[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:000000]Broken[/smear:ff6633][smear:ff6633]song[/smear:ffffff]

~~~~~~~~~

Soft hazel eyes blinked open and the tortoiseshell found herself stirring from the darkness of sleep. Though the content warmth of the warrior's den continued to wrap around her, she felt herself returning to a conscious state, almost as though something were calling her into focus. Slowly, she convinced herself to lift her tortoiseshell head. She could feel a weight on her shoulders, and without looking she knew it was Zephyrfang's head. Knowing he was there, pressed against her... It filled her with such light feeling. She had to stop herself from purring, or the vibration might awaken him.

As her eyes adjusted to the shift in lighting, she did move slowly enough to let her gaze fall on the sleeping tabby form. He lay partially sprawled out beside her, and she couldn't help but think he looked almost... Silly, as though that couldn't possibly be comfortable. With his head on her shoulders, he was left to twist the rest of his body randomly. His left shoulder was on the ground, but his rear was positioned almost as though he were sitting. She couldn't help be smile softly at him. If you aren't careful... You'll develop back problems before long.

Her gaze was drawn towards the entrance as the cool night air drifted in. From the nest she shared with Zephyrfang, she could just barely see the stars in the clear sky outside. It caused something within her to stir, as though there were somewhere she desperately needed to be. Tortoiseshell ears were pivoted forward as she strained to hear the sounds of the night, strained to see more. It took her several heartbeats to draw her gaze away from the stars above. She focused for a moment on her paws, her breathing slow, delicate. And then she heard a heavy exhale from beside her, and felt a gust of air against her fur.

Leaning towards him, she nuzzled his shoulder gently, her touch running along his fur until she could lick his cheek, hoping to draw him from his sleep. It took another moment or so, and another pass of her tongue over the top of his head, but he groaned and opened those eyes she loved so much. Smiling gently at him, she pushed her head beneath his chin, letting their fur mingle as she purred. It was silent, but it was undeniably content.

An exhilaration passed over her, and she knew what she wanted to do. Nuzzling him one more time to ensure she had his attention, she rose to her paws. After a quick stretch to wake her sleepy muscles, she began to quickly pick her way around the sleeping forms of her Clanmates. When she made it to the entrance of the warrior's den, she glanced over one shoulder, back into the darkness of the den. She waited until his still-sleep filled eyes met hers before flashing him a bright smile. She couldn't keep her excitement at bay. Motioning with her tail, she almost begged him to follow her, paws kneading the ground, as though she were dancing on the spot.

With another glance up at the glistening stars, she bounded to the entrance of the camp. Hesitating there, she waited until he appeared from within the warrior's den. She laughed silently as she watched him glance around in confusion. Retracing her steps, she couldn't help but wind herself around him, fur brushing against his and her tail twining with his. With another nudge, she pulled away, bounding towards the entrance once more. From there, it was like a game that kits played. She would bound ahead, and wait until he appeared in her line of sight again. It was even completed with an excited wave of her plume-like tail, urging him to follow before she would disappear again.

Though she could see he was beginning to wake, to be more focused, he looked just as confused. It took her some effort to remain just ahead of him, fairly certain that if he tried, he could easily surpass her in speed. He was much stronger than she was. But she was determined. Her paws carried her with ease, weaving amongst trees on a path that had once been as familiar to her as the back of her paw.

This was the path to the place they'd first met, to the place where they had met time and time again before he'd joined TreeClan to be with her. And finally it came into view. Bursting through the undergrowth, she could feel the grass beneath her paws. Above her, the canopy had opened up, revealing the brilliant sky above, the flickering stars above casting dancing shadows and glimmers of light over her tortoiseshell coat. With another brief glance to her ancestors above, to her father... She felt a warmth wrapped around her, and she felt a joy stronger than anything she had felt in a long time. She felt... Comfort. As the undergrowth before her began to rustle, she dropped her eyes back to a normal level.

He emerged not long after she'd arrived, amber eyes taking in the surroundings. She thought she could see recognition in his eyes, hoping he'd remember the place they'd first met. It had been... Not unlike this, if she remembered correctly. Clear skies, cool night breeze. When his gaze finally landed upon her, she was seated near the center, her tail wrapped around her paws. When she smiled at him, it brightened her eyes, betraying her excitement and her nerves.

Would he be angry that she'd woken him without explanation? That she'd dragged him all the way here? She knew that he was supposed to be accompanied, and that she more than likely did not count in that sector. What could she do to keep him in check when he owned her heart? But to her, in that moment? It only made it all the more... Exciting. Alongside that excitment, a gentleness was reflected in her eyes, one that reminded him of what she thought to be the single most important thing in the world.

I love you.

Fawn

[Fawn]

ZEPHYRFANG

---

Where are you taking me, Silentsong? Casting aside the last drowsy tendrils of sleep, the tawny tabby warrior had plunged into the undergrowth after her, prepared to chase that mottled plume to the ends of the earth and back. Wherever she led him, he would follow; he didn't fear the night, and he didn't fear anything that might prowl in the shadows. He was a prowler too, and nothing would befall his beloved Brokensong so long as he was right by her side; a tiny stream of regret trickled into the tom's subconscious as they left camp without his leader-assigned escort, but the bigger, more ego-centric part of the warrior scoffed at this and took great pleasure in breaking the rules. Especially when she was giving him such a good reason to; what could be better than sneaking off into the night with one's mate? It was the perfect chance to be alone with her, no longer concern themselves with everyone else in the warriors den; he had felt so crowded, sleeping in there the first few days that this stolen bit of night she had brought him into was wholeheartedly welcome.

As they ventured into the dark, velvety surroundings, Zephyrfang’s ears pricked forward as if he might hear the distant call of memories that felt so long ago – this was where they’d met for the very first time; he had yet to attend a gathering, so StarClan’s Claws still held onto that magic for him, the magic of just being theirs. It wasn’t true, of course, but in the golden eyes that settled on the beautiful tortoiseshell, matching that sincere look of love with a surging current of affection, the whole world was theirs.
I love you more.
As Zuma, he had believed in everything happening for a reason – and the biggest blessing his life had seen in recent moons was Brokensong skipping and twirling right into it, in such a way that had left him starstruck. He was still starstruck, and Zephyrfang doubted that feeling would ever go away; he’d still be gushing over her as an elder, when they’d both gotten silvery around the muzzle and their hearing didn’t work anymore.

Everything came back to him in a warm flood of nostalgia; arguing with Featherpaw over her name, meeting her father for the first time, saving her from the forest fire... His life had begun when he'd met her; Zephyrfang would have thought his life had already been full during his loner days, but that was just it - they were loner days. Alone. Nothing in the word 'loner' hinted at him having the company of the beautiful cat beside him, and for that reason in of itself he had wholeheartedly cast his past aside. Gentle as he always was with her, Zephyrfang took her tail in his mouth, eyes glinting like firelight as he brought it to cover her mouth, speaking through the copious, silky strands. "Remember this?" Would she get what he meant? When she'd tried to explain that she was mute, she'd covered her tail, shrugged and did this little thing with her eyelashes that made his heart trip and fall over.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:000000]Broken[/smear:ff6633][smear:ff6633]song[/smear:ffffff]

~~~~~~~~~

Her eyes filled with the slightest confusion as he took her tail in his mouth. She watched him curiously as he maneuvered himself until her tail was placed in front of her muzzle. When he spoke she met his gaze with her gentle hazel one, taking in every word, taking in their comfortable closeness. Her heart skipped a beat, as it had done so many time before when they'd first met and stole every moment they'd had together. She was pulled further into her memories, into every smile he'd ever granted her. Her next movement was so natural to her, she didn't need to think about what she was doing.

Because she did remember. It had been here, when they'd first met... When she'd first tried to explain to him that she was mute. Closing her eyes momentarily to steal a breath, she soon enough let them flicker open, gazing up at him through her eyelashes, batting them in a movement that was just so... Natural to her. When she laughed, the air billowing from her muzzle silently and stirring the soft fur of her tail, she gazed at him with all her emotions bared for him to see. Twitching her tail slightly so that it flicked his cheek, she reached her nose forward.

Moving her plume-like tail from his grasp, clearing a path for herself, she touched her nose to his. Soon enough, she stepped closer to him, her nose burying itself in his neck fur. She rubbed her cheek against his fur, muzzle pointing up towards his ear. She mouthed a single word, though all he would feel would be the gentle brush of air against his ear, she felt the need to whisper as best she could. Yes... How could she not remember? That little motion, that first meeting beneath the glittering of Silverpelt...

It had turned her whole world upside down. Her life had truly begun that night, when she'd stumbled upon this strange, loner tom. The silent purr she was so used to doing when he was around rumbled to life in her chest. Backing away just enough to meet his gaze again, she nodded slightly, just to ensure he knew that she did remember. Still reflected in her eyes, she could feel the swell of love in her chest as she gaze upon him and an overpowering, playful desire took hold. Still watching him closely, she lowered herself into a crouch.

Her tail was far too high in the air for it to be an effective hunter's crouch, but she as she waggled her hindquarters playfully, it became clear she wasn't going for effective. Leaping forward, she tapped one of his forepaws with hers, flashing him an almost daring grin before bounding away, as though daring him to try and catch her.

[Fawn]

ZEPHYRFANG

---

She fluttered those long lashes and his heart stuttered back in response, the tawny warrior's jaws parting to laugh right along with her, an expression of the pure rush of joy he was feeling in her company; she was worth it. She was worth the rocky adjustment period with TreeClan, worth the nasty looks Adderstrike threw him whenever they crossed paths; worth the distrust and the isolation he'd been subjected to from various others. Almost at once, she was enticing him to play, and he responded with a mocking play blow, anyone else and his expression would've been fiercely sportive, as if he enjoyed a good game and knew he'd win it somehow. But with Brokensong, it was gentler, as if he would enjoy chasing her around for the simple pleasure of doing so; the beautiful tortoiseshell had a way of lightening his heart and smoothing his sometimes-rowdy nature.

Taking off after that fluttering tail, he gave it a playful batting, claws tucked away, to let her know he was hot on her heels, grinning into the night as they frolicked and leaped around the sacred gathering place. It wasn't what StarClan had intended they use it for, surely, but he couldn't see a bunch of dead bonebags complaining too much. Peace was important, and they were being nothing but peaceful here under the jagged claws and glistening silver pelt. Of the two, Zephyrfang had faster reflexes - not to say she wasn't a skilled warrior - honed and hardened under the laws of the wild, the only code being a code to one's family and to one's self. Pinning her with a triumphant noise, golden eyes glimmered and glinted like sunlight off of water, licking the she-cat's ears and cheek through an affectionate chuckle. "Caught you. You don't mind if I keep you all to myself, do you?" The warrior winked, the both of them knowing he had no intention of ever letting her go - in the metaphorical sense, anyway. The tawny warrior, muscles rippling under his pelt as he stepped off of her and shook out his fur, his demeanor relaxed.

"There's something I wanna talk to you about, Songbird." He'd accrued quite a few nicknames for her over the past couple of moons, some that were probably cringe-worthy to anyone that wasn't as madly in love with her as he was - but Zephyrfang didn't care what anyone else thought. In that instant, something he'd been thinking about on and off for a few weeks now finally came to the forefront of his mind, encouraging him to bring it up with her now while they had the whole night and the whole of StarClan's Claws to himself. The warrior's muscles relaxed, and he laid down on his stomach beside her, paws out in front, the tip of his tail thumping in a silent rhythm against the grass and stone, letting her catch her breath (silently, of course); a brief note of worry flashed through amber eyes, but this passed. What if she didn't like his suggestion? Then he'd just have to accept that - but Brokensong was never one to just shut someone down without hearing the whole thing first. It was one of the things he loved about her.

Zephyrfang wore a smile, confident and sincere. "You know you've made me the luckiest cat in TreeClan, right? And our kits are going to be the luckiest kits in the whole forest - mark my words - if they get to have you for a mother." It went without saying that Brokensong would make a far better queen than Shatani ever had; his views of motherly relationships with their offspring had been tainted by her thirst for power and revenge, he hadn't known just how truly abnormal Shatani was until he'd moved here. Zephyrfang's smile didn't waver, but his tone grew gentler, not wanting to offend the she-cat who had his heart. "But, even though the whole Clan knows you as Brokensong, I don't think our kits should."

It didn't take but mere seconds for his thoughts to flash back to the first time he'd heard her real name. The outrage he'd felt, the unfairness of her being branded something that would make everycat instantly think her to be damaged in any way; there was a difference between quiet and broken, and it hurt him to think that their kits would grow up with the idea that there was something wrong with their own mother, when that couldn't have been further from the truth.

---

Word Count: 751 Words
Tags: BlooRey DVD