Post by chaotic creativity on Oct 15, 2020 8:47:34 GMT -8
❄ Post 020 - Fear Strikes Deep
Sun surveyed herself in the reflective ice as she sat on the beach, her thick tail wrapped tightly around her paws. The moon shone brightly in the sky despite it being the middle of the day, though it didn’t seem to bother the ginger molly. She had experienced her fair share of Polarnatt, and it didn’t concern her anymore when the sun set and didn’t rise for several moons. Sun drew in a deep breath and let it all out in one great sigh, her shoulders slumping over as she slid her face closer to her dim reflection. She could see the intelligence shining in her eyes, but why didn’t she feel as smart as she usually did.
In answer to her question, a paw tapped her shoulder. Sun whirled around with a shriek, surprised that a cat had snuck up on her. It had been since she was a kit that someone had managed to take her completely by surprise. She heaved for air as she raised her eyes to the stranger, and the stranger stared down his nose at her in shock. He was solid black, but he seemed to have faint stripes running across his ribs and his whole pelt had a rusty hue to it. “Who are you, and why are you on the territory of Katter av den Frosne Øya?” he snarled, his lip peeling back to reveal a row of thorn-sharp teeth. Sun took a step back, but her paw slid on the ice and she fell to her stomach. As her chin collided with the ground, she looked up at the stranger in a new light.
He was strangely beautiful, in a way that took sun’s breath away. She licked her suddenly dry lips and turned her head, trying to hide the flush of color in her cheeks and ears. “My name is Sun, and I didn’t know any cat owned this land,” she responded, rising to her paws and regaining her posture. She was still struck by the awe of this cat’s appearance, but she pushed her sudden crush aside so as not to look weak. “If this land belongs to a group of cats that you are in, I would love to join it,” she whispered, and she felt her heart race faster as the tom took a step towards her. She swallowed as he leaned in, his nose brushing her ear as words seemed to roll off his tongue.
“You can join, but only if you’ll join me on a stroll first,” he whispered, and Sun nodded enthusiastically. He turned to where his pelt brushed hers, and began walking along the beach. “My name is Sablefrost, proud Nedre Beskyttere of Katter av den Frosne Øya. I am currently training a young cat named Marbledpaw in the ways of hunting and fighting, and I have been told that I’m excellent company,” he meowed, introducing himself. Sun could feel herself begin to melt at how perfect he seemed. It could only get better from here, right?
Ospreyfrost pulled young Guillemotkit close with her paw, running her tongue across his ears to smooth the fur he’d already messed up. She’d spent the entire morning grooming her restless Kattunge, not daring to tell them about the ceremony that was happening soon. “Let me go!” Guillemotkit shrieked, pushing at his mother with his paws. They’d once been so small that they fit on a single toe of Ospreyfrost’s, but they were bigger now as he was six moons old. With a huff, he rolled away from her and slammed into Kittiwakekit. The two collapsed in a hissing fit, biting and kicking as gently as littermates usually did. Ospreyfrost narrowed her eyes, knowing their pelts were surely ruined and she’d have to present two scruffy looking Kattunge to the Clan.
“May all cats old enough to leave the cavern gather for a Clan meeting!”
Moosestar’s call rang loudly in the nursery, and Ospreyfrost’s two Kattunge scrambled over themselves to get to the exit. Standing and cross the den, she blocked their paths and shook her head. “You know better,” she scolded gently. “Only cats old enough to leave the camp may attend Clan meetings. You’re still Kattunge! Well, you will be until you allow me to groom your pelts,” she added quickly with a wink, and Guillemotkit gasped as the realization struck him. He stilled quickly and presented himself to his mother, Kittiwakekit imitating him in a semi-serious, semi-joking manner. Ospreyfrost smoothed their pelts until they shone, cleaning them to the point where she’d never seen so little dust and dirt on them.
“We gather today to celebrate a momentous occasion among two of our youngest members,” Moosestar meowed, and Ospreyfrost led the way out of the nursery. Guillemotkit and Kittiwakekit followed her stiffly, their heads held high while their eyes betrayed the excitement fizzing inside them. As Ospreyfrost left her two Kattunge standing before Moosestar, she sat beside Rollingfog and Harpwind in the crowd. Moosestar stared down her dainty nose at the two Kattunge, and then offered them a smile as she began the lengthy portion of the ceremony.
“Guillemotkit and Kittiwakekit, son and daughter of Ospreyfrost, have reached the age of six moons. As per our customs, they are to be assigned to mentors to begin their training as Lærling. Guillemotkit, you are now to be known as Guillemotpaw, and Sunhalo will be your mentor,” her voice stopped as Sunhalo approached the young tom and pressed her nose to his. “Sunhalo may be a fairly new member of the Clan, but she has demonstrated excellent prowess in her fighting skills in her short time among us. Training you will be the next test of her skills to prove she truly belongs,” Moosestar’s eyes followed the pair as they melted into the crowd, then turned her attention to young Kittiwakekit.
“Kittiwakekit, you are now to be known as Kittiwakepaw, and Knollwind will be your mentor. Knollwind has also been with us for a surprisingly short amount of time, but her kindness and strength are traits to be rivaled by even our best members. I trust that she will train you well,” Moosestar promised as the brown tabby approached the smaller snow bengal and pressed her tiny pink nose to the Lærling’s. The new mentor-Lærling duo disappeared among the cats, and Moosestar swept her tail to signal that the celebration of the young cats was to begin.
“Guillemotpaw! Kittiwakepaw! Guillemotpaw! Kittiwakepaw!” chanted the Clan as they circled the Lærling to congratulate them. Both had their ears pinned back and were awkwardly accepting the praise, so unused to so many cats being interested in them. Ospreyfrost could feel her entire body being filled with pride, but she was surprised to feel Harpwind nudge her shoulder. Harpwind angled her eyes towards the camp exit, and Ospreyfrost nodded with a sigh. It had been too long since she had last patrolled, and her paws itched to race across the crunchy top layer of snow once more.
“I need to speak with you,” Sablefrost whispered for the fifth time into a cat’s ear, and he gestured his paw towards the camp entrance. He slipped out into the cold night, though it was truly day. He was greeted by a ginger ticked tabby and white tom, a blue lynx point tom, a cinnamon classic tabby tom, a cream lynx point tom, and a solid chocolate tom. “Thank you for gathering on such short notice. If you haven’t realized, the deaths happening in the Clan don’t seem to be natural. In an attempt to save the life of our Dronning, Moosestar has appointed me as the head of a guard that will position itself outside her den at all hours. I have hand-picked you five to be a part of the Royal Guard,” he explained, and Papaverdapple looked at the tom with confusion.
Before Papaverdapple could open his mouth to speak, Sablefrost shook his head. “I understand that you are a Hertuger, but that puts you closer to the Dronning than any of us. You will be the guard when she has private meetings, positioning yourself close to the edge of her den in the chance of something happening,” he explained, and Papaverdapple nodded as if he hadn’t thought of the possibility. Buntingswirl leaned his head into Hirculusstem’s and whispered something to the chocolate tom, which prompted Sablefrost to speak up. “There will be no secrets among us. We may not tell other cats what we are doing to preserve the peace, but we will be a band of brothers. We shall protect the Dronning with our lives.”
Puffincry raised his voice in a shout, clearly celebrating the cause he had just been asked to join. “I won’t let you or our Dronning down, Sablefrost. If there truly is danger on our borders, then we must be prepared for the worst,” he meowed, his eyes narrowed in a show of determination. A crooked smile slid across Sablefrost’s muzzle as he nodded, and the group of toms all began chatting and discussing the rotation of the guard. All cats would share the duty of guarding at night, so that every cat may get as much sleep as possible, but only two guards would be positioned during the day to minimize the chances of an enemy to slip in during guard change. “Let’s do this,” Puffincry whispered with a smirk.
Glacierbloom watched as a strange tom approached her alongside Maplesong, his head close to hers as they chatted. Jealously poured from every inch of her pelt, and she approached and slid between the two while planting a gentle lick on Maplesong’s cheek. The chocolate calico molly couldn’t help but laugh, as did the chocolate tom sporting a flashy collar. “Glacierbloom, this is Brownie, a kittypet tom I met while at the Gathering last night. He offered a proposition, and I think we should take it,” she purred, her eyes shining with sheer joy and excitement.
Whatever excitement her mate felt was eclipsed by the envy and jealousy that seemed to fill Glacierbloom up to her eartips. “I don’t think we should take whatever it is he offered,” she snapped snarkily, her eyes flitting to his suddenly hurt face. Maplesong sucked in a sharp breath and whispered something to Brownie before leading Glacierbloom away. Before Maplesong could even ask, Glacierbloom let out a snarl, “How could you go out and become all buddy-buddy with a tom? We just became mates, and you’re already doing this?” Maplesong looked at her usually sweet mate with shock before she dissolved into laughter. Glacierbloom watched her with confusion, rage billowing off of her in waves.
“He’s not some crush, Glacierbloom. You’re the only cat I’ll ever love. Besides, I’m not interested in toms,” she laughed, and Glacierbloom felt the fear begin to slide off of her. “Brownie has offered to help us raise a family, Glacierbloom. I’d carry the Kattunge, and he would be the father. It would purely be a surrogacy considering that we can’t have Kattunge together,” she murmured gently, reaching out and resting her forehead against Glacierbloom’s. The grey oriental molly took a step back in surprise, shaking her head as her thoughts spun. A family? Was she ready for one?
“I-I don’t know if I’m ready to be a mother, Maplesong. We just became mates a moon ago,” she cried, her eyes wide as doubt began to creep into her ears. “Turn his offer down, sweetheart. Let’s sleep on it and revisit this in a couple of moons,” she begged, but Maplesong shook her head with terrified eyes. “You already accepted the offer, didn’t you?” Glacierbloom asked, her voice barely a whisper as Maplesong nodded slowly. “Why didn’t you ask me?!” she shrieked, pinning her ears back as she looked at her mate in disbelief.
“I’ve always dreamed of being a mother, and here’s my chance! What’s to say the next opportunity doesn’t present itself until we’re Eldre. You’ll be an amazing mother, Glacierbloom, trust me. The way you’ve given trust to Rollingfog just because she was grieving is proof of that. We’ve got a couple of moons until they’re born, and hopefully you’ll be over your nerves by then,” Maplesong whispered, and Glacierbloom nodded slowly. “Are you ready to go tell Brownie that you agree?” she asked, and Glacierbloom nodded again. “Good,” she purred, and led her mate back to where the chocolate tom was waiting.
Orionstrike could feel the tension rippling in her pelt as Aurorashine ducked her head and avoided her. Ever since the incident on the ice, the two hadn’t spoken. That didn’t mean Orionstrike wasn’t trying, but it did mean that Aurorashine went out of her way to stay away from her. Orionstrike knew Aurorashine was going to hunt along the northern border, and so she slunk out of camp minutes later. Spotting a large drift of snow, Orionstrike buried herself in it to mask her scent. Finally, she began to track Aurorashine’s pawsteps. As she crested a small hill, she spotted the smoke molly crouching as a mouse nibbled on a tiny blade of grass it had dug up.
Orionstrike shot across the snow and slammed her paws into the mouse, pinning it to the ground and killing it with a swift bite. “Aurorashine, we need to talk,” she announced, but the molly was already running away. Orionstrike could see teardrops in the snow, and she drew in a shuddering breath as she picked up the mouse. What had she done wrong except for save Aurorashine’s life? Was she upset that her friend clearly had a crush on her now? All the potential possibilities swam through Orionstrike’s mind as she began padding back towards camp with the measly catch she had stolen.
Tempestflash ran his tail under Moosestar’s chin as he spun around her in a circle, her eyes following him as he grinned and winked. “I’ve never met such a beautiful molly before,” he murmured, his eyes trained on the beautiful patches of silver and ginger. Moosestar ran her tongue over her teeth as she chuckled, reaching up and lifting Tempestflash’s chin with the top of her paw. He stared down his muzzle at her, and she clucked her tongue while shaking her head from side to side.
“Most toms don’t dare to flirt so openly with me. It’s a refreshing change in scenery. I used to command a small army of cats infatuated with me, you know,” she whispered, and Tempestflash shuddered at the sudden fear her felt from the fierceness in her voice. The thought of trying to continue down this path, of trying to woo the Dronning into falling in love with him, scared him but excited him. He loved her, even having only known her for a little over a moon. “The way the curls in your pelt catch the starlight is simply breathtaking,” she whispered, never taking her eyes from his for a second.
Tempestflash winked and stretched his legs out, settling into a sitting position as he watched Moosestar raise her gaze to the stars. His breath was stolen by the way her pelt seemed to reflect each tiny star, her eyes wide and filled with the reflection of the moon. “How can one molly be so stunning,” he murmured gently, and Moosestar leaned into his touch. The chilled air curled around them, sinking into their bones as they pressed closer together for warmth. “Moosestar, I think I love you,” Tempestflash whispered, but she didn’t respond. She had fallen asleep with her head resting gently on his shoulder. Sighing, he slid down to curl around her so as not to wake her to make her go to her nest all the way down the cliff.
Moosestar’s dream of rolling fields was covered by shadow as a dark form eclipsed the sun, reaching out with a pawful of claws. She couldn’t breath as the form gripped her tightly, crushing her windpipe until the world went white. She was standing before a hairless tom, Coral, as he shook his head in shame. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. Moosestar realized that whatever had happened in her dream had happened in real life as well, and she was losing her first of the nine lives she was gifted.
Sun surveyed herself in the reflective ice as she sat on the beach, her thick tail wrapped tightly around her paws. The moon shone brightly in the sky despite it being the middle of the day, though it didn’t seem to bother the ginger molly. She had experienced her fair share of Polarnatt, and it didn’t concern her anymore when the sun set and didn’t rise for several moons. Sun drew in a deep breath and let it all out in one great sigh, her shoulders slumping over as she slid her face closer to her dim reflection. She could see the intelligence shining in her eyes, but why didn’t she feel as smart as she usually did.
In answer to her question, a paw tapped her shoulder. Sun whirled around with a shriek, surprised that a cat had snuck up on her. It had been since she was a kit that someone had managed to take her completely by surprise. She heaved for air as she raised her eyes to the stranger, and the stranger stared down his nose at her in shock. He was solid black, but he seemed to have faint stripes running across his ribs and his whole pelt had a rusty hue to it. “Who are you, and why are you on the territory of Katter av den Frosne Øya?” he snarled, his lip peeling back to reveal a row of thorn-sharp teeth. Sun took a step back, but her paw slid on the ice and she fell to her stomach. As her chin collided with the ground, she looked up at the stranger in a new light.
He was strangely beautiful, in a way that took sun’s breath away. She licked her suddenly dry lips and turned her head, trying to hide the flush of color in her cheeks and ears. “My name is Sun, and I didn’t know any cat owned this land,” she responded, rising to her paws and regaining her posture. She was still struck by the awe of this cat’s appearance, but she pushed her sudden crush aside so as not to look weak. “If this land belongs to a group of cats that you are in, I would love to join it,” she whispered, and she felt her heart race faster as the tom took a step towards her. She swallowed as he leaned in, his nose brushing her ear as words seemed to roll off his tongue.
“You can join, but only if you’ll join me on a stroll first,” he whispered, and Sun nodded enthusiastically. He turned to where his pelt brushed hers, and began walking along the beach. “My name is Sablefrost, proud Nedre Beskyttere of Katter av den Frosne Øya. I am currently training a young cat named Marbledpaw in the ways of hunting and fighting, and I have been told that I’m excellent company,” he meowed, introducing himself. Sun could feel herself begin to melt at how perfect he seemed. It could only get better from here, right?
Ospreyfrost pulled young Guillemotkit close with her paw, running her tongue across his ears to smooth the fur he’d already messed up. She’d spent the entire morning grooming her restless Kattunge, not daring to tell them about the ceremony that was happening soon. “Let me go!” Guillemotkit shrieked, pushing at his mother with his paws. They’d once been so small that they fit on a single toe of Ospreyfrost’s, but they were bigger now as he was six moons old. With a huff, he rolled away from her and slammed into Kittiwakekit. The two collapsed in a hissing fit, biting and kicking as gently as littermates usually did. Ospreyfrost narrowed her eyes, knowing their pelts were surely ruined and she’d have to present two scruffy looking Kattunge to the Clan.
“May all cats old enough to leave the cavern gather for a Clan meeting!”
Moosestar’s call rang loudly in the nursery, and Ospreyfrost’s two Kattunge scrambled over themselves to get to the exit. Standing and cross the den, she blocked their paths and shook her head. “You know better,” she scolded gently. “Only cats old enough to leave the camp may attend Clan meetings. You’re still Kattunge! Well, you will be until you allow me to groom your pelts,” she added quickly with a wink, and Guillemotkit gasped as the realization struck him. He stilled quickly and presented himself to his mother, Kittiwakekit imitating him in a semi-serious, semi-joking manner. Ospreyfrost smoothed their pelts until they shone, cleaning them to the point where she’d never seen so little dust and dirt on them.
“We gather today to celebrate a momentous occasion among two of our youngest members,” Moosestar meowed, and Ospreyfrost led the way out of the nursery. Guillemotkit and Kittiwakekit followed her stiffly, their heads held high while their eyes betrayed the excitement fizzing inside them. As Ospreyfrost left her two Kattunge standing before Moosestar, she sat beside Rollingfog and Harpwind in the crowd. Moosestar stared down her dainty nose at the two Kattunge, and then offered them a smile as she began the lengthy portion of the ceremony.
“Guillemotkit and Kittiwakekit, son and daughter of Ospreyfrost, have reached the age of six moons. As per our customs, they are to be assigned to mentors to begin their training as Lærling. Guillemotkit, you are now to be known as Guillemotpaw, and Sunhalo will be your mentor,” her voice stopped as Sunhalo approached the young tom and pressed her nose to his. “Sunhalo may be a fairly new member of the Clan, but she has demonstrated excellent prowess in her fighting skills in her short time among us. Training you will be the next test of her skills to prove she truly belongs,” Moosestar’s eyes followed the pair as they melted into the crowd, then turned her attention to young Kittiwakekit.
“Kittiwakekit, you are now to be known as Kittiwakepaw, and Knollwind will be your mentor. Knollwind has also been with us for a surprisingly short amount of time, but her kindness and strength are traits to be rivaled by even our best members. I trust that she will train you well,” Moosestar promised as the brown tabby approached the smaller snow bengal and pressed her tiny pink nose to the Lærling’s. The new mentor-Lærling duo disappeared among the cats, and Moosestar swept her tail to signal that the celebration of the young cats was to begin.
“Guillemotpaw! Kittiwakepaw! Guillemotpaw! Kittiwakepaw!” chanted the Clan as they circled the Lærling to congratulate them. Both had their ears pinned back and were awkwardly accepting the praise, so unused to so many cats being interested in them. Ospreyfrost could feel her entire body being filled with pride, but she was surprised to feel Harpwind nudge her shoulder. Harpwind angled her eyes towards the camp exit, and Ospreyfrost nodded with a sigh. It had been too long since she had last patrolled, and her paws itched to race across the crunchy top layer of snow once more.
“I need to speak with you,” Sablefrost whispered for the fifth time into a cat’s ear, and he gestured his paw towards the camp entrance. He slipped out into the cold night, though it was truly day. He was greeted by a ginger ticked tabby and white tom, a blue lynx point tom, a cinnamon classic tabby tom, a cream lynx point tom, and a solid chocolate tom. “Thank you for gathering on such short notice. If you haven’t realized, the deaths happening in the Clan don’t seem to be natural. In an attempt to save the life of our Dronning, Moosestar has appointed me as the head of a guard that will position itself outside her den at all hours. I have hand-picked you five to be a part of the Royal Guard,” he explained, and Papaverdapple looked at the tom with confusion.
Before Papaverdapple could open his mouth to speak, Sablefrost shook his head. “I understand that you are a Hertuger, but that puts you closer to the Dronning than any of us. You will be the guard when she has private meetings, positioning yourself close to the edge of her den in the chance of something happening,” he explained, and Papaverdapple nodded as if he hadn’t thought of the possibility. Buntingswirl leaned his head into Hirculusstem’s and whispered something to the chocolate tom, which prompted Sablefrost to speak up. “There will be no secrets among us. We may not tell other cats what we are doing to preserve the peace, but we will be a band of brothers. We shall protect the Dronning with our lives.”
Puffincry raised his voice in a shout, clearly celebrating the cause he had just been asked to join. “I won’t let you or our Dronning down, Sablefrost. If there truly is danger on our borders, then we must be prepared for the worst,” he meowed, his eyes narrowed in a show of determination. A crooked smile slid across Sablefrost’s muzzle as he nodded, and the group of toms all began chatting and discussing the rotation of the guard. All cats would share the duty of guarding at night, so that every cat may get as much sleep as possible, but only two guards would be positioned during the day to minimize the chances of an enemy to slip in during guard change. “Let’s do this,” Puffincry whispered with a smirk.
Glacierbloom watched as a strange tom approached her alongside Maplesong, his head close to hers as they chatted. Jealously poured from every inch of her pelt, and she approached and slid between the two while planting a gentle lick on Maplesong’s cheek. The chocolate calico molly couldn’t help but laugh, as did the chocolate tom sporting a flashy collar. “Glacierbloom, this is Brownie, a kittypet tom I met while at the Gathering last night. He offered a proposition, and I think we should take it,” she purred, her eyes shining with sheer joy and excitement.
Whatever excitement her mate felt was eclipsed by the envy and jealousy that seemed to fill Glacierbloom up to her eartips. “I don’t think we should take whatever it is he offered,” she snapped snarkily, her eyes flitting to his suddenly hurt face. Maplesong sucked in a sharp breath and whispered something to Brownie before leading Glacierbloom away. Before Maplesong could even ask, Glacierbloom let out a snarl, “How could you go out and become all buddy-buddy with a tom? We just became mates, and you’re already doing this?” Maplesong looked at her usually sweet mate with shock before she dissolved into laughter. Glacierbloom watched her with confusion, rage billowing off of her in waves.
“He’s not some crush, Glacierbloom. You’re the only cat I’ll ever love. Besides, I’m not interested in toms,” she laughed, and Glacierbloom felt the fear begin to slide off of her. “Brownie has offered to help us raise a family, Glacierbloom. I’d carry the Kattunge, and he would be the father. It would purely be a surrogacy considering that we can’t have Kattunge together,” she murmured gently, reaching out and resting her forehead against Glacierbloom’s. The grey oriental molly took a step back in surprise, shaking her head as her thoughts spun. A family? Was she ready for one?
“I-I don’t know if I’m ready to be a mother, Maplesong. We just became mates a moon ago,” she cried, her eyes wide as doubt began to creep into her ears. “Turn his offer down, sweetheart. Let’s sleep on it and revisit this in a couple of moons,” she begged, but Maplesong shook her head with terrified eyes. “You already accepted the offer, didn’t you?” Glacierbloom asked, her voice barely a whisper as Maplesong nodded slowly. “Why didn’t you ask me?!” she shrieked, pinning her ears back as she looked at her mate in disbelief.
“I’ve always dreamed of being a mother, and here’s my chance! What’s to say the next opportunity doesn’t present itself until we’re Eldre. You’ll be an amazing mother, Glacierbloom, trust me. The way you’ve given trust to Rollingfog just because she was grieving is proof of that. We’ve got a couple of moons until they’re born, and hopefully you’ll be over your nerves by then,” Maplesong whispered, and Glacierbloom nodded slowly. “Are you ready to go tell Brownie that you agree?” she asked, and Glacierbloom nodded again. “Good,” she purred, and led her mate back to where the chocolate tom was waiting.
Orionstrike could feel the tension rippling in her pelt as Aurorashine ducked her head and avoided her. Ever since the incident on the ice, the two hadn’t spoken. That didn’t mean Orionstrike wasn’t trying, but it did mean that Aurorashine went out of her way to stay away from her. Orionstrike knew Aurorashine was going to hunt along the northern border, and so she slunk out of camp minutes later. Spotting a large drift of snow, Orionstrike buried herself in it to mask her scent. Finally, she began to track Aurorashine’s pawsteps. As she crested a small hill, she spotted the smoke molly crouching as a mouse nibbled on a tiny blade of grass it had dug up.
Orionstrike shot across the snow and slammed her paws into the mouse, pinning it to the ground and killing it with a swift bite. “Aurorashine, we need to talk,” she announced, but the molly was already running away. Orionstrike could see teardrops in the snow, and she drew in a shuddering breath as she picked up the mouse. What had she done wrong except for save Aurorashine’s life? Was she upset that her friend clearly had a crush on her now? All the potential possibilities swam through Orionstrike’s mind as she began padding back towards camp with the measly catch she had stolen.
Tempestflash ran his tail under Moosestar’s chin as he spun around her in a circle, her eyes following him as he grinned and winked. “I’ve never met such a beautiful molly before,” he murmured, his eyes trained on the beautiful patches of silver and ginger. Moosestar ran her tongue over her teeth as she chuckled, reaching up and lifting Tempestflash’s chin with the top of her paw. He stared down his muzzle at her, and she clucked her tongue while shaking her head from side to side.
“Most toms don’t dare to flirt so openly with me. It’s a refreshing change in scenery. I used to command a small army of cats infatuated with me, you know,” she whispered, and Tempestflash shuddered at the sudden fear her felt from the fierceness in her voice. The thought of trying to continue down this path, of trying to woo the Dronning into falling in love with him, scared him but excited him. He loved her, even having only known her for a little over a moon. “The way the curls in your pelt catch the starlight is simply breathtaking,” she whispered, never taking her eyes from his for a second.
Tempestflash winked and stretched his legs out, settling into a sitting position as he watched Moosestar raise her gaze to the stars. His breath was stolen by the way her pelt seemed to reflect each tiny star, her eyes wide and filled with the reflection of the moon. “How can one molly be so stunning,” he murmured gently, and Moosestar leaned into his touch. The chilled air curled around them, sinking into their bones as they pressed closer together for warmth. “Moosestar, I think I love you,” Tempestflash whispered, but she didn’t respond. She had fallen asleep with her head resting gently on his shoulder. Sighing, he slid down to curl around her so as not to wake her to make her go to her nest all the way down the cliff.
Moosestar’s dream of rolling fields was covered by shadow as a dark form eclipsed the sun, reaching out with a pawful of claws. She couldn’t breath as the form gripped her tightly, crushing her windpipe until the world went white. She was standing before a hairless tom, Coral, as he shook his head in shame. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. Moosestar realized that whatever had happened in her dream had happened in real life as well, and she was losing her first of the nine lives she was gifted.