Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Maybe not a lot, but I'm working on it.
Lionblaze stomped into camp. This hunting expedition was pretty much a failure. A mouse practically jumped into his paws, and yet he couldn't make a killing bite or snap its fragile neck. A thrush got away when a snapped twig alerted it of the golden tabby tom's presence. Lionblaze couldn't run fast enough to catch a rabbit which streaked past, apparently unaware that the warrior was even there. For the numerous opportunities for hunting, Lionblaze only had a scrawny vole to show for it.
And there was... Breezepelt. Nightcloud's son, the golden tom's half brother. He was not only a WindClan warrior, but he was also rather hostile, especially to Lionblaze. The black tom was not exactly someone his half brother liked being around. In Lionblaze's opinion, Breezepelt brought only trouble wherever he went. Ever since Hollyleaf's unfortunate speech, he had avoided his kin. And it wasn't like Breezepelt liked seeing Lionblaze at Gatherings, knowing that similar blood was in their veins.
But this wasn't a Gathering. Maybe by chance, the two half brothers happened to see each other that unlucky day. Lionblaze had just spotted the rabbit's fluffy white tail nearby. He sprinted forward, extending his claws to catch it. But the rabbit simply dashed away, too fast for the ThunderClan cat to have a chance to kill it. To add to the disappointment, a dark head popped out of the shadows. The rabbit raced into WindClan territory, well ahead of Lionblaze.
Before Lionblaze really knew what was going on, Breezepelt appeared and pounced on the prey. He dragged it behind him.
"Nice hunting, Lionblaze," he said curtly.
"You were never that great at it yourself," replied Lionblaze calmly.
"Says who? What do you have to say, that vole is just pitiful!"
The young ThunderClan warrior nearly exploded. He was Crowfeather's son as much as Breezepelt was, and he wouldn't give his kin the satisfaction of calling him a worse hunter. Although fighting was his best skill.
He lost control of his actions.
"It is prey still," he snapped. Then he ran away, the vole in his jaws. Breezepelt smiled. This was his half brother!
Now, Lionblaze grabbed a mouse from the freshkill pile. He wolfed it down. Before anyone could comment on his manners, he had already disappeared into the warriors' den.
Icepaw watched him walk by. She had been chatting to her friend Cinderheart, but the sight of Lionblaze had distracted her a little from the conversation.
"Isn't he so handsome?" she mewed.
"If he wouldn't be scaring off all the prey in the forest, and the Clan cats as well..." Cinderheart growled,"I wouldn't mind him." The gray she-cat bit into the thrush lying before her.
"You don't understand, Cinderheart," the white she-cat murmured.
"How do you know?" the young warrior snapped.
"You've never been in love, and never had a crush. You focus so much on your warrior duties, too much to care about another cat."
Cinderheart was rather shocked, and there was a strange feeling inside her. She remembered that she had experienced this before sometime, but she just couldn't put her paw on when.
"How do you know?" she repeated. Then she stalked away from her friend. Before the argument, Hollyleaf should have been in Icepaw's place. The black she-cat could understand so much more than this young, carefree apprentice. Cinderheart
had even considered telling her about the thoughts of badgers that bothered her. But that was then. And this was now. There was nobody to talk to, and Hollyleaf's nest was empty. Soon, another warrior would take her place. But that would be who?
The gray she-cat headed for the warriors' den. It was fairly quiet in there. Maybe she could deal with her anger in there, with nobody to listen and disapprove. She limped a little, until she was inside. Cinderheart opened her mouth to yowl something, but a pair of amber eyes made her stop.
"Hello, Cinderheart." This warrior was just as unhappy as she was. The young cat's heart, surprisingly, skipped a beat.