If We're Sinners then it Feels Like Heaven To Me (Closed)

The golden crescent moon hung in the sky, illuminating the clearing guarded by the four oaks in a beautiful, holy light. It was to be a sanctuary of peace and tradition, a place where StarClan and their laws shone bright. Tonight though, it was to be invaded by two code-breakers. The first to arrive was Pansypaw; her gray and white pelt partly blended with the shadows as she lay waiting in the bushes.

A thousand thoughts ran through her mind at once, from the uplifting love for what was about to unfold, to the anxiety and secrecy that this meeting would cause. This could ruin both their lives if they were discovered, Bouncepaw's especially, and Pansypaw was fully aware of that. She was the granddaughter of Crowstar, leader of SkyClan; her family was not one who took codebreaking lightly.

Though these doubts lingering in her mind like a tiger stalking in the shadows, she was blinded by a more powerful emotion than fear; love. Pure young love. She thought fondly of their introduction on the riverbank two days before, and couldn't stop the blissful smile that overtook her face. Her feelings for Bouncepaw had only grown over their days of separation, and her heart raced with the very though of seeing his face again.

She waited patiently for Bouncepaw to appear; she didn't want to get caught alone out in the open by a rouge or predator; or worse, a clanmate.

Bouncepaw walked through the underbrush, into the glum forest. The shadows engulfed the canopies, and the darkness was almost fear-inducing. He tiptoed forwards, sighing heavily. Brambles pricked his pads, and he gritted teeth that resembled snowy precipices. He prowled forwards. Fourtrees was beautiful in dusk's seldom-shown moonlight. He finally took one more, daring step forwards—and he saw her. Pansypaw.

He rushed forwards to greet her, purring. "P-Pansypaw!" he gasped, nuzzling her. "I missed you so much." Bouncepaw took a step backwards, his eyes shimmed with joy... and love. He looked at her with a heartfelt desire; not evil, no, but true. He saw how her pelt was outlined with silver light, and purred deeply. He burrowed his muzzle into her neck fur, before pulling away lovingly.

He smiled at her. "H-How a-are y-y-you?" he asked, truly caring for the apprentice of SkyClan before him—a marvel of a she-cat, in his opinion.

The sound of crunching leaves under a cat's paws caught her attention, and she watched excitedly as Bouncepaw crept into the clearing.  Jumping up, she purred lovingly as he rushed forward and nuzzled her.  Burying her muzzle into his fur, she felt the warmth of his body soak into her pelt and purred even louder.  It was a cold night, but her mind was elsewhere.  

Pulling back, she beamed when Bouncepaw echoed her earlier thoughts, and mewoed back "I missed you too!"  Looking deep into his eyes, their golden hue rivalling the moon, she felt as if all the doubt and fear in her heart melted away.  When she was with him, she couldn't think of being anywhere else than right there, standing at his side.

"I'm well, SkyClan is doing well! We have a new kit...." She quavered off for a moment before saying the poor kit's name.  "D..Deadkit.  He's a sweetheart, I was playing mossball with him this afternoon!"  Giggling at the memory, she switched gears and meowed kindly "How have you been?"

Bouncepaw purred, nuzzling her back. His fur sliced past hers, and he felt as if they were one being, a perfect formation. His golden eyes shut, though he felt an aphrodisia to look into Pansypaw's beautiful green ones. He sighed joyfully, but a discharge of news jolted him back to reality. He looked up, listening to the she-cat. She then heard the news about kits, and smiled. He had only ever aided in delivering them... until he heard the name.

"D-Deadkit?!" exclaimed Bouncepaw with surprise. "Wh-Who w-w-would name their k-kit Deadkit?" He seemed a little bit horrified at the name. He shook the odd, fluky feeling off of him as she questioned his mood. "Oh..." he started.

"Th-Things ha-hav-haven't ch-changed much since our l-last visit, I guess. F-F-Fallowstripe had a l-litter of kits... w-well, only one. Her name i-is Finchkit, and she's rather nice." Bouncepaw grinned, thinking of the silver she-kit. So patient, like a stream. His voice was filled with adoration for the young kit, as if she was his own. He wondered what her warrior name would be.

Pansypaw understood his horror at the little tom's name, and that was why she had hesitated in speaking it aloud. "He got the name because one of his eyes is blind and cloudy and well.....dead. Still though, it's such a cruel name!" She let her anger flare for a brief moment, before composing herself. The kit didn't seem to mind, and he was treated well by the clan.

She listened as Bouncepaw described little Finchkit, and she purred. "Aww, she sounds so cute! I wish I could meet her." A sudden curious though entered her mind, and she tipped her head inquisitively. "Is it fun...to be a medicine cat? I mean, all I ever see is sorting leaves and spitting pulp, but I know there is a lot more to it."

Bouncepaw nodded. "E-Even if he i-is blind, I would still give him a no-normal name!" he hissed. He then looked up at Pansypaw's reaction to Finchkit, and he nodded in agreement, giving a little smile. "I-I can te-tell you that y-y-you will be meeting more kits," implied Bouncepaw, before giving a soft chuckle. It was clearly a joke... or perhaps not? He looked up at Pansypaw, the blotches of grey on her face like melting snow.

At her next question, Bouncepaw cocked his head. "We-Well, you get prophecies from Sta-StarClan too. I haven't gotten one yet, though." Bouncepaw explained. "You can communicate with them at any time, and you don't have to be hostile to any cat from another clan." Grinning at this, he stared into Pansypaw's eyes. "And you can also heal, but you know that," he laughed at last.

Pansypaw listened attentively while Bouncepaw explained the different roles a medicine cat plays, she her curiosity was peaked.  "That's so interesting!  Have you gone to highstones yet?"  The bi-color molly had always heard about the sacred rocky ridge, and thought it would be a grand adventure to experience.  Unfortunately, regular warrior apprentices never went.  

She nodded in agreement when the golden and white tom disputed the kit's name, but didn't continue the subject.  It mad her too furious, and she wanted this to be a night devoid of negativity.  Before she could respond, Boucepaw's joke stopped her in her tracks.  Blushing profusely, she gazed down at the ground, not knowing what to say.  Pansypaw it's just a joke....right?  This really couldn't go that far....right?!  

Stammering almost as much as Boucepaw, she meowed "Y-yea I g-g-uess!" Still embarrassed, she summoned the courage to look up and see his reaction.  

(I just realized that this site doesn't do highstone journeys like in the OG arc, huh)

Bouncepaw glanced around. "W-Well, n-n-no," he sighed. He wagged his tail low to the ground. He twitched an ear at the molly, her splotchy pelt convoking the moonlight to cast upon her fur. He blushed, simply flummoxed at the situation of explaining his inexperience with these... Hightstones. His lip trembled for a moment, as if to prepare himself to talk, but then Pansypaw said something else.

Her stammering appeared that something was wrong. But her agreement startled him even more. "O-Oh, Pansypaw... it was just a joke!" he exclaimed, giving an awkward laugh. He had no clue how to react, especially since the she-cat was confused too. He shuffled his paws, glaring around at the area to make sure no one was discerning them.

Pansypaw managed to compose herself before looking up. Smiling, she purred "Oh, I know!" to try and cover up her embarrassment. Of course he meant it as a joke dummy! Proceeding with the conversation casually, she noticed that Bouncepaw seemed a bit confused. "I've always wanted to go to Highstones and see the Moonstone underneath, it sounds so pretty!" Hoping that would set him on the right track, she glanced around the area as he replied. Her gaze resting on one of the great oaks, a wild idea popping in her head. She decided to spring it on him when they finished the conversation.

"O-O-Oh, I-I've be-been t-to the M-Moonstone!" said Bouncepaw with a smile. He looked around, the forest free from raucous presence; all that could be heard were their voices drawling soft words. "I-It was where I be-became a medicine ca-cat apprentice." he explained proudly. His gaze then followed Pansypaw's—all the way up to the leaves of one of the great oaks.

"Hey," he collogued. He blinked, surprised, at her. "Wh-What are you indicating?" he asked quietly. His fur prickled, and a sort of fear entered his remote, golden eyes.

The gray and white she-cat blinked at him, adoration shining in her green eyes. A wistful tone in her voice, she purred "Wow...that's so cool! What does it look like? I heard it's beautiful." While she was excited to hear about the mystical stone, her paws shuffled impatiently, her mind overrun as she thought out her plan. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

Bouncing away a few paces to the base of the nearest great oak, she looked back at Bouncepaw with a daring glimmer in her eyes. Putting one paw, claws unsheathed, she purred "I wonder how long it would take to climb to the top...." Smirking, she met his vivid gaze with excited eyes, and dug her claws into the ancient tree bark.

Bouncepaw nodded happily at Pansypaw's exegesis on the mystical Moonstone, knowing that the bi-color molly wished to view it. His mind still lingered on the fact that she had been staring audaciously up the length of the oak. He, too, had his gaze switch to the annexed that germinated from the great tree. He saw the impatience in Pansypaw's green eyes, at last.

I wonder how long it would take to climb to the top... the plucky apprentice's words bounced around in Bouncepaw's cranium. He looked at her with unease, but when she dug her claws into the bark, she was challenging him. He scrabbled up the asperous wood, but he quickly fell. "How d-do you do it? My claws ca-can't even h-hold the tree for a second!" asked Bouncepaw, intrigued.

Pansypaw purred when Bouncepaw jumped right in, trying to climb the tree; she had expected him to hang back or even protest, but she was glad he didn't. Though he came off as a quiet, calm cat, she believed he had an energetic, adventurous heart; just like her.

Suddenly, she saw him lose his grip on the tree and fall. It wasn't a very long distance, but she still held back a scared gasp. The though of him injured struck a fear into her very soul that she had never felt before.

Luckily, he was fine and jumped right back up again. His question brought to her attention that not all cats were as adept at climbing trees as SkyClan. For them, it was a advanced and unique talents that they spent ages perfecting, but she was confident that she could teach him the basics.

Reaching up, she dug her front claws high up on the tree trunk, before turning around to instruct Bouncepaw. "Make sure you dig your claws into the bark enough to have a firm grip, but not so far in that you get stuck." She had made that mistake once, and Cherrymist had to climb up the tree and help her.

Digging in her back claws, she began to make her way up the trunk until she came to a low branch. Crawling out onto it to watch him, she felt reassured. The old bark on this tree was quite soft, but strong. Once he got the hang of it, he would do just fine. "Now you try!"

Bouncepaw readied himself with determination coursing through his veins, and pelted up the tree. He ran as swiftly as he could, but soon, he forgot to sink his claws into the bark. Time stopped, and he slipped on the husk. His jaws parted, horrified, and his claws swung. He tore the woody glume off of a branch, and yowled with terror. A splurge of oxygen collided with his fur, and he fell far down.

He was a silhouette against the night, and he had to improvise. The tom swivelled his hind legs, and his front faced upwards. His tail stuck out to balance himself, and his front twisted so that he was contiguous to the ground. He had to resist flailing his paws with consternation. He arched his back, as the ground zoomed towards him.

A massive pain jolted through his legs, and he gulped back a screech. "I-I-I'd rather be... st-stuck!" Bouncepaw stammered, his eyes wild with anguish and distress. "Ow..." he sighed, pained.

A loud gasp escaped Pansypaw's maw, and she pelted down the tree as fast as she could. Jumping down to the ground beside the tabby tom, she frantically nosed over his body, looking for injuries. "Oh StarClan, are you okay!?" Her heart was racing, eyes wide with fear and distress, as she nuzzled him gently. I could have lost him....

Pulling away, she exclaimed "Are you hurt? I should never have suggested to climb the tree! This is my fault, I'm so sorry!" A wave of self blame swept over her, and she felt as if her heart tore in two. If he's seriously injured, it's going to be my fault! He's going to hate me...