Need to Feel [Timbersun]

The leaf-fall air was cold, and Swiftspirit was half-tempted to just take the hare she'd caught and head back to camp. Not that curling up in her nest would do much in the way of making her warm, but it was nice to pretend it would. The last few days had been unseasonably warm, which made the sudden chill feel worse than it ought to.

Swiftspirit turned, scanning the flower fields for more prey. Many of the plants still clung to life stubbornly, though before long the fields would be drab brown and uninspiring. Movement caught Swiftspirit's eye, and she turned, preparing to chase after another hare before catching sight of the pelt in the grasses. She grinned, recognizing her clanmate, and trotted towards him, tail waving cheerfully as she called out in greeting, "Hey, Timbersun!"

Timbersun sat in camp, gazing up at the bright blue sky. His striped tail curled around his paws, daydreaming. The smell of prey snapped him out of it. He glanced down as a cat dropped a weak looking hare there. He went closer to the pile, most of the prey was getting skinnier and the pile just looked a whole lot smaller in general. He stood up and walked out of camp, he could at least do something about it.

He headed to the flower field, wanting to see some pretty flowers and maybe catch a rabbit. Unfortunately, the flowers were beginning to wilt and they just looked... sad. He scented a rabbit, though and slunk under the half-dead flowers, his tail twitching. Before he could find the rabbit he could smell, a familiar voice interrupted him.

He lifted his head, gaze landing on a familiar pelt. His eyes widened after he realised who it was. "Swiftspirit! I... Just lost a rabbit, but maybe it'll be worth it." He padded over with a smile, tail waving back and sitting down. The she-cat looked pretty in the sunlight, her blue eyes like pools of water. Swiftspirit looked comforting, she made him feel warm and happy, he didn't know why, if he even realised he was feeling it.

"Oh, rabbitdung. I should've realised, I'm sorry." Swiftspirit stumbled over an apology, fur suddenly feeling plenty warm despite the chill in the air. She ducked her head, giving her chest fur a lick in a poor attempt at hiding her embarrassment. She'd been so giddy to see a clanmate... To see Timbersun, in particular. He was a decent cat and was good company. And he was a clanmate. Unlikeothercats.

"There will be others to catch, at least, or you'll find something else I'm sure." She reassured him, settling back into her hunches. "How've you been? Having fun training Flamepaw?" She asked, the hint of a playful smirk crossing her expression. She'd seen the new apprentice had been absolutely thrilled at his ceremony, "I swear they gave us the difficult apprentices on purpose." She joked.

Timbersun exhaled, offering her a slight smile. "Don't worry, it's fine... I like your company anyway." He liked Swiftspirit in general, again, not realising his own emotions for the other cat.

"Yeah, probably." He chuckled. "Rabbits are tricky but I'll catch one... eventually." He gazed out over the field, bringing his attention back to the she-cat as she started talking about apprentices. "Flamepaw..." He thought about it for a moment. "I could say he's a pawful, but that'd be an understatement." He laughed, he tail flicking side by side. "Hentooth definitely did it on purpose, it's just.. sibling rivalry, I guess." His tail stopped playfully flicking in the flowers as he thought about the argument. He wrinkled his nose, shutting his eyes and looked away. Did she forgive him? No... he wasn't going to think about that again. He looked back at Swiftspirit. His gaze relaxing, she felt relaxing. "Sorry." He muttered, not really knowing what to say other than that. She probably just thought he was weird or something.

Timbersun's words had her purring, for some unfathomable reason. "Me too, Timber."

"I like Hentooth... She's snarky, but a good cat. She misses you, you know." She mewed, gently reminding him of what she'd said during their playfighting with the kits. Swiftspirit thought it was obvious that Hentooth cared about her sibling, but it seemed that Timbersun needed another reminder of that.

"It's been challenging... Makes us better warriors, though." Swiftspirit had learned, in dealing with Sootpaw. The tom was surly and combative, quiet and often uncaring, but she was noticing that she was more patient because of it. She'd picked up on how to read his body language, and how to best cajole him into cooperating. "Maybe we could do a join training session one of these days? If they don't tear our fur off at the suggestion."

Timbersun's tail flicked. "I know, I know... I just can't stop myself from thinking about that day." Even if it was so many moons ago, even if Hentooth had already moved on from that moment. It still hurt. He looked down at his paws, his ears flicking back. "I miss her and I miss me..." He looked up. Swallowing down any fear. "I... I really want to apologise to her, for real, I just don't know how."

Timbersun curled his tail around his body, listening to what the pretty pointed she-cat had to say. "A training session? With you?... And your apprentice?" He chuckled. "It'd be weird for sure, Sootpaw's my littermate and I'll be there helping you train him." He smiled. "Oh- right, you probably want my answer... Sure! I could definitely use some help, and it'd be a learning experience for all four of us!" He felt a rush of excitement, just the thought of being by Swiftspirit's side. He cared about her, more than he had for any other cat that wasn't family. Was it because she was so nice? That he considered her to be a close friend? Or was it something more?

"Take her out hunting, maybe? It'll do you no good to spend your time overthinking it. I think she'd be happy just to spend time with her brother again." Swiftspirit responded. That's how it had seemed to her, when they'd been playfighting with the kits. She couldn't tell Timbersun what to say, that was up to him to figure out. But she could give him an idea of where to go about starting, maybe.

...Right, he and Sootpaw were siblings. "Mm right... It's easy to forget that, honestly. You're as different from each other as night and day." She meant it, too. Timbersun was easy to talk to. Shy, but Swiftspirit found his presence enjoyable. "Do you know how exhausting it is to spend entire training sessions feeling like I'm talking to the flowers?" She shook her head in exasperation, "It's nice to have friends I can actually talk to and have a conversation with."