Excerpt #7 Last chapter, for now ;)

Diamondheart and Shadowpaw marched into camp carrying two mice a vole and squirrel. They dropped it on the fresh-kill pile, Shadowpaw ran over to his sister and they walked to their den and started scuffling about.  Diamondheart looked around the camp, when he spotted Frostfur he started walking towards her, “Hi Frostfur, how did training go with Willowpaw?” He asked nodding towards the two apprentices practicing their fighting moves.  “Fine.” Frostfur meowed turning and stalking towards the warriors den.  “Frostfur!’ He called, “Whats eating her?” He thought, he shook his head and walked over to Leafpool’s den, “Whats wrong this time Diamondheart?” Leafpool called from inside the den, he  flinched, “Its Frostfur, she seems to be upset with me for some reason, and I can’t think of why,” He said lying down and resting his head on his paws, “Have you ever thought that going hunting with Skystorm has anything to do with it?” Leafpool meowed a reply, he jumped up his neck fur bristling, “I was just being nice! Skystorm is a friend, just like Teddypelt!” He started shouting, then stopped and shook his head, “I’m sorry Leafpool, I didn’t mean to shout,” apologetically he gave her ear a quick lick,  Leafpool nodded and continued to move her supplies around, she turned to look him straight in the eyes, “You should tell her how you feel, before you lose the chance, why don’t you go look for some chervil root, I could really use some more,” She asked, He nodded, “Thanks Leafpool, I’ll do my best,” He meowed nodding a thanks and walked out, Leafpool sighed “Not only am I a medicine cat, I’m a psychiatrist, Starclan forbid I heal anyone of mere wounds, always broken hearts!” She said rolling her eyes, Diamondheart let out a mrrow of amusement as he walked over to Firestar who sat grooming himself by his den, “Firestar, may I take a small patrol to look for some more chervil root for Leafpool?” He asked sitting down in front of his leader, Firestar looked at him for a moment and nodded, “Of course, try not to take too long though, we can’t afford to lose anymore warriors,” Firestar glanced around, “We have too few already,” He said so quietly that Diamondheart wasn’t sure if he heard him.  Diamondheart nodded his thanks and set out to look for Frostfur.  She sat beside the warriors den sunning herself and licking down her chest so that it lay neatly down.  “Frostfur!” Diamondheart called, “What do you want O’ mighty Diamondheart?” She said hotly, “Frostfur, Leafpool asked me to ask you to help me look for chervil root, she needs more for her stock,” He replied ignoring the fact that she had just tried insult him, Frostfur nodded, “Sure what do I care? I have nothing else to do,” She glared at him and walked toward the camp entrance, Starclan help me! He thought as he followed her out of the camp.



Diamondheart raced after Frostfur, keeping up with her was the easy part, but finding chervil, now that’s different.  Frostfur skidded to a halt, and began sniffing around the plants in the area to see if she could smell the unmistakable scent of the herb.  Diamondheart dashed through to where Frostfur stood, he sat down trying to catch his breath.  He looked up at Frostfur, who was gazing at him, when their eyes met she looked away.  Diamondheart sighed and stood up, “I guess that chervil isn’t going to find it and leap into our laps,” He meowed, Frostfur nodded, they continued to pick their way through the thick gorse bracken that was all around.  Finally a familiar scent flooded his mouth, Diamondheart spotted the herb immediately, he sat down, “Can we rest a second before we pick this chervil?” He asked Frostfur who was breathing rather hard.  She looked at him for a second with grateful eyes, then they changed, “Sure, if you’re tired,” She meowed.  “I’m not tired, I was worried about you,” He replied, Frostfur shrugged, “Then lets get the chervil so we can get back to camp,” She retorted, they began to chew off the stems and leaves of the plant, not paying attention Frostfur bumped into Diamondheart, “Sorry,” She said, Diamondheart shook his head and sat down, “No, I’m sorry, I never should have gone hunting with Skystorm, I thought I was being friendly, I mean we are friends and all, I never thought it would hurt you so much,” He stopped, “I never doubted my love for you,” His head and shoulders sagged, Frostfur sat down beside him and began licking him affectionately, “You are in my dreams Frostfur, I cannot go anywhere without thinking of you, I cannot live without you,” He continued, laying down, she fell down beside him. She continued to lick him, his face, then his ears, they huddled together, pelts brushing against each other warming them.  They fell asleep.

Diamondheart shot bolt upright, had they really fallen asleep in the middle of the forest? He looked around; Frostfur still lay next to him.  He stood up and nudged Frostfur, “Hmm?” She lifted her head and blinked several times, then stood up and shook her fur, “We should get the chervil and go,” She said starting to pick up the leaves of chervil, Diamondheart picked up the stems and they started to pad back to camp.  A patrol was walking out of the entrance of the camp when they arrived, Firestar at the lead, “Where have you been?” He demanded, glaring first at Frostfur then Diamondheart, “We—we were picking chervil and stopped to rest and fell asleep,” Frostfur muttered lowering her head,  Firestar shook his head, “You had us worried, try not to fall asleep next time,” He replied turning back into camp.  Frostfur and Diamondheart glanced at each other and followed her father.  They dropped the chervil off at Leafpool’s den, “You’ve been gone a long time,” She said amused, “We fell asleep,” Diamondheart retorted, “Thanks for the chervil by the way,” Leafpool meowed, Diamondheart and Frostfur nodded and walked out.  Diamondheart’s stomach growled, “I guess its time to eat,” Frostfur mewed; he followed her towards the fresh-kill pile.  They shared a squirrel.  After they finished they padded over to the warriors den and decided to lie down and began sharing tongues together.