Kitty Love

[Ki]

Smokepaw sat in the clearing, ears back and eyes worried. The dawn patrol was off, and everyone was beginning to tend to their duties. Smokepaw's mentor had given him permission to run off and spend some time with Maplepaw, under the condition they were back by sunhigh. Until then the two apprentices were free to run around the territory and climb trees. Every worst possible situation ran through his mind. What if he fell out of a tree? What if he said something mouse-brained? Gulp! Maplepaw was friend and nice, and that was exactly the reason why Smokepaw was so nervous. He liked her. In a much more intimate than friends liked one another. This made him want to impress her desperately, and, in turn, make him extremely nervous.

StarClan help me! he thought as he waited.

[froststream]

"You're out early!" Maplepaw smiled happily. She wouldn't tell him, or anyone, for that matter, but she had spent the whole time since she awoke an hour ago grooming herself until her pelt shone. Had he worried about it as much as she? She knew he didn't have a mother, and neither did she, but she had a father. Her father was distant and barely ever spoke to her, and she was uncomfortable asking him. She only hoped Smokepaw was okay.

"You know how to climb, right?" she purred half jokingly. Every apprentice learned the basics of climbing, but it wasn't really dwelled on. It was a skill most lacked or didn't develop very well. On her way past him, she rubbed her flank against his and trailed her tail over his back. "C'mon, Smokepaw. Let's climb!"

[Ki]

A shiver ran down his spine, and he had to shake himself to be rid of the odd sensation. Smokepaw nodded once and padded after her, admiring how pretty her pelt looked in the morning sun. How did she get it to look like that? Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to pick up the pace so that he was right at her side. "You...uh...you look very pretty today, Maplepaw." Smokepaw was not a lying cat, and Maplepaw knew that. If you missed an easy kill because of a stupid mistake, he would be the first to point it out. But at the same time, if you did particularly well during battle training he'd, again, be the first to congratulate you. Whenever he spoke, he spoke the truth.

So far, so good. Smokepaw thought, smiling at Maplepaw a bit.

[froststream]

Maplepaw beamed at him. "Thanks. You, too, Smokepaw. Very handsome."

She stopped at a solid, dark brown tree. "This one's a good starter. THe lower limbs are solid and spaced well, but as you get higher it gets harder. I've only made it to the absolute top once. But then you see all of the territory."

She scampered up teh trunk. "Just go for it, but don't stop halfway." She leapt lightly to a higher limb. "Easy."

[Ki]

She thought he was handsome! Yes!

Smokepaw stood at the foot of the tree for a moment, watching her climb. She looked so nimble and at home. While he hadn't climbed a tree in what felt like moons! He gulped and scampered up the trunk and on to one of the lower branches. Well, he hadn't fallen yet. That was something to be thankful for. It felt odd to be in a tree again. He, like most WindClan cats, was a runner. Not a climber. "I think your name should have been Squirrelpaw." He, not wanting to appear afraid, jumped to another, slightly higher branch. Smokepaw's tail twitched in wariness.

[froststream]

Maplepaw smiled. "Maybe, I guess. But Maple means a lot, too. It was my Mom's favorite tree."

She walked swiftly along a branch, wanting to leave it at that. But a part of her wanted to explain, too. Gingerly she climbed higher up, so she was rigtht above him. "She died when I was born. It was a virus. I wasn't supposed to live, either."

[Ki]

Suddenly he wished he'd kept his big mouth shut. The apprentice bowed his head in remorse and jumped to another branch. It was a bit farther away from Maplepaw, much to his displeasure and relief. "I'm sorry...I guess I can relate. My mother died giving birth to me." Smokepaw jumped on to another branch, almost level to the one he had been on previously. For a moment he thought he was going to lose his balance, but quickly regained it. "I was the runt, and the only one alive. Russetfang said she named me right before she died..." Those couple of moons hadn't boded well for the queens and kits of WindClan. Right after the death of one queen, another followed suit with three kits behind her. Smokepaw looked at Maplepaw, sympathy in his own eyes. Though he was slightly jealous of her. She knew her father, she had some kin. Smokepaw's father was a mystery, as Graysong hadn't breathed a word to anyone about him.

[froststream]

"That must be rough," Maplepaw winced. "But this isn't some sort of depression club... Let's go have some fun!" Maplepaw leapt up quite a few branches until she was near the top. "Watch this..."

She tilted forwards, claws digging deep into the bark. She tilted until she was completely upside down, held only by her claws. "Don't try this. You have to trust the tree." She scrabbled back up to normal and shook out her fur. "Sometimes, when you're comfortable, you can hunt in here. Squirrels, birds, chipmunks.. Sometimes you can even find a mouse. But I hate hunting when there's a nest. I'd never do that, to the babies. But birds rarely nest in this tree. It's too crooked."

She slid down beside him and sat down. "So, Smokepaw..." she said. "How do you like the tree?"

[Ki]

Smokepaw listened to her speak and watched her bounce about in the tree. Hanging upside down, running across thin boughs. Her mother had been right when she named her. Maplepaw was as home here as a squirrel was. Maybe she was more ThunderClan than WindClan! Smokepaw flattened his ears and smiled a bit. "I like it. And you're an amazing climber. Better than ThunderClan, I bet." A WindClan cat that loved to be in the air instead of on the ground. Oh, the irony!

[froststream]

Maplepaw smiled and blushed with pleasure. "Aww, thanks, you're sweet." She laid her head on his shoulder. " The sunrise was so beautiful, her heart swelled. She gazed at her paws and sort of scrabbled at the bark. "I have to tell you something, and it's important, 'kay?" She took a deep breath, then continued. "I've never really loved anyone. I mean, my mom's dead and my dad doesn't know anything about me, and it's not like he wants to learn. I think he blames mum's death on me. So I live on the mutual and general love that the Clan gives. But... I feel different with you. Sort of like... I don't know. Different happier. More shy." She took a last breath then launched, "I think I'm falling in love with you. don't know why, Smokepaw... but if you hate me, I understand."

[Ki]

Smokepaw listened to her, his ears back and eyes wide. He sat there in silence for a few moments. Not for any particular reason other than shock. It was hard to believe that ANY cat could ever become very attached to him. Sometimes he purposefully distanced himself from his Clanmates, feeling shy and afraid that they were internally laughing at him. Yet somehow he knew that Maplepaw would never laugh at him. Never hurt him. Finally, he let out a deep breath and licked her cheek. "I...I think I'm falling in love with you too, Maplepaw." It felt odd saying those words. Part of him wanted to run away. That part didn't want to be hurt. It was the ultimate show of trust for him. Trust that she could easily break, if she wanted too.

"I...I don't think I've loved anyone either. I don't know who my father is, and my mother is long gone." He looked shyly down at his paws. "And...other cats...I feel afraid of them. Like if I open up, someone will end up betraying me." He turned his eyes back to Maplepaw. She was outgoing, sweet, pretty, and very smart. Why was he so afraid of being hurt? She would never do anything to him! "But...I feel like you won't ever do anything to hurt me. And I certainly don't want to do anything to hurt you, Maplepaw."

[froststream]

((Sorry for all the typos and non capitalized things. I'm on a Wii.))

Maplepaw stared at her paws in silence. She felt relieved, or some part of her did, but then again sh also felt very shy and vulnerable. "I didn't admit it to myslf at first," she began carefully. "But now I just know that this feeling isn't friendship. And it's not hatred, either."

She nodded slowly. "I want to be so much more, Smokepaw. I want to know you'll protect me and love me even when I can't love myself. I need someone to count on, and I just want to be with you. More than anything." She gazed at the sky. "

"So, are we now... Together?"

[hedgie]

There was a flash of tan fur, followed by a gray-black shadow, both being rather noisy. Fawnpaw had tricked Crowpaw into an exhilirating chasing game that had the two apprentices dashing through the trees. Fawnpaw swerved through the forest like her namesake, nimbly moving over, under and around trees and roots.

Crowpaw, on the other hand, wasn't quite as nimble as his friend. He kept on tripping, and so far was loosing the race. He collided, finally, with Fawnpaw as she stared up into the trees.

"Hey! What are you two doing up there? Being all mushy and comfy-cozy?!" She called up to Maplepaw and Smokepaw. Crowpaw chuckled impishly, finally feeling happy for the first time in a while. She was like the best unofficial sibling a cat could have.

[Ki]

Smokepaw looked at Maplepaw. They were one in the same. No mothers, virtually no fathers. Neither of them had really loved like this before. Or opened up like this before. Finally he nuzzled into her, feeling his heartbeat quicken. "I g-" That's when he heard Fawnpaw and Crowpaw. His tail flicked in annoyance.

"What're you two doing here? Shouldn't you be with your mentors?" he asked, looking down at them. Why did those two always have to pop up in the most inappropriate times? They could very well ask the same question. Then again...their mentors had given them permission to be out and about! At least until the afternoon. Which seemed so far away and yet too close. Then, remembering Fawnpaw's question he called back, "And we were talking." She didn't ask what they'd been talking about.

[froststream]

Maplepaw practically jumped away from Smokepaw in surprise. Then, when she saw it was Fawnpaw and Crowpaw, she relaxed a bit, but narrowed her eyes. Maplepaw may be a small cat, and sweet most of the time, but she was enough spunk and attitude to hold her own, should she need it. She scrambled down the trunk and onto the ground, until she was nose to nose with the other apprentices. "What do you want?" she demanded. "Out looking for someone to beat you up? 'Cause, you know, you came to the right place."

She was joking, of course, but she wanted time with Smokepaw. These apprentices were nice and all, but definetly not who she wanted to see right now.