For the Sake of Love
"Meet me at the river tonight, okay?" those words echoed in Graystripe's mind as he lifted his head and looked around with his bright amber eyes. All around him were the lumps of fur that he called his Clanmates. Meeting Silverstream at the river would is forbidden, but…
But she was so pretty. And so kind, and Graystripe knew that he loved her. Although they only met once, her silver pelt couldn't leave his mind and he couldn't stop thinking about her beautiful blue eyes, shining as she whispered in his ear.
Yes, Graystripe would go and meet Silverstream. Tonight. At the river.
Waiting for all of his Clanmates to start snoring, Graystripe silently lifted himself up and padded softly to the entrance of the den, being sure not to step on anybody.
Mousefur hissed as Graystripe accidentally brushed by her tail, causing him to stiffen. Only when she mumbled and started snoring again did he start moving, toward the slit that marked the exit of the Warriors' den.
And then he was out in the open, staring at the camp. Once again, he was worried that he was making the wrong choice. Maybe meeting Silverstream wouldn't be the best choice, but he had to do it.
Slipping out of camp unnoticed was simple. Waiting for the guard to start walking to the opposite end of his 'patrol', Graystripe bounded away into the forest and toward the river.
When he was far away from camp, he slowed down to a trot, trying to put as much distance from the camp to himself as possible.
For the third time that hour, guilt and uneasiness gnawed at his heart, forcing him to stop again. What if he was wrong and there was no one there? What if all of this was just a trap?
It can't be a trap, Graystripe told himself as he padded on, Silverstream wouldn't lie to me.
But would she? After all, they hardly knew each other. Maybe Silverstream wasn't all good, after all.
Too late to turn back. The guard – now Graystripe could see that it was Whitestorm – had already sat down, curling his tail neatly around his paws as his ears pricked up.
Continuing on his journey toward the river, Graystripe picked up his pace when he saw the vague outline of a sleek she-cat, sitting at Thunderclan's side of the river and waiting for him.
"Silverstream!" he hissed. The she-cat jumped and whirled around, purring when she saw Graystripe.
"Graystripe!" she mewed happily.
The two cats shared tongues for a while, and then started talking together. Confessing each other's feelings, they started purring again.
As Graystripe rolled around in a clump of ferns on his way back to the camp, he couldn't help but wonder, what if he was doing everything wrong?
No. He couldn't afford to be wrong about this.
After all, everybody does stupid, rash and impossible things for the sake of love.