The Things We Do For Love {closed}

It was an easy thing, to cave to his desires. Flintfang should have never been left alone. It was night, the stars twinkling overhead, owls cooing in the distance. The gray tabby sat curled up in his moss nest, squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to sleep. When sleeping, his desires could not prey upon him. But no sleep would come to Flintfang tonight. Mosspaw and Lilypaw were in their respective nests in the next den over, and Falconwing no longer accompanied Flintfang to bed. He was alone, left out to dry, and his thoughts drooled over him like a fresh piece of prey. Littlesun. Burntstag. ShadowClan. He wanted it so badly, it almost hurt. ThunderClan could no longer hold him, and as much as he tried to fake a sense of belonging, it was all just a ploy. He wanted to see those green eyes again, wanted to breathe in her scent. It was just a territory away. Mosspaw would be angry with him if she knew. And Falconwing would be disappointed. Flintfang wished for a second that he could be the cat they wanted him to be. He wished to be a good father, a good mate. But the gray tabby was a scoundrel, he knew it. His desires were too strong in the night, and dragged him from his nest. They set him on a course to ShadowClan territory, his paws almost subconsciously floating over the leafy floor.

A figure in the shadows, driven by his most basic needs. Flintfang was no more than his heart. What did his intelligence do for him, if he would never consult it? He padded toward the change his mind yearned for, ran toward the cat he most deeply loved. It was just for tonight, only tonight. And then he would return to ThunderClan, and be the good father he promised to be. Right?

The tunnel under the Thunderpath was close. Flintfang had been here many a time, each and every meeting profound. First, with Burntstag, and again, with his sisters. And now here, with Littlesun. Anticipation tickled Flintfang's spine, and he flexed his claws into the dirt. The want was now a need, a longing. It made his heart pound, and rose the fur on his neck. The floodwaters had swirled into the tunnel, but now had all drained away. It was as if even StarClan was beckoning the tom to his fate. The gray tabby stepped into the wide, circular tube, and took a deep breath. Fate be kind... He thought to himself, ready to trek into ShadowClan's very territory if he had to. Love was a foreign concept to the tom, and his heart could only guess how to handle it.

Littlesun had been straying from Shadowclan. After everything that had been happening, she couldn't bring herself to seek comfort in her clan-mates. She felt as if there was always some sort of divide between her and her clan-mates as if the sins of her father were never truly washed away. As if she was still seen as nothing more than a villain in the making. Littlesun watched her paws as each step she took had mud squelching under her paws bubbles tickling the skin between her toes. Littlesun looked up as she came to the tunnels, where she had seemed to seek out for refuge in these times. She leaned down to sniff at the entrance of the tunnel, strong Thunderclan scent and wafts of stale water reaching her. The former had her hackles raising, had someone found the place that was to be her haven? Were they trespassing, seeking trouble so soon after all the devastation that Starclan had brought onto them? Anger curled in her gut as she pushed past the fronds, her green eyes an acidic green shade, her lips curling into a snarl before abruptly stopping. Flintfang?

"Flintfang? Wh- What are you doing here? W-We don't have a meeting? Are you just, hanging out here? Wh-?" Littlesun sputtered, straightening herself up a bit more as she struggled to wrap her head around the fact that the usually hidden spot had another cat in here. Nonetheless Flintfang! Ever since they had both washed up by the lake, there had been something charged between them. She didn't know if she liked it, and she had yet to ask Burntstag about how she was feeling. Her fur heated on her cheeks a bit, her gaze averting from him. Embarrassed and uncertain.

A breeze shifted through the tunnel and Flintfang felt as if he jumped from the gorge. His heart began to thump, and his green eyes widened by just a hair. It was her. Her scent. Her pelt. Her ideas. The gray tabby turned to view her and his voice caught in his throat, just as it did all those many sunrises ago, back at the southern lake. He didn't know how to handle the feelings that danced within him. It was as if he was presented with a utopia, and all he had to do to get it was fling his life away. Littlesun was more than just a cat. She was a symbol. Flintfang stared into her green eyes and saw change. He saw a gentle spirit, and yet a wise mind. A euphoria, just above the horizon. Her brother, Burntstag was direct. Strong, and confident. Had it not been for him, Flintfang would not be where he was today. But Littlesun was soft, empathetic. Flintfang was infatuated with the idea. That someone so gentle could yearn for something so... revolutionary. Did they really share the same thoughts? Did Littlesun hold the forest close as the tom did? Did she see him, understand him?

"I shouldn't be here, I know. And you have every right to be mad. Claw me, if it pleases you. But..." Flintfang stared into Littlesun's green eyes and knew he was at her mercy. Trespassing in ShadowClan territory, pleading for that gentle change he had idolized for so long. "...I wanted to see you again." He let out a long sigh, feeling as if he had just used his wings of hope to fly into the very sun of reality. "We're from different clans, I know. And we will never share prey together as clanmates. We'll never be assigned to hunt together, or do any of the things that normal cats do. I don't... know you like the others. And you don't know me. But I've gotten a glimpse of something beautiful." Flintfang's words caught in his throat, emotions pooling from his maw. He tried to keep them hidden for so so long, and now he sat exposed, throwing his heart into the open. "I can't give that up." He finished, peeking at the she-cat from under his brow fur, ears burning.

"You wanted to see... me?" Her voice was as soft as a cloud as she spoke, her eyes wide and soft as she regarded the tom in front of her. Little caterpillars wiggled in her belly, and her paws tingled. So young and inexperienced, she was. Just fresh out of apprentice-hood, and here sat Flintfang, a tom of a different clan speaking words as sweet as honeysuckle. She was so uncertain of herself, of the new feelings that were humming beneath her skin. She yearned for a word to go with them, to label and categorize it. "Uhm. I don't know what to say..." She mewed, hesitant and unsure. Littlesun looked down at her paws, shuffling ceaselessly as she struggled mentally.

"I don't know if I return those feelings? I'm sorry it's just that... I don't know? I- why don't we start sharing prey? I-I'd like to get to know you! You're really cute and um- I think you like me? But since I don't really know myself that well, w-we can start small? Like we can meet up every moon after the gathering and we can take turns sharing prey! I-I think that'd be a pretty neat place to start. And uh- I just- I mean- Uh thank you for your kind words, Flintfang. I think it's very lovely of you to think of me so kindly." Littlesun sputtered, her voice only raising as she got more nervous the longer she carried on. Her fur was hot as she evaded eye-contact with the Thunderclan tom. Emotions went to war inside her, the feeling that she was breaking the code making her feel rotten. But uncertainty came with it, her doubts in her beliefs giving her the space needed to even suggest interacting with Flintfang outside of gatherings.

Her brother trusted him, so who was she to not?

It felt good to speak the words, as mumbled and impulsive as they were, Flintfang was better for it. He watched curiously as Littlesun struggled for a reply. He hated to bring her to such a weakened state, but he loved her, and needed her to know. Her response was hesitant, careful of her feelings, and yet further driving Flintfang into madness. Her kind words ate at his heart, her voice the sound of the breeze. "I'm sorry..." He started, feeling a twinge of guilt for almost ambushing her in the territory of her own. "It was an impulsive thing and I probably should have put more thought into it... I'd... I'd like to get to know you as well." He would love to know her, to dance with the feeling of change, and the embodiment of Littlesun, who made it clear.

"Let me join you." Flintfang sputtered suddenly, seeing an eclipse of his two great passions. The revolution Burntstag would bring would come soon, Flintfang wanted to be there when it happened. And next to Littlesun, wherever she went, he could follow. The gray tabby knew with a leap of faith that he could strip away ThunderClan for her. He didn't wish to think of it any longer, knowing that logic would find him soon, and would tear his dreams away. "Burntstag, he's... he's on the verge of something great. I don't know when it will happen, but when it does, I wanna be by your side. ThunderClan doesn't need me anymore." Hearing himself say the words out loud only solidified the ridiculousness of it, Flintfang must be insane. But his heart was strung, and his wits were vast. This task was something he could perform well.