Author's Note: hey guys! After a 3-4 month hiatus, I'm pleased to say that I'm back! Unfortunately, I'm cancelling Prove To You. The plot was atrocious and planned out horribly. I'm not sure I even planned it out at all. I AM trying to keep this story alive until the end, however! I've taken major precautions: actually planning/writing out the plot (kudos to you, Infinite, for doing the blindingly obvious), planning out the characters' personalities (whOA! Look! Something else I wasn't doing before that I should've done!) and planning out what the chapters are going to be about beforehand. Kinda. Smooth, Infinite. Real smooth. Also, I swear I wasn't trying to copy Trinity (the TV series), as they also have a Dandelion Club. It was a coincidence. The idea came to me what... a year or so ago, I'd say, while I was being all moody and existential and watching dandelions in my backyard.
While everybody else at the Gathering was mingling together and sharing tongues with old friends, Pebbleclaw sat to the side: the outcast of WindClan.
The scarred tom was stone-still, but his alertness showed in his pricked ears, his narrowed gaze, and his unsheathed claws. He watched as his younger brother joked with a group of ThunderClan apprentices. They were all smaller than his brother. Clearly innocent. There was no danger of Gorsefoot being attacked here. Pebbleclaw relaxed, but only slightly, and he kept his claws unsheathed, just in case.
Pebbleclaw had no intention of joining anybody in their conversations. They wouldn't have let him, anyway. But miraculously, two giggly RiverClan she-cats approached him. The smaller one, a pretty tortoiseshell, stole a glance at him and blushed when their eyes met. They obviously didn't know who he was.
She sat down next to him. "Hi!" she meowed, her voice shrill and loud. "I'm Flowerpaw, but most call me beautiful instead." She laughed. "Get it? Because I'm pretty?"
StarClan, this she-cat is annoying, thought Pebbleclaw irritably. He didn't bother to put on a fake smile at her joke.
When the handsome tabby tom failed to react, Flowerpaw frowned. "Heyy," she whined. "No need to be rude. But that's okay!" she added, suddenly brightening up. "I'll just talk, and you can listen. You're one of the strong, stoic types, right? I bet. You certainly look the part." Flowerpaw, the silly she-cat, fluttered her eyelashes.
Pebbleclaw hissed under his breath and lashed his tail, but he didn't move. The spot he was currently in was the best if he wanted to continue observing his younger brother, Gorsefoot. "I'm sort of busy right now," he said, trying to keep his tone friendly and professional. "Could you please leave?"
Flowerpaw gasped. "Rude!" she scoffed. "But that's okay too, handsome." Her pitiful attempts at flirting were seriously annoying Pebbleclaw right now. She slid in front of him, narrowing her eyes in what she must have thought was sensual and irresistible way. "Wanna meet up later?" she cooed. "You're cute."
This was too much. Pebbleclaw growled under his breath and stood up abruptly, lunging at the foolish she-cat and pinning her to the ground. He could barely stop himself from slicing her throat open, his bloodlust almost overtaking him again. A red haze tinged his vision and he pressed his paw down harder, almost cutting off her oxygen supply.
"S-stop!" cried Flowerpaw. "What are you doing? I was only..." The tortoiseshell pawed feebly at him, gasping for air. Her eyes dilated in fear as Pebbleclaw picked up the paw and immediately slammed it down, choking her even more. She started twitching.
Flowerpaw's friend sprang into action, knocking the sturdy tom off of Flowerpaw and landing in a defensive crouch in front of her. "Get away from her," she hissed. "Psycho."
Pebbleclaw started to respond, teeth bared, but then looked at Flowerpaw, a lump on the ground, massaging her throat. The anger disappeared, and he could only stare in shock and horror at what he had done.
StarClan help me. I lost control again.
Flowerpaw managed to get up and lean again her friend, coughing. They hobbled away together, the two apprentices throwing venomous glances over their shoulders at him. If looks could kill, well, StarClan help him. Pebbleclaw flopped down, shame burning in his ears and cheeks. He'd almost killed an apprentice whose only crime was being annoyingly flirtatious. But more than that, he'd snapped. Again. It was the second time this moon. A cold fear snaked through his veins, turning his blood to ice and sending shivers up and down his spine. He contemplated what would've happened if he hadn't stopped in time or, worse, if he'd attacked his brother. The very thought of it turned his insides to mush.
Pebbleclaw sighed, sheathing his claws. It was no use thinking about things that couldn't change. With a start, he realized that the leaders had already finished all of their announcements and he hadn't heard a word they had said. Warriors were already getting up and starting to share tongues again.
He turned slightly, just so he could watch Gorsefoot a little better, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye.
It was a she-cat; nothing spectacular. Gray fur. Yellow eyes. Medium build, warrior size. Perfectly normal, except for the fact that she was sitting away from the rest of clans. Just like he was.
Curiosity, a new and foreign feeling to Pebbleclaw, blossomed in his chest. Why was she sitting apart from the rest of her clan like that? What atrocities had she committed? What made her the equal of he? He didn't particularly want to talk to a fish-breathed warrior, but the unanswered questions were too much for him to bear, plus the fact that he had found another outcast. He wanted to hear her story, so the tabby warrior padded over to the she-cat.
"Hello," he meowed, sitting down next to her. As he did so, their pelts brushed together, and the she-cat stiffened like she had been shocked with electricity.
"Hey," she replied, not even bothering to look at him. "Do I know you?"
"No. But I saw you sitting here, and..." Pebbleclaw's voice trailed off. He hadn't realized how awkward this would be. "Um, what's up?" He cringed at his awful attempt at casual talk, something he wasn't even close to proficient in.
"Oh, you know... the fish is swimming, rain is falling, I'm alive..."
"Er, alright."
There was a pregnant pause.
Pebbleclaw took a deep breath and decided to get it out. "Why are you sitting here by yourself?" he asked. "How come you aren't talking with your friends?"
"Friends? What are those?" she snorted, a wry smile appearing on her lips. "Nobody wants to get near me. I'm terminal. They're all afraid of how to speak to me. That's okay, though. They're all insensitive fish-brains, anyway."
Pebbleclaw winced at the brutal truth and racked his brain for things to say. He was going to apologize for the spunky she-cat's hardships, but he knew from experience how empty the words "I'm sorry" could be.
"The disease is going to be sorry that it ever came upon you, judging by your personality," he offered. The she-cat purred, a low, raspy thing that Flowerpaw's meow couldn't even begin to compare to.
"Hey, thanks," she said. "I'm Stormpaw, by the way." She must have noticed the shock on Pebbleclaw's face, because she added, "I was supposed to be a warrior a couple moons ago, but my stupid illness got in the way. It's okay, though." Stormpaw shrugged. "Now it's my turn."
Pebbleclaw frowned, unease coursing through his blood. "Your turn for what?"
"To ask why you were sitting alone. I'm not blind, you know. I saw your clan avoiding you." Pebbleclaw winced inwardly, cursing under his breath.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just... you know..." He trailed off, looking into Stormpaw's skeptical eyes. "The clans are about to leave soon. I have to ru-"
"I saw how you attacked that RiverClan apprentice," Stormpaw interrupted calmly.
Pebbleclaw stiffened, his claws sliding out and tearing gouges into the dirt, a nervous habit he'd never managed to stop doing. "What?"
"It has something to do with that, doesn't it?"
"You're a nosy apprentice, aren't you?" the tabby growled, his former friendly air replaced with one of cold iciness. He got up to leave, but the gentle touch of Stormpaw's tail on his shoulder stopped him. It was tender. Gentle. He couldn't remember the last time somebody had touched him like that. It stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm sorry," said Stormpaw hesitantly, like she wasn't used to the words. "I didn't mean to- sorry. I was poking my nose around in personal stuff. It's fine if you don't want to tell me."
Pebbleclaw sighed and sat down. "...No, it's... it's... I'll tell you. And I understand if you hate me afterwards.
"I have anger issues. Really bad anger issues. And it's like... like I lose control sometimes. I break. Once I attacked an enemy warrior and-" Pebbleclaw drew in a long, shuddering breath, pulling a paw across his throat. Stormpaw winced. "And even my own clanmates. I've never killed them, but some I've scarred for life. Everybody's afraid of me."
"Why didn't Rabbitstar exile you?" Stormpaw asked, not bothering to dance around the subject with pleasantries and subject-changes. The brutally honest she-cat tipped her head to the side, shooting the WindClan warrior a questioning glance.
"He thought that I still had it in me to be great," Pebbleclaw admitted, heat flushing to his cheeks. "Rabbitstar thought that, with some help, I could get over all the bad parts. That was two seasons ago. Obviously, he was wrong."
"Hey," said Stormpaw lightly, bumping against him, "it's okay. It could be worse. You could be dying slowly every day." She laughed, although her humor was tinged with sadness.
"Technically, we're all dying every day," the tom pointed out. "Don't think you're so special. I mean, we're alike in other ways too. Both neglected, left-out, the outcasts..." His voice trailed off, and the whole atmosphere suddenly became very gloomy. Pebbleclaw half-turned and saw that the clan leaders had jumped off of the oak tree.
Surprisingly, Pebbleclaw didn't want to leave. Stormpaw was practically the only cat he'd talked to in days, aside from his brother. Venting his feelings out... it felt good. Stormpaw seemed to feel the same way, lingering by his side for a few moments before padding away to join RiverClan.
"I'll see you at the next Gathering," he called out, waving his tail goodbye. He stayed there for another heartbeat before running to catch up with the rest of WindClan, a gentle breeze tickling his ears, his nose, his fur. A small smile broke out on Pebbleclaw's face as he raced back to camp. It was something that didn't happen often, but he liked it.
Hellooo! More author's notes down here! /waves/ What do you think? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! Thanks! Peace out- Infinite.