.:DOW - Something Special:.

“Come on! They’re not gonna let us out for long.”

The grey tom followed eagerly, happy for the chance to stretch his legs. Not only was he looking forward to the exercise, though –

He was looking forward to spending some time with Rowanflight.

The lights in the sky were dimming, and he knew the track she was leading him on well.

“Rowan,” he said, trotting lightly behind her. “Sometimes you’re far too predictable. I –”

“Shh,” she giggled in return. Oh, how he loved the sound of her laughter. “We’re not going to see the fireflies, Ash. Sometimes it’s you who’s too predictable!”

The tom feigned a hurt scoff. “But princess!” He fell to the ground dramatically, rolling to his back and throwing a paw upon his forehead with an exaggerated sigh. “How could you possibly insult me so? I thought you were far too friendly for such behaviour!”

Rowanflight laughed again, standing over him intimidatingly. “Listen here, buddy. From now on, we do things my way – none of this ‘predictable’ stuff, and –”

She screeched, half with delight and half with surprise, as he rolled, pinning her playfully to the ground as he stood above her. “Just as I thought,” he teased. “You’re too weak to even –”

In retaliation, she rolled onto him again, using all her strength to keep him down. “I’m sorry? What was that about me being weak?”

With a grunt, Ashstorm rolled once again. The circle of the two cats went for ages, each having a small gap in which to prove their dominance before being thrown off once more. Soon, they were laughing so hard neither could stand, and so they both sat beside each other, their battle forgotten.

Still gasping for breath, Rowanflight said, “We should keep going. After all, we’ve still a little way to go, and not much time.”

The grey tom nodded curtly and continued on, trailing beside her until they reached a small clearing in which he told her, “I still think I won that.”

With that, she giggled and walked onwards, her hips sashaying lightly as she went. He stood there, enchanted by her movement.

StarClan, he had fallen hard.

He found his voice only as he sat. “Rowanflight… sit with me? Just for a little while, I promise. I…” The tom sighed, not quite sure how to word his thoughts. “I thought, maybe, we could look at the stars a little while? I can show you all the constellations my father taught me.”

Rowanflight had turned the instant he had spoken, her eyes expressing her confusion clearly. But after a small while, she smiled and obeyed his request. Together they looked to the sky in awe as the Silverpelt sparkled softly.

“Look,” he began, raising his paw in an attempt to point to a bundle of stars hovering just beside the moon. “You see those ones? That’s the butterfly cluster. And over there,” he continued, directing her gaze to the opposite side of the sky. “That’s the two-leg star. If you look close enough, it’s red – red being evil, and evil being two-legs.”

The night continued on, the sky gradually darkening and more stars appearing. Sometime during his explanations of the stars, the two had lay down, and slowly inched closer together. To him, it was magic – a magic, until now, he’d never thought he’d have the chance to learn.

Love.

“And that there,” he said, “is the Whisker. That long strand there, see? That’s where the gates to StarClan are. If anycat wants to visit us in our dreams –”

Ashstorm turned his head to look at the she-cat beside him, only to find his gaze interlocking with hers. Rowanflight smiled as she noticed that he had caught her watching him. He made to laugh, but all that escaped was a light huff.

“– they come down through the gates.”

The sandy she-cat blinked slowly at him, and he lowered his eyelids shyly. In that moment, he knew she could tell what he was thinking. In that moment, he knew what her answer would be.

In that moment, he had finally gathered the courage to say it.

“Rowanflight,” he began. “Will you be my mate?”