The sunlight fell on Cherrypaw's light brown pelt as she slept under the trees, dappling her fur in the most perfect, picturesque way. Lionpaw stared at the scenery, taking it in, feeling rooted to the spot. The surroundings disappeared around him as his vision tunneled, and for a moment all that was in his world was the she-cat in front of him. He took a shaky breath, feeling his fur grow hot with embarrassment as he realized he was ogling again. 

"If you like her so much," whispered a voice in his ear, startling him from his moment, "then just tell her." 

Lionpaw turned around to face Sandypaw, who had that smirk plastered on his face as he'd caught his best friend sneaking a peek at their Clanmate yet again. "It doesn't work like that," he snapped.  

"Sure it does." Sandypaw shrugged nonchalantly. "I told Fernpaw how I felt, and look how that turned out. Perfect, in my opinion. We've already decided to tie the grass once we both become warriors. Worst case scenario, Cherrypaw rejects you and you two spend the rest of your lives living in awkwardness." 

"That's terrible," Lionpaw shot back. "Plus, Fernpaw was different. You'd have to get knocked on the head by a boulder to not be able to see her crush on you." Sandypaw's eyes glimmered. 

"True. But if I were you, I wouldn't waste my time. I hear both Wolfpaw and Tigerpaw are pining after her." He flicked his ears good-bye as he strolled away towards his waiting mentor. 

"What?" Lionpaw caught up to Sandypaw, lowering his voice once a couple heads turned his way. "Where did you hear that?" 

"Fernpaw," Sandypaw replied, his gaze forward. "Look, I have to go. Can we talk about this later?" He tried to walk away again, but Lionpaw let out an impatient snort and pulled his tail. 

"No. You literally told me this devastating news and you can't leave me hanging now. Okay, how did Fernpaw know that?" 

"She was talking to them, duh! She sleeps with them too. Look, it's obvious. Cherrypaw and Mothpaw are the only she-cats left, and, I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say this: Cherrypaw is definitely the better looking of the two. Plus, she's Tigerpaw's sister and thus out of his choices. So act fast, Lionpaw. Good luck." And he bounded away without a word, leaving Lionpaw with his mouth hanging open. 

Tigerpaw and Wolfpaw are both trying to court Cherrypaw? No, this can't be happening. He'd had a crush on the brown she-cat ever since they were kits. But Lionpaw was terribly good at hiding his feelings, and had managed to subdue himself so far. But what Sandypaw was saying made sense; Cherrypaw and Mothpaw were the only two she-cats their age (who hadn't been taken), and Cherrypaw was a total vision. It was amazing that she hadn't found someone already. Lionpaw knew that many had flirted with her, but she'd turned them all down. Tigerpaw and Wolfpaw had held back, for reasons unknown to Lionpaw. But he'd always assumed that he wouldn't need to worry about them. 

But Fernpaw was a huge gossip at the same time, and there was no reason for Lionpaw to trust her anyway. She had a way of telling stories the way she wanted to. And thanks to Sandypaw, Fernpaw knew about Lionpaw's crush on her best friend. 

A sweet, familiar scent flooded his nostrils and he immediately whipped around (it was a wonder that his neck didn't snap) to see Cherrypaw yawning and padding up to him, giving him an adorably sleepy smile. "Hey." 

"Hi," he said, swallowing. "Uh, what's up?" 

"I just woke up," she continued, though he already knew. "What's going on?" 

"My mentor just dismissed me," he replied. "I don't really have anything to do. Sandypaw just left with Fawndust, and I'm not sure what the others are up to." He carefully left out Wolfpaw and Tigerpaw's names, out of fear that she'd be interested in their whereabouts if she heard them. 

"Hm," Cherrypaw hummed. "Well, want to see if Spikestar will let us go on patrol together? We're both almost warriors anyway. Congratulations on passing your assessment two days ago, by the way, totally forgot to tell you." She blinked affectionately at him. "Maybe, when we get our names, we can go on our first patrol together." 

Alone? Lionpaw thought hopefully. Nodding eagerly, he flicked his ears. "Thanks," he returned. "Yeah, that sounds great. The um, patrol thing, and the future patrol... thing." 

She smiled at his awkwardness, and he mentally clawed himself. He didn't know whether or not Cherrypaw was amused or just being patronizing. But he followed her towards their leader, who was lounging in the sun with the deputy, chatting over a shared pheasant. 

"Spikestar, Laurelheart," Cherrypaw greeted, and Lionpaw dipped his head respectfully. "Er, Lionpaw and I were wondering if we could hunt together in the forest near the camp. Just the two of us." 

Spikestar hesitated, eyes roving momentarily to Laurelheart, who shrugged. She nodded her consent. "Sure." 

"Thank you," Cherrypaw said, giving both she-cats a smile, and the two returned it. Padding away, Cherrypaw bounded towards the camp entrance, giving a nod to the two guards standing on either side of the bramble tunnel. Lionpaw followed, content to look at Cherrypaw running around the woods, marveling at the flowers blooming in the current season and occasionally batting at a butterfly. She was so carefree, and Lionpaw felt protective of her. 

"Hey, um, you were serious about the hunting, right?" he called out, his voice taking on a teasing lilt. "You're scaring away the prey!" 

"Huh? Oh, yeah, ha, sorry!" she chuckled, returning to his side and falling quiet. They pricked up their ears, opening their jaws to take in the nearby scents. 

"Mouse," they said together. 

The two apprentices followed the scent, though Lionpaw's focus was thrown off by Cherrypaw's presence beside him. Concentrate! he told himself sternly. Clan duties came above silly crushes. He buried his head into the ground, listening. He could tell they were close to the prey at hand. Suddenly, as if on cue, the mouse darted out from beneath a shrub, a small gray streak against the dark ground. Without hesitation, the two apprentices gave chase. 

"Agh!" Lionpaw skidded to a stop, causing Cherrypaw to nearly crash into him from behind. A shadow had appeared out of nowwhere, streaking across the trail and pinning the poor mouse down, silencing its squeaks within seconds. Squinting, Lionpaw put himself in front of Cherrypaw and tilted his head at the shape, which materialized into a cat. "Who are you?" he growled, his voice lowering. 

The cat, a strikingly handsome black tom roughly their age, turned, his green eyes roving over the two apprentices, widening in surprise. Dropping the mouse, he neared them, and Lionpaw backed up a bit, snarling and pushing Cherrypaw further behind. "You're on Clan land," he continued aggressively, claws sliding out. 

The stranger tilted his head, now unfazed by Lionpaw's hostility. "Oh, I know," he replied, his voice naturally deep. "I was once a ThunderClan cat, too." 

Cherrypaw's eyes widened, stepping out from Lionpaw's shadow. "You're a StarClan cat!" she exclaimed. 

The stranger's eyes glittered. "That I am," he replied, grabbing the mouse momentarily and tossing it towards them. "Consider this a gift. I'm Shadowpaw. I was in ThunderClan before I was killed by a badger." 

"Wow, a badger!" Cherrypaw walked closer, mesmerized, as if she'd found a blue squirrel. Lionpaw felt a spike of jealousy. Damn it, the tom was dead! Cherrypaw couldn't possibly be enraptured by him? "What happened?" 

"I was on patrol," Shadowpaw began, and Lionpaw wished he'd shut up and disappear. If anything, I'm curious about why he's here now. "With my mentor. And we decided to split up, so I was hunting alone when this huge badger appeared. I took it on, and managed to give it a good scare before it killed me. See?" Shadowpaw reared up and stood on his hind legs, showing them a large red scar that stretched from his neck down to the middle of his stomach. Cherrypaw's eyes widened, and even Lionpaw couldn't help but admire the wound. 

"That's amazing," Cherrypaw breathed. "So why are you here?" 

Shadowpaw shrugged. "Is it wrong to visit my homeland?" 

Maybe, Lionpaw thought bitterly. Putting a tail on Cherrypaw's shoulder, he ducked his head apologetically. "Sorry Shadowpaw, but we have to go." 

Shadowpaw shook himself out of his revere. "Ah, yes, sorry about distracting you! You can have that mouse. Just say that one of you caught it. Well, I'll be seeing you... sometime." And with that, he faded into the trees. Lionpaw picked up the mouse and began walking. Cherrypaw hesitated, then followed him. 

"Wow, a real StarClan cat!" she breathed. "How lucky are we to meet such a brave and handsome warrior?" 

Handsome. Lionpaw sneered when Cherrypaw looked the other way. At least he's not alive anymore. I don't have to worry about him.