Name: Stonepaw
Appearance: Looks like Darkstripe, but with green eyes
Personality: Tortured, stubborn, and lonely
Family: Unknown
Other Important Facts: in love with Cinderpaw
Name: Cinderpaw
Appearance: Gray with sky blue eyes
Personality: Energetic, kind, and eager
Family: Sorreltail (mother) Brackenfur (father)
Other Important Facts: reincarnated form of Cinderpelt
Stonetail's Loyalty: hope you like this one! I assume that Stonepaw is either a rogue or from another Clan, so their love is forbidden. Or kind of. If he's a character from Dark River, I haven't read it yet, so your story might not be what you thought it would, but I did my best. And I just remembered the teaser for Dark River, where Cinderpaw falls…if she does get hurt in that, pretend it never happened here, because I don't know if she does. Again, sorry for that! Hope you like it anyway.
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Bracken swayed stiffly in the moonlight, casting wavering shadows on the frosty ground. An owl released a mournful hoot somewhere high in the leaf-less treetops. A bitter leafbare breeze swept through the forest, ruffling Cinderpaw's gray fur. She shivered, and halted for a moment beneath a towering bush to fluff up her fur and take a deep breath before scurrying on again.
She knew that she shouldn't be out of camp. Brackenfur would claw her whiskers off if he knew she was sneaking around at moonhigh when there could be badgers or foxes or StarClan knows what about. The gray apprentice shook off the troubling thought and forged onward, her jaw clenched.
For the fifth time that day Cinderpaw muttered a string of bad words that she had learned from Birchfall under her breath, all directed at a dark tabby tom by the name of Stonepaw. Cinderpaw's belly clenched at the thought of his name, and her eyes narrowed. She'd run into him while running an errand for Leafpool a season or two ago, and since then they'd become friends, though he was stubborn and had a hateful streak. Cinderpaw had made it her life's goal to squash the meanness out of him, but it had turned out to be harder than she had thought at first.
"I smelled you a hundred horse-lengths away," came a dry meow from a bramble thicket at her left. Cinderpaw halted, her whiskers quivering.
"Come out Stonepaw. You nearly frightened all my fur off!" she grumbled irritably, scolding herself for not noticing his scent.
The dark tabby apprentice emerged from the bushes, his green eyes glinting mischievously. "Didn't your mentor teach you how to use your nose?" he drawled, casting a sideways glance at her. Cinderpaw bristled.
"Yes, he did. Didn't yours teach you manners?" she snapped back.
Stonepaw sat down in front of her, his tail tucked neatly over his black paws. He peered at her through glowing emerald eyes, a wicked grin on his face. Cinderpaw glared at him until he looked away and sighed, his ears flickering.
"Thanks for meeting me tonight, Cinderpaw," he mewed quietly, in a voice that Cinderpaw rarely heard. There was raw pain in his weary tone, and Cinderpaw ached to go forward and comfort him, but she remained where she was, blinking rapidly.
"No problem," she replied in a falsely cheerful voice.
"I, uh, I had something to say. That's why. I asked you to come," he stammered, not meeting her eyes.
Cinderpaw settled down onto the cold ground, her eyes trained on Stonepaw's face. He's handsome, she thought to herself. Appalled, she quickly banished the thought, her ears flickering.
"It's just…" he finally, raised his eyes to meet hers, and Cinderpaw blinked as his green gaze clashed with hers, bright and pleading.
"We've been friends for a while now, right?" he meowed slowly, a paw drawing circles in the mud.
"Sure," Cinderpaw answered, puzzled.
Stonepaw suddenly stopped and focused on her. "I don't have anyone else, Cinderpaw. You…you're the only cat I can turn to. I need you, and it scares me, sometimes. How much I want to be with you all the time."
Cinderpaw stared at him, frozen in place as his words paraded through her mind, amplified to a shout that reverberated in her ears, as if mocking her.
"I…" she stammered, turning away, a flush creeping across her face. She suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable, and she longed to dive for cover beneath the nearby bracken. Stonepaw exhaled slowly.
"Okay, I just spilled my heart out to you, so…so you don't have to answer, if you don't want to! Great StarClan, and I thought-" He stopped, his green eyes hard. A panicked look flash into Cinderpaw's gaze, she watched him, unable to speak.
"Stonepaw, I-"
"Don't even say anything," he spat. "I should have known you wouldn't take me seriously. See you later, Cinderpaw." He turned and spun around, stalking away into the undergrowth. Cinderpaw stared after him, her heart beating wildly in her chest. What could she possibly say to something like that? Her breathing quickened. What would he do?
With a start, Cinderpaw leaped to her feet, her whiskers quivering. She breathed in slowly, a long, calming breath, and then darted after Stonepaw, her paws kicking up mud.
"Stonepaw, wait!" she cried, whipping straight through a bramble thicket, ignoring the thorns raking her pelt like so many claws. "Stonepaw, please wait!"
He was standing with his back to her in the next clearing, and she had to dig in her claws to avoid colliding directly with his haunches.
"What?" he snapped, barely turning his head to look at her. She swallowed nervously, and tried to focus on the handsome glitter in his feral gaze.
"I just…look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to take it that way!" she cried, pleading. Stonepaw flicked his head away, his tail twitching in her face.
"If that's all you have to say, tell it to the ground, Cinderpaw," he meowed.
"Stonepaw, I love you," she murmured. As soon as the words had left her mouth she gasped, turning away, shame burning her face. He wasn't even from her Clan! She was breaking the warrior code. And besides, she hadn't even realized it until she had blurted it a moment ago. She waited for the sound of Stonepaw padding away, but suddenly his face was a whisker-length from hers, and his perfect, sparkling eyes were boring into hers.
"You really mean it?" he whispered, a plaintive waver in his voice.
Cinderpaw backed away, swallowed again, and replied hoarsely, "I can't, Stonepaw. I'm from ThunderClan, you're from-"
"That doesn't matter!" he cried. "Do you really love me, Cinderpaw?" His eyes were bright with excitement.
Cinderpaw took another frightened step away. "StarClan only knows how furious my father will be if he finds out-"
"Shut up, Cinderpaw!" Stonepaw fairly shouted. His green eyes were ablaze, his tail twitching wildly. "That doesn't matter," he said in a quieter tone.
Cinderpaw stared at him, fighting a wave of alarm. "Stonepaw! It matters more than…" she stopped, the look in his eyes making the words die in her throat.
Stonepaw froze, the glitter fading from his gaze, replaced with a sickening look of painful loneliness. "Matters more than what, Cinderpaw?" he whispered roughly, suddenly looking like a little kit, deflated and crouching on the ground, waiting for a blow from his mother for acting out. "More than me?"
Cinderpaw blinked, looked down, looked up at they sky, looked anywhere but at the wounded expression on his face. "That's not what I was going to say," she murmured. A lump rose in her throat. "I don't mean that."
Stonepaw go to his feet, his jaw clenched. "What do you mean then?" he asked."I do love you! I love you, Stonepaw, I really do!" Cinderpaw murmured, more to herself than to the dark tabby tom in front of her. "I really do love you. StarClan only knows how much I love you.
"Then they must know how much I love you! If they know, then it's okay, Cinderpaw! StarClan won't punish us just for…just for loving each other." Stonepaw cast an imploring look at the gray apprentice.
Cinderpaw closed her eyes tightly. Does he really mean more to me than the warrior code? The thought ran frantic circles in her mind's eye.
"StarClan can't punish us for loving each other…" Cinderpaw repeated quietly. "StarClan can't punish us for…punish us for…" Her words trailed away. As if with sudden determination, Cinderpaw's eyes flashed open, and she stared with open wonder at Stonepaw.
"Loving each other?" he meowed softly, finishing her sentence with a hesitant flicker of his ears.
"Loving each other." And her dark gray pelt brushed against his. The bracken rustled, leaning to and fro in a fresh, warm breeze that brought the first taste of newleaf to the forest.
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Okay, wow, a bit cheesy there at the end, and kind of went back and forth a bit too much….o well, what can you do, right? Hope ya'll liked it. Next one comes out soon.
