AN: Hello again, my lovely readers. I was very surprised this morning to open my inbox and find at least sixteen e-mails about reviews, favourites and watches. Wow. So I'd like to say thanks for the staggering amount of support from you guys.
Purple Arsenic: Thanks, I thought it was better too. :)
Nameless Nightmare: Humour is always a good addition to a story – it keeps people entertained. Hmm, I like TawnyxCrow too, so I'll consider it.
Shandril: Pregnant? I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right. She seems to be having PMS issues. XD BluexTiger seems strange at a glance, but it's conceivable.
I Be Guest: Squirrelflight was having serious relationship issues during Twilight; I wouldn't be surprised if this actually happened. XD You've got a lot of good suggestions. Thanks!
Niah-Miyoki: Nah, nothing's ever too cracky. ;) I'll see if I can get around to it.
Soraluver: CloudxRusset? I never would have thought of that. Neat! evil cackle
Cloudfire: Yes, I hope to shock many people with my bizarre crack. Good suggestions! I'll think on 'em. Long live crack!
I promise I'll get around to taking you up on those requests, but this idea took a hold of me last night and would not let go. I needed to get it out of my system.
Disclaimer: Warriors is not mine, and never will be. If it was mine, Twilight wouldn't have been so heavily based on relationships as opposed to action. And Firestar's mom would've been in it. XD
Tall, Dark and Handsome
By Steel Plated Bambi
She'd seen him twice before, from the garden fence bordering her property: a dark, muscular-looking brown tabby, strolling along the perimeter of the human place with an air of authority. She'd been wary of him, remembering what Fireheart had said about some of the local wildcats, but hadn't paid him much mind other than that. It wasn't her business, as long as he didn't try coming up on the fence, or invading her owner's prized garden.
Princess was always a little nervous, though, when she came down to edge of the forest to see her brother. She always tried to remind herself that kittypet gossip was just that – gossip – and that she wasn't likely to be set upon by angry woodland dwellers the minute she stepped onto their territory. Still, she didn't like these open spaces too much – the lack of cover made her anxious.
"Fireheart!" Princess yowled. "Yoohoo, Fireheart!"
The brown and white tabby took a tentative sniff, to see if she could smell him nearby. She couldn't; all she could taste was the strong scent of pine needles. Princess sighed in frustration, turning as though to go back – and nearly jumped out her skin when she was confronted with a pair of intense amber eyes. She yelped and fell down backwards, fluffed up to nearly twice her size.
"I beg your pardon!" the owner of the eyes said, dipping his massive head in apology. It was the same brown tabby Princess had seen from the fence, she realized. Up close he seemed nearly twice as large as he had from a distance, and infinitely more impressive. The tom was big and burly, with a barrel chest and powerful hindquarters. His dark tabby pelt rippled over a muscular build as he leaned forward to check her for damage. "Are you alright, Miss?"
Well, I am now, Princess thought dazedly.
"Oh, yes, yes, I'm fine," she mewed, standing up somewhat shakily. Laying her fur flat, she licked her paw and drew it over her ear, affecting for nonchalance. "You just startled me. I wasn't expecting…er, well…" She found herself at a loss for words under his bright amber gaze.
"Sorry about that. I suppose I have a tendency to sneak up on people." The tom chuckled, a deep rumbling sound within his chest. He looked her up and down, appraisingly. "So, what's a kittypet like yourself doing so far from your twolegs?"
"W-who, me?" Princess stammered, trying to put her brain back in gear. Come on, come on! Focus on something besides his hindquarters! A tiny voice squeaked furiously. Darn it, what was she here for again?
"Oh, yes!" the queen mewed brightly. "I was looking for my brother, Fireheart. He's with the forest cats, you know," she added confidentially.
The stranger blinked, curiously, but didn't show any sort of recognition. His whiskers twitched thoughtfully.
"Can't say I've heard of him," he mewed. "I live alone around these parts. I try to stay clear of the forest cats." Princess didn't think he needed to worry about meeting any sort of warrior cat, but she kept that to herself. Her eyes wandered to the long, wicked looking claws protruding from his massive paws. And they were still retracted, too! He seemed to notice her stare, and tactfully wrapped his tail around his paws.
Belatedly she remembered that she'd forgotten to introduce herself.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Princess," the tabby she-cat mewed, giving him a friendly blink.
"My name is…Tiger," he replied, hesitating only slightly on the last word. Princess, however, hadn't noticed, and beamed up at him.
"Well, Tiger, it's been very nice meeting you," she said pleasantly, "but it looks as though Fireheart isn't here, so I should probably be heading home now." Still, she was reluctant to leave the side of this very impressive (and admittedly drop-dead gorgeous) tom so soon, and found herself hesitating, trying to find the right words.
"Would you – maybe, do you think…?" Princess faltered. Come on girl, out with it!
Tiger kept watching her patiently, with those deep, powerful ochre eyes.
"Wouldyoumaybewalkmehome?" she meowed in a rush. Seeing his confused look, she flushed and tried again. "I mean, it's a little dangerous out here, and I was wondering if you'd walk home with me. You know, to make sure nothing happens." Tiger's eyes lit up with understanding, and he nodded, padding gallantly over to her side.
"Alright," he mewed, flashing her a charming grin. "Where to, Madam?"
Things being the way they were, upon reaching Princess' fence, the she-cat in question had been reluctant to part company with her tall, dark and handsome companion just yet, and she consequentially found herself inviting him to stay for a little while longer.
"My housefolk are out, and they won't be back for a while," she'd reasoned. "Wouldn't you like some catnip before you go?"
And so they were currently sitting in Princess' garden, nosing through some of the more exotic herbs, and chatting amiably. Tiger seemed very interested in hearing about her brother's warrior life, among other things.
"Oh, it can very difficult for them, especially in the cold times," Princess mewed, in response to one of Tiger's questions. "The poor dears looked so thin when they came by last year. It must be terribly hard to be out looking for mice and squirrels, and under all that snow!" The she-cat tsk!ed quietly as she sniffed a particularly green catnip plant, expressing bafflement at the hard way Fireheart chose to live.
Tiger had found his own stalk of the aromatic stuff, and inhaled appreciatively. He chuckled at the haughty tone in her comment, though, and came over to where she was.
"It isn't easy, but it's a living." The massive tabby sniffed at the same plant Princess was investigating. "Do they have the same trouble now?" He moved slightly closer, and his tail brushed against hers unintentionally. Princess looked quickly away, face burning.
"Oh, u-um, not quite," the kittypet stuttered before getting a hold of herself. "They're doing much better this season in terms of prey, but apparently they're having problems with their leader. Blue-something," she added as an afterthought. Princess padded over to another batch of plants, these with brightly coloured blossoms. "Apparently she's been very anxious, since a bit of an uprising occurred earlier this year. She won't talk to anyone about it. My son thinks she's 'lost it', as he so eloquently puts it." This last part was said very dryly.
Both cats shared an amused purr. Tiger joined her after a moment, pausing to admire the flowering plant Princess was inspecting before setting down to washing his front paw.
"So," he mewed between licks, "Your son…does he know his father? I don't mean to pry, of course," the tabby added hurriedly, upon seeing her startled expression.
Princess waved her tail dismissively, showing that she wasn't offended. In fact, she hadn't though about it for a long time. How was her old mate doing anyway, she wondered? A small lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed it with some difficulty.
"Ah, no. He's never met him." The she-cat gave one of the blossoms a delicate sniff, avoiding his eyes. "He and I…we weren't mates for long. Our housefolk introduced us." She remembered that day. He'd been fairly attractive, but rather boring to talk to. Not the sort of cat you'd want to spend a lot of time with.
"They took him away, after a few days. I never saw him again," Princess finished simply. Tiger blinked at her sympathetically, amber eyes intent.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he mewed. Princess looked at him, then, and felt her heart skip a beat as their eyes met.
"Did you love him?" he asked baldly. Princess blinked in surprise at the question. She'd never really given it much thought. He'd been the father of her kits, but not much else to her. She paused, considering.
"No," Princess said at length, blinking at the revelation. "No, I didn't."
Just then they heard the dull roar of a monster in the distance, growing steadily louder in volume as it approached.
"My housefolk!" Princess hissed. Quick as a flash, Tiger's muscles bunched and he leapt smoothly to the top of the fence. Princess leapt up after him hastily.
"Take care of yourself," Tiger mewed gruffly, and made to jump down, but Princess stopped him with her tail. He looked at her, half annoyed.
"Will you come back tomorrow?" Princess asked, feeling slightly desperate. Say yes, say yes, PLEASE say yes…
Tiger regarded her with those amber eyes, bright and thoughtful. Then he reached out and gave her ear a quick lick.
"Tomorrow at sunhigh," he mewed, before leaping down to the street. As quickly as he had appeared he was gone, disappearing into the forest. Princess stood, frozen in place, still feeling a tingling in the spot where his tongue had touched her ear. Then she gave a joyful little squeal, and fairly floated down into the garden, feeling as light as a feather.
She was greatly looking forward to seeing him again.
Tigerclaw lingered long enough to watch the kittypet's tabby fur vanish over the fence, then turned and made his way into the forest.
This was the fringe of ThunderClan territory, but he wasn't terribly worried about being discovered. His dark tabby pelt blended well with his environment, and from a distance, he could be mistaken for a shadow on the forest floor. And even if some cat did stumble across him, well…His long, murderous claws slid out in reflex.
Tigerclaw's hulking shoulders rolled as he walked, and his mind began to wander. He hadn't initially expected to find anycat at Tallpines. The rogue had been leaving his scent on various trees in the area, as a warning to ThunderClan. It had only been a happy coincidence that he'd stumbled upon Fireheart's kittypet sister.
Already quite handsome, Tigerclaw hadn't had any trouble in charming the whiskers off the naïve little she-cat. He smirked, remembering the way she'd beamed at him so trustingly. She wasn't too bright, Princess, but her kinship with Fireheart could prove useful. From what they'd spoken of in the garden, Tigerclaw could guess that Princess was at least somewhat aware of ThunderClan's inner workings. Keeping a close relationship with her would give him an advantage, so long as Fireheart didn't discover who it was his sister was seeing.
Besides being useful, she was also…sweet, for a kittypet. True, she didn't know much about the way of the world outside her twoleg home, but she was kind, and thoughtful. It wasn't something he wanted to admit to himself, but he'd actually enjoyed the time he'd spent with her, however short it had been. Maybe, just maybe, going back tomorrow wouldn't be quite as tedious as he'd first thought.
Tigerclaw summoned a picture of Princess to his mind's eye, envisioning her tabby and white fur, and gentle, smiling amber eyes.
Yes, he supposed he was looking forward to seeing her again.
AN: This chapter surprisingly easy to write. Adorable stuff tends to be that way. :D I love Princess. She's such a simple little kitty, but while her brother puzzles and puzzles over clan issues, she gets to the heart of the problem straight away, just by thinking logically.
I actually really like how this turned out, maybe because I can envision it happening. Besides, Tigerclaw's such a ladies man. He's already had two mates, so why not give him a third? XD
