Sol bared his teeth, his long tail lashed behind him as he and his opponent circled one another. His back arched as he let out a growl at the other cat. The other cat's ears were flattened, who let out a hiss at him, as they continued to circle each other.
Fireheart glanced between the two cats for a moment, his gaze landing on Bramblepaw. The tabby was side eying him, waiting. Fireheart twitched his ear.
At the signal, Bramblepaw launched forward, forelegs outstretched as he tackled the other cat to the ground. Sol let out a yowl, swiping at the apprentice. He pushed against Bramblepaw's chest, trying to get him off of him. The stronger cat did little to respond.
It did not take long for Sol to give up the struggle, Fireheart rose to his paws, walking towards the two cats as Bramblepaw got off the older tom. The tortoiseshell forced himself to his paws, panting as he shot a glare at the apprentice.
"Sol come here," The other tom turned to Fireheart as he spoke. He rose to his paws and padded up to him. He asked, "What do you think you did wrong there?"
"I wasn't strong enough to get him off of me," Sol grumbled. His tail lashed. "I did not know when he'd be coming."
"You need to be prepared for that," Fireheart reminded him. "That's why we did that, you'll never know when an enemy will attack. Even if they seem friendly, you must always be prepared." He looked back at Bramblepaw, who was cleaning some dust out of his fur. "What's an advantage you have over him?" Sol was silent for a moment.
"I'm older than him and I am faster." Fireheart nodded.
"With age comes experience and wisdom; You can use your speed. It's not always about out muscling another cat." Sol murmured his agreement. Fireheart turned his attention back towards Bramblepaw, waving his tail to get his attention. As Bramblepaw turned to face them completely, Fireheart spoke, "Let's do this one more time."
Both cats got back into their positions. After a long moment, Fireheart gave a signal. Bramblepaw ran at Sol immediately. This time, Sol moved quickly out of his way. The apprentice stumbled, turning back around only to have the other cat jump on top of him. Bramblepaw let out a yelp as he tried to shake the other cat off to no avail. The two cats began tumbling as Bramblepaw tried to get the other cat to let go. After a moment, Fireheart called for them to stop.
"Well done, both of you. Bramblepaw, you held your own well." He padded over as both cats shook themselves off. Sol rose to his paws, stepping towards the deputy as Bramblepaw licked his pelt a few more times.
"I think it is time to head back to camp." Fireheart raised his tail, turning away from the other two and padding back towards camp. The others followed after him.
Fireheart paused in his step as he heard Sol stop. He turned back around, stopping as he saw the tom's nose was to the ground. He took a deep breath, recognizing the scent of vole.
Sol turned away, following the scent through the undergrowth surrounding their path. Fireheart did all he could not to cringe at how loud he was being.
"He's too loud," Bramblepaw complained. "I can hear that. He's going to scare all the prey from here to the other side of the gorge!"
Fireheart sat next to his apprentice, "I remember a cat that had trouble figuring out how to keep his pawsteps quiet on the hay when he was first learning." Bramblepaw's ears went back. "He's learning, this is one thing you have to learn. Criticizing the issue without critique benefits no one – especially doing so behind their back – and achieves nothing but making the other cat feel discouraged." He's getting better than he was, Fireheart added to himself. He still needs to work on following form but he's getting better.
"Yes, Fireheart."
Fireheart narrowed his eyes into slits, they had been out since mid-morning and it was past sunhigh now. While Sol was not technically an apprentice, dealing with both him and Bramblepaw again was a lot of work. Hopefully, there would be no tasks for him to deal with when they returned and he could take a nap. Evening patrols would not be sent out for some time.
He snapped them open again, blinking a few times at the sound of approaching pawsteps. Sol was approaching them, a vole in his jaws. Fireheart rose to his paws, stretching as he did. He's getting better, Fireheart thought. He is certainly getting better.
Fireheart dismissed Bramblepaw and Sol at the bottom of the gorge. He glanced around before starting to make his way to the warrior's den. He stopped in his tracks as he heard Brightheart call out to him. Fireheart turned his attention where the young warrior's voice was coming from.
Brightheart was looking at him from a rock near the edge of the gorge, she was in the middle of sharing tongues with Cloudtail. Fireheart started on his way over. The white tom was grooming her back presently. The ginger warrior stopped at the base of the rock, mewing a greeting to both of them which they both returned.
"Sandstorm wanted me to tell you she wanted to talk to you when you returned." Fireheart's chest tightened at the ginger and white tabby's words, what did she have to talk about? Cloudtail stopped in his grooming, looking at Fireheart.
"Relax, it's nothing bad. I imagine they're up in the nursery escaping the heat." Fireheart nodded, mewing his thanks before leaving the two young warriors. He headed quickly up to the nursery.
As he entered the nursery, a hiss sounded. Fireheart froze.
"Do not be loud," Sandstorm's green gaze was on him. "I just got them to sleep. Wait there." He nodded hastily. The tabby rose slowly, she stepped around the kits carefully, glancing at Petal where she lay with her own kits not far from Squirrelkit and Leafkit. An agreement that Fireheart did not understand passed between the two cats before Sandstorm shifted her attention back to Fireheart.
She moved across the den to him, "Come on." Fireheart stayed where he was for a moment, puzzled. Sandstorm sighed, "You spoke with Brightheart, right? Let's go outside." She nipped at one of his ears, tugging at it. He stumbled after her out of the den.
She let go as they moved away from the den entrance; Fireheart squinted against the blazing sun's harsh rays. He asked, "What is it?"
"You and I are going out." Fireheart blinked.
"Are we now?"
"Yes." He glanced back at the nursery for a moment, what if Leafkit or Squirrelkit got hungry while they were gone? Sandstorm gave him a knowing look. "They've started eating prey recently. If it comes down to it, Petal can give them milk." Her voice became more serious, "Fireheart, I have not been out of the gorge since we got here. I need to go out. I am going out. You can come if you want." His eyes widened.
"I'll come!" He exclaimed, "I'll go with you. It'll be nice." The last time they had had time alone together was when they had been found out and that had been well over two moons ago, it would be nice to spend time with just Sandstorm again.
"Good," Sandstorm's tail twitched in anticipation. "Let's go." She moved by him, heading back down the path. Fireheart followed hastily after. The tom moved up on Sandstorm's side, letting her take the lead as they headed towards the path out of camp.
Fireheart paused in his step at the base of the path, glancing around the camp before he spotted Tallstar. He raised his tail, waving it at the black and white cat. It took the leader a moment to notice his deputy, but when he did, he nodded back. Fireheart turned his attention back to Sandstorm.
"Aren't they something?" Her gaze was on something past Fireheart, he turned to see that she was looking at Brightheart and Cloudtail. He gave Sandstorm a slightly puzzled look as they began walking again. What was she talking about?
The two young warriors were close, anyone could see that much, but he did not see the big deal around it. "Cloudtail helped Brightheart out a lot when she first got to the barn," he meowed. They made their way to the gorge's ridge, heading into the trees and out of the sun's scorching rays. "They got close." He blinked, "I'm glad, it's good that they were able to become such good friends." Sandstorm stopped in her step suddenly, turning rapidly towards him.
"Are you serious?" She stuck her muzzle closer to his face, "Is your eye alright? How is your vision? Do we have to talk to Barkface about anything?" Fireheart closed his seeing eye.
"I can see perfectly; I have no idea what you are talking about." Sandstorm hissed; he could picture her ears going back.
"You know what I mean, mousebrain."
"I know you have your annoyed face on right now."
"Oh, stop it." Fireheart opened his eye again. "Are you being serious?"
"Yeah," He tilted his head slightly to the side, confused. "I think it's a good thing that they're friends. He certainly helped her gain more confidence after everything that happened to her. I think Brightheart's mellowed out Cloudtail a bit, too." Fireheart paused, thinking for a moment. "I don't think he's ever cared so much about another cat."
"And why do you think that?" Sandstorm prompted. Fireheart shrugged.
"I don't know, they're certainly close. They have a good friendship." Sandstorm did not respond for a long moment, surprise lit up her gaze.
"You are," she began, "So dense sometimes." Fireheart's ears went back.
"What do you mean?" Sandstorm let out a laugh, causing Fireheart to feel more bewildered.
"They're not friends." He stared at her blankly, what else could they be? They certainly did not hate each other. Sandstorm sighed, "He likes her. Fireheart, he's been fawning over her since he was an apprentice. She likes him. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a litter coming soon."
"Oh." That would make sense; however, he had never thought that Cloudtail was interested in mates or anything of the like. Sandstorm rolled her eyes, turning away from him.
She moved ahead of him; mouth slightly open as she took in the scent around them. It did not take long before Sandstorm disappeared into the undergrowth. Fireheart padded over to where she had been, picking up on the scent of a shrew.
When she returned the shrew dangled from her jaws. Sandstorm's eyes were bright. "I have not done that in so long!" She walked up to him, dropping the dead creature at his feet. "I felt like I was going mad."
"Do you want to eat?"
"Yes – let's split it." The two cats crouched down together, quickly splitting it between them. As they finished, Sandstorm pushed the bones and fur away with her paw. Fireheart's eyes narrowed and he moved back, lowering into a crouch. He swished his tail back and forth, rustling the decaying leaves that covered the forest floor around them. Sandstorm tilted an ear towards him but there was no other response.
He waited for the other cat to finish burying the leftovers of the shrew before making his pounce.
Sandstorm let out a yowl, she turned quickly, wrapping both forelegs around his shoulders as she pulled him off of herself. Fireheart let himself get slammed to the ground. Sandstorm put her paw on his chest.
"It is too hot for you to be doing this!" Despite her words, there was an excitement in the queen's eyes. Fireheart could hear her tail lashing.
"No, it isn't," there was a purr building in Fireheart's throat. He opened his mouth, turning his head before biting Sandstorm's leg gently. Her ears went back and she raised a paw, swatting at his face as he kicked her belly.
Sandstorm jumped off of him and he sprang to his paws. Fireheart turned to face her; ears flattened to his skull. The other cat was tense, eyes narrowed and tail lashing. His tail began to thrash as the two warriors circled each other.
Sandstorm made the first move, leaping at Fireheart and crashing into his side. He twisted, biting at her shoulder as they began to tussle. Sandstorm flashed her teeth, growling, "Oh I'll show you a bite!"
He felt her teeth on his flank a moment later. Fireheart let out a hiss as she kicked his stomach, sending him back. Both cats broke apart, panting as they did. The tom raised his tail, "I know a place to cool off!" He turned away, taking off into the forest.
He could hear the other cat racing after him as he ran. Fireheart skidded to a halt as he caught sight of the brook. His mouth was open, panting as he waited for the other cat to catch up.
Sandstorm appeared after a moment, panting as well. Her ears went back as she saw the brook, "You are not expecting me to go in there."
"Why not?" Fireheart padded towards the brook, letting out a sigh as he stepped in, the cool water engulfing his legs.
"I am not getting wet." She padded to the edge, crouching down as she began to lap at the water. "I am not swimming."
"You and Cloudtail both, why don't you want to learn how to swim? It's not that bad actually." He moved further into the water as he spoke. He kept his head high, out of the flowing water and closed his eyes for a moment, relishing in the relief it provided. "Cools you off easily enough."
"I am not getting myself wet. Anyway, I am not RiverClan." Fireheart blinked at her as he came back to shore.
"Neither am I." Fireheart held his tail high as he trotted over to Sandstorm, pressing against her before she could respond.
Sandstorm let out a hiss, pulling away from him, her ears back and tail lashing. She swatted at him, "You are so vexatious sometimes!"
"I don't know what that means, so I'm taking it as a compliment." Fireheart turned back to the stream as Sandstorm began to dry herself. "What about fishing?" He asked, "Would you learn how to fish?" She was silent for a moment.
"I've seen some of the others do it," Sandstorm responded. "I think I know how to do it." He stuck his muzzle closer to her.
"Thought you weren't RiverClan." Her ears went back, Sandstorm raised a paw and pushed his face away as she turned her head.
"It can't be that hard."
"You wanna try?" There was a pause.
"Sure, I'll try." Sandstorm rose to her paws, padding over to the water's edge. Fireheart moved after her, crouching not far away. The ginger queen sat at the edge of the water; paw raised in the air as she stared down into the brook.
Fireheart craned his neck, eyes narrowing. "You need to move back a bit, your shadow's hitting the water." Sandstorm waved her tail in acknowledgment as she shifted slightly back. It did not take long before her paw darted downwards, hitting the water with a splash. There was a flash of silver as she scooped the fish out, it landing next to her on the grass. Sandstorm put her paw on it as it flopped around, keeping it in place.
"Brilliant!" Fireheart exclaimed, "And you said you weren't RiverClan?" Her ears went back as she killed the fish.
"All I did was catch it," She licked at where some water had hit her. "You're the one that actually likes this stuff, fish-face."
"Because they're good!" Sandstorm gave a snort as Fireheart padded over to her side. He used his paw to push the fish back, mouth beginning to water as its scent hit his nose. He blinked at the other cat before turning back to the stream. Fireheart's ears went back at the sight before him. The water had settled and he could see his reflection in it.
Fireheart sighed, staring into the water below him. A stone was forming in his gut and he could not tear his gaze away. Everything that had happened the last few seasons suddenly seemed to weigh down his shoulders. No matter what he did, this reminder would always be there. The guilt and regret hit him all at once as he stared at the scars that stretched across his face. The gray of the ruined eye sticking out strikingly.
"Hey." He tore his gaze away, look up at Sandstorm who moved closer to him. What did she think of this? The scars had only increased from what was there originally. He couldn't even move that eye anymore, what must Sandstorm think? She touched her muzzle to his shoulder, pressing against him as she looked down into the water as well. A moment passed and she looked back up at Fireheart.
"You're very handsome, you've always been." He gave a slight snort of disbelief. Sandstorm moved her head, forcing her nose under his jaw. He pulled away, looking at her again. "You'll always be handsome. Nothing will ever change that."
He remained silent as she touched her nose to the side of his face before licking his ear. Fireheart let his shoulders relax, closing his eyes as Sandstorm began to wash behind his ears. A silence fell between the two cats, broken only by the sound of the brook trickling by. Finally, Fireheart spoke.
"I love you." He felt Sandstorm press her muzzle against the back of his neck, felt the rumble of her purr.
"I love you, too."