Falconheart picked at his prey, struggling to find his appetite. The sadness in the air was thick and suffocating like smoke from a fire. I had been a quarter moon since Snakewhisker's death and SunClan was still adjusting. The warrior had been well respected and loved by the entire Clan, Falconheart had never personally been incredibly close to Snakewhisker but he knew that Honeyfrost was, he also knew how upset she was over his death.

He helped out when he could, but he couldn't take away her sadness or her grief, he couldn't bring Snakewhisker back to life he could only help her come to terms with his death but there was wasn't really anyway he could speed that up. Honeyfrost and the rest of the Clan would find their peace with Snakewhisker's death, and they would find the means to be happy again.

Falconheart pushed away his fresh-kill, unable to take anymore bites. He thought about his own personal troubles, he and Nightheart had yet to have their fight in the Dark Forest, and he hadn't even dreamt there since the two were introduced. Falconclaw really was allowing him to recover, his loss to Thornstar wasn't that bad.

He remembered that night with a sharp cringe, all he pictured in his mind was Thornstar's dark, malevolent amber eyes as they bore into his. His paw cutting off all of Falconheart's breath. He hated the fact that he lost, he had no idea that Thornstar was that strong. My mother fought and killed him. Falconheart thought. And even then she lost a life doing so.

"Hey there," Falconheart felt a paw nudge him, making him focus back on the real world. He looked up to see Sedgerfern. The fluffy she-cat looked at him with sparkling green eyes. "You in there?"

"Oh, uh." Falconheart's pelt burned, embarrassed that Sedgefern had found him daydreaming like a lovestruck kit. "Sorry about that. Just thinking."

"Understandable." Sedgefern shrugged and sat down beside him. "What are you thinking about? I-If you don't mind telling me, that is." The warrior shuffled her paws, ducking her head slightly.

Falconheart blinked, he wasn't quite ready to share that he was training in the Dark Forest with her, the only cat who knew was Honeyfrost. So he did something he wasn't particularly proud of, but didn't really have a choice on: he lied. "Just thinking about Snakewhisker. It's strange not having him around." He didn't want to linger on his lie for too long. "How's Dovepool doing? She recovering okay?"

Sedgefern nodded. "Both she and Hollypaw are back on duties, but it was scary there for a moment. I saw how bad Snakewhisker had gotten and I didn't want to see Dovepool end up like that." She sighed. "I'm glad that Honeyfrost and Pebblestep found that herb in time to save the two of them, even if it was too late for Snakewhisker." She glanced around, as if trying to find a way to continued their conversation. "How is your sister doing? Is she doing okay with his death?"

Falconheart cast his gaze at the ground, giving a quick glance to the medicine cat den. "I haven't really gotten to spend any time with her since then. They were close, she looked up to him in a way and she had to watch him die. I know it's not easy for her, but I'm there for her when she needs me."

"That's very sweet of you." Sedgefern's purr was smooth, her voice filled with admiration.

"I'm just being brotherly." He gave an awkward chuckle, the way Sedgefern looked at him sometimes was odd and it made his pelt feel hot. Why does she do that? He wondered, but shook it away. "I wasn't a good enough brother when we were apprentices, so I really have a lot to makeup for."

"How were you a bad brother?" Sedgerfern questioned curiously. "When you two were in the nursery you seemed close, at least that's how I saw it."

Falconheart let out a deep sigh of regret. "It's a long story."

"I have time." Sedgefern encouraged him, Falconheart looked up at her. Her green eyes were soft and comforting. "Maybe we could talk and hunt, I know how much you like keeping your paws busy."

"Uh," Falconheart glanced around, wondering if he was needed for anything. He saw Cinderflame sending Cloudspots, Burnpaw, Flashtail and Heatherwind out on the sunhigh patrol. "I don't see why not." He stood up and the two warriors headed towards the entrance of SunClan camp.

He wasn't quite sure if he would tell Sedgefern about what he did to Honeyfrost in the past, would it change how she saw him now? Falconheart really liked having Sedgefern as a friend and he didn't want to risk losing that. Wouldn't it be better to tell her the truth than to hide it? For a split second, Falconclaw's eyes flashed in Falconheart mind. I can't...not the whole truth anyway.

"So..." Sedgefern mewed once they were a good distance away from camp. "What happened with you and Honeyfrost? Did you guys have a fight?"

Falconheart shook his head. "Not exactly. You remember when I got in trouble for leaving the camp as a kit? And again when I tried to fight AshClan." Sedgerfern nodded. "Well, I kind of...blamed my punishments on Honeyfrost. I thought that if she would've stayed with me my punishment wouldn't have been as harsh, and then I was mad because she got to help Pebblestep in the battle, yet I had to go hide in the moss hollow." He flicked his ears, remembering the sharp anger and hostility he felt towards Honeyfrost as an apprentice.

"And when she became a medicine cat apprentice it made me even angrier, I wanted to train with my sister so I convinced myself that she was throwing her life away as a medicine cat. We got into an argument and I told her I thought medicine cats were useless. It really upset her and it really drove a wedge between us." Guilt crept up Falconheart's spine. "I didn't apologize until my mother made me, but even then I didn't really mean it." Falconheart looked up at the sky as he and Sedgefern walked. "Then when Echoheart attacked our camp, I got so scared when Honeyfost was injured. I guess it was then when I realized that she needed me, and I needed her. I can't take back what I did when I was an apprentice, I can only try and make the future better."

"Oh wow." Sedgefern breathed out, causing Falconheart to tense up. Did she hate him now? "I suppose it's good that you made up, I don't know what I would do if Dovepool or Petalbreeze hated me, they're my best friends."

"I wasn't the best cat when I was younger." Falconheart turned away, his stomach aching. And I'm not the best cat now.

"Maybe so," Sedgefern nudged him, pulling Falconheart's gaze back to her. "But you've changed. I know that because you're sitting here talking to me about this and you have admitted that you used to be bad."

Falconheart blinked, he hadn't expected this response. "I-I suppose."

Sedgefern giggled, taking Falconheart even more by surprise, he hadn't really seen this side of Sedgefern, he liked it. "It's not like you to be at a loss for words." She nudged him playfully, making Falconheart's entire pelt burn.

"We uh," He cleared his throat. "We should hunt, that's half of what we came out here to do."

"Alright." Sedgefern purred and Falconheart forced himself to focus on hunting. Hunting is what I'm good at. Falconheart reminded himself. Not whatever is happening here. He breathed in the forest air, tracking the scent of prey. He quickly caught a trace of squirrel on the breeze and began scanning the undergrowth.

It didn't take long before Falconheart spotted a fat red squirrel scurrying along the forest floor, digging up the earth. Falconheart dropped into a crouch, honing in on the squirrel. He took note of everything around him, stray leaves and fallen twigs, anything that would compromise his hunt.

Falconheart crept forward with silent pawsteps, the trees overhead dappling shadows across his tabby pelt. Almost... Falconheart unsheathed his claws, took a deep breath and gave a powerful leap. His paws landed directly on the squirrel, he broke its neck and killed it with ease.

"Great catch!" Sedgefern praised from a few mouselengths away. "Though you certainly do take a long time." She nudged forward a squirrel comparable to his own. Falconheart stared at it, she had snuck off and caught her own while he did his? He didn't feel threatened or undermind, he felt impressed!

"You're a pretty good hunter," Falconheart trotted up to her, a wave of playfulness rushing over him. "And while yours was caught quickly...mine is bigger." He held his head high, giving Sedgefern a playful glance.

"Oh yeah?" Sedgefern's eyes glistened. "I could catch a squirrel twice the size of that one." She declared.

"I'm already looking at one." Falconheart sneered, Sedgefern's ears flattened playfully. She reached out and batted him gently across the nose.

"Well I'm looking at a rat!" She jumped back and bowed into a playful stance.

"Say that to my face!" Falconheart taunted and jumped after her. Sedgefern took off into a run and Falconheart took chase. Together, the two warriors ran through the forest. Falconheart felt his heart racing, he couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun!

He never really played as an apprentice, he really missed out! Falconheart ran as fast as he could, but Sedgefern was fast. She was nothing more than a blur of gray fur, Falconheart could barely keep up with her.

"Woah!" Sedgefern let out a mew of shock and came to a sudden stop. Falconheart tried to slow down, but his paw caught on a sharp stone jutting out of the ground and caused him to tumble directly into Sedgefern.

The two SunClan cats tumbled down a small hill and into the abandoned badger den. Sedgefern landed on top of Falconheart's back, but both of them were laughing. "Sorry about that!" She apologized, getting back onto the ground.

Falconheart sat up, unable to stop laughing. His heart continue to pound in his chest, he couldn't catch his breath but it wasn't a bad thing. "It's okay." He attempted to straighten his fur, but noticed a burning pain in his forepaw. He looked down, noticing a thin line of blood across the back of his paw. He must have cut on the stone that caused him to trip.

"Oh!" Sedgefern exclaimed. "Your paw! Are you okay?" She gave his paw a gentle sniff, eyes swarming with deep concern.

"Yeah I'm fine." Falconheart assured her, licking the small wound. "It's barely a scratch, I've faced much worse."

"Well that's good." Sedgefern stepped back, looking away. The she-cat looked flustered, she licked the fur on her chest awkwardly. "Sorry about that, I guess I got a little carried away with playing. I know it's not what warriors do. You're hardly a playful cat, so--"

Falconheart blinked, is that how his Clan saw him? Boring? Not willing to engage in anything that wasn't patrolling or hunting. "Don't apologize, Sedgefern." He assured the she-cat. "I had fun, and just because I don't have a lot of fun doesn't mean I don't know how to. I just--never really had a friend play with."

Segdefern's gaze softened. "Well," She purred, making Falconheart's pulse race even faster. "You have one now."