Run Away Bravely (Stormwind)

Leafpool leaped down after her, landing lightly on her paws. “Where do you want to go?”

Squirrelflight came around after a few heartbeats, leaping off of the log and back onto solid ground.

Lionblaze smiled lovingly over at his mate before padding off, locating the leaders of the four former clans under their tree, deep in discussion.

Leafpool padded after her sister, waiting patiently for her to get over her moment of nostalgia and continue on.

Heathertail rasped her tongue over his ear. “Go, then.”

Squirrelflight lead the way, hopping gracefully onto the log. She had to do a double take over her shoulder at first. The island looked so much different without the bramble barriers dividing it up into smaller partitions, and for a moment her memory went to the time before the crisis, where the island was a peaceful and sacred place.

Lionblaze nuzzled into Heathertail’s neck fur gently. “I think I need to go speak to the leaders about rearranging the dens,” sighed the tom softly.

“All right,” Leafpool agreed, getting to her paws.

Heathertail rolled over onto her belly and pushed herself into a sitting position.

Squirrelflight eventually grew restless, gazing across the fallen tree bridge longingly. “Leafpool,” The warrior mewed inquisitively, “Could you take a walk with me? Maybe we can gather some herbs for you.” Her gaze indicated her desperation to stretch her legs a bit.

Lionblaze couldn’t suppress a loud purr as he stepped off of Heathertail.

Leafpool gently brushed her tail down her sister’s side, watching her son and his mate.

Heathertail pouted up at him, reaching a paw up to bop him on the nose.

Squirrelflight offered her sister a sad, unconvincing smile, sighing softly as she turned back around.

Lionblaze looked lovingly into his mate’s eyes as he stood above her, a forepaw on her chest.

Leafpool sat beside her sister, lending her silent support to the she-cat. Besides feeling bad for Squirrelflight, she was sad about Hollyleaf and grateful that Lionblaze and Jayfeather at least didn’t seem to be so angry anymore.

Squirrelflight watched from afar as Lionblaze wrestled on the ground playfully with Heathertail, feeling a pang of sadness shoot through her. The connection between the two younger cats was heavily apparent, and it made the She-cat’s heavy heart sink even lower. Brambleclaw had discovered what she and her sister had done, and seemed set on never forgiving her.

Heathertail squealed and wriggled around, batting at him. “Lionblaze!”

“That’s the point,” Lionblaze purred back, pouncing on his mate and pinning her down.

Heathertail squeaked and jerked away from him. “Hey! That tickles!”

“Better to be ridiculous than boring,” Replied Lionblaze in an amused huff, licking at the inside of Heathertail’s ear teasingly.

Heathertail huffed a laugh, licking his cheek. “You ridiculous tom,” she said affectionately.

Lionblaze at first felt some instinctive hesitation as Heathertail pressed her pelt against his, the same as he used to feel before running up to her at gatherings when they were apprentices. A quick bit of thinking later the golden-brown tabby leaned into her as well, his tail curling tightly around hers. “Do you like the name I picked?” He asked, a knowing smirk on his face.

(Mmkay)

Jayfeather sighed and shook his head before disappearing back into the crush of cats, leaving the two lovebirds alone.

Heathertail took a couple steps closer to press against his side.

Lionblaze nodded. “Yeah…” The tom mewed softly, purring as he looked back at Heathertail.

(I left that ambiguous for now, since it can be used to cause tension and confusion later.)

Jayfeather rolled his blue eyes. “Well, now I know why you forgave them so quickly,” he huffed, tail slowly swishing through the air behind him.

(Do the deputies stay as deputies or are they warriors now?)

Lionblaze pinned his ears back, feeling his cheeks heat up a little, and he gave Jayfeather a coy smile. “Uh... yeah. This is Heathertail.” The tom mewed softly, turning back to his mate and licking her shoulder a few times.

(Mmkay)

“I came to see how you were doing, but clearly you’re more than fine,” Jayfeather said dryly, tone a little knowing.

Lionblaze purred loudly, brushing his cheek against Heathertail’s. He noticed Jayfeather approaching them and mewed out a friendly greeting to his littermate. “What’s up, Jayfeather?”

(Lionblaze is the de facto leader, but he only uses his power if there’s a tie vote amongst the other leaders. The actual leaders each sort of co-lead and vote on the important issues instead of just having one cat decide.)

Heathertail nodded. “This was always the part with the most risk. I’m just glad no one got hurt.”

Jayfeather made his way through the crush of cats towards his brother, some cats moving out of the way for the small gray tabby but other cats he just shoved past when he couldn’t avoid them. Coming close, he paused before giving a sigh as he felt the emotions of love that were practically emanating from Heathertail and Lionblaze. He approached the two.

(Who should be the leader of the Clan and what about the other leaders and deputies?)

Lionblaze nodded affirmatively to what Heathertail said. “Of course, there’s still a lot of cats that are going to need convincing, but I think that we just got the worst part over with.”

Heathertail gently touched her nose to his with a soft purr. “While that is great- and believe me, I’m delighted- it’s more important right now that everyone calms down and starts voting.