The first night I met you, it was like a dream.

LittleFlea sat on the rocks at the base of the waterfall, the moon was high in the sky so she didn't worry much about CloudClan patrols, so she came to relax. Ever since RobinStar disappeared, she'd had all the clans pressure on her shoulders, she'd been losing sleep over it. So on nights when she couldn't sleep she came out here, to lay at the base of the waterfall next to the small pond that the waterfall flowed into. listening to the sounds of the waterfall helped her to drift off as the moonlight trickled down from above.

Smoothstone was careful to step around twigs and leaves. He didn't want to disturb the sleeping creatures at were around. His eyes scanning around for any danger that could lurk in the night. His white pelt gleamed silver underneath the beautiful moonlight. The tom was making his way over to the waterfall. He didn't understand why this was dangerous especially since Brookclan was determined to keep this area to themselves. But tom needed to get away from all the panic back at his camp. He let out a loud sigh when he got to the waterfall, sitting beside the water, staring into the deep pool for a second, before turning his gaze up to the night sky. The white and brown tabby glanced around "Uh... okay so... Ancestors I feel stupid.." He meowed as he fluffed his pelt from embarrassment. "Listen, I don't normally do this like.. uh talk to dead cats but... please let stuff return to normal, everyone is stressed at the fact that our leaders are missing, the clan is turning insane, at the fact that we have no leader.. so.."The tom stopped, shaking his head" Oh who am I kidding, what are a bunch of stars going to do... " The tom grumbled.

LittleFlea's ears perked softly, the lulling sounds of the waterfall interrupted by the sounds of a tom preying to the stars. her fur prickled softly, but he didn't seem like a threat to her, in fact, he seemed a bit, sad to her. "They do more than you realize." She spoke softly, sitting up from her position, her ears twitching softly. It was clear she was still on guard, however, it was also obvious she didn't see the tom as a threat, but rather a lost lamb. She couldn't bring herself to be hostile to someone who wasn't a threat, especially since her day had been tiring and she wasn't sure if a fight would suit her.

The tom jumped suddenly at the sound of a new voice. He turned towards the sound, spotting the familiar she-cat, wasn't she the one he had spotted earlier in the patrol? He cleared his throat quickly, shuffling to his paws "Sorry! I-I didn't know there were others here." The tom meowed loud enough over the waterfall. In his mind, the tom was yelling at himself, stuttering like an idiot. He shook his pelt "You're Littleflea correct? The uh deputy of Brookclan?" Smoothstone asked, staring at the female, feeling the same feelings he had earlier, of interest for the pretty female.

LittleFlea flicked her tail over her paws softly, her tail almost reaches halfway up her legs, not because it was thicker than an average tail but because her size made the tail appear larger. "I am, and you're from CloudClan." She mewed, suspicion laced her tone, she made it known she didn't trust him, but that she wasn't going to attack him "And they do listen if you sincerely ask." She mewed, pointing the tip of her tail up to the stars. "Although I think you're problems might be better solved by talking with another cat than the ancestors." She tried to be helpful, but after the fact, she realized her tone may have come off as confrontational, which she hadn't intended.

The white and brown tabby stared, nodding along with her words, glancing a bit away when she mentioned he was Cloudclan. The tom shrugged his shoulders "I may be part of Cloudclan, but I do not feel like one." Smoothstone sighed, as he settled back down, staring at her. His eyes flicking to watch her tail, he curled his legs under his body as he stared at her "Who would want to listen to my problems, I have too many to count." He let out a slight chuckle before hesitating, he stared at her eyes, seeming mesmerized by their color "You have such beautiful eyes..."

LittleFlea felt a small ping of surprise at his compliment, her ears twitched softly with embarrassment, the cats of BrookClan were all too respectful to compliment her so forwardly, so it caught her off guard a little. "Thank you" She mewed softly, before giving a small cough "I..." She thought for a moment, wondering if she should tell him. "Have similar issues. problems are plentiful now." She looked down, deciding not to tell him much of anything, she still couldn't trust him. But even if he was from CloudClan, he was still a cat, he deserved kindness.

Smoothstone listened, nodding along to her words. He laid his head on top of his paws, staring ahead at her. Just humming softly to show he was still listening. He didn’t understand why he felt compelled to listen to her. “If you would like my dear, I would love to hear your troubles, in turn, you could hear mine?” The tom suggested, giving her a smile, his eyes holding a gentle shine that no one in his clan even receives.

Her ears perks softly. She had been unable to tell the hexer as they were personal to her and would make her clan question her leadership. And that kind of knowledge in a CloudClan cat's paws? She was unsure. "My troubles are..." She tried to think of the right words to use. "Sensitive." She continued with a flick of her tail. "How am I sure I can trust you?" She asked softly, being sure to hold a gentle tone, she tried her best to convey her interest in the idea, but show her reservations with it as well. He seemed different from the patrol they had met prior, during the patrol, he came across as a dazed kitten rather than a warrior, but now he was... Different. He was soothing.

The tom gave her a smile, a genuine one, he stood up and stretched slowly “You are wise to not trust someone you don’t know. But I swear to you, on our ancestors. I am trustworthy, I would never give your secrets away if I do. I’ll accept any punishment from the dark forest.” He approached the water, dipping his paws in the cool water, soon it was his legs, and then half his body until he was deep enough to have to swim. Still sticking close to his side of the water, he wasn’t as graceful as a Brookclan cat but managed to keep his head above the water “The water is nice, you could join me.”

LittleFlea listened, nodding softly. she still didn't trust him, every death she's ever witnessed in her life was thanks to CloudClan, she still couldn't trust him. But as he clumsily wadded into the water, and his attempt to keep his head above the water and still talk made her break into a chuckle, she wasn't expecting a CloudClan cat to try and swim. "Are you sure you're safe in there?" She asked, standing and looking into the water, before deciding to slip softly into the water, she knew if they were in the water she could win any fight. Her fur fanned out in the water as she stuck close to the surface, managing to keep her head up above the water despite her paws not hitting the ground. Easy to say she was a bit more graceful than the tom had been.

Smoothstone let out a laugh as he struggled a bit “I’m beginning to regret my choices.” He joked as he swam towards her, noting how beautiful she was as she swam, feeling jealous at how good she was able to swim but it began to disappear. He didn’t need to be jealous, she was made for this. “How can you do this so effortlessly. This is unfair.”

LittleFlea chuckled again, she couldn't help but find his inability to swim cute. After realizing her thoughts however she shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. "BrookClan cats are trained our entire lives to be able to swim, and this waterfall..." She paused, looking over to it. "It's the reason myself and so many other BrookClan cats are not only able to swim so well, but it's the reason we're still here today." She sighed softly, no matter how much she wanted to hate the beautiful landmark for all the lives that were taken over its borders and all of the blood that's been shed on their rocks, she couldn't. For it was the lifeline of her clan. "But I suppose CloudClan doesn't have many places to learn how to swim" She mewed, smiling softly at him.

The tom listened, taking in her point of view for why this was an important area for them. He began to a shame, this was their life and no one had the right to take it away from them. "You are very right, we don't have beautiful pools like this. I do not understand why we fight. We do not need to hunt fish nor learn how to swim for we are more proficient in hunting land prey. I guess we want to look powerful." The tom admitted, heading to the bank and lifting himself up. His once beautiful well-kept fur now stuck to his body dripping with water. He shook the excess off, giving her a caring smile "No matter what Cloudclan says, this is your waterfall. No one can take it from you."

 LittleFlea watched the tom and listened carefully, her smile dropping as he spoke and her ears flattened. She was wrong for assuming all CloudClan cats were like SilverStrike. "Thank you." She mewed softly, with a gentle nod of her head. "You're the first CloudClan cat to say that to me." She looked down into the crystal blue waters at her waving reflection, her ears twitching softly. "And..." She paused, looking up at him again. "I'm sorry. I assumed all CloudClan cats were mean and heartless." She paused again, it was hard for her to admit fault, especially to a CloudClan cat. "But I suppose even I can be wrong sometimes." She smiled, not ready to let go of her feelings on CloudClan, and settling on praising the tom instead.

The tom stretched, settling down on the bank letting his front paws submerge in the water. His ears flicked and chuckled "Not all of us are like that.. Sure we try to appear like that, but it's so we can be taken seriously or something. I apologize about Silverstrike's stubbornness, sadly it's one of our cursed traits to be stubborn" The tom meowed, lifting his paw and flicking some droplets over to her "Can we now be called friends?~" Smoothstone teased, chuckling softly as he lowered his head laying his chin on his paws, his blue-colored eyes staring at her with a soft look.

LittleFlea rolled her eyes, swimming to the shore, getting to a point where she could stand and sitting in the water. "I'll consider it." She mewed with a small flick of her tail, flicking water behind her. "But I'm not sure if I can call a CloudClan cat a friend yet." She added, but her words did reveal that eventually, she may be willing to call the tom a friend. which she wasn't even sure if she'd see him again, which she didn't know how to feel about. He was a nice cat, and he even apologized for CloudClan and agreed with her, she didn't know what to think.

His eyes lit up immediately when he heard her say yet, implying that he could be in the future. Gave her a toothy grin. "Well, I will try my best to work up to the point that you can call me friend!" He purred as he got up, shaking the remaining water off his pelt, staring at her "I do hope I get to see you again, It would be a shame not being able to see such a gorgeous female ever again." The white and brown tabby meowed, wanting to see her reaction.

LittleFlea averted her gaze, her ears twitching softly with embarrassment. "I'm sure we'll see each other at the gathering." She paused, before continuing to correct herself. "Or rather you'll see me, sadly with the way things are going I think I'm going to have to take RobinStar's place this go-round." She sighed, she wished RobinStar had been there, she'd know what to do way more than LittleFlea ever could.

Smoothstone's smile faded as he nodded along to her words, feeling a bit of disappointment fill his chest. It was only his luck that he managed to stumble upon the deputy tonight. "Maybe we could meet up here again...? I know you still distrust me but I really would love to see you again. I just feel like, I don't have to hide around you and I would love to know more about Brookclan-" He paused, he shook his head, clearing his throat he continued "I mean just the history, how it came to be.."

LittleFlea's ears perked at the last thing he said, she was, curious about it. "I'll make you a deal." She mewed softly with a flick of her tail. "I'm here almost every night." She mewed softly, standing up from the water and stepping out, shaking out her fluffy diluted calico fur in the process. "If you manage to come here, when I'm here again, I'll allow you to cross the border again, but only if I'm here." She mewed softly with a smile. She knew it was unlikely he'd come at the same time as her again, but she was curious about his dedication, and how much he actually wanted to know about BrookClan and how serious he was about learning it.

The white and brown tabby eyes widened, he wasn't expecting her to agree, but hearing her deal seemed to make him nervous. His tail flicked side to side as he hummed softly "Do I have to be here at the exact same time as you or can I come early?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as he watched her movements.

LittleFlea thought softly, mulling over his inquiry, her tail swaying softly with the rhythm of her thoughts. "I suppose if you come early you could wait for me." She mewed, before flicking her tail, almost looking a little panicked. "As long as you come along of course! I don't think either of our clans would be please with us being..." She paused trying to think of the right word to use. "Acquaintances" She finished after finding the right word, she wouldn't know what her clan would do if they found out, and she was almost positive CloudClan, especially SilverStrike would accuse her of being some cult leader trying to steal her warriors or something like that.

He nodded quickly to her words "Of course! I am quite sure if Silverstrike found us talking, she would give me an earful and then rip my ears off." The tom chuckled nervously, thinking about the silver and white she-cat,  a shudder passing down his spine. He turned to look at her before giving her a determined look "I promise I will come alone, as long as you promise to be alone as well."

Smoothstone smiled before glancing at the night sky, noting how beautiful it was. He turned to look over to her, purring faintly "I should go back... Silverstrike might notice I am missing." He meowed, not really wanting to go, his demeanor seemed to fall a bit at the thought of returning and having to act like he dislikes the other clans. He rose to his paws. "I will see you tomorrow night then?"

LittleFlea nodded softly. "I'll need to go too, my clan might worry if I'm out too late." She thought about the last thing he said for a moment before responding. "Maybe." She smiled with a flick of her fluffy, but wet, diluted calico tail.

With her response, the male nodded and turned, bounding away from the border, glancing behind him at the beautiful she-cat. A small ghost smile on his lips. He gave her a nod before he disappeared into the forest, heading back home.

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