Could it Be...? LeopardxCinder

[Ki]

Leopardfang moved downstream with Cindertail. The river was calm today, which made it perfect for swimming. As experinced RiverClan warriors, both cats could probably swim easily when the river was rough. They came to a shallow patch in the river where they could stand again. The water was about up to their forelegs here, and Leopardfang could feel the mud squishing underneath his paws. To him it felt like home. He shook out his pelt and a shower of tiny water droplets flew off his sleek pelt. It felt nice to be out here in the greenleaf sun with cool water around him. They had to be wary of Twolegs in this time, because they sometimes flocked towards the deeper parts of the river during greenleaf. But he didn't smell any too close by.

Turning to look back at Cindertail, he grinned and said, "This reminds me back when we were apprentices. Remember? With Graypaw and Crowpaw and Rosepaw?" Their old friends had died many moons back. But he still looked upon their times together with fondness.

((Random dead kitties FTW!))

[Kitty]

Walking downstream alongside Leopardfang, Cindertail's amber eyes roamed their surroundings. When he brought up their apprentice days, her mind flew back sixty moons ago. There was the stump she fell off of and twisted her paw. There was the spot she caught her first fish. There was the tree she and Graypaw had a race to climb (both of which failed miserably). There was the rock Leopardpaw fell off. Oh, there went the place that an old log used to sit, moons ago, that they'd use to cross instead of going all the way day to the Stepping stones. And there....

There were so many memories wrapped up in their territory. She let out a purr and meowed, "Of course I remember. Remember when Rosepaw and Crowpaw dared us to go into ThunderClan territory and climb up to the top of the Sunningrocks?" She laughed. "We were mousebrained enough to listen. Remember, old Graystream chased us off? Lucky it was the medicine cat out gathering herbs and not a whole patrol out catching voles!"

Ah, the days of their apprenticeship. Good times, good times.

[Ki]

Leopardfang smiled. Memories raced back to him. There was the rock Rosepaw had sat on and mocked their mentors. Farther downstream he could see where he'd somehow managed to catch two fish at once. If Leopardfang only closed his eyes he could imagine he was a young apprentice again, splashing downstream towards his friends while the greenleaf sun bathed down on to his pelt. The senior warrior shook his head briefly to shake away those images. No, Leopardfang had grown up long ago. The carefree days of apprenticeship were far behind him. He grinned when Cindertail mentioned the dare. Oh yes, he remembered that particularly well.

"Oooh, yes. We almost got away with it to. If I'd have slipped in the mud like you when we ran away, the ThunderClan scent would have been covered and our mentors wouldn't have noticed." Leopardfang mewed. He could still remember Cinderpaw sliding past him into the river as the two apprentices retreated. It had rained the night before, making the ground muddy underneath their paws. "I had never heard Redfoot yell so loud!" Ah, Redfoot. His old mentor. She'd eventually died of natural causes when she was an elder. As an apprentice Leopardfang had found her fussy and hard to please, but when he grew older he realized she just wanted him to do his best.

[Kitty]

"Hey!" Cindertail protested, but she was laughing as she did so. She shoved her fellow senior warrior with her shoulder, just hard enough for him to stumble into the water. She always used to do that as an apprentice. A young warrior, too, even, but it had been a while since she'd done it. The day came rushing back to her.

"Hey! Get out of ThunderClan!" came a voice. Graystream. ThunderClan's medicine cat.

"Quick, Cinderpaw!" Leopardpaw urged, eyes alight with fear and...humor?

"Only after you, Leopardpaw!" Cinderpaw laughed. Oh yes, the two were definitely having too much fun than they should be having on enemy territory. Her signature shove sent Leopardpaw sliding down the rocks and the young Cindertail followed, landing on him and bounding away.

They safely crossed the border, and just as they reached the river - laughing as they went - Cinderpaw hit a patch of mud and went skidding down the riverbank, becoming more mud-covered as she went.

She'd arrived back at camp covered in the icky stuff from head to tail-tip, little Leopardfang laughing and surprising devoid of dirt. That was, of course, the reason they got in trouble. The ThunderClan scent hadn't been masked on him. They'd been sentenced to a half moon of caring for the elders, but it had been well worth it.

"Ah, the trouble we used to get into," she chuckled. "We had great fun as young cats." But they weren't young anymore. No, now they were both senior warriors of RiverClan. Nothing would ever be the same.

[Ki]

Leopardfang splashed into the water. Since it was shallow where they were it wasn't a large splash, and he sat up laughing. The water turned his fur two shades darker than it actually was and made his whiskers droop a bit. Amber eyes flashed at Cindertail. Oh, he should have seen that coming! Every day when they were apprentices he'd managed to get shoved in the river for something. Getting a catch when she missed hers, a taunt about her appearance...things like that ended up getting him in the river. Not that he minded. Leopardfang took to the water like a fish. He rose to his paws again and grinned at his old friend.

"We had some good times. But it's hard to believe that they're gone." Leopardpaw said quietly. When he and Rosepaw had caught greencough, she hadn't pulled through. And Crowpaw and Graypaw, though they had grown to be warriors, were gone now.

[Kitty]

Cindertail couldn't stifle the laugh that followed Leopardfang's stumble into the river. She leapt and landed beside him, splashing him and herself. They were both now thoroughly soaked, but the gray and white warrior didn't mind at all. On a day this hot she was fine with being wet.

Her mind flew back to her friends' deaths, Rosepaw's in particular. She'd caught greencough at the same time as Leopardfang, then an apprentice, and his mother had caught it. Though Leopardpaw had pulled through, his mother and their friend were not so lucky.

"I know," she murmured, bowing her head. "it seems like just yesterday that Rosepaw, Crowpaw, Graypaw, you, and I were all chasing eachother through the forest and challenged eachother to fishing contests." That, however, was moons and moons ago. The two senior warriors would be able to retire in the next fifteen moons, if they so desired - although Cindertail wasn't so sure that she would. She'd like to keep going until it took all of her energy just to get out of her nest every morning. For her friends' sakes. She'd be a warrior for all of them.

[Ki]

Leopardfang's thoughts turned towards Rosepaw. She always brought back memories of greencough and fever. And, with those memories, Leopardfang's parents. His father had been taken by the sickness when Leopardfang had caught it for the first time. Back then he'd been Leopardkit, and he'd barely made it to his apprentice ceremony. When his father died it strengthened the bond between mother and kit. Which made it all the more painful when his mother was taken by the sickness when he was an apprentice. Leopardfang remembered being sick and in pain as Leopardpaw, then feeling the utter despair when the medicine cat told him both his mother and one of his best friends had died. At that moment he felt so much pain, physically and emotionally, that Leopardpaw was sure he'd end up dying right then and there.

But he didn't. Leopardpaw fought through to become Leopardfang. And since then he hadn't let anything take his life away from him. Not disease, not battle, not the elements, nothing.

Leopardfang shook those thoughts from his mind. Rosepaw, and his mother for that matter, had been dead for many season. He would eventually see them in StarClan, he reminded himself. But not for many more moons, if he could help it. For now he would focus on the happy memories. They may not be apprentices anymore, but they could still think back to the days when they were. "Remember the time we had that game of tag, and then Crowpaw ran into a badger's den by mistake? Thank StarClan the den was empty!" Leopardfang chuckled. Suddenly he got a devious idea. His amber eyes sparkled mischeviously for the first time in moons. The usually serious Leopardfang had been breifly transformed into the young, inexperinced, fun-loving apprentice he'd once been.

"Hey, Cindertail," he mewed, "want to feel young again?"

[Kitty]

Cindertail's mind flew back - yet again - to that incident, and she chuckled again. Crowpaw had always been a great friend - he was funny and kind, always up for a good dare. He was one of the few cats that had been able to break past the senior warrior's shell - only a select few had done that, Rosepaw, Graypaw, and, of course, Leopardfang included. Crowpaw had been looking over his shoulder for the cat that was "it" - Cindertail was fairly certain that it was she herself - and bam! there was the badger sett. He fell on his way in, she remembered. All the apprentices had been alerted to his whereabouts by the loud yowl, and he'd emerged wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

She snapped to attention when Leopardfang asked his question. The previous statement, thoguh, had tipped her off. She knew what was coming, and she was going to beat him to it. "Tag!" the senior warrior yowled kittishy, giving her lifelong friend another shove to send him splashing into the river yet again - bet he didn't expect that one, huh? she thought. "You're it!" With that, she spun and took off for the nearest patch of trees, sprinting as fast as she could to get a head start.

[Ki]

Leopardfang toppled into the water again. He came back up laughing. No, he hadn't expected it. He scolded himself for giving away his intentions. But when someone had been around him as long as Cindertail had, she was probably bound to know exactly what was on his mind most of the time. Not bothering to shake the water from his pelt, he sprinted out of the river and after her into the trees. Imagine what the other warriors would say if they saw them like this! Two of RiverClan's most respected warriors chasing each other through the territory as if they were kits! The thought made the grin on his face grow even wider.

He sprinted after his friend, using his lanky build to his advantage. Back when he was younger, Crowpaw used to tease him about being half-WindClan. Back when half-Clan kits were unheard of. But he was RiverClan, through-and-through. "I'm going to catch you!" He planned on tackling Cindertail when he got up to her. That way she could be sopping wet like he was.

[Kitty]

Distantly, the sound of Leopardfang's voice came to the sprinting Cindertail. "I'm going to catch you!" The already-laughing Cindertail was laughing ever harder as she managed to call out, "Not if you can't find me!" Going past a tree, she made a sharp left. The wind was blowing behind her now, but she had no worries about needing to scent. There was no enemy territory in front of her in this direction, just RiverClan until Clan territory ran out, and then there was the Twoleg barn. Not too dangerous, as long as their dogs weren't loose.

She turned her head, glancing behind her as she ran in search of Leopardfang's familiar fur. She should've known better. Hadn't that been how Crowpaw had run into the badger sett? But no, the senior warrior didn't learn from her past mistakes. Because she was still looking behind her when she caught the sudden scent of Twoleg, enough time for her to whip her head around and take the full force of a Twoleg's leg to the face.

Stunned, she flopped onto the ground. The Twoleg let out a call of shock, then two pink Twoleg paws were swooping down on Cindertail, lifting her and holding her close. Little cooing noises came from its mouth. It was a female, not a kit yet not a fully-grown one either.

Cindertail recovered, and as soon as she realized where she was she began struggling. Down, down, down! But the Twoleg's grip was too strong. Desperately, Cindertail yowled out, "Leopardfang!" Hopefully her friend was near. A twoleg couldn't take her away from him!

[Ki]

Ahead of him Leopardfang could hear his friend laughing. She called back to him, taunting. The wind was on her side. It was blowing his scent back towards her, now. Then, suddenly, the laughter stopped. Where had she gone? Leopardfang kept his ears pricked as he ran. Then, suddenly..

"Leopardfang!"

That yowl wasn't playful, or taunting, or happy, or anything at all cheerful. It was full of fear and desperation. It made his heart beat faster. Suddenly their game of tag wasn't a game for him anymore. He had to find her. And fast. Leopardfang skidded to a stop. Dipping his head low to the ground, he sniffed around for her scent. It was a little difficult thanks to the wind. But he caught it, eventually, thanks to a piece of gray fur that she'd snagged on a bramble. Following the scent trail, he raced back down the path she'd gone. Suddenly a female Twoleg came into sight as he rounded a tree. And she had Cindertail! Not faltering for a moment, he kept running. When he was close enough he pounced and lodged his fangs into one of the forelegs that the Twoleg had wrapped around Cindertail.

LET HER GO! He practically screamed inside of his mind. If something happened to Cindertail...well...he just wouldn't be able to bear it. She'd been one of his best friends since he was an apprentice. When he became a warrior, she'd been the one to yowl the loudest when he'd been given his name. Leopardfang had returned the favor. They'd stuck beside each other through everything. Battles, loss, shortages of prey, terrible storms. Life without Cindertail was unimaginable. Leopardfang didn't want to imagine it. Or live it, for that matter. So he wasn't going to let this Twoleg take her away from him!

[Kitty]

Still struggling Cindertail cast her amber gaze around hopefully for any sign of her friend. Then she noticed it, something she should have noticed before. Not fifteen foxlengths ahead, in the direction she'd been running, was the open clearing where Twolegs put up temporary nests at times throughout greenleaf. And sure enough, there one was, a green one smack-dab in the middle of said clearing. Mousebrain! The Twolegs are going to take you home! Leopardfang will never know where you've gone!

The thought made her stop struggling completely. Leopardfang, the tom she'd known since kithood, her best friend since their apprentice. The cat she'd stuck beside through thick and thin, through loss of loved ones to injured paws. Through sickness. Anytime one of them got in trouble, the other was always standing right there, getting the punishment too, even if they hadn't been present for whatever incident it was that they were getting punished for. Leopardfang, the only cat she could trust completely and absolutely.

But...there he was!

He appeared around a tree, realized the situation, and was at an all-out sprint when he launched himself at the Twoleg's forepaw. Letting out a startled yowl, more of shock than of pain, the female Twoleg stumbled backwards, releasing her grip on Cindertail just enough for her to scramble free. She dropped to the ground - landing a bit awkwardly on one paw - and shot off towards the forest.

Oops. Leopardfang was in her way. She plowed into him headfirst - how many times could a cat do that in one day? - and sent them both sprawling onto the ground. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Never had she been so happy to see him - well, except maybe when he'd recovered from the greencough that had claimed both his mother and their friend.

The Twoleg was crashing away towards the temporary nest, where another Twoleg had appeared, talking in its unfamiliar language.

But Cindertail wasn't leaving without her friend. "Run, Leopardfang! Before it comes back!"

[Ki]

The Twoleg had shaken Leopardfang off. Right as he dropped down on to the ground BAM! Cindertail slammed into him. He was knocked on to his side, but he was just happy she was out of the Twoleg's grip. The Twoleg was stumbling towards one of those temporary nests they set up during greenleaf. Leopardfang licked his teeth. He didn't taste blood. But there was a little on his claws from where he'd tried to old on to the Twoleg's foreleg. Leopardfang rose to his paws again. Quickly he circled around Cindertail to make sure the Twoleg hadn't harmed her in any way. When he was satisfied, he nodded.

"Come on!" With that he bolted off, looking back to make sure Cindertail was behind him. His heart was still hammering inside of his chest. There was no way he was going to abandon her now.

[Kitty]

Cindertail was directly behind Leopardfang, running as fast as she could her twisted paw. As she ran, though, it seemed to get better, and before long she was running without a limp. She didn't have to be told twice to come on. All she wanted was to get herself and Leopardfang out of there.

She skidded to a stop quite a long ways away from the place with the Twolegs, breathing hard and feeling a bit scared. Mousebrained Twolegs, she thought angrily, sitting shakily. She looked over at Leopardfang. "Th-thank you. For saving me from the Twoleg, I mean. I was s-sure that she was going to take me away!" Cindertail never stuttered, not unless she was frightened. Which was pretty true, because right now she was pretty darn scared!

[Ki]

Leopardfang sat just behind her, breathing hard. Running like that took a lot more out of him than it used to. Or was it the sudden rush of adrenaline that had him exhausted? Either way. When he caught his breath he moved towards his friend. Cindertail was stuttering, which alarmed him. She only stuttered when she got scared. It was one of those rare occasions when she lost her compsure. Leopardfang hadn't seen her this flustered and upset since...actually he couldn't remember it had been so long!

"Calm down, Cindertail. It's ok." Leopardfang nuzzled against her, trying to get his Clanmate and friend to stop being so upset. He grinned at her briefly, amber eyes sparkling. "You would have done the same thing for me, wouldn't you?" The smile quickly faded and he lay down on the grass beside her. He could smell both her fear-scent and his own. Both were still evident in the air. Couldn't the Twoleg sense how frightened she'd made Cindertail? It hadn't harmed Cindertail...had it meant to? Or was it trying to do something else? Bah! Leopardfang shook his head briefly. Why try to understand the ways of Twolegs? He directed his attention back to Cindertail.

"You really scared me back there! I thought I was losing you, Cindertail!" Leopardfang's tail twitched side-to-side like an agitated snake. She should have been more careful! Leopardfang knew he should be angry with her for being so foolish, but couldn't bring himself to feel more than mild irritation.