[Insidious]

Palescreech

Ever since she had secured her affections with Nightstep, there had been a new skip to her step. The sun shone brighter, the sky was more blue, even the horrendous defeat they had taken at the combined forces of StoneClan and MountainClan’s paws had not been enough to sour her mood. There was simply too much joy in her life to care for their loss. It didn’t really matter, anyway, because LightningClan hadn’t lost much other than what it was they had taken in the first place, being territory that rightfully belonged to StoneClan. Driving out StoneClan had never settled properly in her stomach, so she didn’t find it nearly as hard as most to brush off their defeat and look passed it. However, it was certainly a lot easier than expected with how distracted she had been lately. There was nothing she wanted more than to dwindle away her hours in Nightstep’s company, forgetting her warrior duties, her obligations and entitlements, in favour of curling up in the crook of his black-and-white body and knowing that she could. A purr nearly escaped her at the thought, though the familiar shape of a face she was all the more eager to know at this point in time caught her off guard and swiped the attention from right under her nose.

“Kindleflare!” The warrior bellowed from afar, a melodious sweetness enveloping her tone as the name of Nightstep’s sister escaped her tongue. She had been meaning to meet with the she-cat in question for some time now, for there was nothing more important to her than ensuring that she got along well with Nightstep’s family. His father, Darkcloud, was somewhere on the list, though she was notably more hesitant to find herself tangled up in conversation with him of all cats, and so she took comfort in knowing that she could focus on someone easier to converse with for the time being. “It’s nice to see you. It seems like forever since we have last spoken. How have you been?” Head innocently tilted to the side, creamy shoulder playfully knocking the she-cat’s own, Palescreech allowed herself to settle into a comfortable sit directly in front of Kindleflare’s path, hoping with all of her might that she would be willing to take some time off from what was surely a busy schedule and enjoy a conversation with her brother’s beloved.

Beloved. The word wasn’t exactly fitted--she had never heard him say it, not even once--but she couldn’t help from finding herself lost in all of the possibilities. Simply the fact that she knew that she was his and he was hers was enough to make her happy, if not overly so. She would never tire of hearing it, never tire of his company, because it was truly all that she had ever wanted.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:f78216]Kindleflare[/smear:f3e4d7]

~~~~~~~~~

White paws padded softly within LightningClan's camp. The young warrioress was just on her way out of the camp, hoping to get some time to herself. She had many things that required her to mull them over, and as of recently... Well not much time had been given to her to do the necessary mulling. It was beginning to weight heavily upon her conscience. Perhaps the most immediate problem was the occasional dreams she would have. Thank StarClan that they didn't happen every night... But even so, she'd been startled awake many nights because she would once again be dreaming of a certain pale furred she-cat.

She had absolutely no idea where the root of these dreams was stemming from. It was nearly maddening. How was she even supposed to ask someone older, who might know the root, such a question. Why can I not stop dreaming about Palescreech? How stupidly pathetic did that sound? With a soft sigh, her white muzzle twitched. It wouldn't be long now. Just a few more steps and she would be fr- An unexpected voice called her name in such a sing-song manner that her pelt pricked with embarrassment and her paws just seemed to stop working.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she stood immobile, easily allowing Palescreech to catch up. To say Kindleflare was prepared for the other she-cat's nudge... Well it would have been a lie. The sudden nudge created by Palescreech's passing shoulder had the thin-built she-cat staggering slightly to the side, forced to catch herself on suddenly trembling paws. Her warm, amber-colored gaze was wide as she was suddenly faced with the pale-furred she-cat's enchanting gaze. Oh... I-If she would stop... Stop tilting her head like that... M-Maybe I could focus properly..!

Mouth hanging slightly agape, one paw raised rather ridiculously in the air, Kindleflare found herself staring at the other she-cat for a good couple heartbeats. Until, of course, she realized how silly she must have looked. A second wave of embarrassment was quick to take hold, her tail bushing out slightly as she stammered. "O-Oh! P-Palescreech, h-hi! Y-You... Startled m-me..." Hoping that this explanation would be enough to cover for her behaviour, the dark ginger she-cat dropped herself rather... Ungracefully into a seated position. Perhaps in this newfound position, her trembling, suddenly weak legs would go unnoticed. Wrapping her puffed-out tail around nervous paws, she blinked rapidly, glancing away momentarily.

It took longer than it should have for Kindleflare's gaze to wander back to Palescreech's. As she spoke, it trailed along the ground, her paws and tail before finally creeping ever-so-slowly up to the lighter furred she-cat's eyes. "I... It h-has been a w-while.. I... I'm f-fine... G-Good... G-Got my warrior name..." A nervous giggle escaped her, leaving her to look away once more. "B-But you kn-knew that... I... I mean... H-How have you b-been? M-My... My brother... Uh... N-Nightstep is... T-Treating you w-well I h-hope..?" It somehow always managed to travel back to that black tuxedo tom.

Because... He has what you can't have....

[Insidious]

Palescreech

Every word spoken from the she-cat’s jaw was jumbled, puzzling, as though it took a considerable amount of effort to simply engage herself in conversation with her fellow warrior. Palescreech was not quick to judge, finding it almost adorable, flattering even, that someone of such a shy nature had to work themselves endlessly to offer a few quick sentences. But, of course, such lead to her feeling quite terribly of herself for forcing Kindleflare out of her comfort zone. The she-cat had never seemed like the type for small talk. More often than not, she would witness Kindleflare by herself if she wasn’t with Nightstep or Darkcloud. Something akin to sympathy lowered the amount of liveliness that shone from her pale blue eyes, skimming Kindleflare’s facial features once more, an innocent smile entwining itself upon her jaw as a nervous laugh escaped her companion. Maybe, in time, her shyness would subside? It was just shyness, after all.

As far as Palescreech knew, anyway.

“Yes, you did! Kindleflare suits you well.” A warrior name, in Palescreech’s opinion, was something to take great pride in. It supplied every individual of clan-life with a new uniqueness, because it was true that no other would ever share a name of complete similarity while in one’s generation. She remembered, clear as day, her own warrior ceremony, and she would continue to cherish such fond memories until the day that she died. Maybe it wasn’t exactly the fondest of her many memories, though it was definitely high up there on the list. Just as her thoughts began to turn toward the tom in question, however, his name was spoken from Kindleflare’s lips. Her eyes brightened, having secretly hoped that eventually their conversation would have come to this, though notably a little sooner than she had intended. He was, in a way, the cat that would bring them together. Palescreech would have never had any true reason to form a relationship with any of Nightstep’s family, hadn’t they stepped passed the boundaries of what had once been their own mere friendship. She was glad that Kindleflare was willing to discuss it, and more so that she cared enough to inquire as to whether or not she was being treated fairly. “It has been going great, actually! He’s quite the catch, if I say so myself.” A loose chuckle escaped her, quiet and sincere. There was, undoubtedly, more meaning to her words than was made obvious. She held a certain bond with Nightstep, and though once it had sparked a sense of danger and intimidation within her, if not mild fear for the tuxedo warrior and what it was he could mount to, she had truthfully never felt safer. “I hope that he treats you just as swell, hm? How is he in the terms of being a good brother?” She could ask a million questions, and then some, if the topic was Nightstep. There had been a few inquiries that she had been patient of receiving, though she assumed there was no better time to ask than right now while she had Kindleflare alone, and such was precisely why she was able to ask with a huge smirk glued to her lips, a fond swish to the rhythmical beat of her tail, and a luminescent glow radiating charmingly from her icy eyes.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:f78216]Kindleflare[/smear:f3e4d7]

~~~~~~~~~

No matter how hard she tried, Kindleflare could not bring herself to suppress the warm rush of excitement that ran through her veins at Palescreech's comment. She... She th-thinks my name suits me..? There was no stopping that timid smile that crossed her muzzle. She ducked her head the moment she realized it had found her, but she knew that she hadn't moved in time, and that Palescreech had likely seen it. Forcing herself to focus less on her failure at communicating and expressing herself, and more on the sound of the pale she-cat's voice, the ginger she-cat almost wished she hadn't.

Evidently her topic change had worked. What did she expect, mentioning her brother like that? She loved her brother, she really did, but she often found herself jealous of him. More than once, he was the center of a conversation. He was a thousand times more interesting than herself. Sure, they were both quiet, but his was a calm, cool, evidently enchanting quiet. Her's was an awkward shyness that drove many to gaze at her with something akin to sympathy or... Or pity. She didn't want their pity! She didn't need it! Then why c-can't you say one thing w-without it sounding like you a-accidentally blurted it o-out?

At the comment about Nightstep being quite the catch, Kindleflare only offered a soft smile and a dip of her head, as though she were agreeing with what Palescreech had said. Her mind, however, was not so inclined on accepting that answer. If... If you a-ask me... It i-isn't you who had the lucky c-catch... N-Nightstep is the lucky one... The thoughts were left unspoken as she continued to listen to the more outspoken she-cat, a genuine interest lighting up her warm eyes. It wasn't so much what Palescreech was saying that interested the shy she-cat so much. Rather, it was the fact she was speaking at all.

Admittedly a little stunned by the comment, Kindleflare bobbed her head slightly, claws playing in the ground slightly. She twirled a paw almost nervously in the ground, drawing little circles in it. "O-Oh of c-course! He... He has n-never been a-anything but good to me... He... He is patient a-and... Understanding... He v-values family... I p-promise you that.. He... He w-will be a g-good father..." She widened her eyes slightly before stammering. "I m-mean wh-when the time c-comes, of course!"

Desperate for another subject change, she blurted the first thing that came to mind. ...Which, in truth, seemed to backfire, for Nightstep was still firmly on her mind. "H-He is very considerate a-and caring, you kn-know! He... He h-helped our c-cousin with dev-velopping new training tactics a-after her accident! H-He... He said a-anyone would h-have done the same... T-Too modest if you a-ask me... I kn-know that sometimes he c-can come off as b-being a little bit dist-tanced and c-cold... Especially s-since training w-with Whiteshade... B-But he d-does have a kind h-heart beneath it all... And.. And he does care about you..."

Her voice trailed off slightly, before the ginger she-cat realized just how long she had rambled on. "O-Oh moused-dung... S-Sorry... I... You m-must have more i-important things to d-do... And h-here I am talking n-nonsense at you..." Her ears lay flat against her head as she glanced up into Palescreech's distracting eyes. Every muscle in her body showed her apologetic nature. She just hoped that Palescreech didn't think her weird for her seemingly off-handed comments. You w-would think I'm in l-love with my brother or s-something... I do love h-him... B-but it's n-not him that... That I...

That I'm w-what..?

[Insidious]

Palescreech

A good father?

Her fur fluffed out in surprise, though regardless of the nerves that it caused her, she could not help but feel a strange warmth catch in the pit of her chest at the thought of raising a family with him. She was still a young warrior, as was he, so she had never really thought about such things before. But now that Kindleflare had prodded at the idea of it, she allowed the futuristic possibility to settle into her mind, followed closely by a comfortable grin. She noted the mild change in expression that appeared in the she-cat’s eyes when she had mentioned it, and by responding with a soft chuckle, she attempted to make it clear to her that she had not been bothered in the slightest by such words. There was no doubts in her mind that Nightstep would make a great father. He always seemed to be relaxed, and able to handle even the most stressful situations with a calming tone. Surely, out of the many hardships that he had undoubtedly come across, raising a few innocent kittens would not be of the highest difficulty. That, however, was not to come for a long while. They had only just recently secured their new-found love, and there remained plenty of things that Palescreech wished to accomplish before she would be bringing a topic such as that up to him.

With genuinely interested eyes, the pale warrior listened as Kindleflare fired herself into a messy speech about her brother. Despite the stammering and the rambling, she was honestly not bothered at all. She would always be willing to listen to someone speak so fondly about Nightstep, and it was actually rather pleasant to hear good things about him that were not simply spurring from her own personalized opinion. She would have been able to shrug off Kindleflare’s embarrassment as though it was nothing, hadn’t the warrior suddenly felt obligated to apologize for what had been her never-ending speech. A huff escaped Palescreech’s jaw, taken aback by the unnecessary gesture. “I assure you that no other important matters are plaguing me. It’s nice to have the chance to speak with you, and I’m really glad that you think so highly of him! It’s great what he did for your cousin.” With a playful flick of her tail against the tip of the she-cat’s paws, she added. “Very modest, if I say so myself.”

It was true, the coldness that she spoke of. She had noticed changes occurring in the tom, increasingly evident, each and every time that he returned from one of his outings with Whiteshade. To this day she remained cloudy of the subject, uncertain of what happened when they went out together, though a large part of her unwilling to inquire. Whiteshade had, honestly, always frightened her a tad. She hated to say that it had began with his appearance, but it took a cat with what she would presume no fears to not find themselves tongue-tied in the face of blood-red eyes. She had always liked to call herself adventurous, if not a bit mischievous at times, but there was simply no way that she would ever willingly engage herself in conflict with that albino warrior of all cats. “I imagine that Whiteshade made for an interesting mentor. I’ve never really had the opportunity to speak with him, and I’m not so sure what I’d do if that opportunity came around the corner one of these days. He makes me kind of nervous, if I’m going to be completely honest with you.” Another chuckle escaped her, and she covered up her mild hesitancy with a graceful swish of her tail, collecting at the base of her forepaws. She would decide to discuss nerves while with Kindleflare, unaware of precisely how much she affected the shy warrior.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:f78216]Kindleflare[/smear:f3e4d7]

~~~~~~~~~

After being reassured that Palescreech had no other commitments to attend to, Kindleflare really did attempt to relax. But relaxing wasn't exactly something that she was overly good at. Her heart still felt as though it were prepared to leap from her throat, leaving the ginger she-cat with difficulties swallowing. She still could not figure out why Palescreech was so interested in speaking to her. She was just a shy she-cat who often spent time by herself. What could possibly be interesting about that? Still, Kindleflare was left face to face with her brother's sweetheart, and it was becoming increasingly harder to ignore herself.

A-Are.. Are there b-butterflies in my stomach? She could hear the bewilderment in her thoughts, though she did her best to mask any sort of physical reaction. Silently nodding her agreement on the last comment about Nightstep, the dark ginger she-cat wondered where the conversation would go now. Surely Palescreech must be tiring of her uncontrollable stammering? Not many could bare to listen to it for more than a single conversation. She really did try to keep it under control... But sometimes she just got so nervous that she simply couldn't help herself. It seemed as though it were an instinctive reaction.

Instead of coming up with some sort of excuse as to why she had to leave, however, Palescreech seemed to push the conversation onwards. When her brother's mentor was brought forth, the dainty she-cat's breath hitched slightly. It was progress; the conversation was heading away from Nightstep, even if it was simply to get stuck on the white tom who had mentored Nightstep. But Whiteshade was... "O-Oh St-tarClan.. Whitesh-shade makes me so n-n-nervous.." She ducked her head slightly, gaze flicking down to her paws for a moment. After a deep breath, she did manage to lift her timid gaze back towards her pale furred companion.

"I-I.. When I h-heard that Whiteshade w-would be m-my brother's m-mentor... I was s-so... W-Worried for my b-brother... I.. I adm-mit he s-scares me a l-little... And I think it's those r-red eyes... B-But.. Even through all the t-training he went through... N-Nightstep really s-seemed to be enjoying h-himself... H-He didn't seem to m-mind the late night training s-sessions... And l-look at him n-now. H-He is a strong warrior... A-And I imagine he c-can only g-get stronger. I'm p-proud of m-my brother.. And I s-suppose I have W-Whiteshade to th-thank for that... But I u-understand w-why you f-feel nervous a-around him."

Offering her a soft smile, Kindleflare tipped her head slightly, curiosity in her eyes. "I-If you don't mind me asking... H-How did you find your apprenticesh-ship? W-Were you fond of your m-mentor..?"

[Insidious]

Palescreech

A soft smile crept onto her muzzle, dipping her head into a firm nod to signal her agreement. She had spent plenty of her time as an apprentice in Nightstep’s company, and she had therefore grown accustomed to his unusual… bond with his former mentor. Often, at night, when the tomcat slipped away at Whiteshade’s beckon and call an ear would flicker atop of her head in response, curious of the ease with which he could awaken himself from slumber and willingly oblige to the evening lessons. She supposed that she, too, would have been notably hesitant to dismiss a command that was of Whiteshade’s doing, though it never seemed as though it was fear, in particular, that would greet his amber eyes. If he had enjoyed himself, than that was all that was truly important. One could only learn at their greatest potential from a mentor that suited them, and though she had not been reasonably fond of labeling Whiteshade of all cats as a suitable mentor for the Nightstep that she had grown to love and adore, at the same time she was not dissapointed. They could thank Whiteshade, as Kindleflare had said, for creating such a strong addition to the warrior ranks of LightningClan.

“Burningleaf.” A powerful attachment surged through the she-cat’s body, wholesomely dedicated to the single tomcat that had aided her throughout her apprenticeship. Patience was an exceptional quality of his, and he had been nothing but understanding with her through even the most embarrassing falters and mistakes. Burningleaf was one of the few that had witnessed Palescreech at her worst. She wasn’t likely the easiest cat in the forest to handle when she couldn’t quite grasp a concept or didn’t quite agree with one of his methods of teaching, but at the end of the day, and at the end of her training, she was proud to have gotten the chance to learn from him, for it had benefited her so. “He was a wonderful individual, and there was plenty that I admired about him: his patience, and how thoughtful and considerate he was. He is one of the few that have ever gotten the chance to see me at my worst--I don’t often like to showcase my lesser talents for open audiences to perceive--but he was never quick to judge, and I was therefore able to excel my original distaste.” With curiosity alight in her pale eyes, she fixated her companion with an inviting smile. “What about you? Did you enjoy your training and your mentor?”