Author's Note: Sorry it took me FOREVER to update. Writer's Block is Evil. I just hope people will be happy when they read this chapter even though it is a bit short-ish. 900+ words. The Prologue was shorter though.. I introduce a new character, Orangeheart, and yes, he /might/ be a descendant of Firestar. Anyways... there's a side relationship, but I won't say who... quite obvious, really, and this one will be establishing a lot faster than the main relationship... because I want it to. Hehehe..


The Next Day:

Spottedfeather woke up, as usual, quite early for a Clan cat. She stretched luxuriously, taking care to not step on Brindlepelt, who was happily snoozing on her nest. She slowly crept out of the Warriors' Den, making sure she didn't bother any of the other sleeping warriors. Finally, she was out in the clearing, taking a few deep breaths to rid her scent glands of the many warrior scents in the den she had just exited.

Riverstrike woke up earlier than the she-cat, but just by a few heartbeats. His gaze suddenly flickered to the she-cat warrior. A sudden idea flashed in his head, and he purred to himself. Slowly and quietly, he crept towards the spotted she-cat, and sat down. He let out a mroww of laughter when she jumped, and took two paces back. "I'm sorry. Did I scare you?" he asked innocently.

Spottedfeather gasped as he scared her, and his question made her glare at him. "Of course you did mouse-brain!" she hissed, cuffing him over the ear. But, she visibly lightened up, and sank back into a sitting position. "But, why'd you do that?" she asked.

He purred to himself, "A mere whim." He replied simply. Spottedfeather shook her head, and he couldn't help but have a small feeling clutching at his heart when he looked at her. But he shook it off, insisting to himself that he was feeling protective around her because he thought of her as a sister-like figure.

Spottedfeather just looked away, and out to the forest, it seemed so quiet without any cats' paws making noise while patrolling and hunting. An uncomfortable silence settled over the two cats, until the 2nd-earliest rising warriors exited the den. She glanced at the black warrior, and back to the forest. She didn't exactly know why but she felt an odd feeling of protection around the tom.

"Er… uh well... I gotta go." He hesitated for a moment, weighing the chances of other toms; toms who always stared after the light brown she-cat, teasing him for giving her a courteous greeting between clanmates. He decided against it, and trotted slowly to a waiting patrol.

Spottedfeather felt an odd sense of emptiness when he left to go on patrol, but she shrugged it off and went to look for Brindlepelt. She suppressed a mrooww of amusement when she entered the warriors' den and spotted Brindlepelt still sleeping soundly. She poked her friend softly on the ribs, again and again, but she didn't budge. Letting out a groan, she looked around the warriors' den, and her amber eyes caught green, as she looked at a flame-colored tom, she knew to be Orangeheart, one of Riverstrike's friends.

"Hey, Orangeheart?" she asked, sitting down. "What is it?" Orangeheart meowed. He wasn't padding after her, only because he knew something was going on between the two cats, even if they, themselves, didn't. So, he was usually kind to the she-cat. "Can you… wake Brindlepelt up? Please." She blinked warmly at him, and he just nodded.

Spottedfeather could faintly notice a glimmer of… something flash in the depths of his eyes, but she just thought it was a trick of the light. Orangeheart prodded Brindepelt with his paw, gently, yet firm. Again he poked her, slightly enjoying it.

With a groan, Brindlepelt brought her head up sharply, making it collide with Orangeheart's jaw. Spottedfeather gasped, and Orangeheart closed his eyes, seeing white stars glimmer in front of his line of sight. Brindlepelt then gasped loudly, realizing what she had just done.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Orangeheart!" Her spotted light brown head moved from the orange tom to the brindle she-cat, her mind processing all of the information from watching the two. "I-It's fine, Brindlepelt." He stammered. Spottedfeather tilted her head to the side; Orangeheart never stumbled on his words. The light brown she-cat made a mental note to ask Riverstrike about this.

She quietly slipped out of the den, heading for the medicine cat's den. She entered it, and sat down a few tail-lengths from the entrance. A snow white she-cat entered the main den, where Spottedfeather was, and blinked at her. "Hello, Spottedfeather. What brings you in here?" she asked. Snowlight was the one who helped deliver Spottedfeather into the world, making each of them, medicine cat, and warrior she-cat, great friends. "Oh… just… thinking." Spottedfeather murmured. Snowlight just nodded, contemplating whether or not to ask what she was thinking about. She decided against it, and went to counting her herb stocks.

Brindlepelt glanced at Orangeheart, she really was sorry, and she kept repeating that over and over and over again. Orangeheart just kept saying, "It's okay… it's okay."

Brindlepelt blinked warmly at him, and then exited the den. She let her gaze sweep through the entire clearing; no sign of Spottedfeather. Where was she? The brindle she-cat shrugged it off, and turned to the orange tom now exiting the den.

"Do you want to go hunting with me?" she asked suddenly. "Spottedfeather and I were supposed to, but well… I can't find her." Orangeheart glanced around the entire clearing. Twice. "There she is." He meowed, pointing with his tail to the medicine cat's den. "Oh. Okay." Brindlepelt said, bluntly.

Spottedfeather exited the medicine cat's den, blinking in surprise when she saw the two cats, brindle and orange, staring at her. Brindlepelt looked crestfallen, and Orangeheart was staring at Brindlepelt, with an undetectable emotion.

Again, Spottedfeather blinked; "So you two want to come hunting with me?" she asked. Spottedfeather had a hunch; Brindlepelt and Orangeheart might have been wanting to go by themselves… She blinked, again, at both of them, enjoying their faces lighting up. Yeah, she was right.

Without saying a word, she burst through the gorse tunnel, Orangeheart and Brindlepelt close behind. She was going to abandon them, making the two cats think she found a mouse…


Author's Note: Please review! And please PM me if you want a character in this story. Tell me what you think of the new relationship hints.. if you can call it that! Ta-ta for now! But please note; School will get in the way of this fanfic. ;; But since I have English First Period, I might get better, and I will write in my notebook in classes. School comes first, is all.

Next Chapter: The Gathering; I don't know if it will... maybe, maybe not?