The future's in your paws. Shape it well.Roleplay in a cat Clan of warriors. Based off the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Takes place in an AU before the cats in the books existed.
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It was just after sun-high. Most cats found this temperature far too hot, which was why most of them were panting in the shade or off patrolling near the river for the light breeze, but Bubblepaw loved it. Once she'd gotten back from her hunting patrol and gotten a quick bite to eat, she had just been sitting in the most direct beam of light that she could find, letting its warmth seep all the way through her pelt into her bones. She loved feeling the heat spread across her fur. It was also nice to then roll around on the soft grass, which dispersed the warmth in a deliciously cool sensation. Greenleaf was the best. Still, after sitting around and repeating this routine over and over again for a few minutes, she found her gaze drawn to some cats who were trying to stay out of the sunlight. There was Uncle Rain, talking to... some cat she'd never talked to before! A black and white tom who was smiling at him. Hmm. Curious now, Bubblepaw entered an attempt at a hunting crouch, hoping it would make her less obtrusive. She observed them curiously for a little while. Rainfrost walked away from him a minute or so later, leaving the tom whose name she did not know sitting in the shade by himself. I wonder what that was all about?
She narrowed her eyes in concentration. Then she crept carefully through the grass towards the lone warrior. He was looking in the other direction, where Uncle Rain had gone, so he did not seem to notice her. Perfect. Just a little further... She had entered the shade herself now, and while she missed the warmth of the sun, it still lingered on her pelt. Besides, there was a much more interesting diversion right in front of her. The apprentice stalked forward one more step, two more steps, until finally-- "Gotcha!" Bubblepaw leapt, paws outstretched, and bowled the tom over from behind. She had calculated her tackle with the knowledge of kit-fights with her siblings, knowing that with her small size and soft fur, she wouldn't actually hurt him, just surprise him. Still, she'd knocked him off balance, and then rolled off of him into the grass. Her tiny white fangs showed in a winning, beaming smile as she looked up at him, trying to read his expressiion. "Hi! I'm Bubblepaw! I'm Sunfire's daughter and Juniperheart's daughter and Wolfblossom's grandkit and Rainfrost's apprentice and a buncha other stuff! Who're you?"
Crookedlight enjoyed his time spent with Rainfrost. Things were…better? They were spending more time together. He didn’t think too much about his time with the twolegs anymore. Rainfrost still brought up some of those feelings though—the complicated, confused ones whenever he was around Rowansong or Rainfrost. He wasn’t sure why Rainfrost brought the thoughts up; Rowansong at least had the excuse of having been his companion in the twoleg nest. But Rainfrost was simply his best friend, so what was it about his presence that got those thoughts worming around in his brain?
He was so distracted with his own thoughts after Rainfrost had left that he didn’t notice the apprentice sneaking up on him until he was thrown to the side by the sudden weight launching at him. “Ah-!” he gasped and then blinked a few times at the apprentice standing on top of him. She introduced herself quickly and it clicked in his head.
“Ah! Bubblepaw. It is nice to meet you,” he meowed. He gave her a soft smile. “I’m Crookedlight.”
He never did spend much time around Juniperheart’s children when they were born. He knew that Rainfrost was infatuated with them, and it was nice seeing him playing with them when they were still small and in the nursery. Crookedlight wasn’t sure he was good around kits. He could still remember when he was that age, and how excitable and chatty he’d been, but it was harder for him to find that same enthusiasm these days. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have kits of his own, but…no. He was not ready for that at all.
He continued, “Rainfrost has spoken about you. I’m glad I can finally meet the famous Bubblepaw.”
Bubblepaw grinned. This tom was nice! He didn't immediately scold her for tackling him--which, come to think of it, she probably shouldn't have done. But thankfully he didn't mind. Belatedly, she scrambled off of him as he introduced himself. Crookedlight-- what an interesting name! Was it because of his one tooth at a weird angle there? Without even thinking about it, she tilted her head, staring at his face. His fur was very pretty. Oh, and just a second ago, he had been talking with Rainfrost. And Uncle Rain had told him about her? So they must talk pretty often, then. Her soft tail waved around behind her as she thought. They must be friends! Best friends, then? No... there was something different in the way that he'd said her mentor's name. Hmm.
The apprentice's face changed from a wide grin to a thoughtful expression and back into a sparkling-eyed smile in no more than a few seconds. Her thought process moved almost too fast for her, even. But it only took those few seconds, and she was back to full throttle. "Okay! It's nice to meet you too, Crookedlight! I feel like I've heard of you before, and I don't know if it's 'cause Uncle Rain said something or just living in the same camp as you all the time. Either way your name's cool! I get the 'Crooked' part, but what's the 'light' part for? Is it just to make it sound nice? Did you ever chase down the sun? No, wait, Gramma said cats can't do that. I keep forgetting." Bubblepaw shook her head. Then her pale green eyes sparkled. "Oh, mates! That's the word I was tryna remember! You and Rainfrost are mates! Right? You totally spend a lot of time together and you were smiling at each other and stuff. That's like what Mama and Daddy do sometimes! And Rain doesn't even smile that much. Not cause he's not happy, he just doesn't. But it's okay 'cause I know what he means even when he's all seeeerious." Her grin was positively infectious as she bounced around from paw to paw, practically unable to sit still even though she was no longer tumbling the other tom over onto the ground. "It makes sense though! That would explain why I haven't met you yet since you two probably wanna talk alone and stuff. But wait, then why wouldn't Uncle Rain tell me about it? Maybe I'm just too young to know this kinda thing. I dunno." At some point she had sailed completely past the realm of conjecture and jumped straight to conclusions without even noticing.
Crookedlight rolled over onto his belly when Bubblepaw hopped off of him. He smiled at bubble as she started talking a mile a minute. She new that she was quite energetic from the stories Rainfrost had told him, but he had yet to actually talk to her. Now, he could see where that description came from.
“Crooked is for my tooth,” he replied ash e tried to interject. She said she knew what it was for, but thought that he would say it anyway. “Birdstar gave me the name -light for my optimism and excitability.” His stomach churned at the memory of his ceremony. He still felt a little guilty about that. He didn’t feel like it fit. Perhaps his younger self, sure, but since his time at the twolegs? He felt more doubt than optimism, and his excitability, just a farce.
He could not dwell on his own doubts, though, because then Bubble said. Said. Said that.
Crookedlight’s eyes widened and he sputtered for a moment. It had been a while since he truly lost his words, but they were completely gone from his mind now. “We…he…huh?” he finally manages to say. He stares at little Bubblepaw and it still takes him a good minute to find the words. “We’re not…mates?” he finally says.
Mates. Mates? He and Rainfrost…No, they’re…friends. Really close, really good friends, sure, but friends. He’s seen mates in camp. He’s seen how they talk together. It’s how he talks to everyone, with his flirtations and compliments. He’s not sure he would ever be mates with someone. But Rainfrost is different; Crookedlight doesn’t talk like that to him. He’s his best friend. Why would Crookedlight want to ruin that with something like romance?
“We’re not mates,” he repeats, almost like assuring himself of that truth. “I love Rainfrost dearly, but he is my friend.”
Bubblepaw's enthusiasm could not be dampened. However, she wouldn't be lying if it was... overshadowed a bit... by the sudden flood of shame at Crookedlight's stunned reaction. Oh. She'd assumed again, hadn't she? She must've been wrong. Or was she? There was a pink flush to the tom's face that seemed to suggest otherwise. But she wasn't going to be rude again. She already felt bad enough. Her soft, pointed ears went back a little bit. "O-oh." Her laughter was a bit nervous, a bit sheepish, a bit guilty. "Sorry! My bad! Yeah, yeah, it's okay that you're just friends. If you say you're not mates, then you're not. I guess I've never had a mate before so I dunno what it'd be like. I don't think I've even ever had a crush before. Or if I had, would I recognize it?" Suddenly stunned at the thought, she sat down for a second. "What's it like to have a crush? I have no idea." Her lack of knowledge floored her. Then, light and bubbliness returned as she looked at Crookedlight. She sprang up again, smiling, guilt forgotten in a near-instant. "Hey, maybe you could tell me! Have you ever had a crush before? I've heard other cats talking about it, but I wanna know what it means so I can recognize if I ever get one. Even if you haven't had one, that's okay! If you know someone who's had one, or you know anything about what it's like... could you tell me? Pleasepleasepleeease?"
Bubblepaw’s excitement drained out of her quickly and Crookedlight immediately felt guilty. He still believed that they weren’t mates, of course, but he hated to disappoint Bubblepaw so much. He opened his mouth to say something more when suddenly Bubblepaw sprang to life all over again and started rambling. Ah…so perhaps she was not as distraught as he had feared. Cats at her age usually bounced back from things anyway, and a little disappointment wouldn’t keep her down. Crookedlight was being worried over nothing.
“Um…” Crookedlight began uncertainly. “I don’t think I’ve ever had one…Juniperheart has, of course. She had one on your father.” He smiled at Bubblepaw. “But…I imagine that a crush starts with wanting to be around someone all the time. They make you feel happy, and so you find every excuse you can to stay close to them. Then you start getting little tingles when you think of them, or butterflies in your stomach. You might feel nervous talking to them sometimes, but you want to talk to them so bad that that doesn’t really matter. Even seeing them makes you really happy…”
Crookedlight trails off. His stomach flutters at the thought. He said he never had a crush on a cat before but…
At Crookedlight's silence, Bubblepaw was momentarily worried that she'd stepped over an invisible line again. But thankfully it appeared that she hadn't--or that he was kind enough to let it slide, if she had. He began to genuinely answer her question. Excited to learn more, Bubblepaw tried to still her constant movement, sitting down and looking up with eager green eyes. In her mind, she tried to take notes, etching the words into her brain so that if the time ever came that she experienced these feelings, she'd know what they meant right away. Wanting to be with them... happy... butterflies... tingles. It sounded great! She was so enthused at the concept of having a crush of her own someday that she didn't even notice Crookedlight slow to a halt with his sudden realization.
"Wow, that sounds so nice!" Bubblepaw purred. "I can't wait to have a crush of my own someday. I wonder if you only get one, like if they're your soulmate or somethin'. I think I heard Daddy mention something like that once. Or maybe you get a lot! Maybe everyone's just so nice and so awesome you get crushes all the time. I think I'd probably just get crushes on everyone 'cause I wanna be friends with every single cat in the forest! 'Specially all the SkyClan cats though." It was impossible to sit still. She was back on her feet again, shifting her weight from paw to paw and attempting not to bounce too much. "Thanks for answering my question! I really 'ppreciate it. I know I get annoying sometimes and maybe you don't wanna talk to me 'cause I talk too much and that's all right. In return though, do you have any questions for me? I don't know as much as you about anything but if you want to know anything I might know, let me know! Whoops, I just said the word 'know' three times." She giggled. "But really! I like talking to you. You're nice."
Crookedlight’s mind was still spinning from the realization that hit him like a monster. It took him a minute to reel back into the conversation, and by that time Bubblepaw had already moved on from the previous topic, which he was relieved about. He blinked at her ad cut in, “You are not annoying, Bubblepaw. I enjoy talking to you, I promise.” He smiled and felt himself settling back again now that they had changed topics. The storm that the realization created still raged in the back of his mind, but he put all of his focus on Bubblepaw.
“What do you think your warrior name will be?” Crookedlight asked with a smile. “I’m sure you must have given it much thought by now, especially with how much older you’re getting.”
