Slight timeskip here, but nothing too major. To my reviewers:
Artistic-And-Wild-Justice: Oh, don't worry about Redwhisker and Whitestar. Perhaps you'll find this chapter a sufficient introduction to many more chapters to come telling of their journey.
WildxPaws: Thank you so much again, you are a revered fan of this story to me! I'm always glad to receive your OCs, and you've been a loyal follower to the story so far. If you've got friends who might like this kind of stuff, don't hesitate to reccomend it to them!
And without further ado...
Days had passed since Redwhisker took the kits out into camp. His time taking care of Grassfur had brought the two closer together, and the queen made sure he was eating well. She also made sure Redwhisker had some time to get out into the forest with Sagefrost and hunt or patrol, she knew the two were close friends.
Redwhisker had also asked Morningheart about the strange omen he saw. In response, the medicine cat had given him a strange but guarded look, and said nothing to him, only that she might want to check on his eyes in case he was seeing things. The thought of it had left his mind however, as he anticipated the upcoming half moon. He'd get to see Whitestar again, the tired looking white leader which he'd given hope to.
The evening of the half moon was upon the clan, and Redwhisker could see Morningheart in her den, making preparations for leaving. He thought she was getting prepared a bit early, the sun hadn't set yet. Then again, he'd never visited the moonpool, so he didn't know how far it was. Only that it was somewhere up Mooreclan's territory.
He'd completed his nursery duties that morning, and had just woken up from a restful nap. Sagefrost came up to him, prodding him in the side with her nose. "We haven't hunted in a while. And the other cats keep making fun of my crouch. Let's get out of here," she said with a slightly irked expression.
Redwhisker could see her weight teetering uneasily from side to side on her big paws, and her eyelids were slightly closed. She blinked them open a few times as she waited for her hunting partner to respond. Redwhisker could tell it would be a shorter hunting trip, as she looked tired. He nodded, and got to his feet, leading the black she-cat out of camp and into the woods.
The forest, lush as it still was, showed signs of a waning season. Some leaves on the trees were beginning to turn orange, and Redwhisker noticed the prey wasn't quite running into their paws like they used to. He treaded closely besides Sagefrost, the lumbering she-cat sniffing the air. She murmured, "Leaf-fall is on its way. I hope the prey decides to stick around though. It's a lot harder to sniff out prey in the snow. And my coat does me no favors."
"That's true," Redwhisker noted. "Have you scented anything yet?"
Sagefrost responded, "Just pair of thrushes who flew off a moment ago. Oh, and a squirrel. It's straight ahead in those roots, see it?" She point forward with her tail, crouching down and trying not to draw attention.
Redwhisker saw the squirrel, it was holding a nut between its paws. Wordlessly, he slipped into a crouch, and stalked around the trees, giving the squirrel a wide berth. He honed in as his approach led him in from the side, and once he got within striking distance of his target, he pounced on the squirrel. It had no time to react, and he snapped its neck. He turned around, picking up the squirrel and walking back to Sagefrost.
"Watching you makes me envious," Sagefrost groaned out of the blue, butting her head against Redwhisker. The dark red tom fell over to this action, looking up questioningly to the she-cat. "Whenever I try a crouch like what you just did, I end up crashing into every tree and bush, snapping every twig, and rustling every patch of leaves with my tail."
"Don't think about it that way, Sagefrost," Redwhisker said, trying to comfort his friend. He got up, shaking the dirt off his pelt. "You've got plenty of things to be proud of that other cats in this clan can't boast having."
Sagefrost raised her eyebrows and sighed, muttering, "Rainstar was right lumping the two 'useless cats' together. At least this way we don't have to be ridiculed by our clanmates all the time. I've got it worse than you too, you could probably hunt with your hearing and vision, but all the prey in the forest would be alerted by me if I dropped into a crouch and tried to move for a heartbeat."
Redwhisler didn't know precisely what to say to this. Perhaps he should let her rant, but he also did want to soothe her feelings. He started up, "Well, it's as I said. You're still a talented cat. I'd say you're one of if not the most excellent fighters in our clan. You've beat Ashtail, Thrushclaw, Lilyfoot, Sorrelpelt, Greyface, and Stonewind in our sparring sessions. And you've even beaten Lionstar! You know he's known to the other clans as a fierce border patroller, at least before he became leader."
To this point, Sagefrost looked a bit less frustrated with herself. But then she grumbled, "No one even fights anymore. All the clans have been on good terms with each other for moons, and it seems like everyone is really trying to make this peace last. Right now, the most valuable warrior is not the fighter, but the hunter."
Sagefrost's words were wise, Redwhisker concluded. They continued their hunt in relative silence after that moment, coming back to camp with three more pieces of prey. Sagefrost went off to feed the elders, which she had been doing on frequent occasion. Many moons ago, her brother Strongclaw had lost his hearing from a cause Redwhisker couldn't remember, and had been moved to the elder's den by Rainstar. Sagefrost was devastated by this, as it happened only a short while after the two of them became warriors. Both of her parents were also in the elder's den, so Redwhisker could understand why she spent so much time in there, to be with her family.
Redwhisker sometimes looked on with slight jealousy at Sagefrost. But then he would take back the emotion, and scold himself. He wished for a family so dearly. But Flowerpelt didn't show much affection to him after he'd left the nursery. As for Greyface, he blamed the death of his beloved Robinfur on the birthing of Redwhisker and his siblings, and removed himself from their early life. It was only at the beginning of that newleaf that their father had come to terms with his neglection, and asked for his kits' forgiveness.
Morningheart had just left the camp. Redwhisker took this as a queue to also leave. He knew from earlier that the young warrior Thrushclaw was guarding the camp, and he probably wouldn't question Redwhisker slipping out. Just in case, he took his time getting to the entrance, making sure no cat saw his movements toward the entrance. Then finally, he walked out casually, hurrying as he went through the brambles.
The sun had passed the treetops, and not very much light was out. Redwhisker had made his way to the Mooreclan border, and was scanning the grassy hills for any sign of Mooreclan cats. Deciding he was in the clear, he stalked down the border,until he reached the lake. The steady lapping of the water met his ears, and the soft sand sunk under his paws as he traipsed along into Mooreclan's shore.
Redwhisker moved fast and kept low, in hopes that if by chance there were cats patrolling, they'd mistake his dark coat to be a part of the lake which he was walking closely to. The night was almost on the territories, but fate deemed that Redwhisker have a close experience before his secret meeting.
Redwhisker almost jumped out of his fur when from the corner of his eye, he saw several cats surge over the hills. His eyes snapped up to them, but he stayed perfectly still, uncertain if they had seen him or not. He guessed they were Mooreclanners, as from his view, they were small cats. And to his luck, they hadn't seen him. He would have to rely on the night and the lake to keep it that way.
He slunk backwards into the lake, taking quiet steps into the water until he was submerged up to his belly. He lowered himself on his legs into the lake, keeping his eyes on the patrol of cats. He hoped they'd pass on soon, he wasn't very fond of the cold water, despite it being a nice way to cool off after the hot green leaf day.
Mooreclan's dusk patrol drew close, and Redwhisker held his breath. He didn't want his first official meeting with Whitestar to be interrupted by getting caught across the border. He also didn't wish to interfere with the peace of the clans.
To his luck, the Mooreclanners turned back, and Redwhisker got out of the water. He shook his fur, then trotted toward Streamclan's territory. He picked up his pace, not wanting to keep Whitestar waiting, up until he had broken into a full on sprint. The dampness of his fur had disappeared with his vigorous action, and he saw the marshy plant growth only a hundred or so tail-lengths ahead, a telltale sign that he would soon be in Streamclan territory.
Redwhisker had remembered the constant harping of his clanmates whenever they had crossed into Streamclan for the gatherings. There were constant complaints of the combination of the fishy scent and mud, and for once, Redwhisker was glad that his sense of smell was faulty.
One of Redwhisker's paws slipped into a puddle of water, and he drew it back in surprise. He hadn't been watching where he was going, and looking up, noticed the low shrubs and bushes of Streamclan. It was dark enough that no cat should be out at the time, so Redwhisker deemed it safe for now.
The wind picked up rather suddenly, and blew across Redwhisker's fur, ruffling it up. He turned his head away from the wind, for it was slightly irritating his eyes. Aloud, Redwhisker wondered, "If I were Whitestar, where would I be?"
"Here," a deep and husky toned voice carried by the wind hit the dark red tom's ears. Redwhisker jumped up in the air in fright, and whirled around to see who had snuck up on him. He squinted into the wind, and then his vision became clear. White fur rippling in the wind and yellow tree sap colored eyes met his gaze as he set his eyes upon the leader of Streamclan. Redwhisker recovered from the initial shock of seeing Whitestar again, and his fur mellowed out. Whitestar looked quizzically at Redwhisker, and asked, "Did you not smell me? My scent was blowing right in your direction."
Redwhisker sauntered up to the tall white tom, and brushed pelts with him. He's so handsome, he thought. "Thing about that," he started to explain, but was cut off by Whitestar.
The leader guessed, "You've got a hindered sense of smell?"
Redwhisker looked up at Whitestar, and answered, "Yes, that's right. How'd you figure it out?"
"You didn't seem to scent me that other time either, when we met after the gathering. I thought it was peculiar, but brushed it off as you not smelling my scent over the scent of the lake," Whitestar said. He then asked, "So you just can't smell anything? Or are there things you can smell?"
Redwhisker's eyes gleamed playfully, and he replied, "There are things I can smell. I just need to press my nose to them, like this!" With his last words, he rounded the sitting Whitestar, and bumped his nose into the leader's chest. Whitestar looked surprised, and he so caught off guard by the dark red tom's actions, that he tumbled over backwards.
The two cats tumbled into a thick clump of reeds, Redwhisker laughing while they both ended up on their sides. Whitestar looked like he was trying to hold in his laughter, and successfully did so. His sides heaved as he lifted himself, and looked around. "Well, that was certainly fun. And quite random. I don't believe I've ever been in these reeds," Whitestar said, looking around. Tall, thick reeds circled the area and a big patch of dry grass plainly adorned the center.
Redwhisker got up after him, and looked back to where they had entered the reed clearing. The long stalks had closed up after them, making the clearing look like it had never been touched. Intrigued, he called the Streamclan leader's attention. "Hey, Whitestar. This clearing is really nice, and it covers up our tracks for us. Plus it's close enough to the lake that it isn't deep in your territory, I could probably find this place again if it came to it."
Whitestar nodded, and bent down to talk in Redwhisker's ear. He whispered, "Did you know, Redwhisker, that I haven't stopped thinking about you since we went our separate ways?"
A hot wave of embarrassment washed off Redwhisker at that moment. He'd never heard a cat say that about him. He sheepishly replied, "Really? That's, ah, really flattering. I've been thinking of you too, but most of my energy is spent tending to the nursery right now. I'm on nursery duty since we don't have apprentices."
Whitestar smiled, then asked, "Grassfur and her three new kits, correct? How do you get along with the kits?"
"I feel like I'm somewhere in between a mentor, brother, and father figure. Their real father, Longears, does visit, but doesn't really spend too much time there. I really like all the kits, each are so different and unique, and its the first time I've been given so much trust around the future of our clan," Redwhisker said dreamily, as if he were reciting a story.
Whitestar noticed the stars in Redwhisker's eyes, and said, "It sounds like you're good at the whole business around kits, yet you don't have a mate to have kits of your own."
Redwhisker's heart skipped a beat. I thought he'd already figured me out. But I guess I'll have to lay it down for him to see, plain as day. He replied, "I'm actually not really attracted to she-cats. I guess there might've been times where I thought like that, but right now, I don't like them. I'm more attracted to toms. In… in a romantic way." He paused and looked up at Whitestar.
The tall white tom had a grin on his face, and his eyes were narrowed in a playful manner. He asked Redwhisker, "So what about you and Lionstar? I saw you two walking pretty close on the way into the gathering."
"It's not like that with him," Redwhisker huffed. "He's just a friend, a best friend at that. He looks out for me in the clan, and makes sure cats don't mess with me. I used to get bullied for my size, and I guess I still do… just in a more mature sense, if you can imagine that. But Lionstar protects me from the others, when he's around."
Whitestar gave an affirmative grunt, then gazed into Redwhisker's verdant green eyes, his face coming closer to the smaller cat's. He breathed, "What about me? Do you like me?"
Redwhisker shrunk beneath Whitestar's ambivalent gaze, it was both intense and cool, piercing and relaxed. He stammered, "I… I do have an answer for that." Whitestar waited with bated breath for the Greenclanner to continue. "I find you fascinating, Whitestar. I want to know more about you. I also… I also want to touch you. Your fur, your muscles, your face. I want to do things to you, Whitestar. I can only hope you feel the same way, and that I haven't made a complete fool out of myself."
Whitestar's face lit up, and he tackled Redwhisker gently, pushing the dark red tom onto his back. "I've imagined you saying those words for days, Redwhisker," he whispered, looking down into the Greenclanner's face. Redwhisker nearly died from embarrassment, he couldn't process all that had just happened. "And I want to do those things to you too. But listen, I want to sleep with you in this clearing. Side by side, curled up together. I want to share this warm night with you, my dear Redwhisker."
Redwhisker's heart seemed to be pulled tight with mirth as he heard Whitestar speak in his husky and comforting voice. He closed his eyes, and felt the white leader lick his neck. He shuddered, and reached up, wrapping his paws around Whitestar's back and pulling him downward, on top of him. They cradled each other throughout the night, letting the shared feelings and their bodies keep them cozy and warm through the night.
AAH Whitewhisker! Please excuse any inconsistencies I have while writing about these two, its my first time writing about gay cats and the like.
But anyway, leave your thoughts in the review section below! Or perhaps a favorite if you're feeling generous. I can use all the help I can get!
