Hello and welcome to Catch and Release, a three-shot series about Minnowtail and Heathertail! The next part will be published in two days. I hope you enjoy this look into some of the more background characters of the series, and please check out Turning Tail, its companion three-shot following Harestar and Kestrelflight!
Heatherpaw stood up and shook out her pelt, trying to acclimate herself to the overpowering scent of heather. It was Kestrelpaw's newest idea for how to mask Heatherpaw's natural scent and it had seemed like a good idea to the young she-cat until she was actually chest-deep in the flowers, wriggling around, and sneezing at the pollen that settled over her thin brown fur.
Kestrelpaw's voice sounded through the clump when he asked, "Did it work?"
"Judge for yourself," she responded, stepping out and sneezing again, then shook out her pelt. She cast a mournful look over her ruffled flank, the careful grooming of this morning completely ruined before sun-high.
The black and white tom sniffed the air, looking thoughtful, then his face split into a grin. "I can't scent it at all! You just smell like a cat who's been attacked by a bush."
"Great," Heatherpaw snorted, but a rush of euphoria bubbled up in her chest. Better to stink of the moor than to smell like a tom. "Then I guess I'll just have to roll in the bushes every morning for the rest of my life."
Kestrelpaw shrugged good-naturedly. They'd been working on a fix for Heatherpaw's scent for a moon, and he wasn't going to let any small success go by without celebration. "Just do it on the dawn patrol. Aren't you pleased?"
Heatherpaw tried to hide her smile but Kestrelpaw didn't miss how her tail curled up with delight. "Maybe a little."
Kestrelpaw bumped her shoulder and they padded back to camp together before Crowfeather or Barkface noticed they had been gone. Barkface knew of Heatherpaw's situation, and Heatherpaw was pretty sure that Crowfeather had guessed after she started consciously changing her voice, but she didn't want her mentor getting on her case for avoiding training. Even if he didn't do it in front of the Clan, she knew that somehow it would get back to Onestar and there would be another talk about 'Making him proud' and 'Being the son he needs.'
Heatherpaw had learned very, very early on that Onestar was going to be disappointed no matter what she did, and decided to actively try to make her father's muzzle turn gray prematurely around the same time. She thought of Lionpaw with a thrill. It was only a matter of time before Onestar would find out, and she thought that might definitely put another of her father's paws into his grave.
Besides delighting in that it would give her father a heart condition, she genuinely liked meeting Lionpaw in the tunnels. ThunderClan cats were so mouse-brained that she knew he couldn't tell the difference between the scent of a WindClan she-cat or tom, and relied on indicators that were within Heatherpaw's control. He was good fun, too, if a bit slow; he wasn't afraid to tease her back like Harepaw, he didn't become sour and fed-up with their games when he lost like Breezepaw, and he wasn't stuck in the medicine den most days like Kestrelpaw.
Her tail flicked excitedly when she thought of sneaking out again tonight to see him.
"What are you thinking about?" Kestrelpaw asked.
She put on a mysterious expression. "My plans for tonight."
"At the Gathering?"
"What?"
Kestrelpaw snorted. "You are never allowed to call me oblivious ever again. The full-moon is tonight, fluff-brain, and if we aren't confined to camp for being late to training, I think we're going to be attending."
Heatherpaw blinked. Mouse-dung! "I knew that. I was thinking about what I'm going to do at the Gathering, like you said."
Kestrelpaw evidently didn't believe a word she said, but snorted again and moved on. "Look out, ThunderClan, Heatherpaw's on the prowl again. Who are you after this time? Mousepaw? Berrypaw?"
Heatherpaw said nothing, just smiled. Kestrelpaw's jaw dropped.
"Jaypaw?! Watch out, he's a piece of work."
She scoffed. "If I wanted a prickly badger, I'd chase Breezepaw. No, I've got bigger plans."
"Poor Lionpaw," Kestrelpaw sighed.
She wrinkled her nose at her friend as they reached the camp and parted. Does he really think I'd move on so fast? Just because it was fun to look beyond Clan borders for excitement and it made Onestar's whiskers fall out didn't mean she would hop from tom to tom quite so quickly. Lionpaw hadn't begun to wring his paws about the code, and Heatherpaw wasn't tired of his quirks yet, so why would she run off? She wasn't doing any harm, except maybe to Onestar's sanity.
When the disappointment of not being able to meet him in the tunnels that night wore off, Heatherpaw decided it could be great fun to see him at a Gathering instead. They would pretend to hardly know each other and no cat would be the wiser. Except Kestrelpaw, maybe, but as mouse-brained as her friend could be sometimes, he never let a secret slip.
Crowfeather was in a good mood for the first time in her entire apprenticeship, and didn't bat an eye at her turning up half-way to sun-high stinking of heather. Heatherpaw could hardly believe her luck, but wasn't going to let the chance slip and made sure to relish every heartbeat of semi-freedom during their training that day. Crowfeather told Breezepaw to be quiet when he was bossing her around while sparring, and even praised her after she executed a tricky new move perfectly after a few tries.
Who are you and what have you done with Crowfeather? she wondered, but didn't question it too much. Well, don't argue with StarClan's blessings.
As Kestrelpaw predicted, they were chosen for the Gathering patrol. Even better, Breezepaw was stuck at camp. Heatherpaw tried not to gloat too much, but privately decided it was her lucky day. What's going to happen next? Onestar will fall off the tree-bridge and Lionpaw will stop doing that little sniff-thing in the middle of his sentences?
When she reached the island and joined the small knot of apprentices on the outskirts of the trees, neither of her predictions had come true. Onestar's fur was dry and he stood stiffly atop a lower branch, and...
"Hi Heatherpaw! How's"—sniff!—"prey running in WindClan?"
Heatherpaw gave the golden tom a conspiratorial smile and answered, "Pretty well. Lionpaw, is it?"
He gave an unsubtle grin and nodded. "And this is my sister Hollypaw."
Heatherpaw nodded to the spiky black she-cat, who regarded her with unblinking green eyes. She seemed quite immune to Heatherpaw's charm, which was fine by Heatherpaw. She'd heard enough about Hollypaw's stuck-up, clean-paw ways to know that she wasn't interested either.
She was saved from an awkward silence by a gray RiverClan tom, Pebblepaw, bounding over to them.
"Pebblepaw!" she greeted him, eager to move her attention off of Hollypaw's unreadable stare. "Is your sister finally allowed out of camp?"
Pebblepaw groaned. "Yeah, she's here. I think she's already off terrorizing ThunderClan, though."
The elusive Minnowpaw had been hyped up in Heatherpaw's mind ever since her first Gathering, at which Pebblepaw had been quick to explain that his sister would have been there, had it not been for an incident. Heatherpaw had drunk in the stories of Minnowpaw's escapades, delighted to hear of a she-cat who seemed to share Heatherpaw's own thrill-seeking ways. She tried not to show her excitement at learning that she would finally meet Pebblepaw's outrageous sister.
"Who's your sister?" Hollypaw asked, a disapproving wrinkle already forming in her nose.
"Where to start, honestly," Pebblepaw sighed. Heatherpaw let out a mrrow of amusement, knowing that Pebblepaw was only too pleased to have another excuse to rant about his littermate's exploits. "She's such a furball. Poor Mallowpaw and Mintpaw. They've both been throwing themselves at her for moons, but Minnowpaw won't bother with any tom in her own Clan."
Heatherpaw found terrible glee in the way Hollypaw's eyes widened and horror crossed her face.
"She's been after one of yours recently," Pebblepaw went on, pointing his tail at the ThunderClan crowd. "Mousepaw?"
Hollypaw's look of shock only grew. "What? But Mousepaw's loyal! He would never—"
"They wouldn't be doing any harm, really," Lionpaw interrupted his sister, shooting another obvious look at Heatherpaw. "They're just apprentices."
"It's against the code!" Hollypaw answered fiercely and Heatherpaw rolled her eyes.
"I'd like to meet her," she declared, ignoring Hollypaw's scandalized stare.
Pebblepaw grimaced. "You'll get your wish. She's coming this way."
Heatherpaw craned her neck, feeling anticipation build. Alright, Minnowpaw. Let's see if you live up to the stories.
As if StarClan themselves had planned it, just as a shadowed form broke away from ThunderClan's clump, a cloud shifted and a moonbeam shot down into the Gathering clearing, illuminating her.
Minnowpaw was gorgeous, and Heatherpaw's expectant smile turned into a slack-jawed amazement as the apprentice strolled over. Her chest and belly were white as a frosted river, and thick gray fur covered her back, flecked with black. Most unexpectedly lovely of all were her eyes. Heatherpaw had drunk her fill of pale blue and limpid green from RiverClanners, and was taken aback to notice that Minnowpaw's were neither; instead, a gaze made of rich amber, like the coiled honey that Kestrelpaw had earned several beestings collecting last moon met her own, a sparkle of unflappable amusement in their sunset depths.
Heatherpaw swallowed quickly, trying to tear her gaze away, and found she had some difficulty accomplishing that. Still, she rallied her own composure. She isn't the most beautiful cat I've ever seen, she told herself, though she was having trouble remembering who could compare, let alone surpass. And of course she's stunning, how else would she be working her way through the hearts of half the Clans?
"Hey," was all Minnowpaw said as she stopped in front of the apprentices.
"How's Mousepaw?" Hollypaw burst out reproachfully.
Minnowpaw's mouth tugged up at one side in a crooked smirk, then gave the ThunderClan she-cat a shrug. "I don't know. This is my first Gathering, I just met him."
Heatherpaw couldn't help an answering grin at the other she-cat's bald-faced lie. Minnowpaw blinked innocently at Hollypaw, who bit off a growl and stalked away. Then Minnowpaw turned that golden gaze Heatherpaw's way.
"I'm—"
"Minnowpaw, I know," Heatherpaw finished, too much fizzing energy in her paws to bother letting the other she-cat finish her sentence. Cool it, Heatherpaw, she told herself firmly, but rather than being put off by Heatherpaw's forwardness, Minnowpaw cocked her head, interest glittering in her eyes.
"Then it seems I'm at a disadvantage, because I don't know who you are. What's your name, and why do you smell so strongly of heather?"
Now that the focus was on herself, Heatherpaw felt a little control return. "I'm Heatherpaw, and I roll in it daily for the thematic appropriateness."
This got a purr out of her, as bright and sparkling as a new-leaf downpour. "That's amazing. I would eat exclusively minnows if that wouldn't cause me to starve to death."
"I'm Lionpaw!" the tom exclaimed and Heatherpaw abruptly remembered they weren't alone. "Pebblepaw"—sniff!—"was just telling us about you!"
Minnowpaw shot a look at her brother, but her tail still swept the dirt with an air of nonchalance. "Hmm, poisoning my reputation before I get a chance to speak for myself? That explains why she ran off at the sight of me."
Heatherpaw grinned. "Hollypaw's a bit uptight."
Lionpaw hung his head and gave a long sigh. "She's my sister, and I shouldn't say anything mean about her behind her back… but Heatherpaw's not wrong."
"I rarely am," she put in, unable to help herself. Again, rather than turning up her nose at Heatherpaw's self-aggrandizing commentary, Minnowpaw narrowed her eyes with interest.
"Is that so?"
"Like father like daughter," Pebblepaw snorted at Heatherpaw, who glared at him. Great, now Minnowpaw will think I'm some stuck-up kit of a leader.
Inexplicably, yet more curiosity showed in Minnowpaw's expression. Her ears swivelled in Heatherpaw's direction and Minnowpaw inched closer. "Who's your father?"
"Let all cats gather beneath StarClan!" Onestar yowled. Heatherpaw, if only to shift some of Minnowpaw's intoxicating attention, flicked her tail at the tree in the centre of the clearing. Minnowpaw let out an amused yelp.
"That must be a pain in the tail."
"You don't know the half of it," Heatherpaw grumbled, wishing she could melt in shame at the way Onestar, at the last moment, scrambled further up the tree to stand on a branch higher than the other leaders.
"You should tell me," Minnowpaw whispered, taking a step back suddenly. "I think I might be able to sympathize more than you'd expect."
"Oh, really?" Heatherpaw snorted, affecting aloofness despite her growing interest. It seemed that Minnowpaw might prove everything Heatherpaw hoped and more. She took a step back into the bushes with the other apprentice. "Is Leopardstar your mother? Isn't she a bit old?"
They left Lionpaw and Pebblepaw to listen to the leaders as they retreated into the outer bushes of the Gathering island, padding further and further away from the clearing until they found the pebbly beach.
"No," Minnowpaw groaned. "I'm the grandkit of our deputy, Mistyfoot."
Well, I've still got her beat. "That's tough."
"Exactly." Minnowpaw shook her head, looking grave. "I expect you're one of the few cats who can understand what ridiculous standards are on us."
Heatherpaw was floored to hear the other she-cat speak so openly about the kind of problems that Heatherpaw would hardly dare tell her closest friends about. Somehow, though, more than being shocked, she was further inclined to open up to her. She's right. Hardly any cat knows the kind of pressure I'm under. We're under.
"What about Lionpaw?" Minnowpaw asked.
Heatherpaw blinked. "What about him?"
"Oh, come on." Minnowpaw purred. "My brother might be a fish-brain, but I'm not. There's something going on there, isn't there?"
"There was," Heatherpaw allowed. After tonight, I might be done with him though. She was finding him a little more tiresome with each subsequent encounter.
Minnowpaw cocked her head. "And? Was it worth it?"
She contemplated the fun they'd had in the tunnels, and then imagined Minnowpaw focusing her own charms on the golden tom. Something in her chest protested, so she forced herself to sling her shoulder up in a similarly unconcerned gesture. "Not really. He's pretty dull."
Minnowpaw gave a sympathetic sigh. "I know exactly what you mean. I don't think there's a ThunderClan tom who's had an original thought in his life."
Heatherpaw let out a mrrow of amusement at that. "I suppose you'd know. How's Mousepaw?"
The other she-cat rolled onto her back, flinging a paw across her own face. "Dreadfully boring, I'm afraid. He does a disservice to all gray and white cats out there."
At the mention of his pelt, Heatherpaw raised an eyebrow. "Did you go after him because he looks like you?"
Minnowpaw's whiskers twitched, which was all the answer Heatherpaw needed. She let out a yelp of laughter and shook her head.
"You are astonishingly vain," she remarked, confidence growing that she wouldn't scare Minnowpaw off just by pushing boundaries a little. "I should have guessed, but getting involved with a tom because he's the closest you'll get to being with yourself is a whole other level."
Minnowpaw jumped to her paws and thrust her muzzle in Heatherpaw's face, reacting unexpectedly strongly to the teasing. Her amber eyes sparked. "Maybe so, but at least I don't roll around in flowers every morning. You really do stink, you know."
Heatherpaw tried not to breathe too deeply as the other she-cat's scent wreathed around her, and shot back, "Better back up, then, or you'll make yourself sick with my scent. Unless you're lying, and you're looking for a good sniff."
"It's not your scent I'm interested in," Minnowpaw breathed, her eyes boring into Heatherpaw. Her pelt felt hot very suddenly, and she quashed the urge to pull away. Minnowpaw stared at her, such intensity in her eyes that Heatherpaw felt as though she might be melted from the sheer strength of it, before Minnowpaw very suddenly stepped back. Heatherpaw's head reeled. "Your eyes. They're blue, aren't they?"
What? She didn't have an answer for that.
Minnowpaw squinted at her. "I can't… hmm. Cats don't have purple eyes. It must be a trick of the light."
"You wanted to tell my eye-colour?" Heatherpaw snorted. "You could've asked. No need to trample me."
"But then I wouldn't have found out how cute you are when you're flustered," Minnowpaw replied without missing a beat, then commented, "Is that how you snagged Lionpaw?"
Heatherpaw could hardly believe the audacity of her. Still, though, she definitely wasn't disappointed; Pebblepaw's stories were living up to the real thing. "You're unbelievable," she admitted.
"Thank you!" Minnowpaw exclaimed. "I try. I'm so disappointed about Lionpaw, though! Mousepaw said he was good fun. But maybe that's not a surprise. Mousepaw would think a large pebble is good fun."
Heatherpaw was startled at the cold analysis, though it didn't bother her yet. "I wonder if all ThunderClan toms are like that."
Minnowpaw released a long-suffering sigh. "Berrypaw wasn't, until he started getting cold paws. I should go find Honeypaw and charm her. That would teach him."
Outrageous, rebellious, grandkit of the deputy, gorgeous, and nasty, Heatherpaw decided. It was a distractingly captivating combination, and Heatherpaw tried to pull away a bit. "If she's padding after Berrypaw, then you're probably her type."
Minnowpaw frowned. "I like to think I'm a little more self-aware than Berrypaw."
Heatherpaw's doubt must have been evident, because Minnowpaw grinned, her white teeth catching the moonlight.
"Really, I am! I'm vain, cruel, and flighty, for starters," she said as simply as if they were discussing how prey was running. "I could stand to be a little less egotistical, even though I am about as irresistible as they come. I lose interest in cats the second they show interest back, which is always pretty quick. What else?"
Heatherpaw was too stunned to add to the list, but recovered enough to comment, "You seem to have that ready."
She tossed her head. "I always need it to convince whoever I'm with to run. So, I guess I'll see you never."
"Huh?" Heatherpaw's brain took a heartbeat to catch up. "I'm not running. I already knew all that."
"Oh yeah? That's a first." Minnowpaw grinned, and didn't seem to quite believe her. Heatherpaw raised her chin.
"It's not hard to notice. You chased a tom because he looked like you, you told me, a cat you hardly know, that you think he's boring, and your ego is so big that there's hardly room for me to stand."
Minnowpaw crowed with delight at the frank evaluation, quite different to how she reacted to Heatherpaw calling her vain earlier. What is with her? Heatherpaw wondered. She's so strange.
"And how did you know I'm flighty?" Minnowpaw challenged. "First you'll need to say that you can't live without me, then I'll run off and you'll really know how flighty I am."
Heatherpaw snorted, then felt a little competitive spirit flare to life in her chest. Two can play at this game. She leaned closer to Minnowpaw, gazing into her eyes with half-lidded, false devotion, and murmured, "I can't live without you."
Minnowpaw jerked away as if Heatherpaw had struck her, eyes wide, then tried to play it off with a snort. "Great StarClan! No wonder Lionpaw looked at you like a lost kit. That was…"
Heatherpaw pulled away as well and frowned. Is she making fun of me? "You've had more practice than me," she defended herself.
"Of course," Minnowpaw agreed good-naturedly, eyes flashing with amusement. "And that's not even mentioning my natural talent. But I think you could rival me if you practiced a little more."
Heatherpaw shook out her pelt, feeling like she'd crossed a line. "Well, maybe I don't want to."
Minnowpaw pouted. "Aw, c'mon. It's fun!"
"Then why do you seem so tired of Mousepaw and the rest of them?" Heatherpaw challenged. "Why are you here, talking to me instead?"
Minnowpaw flashed another smile. "Maybe you're my next target."
"Fat chance," Heatherpaw exclaimed. "You could use every one of your tricks on me and I wouldn't turn into one of your simpering devotees. I know your flaws too well to be distracted by a wink and some pretty words."
Minnowpaw let out a mrrow of laughter. "You don't think that my flaws would endear me to you? And don't discount pretty words so fast. I haven't even compared your eyes to the dusk sky yet."
"You'll have to try harder than that."
"And what's in it for me?" Minnowpaw asked, cocking her head and giving Heatherpaw an expectant look. "Why don't you make me try harder?"
Heatherpaw finally cracked a grin. Back in control. "Because I will never, ever fall for you, so you can spend all your time chasing me. You'll never get bored if you never win."
Minnowpaw's answering smile was dark as the night sky. "A chase that never ends, eh?"
"An impossible task," Heatherpaw agreed, already steeling herself against the alluring gleam of the she-cat's eyes.
"Nothing's impossible for me," Minnowpaw answered cockily.
Well, she's already doing terribly, Heatherpaw told herself, ignoring the thump of her heartbeat. I don't like arrogance. Still, the prospect of a never-ending fling was enticing. Having a cat as unpredictable and riotous as a wildfire completely focused on her would be exciting, if nothing else. And I know I'm going to win, Heatherpaw thought as Minnowpaw examined her, still plainly amused. I'd never fall for such a vain, shameless flirt.
Just Another Fling
Their game was put on hold the very next Gathering.
Minnowpaw crossed the clearing to Heatherpaw, feigning a light mood, but Heatherpaw knew something was wrong the instant she spotted a RiverClan queen with honest-to-StarClan kits at her feet.
"Heatherpaw—" Minnowpaw began with forced cheeriness, but Heatherpaw cut to the heart of the matter immediately.
"What's going on? Why is your whole Clan here?" Heatherpaw demanded.
Uncertainty crossed Minnowpaw's face and she faltered, stopping in front of Heatherpaw a couple fox-lengths away. "I… I'm sure Leopardstar will explain."
Heatherpaw couldn't help the concern that pricked her pelt. "But what happened? Are you okay?"
Minnowpaw flinched away, once again trying to play it off. "What, so scared for my safety?" She purred, but it was a tight, clipped sound. "Don't tell me you've fallen for me already."
"Don't be mouse-brained," Heatherpaw snapped. "This is about more than just… just us, it looks like RiverClan's in real trouble."
Her amber gaze darted sideways again, back at the too-large group of RiverClan cats. "Well… I don't think I'm supposed to talk about it. Maybe we should put this on hold until everything is sorted out."
It was a sensible suggestion, but Heatherpaw still found herself wishing Minnowpaw's strange vulnerability would show itself again. She repeated, "Are you okay?"
Minnowpaw opened her jaws, probably to make another smart comment about Heatherpaw's enamoured state, but then caught the other apprentice's gaze and paused. Finally, she told her, "Yeah. I'm okay. We're okay."
Heatherpaw hovered between wanting things to return to normal and wanting to know the truth for a heartbeat, then said, "You can tell me if you're not. I'm not going to run off to tell my father, you know."
Minnowpaw purrs, a real one this time, and answers, "Yeah, I know. And likewise, even though WindClan's totally fine, right?"
Well, I guess I can't ask her for honesty without giving some myself. "Every cat else is. Lionpaw broke it off."
That got another real reaction out of her. "Really? I thought you said last Gathering that it was already over."
Heatherpaw felt her tail droop. "I thought it was. Apparently I cared more than I realized." A confession like that in WindClan would have been monumental, but Minnowpaw took it in stride.
"That's too bad," she murmured, and closed the distance between them to rest her muzzle on Heatherpaw's shoulder. Heatherpaw wasn't sure whether it was a ploy to initiate physical contact, but decided she didn't really care; the other she-cat was warm and her pelt was soft and comforting, and if Minnowpaw was going to offer herself up as a body to hide Heatherpaw's face in, Heatherpaw would take it.
"He was so mouse-brained," Heatherpaw huffed, finally pulling away. "Why did I get so upset?"
Minnowpaw shrugged, eyes misting with some memory. "One of the world's mysteries, I guess. But hey, if you need a rebound or just a shoulder to cry on…"
Heatherpaw snorted. "Thanks."
"I mean it." Minnowpaw blinked at Heatherpaw, who immediately tried to guard herself against the genuine look in the other she-cat's eye. "This game is fun, but if you need a real friend as well, I'm here."
She found the idea unexpectedly appealing. "Alright. Good to know. And likewise," she echoed.
Minnowpaw grinned, back to her cocksure self. "Oh, don't offer up your ear too quickly. I have never-ending woes; where to begin? Well, Reedwhisker told me yesterday that just because I was his kit, it didn't mean that I should get—"
"I take it back!" Heatherpaw exclaimed, slapping her tail over Minnowpaw's muzzle and letting out a purr. "Keep it all inside, that's what WindClan cats do. Let it eat away at you."
"That seems tremendously unhealthy," Minnowpaw purred when Heatherpaw's tail fell away. "You should be like a RiverClanner; tell every cat all your secrets and look for external validation at all costs."
Heatherpaw snorted. "Wow, that's a much better way to do things. I think certain cats' hearts would give out if they knew my secrets."
Minnowpaw's tail curled up with amusement. "Your father would drop dead on the spot. I wish I knew some of your secrets; you seem like you have a lot tucked away in that skinny little body."
Heatherpaw gave the other she-cat a shove. "Hey! I'm not that skinny, you're just surrounded by your fat Clanmates and you've forgotten what real cats look like. And you'll never know my secrets. They wouldn't be secrets if I went around telling every cat, would they?"
"You lump me in with 'every cat?'" Minnowpaw gasped with fake outrage. "I thought we had something special!"
"Dream on," Heatherpaw retorted. "You haven't even made my top ten cats."
"Like him?" Minnowpaw asked, a teasing gleam in her eyes, and flicked her tail at Breezepaw, who was currently stalking over to them.
Heatherpaw swallowed a grimace at the sight of him. Breezepaw was bearable in small doses, provided he wasn't around Crowfeather, Whitetail, or a cat from another Clan. Unfortunately, as soon as Breezepaw spotted Minnowpaw, his hackles raised.
"Who are you?" he asked, shoving his muzzle in Minnowpaw's face.
The RiverClan she-cat was unfazed and merely cocked her head in a gesture that Heatherpaw had begun to associate with her. "Who are you?"
"Answer me, fish-face," Breezepaw snapped. Heatherpaw shot him a quelling look that did less than nothing.
"I'm Minnowpaw, hare-brain," she answered with a mocking smile.
These two getting into a fight is going to go poorly, Heatherpaw thought as Breezepaw's lips drew back in a snarl. And why does he always get angry when cats respond to his hostility with more hostility? Not all of us have the bottomless patience for you that Nightcloud has.
"Breezepaw, we should go," she said hastily. "Gathering's started. See you around." She flicked her tail at Minnowpaw and practically pried Breezepaw away from her.
Still, as she sat beside the hissing black tom, ears pricked to hear Leopardstar's explanation for the presence of her whole Clan, she couldn't help her gaze sliding back toward Minnowpaw's moonlit frame. Now that Heatherpaw was away from her, Minnowpaw's shoulders had slumped a little and the she-cat looked more weary than Heatherpaw had seen her. She wasn't putting on a strong front for my sake, was she? Heatherpaw wondered, worried, then brushed it off. Of course she was, mouse-brain. You're from another Clan and she didn't want you to know that RiverClan was struggling.
She couldn't so easily brush off the sting that accompanied that thought, however. I trust her. Even if she is RiverClan, and flighty and vain and mean and all that. I've already told her things that Kestrelpaw doesn't know. She had explained it away to herself with the excuses that Minnowpaw was also the daughter of leadership and that Minnowpaw's own oversharing had let Heatherpaw's guard down, but… Heatherpaw couldn't deny that even now, clear-headed and away from Minnowpaw's influence, she wanted to share more with the she-cat. She said she wanted to know my secrets, she reminded herself. Maybe she's trying to get dirt on WindClan.
That was such a ridiculous idea that Heatherpaw almost audibly snorted, then stopped herself, mindful of Breezepaw's presence. What would Breezepaw think of me and Minnowpaw? she wondered. Never mind Onestar, Breezepaw's fur would all turn white and then fall out from the shock. He was harmless, for all his standoffishness, she decided. He just put on the front of being as prickly as a porcupine to stop anyone from noticing how desperate he was for his father's praise and attention.
Then I wonder why Minnowpaw puts on that flirtatious and egotistical front. She cast her gaze over to her again, reflecting on the way Minnowpaw's gaze rested fixedly on Graymist's kits and Icewing's pregnant belly. She's not totally self-absorbed, is she? It's an act. She cares a lot about her Clan, otherwise she wouldn't have been so defensive when I asked.
And then there was the way she reacted when Heatherpaw called her vain. Was that another act, or did she actually get upset? Because when I said she had a big ego, she found it funny. She was pleased that I called her mean and egotistical. How does that square with being furious with a different accusation? She shook her head, trying to turn her attention back to the leaders. What a mess of contradictions.
But instead of wanting to write her off, Heatherpaw found herself drawn to the apprentice again. What kind of cat is she under all that bravado? Her frustration with Reedwhisker seemed genuine, didn't it? Maybe she would never really know. The thought made her unexpectedly sad. How many cats really know Minnowpaw? She's certainly put herself on display through Pebblepaw, but a version of herself that she revels in. No cat is actually like that at their core, are they? Who's the real Minnowpaw?
Minnowpaw turned then, and caught Heatherpaw's gaze. Rather than being embarrassed to be caught staring, Heatherpaw looked deeply into her eyes, searching. Who are you? Minnowpaw blinked, taken aback at the intense look, and for a heartbeat, seemed truly bared to Heatherpaw. She was scared. Whatever Leopardstar wasn't telling the other Clans, it had Minnowpaw worried. And that made Heatherpaw worried for the other apprentice. Think of your own Clan, she told herself, but her gaze still lingered on Minnowpaw's outline. Lionpaw's rejection felt a good deal less serious now that she was occupied with thoughts of Minnowpaw's future. As she jumped down from the tree-bridge, thoughts of Minnowpaw's true self and RiverClan's predicament plagued her, stubbornly refusing to fade.
Just Another Fling
"You look great," Kestrelpaw assured her as Heatherpaw twisted to smooth another tuft of fur on her shoulder.
"I want to look perfect," Heatherpaw retorted. "You only get one warrior ceremony."
Kestrelpaw snorted. "Whatever you say."
Heatherpaw ignored him and continued her relentless grooming, briskly running a paw over each ear and then attacking her shoulder again. Her father leapt atop the Tallrock and called every cat over. Heatherpaw increased the speed of her grooming, before finally stopping so that she could actually participate in her own ceremony.
"I, Onestar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn," he began imperiously. "Heatherpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do!" Heatherpaw declared.
Heathertail decided she was pleased with her name. As a kit, she had been desperate for a feminine name like Heatherflower or Heatherheart, but over the course of her apprenticeship, as more and more of her Clanmates accepted that she wasn't a tom and more of the 'tactics' she and Kestrelpaw developed merely became facts of her life, she had outgrown that hope. Heathertail was a good name. Practical, smooth, and neat. It suited her, she thought.
Minnowtail was over the moon to find out. They had begun to meet outside of Gatherings, and the night after her vigil, Heathertail made her way to the RiverClan border. Minnowtail had earned her name only a few days before, and they celebrated that night together, racing through the groves and hills that marked the border before coming to a breathless stop.
Minnowtail rolled onto her back easily, showing her belly without a second thought, and looked up at the stars. "Look!" she gasped.
Only hesitating for a heartbeat, Heathertail also dropped to the earth and turned over to stare up. It was a darker night than they'd had in moons, leaf-fall's shortening days meaning the sun's rays faded more completely, and the stars glowed in a swathe of bright points of light overhead.
"What?" Heathertail asked, not seeing anything out of the ordinary in the vast, dark sky.
"There!" Minnowtail exclaimed.
Then Heathertail saw it. A shooting star, arcing through the darkness. Another joined it, slipping between its companions and then out of sight in a heartbeat of movement. A third, then a fourth, and Heathertail watched, amazed at the sight.
"Do you think it's a sign?" she asked.
"Of what?" Minnowtail replied with a purr. "Maybe it's just beautiful."
Heathertail fell silent, reflecting on those words. Maybe it's just beautiful. She sneaked a gaze at Minnowtail, whose white fur glowed like starlight in the full moon. Minnowtail's round amber eyes were bright with kit-like joy as she watched the star shower, and something Heathertail didn't want to put a name to swelled in her chest.
"Thanks, StarClan," Minnowtail purred contentedly a while later. "That was amazing."
"It was," she whispered, and tore her eyes away from the other she-cat to look back up at the stars. "All our Clanmates probably missed it."
Minnowtail made a noise of agreement, then nudged Heathertail. "Just think, if you hadn't made that silly dare at that Gathering, we never would have seen it either."
Heathertail snorted. "You were the one who wanted to see if I would fall in love with you."
"Nope, pretty sure it was your idea," Minnowtail replied, then added, "I guess I failed, didn't I? Look, I'll brush my pelt with mine and you won't even swoon." Minnowtail wriggled closer, pressing her body to Heathertail's, and purred when Heathertail failed to faint.
No, Heathertail didn't swoon at Minnowtail's touch anymore. Nor did she hold her breath when Minnowtail held her gaze, eyes warm, and she certainly didn't lose her train of thought when Minnowtail tilted her head to one side with that little thoughtful look that she got when she encountered something she didn't understand.
"No, I won't," Heathertail confirmed. "I must be completely immune to your charms."
Minnowtail grumbled. "Will you cuddle with me anyway? It's too cold to be lying on the ground alone."
With a heavy sigh, Heathertail rolled over and wrapped her tail around Minnowtail's. "Fiiine. You know, WindClan cats sleep outside even in leaf-bare."
"That explains why you're so cold-hearted," Minnowtail groaned, poking Heathertail's belly with one soft paw. "I bet your heart isn't even skipping a beat right now."
It wasn't, but from the proximity of the other she-cat, it was certainly beating a little quicker. Heathertail huffed a laugh. "My heart isn't cold or skipping a beat. It's just pumping blood like it's supposed to."
"You're so literal," Minnowtail sighed, her breath tickling Heathertail's whiskers. "Where did your romance go? Did Crowfeather beat it out of you? He seems like he'd be a terrible mentor."
Heathertail mused on that for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know. He was the only one I ever had."
"I got bounced around," Minnowtail admitted. "First it was Icewing, then she moved to the nursery and I got Voletooth, and then he retired and I got Pouncetail, my father's old apprentice."
"Wow," Heathertail said. "Who did you like best?"
Minnowtail hummed thoughtfully. "Probably Icewing. She liked me and actually told me I was doing a good job. Voletooth didn't say much of anything, and Pouncetail thought I already had... too much self-esteem."
"Wonder where he got that idea," Heathertail teased, and Minnowtail frowned. "Sorry. Didn't mean it," Heathertail quickly added when Minnowtail didn't make any kind of smart retort.
"You're probably right," Minnowtail mumbled, and Heathertail's heart began to hammer when she realized that she might finally get what she had wondered about so long ago. It seemed easier for Minnowtail when Heathertail wasn't looking directly at her, so Heathertail lowered her head and cast her gaze off into the darkness, watching a beetle crawl over the earth in front of her nose. "It's annoying, isn't it? I started doing it when I was kit because I thought… I don't know. That if cats didn't like me for something that wasn't really me, then they didn't actually dislike me. Does that make any sense?"
Heathertail mulled it over. "I think so. If every cat hated you because you acted like you had a big ego and you were really vain, but you secretly weren't like that at all, then you could explain away why cats hate you."
"Exactly." Relief was evident in Minnowtail's voice. "We should cuddle more often, you're very wise when you're stabbing your hindlegs into my belly."
"I'm sorry!" Heathertail exclaimed, pulling her torso to one side to uncover the other she-cat's belly. Minnowtail just twitched her whiskers in amusement and let out a soft sigh. Heathertail began to think about their previous exchange once the embarrassment had faded. "But why don't you just act like yourself? Why do you want cats to hate you?"
Minnowtail protested, "I don't want cats to hate me."
"Yes, you do," Heathertail argued, still watching the beetle's journey into the bush that laid across the clearing from them. "Why would you act like a fox-heart if you didn't want cats to hate you?"
"Because…" Minnowtail sighed. "Because they won't like who I am anyway, so I might as well get them to hate me for something I'm not."
Heathertail considered that silently for a few long heartbeats, then answered, "That's a load of fox-dung. If you've been acting like that since you were a kit, how do you know cats won't like who you are?"
"What? I…" Minnowtail frowned again, and Heathertail took the opportunity to poke her neck with her muzzle.
"I know you, and I still like you," she told Minnowtail honestly. "I don't think you're going to scare off every cat if you just act like a normal cat instead of this puffed-up character."
Minnowtail huffed. "You don't know that."
"Yes, I do," Heathertail argued. "You didn't scare off me, and you stopped putting on that whole act moons ago."
"Did I…?" Minnowtail asked, uncertainty in her gaze. "When?"
When? Heathertail snorted. "I don't know exactly when, maybe it wasn't moons ago, but you definitely don't act the same as when I first met you."
Minnowtail considered that, then said, "Well, maybe you're different."
"Fox-dung to that too," Heathertail told her cheerfully. "I think your normal self is great, and I know I wouldn't be the only one if you just gave other cats a chance."
Heathertail was speaking more plainly than she ever did to her Clanmates she knew, but she also knew that things were different in RiverClan. Saying such honest, heartfelt things was expected, and Heathertail was still adjusting to the idea that she could simply tell Minnowtail things and Minnowtail wouldn't be shocked.
"But…" Minnowtail sighed, and her breath tickled Heathertail's ears again. Heathertail thought she could hear the gray and white she-cat's heartbeat through her pelt, and felt a surge of warmth brought on by merely being so close to another cat. "But what if the real me is… boring?"
Knowing that the confession was very personal for Minnowtail, Heathertail swallowed an incredulous laugh. Still, she couldn't help finding the idea that any cat would find Minnowtail boring absolutely ridiculous. "That's impossible," she promised. "Even if you're not outlandish by RiverClan standards, you'd still make any WindClan cat look like a weird-shaped boulder in a comparison of personalities. And besides, what's so bad about being boring? My father wanted me to be his glorious son and deputy, and look what that got him. A daughter cuddling with a RiverClanner in the middle of the night."
Minnowtail nodded. "I always wondered," she murmured, then rested her chin on Heathertail's shoulder. "I suppose you're not wrong."
"I rarely am."
The echo of their first encounter didn't escape Minnowtail, and she purred, the sound of which reverberated through Heathertail's smaller body. It warmed her to her very toes, and she nestled deeper into Minnowtail's soft fur, just enjoying the sound of the crickets and the heat of Minnowtail's pelt.
"I'm on dawn patrol tomorrow," Minnowtail admitted after a while.
"That's a shame for you," Heathertail commented, pressing her forehead to the underside of Minnowtail's head snugly. "I'm not moving. You'll have to wrestle me off."
"Too tired," Minnowtail groaned.
"You can suffer tomorrow," Heathertail suggested. "Stay with me."
The last part came out less joking than Heathertail planned, and she found Minnowtail's amber gaze focused on her, gentler than she had ever seen her and brimming with warmth and something more.
"I will," Minnowtail murmured back, equally soft. Heathertail knew it was easier for her, to be gentle and vulnerable like that, but Heathertail felt like she had made a leap that might not be enough to clear a gap, and now was hanging over the abyss, waiting to see if she'd make it to the other side or fall into the darkness. It was a terrifying feeling, and yet… she held Minnowtail's gaze. Soaked in the heat of her eyes, basked in the warmth of her like she was the sun, and… realized that she was in too deep. In too deep to run, at least. Not quite deep enough to know whether Minnowtail…
They stayed that way for a long time. Sometimes Minnowtail twitched her whiskers, amused, like they were having a staring contest, or Heathertail would fight the urge to duck away and lick her chest quickly, but mostly she just looked deep into the eyes of this she-cat who had become so important in the strangest way, and felt new things.
"You need get some rest," Heathertail finally said, her voice coming out in the barest whisper. It hardly broke the night air, but Minnowtail was so close that she heard her anyway.
"Probably," Minnowtail agreed.
Silence reigned again.
"Are you going to let me get up?"
"Oh, right."
Minnowtail let out a mrrow of amusement as Heathertail finally rolled off the other she-cat, the leaf-fall air feeling very cold on her belly-fur after Minnowtail's warmth. Heathertail watched shyly as the other she-cat got to her paws, then felt a pang of concern as Minnowtail suddenly grunted in pain as she put pressure on her left fore-paw.
"Are you alright?" Heathertail asked, putting her shoulder underneath Minnowtai's to help her get her footing.
"Fine," she answered quickly, shaking out the foot and planting it on the ground. "Just an old training injury."
It sounded like a lie, and worry flared through Heathertail. She wouldn't really keep something from me, would she? Not after… Not after everything. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"No, I'm fine," Minnowtail assured her. "I guess the good thing about being a warrior is no more training, right?"
"But now you get endless dawn patrols," Heathertail teased, feeling them shift back into another world as dawn began to turn the sky gray.
Minnowtail flashed her her usual conceited grin. "That's right. I'll have to bribe Leopardstar somehow; Mistyfoot won't budge."
"Good luck with that," Heathertail snorted. "She's as stubborn as they come."
"I have my ways," Minnowtail answered with another cocky look, then turned. "I'll see you a couple nights from now?"
"Sure," Heathertail agreed. The next Gathering wasn't for another half-moon, and despite Minnowtail's sudden change back into her persona, she still seemed unwilling to go so long without seeing Heathertail. It comforted Heathertail a little, though she still couldn't shake the feeling there was something Minnowtail wasn't telling her.
That makes two of us, she thought, and it swelled in her chest again, watching the gray and white she-cat disappear onto RiverClan territory. She didn't bury it this time, just let it spread until every hair on her body seemed to lean toward where Minnowtail had vanished. In the pale light of dawn, and the cold air where Minnowtail wasn't anymore, Heathertail felt the words in her throat. She couldn't say it, not quite, not when Minnowtail's invincible vulnerability wasn't there to influence her, and so, in WindClan fashion, she swallowed it down. It curled back up, nestling in her heart, and Heathertail sighed.
Here's my confession, I've got a death wish / I'm in the fast lane, addicted to excess / Living my best life, I was on top rise / Sipping the limelight, a deer in the headlights / My future used to shine, it's bright as a diamond / Where'd the time go
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