The Art of Hiding[C]

I wish I could go back in time; not to change anything, but to feel a few things twice.

Juniperpaw blinked at the tom for several moments, unsure of what to say. Somehow, she had landed herself in this awkward position of talking to a cat she barely knew. And this was supposed to be her alone time! The black she-cat starred at the tom for a few moments more, then looked away suddenly, as if suddenly aware of how much she was starring. "I, uh, wanted to go for a walk. Sorry to disturb you," She muttered, wincing as she knew her voice had not carried to the tom. The black she straightened up and tried again. "I meant to say, I'll be going for a walk, sorry for bothering you." Again, her voice was pitifully soft. How embarrassing. Juniperpaw ducked her head, feeling her ears heat up and suddenly losing all motivation to attend to her walk. Worse part was, she didn't even know this cat's name. How was she going to apologise? She groaned internally, hoping for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

I wish I could go back in time; not to change anything, but to feel a few things twice.

Juniperpaw faltered, unsure of how to reply. He sounded so unbothered, so nonchalent, she wasn't sure what he wanted of her. His second attempt at conversation was softer, more pleasant to the ears. Her ear flicked in response, and gradually the fur along her back flattened again. He seemed like he was bored... no wonder, he was on Day Watch, and for some reason his patrolmate was no where to be found. For some odd reason, ShadowClan cats just despised the sun and all things related to the day. Juniperpaw would never understand the hatred for sunlight, not when it brought all the beauty of the world to its brightest and prettiest state.

She supposed she could accompany him. She could spend today weaving something instead of foraging, anyway, and he seemed like a decent cat. Something about the lack of explosive emotions in his presence was calming. No sudden anger or annoyance or disgust. Everything seemed... muted, almost, and she liked it. Like the dull colours of morning light, dusting everything pale and ordinary. Beautiful, in its own way.

"Yeah. You're Fernpaw, right?" He was, of coure, Fernpaw. She didn't need an answer to her question, so there was no need to make it loud enough to be heard. And yet, somehow, it was just louder. Strange how that went.

The black she-cat ducked away, finding from her storage a few materials, before trotting back to the camp entrance where she had left Fernpaw. He wasn't going anywhere, anyway. He was on Day Watch. Juniperpaw dropped the materials and plopped herself down. She blinked up at Fernpaw, contemplating if she should say something to him. Explain her actions, maybe. He was no doubt confused. They always were. They thought it was weird, or a kit thing to do. Maybe it was. She didn't want to care. Maybe she did anyway. She bent her head down to untangle a grass blade from the pile, and setting it aside, moved to do the same with each individual blade. Once she was done, she arranged the flowers, small white daisies on one side and sky blue ones on the other. Lastly were the small light grey down feathers she found the other day, neatly put under a pebble.

Paying no mind to Fernpaw, she began weaving the blades together. In one side, out the other, repeat with the other blade, and tighten. As she worked, she slipped the stems of the daisies into the gaps, adding little blooms of white and blue to the darker weave. As she finished the creation, her speed greatly improved by the amount of times she had done the same action, she slipped the down feathers into the inner ring of the circle.

And then she was done.

Juniperpaw proudly held up the ring of flowers and leaves, presenting it to her observer. It was a small crown-like weave, easily able to fit over a cat's tail or paw. She thought it was very pretty. Would he think so too? For once, a slight prick of nervousness came to her. "Would- would you like to have it?"