Chapter 16

Moons and moons ago…

Flight and Hawk sat next to each other, watching the night sky above. The two warriors gazed peacefully at the stars, ease settling over the two of them like a protective, thick blanket.

"Hawk, do you think anything will happen between us?" Flight asked, not taking her gaze off of the sky.

Hawk looked over at his sister, confused. "What do you mean?"

Flight looked down, and shrugged. "I don't know. What if one day we need to fight each other? What if one day you kill me? Or I kill you?"

Hawk stared at his sister in horror. "Flight! How can you ever think of something like that? That will never happen!"

Flight rolled her eyes. "I know it will never happen, but what if it did? Who'd win?"

Hawk flattened his ears. "I don't think I could ever handle having you removed from my life. I'd be completely broken."

Flight glanced over at him teasingly. "Aw, does little kitty Hawk feel down?"

Hawk widened his eyes, then laughed. "Hey! Not fair! I'd really be upset!" He lunged at her, knocking her over.

"Pfft! Hey! Now look who's really being a kit!" Flight laughed, shoving him off playfully.

Present Day

Heather laid in the den, her gaze transfixed on the grey leaf-bare sky above. She twitched her tail, glancing behind her into the den. Days had passed since Fish started living with them. He seemed upsetted by the fate of Leafclan, but understood Flight's decision to leave. SInce then he's always been helpful with finding what little prey the harsh cold offered them. Heather stretched, and stood up, padding out of the den quietly. In the camp clearing, she quickly spotted Grass and Flight, speaking to each other casually.

Heather flicked her ear, sighing slightly. Often times she wished that she could speak with Flight alone, away from the prying ears of the others.

Fish padded across the camp, heading towards Heather. Heather pricked her ears, confusion in her eyes. "Fish?"

Fish smiled, coming to a stop in front of her. "Hiya. Wanna go on a patrol?"

Heather flicked her tail, glancing behind him, trying to see Flight. She was still talking with her brother, the mood light and informal. "Sure."

They started to head toward the entrance, and were met up by Flame. She flicked an ear. "Where are you two going?" She sounded suspicious.

Heather flattened her ears. "We were just going to do some patrolling."

Flame narrowed her eyes. "Patrolling of what? It's not like we have territory here."

Fish flicked his tail. "You don't need to have territory to patrol. You just take a walk through the forest, assess what's in there." He paused for a moment. "You want to come with us?" He meowed with a smirk.

Flame jerked her head down to the side with a huff. After a few moments, she grudgingly replied, "...Yes…"

Fish twitched an ear. "Let's go then." He padded through the camp's entrance.

Heather glanced over at Flame. She could see that Fish had irritated Flame, due to the slight bristle in her neck fur. Heather frowned briefly. 'Why is she so sensitive to these small things?' Heather thought, watching as the orange she-cat padded through the entrance after Fish. Heather shook her head, and followed after the two of them, probably just overthinking things yet again.

Despite how the patrol started, it actually went pretty well. Aside from Flame's aloofness, of course. Heather found that she was starting to get used to it. Fish took them around the forest, looking out for any dangers. Flame had snapped at Heather when she tried to set a marking.

"You mouse-brain! Why would you even think to do that!?" Flame bristled, thrusting her shoulder into Heather's to push her away.

Heather stared at her, eyes wide in confusion and hurt. "I-I was just…"

"Just what!? Trying to tell our enemies where exactly we are? Have you got cotton for brains?"

"Hey, hey! Let's calm down. Flame, I'm sure Heather didn't mean anything by it. She was only trying to help." Fish intervened, coming in between the sisters.

Flame glared at him, her blue eyes churning with a deep, slow rage that always seemed to be present.

Fish stared back into her eyes, his own light green narrowing.

Heather watched this standoff nervously. After a few moments, she gathered enough courage to pipe up. "F-Fish, i-it's okay. Flame is right. I should've thought more."

Fish looked over at Heather, concern in his gaze. "Are you sure? I don't want any feuds between anyone of us."

Heather nodded, and glanced over at Flame to see her reaction. She was looking away, down at the snow. "Flame? I'm sorry for not thinking." Heather asked cautiously.

Flame lashed her tail, and began to stalk back to camp. "Let's go. I'm getting cold." She growled, her voice betraying nothing.

Heather flattened her ears, glancing down.

Fish glanced over to Flame, then back to Heather. "Might as well follow her. Someone's gotta keep her out of trouble."

Heather nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

As they were heading back, a sudden thought struck Heather. "Leafclan is pretty large…" She murmured.

"What was that?" Fish asked, turning his head. Flame pricked one of her ears.

Heather looked up. "Oh, I said that Leafclan, our clan we had to leave, it's a pretty big group of cats."

Fish nodded, kinda slowly. "Uh-huh. And?"

"Well, it's just that I haven't really seen that much prey. I was wondering if they would have enough to last them through leaf-bare."

"They have a lot of experienced, older cats. Leafclan will be fine." Flame meowed, breaking her unspoken vow of silence.

Heather looked over to her. "Are you sure? Maybe th-"

"Leafclan will be fine." Flame meowed again, this time sounding like the words had to be forced out of her mouth. You could practically hear the effort put behind pushing those words out.

Heather flicked an ear, and glanced back down at her paws.