Warriors #5: Heart of Fire

Chapter 6

Goldenshine's POV

It was the sight of many ThunderClan cats beginning to gather near the camp entrance that caused me to practically inhale the vole that I was working on. My first Gathering back as a warrior! I realized as I swallowed the last bite. No way am I going to let myself fall behind!

I quickly stood up and padded up to join the assembling cats. The first cat that caught my eye was the gray tabby pelt of Jayfeather, who was traveling over from his den. Luckily now he looked completely dry, and the water bath certainly had gone in his favor - his fur looking shiny and sleek.

Once the medicine cat had settled down with the other cats waiting to leave, I trotted over to him. "Hey, Jayfeather!" I purred, sitting down in front of him. "How are-" My meow was then interrupted by a small spasm in my throat, and I felt my diaphragm tense as it was released.

I rolled my eyes, letting out a groan. Dark Forest-cursed hiccups!

Jayfeather snorted as he licked a paw, running it over one of his ears. "Eat some prey a little too quickly?" he meowed, lashing his tail. "Great StarClan, are you a kit? You should know better than that."

"Shut up!" I purred after another hiccup. "Would a-" Another hiccup. "Would a kit make the effort to ask how you are doing?"

Jayfeather let out a huff. "I'm sure some do, but they wouldn't dare." After I let out yet another hiccup, he then answered, "I'm fine. Why would I not be?"

My eyes widened as another hiccup came out. "You jumped into the ice-cold lake! Are you crazy?" I exclaimed before twitching my tail, simultaneously hiccuping. "Actually, I can answer that already."

"Whatever," Jayfeather muttered, rolling his eyes. "But I really am fine. Leafpool helped me to warm up, and she gave me some thyme for the shock."

"She did?" I breathed, my heart warming at the prospect of Jayfeather letting Leafpool take care of him after all they had been through. "I mean... Leafpool really did?" For a while, it seemed like Jayfeather, Lionblaze and Hollyleaf too, wouldn't dare even get near Leafpool! I realized to myself as I tried to search Jayfeather's gaze. This is a lot of progress.

Jayfeather simply shrugged, letting his blind gaze go to the ground. "Yeah..." he nearly whispered. "But-"

Jayfeather's meow was then interrupted by a gasp, and both Jayfeather and I turned our heads to see Snowpaw standing in front of us, her eyes wide.

"Great StarClan, I'm sorry!" the white apprentice exclaimed, dipping her head. "I nearly ran straight into the both of you and didn't even realize it!"

I let out a faint purr of amusement before taking a step back. "That's-" Another hiccup interrupted my sentence. "That's alright, Snowpaw. Go on ahead."

Snowpaw flashed me a quick glance full of humor before sliding her way between Jayfeather and I. "Goodness, Snowpaw, you have got to get out of your own head!" I heard her mutter to herself as she trotted up to join her mentor, Icecloud.

I simply looked back at her for a few heartbeats, my eyes narrowed. Snowflight was always in her head... I thought longingly. I wondered what the young she-cat was thinking about. The fact that it's her first Gathering, sort of? A dream she had last night? Or... maybe about the reason that she was looking so weirdly at Swiftpaw earlier today...?

That latest possibility had been jabbing at me all day. If it were any other cat, I wouldn't have overanalyzed it as much as I was. But Snowpaw being the reincarnation of my sister, Snowflight, indicated that she certainly knew more than the average apprentice.