aphrodite's dove

~~~

IT TOOK ROSEFROST plenty of self control to stop her head from swerving around to keep the cat in her view. Moons of practice had allowed her to remain still and instead watch the cat from her peripherals, where she spotted the calico disappear into an old rabbit burrow.

The brown tabby's fur started to rise in excitement. Perfect opportunity.

As Craneflight started towards the patch of heather, Rosefrost didn't follow. Instead, she racked her brain for an excuse to skip the huddle and get into the warriors den before the calico went to sleep. She came up blank, but it was as though SpiritClan were on her side, for in that moment Craneflight's mother Windfoot trotted up to them.

"Would you mind if I borrowed him for a second, Rosefrost?" Windfoot meowed, ruffling her spotted gray fur against the wind. "Pebblepaw's been having the same issue Craneflight had with crouching, and I can't figure out how to solve the issue."

Rosefrost nodded, trying not to seem too eager. "Craneflight and his crouching knowledge are all yours, Windfoot."

The older she-cat purred and flicked the brown tabby's ear fondly with her tail before padding off to the side, beckoning to Craneflight. The white tom made a move to follow his mother, but paused briefly in front of Rosefrost. "Mom shouldn't take too long, I'll be over in a bit."

"Actually." Rosefrost twitched her tail-tip. "It's really cold, I think it'd be best if we skipped the huddle tonight."

"Skip the huddle?" Craneflight repeated in shock. "And this is coming from the same cat who insisted on this huddle even when she had a fever?"

The brown tabby tried to shrug nonchalantly. "Well, I'm also exhausted."

"Mhm." Craneflight's whiskers twitched with amusement. "And this would have nothing to do with the fact that Tigerblaze just went inside?"

Rosefrost's pelt fluffed defensively. "Let that go, will you? I'm just tired, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight." She tapped her nose against Craneflight's quickly before spinning around and all but sprinting into the burrow she'd seen the calico pelt disappear into minutes ago.

Inside, the warmth and thick smell of rabbit enveloped Rosefrost almost immediately, and she let her eyes adjust to the dark before searching for the cat she's been tracking. The brown tabby found the calico near the back by herself, licking a paw and drawing it over her ear.

Rosefrost took a deep breath, gathered all the courage and confidence she had, and padded over with a smile. "Hey, Dovepetal."

Dovepetal lifted her muzzle to look at Rosefrost, and as her green eyes met the brown tabby's blue ones, Rosefrost felt a rush of heat at the attention. She suddenly became very subconscious of the way she's carrying herself, and twitched her pelt in hopes of clearing any blades of grass or specks of dirt she might've picked up throughout the day.

"Hi, Rosefrost." The calico's voice was gentle as always, her gaze sleepy but warm as she blinked at the brown tabby. "I haven't talked to you in a long while."

One and a half days, Rosefrost thought. She'd counted, but thought it may not be the right time to share that fact. "I know, life's been so busy," she meowed instead. "I feel like I've seen your brother more than you."

"Oh, that's right." Dovepetal's jaws parted in a yawn. "Tigerblaze has told me about those walks. How've they been?"

The brown tabby couldn't find an answer other than boring. "They've been alright," she meowed slowly. "Tigerblaze told me about the first time you had to sleep in a burrow because it was raining - he said you were so unused to something over you that you insisted on having your tail laid out in the rain all night!"

"SpiritClan," Dovepetal groaned. "Trust my brother to reveal all the embarrassing stories."

Rosefrost shuffled her paws, working herself up to say the next sentence. "I found it endearing." Her words came out mumbled, but Dovepetal heard it and smiled.

"Thanks, you're so sweet."

Before either cat could say anything else, Tigerblaze's voice called to Rosefrost from near the entrance of the burrow. "Rosefrost! Over here, I saved a spot for you."

The brown tabby's pelt prickled, trying to find an excuse, but came up blank. "Well," she meowed to Dovepetal, "I guess I'd better..." She trailed off lamely and gestured towards Tigerblaze with a wave of her tail.

The calico purred. "My brother's trying to steal you away from me."

Her words were a joke - at least, Rosefrost thought they were a joke - but Rosefrost felt her pelt rushing with warmth anyway. The thought that she might belong to Dovepetal in that way made her heart skip a beat entirely. Rosefrost's certain she looked like an absolute furball at the way her jaw opened and closed, attempting desperately to find something to say.

Dovepetal purred again and flicked Rosefrost's shoulder with her tail. "Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Rosefrost managed finally, turning around and padding over to Tigerblaze in a daze. Great SpiritClan.

As she laid down next to the ginger tom, she suddenly felt his fur press against hers; she lifted her head to shoot him a questioning look, to which Tigerblaze just shrugged in reply. "We're by the entrance, it's cold," he meowed matter-of-factly. "I'm just trying to keep warm."

And of course, that's when Craneflight ducked into the burrow. When he spotted Tigerblaze and Rosefrost, a sly look overcame his face and he gave the brown tabby a proud nod, to which she internally groaned.

"Craneflight..." The low mutter came from Tigerblaze, so quiet Rosefrost wasn't certain it was meant for anyone's ears but his own. However, his next words were directed at her. "There's nothing going on between you two, is there?"

Rosefrost recoiled. "What?"

"You and Craneflight." Tigerblaze's eyes narrowed into slits as he watched the white tom pad to the back of the burrow and settle down.

"Him and I are just friends," Rosefrost replied as politely as she could manage.

"Okay," Tigerblaze meowed slowly. And that was that; the conversation thankfully ended, and Rosefrost tucked her muzzle beneath a paw and shut her eyes.

Great SpiritClan, why was everyone so interested in her love life today? She didn't care much of what Tigerblaze thought, but she really hoped Craneflight would erase the fantasy he'd created about her and the ginger tabby.

Because in a way, Craneflight's suspicions weren't wrong. She did have her eye on Duskstar's kit.

It just wasn't Tigerblaze.

~~~

THE NEXT MORNING came too early, and Rosefrost was roused from her dreams by a harsh, leafbare gust. She shivered and pressed herself into the nearest source of warmth. When she realized that was Tigerblaze, she jerked in the other direction into the cold. That wasn't pleasant. If she wasn't wide awake before, she certainly was now.

It didn't matter anyhow. Nightpetal was already awake, and her loud yowl was hard to miss, even with the blowing wind.

As the warriors dragged themselves from the burrows into the cold, Nightpetal twitched her pelt from the top of the Tallstone. "Come on, all of you, look alive!"

"But it's cold," Rabbitfoot whined, her jaws parting in a yawn. "Couldn't the patrols wait another few hours?"

"Keep that up Rabbitfoot, and you'll be on the next dawn patrol," Nightpetal joked, drawing a purr from the unenthused warriors. "But seriously, I need border patrol to keep an eye out today. The rogues always push borders during leafbare, and with how cold this one is, I have no doubt they'll be trying to steal our prey. Sunfrost already caught scents of them in the Heather Plains yesterday."

At the mention of rogues, the sleepiness melted into alertness in many cats' eyes. Rogues had been an ongoing issue in BreezeClan for as long as Rosefrost could remember; they seemed to share BreezeClan's talent for running, and so hunted on the moors only. They normally kept off the Clan's territory, but always became very desperate for prey during leafbare.

As the deputy handed out patrols, Rosefrost listened intently for her name, but it was never called. She was just about to head back into a burrow and spend her free morning sleeping when Tigerblaze stepped in front of her.

"Rosefrost! You're not in any patrols either?" The ginger tabby's eyes lit up when Rosefrost shook her head. "Great, would you like to go for a walk, then?"

The brown tabby debated telling him she'd prefer sleeping, but she didn't want Dovepetal's brother to think she was lazy. "Sure."

Tigerblaze grinned. "I want to take you somewhere special, is that okay?"

That should've been the first sign, but it completely flew over Rosefrost's sleepy brain. "Okay."

Little did she know, this walk would change her life forever.

~~~

thoughts on rosefrost & dovepetal? what do you think will happen on the walk? predictions for the future? be sure to let us know!

thank you for reading, and as always, have an amazing day!! bye!

~ lily & effie