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Description
Leaves skirted across the ground, blowing in the wind and rustling the trees as they swayed in the breeze, their scrawny limbs stretching towards the sky as if it could drag itself out of the ground and lumber away. The wind blew in the faces of the patrol of cats, the ground feeling murky beneath their paws with the autumn weather. There was soft, satisfying, squish sounds as the cats moved through their woodland territory.

"Lionblaze, get your head out of the clouds, we've got to make sure that ShadowClan doesn't cross their border," came a sharp string of words to the left of the muscular warrior and within a heartbeat, he glanced over in surprise, his amber eyes glistening as he located the sharp-tongued silver tabby. Her short white and silver fur was rustling in the wind as well, her eyes, a deep blue ringed with icy flecks matched the ripples of water that could be spotted in the lake. "Lionblaze?"

"Just thinking," he grumbled, before turning his head away from his apprentice's sister and glancing forward again, the wind whipping through his fur, his tail resembling a golden tabby wisp of smoke as he began to streak forward, his paws sinking deeper into the mud as he reached the lakeside. He needed his head cleared, he knew that, most definitely and yet ...

"Okay, Lionblaze, you should head back to camp if you're not going to pay attention." Lionblaze's dark ear flicked and he glanced over his shoulder, noticing the bulky tom rolling his green eyes. "Come back tomorrow, or something, when you're feeling better." The dappled tom glanced at the tom with an almost challenging look.

"Mousewhisker, leave him alone, he's got enough on his paws right now," came a sharp retort, and the halfClanner didn't have to glance over to know who had spoken. The crippled she-cat huffed in obvious annoyance, her tabby tail flicking as she glanced over at her fellow warrior, her dark blue eyes softening as she tried to give him a comforting smile. "Are you alright, Lionblaze?"

"I .. no."

Ivypool and Mousewhisker cast triumphant glances at the grey she-cat who simply spat a string of dismissive words at them before she limped forward, her eyes lit up as she glanced at her once-lover. "Lionblaze, if you really are feeling troubled ... we can help you." She studied his face before sighing, "If you wanted it. Okay, maybe you should go back to camp. We'll handle this, okay?"

She smiled at him before pressing her muzzle to his cheek, her eyes filling with emotions before she turned around, stalking back to the rest of the patrol. "Okay, time to tell those ShadowClanners what's what and who's side of the territory belongs to who!" A chorus of mild complains filled the air and Cinderheart sighed again, before glancing over her dark shoulder and flicking her tail, dismissing Lionblaze from the patrol.

The prophecised tom swallowed a bundle of nerves before mouthing his thanks before padding away, the mud dragging his paws down as he leaped through the mud, flicking it from his paws and scraping them across piles of leaves and ridding himself of debris before trotting through the forest. He parted his jaws and scented the air, closing his eyes briefly before blinking them open again. Just his luck, really, that he would be outside of camp.

He brushed aside brambles after moments of searching, his tail waving like a flag as he flashed a momentary triumphant smile before whipping it away the moment the pair glanced up at him. The sleek-furred she-cat looked mildly surprised before she shot a quick look at her brother, her pale eyes brimming with many emotions. After a moment, the red tabby nodded and she sighed, flinging a quick, "You better not hurt him" at Lionblaze before padding away, her tail high in the air as she fled back to camp.

"Foxleap I ..." Lionblaze swallowed nervously, the bundle of nerves that coursed through his body was making him jittery and making his tongue feel like lead. He tried again, his voice sounding thick, "Look, I'm sorry."

The other amber-eyed tom didn't glance up at him, not daring to look at him, and giving no sign of acknowledging his ex-mate, aside from a single swipe of his tail as he dragged his tail along his paws. His ears folded back, his shoulders visibly shaking after a moment, the whisper of fur sounding as he turned his head slightly.

"I just ... I was surprised, okay? We were only new mates and you just ... spring that question, how am I supposed to react? Okay, probably not the way that I initially did, but, uh, I take it back okay? I'm sorry that I hurt you; I'm sorry that I ended it just because of that; I .." Lionblaze glanced down at his massive paws, curling his lip in disgust at himself. "I'm really sorry." He lashed his tail, his eyes burning with embarrassment before he closed them, drinking in the cooler air to calm his nerves.

"All I had wanted to know is if you were willing to have kits, Lionblaze." Came a soft sigh, and the pale-pelted tom glanced up in surprise, scrambling a bit, opening his maw to say something back but it didn't look like Foxleap was done. "I just ... I have loved you, you know? Since apprenticehood, at least. And when you accepted the proposal to be mates, I was just overjoyed. So it didn't feel wrong if I asked you if you wanted to have kits with me. I know it isn't possible, but you know, toms who had a tom as mate, well, they usually have surrogate mothers. It's not unheard of."

Foxleap did not glance up, and his voice cracked a few times, but be made no inclination of moving forward to drag comfort out of his Clanmate. "Before, I even asked Icecloud to do it, because - well, then it'd have both our genes, well, not directly but close enough and I just wanted you to father them and then we could actually act as their parents. ...When I see the queens with their kits, I keep on feeling this longing because I wanted that for us, Lionblaze. But when I asked you freaked and broke off our mateship..."

Lionblaze swallowed and glanced away, then glanced back, the wind stinging his eyes but he braced it, anyways. "I shouldn't have acted that way, Foxleap. It just ... took me by surprise." He paused as the tom in front of him glanced up, his amber eyes full of pain and sadness. "I ..." He let out a sigh, before reaching forward, pausing a moment as the younger warrior seemed to flinch away from him. But then he continued reaching forward and then he was pressing himself against the tom, pressing his muzzle to the other's cheek. "We could ... we could..."

He took a breath before continuing, not failing to notice the obvious shivering of the smaller tom beside him. He closed his eyes, pain being etched inside his chest as he cautiously continued. "We could try again, if you'd like, and .. then maybe, we could ... try that. If you want." Lionblaze could feel the reddish brown tom beneath him shuddering and all that the golden tabby could do was hold him closer, the other tabby shuddering with his gasps before a soft whisper sliced through the air.

"We ... we could try."

Lionblaze chuckled in relief and pressed his muzzle again to the other's cheek, his broken laughter filling the air before it delved into soft purrs, as he nuzzled his mate affectionately. "Thank you, Foxleap," he whispered, his voice cracking, and his heart thudding painfully in his chest as he drank in the other's familiar scent. He could only hope that, this time, everything would work out.

Description
Leaves skirted across the ground, blowing in the wind and rustling the trees as they swayed in the breeze, their scrawny limbs stretching towards the sky as if it could drag itself out of the ground and lumber away. The wind blew in the faces of the patrol of cats, the ground feeling murky beneath their paws with the autumn weather. There was soft, satisfying, squish sounds as the cats moved through their woodland territory.

"Lionblaze, get your head out of the clouds, we've got to make sure that ShadowClan doesn't cross their border," came a sharp string of words to the left of the muscular warrior and within a heartbeat, he glanced over in surprise, his amber eyes glistening as he located the sharp-tongued silver tabby. Her short white and silver fur was rustling in the wind as well, her eyes, a deep blue ringed with icy flecks matched the ripples of water that could be spotted in the lake. "Lionblaze?"

"Just thinking," he grumbled, before turning his head away from his apprentice's sister and glancing forward again, the wind whipping through his fur, his tail resembling a golden tabby wisp of smoke as he began to streak forward, his paws sinking deeper into the mud as he reached the lakeside. He needed his head cleared, he knew that, most definitely and yet ...

"Okay, Lionblaze, you should head back to camp if you're not going to pay attention." Lionblaze's dark ear flicked and he glanced over his shoulder, noticing the bulky tom rolling his green eyes. "Come back tomorrow, or something, when you're feeling better." The dappled tom glanced at the tom with an almost challenging look.

"Mousewhisker, leave him alone, he's got enough on his paws right now," came a sharp retort, and the halfClanner didn't have to glance over to know who had spoken. The crippled she-cat huffed in obvious annoyance, her tabby tail flicking as she glanced over at her fellow warrior, her dark blue eyes softening as she tried to give him a comforting smile. "Are you alright, Lionblaze?"

"I .. no."

Ivypool and Mousewhisker cast triumphant glances at the grey she-cat who simply spat a string of dismissive words at them before she limped forward, her eyes lit up as she glanced at her once-lover. "Lionblaze, if you really are feeling troubled ... we can help you." She studied his face before sighing, "If you wanted it. Okay, maybe you should go back to camp. We'll handle this, okay?"

She smiled at him before pressing her muzzle to his cheek, her eyes filling with emotions before she turned around, stalking back to the rest of the patrol. "Okay, time to tell those ShadowClanners what's what and who's side of the territory belongs to who!" A chorus of mild complains filled the air and Cinderheart sighed again, before glancing over her dark shoulder and flicking her tail, dismissing Lionblaze from the patrol.

The prophecised tom swallowed a bundle of nerves before mouthing his thanks before padding away, the mud dragging his paws down as he leaped through the mud, flicking it from his paws and scraping them across piles of leaves and ridding himself of debris before trotting through the forest. He parted his jaws and scented the air, closing his eyes briefly before blinking them open again. Just his luck, really, that he would be outside of camp.

He brushed aside brambles after moments of searching, his tail waving like a flag as he flashed a momentary triumphant smile before whipping it away the moment the pair glanced up at him. The sleek-furred she-cat looked mildly surprised before she shot a quick look at her brother, her pale eyes brimming with many emotions. After a moment, the red tabby nodded and she sighed, flinging a quick, "You better not hurt him" at Lionblaze before padding away, her tail high in the air as she fled back to camp.

"Foxleap I ..." Lionblaze swallowed nervously, the bundle of nerves that coursed through his body was making him jittery and making his tongue feel like lead. He tried again, his voice sounding thick, "Look, I'm sorry."

The other amber-eyed tom didn't glance up at him, not daring to look at him, and giving no sign of acknowledging his ex-mate, aside from a single swipe of his tail as he dragged his tail along his paws. His ears folded back, his shoulders visibly shaking after a moment, the whisper of fur sounding as he turned his head slightly.

"I just ... I was surprised, okay? We were only new mates and you just ... spring that question, how am I supposed to react? Okay, probably not the way that I initially did, but, uh, I take it back okay? I'm sorry that I hurt you; I'm sorry that I ended it just because of that; I .." Lionblaze glanced down at his massive paws, curling his lip in disgust at himself. "I'm really sorry." He lashed his tail, his eyes burning with embarrassment before he closed them, drinking in the cooler air to calm his nerves.

"All I had wanted to know is if you were willing to have kits, Lionblaze." Came a soft sigh, and the pale-pelted tom glanced up in surprise, scrambling a bit, opening his maw to say something back but it didn't look like Foxleap was done. "I just ... I have loved you, you know? Since apprenticehood, at least. And when you accepted the proposal to be mates, I was just overjoyed. So it didn't feel wrong if I asked you if you wanted to have kits with me. I know it isn't possible, but you know, toms who had a tom as mate, well, they usually have surrogate mothers. It's not unheard of."

Foxleap did not glance up, and his voice cracked a few times, but be made no inclination of moving forward to drag comfort out of his Clanmate. "Before, I even asked Icecloud to do it, because - well, then it'd have both our genes, well, not directly but close enough and I just wanted you to father them and then we could actually act as their parents. ...When I see the queens with their kits, I keep on feeling this longing because I wanted that for us, Lionblaze. But when I asked you freaked and broke off our mateship..."

Lionblaze swallowed and glanced away, then glanced back, the wind stinging his eyes but he braced it, anyways. "I shouldn't have acted that way, Foxleap. It just ... took me by surprise." He paused as the tom in front of him glanced up, his amber eyes full of pain and sadness. "I ..." He let out a sigh, before reaching forward, pausing a moment as the younger warrior seemed to flinch away from him. But then he continued reaching forward and then he was pressing himself against the tom, pressing his muzzle to the other's cheek. "We could ... we could..."

He took a breath before continuing, not failing to notice the obvious shivering of the smaller tom beside him. He closed his eyes, pain being etched inside his chest as he cautiously continued. "We could try again, if you'd like, and .. then maybe, we could ... try that. If you want." Lionblaze could feel the reddish brown tom beneath him shuddering and all that the golden tabby could do was hold him closer, the other tabby shuddering with his gasps before a soft whisper sliced through the air.

"We ... we could try."

Lionblaze chuckled in relief and pressed his muzzle again to the other's cheek, his broken laughter filling the air before it delved into soft purrs, as he nuzzled his mate affectionately. "Thank you, Foxleap," he whispered, his voice cracking, and his heart thudding painfully in his chest as he drank in the other's familiar scent. He could only hope that, this time, everything would work out.