#halfrose

               “This is just…fantastic.” Halfpelt grumbled dryly as he stared across the flowing water of the wide river, gaze locked onto the other side. Roseface padded to his side, pricking up his ears and staring across. The water sparkled as it drifted by, lit up by the sinking sun, and the water that lapped at the shore was visibly clear. In fact, the various stones and rocks beneath the surface were visible, colored varying shades of browns, whites, and even some pinks or reds.

               Roseface thought the view was beautiful; Halfpelt did not.

               “That’s a big river.” Roseface mewed his observation aloud, whiskers twitching.

               “You don’t think I know that?” Halfpelt snapped at him, turning on the pale ginger tom and flattening his odd colored ears against the back of his head; he relaxed, shifting to glare bitterly at the swirling water as it rolled past and lapped at the bank the duo stood on, “There’s no way we can cross that.”

               Roseface let out a soft hum of agreement, gaze drifting away from the river, sweeping over the brush and grass and scenery around, before settling on a different landmark. He pushed his shoulder against Halfpelt’s, thrusting his muzzle in another direction, “Hey, look at that.”

               Further down the way was a large path; it lifted up and rose above the river, and ended on the other side. A few monsters rumbled on it, and Roseface was sure he could see a few two-legs walking across the pathway.

               Halfpelt’s expression didn’t brighten, however, and he only flicked his tail tip in response. He eyed the pathway skeptically, before lifting his chin to stare at the sky. The sun was still dipping below the horizon, and the sky was painted a warm color, painted with pink and golden orange clouds, though it had begun to transition into a pinkish-purple color that Roseface still fondly admired.

               “It’s getting late. Maybe we should stop for the night, get some rest, and then test out that…thing tomorrow.” Halfpelt meowed firmly, but Roseface had already twisted around and was currently trotting up the slope towards the shrub-littered grassy field they had been crossing on previously. He lifted his tail tip high and called over his shoulder, “No way. You said you wanted to get to that two-leg nest cluster before tomorrow, and here’s an option.” The tom paused briefly in his speech, not his gait, “Plus, there’ll be less monsters during the night.”

               I hope.

               Halfpelt grunted, flicking an ear irritably; okay, so maybe Roseface had a point. But Halfpelt was going to be stubborn and not listen to him solely because Roseface had already begun the walk towards the pathway without going over the plan with him.

               “Slow down!” The russet and white tabby demanded as he finally shot after the still-walking rosy ginger tom.

               The walk towards the pathway had taken far longer than Roseface expected. The duo had walked along in silence, occasionally pausing so that one or the other could catch up, and by the time they had reached the pathway, the sun was gone and the sky had transitioned into the blackish blue hue of night. The stars dusted over the sky, twinkling and contrasting against the deep background; Roseface wondered if his StarClan family could see him now – he wondered if Halfpelt wondered the same thing.

               “I’m not so sure about this.” Halfpelt’s voice was laced heavy with concern, and Roseface twisted around to lock his gaze with the other tom’s heterochromatic one. Roseface stared at his friend quizzically, “Why?”

               Halfpelt shuffled on his bi-colored paws, ears flicking back momentarily as he warily eyed the pathway they were about to cross; he glanced back towards the shrubbery they had just woven around.

               “I really think we should head back. It’s dark out – we need to sleep. C’mon, let’s - .”

               “No.”

               “Excuse me?”

               “I said no,” Roseface’s tone had hardened, “We’re crossing now. You said let’s get to the other side before tomorrow, so we’re getting to the other side tomorrow.” He turned and padded up the odd pathway, not sticking around long enough to argue with Halfpelt; the other tom huffed irritably at his friend’s answer, before trudging after him. Whatever. He’d give Roseface an earful afterwards.

               The pathway was a thunderpath – or at least, it felt like it. The material beneath their paws was tough and black, and it definitely stung Roseface’s pink pads and made them ache. He carried on, however, and Halfpelt trotted silently behind him. He wouldn’t be silent for much longer, of course, he was just planning out the lecture he was about to berate Roseface with.

               But, there was a constant paranoia nagging Halfpelt, unknown to Roseface, though the pale ginger tom could practically feel how anxious Halfpelt was. And finally, about half way across the path, the half-tabby tom spoke.

               “How do you know a monster won’t come down here and hit us?” Halfpelt blurted out, glancing over his shoulder; Roseface snorted, flicking out his wiry tail and brushing his dark ginger tail tip against Halfpelt’s muzzle. The other tom retaliated by snapping his jaws in the air that the tail tip previously was, and a soft chuckle rumbled from the scrawny ginger tom’s throat.

               “They’re sleepin’.”

               “Sometimes they come out at night.” Halfpelt countered, and Roseface simply rolled his yellow eyes in response; they padded onwards for a few moments, until the gleaming yellow-orange dots cast a strange yellow-orange hue on the path ahead. Roseface stiffened, watching frozen with fear as a monster roared down the pathway; as it drew closer at an alarming rate, he felt Halfpelt pull away from his side, and he almost didn’t hear the splash of something hitting the water over the roar of the monster as it thundered past. Roseface lowered his head with eyes squeezed shut, holding his breath and flattening his ears against the back of his head, until the wind from the monster ceased tugging at his pale ginger fur and its roar began to fade. He snapped his head up, twisting around and leaning over the ledge, yowling out to the swirling black water below, “Halfpelt?”

               His heart dropped when he didn’t hear a reply. And then it thudded against his chest with mingled relief and dread at the distant wail, “Roseface!” He scanned the water desperately, finally spotting a splash of white fur floating down the way – or, well, floundering.

               “Roseface!” Halfpelt shouted again before he disappeared beneath the surface; Roseface bunched his muscles and leapt, plunging into the icy water below. He spluttered as his head resurfaced, gulping in air desperately before crying out Halfpelt’s name once more. He wouldn’t be able to find his friend unless Halfpelt called back to him; thankfully, he did. Roseface’s ears pricked at the choked noise from Halfpelt, and he kicked out his legs, propelling himself in the direction of his friend.

               Roseface took this moment to silently thank StarClan for the swimming practice he had when he was back in FallClan.

               Halfpelt was, of course, panicking. He had never really swam before. Ever, actually. Living in a pine forest that had a shallow drinking stream wasn’t exactly a swim-situation. So, naturally, when Roseface managed to catch sight of him, he was floundering in the water, limbs flailing and splashing water around him as he struggled to stay afloat. The current wasn’t exactly rapidly strong, but it was still enough to make swimming a bit difficult. Roseface tilted his chin up in an attempt to keep his pink nose above the water, coughing a little as Halfpelt clumsily sent a splash of water cascading onto his muzzle and flooding his nose.

               “Watch it!” Roseface spat. Halfpelt shrieked back, “I’m drowning, you asshole!”

               Roseface gave another kick with his legs, starting to feel exhaustion creeping into his sore limbs, and he sunk his teeth into Halfpelt’s scruff – at least, he hoped it was Halfpelt’s scruff.

               “Stop kicking, or you’ll drown us both!” Roseface grunted, voice muffled through Halfpelt’s sodden scruff. Halfpelt spat a curse at Roseface, but he, albeit bitterly, relaxed his legs and allowed Roseface to start to haul them back to shore.

               By the time he did actually haul himself and Halfpelt out of the water and onto the shore they had been needing to get to, Roseface was ready to collapse. And so he did; the water was shallow enough to soak his underbelly and chin, but it didn’t pass his muzzle and instead, he simply let it laxly lap at his fur as he panted weakly. Halfpelt pulled himself out of water’s way and onto dry, solid ground before slumping over, drawing in his own ragged breaths as he fought to catch his breath.

               “I told you it was a bad idea!” Halfpelt twisted around after regaining his energy, snapping at Roseface, who still lay in the shallow water. Roseface’s muzzle curled, ears flattening and sodden dark ginger tail tip flicking, “I saved you, didn’t I?”

               “We wouldn’t even be in this mess if you had just listened to me, Roseface! We could’ve just been killed because you’re too damn reckless – do you even care? Are you even - !”

               “I didn’t ask you to come with me!” Roseface spat back, voice raising as he lifted his head from the cool water; the duo fell uncomfortably silent after that. The rocks beneath Roseface’s body clicked as his weight shifted, and he pulled himself up and away from the water, finally padding out and continuing on. Halfpelt simply dragged out a slow sigh, before turning and padding up the slope after Roseface.

               The two-leg nest cluster was odd to say the least. Bright lights flashed on the dens, and some dens reached so far up they even touched the sky. Two-legs stumbled around, shouting and laughing, and Roseface scampered forward swiftly, with Halfpelt close on his heels; they turned the corner on the smooth stone pathway, dodging the feet of staggering two-legs, and bolting across a strange opening where monsters seemed to sleep. They reached the flat, gray stone once more with relief, before scrambling back and pressing against the wall as yet another two-leg group strolled passed and disappeared into the huge den. Roseface hesitated for a moment, taking the brief moment to take in his surroundings.

               There were no more two-leg groups as far as Roseface could tell, though there was a two-leg in a red pelt standing at the mouth of the den; the two-leg seemed to have noticed Roseface and Halfpelt and now held out their paw, cooing and clucking to them as if beckoning the pair over. However, the cats remained cautious, remaining where they stood and turning their attention elsewhere.

               “Woah.”

               Roseface pricked his ears and glanced to Halfpelt, who was staring up, eyes narrowed a bit but still shining with awe, and Roseface followed the tom’s gaze to the roof over head. Why did the two-leg den roof overhang like that? They weren’t inside of the den, were they? Whatever. It was made of a strange stone material, but from it hand bright, yellow shining orbs. Lights? Stars?

               “They’ve got the stars on their den roof!” Halfpelt breathed out, voice breathless with awe, and Roseface’s own lips tugged up in a smile. His yellow eyes drifted from the twinkling glow of the roof, landing warmly on Halfpelt, whose russet-and-white fur was outlined by the soft yellow glow. His heterochromatic eyes were filled with shining amazement, and Roseface felt his chest swell.

               “Isn’t it pretty, Roseface?” He mewed.