[Captain]

Originally Posted by Constellation

His broad shoulders rolled comfortably, and he flexed his muscles, digging his claws into the bark of the stump they settled in. If he knew this place existed, it would be his favorite place to nap. This Tom was far from ready to retiring into the elders den. He just liked to nap without curious kits running to look forward to him telling them stories. He adored the little ones, but everyone wanted alone time every now and then. He was no exception, even if he was one of the kindest hearts in his clan. Occasionally, his eyes slid to the side to look at Molly that he was keeping warm. He caught her staring at him. Glancing at him, and everytime he saw her gaze, he would quickly look away and stare straightforward at the scenery. It was a good thing that the rain didn't fall ever so heavily as it done before. Too much rain made Stonestream stiffen. It reminded him of saddened times. He recalled that Autumnleaf loved the rain. “Starclan is definitely one of the most amazing places, I bet. I can hear laughing and sweet nothing's from where I'm standing.” His head tilted for a moment, imagining a delicate laugh escaping from his former sweetheart’s maw. Calling his name, begging for him to come. Stonestream blinked his eyes and shook his head. “I can actually see our loved ones joking about us and making fun.” He let out a booming laughter. His mother always told him that his head was as big as as his ego and his behavior was bullheaded as such. Just the thought of those made him excited about being taken to Starclan. Apart of him knew he wasn’t finished with this place. His home. Thunderclan.”I do actually enjoy my personal space. Except when I'm the one who is willing to share it.” He spoke matter-of-factly. It Was nothing wrong or personal about sharing warmth. It was more vital, in a sense. Besides, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Autumnleaf carried stones.on her shoulders, her back, and everywhere. There was a burden on her, and Stonestream simply wanted to help her through a tough time. “I mean! I don't mind sharing it - but, we all enjoy our own space at times, heh. I hope that doesn't make me sound selfish. Because, yeah,I probably sound too selfish right now.” He closed his eyes tight for a moment, and vigorously shook his head. The words he stated before made him think he sounded selfish. The last thing the Tom wanted the Molly to perceive him as was selfish. It was his pleasure to share with her. He didn't mind being pressed against her. It was almost like a mother and their kit. How a mom would always keep her babies warm. Or, two turtledoves snuggling to keep each other at bay. The Tom thumped his tail for a moment, smiling while his eyes stayed on the rain. Yup. This was okay.

Stonestream wanted to question her more, but listening was the goal. Not bombarding her with more questions because he didn't understand. It clicked in his mind that this Lightningclaw was someone important to her. But, wouldn't she thought of him as a brother? To be honest, the Tom felt that she was talking about him as if he were...a lover. Someone she held romantic feelings for. It was a tale never heard of before. At least to the Tom. Two adoptive siblings...now, Stonestream wasn't perfect. Her unspoken love for Lightningclaw reminded him of his love. But, not his late mate. One that should had never happened. One that should had been unrequited. One that...he should had walked away from, but instead he had his own heart shattered. Nettle wasn't the Molly that Stonestream discussed much about. If not much, then at all. He never utter her name. His clan mates didn't know he pursued a relationship with a Syndicate cat. Yet...that was so many moons ago, so why was he thinking of Nettle now? Shaking his head, Stonestream knew he was becoming too distracted in his own thoughts. Who knew that talking about another's past would make one think of their own? Stonestream slowly turned his head to look at his, his folded ears laying flat against his head. She didn't answer his question, which he didn't take notice to, so he didn't question her. Her laughter was what brought his attention back, and it had quickly gone. A brief smile had appeared on his face, but quickly turned into a frown because her expression was stoic again. Not a frown. Not a smile. Just nothing. Their next topic of conversation did make the she cat giggle, so Stonestream smiled once again. It was an accomplishment to make another laugh. A Tom like him seen frowns constantly. It made him depress, so hearing her laughter made him want to puff out his chest like an Apprentice filled with pride after being praised. “Ah, you were?” He asked, his voice surprised. “To be honest, I dubbed you as one of the quiet ones, if any.” He chuckled lightheartedly. Then, he listened once more. His ears stayed folded, but they were opened. The Tom bowed his head down, looking at his paws as he paid attention to her words. “That sounds like a wonderful relationship. Usually opposites attract one another.” He gave her a small grin. He expected her to say more about their relationship. Instead, she grew quiet for a moment. Stonestream figured it must be a hard topic of conversation with her. Stonestream’s gaze clouded for a ment, fixated on his paws. While she was in her moment of silence, Stonestream wondered if Leopardcloud knew. If she known that she was his second choice. In Starclan, wouldn't one know everything? Like, once you die, every secret would be in the open. In the field. Public. Disclosed. Leopardcloud always been a good friend to him back in their apprentice years and even in their young warrior years. He didn't pursue a relationship with her because he… Wasn't in love with her. Gradually, he fell in love with her. Stonestream lifted his head. It was uncanny for him to think of such thoughts. He was like everyone else, who made mistakes. Only...Nettle wasn't a mistake. Nor was Leopardcloud. Thinking about the past made you bitter. It certainly was making him feel a certain way. Though bitter wouldn't be the exact emotion he was gaining from this.

This Tom was certainly curious. About her entire life. She offered to tell him her story, so she should expect that he was going to ask some question. The best way wasn't throwing them at her and awaiting for an answer quickly. Finally, his ears lifted upright for a moment. “Ah, okay. But, I'm warning you, I'm not getting any younger.” He chuckled slightly, and throwing her a grin as his ears folded once more against his head. “I'm all ears.” He clears his throat, then shut his maw, so that she knew he would listen. The entire time, Stonestream remained unspoken. He looked at her, nodding his head occasionally as he paid heed to her words. He smiled a little at knowing the fact that Autumnleaf and this Lightning was very close. Adoptive siblings, and definitely much more. It sounded a bit taboo, but it had to be one of the sweetest stories. Well, until she started talking about their sparring match. Stonestream’s expression contorted into one of disbelief. Why would anyone want to hurt their beloved? Now, Stonestream felt uncomfortable knowing this. Being raised more so by his mother, the Tom respected mollies greatly. Even at this old age, he respected the younger mollies. This Lightningpaw must had been mixed with some delusions and went too happy at knowing he was skilled in the arena. “I'm...sorry, that happened to you.” Stonestream spoke, his words heavy with sorrow. He could never imagine being hurt so badly. It must had been painful. But, not as painful as the emotional pain that this Molly had to endure. He knew she was far passed that stage in her life, but he didn't know whether this Lightning was still in her life. Or, that if he was around Thunderclan still. Stonestream stretched his limbs, allowing his stomach to touch the ground. He laid down in this position, shifting his rear paws to make them feel more comfortable in the cramped area. He stayed near the Molly to keep her warm, and now, he was also comfortable. And, ready to hear more of her tale.

The golden brown-furred female looked at the tomcat that laid in the hollow stump with her for a moment in silence, thinking for awhile about many unknown things. He looked rather comfortable and content being here with her, not looking bored or irritated or annoyed or just tired of hearing the warrior ramble on about her past. She would look down and see how their pelts touched, keeping each other warm in the cold harshness of nature. Autumnleaf could not recall the last time someone had been with her, like this, willing to hear her story and being so kindhearted. It made her smile down at her paws for a few seconds before she lifted her gaze to look back out at the dense forest that was laid out before them. The rain was almost completely gone by now, hardly there except for the darkened clouds. She remembered when cats used to make fun of her because of the warrior’s strange interests. No cat was supposed to love the rain, the thunder and lightning - it was abnormal and morbid, as others had reminded her now and then. There were times when she wished that she could just change completely overnight, become a new cat with a brand-new personality. She wished that others wouldn’t see her as this lost cause, the mere thought made her claws sink into the loose dirt for a moment as she shut her eyes. She was not useless. She was not hopeless. She was not some worthless bag of bones. Her eyes flickered open as she solemnly shook her head - what was the point in even trying to persuade herself that the words they said weren’t true? The small shecat glanced at Stonestream once again. Perhaps this tomcat had faith in her and did not see her like most others did. Maybe he was truly different compared to the others. Autumnleaf gave a small, almost unnoticeable huff of amusement towards her own thoughts. What a ridiculous thought process she was having right now. The warrior looked at the grey-furred male as he mentioned his own opinion of the clan of the stars, making her look up at the trees and the branches that hung above them. “I bet my brothers are poking fun at me from the stars right now.” She murmured with a slight chuckle, “Whitemist is probably scolding them about it too, shooing them away.” The thought of her family made her smile, having the image of them keeping an eye on her from Starclan with proud smiles, knowing that their little Autumnkit had made it this far in life and despite her hardships - she was far from quitting on them. Autumnleaf listened once more to this older warrior’s words, her ears twitching slightly as she looked out at the forest with an intent, observant gaze. “You don’t sound selfish to me.” The shecat mentioned, her tone soft as she turned to look at him, “When I think of selfish cats, you are far from one that comes to mind - don’t worry about that.” Autumnleaf had not known affectionate or kindness such as this in over ten moons of her life, this was far from selfish to her.

It had always made Autumnleaf slightly uncomfortable when talking about Lightningclaw and how he shaped her childhood, mostly because she didn’t understand how most of it clicked together. She could tell how Stonestream was somewhat confused at certain points, wondering why she and that tomcat weren’t seen more as siblings. The golden brown-furred warrior could not answer the questions that he wanted to ask because even she didn’t know the answers. He was her first love and there were so many times where she wanted to just scream out to the stars to erase him from her past. She didn’t want him to be her first love, she didn’t want him to be the one who has made up basically her entire youth. It made the shecat place one of her paws on her face to try and silently calm herself from breaking down again. The bobtail swore to herself that she would not let Stonestream see her breakdown - no, he had already seen enough of the cracks and weakness inside of her. Throughout her whole life, no cat had ever been there for her when she cried, nobody had ever pulled her close and let her cry into their shoulder. Throughout her 45 moons of life, Autumnleaf never had someone like that and that made her forbid to cry in front of others, knowing that they would just think about how miserable she looks and how they would wish pity upon that skinny thing that was Autumnleaf of Thunderclan. She broke away from her haunting thoughts when Stonestream spoke once again, making her look at the tomcat beside her with shining emerald-hued eyes. “I was a completely different cat back in my apprentice moons, believe it or not.” Autumnleaf said with a slight chuckle, not looking at him now when she said this, “If you put my 45 moon self beside my 6 moon old self - you would think you were looking at two different cats.” Back then, she had been determined, happy, adventurous and carefree to take on life with a smile. Oh, how the times changed though. Autumnleaf would never be the cat that she once was so long ago and the thought itself made a tear brim in the corner of her eye, but she quickly wiped it away nonchalantly like she was smoothing some ruffled fur on her head so that Stonestream wouldn’t notice. “It certainly was something that all the cats of Thunderclan admired back then. We were pretty well known among the clan as that one inseparable duo.” She said with a smile at the older male, “It was like one of those cliche stories, you know?” She shook her head to clear her thought process and start anew. There were times when the golden brown-furred warrior would grow silent for minutes on end, unsure of what to say or how to continue, but that was one of the catches when you talk to this female.

“Same here, same here.” She said with a little chuckle once again, replying to the male’s words, “I’m surprised that you’ve made it this far in the story. I’ll try to not talk you to death.” The grin that Stonestream wore on his maw made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, which was something that surprised her truly, thinking that she wouldn’t be able to feel this way again - the feeling of happiness and other emotions that she forgot the names of. He was quite the listener, this tomcat was eager and curious to listen to her tale. When Autumnleaf explained the incident in the training cave that day, she heard the tomcat speak, his tone thick with sorrow and heavy with emotion. It was something that she appreciated. “I probably still have a scar under my fur from the accident.” Autumnleaf mentioned, feeling her neck with a gentle paw for a moment, but unable to find anything truly noticeable, “Moving on with the story though, heh.” The warrior paused for a moment to recall the events that followed that dreaded day. “He didn’t mean to hurt me. He really did not mean to. Lightningclaw was just so into the fight, as I was, but just one small mistake turned into a big turning point in my life.” She remarked, looking down at the ground as she spoke, “As our mentors went to me, in shock to what had happened, Lightningpaw stood there, completely frozen in terror that he had hurt me. He called himself a monster.” The warrior kept back a laugh at that and chose to keep civil when talking about this, “He turned and ran, ran from the training cave and fled into the forest - disgusted with himself and his actions. I, despite my injuries reached out with a paw, the words refusing to come out as I struggled to call out to my dear friend. All the words that the two warriors had said to me were nothing but buzz in the background as I weakly stood up, blood dripping from my wound as I used the strength that I had left. I ran, weakly, after him as fast as I could. Limping and gasping from my wound, even though cats told me to stop, but no, I refused to lose him this way. I blamed myself back then for the accident.” She looked at the tomcat for a moment to silently make it known that her opinion on the matter had changed since then before Autumnleaf continued, “As I followed him, it began to rain. The skies had shown that it would earlier that day, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, it held me back, the water dragging my fur down and making everything more and more a struggle. I finally caught up to him when he halted to catch his breath and I don’t remember what was said exactly, but I remember him backing away from me, getting ready to climb a tree to escape and just avoid me, scared of hurting me again.” There was another long pause before she spoke again, her tail twitching behind her as she did so, “Then.. A bright flash.” Her tone was quiet, almost to emphasize the mood of the tale, “The world went white for a second. A lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck a tree,” A small smile came to Autumn’s face, but she did not look at Stonestream, “The tree lit up, scorched black and red with young Lightningpaw still against it. His body fell into the grass in a limp mess, his fur slightly burned and lightened smoke rising from his body. I remember collapsing several pawsteps away from him, believing my best friend to be dead right before my eyes.”