Spotpaw curled up in her nest. She couldn't believe her stupidity.

I was right. Foxpaw's too headstrong.

Misery swamped over her.

How did I think he would accept my gift?

She sighed.

Trying to go to sleep proved impossible. On top of her hurt feelings, Brightpaw was snoring so loud, it seemed crazy that the warriors didn't rush in and demand for her to shut up.

Finally deciding that she could do RiverClan some good since she couldn't sleep, she got up gently to not disturb her sister, she slowly padded past the dens lining the camp. Exiting camp, she pricked her ears.

Nothing near here. The river, then.

Sure enough, there were some fish flickering in the water.

Spotpaw quietly crouched over the water. A trout passed under her raised paw. Quick as a bird, the RiverClan she-cat scooped up the trout.

It wriggled for a few seconds, desperately trying to get back to the water. Spotpaw tossed it on the bank. She scanned the river for any more possible additions to the prey pile.

Hunting on land has messed up my fishing skills. I made too big of a splash. Fish won't be coming to this spot for a bit.

With a sigh, she wandered around, wrapped up in her own thoughts.

A scent washed over her.

Foxpaw. Again!

Unknowingly, she had padded all the way to the ShadowClan border.

Why did I come here?

A dark ginger pelt flashed in the edge of her vision: Foxpaw had seen her and was streaking towards her.

Based on how fast he was running, she wouldn't be able to race back to camp.

She stood stiffly as Foxpaw skidded to a halt on his side of the border. "What do you want?"

Foxpaw shrunk. "I just wanted to say sorry. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings. I'm sorry I was rude. That was really nice of you."

Spotpaw blinked. "I was just trying to do you a favor."

Her meow was a whisper.

Foxpaw looked broken for a second. He leaned towards her and pushed his muzzle against hers briefly. "I know you did. I treated you horribly. I'm really grateful for your kindness."

Spotpaw sighed. "I guess I always thought ShadowClan cats were horrible. But I guess if you can apologize, you must not be that bad."

Foxpaw purred. "I don't think I'm that bad at all. Really, every Clan judges us because of Slatestar."

"I guess not all ShadowClan cats are like her..." Thinking mostly outloud to herself now, she backed up. "I should get going. Thanks for apologizing. I hope that mouse can feed a Clanmate."

She didn't see or hear Foxpaw sigh as she turned to leave.

"Goodbye," she called over her shoulder.

He also bid her farewell, and Spotpaw quietly padded to the river bank to pick up her prey, and then back to her camp.

All I need is a rest. I'm really tired. Hearing Foxpaw apologized really calmed me down.

As she passed the nursery, a drowsy meow stopped her in her tracks.

"Dustwhisker, please come to RiverClan. Redstripe is horrible at pretending that my kits' father is him. I miss you."

Spotpaw's heart started beating fast.

Mothleaf.

Realization coursed through her.

That's why Redstripe and Mothleaf never act like they have feelings toward each other. They don't! Dustwhisker is Mothleaf's kits' father. A cross-Clan relationship. I can't believe it. She's always been so loyal.

Head reeling, the tortoiseshell and white she-cat set course for the apprentices' den again. Some sleep would really do me good. She would try to sort everything out tomorrow.

Author's Note: I just wanted to say that I started writing this story when I was about 9 or 10, so the quality is definitely not the best. For example, right near the end of this chapter, I realized I don't really like how abrupt Mothleaf's secret came to be... Please, please, please review if you think there's anything I could improve on, constructive criticism is really helpful :) Also, would you please consider following and favoriting this story? It would mean a lot to me if you did ❤️

I'm going to start publishing more regularly, sorry for the rather inconsistent schedule I threw together for the past week or so.

Thanks for reading my story!

~Paige