“Then I must be a mouse-brain.”
“You really don’t want visitors, do you?” Twigpaw swallowed back frustration. “I hope you’re not this mean to Leafpool.”
Finpaw didn’t answer.
Twigpaw looked at the young tom, his face turned away. She wanted to cheer him up. She’d been thinking about him ever since his accident. It was heartbreaking to see that his spirit had been as crushed as his tail. He’d been so cheerful and open. Now he was as snarly as a fox. “If only I’d been able to pull you clear,” she mewed without thinking. Sadness flooded her chest. Perhaps if she’d tugged harder when the branch was falling, she could have saved him from this.
Finpaw blinked at her, alarmed. “You’re not supposed to be sad,” he mewed urgently.
Twigpaw was confused. “Why not?”
Finpaw raised himself up on his front paws. “Because you’re never sad. That’s why I like you.”
Twigpaw didn’t know what to say. She looked at her paws. “Dewpaw says hello. He’s helping me make nests in the apprentices’ den. He wants you to move there as soon as you can.” She glanced at him shyly. “I want you there too. I was the only apprentice in ThunderClan. Sharing a den will be fun.”
“Fun?” Finpaw seemed to brighten. “Have you heard Dewpaw snore?”
“He snores?” Twigpaw played along.
“He could outsnore a badger.” Finpaw assured her. “Reedpaw says he could wake a hibernating bear.”
“Perhaps I should gather some extra moss,” she mewed. “To stuff in my ears.”
Finpaw’s whiskers twitched with amusement.
Twigpaw pricked her ears happily. “You’re going to be fine.”
He glanced at his tail. “Leafpool keeps telling me that I’m lucky I only lost half of it.”
Twigpaw caught his eye. “What happened to the other half?”
“Puddleshine said he was going to bury it.”
“Bury it?” Surprise twitched through Twigpaw.
Finpaw gave her a mischievous look. “Perhaps we should find its grave and sit vigil.” There was a purr in his mew.
“We could mark it with a stone and visit every leaf-fall to pay our respects.”
“Here lies Finpaw’s tail,” Finpaw mewed solemnly. “It died protecting its Clan.”
“Perhaps it’s in StarClan right now, lying in the sunshine,” Twigpaw joked.
“There must be other tails there. I hope it’s made friends,” Finpaw mewed.
Twigpaw nudged his shoulder fondly with her nose. “You’ve got bees in your brain.”
“You started it.”
As he nudged her back, the lichen swished and Leafpool padded through the entrance. She blinked happily at Twigpaw. “I see you’ve decided to have visitors after all,” she mewed to Finpaw.
“Twigpaw barged in.” Finpaw mewed.
“I promised Dewpaw I’d see how he was.” Twigpaw didn’t admit how much she’d wanted to see Finpaw.
“You’ll have to leave in a moment,” Leafpool told her. “I’m going to dress his wound.”
“Can’t she stay?” Finpaw begged. “If I have someone to talk to, it’ll take my mind off it.”
“Does it hurt?” Twigpaw asked.
“Kind of,” Finpaw murmured.
“Okay,” Leafpool agreed. “I’ll be back in a moment. I just want to soak these leaves in the stream.” She grabbed a pile of herbs and headed out of the den.
Finpaw shifted in his nest, making himself comfortable. “Are you missing Violetpaw and Hawkwing?”
“Yeah.” Twigpaw wrapped her tail over her paws. “It feels strange being in a new camp without them. Kind of like I’m in the wrong place.”
“I think everyone feels a bit out of place at the moment. But Sandynose says it’ll start to feel like home soon.” Finpaw’s eyes rounded with curiosity. “Leafpool says that you and Violetpaw were raised by different Clans. I didn’t know that. You seem so close.”
“We are close,” Twigpaw told him. “And now we get to live together, now that we’ve found Hawkwing.”
“I like Hawkwing.” Finpaw’s gaze grew distant as though he were thinking. “He’s reassuring.”
“Yeah.”
“Sandynose was missing when we were born, so Hawkwing kind of helped take care of us.”
“Sandynose went missing?” Twigpaw hadn’t heard about this.
“We thought we’d never meet our real father. But we had Hawkwing. He was nice.”
Twigpaw blinked at him sympathetically.
Finpaw looked thoughtful. “You’re quite like him.”
“Violetpaw’s more like him than me.”
“Yes,” Finpaw agreed. “But you and Hawkwing are more like Clan cats than Violetpaw. Sometimes she seems uncomfortable in her own fur and unsure of herself. You have the same confidence as Hawkwing. And you’re brave and loyal like he is. And kind.”
“I am?” She looked at him.
“Sure.”
As Twigpaw’s fur tingled at the compliment, Leafpool nosed her way into the den. Wet leaves dripped from her jaws. She draped them over the edge of the nest, beside Finpaw’s tail. “I’ll get the dressing changed as quickly as I can.” She promised. “But I need to make sure the wound’s clean before I dress it again.”
“I’ll distract him,” Twigpaw leaned closer to Finpaw, trying not to look at his tail as Leafpool began to peel away the cobwebs.
Finpaw winced.
“What games do kits play in SkyClan?” Twigpaw asked quickly.
“Hide-and-seek, warrior and prey, hide the beechnut . . .”
“I played those too.” Twigpaw felt pleased that all Clan kits were the same, wherever they’d been born. “But in ThunderClan we played hide the pebble. And Violetpaw probably played hide the pinecone in ShadowClan.”
Leafpool moved to her herb store and pulled out a long strand of cobweb.
“Did you ever have a chance to play with Violetpaw?” Finpaw asked.
“We played lots before we were separated. But afterward, we couldn’t.” Twigpaw longed to tell him about sneaking out of camp with Alderheart to meet Needletail and Violetpaw, but she was aware of Leafpool, who was wrapping a fresh dressing around Finpaw’s tail. She didn’t want to get Alderheart in trouble.
Finpaw shifted in his nest. “When she gets back, we can play hide the pinecone with her and Dewpaw and Reedpaw,” Finpaw mewed.
“Aren’t we a bit old?”
“Of course not!”
As Finpaw purred, Leafpool sat back on her haunches. “I’ve finished,” she told him.
“Already?” He looked around at his tail, surprised. “That hardly hurt at all.”
“It’s healing well,” Leafpool told him.
“And I had good company.” Finpaw blinked warmly at Twigpaw.
She felt heat beneath her pelt, and blinked back self-consciously.
“You’re well enough to start getting some exercise.” Leafpool brushed the herb scraps away with her tail.
Twigpaw’s tail twitched excitedly. “I could show you the forest! The Sky Oak and the old Twoleg nest . . .” As she spoke, she realized that she wasn’t in ThunderClan anymore. She didn’t know SkyClan territory any better than Finpaw did. “Or we could explore together,” she corrected herself quickly.
Finpaw’s yellow eyes shone. “That would be great.”
Leafpool licked green herb pulp from her paw. “You shouldn’t leave camp for a few days,” she advised. “Not until your wound has healed properly.”
“That’s okay,” Twigpaw mewed brightly. “There’s plenty to do in camp. I think I saw a fish in the stream yesterday. It was just a small one, but it would be fun to catch.”
Leafpool wrinkled her nose. “You sound like a RiverClan cat.”
“We’re not going to eat it,” Twigpaw purred.