Owlreader- I know, they kinda do sound like humans, but that's my style of writing. I tried to use less of the giggling and such for this chapter. Thanks for reviewing, though!
Evershine- Okay, I'm going to do this in order.
-It was not a dream. It was real.
-Portland, Oregon. It's not that cold here anymore, so it's good!
-Yeah, I know. She's cool!
-Does Foxpaw remind you of anyone? (Dawntail?)
-OMG she…what? XD
Jarrtail- Thanks!
Chapter 3
How could the tom have slipped into the den so quietly and unnoticed by Redfeather?
"Swiftp-"
"Shh!" Swiftpaw hissed at her. "You don't want to look like an idiot talking to yourself again."
Heatherpaw sat up. "Huh?"
"C'mon, I have to talk to you!"
Heatherpaw shook her head and looked down at Rosepaw, who, thankfully, was still fast asleep.
"I'm not going with you! I barely even know you!"
"I'll explain later! Just hurry!" He was about to leave the den, but Heatherpaw let out a hiss.
"Wait!"
Swiftpaw looked back at her and shook his head vigorously. "There's no time! I have so many things to say! Nobody knows I'm here!"
Heatherpaw's eyes grew wide. "Are you from another Clan? You're trespassing on ThunderClan territory! I'll yell an alarm-"
"No! Just follow me! Please!" Without another word, Swiftpaw was out of sight.
Heatherpaw let out a hiss of frustration. She was about to curl back up and try to go back to sleep, but something tugged at her pelt. What if this Swiftpaw had something important to show her and she's letting it go just out of pure laziness. She would be so ashamed of herself!
But the curfew! She thought in despair. Redfeather would never let me go!
Swiftpaw's head suddenly reappeared, amber eyes flashing angrily. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
Heatherpaw growled. This tom is annoyingly impatient! She thought angrily.
"But there's a guard outside!" She whined.
Swiftpaw grimaced. "Apprentices these days! Argh! Back when I was around, cats could slip by without even a hair on their pelt seen."
"What do you mean 'back when you were around'?"
"I'll tell you when we're alone! I'm sure you could charm the guard into letting you go! I'm not waiting for you!" He slipped away again, much to her disappointment.
"Charm?" Heatherpaw looked outside the den, where she could see the muscular frame of Redfeather at the entrance.
"Oh boy." She muttered under breath and gathered her courage. This was not going to be easy.
She softly padded outside, the moonlight illuminating her pelt.
Redfeather abruptly turned his head her direction and he narrowed his eyes when he saw her.
Uh-oh…Heatherpaw thought in despair.
"Heatherpaw?" He asked.
She walked over to him, her head low. She cannot stand looking into his eyes. It would make her paws sway and she would turn uncomfortable, like always.
"What are you doing?"
"Uh…I'm just…" Heatherpaw gritted her teeth. What was she going to say? "Uh…I need to go make dirt."
Great, Heatherpaw! She scolded herself. The perfect explanation! Now Redfeather will taunt you for that the rest of your life! So much for 'charming' the guard!
"Go ahead." Redfeather yawned. "I don't know why Nightstar makes these stupid rules anyways."
Heatherpaw blinked in surprise. He believed her! I can't believe he bought it! She thought.
"Why are you standing there? Go, before anyone sees you!" Redfeather whispered to her.
Heatherpaw smiled. "Thanks, Redfeather." She had a nagging thought in her mind. "Did you…by any chance, see a black and white tom pass by?"
Redfeather narrowed his eyes. "Heatherpaw, everyone's asleep, you know that. Only you and I are awake."
Heatherpaw's mind whirled. That means Swiftpaw was never here! She thought. But I saw him…am I dreaming?
She then suddenly saw the black and white face of the tom in the bushes. "C'mon!" He hissed. Then he disappeared once again.
Redfeather seemed not to have heard him. He just kept staring at Heatherpaw, making her shift uncomfortably.
"Thanks again, Redfeather!" She called over her shoulder at the russet-red tom before disappearing into the darkness.
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"Where are you?" Heatherpaw hissed as soon as she left the entrance of the camp well behind.
"Over here!"
She flipped her head towards the direction of the voice. "Swiftpaw?"
The black-and-white tom stepped out of the bushes, barely making a sound. "Shh!" He hissed.
Heatherpaw gritted her teeth. "How did you manage to slip by Redfeather?" She asked him.
"It was easy. He just didn't see me."
The ThunderClan apprentice shook her head. "Obviously. But how?"
Swiftpaw smirked. "I'm not going to tell you. It's my secret."
Heatherpaw grimaced. "What are you doing here?"
The tom smiled. "Well, to see you."
"But why? I don't even know you!"
Swiftpaw flicked his tail. "You will get to know me pretty soon, Heatherpaw."
The she-cat's neck fur started to bristle. This cat was annoying her! She let out a frustrated hiss. "At least tell me what Clan you're from! You don't look like a RiverClan cat or a WindClan cat. Are you from ShadowClan?"
Swiftpaw crinkled his nose in disgust. "No way! I'm not with those stinky rats!"
"Then where are you from? Are you banished? Did you run away from your Clan?"
"Whoa, slow down! Why would you think I'm banished?"
Heatherpaw was confused. "Well, you have 'paw' in your name, so I just assumed…"
Swiftpaw sighed. "Assumption is such a horrible thing, Heatherpaw. Jumping to conclusions…even worse."
"What are you talking about?"
"You see, Heatherpaw, the reason Redfeather couldn't see me and why I really can't tell you about me is because…I'm dead."
Heatherpaw's jaw dropped. "W-what?"
"I was a ThunderClan apprentice once, just like you, even before your grandparents were born."
Heatherpaw was speechless. Swiftpaw's…dead? She thought.
Swiftpaw looked concerned. "You seem bewildered, Heatherpaw. Dying is a pretty normal thing, you know-"
"But dead cats coming back to haunt living cats sure isn't normal!" Heatherpaw screeched.
"Shh!" Swiftpaw hissed. "You'll wake up every cat from here to ShadowClan!"
Heatherpaw just lashed her tail. "You're not dead." She mewed icily, narrowing her eyes.
Swiftpaw rolled his eyes. "You need me to prove it to you? Alright, I will." He looked around at the ground under Heatherpaw. "Grab that twig by your right paw."
Heatherpaw looked down, seeing the twig. "This one?"
"Yeah. Pick it up."
Heatherpaw bent down and grabbed it between her teeth.
"Throw it at me."
The she-cat raised a brow. "But I'm going to hit you." She mewed through the bark of the twig.
"Don't worry, it won't. Trust me." He bowed his head.
Heatherpaw shrugged, tilted her head back, and hurled the twig at the tom. It was harder than she first intended to and she realized it too late.
"Watch out!" She cried.
She expected him to dodge, but instead, the twig just passed harmlessly through his chest as if he were made of air.
Heatherpaw jumped back in surprise, her eyes wide open with fear. She stared at the twig behind Swiftpaw, almost mocking her, as if Heatherpaw never threw it at all.
"Do I need to show you again?" He asked, looking up at her.
"Y-you…you…" Heatherpaw stammered, the words fumbling out of her mouth awkwardly in her disbelief.
"…are dead." Swiftpaw finished for her. "Yes, I've known that for quite a while now."
"You're a…a StarClan cat?"
Swiftpaw frowned. "Hm. I was afraid of that question. Uh…sadly, no."
Heatherpaw blinked in bewilderment. "But…you're dead, so…"
"It's a long story. Your Redfeather will start to worry about you if I start telling it."
Heatherpaw shook her head. I'm not talking to a dead cat. I'm dreaming, that's it. In a few seconds, a flying mouse would come and beg me to eat it, like always. Yeah. C'mon, Heatherpaw, you can wake up now!
She suddenly bit her front paw as hard as she could. Ow! That hurt, so that means I'm awake!
"Heatherpaw? Are you okay?"
That snapped her back to attention. She was still here. The tom was still in front of her, who happened to be dead. This was still reality.
"I-"
Swiftpaw shook his head. "Go, Heatherpaw. If the guard has any descendants from when I was alive, he will start to get suspicious if a cat who only had to make dirt was gone for this long."
Heatherpaw blinked. I still can't believe this cat's dead…he seems so real…
"Well, see you." Swiftpaw dipped his head and vanished. He literally vanished into thin air.
That's when Heatherpaw fainted.
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She woke up in the medicine cat's den the next morning.
"Oh, Heatherpaw! You're awake!"
Her sleepy heather-colored eyes focused on the cat in front of her. It was a dark brown tabby she-cat with green eyes.
"Redfeather found you last night. He was worried sick about you."
"Redfeather?" It was all slowly coming back to her. She snuck out late the previous night…then there was Swiftpaw…
At that thought, Heatherpaw groaned.
"What's wrong?" The medicine cat asked. "Is something hurting or bothering you?"
Heatherpaw sat up. "I'm f-fine, Cloverleaf. Just a bit woozy, that's all."
"What happened last night? Would you mind telling me why Redfeather found you passed out in the middle of the forest?"
Heatherpaw felt her ears go hot. Can she tell the medicine cat about Swiftpaw? She decided not to. "I…I passed out?"
Cloverleaf frowned. "Yes, Heatherpaw. Nightstar didn't put the curfew in effect for no reason."
"I was just making dirt." Heatherpaw decided to go along with her little fake story.
"And you fainted while doing so? Do you need me to check if your bowel movements are alright?"
Heatherpaw's lip curled in disgust. "No!"
Cloverleaf flicked her tail. Her green eyes glinted with some unknown understanding. "Whatever you were doing, Heatherpaw, pray to StarClan that you don't get caught again."
Heatherpaw cocked her head. "Huh?"
"Nightstar's curfew is ridiculous. She and Badgerfrost came up with it in order to stop 'cross-Clan' relationships. What a mouse-brained idea."
Heatherpaw smirked.
"I thought after my great grandmother, Leafpool's mistake, ThunderClan would learn to keep their affections within the border."
"What's going on, though?"
Cloverleaf sighed. "There's a rumor going around about a curious RiverClan cat poking around our territory."
Heatherpaw gasped dramatically. "Oh no! Nightstar's perfect ThunderClan is ruined!"
The medicine cat chuckled and then abruptly turned serious. "I hope this has nothing to do with our 'event' last night, did it?"
Heatherpaw shook her head vigorously. "I swear to StarClan it was not, Cloverleaf."
Cloverleaf let out a purr. "Good. I trust you to be honest."
Heatherpaw suddenly thought of Swiftpaw and her stomach did a double back flip.
Cloverleaf went back to her herbs with a sigh and started to sort them. That's what medicine cats do apparently when they have nothing else to do. They just sort their herbs.
"Cloverleaf?" Heatherpaw asked.
"Hm?"
"Is it possible for a cat to die and not go to StarClan?"
Cloverleaf's eyes fluttered as soon as she finished saying 'StarClan'. "W-why would you ask something like that, Heatherpaw?"
The apprentice noticed the medicine cat's hesitation and she shrugged. "Just curious."
"Have you ever heard of Tigerstar and Hawkfrost?"
"Of course, Cloverleaf. There were evil. Who could ever forget them?"
Cloverleaf nodded. "Well, they aren't in StarClan. StarClan…rejected them and put them in a world called the Place of No Stars."
Heatherpaw frowned. Could Swiftpaw belong in the Place of No Stars? With the evil Tigerstar and Hawkfrost? She thought. No, he doesn't seem to be the type of cat to be evil…
"Only cats that murder and do diabolic things, such as what Tigerstar did when he was alive, go to the Place of No Stars. Not much is known about that place really. But my best advice is to stay away from there at all costs."
Heatherpaw nodded. "Thank you, Cloverleaf."
The dark brown tabby she-cat looked concerned, much to Heatherpaw's surprise. "I wish you would tell me about your sudden interest in StarClan."
"They're our ancestors, Cloverleaf. I want to learn about them!"
"Alright." Her tone of voice didn't seem so sure, though. "You're lucky Nightstar still doesn't know about your little late-night fainting spell. She would have you cleaning the elders' bedding for moons!"
Heatherpaw let out a sigh of relief. "Thank StarClan."
"Now go." Cloverleaf's voice was taut, but not angry. "Before Nightstar and Badgerfrost catch you."
"'Bye, Cloverleaf!" The apprentice bowed her head respectfully and left.
The medicine cat stared after her, her green eyes clouded with suspicion.
R&R, por favor!
-Evanessence
