An Offering

The walk back to camp had been tiring, carrying the eagle home. It was worth it though, to see the expressions on her clanmates faces as the patrol had returned, Adderpaw carrying the caught fish and Mistlepaw caring for Jaystars wounds. Her stomach rumbled as she placed the eagle on the fresh-kill pile, and grabbed a portion of the wing. Turning to look around the camp, her stomach did a small flip as she recognized Magpiepaw's pelt outside of the apprentice's den. She took a step towards him before hesitating, her eyes betraying her uncertainty. He had been avoiding her... Would he continue to? Taking a deep breath, she forced her paws toward him regardless. If he continued to ignore her, then she would know for sure she had done something wrong, something that made him change around her... If not, maybe they could make peace and she could have her friend back.

She reached his side, and set down the wing with a quiet mew. "Is... Is this spot taken?.."

It was a nice, quiet day, and the warm green-leaf sun was shining down on RiverClan's island clearing, making the sand warm and the cats sleepy.  Magpiepaw was one of them; after going hunting with Sparkfrost he was very tired and his body sore, but his stomach was rumbling like a hungry fox.  Grabbing a somewhat small carp from the top of the fresh-kill pile (being a small cat he didn't need too much food to be full) the black and white tom trotted over and settled down in a sunny patch outside of the apprentice's den, wasting no time before chowing down on the succulent fish.  Ever since he had caught his first prey a few sunrises ago, he had begun to feel much less guilty about taking food for himself...especially when he had something to bring back and contribute.  Still, fishing wasn't all there was to being a warrior; he knew he was still very behind in his training.  Catching land prey, swimming...fighting, there was so much he still needed to know!

At first, he was too preoccupied with his fish to notice the newcomer, but it was only when she was a pawstep away did he hear her.  Glancing up curiously, the familiar dark gray and silver pelt of his best friend greeted him, and he felt his stomach flip over.  Suddenly his fish wasn't tasting too great...  For a moment after she spoke, his wide eyes wandered from her to the large bird wing and back, never meeting her gaze.  Oh StarClan, say something!  "...o-oh, um....I-I was just...no, I'm f-finished."  His tail twitching anxiously, Magpiepaw grabbed the rest of his fish and stood up, eyes fixed on the ground in front of him.  He wasn't ready.  He knew he couldn't face her, the she-cat who he had once looked out for and cherished dearly...he didn't want to lose her to his own cowardice.

At this rate idiot, if you don't talk to her...you'll lose her anyway.

A flash of dismay clouded her face as Magpiepaw stammered and stood, picking up his fish with him. He didn't even meet her eyes... She frowned slightly, but stood still next to him. "Oh... Well, do you have some extra time?... It's been a while, I'm sure you've been busy with your new mentor... I heard about you cathing the fish the other day! Sparkfrost was so excited, he was telling everyone!" She purred roughly, trying to hide the tears that were welling up at her old friend's anxiousness. Did he really hate being next to her this much?

She paused for a moment before gesturing towards the wing. "Keep your eyes on the sky when your out training, this eagle attacked Adderpaw, Jaystar, Mistlepaw and me while we were hunting by Sunningrocks." She leaned forward and plucked some of the feathers from the wing methodically. Setting aside the prettiest ones that shone vibrantly in the light, she nudged them towards the tom. "Here, for you. You'll enjoy a nice rest in a soft nest with these lining it!"

Magpiepaw halted where he was, back turned partially to Dappleshine, but his ears were pricked.  His paws were shaking; I don't want to hurt her, I don't want to hurt her...but...  He didn't respond to her first set of remarks, jaw clenching in frustration and embarrassment.  The fact that Sparkfrost was so proud of him warmed his aching heart, but it wasn't enough.  If he hadn't been so scared for his whole life, a single catch would've meant nothing by now.  Something so ordinary as a big achievement, in a way, only made him feel worse.  As she mentioned her patrol being attacked though, Magpiepaw's eyes finally unlocked themselves from the ground, quickly scanning her pelt before falling to her paws, and the eagle wing that lay there.  She's not injured...thank StarClan.  As she plucked out a bunch of feathers and pushed them towards him though, he felt his heart almost deflate.  She still cares about me...  Feeling his face flush, he tried not to sneeze as he examined the soft feathers, their edges tickling his nose.  "...T-thank you, Dappleshine.  T-That's....r-really n-nice of you..."  Picking up the feathers gently in his mouth, he managed to meet her blue gaze for half a heartbeat before turning away, trotting quickly towards the apprentice's den.  His eyes felt warm with emotion, and he didn't care that he had left his fish behind.  She still cares about me...but how do I know she's not just pitying me?  I need to keep going...once I become a warrior, and we're equals again, everything will be alright!

Right?

She had tried to reach out, even using a small gift to get him to talk to her, but as he accepted it shakily and walked away, still avoiding her eyes, her shoulders dropped along with her tail. Their eyes met for half a second, and her head raised back up, ears perked and a smile starting, when he turned and trotted away, disappearing into the apprentice den and not returning. She stood, alone and hurt in the middle of the camp for a few heartbeats, feeling as though the wind had been taken out of her lungs. Staring down at the wing, she gingerly picked it back up and placed it back on the fresh-kill pile, her tail trailing behind her on the ground. She didn't care how she looked at this point in time, she just wanted to sink into the river and disappear, to never have to see the failure she had become in Magpiepaw's eyes. She still had no idea what she had done wrong, but it was clearly something terrible if he still avoided her so. With that thought, and having replaced the wing, she ignored the hollow feeling in her stomach and padded back out of camp alone. Maybe she would go back to the Gorge.