A.N: Well I was really bored this morning, so here's a little (filler) chapter for Heatherpaw. Obviously I had issues because Heatherpaw ate all my little plot bunnies.

Heatherpaw: They were hard to catch, be proud.

Anyway, I don't own Warriors, Erin Hunter does. Or else I would be making more than 60$ a month.

The next few days, I felt cut off from my Clan. I was alone, I didn't want to go out with Crowfeather, and even Breezepaw noticed my apparent withdrawal, because he actually made an effort to be kind to me. But I felt like the events of my life would flow over me, like the water washing over and smoothing the stones beneath its waters until I felt nothing anymore. It took those few days until the numbness faded away, and I rejoined my Clan in their normal lives.

I spent time that first morning to watch the sun rise, as I was awake before any of my fellow apprentices. In the cool air of predawn, I stretched and padded out of my den, sitting on the dew-laden grass to watch the horizon turn from black-blue to gold and then white as the sun slowly rose over the landscape. Behind me, I could hear the sleepy purrs and the low mews of my Clanmates beginning to awaken. Up on the Watcher's Rock, Owlwhisker leapt down and vanished behind the wall of gorse, reappearing seconds later in the shadowy tunnel between two boulders. He passed me with a small nod before heading into the Warrior's Den, wading through the cats that had chosen to sleep outside the night before to head for their den. 'Guess if he'll be sleeping until Sunhigh, he might not want the apprentices poking around.' I chuckled at the little joke, the first one for many moons, and sensed the Clan stir around me.

Nightcloud emerged from the shadows, her amber eyes were the only things that gave her away in the long shade cast by the strengthening light. She cast one look behind her, where the familiar smoky figure of my mentor had appeared. The two of them never got along well, even though the Clan thought of them as mates. I wasn't one to make assumptions, but Crowfeather just wanted to be a loyal warrior to his Clan. He couldn't do that while his own cats doubted him. On that level, I could relate to him.

"Heatherpaw!" Breezepaw called, bouncing over with an uncharacteristically bright look in his eyes, his tail stood as tall as a heather-stalk over his back.

"Hi," I greeted calmly, and then my eyes narrowed a bit, and my voice filled with mock-wariness. "Seeing you this happy can only mean one thing…"

There was a swish of his tail in warning before the dark grey tomcat leapt at me. We tussled for seconds before I slid out of his grasp, standing a few paces away to look at him with humor. Breezepaw stood and shook the dust from his short pelt, not at all bothered by the earth. "Battle training, first thing in the morning!" He finished for me, whiskers twitching.

"I should've known, there's only one thing that can make you act like a kit this early." I joked, lifting a paw to clean it before drawing it over my ear. "Normally you act like someone left a thistle in your nest, and you lumber about like a dog until sunhigh!"

"I do not!" Breezepaw hissed, but his ears were pricked with amusement.

"If you two are quite finished…" Whitetail muttered, her tail-tip twitching with annoyance as she trod across the clearing, clearly unaffected by her joyful apprentice's mood. "Breezepaw, are you going to wait for the ThunderClan cats to come and lay at your paws?" I hid a snicker as Breezepaw flicked one ear back, and with a burst of bad emotion, he grumbled out a goodbye to me and stalked away through the shadowy entrance after Whitetail. I didn't blame him for his change of heart- Whitetail was good mentor, until she was grumpy, that was.

"Breezepaw had better watch himself this morning." The dry comment made me spin around to look up at my own mentor, who watched his son disappear through the tunnel. There was no flicker of emotion in his eyes, and it puzzled me for a second. Shouldn't a father care about his kin? But the thought was whisked away as he bounded past me, calling over his shoulder for me to follow him. With a good mental shove, I pushed away any thoughts of Lionpaw that had been creeping up on me, and dedicated myself to training with Crowfeather.

But as the morning progressed, the sun climbing higher in the sky, it was apparent that I was not myself that day. When I stalked rabbits, the sunlight glinted off their white tails, creating the illusion of golden fur. Nothing could stop me from hunting one down after it had crossed my sights; there was fury in my blood that let me chase them all the way across the hills. If my mentor noticed, he said nothing. I did catch a sidewise glance at me as I returned with two rabbits, my neck aching with the strain of their cooling bodies.

Really, it wasn't until battle training that my aggression became apparent to anyone who was training with us. It was unfortunate that Weaselfur had to inform Crowfeather, who was working with Kestrelpaw with his defensive moves. My mentor's smoking blue eyes sought me out after sending Weaselfur and Kestrelpaw back to camp together after examining a stinging scratch mark I had left on the young tom's shoulder.

"Heatherpaw, what is wrong with you today?" His voice was dark, and I wondered how I hadn't noticed him slip into one of his moods.

"Nothing" I scuffled my paws in the packed stems of barley that our training field was in. Normally it would help to teach us to keep our paws clear of anything growing, good for fighting in the undergrowth of our new neighbors, ThunderClan and the odd terrain of the Horseplace. Now it just gave me something to sink my claws into as Crowfeather lectured me, painstakingly slowly, on how to fight with my claws sheathed.

"I'm not a kit!" I finally snapped, whipping my head up to look him straight in the eyes. I was immediately embarrassed though, as I would've never spoken that sharply to him on a regular basis.

My mentor's eyes flashed bright with a surge of anger before he could quell it. "If you continue to act like a fox without his tail, I'll make sure you get the job of a kit for the next moon." His voice was even colder than his icy eyes, and I shrunk back, finding myself apologizing quickly. When I looked back up though, it was apparent he was calmer. "Heatherpaw, you never act like this. What happened?" When I stayed silent for a few more heartbeats, he spoke again. "You can tell me, Heatherpaw."

I considered telling him about Lionpaw, about the way his golden eyes still ripped into me, and I avoided the borders just so I didn't even tempt myself. I knew his scent; I knew his eyes, his body. There was no way I would let myself get ripped up all over again every time I wanted to protect my Clan. But hadn't Crowfeather had the same experience? He had run off with Leafpool, the ThunderClan medicine cat. Surely that meant that he had loved her? That he had known her, maybe not to the degree that she knew Lionpaw, but farther, more intimate? It had him shunned from the Clan, no one trusted him and he was still trying to recover from it now. Could I stand that?

"It's just those stupid ThunderClanners." I spat suddenly, deciding to sit at the crosspaths, and tell a half-truth. "They walk around like they're StarClan's gift to the Clans, and think they're all high and mighty over anyone." I turned my face away, hoping Crowfeather didn't see the pain my own words were causing me. There was silence between us for a few moments, and I wondered if he could see through my ruse. Embarrassment flashed, hot under my pelt as I realized that I was still thinking of my golden tomcat, and banished him from my mind.

"Well that's something we can all agree on." His voice startled me into looking up. He could say that? So utterly and completely sure that it is true, when he had been willing to give up his life for a she-cat of the Clan they were discussing? The empty look in his eyes said it all: he no longer thought that way about her. Even if he did, Crowfeather knew that he could never go back."Just don't take it out on Weaselfur, go wait at the border for a wet-earred apprentice to run over the border again. His casual tone diffused the emotions stockpiling within me.

"Think they'd let me? Or just stand there preaching about how much better they are?" the dark humor slipped into my voice without a conscious decision.

"Oh yes," my mentor snorted, pushing himself to his paws and flicking his tail toward the tall heather stalks. "You'd easily be able to take them on; they're as slow as badgers." His comment made me laugh, and I leapt through the honey-colored plants, the world looking brighter.

We spent the afternoon hunting instead of fighting, making jokes about the other Clans and generally lightening the mood. By the end of the day, the lurking thoughts of Lionpaw and the reactions he now caused in me were mostly gone. In a few more days of integrating back in with my Clanmates, I felt my thoughts had settled enough. I would recover from this, and I'd be okay. But I'd never go near the tomcat that broke my heart again.

All this changed when two ThunderClan cats walked into camp days later. Our entire Clan was on edge, and the warriors told me to go wait in the apprentice den with my friend, Harepaw, and one complaining Breezepaw. We all knew that it would be best, so that Breezepaw didn't set either Clan off. The dark tom snorted when Harepaw told him our theory, and we just giggled at the boasting that commenced afterward.

Harepaw looked out at the ThunderClan cats, and muttered quietly, "What's wrong with that cat's apprentice? He's staring straight ahead." This comment caused an icy trickle of water to trickle down my spine. Lionpaw didn't speak about his siblings much, but having a brother that was blind and the reluctant medicine cat apprentice was a little important.

I explained to my friend quietly about Jaypaw's disability, knowing that his ears were as sharp as his eyes were blind.

Onestar broke into the bushes around camp in a flurry of pawsteps, demanding to know why there were enemy cats in camp. With the arrival of their leader, the whole Clan tensed. No we had everyone, we were a threatening weapon that could deal serious injury, and the ThunerClan cats only had to put one paw wrong.

"Does Firestar still think there's some kind of special relationship between our Clans? Because there isn't!"

"Firestar understands that."

The conversation faded in and out, I was too busy watching Crowfeather. He, in turn, watched the ThunderClan medicine cat with an intensity that obviously made her uncomfortable. The tension between then was like lightening, thickening the air and waiting for a spark. As much as my mentor was focused on Leafpool, I was staring at Jaypaw. He looked nothing like Lionpaw, who had thick shoulders and already-well-toned muscles. This cat standing in my camp was slight, with a bony frame and grey tabby coat that hung off his frame, making him look even smaller.

Yowls rose from my Clanmates suddenly, and I joined in absent-mindedly while my mind spun around and around. Crowfeather had stepped closer to Leafpool, but his fur was bristling along his spine, and his chest was thrust out in a way that wasn't meek. Only a sharp word from Onestar could pull him away, sending him stalking into the ranks of our warriors along the edges of camp.

The conversation continued in a low tone, like thunder rumbling in the distance. I didn't even listening, and instead, watched Harepaw, who was obviously enraptured in the words being flung around. Suddenly a screech broke the silence, and fear-scent invaded the apprentice den. Were we waging a battle? Right here?

Gorsetail broke in through the camp entrance, her normally well-groomed fur in a ragged array. Her eyes were wild with fear, and instantly, all of the cats were bristling, staring at the queen expectantly. She regained her breath in seconds, and let out a wail that sent shivers through my fur.

"My kits are gone!"

A.N: Yes, this is going to continue all the way to that part, if anyone has guessed yet. Heatherpaw has to go back to the tunnels! Oh noz! And everyone knows who's going to be there! Hawk's Shadow!

Oh. You said Lionpaw? Well, he's there too.

Might put out the last chatper tomorrow, we're almost done people!