A Moth to the Flame (Post-Gathering, Open)

After a short journey to the pebble pool, or what Thunderstar had pretended was a short journey. They finally arrived to the late morning bustle of cats doing whatever they really felt like. Things were relatively slow this morning in terms of progress, though patrols had been organized and task given, a majority of cats still had nothing to do.

"Speaking of patrols...."

Thunderstar muttered rather loudly casting his gaze around the camp looking for Boltfang. He shouldn't be this hard to spot. a rather ragged pelt with more scars than an average cat... average warrior, better said. Thunderstar's eyes fell upon a pair of black and white cats on the far end of the camp talking with each other. There he is.

"That's Bolt over there"

The lynx point female's deep blue eyes locked onto the two across the large camp. They hadn't noticed her yet so she took the time to drink in her first sight of Bolt. He was small. Very small. Tiny even. She had not expected him to be particularly big, exactly, but still, he was pintsized enough to ride on her shoulders! She had trained kits bigger than him. An exaggeration, but only a (pardon the pun) small one. (She thinks Fernheart is Bolt and vice versa since Bolt is facing away)

Looking closer, Crescent saw several rumples and puckers in his fur, marks of the scars beneath. Well, he couldn't be completely useless in a fight then, right? Everything she knew said Bolt had grown up to be a hot-headed fighter, although she suspected he might have cooled with age. The tom moved to playfully bat at his mate who was facing away from Crescent. Fernheart was much bigger than Bolt, which gave Crescent a measure of confidence regarding the tom. He clearly was not intimidated by biggger shecats. That was a good sign! She couldn't see Fernheart well but she hoped the two of them could be friends.

Then again, what if they weren't? What if Fernheart did not like her or got jealous? What if Bolt refused to help her? He was her only chance! Gah! This was so mousebrained! She knew Bolt would help her. She trusted her friend implicitly. Bolt could be trusted. Bolt would help. -But what if she bungled her words? What if she couldn't get them out right? What if he turned her away? What if he did not like her?

The shecat looked down at her scraggly fur. It had definitely seen better days. She remembered a time when she washed her fur three times a day, just to keep it clean -and that had been up in the mountains, not in the burs and craziness of the forest. She probably had sticks and leaves everywhere! Granted, she did not feel any at the moment and she had been very careful about such things but what if there were? And her fur! It needed a bath. Maybe two. Crescent would never permit herself the indignity of smelling, but there was still a decidedly noticeable layer of  of dirt staining her white fur a faint tan. He would think her revolting! After all this time searching, and so much hinging on this talk, she could not meet Bolt like this! Could she?

The huge shecat's thick fur swelled to twice its original size as she faced the small kit-sized cat across the camp and fear consumed her. This was it. This was the moment she had been working toward all these moons. The moment of truth. Now was the time, and there would never be another chance like this. She was here. Bolt was here. She was going to walk right up to him and say... She was going to walk right up and... She was going to...

"Uhm," Crescent dug in her heels as Cavernpaw tried to shove her forward to start the walk across the clearing. Her claws scrabbled on the ground frantically as her heart pounded. Her friend, the old Healer Apprentice, had often commented how ironic it was that she had no problem casually approaching others, but if she was told to make friends with someone, or told how important they were, she had much more difficulty.

"Shouldn't I wait if they're tired?" she mewed fearfully. "I can wait outside your camp while they rest. Really, it's no trouble."

Cavernpaw rolled his eyes at Crescent and got to his own paws. He wondered over towards the two black and white cats. As he approached, he noted that Fernheart was already sound asleep in a sunny spot, her black and white fur neatly groomed. He had to admit that she seemed to feel right at home here. Of course, he probably would too if half of his family was in this group.

He knew Fernheart was Birchtail's sister. So she was Starlingfur's sister-in-law. She was also Boltfang's mate. She was the future aunt of the leader's kits. She also had recently gained a lot of respect from many cats in the forest. After all, he had heard the stories of Mistclaw, although he didn't know the evil tom himself.

He blinked, realizing he was getting off track. He looked over at Boltfang and pointed with a tail towards Crescent. He didn't say anything, hoping the tom would realize that the she-cat was for him.

Fernheart twitched a bit as she yawned. She blinked, opening her eyes and looked around. The sun was still where it was when she had fallen asleep. She gave Boltfang a sharp look for waking her, but at what he said, she tilted her head. When she saw Cavernpaw pointing at the she-cat, she got to her paws.

"I don't know who that is, but I'll go see what she needs," she said. She then, tiredly, walked over towards the massive she-cat. When she got closer, she had to crane her neck to look up at the pretty face. She gave a friendly smile.

"Hello! I'm Fernheart, did you need something?" she asked.

------

Cavernpaw watched as Fernheart went over and he shook his head. He looked down at Boltfang. "The she-cat is for you, Boltfang. She knew your name and gave a very accurate description of you," he said.

Boltfang tilted his head to one side and a confused look grew across his face as Cavernpaw told him who she was looking for. An accurate description? Boltfang had never met her in his life. He swears! But he still couldn't help but feel something for this shecat, if she came all this way looking for him it must be some kind of important, however, this wasn't going to sit in him long. he quickly turned his head to watch the Shecat, and Fernheart become very close, perhaps a bit too quickly. Boltfang however, couldn't help himself. one giant shecat, one miniature warrior and the look of confusion growing on the bigger shecats face. Boltfang in that one moment, lost all sense of control he had worked so hard to keep. Not even his aching, tired muscles could stop him from that burning sensation that boiled beneath his skin. Something he thought he was done with for good.

Boltfang rolled onto his back and howled with laughter. That probably had to be the funniest thing he had ever seen in his long, long, incredibly long life. He couldn't hold it in. He couldn't hold back as his stomach began to ache from the constant laughing. By the time he had finally come too, he had completely forgotten what he was laughing at. So he sat up and looked around one more time to remind himself what exactly was going on.

"So... Wait... She wants to see me? I've never met her before... That I can remember... Anyway..."

The shecat's face heated at her mousebrained mistake. Raven was just so small. She had thought Bolt would be... well... tiny. Oh no! She was ruining this! She had to fix it! She very quickly needed to turn this around. She had to make herself clear and not be flustered. She had to let them know everything and then it would all be okay! 

"Oh. You're Fernheart. Right. Sorry. I didn't mean...heh," Crescent laughed nervously and cleared her throat as she felt the shecat's eyes narrow on her and Thunderstar's gaze burrowing into her pelt. Her tongue choked her throat. She had never been very good under pressure. It was how she had gotten her scar. Very bad aim and getting carried away tended to leave marks that lasted for a long while. She tried again.

"I just didn't know Bolt had gotten so big. Er, Boltfang. Right. Good. I didn't know his adult name. I mean, Bolt was his name when he was really young, and I know he's an adult now. I know that. I only, uhm, knew the young name and I came all this way and the 'Bolt' bit just kinda is stuck, since that is all I've ever known him by, you know? I still have to get used to the 'fang' bit haha."

Fernheart did not seem at all in a laughing mood though. She only looked faintly disgruntled and confused. Oh! She knew she should have waited until after they slept! Now she had woken both of them and they would never be friends and she was babbling and she had to stop it right this second or everything was only going to get worse and- Arghh! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Less words! Sweat trickled down Crescent's spine.

"So um, let's be friends, okay? Since he's...er... ah..." Crescent trailed off as Bolt's mate stared at her and she felt very very small. Oh no! Fernheart looked even more confused now! LESS WORDS! "I, uhm, just wanted..." 

Crescent crumpled before Fernheart and put her head in her paws. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just wanted to see my brother!" she wailed, the pressure getting to her.

Fernheart's ears perked at the suggestion for being friends. And then they were on full alert when the she-cat wailed about wanting to see her brother. "Your brother?" she asked. She turned as soon as Bolt appeared. She was on her paws quickly as she stared at him.

"You didn't tell me you had a sister," she said, tails sticking up in the air. She purred happily suddenly, eyes bright. She looked back at Crescent, resting a tail on the nervous she-cat's shoulder. She nudged the large she-cat a bit, willing her back to her paws.