"Hey there, Sandpa - whoah, nice catch!"

"Fanks, Fwanwaw."

Golden eyes glimmered in pride for a fellow apprentice, noting the unusually large red scaled snapper currently gripped tight in his jaws.

The sandy tabby tom answered with a muffled smile, his emerald eyes crinkling with joy at the appreciatory comment.

Admiration glossed in ripples through Swanpaw's deep, honey-golden eyes. She approached her denmate with a prance in her step, preparing to meet the handsome tom at the fresh kill pile.

"That's so awe -"

"Sandpaw!"

Swanpaw's voice fell flat, cut off with a shrill squeaky vibrato that could only be associated with the small blue tom.

Skidding to a halt with a bright and eager shine about him, Bluepaw gleefully thrust himself between Swanpaw and Sandpaw. "Wow! Did'ya catch that one yourself? That's so cool!"

To her disdain, Swanpaw was forced to watch the mush of emotions waddle through as Bluepaw ungracefully floundered around at Sandpaw's feet. She caught praising chatter, saw brilliant smiles, and bit her tongue to stifle a flinch as the pair briefly bumped noses in a playful manner.

"Think we could share it?" Bluepaw was grinning, a twinkle of innocence in his deep sapphires.

"Probably not, Blue," Sandpaw replied casually, his own emeralds flickering with some gushy feeling. "You could help me carry it to the elders den and see if they'll repeat the time Mistbird got attacked by prey."

Bluepaw purred, a medium rumble between low and high. Sprightly on their paws, the pair sauntered off toward the reed entrance enclosing a nest of aging cats.

"I'll, uh, see you later then, Sandpaw!" Swanpaw quickly choked out, valiantly attempting to be heard over the laughs and giggles.

To her satisfaction, the sandy tabby turned his head back over his shoulder and gave a little nod. "Yeah!" he called back. "Later!" And quickly slid through the plants.

The white she-cat kept her warm smile until both were out of sight - yet neither out of mind. Her plumed tail lashed once out of irritation, a prickle of anger bubbling at her skin. With careful twitches, she was able to keep her smoothed pelt from bristling as true emotions flooded her veins. "Stupid Bluepaw," she scoffed, bitterness in her muffled tone as she stormed off toward the outcropping rocks near the far edge of camp. "He's such a goody two-shoes. Bleck. What does Sandpaw see in that pelt of annoyance? Sand's the one with the perfect smile, perfect laugh, perfect eyes, perfect everything! Bluepaw doesn't deserve him as a friend. Much less as a potential mate."

Swanpaw did actually bristle at that, scoring claw marks down the stone as she reached her destination.

"Mate," she hissed, voice acidic. "I'd rather slice my own throat before seeing Bluepaw steal my Sandpaw. He's not even a she-cat for StarClan's sake! He's a nosy tom! Disgusting. Foul. Wrong."

"What's wrong?"

That naive little tone.

Swanpaw nearly lost her head.

How did Bluepaw get up here that fast? She'd only been gone a few minutes.

"What are you doing up here? Why aren't you with Sandpaw listening to some story?" Swanpaw couldn't keep the sneer from her vocals. Bluepaw didn't seem to notice.

Mouse-brain.

"Mudshark didn't seem to want to tell it today. He liked the fish, but he was in too much pain to tell a story. Anemonewhisker's with him now," the blue tom answered, nonchalant.

"Go figure," the golden-eyed snorted disdainfully, still wrapped up in her bad mood.

"So what's wrong, again?" Bluepaw didn't let his original question slip.

Stubborn jerk.

"It's nothing."

"But you also said disgusting. And foul. What were you talking about?"

Swanpaw's coat turned to needles, sharp and poison tipped as she whirled on her intended target. "It's you, OK?" she bellowed furiously. "You're disgusting, you're foul, you're wrong!" Without giving the tom a chance to respond, Swanpaw kept spitting. "Your relationship with Sandpaw! It's disgusting! You're all over each other like mushy mates; you smile, you laugh, you brush pelts, you touch noses. . . It's all wrong!"

"Swanpaw I didn't realize you. . . I really. . . like him. . ." The bouncy apprentice turned bashful, shying his gaze away from the former's fury.

"He's supposed to love me! Me, you insignificant furball! Me!" the slim white furred 'paw had blown her top, golden eyes bubbling with hellish nightmares. Without thinking, she surged forward with fangs bared and claws unsheathed. In her fit of rage, she bowled over the chubbier cat, forcing him down the other side of the rock barrier.

"Ahh!" Bluepaw yelped, going silent as his crown bashed into a boulder on the ride down.

Swanpaw glided off in a fluid motion, grabbing her balance on another perch as she watched with horror as the unconscious Bluepaw rolled further down and into the sand.

"Oh no," she whispered as fear blocked her speech. "What have I done?"

"He tripped. We were just romping around - it was a mock battle. I caught his cheek and he stumbled and fell. Hit his head."

Guiltily, Swanpaw lied her way out of the truth, falsely recalling the events to Anemonewhisker as the brown tom milled about the den in search of care items for his unconscious patient.

"Where's Bluepaw? I need to see him!"

"Not with that tone, you don't," the medicine cat replied curtly, shooing Sandpaw back outside with motioning paws.

"Please, then? Anemonewhisker? Please?" the sandy tom wasn't above pleading, desperation back in his tired emerald eyes.

The slender tom bowed his head, allowing access. "You may see him. He's still out of it. He hit his head pretty hard. But I've also given him a poppy seed to ease his sleep. He'll stay asleep for several hours."

As Sandpaw crowded the side of his deep-rooted friend, Swanpaw sat across the den, staring soullessly down at her dirty paws. She didn't need to look to see the sorrow that practically wafted from the pale tabby tom.

She never meant to hurt Sandpaw.

She just wanted Bluepaw out of the way.

I never meant to hurt him. . . she thought pathetically, slipping out of the den before her eyes welled with tears. I only wanted Sandpaw for myself.

I love him.

Why? Why did I hurt him?

Challenge for TorrentClan

- Thornpaw