Post by mewmehh on Feb 27, 2018 7:58:32 GMT
Million Moon-Long Memories
Longwing reminisces about his fateful first encounter with Tallulah the kittypet.
Longwing reminisces about his fateful first encounter with Tallulah the kittypet.
The crisp breeze of the fleeting Leafbare blew through the budding red foliage. A whisper. A ghost of winter. The season of Newleaf had only start a few nights prior, but already the life seemed to return to the land that the clans called home as ruby-hued leafage and tiny sprigs of grass shot out proudly from the bare land’s naked trees and earth. The thick of the snow had all but melted away, a thin fragment on the bolstered forest as a sheet of sleet laced the ground beneath the frail canopy. Sunlight dazzled the forest floor as it shown through the spindly branches and warmed the pelts of a pair of cats stretched out amicably below.
A long body of frigid white and fiery ginger lay sprawled out against a grey slab of stone, neatly polished into a smooth, oblong shape. The feline’s silky tail draped itself across the slab, hanging its wispy tip off the edge and letting its fluid locks pour into the soft, new grass beside him. A pair of odd eyes flicked lazily from the blue sky to his purring companion, her sharp ruddy body stark against the soft hues of the garden surrounding them.
A small, lithe form laid draped across another stone a whisker-length away, her sculpted form rising and falling with slow, rhythmic breaths as delicate curls flounced with each subtle motion. It was a sight to behold; the normally wildfire-ish female now lay limp as a rag doll in the spring green of her twoleg’s territory.
Longwing wondered softly how they managed to achieve such peace and tranquility. How bizarre a scene this must’ve appeared to any onlookers with even the slightly bit of a clue. The sleek, muscular warrior did not fit this picture-perfect scene. And yet, he did.
It had been many season ago, during a particularly harsh Leafbare which had Ivyclan bowed with its tail tucked beneath its body as its members were ravaged by whitecough and the beginnings of the dreaded greencough. Longwing had only just been given his warrior name when he was delegated to safeguard Ivyclan’s then medicine Aquafern and their apprentice in the search for the elusive Catmint that was a rare cure for the deadly cough inflicting their clan, as well as their rival’s.
The search party scoured the forest for the minty herb, only having to had resorted to extending past their borders into uncharted territory. The Twoleg Place was no place for a warrior, but rumor had it that the bee-brained flat faces often took pleasure in cultivating rare herbs and flowers that the clans greatly needed during Leafbare. Twolegs may be as crazy as a fox in a fit at times, but those who grew herbs in their territories and gardens were quite good at it. Hardly did the herbs ever look wilted or deathly ill even during the harsh snowy seasons. It was something Longwing had been extremely thankful of.
Luckily Aquafern, Larkbeat, and Longwing had managed to track down a trace of the catmint in one of the Twolegs’ guarded territories, long walls of naked wood effectively boxing the herbs inside, but it was not enough to keep the desperate clan cats out. Crossing over the scratchy wall was easy enough a task, but the labored breaths of the nervous cats were plenty enough to make the simple task excruciating. Wary paws were shaky ones as the three tiptoed as quiet as mice into the snowy yard were oddly enough a lavish garden of winter flowers blossomed all around. It was a sight lovely enough to pull the young warrior’s attention from the quest, but not his allies as the Medicine cats were quick to locate the coveted catmint that had urged them into this dangerous place that smelled of foreign cat scent.
As Longwing snapped from his stupor, he took to his task of surveying the area for threats to his clanmates. Though he found little to fear, he had locates something that caught his gaze for more than a moment.
Across the stark white yard were a pair of wide blue eyes glowing behind a frosted sheet of what looked as clear as ice. The eyes were wide as saucers as they burned deep holes into the long warrior whose fiery spots clashed against the thick blanket below. Longwing attributes the unfamiliar cat smell to the owner of the eyes stuck behind the twoleg nest’s ice, and stared back at the endless gaze. Try as he might, he couldn’t summon a stern expression as a look of wonderment flashed across his face at the sight of the fireball of furry kitten that poked her dark nose as close as she could to the patrol. It was a wonder to the tom how she kept from getting herself stuck against the ice at this temperature.
However, his seemingly eternity-long staring contest was quickly brought to an end by a brisk mewl from Aquafern as a signal that they had gotten what they had come for and were ready to return home. As they scrambled their way up the fence post with jaws stuff tight with blissfully fragrant leaves, Longwing couldn’t help was cast a glance back at the twoleg’s best where the small ginger furball stared back with an almost forlorn look about her face. Longwing’s heart lurched with sympathy for the cat, but he knew deep down that such a place was far safer for the soft-looking kittypet kit. The forest full of coughs and unpredictable birds of prey was far too dangerous for a cat without Clan blood flowing through their veins.
Or so he had once thought. Time had passed and the warrior was wiser yet.
Moons as a warrior had been spent training and supporting his clan, but during his down time or along solo patrols, he had found himself drawing close to the dangerous place he had once crossed into. He knew it wrong in his head to want to venture back there, but the feeling, bleeding heart he wore on his shoulder was one that had not forgotten the somber kitten that stared pleadingly at him. Eventually, just as any mortal cat, he succumbed to curiosity and found himself in place he shouldn’t belong.
The snow had melted away by then and new flowers in more saturated hues lit up the small territory, with bushels of thick, berry-filled shrubs like plumage and a multitude of shadowy spaces lacing the area where secret enemies could hide themselves from sight. Yet the tom stalked carefully along the borders of the wooden wall, eyeing the place for the lost-looking kitten.
Surprise overcame the battle-trained warrior as a small form rushed him from his side, the rich and nearly overwhelming scents of the garden having clouded his senses enough to mask the stranger’s scent. However, no sense of bloodlust emanated from that who assaulted him, and as he spun around to face the stranger, he was met with the same moon-sized pair of blue eyes that he recalled from a season or so before. Only, this time he could detect a fair sum of green in the gaze. The kitten was now a fair bit bigger. A fair bit leaner. A fair bit confident.
”It’s you,” the owner of the blue-green eyes exclaimed, her tiny paws of dark russet and white bouncing around the long warrior without even the slightest hint of fear. She seemed elated for the warrior to be there despite the threat he could have posed to the kittypet. ”Oh, I had hoped you would come back!!” The lean kitten’s squeals of excite were surely loud enough to draw her twoleg’s attention and that worried Longwing, this he did his best to placate her.
”Shh yes yes, I’m here, but you have to quiet down. I can’t have your twolegs knowing I’m here.” He notes her face screwed up in confusion and remember that he had heard somewhere before that kittypets used different terms for their twolegs depending on who you talked to. Whiskey, was it? The kittypet that they knew of? Longwing recalled the barn cat’s wording.
”Ahh your housefolk, I mean. They can’t catch me here, okay? Or I’ll have to leave.” This shut the kitten up in an instant, evident on her expressive save that she did not want her guest to leave so soon.
In a softer voice, she murmured in excitement,”You’re one of those wild cats, aren’t you? I know you are!!” Her eyes sparkled with delight.
Longwing hung his head in defeat and sighed with a weak smile,”I am. My name is Longwing. And who might you be?”
”I’m Tallulah Rose!!”
It felt to the tom as if the memory had taken place a million moons ago as Longwing and Tallulah had become exceptional friends from that first time to now as they lounged lazily in her garden yard of newly planted flowers that would bloom into peonies and petunias of blushing hues before too long. The angora warrior offered a small smile as he watched Tallulah yawn widely in a stretch before rolling into her side to face him. A pair of almond-shaped eyes of shimmering turquoise peeks out behind heavy red lids as the she-cat blinked back to life from her deep snooze.
”Mornin’ Wing,” she purred out in a long drawl, pink tongue lolling out between her few words. It was hardly a pretty sight to the lean warrior as he only wrinkled his nose at her morning breath with a raised, whispered brow.
”Good morning, Oh Radiant One. You look like a brand of fire this day.” There was an uncharacteristically snarky bit to Longwing’s ode to the kittypet. A clanmate who knew that warrior may have been taken aback in that moment.
The curly cat snickered widely with a leery gaze and mewed,”So I look hot then?” She puffed up her chest fur with a slight fluffing from a forepaw as she sat up to boast in the warm sunlight.
Longwing shot her a sideways glance. ”I never said that. I was thinking more dangerous. Like a forest fire. Your pelt looks as wild and messy as one.” He bit back his laughter as the collared cat stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance.
With a grunt, the white warrior hoisted himself up and gently flicked the kittypet over the nose with the tip of his tail; a gesture that was familiar and all too well-known by Tallulah that it signaled her friend’s departure. ”I ought to get going.”
”Duties to tend to?” she shoe back playfully as she got to her paws along with Longwing. There was a hint of longing despite the teasing tone of her words, as if she wished to join him.
”I’m afraid so, but I’m sure I’ll be back soon enough. Thank you for having me,” he purred in a polite voice as he dipped his head in a short bow. This only elicited another annoyed smile from the kittypet as she shook her head.
”You know you don’t have to keep thanking me. You’re always welcome here, Longwing. I just wish I could visit your home some time.”
He offered her a small smile and shook his head. Tallulah quickly added,”I know! I know! There are rules and my Wing is a good little boy who likes to uphold those rules. Now go run along before your clanmates miss you.”
The two touched noses in farewell before the warrior bounded across the yard and hauled himself over her fence in a few rehearsed motions that made the task look as natural as walking to the kittypet. One day, Tallulah mentally told herself. One day, I’ll be on the other side of that fence with Wing. And it’ll be the best day ever!
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|| Just a little bit of backstory for my babs Longwing of Ivyclan and Tallulah Rose of the Halcyon Gardens. The two are a pair of unlikely friends who get together to visit and play when they can, though Tal has never ventured past her fence into the forest that Longwing calls home as he has warned her enough times to keep her at bay. Still though, the forest- she calls Tal!!
Thank you for reading!! I had a lot of run writing this even though it’s just a fluff piece. If any information is wrong, please let me know so I can fix it, and constructive criticism is welcome. All I ask is that you please be kind ^^ ||