The Secrets Still Hidden (Closed)

It was a warm morning when Falconstone woke up Sandypaw for a hunting patrol. His sad eyes gazed at Sandypaw for a few seconds. The she-cat was so pretty. Such a bubbly, happy cat. More and more, Falconstone found himself catching sideways glances of the apprentice. The she-cat made him feel things. Things only Minkpaw had made him feel. With a shake of his head, Falconstone nudged the apprentice with his large paws. [color:99cf=996600]"Wake up, I want to show you something then do a hunting patrol." Did he really want to show her the thing? All of his stones? Yes... He decided. He did.

Sandypaw lifted her head from her nest sleepily as her mentor called her name. "Okay!" She mewed sleepily as she got to her paws as quick as she could. She held back a yawn as she padded out of the apprentices den and stood by Falconstone, "I'm ready!" she mewed, her usual cheerful grin on her muzzle. As she waited for him to lead the way out her mind wandered to what he might want to show her. Maybe it's a secret tunnel or.. maybe a secret place nobody but him knows about! She thought to herself excitedly, tail tip twitching eagerly. Though what he said didn't suggest anything secret, her mind automatically went to something that nobody else knew about. She liked the thought that there was something secret that the two of them would only know about. So she would think that until she was told otherwise.

Falconstone dipped his head to let his apprentice know that they could start moving. With a yawn, they exited the camp and headed to the edge of the territory, along the ridge of the Gorge. As they neared the ridge straight from camp, they turned left. Falconstone made sure to walk along the side of the gorge to prevent an accident of Sandypaw falling back.

Sandypaw followed Falconstone out of camp and through the territory. They came up on the gorge and she noticed Falconstone staying between her and the gorge. She wanted to see into it and see if it really was as high up as everyone said it was, but she couldn't do that with him in her way. She slowed down her pace so she was a little bit behind him and made her way, slowly, closer to the edge before looking over. "Whoa!" she meowed in surprise. She backed up a little bit as she watched the water rushing over rocks from where she was, high up on the gorges edge. She padded back over to her mentors side before looking up at him a little shyly, "It's pretty far down isn't it?" She meowed to him, a shiver running down her spine as she imagined a cat falling into it.

"Don't go there!" Falconstone gasped, grabbing his apprentice by the scruff and pulling her back. His eyes were wide and scared. What if he lost Sandypaw? His heart screamed at that thought. She couldn't die too. "Ashstar's first apprentice I think it was, Skunkpaw, died by falling in there! Don't do that!" The warrior nudged the apprentice even further away from the Gorge. "You are simply not allowed to die, Sandypaw." The mentor said very sternly.

Sandypaw's ears flattened slightly and eyes widened when Falconstone surprised her and told her the story about Skunkpaw. She shook her head in horror, "That's awful.." She mewed, eyes shimmering sadly. Flicking her ears back up again, she put a sheepish grin on her muzzle. "I'm sorry Falconstone.." she mumbled to him. "I was just curious." She meowed, looking up at him, blue eyes apologetic. Her gaze gleamed quizzically when he said she wasn't "allowed" to die but she smiled up at him, grateful for his concern. It was funny to have her mentor seem so protective of her, and she kinda liked it, though if it was her dad she probably would have rolled her eyes at him. She didn't really have very many clanmates she was close to, only Smokepelt, her dad, but she thought maybe Falconstone would soon be added to that very short list. She didn't mind not being close to a bunch of her clanmates, honestly she never really thought about it, but for some reason it made her happy to think about getting closer to Falconstone and she wasn't sure why.

After a few heartbeats, Falconstone turned. "That's enough patrol... I want to show you a very special place to me." He murmured quietly, starting on the path to the hidden tree-cave. His heart was still thudding from the Sandypaw-Gorge incident.

Sandypaw nodded to Falconstone, eyes shining curiously. It kinda made her feel special that he wanted to show her something that was special to him and she was eager to know what it was."What is it?" She asked as they padded along to wherever he was taking her. She glanced around, wondering if maybe she could guess it before they got there, but came up with nothing. She flicked her gaze between the path in front of them and Falconstone, tail tip twitching eagerly as she waited for him to respond.

"When I was an apprentice, I had a mate named Minkpaw." Falconstone started to explain as they started to climb the hill that blacked the view of the large oak where his stones were located. "Since kits we collected stones. I was going to show you my collection." When they made the top of the hill, the large oak with the root-cave could be seen. In a brisk trot, Falcosntone closed the distance.

Sandypaw blinked in surprise when he explained what he was going to show her. "Wow.. Really?" She meowed attentively, her gaze a mixture of awe, curiosity, and sadness, for his lost mate. This seemed like such a personal thing and she smiled warmly at the thought that he chose to share it with her. Her mind was trying to figure out a reason he would tell her, an apprentice, something so personal, but she couldn't think of anything. She shook her head slightly, her warm smile still on her face as she looked up at him, "What made you wanna show me this?" She asked softly. "Not that it's not cool and interesting..! because it is."She added hurriedly, worried that it might have came off as kinda rude. She really did think it was cool and she didn't want him thinking that she didn't like it or that she was rude. She had never really cared what others thought of her, but she hated the thought of him hating her. It made her feel sick, so she hoped he knew she just wondered what made her so special.

Falconstone thought. Why was he showing her this. "Because you're my apprentice and you're special. We wil always be connected." Falconstone dipped his head, using his tail to brish the dirt off the stones as he remembered collecting each one.

Sandypaw smiled when he responded and nodded as she looked up at him. "Thank you for trusting me enough to show me. It means a lot." She meowed honestly, her gaze fixed on the rocks as she watched him dust one off. She padded closer to get a better look, her genuine smile still on her face, and reached a white paw out to touch one. It was a grey-silver color and was smooth and colder than she thought it would feel. She moved her paw over the rest of them, thinking about how they all felt and looked as she did. She thought it was sweet that even after his mate had passed, he still kept their "secret" and maybe even kept adding onto it. She got lost in thought as she began to think about what each rocks story behind it was and almost forgot Falconstone was even there. "I wish someone loved me that much." She mumbled to herself quietly, not realizing she had said it out loud. She hadnt meant to say it outloud and she couldn't tell what came over her to make her say it. She felt her face grow hot when she did realize she had said it outloud and she laughed awkwardly, focusing her embarrassed blue gaze on the stones again, hoping that maybe he didn't hear.

Falconstone chose to ignore her comment, his heart hurting inside. With a sigh, he moved out of the den, leaving the stones behind. "I miss Minkpaw." he said simply, taking a seat and curling his tail over his paws.

Sandypaw sighed inwardly in relief when he didn't say anything about her comment, but turned and gave him a sad, sympathetic smile. "I'm sure she's watching over you from StarClan and you'll see her again.. One day." She meowed, glancing up at the sky before meeting his gaze again. She was quiet for a moment as her thoughts went off to her mother and her smile faltered a bit. "I miss my mom.. Even if I never really got to know her.." She meowed softly, blue-green eyes looking up at the sky again, wondering if she was watching over her from StarClan too. All she had ever known was Smokepelt, but every once in a while she'd ask him about her and he'd tell her stories. From what she had been told, it seemed like she was a great warrior and she just wished she got to spend more time with her before she had to go. But it's life and she cant change anything, so she shook her head to try to clear the sad, longing thoughts from her mind.

In an attempt to lighten the mood Sandypaw put a smile on her muzzle and stood up, facing Falconstone. "Wanna see who can catch the most prey the fastest?" She asked, grinning, blue eyes shining competitively and hopefully. She was very competitive and confident in her ability to hunt, but mostly she just hoped it helped get Falconstone out of his sad thoughts, even if the game might seem a little childish to him.