If you happen to have an eye for the divine, you should be able to see the great land known by the name of Starclan. A peaceful heaven of endless moors to run across, luscious forests to hunt in, and plentiful prey to feast upon, all meant for the followers of the warrior code to enjoy. It's quite a fitting reward for a whole life of diligent servitude, I would say, especially for those who lived long enough to become elders. Their souls get to be young again in here, which to some old folks is enough of a prize by itself, and that is without even mentioning that they get to meet everyone who died before they did.

For us, however, being young is all we've ever known, and most of us didn't live long enough to lose the cats that we cared about...

Taking a breath, Seedpaw glances at the tom next to her. He is lying flat on his back, just like her, enjoying the comfort of a paradisiac grass. His gleaming, leaf-green eyes are fixed on the sky, entranced in their everwistful way by the display of plain indigo, blinding yellows and somber purples looming over him. The tips of his ears flick and trace ginger lines in the still air as he ruminates deeply. He could be trying to figure out what time of day the sky is depicting, or wondering if the concept of a day-and-night cycle even makes sense in Starclan; either option is just as likely with how Gorsepaw's mind operates. Always questioning, always looking for answers, always pursuing a sense of intellectual clarity like one would chase the sun in the horizon.

"Starclan's perks are not really meant for the youth, as you can tell…" Seedpaw concludes.

Gorsepaw exhales a gentle whiff of air through his nose. Then, blinking slowly, he turns his head to his companion.

"Woah…" The sound is as simple as it is sincere, for it even seems to escape his mouth on its own whim. "That was really, really good."

Seedpaw diverts her gaze to the blades of grass in front of her nose. She begins fiddling with one of them distractedly. "I dunno…" she says. "The flow was a bit off."

Gorsepaw's eyes widen. "Oh no, come on, don't do that!" He leans on his side and lifts chest up with his front paws. "That narration was great and you know it."

Seedpaw wants to contradict the tom. The eye for the divine start made no sense with the context that followed. It was obvious that the rhyme had only been used based on how shallowly enticing it sounded. The narration had also gone from describing StarClan souls to talking specifically about elders without any sensible connector- basically, it had been a sudden leap in concepts.

All those mistakes pile on the she-cat's head, but when she lifts her gaze to match Gorsepaw's, when she has that lean tom towering over her be juxtaposed with his persistent praise and kind stare, she cannot help but let out an amused mrrow instead.

"Oh, you'd be purring even more if I had been the one to narrate," Gorsepaw chimes. Playfully, he then adds "Don't you remember the poppy seeds?"

Just as the tom predicted, Seedpaw can't contain herself. She purrs even louder as she recalls the time Gorsepaw trailed off midway through one of his turns at narrating. Poppy seeds had been a crucial part of his story, but he hadn't been sure if they grew on RiverClan territory, his setting of choice. So he, and by extent Seedpaw, had to go all around StarClan trying to find someone who could give him an accurate answer.

Presently, Gorsepaw nods at Seedpaw's outburst. "See? That was a case of poor narrative flow."

The young she-cat rolls her eyes fondly. "Okay, you're right. That one detail did make you forget what the entire story was about, after all."

"In my defense, I wouldn't have forgotten so much if it hadn't taken us so long to find a medicine cat," Gorsepaw declares. Then, he lies back down on his belly and tucks his white paws under his tabby chest. "I don't think Mudfur realized just how much we had been searching for his 'oh, but of course! Poppy flowers grow everywhere.'"

Seedpaw imitates Gorsepaw's movement. As she rolls on her back, she says "Sometimes answers are just that simple," and when she is facing the tom again, she adds "Besides, you could've just pretended that poppy seeds grew on RiverClan territory."

Teasingly, she edges her head closer to him.

"Some small detail is never as important as the story you want to tell."

With a look of keenness, the tom draws himself even closer to the she-cat, to the point where one slight movement would make their noses touch. That is when Seedpaw holds herself back. She knows what would happen if she were to make that sort of contact with Gorsepaw. What intruding sensations she would have to grapple with. As such, her only option is to refrain herself from triggering them, so her eyes dart down, away from the tom's face, and she begins fiddling with the grass blades once again.

Eventually, Gorsepaw lets out an apprehensive sigh and stands up, after which he makes a humorous face at Seedpaw, as if the silence instilled by their sudden closeness hadn't betrayed his own desires as well.

"Honestly," he starts saying, slowly. "How can you still not think that you're the best storyteller in all of StarClan?"

Seedpaw's eyes shoot wide open. She immediately stands up and exclaims "Alright, alright, that is way too much of an overstatement!"

The tom shrugs. "Exaggeration or not, you at least have to admit that you're very, very talented. I mean, did you not actually hear yourself back there? That was such an intriguing start for a story, and you came up with it on the spot!"

"Well, it wasn't 'on the spot'." Seedpaw's whiskers twitch as she clarifies this. "I've had an idea for that kind of introduction in my head for a long while already. I just never put it to words before."

His ginger ears perk up while his head tips to the side. "And how is that supposed to take away from your merit?"

"Because it meant that I didn't execute my idea to its fullest extent. I could've told a much better story if I hadn't improvised so much, but now someone other than me has heard it. I shared the story with you, meaning I established an identity for it, and unless I throw everything away and start over, I can't do anything to alter it!"

Seedpaw takes a breath. Only then does she realize that, the whole time she had ranted, Gorsepaw's face had maintained an expression of bemusement. It takes him a few moments to make his response.

"Didn't you just say that getting a few details wrong shouldn't matter?"

It takes Seedpaw only a heartbeat to refute.

"Yeah, except when those errors comprise the entirety of your story."

Gorsepaw shakes his head while his tail whips from side to side. Both are signs of his good-hearted exasperation.

"Well, I still think you're the most passionate storyteller I've ever met," he meows. "And I'll keep complimenting you until you just thank me for it without belittling yourself."

Yet another purr makes its way up Seedpaw's throat, and a wave of warmth ebbs across her whole body. If she could, she would rub her head against the tom's cheek, thanking him for his unending acclaim. But she can't. Not if she wants to spare her friend of the shameful sense of perversion that would be imposed upon them. She can still remember what grudgeful sentences had reverberated all over her head the first time she had tried to embrace Gorsepaw.

"This is wrong- You never met him in life- This cannot be allowed- He died many seasons before you were born- Such are the rules here, little one- Had he lived, your young heart would have never desired his old self- You have your kin and Starclan's endless hunting, what more could you ever demand?"

Seedpaw sinks her head. Her narrowed eyes gaze upon her paws as she shifts her weight from one to the other and mumbles some reply to Gorsepaw.

"Perhaps I will one day. You have all eternity to try."

The tom doesn't respond. Something in the scenery around him or some whimsical thought had probably drawn his attention away from the she-cat. Seedpaw can't blame him for it. In fact, she wishes she could distract her mind so easily. Even her stories, the thing that makes her feel the most alive, don't manage to avoid referencing that which she yearns for.

Such form of love is a perk that is not meant for Starclan's youth. Much like you, the chance for it has long since passed away.

Never planned to continue this story, but on the process of writing something else I surprised myself with this peculiar conversation that dealt with the themes of this story. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this bonus content.

PS: This event would take place before the first chapter, since Seedpaw's attitudes contradict what she comes to understand in the main story.