Falling Feathers

Chapter 7

Dovepaw wasn't sure how to feel about what Hazelpaw had said. Sure, it would be nice to figure out what the brown she-cat was doing, but was it really worth it? In the whole quarter moon that had passed since her friend's request, Dovepaw still didn't know what to think. Heronclaw, the cat she was hunting with, turned to her, worry in his eyes. The young tom was one of the strangest looking cats in the clan: with an almost black tabby pelt and a unique silver gaze, he had caught the eye of almost every she-cat in the clan. When he had first started being friendly to Dovepaw, she had worried he had a crush on her, seeing as she had no romantic feelings for him. But as they became closer friends, Heronclaw told her the secret he had been keeping all his life: he liked toms. Though Dovepaw knew that (luckily) the clans had gotten used to cats with other sexualities, her friend was still worried. Dovepaw's private goal was to show him that his birth clan would accept him no matter what.

"Is something wrong?" Heronclaw meowed. "You've been kind of....distant lately. Is something on your mind?" Dovepaw looked up. "Huh? Oh...." She swallowed. She always felt bad keeping secrets from him, seeing as he had shared such a big one with her. She averted her gaze, looking at her paws. "N-nothing much..." She mewed uncertainly. Heronclaw raised an eyebrow. "Ya sure?" Dovepaw sighed. She could never keep anything from her friend. "What would you do if one of your closest friends told you something that might permanently change your future, and you didn't know how to feel about it?" Her friend stayed silent for a few moments, causing Dovepaw to look up. To her surprise, a smug smirk rested on Heronclaw's face. "What??" She asked, utterly confused. His smile grew wider. Suddenly she realized what he was thinking. "Oh nonononono-" She began, but he had already started. "Has a certain cwat expwessed dere feelings for you, wittle Dovepaw?" She shook her head furiously, putting a paw over his mouth. He quickly removed it, continuing with: "Could it be da famous Hazelpaw?" Dovepaw stopped in her tracks. "Wh-what?!" She stuttered, blushing like crazy. "Wh-why would I like her??!"

Heronclaw smirked. "So it was her," he meowed triumphantly. "No!" Dovepaw huffed, still blushing furiously. "It was Hazelpaw who told me something, but it wasn't a confession!" "Then why are you blushing?" Heronclaw giggled. "Because it's such a ridiculous thing to say!" Dovepaw growled, trying to hide her pink cheeks. "Alright," Heronclaw said, turning more serious. "But honestly, why were you blushing? I mean, why blush about someone if you don't like them?" Dovepaw looked at her paws, confused. "I-I don't know. I guess I just never thought of us as being together." An unwelcome image of her and Hazelpaw with in twined tails watching the sunset wormed it's way into her mind. She shook herself mentally, trying to rid herself of the strange feeling that came along with it. Do I like it?! She thought, bewildered. Shaking her head, she brought herself back to reality. "Anyways, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about. What would you do?" Heronclaw opened his mouth to reply, but was interuppted.

"Hey, Thunderclan scum!"

Dovepaw whipped around to see a Windclan patrol weaving their way through the tall grass on their territory. "Don't even think of going onto our land!" "Wouldn't dream of it," Heronclaw snarled. Dovepaw looked over the cats in the small group. There was a tortiseshell she-cat with orange eyes, a young white she-cat apprentice, a greyish brown tabby shecat, and finally, the tom who had called out to them: a brown cat with green eyes.

"Who are they?" Dovepaw whispered to Heronclaw. "The tabby is Thornpetal, the others I don't know, and the brown cat....is Briarfoot." From the look her friend was giving the young tom, Dovepaw could tell Heronclaw hated his guts.
"Don't start unnecessary fights, Briarfoot," the tortiseshell cat sighed. Briarfoot whipped around with a snarl. "But what if they came onto our territory?" As the two continued to quarrel, Dovepaw looked at the other cats. The apprentice was shifting her paws, obviously uncomfortable, and the tabby she-cat....

Was staring straight at her.

Something in those cold blue eyes sent chills through Dovepaw. She begged her eyes to look somewhere else, anywhere else, but she just couldn't tear her eyes away. Finally, the tortiseshell she-cat meowed, "Let's go back. I'm telling Smokestar about this," Saving Dovepaw from the tabby's gaze. She breathed out a sigh of relief, and, as Heronclaw let out one last warning hiss at Briarfoot, followed him back to camp.

But the she-cat' eyes still stayed in her mind.

Hey peeps! I really like the introducing of other clan cats in this chapter. Also, Thornpetal was finally introduced! The whole "sexualities" part felt kinda wierd since they're cats, but I don't think I did horrible at it, just the topic is a bit...weird.(but let's be honest, if we're gonna have straight cats, why not gay ones?) Anyways, thx for reading!
*background whispers*
Shattersplash: See, I told you she'd introduce you to the story soon!
Thoenpetal: *huffs* took ya long enough
XD