Sun's Shadow[C]

Tawnyshadow paced back and forth as she awaited Sunflare's arrival. They had agreed previously to meet up for a walk, at Tawnyshadow's request, around moonhigh. She raised her head to look up at the sky. The moon had passed it's highest peek some time ago, and was slowly inching towards Skyclan territory. Was it rash of her to ask an obviously busy warrior for such a thing? She should probably be busy on patrol now, she realized. Tawnyshadow signed. She didn't even know why she wanted this walk, or what she had planned to do when Sunflare was finally here.

Mouse-brain... she thought to herself. Perhaps it was best for her to just act as if this never happened.

As if summoned by her racing thoughts, Sunflare appeared, slender body seeming to materialize out of the shadows. “Apologies for being late,” he purred. “I was unfortunately caught in a conversation I couldn’t politely escape. You wanted to see me?” His voice cracked a tiny bit out of nervousness. The tom’s face grew hot. It was bad enough that his voice never seemed to finish deepening, and now it did this in front of a she-cat he liked!

Sunflare finally appeared, his cinnamon pelt glowing faintly in the dim light of the marsh. If she wasn't nervous before, Tawnyshadow sure was now. At the tom's question, her mind went blank. What is going on with her? Why is she acting like this? The she-cat desperately tried to regain some control of herself.

"Oh, yes," She stammered out despite her best attempts at keeping her voice steady, "I just wanted to get closer with all my clanmates on an intimate level, so as to understand their strengths better and improve clan relations. I thought I could start with you." Okay, at least it was something.

Taking a deep breath, Tawnyshadow offered a smile and asked, "Is there anything you want to know about me, or anything about you you want me to know?"

Sunflare couldn’t help but smile. He wanted to respond with sarcasm, ask why she would bring his out here alone just for a getting-to-know-you chat, but that wouldn’t be polite. “Hmm… why don’t we take turns asking each other questions?” he mewed. “I’ll start. Tawnyshadow, who’s your favorite senior warrior? Who do you think is the most skilled?”

Was Sunflare annoyed by her very useless excuse? Tawnyshadow didn't like wasting time for something like getting to know her clanmates better, when she could do it even better during patrols. But there was no going back now.

"My favourite senior warrior is Pineblossom. Despite the hardships she has gone through, she still gives her all during every patrol, and she sticks closely to the Warrior Code," Tawnyshadow explained to the tom. Sunflare could agree or disagree with her opinion, but it really is what she thinks. "As for the strongest, Nightstar is easily one of the most powerful cats in the clan."

"What about you?" Tawnyshadow asked, tipping her head to the side. Sunflare really did have a beautiful pelt. The she-cat quickly pushed that thought out of her mind.

“I agree with you on Nightstar,” Sunflare purred. “And I believe Sablestrike is close, though I do wish he and Nightstar could see eye to eye. Oh well, nothing to be done about that, I suppose.”

He took a step closer to Tawnyshadow. “Favorite battle move?”

Sunflare stepped closer to her. So close that Tawnyshadow could pratically feel the tom's breath on her. Her pelt burned and she quickly took a step back. What is wrong with me today? She made a mental note to check in with Harriertalon later. After taking a moment to calm herself down, Tawnyshadow offered the tom a shy smile and answered, "Probably the tail yank. It's quick, can be done not just on cats, and stuns the opponent."