"Whisperpaw!" called a voice.
Whisperpaw rolled over, hardly hearing it.
"Whisperpaw!" It called again. "We're leaving!"
Whisperpaw yawned, then got up and stretched. "Leaving where?" she asked groggily. She wobbled over to the den entrance and saw Gravelpelt staring at her, looking annoyed.
"We're on the dawn patrol. Hurry up. The sun rose a while ago." Gravelpelt rolled his eyes.
Whisperpaw yawned again, yearning to fall back onto her soft nest, but she knew she couldn't. She shook her head of her sleepiness, turned to quickly to wash her flank, then stepped from the apprentices' den. It had been several days since the last snow storm, when Aspenleaf's kits had been born, and the snow had mostly melted. Whipserpaw yawned, then followed her mentor across the frosty clearing to Meadowheart and Eaglefeather, who were probably the rest of the dawn patrol. Eaglefeather stood right beside Meadowheart, glancing at her every few heartbeats.
Once they'd all reached the bramble barrier, Whisperpaw asked, "What about a meal?" and heard her stomach growl loudly.
Eaglefeather replied in a superior tone, "We need to get going. You can eat when we get back. Right Meadowheart?" he asked the tortoiseshell and white warrior.
"Uh, right," replied Meadowheart, blinking awkwardly. They padded out of camp, Eaglefeather walking right next to her, and their pelts accidentally brushed. Meadowheart pulled away and pretended to be watching a small raven as it hopped along the branches of a pine tree.
Whisperpaw glanced at her mentor, amused. But Gravelpelt was padding onward, focused on the patrol. His yellow eyes stared ahead as they crossed the stream, carefully scanning the forest.
Meadowheart stopped and sniffed the air. "I know we're not on a hunting patrol, but I smell a vole, and the Clan needs to be fed."
"That's a great idea," Eaglefeather agreed immediately. "I can catch it, if you want."
"Uh, okay." Meadowheart glanced curiously at Eaglefeather.
Eaglefeather padded away towards the prey-scent and suddenly sprang through the frosted bracken, disappearing behind a patch of briar, and a small growl filled the air as his fur caught on the thorns. Meadowheart watched in concern. Then Eaglefeather appeared through the bracken again, carrying the dead vole in his jaws. "There," he meowed in a muffled voice. He quickly buried it in the frozen ground by the patch of ferns. When he finished, he turned back to the patrol and asked, "Shall we continue?"
Meadowheart flicked her ears and nodded, her amber eyes narrowed against the cold. Whisperpaw turned and followed her mentor and the rest of the patrol through the territory once more, Meadowheart in the lead and Eaglefeather close behind her.
Whisperpaw's mind wandered as she trudged through the frosted forest. Yesterday, on a hunting patrol, Echopaw had told Whisperpaw about a pair of big black eyes she'd seen, twice, and that Bronzepelt hadn't been able to see them. Whisperpaw had been shocked, and even more shocked that she hadn't seen anything like that or received a sign from StarClan lately. No matter how much Echopaw had told her she would probably get a sign too, Whisperpaw couldn't help but wonder: why had StarClan sent a sign to Echopaw and not Whisperpaw? It wasn't that Whisperpaw thought it was unfair, she just was curious why StarClan chose to show Echopaw and not Whisperpaw. Okay, maybe she was a bit jealous. But Whisperpaw didn't let this show; there were more important things to worry about than that.
"Oh great," Whisperpaw heard Gravelpelt mutter, dragging her mind back to the patrol. She followed her mentor's gaze across the half-frozen river to a DayClan patrol, but to Whisperpaw's relief, they were on the correct side of the border. Whisperpaw saw a pure white she-cat that she recognized as Frostwhisker; Aspenleaf had mentioned that she'd been on the patrol that had wounded her.
Whisperpaw felt her neck fur rise, but Gravelpelt shot her a warning glance, and Whisperpaw forced her fur to lie flat.
Behind Frostwhisker, Whisperpaw saw a reddish-orange tom renewing the scent markers. He was followed by a smaller cat: a light brown tabby tom with black stripes and a thick black tail; his pale green eyes were staring across the river, directly at Whisperpaw.
Whisperpaw's heart skipped a beat as she recognized who it was. Bumblepaw looked away shyly. He glanced at Whisperpaw again, then followed the reddish-orange tom along the riverbank. Whisperpaw then knew the red tom had to be Bumblepaw's mentor: Applefang. Applefang glared at the DawnClan patrol, following Frostwhisker through the reeds. Bumblepaw continued to stare at Whisperpaw, then scampered after his mentor as he realized they were gone.
"Let's renew the scent markers," growled Eaglefeather, not taking his eyes off of the DayClan border. Then he raised his voice. "Maybe they'll learn to stay on their own territory!"
Meadowheart gave Eaglefeather a warning glance and meowed, "We don't want to provoke a fight."
Gravelpelt nodded and glanced at Eaglefeather and Meadowheart. "You two start remarking the border downstream; Whisperpaw and I will check the borders here."
Whisperpaw nodded at her mentor and stifled a laugh at the delighted look in Eaglefeather's yellow eyes. Meadowheart turned and headed down to a clump of frozen, frosted reeds and gorse bushes, renewing the scent marker there. Eaglefeather eagerly followed her, his bushy brown tail high.
Whisperpaw turned around and saw that Gravelpelt was already many fox-lengths upstream, so she began to follow him, but something stopped her.
"Hey!" hissed a voice near Whisperpaw.
Whisperpaw turned her head and saw the frosted, white-tipped grass rustling along the riverbank across from her. The reeds shook as Bumblepaw stepped through them.
"Bumblepaw!" Whisperpaw gasped. "What are you doing?"
"I came to talk to you!" Bumblepaw whispered. "I just can't stand to wait until every full moon to see you; I can't! I had too much fun at the Gathering to wait that long again!"
Whisperpaw didn't know what to say. She glanced around and hissed, "Bumblepaw, you're going to get us both into trouble if some cat sees—"
Bumblepaw didn't seem to hear her. "I want to meet you in other places besides the Pointed Mountain! I... I need to see you more!"
Whisperpaw blinked in surprise. "We're from different Clans, Bumblepaw. You know we can't see each other until the night of the Gathering."
The DayClan apprentice pressed on. "I know, but... but I want to see you more than once a moon—"
Whisperpaw shook her head. "Listen. What you're suggesting is against the warrior code. I'm not about to break the warrior code just to see you again. I'm sorry, but we can't."
She did want to see Bumblepaw again; he was becoming something like a close friend, except he was from another Clan. Whisperpaw had to put her Clan first, as she should. And Bumblepaw should too!
"Whisperpaw... don't you want to see me again?"
"Well, yes. But we will have to wait for the next Gathering!"
"We don't have to wait until then," Bumblepaw murmured. "Isn't there a place we could meet?"
"But where, Bumblepaw?" asked Whisperpaw in exasperation at this apprentice's persistence. She glanced over her shoulder, aware of Gravelpelt walking closer to her.
"Well, on my territory there aren't any secret places; the moorland isn't a good place for hiding," murmured Bumblepaw, and Whisperpaw knew what he was suggesting.
"What? Bumblepaw! Have you got bees in your brain?" Whisperpaw exclaimed, not believing her ears. "Us meet in secret on DawnClan territory? If my Clan finds your scent, they'll think DayClan is invading or stealing prey. Then they may launch an attack, and... and think about how much trouble you'd be in for sneaking around DawnClan territory and provoking my Clanmates into starting a war! Not to mention the trouble I'd be in if my Clan found out!"
"But you do want to see me, don't you?" Bumblepaw asked.
"Well, yes..." Whisperpaw murmured. "But we have to think of our Clans first! DayClan and DawnClan aren't really on the greatest terms with each other right now."
"Well, is there some place none of your Clanmates ever visit?" Bumblepaw persisted.
Whisperpaw blinked. "Well, there is this one place I accidentally stumbled upon during a hunting patrol once—"
"That sounds great," meowed Bumblepaw. "As long as I get to see you, I don't care where in StarClan's name it is."
Whisperpaw opened her mouth to tell him she didn't think this was the smartest idea, but she was cut off.
"Whisperpaw!"
Whisperpaw whipped her head around at the sound of her name; Gravelpelt was calling her. "I've got to go!" Whisperpaw hissed to Bumblepaw. "You should too. I'll see you another time, Bumblepaw—"
Bumblepaw interrupted her, hissing urgently, "Meet me here tonight, at quarter to moonhigh."
"Tonight? Bumblepaw are you out of your mind? We can't do this!"
"Please! Just this once. I promise that if you don't want to meet again—"
"But—" Whisperpaw growled.
Bumblepaw lashed his tail, but before he could answer, the reeds rustled and Gravelpelt thrust his way through the reeds to where Whisperpaw was sitting. Whisperpaw froze, then looked across the river nervously, but to her relief, Bumblepaw had gone.
"What are you doing? We're waiting for you," Gravelpelt meowed with exasperation filling his voice.
"Oh, um, I was just getting a drink of water after I renewed the scent markers," Whisperpaw lied.
"Hm. Come on," grunted Gravelpelt, turning and padding back toward Meadowheart and Eaglefeather once again. Whisperpaw exhaled nervously, then backed out of the grass to follow her mentor. She paused and turned around to look across the river at the patch of reeds where Bumblepaw had been, but the DayClan apprentice, and the rest of his patrol, had gone.
* * *
Whisperpaw lay awake in the apprentices' den, listening to the deep breathing of Echopaw as she soundly slept on her moss. Hailpaw and Cloverpaw were curled up next to each other across the den, and Raypaw lay stretched out on his own nest, his whiskers quivering in the cold.
Whisperpaw peeked out of the den, watching the moon rise through the treetops. 'Meet me here at quarter to moonhigh', Bumblepaw's voice replayed in her mind.
I can't go meet him in secret! I can't be disloyal to my Clan!
But what if Bumblepaw was waiting for her? She'd told him that there was a place on DawnClan territory that no cat ever went, but she didn't mean she was actually going to let him trespass on her territory! What if he was on DawnClan territory right now, waiting for her?
Whisperpaw sat up and sighed. She couldn't just let him sit on DawnClan territory and wait for her. If he sat there for long enough, his scent would definitely be found tomorrow morning by the dawn patrol. He couldn't be on her territory! She would have to go meet him and tell him that he had to leave.
She glanced over her shoulder at the four apprentices behind her, sound asleep, then cautiously padded across the clearing. To her disappointment, Twilightfoot and Sunfur were on guard by the bramble barrier She looked around for another way to get out of the camp, but saw no escape route. She watched as Sunfur meowed to Twilightfoot, "Copperleaf and Rustypelt said they'd take our place as moonrise. We can go wake them now. Twilightfoot nodded and followed the orange-brown she-cat across the camp and into the warriors' den.
Whisperpaw took a deep breath. This was her chance.
She pressed herself against a gorse bush, praying the two warriors wouldn't see her. Sunfur and Twilightfoot disappeared inside the warriors' den, and Whisperpaw crept out of camp. She silently thanked StarClan for Copperleaf and Rustypelt switching places with Twilightfoot and Sunfur, then raced away from the camp before any of the warriors could spot her. She carefully creeped through the forest, alert for any signs of movement, but the only things that did move were the branches of the trees above Whisperpaw's head. Once she passed the Great Pine and crossed the stream safely, she picked up the pace and started running through the forest. It was now quarter to moonhigh, and Bumblepaw would be waiting, possibly waiting on DawnClan territory. She started sprinting. Finally, she reached the meadow, and she could hear the distant sound of the flowing river. Her flanks heaved and her legs threatened to collapse underneath her, but she kept on walking.
"There you are!" came a voice to Whisperpaw's right.
Whisperpaw turned, startled, and saw Bumblepaw, just standing there on DawnClan territory. "What are you doing on DawnClan territory?" she hissed. "How long have you been sitting there?"
"Coming to meet you," Bumblepaw meowed, flicking his tail. "And calm your fur; I haven't been here that long."
"Did you think about what would happen if you sat there for long enough and let your scent linger? What would happen if my Clan's dawn patrol picked up your scent?" Whisperpaw growled, flattening her ears against her silver tabby head.
Bumblepaw looked confused. "I haven't been here long at all," he promised.
Whisperpaw took a deep breath. "Look, Bumblepaw; you should leave."
Bumblepaw's green eyes filled with hurt. "But you came all this way. You must have wanted to see me too."
Whisperpaw blinked. "I came to tell you you can't be on my territory. For my sake, for your sake, and for both of our Clans' sakes. It's just too risky, especially with the tensions between the Clans right now.
"But Whisperpaw. I thought you wanted to see me. I thought—"
"I do, but not in secret, not when it's breaking the warrior code! Gatherings are the perfect time! Not any other time."
Bumblepaw looked down at his paws and flicked his tail. "Okay; you don't have to lie about it. I know you don't want to see me—"
Whisperpaw narrowed her eyes. "But I do! I just think that, as apprentices, we should know to put our Clans first."
"I know, I know, but..."
Whisperpaw felt her stomach clench with guilt as she looked at Bumblepaw. He'd been excited, walked all this way, risked his Clanmates seeing him, just so that he could see her, and Whisperpaw had just told him that he should leave.
Whisperpaw sighed. "Bumblepaw. I really think you're a good cat, and a good friend. But think of what would happen if our Clanmates found out about us sneaking from our camps to meet in secret. I did have fun at the Gathering with you, and I do want to see you again, because you're one of my friends now, but I have to put my Clan first. I have to, Bumblepaw, and so should you."
Bumblepaw looked up from his paws. His green eyes met her brown. "Okay. But since we're both here, do you want to go to that place you were talking about and just talk, or play CaveClan again if you want, just for a little bit?"
Whisperpaw shook her head with amusement. This DayClan cat was persistent. "Well..." She thought about it. They were both already here, and Whisperpaw had sort of promised him earlier when they'd met on patrol. "Oh... alright..." Whisperpaw sighed.
Bumblepaw's eyes lit up and he let out a pur. "So where is this place?" he asked.
"Not far from here," Whisperpaw replied, turning back and leading the way through the forest. They entered the trees, thickening as they walked deeper, and the wind made their branches creak and sway.
"What was that?" Bumblepaw whispered quietly, and Whisperpaw turned around to find him crouching against the ground.
"The trees move in the wind," Whisperpaw told him, her tail twitching in amusement.
"Oh. I'm not used to trees," Bumblepaw meowed, straightening up again, but he still looked wary as he walked beneath the long branches. Whisperpaw knew he felt uncomfortable underneath the trees, just as she would without them.
Suddenly a thought filled her mind: she was leading an enemy cat into her territory! Was she making a mistake? Whisperpaw shook her head to clear the thoughts.
Whisperpaw lead Bumblepaw toward a large clump of heather and scrub oak bushes. They were so tall that, even on her hind legs, Whisperpaw wouldn't be able to see over them. She slipped through a small gap in one of them and meowed, "It's right through here." She lead the way through the bush, squeezing past the branches and out into the place Whisperpaw had accidentally found in leaf-fall. She heard Bumblepaw gasp behind her, and she remembered that she'd done the same when she'd first found it.
It was a grassy clearing, surrounded by aspen and birch trees, which encircled the bushes to make a closed off clearing, unseen from the outside. The trees opened up to the sky above, and the stars shone down below, lighting up the clearing in a silver glow. A small creek flowed through the grass, only a mouse-length wide, which gurgled as it weaved through the small grassy clearing and under a heather bush on the outside.
Bumblepaw stepped forward. "Wow." He gasped again. "How in the name of StarClan did you find it? It's so beautiful!"
"It was near the beginning of leaf-fall, a few moons ago. I was chasing a squirrel through the ferns and it ran under that scrub oak bush," she pointed with her tail at one of the scrub oaks on the outside of the clearing. "I squeezed through after it and found this place." She turned to Bumblepaw. "I knew no other cat had been here for some seasons. I never told any cat; I don't know why, but I just never brought it up."
Bumblepaw looked at her, his pale green eyes wide. "It's a great place."
Whisperpaw felt a sudden burst of excitement and energy, and she ran across the clearing, stepping easily over the creek. She faced Bumblepaw and crouched down, lashing her tail in playful mocking, daring him to attack her. Mischief filled his eyes and he raced after her. She dodged out of the way and jumped on top of him, and they rolled in the frozen grass. Whisperpaw was lying under him, but she pushed off with her hind legs and launched him across the clearing. She stood up proudly, with her tail sticking straight up. Bumblepaw got to his paws slowly, then shook his head to clear away the grass and frost from his fur.
Whisperpaw gave a superior sniff, smiling.
"You win," Bumblepaw meowed, laughing. "I didn't know DawnClan actually taught their apprentices how to fight," he teased.
Whisperpaw growled playfully. "I didn't know DayClan cats actually accepted defeat."
Bumblepaw flattened his ears and lashed his tail playfully, then sprang after Whisperpaw and tackled her to the ground. "They don't," Bumblepaw declared as he held her down.
Whisperpaw laughed, and Bumblepaw let her up. Whisperpaw sat down, wrapping her tail over her paws, and Bumblepaw sat next to her. Whisperpaw blinked. For a while she forgot about their separate Clans, her training, and the prophecy as the two sat and talked.
Whisperpaw paused and looked up at the sky; the waning moon floated above their heads, signalling that it was moonhigh. "We should get going," she sighed, getting to her paws.
Bumblepaw nodded and meowed quietly, "If we want to get back unnoticed, we'll have to leave now, plus give ourselves a good cleaning so our scents don't intermingle and our Clans won't suspect anything. And," Bumblepaw added, "We'll need a bit of sleep so we're not tired during patrols or training."
Whisperpaw nodded. She was glad she hadn't sent Bumblepaw home. She wanted to meet him again; she'd had so much fun. She knew she shouldn't be wanting to, that they should only meet at Gatherings, but she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Can we meet here again?"
Bumblepaw smiled. "Told you you'd want to meet!"
"Well, yeah... but not too often; we don't want our Clanmates knowing. We have to stick to the warrior code. And I know this is technically breaking the warrior code, but... she sighed, "What harm is it doing anyone? We're not planning attacks or anything!"
Bumblepaw laughed. "Of course not! We're both loyal to our Clans! Meeting together doesn't change that!"
Whisperpaw smiled, glad that she was becoming closer friends with him. "How about two moonrises from now?"
Bumblepaw shook his head. "I wish I could, but I have my assessment then, and I can't miss that. I'd be tired after coming here and probably wouldn't pass the assessment."
Whisperpaw nodded; she understood. They had to put their Clans first. She glanced up at the waning moon above their heads. "How about at the half-moon? That's about a quarter of a moon from now."
Bumblepaw looked at the sky, thinking. "Sure. On the night of the half-moon at quarter to moonhigh," he meowed, looking at Whisperpaw again, his eyes glowing with excitement.
Whisperpaw purred. "Okay, sounds perfect."
"I'll be here," Bumblepaw promised, then he turned and pushed his way through the bushes lining the clearing. A scrub oak bush quivered as his thick black tail disappeared through it, leaving Whisperpaw alone. She listened as his pawsteps faded away in the distance, and soon all she could hear was the trees swaying in the cold night breeze and the loud beating of her own heart. Whisperpaw sat still for a few heartbeats, then turned to give her pelt a good washing, making sure the scents of DayClan wouldn't linger.
When Whisperpaw reached the camp again, she took a deep, quiet breath and peered through the bramble barrier tentatively. To her relief, Copperleaf and Rustypelt weren't there. Whisperpaw quickly slipped into her den, the other four apprentices still fast asleep. She curled up on her soft nest and sighed, her last thought of the DayClan apprentice, Bumblepaw.