[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The Abyssinian's hues were constantly growing wider, and finally, they softened. He listened to her speaking, though his expression was always gentle through her words. He knew she was hurting. He knew she was tired, and scared...and he knew that she was worried. But it was going to be alright. He wanted to make her believe that, he just didn't know what a good way to show her that everything would be alright would be. He didn't know what to do. There was nothing that he could do. Besides not run away. Right now, the best-- and only-- thing that he could do was stay right beside her, and show her that he wasn't going to run away. That he was here, and he was here for her. That was the one and only thing that he could do. After she was finished speaking, Martenthorn took a breath and padded up beside her, looking at her as though she were the only thing he could see. The only thing that he wanted to see. And that was important, because he knew it would make her feel like he really cared...which he did, but he wasn't always sure of how to show it. He sighed, looking down at the water through which she had passed a moment before. And now he knew what he was going to say, what he needed to say to show her that no matter what, she would always have one friend who cared.

And that would friend would be him, he would stay by her, and he would support her through whatever she needed. He couldn't promise that he would stay forever. He couldn't promise that he would be there in a minute. Something could happen any second and either one of them could die, or be seriously hurt while the other might have something important to do. But he could promise her that as long as he could, he would stick by and support her. "You want to know something, Featherspeckle? There are many, many cats who have been the same place you're at right now. There are so many cats who want to just jump off that ledge you mentioned. And I know-- because I've been there before." He mewed, glancing at the she cat with compassion showing in his hues.

He knew that he couldn't possibly completely understand what the female was going through, but he was getting a pretty good idea. He knew that there were struggles that each individual went through on their own, and he couldn't know what her experience had been. "But I'll tell you, if you do jump, you could hurt yourself very badly. I know you think it's going to be worth it, but it won't-- not unless you trust that there's someone there to catch you at the bottom." He hadn't personally jumped, but he remembered someone telling him the same thing a few moons back. The irony in it was that it was the same she cat who had rejected him, left him...so he wasn't sure whether the advice he was giving her was completely true and reliable or not. "I wish you could see yourself the way that I can see you...even in these few minutes I've known you, I wish you could see yourself that way. You're a great cat, Featherspeckle. You're intelligent. You're braver then you think. You've got a wonderful personality and you're so, so beautiful. You're going to make someone very happy someday, but you have to believe me when I tell you that you are an amazing cat. Okay?" Martenthorn mewed.

He could see that she was crying. He didn't want her to cry. Had what he said had any effect on her at all? Was he could to change this, make this any better for her? He wanted to, more then anything else. And he was hoping that perhaps, just maybe, things were going to work out okay after all.

Featherspeckle let out a deep sigh. She stared into the water, looking at her--through her. Her ears twitched as she silently listened to what Martenthorn had to say, but she kept quiet. She didn't know how to respond. Here she was, breaking down in front of her potential friend.
What surprised her the most is that he listened to her.
He stayed.
He actually stayed.
Featherspeckle took a quick glance at him, her sadness fading away. She was even more surprised that he dreamed of jumping off a ledge as she have. She wondered if he still wanted to, but shook her head. He had his head on right more than she did anyway. Featherspeckle couldn't even stare at him. Or look into his eyes. But, she could listen to him. And, listening to him brought her slowly to seeing her rippling self through the water. She could make out her reflection clearly. She wanted to touch herself. Let herself know that everything would be alright.
Featherspeckle didn't say anything for a long while. She listened to his words, and she wanted them to sink in deeply, so that her inner-most difficult self could have some belief as well. She wanted everything to be back normal. Before she met her, before she met him, before she allowed herself to be close to him, get to know him, love on him, believe in him.
Yet, everything started because of a simple tom. Or, everything started with her making the delusional decision to even get to know him in the first place.
She gave a light laugh at hearing him say she would hurt herself pretty badly, though it was true. She sensed some type of humor display in there.
''I'm glad you didn't fall either.'' She quietly said. ''You have such a strong spirit that can fight off these demons...and I'm just allowing these demons to eat up.'' She unsheathed a claw and circled it into the pond, overlapping her reflection.
Then...her heart stopped. She was touched. This made her drop everything she was doing, and in that exact moment, she stared deeply at the Abyssinian, a whimpering smile coming onto her face. With her head tilted slightly, and her ears pinned. She felt as if everything around them disappeared in that exact moment.
She didn't know what to say, or how to express herself. She wasn't that extremely affectionate...especially if she didn't know a cat very well. And, she wondered how messed up he was? How angry he was? How much pint up anger he held inside himself?
Was there any anger?
She doubted, but she knew the young warrior been hurt as she had. He's probably been through much worse and a lot more, she figured.
Featherspeckle did not know what made her do it. Perhaps it was the heartfelt speech, or the way his eyes gazed into her, but she ran up to him, and quickly nuzzled him under the chin. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime to her. She only realized it, after she heard herself purr, and she felt bewildered that she would even do something as such. She didn't want her new friend to feel uncomfortable around her, and she certainly didn't want to ruin their friendship.
After all, he did stay. He made her slightly happy.
When she pushed herself away, she sat down on her haunches, finding her paws pretty to stare at, afraid to even look into those hues of the young warrior.