Here is chapter 4, not that exciting of a chapter but it is still totally necessary so please read and review. Hopefully i will have the next one up soon. Please please please review :D i really miss waking up with emails telling me people have been reading.
The two small blue toms worked their way quickly through the brush and the bracken. The sun sunk lower and the sky was lit with hues of orange, red and purple. The cool new-leaf air grew colder with each passing heartbeat and the slightly damp dirt beneath the tom's paws sent a cold chill through their muscles.
Hazepaw skidded to a halt beneath the ancient sycamore tree causing Swiftpaw to spin around and face his brother. Swiftpaw breathed heavily, his blue pelt fluffed out in urgency and his dark blue eyes shifting around uncomfortably.
"Hazepaw, come on" Swiftpaw begged, looking up at the sky nervously.
Hazepaw shook his head "No, not until you tell me where we are going" he ducked his head giving his white and blue pelt a few swift licks before looking back up, meeting his brother's gaze "I had to lie to Topazmist and Shimmerlight just to get you out of camp, they think we are gathering herbs. So I think I deserve an explanation"
Swiftpaw frowned and looked down, not meeting his brother's stern gaze "I'm meeting someone and I want you to meet her"
Hazepaw bristled but before he could speak Swiftpaw silenced him.
"It's not what you think" he hissed angrily, his pelt fluffing out defensively "I need you to trust me"
Hazepaw thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly "Alright Swiftpaw, I trust your judgment" he stood up, waving his tail "Lead on"
Swiftpaw breathed a sigh of relief and charged on toward the Riverclan border, his fur tingling with excitement and fear, the two brothers worked their way through the territory and as they reached the clearing with the hill just as the sun sank behind a clump of pine trees. Swiftpaw raced down the hill, the river now in sight. He could hear Hazepaw following him, cautiously.
As the stepping stones came into view Swiftpaw felt his heart jump, spotting the familiar white and patched pelt of Moonpaw. The she-cat's sweet scent wafted to his scent glands as he slowly trotted to the nearest stone on the Thunderclan side of the border.
"Swiftpaw" Moonpaw meowed happily "You came" although the she-cat seemed happy to see him she remained on her side of the river. Her green eyes glinted excitedly and her fur fluffed out.
Swiftpaw puffed his chest out "Of course I came. I promised to tell you all about the gathering"
"Swiftpaw, what is going on?" Hazepaw asked as he stepped up closer to his brother, his blue eyes wary of the Riverclan she-cat.
Swiftpaw shrugged "I promised Moonpaw I would tell her about the gathering, so i needed to sneak out of camp"
Hazepaw narrowed his eyes "We're not even supposed to be here right now, you know that the Riverclan border is banned for apprentices"
"You come here to get watermint and goldenrod stalks for the herb supply don't you?" Swiftpaw meowed confidently and when Hazepaw nodded in agreement her simply waved his tail dismissively "Then we can bring those herbs back to camp, problem solved"
Hazepaw growled "Yeah I come here every so often, but never without Topazmist" he looked at Moonpaw for a moment "You're Reedstar's daughter aren't you" he bristled "Swiftpaw we can't trust her, let's go back to camp before you do something you will regret"
Swiftpaw shook his head "You can go back if you want, I promised to tell Moonpaw about the gathering"
Hazepaw shook his head "Alright but be quick" the blue tom glanced around "I'm going to gather some herbs by the river". He trotted away casting nervous glances back at his brother. The sun had almost gone all the way down and the sky shone a deep violet and the smallest of stars were beginning to appear. Swiftpaw fluffed his fur out as a cold wind blew, nearly knocking him off his paws. Moonpaw smiled, her green eyes locked with his.
Moonpaw managed to be the first to speak "So what happened at the gathering?"
Swiftpaw shrugged "Oh nothing much" he tried to sound confident and impressive as he spoke "Rabbitstar, Windclan's leader, reported a fox and her kits were on the territory but they chases it away, some kits were born oh and they have two new apprentices Rosepaw and Flurrypaw". Swiftpaw padded out on the stepping stone balancing on two paws as he kept talking, furrowing his brow in concentration "Nightstar didn't say much but there were no elders at the gathering which was strange and all the apprentices were really jumpy and wouldn't talk. He reported six new sets of kits and then stepped down"
Moonpaw frowned "That's a lot of kits at one time, six queens? Are you sure? Riverclan never has more than two or three nursing queens at one time"
Swiftpaw stood back on four paws and shrugged "That's what he said, he could be lying to make the clan sound stronger i guess" spotting the shimmering reflection of a fish he dabbed at the water experimentally, sending the fish in search of cover"
Moonpaw giggled "I'll have to teach you how to fish sometime" she purred "What news did Thunderclan have?"
Swiftpaw swirled his paw around in the water, feeling the water soak through the fur on his foot he pulled it out shaking the chilly droplets from his fur "Nothing new, our only kits are nearly 3 moons old and Hazepaw and I were made apprentices 2 moons ago", at the mention of his brother's name Swiftpaw spotted Hazepaw trotting back towards them, his jaws full of long green stalks with bright yellow flowers.
Swiftpaw hopped back across the stones and back onto his side of the border "I had better go" glancing up, the sky was dark, almost black and the stars were brighter. Moonpaw nodded standing up, she waved with her tail before turning and padding away. Before she disappeared she cast a sorrowful green gaze towards Swiftpaw.
"L-l-lets meet here again" Swiftpaw stammered, unable to just watch the intriguing she-cat leave.
Moonpaw flicked her ears and tilted her head "Really? Alright when?"
"In four sunrises, at sunset" he hissed the words hurriedly as his brother reached him and Moonpaw nodded, her green eyes glinting brightly before she vanished into the reeds.
"Are you ready to go?" Hazepaw meowed impatiently. Swiftpaw nodded, trying to his the smile tugging at his lips, the anticipation of his next meeting with Moonpaw already clouding his mind. The two brothers padded back towards the camp, the evening growing darker. As they got closer to the camp Hazepaw stopped, setting down his herbs.
"Swiftpaw i don't like what's going on between you and Moonpaw" he meowed quietly.
Swiftpaw bristled "Nothing is going on between us; we are friends that want to see each other"
"Meeting her is breaking the warrior code, what about your loyalty to your clan?" Hazepaw meowed irritably, his tail tip flicking back and forth and his claws digging into the soft dirt beneath his paws.
Swiftpaw smirked at his brother before speaking "The warrior code says we can have friends in other clans-"
"Friends you see at the gatherings" Hazepaw snapped.
Swiftpaw looked down and murmured quietly "Gatherings? I can't see her at the gatherings. You don't understand Hazepaw. You can go to all the gatherings you want, you can have friends in every clan, you're not bound by the warrior code"
"I'm a medicine cat" Hazepaw reminded gently.
"Well what make you so special" Swiftpaw snarled angrily, he furiously dug at the grass beneath his paws, ripping it from the ground "I could have been made a medicine cat, just as easily as you"
Hazepaw shook his head, laying his tail gently on Swiftpaw's shoulder "You're a warrior, through and through, you are loyal and I know you will make the right decision" he ducked his head picking up the herbs.
"You're not going to tell are you?" Swiftpaw meowed hopefully. Hazepaw simply shook his head no, but as he trotted away his blue eyes shone sadly.
Swiftpaw breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a great weight lift off his shoulders. As he padded forward he felt light as air, as though he were flying. Padding straight through the camp entrance he crashed into someone.
"Where have you been?" Lionstreak hissed.
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Rainwind alias Dazzlespark: thanks for your review