Warriors: In The Cold of Night [1]

Chapter 11

Sharpleaf snuck out of a small-ish, climbable hole in a secluded corner of ThunderClan. He looked back to see if anyone was looking at him or following him. Nobody was looking in his direction, so he crept up the ravine and headed out to the river near RiverClan.

Sharpleaf took his time padding around the undergrowth. He scented a mouse, then he saw one. A big and fat mouse. Sharpleaf crouched, then sprang at the mouse. Sharpleaf clutched the dead body of the mouse and began to pad to the stepping-stones near the river.

Sharpleaf was at the edge of the dense undergrowth of ThunderClan. He then scented a familiar scent. The scent he smelled was the scent of the gentle RiverClan cat known as Dovefur. He then saw Dovefur sitting on a rock on the other side of the river, waiting patiently. Oh wow, so she really expected me to come then.. Sharpleaf thought.

Sharpleaf quickly dug a hole and buried the fat mouse. Sharpleaf bounded down the hill and reached the stepping stones. He quickly rushed over the stepping-stones and landed on the other side where Dovefur was. Dovefur was surprised that Sharpleaf actually came.

Dovefur hopped off of the rock and came up to him. "I didn't think you would care enough to come." Dovefur let out a soft mrrow of amusement. Sharpleaf sighed and then chuckled softly, barely loud enough to hear.

"What do you want?" He tried to sound serious, but he didn't sound as serious as he seemed. Dovefur came closer to Sharpleaf. Sharpleaf took a step back. "Why did you ask me to come here?" Sharpleaf hissed quietly. Dovefur sat down and began to speak.

"I brought you here to talk. I enjoyed talking with you at the Gathering and you seem like a nice cat." Dovefur mewed. "And you seem pretty nice when you aren't doing anything serious." Dovefur purred and sat down next to Sharpleaf; their pelts were brushing.

Sharpleaf felt the warmth of Dovefur's fur. He sat up and went to the hole that he buried his prey in. He dug it up and picked it up to bring over to Dovefur. Dovefur saw the mouse and mouthed, 'wow..' as she saw the size of it. "How did you find a fat mouse in Leaf-bare?" Dovefur meowed unbelievingly.

"It just appeared in front of me like it was just asking to be caught and eaten." Sharpleaf meowed playfully. Sharpleaf padded back over to Dovefur and he instinctively sat down next to her. "Um— do you want to. . . share this with me?" Sharpleaf felt awkward asking to share ThunderClan prey with a RiverClan cat.

Dovefur eagerly nodded. Sharpleaf dropped the mouse. The two cats began to eat together, side-by-side. Sharpleaf felt oddly comforted by the gentle gray she-cat's presence. Sharpleaf couldn't ever see him attacking Dovefur.

Sharpleaf stared at Dovefur while she ate the mouse. Sharpleaf decided to just let her have it. "You can eat it all, I can catch some prey for myself." Sharpleaf meowed kindly. Dovefur stopped eating and locked her eyes with his. "You need to eat too. This mouse is big, and I'll starve before you do." Dovefur mewed.

Sharpleaf was surprised that Dovefur cared about him. He had just met this cat only a few days ago, and he started to warm up to her. "No, I insist. I've had enough and I'll just get more prey when I return to camp." Sharpleaf meowed. Dovefur sighed and continued to eat the mouse.

Sharpleaf's gaze was fixed on Dovefur. Sharpleaf felt something that he'd never felt before. Am I falling in love with a cat from another Clan? Sharpleaf thought to himself. I can't be mates with this cat, she's a RiverClan cat. And if we do become mates, I would be breaking the code.

Dovefur finished the mouse and was full. She then looked up at Sharpleaf. Sharpleaf quickly turned away so that it wouldn't be awkward for him to be staring at Dovefur as she ate. Dovefur chuckled softly. Sharpleaf looked back and chuckled. Dovefur made a head signal for Sharpleaf to come closer.

"Let's go to the Sunningrocks to bask in the sun." Dovefur suggested. Sharpleaf reluctantly nodded, he was worried if a patrol spotted him with Dovefur. The two padded across the stepping-stones, then made their way to the Sunningrocks.

Dovefur hopped onto a rock and laid down. She stretched her legs and then sat down with her tail and paws tucked beneath her. Sharpleaf hopped up onto the rock that Dovefur was on. Sharpleaf curled up next to her and began to soak in the sunlight.

Dovefur licked Sharpleaf's cheek and purred as she rested her head on his pelt. Sharpleaf's fur warmed up as Dovefur's warmth spread to him. Sharpleaf also felt a sensation of calmness as his body vibrated with Dovefur's purrs. This is actually quite nice. . . Sharpleaf thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep. He was going to wake up in an hour or so to get back to clan duties.

Sharpleaf woke up to see Dovefur cleaning herself. Dovefur got up. "So— do you want to come back tomorrow. . ?" Dovefur asked in a gentle, and a little bit nervous tone. Sharpleaf stayed silent for a few moments, and Dovefur looked like she was getting worried. "Of course." Sharpleaf meowed. Dovefur purred and nodded. "Sunhigh, and you can take as long as you'd like."

Dovefur turned and swam to the other side of the river. Sharpleaf felt a purr rumble in his chest. One visit and he'd already started to like her. Sharpleaf licked the scent off of him and returned to camp.