{ l o v e . a t . f i r s t . l i g h t } -- [x]

[frosty ♥]

Bravepaw charged over the moor. The grass scratching his paws as he ran. The wind whipping mercilessly at his face though he didn't take his eyes off to ridge ahead. His paws were swift, his agile body cutting through the wind like a bird's wing. The smokey tomcat wasn't about to let Silverpaw fall for the clumsy apprentice by the name Inkpaw. Not one bit. Hopefully he'd make it in time.

He took a few leaping strides and skidded to a stop at the edge of the ridge. His chest heaved as he gazed around. He spotted Dreampaw sitting at the ridge's edge. Her eyes clear but thoughts flickered across them like minnows. With a twitch of his whiskers he padded over "Hello Dreampaw" he paused, deciding that resting would do him some good from all the running, he stalked to the silver tabby and sat at her side. "What are you doing here, alone?" he asked curiously.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Dreampaw blinked, remaining casual and calm as she turned to look at the tomcat apprentice who had spoken to her. She had half expected to see Inkpaw's face with his hazelnut eyes sparkling with spirit, his black pelt gleaming in the early sunlight...

What was wrong with her? What was she doing? She shook her head furiously, only just remembering that Bravepaw was speaking to her. Feeling slightly embarrassed, Dreampaw attempted to keep her dignity as she responded nonchalantly, "The other apprentices went hunting."

[/size]

[frosty ♥]

Bravepaw nodded, slightly amused that she had forgotten he was there. The grey tomcat let out a soft sigh. The wind ruffling his fur with force, "aren't you cold?" he asked as he fluffed up his pelt. How could Dreampaw stand sitting here and let the wind attack her straight on?

His thoughts lingered on Silverpaw and what she was doing. Hunting, yes, but other things could happen while hunting. For all he knew she could be prancing along side Inkpaw. He had to silence a growl of anger at the thought.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Well..." Inkpaw began, unsure of how to answer after the two she-cat apprentices had exchanged words. All he really wanted to do was go back to Camp with Dreampaw and spend the rest of the day with her, since Northstar's punishments wouldn't be postponed. He glanced at Silverpaw, seeing that the fellow apprentice was feeling rather hurt at the idea of not being invited to go with them.

"Why can't Silverpaw go?" Inkpaw meowed seriously. Thinking about the comment more, he quickly added the phrase he had used many times before: "And can Dreampaw come too? She's probably feeling lonely by herself at the ridge."

--x

"No, not really," Dreampaw responded ruthlessly, although she /was/ rather cold. "Maybe a little," she added, noting the slight amusement that passed through him as he realized the fact that she hadn't been paying attention when he had spoken to her.

[/size]

[frosty ♥]

Bravepaw managed a purr then moved closer so that he could warm her up with his somewhat fluffy pelt. She was probably much more colder than himself depending on how long she had been sitting there. His eyes flowed over his surroundings until they landed on the clouds, the colors from the sun spilling on them with such a way that artisans would probably never get right.

"Its so beautiful," her murmured half to himself.

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

"But...But... Well, I...wanted...to...um" Lilypaw was trying to find the right words to say. 'I just want to talk to Inkpaw /alone/' she thought to herself irritated. She went over to Silverpaw. "Silverpaw, I really need to talk to Inkpaw. I...I /love/ him." She confessed. "Please? I don't want you to be hurt, really, I don't, but..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

[frosty ♥]

Silverpaw blinked a few times, her ears slightly back. "Well, just because you're 'in love' with Inkpaw doesn't mean I should get up and float away like I'm invisable" she hissed then shock crept into her eyes. She had never, ever been this rude before.

Feeling embarressment crawl through her fur she trotted gracefully over to Inkpaw, wheere she stood at his left. "Why is she acting like that?" she whispered into his ear when she was //definitely// out of Lilypaw's earshot. Her eyes were clouded with emotion that was extremely hard to pick apart.

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

"I-I-I'm sorry. But maybe I have just been trying hard to get Inkpaw alone, and that last time, it didn't turn out well at all. I don't see you chasing after him, so why don't you just go with Bravepaw?" She snapped, agitation getting to her. She stood up, and walked away, her long tail in the air, and her ears back.

"Inkpaw, can we go now? Please? I think Dreampaw went back to camp, becasue it was cold." Lilypaw said somewhat truthfully, because she did think that Dreampaw would have the sense to go back to camp by now.

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

((oops, x- out last post.))

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Indeed," Dreampaw responded to Bravepaw, giving a nod of her head as she glanced around her, seeing the splotches of color around the ridge. The sunlight seemed to give everything new life, even the dull and boring brown clumps of heather that were patched together along the ridge. She blinked, gazing up at the sky. There was hardly a cloud in it to cover the slowly rising sun. "I wonder why the sun rises and falls," she meowed quietly, purring ever so faintly as she felt Bravepaw's warmth against her side.

--x

"How am I supposed to know?" Inkpaw answered, feeling frustration mount through him. He began unburying his crow, eagerly picking up the feathery black corpse. "/I/ want to go back to Dreampaw and show her the crow I caught!" he meowed, eager to see Dreampaw's impressed face once he showed her his /awesome/ piece of prey that he had caught.

[/size]

[frosty ♥]

Bravepaw felt Dreampaw's purr tickle him with gentleness. He too purred quite faintly then fallowed her gaze to where the sun was rising. "StarClan says the sun goes down so the moon can wax itself" he answered her quietly.

It was reather pleasent to sit on the moor when the run was rising. Not a tree to block the veiw. He wondered how EarthClan cats could be without seeing the sun rise and fall.

--x--

Silverpaw nodded her head and bounded into some heather to collect her rabbit. Soon returning to Inkpaw's side. "Which way is easiest? It'll be hard to carry that crow and this rabbit back to the ridge" she asked then pointed with her tail to the crow and to the rabbit in turn.

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

Lilypaw's plan wasn't going right at all, and of course, /Silverpaw/ had to come ruin it. Well, how could she know? It /waas/ kind of obvois that Lilypaw loved Inkpaw, so technically... No, it wasn't /all/ Silverpaw's fault. Lilypaw sighed. "Why don't you go sho w her then, and stop talking about me when you think I can't hear?" She said to Inkpaw, then the second part to Silverpaw. She hated the way she was acting. It was all /love's/ fault. Why did cats have to fall in love? She looked up at the sky desperately, wishing StarClan was there to answer her questions.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Inkpaw was already halfway across the ridge by the time Lilypaw had gotten to the word "then". He darted forward, barely acknowledging the brief fact that Silverpaw had spoken to him. He raced across the ridge, keeping sure footing -- courtesy to being a SkyClan cat. He glanced around for Dreampaw when he sniffed her scent on a breeze that floated by. She was in the same place from where he had left her.

"Drmmmpaw!" Inkpaw yelped out although his voice was muffled by the fact that he was carrying the crow in his mouth. A harsher gust of wind blew by, carrying his voice off. With a mental sigh of exassperation, Inkpaw padded closer. Wait. Who was with Dreampaw, sitting next to her and... brushing their pelt against hers?

Anger burned within Inkpaw. As he got closer, he recognized the other cat as Bravepaw. Bravepaw! How dare the tomcat apprentice sit with the she-cat apprentice that Inkpaw himself loved! Ears tilted back with agitation as he made his way closer. His claws worked hard at the ground as they sheathed and unsheathed themselves.

Once there, Inkpaw dropped the crow at Dreampaw's paws. While she looked at it, he shot a venemous glare towards Bravepaw.

"Wow, nice catch!" Dreampaw meowed in a melodic voice. She wasn't even using sarcasm or anything -- she was simply just impressed with it. Wait. Since when was she /ever/ impressed with what Inkpaw did? Shouldn't she be finding a negative comment to say about the fresh-kill Inkpaw had caught? She sorted through her mind quickly, but to her horror, found that she couldn't recall any of the phrases she had used to put him down.

[/size]

[frosty ♥]

Silverpaw raced after Inkpaw, leaving Lilypaw to stare after them. The young she-cat breathed in the scents of the wind, she concentrated on the smells. Dreampaw and Bravepaw. With a boost of energy she shot up until she stopped at Inkpaw's side.

Her eyes kept straying to Bravepaw. What was he doing here? The thought was dismissed once she set her rabbit down. "Hello" she meowed then gave her shoulder a few swift licks. The run had caused some parts of her silver pelt to become ruffled. She sat down and groomed herself.

---x---

Bravepaw blinked as Inkpaw shot him a scorching glare. Then Silverpaw came up, her fur ruffled but in a beautiful sort of way. Anger suddenly pulsed through him. What had be missed when they were away? Stifling the growl that tried to rise in his throat he commented on Silverpaw's rabbit. "Wow! Great catch" he exclaimed cheerfully then nudged Dreampaw a little but not too hard "look what Silverpaw brought" he meowed, smiling toward her.

The grey tom was still aware of Inkpaw's eyes as he spoke to the silver tabby.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Dreampaw blinked as Bravepaw nudged her. She turned to look at the rabbit that Silverpaw had brought in. "Nice job, Silverpaw," she meowed rather shyly, sending a glance at the she-cat apprentice. She had no idea why she was talking so softly and timidly; she just was.

Inkpaw looked at Dreampaw, the frustration at Bravepaw turning to affection in his eyes as he gazed at the she-cat apprentice. He padded up to her, purring softly as he touched his nose lightly against her pelt, almost purring with delight when she didn't completely pull away from his touch. "Let's go back," he meowed quietly, picking up his crow and padding away, glancing over his shoulder to see if Dreampaw was coming. She was.

((-MOVING INKPAW & DREAMPAW BACK TO SKYCLAN CAMP-))

[/size]