Bramblepool x Leopardstorm [Mixed]

[Firefly]

Bramblepool had picked an area next to a pool in the garden; why not? He felt like swimming today. It wasn't like it was insanely hot out, but it was certainly a little warm out. He breathed in deeply as he thought about everything that had happened in the past few days.

Let's see... Rainstar and Bravestar were reunited with Oakstar. Bloodwar twins arrived. Darkheart followed Oakstar. Darkheart wants to do away with Rainstar and Bravestar. Did I miss anything?

[0.2]

[Firefly]

Swimming?!

Leopardstorm remembered her reaction perfectly when Bramblepool proposed a bit of a swimming date. Her response had scared him, but she quickly explained that she loved swimming; hadn't been swimming in a while.

Now she was here, looking around for the pool that Bramblepool had described. When she saw him there, she smiled as she bounded over.

[0.2]

[Firefly]

Bramblepool laughed as Leopardstorm bounded over to him. "Hello there, Leopard-love~" he said, smiling as he met her head-long, causing the two to crash into each other and fall to the ground, with him having her pinned. "I was wondering when you'd show up~ I've been waiting for you!" he said, his tail wagging happily.

[0.4][3]

[Firefly]

Leopardstorm smiled. "You know my name is Leopardstorm, Bramblepool~ but I'm glad to see you too. I would have gotten here sooner, but Rainstar wanted me to play with her twins for a little bit while she negotiated with Ashclaw and Darkheart. Thankfully, neither of them tried anything, but I do think her attempt at negotiations failed... rather miserably." She said, shaking her head as she pushed the K9 off of her. "Now, let's do a little swimming, shall we?" she asked, smiling brightly.

[0.4][4]

[Firefly]

Bramblepool laughed as he said, "But surely I'm allowed to have a nickname for you~", however, when she mentioned swimming, the K9 was up in an instant. "Um, how about absolutely?" he said, laughing as he bounded over to the pool, but he stopped after a moment as the names "Ashclaw" and "Darkheart" reached his ears.

"Those two? What does Rainstar think she can accomplish by talking to them?"

[0.6][5]

[Firefly]

"She hoped to accomplish an alliance, peace. You know, no fighting or anything like that? Well, that isn't working out so well. Darkheart still wants her blood for being Oakstar's favorite, and Ashclaw wants her blood for taking Bravestar from her." Leopardstorm said. "Poor Bravestar, though--to be in love with one Volpe, who is also in love with you, but to have another one in love with you as well, but you can't stand them?"

After she said this, however, Leopardstorm smirked as she dashed for the pool, smiling as she leapt in.

[0.6][6]

[Firefly]

"If she thought she could accomplish peace with them, then she was sorely mistaken. At least, however, they are no longer within our pack, so we need not worry overmuch about them." Bramblepool said, followed by the shout of, "No fair!"

He ran after Leopardstorm and jumped in after her, sliding under the surface of the pool with barely a splash. "You had a head start!" he said once he resurfaced.

[0.8][7]

[Firefly]

Leopardstorm laughed. "I don't exactly like waiting for people when it's such a warm day out and when I'm invited to swim dates." She said, splashing a little water on him. "And you need to learn to loosen up a little, Bramblepool. I've seen how stiff you can act when you and your sister are talking."

Here, she paused as she floated on her back. "What's the story with you and her, anyway? I know you're twins, and I know I found you within EarthSong Pack's territory, but what about before that?"

[0.8][8]

[Firefly]

Bramblepool thought for a moment as he dog-paddled around the lake. "Well, you obviously remember finding us, but before that, we were in a pack of K9 Volpes that was very, very rigid in their rules. Any sort of association with the leader, even if you were their family, was frowned upon. After all, those closest to you betray you." He said. "Mine and Sandpool's sister, Gingerstar, was the leader; she didn't quite adhere to that belief. And then came the poisoned waters..."

[1.0][9]

[Firefly]

"Poisoned waters?"

Leopardstorm asked this in a shocked voice, trying to comprehend what he heamnt by that before she said, "Oh! Right--I remember now. I'd forgotten about that; you mentioned something about the main lake that your pack drank from being poisoned, and no one believed you or Sandpool when you warned them about it being poisoned." She shook her head as she said, "I don't think I would go easily on them if it were me..."

[1.0][10]

[Firefly]

Bramblepool chuckled as he said, "Oh, we told Gingerstar about it. She believed us; I mean, she told everyone not to drink from the lake, but a few just had to defy her and think that we were trying to work our way into Gingerstar's favor and earn high positions once we had received our training."

He shook his head. "This, of course, wasn't the case..."

[1.2][11]

[Firefly]

Leopardstorm nodded slowly as she said, "Wow. That is... um... how would you say it...? Sad, I guess. I mean, if I'd been told not to drink from our main watering hole, I sure as heck would have asked the leader if I could help with finding a new watering hole." She shook her head as she continued, "What happened to them? You know, to the ones that, uh... had drank from the poisoned pool?"

[1.2][12/45]

[Firefly]

"They died."

Bramblepool said this with a tone of harshness that was new to both him and Leopardstorm. He shook his head as he said, "It only took 'em about five minutes to, er... kick the bucket. When they did, some of their family turned around and blamed my sister and I for poisoning the waters and then reporting it to Gingerstar." He sighed as he said, "Needless to say, they demanded that she banish us, or they would leave the pack."

[1.4][13/45]

[Firefly]

Leopardstorm cringed at the tone of harshness in Bramblepool's voice, but she finally shook her head again and said, "So... did you just agree to leave, or did she actually banish you?"

Almost instantly, Leopardstorm was wishing that there was a "rewind" or "undo" button on what she had just said. "Er... I mean, uh... um..." she thought for a moment, and then, she said, "Okay, let me rephrase that. Would your fellow pack members think you were innocent or guilty in the way that you left the pack?"

[1.4][14/45]

[Firefly]

"Gingerstar was given no choice. She couldn't just nicely talk to us about it; she had the entire pack ready to chew off her heels and throw her out to... I dunno what. Either way, she was essentially ordered to banish us by the rest of the pack." Bramblepool said, shaking his head. "I saw the sad look in her eyes as she slowly said, 'By the powers given to me by StarSong, I banish thee from this pack.' I could tell that she knew we weren't guilty, but none of our pack members believed her. We left with our heads held high; we were not about to let them think that we were guilty in any way, shape, or form."

[1.6][15/45]