26I know, it's a little late, but I really wanted to do a Warriors Halloween fic. You know you wanted one.
Warnings: random pairing. Don't freak out, it doesn't actually exist. POWER OF THREE SPOILERS! And drunk twolegs O.o. SpellChecked, but not proofread, so sorry for minor errors or if it seems a bit rushed. C'mon, if I waited too long I'd have to wait for next Halloween!
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.
Breezepaw woke in the apprentice den all alone. He sort of enjoyed having the whole den to himself, not that he'd ever tell anyone that. They might think he was happy about the outbreak of greencough spreading through WindClan like a wildfire. Not that he wasn't happy. After all, he got the den to himself.
Already two warriors and one of his fellow apprentices had died, and the other's life teetered on the edge of life and death. Barkface's catmint supply was dangerously low, and he didn't have enough for every cat.
Oh well, thought Breezepaw. I don't have it.
He rolled over in his moss and tried to fall back asleep, but no sooner had he done so than his father burst into the den.
"Breezepaw! Wake up!" Crowfeather called. Breezepaw could feel the blue eyes analyzing him, and tried to fake sleep. "I know you're awake," he accused.
The stubborn apprentice rolled over to face his father, opening his similar blue eyes slightly. "What do you want?"
"It's not what I want; it's what the Clan needs. We need someone to go into twolegplace and get catmint from a twoleg garden. Barkface is all out."
"That's it?" complained Breezepaw. He closed his eyes again and yawned pointedly. "Tell Barkface to get Kestrelpaw to do it. Isn't that what medicine cat apprentices are for?"
"Breezepaw, stop being so selfish!" Crowfeather snapped. "More than half the Clan has greencough, and Barkface needs Kestrelpaw's help here. You're the only healthy apprentice, so the least you can do is go get some catmint!"
"If you feel so strongly about getting catmint, then you go get it," Breezepaw muttered.
"I am," retorted Crowfeather. "I'm about to leave for ThunderClan to see if they have any extra." The apprentice noticed a blush creeping onto his father's face, but didn't no what to make of it. He figured maybe he was getting sick too.
"Fine," mused Breezepaw, slowly pulling himself to his paws. "I'll go fetch the stupid catmint. But you'd better let me sleep when I get back." He brushed past Crowfeather and stalked out of camp, wondering why the cats strong enough to stay healthy were rewarded by being given errands to run.
The twolegplace was beyond WindClan territory, in the direction of the ShadowClan border. It was getting dark out, and Breezepaw's black pelt began to meld with the shadows in the air. He silently wondered how he was supposed to be sure he was grabbing catmint in the dark, and hoped that the twolegs would have one of their sunlight-containers on.
By the time the stubborn apprentice reached the twolegplace, it was completely dark out. He nosed his way through a patch of trimmed bushes to a narrow Thunderpath, lit by sunlight-containers on either side. He looked around for signs of danger, and was overwhelmed by the amount.
There were twoleg kits everywhere. They were mostly in clumps, with the rare solitary individual wandering alone. They were all running around and going up to the twoleg nests, and when Breezepaw looked closer, it looked like the adult twolegs were giving something to the kits before closing the doors and allowing the kits to run away. The strange thing was, the twoleg kits didn't look like normal twoleg kits. They were wearing strange materials and masks, and some of them didn't look like twolegs at all. If they hadn't been walking on two legs, Breezepaw may not have known the difference.
Retreating into the cover of the bushes, the apprentice surveyed the situation. It looked pretty dangerous; there were badger-loads of twoleg kits wandering around, and the adult twolegs were opening their doors pretty frequently. How was he supposed to get into the twoleg garden without being noticed?
Not possible, he decided. I'll just have to be seen. Doesn't matter, I can outrun those slugs any day. He abandoned his cover in the bushes and made a run for the nearest twoleg nest, hoping there'd be a garden on the side. The pavement of the Thunderpath tore at his pads, but he ignored it. The twoleg stench rose into his nose, but he held his breath. He had to move quickly, or the twolegs would get him.
He maneuvered through a cluster of kits, who all screamed as he passed. He turned around to look at them, and they were all leaping from foot to foot and pointing at him in fear. He smirked; who knew he terrified twolegs so much?
But as he had his head turned in the opposite direction, he didn't see where he was going, and bumped right into a young male twoleg kit. The kit was dressed in a huge black material and a black mask of some sort, and was holding a glowing red stick. As soon as he made contact with his leg, Breezepaw fell backwards to the ground, and the twoleg let out a loud scream.
"A black cat!" he shrieked.
Instantly, a bunch of other kits Breezepaw assumed were the original kit's friends appeared by his side. Who knew twolegs had friends? A few of them were dressed akin to their friend, others completely differently, and they were all holding different colored glowing sticks. The glow-stick group, as Breezepaw dubbed them, was staring at him in horror as he got to his paws.
Twolegs are such mousebrains, he thought. He was about to just walk away from the gaping group, when one of them took action. "Jedi warriors attack!" he shouted, and suddenly a swarm of little twoleg kits with glowsticks were after the WindClan apprentice.
Alarmed, Breezepaw took off, but there were more of them than he thought. As he dodged one, there was another. They all seemed to want to hit him with their glowy sticks. I don't know why those sticks glow, and I don't want to know, he mused, dodging another swing aimed at his head. He assumed they were special twoleg weapons, and feared they might cut right through his head.
Without warning, a kit dressed like the original one but a bit taller appeared at his side, and brought down his red glow stick right at his head. Breezepaw barely had time to note that he was pretty strong for a little twoleg as he dodged to the side, narrowly escaping the head-severing blow. Unable to stop his momentum, the kit slammed his red glowstick into the ground. It snapped in two, the light flickering out of existence.
"My lightsaber!" the kit cried, dropping to his knees beside his broken glowstick.
Breezepaw smirked. He loved how all he had to do was dodge and his enemies were destroying themselves. I think I now understand ShadowClan fighting strategy.
He saw a tree on the opposite side of the Thunderpath, and decided to go for it. Finally, a safe place to sit down and rest. But as he started towards the tree, the remaining glow-stick wielders caught up with him.
Fox dung, he cursed, and broke into a run. As he increased the distance between himself and the kits, they started throwing their glowsticks at him. Breezepaw dodged them in alarm, dreading to think what would happen should one of them bury itself in his back.
He was almost at tree...almost...but another twoleg kit leapt out from behind. Oh well, I can take him, thought Breezepaw confidently, preparing to spring. The kit pulled a green glowstick from behind his back. Or not. The apprentice definately did not want to find out what those glowing twoleg weapons could do to him. But the rest of the kits were approaching from behind, and had reclaimed their thrown sticks. He was surrounded.
Double fox dung.
Suddenly, something dark fell out of the tree, and landed right on the green-sticked kit guarding it. The startled kit fell to the ground with a high pitched scream. Sensing his opportunity, Breezepaw darted up the tree.
He quickly noticed he was being followed. He turned and looked down, only to see the dark thing that had fallen out of the tree following him back up. It was a cat.
"Who are you?" he hissed.
"Shut up and get on a branch," replied a female voice. Breezepaw grudgingly did as he was told, settling on a high branch to watch the disappointed stick-waving kits shouting up at him.
"You're from WindClan?" his rescuer asked, joining him on the branch.
"None of your busin - hey, how do you know I'm from WindClan?" Breezepaw snapped defensively.
"Your scent," the she-cat mewed, as if even a newborn squirrel would know. "I'm surprised you didn't notice mine."
Breezepaw noticed with a start that he hadn't bothered to taste the air; he'd been too busy trying to block out the twoleg stench. He sniffed the area around him, and quickly recognized the send of his rescuer.
"ThunderClan!" he snarled, narrowing his eyes.
"What's with the aggression?" the ThunderClan cat demanded. "I just saved you."
"You didn't save me from anything. It was just some kits with glowsticks," Breezepaw mewed defensively.
"Now you're just berating yourself. You were terrified...of kits with glowsticks?"
"I was not terrified!" Breezepaw growled.
"Whatever," the ThunderClan cat meowed. "So, what brings you here?"
"None of your business."
The she-cat sighed. "Well, I'm here looking for catmint. There. Now why are you here?"
"Hey, I'm also looking for catmint!" Breezepaw exclaimed. He narrowed his eyes. "You'd better not take all of it."
"Chill out. There's plenty."
"Speaking of which, I'd better go get some. Bye." He lowered himself and prepared to jump, but the she-cat stepped on his tail. "What in StarClan's name are you doing?" he demanded.
"You're almost as mousebrained as the twolegs below us," she chided. "You might want to wait until they leave before you jump, or else I'll have to rescue you again."
"You didn't rescue me," he snapped. "And my Clan needs that catmint."
The black she-cat grinned, letting out an amused purr. "You're just like my brother, you know that? So obsessed with helping the Clan you might get yourself killed doing it."
"I wouldn't exactly call myself selfless," he murmured, thinking of how happy he was to have the apprentice den all to himself. "Say, who's your brother?"
"Lionpaw," she meowed. His eyes narrowed again. "What? Got a problem with Lionpaw? And please stop narrowing your eyes. It makes you look like a blind mouse."
Breezepaw ignored the insult. "Your brother Lionpaw nearly got me killed," he growled.
"Lionpaw never tried to kill anyone!"
"He did too. He triggered a landslide that nearly got both of us killed. He's a real mousebrain."
The she-cat rolled her bright green eyes. "I see, you must be Breezepaw. You're the ungrateful piece of crowfood who didn't even bother to thank the cat who saved you from the landslide, who happens to be my other brother, and who has the nerve to blame it on the cat who was stuck with you. I can't believe I just saved you."
"You didn't save me!" snapped Breezepaw. "And your brothers aren't as noble as you think."
"Jaypaw and Lionpaw are more noble than you'll ever be!" the she-cat snarled, the fur on her neck rising.
"Whatever," Breezepaw brushed her off. "I'll be leaving." The twoleg kits were gone, after all. He moved to jump, but was gripped by sudden curiosity. "Hey, what's your name again? Hailpaw?"
"Hollypaw," she corrected testily. "Now weren't you leaving?"
"Yes," he snapped, and jumped out of the tree.
Hollypaw glared at him as she watched him stalk away. She couldn't believe that such an arrogant, stupid furball was the son of one of the brave cats who'd journeyed to the sun-drown-place.
She thought about what she said about her brothers not being noble...but surely they were nobler than he'd ever be! Well, maybe not Jaypaw. She dug her claws into the tree branch as she recalled her conversation with her blind brother from earlier.
"Hollypaw!" Jaypaw called, approaching his sister at the fresh-kill pile. "Hollypaw, can you do me a huge favor?" Hollypaw rolled her eyes. "What?" "Leafpool sent me to get some catmint...and I really don't want to," Jaypaw replied. "I was going to explore the territory -" "Are you sure that's safe?" "Of course it's safe!" Jaypaw snapped, his hackles rising. "Why wouldn't it be safe? Just because I can't see doesn't mean I'll walk over a cliff or something -" "Jaypaw, chill out, I believe you," mewed Hollypaw. "Now, what did you need me to get?" "Catmint. You can find it in the twoleg gardens in the twolegplace. I figured since you used to be a medicine cat apprentice and all, you wouldn't have a hard time." Hollypaw grimaced as she remembered how badly she'd failed at being a medicine cat, but then again, she wouldn't mind refreshing her few skills. Besides, it would provide her with something to do that night, and Jaypaw would owe her. That was the best part.
"Sure, I'll go get it, but you owe me big time," she meowed.
"Whatever," snorted Jaypaw.
The present Hollypaw jumped down from the tree. Jaypaw noble, my foot. It was very late, and she still hadn't found any catmint. She hadn't realized the twoleg place was so far away, and hadn't counted on having to rescue a WindClan apprentice from a band of crazy glow-stick waving twoleg kits.
She noticed a twoleg nest down the Thunderpath with a lot of growth surrounded it. Maybe there's a garden there, she thought. As she approached the nest, she noticed the abnormal overgrowth around it. Most twolegs destroyed the plants surrounding their nests, but not this one. She also noticed that no twoleg kits were going up to the door. Perfect.
She went around back where she assumed the garden would be, but it wasn't there. She explored a bit more, getting closer and closer to the nest, and wondering where the garden could be. Suddenly a loud shriek cut through her thoughts, jolting her like a lightning bolt.
"BLACK CAT!" an old male twoleg shouted. He had short white hair coming out of his head and was wearing pretty sloppy covering for a twoleg. She saw him standing but a few feet away from her, with a strange long stick in his hand. Said stick had three silver pointy things coming out the end. "GET OFF MY PROPERTY, DEMON!"
Hollypaw had absolutely no idea what he was saying, but he seemed angry, and figured now would be a very good time to run. She decided just in time, as the pointed stick crash to the ground where she had been standing half a second ago.
"I'LL GET YOU, DEMON!" he yelled in an old, raspy voice, chasing after her as she maneuvered through the overgrown grass and out of the yard.
The twoleg kits wandering the streets screamed as the saw the old twoleg with a pitchfork chasing a small black cat. "Old man Tracy's lost it!" one shouted. "Get away from the black cat!" screamed another. "It must've come from his haunted house!" claimed yet another. Hollypaw again had no idea what they were saying, but noticed they were all pointing to her and the insane old twoleg.
How am I supposed to get any catmint if that maniac murders me with his pointy stick? Hollypaw thought desperately, dashing from side to side as the pitchfork crashed down all around her.
Suddenly, something grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her upwards. At first she thought it was the insane twoleg, and was sure her life had come to an end. She squeezed her eyes shut and begged StarClan to protect her brothers, but was deposited on a solid platform. She opened her eyes slowly, and found herself on the windowsill of a twoleg nest.
"Quick, get inside before he catches you!" hissed a familiar voice. Hollypaw obediently nudged her way through the curtains and climbed through the open window, not wanting to know what would happen if old stick-man caught her.
"You're lucky I was there, or you'd be crowfood," meowed Breezepaw, seated beside her on the hard floor of the twoleg nest behind a huge sofa.
"Hey, I saved you too, so we're even," snapped Hollypaw.
"You didn't save me, since I would've escaped anyways, so you owe me," Breezepaw insisted.
"I don't owe you anything!" Hollypaw growled heatedly.
"Shh!" hissed Breezepaw. He flicked his tail towards the sofa. Hollypaw took the hint, and peered over it.
It appeared to be a twoleg gathering of some sort. There were a lot of older twoleg kits, probably apprentice aged, dressed as strangely as the ones outside. They crowded the room, eating twoleg food and dancing. Colored lights flickered across the walls, illuminating the fake spiderwebs and artificial pumpkins strewn across the room.
"Seems like a twoleg party," whispered Hollypaw. "Dunno what's up with the fake pumpkins and spiderwebs though."
Breezepaw snorted. "You know twolegs. They always do unpredictable stupid things."
Without warning, something crashed into the wall behind them. Hollypaw and Breezepaw both jumped, fearing they'd been seen, but discovered it was just a broken glass bottle one of the twoleg apprentices had thrown.
"What's up with that?" murmured Hollypaw. "One of them just threw a bottle at the wall!"
"Are you deaf?" muttered Breezepaw. "I just explained this about twolegs. They're mousebrains. Even more so than you. I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true."
"Will you shut up?" snarled Hollypaw. "If you waste your time insulting everything in a ten foot radius, you'll never find any catmint."
"I don't see you with any catmint," Breezepaw retorted.
Before Hollypaw could make a comeback, two more bottles crashed into the wall behind them and shattered. Startled, Hollypaw unconsciously inched closer to Breezepaw. He glared sharply at her. "Get off me," he growled.
Hollypaw jumped back. "I wasn't on you," she snapped defensively.
"Whatever," meowed Breezepaw, rolling his eyes. "I'll be leaving now, before one of those twolegs kills me with a broken bottle."
"Agreed," mewed Hollypaw, preparing herself to make the long jump up onto the windowsill.
But before either of them could jump, one of the twoleg apprentices came over and shut the window. As she did so, she noticed the two Clan cats hiding behind the sofa.
The first thing she did was scream. Breezepaw and Hollypaw bent down and placed their paws over their ears, trying to block out the high-pitched wail. Then she shouted to her friends, "There are two BLACK CATS behind the sofa!"
Breezepaw and Hollypaw didn't know what she said, but both of them figured it was a warning to her friends. "We need to get out of here. Now," whispered Breezepaw.
As soon as he spoke, more bottles were thrown in their direction.
"On three, we run for it," whispered Hollypaw. "One..."
"THREE!" shouted Breezepaw. Hollypaw hesitated, but a twoleg landed right behind her with a broken bottle in either hand, making up her mind. She took off after him.
The apprentices chasing them weren't running right; they were veering from side to side and had freaky bloodshot eyes. "There's something wrong with them," Hollypaw mewed between breaths as she caught up to Breezepaw.
"I don't care," he snapped. "We just need to get out of here."
He veered sharply around a corner. Hollypaw almost slipped on the carpet as she turned to follow him. "Shouldn't we go the other way?" she asked.
"I don't care what you do," Breezepaw growled. "I don't even know why you're following me." He took off ahead, but before he could get too far, one of the fake spiderwebs fell from the ceiling, tangling itself around him. Struggling to get free, the WindClan apprentice only tangled himself more, falling to the ground with a thud.
The drunken twolegs were gaining on them. "Hailpaw, help!" he called to her.
"It's Hollypaw," she corrected. "And I think I'll be going to other way. You didn't want me following you, after all."
"Hollypaw, help!" he called after her. "If you help me, you won't owe me anymore!"
"No, you'll owe me," she muttered. Against her better judgment, she ran to go help him. She got him free just in time, although he still had a huge clump of web hanging from his back left paw. She narrowly avoided a twoleg grabbing at her tail as they started to run for it again.
They turned and ran into another room. "Up here!" mewed Breezepaw, leaping up onto the long rectangular table. Hollypaw jumped up after him, but they still weren't high enough to escape the twolegs.
"C'MON! GET THE BLACK CATS!" they were shouting. "OR YOU'LL HAVE BAD LUCK FOR SEVEN YEARS!"
"What now?" she hissed.
"Up here," Breezepaw mewed with a smirk. He leapt upwards and grabbed the rusty chandelier above them with his forepaws, scrambling up and onto it. "C'mon!"
Hollypaw became uneasy as she saw it rock under Breezepaw's weight, but the twolegs surrounding the table made up her mind. She leapt upwards, and Breezepaw caught her by the scruff and pulled her aboard.
The chandelier swung from the force of the two cats leaping onto it. Hollypaw wrapped her claws around the ring, hanging on for dear life. The twolegs hurled bottles at it, but were missing wildly. Somehow, their swinging haven managed to avoid even their more accurate throws.
"It's like they're not in their right minds," observed Hollypaw.
Breezepaw snorted. "Are twolegs ever in their right minds?"
Suddenly one of the bottles hit the chain hanging the chandelier from the ceiling, and before they knew it, the two Clan cats were falling from the air. "Jump!" yowled Breezepaw, and they jumped simultaneously, just before the chandelier shattered on the table.
"This way!" yowled Hollypaw, running through the nearest opening into the next room. Breezepaw followed her, seeing no other option. The bottle-throwing twoleg apprentices were being to shout random noises, and sounded rather eerie and scary.
"In here!" shouted Hollypaw.
Breezepaw approached the doorway she was standing in front of and looked into it. It was awfully dark; he couldn't see a thing. "I'm not going it there," he declared.
"Fine. Get killed by a bunch of insane twolegs," meowed Hollypaw. "That's your prerogative." With that, she leapt through the doorway.
Whatever, he thought. Who needs her anyways. He turned to go the opposite way, but a bottle crash into his side. He staggered backwards, and fell through the doorway.
Beyond the doorway wasn't flat ground. Breezepaw felt the ground disappeared beneath him, and before he could balance himself, was tumbling down the slope. He felt himself hit the ground, and everything went black.
Hollypaw had also blacked out as she hit the bottom of the stairs, and she was the first to awaken. Her head throbbed miserably, forcing her to lie back down. Where am I? What am I doing in this pitch black place? And then she remembered. Being chased by twolegs, falling down the stairs, and Breezepaw...where was Breezepaw? She figured he'd just left without her, but as she rolled over slowly, she felt a furry body by her side. He must have come down and blacked out too.
Just as she thought that, he emitted a soft groan. "Breezepaw?" she whispered.
"The twolegs..." he whispered.
Hollypaw glanced around. She didn't see any twolegs around, and judging by her vivid head ache, she assumed she was alive. "They're gone," she replied. "Are you alright?"
"Bottle...in my side..."
"I'm fine other than a head ache, thanks for asking," muttered Hollypaw. Despite her annoyance with the WindClan apprentice, she forced herself to get up, and felt around his pelt until she found the bottle. It was sticking to the side of his fur, and tried to pull it out gently, but she felt Breezepaw cringe.
"Sorry," she whispered. "You're probably bleeding. We need to get you somewhere light so I can see it properly."
"I can't see a thing," he murmured.
"Way to state the obvious. I'll walk around and see if I see anything." She groaned mentally at the irony of her statement.
As she couldn't see anything, she walked right into something. Not a wall, but something. That something let out a loud, eerie cackling noise and lit up. Hollypaw jumped backwards with a scream as the thing illuminated. It looked a bit like a green-skinned twoleg in a black hat riding a broomstick.
The thing flickered a few times, then stayed on. It continued making its eerie cackling noise, much to Hollypaw's annoyance, even once she realized it was harmless.
"What in StarClan's name did you do?" Breezepaw grumbled.
Hollypaw smirked. "I found a light source."
Breezepaw groaned. "Yeah, a light source as irritating as you are."
The ThunderClan apprentice walked back over to her companion, choosing to ignore the insult. "Well, at least I can see better now." The room, including Breezepaw, was bathed in green light, making the blood on his side glow eerily. The cut wasn't that bad, but she knew she had to stop the bleeding.
"This might sting; hold still," she mewed, and began to lick it.
"Stop that," he hissed.
"Do you want to die?" she snapped. "Didn't think so. I trained as a medicine cat apprentice for a moon; I know what I'm doing." Not really, she thought privately, but she knew enough to know that she had to stop the bleeding.
She noticed he still had the clump of fake spiderwebs around his back paw. She doubted it would work like a cobweb, but figured it was worth a shot. "Hey Breezepaw, keep still. I'm going to try to bandage it with the fake web from your foot."
To her surprise, it worked pretty well, and even stuck. "I'm done. Try getting up," she mewed. As he slowly lifted himself to his paws, she added, "And when you get home, make sure to tell your medicine cat to put some coltsfoot - or juniper..." She rummaged through her mind for the herb used to prevent infection, but couldn't remember it. "Just tell him to put something on it to prevent an infection."
"Some medicine cat apprentice you must've been," Breezepaw grumbled. "Can't even remember what herb prevents infections."
Hollypaw glared at him, her green eyes intensified by the green light. "You're welcome," she growled. "Now let's get out of here."
"How?" challenged Breezepaw.
She glanced around the room, and realized they were in luck; there was a window to the side. Problem was, it was shut.
"I have an idea," meowed Breezepaw, starting towards the window.
"No," mewed Hollypaw. "I know what you're thinking, but that can't be good for your side. I'll do it." Before he could object, she darted at the window, claws unsheathed and outstretched. The window hadn't been changed in a while, and the glass was rather flimsy; Hollypaw shot right through in a graceful black blur.
Breezepaw hopped slowly out after her, cautious of his painful side and leaning on the opposite. "Right. I'm definately ready to go home now," Hollypaw muttered, licking her paws and pulling little shards of glass from them. Breezepaw noticed little pinpricks of blood oozing out.
"What about the catmint?" he pointed out. Hollypaw groaned loudly.
"I don't even know if I can walk anymore," she complained.
Breezepaw didn't take time to sort through his thoughts. He simply decided he ought to help her. "Here, you fixed me up, so I'll help you," he mewed, trying to make it sound like he was reluctant. In reality, he actually sort of wanted to help her. He was starting to discover that she wasn't such a bad cat; maybe all of ThunderClan wasn't so mousebrained after all.
He wandered around the yard a bit, searching for some cobwebs. He stumbled into a soft patch of grass and found some cobwebs up against the fence. As he leaned down to grab the cobwebs, a familiar scent tickled his nose.
Catmint!
He leapt on top of the fence, and sure enough, on the other side was a huge patch of catmint.
He ran back to Hollypaw, completely forgetting the cut in his side. "Hollypaw, Hollypaw, you won't believe what I found!" he dropped the cobwebs at her side.
"Whoopee, cobwebs," she mewed sarcastically.
"No, besides that!" he meowed with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Maybe it was his extreme fatigue or slight blood loss, or the insanity of the events that had unfolded from his simple errand. Either way, he was feeling a bit over enthusiastic. "Catmint!"
"Really?" meowed Hollypaw.
"No, I'm lying," Breezepaw replied with equal sarcasm. "It's on the other side of that fence."
Hollypaw started to stand, but fell back down. Her paws were throbbing. "Here, I'll bet I can fix those," meowed Breezepaw.
"Let me instruct you -"
"No, I'll figure it out," meowed Breezepaw stubbornly. He wrapped each of her forepaws messily. When he was done, he surveyed his work proudly - and then everything fell off.
"Nice," she meowed smugly. "Now, why don't I help you."
"Nuh-uh. You've done enough helping me for one night. I definately do not want to owe you anything."
She rolled her bright green eyes. "You won't. Technically you're still the one bandaging me."
He blushed, embarrassed with his stupidity. He was glad for the darkness hiding it from Hollypaw. "Oh. Right." He set to work on rebandaging her forepaws with her guidance, and the second time around it looked a whole lot better. She got up to stand on them and took a few tentative steps.
"We didn't do that great," she mused, "But it'll do till I get home."
"Speaking of home," mewed Breezepaw, "It's about time we got that catmint."
Breezepaw helped Hollypaw over the fence, as she was unable to jump well off her injured paws, and they both grabbed huge clumps of catmint from the twoleg garden.
Unable to speak through their mouthfuls of catmint, they walked in companionable silence to the WindClan border. Hollypaw dropped her catmint. "I've got to go towards ThunderClan now," she informed him.
Breezepaw looked surprised, as if he'd expected her to come back with him. "Oh." He shuffled his paws, trying to think of what to say.
"Thanks for finding the catmint," whispered Hollypaw. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Breezepaw had never been one to show gratefulness, but he figured now would be a good time to start. He put down his catmint and meowed rather grudgingly, "Thanks...for bandaging me."
She laughed. "Why do I feel like I'm the only cat you've ever thanked before in your life?"
He allowed himself a small grin. "Probably because you are." He paused. "And while I'm at it...thanks for rescuing me from the glowstickers."
Hollypaw whooped triumphantly. "You admit it!" she mewed.
Breezepaw glared at her. "But I still saved you from the crazy old twoleg with the pointy stick."
Hollypaw sighed. "Right you are. So can we say we're even?"
Breezepaw paused, pretending to consider it. "I guess so."
Hollypaw smiled genuinely at him. "Good. So...see you again sometime?"
"I guess," Breezepaw mewed. He turned around to gaze at the shadowy moor. "I've got to get back now. My Clan really needs this catmint."
"Alright. Bye." She bent down to pick up her catmint, then stopped. "Hey, Breezepaw?"
The black tom had already turned to leave. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
"I was thinking...you're not so bad after all."
Breezepaw grinned. "Neither are you...for a ThunderClan cat."
And with that, he took off into the moorland. Hollypaw stared after him, wondering exactly how she had been forced to cooperate with him. Not that she considered it a bad thing...
It was those mousebrained twolegs, she decided. With their flashing lights, broken bottles, strange costumes and carved pumpkins. What in StarClan's name could they have possibly been doing?