Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
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Pale, sparkling golden sunshine filtered in between the yawning eyes of the overcast sky, the world shimmering and glittering as the deep velvets of nightfall encroached from behind the sleepy, raindrop-covered SummerClan camp, unruly kits now creeping out and splashing one another in mud puddles as their mothers fruitlessly tried to herd them back inside the nursery. The younger apprentices romped around in much the same manner, laughing and teasing one another, challenging their older, too-cool-for-kit-games denmates until they succeeded in daring everyone to vacate the apprentices' den. The warriors, for the most part, took this opportunity to retreat for an early night in, or to share tongues atop the glistening faces of the sunningrocks, reveling in how the dampness cooled them from the unrelenting green-leaf heat, or to join in and let their youth renew under the unraveling tapestry of a star-speckled sky, the storms that showered them over the day retreating to unleash their burdens elsewhere.
Everything was right. Everything was warm.
Right up until a pair of mud-stained apprentices, Firepaw and Crownedpaw, trampled across some seedlings just beginning to sprout around Ratstar's beech den, snapping the stems and leaving others barely surviving, crookedly fluttering in the tailwinds of the hurricane horrors. "I'M GOING TO GET YOU TWO FOR THIS....!!" But, despite her furor, Sunpetal's warning fell on deaf ears, the Garden Keeper left only to glare after them for a sufficiently dramatic period of time before turning to inspect the ravaged fruits of her labor. She'd been secretly tending to an assortment of pretty wildflowers---buttercups, because her mother continued to insist (wrongly, Sunpetal'd insist herself) that dandelions were weeds; bluebells, because they resembled the twinkling sapphire tincture of her gaze; marigolds, for their unmistakable glamor; and also some fruits, so her Papi could have a quick snack when he woke up with the munchies---but now she was going to have to start over from scratch, which was rapidly souring her mood, shown by the listless lash of her tail and the way her ears flattened against her crown, eyes crossing slightly. "No good kids not watching where they're going and being s-so careless and cumbersome," she grumbled to herself as she made her way out of camp, not noticing the interested flick of a patched ear belonging to a freckled tom lazing in his little corner of camp, too self-involved to note his presence or the irony of how she griped about the younger cats as if she herself hadn't earned her full name only a half-moon ago.
(that is the cutest opening i've ever read, my heart is so full)
Doefreckle was lounging on a flat rock, watching the kits, apprentices, and a few warriors playing in the puddles left by the afternoon's downpour. He was smiling, openly and genuinely, his tail-tip twitching happily and his eyes sparkling in the gathering gloom. Everything felt close and private, like SummerClan were the only Clan left in all the forest, like life had shrunken in to include only this squealing camp of muddy paws and splashed water flying through the humid air. It felt happy. Care-free. Young. He felt the same.
Then the warm, chaotic peace was shattered by the laughter of two apprentices and the frustrated shriek of a she-cat. Doe turned his head, still purring to himself as he watched the apprentices scamper off to cause further mayhem and the she-cat - Ratstar's daughter, he thought - brood over the ruined beginnings of a garden outside the beech den. A cloud of melancholic nostalgia settled over him as he watched her, thinking of his own daughters who'd once slept in that same den, who'd never gotten the chance to grow up as spoiled princesses of SummerClan; but the nostalgia, for once, wasn't sad or lonely - the warm dampness and the life filling the camp had seeped into his heart, and now he could almost be happy at the memories. When Sunpetal began heading for the camp entrance, grumbling to herself, Doe blinked himself out of his reverie and caught sight of her just in time to watch her slip through the leaves.
In an uncommonly good mood for the first time since his return, Doe got to his paws, toddling awkwardly down from the rock, and apologised his way through camp, squeezing between the playing cats. He smiled and dipped his head awkwardly to anyone who noticed him, stepping back and waiting as a few apprentices ran past him and sprayed up mud; he turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut, smile all scrunched up, as his fur was splattered with it. Looking down at himself, he let out a sigh - and continued on.
Limping out of camp, he spotted the she-cat and trot-limped after her. The moon was just starting to come out. "Y'know, I'm sure the Clan won't miss two apprentices if you were to theoretically off them," he purred as he fell in step beside her. "A trip to the sea gone wrong - who would know? Small price to pay to ensure the eternal safety of your garden. Cat blood, cheap as dust." He grinned. After a moment, it faded into a softer smile as he limped along at her side. "The garden'll grow back, though, don't worry."
If Doe had approached in any other manner, namely in an attempt to curb her ferocity or remind her that 'boys will be boys' and she shouldn't let herself be so worked up over the situation, she would have rounded on him, maybe got a little cuff In on his ears, and went about her business of mouthing off and stating her case until the sun came up. She was petty like that.
However, since the first words out of his mouth were essentially 'let's commit murder and never speak of it to another soul,' he got a thoughtful hum and smirk instead. Now that was an idea. "You know, I'm mostly sure Firepaw doesn't know how to swim," she added, but a sigh took the mirth right back out of her, her fleeting reverie grounded by the detestable reality that the two aforementioned apprentices were also technically royalty. Not as royal as her, of course, since she was the leader's kid, but the deputy's kids weren't far off. "I think Devotedcrow would notice them missing. Unfortunately. I can get away with a lot, but I'm not sure my Paps would overlook murder," Sunpetal lamented pathetically, exhaling a great big huff of air. She glanced sidelong at where Doe tred beside her, a flicker of hope reviving from the embers of despair in her gaze. She wanted to believe he was right about the future of her garden but that's around the time she realized: "Wait, who are you anyway? How do I know you know what you're talking about if I don't even know who you are? And what kinda stranger just goes up to another stranger and offers their help in murder?" She took a deliberate step away. "I mean, I vibe with it and all, but how do I know you wouldn't just try it on me? There's practically water everywhere here."
Doefreckle let out a snort as he limped along beside her, the weak sunlight finding the black splotches on his back and warming them, and was just opening his mouth to answer something snarky when her mood suddenly changed. He closed his mouth, watching her talk herself into paranoia with quirked, ‘really?’ brows and a small, patient smile. He didn’t think he’d ever met someone with so many emotions constantly swimming under their fur, and certainly never someone who could switch between them with such elasticity. He supposed that came from being the daughter of a brand new dynasty, too - you didn’t have to temper any emotions, didn’t have to learn which ones were acceptable and which ones weren’t. You could be as spoiled and fearless as you liked. New royal lines rarely had enemies that made that sort of fearful control a necessity.
He let out a bright little purr, eyes swimming with amusement. “What kinda stranger takes murder suggestions literally?” he replied, voice boyish. Being royalty was apparently such a big personality trait that it had encompassed much of what would have been a sense of humour. Faced with Sunpetal now, despite all his amusement and light-heartedness, he was almost thankful his daughter Lilykit had never had a chance to turn into her; she would be fine as a bratty friend, but if he had to cope with her as a daughter he’d never have been able to get out of bed in the morning to run the Clan. “Says more about you than me, I think, not that heists and murders and, y’know, vandalism can’t be very trendy and in when everyone’s hot and the group has a controversial gimmick like ‘we’re not poor, we just like pretty things like us and if we stole a priceless family heirloom we’ll reimburse you with the knowledge you got hijacked by the most dashingly charismatic thieves this side of the Southern Seas.’ Not that I’ve been thinking about it.”
His smile grew. “I’m Doefreckle. And I’d hope I know what I’m talking about. I created the garden keeper rank when I was leader a little while before your… Papi.” He said the word on the edge of a giggle. He settled down after a second and offered her a softer smile, eyes still warm and sunny. “You’re Sunpetal, aren’t you? I’ve been back for a while now, but of course royalty can’t be expected to know the comings and goings of the commoners.” His eyes sparkled, harmlessly acerbic. “Your dad found me after I returned and welcomed me home.” He was going to say the welcome home had been suspiciously nice, almost like Ratstar wasn’t as cheerful as he made himself out to be and was actively plotting his demise, but he guessed Sunpetal would get her hackles in a twist over any aspersions cast on her darling doting daddy.
She took in his quirkily disbelieving brows and smartass remark with another flip to a new emotion, petulantly huffing and stamping her foot down. "I wasn't taking you lit-ter-ruh-LEE, Deerspots. You can never be too sure of who's a friend and who isn't in my world, but," she gave him another once-over, "I guess if you did create the garden keepers---and I'm not saying I believe that you did---maybe you might know what I'm talking about. Maybe. I'm not convinced yet."
The darling doting daddy's girl spun on her paws and carried on her merry way, but that fluff that comprised her cinnamon tail drew its way beneath Doe's chin and tickled through the soft fur there, arcing into a curl as it came away and beckoned her newfound companion along with her. Her head turned and she batted her two perfect sapphires back at him coquettishly. "Of course I'm Sunpetal. Who else could look this good?" Besides her mother, Poppymask, as the differences between the mother-daughter duo were few and far between, but that was neither here nor there. Where the pampered princess was concerned, she was truly one on a million. "Anywayyyy, now that we're on a first name basis and I'm mostly convinced you aren't going to drown me in the stream we're about to cross, since you're laying down some...oddly specific statements that I'm not sure you haven't thought about, what's being dead like? Everyone talks about StarClan and becoming 'one with the stars' one day, but no one ever said anything about a return policy on that. What, did you piss on someone's flower crown? Eat the worship squirrel instead of the not-worship squirrel? What do you do to get kicked out of the afterlife?"
It was becoming increasingly clear that Sunpetal had a very loose interpretation of what actually came after, her ideals woven together by all the different renditions she'd heard of from all the different cats who twisted their faith to what made them feel most comforted, like religion was just some meal that could be seasoned accordingly. She knew her Papi was devout enough in his own right---thanking his predecessors for choosing to bring him from rags to riches---but she hadn't been able to pin down what felt true to her, since only leaders got to experience life after death and weren't allowed to talk about it, something she thought she quite rude, exclusive, and outdated, so it wasn't something she could just ask about.... until now.
Her tail swept under his chin and he looked momentarily uncomfortable at a girl doing that to him, tucking his chin back into his throat and trying to lean away from her touch; then the fluff brushed over his nose and he stifled a sneeze under his breath, his whole body doing a little flinch. With her glancing back at him coquettishly and beckoning him forward, Doe, looking faintly rattled and embarrassed now, followed after her hesitantly. But the momentary nerves burst as soon as she started talking again.
In my world. Oh my God, she was pretentious. She honestly thought she was a Kennedy. His gaze wandered away from the she-cat as she babbled on insultingly, turning his head away at one point to roll his eyes. Doe splashed through a puddle; the meadows, golden and glittering with raindrops caught on spiderwebs and grass stems in the last of the sunshine, were covered in them, and his fur was already mud-spattered - he was past caring, and found it freeing to give up on his usually pristine pelt for a little while. At her questions about the afterlife, Doe suddenly let out a burst of imperious, I-think-the-bloody-hell-not laughter, giving her a haughty look. "Like I'd tell you," he replied tauntingly. "Get a star behind your name and then we can talk. You might be royalty in lil' ol' SummerClan but unless the crown is on your head, you're a pleb to everyone else. Just a hillbilly princess with some pretty flowers on her head." Doe tilted his head and smiled back, catty and sweet. He gave her flower crown a contemptuous little flick with his tail-tip.
No way was he saying 'I never received my nine lives from StarClan because they rejected me so I gave myself my leader name and pretended I'd been ordained' to Sunpetal; she'd dismiss him as having ever been a leader at all and use it as proof that ohh, Ratstar was the blessing SummerClan needed, he was sent for by StarClan, they were all lost before Papi came along, no other leader ever did anythingggggg, blessed is the rat. He was struggling to manage her worship of her father enough as it was.
Sunpetal was vibrating. She had never, not once in her life, felt like the upper hand wasn't something she just had but was her very own hand - paw - whatever - as she did right now, catching Doefreckle's uncomfortable little shiver and slow pawsteps right before she'd turned back around, quick enough he wouldn't see the snide, self-satisfied smirk. And thank StarClan he wouldn't because it was gone too soon, Sunpetal's advantage ripped away, like he'd taken her very own upper paw, chopped it off, and hopped up to sit on her high horse.
She flinched, stricken by... she wasn't sure what was more infuriating, the words he was saying or the tone he was saying them in. She decided the words; a lot of people spoke demeaning to her, so that part was less surprising. "I am not a hillbilly," she snapped. "And, in case you didn't know, which I'm sure you wouldn't have heard since you were, you know, dead back when this happened, but I'm chosen by StarClan. So that makes me better than...pretty much everyone else already. I'm gonna be Queen Sunstar one day. They told me so themselves." She was fibbing at this point, but who was gonna tell on her? StarClan? That wouldn't be very holier-than-thou of them. Her paws sloshed in the stream as they crossed it, not bothering to use the stepping stones like she normally did to avoid getting her paws wet, deciding the coolness of the babbling water was welcome against the heat crawling up her skin. "It won't be long before Papi gets his message from them and Devotedcrow becomes Demotedcrow, so we can just skip...all this," she pointed a paw at the air between them, as if the tension and cattiness and insults were some physical presence to be looked at, "and just get on with it."
“Oh, chosen by StarClan?” Doefreckle replied around a little smile, his voice the kind of rich that came of lungs filled with laughter he wasn’t quite letting out. As she stabbed about blindly with the one weapon she’d landed on and found potentially effective - his death - Doe just watched her with that same bemused half-grin, like he was a college student babysitting an eighth grader and listening to their wild stories that he, as the adult, had to swallow as truth to maintain the peace. The smile turned to a full grin as she splashed ahead through the stream, his expression becoming something close to genuine floored wonder. He found himself laughing at Demotedcrow almost without meaning to. The last time Doe, with his… frankly demeaning attitudes to she-cats, had looked in awe of one had been with Glowstar, who he still, despite his truly incredible level of gayness, had a strange and indecipherable crush on. He still fantasised about her sometimes. It was weird and he didn’t want to talk about it so we have to move on.
Still grinning, and now genuinely enjoying Sunpetal’s presence, Doe splashed after her as fast as his broken paw would allow, thankful that the water would wash the worst of the mud from his underbelly. “What did StarClan say exactly?” he asked, falling in step beside her and limping along with his head turned to look at her. “And what’s gonna happen to your dad to allow you to be Sunstar?” He was genuinely starting to adore her - but more than that, he was starting to love winding her up and watching her crash around with her fiery temper.
Sunpetal, in her rage, could be truly titanic if she were several times larger than she was. If you were to take the passion, just an ounce of it, and drop it into, say, a giant or a golem or a great, big, giant lion bumbling across the earth on its mountain-sized paws, she could do things wildly devastating, creating craters in the earth and setting fire to the sky with one breath of her flame-filled lungs. That being said, she wasn't large enough to level a mountain with her paw, so instead she leveled an anthill that had just been freshly situated in that pretty paradise at the edge of the bordering forest, the worker ants screaming in anguish as they watched yet another home come tumbling down. Sunpetal didn't notice. She was too busy fuming and thinking and her thoughts caused her to fume some more. "Yes, chosen by StarClan, so basically I have the potential to have a lot of power and you should be very scared."
She didn't like Doefreckle very much right now. Maybe, when the fog cleared, she would look back and laugh at the foolishness of this interaction, their first interaction, or maybe, in true Sunpetal fashion, she wouldn't. All she was sure of right now was she found his laughter, not realizing that he was laughing mostly at Denotedcrow than at her at this point, patronizing. She wasn't fond of being patronized. "Papi is going to step down on his ninth life and I'll get eight, of course," she said slowly, as if it was obvious and Doefreckle was stupid, but it was also deeper than that, exposing a real, chilling fear that put ice in her belly. She forced herself to believe that there was no way in hell that she could ever lose her father. She knew, even if she wouldn't admit it, that she wouldn't recover from that loss, of never being able to snuggle into his fur and bring him midnight snacks and seek out his untainted, gentle advice. She couldn't lose his love. Sunpetal would be forever changed by that. So she denied it, and she denied thinking about it, and it was clear in the shortness of her mew that she denied Doefreckle asking any more questions about that. Instead, she turned and, charmingly, said, "I'll tell you what StarClan said if you tell me what I want to know."
Edited Sept 25, 2021 16:43:16 GMT -5 By woof | Reason: chosen to starclan was bothering me
So basically I have the potential to have a lot of power and you should be very scared. Doefreckle grinned crookedly at her self-confidence but didn't argue, just looking sideways at the she-cat with a gaze that was far more fond of her than she was of him at that moment. But then he recognised the genuine fear of her father's mortality that undercut her cockiness and his smile faded to a wisp of something more genuine; he wasn't laughing anymore. With his own distant relationship with his own parents, and particularly with his father, he often forgot that there existed healthy ones borne of love and care. He wanted to say sorry, but the words faltered in his mouth.
When she switched on the charm and turned to him, Doe stopped, looking down at her quizzically, his brows slightly quirked and the corner of his mouth turned up in the hint of a smile. He supposed he did owe her that much, after being a bit horrible. She wanted to know about a leader's life after death, didn't she? "Well," he began, looking away from her and walking slightly ahead, deciding he wasn't going to lie; whatever Sunpetal did with the information was up to her, but for once in his life he'd be truthful. "That's what my leader decided would be best for me as well - she would abdicate and keep her last life, and I would get eight. So, she retook her warrior name and I... well, eventually I took my new one. And I do mean 'took.' Because..." He drew in a breath, momentarily flip-flopping between tell the truth, lie, tell the truth, lie. "I wasn't given it by StarClan. I never received my nine - eight - lives, and I never received my leader name. So when I- died," he dipped his head slightly on the word, swallowing, "I didn't go to StarClan. Instead, I was stuck here. For two years. Just... the absolute stereotype of a lonely ghost." He laughed slightly - then, after a moment of just gazing blankly at horizon, refocused his eyes and turned his head to Sunpetal. "So, does that offer you a tremendous amount of comfort about your future? Or was I just the unlucky idiot StarClan didn't want, unlike you?" There was no heat in the question - in fact, he was grinning, his eyes affectionate. She really would make a wonderful leader if she got the chance - maybe not a particularly responsible one, but one that would lead SummerClan to a bright, unapologetic age. He cared for Crow, but half of him would be delighted to see Sunstar.
The errant sense of an apology in the softness of Doefreckle's smile was enough for Sunpetal. She could be earnest about her feelings when she wanted to be, when she was with her Papi or Bubbie or Sir Fisher (and admittedly she was still hesitant to be affectionate with Fisherpounce despite their moons of friendship), but anything beyond the scope of her closest and most treasured cats hearing what was in her heart made her uncomfortable. Hearing what was in others' hearts, especially something so close to pity as she felt sorrow was, made her just as, if not more, uncomfortable than even that. She was content to leave it unspoken; it didn't quite erase the dislike she currently felt for the tom, but it did lessen it. Slightly.
Still, whether she particularly cared for him or not, she wasn't about to miss the opportunity to learn something. For all her supposed cluelessness and shallow vanity, she had an unquenchable thirst for the things unknown to her, devouring every last morsel anyone was willing to share with her, oftentimes with such eagerness she forgets that not everyone can be trusted. Though she didn't really feel like Doefreckle was lying to her, not with how affected he still appeared to be by the topic. "Wait, wait, wait, so you died," she began slowly, pausing to squint and collect her thoughts, then repeated it. "You died, and you didn't have nine lives, but you didn't go to StarClan? You were a ghost. So, did you, like, see everything that happened here? Did you see cats die? Be born? Did you see when Papi came to SummerClan and became leader? Did you have to watch life pass you by?" Sunpetal had an insensitive manner of asking questions, asking exactly what was on ber mind with no thought to softening her phrasing; she just simply didn't see the need to. It generally rubbed other cats the wrong way - and was one of the reasons they found her intolerable, an acquired taste - but she never intended to be rude. She just wanted to know.
Doefreckle nodded along as Sunpetal repeated him, laying the story out for herself. "Mm - bits and pieces. Not as much as you'd think. It was like... it was like being lost in fog. Everything was grey, and it always felt like night, and the mist never cleared. There were other cats there, sometimes, but I rarely saw them - in the two years, I only spoke to one cat, a FallClan medicine cat apprentice who died the same day as me. She said it was something to do with unfinished business - no one better to haunt the living than the haunted, she said. So, I caught bits and pieces through the fog - I'd see a warrior chasing a rabbit through the meadows before the fog closed up again and I'd know it was daytime in the real world, or I'd hear snippets of conversations from camp if I walked near it, or I'd see someone sitting by my grave. The big stuff, though, that I never had any idea of - I'm still now hearing about things that happened, momentous things, like Fairystar driving out the WaterClan cats, that I just didn't know about. I didn't even know you guys extended the border to the sea till I saw it for myself. And then when I finally woke up, I... I don't know, I 's'pose I was confused. I forgot. So when your dad found me, hearing that there was a new leader, that there'd been... a string of new leaders, actually, and that the Clan had moved on without me... I shouldn't have been so surprised by it, but I was."
After a moment, Doe looked at Sunpetal with a smile that grew quickly to a toothy grin. "Y'know, if your dad ever decides he needs an inquisitor to root out liars and traitors, you'd be perfect for it."
Her ear swiveled around and twitched, acknowledging his remark about her sleuthing skills, but she was still mulling over his explanation. She chewed her bottom lip as she did so, lost in thought, until she finally said , quite bluntly, "I don't think I would like it if that were me. I don't really like to share, but I don't think I could ever be okay with not being leader without being dead - really dead. Like, six feet under, decay and putrefaction, bones disintegrating, soul-leaving-your-body dead." Her voice was hushed, an earnestly reverent whisper, as if Sunpetal were sharing a long-kept secret she was scared of someone overhearing. She may as well been. Anyone witnessing her truth was too close to vulnerability and too far from her carefully crafted self-image.
She glanced up. The last of the sunlight had burned away, the night sky left scorched and highlighted by thin tendrils of clouds resembling smoke trails. "But if it were me that got lost in a... a place of no stars, I'm not sure I would come back the same. Were you different before? Did you... iunno, did you like, believe in StarClan? Were you meaner then? Or nicer? Did you like foggy mornings but can't stand them now? Did you have a lot of friends? Enemies? Did you... um, like, have a family? How much have you changed, now that you get a second shot?" It dawned on her then that she was asking a lot of questions - which Sunpetal didn't actually care about - but hadn't shared her half of it, so she added after, in the most casual way one could, as if she were deciding where they were going eat, "I never actually, like, talked to StarClan."
"Mm," was Doe's only reply to her confession of likely being unable to give up leadership without being dead, trying to keep the sound as warm and cheerful as possible. He didn't want to say that was exactly how he felt about her father. At her question about being different than before, Doe was quiet for a long time. Even though he'd spent more than enough time wondering why he'd been brought back - furiously, hatefully, at first, and then with sorrowful, delicate hope, like anything else would shatter the illusion and strip all of this away from him again - he'd never truly considered that it was because the other cats in his life were owed a second chance, even if it was only the closure of letting go of him. It had always centred around him.
"I was... I suppose I was meaner, though I wouldn't have said I was. I was just lost, and angry, even though I always tried to be so happy about it - and I always thought I was the victim, which can just... never lead to good relationships." He laughed softly, his heart clenching guiltily as he remembered all the pain he'd caused. "I used people. I strung them along because I thought that if I surrounded myself with enough cats that were in love with me, I'd have all those second choices to fall back on. And I ruined lives like that, honestly. I thought I was so nice, too, that's the worst part. One of those toms, who had to watch me chase after someone else right in front of him, adopted kits with me. I ruined their lives, too - and then, because I didn't have enough cats who were forced to love me already, I had another litter I didn't even really want, just because I was starting to fall in love with my own legacy. And I turned on StarClan completely because when two of my kits were killed, I was so self-centred that I took it as a personal attack on me - nothing to do with them, or the tom who was heartbroken as well, it was me. And I hated them for it so much I would've cut SummerClan off from StarClan if I hadn't died." He was silent for a long moment, thinking. "So I suppose, laid out like that, that's a good guess as to why. I thought I was kind, and I was horrible. Because I became a leader and a father too young - barely older than you - and I was just playing at both. I had no idea what I was doing, even if I thought I was the best damn thing to ever happen to anyone. And coming back is a chance to make amends and just... help give everyone I hurt the peace they need, and myself too. First thing would be to stop being a coward and find my kits, probably." He laughed again, quiet and self-scorning.
I never actually, like, talked to StarClan. Doe smiled, turning his head to look down at the she-cat. He could have said, I know. But he didn't. "I'm sure you will, some day," he replied. "They'd be idiots not to. Sunstar has a nice ring to it. And frankly, SummerClan is in dire need of a female leader. Way too many men." He grinned, boyish and warm.
"Should we head back? Those saplings will die if they aren't replanted soon." He smiled down at her again, and if they were humans he'd have been chivalrously offering her his arm.
