Her paw pads were scraped and bruised from clambering over rock. Crowfeather walked behind her, making sure she didn't fall. As much as she loved him, she wanted to be back in the forest. Back where underground wasn't hard and sharp, but soft and nice. Back where her family and friends were. Back where she belonged.
Leafpool hadn't seen Hawkfrost since that confrontation she'd had with him over Russetfur. Or maybe he was just avoiding her, who knew. In any case, she didn't want to see him. She wanted to leave the forest forever. Which was what she was doing now. Crowfeather had convinced her that they could start a new life, a better life, out here... with the rocks.
The dream seemed to be out of their grasp. How were they supposed to thrive here, with scarce prey and no protection from predators? Leafpool found herself missing her mother and her sister. She missed the daily bustle of Clan life, the forest noises she'd grown so accustomed to that she'd forgotten what it felt like without them. The constant presence of the other ThunderClanners. All of it was gone here.
She spared a glance at Crowfeather. They rested now, sharing tongues, both drowsy with depleted energy from the constant treacherous climbing. She was tired of scrambling over these stupid rocks. She'd been a mouse-brain to follow Crowfeather out here in the first place!
Yet as she gazed at him, Leafpool knew she loved him more than she could ever love another tom. Even Hawkfrost. Her love for him had died that night. Maybe she'd preferred him to Crowfeather, but that was another Leafpool, the air-headed mouse-brain who actually thought Hawkfrost would be loyal to her. When he wasn't even loyal to his own Clan.
Leafpool felt her eyelids drop. She fell asleep to the rhythmitic beating of Crowfeather's heart.
As she sank into much-needed rest, she thought, I wonder what's happening in the Clans...
