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twilights-800-cats · 2 years ago

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Chapter 28

Exhausted, Crowflight found himself flopping down in his nest in the rain dens as soon as he entered camp. There was little protest to this, but Crowflight had sharp words prepared for any cat who might try to stop him.

His eyes were drooping shut as Duskwhisker entered the den behind him, and he was almost entirely asleep when she wrapped herself around him and lapped soothingly at his ears. The gesture was kind and sweet, and Crowflight let it carry him into the abyss of sleep.

The rest was dark and dreamless, and when Crowflight woke he found that the day had disappeared entirely. He opened his eyes to predawn light, alone in the rain den, warm and cozy in his nest with a vole beside him that smelled of Duskwhisker.

He thanked StarClan, both for the dreamless sleep and the thoughtfulness of his friend. Crowflight devoured the vole in a few quick bites, too hungry to do much else. His mind still buzzed, but instead of exhaustion, Crowflight felt like he had gotten too much sleep.

Crowflight stared out of the den with concern. Had he slept right through the return of the medicine cats?

As he left the den, the remains of his vole in his mouth, he found that he had not – but he understood why he had not been bothered by his Clanmates for sleeping for so long.

Every cat seemed to be in camp, and every one of them seemed tense and alert. Counting, Crowflight guessed that no cat had been assigned a patrol yet – in fact, Onewhisker was nowhere to be found. Crowflight guessed he was in his den.

They’re all waiting to see if the Moonpool is real. Crowflight knew it was real, that StarClan was there and willing to speak from it, but no one else had that certainty, and until they did, it was clear they were not going to feel very secure.

Crowflight spotted Ashfoot outside of the medicine cat’s den, and started towards her. He stopped by the fresh-kill pile, exchanging his prey-bones for a mouse he might gift to his mother. As he rifled for a fresher morsel, Crowflight’s fur prickled – the fresh-kill pile was quite low. Had no cat gone hunting even yesterday?

With the freshest mouse he could find dangling from his jaws, he trotted over to Ashfoot. His mother was grooming herself beside the entrance to the medicine cat’s den, her wound finally free of cobwebs and poultices. The sight of the gnarly scabbing made Crowflight’s stomach twist – she wasn’t at all out of the woods yet.

“For me?” Ashfoot guessed, glancing up at him.

Crowflight nodded, laying the mouse beside her paws. “Have you already eaten?”

Ashfoot shook her head, and drew the fresh-kill close. “I’ve been too nervous,” she admitted. “But I think everyone else is that way, right now.”

Crowflight curled himself around his mother and took over grooming her pelt. She smelled of dried herbs and dirt, a scent that reminded him of Shadepaw, a little. He carefully avoided the scab of her wound.

“Are you still in pain?” he asked.

“Sometimes, if I stretch wrong,” Ashfoot answered. She bit into her mouse, tearing off its leg. “Barkface wants to keep me just a little longer, to ensure that the scab is good and tight. StarClan, but it itches!”

Crowflight purred. “You’re still not allowed out of camp?” he guessed.

Ashfoot shook her head, her eyes flashing with frustration. “Not yet,” she sighed. “But at least I can leave the den to take a walk – and I can give all of you orders again. That’s most important, I think...”

“So, why haven’t any patrols gone out yet?” he questioned. “Did not even Onewhisker assign anyone?”

Ashfoot frowned, and she nudged her mouse with a paw. “He hasn’t come out yet,” she mewed. “He’s waiting for Barkface... We all are.”

Crowflight glanced around camp. As the icy winds whistled overhead, he could see his Clanmates milling about in the dark. Even the apprentices were awake, huddled up together just outside their den with their heads bent in conversation. Over by the nursery, Robinwing’s muzzle poked out of the nursery to talk with Smokewillow and Poppyfoot. Emberstep and Duskwhisker were curled around one another on the opposite side of camp, with Tornear and Softbreeze a pace away. Webfoot and Bramblefur met with Whitetail and edged closer to the nursery, their eyes flashing.

At the top of one of the hills, above the elder’s den, Mudclaw stood with his body against the wind. He was staring down at the Clan below, his expression impossible to see in the dark. Behind him the rowan bent and rattled against the icy chill.

“He should be back any time,” Ashfoot mewed. “And then...”

Crowflight saw her claws slide in and out. He laid a paw over his mother’s and meowed, “It’ll be okay, Ma...”

Ashfoot threw him a skeptical look. Another gust of wind howled above. Her nose pressed against his, and she sighed, “No matter what happens, Crow, know that I love you, okay?”

Crowflight’s heart beat in his ears. “I love you, too,” he insisted. “But nothing is going to happen, okay? Okay?”

He wanted to believe it, and he saw that she did, too – but it was more than obvious. The tension in the camp clung like ice over water, and it was waiting for just the right moment to shatter into a million little pieces.

Crowflight swallowed the bitter cold air. He looked at the camp around him, and thought of how far it had come – the gully choked with bushes and debris had become a full-fledged camp, with strong gorse walls and dens made of strong branches and packed tight with mud and leaves to keep warmth inside. The hills that cut the wind, the rowan tree that stood proudly over a camp that Crowflight had hardly noticed was finished – was home - until now.

And, depending on who goes to the Moonpool tonight, that might all change...

As sunlight broke through a gap in the dark, snowy clouds, the gorse bushes at the camp entrance waved. Every cat in the Clan stiffened and turned their heads as Barkface and Ryewhisper pushed their way through. Both looked exhausted, but neither looked disappointed.

Silence hung in the air as Barkface and his apprentice strode into camp. Ryewhisper seemed keenly aware of the tension in camp, and he stuck close to his mentor, his eyes wide. Barkface was doing his best to look oblivious to it all as he walked towards the Tallstone.

A shadow on the edge of Crowflight’s vision moved – Mudclaw came down from the hilltop, rounding the elder’s den to join the rest of the Clan. Emberstep, Softbreeze, Tornear, and Duskwhisker moved to join him. On the other side of camp, Whitetail gathered up her supporters – though Robinwing stayed in the nursery, watching with round eyes but unwilling to come out into the sheer cold.

Barkface’s scent must have touched Onewhisker in his den, as the lean tabby slid out of the darkness beneath the Tallstone. He met Bakface’s gaze as the old tom stopped, wordlessly asking the question that was on every cat’s mind.

Barkface took a deep, steadying breath.

“The Moonpool is real,” he announced, his voice carrying on the cold winds. “We have made contact with StarClan. For her discovery, Shadepaw received her full name – Shadepool.”

Instead of the excited murmurs and conversation that might’ve followed such an announcement, Crowflight was shocked to hear nothing at all. Cats looked at one another, eyes round with anticipation.

Shadepool... Crowflight, at least, thought it was a beautiful, fitting name.

Crowflight’s tongue felt dry. Beside him, Ashfoot seemed stiff as a frozen rabbit as she waited for what was to come next. Crowflight saw her claws tearing into her mouse, pulling it to pieces.

“And?” Onewhisker asked, his breath moving off in clouds before his muzzle.

Barkface lowered his stumpy tail. “StarClan has approved a casting of stones.”

At those words, Ryewhisper moved off, slipping past Ashfoot and Crowflight to head into the medicine cat’s den.

“Finally,” growled Mudclaw. He stepped forward, now, his shoulders hunched and his eyes bright. “Now even StarClan has changed their minds...”

Barkface flattened his ears. He ignored Mudclaw and turned to face the rest of the Clan, raising his voice: “Cats of WindClan, come forward – each and every one of you!”

As the cats drew forward, forming a ring around the clearing, Barkface meowed on, “A casting of stones is an ancient WindClan tradition, created by our founder Windstar herself. Whenever there is a decision that is too difficult for any one cat to make, that decision must be made – and its repercussions borne – by the whole of the Clan.”

There was a grunt from the medicine cat’s den. Ryewhisper emerged tail-first, dragging out a large sheaf of rowan bark that was littered with tiny, smooth stones, ones that looked to be from the lakeshore. When the bark strip was safely out of the den, Ryewhisper rounded it and began to push it forward with his nose, until it rested beside Barkface.

“The last casting of stones was seasons upon seasons ago,” Barkface yowled, “when Heatherstar and her Clan voted to put an end to tunneling beneath WindClan’s old territory. I was but a fresh apprentice then, but I still recall it vividly:

“Every cat in the Clan can participate, with an exception for kits. Any cat may choose to step aside and abandon their choice – but they must live with the consequences, same as the rest.”

With a claw, Barkface drew a line deep into the cold earth. He sat himself at the head of that line, opposite the place where Ryewhisper had put the stones. Barkface’s gaze regarded his Clanmates evenly. “One side, for Onewhisker; the other, for Mudclaw. Come, you two.”

Onewhisker stepped forward first, and took one of the stones in his mouth. He chose, and placed it on his side of the line, settling down beside it so that there was no question. Mudclaw did the same a moment later, stalking to the opposite end with a glint of satisfaction in his eye.

Barkface looked between them both. “You may each plead your cases, should you wish,” he offered. Beside him, Ryewhisper looked like he might rattle apart from nerves.

Crowflight dug his claws into the soil. It’s really happening, he thought. His heart hammered hard in his ears. Oh, StarClan, please... let this be the right thing!

Mudclaw spoke first, loud and proud: “That StarClan has chosen to cast stones is no greater sign to me that I was right – Onewhisker’s refusal to tell the truth of his appointment is an admittance to foul play.”

His gaze passed over the cats in the crowd. “I was your deputy for many long moons,” he growled. “I have the experience necessary to lead us now, in this new land; to keep us safe and fed and free of influences from the other Clans. Can Onewhisker say the same?”

“I never fancied leadership, that much is true,” Onewhisker countered, his tail lashing. “But when I was appointed, I did not shy away from my duty. I have made mistakes, and I will not deny it. WindClan never would have made it here if not for the help of the other Clans, and Tallstar knew that – the future that Mudclaw wants is one of isolation. The one I want is formed of cooperation!”

“I want strength for WindClan!” Mudclaw snapped, bristling. “We never would have made it here if not for the other Clans, that is true; but WindClan is not some kit in need of a mother! We are proud, and strong, and independent! We are free as the wind and swift as rabbits! We do not exist because of the other Clans, we exist beside them – that is what I want to return to us!”

Onewhisker narrowed his eyes. “And how would you pave the way to that future?” he snarled. “With bones and blood?”

“Enough,” Barkface decided firmly. He sighed, his gaze dark, and meowed, “Place your stones.”

Whitetail moved first. She picked a stone from the rowan bark and set it beside Onewhisker’s, moving to sit beside him. Webfoot did the same, not bothering to disguise his disgust as he stared over at Mudclaw.

Tornear went next, tossing his stone to Mudclaw’s side. When he sat beside the dark tabby, his glare was all for Webfoot. Softbreeze came next, flanked by Emberstep. The two she-cats put their stones beside Mudclaw’s.

Thornpaw strode forward then, her chest thrust out bravely. She picked up her stone and put it beside Mudclaw’s. Weaselpaw and Thistlepaw, as one, took their stones and made their way to Mudclaw’s side, too. The three huddled close, as if this were a decision they made as one.

Poppyfoot came next, and she put her stone beside Onewhisker. She sat with Whitetail, and kinked her tail towards the crowd. Out came Bramblefur and Smokewillow, who each picked up their stones and tossed them to Onewhisker’s side. Smokewillow returned to the sheet of bark and, with a glance at the nursery, put Robinwing’s stone beside his.

Duskwhisker came next. She picked up her stone and, with a glance at Crowflight, set it beside Mudclaw’s. She sat beside him with her tail wrapped over her paws tightly.

Crowflight felt Ashfoot move. She got to her paws and, stiffly, walked over to the stones. She put her stone beside Onewhisker’s, and then moved to sit at his side. Onewhisker gave her a grateful look, and she nodded in return.

Crowflight suddenly realized that not only were the sides evenly split, but he was also the only cat who had not voted. All eyes suddenly turned to him, and he felt them like a dozen prickers in his pelt.

“Ryewhisper and I have already decided that we will not vote,” Barkface meowed calmly. Beside him Ryewhisper nodded in confirmation. Barkface’s eyes rested on Crowflight. “It’s up to you, Crowflight.”

Crowflight thought he might faint. The wind whistled through his ears, chilling him to his core. He stared at each of the stones, and at his Clanmates behind them. He tried to swallow but couldn’t. He wanted to run, but he had promised Deadfoot and Shadepaw and himself that he wouldn’t - and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t leave things at such a strong tie.

Heart rattling in his mind, he padded towards the stones. Each step felt like it took an eternity, so aware he was of the gravity of this choice. It pressed down on him as if the old rowan had decided to come down onto his back.

Standing beside the trio of remaining stones, Crowflight placed his paw on one. It was smooth, round, gray and speckled with darker bits. It was barely the size of one of his paw pads, and it leeched the warmth from him as he touched it.

“Whether or not Onewhisker was chosen properly doesn’t matter at this point,” Shadepool’s voice meowed in his head. “Maybe it never mattered in the first place... All that matters is who is the cat that will lead WindClan into the best possible future.”

StarClan, let me make the right choice!

“Tallstar wanted a future that was bright and safe for WindClan,” Crowflight began. He was surprised by the strength of his voice. With both Onewhisker and Mudclaw staring at him, he thought he might sound like a rasping kitten. “When I learned that Twolegs were going to destroy our home, that’s all that I wanted, too.”

Crowflight took a deep breath. He stared directly at Mudclaw and meowed, “It doesn’t matter whether or not Onewhisker was rightfully appointed. What was said that day isn’t important in the least, either – they were words spoken between a dying cat and his oldest friend and the cat he thought was the best choice to lead his Clan into the future he desired. Those words should stay in the hearts of those that heard them.”

Mudclaw’s glare was thunderous, as dark as the sky above. Crowflight saw something thin and wiry snap in his gaze.

It’s too late to back down now.

Crowflight took the stone in his claws. “You two could have worked together – you should have. But now we must choose, and between the two of you... Onewhisker’s is the future that I want for WindClan. It’s the future that I worked for, the future that I lost a dear friend for - the one that I brought us here to live out.”

He tossed his stone over to Onewhisker’s side, where it clattered against the small pile until it lay at rest on the cold earth.

“We can be a strong, independent WindClan without forsaking our bonds with the other Clans,” Crowflight meowed on. He swept his gaze across every cat there. “We chosen cats may have journeyed here in one group, but we never would have made it without the skills and traditions of our individual Clans to aid us. We can keep our borders tight and our loyalty strong... and we can ask for aid and give it when necessary. It can go both ways.”

“He’s right,” Duskwhisker meowed, her voice shaky. “It can. It should.”

She took her stone and moved it over to Onewhisker’s side. Crowflight felt a rush of warmth towards his friend that almost knocked him off of his paws.

Mudclaw’s supporters shuffled. Tornear came forward then, with Thornpaw and the other apprentices at his heels. Three more stones cast towards Onewhisker. Tornear and Webfoot exchanged a glance, and then butted their heads together, relief in their eyes.

Only Emberstep and Softbreeze remained with Mudclaw now, and neither looked like they were about to budge. Snow began to fall, the sparse flakes landing in the clearing and catching on the grass.

“So that is how it will be, then,” Mudclaw growled.

“Yes,” Barkface said simply, “it is. The choice has been made, and the consequences must be lived with.”

Mudclaw bristled. He glared at each cat standing across from him, and then his gaze swept to Crowflight. The intensity was shocking, the fury and anger there as hot as flame. Crowflight thought then that Mudclaw would leap across the stones and try to rip out his throat.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not you accept this, Mudclaw,” Barkface went on, his tone serious as he took in Mudclaw’s expression. “The stones have been cast, and the choice is made. Onewhisker is leader of-”

“Onewhisker is no leader of mine!” Mudclaw roared. His claws unsheathed, and his tail lashed. His paw slashed through his little pile of stones, scattering them across the clearing. Emberstep and Softbreeze, shocked, each took a step back from him. The other cats on Onewhisker’s side got to their paws, more than one of them looking ready to pounce.

“Mudclaw, stop this nonsense!” Onewhisker hissed. “If you don’t stand down, I will exile you from WindClan!”

“You should have done that moons ago, you hare-brained fox-heart! That’s your problem,” Mudclaw spat back. “There’s no spine behind your words! No strength, no substance!”

He raised his tail. Crowflight saw shapes appearing, lining the hill behind Mudclaw – cats from ShadowClan and RiverClan, outlined in the dark, stormy sky. He recognized Falcontail and his friends, Leafwhisker and Blackclaw, and his gut plummeted.

This was his plan all along!

“What is this?” Onewhisker yowled, eyes wide. “Mudclaw, what have you done?!” Fear-scent was filling the clearing, from every cat.

“Oh, so it’s fine for you to make alliances with the other Clans, but not me?” Mudclaw sneered. He strode forward, his tail lashing. “I didn’t want it to go this way, Onewhisker, but Crowflight said that we can have it both ways - so have it both ways we shall - attack!”

#tb au #tb starlight

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ts3lightclan · 1 year ago

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(1.14) Meeting Under a Dawn Sky

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By the time the orange glow of dawn began to creep over the sky, Skunktooth had already made his way out of LightClan's innermost section of territory. Now, he walked through the fields of the farm, heading back to his old home. He knew it would never feel the same-- not without Honeypurr, and not while he has kits he wasn't sure he'd see again. The barn would feel lonelier than ever, colder even than leaf-bare itself.

Earlier in the season, the fields were full of crops. As of now, however, they were barren, already harvested by Mr. McGreggor and his terrifying crop-monster. Skunktooth took a moment, in this recently-cleared and rain-trodden farmland to stop and lick his wounds.

...Literally. His wounds were still aching from when Briarclaw still inflicted them, as he hadn't had a moment's rest since.

"I see you are injured," A strange voice mewed from behind him, sending Skunktooth whirling about to face them.

"I- I am," He mumbled in response, trying to keep his distance as the strange spotted she-cat examined him. "But- who are you?"

"Don't worry. I am here to help. May I?"

She hadn't answered him, and yet, her relaxed expression made Skunktooth rest a little easier. She didn't seem to be a threat, anyhow.

He offered a slight nod, and the stranger stepped closer. With only a few uncomfortable stares, the stranger seemed to have gotten all the information she needed. She then swiped a paw through her neck-fur, freeing some previously-unseen cobwebs and applying them delicately to the claw marks. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to keep the injury from getting worse for the time being.

Skunktooth stared in awe and wonder. Though LightClan technically had a healer, he'd never met a cat who worked with bandages quite so delicately, like it was second nature.

"H-How did you do that..?" He nearly whispered, glancing back down at the now-bandaged wound.

"I am skilled at many things," She explained vaguely. "I'm skilled at healing, and I am skilled at listening. You have been driven out, haven't you?"

"Eh..?" Skunktooth quickly became unnerved by the question. How had this cat known..? "N-No, I haven't. I'm out here alone."

"Hmph. You don't need to lie to me; I heard the whole thing." Skunktooth flinched a little on impulse. Not only did he just get caught in a lie, but... had nobody scented this cat in their territory? He worried for the safety of his kits.

"Wh- Why are you following me..?"

The blue cat stared at him for a moment, then shook out her fur. "Why? Well, I was worried, of course. It's not fair for a cat to be driven out for defending himself." She pondered it for a moment. "Besides, my values lead me to heal any cat in need. Your healer seemed rather incompetent."

"L-Lilacdream is fine..."

"I'm sure she is."

With a sigh, the blue cat brushed some of her fur back into place, having been rustled by the wind and rain.

"Either way, those cats don't deserve you. I would never throw out a companion like that, over such a silly misunderstanding. What a shameful thing to do."

While it was suspicious that this stranger knew so much about his situation, he couldn't deny that it felt good to have someone who shared his viewpoint... As guilty as he felt about Briarclaw's death, it had been an accident. What else could he have done?

"...Thank you."

"Of course! It's only right." The cat's whiskers twitched in an approachable manner. "I think this means we're friends now." She emphasized the word friends, though her gaze never left him for a moment. "Friends help each other out, yes? I scratch your back, you scratch mine, that sort of thing. I think we can continue to help each other... for a long time, even. What do you say?"

This spotted stranger made no change in expression, but she offered her paw out as if she wanted him to... shake it? All things considered, this cat seemed to understand him, so maybe it would be best to lean on her until he could get back on his paws. Besides, with not many other cats to rely on anymore... Skunktooth lifted his paw and met hers with his own.

"It's... nice to meet you."

"And you as well!" Maw curving into a smile, the stranger purred. "Come with me! I'll show you where I've been staying. You're welcome to stay there as well until your injury heals."

With a suddenly energetic tail flick, the strange cat began leading him away from the barn, down a road that LightClan had not yet traveled. Would they even bother to look for him there?

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???

#lightclan!skunktooth #lightclan!???#lightclan #warrior cats #warrior cats fanclan #the sims 3 #ts3 #the sims 3 challenge #warrior cats oc #legacy challenge #simblr #warriors #sims 3 warrior cats challenge #warrior cats legacy challenge #ts3 warrior cats #ts3 legacy

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tobiasdrake · 2 years ago

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Mewtwo Strikes Back - VIII. Oh, I Think He Might be a Bad Guy

Ash pursues Pikachu's stealy Ball into the cloning room, where a confused and terrified Jessie and James are entertaining themselves by playing Who's That Pokemon. XD Each Ball flashes a silhouette of its contents on the screen while the cloning takes place, and they're guessing the identity of each silhouette - With Meowth confirming as the clones emerge into vats.

Ash enters the machine, fistfights the inner workings, and breaks the whole cloning device in a successful bid to reclaim Pikachu. Breaking the machine frees all the other Pokemon within, but the clones nonetheless emerge.

Topside, Mewtwo delivers his cruel mercy. He assures the Trainers that he won't kill them. But they are to leave his island and try to return to the mainland through his hurricane, without the Pokemon they used to get here. So. Yes. He is going to kill them. (Joy too.) He's just being fancy about it.

Fortunately, Ash returns with all of the Pokemon (cloned and otherwise) in tow. This isn't over yet. And he's mad. He uses the phrase "I won't forgive you", which is basically the Japanese equivalent of "Go die in a fire and rot in hell, you reprehensible monster." Mewtwo is on his shit list now. Even Jessie and James have never gotten this treatment, and they've done some shit.

Of course, Ash can talk big but he isn't exactly Son Goku here. His temper runs wild, he races up to Mewtwo, and throws a haymaker right into Mewtwo's gut. Which utterly fails to pierce Mewtwo's psychic barrier. And then Mewtwo hurls him at a stone edifice at Murder Kilometers per Hour. This is not your moment, literal child.

Thankfully, Ash has someone looking after him. Specifically, the Mythic Pokemon Mew, whose presence infuriates Mewtwo. Mewtwo insists that even though he's a clone, he's the stronger of the two.

He's correct in that assessment. Although Mew has a small lead in Physical Defense, Mewtwo outclasses them in every other respect. He has in particular incomparable Special, by far the strongest in the game and topping Mew's by a half. His Speed is incredible too; Second only to Electrode, and matching Jolteon and Aerodactyl. Befitting his status as the game's Bonus Boss, Mewtwo is King Shit of Fuck You Mountain.

Mew's presence changes everything. Mewtwo drops the whole "strongest Pokemon Trainer, too superior to kill you," shtick and goes full-on offensive. Attacking with the G2 move Shadow Ball because he's using the Johto ruleset, Mewtwo goes off on a murderous rampage to kill Mew and prove that he's stronger.

#pokemon #pokemon liveblog #mewtwo strikes back #mewtwo #mew

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evoblue · 4 months ago

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time capsule thread: a reunion a long time coming with @/twilighttheater

summary: a bracelet of forget-me-nots and an unlikely revelation at the Goldenrod Grand Gala are not enough to fully mend the rift between two pining childhood friends, but it's at least a good start.

Red knows he wasn't really formally asked by her, it was a simple invite, but he had really done the best he could to match with Blue in a unique way. It takes a moment before he spots her in the crowd and waves, even without the corsage behind his back his forget-me-not boutonniere gives away his intentions even more than the suit itself.

"Quite a turnout," he says while approaching her with a smile. "You're right that it's not really my thing, but all the same I'm glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me."

—

She would be lying if she claimed that she hadn't been keeping an eye out for a certain wayward legendary trainer... Mew, he'd invaded her thoughts night and day since she'd gotten that note. 'See you there'... It wasn't exactly a promise but, surely, he'd still keep to his word?

Her desire to see him is still at war with her own anxieties, though. She wants to be close to him, yet at the same time, she's afraid of becoming so close that he could hurt her more just by disappearing again. As she's told herself countless times, she can't miss anyone if there isn't anyone there to miss... especially him. Why do things have to be complicated?

Despite her reservations, when she finally catches sight of him, her heart begins to race.

For some reason, she'd expected him to wear black or red to go with his ever-present trademark hat. Yet here he is, donning her colors for once. A crisp white suit with subtle, delicate silver patterns that draw the gaze in when they catch the light just right. The lapels? Blue. The unexpected boutonniere? Blue, in the form of forget-me-nots. Her colors. Her flowers. They match. Was that deliberate? But how would he have known? She hadn't posted previews of her dress anywhere on social media—

She doesn't dare think too much of it. She'd hate for any hopeful assumptions to blow up in her face.

By the time she's done processing his outfit, they're face to face. It's hard to find the words when she's met with the deep crimson of his eyes. When he smiles, it looks genuine despite his aversion to social functions. For some reason, that makes her happy.

"You came," she finally finds the words, maintaining her composure despite the way her heart is ricocheting within her ribcage. Once she wills herself to relax, her smile reaches her eyes. "Not that I doubted your word, but... I'm glad. It means a lot to me that you're here, and I'm sure my aunt and Rosa both share the sentiment."

While she's tempted to avoid it, she might as well address the Cooperajah in the room.

"It looks like we match. Funny, huh?" Despite wanting to bring it up, she doesn't broach the subject of him wearing her favorite flower. All she can think about is how he remembers after all these years. "You look good..." She pauses, her gaze turning fond, her smile teasing. "Even if your hat clashes a little."

—

He's trying not to overthink the way his heart leaps with how she's looking at him, he's never seen her look at him like that before. He'd been so nervous about if he was doing the right thing here, but seeing her face made him feel more sure. It was nice to see her smile so brightly.

He laughs when his hat is pointed out, using his free hand to briefly take it off his head just to hold it up. "Thank you, though no matter what I do I can't help at least one fashion crime huh? I could be doing worse at least."

"Not at all like you, and I know a reminder isn't necessary, you know this without anyone saying anything. But you do look radiant today, and I can't help pointing it out." He grins, "And you're right, I suppose we do match huh?" He's not going out of his way to try to appear innocently unaware of this matter, but he's not going out of his way to prove that he didn't have some idea about this either.

At least not right off, but he does decide after a moment that the suspense is getting to his nerves too much. He places his hat back onto his head properly, before bringing his hidden hand out from behind his back. He holds out a corsage decorated in her favorite flower and truly hopes he's not going to make a total fool of himself here.

"I thought you might like this too, providing I'm not interrupting your time with anyone else anyway."

—

Radiant...

Her face feels warm and it's stupid because it's not like she's unaware. Vanity is her curse so she knows exactly how she looked when she walked in through those doors, and compliments usually don't phase her. Why does it hit different when it comes to her longtime friend? The same friend who is now looking at her like that, matching her colors, and wearing her flowers.

Ah, right. Because he's owned a piece of her heart for the better part of the last ten years.

Even with her gears turning full-force from the moment she noticed his outfit, she's still not ready when he presents her with a corsage to match his boutonnière. More forget-me-nots.

Oh. Oh. This is absolutely deliberate. Red isn't like her, with her subtleties and burning what-ifs. Between the flowers and the words that follow, his intentions are clear.

He is asking her to be his date for tonight.

Her lips part to formulate a response but promptly seal back up as she realizes she doesn't really trust her voice right now. While this is her ultimate desired outcome, she's finding herself faltering. What does this mean?

Yes, he's here because she made a point to invite him specifically; he's one of her two VIPs for a reason. She so desperately wants him to be here tonight. But this, all of this... it's so much, all at once. She's brimming with nervous excitement, a thrill running down her spine, but a part of her is still hesitant. Is this just Red being friendly or is there a deeper meaning behind this gesture? He's always been sweet so she can't tell...

Regardless, she's kept him waiting for too long. Maybe she should stop overthinking things and let herself enjoy this moment, however brief. After all, whatever his reasons, Red came all this way and went all out.

"Thank you." She finally finds her voice, her gaze softening. "Though, you really didn't have to go through all this trouble just to ask me to be your date. You know you'll always come first for me."

Ah, that last part she hadn't meant to say quite so loud.

"A-anyway! I suppose I can find it in my heart to forgive your fashion crimes." She attempts a diversion and extends her hand to accept the flowers. Too late, she realizes her hands are trembling.

—

He can tell that she's shocked, and he didn't expect a response right off anyway. But admittedly he was beginning to question if she was looking for someone else to be her date for the gala. He would've understood if that had been the case, but he also can't deny his relief when she accepts the offer.

'You know you'll always come first for me.'

The statement goes through his mind several times over. Maybe at one time, he'd known something like that without question, but admittedly after his disappearing act, he hadn't felt so confident about it. In some way this was making amends, making up for lost time, and trying to make something apparent that he should've done so ages ago.

Her diversion didn't completely work, but he does laugh over her comment nonetheless. He goes to hold her hand and place the corsage onto her wrist when he notices her hand trembling and decides to hold onto her hand for a bit longer. He feels like he must be imagining things, but he's not particularly looking to let go if she is in fact feeling nervous.

"Kind of you, whatever would I be without my hat?" He jokes, he's not even going to begin to get into the argument of the fact he does have a touch of red on him. It holds about as much water as saying his Sygna Suit's blue flame matches Cinder while Mega Evolved.

"And I know I didn't have to make this a big deal, but I thought it'd be more fun for us this way."

He's still not giving his source on who gave him the information on her outfit. But his mind keeps going back to the words she let slip out, and he decides to use his nerve to actually comment on it.

"And...I appreciate hearing that, I feel the same towards you."

—

I feel the same towards you.

Those are words that she would love to hear in a different context and it kills her because hearing Red say that while looking at her like that (as if she were the only star he sees… she must’ve had a drink too many…) and holding her hand as he slips a bracelet of forget-me-nots onto her wrist—all in an arguably very romantic setting—should be illegal.

As she locks eyes with Red, breathing becomes just a little bit harder. He’s always had such beautiful eyes—crimson and warm, like flickering flames in the hearth of a place she’d call home, if such a place even existed.

The rational part of her tells her to snap out of it; the bitterly hurt and afraid part of her cries for her to withdraw. However, despite the myriad of complex emotions she’s experiencing all at once, the warmth of his touch is grounding. She’s so good at goodbyes, so talented at running away from anything or anyone she could remotely become attached to… but to him, she gravitates like a willing satellite, despite him being capable of hurting her more deeply than anyone else.

He could do it again, too. It would be so easy for him to just go no-contact and drop off the face of the Earth, as he so often tends to do. So easy for him to shatter her already fractured heart into a thousand more fragments, despite her best attempts to piece herself together following his re-entrance into her life. Blue wants to believe in him, though. She wants to believe in the sweet boy she remembers from her childhood, in the man that flew to Sinnoh and arrived on her doorstep unannounced without knowing if she’d even open the door for him or not. And gods know she really didn’t have to, but…

For him, what wouldn’t she do? Even as just friends…

Right. Before her thoughts get carried away even further, she reluctantly pulls her hand from his grasp under the guise of adjusting his boutonnière. It’s yet another mistake, though, for it brings her in far too close. She clears her throat and smooths down his lapels before pulling herself away. “There, perfect.”

Despite Red being what most would consider a “high profile” guest, it doesn’t seem like their encounter has drawn too much attention. Mercifully, the rest of the guests seem engrossed in the various forms of entertainment that she and her staff had prepared for the night. Blue craves a moment to herself, though, just to process everything, clear her head, and raise her shields up. She’s tempted to slip back into her role as hostess but the flowers on her wrist remind her that she has actually committed to spending most of the night by Red’s side. It’s what she wants, but is it what's best for her?

“Can I show you around?” she finally offers before the silence between them becomes awkward. “I know my aunt’s exhibit better than anyone. Or, if you’re hungry, we could make our way over to the hors d'oeuvres?”

She nods her head toward the snack table, where Rosa seems to be happily stuffing her face with assorted mochi alongside someone she doesn't recognize.

—

He was so bad at reading people's expressions at times when they were younger, he looks back now and realizes how many times he should've noticed just how Blue looked at him. When he saw her again in Sinnoh all he could see on her face was the hurt he'd left her with, that he wanted so badly to make up for. Yet now... it feels so nostalgic, he looks into her eyes and sees the clear sky; lit up almost just like before. He doesn't expect this day to restore everything, not after all the hurt he did... but he can't deny the hope he has seeing this.

When she moves her hand he doesn't expect her to get closer to him, moving towards adjusting his boutonnière. She gives the impression on the surface of doing just that, but part of him also takes it as a way of trying to keep things off her mind. He knows she can be avoidant at times, it's a vice that they both share but in different ways. This form of avoiding however was a little funny, considering she's close enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume; he doesn't know them that well but he catches hints of lotus flowers. Suits her, he thinks, reminds him of running through the forest with her before.

But as much as the past was sweet with nostalgia, he did intend on staying in the moment. He did say he wanted to make amends after all, somehow some way.

He can't help being slightly proud still of his choice when she says 'perfect', as silly as it may have been. He'd been about to ask where they should start when she beats him to it, and he does glance over where Blue gestures to, noticing his sister talking with someone already... he kind of recognizes that guy. No name comes to mind though.

"We can catch up with Rosa later, I did primarily come to this to see you after all." No sense in being shy about it, she invited him and he wasn't going to waste too much time if he could help it. "I'd love to see your aunt's exhibit to start with, I've been wondering about it some."

—

Oh, that's surprising. Considering how many of their mutual friends were in attendance, she'd figured Red would be eager to catch up with them, especially with his sister. But instead, he wants to spend time with her.

I did primarily come to see you, after all.

Arceus, can he stop saying sweet things like that? It just makes everything harder.

A flash of pink suddenly draws her attention and she finds herself staring at Rosa from across the room. The Unovan champion cants her head, brows raised and lips quirked in question as her gaze flicks between her and Red. Feeling her cheeks grow warm, Blue takes Red's arm and leads him away before he has the time to catch the implications of that particular exchange.

"Here, follow me."

The hallway that contains most of her aunt's works is not too far away; however, its walls do a good job of muffling the chatter and music coming from the main hall. It allows for a bit of privacy and much easier conversation. While the thought of being alone with Red does things to her heart right now, so soon after the flowery gift, she's grateful for the calmer atmosphere. She regrets not being able to quell her nerves with a drink, though.

Mostly acrylic paintings and watercolors line the walls, with many of them depicting Kanto landmarks and pokémon. It seems like as good a place as any to start. The painting that catches her eye first is one of a fiery sunset, with the golden sun disappearing into the horizon while painting the ocean in streaks of red, pink, and orange.

"Route 21, just south of Pallet. Remember when we used to sit on the beach, splashing our feet in the water while we talked about silly kid things until the sun went down?" Those were the dog days of summer, a simpler time when their trio was still tight-knit. She sometimes wishes she could return to that time.

The painting right next to it appears to be Viridian Forest and it depicts a bug catcher in the act of netting an odd-colored Butterfree. Blue knows well that the scene didn't end well for the bug catcher, since the Butterfree had hit them with a Whirlwind before fleeing.

"I was there the day my aunt took the reference picture for that one. That bug catcher ended up in that bush back there," she smiles mirthfully as she points at a group of shrubs ripe with Leppa berries.

“Also, that Butterfree was indeed shiny. I ended up catching it later in the day; he keeps Aunt Azami company to this day.” It had been Blue’s first shiny capture and she’d been thrilled to share the experience with her aunt.

“And this—oh,” she pauses, suddenly tight-lipped as she comes across the largest painting on the wall. The painting is titled “Journey Together” and it depicts a pair of children as seen from the back, donning their eponymous colors and holding hands as they walk down a winding road. Their features are ambiguous but she highly suspects they're meant to be her and Red.

When did her aunt paint this? She doesn't remember seeing it before.

—

He'd really only caught a glimpse of Rosa's look before Blue took his arm to lead him in the direction of the paintings, not nearly enough of a look to fully see the context of the exchange between them. He's barely able to get a wave out to her before he returns his attention to Blue, and glances at the paintings they were passing by on the way. No names or pictures he recognized, not until they arrived at Azami's works anyway...she'd clearly been busy, he can't imagine how much time went into every single painting.

He listens and nods. "I remember, times like that are why I still love sunsets." He admits though he wonders about how sentimental he should really be. He couldn't lie though, thinking about staying out until the golden hours of the evening made for some of the best memories of his early childhood.

He snickers listening to the story about the bugcatcher. "I'll have to see this Butterfree sometime, but she did a really amazing job on this background."

But then his attention is fully brought to a painting that evidently Blue hadn't expected, larger than any of the others around. He doesn't want to assume anything... but when the clothing of the two children resembles their outfits from the past so much; he can't help but wonder what was going through Azami's mind while painting this.

It's idyllic, to the point that he almost wishes this had properly been how things went. But the statement he feels she may have been trying to make is still understood loud and clear, and though he's not sure if he should overstep, he still tries to hold onto Blue's hand in mirror to the painting.

"The first one was nice but, this one is really nostalgic." He loosely tries to justify his actions with a soft smile, "makes me think of the times that we did meet up on the way through Kanto."

Brief moments mostly, but they'd meant a lot to him. Even if today turned out to be similar, he'd still feel the same about it.

—

Red’s touch is as unexpected as the sight of the painting had been; the brush of his hands feels electric, tingling sparks blooming where their fingers join. Though her first instinct is to pull away from the intimate touch, she doesn’t. We need this as friends, she tells herself as she gives his hand a squeeze, as if that isn’t an excuse for her to chase her own reckless desires against her better judgment.

Feeling helpless at the sight of his smile, she exhales softly.

“I sometimes wish we’d actually traveled together… y’know, instead of racing each other to the top.” Maybe then, Red wouldn’t have felt like he needed to take on the weight of the world upon his shoulders alone. The latter was in the spirit of rivalry, sure, but that had always been heavily pushed by Green… and look where that had landed him. Them. All three of them are a mess.

Despite her own wishes, she doesn’t linger. Her hand slips through Red’s fingers like sand as she reluctantly pulls away. Her arms then fold over her chest while she retreats behind the walls of her fortress, all under the guise of admiring the artwork lining the remainder of the hallway. It’s uncanny how cold the space suddenly feels without him by her side. She finds herself aching for that small little touch, however brief it had been.

It’s so hard to pretend like she doesn’t feel anything.

“I admire her, you know?” she says softly, now standing before a painting of Snorlax placidly napping across a road she recognizes to be just outside Celadon. It's her best attempt at redirecting the subject to something neutral. “And maybe even envy her a little. I’ve always wished I had any talent for the visual arts… if you took a peek at my research journal, you’ll find I’m pretty much the opposite. Even my doodles are ugly as hell.”

—

The statement almost surprises him. Almost.

In a way, he looks back on it and he can almost imagine that sort of want if he hadn't been so focused on his goal of becoming Champion; focused on racing Green to the very top in particular. The thought leaves him feeling cold very fast as she lets go of his hand, yet another moment to slip away from him it seems.

"I sometimes wish the same." He softly admits, but it seems she's moving on to looking at the rest of the paintings. He won't linger on it if she doesn't want to.

He looks over at the next painting, and he remembers moments like this where he had to wake up wild Snorlaxes on the road. Always made for a fun battle to happen out of nowhere, but he listens more to Blue changing the subject. Idly, he hopes he hasn't made her feel too strange over his comments, but he also felt he shouldn't keep things like this to himself anymore. Doing that hasn't exactly gotten him anywhere.

"I'm not much better, I do like to draw on occasion but... nothing like this. I don't know if I'd have the patience to hone the skill, and sit in one place to work on something like this for hours."

"So I suppose I admire her too, it takes a lot of dedication, I'm sure."

—

Red’s affirmation hangs in the air and she holds her breath. Despite her own attempts at changing the subject, a part of her hopes he’ll elaborate and maybe clue her in as to what was going through his mind during their gym circuit. Not for the first time she finds herself wondering if she ever haunted his thoughts while they were apart.

Mentally, she scoffs at herself. Unlikely… back in the day, Red’s brain was oversaturated with thoughts of pokémon battles and maybe taking down Team Rocket. But what about now—

Stop. Don’t think about it, she chides herself, though the strand of forget-me-nots on her wrist already answers the question. Blue straightens, willing the fluttery nervous feeling in her gut to go back the way it came.

“I don't know where she gets them from but my aunt has always had heaps of patience,” she nods. “It’s almost like a requirement for anyone who would willingly choose to live out their days in a sleepy town like Pallet. That being said, one can’t deny her dedication produces results.”

While plenty of artists struggle with backgrounds, Azami’s rich landscapes and backdrops are as striking as the subjects of her paintings. It’s most evident in the Viridian Forest piece and in the majority of the paintings down the far end of the hallway. Blue leads Red down the remainder of the art-lined path, not too far ahead from him, but just enough to be out of reach. They’re almost done with this section of the gallery so, hopefully, she can redirect them back to the main hall where there are other people and plenty of distractions. She couldn't have predicted the avalanche of thoughts and feelings that now attempt to smother her and make her alone time with Red so torturous; had she known about the Journey Together painting, she probably wouldn’t have—

Oh, oh no. What is this?

To her horror, she finds herself face to face with an exquisite depiction of Mount Silver. The snow-capped mountain is beautifully rendered in shades of grays and purples as its conical form rises gracefully toward the clouds. Winter storm clouds, she thinks idly, recalling the familiar sight. Before she can even begin to wonder how the sight of the mountain will affect Red, her eyes drift to the painting alongside this one and she freezes in place.

Searching For The Flickering Flame is the title of the piece and, for the second time today, Blue wonders when exactly her aunt had painted this. A brunette girl takes center stage, dressed warmly with a thick scarf around her neck, her hair tossed by a wintry gust as she trudges through the snow alongside a Ninetales. Though her eyes are obscured, a distinct expression of despair mars her otherwise ambiguous features. Blue covers her mouth with her hand. It’s her, climbing the accursed mountain searching for Red all those years ago.

When Red reaches her, all she can do is avoid his gaze. Will he connect the dots?

—

For now he's doing his best to not overthink about Pallet Town when it's mentioned, as much as Blue has a point he's still... dealing with some things about that place. Both from his personal feelings and things he'd had to look into recently, but he hums in agreement regardless as they move on to the next set of paintings. Though nothing could've prepared him for the one he'd be face to face with first.

Mt. Silver.

Even in a painting he feels its haunting allure, as though the freezing winds pass by him even now; like a far off memory yet it still comes through so clearly. He still feels called back to it at times, there's some part of him that lingers still on that mountain even so long after being dragged back down. But he's made too many promises to the people he cares for, to risk going back up there and losing track of his life all over again.

He feels like he's rejecting unseen hands reaching out to him from the painting, adamantly looking over to the next one--

Hold on.

His mind snaps out of it entirely, freed from his ghosts only to witness what seems like a clear sign. These two paintings are clearly meant to be side by side, the coloring to the background is exactly the same as the mountain... and even in a painting, he recognizes the figure is meant to be Blue.

He wants to ask when she went up there, and what exactly she was hoping to gain from it. But his gaze reaches the title of the painting itself, and he has his answer. Azami was after all, one of the very few people who called him by the name 'Fire' on occasion just for fun. He'd mostly always taken it as a joke for him picking Charmander, but it holds so much more weight to it behind this scenario.

From what he'd gathered so far, Azami painted things she'd seen and experienced, or ideal scenarios. There was nothing ideal about the expression on Blue's face here, his chest hurts at the very idea.

"...You went looking for me," he speaks softly, almost in disbelief. He'd never known, and part of him feels like were it not for this? She may not have ever told either.

—

Blue has no right to feel hurt at the utterly incredulous look on his face; after all, she deliberately kept her search from him. That being said, even though she had her reasons, the shock on his face — as if the thought of her going after him had never even crossed his mind — still stings.

Suddenly overcome with emotion, she bites down on her quivering bottom lip and averts her eyes.

"Of course I did," she replies, her voice wavering. I loved you. You were the most important person in my life. "How could I NOT?"

And just like that, it all comes back to her. She'd been in Mahogany Town when the news broke followed by a whirlwind of nasty rumors that Red had gone missing amid a snow storm and was most likely dead. Her life came to a screeching halt, her Johto circuit quickly forgotten as she shifted her focus to readying herself for the climb and finding him at all cost. She had to find him, she had to bring him back. Despite her diligence, though, nothing truly prepared her for the mountain's unforgiving punishment.

Mount Silver had fought her every step of the climb with sharp claws and gnashing teeth, with blisteringly cold gusts and merciless frozen rain and an altitude sickness so severe that sometimes the ground gave beneath her feet and her head felt like it was being squeezed in a vise.

With stark clarity, she can still recall the wind mercilessly buffeting her face, the painful loss of feeling in her extremities, and the suffocating ache in her chest at the thought that she might not find him. And yet, for two whole weeks, she searched the peak, desperately looking for signs of life and calling his name, her pleading cries swallowed into the vast nothingness. She had almost made it to the summit—

—and then the avalanche hit. That place had almost become her tomb and her Ninetales had been the only reason why she hadn't died buried underneath a sheet of snow and debris. In all, she's lucky to still be here but she still had to cope with her nightmares becoming reality when she'd haphazardly made her descent to safety, empty-handed.

"Even today, it tears me up inside knowing I was so close... and yet—"

How would things have turned out if her attempt hadn't resulted in utter failure?

—

His thoughts linger back to how he'd felt when he'd decided to climb the mountain, feeling it was better this way. That no one was likely to try to look for him, with how out of touch he'd become with his loved ones. But this had been wrong from the beginning, and he'd been too caught up in himself and handling it all on his own, to really consider the effect his vanishing would've had. He knew now, he'd already made himself clear to Blue before this point... but he'd never known she'd gone looking for him. Green never mentioned it, just that he was sick of Red's disappearing act.

Don't make things worse, leave her be, you caused this, his thoughts spun around in his mind but for once he didn't hear. So long as she would allow for it, he would attempt to reach for her and hold her close. A hug is not enough to make up for everything, but it's all he could think to do impulsively when he heard how her voice was breaking.

"I never should've put you in that position," he softly responds regardless. "You should've never had to go looking, and... I don't know if I'll ever be able to make up for that time. I'm sorry."

Pinpricks of tears, he can't believe he's doing this at the gala of all places. Thank Mew they've been alone in this corner of the gala at least, no one is really paying them any mind.

He gives an unsteady sigh. "For whatever it may be worth, I... wish it had been you, to find me." He's not sure he should even be saying this, but he continues. "I thought of you often while I was up there, memories, and conversations I'd wanted to have with you."

He feels he likely hallucinated her presence more than once when the cold and isolation really got to his mind, but let's not get into that.

"I know, if I'd just left then I would've never had to wonder." He frowns. "I never would've been keeping you waiting and put you in danger. I can't... take back the decisions I made back then."

"But... I'm here now, regardless. I guess in some sense, you ended up finding me again anyway."

—

For a fleeting moment, Blue's shoulders tense at the unexpected gesture. But she eventually stops fighting it, allowing him to pull her into an embrace that's long overdue. Her arms wrap around him tightly in turn, fingers curling into the creases of his jacket as she hides her face in the crook of his neck.

The rest of the venue feels miles away; it's just them now. It doesn't matter that she's spent the better portion of the last hour fighting the effervescent feelings that have been building up within her ribcage and have almost reached their bursting point. All of a sudden, that little voice in her head that's been screaming at her about emotional self-preservation is nowhere to be found as she loses herself in his arms.

He— he thought about her while he was up there? Often? Had she lingered in his thoughts the way the ghost of his absence had haunted hers? What had he thought? What would he have said to her if she'd been there, if she'd reached him?

"I wish I'd found you," she breathes against his neck, her grip on him tightening. "I would've given anything to bring you back home."

Home. What is that for him, for either of them? Pallet Town never quite felt like home to her, despite the treasured friendships she'd developed that now lay fractured at their feet. But this... the steadiness of Red's embrace, the gentleness in his voice, the warmth of his crimson eyes—

—This, for her, is home.

Maybe that's why losing him to the mountain had hurt so much in the first place; no matter the nature of their relationship, she's now certain that Red is her soulmate, and losing him had been like having a part of herself ripped out of her chest. How harrowing would it be to lose it all again? To lose him again? Mew, she can't possibly handle that, even as friends. It would kill her.

Oh, hell...

This is exactly why she'd been so reluctant to let him in again, why she'd insisted on keeping him at arm's length despite her heart longing for him. It's like all the shields she had carefully raised for her own protection have been shattered, leaving her vulnerable again. As it turns out, she just can't shut him out when her very soul beckons to him.

All it had taken was a well-placed painting.

Nevertheless, if they're to even begin truly mending their shattered relationship, she needs the assurance that he won't cut her out again. That much is non-negotiable.

She pulls back, her eyes searching his. "Red, can you promise me—"

And just like that, the moment bursts like a bubble.

The words die in her throat as the corridor suddenly goes black. Startled, she clings to Red as she waits for her vision to refocus. The lights are out and so is the music, replaced by a cacophony of startled cries as all the other guests in the main hall struggle to find their bearings.

Is this a power outage? Why haven't the backup generators kicked in?

—

There's a part of him that expects to be pushed away, as though he moved too fast for her to be okay with, even though it'd felt right in the moment. But he waits for it and it never comes, quite the opposite that shocks him with the fact this is actually happening. She would've been well in her rights to say she wasn't okay with this, but instead she's holding him just as tightly. Moreso than he'd ever known her to in his life.

He listens to her response, but he can't bring himself to say anything back no matter how much he wants to. He knows if he'd seen her back then there would've been no need to bring him home, Red had no true home as a place any longer. Rather she would've brought it with her just by being there, the chance to return with her would've been a return home no matter what.

He doesn't want to leave. If only things were as simple as that.

No matter what he tries his words are failing him, but when she speaks again to him he thinks he'll sign if he has to. Whatever he has to do to get the point across-- her question sounded like it had grave importance even within just a few words.

But the gala goes dark, and he reflexively holds her tighter to him when the cries of the guests start. Immediately his concern is about an unseen danger, but as his eyes adjust to the dark nothing seems to particularly stand out. Just a blackout? He hopes so, he lets up his grip on her only to at least try to take her hand.

"Let's go, try to see what's going on." His phrase is to the point, it's the most he can manage between his mess of thoughts and concerns about the blackout.

He wonders if he'll hear what she was going to say just now eventually. But it feels like a question that is going to haunt him for some time.

—

The situation couldn't possibly be more ill-timed. Their emotionally charged moment of revelation is now lost and, with both her and Red's sense of duty at play, her request will have to wait until some other time. Will she have the nerve to touch on that subject again, though?

In the dark, Red's hand finds hers and Blue holds onto it firmly. She can sense his unease, made only more obvious by the nuances in his voice, so she gives his hand a reassuring squeeze. Maybe there's hope for things feeling like normal between them after all these years.

"I'll go talk to my staff. Maybe they'll have an idea of what's going on." Hopefully, a normal blackout is all this is but she has her doubts. How does a venue in a metropolis lose all power, just like that?

Hmm, no matter. Whatever it is, she'll take care of it.

#❄️ time capsule thread.#twilighttheater #twilighttheater (red)#❄️ you hold my heart in your hands. for you i'll take this chance (twilighttheater).#this slapped me just as hard as the first time lmao #this isn't even the DANCE #grandgala2023 #❄️ finished thread: a reunion a long time coming.

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nny11writes · 3 years ago

Note

Hey-ho! Scrolling through your blog and saw a fanfic prompt about a girl falling for guy because her cat really liked him, would you consider doing a one-shot for Glitra, with How to Quit You only 4 chapters away from finishing?

Let's be fair, at the rate I'm writing How to Quit You I'll be done in a short 2 years :p

But also, hell yeah I'll write a glitra meet cute one shot where Melog is the reason they get together!

Somehow this got longer than I expected, which really, I need to stop expecting I can write short things. Like, honestly.

Melog Likes Glimmer and Catra Goes Along for the Ride

Rating: Teen for the cursing factor

Catra glared down at Melog.

Melog stared innocently back up at her, slow blinking to prove a point.

“No.” She huffed. “You broke out of your playpen again and then you went to her house. We are not being lovey dovey mister. You are in trouble.”

Melog turned away to meow. She wasn’t sure why he didn’t seem to like it when she saw him meowing, but whatever. He was back talking and she wasn’t going to stand for it.

“Yes you are.”

Another mew.

“You were a naughty boy. A brat cat. A rebellious toddler.”

He gave the softest meow yet, then stretched before walking away.

“Excuse me? I’m talking to you! HEY!”

Catra scooped him up to hold like a baby, and Melog began purring instantly. “Stop being so damn cute for, like, five seconds. You broke out of your pod to spend time with Sparkles. You are on thin ice buddy.”

In six years, Melog had never once tried to escape his Outdoor Play Pod. She’d hook it up to the sliding door and Melog could make his way in and out of the house in a safe and controlled manner. Catra was used to stepping out the side door to watch him happily watching the various birds fly by, lounging on his side as he chuttered at the occasional pigeon on the telephone wires.

And then she moved in next door.

Glimmer was loud and obnoxious and clearly out to do Catra in. She hosted parties at least once a week that were loud and could go late into the night. …Late for working adults okay, if Catra could hear them laughing outside or their stupid music after 10:00 PM her chest would literally start to hurt from rage. And then, Glimmer had shown up one day with a platter of cookies to meet all her neighbors with after a month of madness..

Cookies.

First of all, who does that? Second of all, Catra’s celiac had been acting up because she’d thoughtlessly eaten a piece of freaking candy earlier and she’d somehow missed the glucose syrup.

So that conversation went something like:

“Hi! I’m Glimmer, your new neighbor!”

“I’m gluten free.”

“...Okay? Hello to you too. And come on, a little cheat won’t hurt, will it?”

“I’m literally allergic to gluten, so yeah, it will.”

“...uhm, my bad. So-”

“Bye.”

Admittedly, not Catra’s best work in the social sphere. But also, when she’d gone over to complain about a party a few days later (in a very calm and more normal human manner thank you very much) Glimmer’s response had been a very childish, “What? I can’t hear you over the sound of my music. Oh well, have a nice night!” So their rivalry was justified.

Things had only gotten more out of hand one awful morning when Glimmer had caught Catra shoveling Madam Razz’s drive, and then tried to be “nice” and “chat with her”. Disgusting. They’d gone back and forth, snide and coldly polite, just all over the place before a tense silence became the norm. They’d gone into a sort of cold war that winter and it had been whatever until the late spring.

Because now Melog was finding ways to escape his custom built playpen.

Sure, Entrapta was going to be thrilled to find out how Melog was doing it to perfect the design of her catio creation, but Catra was the one who had to deal with going outside, having a heart attack when Melog was missing, and then hearing that annoying voice cooing over her cat.

Hence the current punishment snuggle which was being highly ineffective.

“You,” Catra grumbled into his soft chest fluff, “are an ecological terror and therefore an indoor cat. So cut it out, will you?”

He did not, in fact, cut it out.

Within a few weeks while Catra had been reading, confident in the cameras and sensors Entrapta had rigged to alert her if Melog made another escape attempt, when there was a knock at her door. She ignored it, because if it wasn’t some package she’d forgotten she’d ordered then it wasn’t important. But they knocked again even louder before ringing her doorbell. Catra fumbled for her bookmark cursing as the doorbell began to ring nonstop, finally tearing the door open with a snarl only to find Glimmer standing there with Melog draped over her shoulders.

Catra stared at them dumbly before slowly looking at her computer screen where the sensors were all still green, before turning to glare at Melog’s contented little face. “You- son of a bitch!”

Glimmer did something that sounded like a half growl half huff before shouting back, “Will you piss off!? I’m just returning him!”

“Shut up, I wasn’t talking to you! YOU on the other hand, what the fuck dude? How did you get past the weight sensors?” To say Catra was livid was an understatement. She didn’t even bother to close the door, assuming that Glimmer would either follow her or stay there, as she stomped to pull the sliding door open. And there inside the pod, was a small pile of rocks. “WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET ROCKS!?”

Glimmer snorted as she looked over Catra’s shoulder. Breaking out into nervous giggles, “Oh shit, you’ve been busting out of jail to visit me? He’s not an outdoor cat?”

“NO!” Catra took a slow deep breath and then released it just as slowly. Blowing up at her rival neighbor was probably the same thing as losing a battle. “No. He’s an indoor only and somehow found the only rocks in a ten fucking mile radius while being an indoor only cat to trick the weight sensors I installed to alert me if he escaped again.”

Melog, still limp as a dish cloth over Glimmer’s shoulders, didn’t even feel enough guilt to be awake for this conversation.

“You installed sensors? That’s pretty cool! My best friend, Bow, is a real tech nerd. I bet you’d have a blast talking to him.”

Catra could feel her ears burning as she grumbled, “I mean, sort of. My friend Entrapta made them and I passed her screws. So I helped.”

Glimmer cackled so loudly that Melog finally woke with a yelp, then scrambled off his perch to sit inside the house like a good boy.

“Shut up!”

“Y-you passssssed the screws!” Glimmer wheezed.

“I was helping!”

This was the wrong thing to say as her neighbor snorted and continued to laugh so much that Catra really had no choice but to join in. She just really found a good laugh infectious, okay? She would give her frenemy that one.

Glimmer had left shortly thereafter, allowing Catra to berate Melog in private before realizing that she was more speculating about this strange new person in her life. She could feel her stubborn insistence that her newish neighbor was a menace leaking out of her as she side eyed her cat. “Why do you like her so much?” He twisted to begin his kitty yoga bath session and Catra sighed. Well, so much for that.

Melog escaping was just starting to be a Thing that she would have to live with alongside the fact that he’d apparently chosen himself a second human.

The next time Melog vanished the sensors at least alerted her, and when Catra ran out the backdoor she found Melog waiting for her at the fence. He stared at her until he was sure she was watching and then gracefully leaped over it into Glimmer’s backyard. She saw red. That bastard had waited until he knew she could see him break the law. On purpose.

“I WILL END YOU!”

Some people might say Catra was dramatic, but really she just treated things with the level headed emotional dysregulation they deserved. She kept this very rational rationale in mind as she also jumped onto her back patio railing, then took one great jump and did the cleanest kong vault of her life over the fence.

In the air her brain registered the following: Flowers by fence, grass past flowers, hard surface on right, soon to be dead cat straight ahead.

After rolling on the grass and springing out of it to easily close the distance to said cat did her brain register a few other important details like: What the fuck was she doing this is private property and Glimmer could bust her for this one, Melog could totally side step her and Catra would face plant into the earth, and Glimmer was sitting in a lounge chair in a tankini staring at her open mouthed because Melog was sitting in front of the chair.

ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!

Catra managed to bring her legs up under her for what was sure to be a painful and sudden stop at about the same time Glimmer fled her chair so fast she basically teleported out of the way. So Catra landed in a deep squat, grabbed her smug bastard child, jumped over the chair to lose some momentum somewhere besides “via faceplant”, and then froze as soon as she had him secured against her chest.

She slowly turned around to look at Glimmer who was staring at her still, but instead of with disdain while calling the cops Glimmer’s eyes were sparkling.

“I am so-”

“That was AWESOME!!!” Glimmer whooped, literally jumping as she punched at the air over her head like some sort of straight to home children’s movie protagonist.

What?

“What?” She asked.

“It was like, Melog no you know you can’t be here! And then- WHOOSH you were FLYING and then you just ROLL, HI-YAH, and holy shit you looked like a goddamn panther! And then, scoop,WHA-PAH! Ahhhhhh!! It was great!”

Catra just blinked rapidly as she panted from the exertion, watching as Glimmer (now panting from speaking so quickly nonstop while reenacting key parts of the last 2 horrific minutes of Catra’s life) beamed at her. And, this cannot and should not be understated, while looking delightfully tanned in her form-fitting tankini. This felt like high school her’s best sort of unimaginative wet dreams.

And that was the thought that somehow made her relax, because it was just stupid enough to break through the regular stupid she’d gotten her head into.

“You know what?” Catra grinned, cocking one hip out as she looked at the fence again, “It was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah it was! How did you even get that high up?”

Catra did her best not to roll her eyes and did not mention the railing.. “It’s only a five foot fence, we can literally see over the top of it.”

Glimmer had no such issue and rolled her eyes so hard she had to roll her head a little too. “So what? I still couldn’t jump it like you did. Climb it, sure! You work out or something?”

Oh no. Catra was all too aware of the way Glimmer looked her whole body up and down. SO much for escaping the stupid headspace. “Uh, yeah? Yes. I do work out.”

Great. She was officially turning into Adora. Just what she needed.

“Cool. Me too!” Glimmer flashed her a thumbs up before walking with purpose towards her side gate to let Catra out. “We should totally work out together sometime.”

Safely back inside with Melog now temporarily forbodden from his outdoor pod that it hit her, she’d just agreed to willingly spend more time with Glimmer every single week. Just because her dumb cat liked her! Who does that?

What was wrong with her for going along with this?

The answer was more than she’d like, but still less than most people would assume.

Catra sat outside with Melog for two weeks waiting to see how he did it, but Houdini 2.0 merely watched the birds even when she pretended to be asleep. Week three, she stepped away for a few minutes just to use the restroom and when she returned he was gone.

A casual glance over the fence (she swore to herself she was never jumping it again) revealed no Melog or Glimmer but her back door was opened a little so at least he was being consistent. She was already walking to her side gate when she heard a surprised shriek from Glimmer’s house before a loud bang, and despite her promise, Catra was jumping the fence.

“GLIMMER!?” There was a yelp and Catra quickly darted in through the backdoor. “Sparkles I swear to fuck! Are you-” and then she rounded the corner to find Glimmer’s hair barely peeking out from under a giant sheet and a tall wooden chair that was tipped over across her legs. Melog was happily loafed on roughly what looked like Glimmer’s chest. “-okay?”

The sheet sucked in, outlining Glimmer’s lips for a second, before ballooning out a little. “Yup.”

“Uh, you want some help?”

“Nope.”

Well, this was turning into a very lovingly made awkward sandwich with extra awkward sauce.

“Cool. So, what’s all this?”

Glimmer groaned pitifully as Catra began noticing a few extra details she’d missed at a glance. There were two more chairs with their backs towards the lump formerly known as Glimmer. A strand of fairy lights was slowly twinkling away under the sheet. And every area of the floor not covered in the sheet was covered in pillows or…cushions? Catra looked at the sad looking couch which was now missing it’s cushions for confirmation. There was really only one thing this could be.

“Did you- is this a blanket fort?” It was kinda funny. Catra was equally jealous because she’d never gotten to have a proper blanket fort in her life and also gleeful over having caught a full grown adult sitting in their blanket fort. There was an unintelligible grumble, so Catra lightly kicked at Glimmer’s exposed foot as she sing songed, “Didn’t catch that.”

“It’s not a fort, it’s a castle!” She huffed as she finally sat up properly, causing Melog to leap off her onto one of the chairs.

Catra burst into giggles and happily mocked, “Oooohhhh, excuse me princess! I meant no disrespect to your blanket castle!”

Glimmer leaned back on her hands with a glare, “You can just say, ‘Wow Glimmer I’m so jealous of your cool blanket castle that I could die’ and that would be enough.”

“I’m not jealous!” She tried to say it with firmness but considering the giggle fit that probably failed.

“Mmmmm, I think you’re lying.” Glimmer nodded seriously as she hauled herself up to fix the roof of her castle. “I think you’d love to curl up on these high quality cushions in the security of my castle walls. I even have candy and snacks in here!”

Catra had barely managed to open her mouth when Glimmer cut her off, “Gluten free! I did some looking so we have dove chocolate and beef jerky, as well as some puffed rice.”

“Glimmer,” she sounded way too fond. Catra needed to dial that back a little bit, but instead continued in the same voice, “I’m lactose intolerant and beef jerky seasonings can have gluten.”

“...well what the fuck sort of cursed half life are you living?”

Catra sighed dramatically as she toed off her shoes, ducking into the doorway to the castle as Glimmer held the sheet up for her. “I ask myself that everyday.”

It was fine, friends totally stayed over for an afternoon at one another’s houses in blanket forts. Probably. When she got home, Catra considered the fact that Melog was insistent already towards them spending time with Glimmer, for whatever reason. And that she was becoming more and more okay with it as they spent more and more time together (the work outs really were working out after all). Which is how she came up with a terrible idea and went digging through the closet.

Within a few weeks Catra knocked on Glimmer’s door, glaring down at Melog in his harness. “Don’t blow this for me.” Melog stared up innocently at her and slow blinked. “I’m serious dude.”

“Catra!” Glimmer smiled as she opened the door and then gasped. Her eyes watered up as she looked at Melog and asked in a strangled voice, “Is that a liddle vest? IS THAT A BOW TIE? Oh! What a handsome boy! What a handsome young man in his widdle vesty westy!”

Catra knew she was blushing horrifically. Okay, she’d planned for Glimmer to think this was all very cute but this was taking it too far. This was all Scorpia’s fault for buying them matching outfits to complete Catra’s stupid quasi-Jack Hetherington costume from hell. Oh god, what had she done? This was not mocking or jeering at all and Glimmer clearly hadn’t looked at her. Oh no.

“Ohhh, what a sweet boy! I love him! I wove you, yesh I do! Oh Catra this is-” Glimmer cut off and Catra could only feel more weirdly humiliated.

Because yes, Melog was wearing a yellow argyle patterned vest harness with a little bow tie in order to match Catra’s yellow argyle sweater vest and clip on bowtie. Why did she think this was a good idea again? This was stupid. She thought Glimmer would get a laugh out of it, not lose her fucking mind. Like, it was supposed to be an inside thought about how it was cute not an outside thought!

“Oh. My. God! Look at you! Look at you two!!!”

Catra shrugged roughly, “I mean, it’s whatever.”

“Aw,” and now there was the teasing tone she’d been expecting, damn it all, “don’t be like that, here, I’ll make it up to you!”

And with that Glimmer stood up and tugged at her vest and tie as she began to coo, “What a handsome boy! What a handsome young man in his smart little vest!”

Well, that certainly was an interesting tangle of emotions for her friends to suffer through her unpacking at a later date.

“We’re leaving. Don’t call me, I’ll call you. My lawyers will be in touch.” Catra all but fled to her house and once safely inside with a confused and meowing cat she slid down the door with a grin.

“She called me handsome,” She informed Melog, as if he had not been there to witness it, with a big goofy grin. Sure, she’d fled like the socially inept dumbass she was but still.

A few hours later Catra was lounging on the couch when her doorbell began going nuts and Melog immediately went to paw at the door, which was the sure fire cocktail to announce Glimmer as the person on the other side.

“You ever gonna knock like a normal…person…” Catra stared.

Glimmer smiled bashfully, wearing a cute charcoal gray skirt, a yellow argyle patterned sweater, and a wrap around fake bowtie. “Hey, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I, uhm, didn’t mean to take it that far and make you uncomfortable. So. Yeah. AND, I thought, maybe I can join you and Melog on a walk? We can be the most fashion forward, fashion backwards, cat walkers?”

Oh wow, I love you. Was the only thought in her head as Catra began trying to process what was happening.

Oh shit.

Oh shit!

“Oh fuck you,” Catra stuttered as she tried to get her brain and mouth coordinated better than that, “SORRY!”

Glimmer at least seemed a little more put at ease, which really didn’t bode well for how Catra was treating her. “Wow, okay, just tell me you hate me.”

“Nope, no can do, sorry, can’t say that.” She at least finally had a sense in her head to step aside letting Glimmer in and therefore stopped Melog from clawing the back of her legs. She really needed to trim his claws, ow.

“Well why not? Seems rude if you ask me.” Glimmer smiled as Melog stretched as tall as he could on his back legs, his front paws almost brushing against her neck as she hunched a little to pet him.

Something quick, something witty, something pithy. “It’s the opposite problem really.”

They both froze as Catra considered every decision she’d made in her life that led to this moment. “Well this has been great, get out of my house.”

Glimmer threw her arms out wide, basically starfishing as if Catra was physically shoving her out the door. “Absolutely not! You don’t get to just drop something like that and then pretend you didn’t! You like me or you, like, like-like me?”

“Are we preteens, what the fuck Glitter.”

But Glimmer was only grinning wider now as she confidently strolled forward to get in Catra’s space. She tugged at the shoulder of her new sweater with a grin. “That’s not a denial! So, what I’m hearing is that this might be girlfriend material?”

“Fuck you, but this time I mean it.”

“That’s fair but doesn’t answer my question.”

Was she really going to do this while she was wearing a niche joke costume that Glimmer was emulating while Melog sharked around their ankles for attention?

“Do you want to go out with me some time? On a date?”

Yes, she absolutely was.

“I would love to.” Glimmer smiled softly at her before looking down at Melog. “Hey buddy. Thank you.”

“Are- are you thanking my cat because I asked you out!?”

“Well you’ve got to admit, without him jailbreaking you wouldn’t have done it.”

She opened her mouth to argue back, but it just flapped uselessly as she realized that just six months ago she’d been actively considering buying grasshoppers to release into Glimmer’s house just to be a jerk.

“In my defense, he is a very good judge of character and I’m an asshole.”

“I don’t think that would work as a defense in a court of law, but whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night.”

Melog chirped in agreement, and really, who was she to argue with that?

#Catra #Glimmer #Melog #Glitra #Glimtra #she ra #spop #fanfic #fanfiction #meet cute #the one where Catra falls in love because Melog likes Glimmer so much #prompt #no beta we die like meh #Catra has 100% calm level headed reaction to everything #definitely #no anger issues here!#except when there are #owning a cat really is just like that #Entrapta's catio is probably a big seller when she opens limited spots for purchase #Melog is the first one to bust outta there and we will never know why #(it's the plot armor)#Glimmer does NOT build blanket forts she builds blanket /castles/#when Glimmer gets jazzed she gets jazzed and no one can convince me otherwise #if you don't get the costume joke the short version is:#guy writing scientific papers credits another person as a co-author and in one case as the main author (while the guy was co-author)#turns out the other person listed was his cat #but papers either needed or typically had more than one author #there are pictures of them and I love them #Catra was going to be a professor for halloween #then learned about Jack and joked that it would be funny

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black-bhabie-2000 · 3 years ago

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Hii! I would like to request accidental stimulation in public by fem reader (may be she doesn't pay much attention that time about this? Or u choose ) & and then may be the Guys get flustered about this and they try to get close & get some stimulation with their S/O till they get home and then we can go all NSFW 😛 with KENNY, CHIFUYU, BAJI, MITSUYA please ♡♡ thank you for your time. Have a greattt day☆ xo

I hope I had the right idea with this.. thank you for being my first ask and sorry if it isn't right I did the ones I know and I hope you request again..

Mitsuya

You and Mitsuya have been dating for a while and you've gotten to see every side of him. Including what he's like outside of his Toman persona but you guys were about to hit an even bigger milestone. He invited you to his house. You were brimming with excitement. You stopped at his club after school to walk with him. He spotted you " Just a sec babe, alright make sure to not hurt yourselves and anything you mews up let me know so I can help you tomorrow. " with that He grabbed his stuff and grabbed your hand pulling you alongside him. The walk to his house wasn't long. You guys walked in and changed to his slippers and he led you to his room. "Feel free to look around." He said with a smirk. You laughed " How did you know !" He smiled and closed the door. You waited to see if he was going to com back in and he didn't. So you started snooping. The first thing was dirty magazines but sadly he hide them to well but you came across something better. In his closet was a bag with your name on it. What else could you do but open it and inside was the prettiest dress you've ever seen. You immediately stripped not paying attention to the door that was slowly opening and started putting on the dress. Once on you realized it really emphasized you curves and was a little too tight in certain areas. The whole time your tugging and trying to make it fit right. Your boyfriend is on the floor watching the show your putting on. " Wow you look hot babe" you turned around flushed and embarrassed. You forgot he would eventually come in. " You look very sexy in the clothes I made for you but it looks like it needs some adjustments " he smirked and stood up slowly walking to you. Your body moving backwards till your against the wall . Mitsuya leans in his hair tickling the side of your face. He grabs your side his right hand slowly sliding down your back and he whispers in your ear. " We're going to have to rip this off and start from scratch ." Let's just say you reached more than one milestone that day and Mitsuya makes you wear the clothes he designs on dates.

Baji

You and Baji have been in the same class for 2 years and yes yall both dumber than a bag of rocks. Only thing is you were more popular because of how cute your actions were. While baji was just weird. You asked Baji out and much to your surprise he said yes. You didn't know about Toman or that he looked like out of school until he asked you on a date to an amusement park. He told you his gang was going to be there and you excited about going on your first date pulled all the stops. Im talking about cute thigh highs, brand new skirt with a baby doll top that showed off your rack quite nicely 😏. Your makeup was beat in and you snuck into your older sisters makeup for the spray that would make sure your face wouldn't melt. Your accessories showed off you curvy and cute form. You hadn't seen Baji after-school and neither had he seen you. So you arrive at your meeting spot and couldn't see him. So you waited. You hadn't noticed the group of boys next to the fountain you walked past or kept circling. Draken called attention to you first with a nod in your direction "she's cute '

Takemitchy gasped "don't say that what about Emily " Draken laughed "like Mikey would let me date his sister " Mikey silently smiled to himself ready to go into the amusement park cause he was hungry. "Baji how long is your girlfriend gonna take, we've been out here for 20 minutes " Mikey whined. I don't know man she said she was here maybe I should call her ?" Baji responded. "You should've called her in the first place" chifuyu replied. Baji typed in your number and flipped chifuyu off with lead int the guys chuckling. You had hit the roundabout and stopped in your tracks a few feet in front of the boys. You picked up your phone in a hurry and answered it . You were kinda irritated " if you weren't going to be here , you shouldn't have wasted my time dumbass and hung up on him. Baji ofc looking at you and also stunned that you cussed at didn't say a word. Better yet all the boys were looking at you because one there was no way Baji pulled a baddy like you and two did you just cuss him out. You were Bout to storm off . When Baji caught your arm and spun you around, pulling you into him. You were shocked cause one wo to was this hot ass stranger and why was he so close. You went to yell at him and " hey babe if I knew you were going to get all filled up. I wouldn't have invited the gang and 'he leans I a little too close ' we could've went to my place for a study Date. He said gazing deep in your eyes and you knew exactly what he meant and it was for sure not studying. You pulled back half in shock cause you recognized his voice anywhere and damn you got lucky. You slapped Bajis chest ' hmph show me your friends dummy and walked away. Baji chuckling behind you , slyly gripping your hand. " Hey Draken the hot babes mine "

DRAKEN (kenny)

It was a comfy afternoon , the sky was gray and it was raining true peace. Well as peaceful as it gets in the red light district. You followed Draken all the way to his house and then hid when he got out. You walked around till you met the front desk clerksman and he recognized you. Though you didn't know how . He offered you some tea and led you to Drakens room. " I don't know when he'll be back and I'm not calling him so stay comfortable " he shut the door and left . You were in Drakens room your excitement trumping your guilt because you followed your boyfriend outta jealously. " It's so neat in here" you announce to yourself in a slight mischievous tone. Looking around cautiously you start to what any girl in her boyfriend would do . Look for evidence, not bad evidence but evidence. You had been strategically Looking and putting everything back in its place just in case he might get upset with you for Looking through his stuff. You did find a porn Magazine that showed you why he was dating you. You fit the body type of the page with white residue on it to a T . I mean her ass was a bit bigger but hey what's a girl to do. You had now moved on to store i.e. his closet . You opened and marveled at how many of those damn black and white jackets he has like damn Boi buy another color shit. You now completely forgotten you are trespassing cause your boyfriend doesn't know you are there. You start to strip and try on his clothes. Draken was making his way home it was still light outside and plus he needed to Chang into his toman uniform because Mikey wanted to meet up tonight. He was in the building heading up the elevators. Wondering why he hasn't heard from you all day. TF were you doing 😒, were you mad at him. He doesn't really know or care . He's just pissed you hadn't texted him all day. "I'm going to punish that brat next time I see her 😏" the elevator door opened and he stepped off with a pep in his step to change a little faster and head to your house and mess with you before the meeting. He walked up to the desk .

You had lost track of all time and now was getting ballsy. You half naked was about to put on his toman uniform. All your sanity is apparently out the Window cause you are giggle Loud as fuck. Your couldn't fit the pants but his jacket and boots fit nice and the way your ass looked hanging out the bottom of the jacket oof girl, you left it open revealing your bust just enough and you had your hair in a pony tail trying to mimick your boyfriends hair. ' I'm Draken and Mikey is my leader and son and if you wanna hurt him you gotta fight mee grrr"... you had your fist up and a very sad attempt of a bad ass face. You currently fake fighting and giggling like an idiot had no idea Draken had been watching you since you put your hair in the pony tail. (Stealthy bitch) you turn around doing a bad ass kick and scream and dive to his bed and cover yourself up. " WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE. YOU DIDN'T CALL OR TELL ME YOU WERE COMING " Draken laughed " Sweetcheeks this is my room' he approached the bed and ripped the covers off of you. You squirmed away from him till your head hit the wall. Giving Draken enough Time to place himself over you." Well hey there babe , you look pretty sexy in my uniform " his hand trailing up the side of your thigh. " I have 1 and 45 before the Toman meeting that's enough time to show you my bad ass skills huh sweetcheeks" you gasped .......... Draken was very late to the meeting that day and your brother was pissed when you went home the next day but shit that was the best sleep you ever had 😏😏😏😉🤷🏿‍♀️

#draken #draken x reader #mikey tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers kazutora #mikey x reader #first request #thank you #i appreciate it #please request more ok

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obey-only-me · 3 years ago

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Kitten Lessons (Lucifer x F!Mc x Satan) By: Akuzondelivery

No one was going near the library. The volume of their conversation alone let everyone know that this was going to be a long argument. Satan and Lucifer were fighting. Again.

“What are they fighting about?” You had to yell over the rumble of curse words and energy as you stood in front of the door.

“I don’t remember but it’s never anything important!” Mammon yelled with his fingers in his ears.

The other brothers may be used to this but there was no way you could live like this.

When they still hadn’t left the library after dinner had been cleaned up, you stood in front of the door again. It felt dark...very dark. And the noises were so loud it was impossible to tell what language was being spoken. But you built up your courage! These brothers need a mediator!

Making a fist you banged on the large walnut doors as hard as you could. The sound was muffled by the loud screeches yet everything came to a halt at your soft by comparison knocks. Taking a deep breath you opened the door to the library and bravely stepped in.

“Uh-um, hey you two.” Your voice was quiet as you entered the room, closing the door behind you.

Scanning the room you spotted Lucifer sitting behind a desk reading and Satan at a table in front of a couch...also reading. The two were acting nonchalantly as possible but you could see the anger vibrating off of them. What could have possibly sparked such tense energy?

You weren’t sure what to say so you sat on a couch between the two, sharing the table with Satan. On it were several books on cats, familiars, and how to raise kittens.

Oh geez...Satan wants a cat. Again. And Lucifer definitely already said no. Again.

You couldn’t help but pick up one of the books that was left open to a page of kittens. Satan watched you carefully as you thumbed through the pages.

“MC what are you doing,” Satan asked with a slightly annoyed sigh.

“Well I’m in the library...just thought I’d do some reading. In the LIBRARY!” You made sure it echoed, hoping they’d take the hint you were annoyed by their fighting.

Another silence fell over the room. You peaked over Satan’s shoulder to see Lucifer fidgeting in his seat. He met your gaze but turned away a little embarrassed. If you’re annoyed then it certainly must have been some display. Even Satan had a regretful look. But you ignored them, hoping the pretend cold shoulder would be enough to break them.

Staying in character you flipped a page roughly to see how they would react. Satan sighed again but kept himself from caving. The rough treatment of the pages was really getting to him. Those were some of his favorite cat books. After the third or fourth flip he broke.

“You can’t do that MC, the pages will rip.” Satan sighed as he took the book from you. But you smiled now that he was sitting next to you. Holding the book and flipping the pages gently for you. His eyes lit up as he spoke about the cats and feline habits. This boy just wants a pet.

“Awwwwe they’re so cute Satan.” You giggled as you listen to him read. “Cats are such good pets.”

“Would you like a pet?” Satan asked with a smirk, feeling much more relaxed now.

“Nah...we have Mammon.” You joked.

“You know...you could be my pet instead. I wouldn’t mind taking care of you.” Satan flirted. This definitely made the eldest stir, Satan of course noticed. Maybe to make Lucifer mad again, Satan put an arm around you and brought you close on the couch.

“Geez.” You grumbled as you blushed, heat rising to your cheeks.

“I even have a collar, here. I brought this earlier.” Satan pulled out a thin black nylon collar with a small plastic clasp. There was a silver bell the size of your pinky attached. His large hands loosened the collar all the way and firmly snapped it around your neck.

“Hey!” You protested as your fingers traced the uncomfortable fabric.

“Too cute.” Satan’s face was slightly red as he admired you, laughing a little at your distress.

“Unbelievable. MC don’t feed into his strange hang ups.” Lucifer grumbled as he sat on the couch across from both of you.

“Good timing. MC has offered to be my pet. So I’ll just be taking her and going to my room-“

“Not so fast. Sit down Satan.” Lucifer spoke firmly, however Satan didn’t address him with any more concern than before. Though he did sit back down.

“I had an idea. If you can show me you can be a good pet owner, I’ll consider your request more seriously.” Lucifer had gotten his attention now.

“How so?”

“Well...since MC offered to be your pet...”

Without much protest, the two dressed you as the pet they would play with. A set of cat ears firmly set in place, the collar Satan had gifted you earlier, and a small but comfortable plug decorate with a long cat tail. You sat on your knees obediently and in defeat.

“I’m enjoying this test so far.” Satan cooed.

“I have to say I am too.” Lucifer chuckled.

You pouted, knowing they were enjoying this way too much.

“Awww, I know what will make kitten happy.” Satan placed you on his lap and gently played with your hair, making sure it stayed off your neck. “Feel free to purr a little if you like MC.”

You only squirmed, embarrassed by the attention and the game they were both playing.

“I think our little kitten wants some attention...” Satan teased as he kissed at your neck. Part of your task was to keep from verbally communicating, letting your owners learn their new kitten’s wants and needs by learning your language. This was going to be impossible: sighs already slipping through your lips as Satan’s tongue traced every sensitive spot across your neck and toward your ear. “I’m happy to give it, you can watch if you want...” Satan smirked over at Lucifer who had been sitting and watching everything so far.

“Hmph. When a learning moment arises, Ill be ready to join you.” The eldest held a devious smirk as he watched you squirm in Satan’s grasp.

Two slender fingers slipped between your lips and gently rolled against your tongue. His kisses and love bites were traveling lower now, the trail of kisses making your skin hot. The muffled noises coming from you were loud and clear though, you were enjoying the attention. As his two fingers twirled your tongue, the other caressed the underside of your breasts. Skilled fingers easily found your sensitive peaks under your clothing and twisted them just the right way. Your moans were breathy and sultry.

Lucifer sat with his legs crossed on the couch in front of the one you were on. His smug expression stayed as his eyes took in the sight of you being ravished. Your face was hot as you noticed him watching you indulge in Satan’s touch.

Satan’s cock was grinding against your lower back as he fondled your breast, using his saliva covered fingers to give more attention to your nipples. You hissed at the cool, wet feeling. Your squirming had your hips grinding and moving against his hardening cock making him catch his breath. Satan caught your lips in his to quiet the moans he wants to hear only for himself. He doesn’t want to share them with Lucifer. His hands adjust again leaving one hand on your breast as the other traveled between your legs to feel how excited you were growing.

Lucifer was slowly removing his gloves as he watched Satan’s fingers slip beneath the thin strip of clothing covering your arousal. Satan dipped his fingers inside you, cooing as he felt how wet you were. You gave a low moan as he covered his fingers in your slick.

Meanwhile, Lucifer had made his way over, sitting next you both on the couch and moving your hips towards him. Both you and Satan looked at him quizzically, a smirk growing as he caught your attention.

“I found my first teachable moment, keep going.” Lucifer spoke as he easily removed your soaking underwear. You continued to moan and squirm as Satan once against spread your walls. You saw Lucifer watching you, eyes glued to yours as his fingers began to gently roll and tease your clit. Your heavy breathing and rolling hips made Satan even harder, you could feel his cock pressed against your lower back.

“Hmmm, so kitten likes that too?” Satan hummed in your ear. “Why don’t you meow for us if you’re enjoying our fingers?”

Your face felt hot, Satan was so horrible.

“It would help us understand our pet more, why don’t you meow when you feel good MC?” Lucifer echoed Satan’s proposed rule. Lucifer was horrible too.

But you complied; you were getting needier and needier from their teasing.

“M-mew?...meow?” You tested the waters.

You received an eager reward; both of them moved faster, harder. Lucifer gently teased at the tail like plug they so delicately picked out for you. Satan’s fingers were roughly playing at your nipples, sending waves of pleasure through you. You let little meows and moans slip as you got closer and closer the the edge of orgasm.

“Are we spoiling our pet?” Lucifer asked Satan as you grew louder.

“It’s so hard not to. She’s just so cute.” He chuckled lowly.

“C-cumming...” you moaned as your head languidly rested against Satan’s chest.

“Hm? What’s that kitten?” Satan hummed back, moving his fingers faster and curving into just the right spot. Lucifer made sure your clit was being treated just as pleasurably. They both sent you into bliss, moaning and spasming throughout your high. Your heavy panting slowed as you relaxed on the couch.

Both demons chuckled lowly, you could hear them both remove more of their clothing; jackets and sweaters and ties were set to the side. You were malleable after such a strong orgasm, so it was easy for them to put you on your knees on the floor between both of them.

“Feeding time MC? Are you...hungry?” Satan teased by running a finger against your jaw and pulling your gaze to him. He had already freed his erect member from his pants, pulling your chin closer and closer. As he held your attention, Lucifer placed one of your hands over his own cock, also freed from his slacks.

“You must be. Good thing we have extra for you. Hm hm. Now I’m spoiling her too.”

Your lips wrapped around Satan’s tip, giving teasing licks at his slit as you held the base of his cock; while your fingers on the other hand did the same to Lucifer’s. You could hear them both sigh and lowly moan as you gave them both attention.

They were both suddenly impatient and began moving their own hips. Satan held a hand on the back of your head as he pushed himself into the back of your throat. Lucifer also bucked into your grip around his thick length. Soon the hand on the back of your head was Lucifer’s; and it was now his cock going down your throat.

Your muffled mews and moans made both demons quicken their pace, passing your mouth between them to abuse your tongue and throat. All the while the faint sound of the bell on your collar rang out. You could hear Satan quietly mumble under his breath as he got closer; “So good. So good.” Lucifer was more conservative, not wanting to unravel too much, but his low throaty moans made it clear he was growing closer to cumming too.

As if they had the same idea, both stood from the couch, pulling your hair slightly to tilt your face back.

“Open up MC, this is for you.” Lucifer huffed.

“Stick out your tongue.” Satan commanded.

The good pet you are, you followed suit and opened wide as they both attempted to cum in your mouth. They covered your tongue, some dripping down your chin. With a heavy sigh Satan sat back to admire your condition. Cum and arousal painted your face.

“You look so amazing right now Kitten...” he mused as he watched you swallow everything.

“I don’t think we’re done yet.” Lucifer hissed as he reached beneath you to slip his fingers against your folds. Covering his fingers in your dripping slick before inserting two digits. “You’re still so wet MC. You still need to be taken care of little kitten.”

Lucifer swept you off the floor and into his lap, you could feel he was still hard as he let his cock grind against your heat. Satan watched you carefully as he positioned you over his thick cock and entered you slowly. Your whole body shifted to make room for Lucifer’s thick cock. Once seated fully in his lap, his shaft stretching and filling you, he had a devious idea. Keeping his hips still, he grabbed the back of your hand to wipe your still dirty chin, smearing cum over the back of your hand and fingers.

“Why don’t you lick your paw clean for Satan while I treat you a little more?” He smirked as his hips bucked gently.You began bouncing in his lap as you put on a show.

Satan was mesmerized. You were bouncing on a cock all while moaning and mewling, desperately trying to lick your hand free of cum. With the ears. And the tail. And your little meow he could never forget. Satan was finally overcome with lust, quickly becoming hard again and stroking his cock at the sight of you.

“Fuck...” he cursed under his breath.

You watched him as he moved to stand behind you. You felt his palm against your back push you toward Lucifer, causing your hips to rise and chest to press into Lucifer’s face. The tail plug you had grown accustomed to was slowly pulled from you, a moan slipping from you as Satan replaced it with his hard cock.

It was so intense being filled by both impressive members, both reaching deep and making you grip the back of the couch tightly. Hearing you moan so loudly made Satan quickly ease his thrusts into you while Lucifer picked up his own pace. Lucifer’s soft lips wrapped around your nipple, gently tugging and biting. Your breasts bouncing against his face drove him crazy.

Satan buried his cock deeper and deeper into you as your walls began sucking him in. Leaning into you more he kissed up your back, to your shoulder, and to the crevice of your neck.

“Keep meowing kitten. Tell us how much you love being our pet.” His whisper was laced with lust and desperation.

At this point you could only focus on the stars clouding your vision, the mewls and whines slipped on their own. Those little meows drive him insane however.

“That’s right. Good MC. You’re taking this cock so well.” Lucifer hissed against your skin as his release grew closer.

“Good kitten. Just a little more.” Satan followed.

You felt like you were going to pass out, the rush building in your core was about to burst. They could feel your body quivering around them. It wasn’t much longer and your whole body turned heated as you came with them both thrusting inside you. Your moan was loud and so, so enticing. The grip around Lucifer’s cock wasn’t letting him go as he spilled inside you, filling you with his seed.Satan followed soon after, stilling inside you to empty himself. A gaspy, restrained moan hissing pass his lips.

No one moved a moment as you each caught your breath, relaxing and separating from each other’s bodies. You remained in Lucifer’s lap as you rested your head against his chest; breathless and lost in post coital bliss. Satan sat beside the eldest and gently pushed a few strands of hair out of your face. Lucifer’s strong arms held you close and he gently stroked your back soothingly.

“You know...I guess we do have a pretty good pet already.” Satan chuckled at your pout.

“She is pretty great. Though I think we could use more...training sessions like these.” Lucifer smirked as he lifted your chin. “How about it MC? Think you’d like to take more ‘lessons’ from Satan and I...?”

#OBEY ME #obey me fanfic #lucifer #satan

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eijispumpkin · 3 years ago

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Griffin Callenreese comes back from California as soon as physically possible - that is, the absolute second Jessica’s sister agrees to come watch Michael, he’s out the door in a mad dash to the airport.

He got the call from Max, across the country in New York, this morning. Aslan is missing. Aslan is missing, and weird magic is afoot, and all Griffin can think is that he can’t lose his baby brother. Not again.

The entire flight is mind-numbingly boring, and takes fucking forever. As it turns out, it’s impossible to focus on a book, movie, or podcast while stressed out of one’s mind because of a missing baby brother. Who would have thought!

It’s fine, Griffin tells himself, and downs yet another coffee. It’s fine. It’s gonna be fine. It’ll all be fine.

Since Max is all tied up in a work engagement until evening, Eiji said he’d pick Griffin up from the airport, and Griffin can stay at his place until Max is free. Which is all well and good on paper, but (no offense to Eiji) Griffin isn’t staying there. He’s gonna drop off his backpack and hit the streets. Surely there must be some sign of where Aslan went. He wouldn’t just disappear. He wouldn’t.

“So, um,” Eiji says, hesitating, as they climb out of the subway station. It’s pouring outside, all the streets glittering with dark puddles reflecting the city lights. “There is, uh... one slight complication about you staying over this evening?”

Wearily, Griffin raises an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“I have. Um. Another... visitor?” Eiji fidgets with the drawstrings of his hoodie. “It is... uh... he is friendly! I just... uhm... I think it will be easier to just show you what I mean, actually. Please just... no sudden movements?”

“What,” Griffin says, but Eiji isn’t any more forthcoming, so he just sighs, hefts his backpack, and follows him.

As soon as Eiji turns his key in the lock, there’s a thump from the other side of the door. It swings open, and Griffin has only a brief instant to lock eyes with the very, very familiar lynx perched on the armrest of the sofa--

Aslan yowls and leaps at him, sprinting the few meters between the sofa and the front door as Eiji shouts in alarm. For once in his life, though, Aslan pays Eiji no mind, zooming right past him to wind frantically around Griffin’s legs over and over. He rubs himself against Griffin’s knees, butts his head against Griffin’s hand, and mews desperately, and Griffin finally gets his wits about him again and leans down to scoop him up.

As a human, Aslan has gotten too big to carry around easily. But as a lynx, he’s only around thirty or forty pounds, depending on the season, and it’s like carrying him around as a toddler again. He burrows into Griffin’s shoulder and begins purring almost immediately, but these... aren’t his happy purrs. These are his self-soothing purrs, and the utter relief of knowing where he is gets pushed aside by a sharp pang of worry.

“What is it?” he asks softly, as Aslan gently bonks his forehead into the side of Griffin’s head. “Everyone’s worried. What happened? Why are you...?”

Aslan mews pitifully and gives Griffin big, sad, soulful eyes--the same eyes he used to have when he accidentally tore a teddy bear and pleaded with Griffin to repair it. These are the eyes that say you’re my big brother, you can fix it, right?

“Oh, kit-kat,” Griffin murmurs, realizing. He can’t turn back. Something happened, and he can’t turn back.

Well, it’s not great, but at least he’s safe. And unharmed. Just... cursed. That’s something.

“What is happening,” Eiji asks, staring at them both with utter bewilderment written plain across his face. “What the hell.”

...Oh. He doesn’t know. Right. Griffin is so used to being around Max, his closest confidant, that sometimes he forgets that not everyone knows that the Callenreeses are a shapeshifter family.

With his arms full of fuzzy, purring, distressed baby brother, Griffin can’t place a reassuring hand on Eiji’s shoulder as he tries to explain. All he can do is offer a wry little smile as he hefts Aslan’s weight in his arms.

“Well,” he says, “I found Ash.”

“What?!” Eiji’s jaw drops, and he stares incredulously at the lynx in Griffin’s arms. Griffin expects a bit of protest or disbelief, or something, but instead, Eiji just throws up his hands. “I should have known. I cannot believe you.”

“Most people don’t usually take that revelation so well,” Griffin remarks, hefting Aslan in his arms again.

Eiji, apparently already adjusted to the fact that Aslan is now a giant cat, just gives Aslan a look that can only be described as dour. “He stole the last shrimp from my dinner,” he sniffs. “He is just as rude as always.”

“Aslan,” Griffin sighs.

Aslan lets out the most pathetic little peep Griffin has ever heard.

“Give him here,” Eiji says, and holds out his arms. “I was worried, and this asshole is just stealing my dinner. I am going to hug him to death.”

Aslan’s ears flick, but he lets Griffin pass him over with no protest. He latches onto Eiji immediately, burrowing into his neck and shoulder, and starts up his purrs again, and Griffin sighs softly, exhausted and relieved. Eiji nuzzles Aslan right back, and even kisses the top of his fuzzy head.

“I was so worried about you,” Eiji murmurs. Aslan just purrs harder. Griff, meanwhile, just sets down his backpack and tries to think: what could have cursed Aslan to being bound to only one form? He’s a shapeshifter! That goes against his very nature.

And yet...

One thing is certain: God, is Griff gonna have a wild update to tell Max soon.

#lynx ash au #this time ft. big bro!#callenreese bros #asheiji #written #who knows what ash managed to get himself into here. i sure dont #i simply had the need to type up Large Cat Acts Like Fuckimg Baby #rimi talks

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alwaysachorusgirl · 4 years ago

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Cat Moms Included

Pairing: Frederick Chilton x FemReader

Word Count: 1,862

For: @storiesofsvu 1 Year Anniversary Bingo

Square: Mother's/Father's Day

TW: none really, briefly implied smut, but mostly tooth-rotting fluff

A/N: Yes, I know I'm a bit late for Mother's Day, but hey, I got something done! Cat Daddy Frederick and Buttercup are back, and they brought a whole lot of fluff with them. As always, if anyone wants to be tagged in a future fic post, please let me know!

Tags: @madamsnape921; @itsjustmyfantasyroom; @prurientpuddlejumper; @thatesqcrush; @raulesparza4eva; @teamsladsandgents; @welcometothemxdhouse

Frederick was awoken by a gentle pressure on his chest and a small wet nose nuzzling his own. His eyes fluttered open to see Buttercup’s furry face gazing back at him. She rubbed her face against his chin.

“Mew?”

“Good morning to you, too, sweetheart,” he said softly to the growing kitten. “I suppose you want breakfast?”

“Mew.”

“Okay then,” Frederick chuckled, giving her a little scratch between her ears. “You’re going to have to move so I can get up and freshen up first.” Buttercup let out a huff, but reluctantly padded down to the end of the bed and sat down.

Now came the hard apart. Frederick cast his eyes to you. You were curled up next to him, still asleep, using him as your pillow with one arm draped across his torso. One of his arms was wrapped around you, making sure that you didn’t drift away from him during the night. And you were still both very naked from the previous night’s activities. Frederick brushed a wisp of hair out of your face with his free hand, and his heart swelled with love when you sighed contentedly in your sleep and a soft smile crept across your lips. The last thing he wanted to do was tear himself away from your side. But if he wanted to feed Buttercup and prepare the final part of your surprise, he was going to have to.

He slowly and carefully extracted himself from your limbs, thanking his lucky stars that you were a sound sleeper. All the while Buttercup was staring him down and flicking her tail impatiently. He moved to the dresser, pulling out a clean pair of briefs, pajama pants, and a t-shirt, and headed to the en-suite bathroom to dress and brush his teeth. When he was done freshening up and dressed, he stepped back out into the bedroom, and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Darling! I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“Hmm?” You looked up at him through dreamy half-lidded eyes, cuddling Buttercup. “Oh, no, my sweet girl just wanted to cuddle with her mommy, isn’t that right sweetie?” Buttercup just purred and rubbed her head against your cheek.

“Or she’s trying to coerce you into a second breakfast,” said Frederick with a sigh.

“Mew?” Buttercup whipped her head around at the sound of the word “Breakfast”.

“Yes, I’m still going to feed you. Now, come along and let your mother go back to sleep.” Buttercup swiftly stood and leapt from the bed down to the floor. Frederick looked back you lovingly. “I’ve got this, my love, you rest and stay right here. I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise? For me?” Your eyes went wide. “Frederick, you shouldn’t. You already spoil me far too much.”

Frederick walked to the edge of the bed and cupped your face in his hands. “You, my exquisite angel, deserve to be spoiled every day. And I fully intend to spend the rest of my life doing just that.” His lips found yours, melding perfectly with them, just like always. You moaned into the kiss and grabbed his t-shirt, trying to pull him closer. Frederick chuckled at this and gently pulled away, drawing a whine from you. “There will be plenty of time for that later, my love, but first, your surprise, and believe it or not, Buttercup helped.”

You giggled at that and glanced down at you fur baby. “Oh, did she now?”

“Mew.”

“She did indeed,” answered Frederick, “and I just need you to stay right here and don’t come downstairs, regardless of what you might hear or smell.”

“I’m extremely concerned, but I can do that.” You kissed him one more time. “You and Buttercup go do whatever it is you need to do; I need to use the bathroom.”

Buttercup jumped off the bed as Frederick took your hand helped you stand. He sucked in a breath at the sight of your still naked body, awestruck by your beauty. It didn’t go unnoticed by you, and you made a point of teasing your lover, making it impossible for him to not stare at your ass as you bent over to pick your green silk robe up off the floor.

“Like what you see, Frederick?” You slung the robe over your shoulder and swayed your hips as you sauntered toward the bathroom.

“You minx, you know perfectly well that I can never get enough.”

“Well, I guess you’d better hurry back then.” You gave him a suggestive look over your shoulder before disappearing into the bathroom.

Frederick released a breath and looked down at Buttercup. “Let’s get to work then, shall we?”

*********************

You took your time brushing your teeth and washing your face. You were incessantly curious as to what Frederick and Buttercup were up to. As far as you knew, it wasn’t a special occasion. Not that Frederick needed one as an excuse to spoil you. He did so every chance he got. You did your best to do the same for him. It just seemed odd. The both of you always slept in on Sunday mornings. Even if Buttercup woke you up demanding breakfast, you were usually the one to get up and feed her, always coming right back to the comfort of Frederick’s arms after she was settled. You brushed your hair out and exited the bathroom. You would know soon enough what your dear, sweet man had up his sleeve.

***********************

After putting down fresh food and water for Buttercup, Frederick washed his hands, started brewing a fresh pot of your favorite coffee, and got to work. He had gotten out the waffle iron (and its instruction manual) and set it up on the counter the night before. He began pulling additional items from the cabinets and refrigerator one-by-one: a mixing bowl, waffle mix, a whisk, measuring cups, vegetable oil, eggs, chocolate chips, fresh strawberries, whipped cream, butter, syrup, and non-stick cooking spray. He opened the waffle iron and made sure the heart shaped mold was still securely attached, then closed it, plugged it in, and pushed the button to pre-heat.

He then got to work with measuring and mixing. He followed the instructions on the box of waffle mix, doing everything in the same order that you always did. He even used your method for cracking eggs, counting to three before swiftly cracking the shell on the edge of the bowl. He had been practicing with you for months. You loved waffles, and he had wanted to be able to make them for you. It had started with him observing and taking notes, but you insisted that when it came to cooking, you had to learn by doing. And so, you had given him a task and provided him with plenty of encouragement and praise. And you never yelled or belittled him when he made mistakes. You would always reassure him and the two of you would figure out a way to fix it.

“Mew,” Buttercup interrupted his train of thought. He glanced down and smiled at her, then chuckled as he saw her crouch down, wiggle her backside, then leap from the floor to the countertop.

“You’re getting good at that,” he remarked, “a month ago you still needed a chair to help you get all the way up. You’re getting bigger and stronger every day.”

“Mew,” replied Buttercup. “Mew?”

“Yes, I’m cooking without supervision. It’s all part of our plan to surprise Mommy, remember?”

“Mew?”

“Yes, I know what I’m doing.” Frederick finished whisking the waffle batter and verified that the waffle iron was hot and ready to go. He opened it and carefully and sprayed it with the non-stick cooking spray, and then used a measuring cup to pour the batter into the mold. He then closed the device and flipped it over, activating the built-in timer. He moved to busy himself with slicing up the strawberries while waiting.

“Mew?”

“Yes, I signed your name on the card.”

“Mew?”

“Yes, your gift is all wrapped and hiding in the bedroom closet.”

“Mew, mew?”

“Yes, I know I left my cane upstairs. I’ll be okay without it. And yes, I can get the tray upstairs without dropping it. I practiced while Mommy was at the store yesterday.”

The waffle maker started beeping and Frederick flipped it over and opened it. A heart shaped, golden brown chocolate chip waffle sat in the center of it, and Frederick grinned, quite please with himself. He used a fork to lift it out of the machine and onto a plate. He looked over at Buttercup, who appeared to be rather impressed.

“Not bad for “unsupervised”, eh? What do you say we try another one?”

*********************

You were lounging in bed in the silk pajamas that Frederick had bought you for Christmas, a copy of Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey” in hand. Frederick and Buttercup had not yet returned, and your curiosity gnawed at you with every passing moment. Your stomach growled for the umpteenth time. If they didn’t return soon you going to march down into the kitchen and devour whatever you found in the fridge. But then you heard the sound of feet padding steadily up the stairs, and sound of Frederick’s voice telling Buttercup to go on ahead. You put down your book as you saw Buttercup come trotting into the room. She leapt up onto the bed and made herself comfortable in your open arms. You kissed the top of her head and she purred contentedly.

“There’s my sweet baby, did you have fun with Daddy?”

“I would say so, “said Frederick, entering the room with a try of food, coffee, and cranberry juice.

“Frederick, what’s all this?” You sat up as Frederick made his way over to the bed, carefully placing the tray across your lap. Your mouth watered at the sight of the waffles, topped with butter, syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream.

“It’s for you, my love, Happy Mother’s Day,” replied Frederick, kissing your cheek.

“Mother’s Day? But Frederick we don’t- “

“It’s been expanded to include pet moms, and that means you,” said Frederick matter-of-factly. “And Buttercup agrees with me, don’t you sweetheart?”

“Mew,” said Buttercup, nuzzling your cheek with her nose.

You felt yourself getting misty eyed, your heart swelling with emotions. “Oh Frederick, thank you, it’s perfect. Now, come here.” You patted the spot next to you and pulled Frederick in for a kiss as he sat down next to you. “I love you, Frederick.”

“I love you, too, darling. Now, dig in.” He indicated the waffles, and you quickly picked the knife and fork and did so.

“Mmm… Frederick these are amazing! You did wonderful job, my love.”

“Thank you, my darling, I had an expert teacher.”

“Mew?” You saw Buttercup eyeing the plate hungrily, licking her chops. You put a small dollop of whipped cream on your finger and held it out to her. She eagerly lapped it up. You giggled and placed another kiss on her head. “Such a silly girl.”

And with that, you settled in, content to enjoy your breakfast and spend the day relaxing with your beloved boyfriend and fur baby.

#storiesofsvuoneyearbingo #frederick chilton #frederick chilton x reader #hannibal #my writing #hannibal fanfiction #cat daddy frederick

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snowdice · 3 years ago

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Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 67]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30

Got many things to do today, though I do have a meeting in a bit over an hours, so there will be a break.

Chapter 31

Logan waited for a while after Patton left to check on Virgil, but the two never resurfaced. It was odd, Patton would usually remember to come back and get Logan or at least tell them where they were. With a sigh, Logan climbed to his feet to go find them. It took him a while to weave his way through the maze of bushes to them especially because they were suspiciously quiet (Well, suspicious for Patton. Virgil was often unnervingly quiet when alone.) Luckily, he knew the bushes enough after all of these years not to get lost and managed to find the two after a few minutes.

“Ah,” he said, immediately identifying the reason for Patton disappearing.

“Logan!” Patton said, his voice excited, but also quieter than normal. “We found a kitty!”

“I can see that,” Logan responded, taking a step closer. The cat hissed at him in response. The hissing was so intense and wild that he’d suspect the thing was feral if it wasn’t happily on Virgil’s lap having had it’s head in Patton’s lap before Logan had approached.

“No,” Virgil told the animal as though it could understand words. “That’s Logan. Be nice.”

The cat still glared at him and swished it’s tail back and forth threateningly. Virgil pet the top of it’s head and it broke eye contact with Logan to purr.

Patton seemed delighted by the purring, reaching to stroke under the thing’s chin carefully. “We should give her a name!” Patton said.

Virgil frowned. “I thought her name was Ghost Kitty.”

“That is ‘Ghost Kitty’?” Logan asked skeptically. From what Patton had said about that cat, it was terrified of people and no one could ever get near it, even him. Now it was in Virgil’s lap?

“But that was a temporary name,” Patton said, “for before we officially met her. Now we have to give her a real name.”

“Do not give it a name,” Logan said. “You will get attached.”

“How do you name a cat?” Virgil asked.

“Do not name it,” Logan said.

“You give them names based on their personalities, how they look, or even just because it’s a cute name,” Patton explained. “Like, remember Mittens? I named her Mittens because she has white fur and black paws!”

Virgil looked at the cat. “She’s completely black,” he said.

Patton hummed. “So, we could give her a name based on that like Midnight or Shadow.”

“Those are fine,” Virgil said.

“No, no,” Patton said. “I’m just giving you examples. You get to name her yourself.”

“This is a bad idea,” Logan said.

“Just throw out some names,” Patton said. “Anything you can think of.”

“Uh,” Virgil said. “Knife.”

“…Just Knife?” Patton asked.

“Nightmare.” Virgil seemed to think about it. “No, that’s mean.”

“How about things you like?” Patton suggested.

“Alfredo?”

Oh no, Logan thought, he was worse than Patton at cat naming.

“Good start,” Patton said. “Logan, do you have any suggestions.”

“Cat,” Logan said.

“Real suggestions,” Patton scolded.

Logan sighed and thought for a moment. “Aphrodite.”

“Catphrodite!”

Logan glared at him. “Helena.”

“Helenpaw.”

“Claudia.”

“Clawdia.”

“Persephone.”

Patton smiled at him, cheerfully.

“…Damnit!”

Patton turned to Virgil again. “Like that! They don’t even have to be serious. Like, uh, you could name her Madam Fluffywuffykins the Great!”

“Do not name her that,” Logan said, scrunching up his nose.

Logan sat on the ground, the cat eyeing him, but no longer hissing. Logan gently guided them towards more sensible names despite Patton trying his hardest to drag them into stupidity.

Virgil still didn’t quite get it. He mostly tried to name it after foodstuff, and often not even appropriate foodstuff such as “Corn” and “Acorn Squash” and “Sandwich” and occasionally would drop in semi violent ones such as “Razor,” “Nightshade” and “Void.” Patton suggested names like “Fluffers,” “Bobette” and “Darling” as well as some that were puns. Logan tried to direct them towards more sensible ones like “Salem” and even went so low as to suggest the contrary “Snowball.”

It quickly seemed to become less about actually naming the cat and more of a game. Patton had taught Virgil about playing with cats and had even gotten out a ball of yarn he cared around for his crafts. Both Virgil and the cat seemed to find endless entertainment with that. Logan hoped Patton had another ball of yarn that color because, he was never going to get that ball back.

The barrage of names fizzled out into naming things around them like “Leaf” and “Bush” until they stopped suggesting names altogether. Patton and Logan sat back and watched Virgil play with the cat.

Logan watched as they stopped playing suddenly and Virgil and the cat squinted at each other. “Marisol,” Virgil said, pulling the name out of nowhere. “That’s her name.” He said it with a certainty that was surprising considering how he’d treated the naming process with confusion and caution earlier. If Logan did not know better, his tone of voice would indicate that the cat, or Marisol he guessed, had gotten bored of them coming up with stupid names and decided to tell him her actual name herself.

The cat made a sound and batted at Virgil’s face without claws to grab back his attention.

He turned back to it and bopped its face with a finger in kind. It attacked his finger, but in a clearly playful matter as it still did not extend it’s claws and its teeth did not draw blood.

“That’s a great name, Virgil,” Patton said.

“Much more pleasant than any that Patton suggested all afternoon,” Logan said. He received an elbow to the side for his quip.

“A pretty name for a pretty kitty,” Patton said, scooting over to where Virgil was sat and attempting to pet Marisol’s head. Marisol, however, was too keyed up and batted at the hand.

“I love you too!” Patton said.

Logan rolled his eyes, but he had long since resigned himself to watching the two of them play with and coo over the cat for the rest of the day.

Eventually, though, it started to get darker. Even after Logan pointed this out, it still took over an hour for them to relent and leave the bush maze to go to the door. The problem was of course, that the cat had managed to grow very attached to Virgil in the last few hours and she followed them all the way to the door with manipulatively heart breaking mews.

“You’ve got to stay out here,” Virgil said, when they got to the castle door. He pet her ear softly and she shoved her head into his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anywhere to put you.” He sounded horribly sad about that fact and Logan felt himself shift uncomfortably. “I basically live in a closet and Logan doesn’t like cats in his room anyway.”

Logan immediately felt unreasonably guilty, probably more so because Logan did not think Virgil was trying to make him feel guilty. “…Bring the dammed thing inside.”

Virgil blinked up at him. “What?”

“It will get cold soon anyway,” Logan said.

He frowned at Logan from where he was crouched. “But you don’t like fur in your room…”

“I will have to find a potion that works,” he said with a sigh, “and we’ll have to say it’s mine to the guards and Father since it will be staying in my room, but it is yours in every other way. That means you are going to feed it, clean it, and clean up after it.”

Virgil nodded immediately and swooped Marisol up in his arms. The cat went without complaint. “Thank you!” he said. “I love her.”

“I know you do,” Logan said, already regretting it already. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to even consider recanting the offer considering how happy Virgil seemed to be. They had a cat now, he guessed.

Chapter 32

“What are you doing?” Helen asked a few minutes after her son walked into the kitchen and started looking around as though he were trying to find something. It was a few hours into the afternoon, and she and a few workers were already prepping for dinner.

“Uh,” Patton said. “Have you seen Virgil?”

“No,” Helen said. “Why.”

“Er… Logan and I sorta, lost him,” Patton said. He was wringing his hands anxiously. Helen put down the knife in her hand.

“What do you mean you lost him?” she asked.

“Well, see, we were trying to teach him how to play hide and seek, um, but then we didn’t think to tell him that he eventually had to come out if we didn’t find him, and now we haven’t seen him since breakfast.”

“He didn’t know what tag is?” she asked. That was just one more thing to add to the list of why Helen worried about Virgil and where he came from. Every morsel of information she’d managed to wring from Patton despite his evasions made her lists of concerns grow larger, even little things like him not knowing about simple childhood games. Actually, thinking of concerning things having to do with Virgil. “Wait, so he hasn’t eaten lunch.”

“Um, we don’t know that,” Patton’s mouth said while his eyes said ‘no.’

“He needs to be on a consistent diet, especially when he’s still taking the malnutrition potion,” she scolded.

“I know, Mama, I know,” Patton said. “I’m trying to find him. I’d kinda hoped he’d gotten hungry and snuck down here. He probably wouldn’t want to risk being caught stealing food though.”

Helen grimaced. Yet another concerning thing.

“Wait! I have an idea, I’ll be right back.” Patton turned and ran out of the room. Helen frowned at the space he’d been and finished chopping the carrot on the cutting board in front of her. If it had been any other person in the castle missing, Helen wouldn’t have worried, but she had literally never seen Virgil without Patton and/or Logan by his side. Even when he’d gone to help Jeff can some fruit, Logan had reportedly hung around to read a book.

Considering that Logan had never exactly been clingy even with Patton, she imagined that either Virgil asked, or Logan thought he should stay with him for his comfort. So, she was surprised that he was apparently hidden away somewhere in the castle where neither of the other kids could find him.

Still thinking about this, she walked over to the entrance to the cellar below the kitchen where they stored most of the vegetables, planning to grab some more carrots. She was confused for a moment when she heard movement from deeper in the pantry. She reached over and touched the panel near the door that controlled the magic lights.

The newly illuminated figure startled as the lights came on, whipping around to stare at her with wide eyes.

“Virgil?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he said immediately, taking a step back.

“It’s fine,” she said immediately, “but what are you doing here?”

He considered her for a long moment, but apparently, she passed some sort of mental test, because he relaxed, at least as much as he’d ever relaxed in her presence. “Where are we?” he asked.

Her brow knit together. “The cellar under the kitchen,” she said, “You don’t know that?”

He shook his head.

“The only entrance is from the kitchen.” Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him go through the kitchen at any point.

“No, it’s not,” Virgil said. “There’s a tunnel.”

“A-a tunnel?” she asked. Actually, taking a closer look at him, he seemed a bit grimy. He had dust all over his front and dirt on his nose. She thought he might even have a couple of cobwebs in his hair.

“Yep,” he said.

“Where’s the tunnel?” she asked.

“It’s right over here,” he said. He took a couple of steps and pointed to the ground. There was an open square hole there that clearly had been made a long time ago but which she had never noticed in all of her time working here.

“How did you find this?” she asked.

“We were playing hide and seek,” Virgil explained. “Logan said I could hide anywhere inside the castle. I hid on top of a dresser upstairs in some unused sitting room. There was a hole in the wall above it, so I climbed into it. Then, I crawled a little bit and it let out into a hidden passage in the walls. I wandered around in it until I found another hole in one of the walls. I thought it was a way out, so I squeezed into it, but it took me to a different hallway where I found an old room. There was a different hole in that room that had probably been covered by something because it was in the floor but whatever it was had rotted away. I crawled though it into a tunnel and came out here.”

She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his explanation. “Well, it sounds like you went on an adventure,” she said, “but Patton and Logan have been trying to find you. You missed lunch.”

He tilted his head at her. “I know. I was supposed to hide.”

“Yes,” she explained, “but you are supposed to come out at some point if they can’t find you for things like food.”

“Oh,” he said.

“They probably should have explained,” she said. “For now, why don’t we get you something to eat? You must be hungry.”

Virgil frowned. “But I missed lunch.”

“You can still eat even though it’s not in normal hours,” she said. “You could even if you had made it to lunch.”

“Really?” he asked, he looked tragically confused by this offer.

“Of course, sweetie,” she said. “In fact, I insist you get something good to eat right now. How about I made you a grilled ham and cheese sandwich? Maybe some cookies too!”

Virgil titled his head. “You are Patton’s mother,” he stated.

Helen laughed softly. “He gets its all from me,” she said. “We should probably go find him and tell him you’re okay. He was worried.”

“I didn’t mean to worry him,” Virgil said with a frown.

“I know,” Helen said. “It’s okay. He’ll probably laugh when he figures out where you’ve been, and Logan will interrogate you all about the secret passageways.” He seemed happy about the prospect of seeing his friends. “Come on, let’s go upstairs for a bit,” she said.

Chapter 33

Patton’s mom had already made Virgil sit down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen and had handed him a sandwich by the time Patton barreled into the kitchen, Logan coming after him at a more sedate pace.

“Virgil!” he said, sounding surprised and relieved.

“Patton,” Patton’s mom scolded. “No cats in the kitchen.” Patton had brought Marisol in with him and had let her go as soon as he’d seen Virgil. She immediately plodded over to him and hoped onto the table to sniff at his face in greeting.

“But she’s the princess!” Patton argued.

“No,” Logan said.

“Yes, she is!” Patton said.

“The stupid cat is not a princess.”

“Don’t be mean to your little sister, Logan.”

“I regret every life decision that has led me to this point.”

While Logan and Patton were distracted squabbling and Patton’s mom was distracted watching them squabble, Virgil tore off a bit of the ham in his sandwich and offered it to Marisol. Marisol gracefully took it from his grip and ate it.

“So, this is Logan’s new cat I’ve been hearing about?” Patton’s mom asked.

“Indeed,” Logan said, his lips thinned. He and Marisol were mostly amicable when alone with just them and Virgil, but Patton had a habit of cooing over the kitten and needling Logan into being irritated.

“Mmm, yeah,” Patton’s mom said. She glanced over at Virgil right as Marisol basically slammed her face into his chin in a bid to get pets. “Your cat.” She shook her head. “But Princess Kitten or not, I do not want fur in dinner,” she said.

“Sorry,” Patton said, honestly not sounding sorry at all. Virgil was always a bit surprised when the insolent shrug garnered nothing more that a scowl that did not reach Patton’s mom’s eyes. “I thought she could help me find Virgil, but you already found him.” He turned to Virgil. “Where have you been all day?”

“Found a tunnel,” Virgil said. He had to use one hand to hold Marisol back from his sandwich as he took another bite, but then gave her a bite of cheese.

“You found what?” Logan asked.

“There’s a tunnel under the cellar,” Virgil said. “It goes to an old closed up room and also to a set of secret passageways.” It was a bit of a security risk honestly, though clearly no one had used it in years by how dirty it was. He did plan to go back into it and make sure the sprawling tunnels didn’t go to anywhere more dangerous like the royal wing.

“A closed-up room?” Logan said. He could see a bit of curiosity already building in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Virgil said. “Where the door used to be seemed like it had been bricked over.”

“Really? Can you show me.”

“Sure,” Virgil answered.

“Ah, perhaps we should be a bit more cautious about climbing through random tunnels we don’t know the stability of,” Patton’s mom said.

Logan’s frown edged on a pout.

“Talk to your father,” she said. “I’m sure he can get someone who understands these things so you can safely investigate.”

“It was safe enough for Virgil,” Logan pointed out.

“No, Logan.”

He sighed but seemed to concede. That was another strange thing about living here. By all rights Logan didn’t have to obey anyone except the king, but he often listened to those around him, not just the adults but Patton as well. It was interesting though it sometimes made the hierarchy hard to figure out. Virgil did sometimes stress out about the hypothetical situation where he got conflicting orders from two people, and he wouldn’t know which one to obey. So far it hadn’t been a problem luckily. They always seemed to work it out amongst themselves in some give and take social interaction that was a bit too complex for him to understand.

Patton walked over to where Virgil was sitting. “I’m glad your safe,” he said. “We should probably put a time limit on hide and seek in the future, so you know when to come out.”

“Did I win?” Virgil asked. He’d honestly forgotten they’d been playing a game until Patton’s mom had asked how he’d found his way into the cellar.

Patton laughed. “I’d say so, yeah,” he replied. He leaned over to kiss Virgil’s forehead, but drew back immediately with a pinched expression. “You are… very dirty,” he said, rubbing his mouth.

Virgil nodded. “Your mom made me sit on a tablecloth,” he said gesturing to the fabric she’d laid over the chair.

Patton snorted out a laugh. “We’ll get you into the bath when you’re done eating and you can tell us all about your little adventure.”

“I would also like to hear about your discoveries,” Logan said. “Though you are not allowed to sit on the bed until you do not have spider webs in your hair.”

Patton’s eyes widened and he jumped away from Virgil, startling both Virgil and Marisol. The latter hopped from the table onto Virgil’s lap. “Spiders?!”

Virgil tilted his head at him in confusion.

“He isn’t a fan of spiders,” Logan informed him, his voice amused at Patton’s reaction.

Apparently deciding that she was no longer startled, but more confused by the noises Patton had just made, Marisol jumped out of Virgil’s lap to investigate, wrapping her way around Patton’s legs. He bent down to pat her back, though he still looked a bit startled.

“Your cat, huh?” Patton’s mom asked Logan once again. Virgil studied her. She had apparently missed Logan mentioning that he allowed Virgil on the bed. Or perhaps Logan was correct in his insistence that it wasn’t actually that big of a deal here. Virgil would rather not test that assumption, however, so was glad that it had been distracted from by Patton’s outburst.

“Creepy, crawly death dealers,” Patton mumbled into Marisol’s fur, having picked her back up. Virgil made a note to not inform Patton of all of the different types of spiders he’d seen skittering around in the castle walls today. Maybe he’d talk about them with Logan once Patton left. He’d probably be interested. Virgil had seen some he’d never seen before! Logan probably could even help him figure out what their names were. “You’ll protect me, won’t you kitty?” Patton asked Marisol.

She made a little ‘burrrr’ sound in response, which Patton seemed to take a confirmation.

“Aw thank you, baby! Such a good baby.”

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Virgil popped the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. Patton’s mom turned away and grabbed a plate stacked with cookies. She handed it to Logan. “Take these, and please get the health hazards out of my kitchen,” she requested.

Logan took them without complaint. “Come on, Virgil,” he said. “Let’s go get you clean.”

“We’re going to need so much soap,” Patton said.

Virgil looked down at himself. “I can go outside and get most of it off if you get me a bucket of water,” he offered.

“Virgil, it’s below freezing,” Logan said as though that had a baring on what he’d just said. Logan sighed. “No. Bathtub.” Virgil shrugged. “Honestly,” Logan said. He turned with the plate of cookies in his hand, clearly expecting to be followed. “You’re not going to catch your death pouring a bucket of water over yourself in the cold when there are literally over a hundred perfectly good bathtubs in this castle. For goodness sakes.” And well, Virgil wasn’t going to complain.

Chapter 34

Patton, to be completely honest, was not all that interested in the room that Virgil had found. Beyond just the fact that it would definitely have creepy crawly death dealers in it, he really did not understand the intrigue. If it had just been him, he probably would have just let a castle worker deal with it, but it was not just him. Logan was ecstatic with the prospect of investigating a secret in the castle. People who didn’t know him well may not believe it considering he spent most of his time with his nose in a book, but he was an adventurer at heart.

Thomas had been easily swayed into finding someone to help tear down part of the wall into the secret tunnel near the room (so no one would have to crawl through the kitchen cellar like Virgil). It had taken a few days, however, and Logan was practically bouncing off the walls waiting. Virgil, despite having already seen the room before, also seemed excited, though if that was because of his own curiosity or because he was just excited that Logan seemed so exited remained to be seen.

“They are silly, aren’t they,” Patton asked Princess Marisol. He was laying on his stomach on Logan’s bed and Princess Marisol had just put her little paw on his nose.

“Yes, I agree,” he said. “Don’t they know that we’re literally going to be 2 feet away from the normal hallway?”

“It is not silly,” Logan defended himself. “Any number of things could go wrong.” He sounded far too excited about the prospect of something going terribly wrong. “The tunnels could cave in and block off the exit or there could be some unknown pathogen in the air.”

Patton did not ruin his fun by mentioning that Logan’s dad had definitely basically baby proofed the tunnels for them ahead of time. Instead, he just said, “Don’t let Virgil hear you say that sort of thing. It will just stress him out.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” he said, waving off Patton’s concerns as he mulled over two different weird green planty things (potion ingredients, Patton assumed) before setting one aside and sticking the other in his bag.

“So silly,” Patton cooed at the cat. Logan let out a huff but did not choose to say anything about it this time.

Speaking of silly, Virgil came back from Logan’s bathroom then, and Patton tried not to giggle. “Is this right?” Virgil asked, sounding and looking confused. Logan, in his overexcitement about adventure had commissioned Virgil an outfit that actually fit. Said outfit, however, very much made it look more like Virgil was going on a safari instead of a two-foot detour from the normal castle hallway.

“Almost,” Logan said, “Here, let me.” Logan started straightening everything out and flattening the collar, reminding Patton of an overbearing parent on picture day. Virgil accepted the fussing without protest. It was adorable. Well, the outfit was ridiculous, but still, adorable. “There,” Logan said. “I think we’re ready to go now.”

It was about time. Patton was sure people were already waiting for them downstairs. Patton got up and patted Princess Marisol on the head. She looked up at them with interest.

“You can stay here, sweetie,” Patton told here. She seemed to consider it and then hopped down from the bed to go rub up against Virgil.

Patton guessed she was coming. It didn’t matter too much since Logan had given her a magical collar that allowed her to open most doors in the castle and everyone knew she was the royal cat now, so if she decided she wanted to come back to the room and nap, she could. (She was very aware of the power she held.)

She pranced happily by Virgil’s side all the way down the steps to the first floor of the castle. She was such a good kitty.

Well, she did hiss angrily at everyone who came too close to them, but still, a very good kitty.

Patton did lean down and pick her up so they could actually talk to the man waiting for them at the large hole in the wall. Logan went to talk to the castle worker while Virgil half hid behind Patton. He was clearly listening very intently to the conversation however, at least more intently than Patton was. Patton was busy shaking his head fondly.

“Yes, yes, Princess,” he said to the cat. “I know we do not trust the strangers, but I promise this stranger is perfectly safe.”

“How do you know?” Virgil asked.

“His name is Chester and I’ve known him since I was 9.”

This seemed to slightly alleviate Virgil’s suspicion, but Princess Marisol still seemed antsy. Patton really needed to start slowly introducing the both of them to more people.

Logan finished talking with Chester after a few moments and it was time to climb through the hole in the wall. He wished he saw in the tunnel whatever Logan with his excited eyes and bounce to his step obviously saw. Or even that was more comfortable in the dark closed in space as Virgil obviously was. As it was, Patton’s nose scrunched up at the thought off all of the spiders that could be living everywhere in the secret tunnel, but he pushed through.

The entrance to the tunnel had been made only a little bit from the room Virgil had mentioned and Chester had led them through it after only a couple of seconds. As Patton had suspected, the room was already lit up and probably cleaned a little bit by the people who had cut into the wall, not that he was complaining.

Virgil was still clinging a bit to Patton’s shirt, though it seemed to be less out of anxiety at this point and more out of a desire to stick close. He was peering around curiously at the lit-up space. He probably hadn’t seen much of it in the dark when he’d been here before.

Yet, his curiosity was nothing compared to how excited Logan seemed to be. Now Patton may have not been interested in the room itself, but he was entertained by how interested Logan was and was happy to encourage that.

“What do you think this place is?” he asked Logan.

Logan hummed contemplatively, eyes looking around. “Well,” he said. “It’s a bedroom clearly, and old. Considering the location it is in in the castle, the size, the decorations, and it’s likely age, I’d imagine it was a bedroom of a royal family member. This used to be the royal wing three royal lines ago.”

“Bearing that in mind, there are a couple of likely possibilities for the origin of the room as well as the reason it was sealed up, but we will need to investigate more in order to come to an actual conclusion.” He had already placed the bag he’d brought on the ground and was going through it, pulling out things that Patton did not recognize. He also got a piece of paper and sat on the floor to start to sketch.

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked.

“I’m sketching the floorplan of the room,” Logan said. “I will then put a grid on it so we can investigate while being sure that we aren’t missing anything.”

Virgil seemed uninterested in this part of the adventure, instead electing to go poking around by himself. Princess Marisol squirmed out of Patton’s arms to go follow him. Patton swore that he only looked away from those two for 5 seconds, but the next thing he knew he heard metal clicking against metal.

“Oh,” Patton said, eyes wide when he saw what Virgil was fiddling with. “Honey, you probably shouldn’t touch…”

The old but fancy looking chest that had been at the end of the remains of the bed creaked open. Virgil sneezed as a cloud of dust puffed out of it. “Huh,” he said studying the contents. “There’s a skull in here.”

“Oh, I don’t like this adventure anymore,” Patton commented.

Logan was on his feet within moments. “Let me see,” he said eagerly.

“What if it’s cursed?” Patton pointed out.

“Then I’ll just break the curse,” Logan waved him off. “Oh, it’s just a horse skull,” Logan said, sounding disappointed. “And also what seemed to be potion ingredients. Though they seem very fresh considering the state of the room.”

“Maybe we should get someone else to…”

Logan already had both arms inside the chest and was pulling things out of it. “This chest must have some sort of stasis effect to it.”

He started pulling things out to look at them before setting them on the floor with no caution. “Well,” he said, “that answers the question of what this room is.”

“It does?” Patton asked.

“Ah, yes, between the horse skull and the potion ingredients, this is obviously the bedroom of Princess Marianne Elicia. She was the third child of King Simon IV and was quite the fan of horses.”

“…So she kept a horse skull in a stasis chest in her bedroom?” Patton asked.

“Of course,” Logan said. “Back when her family was in power, magic was outlawed and had quite the stigma against it, but she ended up learning magic and become quite proficient.”

“It’s debated what exactly happened when her father found out about her activities. Some sources say that she was executed silently by her father, but others say she managed to escape with the head of the stables but not before putting a curse on the country of Prijaznia. That is until she or one of her bloodline sits on the throne, every royal line will end in madness and blood by the 5th seated monarch before an heir is born.”

“Isn’t that something you should be worried about?” Virgil asked.

Logan shrugged. “It’s just a myth,” he said. “Besides I’m 6th in the line, so there really isn’t any concern.”

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“There are a lot of interesting things in here,” Logan said, still focused on the chest. “Not to mention the books. We’ll have to be careful with those though since they don’t appear to be in stasis.”

Logan pulled the horse skull out and set it on the floor making Patton wince.

“Marisol no!” he said as Princess Marisol immediately went to go sniff at it. He swooped her up in his arms. “How long are we staying in this creepy room?” Patton asked.

“Patton, we just got here,” Logan said.

“We just got here and already found a skull!”

“Yes! Exactly!”

Patton groaned into Princess Marisol’s fur even as she tried wiggle away to go back and investigate the skull. This was going to be a long day.

Chapter 35

Logan was surprised when he woke up alone in bed. He’d grown to anticipate waking to a smaller body unrelentingly clinging to his in the past couple of weeks. Confused he sat up and peered around his bedroom. He wouldn’t have seen Virgil with the way he melted into the darkness if it he hadn’t heard the sound of purring coming from near the window. He could just barely make out a dark blob shifting up and down at the cat kneaded at a different blob sitting mostly hidden behind the thick curtain.

“Virgil?” Logan questioned. “What are you doing?”

“It’s snowing,” was the answer.

“That is not an answer,” Logan grumbled at the ceiling. With a sigh, he pulled himself out of bed. It was a bit chilly in here, he thought. The temperature must have dipped suddenly and intensely enough that the runes keeping the castle at a warm enough temperature hadn’t caught up yet. He pulled one of the blankets off of the top of his bed to wrap around his shoulders as he approached the window. There wasn’t much light outside, the stars and moon covered by clouds, but there were some lanterns lit for the night guard who patrolled the outside. “Oh,” he said in surprise. “It’s really snowing.”

It had been colder but not quite cold enough for snow to stick the day before, so it came as a surprise when he saw snow was piling up quite high to the point where familiar paths outside his window had disappeared.

“I don’t like it,” Virgil informed him.

“Why not?” Logan asked.

“It’s cold,” Virgil answered. It was clear in his tone that in Virgil’s opinion ‘cold’ was a horrible insult to the concept of snow. Logan quirked a half smile and his attention was drawn to the fact that it was quite cold right here close to the window.

Frowning, he pulled at the blanket around his shoulder so he could wrap it and his arm around the lump that was Virgil. He brushed the boy’s hand when he did so and found it was like ice.

“You’re freezing!” Logan said. “How long have you been by the window?”

“I dunno,” he replied.

Logan was already tugging at him. “You need to get back in bed,” he said.

Virgil obeyed the pulling at his arms even as he frowned. “I’ve been colder than this before,” he said.

“That actually doesn’t make me feel better,” Logan replied dryly as he shooed him towards the bed.

He took the thicker blanket that usually stayed folded at the end of the bed and pulled it up over Virgil before climbing into bed beside him.

“There,” Logan said, rubbing Virgil’s arms through the fabric of the sweater he wore to bed. He was glad he wasn’t wearing a t-shirt at least. “The runes for heating the castle should catch up within a few hours, but until then this should do. Assuming we don’t sit by the freezing window for an undetermined amount of time.”

“I don’t like the cold,” Virgil told him.

Logan sighed. “Then why did you sit by the window?”

Virgil shrugged and ducked his head a bit. Logan reached out to grab his hands to help him warm more but was surprised when one of the hands was much warmer than the other. He found his fingers were clutching a crescent shaped stone: the protection charm they’d made. Logan knew that he kept it in his pocket most of the time, but he didn’t normally see him holding it like this. It was warm to the touch, of course, indicating the safety of the room around them.

Logan looked over his face. “Are you…” he said. “Scared of the snow?”

“I don’t like the cold,” he said once again.

“You’re scared of the winter,” Logan concluded. He looked at Virgil who was far too small for his age and seemed surprised at every casual act of kindness. It was clear that his basic needs were far from being met before he came here. Logan had to wonder what winter usually meant for him. His experiences were doubtlessly very different from Logan’s own. “That makes sense,” he acknowledged, “but you don’t need to be scared of it here. The castle is always perfectly warm and safe in the winter and Mr. Deknis and Ms. Heart work hard during the other seasons to make sure we have plenty of food. There is nothing to fear here.”

He did not seem convinced.

“You don’t even have to go outside if you don’t want to,” Logan promised. “The castle is plenty big if you’d like to stay inside all winter long. It was made for the winter even without the magic devices that keep it warm. We have fireplaces and well insulated rooms even if those that ends up failing.” Logan pulled open the hand that had the protection charm just to transfer it to his other hand to warm it. “Though, while no one would force you to go outside, the snow isn’t always bad.”

“Yes it is,” Virgil said, his voice sure.

“Not all the time,” Logan insisted. “Some people love the snow.”

“They’re stupid.”

Logan laughed. “It can be fun for a while with the right equipment if you have someplace to get warm again afterwards. Royal duties slow down during the winter and Patton tends to come up with all sorts of games for both the inside and the outside to pass the time. He’s particularly proficient at snowball fights, at least against me.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Play fighting,” Logan answered. “Like pillow fights, but snow.”

“I’ll stick with the pillows,” he replied.

“And then there’s a hill to sled down on the western side of the castle, and people like to build snowmen along the path.”

“What are snowmen?” Virgil asked.

They’re temporary statues made out of packed snow,” Logan explained. “Typically, they’re made of three different sized balls of snow: the largest being the base and the smallest the ‘head’ though there are some variations. After building them one typically decorates them with different articles of clothing and objects found lying around. It’s usually sticks and rocks for the face and then things like extra hats and scarfs for decoration.” He smiled softly. “When my Pa was alive, we used to steal my Dad’s crown and fanciest robes. Sometimes Pa would steal it right off of Dad’s head and we’d run away. We’d find a secluded area of the castle yards and build the biggest snowman we could as quickly as we could before we got caught. He’d usually end up letting us keep the robes, but we’d have to give the crown back since some of the metals in it would rust when wet.”

“That sounds…” Virgil’s nose twitched. “fun if you take away the touching snow part.”

Logan laughed. “It is fun,” he said. “Even with the touching snow part. Though, I admit that some of the ability for it to be entertaining does come from the fact that we could warm up afterwards with ease. You’ll enjoy Patton’s mother’s constant offering of hot chocolate during the season even if you never go outside, I’m sure.”

“Hot chocolate?” Virgil asked intrigued. His dark eyes shone brightly in the little light coming through the window. It was clear he could guess something about the drink just by the name and enjoyed the implications.

Logan smiled fondly. “It is a hot drink,” he explained. “It’s a warm drink made out of milk and chocolate. I can get you some to try in the morning.”

Virgil nodded, eyes still wide with interest.

“For now, we should sleep though,” Logan said. “Are you warm enough? I can get more blankets.”

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Good,” Logan said, reaching up and adjusting the blanket over them once more, tucking it around Virgil a little bit for good measure. “Goodnight Virgil,” he said.

“Goodnight,” he replied softly. Logan reached under the blankets to grab the hand that was still slightly chilly from the window between his own. Virgil’s eyes slipped closed after a moment as he nuzzle his face into the pillow. At some point they both drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 36

Thomas had already been well aware that winter was on the way, but he and the rest of the castle occupants had been surprised at how intensely and suddenly it had come on. Most things were ready for the winter, but not all of them had been initiated. The fireplaces that took some pressure off the castle heating runes were cleaned out and ready, but they hadn’t been started yet. The stables for different animals on the grounds had been checked over and staff assignments had been made, but most were still in far out fields. Staff that went home for the winter months had been dismissed, but there were a few stragglers that would have to be helped home before things got worse.

He’d gone out to the main stable to talk to the three workers that were the heads of different areas of animal husbandry to make sure a plan to get everything to where it needed to be soon was in place. It took a while to figure out considering that they’d expected a little more time before the first major snowfall. Thomas also asked them to make sure all of the workers’ homes were in good enough condition for the weather. Ranch hands typically had homes on castle grounds but not in the castle themselves since they needed to be close to the animals. Thomas knew at least half a dozen of those who spent most of their times out in the fields were the type to forgot to maintain their homes because they preferred camping amongst the animals in the summer months and then would be in for a bad time when snow began to fall.

There should be enough extra rooms in the castle if they needed a place to stay until repairs could be done.

Those conversations took a good couple of hours, before Thomas was satisfied. Before trudging back to the castle through the still falling snow, he made a point to stop at one specific horse stall in the main stable. The horse turned his head to see Thomas when he stopped in front of his stall and puffed out a rather disaffected snort before sticking his head over the gate so Thomas could pat his nose. “Hello, Mr. Apples,” Thomas said.

The horse seemed to conclude he’d tolerated Thomas’s petting enough and ducked his head to nudge at his torso. Thomas rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes,” he said. “I brought you an apple. Some things never change.” He reached into his pocket to grab the red apple he’d brought the white Arabian. “At least you don’t bite me anymore.” He paused, apple slice in hand and eyed the horse’s nose suspiciously. “Do not bite me,” he said even though he hadn’t felt the animal’s teeth in a decade. It would be just like Mr. Apples to wait until his guard was down.

After a bit of scrutiny, he offered an apple slice. It was snatched out of his hand and there was a loud crunch as it was bit into.

“It’s snowing out,” he told the horse. The horse seemed to roll his eyes at the statement of the obvious. “I’ll remind again that if you run out in a snowstorm, I’m not running after you, so you’d be out of luck.”

Mr. Apples snorted.

“You’re old now. You’d probably not survive long enough for people to find you. Besides, you blend in with that white fur of yours. They’d probably walk right past you a few times.”

He went back to nosing for treats as soon as he finished his first and Thomas sighed, pulling out another apple slice. “What are they not feeding you enough?” The gusto with which the horse snatched the apple slice was a very clear answer. “Well, we both know that’s not true.” Thomas fed the horse a third slice of apple when he was done with his second. “I have to get back to the castle now. Don’t be a devil horse.”

Mr. Apples threw his head a bit, splattering apple smelling foamy spittle all over Thomas’s front.

“Understood. Have a nice afternoon.”

He left Mr. Apples in his stall then, knowing he’d be well cared for no matter how ill-tempered he could be at times. He’d been a king’s horse once, after all, no matter that said king had been dead for more than a decade now.

Winters were hard.

Winters were the times when things always slowed down at the castle, where royal duties were often thin. There were a lot of memories in winter.

The trip back to the castle was not particularly long, but it was also not particularly pleasant. The snow had not been cleared away considering it was still snowing which meant his feet and legs were wet and cold by the time he made it to the nearest castle door.

He wasn’t sure if, when he entered, the castle heating runes had started to work in earnest or if he’d just been so cold that any measure of warmth was appreciated, but he was relieved to be out of the snow either way.

He decided to check up on the progress of the castle staff lighting the fireplaces. With any luck, they’d be lit already, and he could warm up even more. That in mind, he headed towards the main foyer where the largest fireplace in the castle sat to take off the chill brought in by the large front doors.

The main foyer was bustling with activity when he snuck in along the sides, giving the guards stationed around nods as he passed. The main fire in the room was burning brightly, though only one of the two smaller ones near the side exits from the room was lit. The other one was still being set up with safety mechanisms. It was good progress and assuming other areas of the castle were being set up as efficiently, he assumed they’d all be set up by nightfall.

He’d need to go check around to be sure, but for now, he walked up to the main fireplace to warm his hands.

He’d gotten into the habit when he was younger to every so often glance upwards. There had been a certain stable boy who had a propensity for climbing trees. These days, he usually found nothing when he did so, often not even consciously noticing that he’d turned his gaze momentarily skywards. Yet, today, he was startled out of his own idleness by dark brown eyes looking back at him from a small ledge in the shadows high above him.

He froze as he met the young boy’s gaze. Virgil seemed as surprised to be caught as Thomas was to have caught him.

Slowly Thomas raised one hand and waved to the boy. He slunk back into the shadows at the acknowledgment. If Thomas peered hard enough, he could see a shadow stretch up towards the third-floor balcony in the darkness and disappear over the railing.

Interesting boy.

Thomas found himself smiling despite the oddity. They still had not found out much about Virgil. He would speak to Jeffers about many things apparently, but often could not be redirected to invasive topics and he was still a bit skittish around Helen. He hadn’t willingly existed in a room with Thomas. Thomas hoped that changed at some point. There was something about him that made Thomas like him.

Chapter 37

Virgil had not spent a lot of time out of Logan’s room. What little time he had spent outside of it was either with Patton and/or Logan or tucked away in secret corridors he found in the walls where no one would stumble upon him. Yet, here he was willingly in a, well, not public by any means place, but one that was still more exposed than he was used to being in. Somehow, he was managing to not care at all.

It was helped by the fact that both Logan and Patton had been in the room at the start, but they had gone off to go… somewhere. Food sounded like it might have been the reason.

He liked food, and usually he would have been all for going to get some, but between them promising to bring him back some and the fact that he was never going to move ever again, he’d decided to stay.

Princess Marisol seemed to be the only other rational being in the whole castle because she had also not moved since discovering the contents of this room. She was currently laying on his chest purring happily.

The fireplace was a wonderful invention. Now, Virgil had, of course, warmed up by a fire before when it was cold, but this was much different. There was a grate that blocked off the fire a bit keeping it from burning the person in front of it and there was a plush rug right by it, perfect for laying down on. Someone had known what they were doing when designing this room.

He didn’t even care that the king had access to this sitting room as well as Logan.

…

Okay, so he did care a little bit, but he was ignoring that. He was probably busy this time of day anyway, right?

…

He really didn’t want to run into him after being caught watching the castle workers set up the bigger fireplaces. Kings probably didn’t like people sneaking around watching things from the shadows even when they didn’t know that the person sneaking around was literally sent to kill them.

Princess Marisol must have had a sixth sense for his anxieties (or he’d just started breathing faster and disturbed her) because she stirred a bit.

#proofread stories #not writing

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malkumtend · 4 years ago

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I Like Your Laugh - A SquirrelCrow AU - Chapter 21.

Squirrelpaw tried not to look at her surroundings as she followed her father.

It was strange. She could remember the first time she had attended a gathering. The freedom of leaving Thunderclan for the first time, following her clan beyond their borders, it gave her such a sense of pride.

She remembered seeing flowers and trees she couldn’t identify, the mist of new scents hitting her like a colourful zephyr. It was like Silverpelt itself had been struck by a unique current that would change her life forever. The forest had expanded beyond her own understanding, pulsing her with the exhilaration and excitement of growing up.

Now. The change of the forest was not so freeing. Looking at it now felt more like drowning.

Without the shelter of the trees, exposing them to the bite of the moonhigh night, everything felt so cold. Nowhere looked safe to the molly. This wasn’t travelling to fourtrees, this wasn’t clan life. This wasn’t normal. The bitter air clogged in her throat, and without looking down she could feel the deadness of the earth below. Life had been sucked out of the forest as if it was prey losing blood. With it, everything Squirrelpaw recognised in her heart had been extinguished. Nothing looked like home.

The trees, the ground, the cold, it was all so suffocating. Frightening.

This wasn’t the forest she’d grown up in. Not anymore.

That would become even more clear once she saw fourtrees, she had no doubt. At least… what remained of fourtrees.

Webfoot had said the clans had watched as monsters ripped them from their roots. Generations of history stripped away just like that. It was inconceivable to the young cat. But it had happened. She had heard it from her friends too.

“It was horrible.” Whitepaw had said. “None of us could believe it. The monsters tore them apart.” The horror on her face told Squirrelpaw how grotesque the images were.

Beside them, Shrewpaw had nodded. “It didn’t make any sense.” The softness the usually snappy tom conveyed made another chill strike through the medicine den. “They didn’t even react to them. They just… ripped through them like they were nothing. By the time we looked back, they’d all fallen.” He’d stifled an angry grunt, “Then by the next day, they’d carried away the trunks. How strong are those things?”

Strong enough to tear apart the forest, Squirrelpaw knew.

“Are you sure you want to go back there?” Whitepaw mewed worriedly, “What if they come back?” Her whiskers trembled with fear.

“Don’t worry.” Squirrelpaw strutted forward to press her muzzle against her friend’s cheek. “I’ll be fine. Firestar and Brambleclaw will be there with me, as well as the other Clan leaders. Besides, I don’t think they’ll go back now.”

“How do you know that?”

Truthfully, Squirrelpaw didn’t, but the cats were going to meet there regardless. She couldn’t worry about that now.

Luckily, Shrewpaw came to her aid. “Don’t be a worry worm, Whitepaw.” The tom jabbed her with a forepaw. “If they were that close again, we would have heard them. Besides, remember what Greystripe said, they seem to be more focused on Windclan’s territory right now.”

Whitepaw seemed to relax a little, albeit begrudgingly, at that information.

Squirrelpaw only felt her stomach twist with panic.

She felt her sister’s tail on her pelt, Leafpaw could always tell when something was off. A different panic convulsed along Squirrelpaw’s tail. “Don’t worry, Squirrelpaw. From what I’ve heard, Windclan have been able to find new territory. There’s no cats where the monsters are now.”

“Yeah!” Shrewpaw agreed readily, perhaps sensing his words weren’t as comforting as he’d hoped. “Windclan cats are quick right, they’ll have gotten away fine.” Whitepaw rolled her eyes at his weak conclusion, but she didn’t say anything.

It was a small comfort, but Squirrelpaw couldn’t afford to choose. She flattened the fur on her tail, licking her chest to quell the nervous shakes that still rattled in her stomach. She let a forced smile come to her lips. “Yeah, I guess.”

Leafpaw purred beside her, “You’ll see. Once you’re at fourtrees tonight, you’ll be able to hear how the other clans are. Firestar will convince them that we have to leave, you’ll see.” As soothing as her sister’s voice usually was, Squirrelpaw wasn’t so assured this time. She’d seen how hostile the Windclan cats had been when they’d all returned, even to their own clanmate. Even in the middle of all this, clan divisions still ran rife. Would they really listen to a prophecy fortold by a few Warriors and a badger?

Could a truce really be found? It wasn’t even going to be a full moon tonight.

Squirrelpaw let her tail lay flat. She had to believe her friends could convince their leaders. Her and Brambleclaw had been able to convince Firestar after all.

She had to have hope.

“Exactly!” Shrewpaw mewed with a grin, he seemed to brighten as every pair of eyes fell on him. His tail wiggled behind him with a confident movement that seemed warm in the cold den. “If anyone can lead the clans out of this mess, it’s Firestar! Mark my words, by the next moon we’ll all be nice and snug at our new home!”

His voice was high and kittish, but by the stars was his optimism missed. Thinking back, Squirrelpaw remembered how even behind their slitted eyes, both Leafpaw and Whitepaw were smiling. Even if Shrewpaw was a mouse-brain most of the time, it was undeniable that what he believed was what they all wanted. If he saw a future brighter than the one they all expected, it was only natural they’d follow him there.

Even if he sounded naïve, he had a faith that Squirrelpaw knew the cats would need.

That’s what she tried to tell herself again and again, with every step through this destroyed terrain. That was why she kept her eyes away from it all. Looking at it just made Shewpaw’s voice grow fainter and fainter as if it was disappearing into a dark cave.

And it wasn’t just her. Just ahead, Brambleclaw padded behind her father and Cinderpelt. The tom occasionally looked back to check on her, and Squirrelpaw could see how meaningless his smile was. She knew how Brambleclaw really showed himself. The sag in his whiskers, the alarmed prickles over his back, the roll of his jaw, back and forth without control.

He kept a brave face, but he was frightened.

They were all frightened.

She realised, when she noticed his face shift as he looked ahead, that he was only smiling at her in order to comfort her worries.

A nice thought, but pointless all the same.

All she could do was give him the same worthless smile.

She was home, back with her clanmates and father, and yet she felt so… alone. She could still picture the harsh glares sent her way. As if she was a traitor for trying to help her clan. But maybe it wasn’t so surprising. The thought of her mentor, the cat she thought of as the strongest in all Thunderclan, broken and shrivelled by the loss of his kit. Everyone was suffering. That was why this had to go well. Starclan had to give them a chance, a glimpse of hope after all of this.

It had to come.

It had to.

A gasp of horror broke her from her misery. “Oh Starclan, no!” Brambleclaw choked.

Squirrelpaw looked up and regretted it immediately.

Fourtrees, the heart of the forest itself, was gone. The ancient columns of wood that once stood tall and triumphant, as if breaking through the clouds, were now nothing more but hollow circles of wood, barely reaching a leader’s height. The places where cats would gather, pacified by the truce, were scorched and blackened by the trail of the twolegs destruction. The ground was now a sickening black, littered by sharp stones and torn shreds of wood. Even the brilliant glow of the moon paled away behind a murk of ashy clouds holding its light from the cats below.

Squirrelpaw stared ahead, her jaw slack in horror. It hit her just then why the clans had been so hostile to their return. If they had seen this so long ago… It was as if a piece of the clans itself had been killed.

But what was even worse was the sight of the Great rock.

If it could even be called that anymore.

Instead of the stone that had seen proud leaders pass moon by moon, all Squirrelpaw saw was a scatter of cats sunken in a thick ooze of mud that shrouded the base of the Great rock. It had been clawed out of its place; Squirrelpaw could still see the deep rivets the monsters had marked the stone with at its base. Now, the noble stone lay on its side, discarded like the forgotten bones of a mouse. The seasons it had stood withered in the past, and its future now lurked inside an empty, lost void.

A harsh growl Squirrelpaw recognised as belonging to Blackstar confirmed sullenly what every cat realised. There would be no more gatherings. That part of their lives had been taken from them all.

Squirrelpaw wondered if that meant the truce was over as well.

She was given a slight hope when she saw Brambleclaw rush forward with an overjoyed cry. “Tawnypelt!”

Squirrelpaw couldn’t help but smile, properly this time, when she saw the siblings collide, both purring in relief. Anything that could remind her of the journey was a welcome sight. She bounded over as well, and saw Stormfur beside the Shadowclan molly. Squirrelpaw was about to burst with his name until she saw the wounded look in his eyes.

And then she remembered Feathertail, and her smile faded away.

She padded, a little more slowly, towards her friends. There was a low growl in the air and Squirrelpaw was shocked when she saw who it came from. Firestar was watching Brambleclaw, still buried in his sisters’ neck, with narrowed eyes. Eyes that were judging his loyalty.

Squirrelpaw watched her father until he swiped his head away, grunting. Squirrelpaw glared at him as he stormed away. Was he still angry at Brambleclaw because he had let her come? Or was this something else? The molly shook her head. How could any cat judge their loyalty after all they had been through? Tawnypelt was Brambleclaw’s sister for crying out loud, did their clans really have to mean that changed so much?

She wandered through the heavy silence, following the cats until she was at Stormfur’s side. “Hey.” She said softly, pressing her nose against his shoulder.

The grey cat turned to her gently, his eyes were glazed and distant. “Hey.” He paused. The silence was terrifying. They had spoken so easily before. He breathed haggardly. “How are things in Thunderclan?”

“Not great.” Squirrelpaw admitted. Even that was an understatement. She tried not to sound downhearted. “We need to leave soon. What about Riverclan?”

“It looks like the Twolegs haven’t reached our territory yet.”

Squirrelpaw’s eyes lit up. “That’s…” She was about to say ‘great’ until she saw the weariness in her friends’ eyes.

Stormfur sighed, he looked small. “It’s coming, I know it. But because Riverclan hasn’t suffered yet, I can’t convince Leopardstar of anything.”

Squirrelpaw’s mouth opened as she realised the gravity of that knowledge. She knew about Leopardstar. Truthfully, the young molly had never had a pleasant thought when it came to the leader. She knew the stories that surrounded her, the whispers of what had once occurred during the time of Tigerstar. The story of Bone Hill was a well-known horror story among the apprentices.

Only this story was more than just fantasy.

Squirrelpaw had never understood it. How any leader could betray their clan to another and just live on without any consequences? She remembered asking her father about it when she was a kit. What justifiable reason could any leader have for doing something like that?

“It’s a complicated story, Squirrelkit.” He had said. “Sometimes leader’s think they’re doing the right thing for their clan when in fact they’re doing the wrong thing. But that doesn’t mean that they are bad cats at heart. A leader will do anything to make sure their clan survives. The important thing is to move on from those mistakes and learn to forgive.”

That might have meant something, if Squirrelpaw hadn’t remembered the story of how Leopardstar had just sat and watched while, the then, Blackfoot had killed her deputy. How exactly was that protecting your clan?

Squirrelpaw remembered then how it had been Feathertail and Stormfur that Stonefur had been protecting.

She wondered how they did it. How they could trust a leader that had agreed to their deaths?

And now, after all of that trust, Feathertail was dead and Stormfur was telling her that Leopardstar wouldn’t lead her clan to safety?!

Her heart swelled with horror. “Is there no cat who you could convince? What about Mistyfoot?”

“Mistyfoot’s gone.” Stormfur said simply.

“Gone?” Squirrelpaw had to fight to keep her voice low. Terror widened in her eyes, “You don’t mean-”

“We don’t know” Stormfur clarified, but his mew was rough with fear.

A thought came to Squirrelpaw. “What if she was captured by Twolegs?”

Stormfur turned to her blinking. “What? What do you mean?”

“I heard that some cats had been taken by them!”

“What for?”

Squirrelpaw could only give him a frightened silence. Stormfur turned back, his face creased by the moonhigh shadows. His head dipped with a pained whine. “Starclan help us.”

“But… But Riverclan wouldn’t leave without their deputy, right?” Every leader needed their deputy. Surely Leopardstar realised that! She wouldn’t just abandon one of her most trusted Warriors.

Now, a glistening anger came into Stormfur’s face. “We have a new deputy.” He hissed, as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying.

Squirrelpaw paused, her jaw was stiff. Leopardstar really would do that. “W-Who?”

The grey tom jutted his head forward, reluctant hate in his eyes. “Hawkfrost.”

Squirrelpaw didn’t recognise the name until she was looking ahead. She could just about remember the bulky rogue that had been accepted by Riverclan. He strode ahead, far away from them, beside Leopardstar and another huge creamy molly that she remembered as being his sister. Mothwing? That was the name that Leafpaw had told her at least. From what she had heard, her sister only had good things to say about the molly. She hadn’t mentioned her brother that much. But he was a deputy now? Squirrelpaw tried to understand how that could have happened.

“Leopardstar made him deputy? Why?”

Stormfur opened his mouth, but he soon shut it as they made their way to the other side of the stone.

Squirrelpaw’s paws prickled in frustration. “Stormfur, I-”

She fell silent as she saw the cats waiting by the low dip of the uprooted stone.

It was Tallstar… wasn’t it? Squirrelpaw tried to think of the leader of Windclan, the one who had seen leaders come and go all through his reign, the one who had already led Windclan for moons while her father was still an apprentice. Even in the last time she’d seen him, despite Windclan’s dismal water situation, he had looked strong and noble as he stood high on the Great rock. Squirrelpaw respected him immensely. There had always been something about Tallstar, about how naturally and respectfully stood among the other leaders, how he put his clan before his pride. That much had been clear when he’d begged Riverclan to share their water supply without hesitation.

He was prideful without being arrogant, respectful without being weak, and strong without being cruel.

But what Squirrelpaw saw now. This was not the Tallstar she remembered.

She didn’t think she’d ever seen a cat look so skinny, so hungry! His eyes sank into the hollow shape of his head, blinking listlessly in the cold darkness. He looked to be missing several small patches of his short fur along his belly, the fur that remained was dirty and uncared for. Squirrelpaw could picture when she had gone through the two-leg place on the journey, she had seen a dead mouse resting on the stone outside a two-leg den. It had clearly been killed a while ago. It looked like a shrivelled root, its precious moisture and juices squeezed out by the hot sun above them. She’d asked why the cat that had killed it hadn’t eaten it. What was the point of killing it if it wasn’t going to be used?

“Some kittypet’s just like the sport of it.” Tawnypelt muttered in disgust. “They don’t need it for food with all the feed they get from the two-legs. Hunting’s just a game for them.”

That had made Squirrelpaw angry. Not only because it showed just how dishonourable and easy a kittypet’s life was, but because of how little they regarded their prey. Prey meant survival in the forest, cats died because of hunger, and these two-leg playthings just killed because it was nothing but fun, exercise, for their sluggish lives.

They had killed a creature, and had left it to rot and decay like it was nothing.

Tallstar reminded Squirrelpaw of that mouse. Of something unwanted and forgotten, left to waste away in its own time. He looked as if his own guts were shrinking, leaving him to become nothing but a thin slather of skin and fur on a wasted pile of bones.

He could barely even stand. He tried to look strong in the face of the other leaders, but it was clear the only reason he was standing up was because he was balanced by the small tom beside him.

Even in the darkness, Squirrelpaw recognised the tom. It might have been the way he stubbornly kept his small frame tall, as if nothing in the forest could touch him. It might have been the glow of his eyes.

Squirrelpaw took a deep breath. The last time she’d seen those eyes, they had kept hollow as he gently pushed her away, like nothing had ever happened. She tried to not remember how much it made her heart break. Instead she tried to take comfort in how despite everything he looked healthy. Maybe even dignified as he held his leader close beside him, never shivering away. She watched as he turned, watching the other clans approach them.

Even from this far back, she offered him a loving smile.

Whether he noticed her or not, his eyes narrowed and he stiffened up, his tail prickling, as if warning them. Then after a mutter from Tallstar, he slackened and turned his head away.

A real sense of fear began to rumble in Squirrelpaw’s chest. It thundered beside the pain.

Crowpaw only kept his eyes on his leader until the rest of the clans had made it to where they stood. Squirrelpaw saw Stormfur’s coat shiver when he passed by the Windclan tom. Crowpaw had a similar reaction, but his face was contorted in a scowl. Stormfur cleared his throat, as if ridding himself of a sickness, and said nothing as he sat beside Tawnypelt, a tail-length away from the dark apprentice.

Squirrelpaw held back a horrified breath. She understood how Feathertail still loomed over their thoughts. She would never forget her as long as she lived. But when she thought about how it had hardly been a moon since she had seen Crowpaw and Stormfur side by side, talking with a growing friendliness, the sight of such stiffness now was confusing to the molly.

Come to think of it, as the leaders pulled themselves up onto the shifted slab that had been the great rock, her heart aching with pity as she saw how Tallstar needed her father’s help to struggle onto the platform, she began to feel something tight in her chest at how her friends shifted uncomfortably as they sat together.

Like they had never even met.

She gulped and shook her head. It didn’t have to be like this. She still had that power surely. She eased herself to the side of Crowpaw, whispering to him as the leaders began to talk. “Hey.” She mewed. She was smiling. It still felt right next to him.

He gave her a sideways glance. It was barren. Squirrelpaw pushed away the memory of their last meeting. She had to move forward.

“Hello.” He said, then he looked back to the leaders.

Squirrelpaw hoped the disappointment didn’t show on her face. But her heart began to pound with a creeping panic. She took a quick breath and followed his stare. “How are things in Windclan?” She asked, trying not to cringe as she saw Tallstar shake off the worried mews of her father.

To her surprise, she found the other chosen cats had heard her, and they all turned to Crowpaw hopefully.

Crowpaw didn’t meet any cats’ eyes. His tail swung hotly as if he was trying to thaw a coat of ice. “Awful. Windclan can’t stay there anymore.” He said with dreadful assurance. It made Squirrelpaw scared. He looked so defeated.

“What about your clanmates?” Brambleclaw asked hazily.

“You can’t call it Windclan anymore.” Crowpaw said icily, ignoring Brambleclaw. “There’s nothing left of our territory.”

There were no implications. His voice was slow and stony with the plain truth.

“But that means that Tallstar wants to leave, right?” Brambleclaw spoke up again.

“Yes.” Crowpaw said. “He knows there’s nothing left for us here.”

Squirrelpaw felt her whiskers curl with a bizarre relief. If Tallstar would allow Windclan to go, that made things so much easier for this meeting! Now it wouldn’t just be her father arguing for them all! “That’s great news! Firestar’s just waiting for the other clans to decide before he says anything.”

Crowpaw scoffed bitterly. “We can’t afford to wait.”

Squirrelpaw’s paws began to quiver again. She began to notice the lack of warmth as she stood by Crowpaw’s side.

She breathed again. Time. She reminded herself. He needs time. She had to picture how much he was going through. She couldn’t just pull a cat out of their grief. She wasn’t over it, she couldn’t just expect him to be with all his clan was going through.

“Blackstar’s ready to leave as well.” Tawnypelt said quietly.

“He is?” Brambleclaw mewed. Squirrelpaw saw the rising hope in his face.

Tawnypelt just looked bleak. “I think he made his mind up before I even came back.”

A silence followed. “But… did he believe you when you mentioned the prophecy?” Stormfur asked hesitantly.

Tawnypelt said nothing.

That was enough for their hope to fade.

It only got worse as Stormfur confirmed what most had expected. Leopardstar didn’t want to leave the clans. Squirrelpaw wasn’t so surprised by this when he mentioned how Riverclan’s territory hadn’t been affected by the Twolegs.

‘Yet’. She thought regrettably.

She tried to force understanding into her heart. If their land was safe and their prey was running well, then it only made sense for Leopardstar to want to remain. Why would she leave when she saw no threat to her clan?

But Squirrelpaw wondered if the leader had actually opened her eyes?

Had she not seen what was going on around them? Had she not paid attention to the loss of four-trees? She was standing on the ruined remains of the Great stone, wasn’t she? Did she really not think that this was going to find her clan sooner or later?

“Leopardstar’s convinced the Two-legs will never reach our territory.” Stormfur admitted, there was a thick clog of fright and dismay in his voice. He looked beyond drained and Squirrelpaw shivered at what Stormfur must have been subjected to when he was trying to convince his leader.

Tawnypelt looked like she was about to rub her shoulder against the grey Warrior’s, but she stopped at the last moment. Nervously, she kept in place. “Can’t she be convinced?”

“If Mistystar was here, maybe?” Stormfur flinched as if he’d been burnt. “But Hawkfrost isn’t convinced we’re in any danger either.” The grey warrior coughed to burn away the growl in his throat. “He… He told me I was a traitor for even going on the journey in the first place when I wasn’t even chosen.”

Squirrelpaw jerked where she sat, her mouth dry with disbelief. She turned, glaring at the so-called Riverclan Deputy. He sat looking up at the leaders, his mouth rested in a smooth frown. His icy blue eyes seemed to peer through the night like the predatory glare of a fox. He didn’t appear to notice the angry molly as he kept still apart from the cool sway of his tail.

A growl dripped over Squirrelpaw’s fangs. Stormfur had been a clan cat long before this mongrel had showed up, and he had the gall to call him a traitor?! “What does he know?” She hissed in a tight whisper. “Why would Leopardstar even let some rogue become Deputy anyway?”

She soon wished she’d never asked.

Crowpaw was staring at the Deputy, as well, with such a burning flame of hatred that Squirrelpaw found her own anger cool in her shock. Stormfur had begun to shiver in his own spot, a pounding shame on his muzzle.

“Was that his reward after he lied to Leopardstar?” Crowpaw hissed, twisting to face Stormfur. The tom’s teeth were bare in a creased snarl.

Stormfur couldn’t meet his eyes, “I-I don’t…” He trailed off and that seemed to make Crowpaw angrier.

“Don’t what?” He hissed. “Don’t understand what your clan’s done?!”

Brambleclaw stepped ahead, blocking Stormfur from Crowpaw’s view. His amber eyes looked down on the apprentice warningly. “Crowpaw, calm down. What’s going on?”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Crowpaw was barely keeping his voice low enough to not alert the leaders. His eyes blazed in the dark. “That fox-hearted rogue told Leopardstar that Windclan was stealing prey from Riverclan. Now she’s forbidden us from using the lake!”

“What?” Squirrelpaw squeaked.

“You heard me.” Crowpaw didn’t look back. His back arched, fur shaking with fury. “How are we supposed to survive without water?”

Squirrelpaw began to understand Crowpaw’s anger a little easier. The memory of Tallstar begging for Windclan came back, the reality of desperation in his actions, and now Leopardstar had made it all for nothing. She thought back to Webfoot and that skinny apprentice she’d seen when she’d come back, and apprehension surged in her legs. They hadn’t even been able to drink for who knew how long. No wonder Tallstar was ready to leave the forest.

Brambleclaw seemed to settle at the realisation of this information. He sighed deeply, already sounding softer.

“I’m sorry, Crowpaw. But there’s nothing I can do.” Stormfur said, “Leopardstar believes his story.” There was a quiver at the end of his voice.

Crowpaw caught it, his tail thumped against the ground. “And do you?”

Stromfur flinched, “I never said that.”

“I asked you a question, didn’t I?”

“Crowpaw, please!” Brambleclaw pressed stepping forward again. Despite the pity in his eyes, he still kept his voice firm. Crowpaw eased back a little but his mood didn’t waver. “I get how you feel, but Stormfur can’t change Leopardstar’s decision.”

“So Windclan cats should just die of thirst then because of some lies?” Crowpaw muttered indignantly. Then he began to stare at Brambleclaw a little more. “Or do you believe that rogue as well?”

Brambleclaw sighed, “Crowpaw-”

“We. Didn’t. Steal.” Crowpaw snarled out, “And if we did it’s because we didn’t have a choice! My clan shouldn’t be left for dead because of that. You never saw them.”

Squirrelpaw suddenly remembered the first time she saw Crowpaw. How he had lunged at Brambleclaw after they’d found his patrol… stealing.

She shook her head. It didn’t matter. Stealing prey didn’t mean a whole clan had to go without food or water. If Thunderclan was in such a position could she honestly say she wouldn’t do the same thing. Every clan had elders and mothers to feed. And this wasn’t a usual time for any clan, they couldn’t let any cat grow weak now. She couldn’t help but understand Crowpaw’s anger.

After all, it wasn’t that surprising to her.

The pure anger and quick blame in his tone; it was a Crowpaw she knew but still didn’t recognise.

“Your clan is not the only one that’s suffering, Crowpaw.” Tawnypelt cut in, casting a narrowed glance at the apprentice.

Crowpaw stood there for a moment, then he only hissed and turned away, staring at his paws. “No. But they may be the only one’s who can’t make it.” He didn’t need to lookback at his leader to prove his point.

Every cat fell silent again.

No cat may have noticed the flicker behind his anger, the trembling in his tail, but Squirrelpaw knew what she saw.

He was hurting. So much.

She couldn’t stop herself. She stepped towards him, hoping to swell her fur with warmth, and pressed her side against his. A small comfort, but one she wanted to give him nonetheless. It wasn’t because she… Well, nevermind. No. Windclan was on the verge of ruin and Crowpaw looked like he was trying to balance it all on his shoulders. Her pelt gingerly rubbed his and she swallowed down the stuttering in her chest. “I’m so sorry, Crowpaw. If there’s anything Thunderclan can do, I’m sure Firestar will-”

Her pelt went cold as Crowpaw stepped away with a low growl. He wouldn’t face her as he spat towards the ground. “I don’t need your pity. I’ll make sure that Windclan survives this, with or without the other clans.”

Squirrelpaw stared.

She stared and stared and stared.

The cat beside her didn’t look back once. Squirrelpaw blinked to check if she was seeing things correctly. This cat had the dark fur, the sleek frame and the blue eyes of Crowpaw, but this couldn’t be him surely. She knew he was moody, she knew he was in pain, and she knew how they weren’t beside each other by the sun-drown place anymore.

But this… even after the cold goodbye and the distance he had drawn…

No. He sounded genuinely angry this time.

At her.

That wasn’t Crowpaw. That hadn’t been her… After everything…

What was going on?

“Don’t be like that!” Tawnypelt snapped through her teeth. Crowpaw growled at her. “I’m sorry Crowpaw, but you’re being foolish if you think any clan will survive without the rest of us! Did you learn nothing from the journey?”

“Tawnypelt!” Her brother pleaded, “Please! We’re here for a sign! If we fight now, we can’t show Starclan that the clans will work together!” His amber eyes burst with pain at his words.

Tawnypelt sighed, her expression was sullen, “It isn’t us that will decide that, Brambleclaw. Who knows if the sign will come?”

“Maybe it’s too late for that.” Stormfur mewed weakly.

“Stormfur, you can’t say that.” Brambleclaw insisted, his voice broken with shock. “Think about… Would Feathertail want you to give up now?” He sounded desperate to keep the groups hopes alive. It was clear belief was slipping out of all of them.

The sound of her name was like the chill of invisible rain.

Stormfur looked up slowly, his eyes were dull. “I wish we’d never stayed in the mountains.” He said softly, his eyes travelled through the group before sliding back to the dark mud.

No one could say anything.

It didn’t matter much as the leaders’ voices took over the clearing.

There was no agreement between them. They were arguing, divided, split as they had always been.

Like Stormfur had said, Leopardstar refused to leave her territory when they still had food and water to thrive from. She didn’t offer any share to the clans.

Blackstar wanted to leave the forest, he said there wouldn’t be anything left soon anyway, but he didn’t want to lead his warriors on the words of some badger. He would decide where they went. He made that clear with a flash of his eyes, as if he anticipated the other clans to argue. Tawnypelt’s jaw dropped when he announced he’d be leading Shadowclan to the Twolegplace, but her voice was gone. It offered no match to her leader’s.

Beside her, Brambleclaw had grown stiff with inconceivable panic. He looked at his sister, frozen with aghast fear, trembling at the thought of leaving her forever.

But no words of comfort came out of him.

No comfort came from any of them.

Squirrelpaw was finding it hard to breathe. Every minute they waited for a sign just made the poison in the air thicker. Her sight had gone from glassy to clouded in a matter of minutes, but she found that no tears dampened her cheeks. Perhaps she was too stunned to cry.

She just didn’t know what had gone wrong? She wasn’t an idiot, she had known, and expected, that things would be different once they came home. But when she looked at the cats she had spent moons eating, sleeping and travelling with, the cats she considered her friends, she couldn’t believe what she saw.

Even if they were back at the clans, did that really mean they had to act like strangers?

She remembered nights where they had sat together telling stories, unafraid to laugh or moan at the jokes they shared. They had been warm in the growing trust they had established. But here, under the shadows of their leaders, they all looked stiff and cold, scared to even look at each other. Their words were as blunt as winter bark, wrapped in thorns that pierced through them all.

They had been through so much. Squirrelpaw knew that. She’d been there. She remembered it all.

So why did it look like they couldn’t?

Where was the sign? That was all they needed, right? If that came, it would have to make the leaders know they were telling the truth! So why wouldn’t it come? Squirrelpaw could only watch as the impatient leader of Shadowclan stormed off the Great rock, denouncing their prophecy as foolish. She also saw her father try to stop him, meeting the bared fangs of Blackstar as he did so.

Squirrelpaw’s stomach turned. Midnight had told them that the leaders would have to listen. But they were still snarling like enemies.

They couldn’t come together.

Maybe that was why Starclan refused to respond. Why waste time on cats who couldn’t believe what they had already foretold?

Squirrelpaw breathed in to stop herself from shaking. No… No! They had to survive this! If they couldn’t carry on then why had they even gone in the first place? Why had Feathertail…

It didn’t matter what interjections the chosen warriors made. The leaders of Riverclan and Windclan had made up their minds.

In fact, Squirrelpaw only saw Leopardstar’s attention drift once.

When she saw her hulking brown Deputy pound onto the Great Rock and sneer at the leaders himself. “If the other clans want to leave,” Hawkfrost said carefully, his fox like eyes glinting, “I think they should. Don’t let us stop you when you can’t stop us from staying here.” His mouth curved into a thin smile that appeared to taunt the angry eyes of Firestar and Tallstar.

Squirrelpaw couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her tail flared. How could this tom address the leaders like that? He seemed to flicker in the shimmers of moonlight, expanding like some dark dream into the clouds. He seemed to burn with an arrogance that made Squirrelpaw sick.

But what truly caught her was how Leopardstar said nothing to this disrespect. If anything, her eyes shone with agreement.

She believed this tom, this cat who had sauntered into her clan just over a moon ago, over the word of her own Warrior.

Over the sacrifice of her dead Warrior.

Squirrelpaw’s surprise began to bubble into rage. It wasn’t isolated as Brambleclaw twisted up to face the tom with a furious snarl. “You just want our territory!” He accused, his face contorted savagely.

Hawkfrost narrowed his eyes, but he simply cocked his head to the side as if addressing a kit. “What would you need it for?” He said smoothly. He wouldn’t even deny it. “If you wish to abandon your territory, it can’t surprise you that other cats would take it. That’s just nature.”

“What would you know of our nature?” Brambleclaw shouted, “You’re not even clan born!”

Hawkfrost only stared, unwavered.

“Brambleclaw!” Firestar hissed. “Show some respect!”

Squirrelpaw turned to her father in cold horror. Was he really defending this fox-heart over his own Warrior? She knew it was important to not start a fight, but she hardly could see how he could snap at Brambleclaw when Leopardstar had only watched Hawkfrost admit how he wanted to steal their own territory!

As Brambleclaw gazed at his paws in shame, Squirrelpaw could only watch, teeth clenched, as Hawkfrost looked down at them with cold satisfaction.

She looked at her clanmate in deep sympathy. This wasn’t fair! Brambleclaw was the one who had been given a message from Starclan, Brambleclaw was the one who had risked his life to follow their instructions, and Hawkfrost was the one who was standing next to his leader in triumph. How was this just? She wanted to scream at the mongrel herself, but she didn’t have the chance as the air was filled by her father’s pleas as Blackstar stormed away with his clan.

She couldn’t say anything, she could only sit there, fighting for breath as Tawnypelt, looking defeated, was forced to follow her leader, unable to even give a goodbye to her gasping brother.

Stormfur was soon forced to leave as well. He offered Squirrelpaw a sad goodbye and a promise that he would try to talk with them again soon, but he didn’t sound like he believed it.

Even when Tallstar scrambled from the Great rock, shouting in a withered voice that they needed to make a truce, Leopardstar didn’t bat an eye. She strode off, eyes cold, followed by the proud, smirking Hawkfrost. Stormfur could only follow, head dipped. He was the only one who looked back when Tallstar fell from the Great rock in his panic, his fall only lessened by the quick pounce of Crowpaw. Then he slid into the shadows.

Squirrelpaw could feel the failure on her tongue.

It swarmed around the Great rock like a cloud of locusts. There would be no sign tonight. And there would be no agreement either, only conflict.

She heard her father’s sad voice above them. A leader’s tone, soft with defeat. “I couldn’t convince them.”

No one could.

Squirrelpaw gazed into the shadows where her friends had disappeared. Beyond her sight, they had returned to the ruins of their own clans. And yet, their leaders couldn’t believe them. They had denied the meaning of their journey and relied on their own decisions, no matter the cost of the other clans.

The only hope she could find came from how Tallstar was on her father’s side. But even that was thin as the Windclan leader was desperate to leave soon, while her father begged him for more time to reassure the other clans. It wasn’t a surprise to the molly. She only needed to look at Tallstar to understand his frenzy. But like her father, she knew they couldn’t just leave the others so easily.

“Why didn’t the sign come?” Squirrelpaw said breathlessly. Why hadn’t Starclan come to them? She turned to her remaining friends and was heartbroken by the hopeless look on Brambleclaw’s face. His shoulders had sunken and his head was low. He looked as if he couldn’t find the strength to lift a paw. Crowpaw hadn’t seemed to hear her as he kept close to his leader who sat, shaking, talking with Firestar.

“I don’t know.” Brambleclaw said hollowly.

Squirrelpaw blinked rapidly, “What are we going to do now? We can’t just leave the other clans?” She couldn’t imagine the thought of doing that. If they kept apart who knew what that would mean for the clans. Squirrelpaw was certain that no clan would survive if they didn’t stay together. She couldn’t just let Tawnypelt and Stormfur go that easily!

Brambleclaw let out a mew of pain. “It’s like Tawnypelt said.” His voice cracked, “It isn’t up to us anymore.”

“No… We-We have to do something!”

“What can we do?” Brambleclaw looked up and Squirrelpaw shivered at how dark his eyes looked. “We can’t change the minds of the other leaders. Not even their own Warriors could do that.”

Squirrelpaw shook her head. The logic of her clanmates words was something she refused to accept. “No! Starclan gave you that message because they wanted us all to save the clans! That’s what we have to do!”

“I want to believe you, Squirrelpaw.” Brambleclaw looked up to the expanding darkness. He seemed to be pleading internally for a light he didn’t think would come. “But what if we can’t.”

“We have to!” Squirrelpaw squeaked. She would not allow herself to believe this was all for nothing! They had to save the clans! They had to!

It was what Feathertail had died for.

Squirrelpaw fixed her brow into a determined frown, she forced herself to keep straight. “Things will work out, Brambleclaw!” She meowed. When Brambleclaw just silently looked down at his paws again, Squirrelpaw didn’t waste a moment. She fixed herself beside him and wrapped her tail around him. “You’ll see. We’re all going to be okay.”

They would be, she told herself. We’re going to be okay.

We’re going to be okay.

She repeated it in her mind until her vision was clear.

There was a silent appreciation in Brambleclaw’s eyes, but he didn’t smile. His tail patted Squirrelpaw’s back thankfully, before lying still again. Squirrelpaw sighed, disappointed, but she backed off. The tom clearly wanted a little space to think. All she needed to do was remind him when he was too much in doubt.

Her head turned towards her father and Tallstar again, they were stood beside their medicine cats discussing the failure of this night.

“You’re too proud, Firestar.” Tallstar rasped, his eyes were narrowed. “If you wait around for the other clans to agree, both of our clans will die. You know that.”

“Tallstar.” Firestar said softly, fighting to keep straight. “I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t… I can’t just let my clan leave the others in this chaos.”

“And what about when the chaos consumes us both?!” Tallstar demanded.

Squirrelpaw’s ears fixed back, her heart suddenly stabbing with pity for her father. How could any leader be asked to lead in a situation like this? She saw Crowpaw watching a tail-length away. His fur was flat on his back as he watched his leader warily, like he expected a sudden attack from Firestar.

Squirrelpaw tried to swallow down her anger. But that was difficult. When she looked at Crowpaw, a terrible feeling rattled in her chest. The bitter sting of his words, the lack of trust, the assurance of his own isolation, it consumed Squirrelpaw’s heart like a hungry adder.

She cringed and forced herself to look back at him again. But when she did, she was so stung by what she saw. This wasn’t the Crowpaw she knew. This bitter shell wasn’t her friend, it couldn’t be. He was in pain, just like her. Despite what he said and how he acted, Squirrelpaw knew, she just knew, that there was a part of him that needed her.

Just like a part of her needed him.

This wasn’t about how she truly felt.

More than anything in the world, Crowpaw was her friend and if he needed her, she would be there.

Besides, a voice in her head had reminded her of something she needed to do.

Biting her lip, waiting a moment, then taking another deep breath, she stepped towards him. Crowpaw’s ear flicked and he turned back, upon seeing her his angry expression softened somewhat but it was by no means recognisable yet.

Squirrelpaw gulped, shaking away the hurt of feeling how awkward it had become to just talk with him. “Crowpaw?”

“What is it?” His voice was sharp.

Squirrelpaw’s tail sank a little, but she kept her face straight and gentle. “I just…” She looked at him deeply, hoping to catch the part of him that remembered the journey. The good parts. “I’m happy that our clans will be travelling together.”

Crowpaw bristled, “We should be leaving soon. My clan can’t afford to wait.”

“I know.” Squirrelpaw said gently, “Mine can’t either, but we just need more time to-”

“We don’t have time!” Crowpaw snapped, his voice was a quiet lash. He stepped closer so his leader wouldn’t hear him. “We tried to convince the others, but they wouldn’t listen! That’s their fault!”

Squirrelpaw gasped, “Crowpaw, we can’t just leave without them! What about Stormfur and Tawnypelt?”

“What about my clanmates? What about yours? Do you really want to let them suffer because Leopardstar and Blackstar can’t see sense?”

Squirrelpaw’s brow furrowed, she couldn’t stop herself. “What about their clans? Their clanmates shouldn’t be allowed to suffer instead! We need to try and convince them.”

Crowpaw scoffed, “I’m sure hunger will convince them soon enough!”

Squirrelpaw shivered. She didn’t like the bitterness in Crowpaw’s voice. She forced herself to ignore the voice that screamed that was what Crowpaw wanted to happen to them. He wasn’t the kind of cat who’d want that for anycat… she was sure…

“I don’t want to argue with you, Crowpaw.”

“Then what do you want then?” He looked back at his leader carefully.

Squirrelpaw’s jaw rolled back and forth, there was a biting sensation in her chest. “Greystripe told me to tell you something.”

Crowpaw paused.

He knew who Greystripe was. He knew who his family were.

Squirrelpaw saw a slight trembling in Crowpaw’s tail. She blinked when she felt her eyes start to become glassy again. “He wanted me to thank you. For… being Feathertail’s friend.”

Crowpaw’s ears flattened hard against his skull. Instantly he turned to Squirrelpaw, his face numb with bewilderment. It felt so new that Squirrelpaw was caught off guard.

Then she allowed the hope to fill her again.

Feathertail.

That was who they were bonded by, she was the cat that would always be in their memory. She was the reason for the hope that Squirrelpaw kept so close to her heart.

She felt, she just felt, that Crowpaw had to share that too.

But then Crowpaw killed that hope with three words.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Whatever response Squirrelpaw had expected, it wasn’t that. She hadn’t mentally fortified herself for the bleak audacity in his voice.

The air suddenly felt like it was stinging.

“What did you just say?” Squirrelpaw whispered, her voice was sharp as her pupils shrank into tiny pricks that blurred the darkness of the night. Through her trembling sight, she found she could barely distinguish Crowpaw from the dark anymore.

And what she did see, the sunken cavern of his face, looked like a complete stranger.

“I said it doesn’t matter.” The darkness let out a soft growl that rumbled and buzzed in the night. “What good did being her friend do when she isn’t even here?”

The night began to shrink. Squirrelpaw began to shake.

It didn’t matter?

Those three words began to glow red in Squirrelpaw’s mind.

“She was our friend.” Squirrelpaw said, her voice tight. “Of course it matters.”

“How?” The hollow voice responded, “Did it stop her from dying?”

“That’s not the point.”

“There’s no point to it at all!”

Squirrelpaw’s heart began to burn, “You don’t mean that. You don’t.” She said it again to give him a chance. “How can you say that? She would have done anything for you! For any of us! You know that!”

“Yeah I do!” The voice hissed, “That’s why she’s dead.” There was a long, glaring silence. “If that’s why she’s dead then it would have been better if we hadn’t been friends to begin with!”

In the draw of her scattered breath, Squirrelpaw’s cold denial transformed into a storm of fury! She twisted her head up to the cat, her breath racing in a fierce rage. He didn’t even look stirred. He just sat there, glaring at his paws as if he had said enough.

It didn’t matter. That was what he’d said.

Their whole friendship.

Feathertail’s laugh.

Feathertail’s kindness.

Feathertail’s smile.

None of that mattered?

By all accounts, Squirrelpaw realised with a simmering blaze, the implication of those three words was that Feathertail had died for nothing. Whether it was his intention or not, Squirrelpaw did not care. Feathertail had died for him, because she loved him, because she loved her clan.

Did her sacrifice mean nothing then?

“How dare you?” Squirrelpaw said, her voice was rough and scratchy. “You can’t be serious!”

Crowpaw looked up at her silently, then with a sharp grind of his teeth he turned away again. “Why don’t you think about it? She died for all of us! She would have been better off if she’d just looked after herself!”

“She sacrificed herself because she wanted us to survive!”

“And now she isn’t here!” Crowpaw spat out, he shook his head with a hiss.

“I can’t believe you! Have you forgotten what she wanted? She wanted the clans to work together! She wanted us to be friends!”

“And look where we are now.” He wouldn’t even look at her. He couldn’t do that much! “Look around you, Squirrelpaw! The clans aren’t going to change just because a Warrior wants them to!”

Squirrelpaw stared at him icily, her paws tensed and her claws scraped into the mud. “That isn’t what she believed! And how can you say that? You said…” Squirrelpaw fumbled for her breath like she was reaching for air above a roaring river. “You said you wanted us all to continue meeting.”

She wanted Crowpaw to acknowledge that. It was something. It was a memory. It was hope.

Crowpaw didn’t even bat an eye. “Yeah? Well… that was my mistake.”

Mistake…

“Are you kidding?” Squirrelpaw said gently. She had lost the effort to find her voice straining.

Crowpaw didn’t respond, he just looked back at his leader.

Mistake.

Was that how he saw everything?

Squirrelpaw sat there not listening as Tallstar and Firestar began to end their discussion.

She felt like she was waiting as her eyes kept fixed on Crowpaw. He still had his back turned to her. Maybe she was waiting for the slightest break that showed he was lying. That he didn’t regret everything he said. That everything important to Squirrelpaw still meant something. That she still had a reason to hold on to the memories of the friends she had made.

Crowpaw didn’t move.

Squirrelpaw felt something hopeless inside her.

She breathed in and out.

Fine.

“Fine.” She said to the dark back. “You know what? If she could see you now, she wouldn’t even want to see you again.”

There was no reaction.

She could sense that Windclan were about to leave. She wouldn’t let him have the power of ending this conversation. Of ending their friendship. She rose to her paws and let her heart speak before her mind.

“In fact,” She said in a voice she couldn’t believe was hers. “She’d be ashamed of you.”

She didn’t wait to see any reaction, inside of her was a putrid pool of satisfaction and regret that was too heavy to let go of.

She didn’t wait for her clanmates, she just began to stalk her way back. She’d tell her father and Brambleclaw that there was nothing else to hear. Sliding through mud and sap and destruction was too easy for the molly now. That terrified her.

But she would wait until she got back to the gully where her clanmates were sleeping before she let everything truly take place in her heart.

The hopeless situation.

The loss of her friends.

The belief she struggled to hold.

She wouldn’t cry. She told herself.

She wouldn’t cry.

She cried. Nestled in the dark gully between her sister and Shrewpaw, in this place that screamed the truth that her home was gone, she cried silently. Her face buried into two paws, sucking in her sobs like she was hiding from predators, she let her eyes water until they were sore and she was too exhausted to do anything else.

But even as she fell asleep, she couldn’t ignore the shadows over the faces of her friends.

And she couldn’t stop the pain of feeling so alone once more.

She wanted to dream of hope.

But her thoughts were black when she finally fell into the haze.

…

When Squirrelpaw opened her eyes, she was shocked when she didn’t smell the sharp rot of the gully. Instead the air smelt ripe and sweet, like they were glistening somehow over her fur. She looked around and saw a vast field, seeming to go on forever. It reminded her of the sea from the sun-drown place, so open and free.

All around her were glittering strands of grass, as well as patches of flowers whose colours seemed to stream into the sky itself. Squirrelpaw could only look up in astonishment as she saw the sky was a bright shadow of dark blue, like how the night began to glisten before a sunrise. Beams of light seemed to hand in the air itself around her. Were they stars? If they were, Squirrelpaw had never seen stars like them. She’d never seen anything so beautiful.

She looked around in awe. Where was she?

What kind of dream was this? It wasn’t like those that passed between a blink, she felt alive here, in control.

And entirely at peace.

She felt like she didn’t want to wake up.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Squirrelpaw froze.

Not out of fright.

But out of something strange and blissful.

She couldn’t give herself this kind of hope surely. It wasn’t… It wasn’t possible.

The sweet laugh echoed over the dream like a soft cloud.

Despite the painful truth of her reality, Squirrelpaw couldn’t bring herself to ignore the voice that she knew. It was warm. It was bright. It made her chest gleam in a way she hadn’t felt for so long.

Squirrelpaw held her breath as she turned.

A tree-length away from her, a molly stood there. She was glittering under the lights around her, like she was part of them herself. They sparkled over her silver fur like stars that could never go out.

Squirrelpaw had to be dreaming.

This hope couldn’t be true.

She breathed slowly as she met the eyes she knew so well. The ocean blue eyes glowed as they connected with hers.

“Hello Squirrelpaw.” The soft voice cooed. “I missed you.”

Everything in Squirrelpaw told her to keep back and safe from this certain trick.

But Feathertail, real or not, was there. And she gave Squirrelpaw the one thing she missed so much.

A friend’s smile.

It was that that made Squirrelpaw run. And when she found herself buried in the soft fur of her friend, she couldn’t bring herself to care anymore if this was real or just a dream.

But then she caught Feathertail’s scent. Familiar and striking.

And it all became real.

Squirrelpaw cried. But nothing could stop her from smiling.

…

#squirrelflight #crowfeather #brambleclaw #tawnypelt #Stormfur #Feathertail #the new prophecy #Warrior Cats #Warriors #fanfiction #squirrelcrow #crowsquirrel #i like your laugh

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twilights-800-cats · 2 years ago

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Chapter 11

Crowflight woke the next morning to a camp in motion.

Ashfoot had already assigned everything, it seemed – from hunting and border patrols to teams that were meant to clear away the remaining debris from the clearing. It seemed as if he and the patrol from the day before had been given unspoken permission to sleep in, as he hadn’t been woken up to help out.

Crowflight had to duck his head to keep from being clonked by a branch being carried past him. Poppyfoot mewed a muffled “Sorry!” as she walked by, determined to drag the branch to the boundaries of camp.

“Hang on, let me help!” Crowflight called. He got to his paws and shook out his pelt, springing over to the tortoiseshell she-cat's side. She paused, blinking gratefully at him as he grasped the opposite end of the branch in his jaws.

Together, they hauled it over to where Whitetail was directing Thornpaw and Thistlepaw. The apprentices were working on a patchwork wall made of the existing gorse and the bushes torn from the central clearing.

Beside Whitetail was a pile of branches, and it was here that Poppyfoot and Crowflight put their burden. Crowflight held back a sneeze at the sharp smell of so much raw sap.

Whitetail couldn’t seem to. She blustered hard before thanking the two, croaking, “Construction is difficult!”

“It sure is,” Poppyfoot agreed.

Crowflight peered at the white warrior. Her sneeze had been violent, and her nose was running. Her eyes were glazed, too, and something about her appearance rang as a warning to him. As if conscious of his gaze, Whitetail tilted her head away.

“Have you seen Barkface?” Crowflight pressed.

Whitetail shook her head. With a crackly voice she countered, “It’s just the sap...”

Crowflight glanced at Poppyfoot, who also look concerned, now. Whitetail’s symptoms didn’t come from sniffing sap – Crowflight didn’t have to be a medicine cat to know that. “Go see Barkface,” he told her.

Whitetail’s ear flicked. “Excuse me!” she rasped, her watery eyes narrowing, “Last I checked, I was senior warrior here...”

“Crowflight’s right, Whitetail,” Poppyfoot insisted. “I can take over here. There isn’t any harm in making sure you’re okay!”

Whitetail blinked, looking stubborn. For a moment, Crowflight thought she might snap at them – and in fact, she did open her jaws to say something, only to have a cough interrupt her words. That seemed to be more than enough convincing. Whitetail nodded her head in agreement and padded away, tail drooping.

“I hope it’s not anything serious,” Poppyfoot fretted. “A greencough outbreak would be a horrible way to start things here...”

Crowflight had to agree. Leafbare was ready to strike, if the cold, cutting winds and frost on the moor grass had anything to say about it. He watched Whitetail approach the caves beneath the rowan and, after a moment, enter the darkness.

“We need to get the camp done,” Crowflight sighed. “There’ll be greencough for sure if we’re all sleeping outside in the snow.”

Poppyfoot nodded in agreement. “As far as I know, they haven’t even decided where the rain dens are to be...”

Crowflight tried not to bristle. He looked to his mother, who was directing Emberstep to do something with the clot of branches she had at her paws. Where was Onewhisker? What was he thinking, not establishing the rain dens yet? All the work Ashfoot was coordinating wouldn’t mean anything if there was nowhere to shelter from bad weather.

There was nothing for it, though, but to help out. He turned to the camp wall, where Thornpaw looked as if she’d gotten stuck, and moved to help wrest her from the grasp of the gorse. After pulling her free, he set to work with the apprentices, learning from Poppyfoot the best ways to wind branches around one another without having them snapping back into one’s muzzle – not that poor Thistlepaw didn’t get slapped more than once.

Onewhisker didn’t appear in camp until near sunhigh, trotting in with Smokewillow. Both warriors had rabbits in their jaws. Crowflight pulled away from the camp wall, hunger stirring in his belly.

“Go eat,” Poppyfoot urged.

Crowflight thanked her and moved away from the camp wall, his paws sore in ways he hadn’t thought paws could get sore. If we cats were meant to play with twigs like that, wouldn’t StarClan have made it easier?

“Smokewillow and I marked the border by the Horseplace,” Onewhisker was telling those gathered near him. “WindClan’s borders are complete!”

Crowflight sighed. He supposed that that was a decent reason to be out of camp, but he hadn’t failed to notice that Onewhisker had left all construction duties to Ashfoot – and was continuing to do so, even having returned for the day.

Robinwing’s eyes went wide, and she turned to Smokewillow. “Was it dangerous? Horses as so big...”

Smokewillow twitched his whiskers, and pushed a bit of rabbit towards Robinwing. Nearby, Duskwhisker scoffed and rolled her eyes. Crowflight resisted the urge to copy her.

“No danger at all,” Smokewillow crowed, watching Robinwing eat. “Horses are dumb; even if they could jump that Twoleg fence, they won’t.”

Crowflight took a share of rabbit from the temporary fresh-kill pile, arranged against one of the hills. We need a better place for this, too, or it’ll all spoil... he thought as he lay down beside Duskwhisker to eat. He’d thought to share the meal with her, but as Smokewillow went on and on, she turned away from the conversation altogether, looking irritated as she padded away.

“The more dangerous thing were the loners we scented,” Smokewillow was meowing.

Onewhisker nodded along. “There were three, at least.”

“Loners?” Robinwing breathed. Her fur bristled, and her tail curled tightly around her body. “Are they dangerous?”

“Likely not,” Onewhisker soothed. “We think they live in the barn, and they’re probably mousers like Barley and Ravenpaw in the old forest.”

“There might be kits, too,” Smokewillow mused.

Robinwing’s eyes rounded, and she sighed, “Oh... well, we wouldn’t do anything to kits!”

Crowflight polished off his meal. “Was there a place to bury Tallstar?” he asked, running his tongue along his muzzle.

Onewhisker’s eyes darkened. Tallstar’s body was still laying out on the rocks above the medicine cat’s den, chilled by the cold and stiff from death. It was WindClan’s way to leave a body out in the wind for some days, to let their scent create a trail to the stars, but they were reaching their limits – their former leader would attract predators soon enough.

“We thought of burying him beneath the rowan,” Onewhisker explained. “Tonight. Any longer and the ground might get too hard to dig through.”

“That sounds good,” Crowflight murmured. He glanced up at the rowan tree, swaying protectively over the camp. “He’d like that, I think.”

“We did find another spot that might be good for burials,” Smokewillow pointed out. “It’s not far from camp...”

As Smokewillow described the spot – a spot of lower hills with soft soil and lots of heather – Barkface approached. The brown tom pulled Onewhisker aside and muttered something into his ear that made the WindClan leader flinch.

Crowflight frowned, and Smokewillow and Robinwing stopped conversing to stare, wondering what the conversation was for. Crowflight glanced back at the medicine cat’s den, from where Whitetail had not yet emerged.

Oh, no.

Onewhisker turned to them, and sighed heavily. “Whitetail has whitecough.”

Robinwing gasped, and Smokewillow’s tail bushed in alarm. Crowflight’s claws curled into the soil.

“Now, now,” Barkface soothed, “it’s just whitecough. Not greencough, not yet. Whitetail is being quarantined in the den, and it can be treated easily in these early stages – but we need the herbs to do it.”

“Do we have herbs?” Robinwing wondered. “We’ve only been here for two days!”

At this, Barkface shook his head. “Ryewhisper and I have gathered some leaves here and there nearby, but they’re not any that will help Whitetail right now. We need tansy or catmint, something for sickness. With leafbare breathing down our necks... I don’t think I can find them on the moor when a lot of plants are already succumbing to cold.”

Onewhisker frowned in thought. “ThunderClan might have them,” he suggested. “Their forest doesn’t feel the chill as immediately as we do.”

“That’s true,” Barkface agreed.

Onewhisker’s eyes turned to Crowflight. “You know where ThunderClan’s camp is, yes?”

Crowflight nodded.

“Then take Ryewhisper with you and see if Brackenfur has anything to help,” Onewhisker ordered. “We need to stop this before it spreads.”

“I’m ready now,” Crowflight declared. Warmth filled his body – creating walls and barriers wasn’t something he was good at, but this was.

“I’ll get Ryewhisper, then,” Barkface grunted. The old tom hefted himself to his paws and trotted back to his den.

Onewhisker turned to Smokewillow and Robinwing. “Spread the news, but not the panic,” he said calmly. “Tell anyone with any symptoms to seek Barkface immediately. There’s no reason to hesitate.”

Both cats nodded, and off they went. Crowflight watched them flit from one group to another to spread the word. Crowflight wasn’t sure that panic was being avoided in this way, but no cat was outright losing their fur. That had to be something.

And then a dark shape emerged from one of these thickets of conversation, and Crowflight suppressed a sigh. Mudclaw.

He prowled up to Onewhisker and growled, his shoulders squared, “We need the rain dens.”

Onewhisker curled his lip. “I know that.”

“We need them now.”

Onewhisker’s gaze sharpened. He turned his muzzle away from Mudclaw and snapped, his voice traveling across the clearing: “Ashfoot! Start work on the rain dens!”

Ashfoot looked up from her task and, after a startled moment, nodded. With her tail she drew Poppyfoot, the apprentices, and Emberstep to her and immediately set to work.

Mudclaw scoffed, glaring at Onewhisker. “She told you to start them when we got here,” he growled. “Why did you dare hesitate?”

Crowflight stared incredulously at Onewhisker. Had he deliberately ignored Ashfoot’s recommendation? Why? Had he been the reason whitecough was allowed to infect Whitetail?

“There were other things to focus on!” Onewhisker’s tail bristled and his voice rose defensively. “Someone wanted the walls set up! I couldn’t predict whitecough-”

“No, you couldn't. No one can. But you don’t have to – sickness is as much a fact this season as the cold itself.” Mudclaw hissed. “But you, running to ThunderClan to solve all your problems? That you can predict.”

The dark tabby cat turned away before Onewhisker could respond. The thin tom was trembling, his claws digging deep into the earth. Crowflight took a half-step away from his leader. He was sure that Onewhisker might’ve struck Mudclaw, had the former deputy not already walked away.

More than that, though, Onewhisker did not meet Crowflight’s eye, as if afraid of the obvious question burning there.

He was saved by Ryewhisper’s arrival. The small, splotched cat looked between Onewhisker and Crowflight, his whiskers twitching nervously.

“Uh...” Ryewhisper looked as if he might be close to commenting on what just happened, but he clearly thought better of it. To Crowflight, he mewed, “L-Lead the way.”

———————————————————

They walked across the moors in silence.

Crowflight didn’t want to think about the implications of Onewhisker ignoring Ashfoot’s advice about the rain dens – it made him too angry, too frustrated. He’d show up in ThunderClan’s camp with his claws unsheathed if he lingered on his mother being dismissed with whitecough in the Clan as consequences.

Instead, he thought about the route ahead, doing his best to trace a path through the moors and the forest to reach ThunderClan’s camp. He didn’t want to stumble into it like Nightfrost had and sprain his leg; or worse, break his neck.

He also didn’t want Ryewhisper to think that he didn’t know where he was going. Ryewhisper had been appointed medicine cat apprentice to Barkface before Crowflight had been born. This cat had been there at his kitting, and knew so many intimate details about his early life – every scrape and scratch, every sneeze or cough... it had never taken much for Ashfoot to run to Barkface or Ryewhisper.

Crowflight had never liked the fussing, but Ryewhisper had been a fun part of the frequent visits to the medicine cat den. While Barkface was patiently trying to deal with a paranoid mother, Ryewhisper had played games of moss-ball and find-the-seed with little Crowkit, distracting him from the more boring parts of coming to the medicine den.

Though Ryewhisper was categorically a jumpy, nervous sort of cat, Crowflight had come to understand that it was because the small cat found it difficult to relate to the way warriors thought. He’d found his purpose as a medicine cat early on and wanted nothing to do with hunting anything but herbs, it seemed. When it came to his duties, he proved to be quite good at them – good enough for Barkface’s tastes, at any rate.

Blessedly, Ryewhisper’s skittish personality kept them from talking about the confrontation in camp as they made their way into the forest. The only sounds on their little patrol were the sounds of nature – rustling, dry grass, water from the river, and the creak of trees in the cold air.

Crowflight guided Ryewhisper to the tree-bridge, and when the patchy tom balked at the thought, he crossed it first to show how stable it was. Ryewhisper gave a quiet apology for his nervousness before letting Crowflight lead the way again.

Though they were on a peaceful mission, Crowflight couldn’t help but feel tense as they crossed the border. Already the smell of ThunderClan seemed so sharp, so hostile and alien. It felt like the days of the Great Journey were far, far behind, and enemy warriors were behind every furl of bracken.

They wove through the trees, their progress slowed by the rugged terrain and constant interruptions of roots or bushes. Already the smell of ThunderClan patrols had come to permeate the area, and Crowflight imagined that the forest cats were beginning to work out their hunting trails and patrol routes like ants in the dirt.

The smell of ThunderClan grew more intense the deeper they went. Crowflight tried to find the scents of the exploratory patrol, but they were buried by ThunderClan scents by now. He did vaguely recall the route, however, and the ThunderClan trails all seemed to lead to one point, which made it easier – after all, their camp only had one single safe point of entry.

Crowflight’s whiskers trembled as he neared a clump of brambles, and the smell of ThunderClan was overwhelming. He raised his tail for Ryewhisper to stop as he scented the air.

This must be the camp, he thought. He could smell Nightfrost on the brambles, just a touch stronger than the other scents.

Crowflight was shocked to have stumbled upon the camp like this. The bramble wall was well constructed already, firm and natural-looking as it barred access to the only gap the stone hollow had. The barbs pointed outward in an unfriendly fashion, and it stank of ThunderClan markers. Ryewhisper gave it a sniff and coughed.

Crowflight twitched his tail. He was uncertain as to why they hadn’t been discovered yet, but perhaps there were many patrols out at this time of day. He could faintly hear the sounds of activity beyond the brambles, so it didn’t seem as if the camp wasn’t wholly abandoned. With Ryewhisper by his side, there would be little chance of warriors outright attacking.

He spotted a gap in the brambles, just barely visible to the naked eye, and found it was big enough for a cat to squeeze through to the other side, if a little short for WindClan cats. Crowflight led Ryewhisper through, ducking his head to keep it from scraping against the thorns.

“Intruders!”

The call went out just as Crowflight and Ryewhisper emerged into ThunderClan’s camp. It was a wide, smooth area, hugged tightly by the straight-cut stone walls of the hollow. There were several fresh patches of dirt here and there, where bushes had been dug out and moved, and some vines still clung to parts of the camp, but otherwise it seemed like everything had been swiftly cleaned and arranged.

Sootfur, the cat that had called out, was a gray streak, heading for the back of the camp. He hopped up several of the jutting stones and slipped into a crack in the rocks situated on a prominent ledge. Crowflight guessed that was where Tinystar was sleeping.

“What’re you doing here?” asked Dustpelt. The dark tabby was one of the few warriors in the clearing, and his pelt was covered in bracken bits and leaves. His eyes flitted between Crowflight and Ryewhisper, suspicion in his gaze despite the medicine cat’s presence.

“I need to speak with Brackenfur,” Ryewhisper mewed, stepping forward. His tail was curled close to his hind leg, a sign of his nerves.

Crowflight didn’t suspect Dustpelt of outright attacking – he was a grumpy cat, but he wouldn’t dare break the warrior code unless one of them moved first. Instead, Crowflight took that moment to look over the camp in more detail. There he saw a low-hanging bush that he guessed was a warrior’s den. Here he spotted a small bush, an apprentice’s den. There were several other places that might serve as good dens, too, and it seemed like they were being built up even if they weren’t needed yet.

They seem so put-together, he thought. Everything was so clean and organized here, compared to back on the moors where the rain dens hadn’t even been created yet. Was it Dustpelt? Nightfrost had spoken of his former mentor like he was a force of nature when it came to following orders and creating walls and dens.

Poppyfoot is just as good, Crowflight decided.

Sootfur emerged from the cave at the back of the camp, Tinystar behind him. By then, the warriors in ThunderClan’s camp had all stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the WindClan trespassers. Crowflight searched for Mistyfoot or Nightfrost, and found that they were absent – likely on some patrol or another. Crowflight’s heart sank, just a little. He’d been hoping to see them.

“What is your business here?” Tinystar asked. Though Sootfur had clambered down the stones to the camp floor below, Tinystar remained up on the ledge, looking down at the WindClan patrol with sharp, icy eyes.

Ryewhisper seemed to shrink even more in his pelt, but he spoke regardless: “I need to see Brackenfur.”

“I’m here, I’m here...” The rumbling came from the side of the camp most covered in ivy – the golden-brown tom limped out from a gap in the plant-covered stone, shuffling towards the patrol. He flicked a bit of ivy off of his shoulder before telling Tinystar, “This is medicine cat business, clearly! No worries here.”

Tinystar nodded, and immediately all of ThunderClan relaxed – all except Dustpelt, who, according to Nightfrost, wouldn’t know relaxation if it hit him over the head with a stiff rabbit.

As Ryewhisper quietly explained the situation to Brackenfur, Crowflight glanced back at the ivy. He spotted the cavern now, a secret place at the camp floor that was half-encased in a weaving of bark and vines. Peering out from the dark crevice were bright, curious amber eyes – Shadepaw.

Crowflight’s heart caught in his throat at the sight of her. Conscious of Ryewhisper’s presence, he gave the tortoiseshell she-cat a wave with the tip of his tail. Shadepaw’s eyes softened in response, but she didn’t approach.

“Whitecough...” Brackenfur’s voice drew Crowflight’s attention away from the medicine cat’s den. The golden-brown tom was shaking his head. “No, we haven’t found any catmint yet... but we do have a stock of tansy you can use. Hopefully that will keep things from escalating. I’ll send Shadepaw back with you, and if any catmint is discovered, we’ll send some your way.”

“Wonderful!” Ryewhisper breathed, perking up. His eyes shone with hope. “We can’t repay you in herbs, unfortunately, but I’m sure we’ll find something...”

Brackenfur huffed. “Don’t worry about that,” he insisted, waving a pale paw. “We were lucky to find the tansy as it is! Graystripe stumbled upon some while he was out exploring with Whitepaw...”

The two medicine cats got to their paws and began to meander towards the medicine cat’s den. The two toms squeezed into the ivy crevice, with Shadepaw following a moment later. Crowflight, awkwardly, wasn’t sure whether he ought to follow. Given the way that Dustpelt was glaring at him, he decided against it.

Shadepaw is coming back with us... Crowflight knew he had to disguise his happiness at that thought. The most he’d hoped for was a pile of herbs he’d have to gag over on the way back – this was far better. As he stared at the medicine cat’s den, he was very aware of Tinystar’s gaze from atop the ledge.

Did Tinystar want to know how WindClan was doing? How Onewhisker was settling into his role as leader? Crowflight swallowed. Don’t give away that anything is amiss, he thought stubbornly. Tinystar knew as well as he and Mistyfoot that the naming of Onewhisker as deputy – and leader – of WindClan hadn’t been done properly. Crowflight wasn’t sure he could lie beneath the gaze of those powerful ice-blue eyes.

He was saved by Ryewhisper and Shadepaw emerging from the medicine cat’s den. Shadepaw carried a little leaf-wrapped bundle in her jaws, and her tail flicked good-bye to Brackenfur as she padded towards Crowflight.

“We’ll bring her home safely,” Ryewhisper promised to Tinystar. “Before sundown.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Tinystar said evenly, staring down at the WindClan cats as they surrounded his only daughter. Crowflight felt that gaze like ice sticking in his pelt. “Take care.”

Ryewhisper turned to Crowflight, unaware of his Clanmate’s discomfort. “Lead on,” he mewed.

Crowflight nodded and hastily slipped into the bramble entrance again, happy to leave the seat of ThunderClan’s power behind him. The hollow was an intimidating place to be, with only one way in or out. Part of him had hoped that Tinystar wouldn’t choose such a place for his Clan’s camp, but as Crowflight emerged out into the forest, he was sure Nightfrost had made a very passionate argument for the spot.

He turned his paws to the river. Thankfully, the two medicine cats let him walk in front – they couldn’t see Crowflight’s troubled expression as he followed his own scent trail back towards the tree-bridge.

He’d expected every Clan to be struggling to set up their camps like WindClan was, except for RiverClan, maybe. Something about the thought had comforted him, because then at least WindClan didn’t need to place the blame on anything other than the struggle of moving to a new home.

But ThunderClan’s camp was not only nearly finished, it was clean and polished, and that was a Clan that didn’t even have a deputy – meanwhile, Onewhisker had delayed something as important as leafbare shelter.

Crowflight’s felt something sink, deep into his gut like a stone in the lake water.

Had Tallstar been wrong about Onewhisker?

#tb au #tb starlight

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