Apprentice and Pregnant 2

Chapter 3: My Fathers Eyes

Cross my heart and

Hope to die

Tooth for a tooth and

An eye for an eye

I don't get mad, I get even

I get even

Even, even

"Hey guys."

Hollyshine looked up to see Swallow Star walking over, with a funny smirk on his face.

"What are you looking so sly about?" Tigerstripe asked; taking a bite out of his squirrel he was eating. "You look like you want to tell us something."

"Nah," Swallow Star grinned. "I just saw you three over here and for a moment I had a flashback of when we were younger."

"We were just plotting to sneak into Riverclan," Leaftail giggled. "Doesn't that sound like a great idea?"

"God, I can't believe we used to be so dumb," Tigerstripe mumbled.

"We were the worst," Leaftail nodded, agreeing. Hollyshine looked at her sister, remembering just how awful she used to be. I'm so glad she changed.

"So how are things?" Swallow Star asked, sitting down next to Tigerstripe. "It feels like I haven't talked to you all at once in forever. What's the latest gossip?"

"Well, mentoring Pinepaw has turned into more of a chore than I thought it would," Leaftail said, looking around to make sure her apprentice wasn't nearby. "All she can focus on lately is talking about tom cats."

"Ha!" Tigerstripe cackled. "Does she ever! I walked by her and her friends yesterday when they were having a conversation and holy man I heard some things I didn't want to hear."

"Like what?" Swallow Star asked. Tigerstripe shot Leaftail and Hollyshine a look. Hollyshine understood it at once; it was no secret that Pinepaw had a huge crush on Swallow Star.

"Seriously," Swallow Star continued. "I'm the leader, and I like to know what's going on and-" he broke off for a second and thought something over, staring at his friends. "Wait, why did everyone just get quiet?"

"Why did you get quiet," Tigerstripe said, obviously at a loss of what to say.

"Oh I think I know what's going on," Swallow Star said suddenly, nodding his head slowly and looking away.

"You do?" Hollyshine asked, feeling awkward.

"Yeah," Swallow Star said solemnly. "She likes Fuzzwhisker, doesn't she?"

"Sure," Tigerstripe mumbled.

"I had a feeling it was a bad idea making him her mentor," Swallow Star sighed, shaking his head.

"Fuzzwhiskers mates with Snowsong," Leaftail said suddenly. Tigerstripe glared at her in a way that signaled to drop the subject.

"How's mentoring Silverpaw?" Hollyshine blurted out, changing the subject. "Is he doing well?"

"Oh, he's awesome," Swallow Star nodded. "Fights like a little warrior, and hunts like one too. I'm pretty proud of him."

"Me too," Hollyshine flushed with pride as Swallow Star said these words. He'll grow up to be one of the best warriors of Thunderclan! It's also such an honor to be the leaders apprentice... I'm so happy for him!

"I was actually meaning to talk to you about Silverpaw," Swallow Star said suddenly, turning to Hollyshine with an odd look. At once Hollyshines blood ran cold. "Why?" she demanded.

"He, um," Swallow Star broke off, squinting his eyes as if he was thinking about how to word something. "Well, how much does he know about how he was born?"

"I told my kits that I fell in love with a Shadowclan tom and couldn't wait to be a mother," Hollyshine whispered as quietly as she could. "I thought we talked about this already…"

"We did, we did," Swallow Star reassured her.

"Then what's the issue?" Hollyshine snapped, feeling feverish at the very thought that something might be wrong with her son. "Why did you ask that?"

"He's just," Swallow Star broke off again, and Hollyshine hissed with frustration.

"Do you want us to go somewhere else?" Tigerstripe asked, coughing awkwardly. "You know, if you want to have a private conversation and all-"

"Silverpaw gets frustrated really easily," Swallow Star blurted out after what seemed like eight moons. "He gets so angry at himself for no good reason. He'll mess up something as simple as his hunting crouch and I hear him muttering terrible things under his breath, and the look in his eyes is often kind of scary."

"Everyone gets frustrated," Hollyshine said at once, defending her son. "Are you saying you're above swearing when you screw up sometimes?"

"I do," Swallow Star whispered gently. "But Hollyshine, it's different with him. He has a look in his eyes that I've never seen in anyone but-" he broke off.

Hollyshine felt a hideous rage build up in her. It was so strong it nearly choked her and knocked her off her paws.

"Finish your sentence, Swallow Star," Hollyshine hissed, ears flattening on the back of her head. "Stop swallowing your words."

"Yeah, I think we're gonna like, go over here," Tigerstripe mumbled, walking away quickly with Leaftail behind him.

Swallow Star stared at Hollyshine, the expression on his face cautious.

"Where else have you seen the look in his eyes before," Hollyshine growled, knowing very well what he was going to say. How dare he even think this… how DARE he even compare Silverpaw to that monster…

"I've seen the same look in his father's eyes," Swallow Star said at last, defeated. "Longtai-"

"Don't say his name," Hollyshine hissed menacingly. She stalked up and shoved her face in Swallow Stars, eyes shooting fire. Her legs were trembling and she felt as though she couldn't stand anymore. She pushed it away with all the strength she had.

"Silverpaw is not his father," Hollyshine snapped, voice cracking and shaking. "He is PERFECT. He's not a monster like that… that demon that tormented me."

"I'm not saying he's a monster," Swallow Star said, trying to calm her down. "I'm just telling you as your friend, Hollyshine… Silverpaws got some anger in him, anger that I don't see in his brother and sister-"

"As a friend," Hollyshine hissed, interrupting him. "I'm telling you to back off."

"Okay," Swallow Star said at last, giving up. "I'm sorry for upsetting you."

Hollyshine felt tears start to involuntarily well up in her eyes as her anger melted away. She hated herself as she saw the miserable expression on her friend's face, how helpless he looked.

He was just looking out for me

Looking out for my son…

Hollyshine shoved her face forward and buried it into Swallow Stars shoulder, feeling her tears roll down onto his white fur.

"I'm sorry for being so mean," Hollyshine sniffed. "I'm sorry, Swallow Star."

"It's okay," Swallow Star whispered, his deep voice gentle and comforting. "I understand."

Hollyshine stayed where she was for a long time, trying to push away her thoughts.

I know what Swallow Star is talking about

I've seen the look in Silverpaws eyes

Longtail haunted me with the same stare

What if he has his father's genes?

What will I do then?

"Awe, man," Firepaw cried, holding up a paw. "I stepped in tree sap again!"

Cracklepaw started laughing, unable to help himself as Firepaw stared at his paw in disgust. I swear, there could be one spot in the world where there's sap on the ground. Firepaw would somehow find it.

"Shit, guys, it's everywhere," Firepaw mumbled. Cracklepaw was now in complete hysterics. Firepaw had tried to step out of it but it only succeeded in spreading it around.

"Stop laughing and help me!" Firepaw snapped, wiping his paws on the ground. This did nothing except make grass and dirt stick to him too.

"Can you stop doing that?" Silverpaw said suddenly, shooting a wary glance over his shoulder. "The girls are over there and they're watching us and-"

"Maybe if I grab some leaves-" Firepaw grunted as he stood on his hind legs, waving a paw in the air in an attempt to grab some leaves that were on a low branch.

"Ugh, they're staring at us," Silverpaw mumbled, looking very awkward. "They're probably talking about how weird we are and-"

"SHIT!" Firepaw shrieked as he lost his balance and fell over. He fell flat on his belly into the tree sap that was on the ground.

"Oh for god's sake," Silverpaw hissed.

Cracklepaw was laughing so hard he had to sit down. Tears streamed from his eyes and he rolled over onto his back, laughing nonstop.

"Well, I might as well give up forever," Firepaw sighed, not bothering to get up. "Seems pretty pointless to keep on living, I'll say. The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if I got struck by lightning now."

"Get out of the sap, you idiot," Silverpaw sighed.

"I think I need to go sit in the pond for a bit," Firepaw grumbled as he forced himself to his paws. "Man, I'm covered in this shit."

"I wouldn't mind going to the pond too," Cracklepaw said, thinking of the pond that was just outside the camp behind their territory. "I want to try and catch a frog again."

"Do we have to go right now?" Silverpaw whispered, shooting a glance at his brother. "If we go to the pond, that means we have to walk by the she cats and-"

"I'm not gonna sit here all freaking day covered in sap just cause you don't have any confidence," Firepaw broke in. "Now let's go before this crap dries."

"Chill out," Cracklepaw whispered into his brother's ear as they stood up to go. "Who are you trying to impress, anyway? It's just Ivypaw, Pinepaw and our sister over there."

"I kind of like Pinepaw, alright?" Silverpaw whispered back. "Not a lot, just you know, enough to not want her to see us parading by with Firepaw and his sap problem."

"Just act natural," Cracklepaw whispered as they got closer. "If anyone needs to be embarrassed, it's Firepaw."

"What happened to you?" Ivypaw giggled as they came into earshot. "Firepaw, it looks like you took a bath in honey."

"WHAT'S UP, LADIES," Firepaw declared loudly, strutting forward in an exaggerated fashion. "And it's not honey, its tree sap."

"We watched you fall over," Laurelpaw snickered. "It was really funny."

"Yeah, I did it for the laughs," Firepaw said, nodding his head as if that was actually how it went.

"Where are you going now?" Ivypaw asked, batting her eyelashes at Firepaw.

"To the pond, babe," Firepaw replied at once. "Not because I have sap on me, just cause I want to."

All the she cats started giggling at this, and Cracklepaw found himself shaking his head in disbelief.

The cat is the weirdest looking apprentice… and not handsome at all to boot. He's covered in tree sap. His nose is running everywhere. Yet he has more confidence than I've ever seen. Go figure.

"We'll come with you," Ivypaw said at once, getting up.

"I'm gonna go do something else," Laurelpaw said, rising to her paws and yawning.

"Why won't you come to the pond?" Ivypaw whined.

"Because I have better things to do than sit in a pond with my brothers and-" Laurelpaw broke off to look at Firepaw, who was now covered in dirt as well as sap. He smiled a toothy smile, clearly happy with himself. Laurelpaw didn't finish her sentence and walked away.

"To the pond!" Firepaw bellowed, charging forward. He tripped over a stick and crashed face first into a bush.

"You feeling better?" Cracklepaw asked Silverpaw under his breath. Silverpaw turned to him, looking slightly better than before.

"I'm alright," he replied simply. Cracklepaw shrugged and followed his friends out of the camp. He couldn't help thinking of Laurelpaw, and how her bright silver eyes always shined and sparkled, emotion lighting them like stars.

Silverpaws never changed from a dull gray.