The Medicine Cat Code

Chapter Fifteen

The silence loomed over the Gathering like a hawk; Troutpaw's eyes were lit by a wild fire of passion as his muzzle hung open. The tom seemed to wilt with each heartbeat that passed without the response he wanted.

"Oh, Troutpaw, I love you too!" was what he wanted to hear. "Okay, bye," is what Frogfur actually said. Disappointed, the medicine cat apprentice dropped onto the ground into a ball of fur, sobbing hysterically at the rejection. Ripplestripe padded toward her apprentice, tail stroking his side as she whispered into his ear. Troutpaw only cried louder. 

"How could you break his heart!" muttered a warrior. "He's just a young apprentice. . . Frogfur is such a foxheart!"

The ShadowClan medicine cat hacked up a glob of spit, sending it into the ground and onto the eyes of the warrior. The WindClan cat collapsed, claws blindly trying to scratch off the poisonous substance. Pleased, Frogfur let a smug smile light his eyes as he turned toward the Clan leaders, who were staring down with shock.  "Continue, please," the tom meowed, rolling his eyes.

Just as one of the leaders began to speak, Frogfur stood up. All the eyes in the Gathering watched him as he padded out to Troutpaw. The whimpering apprentice looked up at him with hopeful eyes that were shiny with tears. Frogfur kicked his face, turned around, and left the Gathering.

Troutpaw burst back into tears. Ripplestripe climbed on top of the tom, practically shouting her
comforting words. "It's okay, Troutpaw!" she yelled for all the cats to here. "We all know you were just pretending. . . you love me the most!"

Troutpaw shook his head, a river of tears leading toward the side of the island. A small fish was at the edge, trying to swim up it. "I'm 'bout as straight as a rainbow," the apprentice meowed softly. "And you're not an option. So please quit your assault-like tendencies and go back to dating every tom in RiverClan, except for me."

The gray-furred tom got to his paws with a sniff and followed Frogfur out of the Gathering.

The ShadowClan medicine cat was climbing over the large tree bridge, his belly brushing against the wood. "Those youngins' are crazy," he muttered quietly. "Crazy as a bat on catmint." Nimble on his paws, Troutpaw scampered up behind the tom.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I scared you," he mewed quietly.

Surprised, Frogfur gave a little jump. As he came back down, his claws unsheathed, looking for perch on the fallen tree , but his paws were spread too far about. The ShadowClan medicine cat let out a yelp as he practically slid downward into the splits. 

Frogfur was hugging the log.

"You love the log more than me," whimpered Troutpaw, falling into another fit of tears.

"Save me, you worthless lump of dung!" shouted Frogfur as his body started sliding sideways. With a big swing, he was now hanging upsidedown, muzzle open and eyes lit with fear. "Help me!"

Nothing could get Troutpaw out of his slump as he sobbed louder, unable to hear the cries. Frogfur grunted, an idea springing into his head.

"I love you Troutpaw!" he yelled, but before the RiverClan apprentice could save him, Frogfur plunged into the cold lake water.

⌁ Rio can do cliffhangers too! Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I like keeping things at the normal length. ⌁