Jaypaw had always lived by the sea. Born and raised in Oceanclan for a total of 8 moons, he’d never really had to think about a world beyond the one he knew. There would always be the gulls in the sky, the sand between his toes, and the smell of salt on the breeze surrounding him. He never thought he’d grow tired of it… and yet he had.

Jaypaw didn’t belong here. His blunt, know-it-all personality made it hard to fit in with the other apprentices, and he could tell that the adults couldn’t quite understand him either. He was used to it – to the bullying and whispers and forced smiles – by now, but it was hard not to grow weary after such a long time. Today had been especially rough, with his only friend Lampreypaw out training all day, leaving him alone in camp while his own mentor still tried to recover from a sprain in the medicine den. Though Lampreypaw herself was something of a target for harassment, he always felt safer with her. If they were going to get picked on, then they might as well do it together.

Also, with an unnerving stare like Lampreypaw’s, other cats tended to avoid approaching you unless they absolutely had to.

The stare wasn’t here to protect him today, though, which left openings for other apprentices trying to be funny. Jaypaw had been going for a drink of water at the little stream not far from camp when Bullpaw – a larger and much older apprentice more brutish than his namesake – had snuck up on him and shoved him in, cackling cruelly at his misfortune. Jaypaw had tumbled facefirst and gotten water up his nose, though he was fortunately uninjured. The problem, he’d decided by now, was less about any injury to his physical form and more one to his pride. He deserved more dignity and respect than that, especially when two warriors were right there where they could’ve easily stopped it. He’d rounded on Bullpaw and hit him squarely across the snout with sheathed claws, only for Bullpaw to stumble back as if gravely wounded and make a fuss about it.

“Jaypaw attacked me!” Bullpaw had cried, which had easily gotten the attention of Lighthawk and Mantisshell. Jawpaw did his best to defend himself, but Lighthawk was adamant that he never use his claws on another clanmate, and didn’t want to hear a word of what he had to say. She was not a warrior he felt should’ve gotten her name sometimes, with how quick she was to jump the gun to blaming people. He theorized it was a result of grief lingering from the loss of her mate moons before he was born, but he had enough self respect to know that didn’t make it okay.

Mantisshell, with her usually cold and intimidating demeanor, had been the one to diffuse the conflict. “Bullpaw, if you’re injured, go see Bonsaidance. Jaypaw, let’s not resort to physical violence.”

She didn’t scold Lighthawk at all or bother to ask if Jaypaw was alright, but that was typical Mantisshell behavior. He could at least appreciate her level head and logical demeanor. Hell, he even felt a little bad for huffing at her like he did and storming off to get some space.

One of these days, I’ll make it out, the silver tabby told himself, taking a deep breath as he wandered somewhat aimlessly through the rocky outcroppings inland of Oceanclan. He’d been spending more time near the borders of Cavernclan and Meadowclan lately, considering leaving home and asking to join them instead. Maybe he’d change his name when he got there, start over fresh and never tell anyone but Lampreypaw. Troutpaw, maybe? Or Mistpaw? Both sounded like decent choices, provided he decided to stay in the clans at all. Maybe he’d go become a loner instead, and give himself his own warrior name. Jaygold? Jaywing? Or maybe he’d just go by Jay. He needed to stew more on it first.

A frustrated paw kicked a pebble into the trees that towered over Cavernclan territory, making it go sailing off into the brush somewhere. It felt satisfying, if he was being honest with himself. He reached to kick another when-

“Hey! Um… I don’t mean to bother you, but could you not do that? You almost hit me on the head,” called a female voice from the other side of the border. A brown tabby cat slipped from the undergrowth, watching Jaypaw warily with blue eyes. She padded cautiously towards the border, coming into the grey afternoon light as she did.

“You have flowers behind your ear,” Jaypaw observed out loud, simply saying what came first to his mind in that flat, monotone voice of his. He almost forgot there was an issue at first, so distracted by analyzing the newcomer, but quickly remembered and corrected himself. “Sorry. I didn’t realize someone else was here. Kicking rocks is very therapeutic.”

Much to his surprise, the molly snorted softly at his words. “It’s alright,” she assured him with a smile. It was wildly different from the fake, sometimes uneasy ones he was used to. Shy. Earnest. “I didn’t want to interrupt you at all. I’d just also rather not sustain any head damage. My name is Rosepaw. What’s yours?”

Rosepaw. Is that what those flowers are?

“Jaypaw. I’ve never seen roses like that before. Aren’t they usually flatter?”

He’d seen a wild rose maybe once in his life, but he was certain that roses weren’t supposed to be spirally and pinkish-red like that. Was this a new species only Cavernclan had? Was he simply misremembering what roses looked like? Odd.

Rosepaw paused for a second, as though caught off guard by his question. Then, she glanced at the flowers out of the corner of her eye and sat down, gently pawing at them. “These?” she asked, then chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry. Of course you mean these. I get them from up by an abandoned Twoleg den where they grow all over the place. I think they’re a special kind or something.”

Jaypaw just nodded. He was used to special kinds of things having unusual shapes. One of the reasons he felt he stuck out so much was his snout shape. Longer than a normal cat’s, with a stronger bridge from his forehead to his nose. Combined with his larger ears, it made for a very distinct appearance.

At least it made him easy to remember.

“They look nice,” he said with a nod. He was doing his best to make polite, normal conversation, mostly because he didn’t need another apprentice from another clan thinking he was some kind of freak. Deep down, it occurred to him that this was probably in vain, but it was worth a shot.

“Thank you! Your eyes are pretty.”

A compliment. Jaypaw wasn’t used to those.

“… Thank you.”

She sat down, neatly tucking her tail around her paws, and Jaypaw found himself following suit. “You’re from Oceanclan, right?” Rosepaw asked, ears perking forward in interest. “What’s it like?”

What’s it like? Stagnant, boring, restrictive, cruel, rejecting… but that’s probably not the answer she wants.

Jaypaw shuffled his feet, thinking for a moment. What was Oceanclan like? Stupidly, all he could respond with was “Salty.”

At least she laughed, though.

“Salty? I can only assume so,” Rosepaw grinned, a much bolder expression than her previous cautious smile. “You’re under the open sky, right?”

“Yes,” he replied, because he was. In Oceanclan, you stepped out of your den each morning into a world under wide open air, where you had to hope it wasn’t raining and where the scent of sea spray immediately accosted you – one of the better traits of his birthplace, he supposed. That, and climbing the cypress trees. That was the other fun part.

“It must be nice, getting to see the stars every night. Or is it weird? Like, if you come from the angle that Starclan is watching over us, does it feel like you’re under surveillance?”

Jaypaw had… never thought about that, actually. “I feel like if Starclan is watching over us, they’ll see what we’re doing, regardless of whether or not we’re under open sky,” he replied, shrugging, “But yes, it’s nice.”

---

By the time Jaypaw was heading back to camp, the sun was high in the sky. He’d probably catch quite the scolding, but he didn’t mind as much as he usually would. He’d made a friend! Another friend! Another cat who was not Lampreypaw liked him! It was nothing short of absolutely euphoric. He looked forward to seeing Rosepaw again, either at the border or during a Gathering. So what if she was from another clan? He had a friend. Already, he wanted to introduce her to Lampreypaw. If she could get along with a dry, blunt cat like him, she could probably get along just fine with Lampreypaw and her unnerving eyes. How cool would that be, if his friends became friends? Did Rosepaw have friends in Cavernclan? Maybe she’d introduce them to him, too.

For once, Jaypaw walked with a noticeable spring in his step, tail held high. He strolled through a patch of poppies, letting the flowers brush his legs, then paused. For a moment, he stared at one of the bright orange blooms, thinking long and hard about Rosepaw and the flowers in her fur. Finally, he gently picked one with his mouth and used his paws to rather clumsily rest it behind his ear like Rosepaw. He hoped it suited him. He had no doubt someone would make fun of him for it – probably Bullpaw – but at least he felt pretty. His opinion was really all that mattered, anyhow.

I’m on top of the fucking world, he thought, skipping across the sandy dunes in the direction of Oceanclan’s camp. I’m on top of the world, and nothing can bring me down.

“Jaypaw!”

The silver tom stopped dead in his tracks, perking up and looking in the direction of the familiar voice. Brown fur, low to the ground, trotting happily towards him from behind. He would know that voice anywhere.

“Lampreypaw? What are you doing out here?”

“Elkwail said I was free for the rest of the day,” the brown molly explained as she came up next to him. “We caught a ton of prey out hunting this morning, so he said I could head back while he talked with the other warriors for a bit. Apparently they’re having some kind of argument about whether or not the newly made apprentices get to go to the upcoming Gathering or not.”

Jaypaw tilted his head to one side with curious eyes. “Are you saying there’s a chance of us going to our first gathering on our first moon of being apprentices?”

Lampreypaw paused, mulling over his words for a second. “I mean… yeah? It’s not confirmed, but it’s definitely being talked about.”

“That’s what I meant by ‘a chance,’ yes.”

One of Jaypaw’s favorite things about Lampreypaw was that he could always correct her, and she would take it in stride. Other cats saw it as nitpicking, perhaps an attempt to be pretentious or mean, but Lampreypaw saw it for what it actually was; Jaypaw being Jaypaw. That was why they were such good friends, always and forever.

He let her lead the way back towards camp, padding at a slower pace so her shorter legs could keep up. It wasn’t that Lampreypaw couldn’t be fast – she simply had to put more effort into it if she wanted to run. She often complained of aching joints and trouble keeping up at a normal walking speed, so he did his best to make things easier for her. It was what friends did, after all. “You know,” he began, pausing for her while she stopped to stretch what was no doubt an aching leg, “I always thought it was forbidden for new apprentices to go to Gatherings.”

Lampreypaw shook her head. “No, it’s just that they don’t do it very often, I think. If we go, we’ll be super lucky. Bragging rights and stuff.”

“Let’s hope we get to go, then.”

Lampreypaw laughed softly at that. “Imagine Bullpaw’s face! I don’t think he’s ever been to a Gathering before.”

That earned a snort from Jaypaw “Well, he’ll be a warrior soon, so he won’t have to wait much longer to.”

“Yeah, but imagine what it would be like for us to get to go before he ever did.”

She was right, and Jaypaw could easily imagine the look on Bullpaw’s face if it came true. Sure, he’d probably be whacked upside the head or shoved into a tidepool immediately afterwards, but it would be entirely worth it. “You’re right, it would be funny.”

“Exactly. Now c’mon, I wanna rest my legs. You can tell me about the poppy on the way back, if you want.”

“It’s a long story. Are you sure?”

“We can take the long route.”

“Well, today I met someone…”