It was another day in the SnowClan camp, and Lifepaw sat out in camp, sharing a squirrel with Goosepaw. She had graciously been given the day off by Tinypelt, leaving her to spend the day with Goosepaw.
Goosepaw grinned at her as he took a bite of the squirrel. They'd grown closer since his confession of love, though she still had enough time to share with Marshpaw and Ripplepaw. Often thoughts would cross her brain of her and Goosepaw becoming mates, them having kits. They were stupid thoughts, but she couldn't help herself.
Lifepaw's father didn't seem to notice whatsoever. Lifepaw had tried countlessly to tell Patchfur herself, but he often found he did not have time for her troubles. Even Mousestripe was too busy helping Thornstar to listen to her. Then, she had tried to talk to Stormnight and Graytail, but Stormnight was a father, and Graytail had a mate of his own, leaving Lifepaw to wish her mother was alive even more.
"Muscles sore?" Goosepaw asked as Lifepaw stretched.
"A little," she admitted.
The day prior, Goosepaw, Lifepaw, and Marshpaw had all been training roughly as they practiced battle moves. Their apprentice exam would take place very soon, so hard practice was necessary if they were to become warriors.
"Hey there, lovebirds!" Marshpaw teased as he padded over.
Lifepaw rolled her eyes and glanced up at the tom. "And what are you up to, Marshpaw?" she asked.
"Nothing much. I kind of wish I wasn't given the day off. It's incredibly boring. Have any of you seen Blueocean? I can't find her anywhere!" Marshpaw exclaimed.
"She's probably on patrol or hunting," Goosepaw told him. "She doesn't always have time for your troubles, Marshpaw."
Marshpaw grinned and sat down next to them. "So, was I interrupting something?"
Unlike Lifepaw's family, Marshpaw and Ripplepaw were fairly aware of the romance going on between Goosepaw and Lifepaw, often teasing them about it.
"We were just sharing a squirrel," Goosepaw explained.
"How romantic!" Marshpaw gasped.
Lifepaw rolled her eyes and sat up. She was about to tell Goosepaw she was going to talk to Mousestripe when a cry of cats sounded from the entrance of the camp.
Simultaneously, they all turned towards the entrance, watching as the cats from patrol entered into camp, taking guard a struggling white and gray tom that Lifepaw had never seen before, though he looked somewhat familiar.
"No, please!" came another cry. It was not the tom, but Blueocean, rushing beside them. "Don't hurt him!"
"What's going on?" Goosepaw asked Lifepaw.
She shrugged, watching as Thornstar approached.
"Who is this? What is going on?" he asked.
"We caught this tom trespassing on SnowClan territory," a speckled tom, Speckledfoot, told Thornstar.
"Trespassing?" Thornstar asked.
"That's not all," added Sparrowwing. "We caught him and Blueocean together, talking."
Thornstar turned his gaze to Blueocean. From the distance, Lifepaw could detect anger in his eyes.
"Do you know this tom, Blueocean?" Thornstar asked.
There was a pause, and then Blueocean hung her head down in shame. "Yes."
Lifepaw felt Goosepaw tense beside her.
"What's going on with her?" Ripplepaw called as she ran out of the medicine cat den, sitting beside Marshpaw, Goosepaw, and Lifepaw.
"We don't know," Lifepaw replied.
"And who are you?" Thornstar asked the tom.
The tom did not reply but only looked at him.
"Who are you?" Thornstar asked again.
"He reeks of StormClan," a calico she-cat growled.
"I'm going to ask again. Who are you?" Thornstar asked.
"Gooseleaf!" the tom spat.
"And you're a StormClan tom, aren't you?"
Gooseleaf nodded.
"How did you ever come to know a StormClan tom, Blueocean? Why weren't you chasing him off the territory?" Thornstar asked. He watched Pinethorn dart by quickly.
"Pinethorn, come here!" Thornstar called.
Pinethorn obeyed, though he looked fairly nervous. He stood by Thornstar.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Did you know your mate knew of this tom?" he asked.
Pinethorn did not reply, shuffling his paws.
"Just tell him, Pinethorn," Blueocean sighed.
"Tell me what?" Thornstar asked.
"Pinethorn is not Blueocean's mate," Gooseleaf admitted before either of them could speak. "I am."
A gasp sounded from the cats, and whispers of exile came.
"This must be a shock to you, Pinethorn," someone spoke.
"Leave Pinethorn out of this," Blueocean growled. "He was only protecting me."
"What's going on?" Goosepaw called, breaking away from Lifepaw. His siblings followed behind, and Lifepaw carefully approached closer.
"Oh, kits. I didn't want you to find out this way," Blueocean sighed. Before she spoke, Lifepaw already knew what was going on. Gooseleaf had looked so familiar not because Lifepaw had seen him before, but because she had seen his face on another cat—three in particular.
Goosepaw had seemed to notice this to because he paused, saying, "Is he..."
"Pinethorn is not your father. Gooseleaf is. You are half-StormClan," Blueocean admitted.
Another gasp came from the clan.
"No, I can't be!" Marshpaw shouted. "I'm SnowClan through and through."
"You're StormClan," Gooseleaf told them. "And I'm sorry, kits. I did not want you to learn this way either."
"You're not our father! Pinethorn is!" Ripplepaw hissed.
Pinethorn placed his tail on Ripplepaw's shoulder. "Gooseleaf is your real father, but I have enjoyed raising you kits."
"You knew of this, Pinethorn?" Thornstar asked.
Pinethorn dipped his head. "I did, but I did it only for Blueocean and the sake of the kits. I truly do love you, Blueocean, and I know you never truly loved me, but I was happy to know you and the kits were safe from secrets. I pretended to be their father to protect them, and I have only brought shame to the clan. I wish to resign from my deputy position," he insisted.
Gasps came from the clan.
"No!" shouted Goosepaw. "Father, er, Pinethorn, you're a great deputy!"
"But I have lied to my clan. I can no longer be trusted," Pinethorn sighed.
Thornstar paused for a moment. "No, Pinethorn, you do not have to resign."
"He broke the code!" cats shouted.
"And so have I," Thornstar admitted. "Was it not I that became mates with a medicine cat who gave birth to our kits? Tawnyheart is dead now, but because of my stupidity, her life was ruined. Cloudstar assigned me deputy because he knew a good leader made mistakes and acknowledges them. Therefore, I will give you a second chance, Pinethorn, and I know you will not fail me."
"Thank you, Thornstar," Pinethorn said. "But I ask you to please be kind to Blueocean too."
Blueocean winced as Thornstar approached. "I only did it for the kits. Exile me if you wish, but not the kits."
"I will not exile you either, for Tasha too mated with a MoonClan tom. Her kits do not possess SnowClan blood at all. Of course, Blueocean, if you do not refuse to cut off all ties with this tom, I must exile you."
Blueocean nodded, tears gathering in her eyes. Cats released Gooseleaf, and he quickly ran to Blueocean.
"I am sorry," he told her. "I did not mean for my actions to hurt so many cats. I love you, Blueocean, and I wish things had been different. If only we lived in the same clan."
"But we don't. I am loyal to SnowClan, and you to StormClan.It is our kits' decisions where they are loyal to."
"I'm staying here," Goosepaw growled. Marshpaw nodded beside him.
"Me too," Ripplepaw agreed.
"I did not expect them to join me. They've been lied to and don't know their true father. Even though I've only just met you, I've heard so much about you. I beg you kits to forgive me. I truly do love you. Maybe we will meet again someday," he purred.
He took a step close, but the kits stepped back.
"Don't touch us," Marshpaw growled.
Gooseleaf nodded, then turned to Blueocean. He gave her one last lick, then turned to the cats.
"Please escort me home now. I'm willing to take the punishment from my own leader," he sighed.
Cats nodded, escorting him away. Lifepaw watched as Blueocean stood in pain.
As soon as he was gone, cats were silent with shock.
"How dare you?!" Marshpaw growled at his mother. "Lying to us?"
"It's not that simple," Blueocean began.
"You could've just told us!" Ripplepaw exclaimed.
"ENOUGH!" Lifepaw shouted, stepping forward. Cats froze, unsure why she was speaking.
"I've had enough of you being so cruel. Blueocean loves you three very much, and she did so much to protect you. So what if you're half-StormClan? You're loyal to SnowClan, and that's what matters! My mother is dead, so how can you be so angry at a cat you are blessed to have? And the way you spoke to Gooseleaf! He truly did love you and wanted your forgiveness, but you turned him away. But yet you are not mad at Pinethorn, who also lied to keep you safe. I know you don't want this to be the truth, but it is! And it's makes me so mad that you don't see the blessings in your life and the love of others!"
With those words, she turned away, leaving the others gaping with wide mouths. She rushed towards the apprentice den, finding her nest. In it, she began to cry, thinking of her mother. She wished Shinypelt would comfort her, but she was dead. There would be no comforting.
It was later that day when Goosepaw, Marshpaw, and Ripplepaw made their way into the apprentice den.
Lifepaw looked up, then growled.
"Yes?" she asked.
"We wanted to apologize," Ripplepaw admitted. "We've already spoken to Pinethorn and Blueocean and have fixed everything up. We even thanked them, and we truly did mean it."
"You were right, Lifepaw," Marshpaw sighed. "We were even given permission to see Gooseleaf tomorrow and express our forgiveness."
Goosepaw nodded beside him.
"We ask for your forgiveness too," Goosepaw asked.
"I forgive all of you, and I'm sorry for shouting. It hurt me to know you could not see what I could. It's all good."
Marshpaw and Ripplepaw smiled and strayed away, leaving Goosepaw behind.
"Are you okay?" Lifepaw asked.
"I'm named after him," Goosepaw sighed. "Blueocean told me. I wish I didn't have his name."
"But you do. You can't change that," Lifepaw pointed out.
"I'm sure you don't love me anymore," Goosepaw admitted.
"Why not?" Lifepaw asked.
"I'm half-StormClan! I'm not the tom you thought I was! Now there's this whole terrible past associated with me! How could you love a half-breed like me?" he asked.
"But I do," Lifepaw purred. For some reason, her mind scampered back to her as a kit, when she refused to play with Tasha's kits because they too were half-breeds, not even possessing SnowClan blood.
"I love you because you're Goosepaw. Just because you're given a new past does not change you."
"Easy for you to say. You're full SnowClan, and your past makes perfect sense."
"I haven't had the best past. My mother is dead, I don't have much family, and I never even hear about her. But the past is in the past, so instead, we should focus on the present, because that is the past I want to look back on," she purred.
Goosepaw grinned and nuzzled her.
"Thank you for understanding. I was scared you'd abandon me."
"I never would. I love you," Lifepaw purred.