As he sat dutifully by his mentor, half listening to Sandstar's speech, his mind had a flashback to the day he first got acquainted with the rogue.
It was a beautiful summer day. The river birds were singing to each other with their usual strange calls. Streampaw, named Streamkit then, could hardly wait to have all sorts of great adventures. He was a mischievous and adventurous kit, and today he had managed to slip out of camp unnoticed. Streamkit wanted to see the world. He was tired of being cooped up in a smelly, hot den with yowling, squirming kits. He was finally free, outside in the open, without any cat to scold him or cuff his ears for some mistake he had made. Streamkit laid down by the riverbank and breathed a deep breath of the wonderfully scented morning air. He noticed a small fish lying in the grass beside him, and began gnawing on its flesh without a second thought.
"That's not yours, you know."
Stream sat upright with a jerk. A she-kit of about four moons was staring at him from several feet away. The sun glistened off of her sleek, black fur. Flexing her claws, she made her way over to Streamkit and sat down by him.
"Who are you?" Streamkit asked, warily. This stranger was no River Clan cat. This must be a rogue. The she-kit carried the scent of a rogue all over her.
"I'm Echo."
"Well, I'm Streamkit. I'm from River Clan, and I'm not afraid of you!" Streamkit tried to put on a brave face.
"I'm not in any clan. I think my mother was, but she's gone now. I'm on my own for the time being. Is it all right for us to be friends?"
"I...I guess so," Streamkit answered. He was, in fact, almost certain that it was not all right for a River Clan kit and a rogue kit to be friends. He had never heard of anything like that happening before. But, so long as River Clan never found out...he supposed it was fine.
"Oh, good," replied Echo. "I never had any friends, except for you. I'm sure we'll be best buddies!"
"Yeah...best buddies." Streamkit smiled. He had never really had many friends himself, except for that apprentice, Rainpaw.
Streamkit's well-sharpened senses alerted him to the approaching presence of some cats from his clan.
"My clan's coming!" Streamkit whispered. "You'll have to run. If they see me with you..."
"Can we meet here again?" Echo was also whispering. "We could have so much fun."
"I'll be here at moonhigh three nights from now." Streamkit promised.
"Bye!" Echo smiled to him, and disappeared into the tall grasses.
Streampaw had met Echo again, just a few nights ago. He would sneak out of camp at night, visiting the same bank where he and his forbidden friend had met the first time. She was becoming big, and powerful.
Streampaw had considered telling Sandstar, or Rainfur, at least, about his friendship with the rogue. She could be a valuable help during times such as these, but telling the clan would definitely get him kicked out. Friendships with cats from other clans were acceptable, so long as the cats remained true to their clans. However, friendships with rogues was definitely out of the question. It was simply not allowed.
Streampaw knew it was only a matter of time before his secret night visits were found out. It would be best for him to tell someone, rather than to have his secret discovered on its own. And maybe now was the right time.