[Mauve]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

"Oh, aren't you just a bundle of laughs?" The she cat grumbled, shaking her head a little as she tried not to smile at Jaypaw's comment. But something he had said before bothered her. How could his loyalties truly lie with WindClan? The Clan had killed a ThunderClan warrior, or at least a couple of warriors from there had. They had refused to take responsibility for it. Kestrelpaw was beginning to hate anything to do with the rabbit-chasers, but Jaypaw was her best friend - and she couldn't just ignore him. Still, she wanted to know how he could stand there and tell her that he wanted his loyalty to lie with this Clan. He had a lot going for him in ThunderClan still... he had her, and she was sure he had other friends there! Kestrelpaw hadn't been very connected with friends of friends, but she was pretty sure she'd met at least.. at least a couple! And besides, the transition to another Clan couldn't be easy.

There were bound to be cats who thought he didn't belong there (much as Kestrelpaw did) and there were bound to be cats who would treat him badly. At least here, she could have told the bullies to back off her friend. There? She had no control over what others might do or say, and she had even less control over what they wanted to do to him. She couldn't tell him when a she cat was bad for him, or when some flirtatious, evil, slim feline might catch his attention and drag him far away, intrigued by the possibilities that the tom could hold. No - Kestrelpaw was not crushing on the former ThunderClanner, but she was worried about him. Her brother was a flirt. She knew what they could do to other cats. She knew the danger that fancy words and sweet looks could hold, and she knew the dangers of falling in love.

Besides, what would happen if Jaypaw changed his mind (as he was bound to do) and decided to move back to ThunderClan? What then, would they be star-crossed lovers? Kept apart by the boundary between the two Clans? Or worse, would they run away together? That possibility was a bad one, and Kestrelpaw made a mental note to ask him about any love he had in his life later on. Just to make sure that whoever it was was going to be good for him. "What about you? When do you think they'll accept you... and is that when you'll be made a warrior?" Kestrelpaw knew that ThunderClan would take him back in an instant. Oh yes, Snowstar would be understanding about that... especially if he made her understand that his loyalties had always been with ThunderClan. He'd just been distracted by a pretty, shiny possibility for a while, and it had taken him a moment to realize that his loyalties could never really lie with that Clan.

Kestrelpaw might accept Jaypaw for who he was, she liked him, and they got along - but she would never accept this decision. She would never believe that he was gone forever, a WindClanner in mind and in heart, and that ThunderClan was no longer his home. For her, once you were a part of the strongest Clan, you could never go back. You would always be a part of them. Kestrelpaw thought about Jaypaw sometimes, whenever she heard about the news with WindClan... with war brewing, was Jaypaw going to be safe? And, would she be safe? Hopefully the tom had at least had the sense to keep his maw shut about her and his other friends in ThunderClan. Otherwise, they would be the ones targeted - if the stupid fluff-brains could recognize them from the description Jaypaw had given.

It only now occured to Jaypaw how his good intended gesture may have been wrong in the eyes of his new Clanmates - and his old ones. They were separated by a border now, and with all the tension put aside, the warrior code stated that they must not be friendly. Still, the tom couldn't help himself. She's been one of my best friends. I'm not crushing on her, but I do care about her he thought to himself, facial features twitching as a slight inner turmoil took over a majority of his head. Barely any of this showed on the surface as the tom replaced it all with a grin - his skillset had always been in keeping his composure under any circumstances after all.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they doubled the time for my apprentice training," Jaypaw answered honestly, a hurt look crossing his face. The truth was, it had been hard on the tom since he'd joined, and he knew it was a hard road ahead of him to make it as a WindClan warrior. As he watched Kestrelpaw, not for the first time the thought of how much easier it would be in ThunderClan crossed his mind. He wasn't going back, but that didn't mean the tom hadn't thought of the possibility now and then. He'd have no family, but at least he would have Kestrelpaw, and Grovepaw, and Foxpaw, all of whom he'd left behind. Grovepaw he thought. It had been awhile since he had thought of the feline, and he shook his head, closing his eyes as if to dislodge the thought like a burr caught in his pelt.

After a bit he straightened up, pretending to ignore the fact that it came across as weird that he had just shook his head for no reason. "Speaking of, I should probably head back to camp. I know Shiningfeather wanted me later for the dusk patrol, and I would hate to be late for that," he mewed, a part of him not wanting to go. Jaypaw raised his eyes once more, watching Kestrelpaw's face for any signs that she might not want to go either. "I'll miss you," he decided to add after a moment pause, swallowing the lump that had started to build itself in his throat. The young apprentice was not anywhere close to crying, but he wanted to keep up his score of the perfect composure and wasn't about to take any chances with it.

The 'paw cleared his throat and straightened himself up. Any sign of his long to be closer to Kestrelpaw vanished and was replaced by the cool courteous look that one would give an acquaintance. It was drawing nearer to the end of their conversation, and for the first time he realized how much trouble he would be in if he was caught talking to a ThunderClanner, given his heritage and relationship with the specific cat he was conversing with. With that, he dipped his head to Kestrelpaw and turned, starting to head back across the moors towards the direction of camp. "Hopefully I'll see you at the next Gathering?" he asked as he paused, looking over his shoulder back at the ThunderClan apprentice, a hopeful twinge of light gleaming in his gaze.

(Oooh, okay so if it's alright with you, I could see Kestrelpaw actually developing into another love interest of Jaypaw's, and perhaps later on down the line when they're both warriors they could have a kind of Lion/Heather type relationship from the books? It could be a cool plot, and perhaps tempt Jaypaw to return to ThunderClan at some point?)