That picture is Camofur!

OH and for those of you who don't already know I'm drawing a big ThistleClan picture! If you want your cats in it I need to know who and a good description of what they look like! XD

~Gingerr

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In the few days that followed Lionpaw's ceremony, he was miserable. Camofur was nice, but was not a very good teacher. At all.

"That's all I have to teach you today. You're free to enjoy the rest of your night." Camofur told Lionpaw with a sympathetic smile. Lionpaw hated the sympathy.

"Fine. See you tomorrow." Lionpaw muttered, padding out of the medicine cat's den.

"Lionpaw!" Swiftpaw called him from across the clearing. She raced over to him, smiling brightly. "I learned how to hunt today!" she told him excitedly.

Seeing his scowl, she frowned and lowered her head. "Sorry. Forgot you said not to tell you."

"I don't want to hear about anything I'm missing." Lionpaw mumbled. "If I do I'll miss it more."

"But... Come with me out of camp." Swiftpaw suggested, her eyes meeting his.

"Swiftpaw... I'm really not in the mood." Lionpaw answered.

"Too bad. Just... Just come on." Swiftpaw begged him.

Lionpaw sighed. "Fine..." He reluctantly followed her out of camp. She led him to a large cavern like the one Lionpaw had killed his mother in, which made him shiver, except this cavern was brightly lit and very green.

"I found this place while hunting today. Isn't it beautiful?" Swiftpaw smiled as she leapt up onto a boulder.

"I guess so." Lionpaw shrugged, gazing around.

It was incredibly green all around, with moss growing everywhere. There were colorful mushrooms in dark corners, some of them glowing just a little. There were weeds and some assorted flowers here and there of all different colors.

'What if I picked one for Swiftpaw?' Lionpaw thought to himself. Then he sighed silently and growled at himself. Of course he couldn't pick one for Swiftpaw, he reminded himself. He shouldn't feel the way he does for her either, but that couldn't be helped really, at least Lionpaw didn't think so.

"What's that growl for?" Swiftpaw materialized by his side, causing Lionpaw to jump.

"Nothing." he told her, shrugging neutrally. Swiftpaw have him a look.

"Lionpaw, I know that look. You're hiding something from me. You've been hiding things from me for a while now." Swiftpaw said worriedly, brushing her tail over his back.

"Don't touch me." Lionpaw mumbled, stepping away from her.

"Are you mad at me?" Swiftpaw asked with a frown, her eyes glowing with regret.

"No, I'm not mad at you." Lionpaw muttered, stalking away from her across the cavern.

"Then why are you so upset?" Swiftpaw asked as she followed him.

"Nothing." Lionpaw answered with a sigh. Swiftpaw stopped him, a look of disappointment on her face.

"Look, I care about you, Lionpaw. More than you even realize. Since I can't love you I'd at least like to think I'm your best friend, but obviously you don't want me around." She spun on her heel and went to leave.

"Swiftpaw, wait." Lionpaw called to her quietly. She stopped and slowly turned to look at him. "I feel the same way." he whispered. "But I can't. That's why I have to shut you out, so I don't feel this way because if I screw up again I could be kicked out or worse." He sighed, looking at his paws.

"Lionpaw..." Swiftpaw nosed his flank. "You can always tell me anything... I'll still be here for you, no matter what. You know that, right?" she whispered into his fur.

"I wanted to pick you a flower..." Lionpaw whispered miserably. Swiftpaw giggled a little.

"Lionpaw, you're such a sweet tom... You're just blinded by your anger." Swiftpaw sighed, withdrawing from him. Lionpaw sighed softly.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone what I said." he said intensely, his eyes meeting Swiftpaw's. Surprised, she took a small step back.

"I promise, as long as you'll meet me here every night." Swiftpaw murmured in reply. Lionpaw's eyes widened.

"We could get in huge trouble." Lionpaw pointed out.

"Since when have you cared about getting in trouble?" Swiftpaw laughed quietly.

"I guess you're right." Lionpaw huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Good. So you'll do it?" Swiftpaw asked him as she took a step towards him.

"I'll do it." Lionpaw told her, smiling. Maybe this would work out for him.

"Okay!" Swiftpaw lunged forward and nuzzled Lionpaw, then raced back to camp, her fur heating in both embarrassment and excitement.

Dread filled Lionpaw. He couldn't help but agree to it... But what if he were caught? It could mean exile or worse for him.

"Oh well. I'll do it anyway." Lionpaw said to himself resolutely.

"Really? Such defiance. I'm surprised, but I'm proud." Tigerstar stepped out from behind a rock.

"Really?" Lionpaw blinked.

"Yes, my boy. Good work." Tigerstar praised, smiling. "But we have a bit more work to do, in the forest tonight. Make sure to meet me there when you get back to camp." Tigerstar stalked off and disappeared, so Lionpaw raced back to camp. He made sure to collect a bunch of moss on the way as an excuse for being out.

Luckily for him, Camofur was already asleep by the time he got there anyway, so he put the moss in its place and laid down in his nest.

It would be a long, long night.