[Teza]

Originally Posted by Pathos

[if you haven't noticed, i've changed my writing style!!]

Light blue eyes widened. Whiskers twitched in worry, retracting against marbled fur. Why did Snakesnap have to go ahead and say that? He always ruined everything. 'You're so bad at everything, Snake! Why do you have to be so much like your father?' His mother's words repeated in his head, never forgotten, always waiting in the back of his mind for the opportunity to strike. Why did he have to be so much like him? His father ruined everything, caused the worst problems, and he never once attempted to fix them. Sounded like Snakesnap.

...but, that wasn't completely true, was it? There he was, watching Nightleap break down in front of him, and he felt terrible. His father never felt anything. He never repaired anything. But for once, Snakesnap could go right where he had gone wrong. "Nightleap, wait—" he started, leaping to his paws and sliding his claws out of his sheaths. Fueled with resentment towards his father and a blossoming feeling of... something... in his chest, he began to pad after his friend. He wouldn't let her suffer in silence. Not again. The snow nestled its way under his claws and made him shiver, but he kept going, determined to console her. She needed to get it out of her system.

"It's not your fault," he whispered, eyes narrowed in resolution.

If Snakesnap were to be completely honest with himself, he would have realized by now that he acted much differently with Nightleap than he did with his other clanmates. She's just special, he decided, but he knew in his heart that that wasn't the whole of it.

(OMG I could have sworn I replied to this :/ )

Nightleap stopped in attempts to hear her friend out. Maybe he could help her. "I was only a few tail-lengths away... I could have helped her..." Her voice cracked and the normally calm and collected she-cat cursed under her breath to herself. She was so weak right now and she hated it. Right in front of everyone in the clearing too. How could she be so weak? She couldn't save Wolfpaw and now she was too grief-stricken to do anything. Was she mouse-brained? "Have you lost an apprentice to a battle when you were close enough to save her?" she asked harshly. She immediately regretted it. While she didn't know the answer, she didn't want Snakesnap to be upset with her. Not when she needed him the most. "I'm sorry... I don't know what's come over me..." she said, dipping her head to the older tom.