Warriors: Starlight

Chapter 9

As they threaded through the thick brush, Fireheart's nose twitched as they neared the
scent line edge of the border.
It wasn't forbidden to leave the forest, but it's just not something that cats do. They don't generally have the need to leave warrior territory.
"Well come on. Lets go" Graystripe prompted, but of all the times, fireheart's legs didn't want to move, as he stared across the border at the uncharted land.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me that you've decided to be the scaredy mouse. Not after all this, c'mon I even covered for us. Runningwind will tell Bluestar, Bluestar will tell Goldenflower, who I'm sure will tell the kits." Graystripe cooed, possibly more rudely than he meant to be.
This is unexplored territory. That means that no cat has seen any of the dangers past here. Fireheart thought to himself, realizing the danger in what they were about to do.
As the thought bounced around in his head, he became painfully aware that he was responsible for more than just his own life now.
What was I thinking? How could I do such a stupid thing? Why would I ever- his  train of thought was cut of by Graystripe bumping him on the rump.
"Come on. There's no place for being uptight now. And who knows, maybe we can be more romantic when we are finally away from prying eyes" Graystripe whispered the last part.
To that, all the thoughts vanished from his mind, and all he could see was his handsome mate standing stoically in front of him, and he leaned in against him.
"Alright. You've convinced me. Well done.
But don't go thinking that this was my idea." He said teasingly, rubbing against the gray tom's flank, taking the lead, and without a moments hesitation, stepped over the scent-line.

They had been padding for a little while and the sun was now atop the sky, directly above the pair and tree cover became sparse, meaning there was little to no relief from heat, and Fireheart, being out of practice from the past couple moons, was panting lightly as traveling became more of an effort. And as if that wasn't enough, as they padded further, the scenery had become more and more alien, and they were both silent, but acutely aware that they were at a disadvantage if they were to be caught in an ambush, so they carefully kept their wits about them, not daring to meow too loudly, or step without looking.

Soon though, they came across a massive thick tree that looked like its branches were roots, and it bared fruit with a hard shell and it had a strong scent.
"This is so weird. It's huge." Graystripe commented.
"Yeah. I've never seen anything like it." Fireheart agreed, creeping over to the tree and attempting to hook a claw into it. To his surprise, it slid right in and sat comfortably, yet still held firm.
He turned to his partner and beckoned him.
"Come over here. This tree is sturdier than anything in the forest, and I reckon we could get to the very top branches without any snapping." Fireheart meowed enthusiastically, secretly enjoying the shade that the tree provided.

Fireheart looked back at Graystripe for a response, but instead spotted him sniffing at one of the grounded fruits.
"Graystripe. That could be poisonous." He warned, beyond careful in the untamed territory.
The gray tom was eyeing the fruit inquisitively, and after a couple moments, his eyes widened with excitement.
"Fireheart!" He called from the ground.
"I remember the elders mentioning something about a fruit that makes cats dizzy." He mewed.
"This must be it, because they said that it doesn't grow inside the territory." He meowed, his voice holding a hint of whine in it.
"Do you think that we should take some back with us when we're done?" He asked, his eyes kit-like and pleading.
Fireheart had leaped from the tree to inspect the fruits, but as soon as Graystripe said that, his head shot up.
"Are you crazy? Bringing strange plants from outside the territory back to camp? For all we know it could be deadly poisonous. Besides, why would you want to be dizzy?" Fireheart scolded him in an effort to dissipate the panic that Graystripe instilled on him with that suggestion.
His ears drooped in frustration.
"Fine"-, the gray warrior mewed, rolling his eyes. -"I see your point".
"Good" Fireheart mewed, distractedly. Something had caught his eye, red and fluttering.
He had been so focused on the massive tree, he failed to register that they had reached a new forest treeline maybe thirty foxlengths away. He looked up into a thin tree with a flat-leaf top and saw a robin hopping from branch to branch, headed toward what, now that he thought about it, felt like a fresh breeze, and coming from the same direction, was the sound of rushing water.

Quickly and excitedly, Fireheart paced toward it, led by the promise of shade and possible water, and Graystripe followed close behind. As they neared the source, the air seemed to get cooler, and the breeze picked up, blowing into the fiery queen's face, soothing the fatigue he'd been feeling, filling him with a new energy to chase after the source of the feeling.
As they chased the robin further into the forest, the breeze became cooler and air became moist before suddenly, they burst through the trees and before them was a magnificent waterfall splashing down from the top of a massive cliff into a big pool in the middle of a clearing and water sprayed out in all directions as it hit the pool. Around the pool, the clearing looked like a grassy, miniature meadow. Flowers of all different colours and scents filled out along the clearing, and lilies lined the body of water.
"Great Starclan! It's so beautiful." Fireheart breathed in awe.
"Yeah. You are" Graystripe responded slyly.
Fireheart looked at him, bemused, before realizing what he meant, and a smirk fell on his face.
"Ha ha. You're adorable." He mewed, moving over to the gray tom and coiling his tail with his own, brushing against his flank, before dashing straight for the stream and dipped his whole head in. He wasn't Riverclan, but he'll make an exception for this heat.
As he gulped down the icy water, he was shocked at how cold it was, and he felt his body cool down noticeably with each mouthful of water he swallowed.

Graystripe padded over to Fireheart while he lapped at the pool, and sat down.
"Well, beautiful. I suppose we've found our secret spot."
Fireheart lifted his head, water dripping from his chin, and licked his mate's cheek.
"I guess we have." He meowed, leaning up against his mates shoulder.

"Do you think we should get back?" The queen whispered in his mate's ear. Graystripe shrugged.
"We asked to have some alone time. I'm sure they won't mind if we stay out a little later." He meowed suggestively, pressing down against his mate's side, Sending them barreling to the floor, Graystripe ending up on top.
"I love you" Fireheart mewed, pushing his muzzle into his mate's scruff.
"I know. And I love you more" Graystripe whispered back. Fireheart smirked seductively.
"Do you now?"