Kittypet Clanborn - Tales Unleashed

Head Over Paws

Read on to find out how a certain golden brown tabby tom finally gained the courage to confess to someone very, very special to him...

Thornclaw's POV

You're an amazing friend, Thornclaw.

More annoyingly than a bird deciding to yap in the middle of the night, these words almost seemed to pound in my head as I watched the ThunderClan patrol meant to check for signs of WindClan in the territory leave through the camp entrance - a certain brown tabby tail disappearing through it last.

I forced myself to break my gaze away and sat down, holding back a hiss of frustration with how antsy I was currently feeling, and I was praying to StarClan that no one noticed.

Just moments ago, the ThunderClan had been ambushed by WindClan – the attack having happened while nearly the entire Clan had been asleep. Firestar had luckily been able to stop the entire thing and send Onestar away, but the shock of it all clearly still lingered throughout the camp.

Luckily, I had only come out with a few scratches, along with many of my Clanmates, however, I was incredibly annoyed by how taken by surprise I still was, and how well the attack in general had been executed. It practically makes me sick, I thought. Great StarClan, if anyone attacked WindClan like that, they'd never hear the end of it from Onestar.

But even as infuriating as it all was, I was ashamed to admit to myself that the ambush wasn't the main thing on my mind – something else was bugging me just a bit more.

Why? Well, I'd become a frail little flower petal, essentially.

I then let out a sigh as I looked back towards the camp entrance once again, where a certain she-cat had disappeared just heartbeats ago. But flower petal or not, I pray to StarClan that Lilypaw is safe out there... I then hoped, anxiety for the she-cat being out in the forest looking for WindClan and anxiety at our latest conversation basically swarming around in my head.

Just before Lilypaw had left, and just a bit after WindClan left camp, I had gone up to her to check her wounds and see if she was okay. While I had expressed a bit of excitement to her about the prospect of battle in the past, I was also overwhelmed with fear knowing that this ambush was Lilypaw's first battle, and the first thing I thought to do after it was over was check on her.

But being the fearless she-cat that she was, she of course had acted like they were nothing.

But then, my relief at that news had quickly turned to confusion when she had thanked me as a friend. Thank you for checking on me. You're an amazing friend, Thornclaw.

I couldn't help but flinch as those words ran through my mind once again, and for some reason, my stomach seemed to twist with pain. I mean, while it was true that Lilypaw and I had come to be really, really great friends, the fact that she had called me just that hurt like a physical wound.

Lilypaw and I had only known each other for a little more than four moons, but it honestly felt as if I'd known her for my entire life. She'd come into ThunderClan as a kittypet, having shown interest in being a "wild cat".

Initially hearing that, of course, I was determined to stay as far away from her as possible and be completely annoyed by her presence.

But when I accidentally bumped into her later that day and began talking to her, and getting to see her real interest in the Clans, as well as her kindness and wit, I felt that I had to get to know her more, and almost test her, in a way. So, I had taken her on her first hunting trip, and from there, we'd only spent more time with each other and had gotten closer and closer.