[Hellion]

Stretching a bit, Valiantstride moved out of the fading sunspot he was curled up in and yawned. He hadn't realized how much of the day had been spent sleepy and he felt a bit guilty. Looking around the camp he took stock of everyone still milling about. The longer furred clan-mates were avoiding the sun like death, despite the cool breeze. Valiantstride didn't worry too much about his own pelt and actually was glad it was thin.

During his glance around camp his eyes landed on a pretty she-cat he had come to like, more then the average clan-mate. Her black and striped pelt looked fluffy and Valiantrside wondered how she felt considering the heat. Smoothing down his own pelt so he didn't look as if he just woken up. Flicking his tail to expel the little bit of nervous energy he had, Valaintrside crossed over toward her and paused.

"Skunkspots, um I was wondering if you would like to go with me and collect water or maybe go hunting," He asked, suddenly aware that his idea sounded like something for apprentices to do and not fully grown warriors. He was afraid she would take offence to what he suggested and quietly prepared for her to decline and tell him no.

Fawn.

[Fawn]

He'd said her name, but she still glanced around, expecting some cat behind her to be the warrior he was addressing. It took a heartbeat for the bewildered realization that he was talking to her, inviting her somewhere to hit. What? No I can't! Squealed the cynical voice in her head. I'm—I'm not good company! A thousand different protests rattled off one after the other like a cacophony of screeching crows, but what she actually said was "Uhhh."

Like a lightning bolt on the dry scrubland, her thoughts went negative in an instant, highlighting all the possibilities for this hunting trip to go wrong. Worse still, she thought of the last excursion she went on with Valiantstride. After subjecting himself to such abysmal company (i.e., her) why would he want to go through that all over again?

Maybe he's mocking me, said a glum voice in the back of her thoughts, and she felt a defensive spark of anger. But it fizzled out, dampened immediately by the realization that no cat would ever put that much effort into interacting with her, whether positively or negatively.

Skunkspots' black ears pinned back against her skull, the distinctive black spots on her muzzle and face (for which she earned her warrior name) always gave her a somewhat worried look if she wasn't careful. "You don't really want to go hunting with me, do you? I'm bad company." She cracked a self-depreciating joke, a part of her heart always wincing. Her jokes stemmed from the truth, after all. "Didn't any cat warn you? Mousebrains..."

Word Count: 260 Words Tags: Hellion Notes:

28 Moons. Warrior. StoneClan

[Hellion]

Valaintstride hadn't expected that reaction. Taken back, his own golden ears pinned back to mimic the she-cat. He thought that perhaps he had offended her on some occasion and felt defeated for a moment.

He struggled to rack his brain for any time he interacted with the she-cat. He admitted it had been less than four occasions but at the same time he didn't think he was rude.

Hearing her question about cats warning him it finally clicked. He hadn't been mean to her, it was just her awkwardness that was pushing him away. For a moment he wondered if he should tell her he thought it was endearing. Deciding it wasn't the best idea, Valaintstride sat down and titled his head down for a moment.

"I really don't care if you are good or bad company. I just wanted to go with you" Valiantstide told her, hoping that she'd understand him a little be better.

"And in case you hadn't been warned, I don't care about what other cats say. Well maybe just one cat," His words were cheeky and bold. He wasn't sure if she'd guess that the cat who's opinion he valued was in fact her.

"Good or bad, Skunkspots will you go with me?" He asked again, turning on his charm.

Fawn

[Fawn]

To say she was gobsmacked was not a strong enough word. In truth, Skunkspots was so flustered, her pelt fluffed out a little. She felt like a stunned mouse after one good paw-smack, staring at him with a baffled expression of alarm. "ME? You're serious?" He really wants to go with ME? She didn't understand it.

Why would any cat, save her own blood relative and her mentor Fallenleaf want to spend any time with her on purpose?

"Uh. Sure. Fine. Okay then." As if she hadn't given him enough confirmation, she also nodded too, the gesture entirely redundant. She knew it, but couldn't take it back; her head bobbed on her neck like a bird's, and she silently wished StarClan would send down a lightning bolt to put her out of her misery. Social interactions were NOT a talent of hers; she would rather wrangle crickets into a complex musical arrangement than interact with her Clanmates in any way that put her ill-at-ease.

Which was every social interaction.

Stupid handsome tom. She muttered internally, feeling mutinied against by his stupid charm and his stupid refusal to accept her refusal. The black and white she-cat, in a vain effort to rid herself of some of her anxiety, shook out her pelt as though casting off droplets of water. It didn't help. But it felt good to do something. "Water. We can get water for the elders."

Being around Fallenleaf later... that would help keep her rooted to the ground. With her mentor present, Skunkspots couldn't help but feel a little less... inadequate. Fallenleaf had been so patient with her, believed in her when she could scarcely believe in herself. They'd been through some rough spots, but Skunkspots had found the mother figure in her life that she'd been missing—even if she dared not admit such a thing, not even to Fallenleaf.

She, uh, wasn't so good with sentimental stuff. Or regular stuff. Or stuff.

Word Count: 325 Words Tags: Hellion
Notes: xD I love them, Heli

28 Moons. Warrior. StoneClan

[Hellion]

Valiantstride wasn't sure how to react toward Skunksparts apparent low self-esteem. He knew she was awkward but she did she really think so little about herself to believe that he was joking?

Looking her over a for a moment he had a strong urge to lick her forehead in an attempt to calm her but held himself back. That wouldn't be polite and he'd quickly become weirdo on StoneClan. Instead Valiantstride offered her a small smile once she agreed. It was a step in a good direction, one Valiantstride hoped would led them to better things, together.

He was just about to ask about what she wanted to do when she answer. Water. It was a simple task and one he hadn't done in a while. Flicking his tail to signal he was ready. Valianstride brushed past her carefully as way to coax her to walk before taking the lead.

He lead Skunkspots toward where all the apprentices gathered moss and paused for a moment, waiting for Skunkspots to catch up. He wasn't a tall cat, mostly because he was so sickly when he was small and didn't grow to his full height. But he wasn't named Valiantstride because of his height. He was so named because of the stamina he had. Valiantstride could pace all of of StoneClan borders twice before needing to rest.

Despite his stamina, Valiantstride was careful to be aware of Skunkspots, keeping his own pace slower in order to make sure she was able to keep up.

"How much moss do you think we will need?" He asked her, looking toward her with a small comforting smile.

Fawn

[Fawn]

She felt as if she had rocks tied to her paws, and the muscles in her legs wouldn't support her weight at all. It was a miracle she was even still standing, let alone following him at a reasonable pace.

Though with every racing heartbeat that went by, Skunkspots worried if she might hyperventilate to death. Valiantstride chose right then to interrupt her potential dying, to smile at her as if it was his StarClan-given right to make her stomach turn into a flock of butterflies.

She had no idea what he'd even said.

"U-Uh. Yeah." That was an answer. Was that the answer he was looking for? No, of course not. When had she ever been smooth? When had she ever said the right thing? Probably not since her first few moons of kithood; her 'speech' back then had been pretty much limited to 'food' and 'sleep'. Hard to mess that up.

Good to know she hadn't been born awkward. Oh GOOD, hissed her condescending inner voice, good to know your poor social skills are a learned trait. Now you have no one to blame but yourself. If Skunkspots knew how to unlearn a behavior, she would've already started trying.

Because she was not a complete featherhead, even in Valiantstride's presence, Skunkspots located the dusty green patch of moss hanging on the edge of a boulder that looked like it hadn't been moved since the first few StarClan cats ever existed. Careful to check for biting ants or snakes or other nasty little things that crawled, Skunkspots tentatively stepped closer, leaning up to grip the moss in her teeth, peeling unruly strips of it from the stone.

After several more pulls, she glanced at Valiantstride, blinking at him sheepishly. Was this enough? Oh, hawkdung. That's what he asked me, wasn't it? Why am I so stupid? Skunkspots closed her eyes, allowed the embarrassment (boy, was she used to that) wash over her, and tried to pull herself out of the social mud. "This, uh, should be enough. There's only...Three, now that Fallenleaf's joined them."

If it weren't for her frequent visits to her former mentor, Skunkspots honestly could say that she wasn't entirely certain of the other elders' names; but when she saw them a couple times per moon, she'd begun to get familiar with their faces. Smokeface and Flintclaw...

Word Count: 392 Words Tags: Hellion Notes:

28 Moons. Warrior. StoneClan

[Hellion]

Valaintstride was glad she was sort of able to keep up. When he did realize he outpaced her, Valiantstride felt guilty and quickly slowed down. He didn't want her to feel like he was trying to lose her in the moss.

Upon her arrival and reply to his question, Valiantstride's ears tilted in confusion. Yeah?. For a second he wondered if she heard what he said. Mentally reminding himself what he said, he didn't think he stuttered.

He prepared to ask the question again, but she walked past him and toward a green patch of moss. Valiantstride followed suit, also doing his own checking for creepy crawlies.

He watched her only for a second as she peeled off a strip of moss before he began working on his own patchwork of moss. A few of his own bundles joined hers and he felt pleased with their collection.

Finally she decided to talk which Valianstride was glad for. He would have kept pulling at the moss until she told him to stop. There was alway a use for it back at camp.

"We can also collect for the queens and kits, it's almost like catching a hawk with a rabbit in claw," Valiantstride meowed, before picking up as much as he could carry. With his mouth full he was unable to talk and used his tail to signal they would be walking toward the nearest water source.

Fawn

[Fawn]

That means another trip. Maybe two. Skunkspots stealthily searched Valiantstride's face for any trace of regret—did he really want to drag this out?—and was a little puzzled when she didn't find any. ... Did he like her company? Suddenly, Skunkspots wished she'd paid a little more attention to herself when grooming that morning. It had just been a basic wash... Eyes, ears, whiskers, chest... just like her mother had taught her.

I should've been more thorough. The moss isn't helping. Would anything help, though? Skunkspots almost snorted into the moss clamped between her jaws; trying to detect the scent of the stone stream through the loamy earthy aroma of the moss she was carrying, Skunkspots' left ear pricked and swiveled towards the sound of low, slow water slipping over rocks. There.

In a moment of thoughtlessness, Skunkspots brushed Valiantstride's shoulder with her tail, indictating with an awkward pointing gesture of her jaw where the stone stream was. Just in case he was having difficulty smelling like she was. Realizing she'd touched him without permission or any real reason (he'd probably heard it too), Skunkspots felt mortification creep up into her face like a fever; she hurried ahead, half running away from him and half trying to reach the stream so fast that she could be busy by the time he arrived.

Unceremoniously dunking the moss into the low stream water, Skunkspots sputtered, coughing loudly as dirt and water both went right up her nose. Dropping the moss with a surprised (and painful) sneeze, Skunkspots rubbed her nose, eyes watering as she felt a cough building up in her throat. That's what you get for rushing! Oh, StarClan, why couldn't she look like an idiot in front of any other cat but him?

He's going to ask me if I'm alright, and I'm going to say yes, because if I tell him the truth, that I am a walking mess with fur, he'll want to run away. Did he see what she meant now? She was bad company. She never knew what to say, or even how to function in most cases. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was go find Fallenleaf. The elder she-cat would nuzzle her, smile and remind her that she wasn't such a screw up.

Word Count: 354 Words Tags: Hellion Notes:

28 Moons. Warrior. StoneClan

[Hellion]

He felt her gaze on him for a moment and tired to smile through the moss in his mouth. The way she looked at him made him nervous, not a scared nervous but more like his heart was racing because he was running and Valiantstride liked running.

Without taking a lead, Valainstride was careful not to walk too far ahead this time. The moss was annoying to the say the least and always made keeping track of possible danger a bit of a challenge. Not that Valiantstride was worried of being attacked, he was more concerned with Skunkspot's safety.

It didn't take long for them to walk and Valinantstride had a good feeling they were close but it wasn't until Skunspots brushed his shoulder that he realized she knew the way. Following after her with a nod of understanding, Valintstride liked the way they communicated without words. Not that he really looked into it that deeply, it was more just being alert to her and guessing what she meant. For Valaintstride it was easy, she kept his interest.

The tom didn't expect for Skunkspots to take off so quickly and he hurried to keep up. Upon his arrival the sound of her sneeze has his ears twitching and his own moss being dropped to on the bank of the stream.

"You okay? The dust can be the worst part. I once sneezed so hard I scared Hawkfall," Valiantstride joked before giving her shoulder a gentle flick of his tail. He didn't want her to feel any worse about it and quickly got to work with wetting his moss wait until it started to drip before looking up to see if she was ready to head back to camp.

_{Notes: your reply can end it, they can go back to camp
Words: 288
Tag: Fawn}

[Fawn]

The black and white she-cat stared at him in surprise, amazed he was so... relaxed about things. Even a klutz like her. Still feeling a harsh tickle in her throat, she took a few necessary drinks before gathering up the moss to take it back to camp.

Maybe he was just being kind by not calling attention to her failures; Skunkspots felt an uncertain rush of gratitude for that.
"I'll live," she croaked, clearing her throat loudly to get rid of the irritating tickle, and quickly picked up her soaked moss. Ready to head back? He kept looking at her for cues, and it both increased her anxiety and made her feel... noticed. What a weird juxtaposition.

Oh you definitely have a thing for suffering, Skunkspots. Apparently she did. Spending time with Valiantstride was like torture; she was already self-conscious to a fault, and then add in one obnoxiously handsome tom who was kind to her for no other reason than for kindness' sake, and it was a wonder she didn't trip over every rock in their territory. Nope. Just inhale enough water and dirt to make a mud puddle. Whatever. If he wasn't gonna bring it up, then she was going to pretend it hadn't happened.

Especially since calling attention to her failures was the quickest way to wreck what fragile self-esteem she had.

With a small nod to Valiantstride, she followed the warrior back to camp, able to see through the summer haze the rocky outline of (you guessed it) their rocky dens that marked StoneClan's camp. It was so well hidden... Seemingly during any season. If it weren't for the scent of cats, they would've been nigh undetectable to their foes. Though history had proved otherwise.

Forcing down those abysmal thoughts trying to claw their way up her throat, Skunkspots held her breath, trying not to suck in any of the water dripping from the moss. She went to the elders' den first, setting it down in front of Fallenleaf with a quick "I'll be right back—" before, after pausing to groom down her chest fluff and at least recover some semblance of pride, Skunkspots returned to the center of camp, glancing around for the tom.

He was walking out of the nursery, now free of his burden. She flushed beneath her pelt, and walked over to Valiantstride with paws that felt as heavy as boulders. "Thanks for, uh..." Tolerating me? Not telling me I suck? Skunkspots ears flattened. "It was, uh, a nice trip. Er, bye." Skin burning, heart flustered, Skunkspots hurried back to the elders' den, going to find solace in Fallenleaf before she self-combusted from the embarrassment.

Maybe someday it would get easier to talk to him.

But probably not. When was she ever that lucky?

Word Count: 471 Words Tags: Hellion BlooRey DVD (Fallenleaf!) Notes: ^_^ all done!

28 Moons. Warrior. StoneClan