the time to embrace a hidden bravery that surely even a cat like Weaselpaw had deep down inside of him.

… Oh, who was he kidding? Weaselpaw was nothing more than a coward. He was meek, timid, and an overall nuisance to any other cats around him, but...but finding this creature was, in many ways, important to him. And with Moonpaw by his side, he felt like he could do a lot more. In a way she was a comfort to him. She was there to help him and clearly she was willing to go out on some wacky adventure with him to try and find some unidentified creature in the forest at night. He believed Moonpaw could do whatever she set her mind to, and if he believed in Moonpaw, then perhaps Weaselpaw could believe in himself, too.

With a surge of confidence, Weaselpaw stepped forward, not stopping until he was a few pawsteps ahead of Moonpaw now. He had the direction where she had spotted the creature, all he had to do was head that way.

As he pushed forward, Weaselpaw mindlessly placed his tail gently against Moonpaw’s flank as if to subconsciously offer comfort, and even reliance. He continued on, taking careful steps through the undergrowth. After walking a few fox-lengths ahead, something caught Weaselpaw’s attention. Something had caught his attention in a nearby area where the foliage didn’t grow and had left a bare patch of earth. Weaselpaw stopped as he came to stand beside it, copper eyes growing wide as he observed the largest pawprint - or what he assumed to be a pawprint - he had ever lay his eyes upon. ”Hey, Moonpaw…” He started, not taking his eyes off the print. ”You should come look at this.”

Weaselpaw couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t sure what he was staring at - well, he knew he was staring at a pawprint, but from what, he had no idea. He was hoping Moonpaw would have some answers, but not even the calico had an answer for what could have made this imprint.

The ginger and white tom was silent for a long moment. All he could do was stare down at the pawprint, until finally, he found his voice. ”I...I don’t know,” he stammered weakly. ”But…” He trailed off, finally able to take his eyes off the track to glance forward. His tail flicked in thought, and while butterflies danced in his stomach, a surge of wanting to know burned through him. ”I bet it’s from the creature. Maybe there’s more prints…” He murmured, trailing off as he started to slowly pad forward, creeping through the woods at a slow pace as he stared at the ground, searching for more signs of pawsteps. If there was one thing Weaselpaw excelled in, it was tracking, so if he kept his focus on this and didn’t let his usual nerves get in the way, he was sure to find a trail for both him and Moonpaw to follow.

Tracking had always come easy to Weaselpaw. It was something he could actually do. It was perhaps the only skill he possessed, and with that being the case, it was all he had to give right now on this search for whatever was out there. If they were going to find out what he had spotted the other night, if they were going to find out what was making these tracks, he needed to put his skills to use.

Swallowing down yet another bout of nerves that wanted to come up, Weaselpaw continued forward, mouth ajar as he took in the air around him. He mostly caught the crisp scents of night air, but there was a vague undertone of musk. Not incredibly fresh, perhaps a day or two old, but it was there, and it was enough to give Weaselpaw the incentive to keep heading on.

Now focused on tracking, Weaselpaw didn’t even stop to look over at Moonpaw as she asked about the steps of the animal. The ginger and white tomcat rolled his shoulders underneath his skin in an attempt at a shrug. ”I’m not sure. If I can just… Another one!” Weaselpaw stopped in his tracks, the fur along his spine bristling outward as he stared down at the ground. A few pawsteps ahead of him was yet another indentation in the ground. Once again it was large, certainly not from an animal Weaselpaw had seen before. He finally turned to look over his shoulder at Moonpaw, motioning with his tail for her to come up and look at the second track.

This thing was absolutely huge, and Moonpaw was right. The space between this track and the last was monstrous. He couldn’t imagine how large something had to be to make such wide spaces between their paws, and yet… Was this thing bigger than a moose? Weaselpaw was already aware that moose were huge, but…was this thing bigger?

He swallowed, eyes wide as he looked the track over in silence a moment longer. He shook his head. ”If the creature was walking straight, and the last pawstep was pretty far, then…” Weaselpaw trailed off, doing some quick calculations in his mind before darting off, not stopping until he came across a rotting log nearby. And there, not too far off, like he had thought, was another indentation in the ground of a pawprint.

”Yeah, Moonpaw, there’s more! I think…I think I know where it was headed!” If the path continued straight this way, then the creature had to be headed toward the mystery that was Spiral Rocks.

Weaselpaw paused in his tracking just long enough to respond to Moonpaw. ”Spiral Rocks,” he answered, looking over his shoulder to eye the fluffy molly. This was rather interesting information given the mystery that surrounded Spiral Rocks. A lot of EdgeClan cats already believed that the place was odd, a place that felt like it went even beyond StarClan’s knowledge, and knowing that this creature seemed to be heading there…it gave Weaselpaw some kind of jolt, like he needed to keep on going and figure this all out. He didn’t feel afraid anymore, only invigorated.

But just as he was about to continue, the harsh cry of a lark split through what had otherwise been silent.

Weaselpaw tensed. He looked toward the sky, noticing the creamy pinks and yellows of the coming dawn.

He shot a worried look toward Moonpaw. ”We weren’t supposed to be out all night…” What if cats noticed they were gone? What if Salmonstar or Shadowcaster sent out patrols looking for them? They were going to be in so much trouble… Weaselpaw had only barely managed getting away with this the night before, but now he wasn’t alone. He had the Clan’s future medicine cat with him, and he knew cats would for sure he looking for her.

Just when he thought he had been able to rid himself of the clinging anxiety, it had come back all in one motion. He hadn't realize how late it had gotten, and like Moonpaw had pointed out, the cats on the dawn patrol would be waking up any time now, if they weren't already awake. Salmonstar would probably be up soon as well, and not only was she the leader of the Clan, but she was Moonpaw's mother as well, and Weaselpaw was sure if they ran into her while trying to sneak back into camp it wouldn't go over well.

Scared enough to have fallen silent, he said nothing to his companion, but he managed to follow her back to camp, hoping they wouldn't be caught.

Even as they made it back, Weaselpaw still had yet to find his voice. He glanced over at Moonpaw, eyes wide, as he shrugged. It was the only way he could respond right now.

Slowly, and as quietly as he could, he made his way back into the camp, feeling the fur on the ridge of his spine bristle in fear of being caught. He hoped that if they did get caught it would be by one of the more understanding warriors, but knowing his luck, it would probably be some cat like Deerclaw, or even worse yet, Pelicanthroat.

Even before Moonpaw could finish her hopeful statement, it was made all too obvious that the two weren’t indeed safe.

Weaselpaw stiffened beside the molly when the sight of Lightflame and Dashwing waiting nearby for them caught his attention. He looked down at the ground, bowing his head in a silent display of guilt. They had been caught, they were probably going to get into some sort of trouble. They were lucky it was Lightflame and Dashwing - there were worse cats to be caught by - but Lightflame was Moonpaw’s father, and Weaselpaw’s own mentor. There was no way they would scrape by without getting something of a punishment.

”S-sorry,” Weaselpaw started, still unable to meet the two warrior toms’ eyes. ”I…I, uh, I asked Moonpaw to go outside with me…to…to look for something.” He left it at that, his tongue dry and his throat feeling too constricted to talk properly as worry choked him.