Moonpaw sat patiently on the bank opposite of the RiverClan border, waiting for her love's familiar face to appear from behind the reeds. She was beginning to feel concerned, since it had taken him longer than usual to arrive. After an eternity of waiting, Mintpaw stalked out from the fronds with his head held high and slid elegantly into the river. Moonpaw stood up eagerly as she watched him swim across the water.

"Mintpaw!" She cried out joyfully as he pulled himself up onto the bank and shook the water droplets off of his pelt.

"It's Mintpelt now!" He corrected her, practically bursting with pride as he gazed down at her.

"Well…Mintpelt…I-I don't what to say…" She responded, shocked. Moonpaw shook off her amazement and bounded forward to nuzzle him.

"Congratulations…" She murmured into his soft pelt. "I'm so proud of you!" She glanced up at him, her blue eyes glittering with pride.

"Thanks." Mintpelt nuzzled her back. "I'm sure you'll become a warrior soon, as well. After all, you've been an apprentice almost as long as me."

Moonpaw nodded. "I guess so." She suddenly stood up and turned away from Mintpelt with her head down.

"What's wrong?" He took a cautious step forward, surprised at the sudden turn in Moonpaw's attitude.

"I assume now that you're a warrior, you wouldn't want to waste your time with…me." She said softly. Moonpaw looked back around at Mintpelt, hurt in her eyes.

"And what makes you think that?" He meowed comfortingly, nuzzling her some more.

"Moonpaw, I swear, I will never ever leave you, my beautiful Moonpaw. I love you so much…more than anything! Don't you ever worry, because I will be with you…always."

"Always?"

"Always."

"I'm sorry Mintpelt, I should have never doubted you. Of course you love me." Moonpaw smiled weakly back at him.

"Moonpaw, like I said, I shall always love you. We'll be together, no matter what!" He gazed down into her beautiful eyes, and licked her nose comfortingly. "Now, can I show you something?" Mintpelt stood up and strode towards a tall maple tree.

"You don't expect me to climb that, do you?" Moonpaw laughed, following him to the tree. "I thought you knew how I feel about climbing trees!"

"Of course I do! But this time, I'll help you. Come on!" He unsheathed his claws and started to pull himself up the side of the maple.

Moonpaw sighed and followed him to begin to ease herself up along the trunk beside him.

Mintpelt finally reached the very top branches of the tree and climbed out amongst a sturdy branch, holding his tail out for balance.

Moonpaw stayed reluctantly by the base of the branch, but he managed to coax her forward. "It's OK, there isn't a breath of wind tonight!" He smiled as she stepped out onto the branch.

"Now, look up…" He whispered into her ear.

Moonpaw slowly looked up and her breath caught in her throat. The sky was almost glowing, the moon casting rays of light which filtered between the branches. Silverpelt seemed to shine the brightest it had ever shined, the spirits of the warrior ancestors glowing beautifully.

"It's…it's…" Moonpaw stuttered breathlessly.

"I know, it's beautiful. I thought you'd like to see it from up high in the trees."

Moonpaw closed her eyes and let out a long, happy sigh. Then she straightened up and looked at Mintpelt.

"I was so worried StarClan would…would punish us, for meeting in secret like this. But…do you think this means they're okay with it?" She asked curiously.

"Moonpaw, I don't really think StarClan like that we're breaking the warrior code like this, but I do think they understand that we love each other very much."

Moonpaw opened her mouth to respond but was suddenly cut off by a loud rustling in the bushes below her. She almost cried out in alarm, but Mintpelt's tail shot out over her mouth to silence her. They both watched in shock as Whitepaw, Moonpaw's good friend, slid out from behind the bushes.

"Moonpaw, I know you're there!" She called out.

Moonpaw's breath caught in her throat. She looked at Mintpelt for help, but he was just as shocked as her. Moonpaw took a deep breath and began to ease herself down the tree until she was low enough to jump off and land neatly on her paws.

"What on earth were you doing up there?!" Whitepaw exclaimed as she caught sight of Moonpaw.

"I'd like to know myself, also!" The two she-cats whirled around as Squirrelpaw emerged from the bushes.

"How did you find us?!" Whitepaw demanded, her neck fur bristling.

"I followed you, Whitepaw, for you weren't very stealthy as you left camp." Squirrelpaw answered in an annoyingly arrogant tone.

Whitepaw spat in frustration.

"Well, what are you doing out here so late?" Squirrelpaw inquired, impatient as if she had better things to do.

"None of your business, you annoying little piece of mouse-dung!" Whitepaw snarled, her voice like venom.

Moonpaw stood in the background, her mouth open in shock. Whitepaw was never this feisty! And why is she working so hard to cover for me? Moonpaw wondered.

"Do you want me to tell Firestar?" Squirrelpaw glared at Whitepaw.

"Why do you have to be so annoying? We were just out hunting, that's all!" Whitepaw responded.

"At this hour?"

"We wanted fresh air!"

"Fine!" Squirrelpaw gave up with a sigh. "But remember, next time you won't get off so easy!" She warned, whipped around, and raced back towards camp.

"That no good, annoying—"

"Easy Whitepaw!" Moonpaw laughed. "When did you get to be so grouchy?"

"How could I not be? She's such a brat! Ooh, I'm gonna tell Firestar!" Whitepaw mocked in a bad but hilarious imitation of Squirrelpaw.

"Why did you stick up for me?" Moonpaw glanced back up at her friend, smiling.

"Because we're friends, and that's what friends are for!" Whitepaw smiled back. "Come on, let's head back before someone else finds us!" She said as she began to pad forward.

Moonpaw took one step then looked up at the tree above her, searching the branches for Mintpelt. But no one was there.

"Coming?" Whitepaw turned around and asked.

"Of course!" Moonpaw gave the tree one last look then followed Whitepaw back towards the ThunderClan camp.

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it took so long to come out, but at least it's a little longer, right? Okay, I know this was a tad out of character for both Whitepaw and Squirrelpaw, but I really wanted them to have this little fight! Thanks for reading everyone, the next chapter will be out soon! Please review!