"I really should be going now. I'm on the dawn patrol-" Thistleclaw hissed.
"Are you loyal to us, or ThunderClan?" He didn't wait for Sootpaw to answer before he flicked his tail and closed his eyes. "Go. I must rest, anyway." Sootpaw wasted no time laying down and going to sleep. He had hoped for a little bit of rest, but he wasn't granted the privilege.
He woke to a paw prodding him in the side. Twigpaw was standing over him.
"The dawn patrol is leaving soon, and I'm leaving for SandClan before you'll be back." Sootpaw remembered painfully how he wasn't going.
"Yeah, well have fun." He got up and pushed his way out of the den and padded over to where Brackenfur, Rosepetal, and Molepaw were gathered to go on patrol.
"Bye, Sootpaw!" Twigpaw shouted after him. He ignored her, and he didn't even know why. For some reason, he wasn't in a good mood. Gingerpaw's annoying mew didn't help.
"Mind if I tag along?" Her voice was like honey, soothing and warm, but it only rubbed his fur the wrong way. Molepaw worshipped her for no reason, and that irritated him too. He brought her fresh-kill, groomed her fur for her, and did virtually everything for her. She hardly ever left camp because poor love struck Molepaw did everything for her.
"You're leaving for SandClan soon. You won't be back in time," Brackenfur meowed. Molepaw gave a pleading glance at him, but the ginger tom ignored him.
Without a word, Molepaw brushed his cheek against Gingerpaw's before she bounded away. Twigpaw's eyes were ablaze with fury. Everyone knew Molepaw and Sootpaw's sister had been flirting with each other until Gingerpaw came. Then Molepaw began to treat Twigpaw like a cat from another Clan.
"Sootpaw, are you coming or not?" Rosepetal had waited for him while the other two cats had gone on ahead.
"Yeah." He ran up to her and they caught up to the rest of the patrol.
"Staring at Gingerpaw, eh Sootpaw?" Molepaw was sneering. "Well she's mine." Sootpaw snorted in amusement.
"A she-cat can't be yours. You can't own another cat." Molepaw narrowed his eyes.
"You know what I mean. Just leave her alone, okay?" Sootpaw rolled his eyes.
"What happened to you and my sister? You used to be the best of friends." Molepaw looked down, either embarrassed or ashamed.
"Things have changed."
"When did they change? I noticed it the day Gingerpaw arrived. You were tripping over your own feet to get close enough to her. Twigpaw was crushed, you know." Molepaw snorted.
"Yeah right. She'd never be into a cat like me. That's why I moved on. She's too good for me."
"She's only too good for you if you think she is." Molepaw grunted and looked over at Sootpaw, suddenly angry.
"Quit trying to make me like Twigpaw! I love Gingerpaw now, and there's nothing that will change that." He stalked away and Sootpaw caught up to the rest of the patrol to see why there was such a big interest in the evergreen.
"All I smell is ShadowClan on it!" Rosepetal's hiss was unusually hostile. Sootpaw knew a sweet, gentle, and kind Rosepetal, not a hostile one.
"Yes, but try to smell what's underneath the fresh markers. It's the smell of a rogue." Snowpaw snorted.
"Rosepetal has the best nose in all the Clans, so if she doesn't smell it, I doubt it's there." Brackenfur hissed.
"I know it isn't just ShadowClan scent!"
"Well it is, so let's just go back to camp." Rosepetal padded over to Sootpaw and walked back to camp with him while Brackenfur and Snowpaw argued over the bush.
"You trust me, right?" Her question startled Sootpaw.
"Of course." She seemed to relax after he answered and she purred. But then her carefree voice was replaced by a worried tone.
"Good, because I'm starting to think no one does. Brackenfur doesn't trust my sense of smell, Mousefur doesn't trust me to get all the thorns out of her bedding, and Bramblestar never lets me go out hunting alone. I don't know why, but no one trusts me!" Sootpaw pitied her. The whole Clan seemed to be treating her differently for no apparent reason.
"I still trust you," he purred. She rubbed her cheek against his.
"Thanks." The padded back to camp, their pelts almost touching.
When they got back to camp, Sootpaw looked around for Twigpaw. He was sorry about how harsh he was this morning. Then he remembered that she had left a little while ago.
He would miss his sister, but at least he had someone that understood him to talk to while she was gone.