Stormfur sat guard, his back to the other journeying cats. He questioned why Brambleclaw's approval meant so much to him. The younger warrior was neither leader nor mentor to the gray tom, and he was a ThunderClan warrior. The six cats had grown close through the journey, but they still observed some Clan borders, didn't they?
He remembered noticing how his sister, Feathertail, seemed to be the only one able to get close to Crowpaw, the prickly WindClan apprentice. The two were much closer than he would have liked, even among the absence of the boundaries. His tail lashed from side to side in agitation. What was Feathertail thinking? She should know more than most cats how difficult and dangerous it could be to love a cat from a different Clan! What with the two of them being halfClan cats themselves...
He shook his head, his ears flattening against his skull. Who was he to chastise her, what with his own muddled feelings?
When did his feelings of admiration for the younger tom change into feelings of something else, something that he couldn't- that he wouldn't- name? Not only because the strong tabby was a ThunderClan cat, and he, a RiverClan warrior; no, because the cat of his affections was another tom.
He extended his claws, wincing slightly as they scraped over hard rock as opposed to soft earth. He thought back to a few days ago, when they had been forced to jump from a small ledge across the ravine to reach where they could continue on to where they were now.
Squirrelpaw had launched herself across, following Feathertail and Crowpaw. Brambleclaw had stared longingly after the ginger she-cat, and murmured, "She's quite something..." Stormfur had agreed, disappointment filling him slightly.
After the terror of thinking Brambleclaw's sister, Tawnypelt, wouldn't make the jump, it was just the two toms. He volunteered to go last. Although at the time he regretted it, after the fact, he was secretly glad that he had; that the eagle had attacked him and not Brambleclaw.
He had been terrified, but was filled with joy at the fact that it had been the powerful tabby tom racing to his aid at his sister's side. After the fact, though, when he was lying next to a sleeping Tawnypelt, he deeply envied the closeness of the two ThunderClan cats.
He had tried telling himself that it was because the ginger apprentice was in another Clan, and he could never be that close to her without breaking the Warrior Code. He had tried very hard to convince himself of it, but he realized now, as he sat watch over his friends under the cold light of Silverpelt in the mountains, far from home, that it wasn't Brambleclaw he envied because of the apprentice; it was the opposite. He envied Squirrelpaw's ability to be so close to the tom.
He lowered his head, staring at his paws, and sighed. She would make the tabby a much better mate. She was of his own Clan, for one, and she was a she-cat, for second. He hissed at himself.
"You are a mousebrain for thinking you even stood a chance..." he hissed quietly. "You really are a stupid furball..."
"Stormfur? Who are you talking to?" asked Feathertail, lifting her head groggily. He started. He must have woken her up with his quiet contemplation of his thoughts.
Sighing, he said, "No one, Feathertail... I was just talking to myself..."
She mrowed quietly in amusement. "Thinking about Squirrelpaw?" she mewed knowingly.
Stormfur paused. "In a way, you could say that," he replied, thinking it would be better for his sister to think he harbored feelings for the young she-cat instead of her Clanmate. "Now, go back to sleep; I'll keep watch until moonhigh."
A/N: Hey guys! Haven't heard from me in a while, yeah? Well, except for possibly some of you seeing mentions of me in stuff posted by Mona...? Well, I have nothing really to say, other than I was re-rereading my Warrior Cats books (Moonrise, to be specific), and was inspired...