Shadowstripe
It was a hot day in greenleaf for the clans. The sun was bright and shown over the camp of a clan. A grey cat with a black stripe on his back and blue eyes slid through the entrance to his camp. He was carrying a thrush and was the leader of a patrol. Three other cats came after him. They all carried a peice of prey. He put his prey in the fresh-kill pile and padded towards the warriors' den.
He lay down but couldn't sleep. Not without thinking about her. The ginger tabby she-cat that he loved. "Sunleaf." He muttered gloomily. He had a huge crush on her and she hardly seemed to notice. Even when he tried to impress her by catching the biggest pieces of prey, she would just nod her thanks and go and eat with her sister. He always tried to tell her his love for her, but when he got the chance, his tongue tied up, and he couldn't say anything. "I love you Sunleaf, can't you see that?" He murmered.
"What did you say, Shadowstripe?" A voice asked. Shadowstripe jumped and saw one of his fellow clanmates, Grassfeather, looking at him curiously. He hissed and growled, "Mind your own business." Grassfeather scowled and got up to leave the den. "Sheesh!" He muttered. Then the tom stalked off, leaving Shadowstripe all alone.
"Fernflame, Dawnclaw, Sunleaf, and Shadowstripe will go on the border patrol." Petalstorm, the deputy, finished. She opened her mouth to saysomething to the cats as they got ready to leave. "Listen, I think a fox might've tried to make a den near our borders." She told them. Fernflame answered, "We'll keep a lookout for fox scent." Shadowstripe felt his heart beat faster. Sunleaf would be with him! He sprinted after Fernflame as they left the camp. Shadowstripe knew that this patrol could be his chance to confess his love to her.
"Oof!" He exclaimed as he crashed into Dawnclaw. She hissed. "Watch were you're going Shadowstripe!" He muttered an apology and started running again. He failed to notice the sharp stone in his path as he took off again. His paw landed on it and he yowled in pain.
"My paw!" Sunleaf ran back to him and gingerly sniffed his wound. "I think it will be fine as long as you stay off that paw." She reassured him. Shadowstripe nodded, but he was also dazed that she had even noticed him.
They finally reached the border after Shadowstripe somehow managed to trip over every single log in the forest. "Sunleaf, Shadowstripe, go and mark that side of the border. Dawnclaw, come with me." Fernflame ordered. Shadowstripe nodded and nearly stumbled over his own paws as he followed Sunleaf.
He opened his mouth to speak when they were far enough away from the group. "Sunleaf-" He broke when he saw she was looking at him. Say it! Say it! Shadowstripe yelled at himself. "I-" She looked at him confusedly. "Uh, yes, Shadowstripe?" He said the exact words he didn't want to say. "I think that I smelled something o-over here." He fumbled over his words.
Sunleaf nodded and sniffed in the area he had indicated.
"I don't smell anything." She reported. "I think we should split up." Shadowstripe felt his heart sink, but he agreed anyway.
He started to mark the border since he was close enough. He sighed and sat down. "What made me stutter so much?" He wondered out loud. He was answered with a loud caterwaul.
"Help! Fox!"
He leaped up and sprinted towards the sound. Shadowstripe winced as his injured paw hit the ground. He followed the scent trail of Sunleaf. I'm coming! Defend yourself until I get there! He thought. The fact that it was the she-cat that he liked made him move faster. He skidded to a halt and saw that she was cornered by a large, male fox. It barked at her and lunged.
Shadowstripe screeched and leapt at the russet colered animal. He landed on it's back and clawed it as hard as he could. The fox bucked and sent the tom tumbling off. He rolled out of the way just in time as the fox tried to bite him.
His head banged into a boulder and Shadowstripe could see stars for a second. He groaned and shook his head.
"Shadowstripe, help-" Shadowstripe leapt up at the sound of Sunleaf. He gasped and saw she was dangling from the fox's jaws.
"Stay away from her!" He yowled. He leaped, claws extended, and aimed for the eyes of the fox. It whined in pain and stumbled away, blood flowing from its eyes. Shadowstripe still felt dizzy but he managed to stumble over to his clanmate.
"Sunleaf? Oh no. Sunleaf?!" He panicked at the sight of all the blood. she's not dead silly, she just passed out. He tried to reassure himself. He lifted her up by the scruff and started dragging her towards the direction of the camp.
When they got to camp, a flurry of confusion erupted. "What happened?" "Quiet Mudkit!" "Great Starclan, did Fernclan warriors attack you near the border?"
Shadowstripe ignored the comments and brought Sunleaf to the medicine cat's den.
"Mistleaf?" He called. Mistleaf jumped in surprise and rushed over to them. She couldn't speak, but she could manage to make a gesture of, "I think you came too late."
"No!" Shadowstripe wailed. "No! You must do something Mistleaf, please!" He started cleaning the ginger she-cat's wounds. The medicine cat shook her head and nosed her grieving clanmate out of the way.
It had been moons since Sunleaf had died. Shadowstripe had died only days later after falling off a cliff. When he did join Starclan, Sunleaf had gotten her own mate. He never got to tell her that he loved her.