[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:f3e471]Fallenleaf[/smear:f8c56a]
~~~~~~~~

The cream and white warrioress dipped her head to Hawkstar, thanking him for his time. He had been standing at the base of the Rock Pile, having just organized some patrols, when the StoneClan senior warrior had spotted him. She had a favour to ask of him, and he had so graciously accepted. With a flick of her tail, the pale she-cat made her way across the camp. Originally, before she had been distracted by Hawkstar's presence, the she-cat had been on her way to pick up her apprentice, Dustpaw. Earlier that morning, Fallenleaf had departed with the dawn patrol, as more of a volunteer. She'd traveled with them all the way until the Barren Scrublands, where she said her goodbyes and ventured around there silently. She'd been checking it out, intending to bring her apprentice there to try some hunting.

Her verdict was that it was fairing well, and it would be good for Dustpaw to get out a little bit. Now, if only the warrior could find her apprentice... With a slightly narrowed gaze, Fallenleaf glanced around the camp, before deciding to head off towards the apprentice's den. It would be the best bet to find Dustpaw, after all. She wondered if she'd catch the younger she-cat still sleeping. That would be quite amusing. After all, the sun had risen a considerable amount. She should have been awake by now. But she wouldn't mind too much if she found out that the apprentice was still resting. Fallenleaf believed that every once in a while, a warrior deserved a little bit of a break.

Pale paws carried her quickly to the den entrance. Fallenleaf didn't poke her head in the entrance, deciding to rouse Dustpaw with her voice, to see how attentive the she-cat was. If there was no answer, she'd peek inside, to make sure she was there. If her apprentice ended up being there, but comatose... Well then there might be a few stern words. For the time being, however, the older she-cat's voice was soft, a kind purr as she called to her apprentice.

"Dustpaw? Are you in there? It's time for you to get up now. You aren't going to make me go in there and drag you out by your tail, are you?" She chuckled slightly at the end, giving away the fact that it was a joke. Or mostly. If it came down to it, it might just be possible that the she-cat might resort to putting her threats to good use. It was no secret that she had a temper that could be fired up, after all. Fiercely protective, but motherly to the core, Fallenleaf was ready to use a bit of force to get her point across. After all, how many times did you see a queen picking up her kit, or using other forms of physical contact to make her point known?

[Fawn]

[smear:94ce19]D U S T P A W ![/smear:e6d890]

Her pelt was still damp from her time spent rolling around in the dew, chewing on clovers, generally keeping out of trouble though not necessarily being the biggest help she could possibly be either. The cause of this sudden solitude had more to do with the question rattling around in her skull rather than the absence of her mentor that morning, a bit of asking around confirming that Fallenleaf had gone out on patrol.
So just because I like him a little more than the other apprentices doesn't mean that he would feel the same way, right? Unless that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't NOT feel the same way, right?

The confusing, wordy way with which she usually thought things through would have tied anyone else's mind into knots, tangled worse than a long-haired cat in a windstorm, but it worked for her. It was either a sign of great intelligence or a sign of...slightly below-average intelligence - it was difficult to say. Lilac fur glittering with dewdrops like gemstones, the she-cat bounced her way back into camp, having neither wandered far nor discovered the solution to her questions or the feelings that put butterflies in her stomach at inconvenient moments. Spotting the familiar white pelt of her mentor as the older she-cat made her way to the apprentices' den, Dustpaw's countenance lit up, and as though she had bumblebees for paws, she made a silently giddy approach, close enough that she could catch Fallenleaf's words.

In response, Dustpaw grinned pleasantly, leaning her neck forward to give Fallenleaf's thin white tail a bit of a tug.
"Gotcha." She mewed, quietly playful, her peculiarly curled ears still managing to display a wide range of emotions despite their unusual, if not painful-looking appearance. Kneading the earth with soft lilac paws, Dustpaw started off, as she always did, with her mouth running somewhat like a stream.
"Can we go hunting today? Or practice battle training? Actually what do you know about liking other cats? What's the difference between like, and like - do you know what I mean?"
Maybe Volepaw or Umberpaw would know?

They knew a lot of things, and combined, Dustpaw didn't have a doubt in her mind that her intelligent, or rather fact-hoarding brothers would be able to find the answers she sought.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:f3e471]Fallenleaf[/smear:f8c56a]
~~~~~~~~

A sudden tug on her tail had the old she-cat jumping to her paws, neck turning so that she could glance behind her. There was a flash in her eyes as she prepared some scornful words for the kit who'd pulled her tail, until her pale yellow gaze landed upon her apprentice, Dustpaw. Immediately, there was a softening in those eyes and she chuckled slightly, shaking her head as she moved to face the younger she-cat. "You certainly did get me that time." With a purr, she added, a playful warning ringing in her tone. "But don't get too used to that, you hear?"

Her white tail flicked from side to side, enjoying the movement again after having been assaulted by the apprentice. Fallenleaf pulled her tail around, resting it over the apprentice's shoulders to guide her towards the entrance. It brought a gentle, motherly smile to the old she-cat's face as her apprentice suddenly threw out question after question that seemed to have nothing to do with one another. Waiting for Dustpaw to finish, Fallenleaf's ears flicked and twirled, focusing on both the apprentice as well as the surroundings as the pair slipped out of the entrance. Once silence was finally allowed a chance to reign, Fallenleaf turned her seemingly all knowing gaze upon her apprentice.

"We are doing some training today, that I can tell you. I was thinking of beginning with a bit of hunting, to get those muscles warmed up, and then transitioning into some battle techniques." She shifted her weight, purposely butting Dustpaw softly, before continuing in a voice that almost seemed uncharacteristically gentle for what could be a hot-tempered senior warrior. "Well... When I think about the difference between like and like," She grinned at her apprentice, emphasizing the second one. "I think of it like this. The former is when you consider all your friends. You like your friends, I'm assuming. I hope you have some room to like you're good old mentor, hm?" She teased her, before pushing on. "When you like someone, they make the world a brighter place. They're always there for you, willing to bring you out of any dark pit you might fall in to. They stick by your side, because you have a strong bond with them."

As she spoke, her yellow gaze ventured away from Dustpaw, to the path before them. Her paws were confident in their movements as she strode forward, tail flicking lazily to and fro behind her. "When you like someone though, that just adds a whole other level to it all. They become your world, so to speak. They make you feel as though you were walking on air. There might even be the trace of little butterflies fluttering about in your belly. It makes you feel like a kit all over again, giddy and carefree. As far as what I know about liking, really liking others is that it is perfectly normal, and that there is nothing to worry about. Don't go around thinking I don't know what I'm talking about, you hear?" She flashed the younger she-cat another grin before finishing.

"I've had 50 moons of fluctuating emotions. I've liked my fair share of cats."

[/font][/blockquote]

[Fawn]

[smear:94ce19]D U S T P A W ![/smear:e6d890]

"Have any of them ever liked you back?" Inquired the young soon-to-be-warrior, her lilac fur slightly fluffed against the wind, the curled back ears and large, expressive eyes always giving her a look of perpetual innocence. She had not ignored her mentor's earlier words about hunting and a bit of battle practice later - merely stored them away to recall at a more appropriate time, her primary focus, clearly, was getting to the bottom of this conundrum. It appealed to the highly imaginative she-cat that the person you liked rather than someone you were fond of made the world a brighter, better place; it was like the difference between being a part of your world, and having someone who was your world.

Do I feel like that right now?

It was difficult for Dustpaw to gauge just how strong her feelings were for this certain someone; he wasn't the center of her world, nor her world in entirety... He was...the brightest part of her world, brighter than the others and even brighter than the warm friendship she felt towards Fallenleaf, having grown extremely fond of the sometimes fierce she-cat these past moons. He means a lot to me, but that doesn't make him my world quite yet.
Whiskers twitching as she thought, a breeze blowing the thin, flexible hairs against her pale muzzle as the apprentice kept up the pace, pelt brushing the older she-cat's snow white one as they walked.

I'm glad I have such a wise mentor, someone who knows what they're talking about... Despite the gratitude she felt and the gladness that her feelings were neither strange nor wrong, Dustpaw had felt a certain chord being struck within the center of her being, a note of sadness welling up for reasons she couldn't explain.

"I've had 50 moons of fluctuating emotions. I've liked my fair share of cats."

Dustpaw tilted her head at this, finding it a puzzling sort of thing to have liked so many cats over the period of one lifetime, and yet Fallenleaf was...alone? That didn't make sense. Unless she wasn't liking the right kind of cats? But who would be the wrong cat to like? Someone mean, obviously, but StoneClan did not have very many mean or abrasive cats. They had serious, unapologetic and coarse toms like...well, like Badgerpaw, but that didn't make him a bad tom or make her foolish for liking him so much.

Right?

These thoughts eventually snowballed into grounds for her second question, the curly-eared apprentice piping up in a voice full of general inquisitiveness, as though a new apprentice asking something about the other territories just beyond StoneClan's. In a way it was exactly the same; this was all uncharted territory for Dustpaw. It would take an experienced cat like Fallenleaf to guide her through it without too many mishaps.
"How can you tell if a cat likes you back?" She put emphasis on like just as the other feline had, attention momentarily captured, soon after, by the scent of mouse that had just so happened to waft across the scent glands on the roof of her mouth when she'd spoken.
She said something about hunting, right? She won't mind if I...go get that, right?
Body instinctively turned towards the direction the mouse-scent had come from, already in a proper hunter's crouch even as Dustpaw grappled with the idea of staying put and listening to Fallenleaf's advice - or darting over the coarse, seemingly unpleasant landscape to catch something for the Clan.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:f3e471]Fallenleaf[/smear:f8c56a]

A wave of sadness nearly overtook the older she-cat as her apprentice inquired as to whether any of the toms she'd once had feelings for had returned those feelings. Her ears tipped back ever so slightly as she fought to push the memories away, clearing her pale yellow eyes of the sorrow-filled storm that threatened. Instead, she gave a flick of her tail and a shrug of her powerful shoulders. "For the most part, I don't believe so. When I was younger, I didn't have the courage to ask, and I think this discouraged them. They all seemed to move on, focusing on some other she-cat." Her muzzle twitched slightly as the wind tickled her whiskers. Her tone had adopted a carefree air to it, her best defence against the sorrow. What more could she do? She felt as though she were lying to Dustpaw, pretending it hadn't affected her, when indeed it had.

With a slight sigh of resignation, she let the weight of her sadness press into her words. It became clear in her tone that not all of her 50 moons of life had been easy. "There was one. It was before your time, this I am certain. I would judge it to be... About twenty five moons ago, maybe. We had finally managed to untangle our emotions. The feeling was mutual, this we were certain. He'd gathered the courage to.. To ask me if I felt the same. My answer was yes. Undeniably yes. We grew closer than ever, to the point where we might have even become mates..." Her voice trailed off slightly, her pale gaze darkening as she remembered the tom from many moons ago.

Lifting her head and dispelling the cloud that had been weighing upon her, the senior warrior continued. "But it was not to be. StarClan had different destinies for the two of us, I suppose. He joined StarClan not long after. Since then, there has been no one else. I've been waiting for the right time, waiting for the opportunity to present itself once more, but I have not come to another fork in the path paved by StarClan yet. So I will keep walking." The white and cream senior warrior finished up her first point, and was mere seconds from addressing the second point when she noticed Dustpaw's attention wrenched away. Parting her jaws, she picked up the scent of mouse.

With a slight smile, Fallenleaf lowered her voice to a whisper. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go on and catch that mouse. Show me what you can do."