Sunpaw:

Sunpaw leaned away from the water and flashed out a paw, hitting a fish and tossing it onto the ground. She was hunting alone by the RiverClan border with ShadowClan. Suddenly, she pricked her ears, hearing a splash and a cry somewhat upriver, and dropped the fish from her jaws. She rose to her paws and scrambled along the lake shore, heading toward where she thought she heard the sound.

There! A dark gray shape floudered helplessly in the water. Sootpaw! This would be the second time she had saved a cat from drowning, she realized. The ShadowClan tom's fur was drenched and heavy as he called out again. This is yet another cat whom I just cannot let to drown.

Sunpaw launched herself into the water, shivering at the sudden cold. Kicking out once, she dove beneath the water and reappeared above, Sootpaw's neck in her jaws. Panting, she hauled the ShadowClan tom towards the shore and left him on the ShadowClan side of the border. Sootpaw stirred, coughing. "Thanks," he croaked. He looked around, making sure that no one was watching. "Why did you do it?"

Sunpaw avoided the truth. "I couldn't bear to see any cat drown."

"Yeah, right." Sootpaw had regained his old spirit by now. "You did it because you actually care, don't you?" Sunpaw nodded, and Sootpaw unexpectedly leaned forward and licked her cheek affectionately. "Don't worry. I do, too."

"You do?" Sunpaw blinked in shock.

"Of course!" Sootpaw purred, then froze. The two of them heard a rustle in the bushes behind Sootpaw. "I've got to go. I'll... meet me here tonight." Sunpaw nodded, her green eyes shining in excitement. Her heart was beating wildly as Sootpaw turned and padded away. The dark gray tom loved her, and, though she had never thought she would, Sunpaw did, too.

Meet me here tonight. Sunpaw stared after Sootpaw, deep into ShadowClan territory. Long after the gray tom had vanished into the heart of his territory, she was still staring after him, a tug of longing in her heart.

"Sunpaw? Sunpaw! Answer me!" Paws prodded her side, and she whirled around, jolted, to see Cloudpatch beside her. "You were staring at nothing for so long!"

Sunpaw shook her head. "It was nothing."

"Here." Cloudpatch pressed against her. "Come with me for a walk." Sunpaw padded beside him as they padded through their territory. It had been three moons since she had become an apprentice, and her ginger shape had grown larger and more muscular. "Sunpaw, I-"

Sunpaw tensed. "What?"

"Sunpaw... I think I love you," Cloudpatch admitted, licking his gray-white chest in embarrassment, though his blue eyes glowed with affection.

How do I say this? Sunpaw took in a deep breath. "Cloudpatch... I'm sorry... I don't feel the same way."

Cloudpatch's eyes took on an expression of deep hurt as he drew away from her in shock. Abruptly, he rose to his paws, tears glistening in his eyes, and stalked away. Sunpaw stared helplessly after him, unable to do or say anything. StarClan, was that the right thing to do? she thought miserably. Should I meet Sootpaw at night?

There was no answer, only the faint trace of stars in the evening sky glowing icily cold, unresponsive to her plea. Sighing, Sunpaw padded back to camp, her tail drooping in loss. Her green eyes were dull as she padded into the clearing. Silversplash padded over. "What's wrong?"

Sunpaw shook her head. "Nothing."

Realizing that Sunpaw was not planning on saying anything, Silversplash continued, "I came to tell you, your assessment is tomorrow! It's not your final assessment, of course, but..."

Sunpaw sighed, acknowledging her mentor with a nod before padding away. She knew it would be hopeless to pursue Cloudpatch and tell him she was sorry, and try to regain his friendship, so she sighed and padded over to sit in the reeds. She caught a glimpse of Rainblaze storming over, glaring at her. "What did you do to him?" she snapped, angrily. "I told you not to hurt him!"

"I didn't do... I mean, I just told him I didn't feel the same way about him that he felt about me, and that I was sorry," Sunpaw replied, though tears shone in her eyes.

Rainblaze sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what to do. I'm not going to force you into a relationship with Cloudpatch, but I don't want him to feel hurt, either." Sunpaw felt a pang of pity for the dark she-cat, who was torn in two. She sighed. "Go and get some fresh-kill."

Fresh-kill. Sunpaw realized that she had left her catch by the river, but now, she didn't care. She shook her head. "I'm fine. I think I'll go and rest."

"No! Sunpaw, no, I know you are sorry and upset, but-"

"I'm not upset!" Sunpaw snapped.

Rainblaze rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Go and get fresh-kill. Now." She pointed with her tail at the fresh-kill pile, her eyes hard, stubborn, firm. Sunpaw shook her head, her expression matching Rainblaze's. Rainblaze sighed. "Please, Sunpaw. It'll do you good." Sunpaw was startled by her change in tone, but she slowly padded over to the fresh-kill pile and selected a small minnow before padding back to her friend.

Only when she started to nibble at the small fish did she find out how hungry she was, but of course, she didn't admit it. She swallowed the minnow and pointed with her tail. "The night patrol is going out. We should go and rest."

Rainblaze narrowed her eyes. "Yes. We should." She padded over to the warriors' den, and Sunpaw padded into the apprentices' den.

"Icepaw? Brightpaw?" she called. The den was deserted. Heartbeats later, Icepaw bounded into the den, then Brightpaw.

"Hi, Sunpaw!" Brightpaw called.

Icepaw nodded. "Hello! We just finished patrolling."

"Sunpaw!" Brightpaw mewed. "We have an assessment tomorrow!" Sunpaw nodded.

"So do I," Sunpaw mewed, pushing away the urge to roll her eyes at Brightpaw's words. "I'm not tired," she mewed. "I think I'll go for a walk. You two stay here and rest." Icepaw nodded and Brightpaw flicked her tail before dipping her head. "And if any cat asks, tell them I went for a walk."

Sunpaw slipped out of the apprentices' den, her heart thumping. She padded out of camp, unseen by the cats in the clearing, and darted towards the border RiverClan shared with ShadowClan. Sure enough, Sootpaw's dark gray form was settled on his side of the border. "You came," Sunpaw mewed.

"Why wouldn't I?" Sootpaw mewed. His voice softened. "How's life in RiverClan?"

Sunpaw mentally refused to tell him anything about what had happened with Cloudpatch. "I have my second assessment tomorrow!"

"Great!" Sootpaw mewed. "Good luck! What is it?"

"For hunting, I think it'll be only too easy, as we have way more prey than is needed," Sunpaw mewed. "Do you want me to show you how to fish?" Those words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, but now, she couldn't take them back.

Sootpaw nodded, an unreadable emotion present on his face. His eyes gleamed. "Of course!"

Sunpaw sighed and padded over to the edge of the lake. "Position yourself so that your shadow doesn't fall over the water," she instructed. "Now, put out a paw fast and grab a fish!"

Oh, StarClan, what have I done? Then, she reassured herself. It doesn't matter. Sootpaw loves me. He wouldn't tell, would he?

Sunpaw purred as Sootpaw flashed out a paw, catching a fish... a trout. "Great!" she mewed, purring in excitement as Sootpaw puffed out his chest in pride. To her surprise, he dropped the trout on her side of the border.

"Here," he mewed. "You keep it."

"Why-" Sunpaw began, but Sootpaw shook his head.

"Just take it!" Sootpaw mewed.

Sunpaw shrugged. "All right, then." She rose to her paws. "I think I should be getting back," she mewed. "I'll meet you in two nights." She picked up the trout in her jaws and turned back to camp. Only then did she realize that she had forgotten to meet Shadowpaw that night.