Chapter 6

Heatherpaw lifted her head from a short nap and blinked her eyes open and yawned. She felt much better and had a lot of energy. "Hey, Kestrelpaw, can I take a walk?" she asked the medicine apprentice? Kestrelpaw came in, carrying a shrew and dropped it at his paws. "Sure, just don't go too far if you're going out on the moor," the tom meowed, padding over to his best friend Harepaw, who had gotten a thorn in his pad. Heatherpaw stood and groomed her light brown pelt until it gleamed as bright as the sun that hung in the ribbon of light blue streaked with few clouds of pure white. The air smelled of fresh rabbit, sweet wind and the grasslands. The grass was tall, but very green. Flowers of every color speckled the grass. Onestar bounded into the camp, Ashfoot and Crowfeather following him. Crowfeather's smoky black gray pelt shone brightly. Ashfoot dropped her rabbit and purred to her son, telling him he had hunted well and licked his ears. Crowfeather shied away from his mother, obviously embarrassed… after all, he wasn't a kit and not even an apprentice. But he gave his mother a loving look. She wondered if she would ever mother kits that would be great warriors of her Clan. She then wondered if she ever did have kits, who the father would be. She loved Lionpaw with all of her heart, but… she knew they could never be mates. She looked around the camp and then jogged over to Breezepaw. "Hello, Breezepaw," she meowed.

The black tom lifted his golden gaze at Heatherpaw. "Hey," he meowed, instantly brightening up. He had been confided to camp for a week after almost hunting on an enemy Clan's territory. "How's camp been for you?" she asked. "Boring," he muttered angrily. "I'm going to go for a walk," she meowed.

"Alone?" he asked, stepping forward. "Yeah," she meowed. "You shouldn't go alone," he mewed. "I can take care of myself, Breezepaw. Don't worry," she purred, batting him with a paw.

"Just be careful," he said, picking up a fluffy rabbit and bounding over to Owlwhisker and Weaselfur. She sighed and bounded into the forest. She knew she shouldn't go down to the border, but she really wanted to see Lionpaw. She wanted to thank him properly for saving her life. And… Honeypaw… whoever she was. She thought for a moment and then decided she would go down to the border.

She jogged through the tall grass beneath the golden sun that warmed her pelt. She closed her heather colored eyes and breathed in the warm scent of WindClan. Once she got to the little stream, she lie down in the grass and stretched out. She closed her eyes and suddenly, began drifting into dreams.

"Lionpaw!" called Whitewing. Lionpaw looked over at the white warrior. "Firestar wants to see you and Hollypaw in his den right away. Bring Ashfur and tell Hollypaw to bring Brackenfur," she told him. "Okay, thanks," he meowed and bounded over to his sister.

Hollypaw lay in front of the apprentices den with Poppypaw. She and the tortoiseshell were sun bathing. "Hollypaw, Firestar wants us," he meowed to her. "What does he want?" she asked him. Lionpaw shrugged. "Go and get Brackenfur and meet Ashfur and I in his den," he told her. The black she-cat nodded and they went to go and get their mentors.

The four cats met up in Firestar's den. The fiery ginger pelt made him look like a bright flame in the shade of his mossy den. "Now, Ashfur, Brackenfur, you both know I have talked to you about your apprentices becoming warriors soon. I believe they will receive their names before the next gathering, but until then, I want you two to work to the fullest of your abilities. Poppypaw, Cinderpaw and Honeypaw will be receiving their warrior names this afternoon after Foxkit and Icekit are made apprentices. It's a while until the next gathering, so I need you two to be ready and start acting like warriors. That means no getting yourselves into trouble," he meowed, his whiskers twitching with amusement.

Hollypaw and Lionpaw bounced with delight. Not just for themselves, but for their friends too. Lionpaw knew how much Honeypaw deserved her warrior name. She had taught him so much. Her mentor Sandstorm was the mother of the medicine cat, so she knew a lot about herbs, so she had taught him about herbs. She also was more experienced with great battle moves, just like the badger move Tigerstar had taught him because Sandstorm was in the battle with BloodClan. Sandstorm was a very experienced warrior and Honeypaw was lucky to have her as her mentor, but Lionpaw was also lucky to have Ashfur as his mentor. He was younger and stronger.

"I want you two to go out on patrol and bring back fresh-kill. No one else has hunted since early this morning and I need you two to bring back a lot. Honeypaw, Cinderpaw and Poppypaw will be joining you for their last hunt and patrol as an apprentice," their leader said.

They nodded. "Let's go!" Hollypaw mewed excitedly. Lionpaw nodded. They both had gleams in their eyes, but tried to act like real warriors.

When Hollypaw, Lionpaw, Honeypaw, Cinderpaw and Poppypaw were in the forest, Lionpaw scented a familiar scent. He lifted his head and closed his eyes. "Heatherpaw," he murmured. "Heatherpaw?" asked a voice from behind him. He turned around to see Honeypaw, looking at him with her golden eyes. "What… oh, no, I said I smell heather…. on my paws," he said quickly. "I don't smell anything, but prey," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "You want to hunt with me over there?" she asked, flicking her tail in a direction away from the WindClan border. "Uh… no thanks. I'm going to hunt over here," he said. He saw disappointment flash in Honeypaw's eyes, and also saw her try to hide it. "But I can if you want me…" he broke off as she shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'll just go and find Cinderpaw," she mewed. He felt horrible. As much as she tried to hide it, he could still hear disappointment in her voice. She tried to push it past him and turned and bounded towards the border, but was focused on hunting more than Heatherpaw for once.

He scented a wren and saw it sitting on a tree branch. It flew down and landed on a log. He stalked closer to it. The tall grass hid his pelt and when he was ready, he sprang. Lionpaw caught it and landed on the other side of the log. He killed it and buried it for later. In thirty minuets, he had caught two mice and a squirrel. He then heard a voice and recognized it to be Heatherpaw's. He turned and ran towards the border.

Heatherpaw had crossed the border. He saw her in the place where they would meet. Honeypaw was on top of the brown she-cat. Honeypaw had her teeth digging into the beautiful WindClan cat's neck fur. "Honeypaw, get off of her!" he yelled and barreled into Honeypaw, pinning her down. Honeypaw snarled and clawed the side of Lionpaw's face and tripped him with her hind legs and pinned him down. She then let him go when she realized it was Lionpaw who had attacked her instead of a WindClan warrior. Heatherpaw sank her teeth into Honeypaw tail and Honeypaw turned and scored her claws across Heatherpaw's face. Lionpaw let out a furious hiss and sank his teeth into her neck. "Lionpaw! Stop! What are you doing?" Honeypaw squealed, her eyes filled with fear. Lionpaw realized what he had just done.

He instantly let go of Honeypaw. She had a nasty wound on her neck. "Honeypaw, I didn't mean…" he began, but couldn't find the right words to say. Honeypaw looked afraid, hurt and betrayed… and surprised. Heatherpaw stepped forward. "Lionpaw…" she murmured. Lionpaw looked at Heatherpaw. "Y-you two… know each other?" Honeypaw asked. "Yes," growled Heatherpaw. "How… how could you…" Honeypaw didn't finish, but just shook her head at Lionpaw and jogged through the green grass and into the forest, away from Lionpaw and Heatherpaw. Her golden brown pelt vanished among the orange, pink and golden blossomed trees of leaf-fall.

Lionpaw turned to face the cat he loved. "Are you hurt?" he asked. "Just a few scratches, but I'm fine," she meowed. "What about you?" Heatherpaw asked. "I'm okay, but I have to go back," he said, pressing his muzzle against Heatherpaw's. "Meet me tonight at this spot," he whispered to her lovingly. She purred and in twined her tail with his. "I will," she mewed. He licked her ears once and dashed through the forest. He stopped briefly, to tell Poppypaw to go and pick up his fresh-kill. He continued to run through the forest until he saw Honeypaw's golden pelt. He bounded up to her. "Honeypaw, I can explain," he meowed to her.

The she-cat rounded on him. "Okay, fine! Explain this! Explain how you could attack your own clan mate! Explain how you could ever defend an enemy warrior!" she snarled at him. "She's not an enemy," he told her. "She's from a different Clan, Lionpaw!" she hissed. Lionpaw was silent. "How could you?" she asked, her voice changing from anger to hurt. He looked at the wound and said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you," she hissed, turning away from him and padding over to a patch of marigold. He watched her chew up the leaves and apply them to her wound. Lionpaw winced. He had done that to her… He hurt her.

"Is she the reason you always go towards the WindClan border?" Honeypaw suddenly asked.

Lionpaw tensed. He felt the golden brown tabby's eyes burning into his pelt. He stammered.

"Do you love her?" she asked. Lionpaw was silent for a moment.

She had finished dealing with her wound and when she turned around, Lionpaw could barely notice it. She did a good job of hiding it.

"I said, do you love her?" she asked one more time, her voice becoming a snarl. Lionpaw looked down at his paws. "I… I do," he said. Honeypaw's eyes were unreadable. They were expressionless. "Then I won't tell Firestar," she mewed, her voice coming out as a whisper.

Lionpaw watched her turn around and bound back to camp.

He had done something very wrong…. something terribly wrong…