Fish and Herbs

[Nightfall]

Sniffing the air, Nightpaw walked along the riverbank. She hissed and jumped back as water lapped at her paws. She darted away from the bank and sat down on fresh, not frozen grass. She began cleaning her paws, washing away dirty river water. The sound of steady rhythmic licking filled the air. Once she was done, she got up and stretched. A bush caught her eye. Horsetail! She thought. It's what she was looking for! Bounding over to it, she bit off several stalks and made her way back to the riverbank. Silvery shapes in the water made her turn her head. Fish! She put down the horsetail. She was pretty hungry. Nightpaw stood completely still on the riverbank, waiting for the fish to come closer.

[Slug]

His orange eyes blazed brilliantly in the sunlight as he padded slowly up the riverbank, each paw step creating wet, sucking noises in the moist, cold mud. Maplepaw, in all his brown-and-cream furred glory, was searching for a herb. Not just any herb. Watermint. A few of his clanmates had suddenly been overcome with bellyaches, and he was sent by Icetail to retrieve the said herb: Watermint.

Eyes scanning the river's edge, Maplepaw, instead of finding watermint, spotted a retreating Nightpaw, who was carrying horsetail within her black maw. Raising a furry brow at the apprentice, Maplepaw yowled: "You-- over there! What is your business here?" He demanded sternly, trudging over to the she-cat.

[Nightfall]

Nightpaw jumped from her spot at the bank. "Huh?" She blurted out, then saw Maplepaw. "Oh, hey Maplepaw. Icetail sent me to get some horsetail, since you were busy. I was just trying to catch some fish." But Maplepaw had scared the fish away. Nightpaw didn't notice. "What'cha doing here huh?" She asked her clanmate.