Chapter 6

Shadowpelt leaped at Dracofire, as Shadestep attacked Wishsong. Moonpaw fought Adderpaw, and Sunpaw was left facing Nightpaw. She sprang forward, slashing at him with her claws unsheathed. Sunpaw ducked, dodging her blow, but didn't counter.

"Nightpaw!" He said, leaping over another swipe, "I thought we were friends!"

"No!" She yowled back, "I'm ShadowClan. You're WindClan. We're at war!"

She swiped again, slashing Sunpaw's ear. Sunpaw began to fight back, driving Nightpaw back a few paces with a ferocious slash of his claws. She was at the edge of the stream. Sunpaw barreled forward, slamming into Nightpaw's flank. The two apprentices slipped over the edge, and tumbled into the inky depths.

"Not again!" Sunpaw thought.

He had meant to push Nightpaw in, not fall in along with her. He paddled frantically, and his head broke the surface. Sunpaw saw Nightpaw swimming strongly towards the bank. He flailed in the water, and only succeeded in sinking back under. As he reached the surface again, Sunpaw saw Shadestep leaping over the narrowest part of the stream, and fleeing into the pine forest. Wishsong attacked Shadowpelt, and he was forced to retreat under the attack of the two fearsome warriors. Adderpaw saw the rest of his patrol defeated, and fled after his Clanmates. Nightpaw sprang out of the water, dripping. Hissing, she faced the three WindClan cats.

"Leave here now," commanded Dracofire.

Sunpaw missed the rest of what she said as he sank under the water again. He resurfaced near the bank to see Nightpaw leap across and vanish into the ShadowClan forest. Dracofire's teeth met in Sunpaw's scruff, and she dragged him out of the water.

"Falconstrike told me about last time," She meowed, "You really need to stop falling in. At least you managed to get out on your own last time."

Sunpaw didn't argue, although Dracofire wasn't right. There was no way he was going to betray Nightpaw, even now.

The patrol returned to camp, where Fernfrost and Leafheart treated their wounds.

"Honestly," Fernfrost meowed, "You ought to stop falling in the water. Haven't you learned?"

"Yes," mewed Sunpaw irritably, "I was kind of busy fighting to pay attention to the mud."

Fernfrost rolled her eyes and began to plaster herbs on Sunpaw's ear. Sunpaw replayed the fight in his mind.

"How did Nightpaw change so suddenly?" He wondered, "I thought we were friends. When did she start hating me?"

Fernfrost stood up. "You're done. Go get some fresh-kill."

She turned and began to treat Moonpaw's scratched nose. Sunpaw padded out of the den, and picked a thrush from the fresh-kill pile.

"Hey, Lilypaw!" He called to the silver apprentice who was coming out of their den. "Want to share this with me?"

Lilypaw nodded gratefully and bounded over. "I was just about to ask you that."

"What happened, anyways?" Lilypaw meowed, noticing his ear, which was wrapped in cobwebs.

"Fight with ShadowClan," Sunpaw said, "Ask Moonpaw about it. I was underwater half the time."

"You fell in the stream again?" Lilypaw meowed, laughing.

"Yeah," Sunpaw said, feeling better as he talked to Lilypaw, "Guess I should pay more attention to the mud when I'm fighting."

Lilypaw was silent for a moment. "Why didn't you tell Moonpaw about Nightpaw?"

"I told you already," Sunpaw said, immediately uncomfortable, "I forgot."

"I know you were lying," Lilypaw pressed, "Really, why didn't you tell her?"

"I don't know," Sunpaw sighed, "I just-"

"Sunpaw!" Quickpaw called out, saving Sunpaw from coming up with a more convincing lie, "What happened?"

Sunpaw recounted what he knew of the battle, having to restart once when Rosepaw arrived. By the time he had finished, Lilypaw had left for a hunting patrol. Sunpaw was relieved that she wouldn't be questioning him for a while. He would have time to come up with a good cover story. Sunpaw padded into the apprentice den.

"I'll wake you if anyone needs you," Quickpaw offered.

"Thanks, Quickpaw," Sunpaw meowed back.

He curled up in his nest and fell asleep. His sleep was dreamless, which disappointed Sunpaw when he awoke. Even the vague prophecies Tallstar told him were better than nothing. Sunpaw desperately wished that someone, anyone, could tell him what he should do. Even just telling someone about the secret he shared with Nightpaw would lighten his burden immensely. Sunpaw thought of telling Moonpaw, but he dismissed the idea almost at once.

"I promised Nightpaw," Sunpaw thought, "I swore it on StarClan. If only Tallstar would tell me what to do. Why can't Dusktail come guide me?"

Sunpaw sighed.

"Hunting patrol, Sunpaw!" Dracofire called.

Sunpaw followed Dracofire out of camp. This time, he caught a fat rabbit. He was proud of his catch, until he was Quickpaw dragging a pheasant back to them. His pelt burned with jealousy. For the rest of the day, everyone was congratulating Quickpaw on the pheasant. Sunpaw was overlooked, as he always was when Quickpaw was around. Whenever Sunpaw did something well, Quickpaw would do it even better. Sunpaw burned with anger. He tried to quench his anger by reminding himself that he would soon be a warrior. Sadly, sometimes it didn't work. Sunpaw put up with it, and worked as hard as he could. Finally, one day he got his reward.