following the loner

Rosepaw woke up as if from a jolt. Sleepily opening her eyes, she saw two young apprentices standing beside her. The she-cat rose with a groan and let out a patient sigh. "What now? Is there anything more important than my sleep? Fallenpaw? Dustpaw?" she muttered with a hint of irritation. "Yes! We can sneak out of camp and catch loads of prey and prove that we're the best apprentices in the whole Clan!" the younger apprentices squealed in unison. "I get it — I need to prove my loyalty," she said with a nod. "But what do you need that for?!" she asked boldly, lying back down in her nest. "Well..." mumbled the large gray-reddish apprentice called Dustpaw modestly. "If we... you know... then they'll make us warriors faster, that's all!" finished the second one, Fallenpaw. Rosepaw suddenly paused to think. "What if we get in trouble?" she worried. The apprentices exchanged glances and began chattering over each other: "Then we'll go alone!" The she-cat let out a long sigh, stood up, and with a flick of her ears, led them toward the dirtplace. Finally, they found themselves in the nighttime forest. The twisted silhouettes of willows in the darkness looked like hunched cats with crooked limbs. "Well... let's begin," said the she-cat, and the apprentices, opening their mouths to taste the air, padded along the night river.