fire and ice: part three

While none of the major plot points are being resolved, two new ones have appeared.

Firstly, Fireheart has been sneaking off to go and see his sister, Princess. With her he finds what he is lacking from the clan - a sense of closeness, of family. While no one doubts his loyalty he still stands apart from the clan in some ways and is able to fill that gap in his heart with Princess. However, he knows it is forbidden so he hides his visits.

Graystripe is able to cover for him, though he is unaware of this. Since Fireheart and Graystripe train their apprentices together so much Fireheart often asks Graystripe to take both so he can sneak away for a bit. The tables, however, turn on him.

One day while they are out together training their apprentices Graystripe steps onto the frozen water in RiverClan territory. The ice breaks and he falls in. A RiverClan cat named Silverstream sees this and saves him. Graystripe falls sick from this encounter and needs to stay in the camp to heal. Unknown to everyone - including Fireheart - Graystripe has fallen in love with Silverstream and sneaks out regularly to see her, leaving Fireheart to train young Brackenpaw.

Fireheart finally confronts him and they argue. Silverstream and Graystripe are mad at Fireheart for interfering. Fireheart fears for Graystripe - and he is forced to look at his own actions in sneaking off to see his sister.

I am unsure where the story is going to go from here, but I imagine that Tigerclaw is probably going to catch both of them in their sneaking around - and it won't look good for either warrior. But Tigerclaw is already calling for extra patrols on Sunningrocks (where Graystripe and Silverstream are meeting) because of the scent of RiverClan cats and has forbidden any cat to go there. So, really. It is only a matter of time before he catches Graystripe. And as for Fireheart, Tigerclaw is always looking for a reason to expose him since he feels that Fireheart is such a danger to himself. And to expose a weakness for kittypets is the worst of all in both Tigerclaw's and Fireheart's eyes.