Crookedstar's Broken Promise

A short fic by DizzyFoot

"Watch out!" A pale gray she-cat with ThunderClan scent turned and hissed at him as he fell against her. Her long fur quivered with annoyance. "You nearly knocked me over!" She stopped and stared at him.

For the first time in moons, Crookedpaw remembered his twisted jaw. He shrank beneath his pelt. Why did she have to stare like he was a talking frog? He swallowed and steadied himself with a deep breath. "Hi," he mewed. "I'm Crookedpaw."

"Crookedpaw?"

Her eyes were round and blue and hid nothing. He could see her thoughts. She knows it's not my paws that are crooked. "I'm guessing my warrior name will be Crookedjaw," he joked half-heartedly.

She was still staring at him.

He swallowed back irritation. Were all ThunderClan cats this rude?

"Unless"-he flicked his tail under her nose-"my tail goes the same way. Then Hailstar might have to rethink."

The gray cat shifted her paws. Crookedpaw frowned. Okay. ThunderClan cats are rude. "I should have guessed cats would stare at me."

"I'm sorry!" Guilt sparked into her gaze. "You surprised me, that's all."

Crookedpaw sat back on his haunches and looked at her. "You're not "I should have guessed cats would stare at me."

"I'm sorry!" Guilt sparked into her gaze. "You surprised me, that's all."

Crookedpaw sat back on his haunches and looked at her. "You're not very blue."

Bluepaw purred. "I look more blue in the daylight."

Crookedpaw glanced around at the Clans. "Is this your first Gathering?"

Bluepaw shook her head.

"Then you know what's going on?" he asked. "What do the leaders talk about?"
"If you listened you might find out!" Cedarpelt hissed sharply.

Bluepaw leaned forward to look at Cedarpelt and whispered in Crookedpaw's ear, "Let's move so we don't disturb others."

Crookedpaw nodded and slowly stood, moving backwards farther into the crowd of cats. It was interesting how different Clans had different scents, and individual cats had their own scent as well. Bluepaw had ThunderClan scent, but she smelled of fresh moss and the forest.

The she-cat sat next to him once they were farther back in the crowd, "So this is your first Gathering?"

"Mhm." He nodded.

"Did you imagine it to be like this? Surrounded for one night with the other clans, no fighting, no arguing..." She trailed off and looked up towards Pinestar. Crookedpaw nodded in agreement, "It's amazing to see this as well. I don't understand why we can't be like this all the time."

The gray she-cat sighed.

"Was it something I said?" Crookedpaw asked. Bluepaw looked at him, "Oh! No, no it wasn't, I wish the same thing as well." Her blue eyes looked up towards Silverpelt, "We all follow the same code, we all believe in StarClan and everything we've been told, but why is it that our Clans make us different, that we have to fight with each other?"

She seems rather upset by the Clans fighting all the time…

Crookedpaw shivered, "It's colder out tonight." He scooted closer to Bluepaw, her fur pelt brushing against his. She seemed to be startled by his movement. "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to startle you.."

"It's alright! You're right, it is colder out tonight." The she-cat nestled closer to Crookedpaw, "For a RiverClan cat, you don't smell that bad." She laughed.

She's trying to be friendly, but a joke about RiverClan cats smelling bad?I guess ThunderClan cats are always rude. He chuckled despite the joke, "And for a ThunderClan cat, you don't smell that bad either." Bluepaw looked at him and stuck her tongue out.

The apprentices looked towards the Great Rock as the leaders came down from it. The gathering was over. Crookedpaw felt upset by this. He would have to say goodbye to Bluepaw. He turned and looked at her, "See you next time Bluepaw?"

She looked at him and smiled, "Of course!" Bluepaw seemed like she wanted him to ask her something.

"Do…you want to meet tomorrow? Here, at Four Trees?" Crookedpaw asked.

Bluepaw's ears perked up, "But how would we meet, and what if we get caught, what do we say?"

I guess ThunderClan cats always worry about getting in trouble. "At Sun High, go out and collect some herbs for the medicine cat, and bring them with here. If someone finds us, we can just say we were gathering herbs together when we ended up here."

Bluepaw was quiet for a couple of moments before she nodded, "Alright then, see you tomorrow Crookedpaw!" She stood and headed over to her Clan as they were leaving, she looked over her shoulder and smiled at him.

He smiled back, "See you tomorrow Bluepaw."

Crookedpaw walked back towards RiverClan, looking for Oakheart. His brother smiled as he approached, "So what did you think?" Crookedpaw nodded at him, "It was nice, I met a very nice ThunderClan apprentice. Her name is Bluepaw, I hope I can see her at the next gathering."

Oakheart looked at him, "I wouldn't be so excited to see a ThunderClan cat, Crookedpaw. She might be your friend here, but anywhere else, she is your enemy." Crookedpaw shot a glance at his brother, he sighed, "I understand."

The tom smiled, "Come on, let's head back to camp before our tails freeze off!" Crookedpaw chuckled and bounded after his brother, the cold ground tickling his paws as they ran. I can't wait to see Bluepaw tomorrow. I hope Maplesh- Mapleshade! Crookedpaw was suddenly washed with worry. What will she say about me meeting with Bluepaw tomorrow? He worriedly looked back over his shoulder, maybe she wouldn't mind if he met with Bluepaw…

"Is something bothering you Crookedpaw?" Oakheart asked. Crookedpaw shook his head and looked at his brother, "Oh! Nothing it's wrong, just cold, that's all."

The cats reached RiverClan's camp, heading through the entrance; they split and went to their dens to sleep for the rest of the night. Crookedpaw headed to the apprentices den. He walked over to his nest and laid down, curling up and covering his nose with his tail.

"Meeting with a ThunderClan cat?!" Mapleshade shouted, "How could you do such a thing!" She spat on the ground, near his paws. Crookedpaw stepped back, "She's nice Mapleshade! She's my friend!" The tortoise she-cat glared at Crookedpaw. "You're breaking your promise Crookedpaw, do you want me to stop training you?"

Crookedpaw looked at the ground, "No, I don't but I w-" She jumped infront of him, "You will not meet with this apprentice, understand?"

Crookedpaw was quite, he stared at the ground.

"Do you understand Crookedpaw?"

"I won't meet with Bluepaw tomorrow."

A/N: I used an excerpt from Crookedstar's Promise for the start of this. I claim no rights to Warrior Cats in anyway, it was only used to start off this chapter. This is *hopefully* a short shipfic between Crookedpaw and Bluepaw. This is merely practice for another fanfiction I plan to write, but please! Leave a review on what you think, and let me know if there's anything I can improve upon!