*has yellow and white poms poms* Ohhh.... B to the A to the C to the K-- I'm BACK!! ^o^ WHOOOOOO! Yaay! I'm so happy! Yes, I do acknowledge how AGONIZINGLY LONG I took writing this next chapter, so I punished myself ahead of time so you guys don't throw tomatoes at me or something. You see... *big, sad eyes* Macey had to iron her hands... *shows hands covered in bandages* Haha! GO DOBBY! XD Anyways, on wiv da chaptah! Enjoy!! =D

A Raven's Peppered Wing

Chapter 7

Sunlight beat heavily on the black shingle roof of the barn, and one could barely pick out a sleek black cat trotting along the gutter. The cat's golden eyes caught the sun and glinted and he turned his head to look behind him at another cat following nervously and cautiously along the side of the roof--this one easily able to spot among the tiles, mottled light brown with tiny white paws. She too had amber-like eyes, but hers were browner and cloudy, like dust on a road. The sunlight again caught the new cat's eyes, but she only squinted and shrunk back farther against the warming roof.

The black cat turned back and padded along the edge to her.

"Come on, Pepper, let's go!" he yowled encouragingly, rearing up on his hind legs and bounding forward again. Pepper, the brown tabby cat, stared at him, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Like I'm going to run along the edge of this rickety old thing! No way, I'm going slowly before I break my neck like you!" Her words were sharp, but her dusky brown eyes sparkled with humor and her voice had a tinge of it as well.

The black tom looked back over his shoulder. "Oh, yeah? Well, what if I'm--" He spun around to face her. "Magical?" he finished melodramatically.

Pepper caught up and pushed him lightly. "Just because your name is Ravenpaw, doesn't mean you can fly like a raven!" She stepped past him and continued along the roof, staring down at hers paws as if she could prevent them from tripping over anything by boring her eyes into them.

Ravenpaw smiled from behind her. "Oh, fine," he fumed playfully. "Look, there's the end." Pepper glanced up; he was right. The edge of the gutter was approaching, and once she had reached it, she took a cautious step to the wide windowsill and slipped inside, heaving a sigh of relief and jumping down in a small pile of hay. Ravenpaw followed her casually.

"See?" he mewed, nudging her as he trotted up. "That wasn't so bad, was it? I told you walking along the barn was fun." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, if you've lived here for years. Remember, I haven't been here so long. Only a little while." She remarked.

Ravenpaw looked puzzled. "What do you mean? I'd call two of three moons more than 'a little while', wouldn't you?" He leaped on top of a large stack of hay and sat down, puffing out his chest.

"Although..." he started. "I have been here for a longer time than you, which makes me your superior. Now run in circles, underling!" Pepper laughed.

"Make me!"

Ravenpaw crouched, waving his tail back and forth menacingly. "Oh, you asked for it!" He pounced, and Pepper shrieked and darted out of the way. The two ran about the loft, dodging stray piles of straw and buckets of animal feed. Pepper screeched to a halt and ducked behind a wheelbarrow--she had learned a lot of the names by now and could recite them in her head--and leapt onto Ravenpaw as he dashed past it. The two of the tussled on the floor.

"Must you two always act like three-moon-old kits?"

The two froze and looked to the stairway leading up to the loft, where Barley stood staring at them with amusement in his eyes. Ravenpaw was first to move, detaching his head from Pepper's paws and standing up to shake his fur.

"Well, she started it!"

Barley was unmoved. "I rest my case."

Movement sounded behind the black-and-white tom, and Pepper saw the gray, fluffy head of Lilac poke up next to him.

"Oh, let them have fun, Barley. Younger ones always think of everything as a game." She remarked. Pepper smiled at her words, but something in her stirred, hurt. Lilac was older than Pepper by a bit, but she had never thought of their age difference as something to set them apart from each other. She looked down, suddenly set to thinking, and didn't hear what Ravenpaw said to her.

"Pepper?"

She looked up, jumped. "What?"

Ravenpaw looked curiously at her for a moment, then shook his head like he was flinging water off his ears. "I said me and Barley are going to go hunt. I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye."

The two toms set off bounding down the loft stairs, but Lilac stayed where she was after a quick goodbye to Barley. Pepper remembered she was still half-lying on the dusty floor and stood up to shake the dirt and hay pieces from her tabby pelt.

"So," Lilac started, heading over to her, her dainty paws quiet on the wooden floor. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay." Pepper still felt deterred by Lilac's dismissive comment, but she still had no idea why. It wasn't unlike Lilac to make jokes about how she and Ravenpaw fooled around, but this felt different somehow.

Lilac sat down in front of her, even so, she still towered over Pepper. Lilac was tall, long-limbed, and graceful; whereas Pepper was small and clumsy.

"Are you a little bit..." Lilac trailed off and Pepper cocked her head, waiting for her to resume her sentence. "Annoyed? I mean, at what I said?"

Well," Pepper shifted. "I'm not annoyed... A little confused, sure..."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, really. I mean, I took seriously."

Lilac paused. "To be honest, I was kind of saying it to sound... Well..."

"To sound what?" Pepper tried to meet Lilac's lavender gaze, but it was fixed on her paws. She thought for a moment and the answer hit her--not hard, but like a cuff on the head to arouse one from sleep. "To sound older?"

Lilac shifted this time, looking very uncomfortable. "Well, no, not older. Like..."

"More mature?" Pepper suddenly realized how often she finished her older friend's sentences for her and smothered a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess."

Pepper did laugh this time. "Why?"

Lilac didn't reply at first. "Uh... You know..."

"No, I don't know, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you."

Lilac smiled. "I wanted Barley to think of me as more mature."

This time the answer did hit Pepper hard, harder than before. She blinked with shock. She had noticed and known of Lilac's, well... special feelings about Barley, but she had never heard her be so open about them before.

Lilac looked down again. "I mean.. He's so considerate and..." She sighed and trailed off. Pepper smiled, dragging herself out of her shocked stage. She was happy for her friend for finding someone she cared about, so she could at least show it.

The small tabby pressed her muzzle against the tall gray she-cat's shoulder. "I'm glad he's right for you. I'm sure he feels the same." A small flicker of doubt, the smallest, sparked in Lilac's eyes, but only for a moment. Then it was gone and Lilac was smiling shyly again. A mischievous glint entered her pale purple eyes.

"I'm sure your special someone feels the same, too..." she mewed smoothly, getting up and padding around Pepper toward the loft window, from which light was flooding into.

Pepper stayed where she was, stuck to the ground. Her head spun in confusion. "Wait--what? Who? Which 'someone'?" she stammered.

Lilac, now perched on the sill, looked over her shoulder. Her gray fur had a gold lining from the sun behind her and she looked like a statue for a minute.

"Ravenpaw, mouse-brain!"

Pepper's skin suddenly flushed with embarrassment, until she thought she would pass out from the heat. She diverted her eyes and ducked her head.

"Wh-what do you mean? Ravenpaw, he... he doesn't... doesn't... like me..." she spluttered clumsily.

Lilac let out a loud mrrow of laughter and it cut through the loft. "He does too!" she protested, still laughing. "He's insane over you! Haven't you noticed?"

Pepper, suddenly interested, looked up. All embarrassment was gone, and now only eagerness to find out what Ravenpaw really thought about her was left.

"Noticed what? What does he say? Noticed what?!" She pummeled her friend with questions.

Lilac stood up on the windowsill. "Ha! See? You like him back!" Pepper swallowed and looked away again.

"No, I d--" She started guiltily, then stopped. There was no point in hiding anything when Lilac could see right through her no matter what. Besides, she had told Pepper of her feelings for Barley; it was only fair.

"Yeah, I--I do. I mean, he's just..." She couldn't find words. "Yeah." When she looked up again, Lilac was smiling kindly at her.

"I thought something more was going on." She meowed softly and motioned with her head for Pepper to come closer. Pepper did, and sat down next to Lilac on the sill.

"Look," Lilac started. "Toms are always way too oblivious to notice when they have feelings for someone, I know. But the most you can do is wait and see what happens."

Uncertainty stirred in Pepper stomach. "But... If you wait for too long, could the feelings go away?"

"Not if they're real."

Pepper thought this over, looking absentmindedly out the loft window. Was it true what Lilac said? Would Ravenpaw really feel the way Lilac said he did forever? She sighed. These questions, she feared, would never truly be answered.

"Hey!" Pepper looked around at the sound of Ravenpaw's voice. She saw the black tom at the stairs, weaving around a vole and three mice that lay at his feet.

"You guys coming down?" he asked them casually. A playful shine entered his eyes as he looked at Lilac. "Barley's down there..." He teased in a sing-song voice.

Lilac stood up and stretched, then bounding across the loft to Ravenpaw. "Oh, shut up," she retorted, flicking his ear with her tail. But she didn't show any sign of denial as she trotted down the stairs. Ravenpaw turned his gold eyes on her and Pepper smiled.

"You want to share this with me?" he asked, looking down at the vole and nudging it. "We can save the other stuff for later today." He glanced back up at her, and the tabby she-cat could have sworn something in his eyes changed. She couldn't place it, what it was... But it changed, somehow. For once Pepper felt some confidence in Lilac's words. Maybe things were different.

"Yeah," she said, getting up and padding towards him. Then, of all boldness, she pressed her muzzle against his side. "Yeah, I would."

EEEEEEEEP! Wasn't that just soooo cute?! Well, maybe not that cute, but y'know. XP Haha! I'm random. That was a random chapter. SO-- Tell me what you guys thought! Any ideas for the next couple chapters before Le Grande Finale? And, uhhh... yeah. REVIEW! =D KTHANXBYE XD