Warriors || Aspenrose's Goodbye

Chapter Two

       Jaywatcher nudged Aspenpaw through the bramble screen to the medicine cat den. She shivered. Her father was making her ask to become the medicine cat apprentice, but Aspenpaw wasn't sure that's where her heart really lie.
       A ginger tabby sat by a trickling pool, sorting through different leaves. Her green eyes drew from her work to be placed on the cream-and-white apprentice that had entered her den. Jaywatcher padded in after Aspenpaw.
        "What can I do for you two?" Duskheart's tone was brisk, no hint of suspicion at all in it.
       Jaywatcher flicked his tail over his daughter's cheek. Aspenpaw shuffled her paws, casting her gaze to the stone floor. This isn't what I want. Jaywatcher's blue eyes flickered with sternness.
         "Aspenpaw told me about her love of herbs," Jaywatcher started, glancing at Aspenpaw, who stiffened. "She said how she would just enjoy learning about them and getting to know StarClan as well."
I hadn't told him any of that. Aspenpaw inwardly felt heat rising in her throat, but she kept her breathing steady and gaze emotionless. She was great at hiding her feelings.
       Sometimes other cats hardly seemed to take any notice to her. She was used to it. She actually liked it, being alone in her own little world.
      Duskheart stood and turned to face the cats before her. "And?"
       "And..." Jaywatcher seemed to be hinting at Aspenpaw.
      "And I want to become your apprentice," she blurted. Mouse-brain! Control yourself. Although, something inside her tingled.
       And then she was back in the forest, gazing up in the blue sky as a soft rose petal fell to her paws. The vision seemed so real that she closed her eyes, but when she opened them, Aspenpaw found herself staring into the startled eyes of Duskheart.
        "Well I suppose I could arrange something... How about you show me just how interested in herbs you really are, Aspenpaw?"
      Aspenpaw perked her ears.
     "Can you help me with this herb sorting?"
     She nodded. As Aspenpaw turned to follow Duskheart to the pool, she caught her father leaving the den, bramble tendrils swishing as they closed behind his black pelt.