With one last lick, Gingerfall was finished what was his best attempt to remove the scent of intimacy from his pelt. He was quite fortunate to have hunted with cats who didn't gossip much, since the reek from his little adventure was pretty hard to ignore on the way back to camp. But the fact that Moonshade had smelled the same didn't help him out much, and the look on Orangedawn's face had pained him.

Speaking of which, the reddish she-cat hadn't said a word to him ever since they parted in the forest. Gingerfall sighed, figuring that it was best to give his friend her space. He looked up, however, when he caught the sound of paw-steps coming towards him.

A lovely silver pelt that could only belong to Willowleaf greeted his eyes, but Gingerfall noticed that something was off. The she-cat's green eyes didn't glow with her usual warmth as she neared him. With a bit of concern, he stood to meet her half-way.

"So," Willowleaf mewed first, "You and Moonshade?"

Gingerfall's surprise over-shadowed his confusion at the faint hurt in her tone, "What?"

Willowleaf seemed bewildered by his response, and waved her tail towards Moonshade, who was chatting with Owlscreech, "She's been wafting the evidence all over camp."

A growl threatened to rise in Gingerfall's throat. Had the black she-cat purposely not cleaned herself, thus rubbing the scent of him and sex in everyone's face? Of course she had. How could he have not considered it? He sent a glare her way, but Moonshade either didn't notice or simply ignored him.

"No," he meowed to Willowleaf, "We're not together."

"But - "

"It was a one-time thing," Gingerfall explained.

Willowleaf's eyes widened, and then looked away as she shifted her paws. She seemed to think something over for a moment, before speaking again, "Do you do that often?"

Gingerfall tilted his head, wondering what she was referring to, "Do what?"

"One-time things."

Upon hearing that, Gingerfall instantly feared that she thought he was some kind of tom-whore. That wasn't in the least bit correct, of course. At least, it wasn't true in his mind.

"Only a couple of times," he stated, wanting her to get the right picture.

Willowleaf seemed to droop a bit with disappointment, only causing confusion in the tom. She quickly perked up, though, as if nothing were wrong, "I see. Sorry about getting all serious and stuff. Assumptions are awful things, huh?"

"Uh…yeah," Gingerfall replied. He wanted to know what was going though her head, but decided not to pry. At that moment, a call rang out through the camp.

Looking towards the Highledge, the two cats saw that everyone was gathering around. That meant only one thing: Some cat was getting promoted in rank. Gingerfall turned and started towards the growing circle, with Willowleaf following. He was disappointed by the fact that Orangedawn purposefully sat between Roseheart and Silvermoon. But Willowleaf pressed her pelt to his, though it seemed to be unintentional, and he felt a bit of comfort.

"Cats of ThunderClan, this is an important moment for every Clan," Darkstar began, his voice bellowing into every cat's ears.

"The making of a new warrior not only builds our strength, but guarantees our future as well," he meowed, "Smokepaw, come forward."

With his head high, Smokepaw padded towards the leader, his amber eyes gleaming.

The ceremony went on with Darkstar questioning Smokepaw's absolute loyalty to ThunderClan, to which the soon-to-be-warrior claimed that he would do anything for the Clan. It struck Gingerfall, since he knew that Smokepaw was now committed to the "new clan". Though it made a lot of sense, how could the tom lie before StarClan themselves?

Nevertheless, Darkstar was both pleased and satisfied with the answer. He stood up straight and declared that Smokepaw was no more, as his name was now Smokefur. The new warrior lifted his chin proudly as soon as he had licked Darkstar's shoulder. Off to the side, Gingerfall spotted the young tom's father and mentor. Stormfoot and Barkpelt both showed pride and approval in their eyes.

He also caught sight of Silvermoon, who seemed a bit overly-joyful. The silvery she-cat suddenly jumped from her spot and rushed to lick Smokefur's muzzle. If things were like that between them, did that mean that Silvermoon knew about or was part of Stonefall's plan? After all, the deputy was quickly gaining new members, as evident by Moonshade.

Seeing as the ceremony was now over, Gingerfall left the circle to fetch himself a piece of fresh-kill. A rather plump mouse looked quite appetizing. As he settled to devour it, a shadow fell over him and he saw Darkwhisper before him. Her expression was as somber as usual, with her eyes as glazed as they normally were.

"You know about this 'new clan', right?" she asked quietly.

Covering up his surprise, Gingerfall replied, "Ah…yes."

"Are you part of it?"

"No."

Darkwhisper went quiet for a moment, staring at him with those glassy eyes. Gingerfall became uncomfortable, and chose to look at his mouse, which didn't even have a single bite out of it yet.

"You are planning to join…aren't you?"

Gingerfall stayed silent for a few heartbeats, and was grateful that Darkwhisper happened to be more patient than others were.

"I…yeah, I guess."

"Do you think I should, too?"

What? Gingerfall looked back up at Darkwhisper, his eyes wide. This had to mean that she'd been offered the chance, since the black cat never meddled in the business of others unless involved. He blinked, wondering who asked, and why. After all, no cat had ever caught a single whiff of sex of her pelt, and Gingerfall was pretty sure that Darkwhisper was as virgin as on the day she was born.

"I don't know," he meowed, "That isn't really my choice; it's yours. So, I guess you should…do what you want."

"…I see."

With that, Darkwhisper turned and padded in the direction of her apprentice, Sagepaw. She had a certain way of moving; slowly, swaying slightly, and stepping silently. Even her movements seemed to be mysterious. What an eccentric she-cat.

After watching her leave, Gingerfall leaned back down and quickly decided that he no longer felt hungry. His belly now tumbled alongside his thoughts of everything that was happening to suddenly. He plucked up the mouse, prepared to place it back on the pile, when he noticed Willowleaf there. The she-cat's eyes scanned the pile of prey, obviously looking for a meal.

He approached her, catching her attention. Placing the prey at her paws, he asked, "Would this sate you?"

Willowleaf's eyes gleamed, "You're bringing me prey like a queen does her kits; how thoughtful!"

Gingerfall recognized that she was merely joking, and nudged the mouse her way. Willowleaf gratefully took it, with a purr in her throat. It was good to know that she was the type of cat who got back to normal quickly. Unlike Orangedawn, who was still pointedly ignoring him. With nothing much better to do, Gingerfall decided that he might-as-well just go chat with Willowleaf some more.

He padded to where she'd seated herself, and plopped down beside her. As he waited for her to finish off the mouse, he began to comb his tongue through her fur. It was getting close to night, which was usually when cats settled down for some grooming before retiring to their nests. He wouldn't need his fur treated, since he'd already dealt with it earlier.

"Gingerfall," Willowleaf mewed as soon as she was done, "Would you mind taking a walk with me later?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: No lemon in this chapter either, sorry! But there will be one in the next chapter!

SilverMoon71442, please tell me if you're not okay with Silvermoon being paired up with Smokefur.

Also, I'm adding a new question to the last note, so you might want to look.

Later, my lovelies!

~ Tina