Chapter 10

The same night, Flowerpaw didn't sleep. She didn't think about her nightmares, her mother, or even Snowpaw. All she could think about was Stonepaw. Flowerpaw didn't set a paw in the apprentice den, she couldn't handle being in there. She left herself to mourn and shiver without her brother.



"Hello?"



Flowerpaw cautiously spun around to look, but no one was there. "H-Hello?" she mewed.



A white, scrawny cat exposed herself, and she peeked out the side of the medicine cat's den. At first, Flowerpaw thought it was Snowpaw, but this she-cat had something different. Her eyes, one was blue, the other a pale green.



"Hi," the shy cat mewed.



"Oh, hello," Flowerpaw inched herself closer to the younger cat. "What might your name be?"



"Cloudpaw, and I know your name," the she-cat whispered embarrisingly.



Flowerpaw nodded, "The whole Clan knows. I havn't seen you before, are you a new apprentice?"



Cloudpaw shook her head, "I'm the medicine cat apprentice. I usually go out to collect herbs. I'm not really trusted with using them, though."



Flowerpaw already knew why, but she didn't want to offend her. "Why so?"



Cloudpaw looked up, "My eye. I'm blind in the green eye. I couldn't become a warrior, so I thought maybe a medicine cat would be nice. But the Clan doesn't trust me, so I leave a lot. Not really liking Clan life like this." She licked her paw, "Sometimes I promise myself that I'll leave the Clan."



"I can relate," Flowerpaw looked at the ground.



"I've seen what's happened between you and your brother. He's a mouse-brain for not letting you explain why you attacked Snowpaw," Cloudpaw meowed encouragingly.



"Thanks," Flowerpaw realized how tired she was after having company on her side of the battle. "I'll be getting some sleep now, thank you again."



Cloudpaw nodded and headed back to her den with Leafwind. Flowerpaw really didn't want to enter the apprentice den, but she had to at some point in time. She neared her way to the entrance and slowly creeped in. Everyone in the den was asleep. She sighed with relief and found a comfortable place where she could sleep.



Suddenly, she could feel a breath on her shoulder. She didn't dare see who it was, so she kept her head on her paws.



"So, I'm a mouse-brain, am I?"



Flowerpaw winced when she heard her brother's voice in her ear.



"Wh-What?" she pretended like she didn't know what he was talking about.



"Oh, your friend Cloudpaw? I thought I heard her say I'm a mouse-brain," he said, trying to get something out of his sister.



"Oh, uhm..." her voice trailed off.



"It's fine, as long as you don't believe it."



Flowerpaw felt his eyes lock in her fur. She turned to look at him. "Can I talk to you?"



"We're talking right now," he told her.



Flowerpaw rolled her eyes, "Not here."



"Fine."








They strode out of the apprentice den and out to the forest. Once they had reached a flat surface, they sat down.



She turned to face him, and noticed how serious he looked. But for the first time, she saw pain in his eyes. "Please let me explain what happened."



"Go ahead."



"I was crying, okay? Then, she came and said that you love eachother. And out of impulse, I said he's still my brother and I want you to stay away from him. She said 'he's mine and thats final, got it?' I got so mad I attacked her, it's not like it was random! I mean I still deserve to have you as a brother, right?"



Stonepaw didn't know how to reply, so he locked eyes with her. "You should know better than to hurt someone I love!"



Flowerpaw growled, "You hurt me! And so did she! She took you away from me, and you knew that she was stealing you, and you let her! Don't you know that I have feelings? And not just her?!"



Stonepaw grew speechless with every word she had said. "Alright, I understand now. I'm sorry I hurt you."



Flowerpaw was surprised, she didn't know he would come through like that. "I-I'm sorry too."



"Do me a favor, apoligize to her, will you?" he licked her behind the ear.



"Uh..." she noticed and felt the pain in him, "Alright, I'll say sorry to her. But I don't know if she'll forgive me."



"It's fine, I just want to know you tried."



Since she set paw in the Clan, she never felt as relaxed as she did with her brother.



"Thunderclaw said we're almost ready to become warriors," Stonepaw tried lightening the mood.



"Probably you, now the whole Clan thinks I'm just a pain like our mom," Flowerpaw licked her paw, trying to disguise her fear.



"It'll be okay, I'll make sure you become a warrior too."



"Thank you, Stonepaw," Flowerpaw never thought she would say that again.