It all started up when they were apprentices.
"Hey, what's up?"
A pale grey tom holding himself like a leader. Confidence emanating in waves.
"I'm not going to be your next victim you hopeless casanova. Go away."
"Ouch girl, that's a low blow."
"I'm telling you to go away. Now."
A winning smile, a twinkle in his eyes.
"A feisty one, aren't you?"
"Cloudpaw, I'm giving you a heartbeat to vanish from my presence."
"Aw, come one Flarepaw! Don't be like tha-"
The confident tom yowled, his head throbbing in intense pain. He felt as if he had been just trampled by a badger. A very anger, rabid monster of a badger. A smug looking Flarepaw stood tall before him, her paw still swinging to a stop. She narrowed cold eyes at her offender as she stifled a growl that threatened to jump out of her jaws.
Cloudpaw blinked open one eye, a dumbfounded expression marking his face. As soon as his eye focused again on the living world, he flashed a cheeky smile at the she-cat. "Hey, good swipe! I think I like you. You are my new best friend"
The she-cat answered by tuning around sharply and walking away.
…but not before smacking him on the face with her tail.
And after that day, they were inseparable. Or better said, he was always by her side, much to her (faked) dismay. Wherever Flarepaw went, Cloudpaw was her self-appointed bodyguard. If Flarepaw yawned, Cloudpaw dragged a nest out of the apprentices' den for her. If Flarepaw sneezed, Cloudpaw brought her the first herb he could snatch from the medicine cat's den. If Flarepaw wanted to eat, Cloudpaw brought her the whole fresh-kill pile (which led to a mob of very angry, very hungry warriors chasing the young tom through the entire territory).
It was a very strange friendship, really. Cloudpaw lived to annoy they living daylights out of Flarepaw. Flarepaw lived to snap and growl at Cloudpaw. He was her best friend since he got struck on the head for flirting with her. She was his best friend since he pressed for a friendship even after he saw her temper.
The best relationship ever.
It should be noted that Flarepaw, while an elegant-looking she-cat (and really pretty, though she denies it), was a medicine cat and thus had to give the cold shoulder to the apprentices of the opposite gender. She was very dedicated to her position in the Clan and nothing would ever tear it away from her. Never.
It should also be noted that, while a good warrior to be, Cloudpaw was still kit-like in his looks and thus never attracted too much attention from the opposite gender. How was he a heartbreaker you ask? Personality, my friend. It was the personality.
And then came the day when they completed their training. It was a glorious moment for them both.
The Clan's cheers died in Flareheart's ears as the meeting ended, but it meant just the start of the celebration. MeltingClan allowed itself a night of luxury and fun whenever a new warrior or medicine cat was made. The buzzing of anticipation could be felt reverberating inside the chests of all the clancats.
The ginger she-cat could barely suppress the slight bounce on her steps nor the twinkle in her green orbs. The Clan smiled all around her, spending a couple of heartbeats to congratulate her on her new position.
"Hey, popular girl!"
Flareheart turned to watch an approaching pale grey tom with a cheeky smile. He too was being congratulated, but he had eyes only for the medicine cat. Said medicine cat grinned at her friend's presence. "Come on Cloudhunter, you are the popular one! I bet half of this cats are hearing my name for the first time."
"Don't play dumb," the warrior snorted. "You know very well that's not true."
Flareheart shrugged, padding away to join the celebration. The pale grey tom matched her pace, walking by her side as was usual. His white ears kept swiveling, the tufts on the points swaying with the movement. Flareheart noticed this clear (for her) sign of nervousness and wrapped her tail around his shoulders. "It's a celebration just for you, Cloudhunter. There's no reason to be nervous about it."
Blue eyes wide, the tom seemed to shrink underneath her tail. "It's just that…," he hesitated for a heartbeat, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "It's just that everything's so different now. I thought I knew what I wanted and where I was headed but now everything is so incredibly complicated!"
Flareheart smiled an knowing smile. "Cloudhunter, being a warrior means just more responsibilities, not a complete change of personality. Nothing is impossible if you put your heart in it."
A small smile graced the pale grey tom's features. "You really think so?"
"I do," Flareheart purred as they reached their clanmates, waiting for the leader's presence to start celebrating.
Later that night, Flareheart would find a fiery red flower waiting for her on her nest. The she-cat would stare at it in shock before recognizing the agonizingly familiar scent and curse herself for not realizing it sooner.
The moons went as normal as they could go. A couple of injured cats that insisted on looking for creative ways to hurt themselves ("But Flareheart! He dared me to lick the porcupine!") but nothing major. MeltingClan had never experienced such a peaceful season…
Flareheart's life, however…
"He's adorable."
"Robinflight, stop it."
A smirk.
"But Flareheart, look at him! Like really, turn around and look at him. Hey, don't glare at me! It's so obvious he adores you that it hurts."
Flareheart scowled at her friend, resisting the urge to leap at the she-cat with claws unsheathed. There was no way that would happen. No. Damned. Way.
The ginger she-cat impaled her fierce green gaze on Robinflight. "I'm a medicine cat. That's not about to happen anytime soon."
Robinflight sighed dreamily, yellow eyes glazed over. "Forbidden love! It's so romantic."
The sound of pawsteps made Flareheart freeze in panic. "Oh StarClan, he's coming. Should I go away? If I go to the medicine cat's den right now it wouldn't look as if I'm avoiding him. Yeah, that's it. I'm going now. Why am I not moving?!"
"How's the gossip going?"
Flareheart forced a smile, turning to greet her friend and not-so-secret admirer. "We were not gossiping as you put it. Right, Robinflight?"
There was no answer from Robinflight, as she had already turned tail and deserted her friend. Flareheart stared wide-eyed at the spot where the sandy brown cat had stood but heartbeats ago. Unbelievable!
Cloudhunter's bright blue eyes shone with amusement. "Right. So, I was on patrol earlier today when I saw…"
And like many other days, they chatted away what was left of the sunlight. Flareheart enjoyed their little talks, but she could never bury the impulse to run away. It was a difficult situation, in her opinion. She did not want to break Cloudhunter's heart but she could not just ignore how her heart screamed at her that all of this was wrong. She was quite happy with her position in the Clan, thank you very much. She wasn't about to throw it all away.
So focused she was with her thoughts that she did not see the glares from a group of she-cats clustered in a corner of the camp. These were, of course, Cloudhunter's admirers.
"Of all cats it had to be her," huffed a tortoiseshell.
"A medicine cat," hissed a tabby.
"She's not even that pretty," sniffed a delicate cream one.
The group turned to glare at her. Realizing the hostility now directed at her, the cream one glared back but her ears were flattened against her skull. "What?"
"Don't lie you fool! She's pretty! Why do you think he's attracted to her?," a ginger she-cat snarled. "It's not the personality, that's for sure. She's a frosty she-cat."
"Whatever," muttered the cream one.
And the moons passed away as normal as they could. The cats hunted, the sun shone and Cloudhunter proved to be a dedicated tom. No night went by without a new fiery flower waiting for Flareheart and no day could pass without their usual chatter. The she-cat accepted it all with a resigned pout, but threw a scene when he proposed going for a walk. There was no way they were going alone anywhere! If he wanted to spend time with her, it was while everyone was watching. So thank you but no thank you.
He never asked again.
And all the while Robinflight was giggling from the sidelines. A couple of apprentices that passed by heard her whispering something about forbidden love. Weird.
And the usual routine continued until one moon it all fell apart.
There was no warning. No avoiding her, no big fight, nothing. It just sort of happened.
"So, Ivystorm?," Robinflight pondered. "I never thought he fancied the tortoiseshell ones."
Flareheart shrugged, taking a bite out of their shared hare. "Whatever makes him happy."
Robinflight pushed the hare away so she could lean closer, her eyes expectant. "Are you all right with that? I mean-"
The fiery ginger she-cat glared.
"Right, I understand. There was nothing between you two. Whatever lets you sleep at night."
Flareheart rolled her eyes, taking a quick glance to the darkening sky. "It's getting late. See you tomorrow Robinflight."
Said she-cat yawned. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."
There was no fiery flower waiting for her that night.
And then…
Flareheart was sunning herself that morning. It was wonderfully warm, and the medicine cat felt like taking a break. If anyone needed her, they would look for her here. The clearing was blissfully empty and she could hear the distant chirping of birds.
And then he had to appear.
One green eye blinked open at the sound of pawsteps. The breeze brought MeltingClan scent with it, so Flareheart paid no mind to the approaching cat. It was a clanmate, nothing to worry about. She would say a quick greeting and go back to slumbering under the sunlight. The cat came into view and Flareheart's greeting stuck on her tongue and died. It was Cloudhunter for sure, but yet it was not him.
Flareheart vaguely wondered when had he gotten so handsome. She was sure he was not like that the last time she had seen him. Or maybe he was but she had never really looked at him.
The pale grey tom threw her a cheeky smile as he looked for a place to sun himself. "How's it going?"
Flareheart was sure she was staring. She wondered why she couldn't stop it. And then she realized he was talking and it was to her. "Me? I'm doing fine I guess."
It was very convenient that she remembered she had to go sort herbs. No matter she had already done that when she woke up, she had to do it again. Just in case.
That was what she told him, anyway. And they promised to see each other later that day to talk about something she couldn't quite remember because oh StarClan, since when was he so dashing?
But what was she thinking, anyway? She's a medicine cat, no matter he's handsome and kind and humorous and…and…and…
Shaking that line of thought off, Flareheart went to sort her herbs. Again.
It only got worse for her.
Cloudhunter arrived that night, yes. He was there all right. But with her.
"You don't have a problem with me bringing Ivystorm, right?"
Get that ugly, flea-ridden, rat-smelling, idiotic excuse of a she-cat out of my den! "Of course not."
It was awkward. Very awkward. If Cloudhunter noticed, he said nothing.
The next day, Flareheart say them both talking. They were laughing at something and they looked so very happy.
She hated it.
She hated watching how Cloudhunter was talking like that with someone that wasn't her. She was happy for him, he could finally have what she could never offer him, but she hated it still.
She did not like feeling helpless or, dare she say it, heartbroken. But her time was up, the opportunity had passed, and life could not wait for her forever.
\Clan Of The Enemies Challenge/