Chapter 1
Lionblaze's POV
Life had been hard after the shooting.
Lionblaze could barely stand the funeral. It was so hard to see his sister in the casket, a thin, purple scarf covering the deep bullet wounds, her eyes closed.
Jayfeather had gotten a seeing eye dog named Lightening to help him get around, but he never did stray far away from Lionblaze since that day. The two were forced to greet funeral guests from other clans who would not stop giving out hugs and apologizing for their loss. Every time someone would mention Hollyleaf, it would just reopen the deep wound of grief in Lionblaze's heart, and he could tell Jayfeather felt the same.
Lionblaze could not help but think that Hollyleaf was supposed to be graduating with him and Jayfeather. She had dreamed of going into business and starting a company to help underprivileged kids and kids with crisis in their life.
Now, Lionblaze was faced with a world of grief.
Leafpool, his mother, was heartbroken, and Crowfeather, his father, showed no emotion towards the problem. However, when Jayfeather read his mind, what he found was a whole other story.
Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather had lived with their mother ever since Crowfeather and Leafpool had separated and Crowfeather intertwined with Nightcloud and had his half-brother, Breezepelt. Hollyleaf had helped keep her brothers upbeat and comforted them through tough spots in their lives, like when Lionblaze and Cinderheart had broken up for the first time.
Cinderheart and Lionblaze had gotten back together; and Cinderheart had been acting as his "Hollyleaf" and was keeping Lionblaze on track. Lionblaze felt like he could tell Cinderheart anything, and on those days when he needed a shoulder to cry on, she was there, just as he was there for her.
Cinderheart was the only ThunderClan swimmer on the high school swim team. She had been on a year round team since she was six years old. Whenever Lionblaze watched her practices, she was at the head of the lane. Her coach, Coach Douglas, had discussed the Olympics and how close she was to qualifying times. Unlike the RiverClan swimmers, Cinderheart had technique along with power, so she had the better times. Cinderheart was graduating with Lionblaze to go to University of Illinois Springfield on a swimming scholarship.
Lionblaze had no idea what to do with his life. The college tour Leafpool had taken them on had sparked his interest… kind of. At first he had considered going into the army for a couple of years to help pay off his college, because the tuition for Jayfeather's schooling alone could pay for both him and Hollyleaf to go to school, but now that Hollyleaf was… gone, Leafpool would have to pay off one less college bill.
Cinderheart strolled up to Lionblaze. "Hey, Lionblaze, Dovewing, Bumblestripe, Ivypool, and Blossomfall invited us over to Willy's Pizza after school, Do you want to go?"
"Sorry," Lionblaze replied regretfully, "I promised Jayfeather he could help me look for college options today after school."
"Finally, It's about time you figure out what to do with your life!"
Lionblaze walked away laughing. "See you!"
"Later!"
Lionblaze strode into Calculus, his ninth hour class. He sighed. Lionblaze almost always got straight A's in every class, but Calculus had him stumped. The best grades Lionblaze could get in Calculus were low B's
Lionblaze was actually considered a jock in Calculus. Most of the people in this class were nerds. Of course, Lionblaze considered himself hot, but he was unfortunately smart, had an odd name and a blind brother. I mean Lionblaze of ThunderClan? Who has a name like that? Lionblaze smiled to himself. I mean, I do, but that doesn't count. Most of Lionblaze's friends were called something normal, like Toby or Alex. Usually, Lionblaze was referred to as Blaze, Hollyleaf was referred to as Holly, and Jayfeather was referred to as Jayden. However, Jayfeather loved his real name. "Jayden is too gangster for me," he would say, "Jayfeather is much more suitable."
Lionblaze stumbled home, wishing he had gone to Willy's with Cinderheart. He slowly made his way up the stairs and into his room and found Jayfeather waiting for him, his blind blue eyes focusing on him. Lightening lay panting at Jayfeather's feet.
Lionblaze plopped down on his bed and sighed. "Why did we have to do this? Cinderheart invited me to go to Willy's with her!"
"Well, maybe I had a date this evening with Willowshine and had to cancel it because Leafpool gave me twenty bucks to help you find a college."
Lionblaze cocked his head. "What?"
Jayfeather quickly turned his face to the screen. "Nothing."
Lionblaze rolled his eyes. "Let's just get this over with."