Kaith: Oh gezze, I'm so sorry about not updating this fic (which is why I'm putting this chapter up at 1 in the morning). I've just had so much school stuff to do and I have all my other fics I keep get inspiration boosts for. But there should be two or three more chapters of this story coming soon since I am now officially on winter break!
Rain's Song: I liked your review, it boosted my ego just a tiny bit =D And you can't expect me to write a new chapter every day. I'm also working on like five other stories as well as schoolwork.
Plasmafang: Yay new reviewer! Thanks for the review and it is spelt Halloween.
Spottedstream: 'nother new reviewer!
Chapter 7: Basketball Love and Dodgeball Hurts
The bell rang, dismissing the ThunderClan students from the long and boring lecture Mousefur had just given them about the importance of fractions in everyday life. Lionblaze and the rest of the ThunderClan basketball team all dashed out the door, eager to start practice and stretch their aching muscles.
"Ah!" Berrynose yowled, practically ripping his fur out. "Why are all the teachers still giving us so much homework? Our social lives have been murdered. Brutally murdered."
"It's to keep us off the streets." Mousewhisker sighed. "They don't want a repeat of what happened on Halloween."
"But still!" Berrynose protested, "I have a five page essay to do on the history of catnip abuse for Leafpool's class, three grammar sheets to finish for Brackenfur's class, lab reports for both Brightheart and Sandstorm's classes, five hundred stupid math problems for Mousefur, and I haven't even thought about what I'm going to do for my final woodshop project."
"Try making a birdhouse." Birchfall suggested.
"Hold on," Cinderheart said as the group turned into the gym, "I thought Mousefur only assigned us one hundred problems for tonight."
"She did." Lionblaze said, dropping his bag onto the bleachers. His arm was still in a cast so he just stood on the sidelines drilling the rest of the team in what they needed to do. "Berrynose is just too busy drooling over my sister to do anything for the last week."
The rest of the team laughed while Berrynose rolled his eyes. Everyone headed for the locker rooms to change, save Cinderheart who hung back. She waited for the rest of the team to disappear before saying anything. "So," She started, "How's your arm doing, captain?"
"Great!" Lionblaze exclaimed. "Leafpool said if I don't try to do anything with it, I should be able to take it out of the sling next week."
"That's great." Cinderheart said without much enthusiasm. She shifted her backpack nervously on her shoulder. Lionblaze noticed her uneasiness.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
Cinderheart looked down. "Well it's just…every time I see your arm I…" Cinderheart's eyes watered and a tear broke free.
Lionblaze was surprised but stepped forward, reaching out with his good paw to wipe the tear away. "Cinderheart, you don't blame yourself...do you?"
Cinderheart looked back up, directly into Lionblaze's eyes. "But you got hurt protecting us. If I hadn't suggested that shortcut you-"
Lionblaze put his paw over Cinderheart's mouth. "Cinder, shut up. I got hurt protecting my friends. Isn't that what they're trying to teach us?"
Cinderheart was blushing when he brought his paw down. "I…I guess you're right." Cinderheart looked away then back at Lionblaze shyly. "And did you just call me Cinder, captain?"
Now it was Lionblaze's turn to blush. He rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly. "Oh, I guess it just slipped out. Sorry."
Cinderheart shook her head, still blushing. "It's okay, I don't really mind, captain."
Lionblaze's heart leapt into his throat. He felt happy as the butterflies danced around in his stomach. "Well," He said stepping closer. "If I'm going to be calling you Cinder," Both of them blushed a bit more, "you've got to stop calling me captain."
Cinderheart stepped a little closer. "Well how about Blaze?"
Lionblaze smirked. "Sorry, but that's reserved for Jayfeather only."
The two were only inches away now. Both could feel the other's breath on their faces. And it felt right as they moved towards each other.
Hollyleaf pretty much just died in her seat when the bell rang, as opposed to the basketball team that bolted out of the hell that was mathematics. "Who's the devil that created this stuff?" She said to no one in particular.
Whitewing, sitting next to Hollyleaf, sighed and looked out the window. Rain pelted down like cats and dogs. "And this rain isn't helping the hellish mood either." She said. "I mean who's ever heard of rain in December? It's already Christmas next week!"
"Well there's no way we're getting home in this." Poppyfrost said, throwing a bag over her shoulder. "We're stuck here with nothing to do."
"We could always go watch the basketball team practice." Honeyfern suggested.
Whitewing laughed. "What, go watch a ton of hot boys fight over a ball in little clothing?"
All the she-cat's looked at each other. "Let's go." They all said simultaneously. They walked quickly, until Hollyleaf stopped them all. Her ears were angled up and pointing towards the gym door.
"Listen!" She hissed quietly. All the she-cats almost stopped breathing as they heard what was going on.
"…you call me Cinder, captain?" Cinderheart's voice said.
"Oh, I guess it just slipped out. Sorry."
"Did you hear that?" Hollyleaf hissed excitedly.
"She's going to confess!" Poppyfrost squealed excitedly.
The she-cat's all peeked around the door as far as they dared. Lionblaze and Cinderheart were inching closer together as their conversation went on. They all whispered excitedly to each other, all speculating on what was going to happen.
"Hey, where's captain?" said a rather loud voice.
"He's in there! Are you blind?" Hollyleaf hissed.
"Great! Let's go Icepaw." Foxpaw said walking past the she-cat's with his sister. Just as Lionblaze and Cinderheart were almost together, Foxpaw walked into the gym. He opened his mouth to yell hello to Lionblaze, when Hollyleaf and the rest of her friends watching realized what was about to happen.
"NO!" They all screamed, jumped at Foxpaw. Foxpaw screamed like a little kit as he was crushed by all the she-cats. The locker room door burst open with the ThunderClan basketball team tumbling out; the team apparently had the same idea as Hollyleaf and the other she-cats. Meanwhile, Lionblaze and Cinderheart jumped to other sides of the gym, their fur puffed up to two their original size.
"You idiot!" Hollyleaf hissed at the apprentice. "They were about to kiss! Three more seconds and they would have been on a one-way ticket to make-out land and then popping out kittens like a loose gumball machine pops out –"
But Hollyleaf never got a chance to finish her sentence. Cinderheart, who had turned so red it looked like her fur changed color, had produced a basketball out of thin air and nailed Hollyleaf in the face with it. "We were not!" She protested. Before Lionblaze could object, or even say a single word for that matter, Cinderheart turned and quickly ran into the girl's locker room.
Lionblaze turned to his team, his fur still sticking up, both from embarrassment and anger. "What are you looking at? Twenty laps around the school, as a warm up."
"But if it was raining any harder," Berrynose protested, "we'd find cats falling from the sky."
"Now!" Lionblaze growled, his eyes turning red.
There was no objecting as the team ran out of the gym. Foxpaw trotted nervously over to his captain, a small she-cat following him. "Sorry, captain." Foxpaw apologized, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't realize what was happening. But I did you a favor."
Lionblaze raised an annoyed eyebrow. "How so?"
"Kittens are too annoying for their own good." Foxpaw smiled. Lionblaze brought his furry paw to his forehead. The apprentice was too innocent for his own good. "Anyways," The apprentice continued. "I wanted you to meet someone who was interested in joining the basketball team."
Lionblaze brought his gaze to the small white she-cat that was half hiding behind Foxpaw. "She's kinda shy." Foxpaw continued, "But she's really good, I promise!"
"Um…so…can I…." Icepaw stumbled over her words, looking up at Lionblaze, then towards the ground, and back up at Lionblaze.
"Let's see how she plays first." Lionblaze said. "You two can go get changed, then warm up while you wait for the rest of the team to get back."
"Okay!" Foxpaw said excitedly.
"…" Icepaw nodded shyly and walked towards the locker rooms with her brother.
Lionblaze watched them, and when they had disappeared from sight, he spoke. "Now, for all of you, annoying, interfering, stupid, love-struck she-cats." Hollyleaf, Honeyfern, Poppyfrost, Whitewing, and Hazeltail all flinched as the angry tom turned on them. Lionblaze stalked over to his sister until he was right in her face. "You," he said jabbing a finger into her face, "owe me. Big time."
"W-Well," Hollyleaf gulped. "What do you want us to do?"
"You're all going to help us train."
When the team came back in, soaked to the bone from the rain, they were surprised to find the rest of their class, along with Foxpaw and a small white she-cat, warming up. All of them were wearing team uniforms.
Berrynose shook himself dry. "What are they doing here?" He asked.
"They're going to help you train." Lionblaze answered. "And we're testing a new player. Foxpaw's sister, Icepaw."
The small she-cat blushed. "H-Hello…" She muttered quietly.
Meanwhile, Mousewhisker was looking around the gym. "Where are the basketballs?" He asked.
"I never said we were using basketballs." Lionblaze smiled. Behind him sat a large duffel bag, stuffed to capacity. "Berrynose and Birchfall can be captains."
"For what?" Birchfall asked.
Lionblaze smiled and opened of the duffel bag. Bright red rubber balls tumbled out onto the gym floor. "Dodgeball."
"How's dodgeball supposed to help us train?" Mousewhisker asked.
"We aren't playing regular dodgeball." Lionblaze went on, picking up one of the balls. "You can still throw the ball and get someone out like usual, and catching a ball still brings a teammate back into the game. Since we have so few players, if someone else catches your ball you're not out."
"Okay, that's not too different." Berrynose commented. "I pick Hollyleaf."
"I'm not done yet." Lionblaze glared at Berrynose and his sister as she pranced over to Berrynose and threw her arms around him. "We're going to be playing with the basketball hops as well. At any time you can cross the center line and try to dunk your ball. If you do it while dodging the rest of the opposing team, you free everyone who's out. However, if you're hit while across the line it takes two ball catches to bring yourself back in."
"What's the reward for the winning team?" Poppyfrost asked.
Lionblaze thought, and then smiled. "The winning team doesn't have to do super cool-downs."
Every one of the basketball team flinched. "What are those?" Hollyleaf asked her boyfriend.
Berrynose explained. "Fifty sit-ups followed by fifty push-ups. Repeat, do ten sprinting laps around the gym, and then finish with twenty-five sit-ups and push-ups. If you pause for even a second you have to start over."
The she-cats all shuttered and Hollyleaf glared at her brother. "Why such a cruel punishment?"
"Think of it as motivation." Lionblaze smiled. "Okay Birchfall, you pick your first player."
Birchfall turned to the crowd of players and opened his mouth, but then closed it again. It was obvious to everyone that he was struggling to choose between Whitewing and Mousewhisker. He could have a great team picking Mousewhisker but he also wanted to be like Berrynose and pick a girl first. Especially a girl he had yet to confess his feeling to.
"Whitewing." He eventually said after what seemed like four seasons.
Jayfeather sat in Leafpool's classroom listening to the rain crash against the building. Who's heard of rain in December? Jayfeather thought irritably as the tom absentmindedly crushed some leaves and berries together for Leafpool. I'd rather be out in the snow.
You like snow too? Jay feather jumped. Not because of the strange voice that was suddenly in his head, but because of what he was seeing. Yes, he was seeing. It wasn't like when he dreamed, he could actually see the classroom around him, the crushed medicine under his paws, and the rain that was pounding against the windows. As he was looking around, dumbfounded, a bright flash of light came from outside.
Jayfeather turned and saw snow falling outside where it had been raining only seconds ago. The tom rushed over to the window and looked outside. Snow was piled high everywhere, not a blemish anywhere on it. Then, coming out of seemingly nowhere, a she-cat appeared in the middle of the snowy grounds. Her fur was a white, only a little darker than the snow around her. It was hard to make out what she was wearing. Her clothes seemed to shimmer and change, like she was wearing a ghost.
Jayfeather found himself running out of the building, which was surprisingly empty. Pushing the doors open, Jayfeather found the white she-cat was still there. She was still there, leaning down to draw in the snow with her paw. Jayfeather walked over to her slowly, the snow crunching quietly under his feet. He reached the she-cat and she didn't turn around. She was still drawing in the snow.
"Remember when we used to always play in the snow?" The she-cat asked. "We used to draw things like this all the time." Jayfeather looked down at the snow drawing. It was a crescent moon and a bird's feather.
Jayfeather didn't say anything, he just stared at the drawing. It seemed…familiar.
The she cat turned and Jayfeather almost jumped. Her face was just like her clothes, ghostlike and hard do make out. "You do remember, don't you?" She asked.
Jayfeather shook his head, still slightly stunned.
The she-cat giggled. "Okay I'll tell you then. But just this once. It's –"
"Jayfeather!"
The darkness snapped back at Leafpool's voice. Jayfeather sat up quickly, a leaf stuck to his face. "Are you alright?" Leafpool asked, rushing over to the medicine cat trainee. "When I saw you with your head down I thought you had passed out."
"I was…sleeping." Jayfeather said, only half believing his own words. The dream felt so real it was like it actually happened.
"Well sleep at home." Leafpool scolded. "You almost gave me a heart attack. By the way, you have a visitor."
A familiar scent wafted into Jayfeather's nostrils. "Hey Jayfeather." Willowshine said.
"Hi." Jayfeather muttered, his mind still half-lingering on the dream.
"Um, I got something for you." Willowshine said shyly.
"What?" Jayfeather snapped back, now completely forgetting about the dream.
"Well I'm leaving tomorrow to visit my grandparents, and they live pretty far away. I'm not sure we'll even make it back in time for Christmas, so I got you this." Willowshine held something out.
Jayfeather reached out with his hands and grabbed hold of the object. He felt it with his paws and blinked. "A book? But you know I'm blind, right?"
"Yeah, open it." Willowshine said excitedly.
Jayfeather sighed and opened the book, he looked down and said. "There once was a silly she-cat who gave a book to her blind friend as a horrible joke."
Willowshine giggled. "No, you have to read it like this." Willowshine grabbed Jayfeather's paw and ran it over the page. Jayfeather was surprised to feel bumps.
"It…it's in braille." Jayfeather said surprised.
"Yep." Willowshine said smiling. "I hope you like it. It's one of my favorite books and I thought you could use a book to distract you from your boredom every once in a while."
"I have other things to do too!" Jayfeather snapped, slightly irritated.
Willowshine giggled, used to his short temper. "Okay, list one thing you like to do in your free time." She teased.
Jayfeather opened his mouth, then blinked, a bit stunned and then closed his mouth. "Wow, how did that happen?" He mumbled.
Willowshine laughed again. "Well I hope you like the book. I'll see you after Christmas!" She said excitedly then ran out the door. Jayfeather turned his head back down to the book and ran his fingers over the book and smiled.
"Well someone seems happy." Leafpool said from the other side of the room.
Jayfeather jumped almost ten feet. He had forgotten that Leafpool was in the room. Willowshine seemed to do that to him. Whenever she was with him, she was the only thing his senses focused on. Jayfeather didn't say anything to Leafpool, but just stuffed the book into his bag.
"Where are you going?" Leafpool inquired.
"To see what Lionblaze is doing." Jayfeather slug his backpack over his shoulder and started for the door.
"Be careful around her."
Jayfeather stopped in the doorway. "What do you mean?" He asked in a quiet voice, not turning around.
"You're both medicine cat trainees. Neither of you are allowed to take a mate."
"I know that!" Jayfeather snapped, "She's just a friend."
"Once you fall in love," Leafpool continued, "it's not an easy thing to fall out of love with that person."
"What would you know?" Jayfeather hissed with annoyance. With that he stomped out of the room.
Leafpool sighed and walked over to the window. Her eyes fell on a black furred tom who opened an umbrella while walking out of the WindClan building. "More than you think…"
Eventually the teams were decided to be Berrynose, Hollyleaf, Mousewhisker, Honeyfern, and Hazeltail against Birchfall, Whitewing, Foxpaw, Poppyfrost, Cinderheart, and Icepaw. Both teams were on opposite sides of the gym, their paws pressed against the walls behind them. Ten dodgeballs were lined up in the middle of the gym with Lionblaze standing just out of bounds and in line with the dodgeballs. A whistle was in his mouth.
The shrill sound of the whistle set both teams off. They raced for the center line knowing that whoever reached the balls last would be in a heap of trouble. The team that reached first was team Berrynose. Birchfall and his team skidded to a halt as Berrynose and his team raised the balls and locked-on.
"This will be fast." Berrynose smirked.
"Scatter!" Birchfall yelled.
Berrynose and his team threw. A red ball connected with nearly everyone on Birchfall's team (including Cinderheart, much to Lionblaze's dismay) and only Icepaw was left standing. Berrynose and his team roared with excitement as the defeated walked with their tails dragging over to Lionblaze.
Only Foxpaw seemed to still be happy. "Show them what you're made of Icepaw!" He yelled.
Icepaw looked at her brother and nodded. She picked up a red ball, looked at Lionblaze and blushed, then did something unexpected. She blinked again and it was like her eyes cleared. They became more...focused. She ran quickly around Berrynose's team, dribbling the dodgeball as she went.
"Block her!" Hollyleaf shouted, remembering what would happen if the she dunked the ball. Berrynose answered the call, jumping in front of her right before she reached the hoop. It was easy to see where this was going. Berrynose was at least twice the size of Icepaw and the small she-cat didn't stand a chance.
But, that's not what happened.
Like a frog the white she-cat jumped, easily reaching above Berrynose, then used to cream colored tom's shoulders as springboard to propel herself the rest of the way up to the hoop.
Jaw's hit the floor as Icepaw blushed and quickly walked back to the other side of the gym. Even the mighty Lionblaze was at a loss for words. He turned to Foxpaw, who was grinning at his sister.
"I call her the silent devil." The apprentice giggled.
From that point on, the game was pretty even. To Lionblaze's surprise, even Jayfeather walked into the gym. Now the entire ThunderClan warriors class was here. Whenever someone got out, they would almost immediately get back in. Hollyleaf had just been nailed by a ball thrown by Cinderheart and only a few seconds later Berrynose caught a ball thrown by Poppyfrost. "Holly, you're back in!" He yelled and then threw the ball back, hitting Mousewhisker in the gut. Hollyleaf ran back over to her boyfriend and pecked him on the cheek as a thank you.
"You've got to get more into the game." Berrynose said to her.
"Sports were never my strongsuit." Hollyleaf commented. "Ouch!" She cried out as Cinderheart hit her with yet another ball. Hollyleaf spun and yelled at her brother. "Lionblaze, tell your girlfriend to stop smashing me with dodgeballs!"
Lionblaze and Cinderheart both blushed but tried not to show any embarrassment. "Sorry I wasn't looking. Didn't see who got you out." Lionblaze remarked. "Did you see Jayfeather?"
Jayfeather smiled. "Not a thing."
"Ha, ha." Hollyleaf said sarcastically as she walked over to her brothers to wait to get back in. She crossed her arms and watched the game. Honeyfern was doing surprising well. In gym class she almost never showed any talent. Then Hollyleaf noticed why. Honeyfern was earning the respect of Berrynose. While she was sitting here on the sidelines, Berrynose was praising every one of Honeyfern's throws that got someone else out. Something ticked inside of Hollyleaf. Even though the two had made an 'all's fair in love and war' pact, she still didn't like that fact that Honeyfern was winning her boyfriend's attention.
When Berrynose was finally done praising Honeyfern, he found the time to catch a ball. "Hollyleaf, you're back in!" He called, not noticing he called her by her full name. Lionblaze however did notice and glanced warily at his sister. She had an expression on that could kill a bird with a single glance. Whatever was going to happen, Lionblaze was glad to not be a part of it.
Thanks to a rivalry that had sprung up between Hollyleaf and Honeyfern, their team ended up losing. They were forced to do the dreaded super-cool downs. After, hell as described by Hollyleaf, everyone was finally able to get home without getting drenched. The rain had stopped, leaving the outside air feeling mucky and uncomfortable.
There were only two students who remained at the empty school. Berrynose and Honeyfern. They were both waiting for rides to show up as they just talked in the entrance of the school.
"So do you have any idea on what you're going to do for woodshop?" Berrynose asked.
Honeyfern shook her head. "I'm stumped. Plus there's the fact that anything I touch just turns into a pile of sawdust."
Berrynose purred with amusement. "I might not know what I'm going to do, but I could give you some pointers."
Honeyfern smiled. "Thanks. So what do you think is going to happen between Cinderheart and Lionblaze?"
"They're both too easily embarrassed. It's gonna be hard for them to get together."
"Yeah, it was kinda obvious the way they were acting after dodgeball."
"Speaking of, I never knew you had so much talent at dodgeball!" Berrynose commented yet again.
Honeyfern blushed. "It's nothing. I'm sure it was all just dumb luck."
"No, I'm serious!" The tom said excitedly. "If you joined the basketball team I'm sure you'd be just as good as Cinderheart in no time!"
Honeyfern blushed harder. "Thanks…" She mumbled. Silence filled the air between the two for several seconds before Honeyfern spoke again. "I missed this." She said.
Berrynose raised an eyebrow. "Missed what?"
"Us being able to talk like this." Honeyfern looked down, slightly embarrassed. "Ever since you and Hollyleaf started dating we haven't been able to talk a lot."
Berrynose felt heat rise to his cheeks. "Oh, sorry. I guess I've just been busy with everything that's been going on." Berrynose thought for a moment. "Oh, I know! How about as an apology, we go see a movie this weekend?"
Honeyfern looked up. "Like…a date? Won't Hollyleaf get angry you're going on a date with another girl?" She asked, despite the fact that her insides were screaming at her to shut up and just accept the invitation.
"Oh, hadn't thought of that…" Berrynose admitted. A car pulled up out front and Honeyfern recognized her parents were ready for her. "But I'm sure she won't mind." Berrynose continued. "We're just two friends going to see a movie, right?"
Honeyfern didn't answer. "How about I just give you something else to think about until then?" She walked over to the tom and pecked him on the cheek. Berrynose's head was still spinning with confusion and embarrassment as he started his walk home, almost an hour later.
Kaith: Sorry again for forgetting about this story for a while. I intend to put up the last two original chapters by Stealthclaw soon, after I tweak them a bit, and then the story will go on a break again. Sorry, but I've only thought a tiny bit about where the story will go after Christmas break so I need to crack down and work on that!