Chapter 19
Honeywing padded into the warriors den and lay beside Berrynose and Cinderheart. "Hey, Honeywing," mewed Berrynose. Cinderheart gave her sister a friendly nod and then went to grooming herself. She purred and lay down in her mossy nest and fell asleep.
Dreams of Lionclaw entered her mind. They were playing in the snow.
"Can't catch me!" Honeywing teased. She frolicked through the forest and looked over her shoulder. He caught her and pinned her down. She looked up at him and purred. He pressed his muzzle against hers and she felt her pelt tingle. When his grip loosened, she quickly got out from under him and stood. His eyes sparkled and Honeywing felt like he was rebuilding her heart. She looked down at her paws shyly.
"Lionclaw," she murmured as he came and sat next to her, their pelts touching. "I-I think I'm in love with you," she mewed, looking down at her paws shyly. She waited for him to tell her that he didn't feel that same way… but the words never came.
He suddenly twined their tails together and whispered to her, "I love you too." She looked up at him and they pressed their muzzles against each others and purred loudly. He really loved her! She felt her heart soar higher than StarClan and she felt blood rush to the tips of her ears and every inch of her body tingle.
Just the feeling of his body touching hers made her want to fly. He licked her ears with so much love and their eyes met and they stared at one another for a long time.
Honeywing felt a sharp prod in her side. She blinked her eyes open and saw Spiderleg prodding her. "Okay, okay, I'm awake," she muttered. She rose to her paws and padded to the entrance of the den. Spiderleg came up to her and said, "You, Lionclaw and Graystripe are coming with me on the dawn patrol," the black and brown warrior told her. She nodded and began grooming her fur until it was sleek. She saw Lionclaw coming into the camp. She saw how tired he looked and bounded over to him.
"Hey, sleepyhead," she meowed to him.
He looked at her with sleepy eyes. "Hey, Honeywing," he purred. He yawned and stretched. "I can't believe I have to go on the dawn patrol. I'm tired," he mewed. "Hollythorn gets to rest," he muttered, looking over his shoulder at his sister padding into the warriors den.
Honeywing twitched her whiskers in amusement. "Feel like a warrior?" she asked him.
"More like a sleepy warrior," he mewed.
She laughed and purred. He looked at her and said, "It's not funny," in a small laughing tone as if he were laughing at himself.
"Come on, you sleepy fur ball," she meowed, nudging him to turn and head towards Spiderleg and Graystripe. Lionclaw sighed and nodded. Together they bounded over to the two older warriors.
Lionclaw missed three mice and a squirrel, but caught a vole and a shrew and a slow moving starling. Honeywing on the other hand had caught two large squirrels, two mice, a vole, a water shrew and slow rabbit. They had been hunting for a couple hours now.
She padded up to Lionclaw. He seemed to be fully awake now. "Hey, are you okay? You're acting kind of… slow," she mewed.
Lionclaw shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just thinking about the prophecy. Are we still following Leafpool and Jaypaw?" he inquired.
Honeywing nodded. "We should go and find Rainstorm to tell him," she suggested. She saw Lionclaw's pelt bristle a little bit and sighed, but didn't press any further. She just beckoned him to follow her with a flick of her tail.
"Where are you to going?" asked Graystripe, coming up to them.
"Um, we were just going to hunt somewhere near the two-leg nest," Honeywing explained. She saw Graystripe and nod and she and Lionclaw bounded towards the two-leg den.
Honeywing sniffed the air, looking for Rainstorm's scent and caught it instantly. She hesitated before stepping into the unknown territory and whispered, "Rainstorm." No answer.
Suddenly, a cat stepped out of the bushes from behind her. She gasped and spun around, but gave a sigh of relief when she saw it was Rainstorm. He had a starling in his jaws. He put it at his paws. "Sorry I frightened you," the big gray tom meowed.
"Oh, it's okay," she mewed.
Lionclaw suddenly appeared at her side. "Rainstorm," he mewed, dipping his head politely.
"Lionpaw," Rainstorm meowed back.
"Lionclaw," the golden warrior corrected.
Honeywing recognized the tension. It was so think you cut slice it with a claw. She looked from Lionclaw to Rainstorm.
"We're here to talk about the prophecy," she mewed in a serious voice.