[ 流れ星 ] PG

[Crowzerplorodon]

A faint chuckle escaped Jaypaw when Palepaw spoke of making the whole clan blind. At first he was mortified by the thought. Having a clan full of blind cats? That would never work. No one could get work done (not that Fawnpaw wasn't skilled at her job) and they'd be helpless when it came to defending or attacking other clans. He shuddered at the thought alone, then again when he realized that making every cat blind would be a violent act toward clanmates. Definitely against the warrior code – Palepaw would be breaking it!

It took him just a second to put those thoughts away and realize his friend had been kidding. Jaypaw felt foolish after that, but hid it well enough, differing his attention elsewhere as he cooled down the invisible blush that heated his pelt uncomfortably. He turned back to Palepaw when she giggled, a smile crossing his maw. The she-cat had a nice laugh. A pleasant sound and Jaypaw wondered how hard it would be to make her laugh like that again. Perhaps if he was funnier like some other toms he would have a better chance making the pretty apprentice laugh.

He totally ignored the fact that he used pretty.

Pretty? Whatever did that mean?

“What a great package. Hey, what are you learning, anyway?” He purred out, a refreshed sense of relief for having a friend washing over him. It would be so dull if Palepaw hadn't come over here, even if Jaypaw had gotten used to being alone these last few moons or so. Sandstream and Fawnpaw weren't always available, and he hardly got any visitors. Not even Mistystream, his own mentor!

If Bramblefang was alive, Jaypaw was sure he'd visit.

A look of extreme depression came over the crippled tom, and he didn't even notice as the pebble skipped back toward him. If Bramblefang was alive... If. If only!

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Silly Jaypaw. It was so amusing to watch his face go through different expressions as he interpreted what she was saying. Toms were like that, she realized. They took a bit to figure out what you meant, yet she-cats always snapped her words up and talked back immediately. She wondered what that meant about the different genders in general. Maybe toms thought more, even if they were a bit less smart. And maybe she-cats were smarter but listened less...

Oh, but that couldn't be true all the time! She realized she'd been making a huge generalization. A generalization that admittedly had some truth behind it, but nevertheless...after all, Jaypaw was plenty smart, wasn't he? She didn't know him real well, but he seemed serious and basically intelligent.

Anyway, worrying was silly and she wanted to keep playing this game! Oh, but first she needed to answer his question. The spotted apprentice tried to settle her flighty mind and focus on the query.

Um...learning. Yes. Of course she was learning, but the clouds or the grass or the funny scents of flowers and bugs were what she really remembered...training was so boring, really. But when she was a warrior it'd all be worth it because it would be so much more exciting. That was the only thing that made her twist her brain into submission so she could retain battle moves and hunting stances and all that other random mouse dung. Well, it wasn't mouse dung, it just wasn't as much fun as other stuff. Like running! And Jaypaw was probably staring at her because she was taking forever to answer. Oops.

Words tumbled out of her in her haste to apologize and reply. "Punching paws! I mean...uh...Crowclaw showed me how to leap and set my paws to blow - I mean, to set my paws so they'll be hard and penetrating when they pelt the - I mean fur - oh whatever - when I hit the opponent and uh bird-catching is hard and did you know birds look funny when they walk?" after this long, rushed, reckless speech the pretty she-cat giggled helplessly as her mind processed the utterly embarrassing speech she'd just made. Thank goodness Jaypaw wasn't a she-cat.

She was so fluttery and nervous that it took a few moments for the MeadowClanner to realize her friend looked sad now. Her goofy, anxious expression faded and was replaced by one of concern. "Hey, what's wrong? I mean, if you feel like telling me."