{sweet serendipity}open

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i52.tinypic.com/2ql4pdw.jpg] Well, that distraction clearly hadn't worked. He thought it had for a moment until she went bouncing around him, then stopped, using him as, for all intents and purposes, an inanimate object to jump all over. He supposed he sort of was, considering how little he had moved since she'd closed her eyes the first time. He just blinked, head pulling back as hers shot forward and closer, nearly touching his nose to hers despite his best efforts. He began to wonder why he'd picked her. But, then again, she'd seemed mature at the time. Well, sort of. As mature as most of them got, anyway. No, I'm not thinking about a girl! He growled, batting at her gently enough he wouldn't hurt her if he connected, but it would get her away. She was already dashing away anyway, so clearly she had some sort of forethought. That was always... good? He was grasping at straws here trying to find reasons not to growl and hiss and generally be mean in her direction. His ears were still flattened, though there was a clear distinction between before and now. Well, yes, actually, two, but only in my train of thought, nothing more. A friend and my mother. And other things. He muttered, annoyed as he stood up and shook, glaring at her the whole while. There it was again, though. The want to just growl and grumble and swipe at her until she left him alone, then go find a a tree somewhere and climb it, hide away from the whole world. Well, most of it. There were certain things he wouldn't hide from. Certain cats. She was not on that list though, not yet and certainly not right now. His tail lashed side to side a moment. And then he paused, realizing he'd actually told her stuff. Didn't just repeat that it was none of her damn business. He didn't let the surprise register on his face. He was pretty sure he managed to avoid that one. What does it matter to you anyway? If it related to you at all, I'd tell you, but it didn't. It was probably just curiosity. That's what he'd already chalked it up to, in fact. He never even thought there could be more behind it. Cubs would be cubs, and that was all there was to it. The question had been more out of annoyance, a way of making it very clear he hadn't appreciated her jumping all over the topic of his thoughts. They were were his for a reason - private, concealed. He had no reason to trust her to keep them as such, and he didn't just instinctively end up trusting her like he had with Willowleaf. He still wasn't sure why Willowleaf had been different, but now was certainly not the time to ponder that, lest she call him out on thinking again.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i55.tinypic.com/2qjvhg1.jpg ] ROLLING onto her back, Daypaw couldn't stop herself. She burst out laughing. There was something that was just too funny about seeing her strong and silent mentor flushing and flattening his ears like a lovestruck apprentice. She gigggled and rolled on her back, absoltuely obtuse to the fact that she was getting daggers glared at her and that a cat with less self-control would have skinned her alive by now. It was just too funny! She couldn't stop herself if she tried, and whether Dragonstar would believe it or not, she had tried. For half a heartbeat maybe but hey, it was the effort that counted. Never in her life had Daypaw seen a fully grown cat look as embarrassed as her mentor did. In the back of her mind, the young she-cat wished her brother could see this from StarClan. Maybe he could, she hoped he enjoyed the show. Grasskit would have laughed on the inside but it wouldn't have been made obvious. Grasskit had been too quiet for that. AT long last the young apprentice managed to slow her giggles and roll back onto her belly. Laying in a sphinx-like pose, Daypaw grinned at her mentor. "I don't know, I just want to know!" she chirped innocently. "Besides, momma's told me about being in love and all that. She said toms act funny when they're like that and I think it's funny for you to just stare into space. She must be pretty, your mom and the 'friend'. But maybe not...maybe she's just really smart and funny? I can't imagine she's like you, that wouldn't be much fun. I'll figure out who it is, there's not that many tigresses in the clan after all." NODDING to herself, Daypaw grinned at Dragonstar. She had absolutely no fear of her mentor. He had swatted at her before but there hadn't been a lot of force in it. Dragonstar was embarrassed, not necessarily mad, at least she hoped he wouldn't be mad. She didn't want to make him mad, she wanted to make him smile. And...well, how many cats could say they'd embarrassed the mighty Dragonstar? Not a lot. In fact, Daypaw was pretty sure it would make her a legend if she told anyone. She probably wouldn't though. That would just be mean and Dragonstar had to keep some kind of reputation. Still, she'd know. She'd know that he wasn't just growls, hisses and shoving everybody away. It would be like seeing another side of her mentor, one that not many other cats would get to see. Daypaw doubted even Blazeheart had made Dragonstar laugh or get embarrassed. The pair worked together but she'd never seen them talk for long. This whole conversation just made Daypaw feel a little special, even if it was just all in her head. "IT'S okay if you like her, you know, I bet she likes you too!" Daypaw said, laying one paw ontop of the other and resting her head on them both. "I mean, I know you've got this big bad reputation but you're not that bad. A bit growly but your smart and stuff." Shrugging, Daypaw wrapped her tail around her side and looked up at her mentor, the picture of innocence. Tagged;; Dragonstar <3 Word Count;; 540 Background Song;; "Pocketful of Stars" by Nine Black Alps Notes;; :3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i52.tinypic.com/2ql4pdw.jpg] She was unbelievable. She knew all the stories, every single one, and just a short time ago she'd been perfectly obedient. Apparently that hadn't been destined to last, or perhaps her sole purpose was to drive him crazy and make the stories true, but either way, her laughter brought only a harsher glare her way. But then came the promise she'd figure out who. He almost smiled at that. She never would, for it wasn't a tigress at all that plagued his thoughts. But she didn't need that snippet of information, and he was wise enough to not mention that she was wrong and she never would. But, then again, his silence said nearly the same thing. And it would seem that Daypaw was latching more onto the idea of someone he'd fallen for with each passing second. Well, that just wouldn't do. After all, although meeting with Willowleaf was dangerous for him, he could escape alive. Shunned, perhaps, but he could live on his own. He practically already did. She was used to the company, and he wouldn't let it happen that he caused her to have to leave when all he ever intended to do was be there as a supporting shoulder to lean on if she did decide to ever leave lionclan. Deciding he'd rather not lead Daypaw to any conclusion that it was a cat out of the clan, he sighed and laid down, flopping on his side so his eyes were level with hers. However, although his eyes were aimed at her, his gaze was certainly not. It more so went through her, not staring at anything in particular, and he reached and grasped at those few hours of comfort at the beginning of his life. And, with those thought in mind, he changed the topic back over to his mother, something he'd probably regret in a few minutes. I wouldn't know if she was pretty or not - my mother, that is. I hardly knew her long enough to really realize how important she was, and I certainly wasn't by her side when my eyes opened. He spoke with a gentle tone, surprising even himself at how sad and wistful it sounded. Like someone daydreaming, and talking about what kind of wonderful future they had thought up, but knowing it would never come true. His eyelids closed slowly for a moment, then opened again, a slow-motion blink which brought focus back to his eyes as he saw her, not just a blur of orange, black and green. He didn't expand on his comment, though he easily could have. Those few hours had become precious to him very fast in his life, and he'd clung to those memories ever since. They were the branch he held onto to keep himself from drowning in his life. They had been what kept him going through those long, torturous moons of abuse, through those days of endless traveling that had landed him in tigerclan. He remembered each and every second. Her smell, the feel of her fur, the chill of the wind and the warmth of her tongue as she tried to keep him warm. He remembered a body wriggling next to his own, though he never knew whether it was a brother or a sister, or if that cub even survived. Had it been taken like him? He would never know. He wasn't sure he wanted to, fearing the worst as always and not thinking about the more optimistic possibilities.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i55.tinypic.com/2qjvhg1.jpg ] ALMOST as soon as Dragonstar started to speak, Daypaw's good mood evaporated like dew in the hot sun. If it was one thing her mentor seemed skilled at, other than everything, it was killing a playful mood. It was like a tree had fallen and killed a kit. Wrinkling her nose a bit when she was sure Dragonstar wasn't looking, Daypaw turned her head to stare into the ferns. She'd only been playing, he didn't have to go and get all serious and dreary. After all, the chances of someone being crazy enough to fall in love with Dragonstar had to be insane. Daypaw liked him, don't get her wrong, but as far as love went, well, it just didn't seem possible. He hardly ever talked to anyone in the clan anyway. Even Blazeheart didn't seem to get more than three words out of Dragonstar. It was more than a little offputting when she thought about it, the clan had a leader they hardly knew. He was a great mentor but when he pulled stuff like this, Daypaw felt like she was hitting her head against a tree trunk or stumbling around blindly on a night when there was no moon while a thick fog coiled around her. Then he did stuff like this, opened up and softened a little bit but as soon as she started to play he clammed up. Ugh! "I was just kidding," Daypaw muttered, laying her ears against her head for a moment before she stood up. Even though he hadn't yelled or actually gotten mad, Daypaw could tell he'd been truly annoyed by her joke. Well fine. She could be the obedient little apprentice he'd been so fond of before. Giving her striped pelt a shake, she looked long and hard at her mentor. "It wouldn't kill you to laugh and take a joke once in a while." Sitting back on her haunches, Daypaw closed her hazel eyes and breathed deep, resetting herself to their training exercise. "I smell Blazeheart, Thistledown, Copperpelt, some rabbits, some kind of bird, a warthog and deer." She rattled them off without really thinking about the smells, only half remembering her list from earlier when he had been ignoring her. Opening her eyes, she looked at him, her face all business. "Did I miss anything?" IT was that fast. In a heartbeat Daypaw went from playful and bright eyed to obedient and straight faced. It was a transformation not even some warriors could make but Daypaw made with ease. At one time she hadn't been able to do it. In fact it hadn't started until Daypaw's family got sick with greencough. She'd been sick too but she and her parents had survived. Her brother, Grasskit, hadn't. That was when Daypaw had realized some things just weren't funny, that some days the sun didn't shine bright enough and that sometimes it just wasn't fun to be alive. She wasn't suicidal or anything but she occasionally had bad days, just like everyone that had lost a close family member. There were days when all she did was miss Grasskit. On those days she wore this straight face all the time. USUALLY though, it was a defense mechanism. When someone got mad and yelled, or in Dragonstar's case took the fun out of her moments of brightness, she'd show them that two could play that game. She'd show them she could clam up just like them or that she could be just as smart, just as determined, just as grown up. Dragonstar had seemed to like the obedient, timid, unsure Daypaw. Well fine. He could have her. TO an outsider it may seem childish, but that was how Daypaw would be. She had to be like him, be the best she could be so someday she could be him. If he wanted an obedient and quiet apprentice that acted first and asked later, well, she could do that. She'd do whatever it took to get her dreams so that someday she could go to StarClan for her nine lives and see her brother again. Tonight she would wrestle and joke with the other apprentices but from now on if Dragonstar beckoned to train or even just to follow him on a patrol, she'd be the first to move. She'd be the ideal apprentice since apparently he didn't like the playful one. Really Daypaw didn't know why she'd tried. Everybody knew Dragonstar wasn't playful or fun. He was quiet and standoffish, he was always in the shadows growling orders on occasion. Of course he wouldn't like a bubbly, bouncy, playful apprentice. Daypaw felt stupid for trying but promised herself she wouldn't slip up again. Tagged;; Dragonstar <3 Word Count;; 781 Background Song;; "You'll be in My Heart" by Phil Collins Notes;; :3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i52.tinypic.com/2ql4pdw.jpg] His weight shifted as soon as she sobered up again, and his head rose, eying her carefully. She'd done what had taken him moons to be able to do. She'd just switched it all off, hid what she truly wanted to do. He supposed he was probably at fault, he often was. He didn't know how to talk, had kept to himself far too much as a kit and an apprentice. For a moment, there was a caution in his eyes. If he had done this, made her switch off like that, then it was fully possible he could end up turning her into him. And he wouldn't wish that on anyone. It was terrible to be alone, and enjoy it, yet always yearn for company. It was a miserable existence. Perhaps that was why he found himself thinking on Willowleaf so much. She made him feel normal. Well, as normal as he ever got. He could talk, and even when he jumped topics at random, as he was prone to do most days, she could follow or comment or something. It wasn't worrisome, he never second guessed if he was going to say the right thing or not because she understood. She still got mad, yes, but she got it. That he wasn't like others, that he was good at the complicated things but when it came down to simple stuff like conversations, he screwed up all the time. But, the whole point was, he was here to teach her the things he was good at, not pass on his bad habits. His ears flattened slightly, almost as if he'd been scolded, and he nearly missed her listing things off again. Almost, but not quite. No. You missed nothing. Practice that with sounds, smells, then learn to do it with your eyes open. It will help you be more aware. His voice had returned to the flat tone it had held before, when the afternoon had started with her in a stream. The life from it had gone again, banished away to some deep dark place. Shifting, he moved to get up again. He called him out on being unable to take a joke, and it was true. It stung more than it should have. He'd always known, of course. When he was young, the pain was so fresh he'd been unable to bring himself to even smile. Now that he was older and it had dulled, leaving only anger and an empty nothingness, he found he almost didn't even know how to smile. Laughing was simply out of the question most days, and when he did it wasn't usually at a joke but at an amusing thought of something that seemed so obviously stupid or wrong, and it was a mocking laugh, not a true one. He almost told her of this, but he stopped himself. Then he'd have to explain, and he wasn't ready for that. Willowleaf had gotten an explanation, but then again, she'd nearly drowned. Daypaw was simply... there. Someone who talked to him. Someone who didn't turn and run the other way. Not physically, anyway. Emotionally, however, seemed to be another story altogether. He sighed a moment, then nudged her, eyes meeting hers a moment before he looked away and began walking, back to his familiar trail along the borders, something steady that was always there, something relaxing. Don't close yourself off. It doesn't help. You just grow old alone, and realize it when it's already too late to change. Trust me, I know. Don't become me, Daypaw. You could be so much more. --- and yes she's free to follow him if you want. he's just being strange him ---

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i55.tinypic.com/2qjvhg1.jpg ] WHEN Dragonstar spoke, Daypaw couldn't help herself, she bristled a bit. Well, maybe less of bristling and more stiffening. Turn into him? Huh, yeah right. He'd ticked her off, that didn't mean he'd scarred her for life. Snorting, the young she-cat rolled her eyes and got to her paws. She wasn't bright and peppy instantly but she had a glimmer in her eyes that quite plainly said "yeah right." A blind cat could see it. Thankfully, Dragonstar had turned away so he didn't see it. He'd probably get annoyed. So Daypaw watched him instead of making a comment about how she was too social to become him. She had her days, had the days when it hurt, the days when she didn't want someone to tell her what to do, days when she wanted to just be on her own, but they didn't rule her. Sometimes she bent to their whims and slunk off for a little while but she wasn't going to drop so low as to build walls as thick as ten mature trees and as tall as the mountains. Not like he had. "IT'S only too late if you let it be," Daypaw said more or less before she could stop herself, watching her mentor walk away. "I'll be who I want to be, not anything less." SHE didn't say it angrily, simply said it because someone had to hear it. Once, just after Grasskit had died, she'd told her mother that she wanted to become a leader so she could see Grasskit in StarClan and know her brother was watching over her. Her mother had laughed and said she was being silly, that of course Grasskit was watching and he'd be just as proud of her as a warrior or queen as if she became a leader. It had stung because though her mother had meant it to be comforting, she had read the tone well. Her mother had thought her unable to rise through the ranks. Her mother had seen only a small she-kit, weak still from sickness with fever and grief in her eyes. She saw her only daughter, weak and broken open for the world to read. It had made Daypaw mad, had made her want to excel beyond her mother's wildest dreams. It fed the passion in her to become what she wanted, not what anyone else wanted. SHE had to live her life and she had to be proud of it so someday she could find her brother and tell him she'd lived for them both. When she'd tried to tell that to her mother, Nightleaf had laughed. Dragonstar was free to do what he wanted. Nothing would sting worse than her own mother's disregard for her ability, her potential. "I'M going to go practice, I guess I'll see you back at camp." Obedient apprentice again. TURNING away from her mentor, facing toward the camp, Daypaw began to walk away. She knew a little clearing near camp where she could try to focus and find the scents of clanmates, then maybe she'd go to Nightshadow's herb picking grounds and try to practice through the heavy scents of various herbs. Surely finding prey scents there would be nearly impossible! She doubted she'd find much, but she'd try anyway. Maybe after all of that she'd be able to walk into camp at dusk and present Dragonstar with a rabbit she'd caught all on her own. She'd make sure it was a big rabbit, at least as big as she was. Since deer was apparently out of the question right now, rabbits would have to do. Tagged;; Dragonstar <3 Word Count;; 602 Background Song;; "Get Off My Back" by Bryan Adams Notes;; :3