WARRIORS AU: Swiftpaw lived

Chapter 12

Swiftclaw padded back to camp, he shook his head in annoyance with himself. 

"Swiftclaw!" Leafpaw jumped up in nervousness. 

"Hey. What are you doing out so late?" Swiftclaw narrowed his eyes. 

"N-nothing. What are you doing?" Leafpaw shot back at him. 

"Taking a walk," Swiftclaw lied. Hopefully since he had short fur, it wasn't wet anymore. 

"Whatever. I gotta get back to camp." Leafpaw looked up at him. "I guessing you are joining me?" 

"Y-yeah." Swiftclaw glanced back at the lake and followed Leafpaw into camp. 

                                                      *********

A single  moon went by. Leafpaw had earned her full name, Leafpool. Swiftclaw still was unsure of Hawkfrost. Mudclaw had lead a rebellion against Onewhisker. Despite Hawkfrost's advice, Mudclaw organized it. However, Swiftclaw wasn't sure if that was true. He broke ties with his step-brother. Which pleased both Leafpool and Sootfur. 

"Swiftclaw!" A high pitched voice called him. "Can we talk?" 

"Y-yeah." He recognized Leafpool and bounded up to her. 

"Swiftclaw!" Another cat mewed. It was Whitewing. The daughter of his former lover had grown into a fine warrior. He knew he had to keep his promise to her, but he still harbored jealousy towards Cloudtail. He never had a mate or a kit. He would have loved to have a family. But he assumed it wasn't StarClan's plan for him.  

"Hi Whitewing!" He greeted her. 

"Wanna hunt together? It's been awhile since we've hung out!" Swiftclaw blinked. The young warrior still looked up to him. 

"I promised to take a walk with Leafpool. I'll see you when I come back, okay?" 

"Sounds great. Have fun!" Whitewing purred and smiled brightly at the tom before running off after Birchfall. 

Swiftclaw uncomfortably licked his paw and glanced up at Leafpool. "About that walk?" 

Leafpool rolled her eyes jokingly. "Let's go before dark." 

The two cats set off to the abandoned Twolegplace. 

"So... did you wanna ask me something or..." Swiftclaw waited for a response. 

"Y-yeah. More to vent? Is that the right word?" Leafpool shook her head. "You and Squirrelflight are the only two that are going to know about this! And I- I hate myself for doing this- this StarClan cursed-" 

"Whoa, whoa." Swiftclaw purred. "Calm down." He nuzzled Leafpool gently. "You can tell me anything. You know that." 

Leafpool let out a sigh. "I know. You're the best." 

"Of course I am." 

Leafpool giggled and then narrowed her eyes. "You mustn't tell a soul. Okay?" 

"Fine." Swiftclaw grunted. 

"Remember Mudclaw's rebellion? And how ThunderClan was dragged into it?" Leafpool began. 

"Uh yeah. It's pretty hard to forget." Swiftclaw grumbled. 

"I tripped and fell over the cliff in ThunderClan camp. It was all so new at the time. A cat saved me and lifted me up," Leafpool paused. "That cat was Crowfeather of WindClan." 

Swiftclaw felt his stomach turn as Leafpool continued.  

"We-we fell in love but for StarClan's sake we can't be together!" Leafpool growled in anger.