Chapter 22

A/n I am at my Mum's house so I don't have many internet opportunities. But I'm posting chapters every time I get the chance. Oh! Nearly 100 reviews. When I get them, we gonna celebrate! And I'll but every body cake! Pretend cake, I'm sorry. :( Oh the shame.

Day 24

I open my eyes to sunlight streaming through the beautiful green forest. The soil beneath me is moist, unlike yesterday. But then I realise I'm not a cat. I hear footsteps behind me, and turn around to see two boys; one with dark silver hair and blue eyes, the other with fiery red hair and green eyes. They are arguing with each other, the latter is talking. "Why did you run into her in the first place?"

"I didn't realise the ground was wet!" The first says.

"How did it get wet?" The second one snaps. "It's been hot for days."

Then a girl with white hair and blue eyes talks. "Hey, you two, cut it out!" She yells. "Foxleap, Featherpaw left the moss outside when she was cleaning the elders' nests, and they were still wet from being soaked in the water."

Another girl with black hair and green eyes pops out from the bushes beside her. "Jayfeather, it was your fault you were heading towards her at full speed in the first place. Don't you remember we don't run in the clearing unless we're in danger?"

The two boys both sigh. Wait a minute! Is this conversation happening right now, but I'm imagining it because I'm still technically asleep?

I force myself to pinch my arm, a technique I use when I want to wake up, and it works every time.

My eyes open sleepily and I see only Jayfeather and Foxleap standing in the medicine cats' den. They seem to have calmed down, though they're giving each other death glares.

Finally, Foxleap speaks. "Has she talked to you yet?"

I close my eyes, but keep them slightly open to see their blurry figures. I really shouldn't eaves-drop on their conversation… But they're talking about me, so I guess I can make an exception.

Jayfeather shakes his head. "You?"

"Neither. You were about to break the rules, running over and yelling her name like that."

Wait, rules?

Jayfeather rolls his eyes. "Well, it was important."

Foxleap shrugs.

They look at each other before glancing at me at the same time. "Let's just forget about it for a while and concentrate on helping get Featherpaw back on her feet again."

Jayfeather seems to agree with this, but he grumbles anyway. "Fine."

And then I fall asleep again.

I hear the bramble rustle and my eyes fly open. Jayfeather has clean moss in his mouth. I sit up, not noticing the jay feathers in his nest as I yawn.

"Morning." I meow.

"Afternoon." He corrects. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Feel a little dizzy though." I rub my head with a paw.

Jayfeather places the moss down and walks up to me. "Featherpaw… I know you were listening to our conversation."

I bite down on my lip. How'd he know? I feel anger boil inside of me. "I was! What are these 'rules'? Huh?"

He looks at his paws. "Well… Uhh… Wait." He leaves the den and comes back a few moments later with Foxleap.

They both sit down next to me and glance at each other.

Foxleap nods. "Go on, Featherpaw."

"What are the rules?" I ask.

"We decided that the only way to be fair on how much time we spend with you was if you asked us first." Foxleap explains.

I growl. "Really? Maybe it would've been a good idea if you'd told me that, so I didn't just think that you were ignoring me and being jerks?!"

"We wanted to see who you'd want to be with, Featherpaw." Jayfeather meows.

"Well, I don't have a choice! You're a medicine cat, for StarClan's sake, and you," I snap my head to Foxleap. "You're in love with Poppyfrost, am I right?"

Foxleap flushes as Jayfeather shifts.

I stand up; frustration takes away the pain of my head ache as I leave the den.

Stupid toms!

I turn the corner and bump into Lionblaze. Just my luck. By the smell of him, he's just gotten back from WindClan. "Great StarClan, Lionblaze. Anyone would know you've gone to see Heathertail from the other side of the lake!" I snap at him.

He frowns. "What happened to you?"

I roll my eyes. "Why don't you go roll in some fox dung?"

The golden tom wrinkles his nose. "Ugh, no thanks. That will just make cats even more suspicious."

"I wasn't suggesting it to hide your scent, I was suggesting it because you're not opening your eyes. Heathertail, WindClan. You, ThunderClan. Make sense?" I growl, walking in the direction away from the lake. He follows me, trotting a bit to catch up to my quick strides.

"Come on, Featherpaw. What happened?" Lionblaze asks.

"Jayfeather… Foxleap… Toms… Stupid!" I sputter in short breaths. I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but they've been ignoring me for so long, I thought they were angry or forgot about me. And it had rules! Like a stupid game!

Lionblaze frowns. "I'm sorry; can you be a little clearer than that?"

I let out a frustrated growl, mixed with a sigh. "Just leave me alone, I need to cool off!"

(A/n Hey, just for a bit of fun, while Featherpaw goes to cool off, we'll go into Lionblaze's POV for what happens when he turns around to go back to camp! ^.^)

Lionblaze's POV

I stop immediately. Wow, she's really angry. I was nearly too scared to ask.

Then I hear a twig snap, and I turn around, claws unsheathed. A fiery red pelt doesn't camouflage too well in the green leaves. Neither does a dark grey one, but it isn't as bad.

I sigh. "Alright, what did you two do?" It's nearly a scold, like a queen telling off her kits.

They both side step out of the bushes, looking very guilty. "We told her something we…"

"…Wish we didn't tell her." Jayfeather finishes his sentence.

Foxleap nods at him. "We didn't mean to make her upset."

"She deserved to know, she'd heard us talking about it."

They both nod shamefully, mumbling sorry over and over.

I sigh again. "Why don't you say sorry to her, and not me?"

"Now?" The medicine cat knows it's going to end badly.

"Okay, maybe we should wait a bit." I say.

We have a little chat, though the small talk is awkward. We just end up sitting there, looking around, watching our tails, listening to the wind.

Foxleap's gaze lightens. "Now?" He grins. It has been a while…

Jayfeather's already running. "Race you there, mouse-brain!"

"I'll get there first, you piece of crow-food!" Foxleap yells back to him as he gives chase.

I raise my eyebrows. It's weird how they hate each other.

Featherpaw's POV

I turn around when I hear thudding behind me. By now, I've recovered from my anger. The forest is the best place to walk through to calm down. I get to just think about things, and enjoy the peace and beauty of nature. "Wha-"

For a moment, I don't recognise them, running side by side. They crash right into me, and I swear, I could probably black out right now.

"Hey, GET OFF OF ME!" I screech, kicking up my hind legs. Jayfeather and Foxleap scramble away, and sit a distance away from me.

I sit up and glare at them, still angry at them for putting me in a game. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you." Jayfeather looks at Foxleap. "Alone."

Foxleap nods, frowning as he stands up and walks back to the forest, casting me a sad glance.

I sigh. "Alright, what is so important that you couldn't tell me a few days ago?"

"I think I know who my mother is." He blinks at me.

I snort. "Okay, who is she?"

"Leafpool,"

I gape but shut my mouth quickly. "How did you…" My whisper trails off when I realize Mousefur must've given him a clue for the parsley, and then he probably asked the medicine cats when he went to the Moonpool a few days ago.

I was correct. Jayfeather launches into explanation, but he stops midway. "You know all of this already, don't you?"

"Yeah…"

"So who's the father?" He asks me.

I shake my head. "Hey, I wanted something, remember?"

He groans. "Oh yeah… What do you want then?"

I shrug. "I guess I'll remember when you do it."

We walked back to camp silently. It is sunset now; I sit in the camp with Hollyleaf and Icecloud, one on each side as we watch the camp floor turn orange.

"How's your head ache?" Hollyleaf asks.

I shrug. "Better than when I woke up,"

Icecloud blinks. "Are you up for some hunting tomorrow?"

"No, I have to do some more battle training." I shake my head.

"Alright," she replies, "Maybe I can get Foxleap. We haven't gone out into the forest in ages."

Hollyleaf gets up. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."

We say good night, and then I turn back to Icecloud. "Why?"

Icecloud shrugs. "Busy, I guess. He even moved his bed near Poppyfrost."

I nod slowly. No, I don't love him, but I feel a twinge of jealousy. It was soothing to have him there to support me and watch out for me; to fall asleep by his side and sit in silence together.

"Night, Featherpaw." Icecloud meows as she leaves.

I nod. "Night,"

Foxleap is lying in my nest when I come into the den. He's already asleep, his body rising and falling slowly. I crawl in next to him and rest my head on him.

He stirs, half-opening his eyes as he lifts his head. "I missed you, Featherpaw."

I smile and lick his forehead; he closes his eyes and smiles too, laying back down and falling asleep again.