What is Love:

Icekit glanced over her shoulder as Toadkit and Dapplekit slept in their nests. Today, the two older kits would become apprentices. Her own sister, Sunkit, was leaping after a moss ball, but Icekit had never seen the point of it. She had always controlled her emotions, always shut out everything and everyone who tried to figure her out. But one of the few emotions she ever felt was the need to always act calm, mature, and slightly mysterious.

She blinked as Dapplekit leapt into the air and spun around to charge out of the nursery. "I'm gonna be an apprentice soon!" The mottled brown she-kit boasted. "You still have to wait a moon and a half, though, so ha!" "Good for you. Now, I suppose you'd like to go and eat. It would be a shame if you were to starve on your first day, after all, Dapplekit." Icekit mewed thinly.

Sunkit skidded to a halt in front of them and pressed her muzzle to Dapplekit's. "Oh my StarClan!" Her sister exclaimed. "You're so lucky! You get to be an apprentice. I'm so happy for you!"

Standing up, Icekit left the two kits and padded over to the Clan Rock. If this ceremony was anything like Rockpaw, Brightpaw, and Littlepaw's, then it would be early in the day. Sure enough, Nightstar trotted out of his hazel bush den and crouched, preparing himself to scramble up the tall rock.

One her few flashes of excitement came then, and Icekit gritted her teeth, mentally crushing the emotion. I cannot be so weak! But... I still can't wait till my own ceremony. Sunkit and mine's ceremony.

...

"Icekit, from now on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Icepaw. Thornheart, you have shown yourself to be strong and brave, and your mentor, Mapleflower, shared with you her own curiosity and passion. I trust you will be a good mentor to this apprentice." Nightstar mewed.

Icepaw stared evenly into Dapplepaw's eyes, remembering the day the brown she-cat herself had been apprenticed. Sunpaw bounded over to Dapplepaw, Toadpaw, and Brightstorm, her eyes twinkling with excitement. Ha. Sister, if only you were as strong as I. Your emotions will only drag you down.

"Come on," Thornheart mewed, sounding impatient. "We don't have all day to explore the territory and collect the elders some bedding." "You speak as if I'm a mouse-brain, Thornheart. Did you start out a genius?" Icepaw tilted her head, keeping her tone calm. Her eyes didn't shine or spark with any emotion, unlike Thornheart's, which shimmered with annoyance.

The duo padded out of camp with a welcome silence, and Icepaw didn't give a second glance at the territory around her. "You said we're low on time," Icepaw meowed, flicking her tail. "Don't you want to run?" "What did I ever do to Nightstar?" Thornheart growled, but began to run anyways.

Finally, they began to collect moss, and Thornheart led her to a clearing. Toadpaw and Sunpaw were already there, slowly creating a pile of moss. Sunpaw was acting like she was glued to Toadpaw's side, and Icepaw let out a 'tsk, tsk' and shook her head. We were just made apprentices! What's with the mooning, Sunpaw? I knew it would make a cat weak.

"That moss is so soft!" Sunpaw squealed as Toadpaw dropped a small bundle of moss onto the heap. "It's so perfect!"

Toadpaw glanced at her. "Here, take it for your nest. The elders can live if you fancy it like that." He pushed the moss towards Sunpaw, who swiftly snatched it up, purring. "Oh, thank you, Toadpaw! You're so kind!" Icepaw almost missed the look that Toadpaw flashed at her.

...

Brushing against Sunpaw, the sisters bounded over the Tree-Bridge. Icepaw could sense the excitement sparking from Sunpaw's pelt, and it seemed to deepen as Toadpaw drew up alongside them. This was their second moon as an apprentice, but they hadn't gone to the previous gathering. Honestly, Icepaw didn't care if she went or not; it made no difference to her. "Hey," Toadpaw mewed. "Do you want me to show you around?" Icepaw didn't respond, but Sunpaw nodded. "Of course, Toadpaw! I think I'll sit next to you, too, if you don't mind."

Toadpaw shook his head to show that he didn't before cocking his head at Icepaw as she began to shiver. It was late leaf fall, and it did not help to have a thin pelt. "Are you cold?" He asked. Icepaw nodded, her eyes empty of emotion of always. "Yeah. Why do you care?" "You're a clanmate, duh!" Toadpaw mewed after a few moments. "I don't want you to freeze. Here, I'll walk on your other side to keep you warm."

Sunpaw let out a wail. "But I'm cold, too!" Icepaw took one look at her long, golden fur and sighed, shaking her head. I was right. Love makes a cat so weak... I'm lucky to be able to completely control my emotions.

...

Iceleap and Sunstream padded out of camp. Her sister had invited her to hunt together, just like old times, and so there they were, standing in the middle of a sheltered clearing. Suddenly, as Iceleap opened her jaws to scent the air like she had been taught, Sunstream tackled her to the ground. "Get away from Toadskip!" Her sister hissed. "He's mine, so stop secretly meeting him or whatever!"

Kicking her sister off, the white warrior jumped to her paws. "You're welcome to him, Sunstream. I don't care about any cat, just as always. I'm not weak like you lovey doveys, always giving in to emotion." Hmph, I knew emotion is bad.

"Don't care about any cat, not even me or our parents? Ha, yeah right! I've seen the looks you and Toadskip give each other, all mooney. But you heard me- Toadskip is mine!" Sunstream gowled. "And for your information, if you don't feel emotion, then you're not even half a cat! Emotion means personality and a cause to be who you are, do what you do. I can't believe you!" The golden she-cat stormed off, leaving Iceleap with her first ever true emotion: surprise. It was all over her face, her thoughts, her fur.

I look at Toadskip? But I am strong! Yet, if what Sunstream says is right... then I am not a true cat. Numbly, Iceleap turned to go off into the forest. After a few minutes of walking, she heard rustling, and she froze, diving into the cover of some bushes. From her shelter, she saw Toadskip and Sunstream walking together, and she felt anger burn inside of her. Sunstream couldn't have Toadskip... H-He was hers!

Iceleap narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth. She was no longer strong- Sunstream had broken her- but that still didn't mean she could be strong for her emotions, to back them up. And if Sunstream was right, which Iceleap knew she was, she loved Toadskip. Bursting out into the clearing, Sunstream jumped before hissing at her. "You said you didn't care!" "Then you shouldn't have broken me!" She retorted.

Toadskip broke them apart. "Guys, stop fighting! Tell me what this is about, and I can fix it for you." His gaze lingered for a few heartbeats on Iceleap, and she beamed, finally realizing why she loved him. Not only was he handsome, but he was smart and clever and funny and brave and loyal and caring.

The two sisters stared at each for almost a minute, when Sunstream flattened her ears and bared her teeth. "Fine!" She snarled. "Both of us love you, but you can only be mates with one of us. So who do you choose?"

Toadskip glanced at both of them, his expression filled with first shock and then joy. "Iceleap," he mewed. "I choose Iceleap."

...

The two lived happily together for two and a half days, when the mates went out hunting together. As they neared the spot where Toadskip chose her over Sunstream, the said sister burst out of the bushes, lunging for Iceleap's throat. Yet a heartbeat before she have caught Iceleap's throat in her jaws and killed her, Toadskip jumped in the way.

Iceleap let out a choked yowl of grief as her beloved mate died almost instantly, now dropped onto the ground at Sunstream's paws.

"Emotion means a cause to do what you do,"

"Toadskip is mine,"

"You are only half a cat,"

"Don't care about any cat, even me? Ha,"

The white warrior's mind whirled. Toadskip belonged to Iceleap, not her sister, and she was more than half a cat. She was strong, and only emotion fueled what she did next.

Pouncing forwards, Iceleap closed her teeth into Sunstream's neck, tearing the life out of her golden sister. As she dropped the she-cat onto the ground with Toadskip, her dying sister lashed out her claws and seized Iceleap's life just as she stopped breathing. After a few moments, Iceleap was dead as well.

...

A familiar dark brown shape stood in front of her, his fur sparkling. "Iceleap!" Toadskip cried. "Welcome to StarClan. Don't worry, my love; Sunstream has been cast to the Dark Forest. It was hard- it took nine of us to throw her over the border- but once a cat places paw over the border and into the Place of No Stars, they are stuck there forever." Toadskip rasped his tongue over her ears, pointing with his tail in the direction of the evil woods.

Besides Toadskip, Iceleap had thought she didn't care for any cat. But now she realized that wasn't true. She loved Sunstream, and it was her fault that she was dead. She tore herself away from her mate and dashed in the direction he had pointed, Toadskip running after her. "What are you doing?" He called. "You can't speak to Sunstream, if that's what you're doing! It's impossible to talk to Dark Forest cats!"

Iceleap skidded to a halt right at the border and spun around to face Toadskip. "I can't stay here in StarClan, with you, where I am happy, knowing I killed my own sister, knowing I killed Sunstream. I'm sorry, my love. This hurts me as much as you, but I cannot live forever, in bliss, here with you." With that, she bounded into the Land of Darkness, weeping for all she had lost and where everything had gone wrong.

I love you Toadskip. I love you.

About my use of the word weeping/crying: I know that cats don't cry, but I was unable to think of any other word that described like that how she feeling.