Stuck Here With You [C]

Laurelriver wished that her name came with an affinity for water.

She hated the feeling of water on her pelt. It was freezing cold, first of all. She didn't like being cold, whether it was from the rain or a harsh wind. Which was also battering her without any reprieve. She also hated how the raindrops landed on her pelt, with a thousand tiny splashes of cold on her face, body, tail, even paws. Everything exposed to the freezing cold storm was awful. She also hated how the water mixed with the ground and made mud. Mud was gross, and icky, and cold. And she could only wash it off by grooming (ick) or by washing it in cold water (ick).

Leopardwind asked her if she was alright, and she nodded in instinct. "Yeah," she said, putting a brave face. She wouldn't complain to a friend like that. "Just a little cold."

She wished she was in camp, snuggling in the warmth of her clanmates, rather than sitting in this miserable rain. Yet, in these conditions it was unreasonable to expect to return in these conditions. They needed to find shelter to wait out the night. A place that could keep them dry, or at least drier.

Laurelriver searched the area for anything that could be shelter. Perhaps they could take an idea from the rabbits and hide in their dens for the night. Though it could be a flooding risk... which would explain why Leopardwind didn't try to enter into them himself. In the moors, it was hard to find any kind of shelter that wasn't underground. There was that small oak tree where she met that rogue when she was an apprentice, but she wasn't sure where it w-

It was close by, right?

"There's a tree not too far from here we could take refuge under," she said, calling back to Leopardwind. From this angle, it was... she didn't know. They had been patrolling the ShadowClan border before trying to return early, when the storm began to hit... so they were probably right in the middle of WindClan territory. It was closer to the flower fields than the Thunderpath, so that would mean... behind and to the right? Probably?

"Follow me."

Laurelriver turned around, leading Leopardwind in the opposite direction from where they'd just been walking. Where was that oak tree, the one that stood strong right in the middle of WindClan territory? The one that was hidden in plain sight even when it was sunny and clear? It wasn't a guarantee that she was even going to find it, but she'd get chewed out by Leopardwind afterwards. Worse comes to worst, we could find a rabbit den, and hope that they had a kind of plan for flooding.

Eventually, she smelled the faint aroma of oak bark - mostly drenched in the rain, but strong enough for Laurelriver to know it was nearby. "We're close," she said, pushing forward to see the oak tree still standing strong. A part of her was worried that it would have been broken by the harsh storm, but the inherent sturdiness of it must have kept it standing. There wasn't anyone taking refuge, either - and with a bonus, there was enough space for them both to sleep comfortably. "Ta-da!" she said, grinning at Leopardwind. "I found it when I was an apprentice. This should keep us dry for tonight."

Stars, it was such a relief not feeling the rain drench her anymore. Shaking the water off her pelt, she turned to her friend. "So... what now?"

Laurelriver felt a burst of embarrassment hit her. Did he actually like her? It felt like the exact sort of thing that she heard in romance... but Leopardwind was with Cloudjumper, right? Laurelriver hadn't thought of him as a mate ever since he tended to Cloudjumper's wounds, yet. Maybe you're just overthinking it - both now and back then. "That sounds nice," she said, smiling at him. "But I'll help you dry off, too."

Nuzzling the black tom's coat, taking some of the droplets off his pelt, she stood back and shook her pelt off. It made the ground slightly wetter, but it should have been fine for now. "I don't know if I'd ever get tired of your voice," she said. "Talking is fun, but I'm not sure what to talk about right now."

She remembered when they were kits, when she caught Leopardwind staring at her, when they played Truth or Dare together. Stars, that was so long ago now. She was with him again, under the shade of the sturdy oak tree, waiting for the storm to pass. She wondered how WindClan felt about them being missing - how Cloudjumper felt about Leopardwind, how Leopardwind felt about Cloudjumper. "I... Now that I think about it, I do have one question for you," she said, shuffling her paws. "Do you have any cats you... think you could see yourself being mates with?" And am I on that list?

As soon as Laurelriver had asked him about having a mate, questions immediately swirled in her head. Was this too forward, did she make herself too vulnerable, would Leopardwind even want to associate with her after this, et cetera. But this had been bothering her for a while - his answer would tell her if she had been overthinking things or not.

The silence was deafening, but eventually Leopardwind spoke. Her, Cloudjumper, and... Larchbreeze. Laurelriver expected the first two, but she never knew Larchbreeze was someone Leopardwind was interested in. But it was nice knowing that whatever she saw was just a misunderstanding. Maybe I shouldn't assume romance whenever I see a tom and a she-cat interacting.

Leopardwind turned the question back onto her - which she honestly should have expected, yet didn't have any plans for a response. "Well... uh..." Well, she couldn't lie to him, right? "You and Falconpaw are the main two," she said, awkwardly smiling. "Moonpaw, too, now that I think about it. She's a good cat." It wasn't exactly what she expected to say, but it was all true. She'd be more than happy to be mates with Leopardwind, Falconpaw, or Moonpaw.

And yet, she couldn't love them the same. She didn't favor one over the other, but it was just... different.

She turned her gaze back outside. The rain was still pouring hard, crackling as the droplets hit the ground. It didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. If they were stuck together until the storm passed... that might be days, even weeks. They'd be starving when they tried to head back home. "We should try to catch some prey tonight," she said. "We need to keep up our strength so we can make it back home." Something out there had to like the rain, right?

So Leopardwind did hate Moonpaw.

Laurelriver wasn't surprised she wasn't in Leopardwind's good graces, with how differently they approached warriorhood. Laurelriver didn't- she couldn't - treat the duties of a warrior the same way Moonpaw did. For her, there were too many cats ahead of her, and one above them all she wanted to catch, to stand next to as equals.

Perhaps she would never get that opportunity, but the better she got, the more she took pride in it.

"Maybe," she replied. "Or perhaps other prey will show themselves in the rain. A frog may be more common in these conditions, even if it sounds gross." She shuddered at the thought of eating a frog, taking a bite into its slimy, rubbery skin. She'd seen them very rarely on WindClan territory when it was raining, but she was pretty sure they were edible - if only from trusting how healthy that ShadowClanner was when she talked to him.

Oh yeah, now that she thought about it, for a heartbeat she imagined being mates with him as well. She pushed it away, and it fizzled out, but it was there. She could still remember the white tom. He was a good cat as well - with high hopes for both ShadowClan and WindClan. What was it that he said... those who lead turn their back on younger cats? Perhaps it was understandable, since they had more experience, but it meant they were the last to take in new ideas.

She liked that in him, to be honest. The ability to dream big, for a brighter future.

The thought of them becoming mates came rushing into her head again, with Laurelriver quickly smothering it. At this point, ShadowClan and WindClan were still on tense terms, and she could easily see him in battle some day. Could she imagine fighting him? Perhaps if she had something behind her to protect. If Leopardwind or Moonpaw or Falconpaw was behind her... yes, without a doubt.

A flash of light engulfed the night sky, before vanishing. The rumble of thunder came soon after, grounding Laurelriver to her surroundings. The tree, the rain, the moor that was getting muddier and muddier. She was here. The calico she-cat turned to Leopardwind - a close friend, her goalpost, maybe her future mate. He seemed like he was... worried.

"Don't worry," she said, smiling at the black tom. "Let's go catch some prey."