Contemplation on the Rock (Closed for Dimmeh)

As the last ray of the sun's light began to fade, a small, fluffy apprentice crossed the camp, looking for her friend. She had things to show him.
"Ay, Blackpaw!" Mosspaw called. Do you wanna see the place or not?"

Blackpaw walked across, gazing into Mosspaw's glimmering green eyes. "Of course I am!" He called with a chuckle. The sun was setting so beautifully, into a pool of apricot light. He padded up to the long-furred she-cat, sitting down beside her with a joyous sigh. His tail curled neatly around him, the sun reflected in his eyes, a pink sheath to their violet-blue cores. "So," the tom began, "How have you been?"

"Same as always, I guess. Not great, but not bad either." Mosspaw's mouth curled into a smirk. She began to pad towards the camp exit, beckoning Blackpaw to follow with her tail. "How've you been, then?"

Blackpaw leapt after her, tail-tip flickering with unbounded excitement. His blue eyes sparkled as he followed the long-haired she-cat, her tawny pelt guiding him as he weaved towards the exit to camp. Hesitation seemed to be exiled from Blackpaw's behaviour, as the warrior-aged apprentice smiled. "I'm doing well," he said, as he raised his head proudly.

"You'll be a warrior soon, hey?" Mosspaw cocked her head as she padded through the trees. "That's pretty cool, I won't lie. I've still got a while to go - I've only been an apprentice for a few moons." She smiled. "Well, even now, I still go where I want, I do what I want."

"Yeah, I will," Blackpaw purred, grinning. "Even if you've still got a while to go, what do you want your name to be?" The apprentice asked, leaves of various colors flying from branches of trees, serrated and round edges differing. "I think Darkstar chooses for us... But I'd like mine to be any. Maybe Blackfang, or Blackwater," Blackpaw said, shrugging indifferently.

"Blackfang sounds cool, if you ask me." Mosspaw shrugged. "As for me..... well, I kinda like Mossheart. Or Mosspad, or maybe Mosspelt, or Mossfur. Actually, you know what? I think I'd like to be called Mosswing."

As the two cats talked, they approached a tall rock. Nowhere near as tall as the Great Rock, but higher than most. It was surrounded by a few small, sparsely placed brambles, and had a clear view of the stars that had begun to appear in the sky. Mosspaw hopped up onto the top, leaping over the tiny brambles easily.

"This is it. You can see the stars so clearly from up here..." She looked up, gaze settling on Silverpelt. It was so beautiful, she never denied that, and she enjoyed just sitting here alone in her nightly wanderings. Tonight, though, she had a friend.

Blackpaw leapt over the brambles equally as gracefully, stretching his long legs before taking a seat beside Mosspaw on the rock. Blackpaw glanced at her with eyes that glimmered like the stars reflected in them. "Mosswing sounds bold, adventurous, ambitious." The dark tom observed, cocking his head slightly as his eyes trained on the silver moon. "It doesn't matter what name I get, or at least, to me."

OOC: *silently ships Black and Moss even tho Black already has a mate*

OOC: well, we've got a backup if Ember doesn't work out ;P

Mosspaw nodded. "That's why I like it." She looked back at Blackpaw.
"I remember the first time I came out of camp. I was barely a few moons old, and I only went a few foxlengths past the gorse wall. It seemed so dangerous and risky and, well, fun at the time, and the trees amazed me." She laughed. "Now, I just come out here to explore, to think. I mean, it's lost some of it's rebellious spark since I became an apprentice, but...it's nice out here, you know?

Blackpaw nodded. "It'll feel weird becoming a warrior, ya know?" He asked, tone agreeing. "You feel like an apprentice, and suddenly you have your own..." The tom trailed off, gazing at the stars calmly. He huffed a short, happy sigh. "I'm excited but nervous." He explained, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yep," Mosspaw replied. "It seems like life just flies by, you know? One minute you're a kit, one you're an apprentice, and before you know it you're a warrior, and then you go up and join all those stars. I can't imagine what it's like for Darkstar. She'll have seen so much before she loses her last life." She sighed, and let out a crooked smile.

The older apprentice stared at the stars for a moment, not shivering at what it would feel like to join them, yet his gaze clouded with curiosity. "Well," Blackpaw sighed merely, "Falling down is only how we grow. Staying down is how we die. We have to keep moving forwards..." Blackpaw murmured, just loud enough so that the fluffy she-cat beside him could hear.

Mosspaw only nodded. She didn't really have anything to say, as she looked up at the stars once again, deep in her own swirling thoughts.

(Mobile)

Blackpaw sat beside her, stars twinkling with each of the souls of all dead cats, who had come to StarClan. He thought of his own previous mentor, pronounced deceased, yet shook the thoughts away immediately. He felt himself getting tired, as the midnight wind stirred his fur. The beautiful starlit night conjured up thoughts, so many thoughts, and he wondered if he might be too fatigued to retain them.

Mosspaw turned to Blackpaw once more. "Ay, well, you know, you aren't as....uptight as I thought you were. I mean, when I first met you, I guess, it seemed like you would rather die than so much as lie to Darkstar. You know, that kinda cat. And yet, when I found you out here with Pinepaw, and now...." Sne shook her head. "Guess I was wrong, huh?" Mosspaw gave another crooked smile. "I don't think I really need to say this, but....friends?"