Out of the whole tiring day, the thing Heartpaw hated the most had been picking ticks out of the elders' pelt. And it wasn't the tick picking. It was the fact that he had to do it with Firpaw. Firpaw, having been grounded all day could have done picking the ticks a long time before but he had decided to wait for Heartpaw. So Heartpaw had had to help as his eyes drooped lower. Heartpaw now lay on the ground, resting under the shade of a small tree. Honeypaw joined him. 

             "How was your day?" she asked. 

             "Bad," grumbled Heartpaw. She laughed. 

             "Picking picks of elders suck doesn't it?" she agreed. 

             "Picking ticks of elders with Firpaw sucks," corrected Heartpaw. Honeypaw laughed again, her eyes sparkled with amusement. 

             "He can be annoying sometimes," agreed Honeypaw. "So how long will you have to do that?" 

             "I'm not sure, Pinestar never specified. But Firpaw is doing it for half a moon," explained Heartpaw. 

             "Well that's not too bad," shrugged Honeypaw. "He deserved it." Heartpaw rolled to his side and cocked his head, fixing his amber eyes on Honeypaw. Her light coloured coat and her piercing green eyes made her look beautiful. He couldn't help but stare. She curled her tail around her paws, smiling at his look. 

             "What's wrong?" she giggled. 

            "Nothing," mumbled Heartpaw, looking away embarrassed. Her eyes sparkled with amusement. 

            "You know what, I don't care what Firpaw says, you're nice," she said. Heartpaw grinned. 

             "Really?" he asked. 

           "Yeah," nodded Honeypaw. Heartpaw smiled, Firpaw would be so mad if he knew his sister was friends with him. He stretched and yawned. 

            "I'm going to sleep. I'm so tired," he said then yawned to show his point. Honeypaw trotted to his side and followed him into the apprentice den. At the sight of his nest, Heartpaw felt his eyes droop and he collapsed on his nest. He closed his eyes and smiled blissfully. Honeypaw laughed. 

              "You must be really tired," she pointed out. But Heartpaw was already fast asleep.