the boy who swallowed the sun [C]

Rookflight
T4 Warrior | RiverClan | they/he

Mud splashed up around Rookflight's ears as their head hit the ground, bouncing against the dip of a nearby puddle. The air struggled out of their lungs from where the ground punched against their back, but they refused to let the moment stun them. They grit their teeth and sucked in just enough breath to restabilize themself before folding their limbs in close and tossing their body to the side. The teeth that were likely aiming for their shoulder or neck only closed around empty air as they rolled away. The noise of mild affront above them, which bubbled quickly into a rich, rich laugh, put all the blazing warmth of the sun into their chest.

Fittingly, as it was Sunpool's laugh that resounded. His frequent giggles were among earth's most precious sounds. Rookflight had long thought that, but today in particular, it was distracting. Their stomach lurched a little when Sunpool moved toward them again and they were sparring, not just enjoying the bells of his giggles. They lacked the time to scramble to their paws, so Rookflight just let him pounce; then, just before he would land, Rookflight shoved themselves upright, their back connecting hard with Sunpool's chest. It was enough to spill Sunpool from the air and send him to the ground with a thump. Rookflight was quick to pursue, gathering their paws fully over to him and hurrying over to his side so they could place their forepaws on his shoulders. Sunpool was much stronger than them and could dislodge their weight easily if he so chose, but he was breathing hard and his muscles were soft beneath Rookflight's paws. The fight was decidedly done.

"That is two to one," they announced, shaky with their own ragged breaths. He and Sunpool had been sparring for a good while by now. Rookflight misjudged just how strong the golden tom had become as a warrior, and he refused to quit before earning at least one win against Sunpool. But securing it didn't relieve the rare energy that burned restlessly through his limbs. It was late in the afternoon, when everything was sun-gilt and beautiful (including Sunpool--the sun always brought out how handsome he was), and neither of them had anything to do.

Rookflight tapped a paw against Sunpool's shoulder as if to tag him before hopping off. Even he laughed then, in his own way; a single, affectionate huff before he pulled in a deep breath to steady himself. His eyes wouldn't leave Sunpool's. "Would you like to continue?" There was a challenge in Rookflight's mew, a competitiveness that only sparring brought out, but it held a note of something else too: playfulness. That emotion had never shown in his voice before and it somewhat surprised even Rookflight himself to identify. But it made sense; Sunpool always brought the kittish impulse out of him, and today, he was overflowing with it.

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Sunpool couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his chest when his teeth, which had been aiming to nip at Rookflight’s shoulder, clacked around empty air. The laugh was preceded by a huff of a missed attack, but there was no real sting; Sunpool wasn’t much of a competitive sort, and the adrenaline and joy in his veins had him feeling almost dizzy with pure, addictive enjoyment. The whole world had narrowed down to this. Mud in his fur, laughter in his lungs, and then, just when he thought he had the upper hand, Rookflight’s paws on his shoulders, declaring their victory. Sunpool grinned so wide it hurt as they looked up at his best friend, green eyes sparkling with delight. Any worries, any concerns, they had left his mind like he was shaking water out of his fur. There was only him and Rookflight, playing like they were kits again.

Rookflight was incredible. Of course they were, they always were, and Sunpool always knew it. But still, it was quickly proven to Sunpool as they spared the afternoon away that any advantage he used to have due to his natural strength was long gone; what Sunpool had in muscle Rookflight had in a speed and agility Sunpool could never hope to match. It was fun, so, so fun to have this back and forth between them, a push and pull that kept Sunpool constantly on his toes. But really, Sunpool couldn’t care less about battle strategy and weighing their strengths. What he cared about was Rookflight above them, midnight black fur gleaming in the sun and white patches all but glowing. Their eyes were brighter than any sun.

Another round of giggling was involuntarily pulled from Sunpool as Rookflight tagged them, and he rolled to his feet, shaking out his fur. “Good win,” He purred. He felt warmth from the pads of his paws all the way to the tips of his ears at Rookflight’s little laugh. Rookflight wasn’t expressive in the way Sunpool was, and that made every overt expression of happiness a treasure to witness. When Rookflight’s eyes were bright, their lips curled up at the edges or, like now, their voice was light with joy and delight, Sunpool felt as though he might just float right off the ground from how light and happy he felt in turn. Oh, and today was a perfect day. A perfect, happy day. Indeed, if it weren’t for Rookflight’s gaze keeping him steady, Sunpool would’ve floated off like a cloud.

Lost in gold, Sunpool held Rookflight’s gaze in turn. He panted, catching his breath after the spar, his giggling doing nothing to aid in his quest for air. He couldn’t help it though. He just felt so happy, it was hard to contain himself. “Are you kidding?” He purred, stretching himself out for a moment just to warm up his muscles. “Of course! Sunpool the Daring never backs down from a challenge!” He laughed out loud again. It’d been a while since he used that silly little nickname Brookstone gave him. It made him feel like a kit again, doing this with Rookflight made him feel like a kit again. Once upon a time he thought he’d never regain this kind of joy, but really, he was foolish. With a best friend like Rookflight, how could he not? Straightening back up, Sunpool offered a wide grin, too-big teeth on display, and then he wiggled in an over exaggerated pounce, leaping forward to jump onto Rookflight again. It was clumsy and unrefined, but Sunpool wasn’t really thinking about sparring anymore. This wasn’t battle practice. This was just to play with one of his favorite cats in the whole wide world.

RiverClan • T4 Warrior • they/he • #6082B6

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