The Coat Is Always On

A/N- Same continuity as Ashes, Ashes.

''Mother don't sit ''Mother don't stand ''Mother don't send me

Leafpaw padded back into camp with a only a couple scrawny voles. Her mentor Boulder didn't have much more to drop on the fresh-kill pile. The apprentice flung herself to the ground, exhausted. She pretended not to notice her mother boring into her with burning green eyes. She tried to tell herself ''I've been training and hunting all day. It doesn't matter if that's not good enough for her.''

''Sister, come and lay your head on me ''I can see you haven't had any sleep in a long time

She brightened up a bit when she saw her brother Lionpaw come back to camp. He dropped himself next to her on the frost-hard ground.

"Boulder been training you hard?" he asked sympathetically. Leafpaw could barely muster the energy to nod.

"You think they're planning an invasion?" she asked him. He shrugged.

"Maybe. C'mon, we should go back to the den. We can't just sleep out in the clearing." Leafpaw purred a bit and followed her brother back to the apprentices' den.

To be continued