[Fawn]

"So I was telling Snowstream, just a few more moons and my kits will be apprentices already—Are you still listening, Roselight?"

The cream-furred she-cat jumped, startled out of her musings by the gleaming eyes of Henfeather staring intently at her until she finally noticed. Roselight flashed Henfeather a look of apology, rasping her tongue over the fur on her chest to smooth down the fluffed up hair. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?" asked Henfeather, her eyes narrowing with suspicion, though her body language was still friendly.

Roselight shifted uncomfortably. She'd always had trouble lying to Henfeather, the one cat who knew her better than anyone else. "Oh...nothing in particular."

"I can tell when you're lying, Rose. You've met someone, haven't you? Tell me! Who is it? I must know!"

Taken aback by the voracious gleam in Henfeather's eyes and the quickness with which she'd deduced the truth, Roselight felt her skin grow warm beneath her fur, her eyes adverting the intent look out of embarrassment. "He's very brave, and very very kind," Roselight mewed, silently cursing herself for sharing anything about Blazehawk at all – but her thoughts soon traveled to deep russet fur and black stripes, the LightningClan deputy's handsome eyes gleaming back at her, the warmth and affection in them enough to make her stomach flip-flop a dozen times over.
"And? What else? He's a warrior, right? What else is he like? Handsome? Funny? What?" Henfeather prodded Roselight's shoulder with her nose, purring with excitement. Roselight suppressed a laugh; she hadn't quite realized just how eager her best friend would be to hear news like this. Roselight had, for the longest time, been a bit standoffish to the males of RainClan and anywhere else, but she hadn't really considered that in a negative light. She hadn't been thinking about the future and any future families she'd be starting, her thoughts tended to concentrate on Henfeather and Henfeather's three kits, wanting more than anything for all three of them to grow up and become successful, happy, healthy warriors. Thoughts of one day settling down hadn't really been a conscious concern of hers.

Apparently, it had been for Henfeather.

"Oh he's very handsome, he resembles a warrior of TigerClan. Muscular too." Roselight rattled off his physical attributes first, knowing Henfeather was just a bit more interested in appearances than personality, which was probably what got her into trouble with Cloudfoot in the first place. Careful not to name any names, Roselight continued, "he's one of the most compassionate, humble, loyal individuals I've ever met. He's very strong – not just physically – he deals with a lot more pressure than either you or I could've."

Henfeather suddenly gawked at her.

"What?" Mewed Roselight quickly, feeling self-conscious in light of her friend's strange behavior.

"…..So you're telling me that you're in love with Deadstar?" Henfeather mewed, incredulous and astonished all at once.

"HUH?" Roselight's turn to gawk back, her cerulean eyes were rounded like walnuts at the unexpected assumption. Well, it made sense that Henfeather would think that, Roselight concluded, getting over her initial shock. There isn't anyone like Blazehawk here in RainClan, she felt an inward pride at this that was difficult to explain.
"No, it's not Deadstar," she let out a small mrrow ow ow at this, Henfeather looking twice as confused as before.

"Really? Then who is it? Can I meet him? Is it Razorfang? He always seemed kind of standoffish to me—"

"You can't meet him," Roselight interjected, feeling her heart tremor with nervousness. "Because he's the LightningClan deputy."

As expected, Henfeather's mouth fell open, the plush queen's silky ginger fur standing on end at the shoulder blades, her posture the picture of rigid surprise. "The LightningClan deputy?" Henfeather repeated, her voice dropping to a worried hiss, "Are you out of your mind?! Your parents are going to shred you into kit bedding!"

"I know I know," retorted the cream-colored she-cat, ears flattening with apprehension. "But if you're going to tell me to stop seeing him, don't waste your breath." Suddenly defensive, Roselight didn't expect Henfeather to abruptly nudge her in the shoulder almost affectionately. "You've always had to do things your own way, huh? Stubbornness and wandering where you aren't supposed to must run in your family," Henfeather mewed with a softness to her voice that took Roselight by surprise, the ginger queen referring to none other than Russetpaw.
Roselight nudged her friend back gratefully, feeling better now that she knew Henfeather wasn't going to judge her or call her a traitor.
"It's actually because of Russetkit – sorry, Russetpaw – that we met in the first place." Confessed the she-cat, wrapping her tail around her paws as she sat in front of Henfeather at the Willow Stream. "I tracked that little troublemaker all the way to StarClan's Claws, where I found him chatting up the LightningClan deputy – talking about RussetClan, of all things."

Henfeather's whiskers briefly twitched with mirth. Ah yes, RussetClan. He'd been trying to recruit her own kits a few sunrises ago.

Roselight let out a small sigh that was more dream-like than she wanted to admit. "And the rest is, as they say, history."

"More like treason," Henfeather snorted, and Roselight tried hard not to cringe, a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach making room for all the nervousness and worry festering beneath her fur. Blazehawk had already said that LightningClan would try to take the Sun Stones, which had created a near constant gnawing concern for his well-being, Roselight unable to rush across the LightningClan border to check if he was alright, if LightningClan had won or not...

That, combined with the guilt she was feeling over shaming her parents without them even knowing about it was making her a bit of a jumpy, cranky shell of her former self, Roselight struggling to keep all her stress hidden beneath her fur and try to carry on as normal. Confessing to Henfeather seemed to lighten the load a little – at least she didn't feel so alone in RainClan and this difficult, secretive love she was forced to keep under wraps.

Henfeather, sensing the struggles her friend had faced and would still face in the future, licked Roselight's ears soothingly, green eyes supportive. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about him. I wish you had picked a RainClan tom instead of a LightningClan tom, but I know I can't change your mind." Henfeather met Roselight's gaze and held it, the strength of their friendship evident now more than ever. "I sincerely wish you luck, Roselight. I really do, I want you to be happy – and if the LightningClan deputy makes you happy, then that's great. May StarClan be gentle," Henfeather mewed, sitting back, looking pensive.

Roselight dipped her head in thanks, her best friend's final words reverberating in her head like the echo of a stone thrown into a cave. May StarClan be gentle. It was impossible to not notice that Henfeather had purposefully avoided saying 'May StarClan light your path', the both of them knowing perfectly well that their warrior ancestors would never approve of a Cross-Clan relationship, and if history was anything to go by, they usually intervened in the cruelest of ways. So in a way, Henfeather, rather than praying for a fairy tale ending for Roselight and Blazehawk, had decided to pray for as little damage as possible.

As if StarClan's wrath was inevitable, but the intensity could be controlled with a few sacred words and a forestful of hope.

Feeling on high alert, Roselight nudged Henfeather with her shoulder, flicking the end of her fluffy cream-salmon tail for Henfeather to follow. It was about time they returned to camp anyway – the kits weren't going to watch themselves, after all.

OOC: Forgive me. Not my best work, just a warm up for today and a chance to play Roselight's character!