pafp I like to make myself believe || Fireflies

[Sparkwing]

The sun was beginning to set, the forest darkening on another day of hard work and training. Sparkpaw enjoyed watching the sky as the sun set, it turned the most beautiful shades of orange and red.

Much like him.

He was the color of the setting sun, the evening sky. The light shone on his pelt making it shine like fire, and the gentle breeze that rustled his fur made it look even moreso like it. The light did the same thing to Sunfreckle's pelt, his was even more stunning.

Sparkpaw smiled and sat where he was. He thought he was so cool looking!!!!

But then. A little yellow light caught his eye. His gaze snapped to this strange new creature.... Upon closer inspection, it was a bug! A little blinky bug!!! It flittered on over to him... And landed right on his nose!!!!

And it blinked!!!! Holy SHIT!!!!!

He had to show someone. He looked around slowly to find someone...... And he spotted his dad!!!! Forgetting Sunfreckle hated bugs, he trotted over to him excitedly.

"DAD. DAD LOOK."

The bug blinked.

"I GOT A COOL BUG."

Blink blink.

@Sunfreckle

​

 

[Sunfreckle]

His almost immediate reply to suddenly having a bug thrust near his face was a fullbody flinch that nearly knocked him off his paws, but it was only when he realized what it was that his fur slowly began to flatten back down around him from the startled poof it had burst into upon being approached.
"I-Oooh, okay..." Sunfreckle smiled, still slightly uneasy with the insect but it was not one of the biting ones or stinging ones so this was much more tolerable than the last time Sparkpaw had brought him a squirming little creature.
"...a firefly. Those are fireflies, they light up sometimes. I don't actually know why." Maybe it was how they spoke to one another? In flashing lights, in rapid blinks; a language for little bugs filled with stars. "Someone once told me a firefly is just a star that decided to leave the sky. But because it left its shine doesn't work as well, so it can only glow sometimes."
He wondered what it must feel like to lose your light. To be something magnificent only to fall and that spark fades. A paw reached out to give the younger red tabby a gentle tug towards him; single forelimb looped around Sparkpaw's shoulders and a nose pushing into his cheek in a quick gesture of affection.
"How is your training coming along, little firefly?"
​

 

[Flamestar]

The Molly had been laying nearby, catching up on some rest before taking Cloudypaw out for a training session. She had been planning out what all she wanted to go over today, when her gaze drifted off to Sunfreckle and his kit, Sparkpaw. Her eyes widened as she watched Sparkpaw shove something in his father's face, causing Sunfreckle to flinch. She started to laugh...something she hadn't done for a few weeks. It felt...nice. The weight that had been pressing down on her seemed to lighten a little, even if it were for just a moment.

She would rise to her paws, curious now to what had caused her friend to flinch like he had. Perhaps it were some sort of bug? She knew he didn't like those at all. Flamewhisker padded over quietly, attempting to touch her nose to Sunfreckle's shoulder. It had been awhile since she had gotten to spend time with him and Sparkpaw. They had talked here and there, but life seemed to be in the way often.

Her gaze rested upon the small, glittering bug that Sparkpaw had caught. A firefly...her favorite bug. She had spent many evenings chasing them when she was younger. The lights that they produced had always seemed magical in some sense. They had always sparked curiosity within her, even now. "Those are my favorite bugs." she would say softly, hoping she wasn't intruding on their family time. As Sunfreckle asked his son how his training was going, she too would look at him curiously. She could remember when the young tom was a kitten...he and his littermates had always seemed like family to her, so she too was interested in hearing about it.

[₊⋆]​

​

 

[MOUSENOSE]

Mousepaw sees Sunfreckle and Sparkpaw together and a dark little pit begins to form in the bottom of her stomach. The last thing she wants is to be left out of bonding time, even if it's only meant for father and son. Jealously, she stares at the pair of them, their sunrise-red pelts matching the evening sky. She favors Rabbitnose, but she doesn't look nearly as much like him as Sparkpaw does Sunfreckle. She finds it unfair.

The blue tortoiseshell pads close, squeezing herself in between Flamewhisker and Sunfreckle to see the bug in question. Sparkpaw holds a gleaming firefly, fading in and out of existence, its tail-end burning like its namesake. Mousepaw blinks and reaches out to paw at it. "I've never touched one before," she mews wonderingly. "Always thought they'd be hot."

Sunfreckle's question sends Mousepaw back to overdrive, practically bouncing on the pads of her paws. "My training is going great! I get to go on special hunting missions all the time!" She thrusts her chin upward, hoping her father will bestow some affection onto her, too.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

​

 

[Silverlightning]

War weighin' on my heart but I can't fall

Silverlighting trailed silently behind his bouncy apprentice with keen, watchful eyes. There seems to be a brief moment of something there, sibling rivalry perhaps? Either way he lowers onto his haunches, taking a seat as Sunfreckle explains his take on firefly origin. Mousepaw however pipes up about her training, earning a soft huff of thinly veiled amusement to flow from his nose. "It has indeed. She is well on her way to becoming a wonderful warrior." He murmurs to the lead warrior now wedged between his daughter. Mousepaw has come quite a long way. Now if only he could find a way to rein in her fickle attention span. ​

Seekin' shelter from the storm on this blank road​

​

​

 

[Acornwish.]

ACORNKIT — the cow jumped over the moon .
The day had been hot, too hot for little Acornkits comfort.
Yet, with dusk came the suns slumber, and the chimera had found that when the sky burst with pale blues and pinks, that was her favorite time of day.
Large eyes are glued to Sparkpaw when he begins to holler about a cool bug.
Bramble paws itch to dash over, but anxious threaded fire laces her forepaws to the ground as she takes a moment to watch from afar.
Eventually, Acornkit cannot resist any longer and shuffles over.
Blinking light catches her attention instantaneously, the bug writhing in Sparkpaws secure grasp.
"Where.. where’d you find it?" She asks, looking up to the ginger apprentice, the need to know blazing in murky green eyes, contradicting her sheepish tone.

"speech"

tags​

​

 

[freckleflame]

newleaf has been good to the oak forest, thickening the leaves overhead and bringing life back to the undergrowth down beneath. rain pelted the lands in near constant, misting showers, feeding the flora that grazes large, dew - damp paws and uprooting worms hiding below. with the season, squirrel and mice return slowly to their hunting ground — and her pelt pays the price for it. the girl is lain on a side, teeth working at the burrs and twine lodged in the thickness of her coat, lips scrunched around a tabby knot. as it often was, she hears her brother before she can see him. seaglass luminaries cast upward in brief irritation, stars gleaming their dancing reflections back in wide, alert pools, but sparkpaw bellows then — and a tall, tufted ear swivels sharply backward, moving just barely quicker than the snap - pivot of her head and the apprentice is to her paws before she can think.

she sees sunfreckle first, blazing fur and looming stature — sparkpaw is beneath, paw jutting out to show something that mousepaw bats at.. ” fireflies? “ she echos, voice tinged in a curious wonder. she shoves her head between her father’s leg and sparkpaw, cheek fluff flattening with the way her features squeeze through the slit - small opening between them to spot.. the fiery fly flutters its sleek back wings, revealing the flickering bulb hidden underneath. she blinks, agape, ” woah.. how come i’ve never seen ‘em before? “ a ginger paw comes tentatively to lift, but mousepaw bats at it first and she arches her back, scrunching her large form in preparation for it to fly. her sister, however, begins to speak — she is still transfixed on the bug, beaming like lightning until the tortoiseshell perks up, says something about special hunting missions, her mentor striding up behind her to readily agree. that gets her attention. a knot wells in her chest, fighting to keep her ears from swiveling back — but they twitch, small muscles contracting against her will. special?

her brows furrow and she hopes it comes across as suspicion more than the flaming jealousy it was. what was silverlightning teaching mousepaw? frecklepaw lashes her tail, crouching before aiming a playful bat at her sisters ear, ” yeah? what kinda special huntin’ missions? “ what could they even hunt that was so special? ” wolfwind has been kicking our tails too! right, sparkpaw? bet we could catch a whole pheasant by ourselves now, huh? “ gleaming eyes flick back towards her brother, haunches waggling. an overstatement to be sure, but they could catch more than bugs!

《 ⠀ CONVO 𖤓 VISUAL ⠀ 》

• 
  i.
  
• FRECKLEPAW ——— ⠀ 𓍊𓋼 ⠀ . ׁ
  f. she / her. apprentice of thunderclan, daughter of sunfreckle and rabbitnose. fluffy cream tabby / tortoiseshell chimera with seaglass eyes. her namesake shows shows himself in shades of vibrant russet, doused in swathes of shadow and interwoven with ribbons pale cream. unspecified maine coon heritage from sunfreckle’s side brings her to a size expected of a thunderclanner — with large, round paws and tufted, long - furred toes upon thick, tabby - splotched limbs. reaching adolescence, kittish fuzz has lengthened, allowing her bulk to appear deceivingly fluffy, concealing layers of toned muscle in licks of red - orange.
  
  𖦹 . lesbian, single with no crush. smells like warm stone and oak leaves.
  𖦹 . nine moons, ages on the 25th. thunderclan apprentice. mentored by wolfwind.
  
  penned by antlers​
  
  
• 
  
  
  

​