Chapter 8

Dovepelt smirked, her whiskers twitching.  She could see her apprentice, Firepaw, stalking through the gorse of Windclan territory, his tail straight out behind him. Dovepelt was surprises the rabbit he was stalking couldn’t see his bright ginger fur through the thick grasses.
The clans’ apprentices were being assessed  on their hunting skills today and Firepaw was doing exceptionally well. He had already caught a chaffinch and buried under a large beech tree.
Dovepelt slunk closer, her paws sliding across the floor like a snake gliding over ice; silent. Firepaw bunched his haunches under himself and sprang through the air like a grasshopper. She could hear the cracking of the rabbit's bones then Firepaw dragging it through the tufts of grass. Dovepelt ducked below eye level, the cool wind brushing the the grass against her flank. She popped her head up and saw Firepaw hustling back into the forest. She picked through the grass, careful to be as silent as possible. Firepaw turned his head around and squinted his eyes at the moorland. Dovepelt ducked again and slithered through the grasses. Firepaw was doing excellent, he was confident in almost everything he did, though quieter than his sister, Sandpaw, her mentor was the Riverclan she-cat Petalfur. With so many apprentices now in the clan, mentors were scarce, so again the clans had to resort to cross clan mentors.
Dovepelt perked her ears, she cast her senses deep into the forest, back to the camp. She could hear cats fighting! It was Cinderheart and Jayfeather, but Jayfeather wasn't the one attacking, Cinderheart was attacking Jayfeather. She gasped and ran through the forest, blindly running past Firepaw.
"Dovepelt! What's going on?" He chased after her, leaping over logs and ferns, leaving his prey behind. Dovepelt raced through the trees, her heart pounding. She could sense Cinderheart had stopped attacking Jayfeather while Bramblestar burst into the den.
Dovepelt burst through the camp, her eyes so round and fearful you could see the whites. The camp was as normal as usual, Petalfur was talking quietly to her apprentice and Crowfeather was scolding Stonepaw again. Bumblestripe padded up to her.
"What's wrong? You look as if you fell into a family of foxes," He commented.
Dovepelt ignored his question,"Where's Jayfeather? Is he alright?" Bumblestripe cocked his head.
"I guess so, why shouldn't he be?" Dovepelt looked over Bumbestripe's large gray shoulders and saw Jayfeather limping out of the medicine den, his fur splayed and greasy with herb poultices covering him from head to toe. Dovepelt tried to walk over to him but Lionblaze blocker her path. His eyes still held fear, but his fur looked cleaner now.
"How's Firepaw?" He rumbled. Dovepelt looked over her shoulder, pleases to find he had joined Sandpaw by the apprentices' den.
"Fine, he passed his assessment, though I think I scared him out of his fur today,"
"How's that?"
Dovepelt flicked her ears uncomfortably,"I heard something in the camp and ran through the forest like a whole clan of badgers were after me,"
"What did you hear?"Lionblaze mewed, his paws scraping the floor.
"I heard," She gulped," Cinderheart attacking Jayfeather." Lionblaze's eyes grew large with fear, then glazed over in anger.
"How come nobody told me?" He yowled, racing to the medicine den. Dovepelt chased after him, trying to tell him to stop and that he wouldn't help.
"She's my mate, and Jayfeather is my brother! If I can't help, then not even Starclan can do anything!" He screamed over his shoulder, his body disappearing behind the fern tunnel. Dovepelt followed him closely, expecting to see a rabid Cinderheart attacking anyone that came to close. But what she saw made her heart twist in pain. Cinderheart was sobbing into a pile of moss, her voice drowned out by Squirrelflight's and Leafpool's soothing purrs.
"Look Cinderheart," Leafpool nudged her friend,"Its Lionblaze and Dovepelt, they've come to see you," Cinderheart looked up, her eyes red and swollen and her fur matted, it clung to her small frame like a wet leaf. She never looked so small and fragile, not even in the harshest part of leafbare. She looked over to Lionblaze, his fur on end and his tail rigid with fear. But she saw him try to hide it with false happiness that lit his eyes.
"Cinderheart," He purred, stepping closer to his mate.
"No," She hissed,"I can't be your mate anymore!"
Dovepelt gasped and shot a startled look at Squirrelflight.
"W-what?" Lionblaze squirmed.
Cinderheart shook her head, her body racking with choked back sobbing,"I hurt Jayfeather! I didn't mean to I swear, it just happened. I can't let you get hurt Lionblaze, and I can't stand watching you when I'm not here,"
"Your always here Cinderheart," Squirrelfight soothed, flicking her bright ginger tail onto Cinderheart's light gray shoulder. Cinderheart flinched and back away, shaking her head and rumbling something softly to herself. Dovepelt stepped closer to Lionblaze, his soft voice muttering something.
"...I knew it would happen. I knew,"He repeated, his eyes round with shock. Dovepelt pressed her fur comfortingly to his. He pushed her away.
"I knew it would happen." He mewed flatly,"I knew it! And I didn't even tell her yet! But she doesn't love me anymore!" He stared at the three she-cats watching him with wide eyes. "I knew one day this would happen!" He yowled, his eyes crazy and wild,"Starclan has abandoned us! What can they do if they can't help Cinderheart?"
Leafpool stepped closer to her son,"Starclan is with us, always, they fought side by side with us in the Great Battle, you know that,"
Lionblaze pushed her back, tail lashing,"Starclan is weak, their wounds were too deep for them, and they have no more power. You of all cats should hate them the most! You lost being a medicine cat, the love of your only daughter!"
Leafpool's eyes narrowed," I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I need to be," Dovepet watched the two cats lash their tails angrily at each other, their fur fluffed out along their spines.
"Whatever," Lionblaze huffed, turning away and vanishing through the entrance. Dovepelt turned back to the other two she-cats.
"What happened?" She whispered.
"Cinderheart panicked, she's in a lot of pain at the moment, and she thought Jayfeather was Cinderpelt." Squirrelflight sighed, glancing towards the den where Cinderheart had disappeared into.
"What do you mean, she though Jayfeather was Cinderheart?" Dovepelt sat down.
"I think she can see when Cinderpelt is with us and she knows what Cinderpelt is thinking so she knows what Cinderpelt looks like. Jayfeather and Cinderpelt were both gray." Squirrelflight responded wearily. Dovepelt sat back, confusion and fear running through her mind.
"Everyone out," Dovepelt whipped around, Jayfeather was standing in the doorway with Honeypaw and Sarah. "I'm teaching now and none of you will be any use to me,"
"Bramblestar said there was supposed to be a warrior here at all times," Leafpool queried.
Jayfeather flicked his ears," Sarah's here,"
"Sarah isn't a warrior," Leafpool countered.
"Fine. Honeypaw, fetch a Leaftail,"
"Sure thing," Honeypaw mewed, her eyes glowing wit relief. Dovepelt could feel the den crackle like lightning between all the cats. She glanced at Sarah, hoping to catch a friendly nod, but Sarah's eyes were weirdly cool and calculating. Dovepelt shivered, something was definitely wrong with that she-cat.
"Lets go Dovepelt," Squirrelflight nudged the younger she-cat away as Honeypaw returned with Leaftail, her fur splayed as if she had just woken up.
"I'll tell Bramblestar to send someone to relieve you at sun down," Squirrelflight murmured. Leatail nodded and sat down in front of the entrance, her tail flicking casually. Dovepelt trotted towards the center of camp.
"Dovepelt," Firepaw padded up to her,"How did I do with my assessment?"
"Excellent, but you'll have to go back out and fetch the fresh kill you left behind," Dovepelt explained. Firepaw nodded and trotted out of camp, his tail vanishing through the thorn barrier. Dovepelt turned back to the camp, her eyes glittering with worry. What was going to happen to Lionblaze and Cinderheart now?

Yeah... its a short chapter... I couldn't really think of anything exciting to write about... Plus I'm not really fond of writing in Dovepelt's point of view... Whatever.