Kaith: Chapter 5 is here! It's more of a filler chapter from Stealthclaw to add more characters, but anyways, here we go!
Leafflight: Don't worry, LionxCinder is my favorite pairing too!
Malicent: Thanks, although I can't take credit for most of chapter 1. Stealthclaw wrote most of it. All I did was edit it a bit.
Honeystar: Glad you like it! I'll try and get chapters up as fast as possible, however with school work I'll be busy.
Chapter 4: Enter, Minnowpaw!
Minnowpaw sighed and didn't really listen to her teacher, aimlessly doodling on her notebook. She didn't understand why she was still in the apprentice middle school. Her friends, Rippletail, the captain of their basketball team, and Pouncetail, one of their players, were already in the high school, so why couldn't she and her brother Pebblepaw go too? It was unfair.
The bell rang, dismissing the 'paws' from the last class of the day. Minnowpaw shoved her notebook in her bag and quickly left. The RiverClan section of Warriors High was a bit different from the rest of the school. For one, they had an indoor pool. Every cat called them crazy for wanting to get their fur wet, but if Minnowpaw was crazy for wanting to swim, then she should be sent to a mental hospital. The walls were painted various shades of blue and depicted pictures of fish, seaweed, and sunken ships.
Minnowpaw was reminded of her dilemma when she past the gymnasium. The Typhoons were already there, warming up for practice. Minnowpaw remembered her friend Willowshine, who was a medicine cat trainee. Willowshine was already in the high school, so why couldn't she? They were practically the same age.
Another body ran into Minnowpaw. "Ouch!" Minnowpaw hissed. "Watch where you're going. Oh," Minnowpaw instantly recognized her friend Willowshine. "it's you."
"Sorry about that." The she-cat apologized. "I just got something on my mind."
"Care to share?"
Willowshine stuck out her tongue with a mischievous smile. "Nope."
Minnowpaw looked her friend over. "Willow, why have you been acting so strange lately?" she asked.
Willowshine locked eyes with her, a startled look on her face. "What do you mean?" Willowshine asked innocently.
Minnowpaw frowned. What was strange and alien was the fact that Willowshine wasn't talking as much as usual. She seemed to be lost in daydreams constantly. While all of these thoughts swam through Minnowpaw's mind, Willowshine shrugged her off and looked out the window. Even with the pouring rain storm that was beating against the walls, she was still humming 'My Heart Will Go On.' Okay, now Minnowpaw was shocked. Willowshine which was a song that Minnowpaw knew Willowshine definitely wouldn't hum, let alone think about!
The Willowshine she knew was the type of cat that was adventurous, and at occasional times, hyper and bubbly, although she also had her quiet, intelligent, studious moments too. But now...she wasn't acting like herself.
"WILLOWSHINE!" shouted Minnowpaw. Willowshine jumped, her tail puffed up. "What the hell is wrong? Why in the name of Harry Meower," (Here Willowshine rolled her eyes, exasperated at the fact that Minnowpaw actually appealed to her in the name of a teenage fictional cat-wizard) "Are you acting so weird? I've caught you humming songs that a week ago you would have said that you wouldn't be caught dead singing! So, why?" she cried. Willowshine shrugged, sending Minnowpaw into hysterics. Minnowpaw grabbed Willowshine and started shaking her. "Who the hell are you and what have you done to my best friend Willowshine?" she yelled in frustration.
"Hey, hey..." Willowshine mewed, "I'm still me, Minnow... nothing's wrong..."
Minnowpaw narrowed her eyes and said dramatically, "If you really are Willow, then you won't mind me giving you...THE TICKLE TREATMENT!" Minnowpaw threw her head back and laughed evilly.
Willowshine's tail got even bigger and ran for her life as Minnowpaw chased her down the halls. Soon, Minnowpaw had Willowshine cornered.
"Ah! Not the tickle treatment! Ahhhhh!" screeched Willowshine, her screams of despair punctuated by giggles and yells of laughter. After a few minutes, Willowshine gasped, "Okay, okay, I'll tell you! Just stop the tickling!"
Minnowpaw stopped and gave Willowshine a chance to catch her breath. "Seriously, why are you acting so strange?" Minnowpaw pressed.
Willowshine fidgeted, not meeting her friend's eyes. "Well, I met this tom-"
Minnowpaw gasped. "Willow! You know that it' against the Warrior Code for you to have a relationship!"
"Correction, it says I'm not allowed to take a mate. I never said anything about a little romance before I officially become a Medicine Cat. As I was saying, I met this tom, and he was really…interesting."
"How so?" Minnowpaw asked.
"Well, for one thing, he's blind."
Minnowpaw gasped, "You don't mean Jayfeather do you?" In a more hushed tone, she added, "You having a little crush is one thing, but another Medicine Cat from another Clan? That's like breaking seven rules at once!"
"Well, he's really nice and sweet." mewed Willowshine dreamily.
Minnowpaw frowned at her friend. "Okay, I know for a fact that Jayfeather is a cranky little fur ball, so what do you mean by 'nice and sweet?'"
"Well," Willowshine said, looking out the nearby window, "Today, all the medicine cats had their fieldtrip."
"Okay trainees," Littlecloud said, "It's time to play fix the elder."
"Who are you calling elder?" Mousefur snapped from her wheelchair.
The medicine cat fieldtrip turned out to be a trip to the retirement home. All four of the Medicine Cat's had shown up, even though Littlecloud didn't have an apprentice yet. There was elevator music played through speakers, there was a funny smell hanging in the air, and everything was so…depressing. Not exactly the way Willowshine had wanted to spend her day away from school, taking care of old and ungrateful elders.
"Anyways," Leafpool continued for Littlecloud, who had gone over to apologize to Mousefur. "Your job is to go around and help out the elders with anything they might need. Remember, Ragwort Leaves and Juniper Berries help with joint pain."
Jayfeather just mumbled to himself and stalked off. Willowshine, curious, followed him. Jayfeather made his way to the staircase and walked up to the top floor, the third floor. Willowshine was careful to make sure she didn't make a single noise as she followed the blind tom. Jayfeather reached the end of the hallway and stopped in front of the door. He slowly raised a paw and knocked on the door.
"Wha-! Who's there?" An old raspy voice called out.
"It's me Purdy, Jayfeather."
"Oh, Jayfeather! Why didn't you say so earlier? Come in, the door's unlocked."
Jayfeather turned the handle and walked into the room, leaving the door open behind him. Willowshine tiptoed over to the door and peered inside. An old, fat, tom with molted brown fur was lying on a bed, his head propped up on several pillows. The television was tuned into the sports channel.
"So Jayfeather," Purdy rasped, "How have you been doing?"
"I'm fine. Life is as boring as usual."
Purdy purred. "You know, when I was your age, I had run away from home. I felt just like you, board out of my mind. I used to live way north, in the cold and snowy tundra. Every day was a fight for survival, and I loved it.
"One time I even had to fight a bear! It was bigger than this whole room!" Purdy exclaimed, sweeping his arms out. "Oh but you should have seen me, he may have had size, but I had skill. I jumped left and right, dodging his every attack. I moved in for a quick blow to the chest and hit him square in the middle. However, that barely fazed him! He brought one of his massive paws up and I jumped out of the way. If I would have been any slower, I would have my entire head! Oh but lady luck was on my side, and I got out with just this scar." Purdy ran his paw along his cheek. Willowshine was confused, his face was perfectly smooth. It looked like the only damage he had ever taken was eating too many sweets.
"I always wondered how you got that scar." Jayfeather mused.
Purdy smiled, "Well now you know! Let's see…" Purdy looked like he was thinking hard about something. "What else could I tell you about?"
"While you think, do you want me to get you anything?" Jayfeather offered.
"Oh yes!" The old tom said, "My back has been killing me all morning, and I think they forgot about my breakfast, I'm starving!"
"Anything in particular?" Jayfeather asked, standing up.
"No no, anything is good." Purdy said.
Jayfeather nodded and headed for the door. Willowshine pressed herself against the wall, but when Jayfeather left, he closed the door and said slightly annoyed, "So what are you doing here?"
Willowshine jumped, "Nothing, just um, checking out what they have to drink."
"Liar." Jayfeather crossed his arms. "I mean, what were you doing following me?"
"I was just curious. Is it so wrong for me to want to know what my friend is up to?" Willowshine demanded. "So who was he?"
Jayfeather didn't say anything. He just stood there for a moment then sighed. "If you can go swipe some food from the kitchen, I'll tell you. Deal?"
Willowshine smiled. "Deal."
It only took Willowshine a few seconds to run down to the kitchen door, where Willowshine crept around indiscreetly while humming 'Secret Agent Man'. Several of the cooks just decided to ignore the small she-cat as she stole piece of toast and some fruit. She even took a large basket to store it all in. Once said basket was filled to the brim, Willowshine dashed out the door.
"Mission accomplished." She said to herself outside of Purdy's door. Down the hallway, Jayfeather was requesting some medicine from the nurse's desk. Thinking he wouldn't mind if she went in first, Willowshine opened the door.
Purdy was still lying in bed, his eyes glued to the sports channel. When Willowshine walked in, Purdy turned. "Jay- oh. And who might you be little miss?"
"I'm a friend of Jayfeather. The name's Shine, Willowshine." She giggled. "And I brought you some breakfast."
Purdy's eyes lit up at the sight of the basket. "Oh! That's amazing! I haven't had any sweet berries in a long time."
"Well I've got some sour ones you need to take first." Jayfeather said from the doorway. He walked up to Purdy and handed him a small cup with crushed berries and leaves. "Here, this should help with your back pain."
Purdy took the cup and swallowed the contents in a single gulp. "Thanks Jayfeather." The elder mewed, "Now, not to sound rude or anything, I need to get back to my game." Purdy pressed the mute button on his remote and the television blasted the voice of the sports commentator. "Come on you blocks of mice! Is this soccer or is this soccer?"
Willowshine was about to say that he was watching basketball, not soccer, but Jayfeather pushed her out of the room. "Is he alright in the head?" Willowshine asked when the door was closed.
"You wanted to know how I meet him, right?" Jayfeather asked, blowing off the question that Hollyleaf had just asked. "Well, when I was still a 'paw' back in the middle school, I got lost one day walking home. Some of the older WindClan and ShadowClan students picked on me and I just ran. Then I literally ran into Purdy. He was homeless, and a little crazy. But he did fight off those other students and helped me find my way home."
"Really?" Willowshine asked amazed. "But wait, I thought that only cats who graduated from Warriors High were allowed to live here."
"I told Firestar about what happened and, well…" Jayfeather scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "and I asked him if he'd let Purdy live here since he saved me."
"And Firestar lets him?"
"Well obviously." Jayfeather mewed. "But some of the nurses don't like him. They think that he doesn't belong here since he didn't graduate from Warriors High, so I come by every once and a while to make sure he has everything he needs. The stories he makes up doesn't help either. You heard him tell me that story about the bear right?"
Willowshine nodded.
"Last time it was a ten-foot tall dog with rabies."
"Wow," Minnowpaw mewed, "Who would have thought that sourpuss would have a soft side."
"Well, unlike most cats, Purdy didn't care that he was blind." Willowshine said. "I wish I could see him again." she sighed.
"Willowshine…" Minnowpaw hissed in a warning tone.
"Yeah, yeah" Willowshine waved her off, "I know the rules."
"Hmmm...maybe...but just remember, Willow, medicine cats are not supposed to fall in love." Minnowpaw warned, worrying at how interested her friend seemed in the tom.
"I know, Minnowpaw, I know..." Willowshine sighed, and looked at her watch. "OMG! If I miss the bus again, Mom's gonna kill me!" she wailed in despair.
"You better go then!" Minnowpaw urged. Willowshine dashed down the hallway and out of sight. Minnowpaw sighed, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into Willowshine.
Kaith: Hoped you all like the chapter! Willowshine seems like the little rebel, doesn't she? ^_^
Please review!