Hollowfire's Rising

3

As the two she-cats returned home, Hollowfire replayed the vision in her head.
    Badgerwing had told them that she was a rogue exiled from WindClan. She wanted to get revenge and told them that she had a mate called Fadedtail from ShadowClan. She wasn't supposed to be his mate, since everyone had told her that he was not allowed to have one, as they were worried his kits would turn out to be like him. Once they found out that she was to have his kits, they were exiled from the barn and they made their home at Highstones.
    This was confusing to Hollowfire, yet she still felt comforted by the fact that she had a new ally that could stalk in the shadows as well as her.
    When she finally got back to the camp, Firespring and Wishingbreeze were already sharing fresh-kill, purring and rubbing their heads against each other. They nodded in acknowledgement to the new arrivals and continued their meal.
    Dawn was approaching, and fast. Hollowfire, blood washed off her paws, picked a scrawny lizard from the fresh-kill pile and ate it in two famished gulps. She then retreated back to the Warriors' Den as heavy snow began to fall.
    No cat would dare hold a Clan meeting in this weather. She thought. The other warriors seemed to be going back to their own nests, and apprentices were quickly shooed back to their den as well.
    She sank into a deep sleep, closing her eyes for a mere heartbeat before she was pulled into a dream.

    She hesitated, crouching low so as to keep herself close to the ground. Her fur matched the orange grass perfectly, and she couldn't help but wonder what the others were doing without her.
    Don't think about it, Hollowpaw. This is your own mission!
    Suddenly, something rustled and a silver she-cat with two bright aquamarine eyes stepped out of the reeds, fur bristling and claws unsheathed.
    "What are you doing in RiverClan territory, ShadowClan cat?" The RiverClan cat asked.
    Hollowpaw didn't reply, stricken by the she-cat's beauty. Her eyes glowed like the sun and her pelt shined and WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HER?
    The she-cat looked angry at Hollowpaw's resistance to say something.
    "What, are you scared?" Hollowpaw teased, leaping to the side as the RiverClan warrior lunged at her.
    The two of them tussled on the reeds together, and eventually Hollowpaw was pinned down beneath the warrior.
    "Still think I'm scared?" The silver she-cat asked, showing her teeth in a joking way and pretending to bite down.
    "Oh, no! ShadowClan, help me! I'm being outmatched by a warrior!" Hollowpaw cried teasingly.
    The cat leaped off her. "Warrior? You're such a fluff-brain!" She replied. "I'm no bigger than you! I'm an apprentice! I'm Silverpaw, the RiverClan assassin-in-training.
    "Wait . . . you're real?" Hollowpaw gasped.
    "What do you mean, 'you're real'? Of course I'm real!"
    Hollowpaw shook her head. "No, I'm totally sure that you're a myth. Have I been fighting something imaginary this whole time?" She jokingly swiped a paw at Silverpaw. "Wow, I can touch you!"
    Silverpaw fake-hissed and leaped back on top of Hollowpaw. "Tell me your name! It's only fair!"
    "You haven't heard?" Hollowpaw asked innocently. "I'm only the most famous ShadowClan apprentice, Hollowpaw!"
    Silverpaw flicked her tail. "What can I say? I have more important things than paying attention to amazing cats like you."
    Hollowpaw blinked; Silverpaw, seeming to realize what she said, looked away and gave her chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks. "Whatever." She added.
    Suddenly, the reeds rustled once more and Hollowpaw was shoved into tall grass beside the two apprentices. Silverpaw splashed into the water and shook off the ShadowClan scent.
    "Silverpaw! What are you doing out here, so late at night?" A voice asked. A heartbeat later, a pretty, tall, white she-cat with a cream underbelly and markings stepped out. She had vines woven around her legs, and half of her face was cream-colored. Her eyes were two different colors; one was brown, another green, and her ears lay flat against her head. She had a blue butterfly wing tucked behind her left ear, and she was taller than the both of them.
    "Lilyvine!" Silverpaw said, fake-shocked. "I could ask the same for you!" She also had some sort of kittypet thing around her neck, though the scent of kittypet was stale, and there was RiverClan scent underneath it; no doubt she had been stolen by Twolegs and had found her way back to her Clan.
    "I don't need to answer that, Silverpaw. I'm a warrior now; you're not. You can't be out here without your mentor!"
    "Who says?" Silverpaw replied defensively. "It's not part of the warrior code!"
    "Yes, but it was impli-you know what, never mind. Just . . . just don't get up to any trouble." The warrior's eyes flashed toward the grass where Hollowpaw was hiding before the warrior turned back towards RiverClan's camp.
    Once she was gone, Hollowpaw walked out and stood beside Silverpaw. "Wow, that warrior is terrifying. How do you stand up to her like that?"
    Silverpaw shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You have to get out of here. It's nearly dawn." She mewed as Hollowpaw opened her mouth to protest. "Seriously, if my Clan finds out that you're here, we'll both be in huge trouble!"
    Hollowpaw hesitated. "Thanks." She said finally as she walked toward the bridge.
    "For what?"
    "You could have told Lilyvine that I was there. But you didn't. Thank you, Silverpaw."
    "I'll see you tomorrow, if you get chosen for the Gathering!"
    The silver she-cat disappeared into the reeds once more, and Hollowpaw trotted onward, feeling a new warmth in her chest.
    I'm going to see her tomorrow!

    She woke with a start, gazing out. The snow had decreased, and it was now safe to go outside.
    Stretching her stiff limbs one by one and lifting her tail over her head, she breathed in the fresh scents of leaf-bare turning to newleaf. Just one more moon and she would be running through the fresh shoots of green.
    I can't wait!
    Finally, after the weariness had disappeared, she walked out of the Warriors' Den and let the weak sunshine warm her pelt.
    Dewpad was organizing patrols; for once, Hollowfire went to her to get her job. Dewpad looked thoughtful before placing her on a border patrol; with a sinking feeling in her chest, she heard the deputy place Duskfang on a hunting patrol.
    What, you don't like her, do you? You already have . . . well, someone else! Just focus on the patrol!
    "So, Hollowfire." Gorseblaze, the head of the patrol, said once they were out of camp. "When are you thinking about getting a mate? I know how much you want kits."
    The sandy-colored tom had looked behind him. "Huh?" He sidled up next to her.
    With a start, she realized what he was getting at.
    "Oh, no, I'm not thinking about it." She said hastily. "And plus, ew. No way am I ever getting with you."
    Gorseblaze looked like he had been chosen to stay behind at camp and clean out the elders' ticks for the rest of his life. "Oh . . . okay."
    Even though she had never felt like it, Hollowfire felt sorry for the tom. "Okay, I don't mean it personally." She said. "I'm just . . . not into toms that way."
    At this Gorseblaze looked confused. "Really? Do you like anyone?"
    Yes . . . The image of a spotted, silver she-cat flashed through her mind. "Not yet." She replied vaguely, pushing onward. "You'd better lead this patrol, or I'm taking over." She added seriously.
    Gorseblaze? Me?
    Oh, when will tonight get any closer?