{prison gates won't open up for me}dragonstar

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i52.tinypic.com/2ql4pdw.jpg] Everywhere has it's downfalls and its perks. He replied, vaguely offended that she thought it was so terrible. The thing is, it wasn't. There were so many wonderful things, and she never gave it a chance. It was true, the best forest land was on tigerclan territory, where she couldn't go, but still. There was a darker beauty to it. He never thought that poorly of the plains. To describe it as horrible... it was simply bad experiences and misunderstandings, in his mind. She couldn't see the good through the bad. It is not all bad. He murmured, pulling himself up to his paws once again, shaking bits of mud off and sending them flying, scattered among the grass and puddles. His mind wandered to the feeling of being up in the highest branches of the trees, closer to the sky than any one else. It was exhilarating, knowing you could fall to your death at any time, yet trusting the tree to not snap, the wind to not blow too hard, your claws and balance to not fail you. He padded to her side, nudging her shoulder. Come on. I want to show you something. You don't have to change your mind. Just give it a chance. He waited a moment, hoping she wouldn't just turn and leave. He shouldn't think she would do such a thing, so his thoughts instantly changed on the matter, but immediate reactions that have been ingrained are more difficult to alter. After waiting that moment, he turned and padded away, heading towards the forest, though not in the direction they'd come from and still generally away from the hollow she'd been stuck in.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/34zfx4m.jpg] RAISING her head when Dragonstar beckoned, Willowleaf's pale blue eyes widened when she caught what he was implying. He wanted to take her back into the forest? Was he insane? Willowleaf stood up, more out of shock than a real wanting to follow him, and stared, mouth slightly agape. Her limbs locked up in a way she hadn't had happen since her first battle as an apprentice. Fear thundered through her, pounding in her veins with each heartbeat. Go back into that death trap he called a home? She'd only just escaped! The thoughts ran around her head in circles, endlessly chasing one another's tails. If anyone ever said lions never feared anything, they would be proven dead wrong by Willowleaf. As far as her clanmates knew she was very open minded about things but what they didn't know, and apparently Dragonstar didn't understand, was that she was highly claustrophobic. The small spaces and lack of sky, it was choking, smothering. Crushing. Flexing her claws on the stone, Willowleaf stared at Dragonstar's retreating form. THIS reminded Willowleaf why what she was doing was wrong. They were so different, so different it couldn't be natural for them to be friendly with one another, much less anything else. Good sense alone told her that forests were a bad place to go, too cramped and dark. It had to be a sign from StarClan, a sign that this was wrong. A small voice in the back of her mind however, awoke at the idea that it was StarClan's sign. What they had, it was beautiful and special. They were outsiders with no one else. They found comfort and strength, at least in Willowleaf's case, in each other. Sure, there was affection, but nothing Dragonstar would ever do anything about and Willowleaf knew she was too shy to do it. Technically, she was building relations for LionClan right? That couldn't be so wrong. One cat being kind to another, making a friend despite their many differences. Was it so bad? Was it evil? Would it send her to the Dark Forest for all eternity? She doubted it. BESIDES...Dragonstar had never tried to hurt her before. Not intentionally... SUCKING in a deep breath, Willowleaf let it out slowly and looked at her front paws. After a moment's hesitation, she leaped. Before she could regret it and retreat, she bounded after Dragonstar and probably got closer to him than she'd ever been. She stuck close to his striped side, head ducked and ears laid back, white fur bristling in agitation as he led them into the brush again and the plants gradually got taller. Now though, it seemed she had the opposite of being frozen in place. She couldn't make herself stop. Her paws kept moving, muscles kept rippling, she kept moving forward alongside the TigerClan leader. Oh this was such a bad idea. She moved like a cat being led to die, body low to the ground and tail flicking uneasily. Her blue eyes kept flitting from object to object, seeing the landscape she'd run through blindly the night before, only imagining the end without Dragonstar coming across her. Tagged;; Dragonstar <3 Word Count;; 524 Background Song;; "Gotta Be Somebody" by Nickelback Notes;; <3 is yucky short but it'll have to do >.<

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/2l8hpqu.jpg] [scrolly:h(345),w(425),sy] He slipped through the trees with just as much ease as he usually did, leaping over fallen logs and branches, clearing a bit of a path by simply walking through ferns and bushes. He had noticed she'd not followed at first, but he said nothing when she caught up. Instead, he just let his tail drape over her shoulders and said nothing as she pressed against his side. He traveled quickly, mind intent on one place in particular. A place he found calming, beautiful. Perhaps even more so these days, though he'd never admit it, even though if he did the reason for it would be obvious to her, but probably only her. It would lead to an awkward conversation, a facing of reality he was nowhere near ready for. He rather liked this pleasant fantasy where tigers and lions could coexist peacefully without worry or fear, where they could sit and talk just like tigers with tigers, or lions with lions. It was a nice vision, though it would never come to realization. It would forever be just him and her. Finally, after what seemed like mere moments to him but probably felt like hours for her, they broke out into a clearing large enough to see the sky in the center, fringed by branches and leaves that formed a half circle around the chunk of sky. The open sky looked down on a pond, still at the edges with gentle waves from where water crashed down from the waterfall. Off to one side grew a willow tree, a few of the branches dipping into the water. He padded over, stepping carefully from stepping stone to stepping stone, not that the water was deep, and he pushed through the branches of the willow tree, half hidden by its canopy as he reached a large stone, flat on top, too wide to fall off of, even if they both laid on it. A little cramped for both of them on at the same time, but nowhere near impossible. He stopped, peering back at her through the branches. See? It isn't all crowded space. It isn't all dark and dangerous. It's a matter of where you look, how you look at it. He murmured softly, poking his head back through the branches, watching her quietly, at ease here as he always was. He pulled back again, a jerk of his head inviting her into the the comforting branches of the willow tree, though she was welcome to stay out in the long grass of the field if she wanted. He didn't stay on the rock long, though, leaping off the side into the shallow water, feeling it up to his belly but no higher. He bent his knees, sunk into it and let the mud drift into the water, cleaning his coat, returning it to the white it had been before. [/scrolly]

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/34zfx4m.jpg] THE encroaching undergrowth made Willowleaf antsy a she stuck close to her striped guide. She tried not to appear fearful but knew she was fighting a losing battle. No matter what pride said, she was simply not comfortable in such close quarters with the foliage. Still, she had little choice but to follow Dragonstar now. She could probably find her way back if she really wanted to but that would mean risking getting turned around, even if chances of it were slim, and not having Dragonstar there to help her and provide support. At this very moment the white tiger probably couldn't even grasp how much his presence meant. It was probably the only reason she wasn't completely losing her mind as the brush turned into trees and ferns and bushes grew lushly among the roots of the towers of wood. They crowded closer, her pelt brushed several times by the longer fronds of ferns and several times the pair of felines having to spring over trees either struck down in the recent storm or seasons before. Willowleaf tried not to think about how close one such tree had come to ending her life. She may be an adult and have had a decent experience with life so far but she had no desire to end it, and coming so close to doing so, well, it was terrifying for even a seasoned warrior. AT long last, Dragonstar led them into a proper clearing. Nothing like the lioness was used to but it was far better than the depths of the forest. Blue sky drew her gaze before she even absorbed anything else. It meant sunlight and fresh air and home. A part of Willowleaf wondered if her clanmates saw the same clouds, saw the same deep blue, knew on some level that they could share this with someone other than just another lion. BABY blue eyes followed the streams of sunlight down to the pond in the clearing's heart. It was a greenish brown color, a fringe of moss but otherwise looked calm and peaceful. A waterfall cascaded into the pond, feeding it and causing quiet ripples to form over the water. Gaze following the ripples, she saw that Dragonstar had moved from her side and was standing on a small island of sorts where a willow tree grew, its long elegant branches dipping into the pond. He was looking at her, explaining something about beauty that Willowleaf didn't even hear properly. LOOKING at the willow, Willowleaf's lips tugged into a small smile. She'd never understood her namesake. She didn't consider herself a graceful, elegant creature. She wasn't a place of sanctuary or a sign of peace and spring. She was just...her. Unusual. Set apart by a mutated gene and another warrior of LionClan. There weren't even very many willow trees in LionClan to begin with. She'd never seen one until she'd been late in her apprenticeship, when it was too late to as her mother why she had named her Willowkit instead of something that made sense like Whitekit or Palekit or even Bluekit for her blue eyes. Looking at this tree, Willowleaf had never felt more set apart from her namesake. It grew peacefully, quietly content in its clearing, tendrils brushing the water like a lover's caress, surrounded by trees like itself. It was content to be where nature had put it. Willowleaf on the other hand, felt out of sorts and had random spurts of rebellion. She felt out of place in her own skin and to top it off, had no real love of forests and other trees. INSTEAD of going straight to Dragonstar like she probably would have done normally, Willowleaf padded to the edge of the pond. Despite what Dragonstar probably thought, she had no fear of water. She'd nearly drowned yes, but been traumatized no. Lions, while they didn't love it like tigers did, were fair enough swimmers when they had to be since pray tended to leap into the rivers meaning the pride had to follow or lose the pray. WADING until her paws didn't touch the bottom, Willowleaf swam through the sunlit waters, making her way unhurried to the island where the willow tree grew. Pulling herself back onto the dry land, Willowleaf looked up at the elegant tree. "I never did understand why I was named for a willow...we don't even have them in LionClan." She didn't know why she said it, it just felt like the only thing to say. It was something one friend shared with another. Using her front paw, Willowleaf caught one of the tendrils and held it in her pawpad, the leaf bright green and healthy against the dusky pink of her hardened paw pad. It looked tender and young, full of potential and innocent. Willowleaf shook her head. In her mind, it simply did not fit. Tagged;; Dragonstar <3 Word Count;; 812 Background Song;; "Kiss the Girl" from the Little Mermaid Notes;; <3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/2l8hpqu.jpg] [scrolly:h(345),w(425),sy] He alternated between watching her and getting the dirt and mud off his coat, perfectly happy to stay in the water as he currently was. He slipped into the deeper water, paddling to stay afloat, but at a leisurely pace, content and safe. His eyes returned to watching her as she slipped up onto the rock island. After she spoke, he glanced between her and the tree, a small smile slipping on his face. Perhaps a shared beauty. The words slid out before he even really realized it. To hide that it was anything more than a simple option anyone could have noticed, he dove under the water's surface, eyes opening after he was under, staying underneath for a few minutes, mind repeating those last moments over and over and feeling like a complete and utter idiot. It was a rather good thing he couldn't blush, for he certainly would have wound up bright red through his fur if he could. He stayed under the water until he felt a burning in his lungs, a need to breath and he surfaced again, drawing in a deep, long breath when he did. He dragged himself back over to the island, pulling himself up and shaking like a dog to get some of the water out before using his tongue to flatten the fur out again, still avoiding eye contact after that particularly embarrassing outburst of thought. It wasn't an uncommon thing for his mouth to get away from him, but never had it been on such topics as that. Finally, he laid down on the rock, eyes turned to the falling water, ears perked toward it. The crashing down was loud, but certainly not deafening. It wasn't that large of a waterfall that it would ever be that loud. In the winter, even, it was small enough to freeze on the colder days. He'd often fascinated himself with the ice and how it distorted his reflection in a way that water never would. He'd outgrown those days for the most part, but he frequented this place anyway. His mind sufficiently distracting itself from the moment before, at least enough to avoid thinking about it, another of his topic jumps came out of his mouth, though this time more an attempt to change the subject of conversation. I've often wondered why the sound of water flowing or crashing down was so soothing. I suppose I may never figure it out. [/scrolly]

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/34zfx4m.jpg] "PERHAPS a shared beauty." IT took a moment for Dragonstar's words to sink in to the white lioness but when they did, her head snapped up and turned to stare at him. "What?" BY the time the questioning word left her maw, Dragonstar was gone in a splash, disappearing beneath the water's surface leaving a thunderstruck Willowleaf standing on the little island with the willow. Putting her paw down, but careful not to tread on any of the tender willow branches, the LionClan warrior climbed fully onto the island and moved through the curtain of tendrils. The gears in her mind were turning, her eyes staring at the ground. Why had Dragonstar said that? Nobody...nobody had ever said something like that to her. Was it just a compliment or...what? She had no idea. Everything about her had always been considered odd by LionClan. Her pelt. Her blue eyes. Her quiet nature. Her avoidance of Gatherings. All of it was out of the norm. She should be golden brown with deep tawny eyes, a confident pride in her clan and look forward to going to Gatherings for the simple fact that it was a break from the ordinary but no other reason. None of those things had ever been within Willowleaf's capability, either because it was impossible or because she simply didn't feel right adhering to them. IT was strange. Odd. Unnatural. Disloyal. NOT beautiful. LEAPING onto the boulder beside the willow, Willowleaf laid down and looked out at the rippling pond. She could see the distorted form of her white-furred guide as he swam below. What was he thinking? Was he regretting his phrasing? Knowing him, he was probably swimming in circles because he thought he said the wrong thing again. Conversation never had been his strong point, that much was obvious in only one meeting. For some reason though, the quirk didn't bother Willowleaf as much as it had when they'd first met. It was sort of endearing now. HE'D come up for air sooner or later and act like he hadn't said anything odd and Willowleaf knew she'd let it slide. She wanted to maintain a friendship with him, not make it complicated with things they couldn't have. Even if he did think of her that way, it was impossible. He was a leader, she a warrior. Two different clans. Two different lives. Any kits they had would never be able to hide their mixed blood. An elder had once told Willowleaf a story when she was a kit, about a warrior that had been built like a lion but with the faint stripes of a tiger. They'd called him Halfheart, accepted him simply because they needed warriors desperately at the time and could not afford to push him out of the clan. His mother had been scorned for the rest of her days and the warrior constantly torn between two worlds, neither of which he belonged to. The elder, Berryflower, had been his mate, and had also told Willowleaf of her heartbreak when she never bore kits and her mate died of greencough. It was a bitter road to walk, one Willowleaf didn't know if she could survive. SHAKING her head, Willowleaf pushed the thoughts aside as Dragonstar appeared out of the water, climbing onto the island and shaking himself dry like the foxes and wild dogs did after they chased pray into the river. Willowleaf's whiskers and ears twitched as diamonds of water landed on her pelt, flung high and wide by Dragonstar, but she didn't really mind it. She turned her had to rasp her tongue over her shoulder and smooth some of her white fur and make it look like she'd just been lounging and grooming while he swam, but stopped when he spoke, telling her about the calming effect of the rushing waters. Glancing at the waterfall, Willowleaf couldn't really agree with him. It was noisy and intrusive, but she was used to the plains where the only sounds were birds and antelope, occasionally a lion roar. "I think every cat has something they'll never discover," Willowleaf commented, laying her head on her forelegs. "Why I fear small spaces. Why you are soothed by flowing water. Why cheetah and leopards have spots. There are somethings we simply don't need to know the how or why, only that it is." Tagged;; Dragonstar <3 Word Count;; 726 Background Song;; "Girl Next Door" by Saving Jane Notes;; <3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/2l8hpqu.jpg] [scrolly:h(345),w(425),sy] Makes sense. If we knew everything, there would be little point to living. He rumbled back, glad when she let the prior topic drop. He should have expected that. It was the little game they played, except it was far too serious to ever be truly just a game. He'd say something, they'd change the subject. She'd do something, they'd pretend it was entirely normal and would happen with any other cat. It was a dance in which they took turns in charge, one leading and the other left to follow. It worked that way. They never got too close, but they never drifted far. There was deniability, they could claim it was nothing more than a friendship. A friendship outside of the gatherings was far better than anything else this could be considered. Anything else they couldn't let it turn into. Or could they? He pushed that thought from his mind. It was too dangerous, too unpredictable. Yet, at the same time, it was perfectly predictable. They'd be found out, she'd probably be kicked out of her clan or never trusted again. He would be overthrown. He hadn't liked the looks in Blazeheart's eyes lately to begin with, and he knew his deputy disliked rogues and loners, of which he was born. He hadn't really cared who his deputy was though, not at the time. He should have, he knew. But he didn't know any of them, and Blazeheart had seemed like the most reliable choice. At least he was loyal to Tigerclan. But was he loyal to his leader? Dragonstar wasn't sure. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out, either. As his thoughts drifted over Blazeheart, he became a bit distant, walls up even though they weren't usually when around her. Just hiding his worry, he didn't need her to see and he did still subconsciously know she was there. Then, with a blink, the guards were gone and his head dropped to his paws, relaxing to the sound, pushing the worrisome thoughts from his mind and focusing instead on the moment. This wonderful, perfect moment. He had the soothing water, the shade of the trees, a view of the sky, and her. He was content with the idea of this moment never ending. It would have to, of course. The sun would go down, she would need to return to her clan and he to his. These moments, they could never last. Perhaps they were never meant to, no matter how much anyone wished they would. Instead, he just held onto it while it lasted, tail flicking so that the tip touched the tip of her tail, and he just let his eyes close. Still, his other senses worked over time, hearing more acute, smell sharpening. He didn't pick through anything too much, just lazily worked through the sounds and scents as he'd had Daypaw doing. [/scrolly]

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/34zfx4m.jpg] AS silence descended upon the pair again, Willowleaf's pale blue gaze fell onto the rippling waters, watching her reflection distort and change, never exactly the same. The barest touch on her tail tip made her glance over at Dragonstar, just glimpsing the walls going up. Not many cats would see it, but for some reason, Willowleaf could tell the difference between when he was relaxed and when he was hiding behind those walls of steel and pain. He was looking intently somewhere into the distance but the white lioness knew he wasn't actually seeing anything there. His thoughts were drifting somewhere Willowleaf could not follow. It was almost an unspoken rule, she would not ask about TigerClan and he would not ask about LionClan. No chance of one trying to use the other, no threat of sharing things they shouldn't and getting too comfortable with each other. So, with a silent sigh she rested her head again on her outstretched forelegs, gaze once more finding the water. It wasn't as soothing to her as it was to Dragonstar but she could still appriciate the serenity of the clearing, as though it was a small haven just for them. GAZING down into the waters, Willowleaf thought about her clan and what they would say if they found out about her little friendship with the TigerClan leader. Some would be furious and demand she be exiled. Others would encourage her to try and get information out of him, use him as a resource, as an advantage against not only TigerClan but other clans as well. Still others...they would shun her if she wasn't thrown out. Perhaps that would be worse? Being trapped in a clan where no one trusted her, where no one believed a word she said. It would be like steel bars wrapping around her life and steadily growing closer and closer together, too tall to leap over and too firm to break. Even when her clan was unaware of her...relationship...with Dragonstar, Willowleaf knew it would forever define her because even if the clan was blind, she knew. That was enough. IN her mind she played through the reactions of her various clanmates. Some with rage, others with cold disdain, it when on and on in a collage of different emotions. One cat however, brought a pause to Willowleaf's train of thought. Goldenpelt, the only queen in the clan at the moment. In the water, Willowleaf imagined she could see Goldenpelt outside the nursery with a litter of young kits finding amazement in the sunlight and the blue of the sky and staring at passing warriors with awe in their innocent eyes. Unknowingly, a small smile crept over Willowleaf's face as she thought about it. Wouldn't that be nice? To be a mother and know the pride of seeing kits grow into apprentices, then to warriors and who knows? Maybe even leaders or medicine cats! It had never occured to Willowleaf before, the possability that she could have that. Before she met Mac, she'd never even known another lion that looked like her, bleached white by genes instead of the sun. OUT of the corner of her eye, she saw Dragonstar shift slightly, laying his head again on his forelegs. Mentally she shook her head. It still wasn't an option. DOWN below in the rippling water, however, Willowleaf could still see it in her mind's eye. Herself, white pelt even lighter in the sun, with kits tumbling around her paws and chasing each other, teasing and playing and laughing. She could see herself sit up straighter when others walked by, proud to contribute to the clan in such a way, proud of the kits she'd brought into the world, proud of what they would someday be. Proud. Noble. Strong. Free-spirited. Open-minded. That was what she wanted but she would accept whatever they became and love them regardless. Her mind drifted to when the kits became apprentices and she went to their first Gathering, when the clan leader would announce they were the newest apprentices. She'd sit up straight and purr with pride, finally able to face the chance of being the only white lion at the Gathering....until...Dragonstar's face swam out of the crowd of unknown cats that she'd present her kits to and shame came over her. SHAKING her head, Willowleaf laid her ears flat for a moment and sighed, sitting up a bit. Her tail curled away from Dragonstar's, coming to rest over her hind paws. "If only it was that easy," she muttered, not really aware she'd spoken aloud. Looking away from the water, she stared at the curtin of willow tendrils waving in a soft breeze. "Bet she doesn't even realize how lucky she is," again muttered, so soft he may not have even heard, not really aware she'd spoken aloud. Tagged;; Dragonstar <3 Word Count;; 804 Background Song;; "Meteor Shower" by Owl City Notes;; <3