Everlasting Love (Stormwind)

“Morning,” murmured Duststorm, sitting in the shade and curling his tail around his paws.

Oakfoot brushed his cheek against his parents’, purring quietly. The younger tom had been spending more time with his clanmates, siblings, and parents since the battle after watching both twins die and Sterlingflight grapple with the regret of losing Silverwish.

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Mossflower smiles warmly at her son. “Good morning, Oakfoot.”

Duststorm let out a sigh of relief as he recognized that he had gotten out of the den and made it into the clearing. Of course, he promptly took another step forward and bumped into Oakfoot, who hadn’t been paying attention. “Sorry!” father and son apologized in unison, before Oakfoot sat down and looked to his mother. “Good morning, Mom, morning Dad.”

Mossflower padded after him, sighing at his lack of confidence in himself. She didn’t understand why he was so convinced he was useless. Other cats with disabilities had been perfectly able to be warriors in the past.

The Tom took a deep breath and tried to imagine what the warrior’s den looked like using his memory of seeing the place time and time again. Carefully, the tom began to pick his way through the nests, though his tail didn’t uncurl from around Mossflower’s leg as he stepped over other sleeping warriors.

Mossflower pushes herself into a sitting position and quickly groomed the scraps of moss from her fur before standing.

“Right,” Duststorm mewed, shaking his head and managing to stand up on his own. “Sorry.”

Mossflower gently bopped him on the nose. “Stop putting yourself down like that,” she sighed. He kept doing it repeatedly and she was growing tired of his pity party.

“You wouldn’t mind taking me out for a little while today, would you...?” Duststorm mewled, a little uncertainty in his voice. “I️ know you have your own duties to attend to and can’t spend all your time looking after me like I’m a kit...” The tom pinned his ears back against his head.

Mossflower purred softly, rasping her tongue over his ear.

Duststorm leaned over carefully and, after bumping her cheek with his nose, drew his tongue over it in an affectionate lick.

“Morning,” Mossflower yawned, blinking open her eyes.

“Good morning,” Duststorm grunted to Mossflower as he felt her stirring at his side, a frown visible as his eyes were both covered with a leaf.

As it wasn’t yet late, Blossomsnow didn’t go to her den and so wouldn’t find the flower until that night.

Mossflower started to awaken, yawning widely.

Peach had gone to drop her prey off to Honeypelt, but did something else as well. The She-cat had stopped for a moment on the way back and then caught back up to Blossomsnow, and had picked a pretty purple flower in that time. Now, the She-cat gingerly laid the blossom in the other female’ nest before turning and inconspicuously leaving the den.

Duststorm waited for his mate to wake up, needing her before he could do much but not wanting to bother her either.

Willowheart drifted off into sleep.

Blossomsnow entered the camp and crossed the clearing to drop her prey on the fresh-kill pile.

Mossflower kept sleeping, tired from being up late the night before.

Echowhisper sat down and gracefully curled her tail around her paws.

Peach followed Blossomsnow back to camp, pretty much unable to talk with her fat catch clutched between her jaws.

Duststorm awoke into yet more darkness, sighing softly as he laid beside his mate.

Willowheart sighed and curled up in her nest, tucking her muzzle underneath a paw.

Blossomsnow padded ahead, leading the way back to camp.

“Whatever you say,” Echowhisper replied quickly, turning to groom her shoulder a little bit. “Get some rest now sis. I’ll let you know if someone needs you.”

Peach smiled warmly back at Blossomsnow around her thrush, the feathers ticking her mouth and whiskers slightly. Another wave of embarrassed heat flashed through the She-cat as she looked at the warrior who was mentoring her.

Willowheart frowned at her sister. “We’re only twelve and a half moons old, Echowhisper, and I can’t afford to be distracted from my duties, anyway.”

Blossomsnow still gave the other she-cat a smile and an encouraging mew.

Echowhisper pinned her ears back in surprise. “Do you really think we’re too young? We’re full-blown warriors and you’re the medicine cat!” The silvery she-cat looked down and off to the side, adding a more subdued “And after what happened to me, and the battle, I️ don’t know if any age is too young to try and do things before... you know.” She glanced back up at Willowheart.

Peach returned with a slight blush and only a single thrush in her grasp.

Willowheart scowled at her sister. “No one has, and we’re still too young to even be thinking about finding a mate.”

Blossomsnow met Peach with the squirrel and a pair of mice.

“Are you sure?” Replied Echowhisper with a knowing purr. “Surely some cat has caught your fancy by now.”

Peach eventually returned to meet up with Blossomsnow with a nice amount of prey for the time they had spent hunting.

Willowheart squawked on offense. “No!” She exclaimed, her cheeks flushing a brilliant red underneath her fur.

Blossomsnow shrugged and went off in search of more prey.

Echowhisper decided to take Willowheart’s mind off of what troubled her before she tried sleeping. “So, Willowheart... have you thought any about taking a mate?” The medicine cat’s sister lifted an eyebrow and gave her a knowing smirk, curious to see what the answer would be. Loveclan had never prevented their medicine cats from finding love as well.

Peach went about her work again, flustered, but at least she started catching prey.