[Teza]

Originally Posted by Doodle

Owlspark's eyes snapped to the molly when she seemed to lose her temper, and his tail flicked nervously. He hadn't seen her this angry before, granted not knowing her long. She hadn't even been this mad when they had first spoken! Despite her speaking low, his ears had picked up what she had said. While a small bit of worry flitted across his mind, he definitely understood where she was coming from. "Bullies are no good," he agreed, bitter anger lacing his voice. It surprised him that he allowed himself to be mad around Firesparks; he always put of a cheery show for everyone even if he wasn't feeling the happiest. "Trust me, my best friend was picked on a lot in his apprentice days for being skinny- you would think that'd be the last thing a fellow Windclan cat would bully someone on." To the large tom especially, the rest of his clanmates seemed very skinny, and he never thought any less of them for it. "So I can definitely share your opinion on that. Cats don't realize how much their words affect others." His ears flicked back as he remembered Hawkfeather- Hawkpaw then- and how badly the bullies affected him.

Her next words worried the tom as well; did Firesparks really think of herself in that way? "Hey," he meowed gently, raising his paw to her shoulder briefly to stop their walk. "I'm not going to run away, I promise. I think I would've done that already if I was that sort of tom- which I'm not," he reasoned. "I don't want to be mates with some spoiled brat, I much prefer a molly who can actually do things for herself." And the she-cat beside him had made it very clear during their first words earlier that she liked to hunt for the clan before herself; she was definitely not a spoiled little princess and he liked that very much. "You shouldn't put yourself down either. Your own thoughts can hurt just as much as a bully's words." A small frown tilted his maw, and his green eyes were gentle with concern. She was a wonderful cat- that much he could see already- and Owlspark wanted to make sure she knew that. "Besides, you're not the only one to have cats run. Normally when most cats find out more about me... they back away as if I'm some bad cat or something." He chuckled lightly, but it was true. Not all cats trusted him for his origin, but he himself couldn't even remember his birthplace and Windclan was where his loyalty truly was. He would die for this clan, but the tom supposed not every cat was willing to see that.

Firesparks simply stared into Owlspark's eyes, her ears pinned and her eyes wide. She remembered when they had brought him into the clan as a kit. She had watched this tom grow into a strong and capable warrior. And now here he was, giving her advice. How had things gone so backward? Firesparks' tail was wrapped around her paws, and she didn't remember ever sitting down. Her small frame made her look like an apprentice that was being scolded by her mentor, but she didn't care. She felt like she could feel small when she was next to Owlspark. 'He doesn't care about my dark side?' was all she could repeat in her mind. She had no words, and silence filled the air as he finished his words with a chuckle.

Finally, after what felt like hours, but was in truth only a couple moments, Firesparks spoke. "If anybody is scared of you, it's not by your heritage. It's because you're so large compared to us all," she said. While she couldn't really speak for the whole clan, she could speak for the basic appearances of Windclan. "We are all so tiny compared to you. Whoever is too afraid to approach you is a fool. They're likely too afraid of their own shadow to do anything..." she didn't really know where she was going with that, but she didn't care. She wasn't really thinking anymore, just letting her mind speak. "You are the first to not run after hearing about my little crazy side. Most never get to see it... I pray to Starclan you don't, but that's not likely the case. I am sorry your friend was bullied so. I swear that if I had seen it happen, or even been told about it, the bullies would not have been able to do as much damage as I'm sure they have. You are a true friend to have stayed by his side. I can only hope that you are no liar, as I suspect you're not."

'When did you start crying? Stop it!' she thought, feeling the warm tears drip down her cheeks. She shook her head and wiped away the tears with her paws. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from..." she said, turning away from Owlspark as she noticed her tears. Why was she acting like such a kit all of a sudden? For that matter, why did she feel fuzzy? Something was up with this tom, but it wasn't his heritage. 'Don't be ridiculous. You can't love him... You literally watched him grow from a small kit! But then again...'