Ravenpaw
"We start right now! I am going to Riverclan today for another herb lesson and I know that Frogpaw and Brackenpaw are going to come. Ill see if they have been hearing anything odd or if they just act distant to me in general." Wishpaw said getting up with a flurry of her plummy tail. "I guess Ill see if Berrynose has any training he wants done today, I bet Mudpaw and Sweetpaw will have some sort of game in mind. I will listen out for Spiderleg and Snowstorm." Silverpaw said, the annoyance evident in his tone. Following our sister to the opening of the holly bush they left Lemonshade and I alone. She looked after my siblings, her golden eyes shadowed with doubt and worry. "Whats wrong?" I asked quietly.
"I don't know about this Ravenpaw, we cant lie to everyone like this." Her gaze fell to the ground as the weight of the morning dragged her shoulders to the ground. "It cant be that hard, I mean my parents did it for years." I shrugged, wishing I had something better to say to help her feel better. "This is different. We are spying on the other clans and you are trying to seduce another she cat even though you already have a mate."
"A pretend mate." I snorted, reminding her that the circumstances where sort of her fault. She frowned at me, "You know what I mean."
"Well forgive me for not jumping for joy. I didn't want this to happen either, you think I want to play around with another she cats emotions?" I said rolling my eyes at her. "Your not going to go through with that are you? I mean there has to be a better way to get information from Riverclan without bringing Softpaw into the mix." I looked at her then, her tone seemed to carry a urgency that I wasn't familiar with.
"I wasn't going to flirt with her or anything….I was thinking that maybe if we just hunt together or something a few times then I could get all I need, you know play the oblivious tom." Lemonshade's frown increased with every word I said and I suddenly had the urge to hide my head under my tail. "If you ask me that idea is worse than pretending to cheat on your pretend mate."
"Than what am I supposed to do?" I said, frustrated that she was even cared what I did with another she-cat. " There are more cats in Riverclan who could help, like Reedwhisker or Berrypaw." The flatness in her voice made me even more irritated, "You know what, how about you worry about your own clan and your own mission and I will worry about mine." I got up then, not caring about the shocked look she gave me and ignoring the pain shooting through my injured leg I hurried to the opening of the holly bush, "Ravenpaw wait!"
I didn't stop, I wasn't able to run but I didn't care. I just had to get away from her and my litter-mates so I could clear my head. "Ravenpaw! You are going to make your leg worse stomping about like a blind badger." Lemonshade said catching up with me easily. "Im fine Lemonshade, I can make it back on my own so why don't you just go home." I growled as she brushed her side against mine and tried to shoulder my weight. "Don't be dumb, if I let you walk back into camp like this then our mateship wont look very authentic will it?" she said, her tone almost humorous. I didn't say anything to that, she did have a point, "Im sorry if I made you angry back there, I wasn't trying to." she said after a few moments of silence, "I just know what its like to be in love with a tom who doesn't feel the same way and its not fun."
"What are you talking about?" I said, trying to think of the tom she was referring to, it wasn't me was it? She took a deep breath, "Nothing, don't worry about it. All I am saying is that if you are going to use Softpaw then at least be honest with her." I wanted to pry further but we had reached the opening of Thunderclan's camp and the activity of the day drowned out most conversation. Lemonshade helped me back to my nest and with a stern look from Jayfeather, she purred into my fur a fake goodbye and a lick on my cheek. "Im going to go help Nightfang with patrols, I will come back tonight after the gathering."
Turning away quickly she left me feeling hollow inside. I knew this was all an act but did she really not feel anything for me at all? I watched her sunshine pelt disappear through the brambles and I slumped my head in my paws. I really was tired, after being interrupted from sleep twice and dragged half way across the forest was draining. Jayfeather sniffed at my leg silently and when he didn't growl or snort I figured everything was alright. I had just begun to think of what I was going to do with Softpaw when the soothing summer breeze and exhaustion from last night finally dragged me under.
Lemonshade
"So Onestar isn't coming?" I asked Nightfang as he led Windclan to the gathering. "No, he did not have the energy." The black warrior said curtly, clearly irritated by our leaders laziness. I knew Onestar was old but ever since the borders dropped he has practically given up his leadership to Nightfang. Even today he spent most of his time in the sun, sleeping or asking Kestrelflight for more poppy seeds for his aching hips. I had done my best to cheer Nightfang up but he was not in the mood, "Well, at least it is a beautiful night." I pointed out, gesturing towards the full moon among Silverpelt.
"That it is. How is Ravenpaw?"
"Fine, I decided he needed all the rest he could get after yesterday. I brought him a mouse earlier but he was sound asleep." I shrugged, looking back to see Nightcloud and Breezepelt close together in conversation, their eyes glued to my tail. Needless to say my mating announcement to the clan didn't go very well. While most seemed not to care, others looked like I had just admitted to being a Thunderclan spy all along. Luckily Nightfang's support made things easier and now the only cats who still seemed angry where Nightcloud, Breezepelt and Lizardfang.
Convincing them that I was only doing it to spy on them was going to be difficult. Lizardfang at least didn't wish death on me under his breath so I figured I would start with him first. Dropping back a bit from the group I found him near the end walking with Pumpkinfur. "Hey, whats up?" I asked, joining in like nothing was wrong. "Oh Lemonshade! I was just telling Lizardfang about the patrol I went on today. We went back to where the rats were and we didn't smell any new traces of them." my sister said brightly. Lizardfang gave me a small smile. "That's great! I wonder if Nightfang will bring it up tonight."
"Im sure he will, we haven't had much else to report." Lizardfang added, looking at Pumpkinfur. "Well I am sure he will bring up the fact that Rowanstar didn't help." She scoffed, "Shadowclan still cant be trusted it seems." I added, waiting for Lizardfang to disagree but to my susrpise he just nodded his head. Was he lying?
"Oh, before we get there, I remembered I had to say something to Hawkwing." Pumpkinfur said bounding off, he plump form bobbing around our group. Lizardfang and I were alone now and I thought for a moment about what I would say to him, but thankfully he spoke first, "Congratulations I guess, I didn't think you were going to go for that half clan tom but I guess I was wrong."
I got a bit angry at his accusing tone, there was nothing wrong with Ravenpaw. "You know, I seem to remember a time when you complimented him on a catch not to long ago." I pointed out. "Just because I respect his skill doesn't mean I like him." He snorted. "Well it doesn't matter, I only agreed to be his mate so I could spy on him and his family for Sneakheart." He looked at me, his bright yellow eyes glowed in the full moon, "You what?" stopping to look back at him I said, "You don't think I would have really agreed to be his mate do you?"
Lizardfang's rigid posture grew instantly relaxed and the stiffness in his jaw loosened to a happy grin, "Oh..I mean, yeah no way! I knew there had to be something else going on." continuing on behind the group he continued, "Breezepelt and Nightcloud practically had a heart attack when they found out and swore to shred your ears when they got the chance but I told them it must be a joke." I stiffened, they were going to hurt me? Just because I had agreed to mate with a Thunderclan tom? This was a lot more serious than I thought. "Oh really? Well they are mouse brains anyway, Sneakheart was right, the clans need to be separate again."
"What made you come around? I mean, why did you decide to spy on Ravenpaw? They don't know about the Starbreakers do they?" I looked at him confused, "Starbreakers?" his eyes widened, "Yeah, that's the name of our secret group. Sneakheart sent the message around this morning but you weren't here. He said it has something to do with fighting against the stars and that we are the ones who really have the power because we are alive." My hear began to beat faster, was Sneakheart serious!? "That's pretty cleaver." I choked out.
"Yeah, I thought so. He is going to be excited to know we have a spy on our side. With any luck we will be back to borders and patrols by the next gathering." Lizardfang said with as much calmness as you would have talking about the weather. "When is the next meeting again?" he thought a moment, "A week after tonight, Sneakheart wants us to try to get more cats on our side first."
"Have you convinced any other cat yet?" I probed trying to think of who in our clan would go along with such a outrageous idea. "Um, well I think Crouchfoot and Heathertail seemed interested but I know Hawkwing and Windyfur are against it. They love the peace." I wasn't too surprised by that, Heathertail was Breezepelts mate and Hawkwing was his best friend but I still couldn't understand how they could even think about hurting their own son or his family. I thought back to last night when Nightcloud and Breezepelt pointed out the fact that if Nightfang wasn't with Morningdew then he could be with me, a few moons ago I might have agreed with them but now it just seemed wrong.
Before we could continue Nightfang had begun to lead us into the clearing, which was now full of cats. The scents were almost overwhelming, all the clan territories had special scents to them and when we clustered so close together it took a while for my nose to adapt to it. I quickly spotted Wishpaw in a throng of River and Thunderclan apprentices, she sat apart from them and was obviously deep in some story. Her night black top was smooth and shone in the moonlight, while her bottom snow white half was littered with starlit silver stripes that lead all the way up to her fluffy tail, all tied together with her familiar harvest orange eyes she commanded total attention.
Silverpaw was not far away from her, sitting next to Berrynose and Lionblaze he was deep in conversation with the other warriors about a new hunting technique. I didn't acknowledge them for fear that Lizardfang would see as he nudged me toward a group of cats who clustered around Sneakheart and Torntail. I cringed as noticed several new faces among them, "Come on, we have to tell Sneakheart about your plan. He will be thrilled." I let him lead me as I caught a pair of green eyes glaring at me, it was Softpaw. She was sitting apart from Wishpaws group and was pinning me with an bright frosty glare.
I swallowed hard, I guess the news has already filtered through the forest. When Lizardfang and I approached we were met with similar stares in my direction. "What is she doing here?" Breezepelt hissed, "She has already picked her side." Nightcloud added looking at Lizardfang, "NO, you have it all wrong she isn't on their side Sneakheart." The slender dark tom looked at us skeptically, a sneer forming on his pointed face, "Lizardfang, don't you know that she has accepted a Thunderclan warrior and a half clan vermin as her mate?" I stabbed my claws into the ground at his harsh words.
Why did they hate the half clan cats so much? "I did hear about that sir but Lemonshade just told me that she is only doing it because she is spying on them for us." A few gasps met my ears, while others including Sneakheart looked unconvinced, "Really? And why is that Lemonshade? Do you believe so little in our cause that you feel the need to spy on others?" Sneakheart said with a haughty snort, "No, but I do think that it will be helpful. You see Ravenpaw and his family are sort of the reason that Starclan put their paws down on the borders anyway and I thought that if Starclan was speaking to you then maybe they would be speaking to them also."
Heads began to nod and the icy glare in Sneakhearts eyes faltered a bit. "Hmm, you make a good point. However the fact that you agreed to be his mate is certainly more extreme than I would have recommended, it does not look good on us you understand." I hung my head in a show of submission, "Yes, I do but at the time I just didn't see any other way." Lizardfang put his tail around my flank in sympathy and I wanted to dig my claws into his face. "Very well, I applaud your tenacity young warrior." He said, looking around at the surrounding cats, "You see, this is what our cause needs, tenacity and courage. Lemonshade has shown a great example here tonight and I congratulate her."
I got a few nudges from the others and I pretended to act shy, I did notice that Breezepelt and Nightcloud didn't seem all that convinced and stayed where they stood. Sneakheart didn't have a chance to continue his stupid speech before the leaders gave the signal for the gathering to begin. I sat next to Lizardfang and Wildclaw, tensing each time they whispered a comment about Mistystar or Nightfang as they spoke about the clan news. I hadn't expected the group to grow so hostile so quickly, Starclan help me because this was not going to end peacefully.
