Honeypaw sighed and looked down at her paws. A moon had passed since her's, Blossompaw's, and Silverpaw's ceremony. Cloudfrost, her mentor, was fussing over some herbs but Honeypaw barely listened. 'I don't even want to be a stupid medicine cat,' she thought disdainfully. She angled her ears and listened outside the medicine cats' den. Shardpaw, Runepaw, Prismpaw, and Ivypaw were all chatting about hunting tactics. The littermates broke into good-natured arguing about who'd caught the most prey. She listened to the persistent whines if Webkit from the nursery. "It's not fairrr!" He whined, "I wanna be an apprentice like everybody else! It's so dumb!" His mother, Tsunamiwave's voice was taut with exhaustion. "You've been whining about this all day. Can't you say something else?" She snapped at him and he quickly stopped his fussing. Blossompaw and Dogpaw were giggling near the fresh-kill pile. Rosemarytail chatted with her kits and her mate, Hawkstar. Flowerpaw and Lynxpaw ran around camp, laughing giddily.

"Honeypaw! Are you even paying attention?" Cloudfrost's snaps breeched the gentle coaxe of Honeypaw's thoughts. Cloudfrost glared at her through narrowed yellow eyes and hissed in annoyance. The fluffy white she-cat rarely lost her temper with Honeypaw, and, though she wouldn't be caught dead admitting it, Honeypaw liked her mentor…Just a tad bit. Cloudfrost sighed and relaxed. "Sorry; I didn't get enough sleep." She looked over her shoulder at Hibiscuspaw, whom had recently fallen prey to greencough. The fluffy white she-cat turned back to her apprentice and gestured once more to the tiny stash of coltsfoot they'd managed to salvage. "Okay, do you know what this is?" Honeypaw concentrated hard, flicking her tail. So much to learn! The herb looked just like a dandelion. "Uh…Either dandelion or coltsfoot. Dandelion is used for, um, fevers. Coltsfoot is for breathing.'' Cloudfrost blinked and Honeypaw twitched nervously. Was that disappointment in her mentor's eyes? Pride? Eager to please, Honeypaw ransacked her brain for more knowledge. She panicked and tried to search faster, the little voice in her head screaming the whole time. "Yeah, this is coltsfoot. Good job. And, close enough with the dandelion. We also use it for bee stings." Honeypaw hung her head in shame as Cloudfrost answered. "Hey, it's okay. You were close and you're still learning. Can you check which herbs we need more of?" Honeypaw looked and sniffed at the stashes. She stopped when she saw there was only a tiny bit left of a pink flower. "Bright-eye, for coughs." She only knew this because some greencough had broken out and she'd had to learn how to treat it. Cloudfrost nodded and jumped as Hibiscuspaw started coughing. She rushed to treat her patient. "I'll go get more,'' Honeypaw declared, flicked her tail, and walked out.

She stopped in the middle of a thicket and looked around. Her green eyes widened as she picked up another scent: rogue. It was fresh. She followed the trail to some bushes. Finally something exciting! There'd been reports of one specific rogue taking prey, and Honeypaw guessed she'd found it. She stopped when the trail ended, one pale ginger paw hanging in the air. She hissed and stepped forward to peer into the bush. Suddenly, a bundle of black fur jumped out and pinned her. She yowled and tried to push the black tom off. He kept her pinned and snarled at her. "Owww!" Honeypaw wailed, "Get off, you stupid furball! You smell like a dead fly who got stuck in a pile of dirt and vomit. GET OFFFF!" He loosened his grip and started laughing. She kicked at his stomach and got up, hissing in annoyance. "Well, that's a first," he mumbled half to himself. She growled and glared, fluffing out her fur. He looked up at her, his blue eyes sparkling in amusement. "You're the first cat I've met who can't fight." That got on her nerves.

[C]"Can!"

[C]"Can't!"

[C]"Can!"

"Can-" He stopped as Honeypaw lurched forward and pawed his face, then bit his tail. "Yes I can!" He started laughing again. "You're lighter than a butterfly!" Honeypaw flattened her ears and tried again, this time batting his muzzle. He merely stepped back and made her trip on her face. She hissed and tried to get up but her back leg was stuck under a tree root. The tom laughed at her, then bent down. He gripped the root in his teeth and Honeypaw struggled, squirming around. "Would you stop struggling, Butterfly?" The tom muttered. Honeypaw rolled her eyes and stopped moving. He lifted the root and she shot up, shaking her fur from the dirt that had collected. He stared at her expectantly. When she didn't answer, he cleared his throat and flicked his ears back and forth. Honeypaw rolled her eyes and mumbled: "Ugh. Fine. Thanks, I guess, but you're STILL a no good flea-bitten toad." He grinned and flicked his ear.

[C]"Well, what's your name?"

[C] "Honeypaw."

[C]"That's a mouthful. I think I'll just stick with Butterfly. I'm Rye."

[C]"Well if you call me Butterfly, then I'll call you Flea because you're a hundred times more annoying." Rye grinned again.

[C]"So why are you here anyways, Butterfly?"

[C]"Don't think it concerns you. Go away." She flicked her tail in dismissal and turned to continue her search. "You're a clan cat, aren't you?" Honeypaw nodded without looking at him. "What are you looking for?" "It's called bright-eye. It's a pink flower and it smells good." Rye looked in the other direction, then stopped after a moment. "This?" He gestured to a clump of pink flowers. Honeypaw inspected it and tilted her head. She carefully nipped the flowers and left the roots. "Thanks again," she said and stood up to head back. "Well, bye, Flea. You know my clan is pretty mad at you for stealing prey, right? And they're pretty menacing when they're mad!" He rolled his eyes at her. "I think I can manage a few butterflies like you," he teased, "speaking of which, you definitely need someone to help defend you from the big bad non-clan cats on your way home." Honeypaw opened her jaws to protest, but Rye smacked his tail over it.

"Shut up," he hissed. "Don't tell me to shu-" he covered her mouth again. "Run when I flick my tail," he whispered. Honeypaw felt fear creep up on her and she nodded quietly. She could hear it now: a dog was barking not so far off. "Why don't we just run now?" Honeypaw hissed, "We can outrun it; I'm fast." Rye shook his head. "That's Old Chomper. He preys on cats who stray too far alone and he smells fear. He's faster than a hare; best just stay still." Honeypaw tried to stop herself from shaking and pressed against him. She heard Old Chomper come closer. She felt tremors in the ground as the dog came closer. She felt it stop and sniff for them, then shoot its head up to look her right in the eye. It gave a piercing yowl of triumph. "GO!" Rye shrieked. The cats ran faster than they'd ever run before. Honeypaw pictured the dog tearing through the CrystalClan camp and turned left. "Follow me!" She shrieked over the wind. She didn't look over to see if he'd heard, just hoped that he had and kept running. Rye burst ahead of her and pointed towards a tree with his tail. Honeypaw nodded; they were far enough now that the dog wouldn't find camp. Rye jumped up the tree, then yowled in pain; he hung from the tree branch by one paw. Honeypaw leapt up the tree and scrambled up the bark. The dog's loud barking shook the tree and it constantly bumped into it. Rye regained his footing and limped to help Honeypaw, whom was slipping. Honeypaw regained balance herself and stood beside Rye on the branch. Both of them were shaking badly and their claws were dug so hard into the tree that they were practically part of it now.

They spent a long, terrifying time in the tree until a twoleg's call echoed in the distance. Old Chomper whimpered and reluctantly left the cats alone. They stayed in the tree a bit longer before Honeypaw gingerly climbed down. Rye followed, wincing with pain as he forced wait onto his front left paw. "You've just wrenched it,'' Honeypaw soothed, "but you'll have to see Cloudfrost so we can treat you." Rye nodded and leaned against her for support. They arrived at camp only to be gwaked at by their clanmates. Turtlefoot ran to get Hawkstar. "Call off the search patrols!" Lotustail yowled. Blossompaw, Silverpaw, and Ivypaw rushed forward. "Sissy!" Blossompaw gasped, embracing Honeypaw. "Where were you?" "Are you okay?" Silverpaw asked. "Who's this?" Ivypaw questioned, sniffing Rye with wide green eyes. He pressed against Honeypaw nervously. "I'm fine. I'll tell you later. Ivypaw, go away." Ivypaw hissed and glared, arching her brown back. Honeypaw noticed Beeflower stay well away, giving her daughter a murderous glare. Honeypaw bared her teeth. 'See, Mom? I can be a jerk too. I'm not in the mood.' A crowd soon clouded around poor Rye. They barely noticed Honeypaw, but she refused to leave her friend's side.

Author's note:

( ͡ ͜ʖ͡ ) okay, so I'm not really proud of this chapter. There's a lot more dialogue than any of the other chapters. It's kind of unfinished because it's not really the ending I was going for. Buuuuttt I'm tired and I'll add more in the next chapter. All characters belong to me except for Dogpaw, Silverpaw, Halfface, Boneclaws, and Cariboupaw whom belong to my bestie Peach Sofa. Criticism is welcome! What did you think of this chapter?

[S]do you ship it?

Byeeeeeee!