[If you gotta run]WillowxJuncoxCrow[run from hope]

[Whiskers]

The snow was finally melting.

Willowpaw should be happy about this. She really should. But as she looked around at her camp, and the snow dripping off the trees, she found the sight sad. Very sad. And dirty and gross and she thought, very bitterly, how the coming of new-leaf was off to an ugly start. The ground was soggy, the trees were drooping as if they were crying, and there was mud everywhere. She couldn't walk through camp without her paws getting covered in the stuff. Right now she looked as if she was wearing a pair of brown boots and that was not how Willowpaw liked to look.

It was for that reason why Willowpaw had located a relatively dry area of the camp and was currently occupying it. She was meticulously cleaning off her paws, trying her best to return the lovely shade of gray to her fur. This brown was seriously unappealing-- she could not pull off such a rough look.

Her eyes caught the sight of a similar gray pelt-- lighter than hers, striped, not nearly as thick and smooth-- and Willowpaw perked up a little. The day was depressing, but Juncopaw always managed to make Willowpaw feel a little better. Willowpaw genuinely liked Juncopaw pretty much all the time, and that was rare. After all, Willowpaw got annoyed easily.

"Juncopaw, come here!" Willowpaw called out to her friend. "Cheer me up. The snow is melting and it's really upsetting me. Just look at this camp--it's miserable here. I need you."

It was blunt and it was definitely a command, not a request. But there was a glimmer of desperation in Willowpaw's eyes, a hint of honesty to her voice, and a slight wanting smile that told her friend that she really did need her right now, even if it was over something stupid like the melting of the snow.

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

The silver tabby was in deep examination of a muddy stick when she heard her name. Immediately her head shot up, ears trying to locate where the sound had come from...oh, Willowpaw! Juncopaw's face broke into one of her odd little almost-smiles, like the sun when it had almost come out from behind a cloud, but not quite. "Comin', Willowluff!" She happily jumped a little, shot forward - and slipped in the mud, proceeding to slip, slide and struggle until she was almost at her petite friend's paws.

Sitting up and beginning to wash herself as if nothing had happened, the blue-eyed apprentice thought for a minute before answering. "Hmmm, something cheery...well, we're not being attacked by foxes or badgers, lightning isn't burning us to ashes, rocks aren't falling on our heads, and we're not drowning. Yet. Isn't that wonderful?" She finished brightly.

Juncopaw knew she probably sounded ridiculous, but what she said reminded her of one of her fundamental beliefs: always be grateful for what you have, because it could always be worse. For example, she could have to be training and be distracted right now, she could have to hunt when she hadn't eaten for a day, she could have to fight a cat three times her size...

Bur right now all she had to do was please Willowpaw. And by gosh she would - as she continued cleaning herself. Mud was icky, but it'd be even more icky if she didn't get it out of her pelt quickly. Lick, spit. Lick, spit.

[glowlynose]

Crowpaw putzed about near the medicine den, bored nearly to tears. Lynxpelt and his apprentice were probably off doing something important, while his mentor had not done a single thing with him since he had been appointed medicine cat apprentice. He was still as lost as ever when it came to naming herbs, though he'd been making a bit of progress from listening in on Lynxpelt and Littlepaw's training sessions. But still... was that sharp herb tansy or burdock root? Did pointy leaves mean it was poisonous or good for you? Crowpaw shook his head and spat crossly on the ground, which served only to add to the mire and muck. His mentor didn't care about him, did she? Today, Crowpaw was stuck in an unusual cloud of gloom. He doubted if even a flower or Bluefur could pull him out of it now. A sigh, a flick of the tail, and still nobody noticed him. He supposed that he must be too unimportant.

A distant mew reached Crowpaw, and he tilted his head. That voice... it was so familiar... comprehension dawned on him as he turned to investigate. It was his sister! No wonder the voice had sounded so familiar, he'd been right next to her when she'd said her first words! She looked so miserable over there with... who was that? The other cat was no doubt some friend of hers, but Crowpaw had never seen his sister's companion before. Thoughts of his mentor completely left his mind as curiosity filled him from his ears to the very tip of his tail. At once an easy smile spread across his face, and he pranced across camp looking absolutely delighted with the world - normal, in other words. Surprisingly, by the time he reached his sister and her friend, Crowpaw had managed to not make a complete mess of himself. In fact, he barely had any mud on him at all.

"Willowpaw!" he cried enthusiastically as he flung himself at her, giving her ears a thorough licking, "I've missed you so much! How've you and Elmpaw been? How's your training going? I bet your mentor has done a lot more with you that mine has. I wish that I could see you guys more, but..." he trailed off, not quite certain what to say next. Now would probably be a good time to stop licking his sister all over her face, as she was starting to look a bit funny with her fur all sticking this way and that. She probably wouldn't appreciate that very much, he realized, and so he stepped back a few paces and stared awkwardly at the ground. "Haha, sorry about that. Um."

His sister's friend would probably think he was a freak now. If not a freak, then at the very least weird, he decided. Yes, that was probably what the other she-cat was thinking right now. "Uh... hi. I'm Crowpaw," he mewed uncertainly to the she-cat, grinning because there was nothing better to do. At least he was trying not to look at his sister. The two friends looked remarkably alike, Crowpaw noticed, only the older she-cat was a darker shade of grey and her eyes didn't look so... Willowpaw-y. Yes, the other she-cat looked much happier than his sister did, though he couldn't comprehend why Willowpaw would be in such a cross mood today. The sky was a dazzling blue, there was hardly a cloud in sight, the birds were singing, and it was so warm! He stole a glance at his sister and winced.

"Uh... maybe I should just go now, huh, Willowpaw? Sorry. I just... I was so happy to see you and... yeah. I'll see you around, I suppose. 'Bye guys." Tail drooping, face downcast, he padded off to a place where he could be alone and flopped down unceremoniously and with a great sigh. He really just shouldn't try and talk to anybody he was related to. They didn't understand him as much as he didn't understand them. Willowpaw was sure to be royally annoyed with him, and it would have only been worse if he'd stayed around. He'd always had a way of bungling things up with his family members.

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[Whiskers]

Willowpaw waited with a bored expression for Juncopaw to cheer her up. She didn't do it very well. All Juncopaw did was list what was not happening. If one was to cheer up a friend, why not list the good things that were happening? That was more helpful than a bunch of depressing statements that reminded Willowpaw what was possible. The gray she-cat sighed. Silly Juncopaw. The poor dear was not in her element today, and Willowpaw decided to blame it on the snow melting too.

"The snow's still melting," she told her friend plaintively and with a pointed look, that suggested Willowpaw wanted Juncopaw to do something about it. Of course the she-cat could not, and that thought made Willowpaw sigh again. "Oh well. At least I got most of the mud off--ack!"

Before Willowpaw could even complete her sentence, she had a Crowpaw attacking her face! She squealed and tried to pull away, instantly grossed out that her stupid brother would ever do something like this and in front of her friend! "Crowpa--" she tried to interject, to tell her brother to cut it out, but he kept rambling on about stuff she wasn't paying attention to, since her hearing was being muffled by the hot, pink tongue of Crowpaw.

She finally let out a low, warning hiss, and stopped moving altogether. She'd just wait. She'd just stare at him. Her eyes became emotionless as she stared through her brother and his annoying little black form, and his much-too-large aquamarine eyes, and she waited for him to leave.

He did.

Willowpaw watched as he slumped over (acting really pathetic, like he was the victim, oh please! He was the star medicine cat!), then she rubbed at her face and made an 'urgh' sound. "I'm so sorry Juncopaw, I don't know what he was thinking..."

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

Juncopaw couldn't help it, she laughed softly. Not because Willowpaw was embarrassed, but because Crowpaw was simply so...cute. She deeply hoped no one, especially Willowpaw or Crowpaw, found out she had a bit of a crush on the little black tom.

She was taken back to here and now by her friend's apology, and considered how to reply.

"It's okay, really, Willowpaw, you're lucky you still have your brothers. Aw, he looks so sad. Let's invite him back." Normally, she would consult her friend before doing such a thing, but this felt right. Turning her head, Juncopaw called "Hey, Crowpaw! You don't have to leave, you know. I'm Juncopaw, by the way." Though her words were loud and welcoming, part of her fluttered at the thought of having him near her again. However, she told it to be quiet and it did settle down.

What would he say? What would they talk about? Would Willowpaw be mad? The silver tabby found herself worrying. On one paw, things might go well...but on another, they might be awkward and weird.

It reminded her of the struggle she sometimes felt in herself.

[glowlynose]

Crowpaw continued to sulk over in his little corner. All he'd wanted to do was say hello to Willowpaw and cheer her up. Like usual, he'd managed to do exactly the opposite of what he'd intended. How come he could never talk to her without getting her regally pissed at him? He ventured a glance in her direction, only to jerk his head away and shake his head sadly. She most definitely did not look cheered up, or even remotely pleased. In fact, she looked like she'd very much love to rip his pelt off and hang it up over her bed, or even shred it further and use it to line her bed. Then again, she would probably not want to have anything to do with that reminder of his existence, so she'd probably just dispose of it.

But oh, what was that? Was somebody calling for him to go back over? His ears perked up and he smiled at... err... Juncopaw! That was her name! Juncopaw. It was certainly a unique name, that. Ah, but should he really return to the company of the two she-cats, when one wanted to gouge his eyes out and eat them as a snack? Juncopaw at least was being nice to him. It would be rude not to accept her invitation. So the little black tom stood up, stretched, and padded back over with significantly more self control than his sister probably thought he had. Yes, his couple of moons in the medicine den had tampered him down a bit.

"Er... sorry again, Willowpaw. It's just that I haven't really seen anybody in so long, and I guess I just sort of got overwhelmed and I was so happy to see you and- well. You know," he finished lamely, making a thorough examination of his paws. He hoped that his sister could forgive him.

"Juncopaw. That's a nice name. It's so bouncy. Jun-CO-paw. Haha.

"But seriously. It's a wonder that I'm even outside right now. My mentor won't let me do a single thing, so I'm just sort of locked in the herb stores. It's prolly been a half-moon since I've seen a cat in any state aside from asleep. So... sorry, Willowpaw." He would not look his sister in the eye until she said something to indicate that that would be okay. In his solitude, it would seem that he'd quite forgotten some of his... social graces that he'd had before. So he told himself that he'd be taking his cues from the she-cats for the time being. They knew how to act. He tried to pull himself up so that he was sitting all properly like they were, but only succeeded in making himself look like he'd been stuck in a stretching machine and left there for too long. At least it was a good deal better than his previous posture.

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[Whiskers]

Willowpaw opened her mouth to protest, but Junco already let out a yowl, signalling her brother to join them again. She scowled quickly, before letting the unattractive expression leave her face. Today was just not her day, and Juncopaw had just made it worse. And why was no one listening to her? Crowpaw had ignored her, Juncopaw hadn't let her even voice her opinion. A sickening feeling entered her stomach and she felt so...so bad, almost like she wanted to cry out, or scream at Juncopaw to stop ignoring her! She was supposed to be her best friend, but now she was abandoning her for the likes of Crowpaw?

Oh wait. Of course she would do that. It was Crowpaw and everyone loved Crowpaw.

She felt almost like crying, and as she blinked rapidly and scraped her claws on the disgusting mud, she managed to stop her whimper. It didn't matter, anyway. Juncopaw was just being nice, Willowpaw told herself. That's why Willowpaw liked Juncopaw, because she was so nice, because she gave Willowpaw smiles and compliments, because she didn't have a mean bone in her body. And it wasn't Juncopaw's fault, Willowpaw reminded herself. It was Crowpaw's fault. He could be so selfish! Like now, he should have just politely turned Juncopaw down, because Juncopaw was her friend. Not his. At least, she was her friend at the moment-- Crowpaw could have her later. But not right now!

Too late though. It was all too late, since Crowpaw was here and Juncopaw was smiling at him with this weird fluttery look, and Willowpaw suddenly felt totally ignored.

Willowpaw put on a smile for her brother (but it did not reach her eyes) and she decided to be the bigger one here. She would indulge her brother and play the part of a forgiving sister perfectly. She had to, for Juncopaw and for herself. If she acted like a badger, no one would like her.

"Oh it's fine Crowpaw, it's just fur," she said very quickly, shaking her head and giggling. "I've almost fixed it anyway. And I can rock the "just rolled out of bed" look fine. Your problems are much bigger than mine." Her large green eyes grew sympathetic as she carefully devised a way to slip in a backhanded comment, one that might make her brother squirm, yet go unnoticed by Juncopaw. "Sounds like medicine is really hard, gosh, I can't believe you decided to do that instead of train with Elmpaw and me." There it was, perfectly set up to make him feel guilty for abandoning them. Now, how to finish off? She was doing pretty well so far.

"I hope you can get out more. I would hardly want you to regret your decision."

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

Oh, twisting emotions. They ruled her like a leader and elders rule a Clan, except they were far more...invisible. And other stuff. And when Crowpaw complimented her name...

"Thanks, Crowpaw." Juncopaw looked down in embarrassment, mentally clawing herself for not acting normal. Ergh, crushes. Sweet though they were, they made everything more difficult.

And of course there was the awkwardness between the sister and brother next to her, which made things even more weird. Um...okay, Junco girl, fix it. That's your job, isn't it? Get their minds off it, don't be awkward, oh, and no showing favoritism. Perfection, in short. That's what she was going for.

"Speaking of which, I've been wondering how the trees will do now that it's newleaf. I wonder how long it will take them to grow new leaves, and how green they'll be. I like leaves."

She did, indeed. Leaves fascinated Juncopaw, whether she was playing with them (not with anyone around, of course), jumping in them, shoving her nose through them, or rolling around in them. The way they changed colors, and the way they floated on the wind and grew or fell every season...

[glowlynose]

Crowpaw let out a huge breath that he hadn't known he was holding. Willowpaw actually forgave him! Oh, joy of joys and all the wonderful things in the world! A bright grin spread across his face, one of his specialty grins that included every ounce of glee in every fiber of his body. He poured out his heart into that smile, but a little bit of it died away when he fancied that he saw a particular gleam in his sister's eye. It died even more when she sent those cutting remarks his way. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't make it out to see them more often! He was trapped in the medicine den, stifled! She shouldn't accuse him.

"Well, Willowpaw," he intoned, voice lowered about an octave and trembling darkly, "Maybe if you came to visit me while I was being held hostage in the medicine den once in a while, it wouldn't be so tough on you." That was the first time he'd ever spoken in such a way to anybody. In fact, it was the first time that he'd felt genuine anger towards another cat. It was a much worse feeling than the one he got when at the bridge on the way to the medicine cats' gathering. It was one thing to feel angry towards something he'd never seen, but to feel this towards his sister... it made him want to shrivel up in a corner and die. Nobody should feel this way about their sibling, or any member of the same species, in fact.

He was incredibly grateful for the distraction of Juncopaw. If Juncopaw wasn't there, something might happen that everybody would deeply regret. He wouldn't put it past his sister to attack him in broad daylight - after all, she shared that same bloodthirsty trait that his brother had exhibited as a kit. She must, since she was training to be a warrior. Right? Still, it was very difficult for him to behave decently. The anger still burned as fire through his veins, though he had managed to keep his claws sheathed. If his claws did peek out from his toes, he'd cover them up swiftly with his tail so as not to attract attention to them.

"I assume that the leaves will be, well, green. And I like flowers better than leaves anyhow. Flowers are so... so..." he trailed off, lost in thought. How could he ever explain the allure of a flower to somebody who only saw the leaves? She could never understand the allure of the petals' soft curves, how delicate they were. How fragile was everything about a flower. With a single swipe, a tail could destroy a flower and everything that nature had lovingly cultivated over the long leaf-bare months. That was unless, of course, like in his dream the other night, there was a tree somewhere that bloomed in flowers, not leaves. Then those flowers would be protected from meddlesome tails. Ah, he could still smell the sweet, sweet fragrance of the tree blossoms, those perfect little five-petaled dew drops of flowers.

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[Whiskers]

Crowpaw's tone threw Willowpaw off completely. Her eyes went wide with shock for a second as she processed what he had just said to her. And the way he said it! He acted like it was her fault. Her fault? She actually did something useful for a change, she had a real...real job. She was hunting every day and bringing back prey that went right into his spoiled mouth. Meanwhile, what was he doing? There was no injured cat in Pineclan, except for those cats so wimpy and pathetic that they cried over their scratched pads and cut noses. Oh boo hoo hoo, their wounds should not even be tended to.

And so far, Crowpaw sounded like he was downright miserable-- like he was doing nothing. So she was the productive, busy one. He was the useless one. And her mother had been sooo proud when Crowpaw had decided to go into medicine!

Willowpaw did not say this aloud though. She was wonderful at this, keeping all her raging, spitting insults inside, while appearing placid, even kind. She gave a small sigh though and then gave her brother an apologetic shrug. "Oh you're right, Crowpaw. Sorry. I've been caught up in training, but I usually do have some time at the end of the day... I'll come in and bring you a vole or something! We can eat together," she offered.

As for the discussion on leaves and flowers, well, Willowpaw wasn't too interested. She loved nature, very,very much. She thought everything in Pineclan was beautiful. But it did not make much interesting conversation, she thought. And what really was there to say? Yeah, flowers were prettier than leaves. She thought that flowers were one of the prettiest things on the whole earth. But what of it?

She left the conversation hanging. Juncopaw would fill in Crowpaw's sentence. She did not need to.

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