Shadowpaw:
Shadowpaw had been emotionally disturbed ever since three nights ago, when Sunpaw hadn't shown up to meet her at the border. What if something has happened to her?
Ashfire was beside her. "Guess what?"
"What?" Shadowpaw turned to face him.
"Moonblaze said you passed your assessment!"
"Really?" Shadowpaw was surprised. She hadn't caught much in her hunt, except for two squirrels and a mouse, so she had really doubted that she would pass. Shrugging, she pressed against Ashfire. Then, she remembered. Tonight, she would give Sunpaw another chance. She would be meeting the ginger she-cat again tonight, after she and Ashfire finished their hunt for the night. They were on the night hunt patrol, the last of the day.
Moonblaze nodded. "You did. I told Jaystar that normally, you do hunt well, just that, for the last few days, you have been quite distracted," she mewed pointedly, meaning that Shadowpaw had refused to tell her what had been on her mind.
"Thanks," Shadowpaw muttered. Ashfire pressed against her.
"Shadowpaw?" he whispered, into her ear.
Shadowpaw turned to face him. "What is it?"
"Er... never mind," he muttered, seeming embarrassed at what he was about to say.
"No, not never mind," Shadowpaw snapped. "Spit it out."
Ashfire sighed. "Shadowpaw, I think I... like you," he murmured. "As in, really care for you." Shadowpaw pressed her muzzle against his, and their tails twined automatically.
"Stupid furball," she whispered. "I do, too."
It was true. Shadowpaw and Ashfire had recently become close, and maybe more than friends, as it seemed. Shadowpaw padded ahead as Moonblaze spoke. "Let's gather our prey and finish off."
Shadowpaw grabbed the mouse that she had buried and held it tightly in her jaws. "Let's go," she mumbled, around the furry prey in her jaws. Ashfire purred in amusement and nudged her affectionately, before picking up his sparrow. Moonblaze nodded to them, a chaffinch in her jaws, and the small hunting patrol headed back to camp. Shadowpaw directly headed for the fresh-kill pile and left her prey on top of it.
"Good night," Ashfire murmured, dropping his prey as well. Shadowpaw nodded and disappeared into the apprentices' den. She peered out, watching Ashfire and Moonblaze pad into the warriors' den before creeping out of the apprentices' den and out of camp.
Soon enough, she arrived at the border shared with RiverClan, where Sunpaw waited. "Sunpaw!" she gasped. "What in the name of StarClan? Why weren't you-"
Sunpaw cut her off. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I... wasn't able to come last time."
Shadowpaw sensed that the RiverClan she-cat was hiding something. "Why?"
"Um..." Sunpaw swallowed. She leaned closer. Though no one was there, she whispered quietly, "Please don't tell. I... I was with a ShadowClan tom."
"What?" Shadowpaw snarled, breaking away from the ginger she-cat.
Sunpaw hung her head. "I'm sorry... it's true. Now please, move on!" Her voice was higher than usual. "Why does no cat in my family have green eyes or ginger fur like I do? It makes me feel like I don't belong!"
"There are cats in my family that do," Shadowpaw whispered, thoughtfully.
Sunpaw's eyes narrowed, but, before spitting out an angry retort, she paused. "Are you saying-"
"Yes. I am," Shadowpaw mewed. "Can you come up with anything else? We have the same eyes. Your kin don't have any appearance in common with you, but my kin do..."
"Why am I in RiverClan? Why are you in ThunderClan?" Sunpaw mewed. "Could it be the invasion?"
Shadowpaw sighed. "Could be... I really think so. I know there was no evidence, but all queens are tired after birth, so Blackstream could have fallen asleep at the time. And since it was an invasion on our camp," she mewed, her eyes narrowing as she realized that everything was fitting perfectly and unfortunately together, "RiverClan had to have disguised their scent so that they wouldn't be found before they reached our camp."
Sunpaw nodded, her eyes wide. "So... that's it? We're littermates?" Her voice came out as barely a gasp. "Why would RiverClan steal me? A kit?"
"I really don't know," Shadowpaw mewed. "Why did the invasion happen in the first place?"
"RiverClan thought ThunderClan was stealing prey, so maybe they just repayed the favor by stealing a kit," Sunpaw replied, promptly, but bitterly. Shadowpaw could see tears spilling from her eyes. She paused before continuing. "You know, I shouldn't really be saying this," she murmured quietly, "but I'm glad you're my sister. I would never have wanted otherwise."
"I'm as close to you as I would be to a littermate," Shadowpaw confirmed.
"I'm closer to you than I am to my littermates," Sunpaw agreed.
"Now, what do we do with this knowledge?" Shadowpaw asked. "We can't just sit around as though nothing happened. Should I tell Blackstream? The clan?"
Sunpaw shook her head. "Let this be our secret for now. When the time is right, they will find out."
Shadowpaw nodded and took a step back. "Wait, Sunpaw. Who is it?"
"Who's what?"
Shadowpaw dropped her voice to a whisper. "The tom that you meet many nights against the warrior code." Her voice was scathing and hard.
"No, you don't understand!" Sunpaw exclaimed. "Well, this is against the warrior code as well."
Shadowpaw shrugged, purring at her logic. "True. Who is it?"
Sunpaw took in a deep breath. "Sootpaw."
"Sootpaw?"
"Dark gray tom? Blue eyes? ShadowClan?" Sunpaw offered.
Shadowpaw hissed. "I'm not an idiot! I know that!" Sunpaw looked a little taken aback by her tone, so her voice softened. "Sorry. But why him? He looks... well... dangerous... and, I mean, crafty. Are you sure about this?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Sunpaw mewed. "He loves me, and I love him!"
"That may not be-" Shadowpaw began.
"That leaves just one problem..." Sunpaw mewed.
Shadowpaw stared at her. "What now?"
"Cloudpatch loves me... I like him as a friend, but when I told him that, he just got angry!" Sunpaw mewed, her tail drooping. Shadowpaw pressed against her comfortingly and placed her head beside her littermate's.
"Don't worry about it," Shadowpaw mewed. "I'm sure it'll be fine." Sunpaw didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway. Shadowpaw spoke again. "Why do we have this problem?" she mewed. "It's just... not fair! I'm glad we're littermates, but it creates such a problem!"
This time, it was Sunpaw who rubbed against her consolingly. "Don't worry," she mewed. "Whatever happens to you happens to me."
"Thanks, Sunpaw. And you, me." Shadowpaw dipped her head. "We should go now."
"Yes. Bye, Shadowpaw," Sunpaw mewed, her voice sounding almost... sad and gloomy.
Shadowpaw nodded, the traces of a smirk creeping onto her face. "Bye, sister." Sunpaw waved her tail and vanished into RiverClan territory. Shadowpaw stared after her for StarClan knew how long, but she couldn't tear her gaze away.
"Shadowpaw!"
Oh, StarClan, has someone figured out? Seen me with Sunpaw? Shadowpaw's tail drooped, but she didn't turn around. Fur pressed at her side, and Shadowpaw realized that it was Ashfire who had called her. "Yes..." her voice was tired.
"Shadowpaw, what were you doing with that RiverClan she-cat? Why were you with her?" Ashfire demanded. His voice softened. "I promise I'll keep it secret, if you tell me why you were with her."
Shadowpaw turned, her green eyes boring into his blue ones, her gaze even and direct. "Because she's my sister."