[Dark]

 

Originally Posted by Rose

Larkfire
She/Her | The Wraith
Shadow Fiend & Beefed Up (T1) Purrk

Utterly dumbfounded. That was the best words Larkfire could use to describe herself in that moment. Stunned beyond measures and unable to formulate a proper response to the bombshell Darkfall had just thrown her way. Darkfall.

But let us rewind, shall we? Rewind back to how and why she'd ended up in this situation in the first place;

It was odd, for her heart to flutter so. For her gaze to get so stuck on just .. watching Darkfall that she was unable to look away. His laughter filled her with warmth, a pleased blush spreading over her cheeks, happy to have been the cause for Darkfall portraying such joy. "I never said I knew how to do it." Her retort held no bite at all.

In fact, it leaned more towards a friendly gibe. Oh, how fickle the heart could be. Angered and distraught one moment, soft and loving and fragile the next.

Loving?! Oh, goodness no, Larkfire was most definitely not in love, not with.. Darkfall of all cats. Her brain had firmly locked down on that fact. But did the heart ever listen to the brain? Silently, the young enforcer watched as her companion wove.. a contraption of sorts. It was amusing to see how much seriousness Darkfall put into the task. He... it was nice of him, to listen to her idiotic whims and not laugh at her for it.

'That looks like a bird's nest.' Larkfire had been moments from saying this, to poke him with another teasing remark, to see how he would react -- but she fell silent when he turned to face her, his expression solemn and serious as ever.

And just like that, her heart darkened. It seemed to wither from the inside, shriveling in pain at the phantom echo of what she'd felt when Darkfall had outright abandoned her. Yet, there was a spark of hope that lit, one that could not be dissipated, as he continued on. Funny, how one moment it was possible for her heart to shrink with pain and longing, and then bloom with hope and anticipation the next. That was the way of the heart, she supposed.

But now, back to the present. Back to here and now, Larkfire sat in eerie silence, staring at Darkfall through wide amber eyes. Somewhere along the way, Darkfall had fallen quiet too, as he was done speaking and was waiting for a reply. Alas, Larkfire was too stupified to do anything, so she sat there staring at him like an idiot for a minute or two before realizing her blunder; ah yes, Darkfall couldn't hear her racing internal thought-process. For all he knew, she was on the verge of rejecting him.

Though now that she thought about it... really, she wanted to get payback for what he'd done to her, but what if her teasing came across wrongly? No, their relationship was too fragile, was too much like walking on shards of glass, for her to mess with it now.

So instead, mouth tipping downward slightly, Larkfire stepped closer. And then, well, er... she kind of may have mayhaps lifted her paw and smacked his chest. "That's what you get for leaving me." The young Queen grumbled, and then not a moment later; "And this," She practically tackled him, then, front two limbs wrapping around his neck, face buried against his fur. "Is because I'm sorry I hit you just now."

She smiled into his fur, amused. Hey, she could get used to the fact that Darkfall's mere presense seemed to chase away the sharp bite of an oncoming winter. Leaning back a tad, Larkfire blinked up at her.. her.. her.. gah, she couldn't even say it, but the thought made her giddy. "What I... I meant to say, is; Yes, I'll- I'll have you."

Darkfall

Shadow Fiend: Inactive | Beefed Up (T3)
___________

The silence was deafening. Darkfall couldn’t help the unease that filled him while Larkfire stared at him. Had he messed up? Had he suggested this too early? Was she going to say no?

Well… he couldn’t blame her if she did say no. After all, he did kind of leave her without warning, and he wasn’t quite sure if she ever forgave him for that. They were speaking now, a bit more regularly but nothing compared to where they were before. Every once in a while Darkfall caught her staring at him the way he stared at her, but he was unable to determine what emotions were held behind those amber orbs. The younger enforcer was just hard to read like that.

When Larkfire started to approach him, the young tom started panicking.

Uh oh.

Her lips were turned into a slight frown, and- Oh great mother in StarClan! Was she raising a paw? Flinching slightly, he closed his eyes and braced himself for impact.

It had been little more than a slight smack to his chest. "That's what you get for leaving me." She said. Bewildered, the black tabby opened his eyes right as the she-cat pounced upon him. Caught off guard, he fell over — her on top him in a brief unceremonious flailing of limbs. He sat there stiffly until she wrapped her paws around his neck and said she was sorry. Can you believe it? Larkfire said she was sorry for hitting him. Crazy, right!?

Relaxing a bit at the words, the large tom couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him. She had no idea how scared she made him just now! He thought he was in for a world of hurt, but she was just being a bit silly. A slight smile played at his lips despite his attempts to keep his face serious. It had been a long time since he saw this side of her, something that had become a bit of a rarity in recent moons and was a stark contrast to her generally stoic demeanor. It was kind of like living far away from your hometown, but when you come to visit, your mother makes you your favorite dessert homemade. That’s how he felt about her silliness.

His heart skipped a beat when she leaned back to look up into his eyes. Gosh, she was so beautiful. The deep amber of her eyes was just something he could never not appreciate. They were gorgeous, and he found himself staring at his own reflection in them. Perfect. That’s what she was. Absolutely, utterly perfect. His ears perked and attention shifted when she began speaking, not wanting to miss a single word.

"What I... I meant to say, is; Yes, I'll- I'll have you."

Azure blue orbs lit up at those words, and his mouth hung open as he looked at her. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for for what felt like his whole life. Larkfire was his… his… you know... His mate!

Darkfall’s wide-hanging mouth quickly turned into the brightest grin he ever had, accompanied by a deep rumbling purr. He was so very happy, however, he remembered the other reason why he dragged her out here and he stuck out his tongue playfully before gently napping her on the top of her head with a paw.

”That's for scaring me half to death in the Icy Heartlands-” he said, followed by one more ”- and that one is for sneaking off to the battle when you should’ve been in the nursery resting.” He then wrapped his paws around his new mate and hugged her to him tightly. ”Don't ever scare me like that again. I don’t know what I’d have done if I lost you before I could tell you how I felt.” he mumbled into her fur ”Maybe I want to scare you sometime. Did you ever think of that? You’re always so… reckless,” he growled playfully. Honestly, he was a bit upset with his new mate’s decisions lately, but that was in the past and he was willing to move on from that now that he told her how he felt.

Darkfall took a deep breath, inhaling her scent happily. He could get used to this, he couldn’t wait for he to leave the nursery and join him in the warrior’s den. Perhaps they could share a nest? Well, they’d cross that path when they got there. Not wanting to let go, he smiled softly before saying ”I’ll never leave you again, Larky. I promise.”

He’d keep this promise, he’d make sure of it. Anything less would be a disservice to him, and a disservice to her and he wasn’t planning on doing anything to break her heart again. What he did before was just too cruel, and seeing her look at him with that distrust… he couldn’t handle something like that again. It wasn’t necessarily an “I love you”, but he felt that this, in a way, carried more weight to it. His love for her was obvious, it was just up to him to prove it through his actions.

He’d always remember this moment for as long as he lived. It was peak Leaf-fall. A season he once loved because of the pretty colors and fallen leaves and had grown to hate because of all the loss he experienced in the last year, finally had a reason for him to love it again. Leaf-fall may have been the season he’d lost his family, but it was also the one in which he gained a new one, one that he’d make sure to always cherish with every fiber of his being. The Darkforest itself wouldn’t be able to pry her from him, and he’d be damned before he let anything come between them again. He wasn’t going to let Larkfire go again. Never ever.

[ @/Rose Hope this was worth the wait ]