Ghosts of the Clans

Chapter 3

"Wow," Olivepaw finally broke the silence, twitching her tail. Pouncetail tore off a piece of the finch he had just taken, chewing slowly. "Do you still love Penny? Like if one day she came and joined ShadowClan, would you still be mates with her?" asked Redpaw, brushing his fur with Pouncetail's.

Pouncetail regarded the mottled ginger-and-brown tom, his yellow eyes glinting with thought. "Well, I still love Penny, but she would never ever join ShadowClan. If she did, we wouldn't be mates. We haven't seen each other in seven moons already, so it would be pretty strange, I guess."

Redpaw shot a swift look at Pouncetail just as Russetfur called, "Ratscar, Pouncetail and Ivytail, go hunting along the fern clump. There should be mice there." Pouncetail devoured his finch in a few bites, leapt onto his paws and mewed, "Alright, Russetfur." 

As they headed out, Shrewpaw and Owlpaw, two littermates, came bounding over to Redpaw and Olivepaw. "What was Pouncetail talking to you two about?" questioned Shewpaw. "Yeah, he never shown any interest in apprentices before," added Owlpaw.

"Nothing, really." Even though the two apprentices had no chance of knowing the truth, Redpaw still felt self-conscious, giving his chest fur a lick. Olivepaw shrugged, but her ruffled tortoiseshell fur showed how she felt.

Shrewpaw eyed them, suspicious. Redpaw usually kept to himself, but Olivepaw? Something's wrong, she decided, but meowed, "Alright, then. What have you two planned for the afternoon?"

Relieved to have a change of topic, Olivepaw purred, "I'm doing battle training with Redpaw, and I'll squash him! He has no chance of defeating me." Redpaw in turn retorted playfully, "Never! I'll be the one with the last laugh, just you wait."

Finishing up the vole, Redpaw and Olivepaw left the fresh-kill pile and headed to the apprentices' den, where they curled up into their nests. Sunlight streamed from the ceiling, dappling both their pelts. "That was closer than I'd like," Redpaw remarked, drawing one paw over his nose.

Olivepaw fidgeted in her nest. "Well, think of Shrewpaw and Owlpaw. Their father was Spiderfoot, who died falling off a cliff in the ThunderClan camp, and Mapleflight, their mother, who had died of greencough only two days before that. It must be tough for them." "I guess," briefly Redpaw remembered the spotted brown queen with white paws, ever so gentle.

Olivepaw pushed her nose into Redpaw's fur, her eyes already beginning to close. "I suppose it's better to have one parent than have none," she conceded. Redpaw simply shrugged and nestled deeper into the feather-soft pine needles lining his nest.

"Fox attack!"