She really isn't evil (For Wavedream)

Nectarleap's first day as a warrior was going to be great, he just knew it. Maybe he could even let Laurelpaw and Stonepaw get out of camp without a different warrior's permission, because he was able to give that permission now. Speaking of Stonepaw, the new warrior had thought he had been looking like he wanted to tell him something yesterday, but didn't have time. Whatever it was, hopefully they could talk about it over a piece of prey. After checking to make sure that kits and elders had been fed first, he pulled a hare off of the fresh-kill pile and looked around camp for the apprentice in question. He had soon spotted the dark gray tom, and padded over to him.
"Hey Stonepaw, want to share this?" Nectarleap asked his friend, dropping the hare at his feet.

Stonepaw was exhausted from the patrol, reluctant to do anything more than curl up and sleep. 'I need to talk to Nectarleap,' the gray apprentice reminded himself, thinking about yesterday's terrible events with a gloomy weight settled in his chest. The hardest part of today was now upon him.

For many tense moons, Stonepaw and a fierce she-cat named Laurelpaw shared friendship with Nectarleap. Laurelpaw hadn't approved of Stonepaw in the beginning, but an uneasy truce had settled between them when Nectarleap had shown that they were of equal value to him . After a while, Stonepaw had began hoping that he and Laurelpaw could become friends and the three of them could be a trio as close as siblings. Now, that was impossible.

'Laurelpaw's evil,' Stonepaw thought, thinking back to the long, unsheathed shiny claw that had glinted deadly on the moor. It had swiped where he had once stood mere rabbit heartbeats ago, flicking the grass instead with terrible force due to unrestrained jealously. Her green eyes had gleamed with insanity, spittle from her raging mouth shining eerily on the yellow blades under their tense paws. 'I need to warn Nectarleap about her.'

When Nectarleap called Stonepaw over to eat with him, Stonepaw felt a bolt of fear before going over to sit with his best friend. The friendly tom looked so open, offering him a hare. His stomach churned. He didn't want to do this and make Nectarleap mad at him for essentially dissing one of his good friends, but for his sake Stonepaw had to tell him. "Hey Nectarleap...can I tell you something?"

At his friend's uneasy and a little jumpy response, Necrarleap felt a bit more sure that this conversation wasn't going to be fun. Sitting down in a comfortable position, it was once again confirmed that something was wrong from Stonepaw's question. He hadn't heard about any clanwide issues that would need to be talked about about in this way, and Nectarleap doubted that he would be the first cat that Stonepaw told if it was imprtant for the whole clan. No, this was definitely something personal. Trying to look as relaxed as he could, the young warrior replied. "Of course Stonepaw. What is it?"

Stonepaw took in a shaky breath before blurting out the words that had swirled in his mind like poison until finally being cycled out into the open air. "I know you're good friends with Laurelpaw, but I think she might be a really bad cat."

The words hung in the air, the weight of his claim growing heavier as every anxious heartbeat thumped loudly in the gray apprentice's chest. 'Please hear me out,' Stonepaw silently begged, eyes pleadingly serious.

When Nectarleap heard the words that came out of Stonepaw's mouth, he silently groaned.The last thing he wanted to do was to settle drama between his two best friends. He knew that the two apprentices were just jealous of each other, but they could stop accusing each other of horrible things. With a sigh, Nectarleap responded.
"Look, I know you and Laurelpaw started off on the wrong paw," he started, "But that doesn't mean you have to always be that way. You two are polar opposites, so I get it's hard, and you feel the need to fight over my friendship. I'll hear what you have to say, Stonepaw, but just don't let jealousy cloud your vision."

Stonepaw nodded nervously. He figured Nectarleap would be doubtful of what he had to say, but the gray apprentice knew that from the beginning. He decided to tell Nectarleap about Laurelpaw's evil nature, so the tom was prepared for reluctant listening. "I-I know it looks like that, I'm sorry I just can't not tell you about what happened because I think Laurelpaw's dangerous, Nectarleap."

He paused and began to retell what happened on the hunting patrol. When he got to the part where Laurelpaw turned on him, the large gray apprentice visibly shivered in fear. "She suddenly turned around and ordered me never talk to you again. She was so cold Nectarleap, and even when I explained that I can't do that and that I hoped to befriend her too, she sneered at me and started to say the cruelest things I've ever heard a cat say even though I told her wanted to get along with her."  

Stonepaw's eyes went downcast. "I know that doesn't make her sound that bad, but that's not all that happened. She...she told me that I don't deserve you as my friend. I agreed with her because I was terrible at the gorge and I'm sorry that I hesitated to save you, but then I told her that she doesn't deserve you either." He looked up to Nectarleap with an terror-filled glint in his yellow eyes. "Nectarleap, after I said that Laurelpaw became terrifying. She was so angry that spittle flew from her mouth. I know that she's been mad at me before, but Nectarleap the expression on her face was so insane that I felt like...like a cat from the Dark Forest came down to haunt me."

He started to choke up. "She...she unsheathed her claws and asked me if I was trying to make her angry. Then..." The image of a glinting claw swiping the grass stalks to tattered remains where he once stood flashed through his eyes. "Laurelpaw attacked me. At first, I thought I was hallucinating a claw swiping down on me and I thought that it was going to stop, but I moved and it turned out the claw was real and hit the grass where I was just moments ago. If I hadn't moved, I could be dead. From the look on her face I honestly thought I was going to die, so I ran away from her as fast as I could. I'm sorry Nectarleap, I wanted to be friends with her and I really wished it could be the three of us but I can't befriend someone who'd attack a clan-mate from rage and I had to tell you before you could get hurt too."

Nectarleap listened through the story he was being told with mixed emotions. Part of him wondered if Stonepaw was right, and that his other best friend was dangerous. The look on the apprentice's face showed actual fear, which was obviously not faked. But the rest of himself outweighed that thought. He felt a mixture of anger, confusion, doubt, and sorrow fill him. Why couldn't his two friends just get along? He knew that Laurelpaw would never kill anyone, especially someone that he was close to, so he wondered for a second if Stonepaw was going crazy out of desperation. But he quickly pushed away that thought, it was obvious that this was all a big misunderstanding. Laurelpaw spoke her mind, and Stonepaw was very sensitive. What probably happened was that Laurelpaw said something that Stonepaw took the wrong way, and then something happened that made her lunge at him. Nectarleap refused to believe it was anger, there might have been a bug she was swiping at, and for all he knew she might have saved his life.
"Stonepaw," Nectarleap said finally, looking his friend straight in the eye. "This was all probably a big misunderstanding. I can tell that you do actually think that this is true and that Laurelpaw is evil, but I can assure you that she is not. She is a little defensive, and you probably misunderstood something she said, or took it the wrong way. And the way you responded to it probably didn't help the situation. And I don't think that she attacked you, worst case scenario she was trying to scare you. Maybe she was swiping at a bug, or maybe she was hitting the ground out of frustration. Or maybe you were imagining it. And a lot of feelings you described there, such as thinking you might die, are yours, not hers. Maybe jealousy is making you see her the wrong way. So I'm not asking you two to be friends, just to not be at each others throats. And think, if I believed everything you said was totally true and acted off of it, it would have ruined your life. I don't think your a bad cat, the opposite actually, but just think about that.

OOC: That took a while to write. :) And "Laurelpaw would never kill anyone," made me crack up while writing it.

OOC: Ik right? "Laurelpaw wouldn't kill anyone" sure right there NectarleapXD Sorry for taking a long time to reply, here's something now:3

Stonepaw stared. 'He doesn't believe me,' he realized with a pang of frustration.

"But I didn't imagine it, Nectarleap!" The large gray apprentice exclaimed with urgency lit in his yellow eyes. "I know this is really hard to believe, but Laurelpaw attacked me. I know what I saw. What happened happened. You're not safe around her, you have to believe me!"

Nectarleap held in a sigh. Stonepaw was a great friend, one of the best he could imagine, but right now he just could not tell what was going on with him. How could he say what was obvious to him without hurting the feelings of his best friend? Maybe he would have to respond with more logic than emotion. The young warrior set his jaw nervously before saying his reply.
"Let's say that what you are saying is completely true," Nectarleap said, "You still wouldn't have any evidence that Laurelpaw is a danger to me. If that really happened just how you see it, she was jealous of your relationship with me, so I would be safe around her, but not you. But I doubt you are totally correct in how you are seeing things. I don't think that she is a danger to you, or me for that matter. I'm not saying that you are totally wrong either. There probably is some truth to the fact that she is jealous of your friendship with me. So Stonepaw, maybe you should try warming up to her a little bit. If anything bad happens, feel free to tell me, but I doubt anything will. And don't worry, I'll ask Laurelpaw to do the same with you."

As Nectarleap spoke, Stonepaw wished fervently that he could do that. The gray tom wanted to let it go, sit down to eat with his best friend, and not ruin his only friendship. But he knew that sometimes the right thing to do wasn't easy, so the desperate apprentice swallowed his frustration and hoped that Starclan was watching over him as he said his piece.

"I've been trying to get closer to her all these moons Nectarleap. I wish I could let this go, I hate this, but I can't be a good warrior and a good friend to you if I do that." A pang hit his heart. "I wanted nothing more for us all to be friends together, but I can't lie and pretend that she's a good cat."

Stonepaw's words warmed Nectarleap's heart a bit, and the young warrior now was able to tell that Stonepaw seemed just as conflicted as he was about this. Now he was sure that it wasn't jealousy clouding Stonepaw's view of Laurelpaw, it was more of doubt. Looking down at his white paws, Nectarleap wondered what to say next. Should he sympathize, or suggest a solution? He quickly decided on both.
"I'm glad to hear that you're trying, that was mostly what I was concerned about." This was closer to what he had wanted to say all along. "I think Laurelpaw is a good cat. You don't have to think that, but you can at least give her another chance to earn your trust. Maybe now that we've talked about it, it will get better. Just please don't bring this up again unless you feel that you really need to. I'll talk to Laurelpaw about it, and she what she thinks, okay?" Nectarleap took a bite out of the hare, hoping that that would end the conversation.

Stonepaw didn't know what to do. It was clear Nectarleap wasn't going to take any extra precautions around Laurelpaw. His best friend had that look on his face that said that he's got a solution, but Stonepaw was certain that not only was his friend wrong, but was going to pay dearly for it. "But asking her about it won't do anything! She isn't going to confess, Nectarleap. And I can't befriend a cat that would try to kill anyone in their own clan." He looked solidly upon Nectarleap's auburn eyes. "You know how I feel about the warrior code."

"Well what do you want me to do Stonepaw?" Nectarleap asked simply. He was tired of arguing with his friend, and now he wanted to get straight to the point. "We've already had a whole conversation about this, but even though I've suggested what we do now, you haven't said anything. So if for the sake of the argument Laurelpaw was actually evil, then what do you want me to do about it? I'm getting tired of this loop of arguing, and we should be discussing solutions instead."

Lines under Stonepaw's eyes grew prominent with at that point. Nectarleap was right. The gray apprentice wasn't really offering a solution to the problem, and he didn't know anyone who needed a clear solution to this more than his best friend. 'But you do know what you want him to do,' his mind supplied unhelpfully, 'You want him to stay away from Laurelpaw.'

"I just..." Stonepaw's face scrunched with stress. "Maybe stay away from Laurelpaw?" Once the statement came out of his mouth, he hastily added, "Just for a little!"

"Stay away from Laurelpaw? Stonepaw, running away from the problem would do the opposite of fix it. I will take what you said into account, but I still want to talk to her about this. If after talking to her I feel differently, I'll stay away, but I want to give her a chance. One chance to talk to her is okay, right?" Nectarleap suggested, trying not to sound irritated or even surprised. He knew that he couldn't just stay away from his best friend for a while and expect it to fix a bunch of problems. He shifted uncomfortably on his paws, suddenly feeling conflicted between his two best friends.