Kaith: Hey everyone! I finally finished the latest book (Sign of the Moon) and OMFG, I know who the fourth is! I'm only saying this; who are the three with the power of the stars and what were they before they were reborn?
The end of the stars draws near. Three must become four, to challenge the darkness that lasts forever.
Spottedwind(): Hmm, let's see if the story is a prediction about your future. :D
Zoe Milex: Thanks for the review! Here's the next chapter for you.
Chapter 4: A Fishy Game!
Lionblaze wasn't having a good day. He had gotten the basketball team together for some practicing before the big game against RiverClan's team; but nothing was going right. Berrynose was staring off into the distance, purring happily. Most likely daydreaming about Hollyleaf. Birchfall kept dribbling the ball over his own feet. Foxpaw, a ginger tom who had made the team even though he was only in middle school, kept getting knocked aside by the larger members of the team. And the list went on, and on, and on. The only one who seemed to be doing well was Cinderheart. She was making three-point shots like they were nothing!
"Hey!" Lionblaze growled irritably. "As this team's captain, I say that you all are NOT playing well at all! You got to get your head in the game!"
The team groaned as Lionblaze quoted that cheesy Disney movie.
Lionblaze sighed. What happened to that fantastic, legendary team that he had been captain of in middle school? Everything fell apart when Molepaw died in that car accident. He had been their star player, using his height disadvantage to his advantage and snaking through the enemy team. Lionblaze was thinking of who he could requite for the team: Mousewhisker loved basketball but disliked playing it because of his lack of motor skills, as for Jayfeather, well he totally out of the question for obvious reasons. What they needed was either better skills or more 'paws' from the middle school.
Birchfall collapsed to the ground out of breath. "Come on, Lionblaze, we are doing our best! Can't we at least have a break?" he whined, the bruises on his head throbbing painfully.
"No." Lionblaze snarled in anger. "Right now a team of crowfood could beat us. Have you seen RiverClan's team practice? The Typhoons are absolutely amazing! If we want to last half a quarter against them, we need to practice every minute of spare time!"
"Dude, if we practice every single minute, we're going to drop dead out there. Just give us a five minute break and we'll be fine." Berrynose persuaded, finally out of his trance.
Lionblaze looked over his pitiful team and sighed, realizing Berrynose was right. "Fine, take a five minute break. And if you want to have more spare time, then I suggest you all work harder or I'll call in Squirrelflight to coach us!"
Lionblaze knew his threat struck the heart of the team. Squirrelflight used to be the star player on the team when she was their age. She was a legend, and overworked everything. They all knew that if she came in to coach them, then they will never have social lives ever again.
So, after Lionblaze threatened them, things went considerably smoother. Berrynose stopped fantasying about Hollyleaf, Mousewhisker and Birchfall had finally found their coordination again, and Foxpaw was learning to pass the ball again when blocked by a larger opponent. Add Cinderheart to the top of that and you had a winning team. By the end of practice, they were ready to shoot for infinity and beyond.
When the family entered the gym, Squirrelflight left immediately to give the team a pep talk. Brambleclaw lead Jayfeather and Hollyleaf up the bleachers and picked a seat towards the middle. Jayfeather sat down in a seat with a sigh between Hollyleaf and Brambleclaw. "Oh cheer up," Hollyleaf said to her brother, "It's just a basketball game."
"You're only happy because your boyfriend is playing." Jayfeather said.
"So what if I am?" Hollyleaf giggled. "I like watching Berry in action." Brambleclaw cast a wary look at his daughter, "Berrynose! I like watching Berrynose in action." Hollyleaf corrected quickly, blushing a bit.
"At least you can see it." Jayfeather muttered.
A few minutes later, the referee threw the ball into the air and the game started. Lionblaze jumped higher and hit the ball backwards, right into Cinderheart's paws. Cinderheart needed only a second to aim before she threw the ball. It flew in a beautiful arc straight for the basket before silently swishing into the hoop.
ThunderClan's section of the crowd went wild, excited and surprised at the amazingly quick three-point shot. Lionblaze ran back towards the other basket with a high-five to Cinderheart. "That was amazing!" He said, "Even better than in practice."
Cinderheart blushed. "Thanks!"
"Get you head out of the clouds, she-cat!" Pouncetail, a member of the Typhoons, yelled as he ran towards her. "Else this is going to be an easy game!" Pouncetail ignored Cinderheart and dove past her, thinking of an easy win. He ran past the rest of the ThunderClan team and jumped for the hoop, hoping for a slam dunk. When his paws made contact with the rim, something was wrong.
"Pouncetail!" Another member of the Typhoons yelled, "What the heck are you doing?"
When Pouncetail landed, he looked behind himself just in time to see Berrynose make a two-point shot.
"Go Berrynose!" Both the voices of Hollyleaf and Honeyfern yelled from the stands. Berrynose smiled and waved to the stands.
Foxpaw was smiling at Pouncetail. "You should really watch the shorter players too. We might just steal the ball at the last second." The ginger tom smirked.
The buzzer rang, ending the first quarter. The Lightning Bolts, 23; The Typhoons, 27. Both teams were so well matched, they couldn't do more than score a handful of points on each other while constantly stealing the ball. Squirrelflight had dived down the stands again to the team a very quick pep talk.
The game started up again, and Jayfeather quickly became bored. He stood up and started suffering his way past Brambleclaw. "Where are you going?" He asked.
"I'm hungry." The Jayfeather said quickly. I'm going to get a squirreldog from the concessions stand."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Hollyleaf offered.
"I'm fine." Jayfeather replied sharply, his tail twitching slightly. Quickly, Jayfeather marched down the bleachers and out of the gym. He could almost see the shapes of his surroundings thanks to the sounds and smells that flooded his senses. He made his way to the smell of buttered mousecorn. He could tell where the line ended and went to stand at the end of it. However, he bumped into another cat at the end of the line.
"Ouch!" the cat gasped, landing with a thump. Jayfeather fell backwards as well, startled that he couldn't sense the other cat very well. Jayfeather stood up and then offered a paw. The other cat hesitantly took it.
"Sorry." he apologized politely. The scent of the cat he had knocked over was coming into his senses now. The other cat was a female RiverClan student.
"It's all right." the she-cat said softly. Jayfeather heard her brush her skirt off. "I'm Willowshine by the way." she said in a friendly tone.
"Jayfeather." He said, not entirely looking in her direction.
Willowshine noticed this immediately and waved a hand in front of his face, not close or fast enough to create a breeze. His blue eye's remained still. "So why didn't you see me?" she inquired, moving forward in line.
"Well... I'm blind." he mewed awkwardly, not sure how she would react.
"Really?" She mewed, not too surprised. "That's kinda cool!"
Jayfeather blinked, pure confusion etched on his face. He said in surprise, "What's so cool about being blind?"
"Well," she began; "I heard that when you're blind, you tend to be sharper in other senses." Then to the concession stand operator. "Two squirreldogs please."
"Yeah that's true." Jayfeather muttered.
"Here." Willowshine said. "Oh wait, hold out your paw."
"Why?" Jayfeather mewed with annoyance.
"Oh just do it." Willowshine purred.
Jayfeather hesitated, then stuck out his paw. Willowshine placed her second squirreldog in his paw. "In honor of our new friendship!"
Jayfeather actually cracked a small smile, and took a bit of his squireldog. As they walked back to the gym, Willowshine continued talking. "So do you go to this school?"
"Yeah," Jayfeather answered, licking the ketchup from his lips. "I'm studying to be a medicine cat in ThunderClan."
"Really? Me too! Only I'm in RiverClan." The gymnasium rawred when they entered, The Lighting Bolts just taking the lead. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you soon. If I remember right, all the medicine cats are getting together next week."
Jayfeather nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you then." he mewed. Jayfeather turned back to walk up the bleachers. He knew he was going to like Willowshine.
"T'ree 'heers for Jayblaze!" Brambleclaw yelled happily, slurring slightly.
The entire ThunderClan team yelled together happily, ignoring Brambleclaw's drunken mistake; they had destroyed the Typhoons and were celebrating at Lionblaze's house. Brambleclaw was about to take a deep drink from his plastic cup, but Squirrelflight snatched it away. "I think you've had enough liquor, honey."
"But I've only 'ad t'ree." Brambleclaw wined.
"That's what worries me." Squirrelflight sighed. "Come one honey, let's get you to lie down for a while."
"Bunnies!" Brambleclaw giggled as his wife led him up the stairs to their room.
Squirrelflight smiled. She set him down on the bed and turned on the television. That would keep him busy until he sobered up. "I'll be back later." She promised. Squirrelflight walked past Jayfeather's room and opened the door quietly.
Jayfeather was lying on his bed with his paws behind his head. "Jayfeather." She said.
Jayfeather jumped up and looked towards his mother. "Mom, you scared me."
"What are you doing sitting in the dark?" She asked, flipping the light switch.
Jayfeather lay back down. "I don't know if you noticed, but it's always dark for me."
Squirrelflight frowned. "You really need to fix that attitude mister."
"Instead of scolding me, should you be breaking up Hollyleaf and Berrynose?" Jayfeather said lazily. "They've been in her room ever since we've gotten back."
Squirrelflight was gone in a flash and had the door of Hollyleaf's room slammed open. Hollyleaf and Berrynose jumped apart, breaking their kiss, with their tails puffed up.
"Mom!" Hollyleaf exclaimed. "We were just-"
"Berrynose, could you give us girls a moment alone?" Squirrelflight asked.
"Sure." Berrynose mewed awkwardly. He walked out the door and flashed a quick smile at Hollyleaf before Squirrelflight closed the door the door.
Squirrelflight walked over to the bed and sat down, patting the spot next to her. "Hear, it's time we have the real talk." Hollyleaf sat down next to her mother and Squirrelflight began to talk. "Now, this is a talk I know your father wanted to give you one day. However, it seems it is time for you to hear it and, in his present condition,"
Brambleclaw's hysterical laughter could be heard through the closed door.
"I don't think he'll be able to give you this speech." Squirrelflight said. Hollyleaf giggled and then Squirrelflight continued. "Boys, even if they don't realize it yet, have a hidden agenda when they choose to date a girl."
"Who knew we'd have to thank Cinderheart for winning the game." Birchfall laughed, his mouth full of pizza. The Lighting Bolts were sitting in the living room, spread out along the couches and floor. Several pizza boxes were spread out among the room along with plastic cups filled with energy drinks.
"That's right!" Cinderheart yelled triumphantly. "Without me you boys would just be a mess! Bow to your savior!"
"I'd rather not." Berrynose said, descending the stairs into the living room.
"Are you finished defiling my sister?" Lionblaze asked, the annoyance easily detectable in his voice.
"I would never do anything to the wrath of the great Lionblaze on me." Berrynose mocked. "Besides you would never find out even if we did something." Berrynose shrugged. "But who's to say we haven't done something already?"
Lionblaze jumped up and went face to face with Berrynose. "Whether you're on the team or not, I'll kill you if you try anything." Lionblaze's eyes started to change to blood red.
"What are they talking about?" Foxpaw whispered to Cinderheart.
Cinderheart smiled at the apprentice. "Nothing you need to worry your innocent little mind about." Standing up, Cinderheart went over to the two toms. "Alright boys, no need to get in a fist fight." She said calmly, pushing the two apart. Berrynose and Lionblaze glared at each other for a moment longer, and then went to sit on opposite sides of the room. Berrynose grabbed a slice of pizza and munched on it, followed by an awkward silence by the rest of the team. No one was sure of what to say after the small fight between their team captain and Berrynose.
"Sssooo." Cinderheart started, trying to break the silence. "Anyone know a good joke?"
Cinderheart yawned when Foxpaw left. She was the last of the group still in Lionblaze's Living room. "Tired yet?" Lionblaze smiled.
"Only a bit." Cinderheart yawned. "I wonder when Sorreltail is coming to pick me up." She mused.
Just then, the phone rang. Squirrelflight walked into the kitchen and pick it up. "Hello? Oh, Sorreltail! Cinderheart was just talking about you. She- what?...Oh, that's fine. No, it's no problem at all. She'll be home soon."
Lionblaze and Cinderheart exchanged looks. Squirrelflight walked back into the room. "You mom needs me to bring you home so get ready, okay Cinderheart?"
"Sure, it's not like I really brought anything." She laughed.
Squirrelflight grabbed her coat and keys. Throwing the coat on, she said, "Say Lionblaze, why don't you come with?"
"Me?" Lionblaze asked. "Why."
"Well, as team captain you should escort your star player to her front door." Squirrelflight smiled mischievously.
Lionblaze shrugged. "Okay." Standing up, Lionblaze reached the door first and opened it for Cinderheart. "Star players first."
Cinderheart walked through the door with a yawn. It was obvious she was going to fall asleep at any moment. Squirrelflight went next, thanking her son, and then walked to the car. Lionblaze and Cinderheart sat in the back. Squirrelflight turned the car on, and then said, "You might want to sit closer to Lionblaze. It's a cold night and the heat doesn't work."
Cinderheart blinked sleepily, too tired to be embarrassed. "Okay." She moved to the center seat and buckled up. Lionblaze, wasn't sure what was wrong with him. Usually he didn't might hanging out with Cinderheart, they'd practice a lot with the team, but this was really the first time the two of them had been alone and this close to each other. Squirrelflight pulled out of the driveway and drove towards Cinderheart's home.
The orange glow of the street lamps flooded into the window every five seconds as they drove on. Squirrelflight made a sharp left turn and Cinderheart fell into Lionblaze. "Oh, sorry Lion…blaze." She said quietly, adding the 'blaze' on quickly. "Do you mind if I use your shoulder as a pillow? Until I get home at least?"
Lionblaze's heart fluttered for some reason he couldn't pinpoint when she accidently called him by his given name. "S-sure." He stuttered.
Cinderheart smiled and put her head on his shoulder; she was asleep in seconds. Suddenly, Lionblaze had the urge to put his arm around Cinderheart. He almost did too, until he caught sight of his mother's cheerfully gleaming eyes in rearview mirror. Lionblaze, embarrassed for a moment, turned to look out the window for the rest of the ride, constantly aware of the warmth of the gray-furred she-cat leaning on him.
Kaith: Enter Willowshine! ^_^ Please Review!