Chapter 3:
Ivykit breathed in, only choking on the water. This was such a dumb idea, she thought to herself frantically. I shouldn't have even snuck out of camp!
Ivykit felt herself going down in the river. She panicked, paddling her paws as hard as she could. I'm a RiverClan cat! She exclaimed in her mind. Why can't I just swim?
Ivykit let the darkness surround the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, teeth sank into her scruff. Ivykit tried to mew with relief, but only managed to grunt.
Ivykit squinted her eyes at the daylight. She looked at the cat. Oh, of all the cats, StarClan! You had to pick Troutpaw!
"Ivykit, how did you end up in the river?" Troutpaw asked, though Ivykit could see the fear and amusement in his sapphire blue eyes.
"I..." Ivykit had never been so close to Troutpaw before. "I snuck out of camp."
Troutpaw let out a purr of amusement. "I remember when I did that. I was pretending to be a warrior..." His eyes clouded.
"What's wrong?" Ivykit asked, worried she did something.
Troutpaw sighed. "Those were the days when I thought I would be a warrior. But, I'm a medicine cat apprentice.."
Ivykit didn't know what to say. She wanted to blurt out, Well, your a medicine cat, so you can't mate Waterpaw!, but kept her jaws shut. She knew that would be rude.
Troutpaw eventually padded back to camp with her. Ivykit felt her fur tingling with self-consciousness, but she ignored it. "So, what's it like being a medicine cat?" She asked.
Troutpaw sighed. "It's not fun. But, I'm supposedly the future medicine cat, so I have to do my job." He glanced at Ivykit. "It was fun doing a warrior action, like saving you."
Ivykit stiffened. "Will you tell any cat?" She asked, her voice shaking with fear. Surely Troutpaw wouldn't tell on her, being the nice cat he was?
Troutpaw purred. "Nope. But I'm sure every cat will guess where you've been."
As Ivykit entered the camp, Mintsplash surrounded her. "Oh, Ivykit, where have you been? The camp's been looking for you everywhere! Oh, why are you so wet?"
Ivykit felt herself shrink. She opened her jaws to say what happened, but Troutpaw instantly responded.
"Ivykit and I just went on a walk. I was looking for herbs, and I decided to bring her with me. Her fur got a bit damp after the trek." He meowed innocently.
Ivykit felt relief tingle in her stomach. She looked at Snowkit, who was sound asleep, batting her paws everywhere. Ivykit rolled her eyes, then pretended she was listening to Mintsplash. She licked Troutpaw's cheek gratefully before running of to the nursery.
As she ran to the nursery, she caught Minnowfur's hiss. She stopped, turning around. The dark gray she cat was lecturing Waterpaw. Ivykit just managed to catch a few words.
"You can not mate with Troutpaw! He is a medicine cat! Every cat here can see your affection to him. If you mate with him, you will be kicked out of RiverClan and..." Ivykit stiffened with fear.
Did she really mean what she said? Would Waterpaw get kicked out of RiverClan if she mated Troutpaw?