[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

"Oh, come on! Two against one isn't fair, Silvster!" He complained, pinning his ears back. It seemed Foxpaw's luck hadn't changed. He was used to most of this by now, but it was still annoying. How come he wasn't seen as a real flirt, the handsomest cat of all? Because he was young, maybe. He'd grow. He'd become better. And then he could do this. It was going to be so much fun! Wasn't it? I think so...Foxpaw thought, glancing at Silverpaw with a happy smirk on his maw. "Really?" He asked, a more excited expression coming onto his features before he stopped himself. "I mean, uh...I know I am, Silvster. Knew you'd come around." He purred, although his voice was still high pitched.
　
Asterpaw leaned over to Silverpaw, giving Foxpaw a sly look. "Squeakaroo looooves you," She purred in a quiet voice, an amused expression on her features. Squeakaroo. She knew Foxpaw hated it, but that was her way of showing how much she liked him. He just...didn't necessarily...understand or like it. She couldn't help that! He would always be her Squeakaroo, though; and she knew she would always be little 'Asty' to him. She watched Foxpaw's expression change to a more excited one at Silverpaw's words. "Not bad? I'll take it!" He mewed with an excited purr rumbling in his throat. The blue feline glanced over at Azulpaw, a worried expression coming over her features for a moment before she realized he was still asleep. When Nightpaw approached, and the two began to argue, she slipped into her own world. Away from Foxpaw and Silverpaw, and...even Azulpaw.
　
The black tom was stunned. Angry. How dare she do this? And worst of all, how dare the miniscule silver one talk to him like that. What was her name? Don't care. He thought with a shrug. "She thinks she doesn't. Ast doesn't know what she wants. And, I absolutely can force her to, mouse." He snapped. Nightpaw was making two mistakes that he wasn't aware of; for one thing, he was talking about Asterpaw like she wasn't there. Which he should have known she hated. And, for another-- he was being a jerk to Silverpaw, which he should have known would rile Foxpaw up. "Not cool, shadow-boy," Fox snapped to the tom, standing protectively by Silverpaw.
　
The fur along Asterpaw's spine stood up. "I think you should go. Like, right now. Your company is not appreciated." She hissed in a low voice, hues snapping angrily. She was done with Nightpaw. He was one of the most annoying cats that she had seen in a long time, and she was absolutely done.
　
Foxpaw, on the other hand, looked okay with Silverpaw's words. "Whatever you say, Silvster. You know you want me." He purred, glancing down at her more gentle movements with Azulpaw. Unlike Silverpaw, he had missed the earlier connection. And all he could think was Asterpaw being back with Nightpaw, while he snatched Silverpaw away and they all ended up living together. In SkyClan, of course-- the thought of being a loner and being away from dozens of cats scared Foxpaw. He had always lived in SkyClan. And he was hoping he always would. That was possible, right? He wouldn't ever have to leave his home, would he? Not unless I do something reaaal stupid. He thought with a twitch of his tail, hues darkening. But he brightened up in a moment. No matter what happened, it seemed Foxpaw always bounced back if it was something bad.

　

Nightpaw could hardly believe the way the blue feline was acting. He would have argued with her further, except the sleeping tom awoke. A dark expression crossed his eyes and he took another step closer to Asterpaw until he was standing right beside her. Doesn't she remember anything? He thought for a second, missing the angered and disgusted expression on her features. She obviously wasn't happy. "Are you deaf now as well as stupid? The past is over, Nightpaw. Over. We're NOT the same as we used to be, and we never will be. So stop acting like we are!" She snapped, jerking away from him. He was now in front of the three cats, watching them with dark hues. A dark laugh escaped him as the grey tom asked about them. "Ast didn't tell you?" He asked, and Foxpaw fixed Asterpaw with a confused expression.
　
Asterpaw's ears went back. She hadn't been trying to keep them secret, but they were kithood friends and she didn't really hang out with them much...anymore, at least. They just hadn't seemed really important. Realizing how that would sound, she tried to think of a better answer. "Just some old friends." She mewed, making it sound as casual as possible. She completely missed the flash of mischief that crossed Nightpaw's features.
　
Foxpaw, on the other hand, looked satisfied. "Silvster, you didn't tell him we're together? I'm so hurt!" He exclaimed dramatically, winking at her at the same time. Foxpaw tended to do stupid things like that. He'd never been the smartest cat. And he'd certainly never been the most charming. But he was at least some sort of comic relief, a cat who was able to make any situation seem less serious.
　
"Old friends? Don't be so vague, Ast, dear." He purred, before turning to Azulpaw. "She and I did everything together. We were very close-- who would have guessed? I know, I know... we don't look like a couple." At this, Nightpaw came to stand beside her, smiling broadly as he pressed up against her. "But we were! You know, the problem with her is that she never, ever knows what she wants. I mean, you have to talk her into everything! It's worth it, though...she's a special cat." He purred, looking hard at Azulpaw. Hopefully this cat wasn't who she was ditching him for. That would be horrible. Maybe she had been playing some sort of a joke on him...maybe. Oh well. Maybe the other cat would leave-- if he bought the fact that he and Asterpaw had been a couple.
　
Asterpaw rolled her eyes. "I'm not being vague, we were not a couple, and I do know what I want! Don't you dare talk me into anything, Nightpaw." She snapped, her hues flashing. Don't believe a word he says. She tried to send a message to Azulpaw, wishing she could send him her thoughts. Then again, he might have been able to hear more, and she didn't want him to. All she wanted was for the jerk of a tom to get out of her face and leave her alone. Nothing less, and nothing more.

The tom was practically still tired. Drained of energy as he looked at Asterpaw, then to Nightpaw. He stared at them for a moment, nothing coming out his maw. As he heard Nightpaw speak, a sudden known emotion made itself known into him. Yet, he was drained of everything...well, everything except his witty remarks. ‘’Oh, I understand...the two of you had history,’’ He made a slightly movement and flinched. He tried to stand up, but he was still too weak. His back was his main problem. The pain of those starclan forsaken claws is what got to him. ‘’And, by all means, I don’t want to interfere with that.’’ His voice was low, sullen, defeated. But, his eyes shown otherwise. Silverpaw gave him a questioning look. Azulpaw made himself firmly stand up, so he could look at them all. The tom gave a soft look towards Asterpaw, catching on to what she was saying.

‘’I agree, Asterpaw is definitely special. But she seems to have her head screwed on right…’’ The tom gently stated as he gave a stern look at Nightpaw. The other tom was sending off negative stands. Something that Azulpaw refused to deal with at the moment being. It occurred to him that they both wanted the same thing.

Asterpaw.

Yet, it also reminded him that Bluepaw wanted her as well. It unsettled him as he remembered the memories of his own best friend attacking him for being near the feline. He didn’t know--nor, did he trust the intentions Nightpaw had. When he heard Asterpaw, he gave a simple nod. Of course, he would believe her. Asterpaw was not a liar. At least, he hoped she wasn’t. But, he could tell that Nightpaw was opening up some closed wounds, and he was afraid he was going to lose her again to this tom. And, to add in on the humor, the other tom spoke up. Azulpaw flickered his ears towards Silverpaw, hinting at her if it were true or not. Silverpaw could had gone a solid blushing pink, but instead she slightly turned away and lashed her tail. ‘’Silvy, darling. You didn’t tell me you had an eye for someone?’’ Azulpaw teased.

Silverpaw shook her head, and she batted a paw at Foxpaw. ‘’Don’t be so delusional, Squeakaroo. That will never happen in a million years!’’ She shied away, almost wanting to hide her tail in front of her maw; which she did. Azulpaw knew exactly that weird quirk she had whenever she was nervous or did like someone. Azulpaw then slowly turned his way back towards Nightpaw and Asterpaw. He didn’t like the close comfort that Nightpaw had allowed himself to do.

‘’Well, as I was saying earlier,’’ Azulpaw begin, throwing his head back to look up at the sky. The sky wasn’t that fully up anymore, which was good. He could curl up once more and go for a nice nap. He brought his eyes down to look at them once more. ‘’The past is the past. It means it’s been done, it’s over with. And, you...whatever your name is, is apart of that past. And, as far as I’m concerned...we’re in the present. And, I am her present. And, I will guarantee you, that I will be in her future.’’ The grey tom did not truly believed the last line, but he was hoping. He was hoping hard that he would be in her future. For the rest of his life, he hoped hard. Just like Nightpaw had stated before, Asterpaw was a very special cat. A cat he held dearly to his heart, and he wasn’t going to lose her to some...young-life, wannabe tough tom.

‘’He’s living in his own world,’’ Silverpaw snickered, taking a glance at Nightpaw. She felt a confidence all of a sudden. She did think it was a sweet thing for Foxpaw to stand up for her like that--it was his job. Well, not his job, but she expected him to. They were friends after all, and she would had done the same thing for him. ‘’Get your head outta your tail, Nightpaw, and get with the present!’’ She removed her tail from her maw and gave a gentle swish. Azulpaw looked back at her, narrowing his eyes. She immediately sunk back.

‘’I don’t need your professional help, Silverpaw.’’ The tom told her, sarcastically. He made a slight grunting noise before he limped towards Asterpaw, and the tom that made himself comfortable near her. He would had ran him off, snarled at him, sneered at him, and if those didn’t work, he would had attacked him, but that wasn’t his catch of prey. He wasn’t Bluepaw. He would never attack a cat that was a friend of Asterpaw’s. But, he wasn’t afraid to use powerful words to hurt them. He definitely found it amusing when it came to bickering. Something that he loved doing with Asterpaw. She brought a thrill to his life.

As he came closer to her, he allowed his tail to curl around her, gently pushing the other tom aside--at least tried to be gentle. ‘’As she said before. Get away from her, she doesn’t want you near her.’’ He says, brushing his pelt against her as he swiveled his head to look at the other tom, daring him to say anything out of the line. Azulpaw may have been hurt, but he still wasn’t afraid to stand up for the ones he cared deeply for.

Silverpaw let out a slight squeak, finding the scene amusing. Azulpaw was becoming overprotective...or was he just playing along? Whatever it was, it made the she-cat proud. She disliked the other tom, and hoped that he would be on his way to ruin other cats’ lives. She wanted to snap at him, but she also knew Azulpaw. He would handle everything there was to handle.

After all, the tom finally landed her attention. At first, she was guarded. Then, she went off with Bluepaw. After a moon of not speaking to her, avoiding her, and he was not going to allow this tom to take her away--just as Bluepaw done. He went through too freaking much to lose her to some dark headed jerk! And, truth be told, he was quite the jerk himself, and perhaps they two would had made best friends...if they weren’t into the same she-cat. And, besides! Azulpaw remembered claiming her for himself that moon ago. She was only experiencing a pre-love from Bluepaw, the way he liked to think about it. He didn’t know what the two did while they were together and he was handling his own business. Frankly he didn’t care. He didn’t need his heart to be broken more than his body was.

‘’Old friends? A couple?’’ Azulpaw questioned, a smirk placed firmly on his maw. He edged himself closer to Asterpaw, pressing himself against her. ‘’Were a couple, you had said? Isn’t that...a past tense? As in...no longer?’’ He says, tilting his head a bit. The universe must had really had it for him, especially since it was throwing obstacles in every way for him to stop getting to Asterpaw. It was enough that he had to deal with Bluepaw...but now this black furball? The tom knew he would explode at any point if this dared continued.

Azulpaw didn’t want to do it, but he had to. He was furious at the wrong cat. Well, he wasn’t furious. He had no need to be. He gently untangled himself from the blue she-cat and looked her deep into the eyes. Her greenish hues lighting up warmth inside him. ‘’I...I believe everything you say.’’ He gave a ghost of a smile, and turned away. Silverpaw looked at him, a flash of worriness appeared on her face. It dawned on the grey tom that he was acting selfish. They weren’t officially together. But it was pretty clear, all feelings thrown out in front of them when he was supposed to die...but didn’t.

Why didn’t he die?

...why didn’t he die?

Now, the grey tom didn’t know what to believe, but he stood by what he said. He would not allow Bluepaw, Nightpaw--any other tom to be near or take advantage of Asterpaw. The thought made the tom scowl. What did they take the blue cat as? Sure, Alabasterpaw seemed to have deterred her level of confidence, but that was exactly why Azulpaw was there. To build it up. To build it up to the point where no one--no matter what they say--would allow her to believe otherwise.

Asters were his favorite flowers for now on. ‘’I would leave, and say...oh, okay the two of you are together. But...no, it doesn’t roll that way. In fact, I’m staying. I’m not going anywhere. You’ll have to kill me in order for me to vanish.’’ He says, growling lowly at the tom, as if daring him. Azulpaw, in that moment, was pretty stupid if he was asking for a fight. He was in no condition to fight, but in that moment, he was serious.

‘’Or, Asterpaw can tell us what she wants,’’ The tom glared. ‘’Because, she knows exactly what she wants.’’ He flicked his tail her way, motioning for her to tell him what she truly wanted. Though he never wanted her to feel pressure, so he wouldn’t blame her for not answering the question. He would be able to wait for as long as he could. They were still pretty young, and he certainly thought of her as a second best friend he could count on. Even if she chose to not stand by him...where would he go? Would he be able to still stand for her...die for her?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Perhaps it was an answer he didn’t want to find out. They got this far in life, and it was the only thing that kept him going. She was a steady part, a steady rock to lean on when no one else was there. Besides Silverpaw. Silverpaw was always there, but Azulpaw craved Asterpaw to be there more. He was sure that Silverpaw would understand, and as he took a quick glance at her, he noticed the slight annoyance on her face at Foxpaw. The interaction was amusing. Kinda reminded him of Asterpaw and him, when he would annoy her to no end. Although he wasn’t as...cheeky, or squeaky as the other apprentice.

Azulpaw sat down, inwardly flinching as his pain heightened. He quietly waited for the two to answer, an unreadable expression placed on his face. If Nightpaw considered him as competition, so be that one-sidedness. Azulpaw never thought of anyone as competition, and he didn’t need to. As far as he knew, he already won the affections of the she-cat, and that sat well with him.