daffodil for moving on (c)

Flutterpetal was technically on a patrol. However, once he'd finished stopping by the hidden outcropping--ignoring the quiet plummet of disappointment when Honeylight was nowhere to be seen--he had gone further out into the territory, murmuring some lame excuse about hunting or sunlight. It truly was a good day outside, and the sunshine was as warm as anything. But he had an ulterior motive. He needed to see the flowers.

He'd been scared to go back to the fields... it had been so long, and when he'd dared blink at them on the day the Twolegs had gone for good, he'd seen nothing but frostbitten, trampled stalks. It seemed to symbolize exactly how his heart had felt after the long moons of snow and ice devouring everything good. After Whisperear and Honeylight had been taken by the Twolegs. After Hazelpatch and Daisybreeze had left him for good. But now, it was newleaf. He'd been venturing out onto the territory more and slowly beginning to feel like himself... and theoretically, the flowers were back. He had seen one or two scattered on the moors, but had always steered his paws away from the field that used to be his regular haunt. He was worried. What if the flowers never came back? What if they were dead forever? What if they'd fled this world under the blanket of frost, just like Hazelpatch and Daisybreeze? What if that was it?

But no. He had to see. He had to know.

His other patrolmates all left, except for Eaglefly. His young apprentice had just recently received a warrior name. Flutterpetal had been proud of him, though he secretly felt that the tom's deep appreciation for him was severely misplaced. He truly hadn't done much, not like Whisperear had done for him. He'd been so out-of-sorts that they had gone on half as many excursions as they should have. However, Eaglefly had been given his name nonetheless. And now it was the two of them going on the territory. Flutterpetal dimly remembered a promise he'd made to take his apprentice to see the flowers, back when they'd been hunting in leaf-bare. He had yet to deliver. And though he secretly almost wished to be alone, since he wasn't sure how he would react if the flowers truly were gone, it was probably good that he had someone to accompany him. This meant that he would fulfill his thoughtless promise.

Flutterpetal glanced to his side, where Eaglefly was trotting happily. The tom always looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Was that how I was? Is this how Whisperear saw me? It was odd to view himself through that lens, so he forced the thoughts to cease. Instead, he offered a small smile. "Ready to see the flowers? They're just over this ridge." Hopefully his voice carried none of the quiet tremor that he felt. The possibility of seeing dead, brown petals was almost too much for him to bear. But he'd already come this far.

Eaglefly was a new warrior now and it felt great! He had wanted it for awhile and now that it was here the happy go lucky tom was even moreso that.

He nodded eagerly at the offer.


However, just as he was growing up, so to was his ability to read others and understand things particularly well.

He couldnt help but notice that Flutter seemed a little down. He walked all the more closer to his mentor. Even though he had "graduated" to being a warrior he still viewed Flutterpetal as his mentor and likely always would. He knew he could always go to him for advise on anything.


It was not particularly hard for Eaglyfly to guess at what could be bothering Flutterpetal all that much, their mentor Whisperear had been sick in the medicine den for a long while at this point.

Eaglefly knew that he would be devestated if Flutterpetal got sick: and whisperear was to Flutter what Flutter was to himself.


All this said, even though he was very in tune to the emotions of others, he didnt know how to always try and cheer them up as much as he wanted to.

Mayhaps the best way was to just be with Flutterpetal now, he had really wanted to see these flower fields that Flutter had spoke of so often during their training.

He peeked over the ridge top with his mentor to the fields beyond. A bright colorful field of flowers met them and he blinked suprised by how different theri land looked now. This wasnt too far from where snow was burried them deep just moons before.

Spring had come and with it brought back all the flowers flutter had talked about for so long.

"Flutterpetal! I love it here!" he purred enthused.

"heh maybe we should move camp to this place" he added on looking around.

There was no point in waiting any longer. He might as well look now and save himself the agony of uncertainty. Letting out a quiet, exhaled breath, Flutterpetal took the last few necessary steps to see over the top of the ridge and down into the flower field.

Color.

Even now that newleaf had begun, the moors were nothing but a dullish brown-green, still not as bright as they would be with a few more moons of rain and sun. Being trapped beneath snow had dampened their shade. However, the first thing that struck Flutterpetal as he looked over the hill was the bright explosion of variegated colors that were scattered across the field. They were nearly bright enough to hurt his eyes. He blinked and looked closer, almost not daring to believe what his eyes were telling him. Sure enough, at least half of the flowers had begun to bloom. Light purple crocuses and lavender hyacinths; shining white lilies, snowdrops and gardenias; pale pink peonies and primroses; rich yellow-gold forsythias and daffodils. One particular daffodil, white with a stark yellow center, seemed to be greeting him with a friendly wave as a breeze rustled its stems.

Life had begun anew. The long leaf-bare was over... and with it, the troubles that had been plaguing him could finally melt like the packed snowdrifts and disappear into the bowels of the earth.

It may have just been the sun on his pelt, but Flutterpetal felt warm. Maybe the cycle of life didn't always have to end with death. Maybe those he had lost were just like the flowers... gone for a time, but waiting for his return with the same brightly colored petals he had grown to love. It was cold comfort, but staring at the rainbow-speckled moors in front of him, it almost felt real enough to reach out and touch. Pressing his nose to the daffodil in front of him yielded a sweet, gentle smell. Tears almost welled up in his eyes.

He'd forgotten about Eaglefly's presence. His former apprentice's voice piped up, declaring the beauty of the flowers and joking--Flutterpetal assumed--about moving camp. He blinked hard, clearing the momentary blurriness from his vision. It wouldn't do to ignore the tom. "I'm glad they're back," he murmured, tone far less heavy than before. "I guess that all the snow eventually has to melt, no matter how long it takes the sun to shine."