OwlfangDraws

Hawkspeckle - He/him - 67m - Short ticked tom with curled ears.

Moorskip - He/him - 29m - Cream tabby tom with long legs.

Cowpaw - He/him - 12m - Large black and white tom with big cheeks.

Grousekit - He/him - 2m - Black tom with gray paws.

Hawkspeckle notices that Grousekit is never congratulated for his accomplishments.

As she watched the healer slink out of camp one evening, eir ears drooped and tail low, Pipitpatch could tell that e was deeply upset. Not that she blamed em. If she had the life of a young cat in her paws, she'd surely crack too.

It was when the sun was casting its rays upon camp, when everyone had awoken, that questions started to rise about eir whereabouts. As Shadestar tried to settle question after unanswerable question, Pipitpatch had felt dread starting to fill her stomach.

She had barely even noticed that she had left camp herself until she realised that she was following the loose path, nose to the ground.

Longfalcon's scent was fresh still, if slightly faded. Even as it took a sharp turn and veered into the grass leading to ChervilClan, Pipitpatch kept her heart open, her hopes up. E would be okay. She would find em.

The walk was horribly long, but Stars was it worth it when she finally rounded another corner and saw Longfalcon sat in the sprawling meadow by FangClan's border, staring attentively at nothing at all. The gentle breeze swept eir long fur into the air, the barely-rising sun making em glow. How she wanted to sit here, and just admire how beautiful e was. Unfortunately, she wasn't that selfish.

"Hey, mousebrain," Pipitpatch purred, stepping next to the healer. "The others are going to start looking for you, y'know."

Longfalcon hardly stirred as if e knew she was there, murmuring something. "Not yet," e sighed, shuffling ever closer to Pipitpatch.

The molly let em rest against her, even as she tried to ignore how giddy the simple touch made her feel. "Are you alright?" she meowed, noticing how downtrodden e looked.

"Mm. Not really. Just don't wanna let them down is all."

It wasn't a secret what Longfalcon was fearing. "Well, how is she, then?"

"Depends which she you mean." e replied, looking back into the distance. "Massifmallow is doing... better, I guess. Oh, what am I kidding? You know that. You're the one keeping her mind in check. I mean, I convinced Pumpkinwisp to let her supervise him and Wheatpaw. Spikepaw still sleeps half the day, but she's stable enough. It's just..." Longfalcon swallowed, eir ears drooping slightly, "you just dunno if or when either'll turn for the worse."

"Well, you're doing fine as is. Maybe either of them will go downhill. I won't think less of you, none of us will. You're doing your best, and nobody I know would blame you for that."

The pair stayed quiet for a moment, Pipitpatch wondering if Longfalcon was contemplating eir choices. It was nice to just be here, either way; she hoped e agreed.

"You didn't have to look for me, y'know. Haven't you got Mousekit to mind? She's basically your daughter now. Don't deny it." E glanced up sharply, a teasing smirk on eir face.

"Ha! I wish. I already asked the kit. She still views her old mother as her real one," Pipitpatch chuckled, though the thought of the mystery molly who'd abandoned her own daughter made her stomach crawl. "For all I love her, she'd never call me her mother. I don't mind, honest!"

Longfalcon's stifled laugh sounded from beside her. "Sure you don't. For what it's worth, I think you'd be a good parent. You've got the heart for it, you know?"

Pipitpatch felt her body stiffen ever so slightly. Eir tone was soft, as usual, but it made it near impossible to tell what e meant by that. Please be thinking what I'm thinking. Please be thinking what I'm thinking.

"Uh!" E meowed hurriedly, eir eyes wide. "Only if you were wanting to. I'm not asking you to go out and, I dunno, find a tom or molly or whatever and have kits if you don't want to!"

"No, you're... I do want kits. I've always wanted to be a mother. It's just..." Pipitpatch shuffled slightly closer to Longfalcon again, swallowing her worries back down. "I don't want to do it without you, is all."

Stars, the silence after she spoke those dreaded words was haunting. Pipitpatch felt the faintest sense of panic run up her spine as Longfalcon faced her, eir mouth ever so slightly agape.

"You're in love with me?"

"Yeah. I am."

Silence again. Longfalcon looked down at eir paws, shifting.

"I... I dunno what to say." Longfalcon muttered. "I mean, I love you too, but it's just... hard to imagine a cat as brilliant as you falling for some scrap like me, is all-"

"Foxcrap!" Pipitpatch exclaimed, so taken aback by eir statement that she didn't even recognise her fur puffing up. "Longfalcon, you are one of the smartest, bravest cats I know. THE one, actually. Even if you weren't, I'd still love you, for Stars' sake!"

"Alright, alright! No need to get all sappy!" the healer laughed, batting her face with eir soft paws. "You know what? If you're so insistent, I'll challenge you. You're gonna run aaaall the way across the meadow, and I'll chase! If I catch you and I win, we can become mates today. If you win..." e paused for a moment. "We become mates tomorrow!"

Pipitpatch mock-gasped as she raised a paw to her face. "Tomorrow! Oh, how evil!" she cackled. "Fine, then. Catch me if you can!"

At first, Pipitpatch simply strutted off, Longfalcon catching up to her with ease. And then they played again. And again. Each new round lasting longer, the cats' paws carrying them faster and faster. And, even as the young dawn stretched to true sunrise, and as sunrise stretched to a blue-skied morning, the new lovers' joyful laughter still rang out as they ran after one another like new apprentices. It didn't matter how stupid or silly they looked, because they had each other.

Snowstar - She/her - 128m - Large white molly with sharp features.

Badgerpaw - She/her - 12m - Skinny black and white molly with mismatched eyes.