SORRY, SO MUCH VOLLEYBALL!
Gingerpaw followed his clan members slowly back to camp. He couldn't believe how
friendly Honeypaw was, he liked her a lot. He maybe even loved her. The thoughts were
racing through his head, but he figured they were all ridiculous thoughts. He was too
young to be in love, or was he? He knew he loved Fernpaw, but he felt different with
Honeypaw, it was more exciting. He remembered something she had whispered when she
was leaving. "Meet me at our border, by the holly bushes." He was excited, but he was
kind of worried about getting caught. He decided he would go after he saw Fernpaw, she
couldn't watch over him in the apprentice den after the monster hit her. He realized that
they were back at the Thunderpath. He flinched as he remembered how the monster had
hit Fernpaw, and the thud she made when she hit the ground. He raced across the stinking
ground and kept running, ahead of his clanmates. He was the first back to camp and ran
into the medicine cat's den. He skidded to a stop and sniffed his friend's fur. She smelled
like crowfood. Fernpaw stood up and looked around for Gingerpaw. "Gingerpaw? Is that
you?"
Gingerpaw squinted his eyes at her. "I'm right in front of you. How didn't you know?"
Fernpaw's ears drooped. "I can't see."
Gingerpaw didn't know what to say so he licked the top of her head. "It's going to be
fine. Are you hurt in any other way?"
Fernpaw shook her head. "No, I just can't see. Darkfur said that there was a case in
Riverclan where a cat was hit by a twoleg. He couldn't see for a while, but his sight came
back. See? I'll be fine!"
"Um, are you sure? That cat was hit by a twoleg; you were hit by a monster. There's a
huge difference between the two."
"Don't take away what little hope I have." Fernpaw whispered sadly. "I need to be able to
believe that I will be a warrior."
Gingerpaw nosed her side and said a quick goodbye. He went into the apprentice den and
waited until he heard the warriors in the den next to his quiet down. They were asleep. He
crept quietly through camp, the entire time hoping no cat saw him. He snuck past the
night guard, Blackstripe, and let out the breath he had been holding in when he knew he
was safe. He slunk silently through the dark forest and finally made it to the holly bush
that Honeypaw told him to go to. He sat in silence, gazing at the moon until a cat jumped
on him. His breath caught in his throat for a moment until he smelled the sweet scent of
Honeypaw.
"Hello." She purred and jumped off of his back. Gingerpaw stood up happily and touched
noses gently with her. It didn't matter that she smelled of rabbits and he smelled of the
forest, they were meant to be together. They spent the entire night talking about their
clanmates and previous gatherings they'd been to. Honeypaw said that Blackpaw was
interested in her, but she liked Gingerpaw more, even if he was a stinky Shadowclan cat.
Gingerpaw pretended to be offended by her comment and they got into a pretend scuffle.
He finally pinned her down. "Wow, you're pretty good at fighting." Gingerpaw meowed
breathlessly. Honeypaw looked away from him shyly. "Thanks, but I'm nowhere near as
good as you." She flipped over onto her stomach and Gingerpaw fell off her and hit the
ground with a quiet thud.
"I think we should go back." She meowed with regret tingeing her voice.
Gingerpaw didn't want that night to end, it was nice to have a friend that he could tell
anything, but he knew he needed to go to check on Fernpaw because it was morning
already. Honeypaw padded quickly back onto her territory and kept going, looking back a
few times. Gingerpaw watched her leave and turned to go back to camp when she
disappeared into the sunrise. He walked with his eyes on the ground, he felt kind of guilty
now that Honeypaw was gone, he told her about his clan. What if she used that against
him in battle?