Give Your Heart Wings (Closed)

Redwing was full to bursting with excitement. Her first day as a warrior! The silent vigil the night before had been exhausting, when all she wanted to do was talk to her friends and go on patrols and sleep in the same den as them, but finally it was over. Far from being exhausted by the long and lonely night, she was instead invigorated. Finally she was a warrior! Finally, she would be with her friends. Though how she would reconcile Asterspark with his brother, she still wasn't sure... but she knew that she would do it. That was a problem for later. Right now, she had things to do!

Her green eyes were shining brighter than stars as she trotted into the apprentices' den for possibly the last time. She'd spent six moons putting moss and feathers into her nest, and getting it the right shape to fit her fluffy body, and she didn't want to start over from scratch on the warriors' den. So she seized one edge of her nest in her jaws, and began laboriously dragging it out. Though it was somewhat tiring, it would be worth the effort to go put her nest next to Poppyheart's. Where was her best friend, anyway?

"Need some help there?" Poppyheart's voice purred from behind the newly named warrior. Smiling, he walked around to the other side of the nest and began gently pushing it out of the apprentices' den with his muzzle, making sure to paw up any moss or feathers that tried to separate from the neatly-arranged nest.

Redwing's smile grew when she heard his voice. Like the instinctively kind cat he was, her favorite tom came around to the other side of her moss-laden nest and helped her carry it. A good thing, too, because she was getting kind of tired. Something about the look in his golden eyes made her heart flutter a little bit. "Do you want to patrol later?" she asked without really thinking about it, looking into his honest, open face instead of at where she was going.

Poppyheart could just feel his heart fluttering like a dove within his chest at Redwing's question, asked with no hint of hesitation or sheepishness. She really wanted to spend time with him. And he wanted to just as much. He returned her beautiful green gaze with a happy grin. "Oh, I would love to! I really want to get to know you even better than I already do!"

His acceptance made her grin grow even wider. For whatever reason he wanted to spend time with her, she would take it gladly. Just being around him made her feel happier... though it was a shame that neither of them really talked with Asterspark anymore. She missed her other friend, though the thought of what he'd done still made her heart hurt. But as Flamestrike had said, she needed to let things work themselves out. "All right! Let's just finish putting this nest away, then." With a few more pawsteps, they were in the warrior's den, and Redwing looked around for a place to set the heavy clump of moss and sticks down. "Where do you sleep, anyways? I want to be near you, like we used to be."

"Oh, yeah, sure thing! Give me a few moments, alright?" Poppyheart slipped into the warriors' den and approached his nest, then the one next to it, and began to carelessly shove it away, making a mess out of the already messy rim and bedding, pushing it all the way to the far end of the wall where there was an open space. Then, he popped his head back out to gently grab Redwing's nest and very carefully tugged it up next to his own nest, making sure to paw at it and fluff it up a bit for his friend to make it extra comfortable. "There we go! Now we can sleep next to each other! So, with that out of the way, would you like to go on that patrol now?"

"Might as well!" Redwing purred enthusiastically, overtaken by joy in the moment. Now that she was a warrior, and Lichenmask was gone, everything seemed to be looking up. "There's no time like the present, and the whole day is in front of us!" Her forest-green eyes that she inherited from her family were bright and glowing as they started out, looking at the world around her with new eyes. She had grown a lot since she was an apprentice, and she was almost as tall as her father now. Certainly, she was as fluffy as him. Her dark russet pelt fluffed out around her, bracing her against the chill of the air. Frost crunched beneath her paws as she walked, and she reveled in the sound. "Ooh, it's cold... Do you think it will snow, Poppyheart? I've never seen snow before."

At the thought of the beautiful, chilly white specks of frozen, fluffy water falling from the clouds above as described to him many a time by elders in his youth, Poppyheart's amber eyes sparkled with excitement and longing. "I sure do hope so! I've never seen snow, either, actually, but I was told it looks absolutely breath-taking. Hey, maybe it'll begin to snow while we're out--" Not watching where he was going, looking back over his shoulder at the beautiful molly behind him as he spoke and made his way to the entrance of camp, he ended up colliding into another cat, stumbling back with a soft huff of surprise. He looked up, getting ready to apologize for bumping into whoever he had, but his expression of worry soon shriveled into one of annoyance, his voice taut and formal, much unlike the peppy, cheerful cat the Clan knew him to be. "Oh. Hello, Asterspark."

Poppyheart's brother seemed to have collapsed onto his side after the collision, laying winded for a few moments before looking up at him. The ginger tom saw a flash of guilty panic ignite in his heterochromic eyes, before it dissolved into a dull, broken sadness. "O-Oh! S-Sorry about that, bro-- um... Poppyheart..." Asterspark stumbled back to his paws and shook the dust off from his short bluish-gray coat. "Uh, I... I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"Well, you did," Poppyheart replied bluntly, glaring unforgivingly at his littermate.

"Oh... S-Sorry... Um... Wh-Where are you headed off to?"

"Redwing and I are going hunting."

"Oh. Well... um... perhaps I could...--"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Asterspark," Poppyheart interrupted, his voice clear and demanding of his twin's attention. "You and I both know you don't like hunting. You'll just fall asleep and make yourself an easy target for a predator. You'd better go to your den to do that, don't you think?"

Asterspark flinched so heavily, he actually stumbled back a few pawsteps, his ears flattened against his lowered head, his gaze shifted down to stare at his paws. "...oh... well... okay, then... i guess... s-see you later?..."

"I highly doubt it. I'm a warrior now with a lot of responsibilities." When he turned his entire body around, his back end facing Asterspark quite rudely, to face Redwing, he grinned widely and happily at her; it was almost as if his interaction with his brother never even happened. "Come on, Redwing, let's go see if it starts to snow while we're out hunting!" Then he turned and raced towards the entrance with a spring in his step, completely ignoring Asterspark as he passed him.

Asterspark hung his head and slowly trudged to the warriors' den, his tail dragging limply in the dirt behind him.

Redwing briefly grew anticipatory at the thought that it might start snowing, but instead she stepped back in shock as Poppyheart collided with someone. And when she saw who it was, her heart sank. Oh, Asterspark... The absolutely callous way that the brothers treated each other made her feel sick, especially because they used to be such amazing friends. But instead of speaking up, she just stood in disbelief as the ginger tom dismissed his brother completely, and brushed straight past him. "I..." her eyes met the blue-furred tom's, and they were full of kindness. But he turned and went, and after a moment, so did she.

"Do you really have to be so unkind to him?" she found herself asking as they trudged along the frost-covered marshes, the joy of the moment having left her at the brutal display. Poppyheart was the nicest person he knew. Why couldn't they just work together and heal their hurts? Patrol together, like old times? She still loved both of them, and picking sides between the brothers cut her to the core.

Poppyheart actually looked a little shocked at Redwing's question. Then he heaved a heavy sigh and looked away. "I... I suppose not. I'm sorry. I'm just so... I'm just so mad at him! I still can't believe he chose to keep something as important as who our true mother is a secret from me for so long! I... I don't think I'll be ready to forgive him anytime soon. But... you're right. That's no real license to be mean to him."

Looking back up at her, he offered her a smile. "Let's not think about that right now, though. I want to spend some time with you. I bet the Great Poppyheart can catch more prey than you!" he challenged, shooting her a cocky yet playful smirk.

Redwing nodded, glad that he'd seemed to listen to her. At least, hopefully, it was a step in the right direction towards forgiveness. But was now really the time to worry about it? The young warrior mirrored her friend's mischievous grin, forest-green eyes twinkling. "Oh, you are on."

Without another word, she scampered off into the forest, looking around for any sign of prey. When she scented a vole, she grinned, and dropped into a hunting crouch. It didn't even see her! Easy as taking a mossball from a mouse. After stalking a few paces closer, careful not to rustle the bush near her, the warrior sprang for her target. She caught it easily, and then trotted back to Poppyheart with the fat vole in her jaws. "Top that, Great One!"

The member 'Ash' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

"Oh, yeah?" Poppyheart grinned widely. "Watch this!" He began his own search for prey when he came across a sight he hadn't seen in moons: a plump white rabbit nibbling on a patch of mushrooms. Crouching low to the ground, he stalked towards it a few paces, then sprang into action and raced after it. The rabbit heard his approach, but wasn't nearly quick enough to escape, and the ginger-and-white warrior slammed into it hard to knock it to the ground. Pinning in down on the hard earth, he bent down to deliver a sharp nip to its throat, killing it instantly. He rose up his head and grinned in a playfully arrogant way. "The Great Poppyheart does it again! Nyah hah hahn!"

The member 'Yoshachu Scorchachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Redwing was suitably impressed, and shot him a smile. But, not to be outdone, she ran into the bushes again when she spotted a squirrel. It didn't seem to notice her... hopefully. After double-checking the wind, and then stalking silently forward a few paces... she leapt for the small, furry creature. However, she overshot, slamming into the ground, and the squirrel got away.