Heartstar's rise : Book one

Ch. 42

Heartpaw was resting in his nest when the patrol of cats who went to the Gathering got back. Firpaw stirred in his nest but didn't look up. Honeypaw slipped into the den and headed for Heartpaw. 

              "Hey," she said. 

               "Hi," replied Heartpaw. 

              "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it," Honeypaw said, settling beside him. Heartpaw's mind was somewhere else though. He wanted to meet the funny Ivypaw and hear her voice. 

              "It's ok," said Heartpaw. "I'm not really interested actually." Honeypaw frowned. 

              "Are you sure?" she asked. 

             "Yeah yeah," mumbled Heartpaw. Frowning, Honeypaw returned to her nest and Heartpaw fell into a blissful dreamy sleep. 

Heartpaw woke up excited. He jumped to his paws, fully awake and went to find Pinestar. Pinestar had just sent out a patrol and smiled when he saw Heartpaw. 

              "I'm ready," declared Heartpaw. 

              "Great," smiled Pinestar. "You didn't take the punishment too badly then." Heartpaw couldn't even stay mad. He was seeing Ivypaw that night. There was nothing that could make his mood bad. Pinestar slipped out of camp followed by Heartpaw. 

              "We're going to be hunting birds today. And squirrels," Pinestar told Heartpaw as they headed deeper into the forest. 

               "I know how to hunt birds," said Heartpaw. 

              "Not up trees or in trees," Pinestar replied. 

             "Wow, you mean I'll chase a bird up a tree?" exclaimed Heartpaw. 

              "It'll try to fly away and you'll use the tree," answered Pinestar. They stopped and Pinestar told Heartpaw to sit down. "You are going to...." Heartpaw was already droning out. He couldn't help but think about what Ivypaw wanted to tell him. 

               "Heartpaw!" snapped Pinestar. Heartpaw snapped back to the present. 

               "Yes?" he answered. 

               "Are you listening?" Pinestar questioned. 

              "Yes," answered Heartpaw quickly. Pinestar narrowed his eyes but nodded. 

              "Then, it's your turn," Pinestar said. Heartpaw cringed, it was going to be a long day of training. 

Heartpaw entered camp with a squirrel in his mouth. He hadn't been able to catch any birds. It was almost sunset. As he dropped the squirrel into the pile, he remembered what Ivypaw had said. Her favourite food was squirrel. He grinned to himself and picked the squirrel up again. Honeypaw trotted to his side. 

           "Hey, do you want to share?" she asked. "I love squirrel." 

          "Er.., sorry," muttered Heartpaw. He couldn't say he was going to eat it himself. "I um..., I er, gotta go."

          "Oh, where are you going?" asked Honeypaw. 

         "Oh um hunting," replied Heartpaw. 

          "It's almost night," Honeypaw pointed out. 

          "I know but I hide better at night," answered Heartpaw, itching to get away. 

          "I'll come," Honeypaw decided. Heartpaw groaned inwardly. 

          "I need to..., do it myself," Heartpaw said finally. "It's just..." He thought hard. Honeypaw watched him carefully.