[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Beau

Piperwing had finished grooming her chest fur by the time Passionblaze gave up. Her fur was once again light as sand and bright as snow in the sun. However, the rest of her body was still covered in dusty, messy fur. Her fur was a darker brown color due to the debris that had gotten lodged in it, and it stood out in odd directions. There was still a lot of blood, though her back and sides had less blood per area than her chest. Most of the crimson liquid was tried to her back and the tops of her flanks. Piperwing shrugged painfully and decided to leave that grooming for another time. She’d have to finish before getting into her nest, but it could wait until after her conversation with Passionblaze. The only problem was that he must have decided the same thing since his fur was still clumped in places. It didn’t bother her on herself, because she couldn’t see it, but a little tuft of was standing straight up between his ears and it was all she could focus on. It was hard not to laugh. Then came the playful banter. She relished the look on Passionblaze’s face when she called him old and she actually laughed aloud when he got to his paws and suggested a battle right at that moment. Piperwing too stood and got into her best copy of the easiest battle stance, her shoulders prohibiting her from doing even that correctly. “You sure you wanna fight me in that shape? She questioned teasingly, as if she wasn’t just as injured, “Fighting an old cat is one thing, but an injured old cat? I don’t know if I could bring myself to do it!” Eagerly, she awaited Passionblaze’s counter and laughed warmly when it came. Triumph and amusement sparkled in her eyes as he referred to himself as an elder who deserved respect. His little wink had an odd affect on her. Piperwing had always loved winks, they were so amusing and cute. The best way to make her smile other than bantering, was to give a flirtatious wink. Thus, her smile widened and she shook her head as if she thought him cheesy when in reality she found it adorable. Piperwing would have been glad to know that Passionblaze didn’t suspect her misery. No one really knew about it because Piperwing was a stellar actress. She had the whole clan thinking she was the same happy-go-lucky fireball as ever. She missed that version of herself and could only hope the genuine thing would return eventually. She was, however, interested in Passionblaze’s life. She figured he must have tons of friends due to being deputy and suddenly worried that he thought she was only being nice to him because of his rank. Piperwing truthfully couldn’t care less about his power. She simply liked him as a cat. As they got back into their battle banter, Piperwing snorted in a rather unladylike way when she heard Passionblaze describe himself as ‘the passion’ and a ‘phantom.’ Flicking her tail back and forth, Piperwing responded cheekily, “Oh, I think I can guess what the Passion is about. She repeated the word phantom in a teasingly questioning manner and boasted, Well I’m like a cheetah. You never see me coming until my jaws are around you throat!” Piperwing pretended to lunge forward to see if he would flinch. Piperwing planned from that moment on to sneak up on Passionblaze every time she saw him as a joke. It felt good to have an inside joke again. To be close enough to someone to have an inside joke with them. Piperwing noticed that Passionblaze was zoning out a bit and shook her head exasperstedly. She kept talking and he eventually returned to paying attention. Piper proclaimed them friends and Passionblaze went along with it, making Piperwing nod in approval. “I think I can handle it.” She answered his warning wryly. When he told her she was stuck with him, Piperwing sarcastically meowed, ”Oh no, whatever shall I do? It means your stuck with me too, hon, so don’t get too cocky.” Piperwing laughed and answered, “You’re right on all accounts, but I meant that fiesty is the big one.” Piperwing winked, agreeing that she was fierce and insane too. Piperwing knew that it was in Passionblaze's nature to be reckless, just as it was in hers, but she also knew that he needed someone to change that for. She would just have to be that someone. Piperwing laughed as Passionblaze responded to her ‘threat’ and waggled his tail in front of her nose. Mischief gleaned in her bright greenish eyes and she thrust out a paw to try to smack his tail as he pulled it away. “Squirrel sounds good to me!” She purred, settling down beside Passionblaze and taking large, unflattering bites of the squirrel.

Not many would know it, but Passionblaze hated grooming sessions. As a kit, he purposely hid from Springingsky to avoid her tongue on his pelt to look presentable. During his apprentice ceremony, he allowed himself to sit still for his mother to make his pelt glossy. Even for his warrior ceremony. Usually his pelt was a glossy dark red, the hue of a ripe strawberry. Right now, he didn’t care much about how his pelt was presented. It dirty, clumped, and sticking up at different angles. That was fine. Passionblaze never really cared much about how other parties saw him. So, while he gave up grooming himself, he looked over to Piperwing. She had finished grooming her own pelt, and Passionblaze had sat there for a moment, admiring her diligence when she managed to get more work done than him. It almost appeared like she never went into battle. Passionblaze was probably admiring her a little too much because when she looked up to gaze at him, the tom tensed. She gave him a look like she was going to laugh at him; stifling in a giggle. Passionblaze knew he must had looked like a complete mess, so he quickly shook his pelt. That should had straightened something out (it did not).
“I’ll take my chance,” Passionblaze’s tongue rolled out his mouth, wetting his jobs. “Just be ready for you to lose.” She was already in a playful crouch. Passionblaze was gonna copy, but he was still a little hurt, so his crouch was askewed, a little lazy, and more so to make himself comfortable. When she commented that he was old and injured Passionblaze gave her a look of disbelief. “Well, you just wait until this old and injured cat is ready to serve his clan once more. Somebody must be asking to have more duties to tend to than the normal warrior.” He teased. No one likes to work all the time, except for Passionblaze. Passionblaze liked to work. He had less time to lounge around because he was a busy bee roaming around and making sure everyone was okay, and that Thunderclan was pleased. He didn’t know if Piperwing valued working more than relaxing, but perhaps she loved relaxing around. “And, I’ll make sure you have a lot of chores from Dawn to Moon high,” he drew out a purr. Passionblaze could imagine giving Piperwing a lot of unnecessary chores because she dared to defy him. It was all out of good fun, however and it was better than sulking around and thinking the worse about the battle. Passionblaze just enjoyed a little action in his life, and being stationary wasn’t his ideal. When he gave her a little wink, Passionblaze never saw the gesture of it being flirtatious. Most she cats might as well think he was flirty since he had no problem in showing his fascination to them. In reality, Passionblaze didn’t know how to flirt. He wasn’t the more chill flirt like Burn was. Passionblaze’s voice was too deep to be mesmerizing in his opinion. Besides that, Passionblaze was too sincere with his compliments. Since he never truly had a crush before, why would it matter? One thing Passionblaze was obsessed about was love. It was such a fragile, beautiful thing. One of the most passionate sides to him...that Burn ruined by clawing the hearts of the beautiful sirens in the clans. Passionblaze honestly felt that if he and Burn were in the same clan, side by side, interested in the same Molly, no doubt would she choose Burn because Burn easily snaked his heart into the beauty, Whereas Passionblaze was more flustered and awkward when trying to impress her. Even though Passionblaze had plenty of molly friends, it never crossed his mind to pursue any of them. He didn’t mind Piperwing’s company. Whether deputy or not, he was a pretty approachable cat and a fun one to get to know if they stuck around. So, judging how easily Piperwing and he clicked, he figured she wouldn’t be going anywhere soon. He didn’t know the fact that she lacked friends, so his friendship and company would had been appreciated by her.
Passionblaze straightened his posture, tilting his head, and giving the she cat a lopsided grin, snickering at her snort. He told her about The Passion. His fierce side that he believed himself to be a beast when he was able to knock others off guard. “No one,” he says. “And, I mean, no one, can predict the Passion.” He states with mock haughtiness. He flashed a comical expression when Piperwing dubbed herself with the spirit of a cheetah. Passionblaze gave her that ‘are you being serious’ expression, and almost bursted out laughing. “A cheetah, yeah sure,” he flicked his tail above him. The tom’s amber-green gaze stared at her. She looked about to pounce at him, but Passionblaze made no sudden movement. He squinted his eyes at her. What was she doing? He was unfazed by her act to make him flinch. Passionblaze had turned to look behind him to see if there were any intruders, but there weren’t. So, he turned back to the Molly. His eyes widened. “Was I supposed to...flinch?” He asked, dumbfounded. Not making fun of her, but completely out of curiosity. “Because if I was, you did a terrible job at trying to scare me,” he purred, taking his time to thunder a laugh. It wouldn’t be bad at all for her to stick around. It’d be nice to have a new friend to chat with after a long day ifnstressing himself with warrior duties. If Passionblaze could read her thoughts, he’d notice she was thinking the same thing of popping out of no where to scare the other. A little laugh that no one else would get but the two of them.
If Piperwing felt she could handle him, why not let her try? So, Passionblaze had rolled his shoulders comfortably and dipped his head respectively towards her once more. She continued, and he spluttered out a laugh. “You certainly are something else, Miss Piperwing.” Passionblaze cleared his throat after a bit of chuckling. She had humor. She was witty. She was feisty. He couldn’t get out of this one, even if he tried, so he succumbed and embraced it.
When she winked at him, Passionblaze let out an exasperated huff. “And, I thought all she cats were supposed to be as sweet as they are beautiful?” He questioned, playfully. His voice a little coy because he knew that wasn’t true. The sweet and shy mollies were certainly gorgeous to him. He found them too cute. But, as Passionblaze view every molly as being beautiful, no matter their appearance, he was more attracted to their attitudes. Whether they were sweet, teasing, flirty, playful, shy, or even feisty. Passionblaze always wondered how much drive did a she cat carry. “You certainly make that stereotype make believe.”
It would had taken plenty of time and reminders for Passionblaze to stop being reckless. He did care a lot about many cats. The main ones being his mother and niece, but being reckless, everything was vanished from his mind. His mind was empty. When time came to hustle, and Piperwing would remind him to come back alive, those thoughts would frequently vanish because all he’s making sure is that the ones he loves and cares for is alive. Passionblaze was truly one of those cats who didn’t care much about his life, but he simmered down over the moons of he were to live long enough to become leader.
They both settled down to eat after Passionblaze playfully responded that his tail must taste good (despite it still being dirty). He quickly maneuvered his tail from being pawed by his new friend, and he shot her a dirty glare, but she began to ear from her squirrel. Feeling a little more comfortable around her, Passionblaze scooted closer towards her, dragging his squirrel to be near him. Passionblaze had eyed the way Piperwing tore the flesh of the squirrel. “You waste no time, do you?” He chuckled, lowly at her ravenous bites. After a battle, wouldn’t they all be starving? So, he copied her. He ate sloppily, the juices of the kill around his muzzle. Not that he cared much. As he swallowed down a bite, he glanced at Piperwing. “So, now that you forced me to be your friend,” He started, snickering. “What are some things you do for fun?” If they were to become friends, might as well get to know each other for a little bit.