Ochreheart lay in the medicine den, resting after Threelegs had applied a poultice to his wound. His head had clouded with thoughts in the middle of fighting a badger, not exactly the best time for such things.

Now, however, in the perfect time and place to do so, there was a swirling vortex of thought upon thought building up like a flash flood. Ochreheart simply took it all in.

"I wonder where the garden is Jackdaw I want you to comfort me I should've paid attention why is Mothwings on another solo patrol oh no it's almost leaf-bare I want to go to the garden Jayflight where are you Mothwings I hope you're okay Jackdaw I want to be with you the poultice stings I want to go to sleep Jayflight why can't I be with you did Silverstar know what he was doing I want to go home..."

With the last thought, the flood slowed, and Ochreheart lingered on it.

"Where is home? Is RiverClan really where I belong? I want to go back-" He thought but was cut off.

"Ochreheart, I think the poultice has had enough time to set, you should be fine now," Threelegs said, cutting him off.

"Alright, thanks," he replied, standing up. An idea had struck his mind. As usual, at the wrong time and in the wrong place.

"Come back before sundown so I can check to make sure it's not infected."

"Alright." Ochreheart's idea continued to develop as he exited the den, expression blank. He returned to the warrior's den and lay down, staring at the patterns and shells in the woven reeds.

The only thing he could think of was his plan. He was going to see Jayflight.

...

The night air was dry and cold, as with most leaf-fall nights. Ochreheart was seemingly sleeping, but he had been wide awake and alert since the sun slipped beneath the horizon. He was waiting for the perfect moment.

When Ochreheart felt the time was right, very slowly, he rose and crept around the sleeping cats, careful to be completely silent. He crept across camp, heading to a secret exit he had discovered as a young apprentice. He slunk into the small tunnel and crawled his way through. The whirlwind of thoughts he had experienced earlier was gone. He was only thinking about Jayflight.

He knew well that his idea was mouse-brained, because he could just wait until the Gathering in a half-moon. However, he chose to ignore the fact and keep moving. He reached the twoleg bridge and crossed, keeping a steady pace.

Time seemed to speed up as Ochreheart just kept on moving forward, knowing exactly where he was going, but at the same time having no idea what he was doing.

He crossed the Thunderpath and entered ShadowClan territory, getting nervous and increasing his pace to not leave a lingering scent.

He was now close to ShadowClan camp, and he ducked behind a bush when he heard two sets of paws exiting the camp. He tried to get the two cat's scent. One was certainly of ShadowClan, but one confused him. It had the scent of ShadowClan, but beneath that scent was another clan.

Ochreheart heard voices, and he held back a gasp as he realized exactly what was happening.

Jayflight and Sleekstep had fallen in love.

"This is exciting! Scary and exciting!" Jayflight whispered.

"Great StarClan, I'm nervous. I've been known to be loyal to ShadowClan, and ShadowClan only, but if some cat sees me?" Sleekstep replied at the same volume. After a pause he added, "It would be worth it."

"Aww," Jayflight purred. Ochreheart felt betrayed, terrified, and confused. How could Jayflight, the cat he had known all his life, break the sacred code so easily?

"Let's go to Fourtrees, more space there," Sleekstep said quickly.

"Alright," Jayflight smiled. They left, and Ochreheart silently crept behind them, keeping his distance. After a while, they arrived at Fourtrees. Jayflight and Sleekstep trotted to the Great Rock, and Ochreheart crouched behind one of the Great Oaks, peeking his head around but making sure to keep himself subdued in the foliage.

There was silence as the two cats enjoyed their presence, then Ochreheart felt a tugging feeling.

"It's wrong to spy on her. I should go back…" He thought somberly. Then, he changed his mind.

"I must, it's the only way to… ugh, what am I doing?" He continued. Ochreheart began to turn around, then he halted when Sleekstep spoke.

"Jayflight, have you ever felt like you're happy, but something's trapped inside, and you don't know how to let it out?" he said, turning in her direction.

"Hm… no, why?" she replied.

"That's what I felt like… before I met you," he said, smiling warmly.

"Sleekstep, I don't know what to say," Jayflight said after a pause. Then, the moment Ochreheart had been dreading.

"Jayflight, I… I love you."

"I love you too, Sleekstep." As if it had been waiting to happen, the space between their muzzles was gone.

Ochreheart's whole world crashed into disarray. His vision felt blurry. He couldn't hear the crickets and nocturnal creatures over the blood rushing in his ears. His legs felt like they might give out and stop working entirely. His mind was a swirling vortex before, but now it was a chaotic hurricane that left everything it touched destroyed beyond repair.

Everything is wrong. So, so, wrong… Ochreheart thought. It was enough to make him turn back and begin running. He didn't know where he was going, he just ran.

His eyes clouded with tears. He kept running. His limbs were sore from crouching and ached now that they were moving so fast. He kept running. The wood from the twoleg bridge and the stones nestled in the ground hurt his paws. He kept running. The RiverClan camp neared, the river surrounding it drawing closer. He kept running. The tears fell to the ground and small yelps of despair escaped his mouth. He kept running. He passed the camp, passed Mothwings and Jackdaw, and left everything he had grown to love behind.

He kept running.