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Sorrelstripe sat nearby the medicine den, attempting to groom her thick brown fur. Although she had the smoothest fur out of the three littermates, it was still thick and unruly at times, as well as a hassle to keep clean, but the brown colour could at least disguise mud better than Fernsong’s bright golden pelt.
She pricked her ears at the sound of her father’s voice inside of the den, leaning slightly to hear better through the entrance. “Seriously, Jayfeather, you need a break.” Lionblaze said.
“I already told you, I’m fine,” her uncle grumbled back, though his voice didn’t hold any malice, and instead sounded like he was fighting the urge to yawn.
“Come on, Jay, please? Leafpool and Briarlight will be fine running the medicine den without you for a bit,” Lionblaze reasoned, his voice stern but heavy with concern for his brother.
There was a pause before Jayfeather responded. “Fine,” he finally sighed, his lack of protest a testament to how exhausted he truly was. “But not for too long.”
As the two began to stand up, Sorrelstripe raced across the clearing and out of the hollow, an idea quickly forming in her mind that left her eyes glinting mischievously, an amused giggle erupting from her chest at the mental image of the outcome of her plan.
. . .
Sorrelstripe snuck around the edge of the hollow, her fur almost brushing against the stone walls. She made sure to place her paws down gently and breathed through her nose, the twigs and feathers in her jaws making breathing through her mouth impossible. Her eyes were on the two tabby toms that slept in a patch of sunlight, their sides rising and falling in sync as they dozed. No one took any notice of her as she prowled through the shadows, that or they didn’t want to bother stopping her, too afraid of the repercussions.
Sorrelstripe’s clanmates had been avoiding her the whole day due to her reputation of being the biggest joker of the clan, and the tradition of every twelfth moon being a day of pranks and jokes had everyone weary.
‘This’ll be brilliant!’ she thought to herself, just barely restraining the laugh that threatened to bubble out. She managed to reach the two toms within a couple more steps, and quickly set to work. She thread feathers of all colours through the grey tabby’s fur, letting out a small mrow of laughter as Jayfeather swatted aimlessly at the air, before turning to her father and placing the twigs in his thick golden pelt.
When she was done, she quickly dashed away to the other side of the hollow, mindful to be quiet in case the two were to wake up, especially her uncle, who had the best ears in the clan.
When she was out of earshot, she finally let out the giggles that had been building up for what seemed like moons, leaving her breathless and causing several of her clanmates to give her confused glances before looking away, shaking their heads in what she hoped was fond exasperation. At one point her mother even gave a small laugh at the sight before leaving on a border patrol.
“They’re gonna kill you, you know,” Hollytuft mewed as she and Fernsong padded over, gesturing towards their sleeping kin.
“It’ll be worth it,” Sorrelstripe replied, giving her sister a gentle shove.
“You best hope so,” the black she-cat gave a disdainful sniff, flicking Sorrelstripe over the ear as she walked away again, Cloudtail having called her for a hunting patrol.
“Let’s hope she catches more than feathers and twigs,” Fernsong mused, giving her a pointed look.
“Oh come on, Fernsong, you know it’ll be funny!” Sorrelstripe replied, leaning against him and letting out a squawk as he cuffed her over the ear with a large golden paw. “Why do you both keep doing that?!”
“Because it works,” her brother replied resolutely, a smirk on his face.
“Cheeky fox,” she grumbled, “Never letting me do anything.”
“You sound like uncle Jayfeather,” Fernsong chuckled, glancing in the direction of the small grey tabby, “And he will NOT be happy when he wakes up and realises what you did.”
“Eh, like I said, it’ll be worth it,” Sorrelstripe replied.
Just as the words left her mouth, their father began to stir, Jayfeather beginning to shift by extension. The two toms sat up when Lionblaze yelped as a twig tugged his fur. Turning, he attempted to pluck it out before realising there were a seemingly endless amount in his pelt.
“What in StarClan’s name-” he yelled, cutting off when he noticed Jayfeather by his side, who was trying and failing to tug the bright feathers out of his thin pelt. Lionblaze let out a confused laugh at the state of his brother before turning and noticing Sorrelstripe on the other side of the clearing. When her father made eye contact with her, Sorrelstripe burst out laughing, unable to stop the stream of giggles that erupted from the look of the two tom’s faces. Fernsong was barely holding it together by her side, too, his legs shaking as he struggled to keep himself from joining her.
“Happy Fool’s day!” she yowled to them, only laughing harder when Jayfeather looked her direction and glared, unable to take him seriously because of the bright feather’s decorating his fur.
Looking around, Sorrelstripe noticed several of her clanmates struggling not to laugh as well. Squirrelflight was sitting at the nursery entrance, and was one of the few not bothering to hold in her howls of laughter. Sparkkit streaked over to the two tom’s, Alderkit following more slowly, a look of permanent worry on his face.
“You two look really funny!” Sparkkit squealed delightfully, her eyes lighting up when she saw Sorrelstripe at the edge of the clearing. Sorrelstripe winked at the energetic she-kit, and her heart melted slightly when Sparkkit winked back, or at least attempted to.
Alderkit didn’t say anything, just began to help free the brother’s from the twigs and feathers, his eyes focused in making sure to not hurt either of them when he tugged at something.
Still chuckling, Sorrelstripe padded over to her father and uncle, a grin on her face. “Anyone ever tell you that you look great when you have half the forest on your pelt, dad?” she asked innocently.
“Not until now,” he responded, playfully glaring at her before flinching when Sparkkit tugged on a twig. “We’ll get you back, I can promise you that,” he warned.
“Try me,” she retorted, her brown tail whisking through the air and her whiskers twitching before she turned and raced away into the forest. “I’ll be back before sunset!” she yowled to her family, not waiting to hear their replies before she was in the trees.
Sorrelstripe padded back into camp just as the sun was disappearing over the trees, taking a squirrel she had caught over to the nursery after leaving the rest of her prey on the pile; a shrew and two mice.
After leaving the catch with Daisy, Squirrelflight, and Sparkkit and Alderkit, she made her way to the warrior’s den. A yawn threatened to overcome her as she padded inside, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her nest. When she reached the moss, she quickly curled up and placed her head down, before she realised.
“EW!” She screeched, her fur bushing up at the repulsive smell. Immediately knowing the perpetrator of the crime, she darted out of the den to see Lionblaze and Jayfeather sitting outside of the den, her father snorting and her uncle with a smug grin on his face.
“That’s what you get!” Lionblaze yowled at her, laughing even harder as she glared at him disdainfully. The mousebile covered her entire side, and the foul stench was probably going to remain for several sunrises. Huffing, she slowly let a smile form on her face, though it was more of a grimace because of the horrific smell.
Payback wasn’t going to stop her from playing tricks on her family, and they were going to find that out the hard way! Just not right at that moment, she still had mousebile to wash off her pelt, afterall.