“Do you think we’ve gone too far?” Marigoldpaw asked nervously as she peered through the thick underbrush. The forest made her anxious with the way it blocked the sunlight, and all the brambles and bushes made her feel trapped.
“Darkmoth said it wasn’t that far ahead!” Vetchpaw, as always, fearlessly pushed forward, even if that meant getting a face full of thorns – which he did quite a few times.
“Darkmoth also said to avoid the brambles,” Marigoldpaw sighed, but she followed Vetchpaw regardless. She couldn’t find it in her heart to resent him, even if his bullheaded plans got them into trouble.
Vetchpaw didn’t respond. He simply threw Marigoldpaw a mischievous look and shot forward to the base of a large tree. “Here it is!”
“Are you sure? I think this is a birch tree.” Marigoldpaw inspected the white bark and shook her head. “Plum trees have darker bark, and Dandeliontuft said they get a bunch of blossoms in newleaf. Like the cherry tree.”
“If it’s like the cherry tree, why couldn’t we just get some stupid flowers from there?” Vetchpaw said in exasperation as he padded away from the birch tree.
Marigoldpaw shook her head again and followed after her friend. Trying to explain that a Trial was supposed to be challenging would be impossible – Vetchpaw never heard anything he didn’t want to. “Why don’t I climb a tree and see if I have a better view up there?”
“That’s too dangerous,” Vetchpaw argued. “I’ll do it myself.” He bounced over to a tall oak tree – it was certainly tall enough to put them over the treeline, and it had a lot of sturdy branches to climb up.
With a sigh, Marigoldpaw sat down. “I’ll give you one chance. If you get stuck, I’ll go up there and get you down myself.”
“I won’t get stuck!” Vetchpaw said confidently. “I climb the cherry tree all the time with Duskpaw and Bloompaw. This is nothing.”
Marigoldpaw decided not to bring up the many times Vetchpaw came home with bruises and scrapes from falling out of said tree. “Okay. You have one shot.”
Vetchpaw scoffed and crouched down, wiggling his hindquarters dramatically. “I’ll bring you a leaf from the top branches.”
“Please don’t. You’ll fall.”
As always, Vetchpaw didn’t listen. He sprang up the side of the tree and scaled it with relative ease, his movements full of confidence. Marigoldpaw recited the Clan laws in her head, watching the branches shake and tremble. Once she got to the last law, as expected, she heard Vetchpaw’s sheepish voice call out, “Hey… Marigoldpaw?”
“Are you stuck?”
“Yeah.”
“And you need me to come get you?”
“It’s too dangerous! Go get Darkmoth and Rabbitspring.”
Marigoldpaw ignored Vetchpaw’s words and put her front paws against the tree trunk. The bark was rough against her paw pads, but it was soft enough that her claws sank into it without any issue. “I’ll be right there.”
“What if you fall?”
“I won’t.”
“You could get seriously hurt.” Vetchpaw’s voice was edged with desperation.
“You could, too. What makes us any different?”
Silence. Then, “… okay.” Vetchpaw sounded miserable.
With a small sigh, Marigoldpaw clambered up the side of the tree. She wasn’t particularly agile, but she intently paid attention to the small divots and curves of the tree, planning out her pathway calmly. It wasn’t too long before she found Vetchpaw clinging to what was barely more than a twig, swaying as he trembled. They made eye contact, and Marigoldpaw burst into laughter.
“Don’t laugh!” Vetchpaw whined. “It was a mistake!”
“You picked the only branch that was this thin!” Marigoldpaw delicately pushed down on the tree branch, carefully directing it to another, sturdier branch. “This one is barely thicker than a snake. What made you think it would hold your weight?”
“I… uh…” Vetchpaw’s tail lashed in embarrassment as he gingerly hopped to the stronger branch. He hunched over miserably, not wanting to meet her eye. “Well…”
Marigoldpaw shook her head and hopped down to land beside Vetchpaw. “You didn’t stop to think, did you?” She leaned against Vetchpaw and added, “Hey. It’s okay.”
“Is it really okay?” Vetchpaw curled his tail around Marigoldpaw and sighed.
“Yep. And do you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because no matter how many stupid decisions you make, I’ll be there to help you every time. So it’s okay.” Marigoldpaw felt Vetchpaw relax a little at her words.
“Okay,” Vetchpaw responded softly.
“Hey. Guess what?”
“What?”
“I see the plum tree.”
Vetchpaw jumped so suddenly that the branch swayed beneath both of them. “You do?!”
Marigoldpaw braced herself for a second, a purr rising to her throat. “Yep. I saw it on my way up. Let’s get those flowers and head home.”
“They’ve grown up,” Rabbitspring commented to Darkmoth as the two mentors watched their apprentices scale the plum tree. They had been watching the entire time, hidden in the shadows of the forest.
“I should hope so,” Darkmoth replied dryly.
Rabbitspring could tell his cousin was immensely pleased despite his noncommital response. “Vetchpaw used to never accept help – if it had been back then, he would have stayed in that tree until he fell out. Marigoldpaw has been such a good influence on him.”
“Of course she has.” Darkmoth’s tail twitched.
“And Marigoldpaw has gotten a lot better at doing what she wants.” Rabbitspring continued, nudging his cousin to try and get a response. Darkmoth was as quiet as ever, offering just a quiet mm as he watched the apprentices with sharp eyes.
Rabbitspring’s whiskers twitched in amusement. “Do you want me to stop talking now?”
“Yes.”
“Too bad. Do you think this Trial will be the last one for them?”
“Yes.”
“Did Bunnystar tell you that?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?” Rabbitspring stood as he saw the apprentices sprinting off with their mouths full of plum blossoms. “… well, I guess it doesn’t matter. Uh, hey, Darkmoth?”
“What?”
“They’re going the wrong way.”
With a curse, Darkmoth shot after the apprentices, with Rabbitspring gleefully chasing behind. Well. I guess this won’t be their last Trial. They still need to work on their sense of direction, after all.