One ... The loneliest number [Flutter]

Daisybreeze was out hunting. She was alone. She always was now it felt like. Ever since she had attacked Whisper it felt like her clanmates wanted nothing to do with her. And why should they? She had messed up big time and regretted it so much.

She had tried so hard to fix things but all her scrambling had gotten no where. If anything, she felt that Adder hated her more now and Whisper said outright it would be a miracle if they ever saw her differently now. Her tail dragged along behind her drooping.

She felt so isolated and alone. At night, she would sleep away from the rest of the clan, no one wanted to be next to her after all she felt like. So she removed herself entirely from the main group that slept beneath the stars. Patrols and formal meetings were the only times that she got to interact with others and as soon as those were over her patrol mates would scatter quickly to avoid her. She knew she messed up, knew that what she did was wrong. But did that mean the rest of her life would be like this?

She never felt so alone in her whole life. She tried to help around camp best she could, she thought at first if she helped enough somehow through her actions she could show that she truly was trying to change her ways. However, she was not blind, she could see the queens gathering the kits up and moving elsewhere if she ever tried to do repairs on the nursery. Could hear the elders mutter to each other if she was the one assigned to pick the ticks off.

So most of her time was spent away from camp, hunting to try and provide what she could without having to be in their way. If they saw her as a monster, the least she could do was make herself rarely seen.
Despite her high self assigned worth she had as an apprentice and how high her pride had been as an apprentice and new warrior it was low now... perhaps the lowest it had ever been even.
There is only so much amount that everyone can call you a monster before you begin to believe it yourself.


Despite her absent social status, she still was a good hunter.

hmm at least im not totally useless she thought gloomily to herself. She wondered what would happen if she ever lost her ability to hunt... would her clan even want her at that point?

As she stalked the moorlands in search of rabbit, she caught a familar scent that made her stop.

Flutter?? She looked around but didnt see him anywhere... perhaps it was old scent.

Flutter had been the only one to agree to let her have a second chance. She hadnt had aton of time with him yet ever since...

she craved the old days of being able to hang out with all her friends... Golden, Adder, Flutter, her ... she would give the world to do something with them again before all this happened.

She looked down at her paws sighing sadly. She saw a little flower growing and inspected it a little closer, the faintest of smiles appearing for a split second. Flutter loved flowers. And she loved how he admired them and picked them for all his clanmates. Why couldnt she be more like that instead of what she had become?

She picked it gently and tucked it into her fur for safekeeping, maybe if she saw Flutter later she could give it to him.

Flutterpetal exhaled, his small puff of air visibly white in the cold morning air. It dissipated soon after, vanishing into the breeze that swirled the grasses around him. He had been patrolling alone more and more lately. Not because he had to, but because he enjoyed being out on the territory so much that he would hunt even in his free time. If Adderdawn was busy, or if no one else was available, he would simply run along the hilltops and envision himself becoming the very wind that ruffled his fur. Everything seemed to make sense when he was outside. Life and death, the cycle of the earth, the cool air and the warm ground: everything came together in harmony and reminded him that he was simply a cat underneath the stars. His trivial issues seemed nonexistent in the face of the vast moors.

He hadn't been expecting to run into anyone out on the territory today. From what he knew, the dawn patrol had concluded an hour ago, and the next hunting patrol wasn't until sunhigh. However, he heard pawsteps nearby. Who could it be? Was it one of his friends? Had Adder come looking for him? Carefully, Flutterpetal dropped into a stalking crouch, lowering himself so that only the black tips of his ears could be seen above the dry grass. Sure enough, there was another cat at the bottom of the hill. He wouldn't mistake that scent anywhere. It was the calico who had been haunting camp like a ghost: Daisybreeze. She looked unhappy, though he supposed that wasn't a surprise. After their conversation in camp a little while ago, he'd noticed more and more how she seemed to slink around the moors like she was ashamed of her own shadow. Adderdawn had told her off, and he had not been wrong to do so, but it hurt Flutterpetal to see anyone acting so sad. As he watched her staring at the ground, he remembered what he had told her... that he was willing to work on their friendship. And yet, he had not really approached her since their conversation. Her words to Adder, her concerns about death... they had scared him. He had hidden himself in his patrols and outrun the dark thoughts that threatened momentarily to attack him. But seeing how depressed she was, how her ears drooped, Flutterpetal wanted to help.

When was the last time he'd seen her happy? Probably when she'd won the apprentice games, when they were young. She'd out-hunted him fair and square. A brief flash of guilt struck him at remembering the tiny prick of jealousy he'd felt. She had deserved the win, and he had hardly congratulated her as much as she deserved. If Daisybreeze had been happy as an apprentice... well, then why not spend a few minutes being apprentices again? Why not let themselves be carefree and forget the recent string of deaths that had descended like a cloud over the sun of WindClan? His mind made up, Flutterpetal stalked a little bit closer, though sure she wouldn't notice him, since she seemed preoccupied. Then, once he was close.... The dark-furred warrior jumped up out of the grass, landing in front of Daisybreeze with a wide grin. "Boo!"

She was so busy with the negative mood that she didnt notice the grass moving and swaying with Flutterpetal's approach.  Her eyes caught movement out of the corner and the pawsteps approaching didnt register until Flutter had popped out right in front of her. She screamed jumping backwards high into the air.  "dahhha a ahhhhh.  Heart racing her paws touched back to the ground again.  She froze up still not registering fully yet what it was.

Blinking rapidly she saw Flutterpetal looking up at her with a happy grin on his face and tail flicking back and forth.
It took her a couple long seconds to catch her breath having been gotten so good.  She grinned as well before a nervous laugh escaped her. she giggled more relaxing a lot more now seeing who it was and that it wasnt something that was gonna jump and attack her like a predator.


She shook her pelt out flustered and realizing just how alone and scruffy she had gotten to look.  It probably wouldn't take a medicine cat prophecy to tell she had not been taking very good care of herself.  The fur along her back was all matted and dirty, her eyes were red from either the little sleep or the regret of having lost so much.

Still, as terrible as she looked: her face lit up upon seeing him. She had smiled for the first time in ... awhile had laughed to for a second too. "Flutter!! Oh my gosh you scared me good!" she mewed pawing at him playfully and very carefully.  She actively made sure not to even touch him, fearing for probably too little of things.  Flutter had been the only one to give her another chance and she was almost to the point of being nervous so scared that she would just mess up again.  

"whatcha up too? Patrols dont usually come by here" she purred curiously, she would know, since she chose this spot for that very reason.  "are you on your own?" she asked curious.  It in of itself was an innocent enough question but it was also a side winding way of checking if others were around and if they were... if they were the ones that didnt want to see her, like his brother Adder.


She shuffled a little awkwardly on her paws for a couple seconds not even sure what to talk about. "oh emm come here I found a patch of flowers that maybe you would like she purred flicking her tail as she ran over to the spot.  It was really close by and there was a couple to pick from but not too many as it was getting colder out after all.

She took the one she had picked earlier and gave it to him.  As an apprentice she was meh on flowers they were okay and all but she was never a super big fan.

However, now she had grown to like them alot more, they reminded her of Flutter whenever she saw one on her lonely hunts, reminded her of second chances.  She flicked her tail to some goldenrod, "I like that one alot.  Its the prettiest" she claimed inspecting it closer.

It smelled pleasant enough as well.  

"oh and then look some Chamomile here... I dont like it as much somehow it just isnt quite right! Ya know? It is just not as good as the goldenrod throughout her ups or downs (mostly downs lately) she never lost her very decisive: this is the way things are gonna be personality.

She glanced at her flower picking partner... oh stars... what if Chamomile was Flutter's favorite flower? Her heart nearly stopped in her chest and her eyes went wide.  She desperatly tried to think back to the other times she had picked flowers with him... Chamomile... did he ever say he liked that one and now she had just insulted it???

Flutter had given her this second chance and now what if she just ruined it??

(Yes obviously she is overthinking it way too much and freaking out over nothing but she has been living essentially alone for a bit out here and is forgetting how to really have friends and that friends dont have to agree on everything.  She is so nervous of not being perfect that any detail is worrying to her as she doesnt wanna upset Flutter)

She panicked and quickly tried to back out of it. "er well it can be umm very nice too I supose in certain things?

She closed her eyes tight... it would be less awkward at this point if a predator had been the one to jump out at her in the first place.  Hopefully Flutter would just let this slide,

stars... what are you doing daisy?? can you even do anything right anymore? she asked herself just filling with more self doubt.



(if you really like reading into things and are into analogies: Keep in mind this is more so a Speedy writing theory and not necessary why she does or doesn't actually like/dislike the flowers in character. It's more for the audience than the characters really

Goldenrod is her favorite because it reminds her of her lost brother Goldenpaw who she loved alot. She probably thinks Goldens warrior name would have been goldenrod.

The reason for not liking Chamomile you ask? Chamomile and Daisy look super similar actually. So when she says she doesnt like Chamomile she is alluding to herself.


If you REALLY wanna go deep into the weeds:

Chamomile has one row of petals around them whereas Daisy's have two. The reason she doesnt like Chamomile is because it is missing some petals for now which will be more filled out once she has suffered through her character arc and grown and developed as a better person through her hard times. Once that occurs she will be the true Daisy and not the imposter Chamomile and will like the Daisy flowers

Well that is enough overthinking for one night, sleepy speedy signing off)

Flutterpetal's grin widened slightly as Daisybreeze jumped. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be too scared, because she smiled and even laughed once she realized it was him. Though there was still a haunted look around her eyes, and her matted pelt screamed about a lack of self-care, maybe it would do her some good to just relax for a little bit. Still, she seemed nervous. Was it his fault? "I'm just running around the territory in my free time," he said, his tail swaying back and forth in a friendly way. "Y'know, enjoying the weather before it gets all cold. I'm excited to see the snow! I've got no clue what it'll be like, but I keep hearing stories from the elders." The anxious way she glanced behind him reminded him of the argument with Adder again. The reminder almost tore the smile from his face, but he shook it away. He was not going to think about that right now. He was just going to cheer up Daisybreeze, and maybe then he'd go back to his patrol, or... something. He didn't really know. He just didn't want her to be so depressed alone. "No... I'm not with anyone else right now. Just you."

When she mentioned flowers, his small triangular ears perked up. "Oh, okay!" Sure enough, there was a little patch of flowers over here on the territory. Nowhere near as big as that of the flower field, but a decent-sized spot with a few clumps of chamomile, goldenrod and burnet. Maybe this was where Batsong got some of her herbs. He happily accepted the one that she offered him, tucking it gently into his chest fur. It was small, and it had been picked a bit messily, but it was still nice. Kind of like their relationship. They weren't good friends anymore, but... their relationship could still be good, and it was still worth keeping. "The goldenrod is very pretty," he agreed, smiling at her interest. She'd never been very into flowers; he got the feeling when they were younger that she mostly just humored him when he rambled on about his favorites. There was also that one time she'd given him the flower for Hazelpatch.... But before he could drift into a pleasant memory, Daisybreeze began second-guessing herself, nervously mumbling about something he couldn't quite catch. She'd always been strongly opinionated. Was she trying to back out of it on the off chance she would possibly hurt his feelings? She should know him by now; it was nearly impossible to offend him.

"All flowers are pretty, but not everyone likes every kind of flower," Flutterpetal said, stepping closer to the calico. "People have different opinions, and that's okay. Once I stepped on a thistle, and it kind of hurt-- but I still like thistles. They can be really pretty too." He looked down at the chamomile and goldenrod, then back up at her, his smile soft against the quiet black color of his fur. While their relationship still needed a little time to repair from the pain she had caused him, that didn't mean she should suffer for it. They should both try to heal and help each other. But that didn't mean Adder was wrong for not wanting to be friends with her. Both points were valid-- just as some could like one flower and others not. "Just because someone doesn't like one kind of flower doesn't mean it's a bad flower." He nudged her shoulder gently, tentatively, with his paw. "Daisybreeze, when we were apprentices, I didn't like you because of what flowers you liked or what prey you ate. I liked you because you were you. Opinions and pride and all. Though you are working to better yourself, why change who you are? When flowers grow, they don't become a different plant. They simply bloom, and open up into what they were meant to be the whole time. You should do the same. Don't change who you are, but who you will become."