A Whole New Girl (Closed for Me and Speckle)

OOC: Before the Fire, Morning after Shinepaw's Vigil

IC: As the sun rose and warriors came to take Shinepaw's body Lionpaw stood a few tail-lengths away, his entire body tense to keep himself from lunging at the warriors. In the back of his mind he knew they were only doing what was necessary but the only thing going through his head was 'Protect'. Finally, after the warriors had left and the others who had held vigil had went off Lionpaw let out a snarl and bolted out of camp.

Making sure not to go in the direction the warriors went with his sister's body Lionpaw ran, dirt and grass flying up behind him as he tried to escape the feelings of loss and guilt. Though he knew it was unreasonable he blamed himself. Someway, somehow, he should have been there for her.

Suddenly, hitting a patch of mud left over from the most recent storm, Lionpaw lost his footing and slammed into a tree after skidding across the mud patch. Leaping back to his feet Lionpaw yowled in frustration and pain, both physical and emotional, before attacking the tree with his claws, snarling at the wood as if it were the one responsible for Shinepaw's death.

"The tree isn't an enemy silly." Daisypaw padded up behind him and smiled. She decided to follow the tom instead of going to the burial. Her daisy-like pelt matched her scent, smelling like flowers and nature in bloom.

~Dropping back onto all four legs the tom reigned in his breathing and turned to Daisypaw with blank eyes~ "I know..." ~Looking back at the tree Lionpaw saw that his claws had stripped a spot of the trunk completely of bark. Flinching he looked away from the damage to the flowery-smelling she-cat.~ "What are you doing out here?" ~At his question the golden tom looked around to see where 'here' was. Noting a few pine trees mixed into the forest around them he decided that they were about three fourths of the way from camp to the ShadowClan border.~

"I'm here to follow you," She chuckled.

OOC: The shortness…

~Lionpaw frowned at the simplicity and frankness of the she-cat's response.~ "Well, you can go now. I'm fine." ~Lionpaw knew Daisypaw to be Frozenflame's daughter and most of his litter were known to be carefree and easy-going, especially the sweet smelling apprentice. As such, he had no doubt that the dismissal would send the she-cat off to find someone else to follow around.~

Daisypaw chuckled. "You can't get me away that easy." She limped closer to the tom, and purred into his ear. She had a tiny, and I mean tiny crush on Lionpaw.

~Surprised at her choice to stay Lionpaw frowned. He wasn't used to people wanting to stay near him. With his tendency to be bossy the other kits hadn't been fond of playing with him. As such he had kept his distance from the other apprentices who, in result, thought him a bit arrogant. Though that was never his intention Lionpaw had let the rumors stand so that he wouldn't have to worry about other's feelings and such. On the other hand, it had made Lionpaw quite lonely, his closest friends being his littermates.
When Daisypaw came over and purred into his ear Lionpaw's eyes widened. Taking a step back Lionpaw looked at the she-cat confused. Looking at her and seeing the smile on her face Lionpaw was reminded of Shinepaw and couldn't help but lower his head at memories of her, alive and happy.~

Daisypaw could see the sadness in his eyes and frowned. "I could leave if you want…" She whispered. She knew this was a hard time for Lionpaw, but if the tom wanted to be alone, she would understand.

~At her offer suddenly the thoughtof being alone with his grief ws unbearable. Quickly looking up at the she-cat he hastily blurted out a response.~ "No!" ~Flinching at how loud his voice had been he looked away embarassed, a blush rising beneath his fur as he ammended his response.~ "I mean... You can stay... If you want..." ~As he finally brought his gaze back to Daisypaw's some of the lonliness he often felt shone in his eyes. Withing the blink of an eye the emotion was gone, replaced with sadness and greif but there was no doubt it had been there.~

"Ok..." Daisypaw blushed shyly at his answer. She looked away shyly, then clawed the dirt at her paws. This was unbearable, her heart ached. Her ears pinned against her head and she blushed even harder. Was she, in love...?

~Seeing the she-cat's uneasiness Lionpaw padded closer to her and touched his tail to her shoulder before laying beside her with a hesitant, sad smile.~

Daisypaw couldn't stop a purr. She blushed even harder after it. She clawed the ground again. Yep, this was love alright.

Not really used to interaction with others the most he could remember was from the nursery. Standing back up Lionpaw licked the top of Daisypaw's head, trying to be comforting like his mother had been when he was upset.

Daisypaw purred again. "What was that for?" She smiled.

Worried he had done something wrong he takes a step back. "S-sorry you looked uneasy and I remembered my mother used to do that whenever I was upset..." He speaks quickly, obviously embarrassed and nervous.