lilac // writing dump

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A/N: This piece was inspired by Seasons of Blossom, a Webtoon I've been obsessed with for the longest time. I was in the mood for writing fluff and romance, and this was super fun to write! Thank you so much for reading :))

SPRING

The first time he sees her, it is raining.

Sitting perched on a tree branch, she is splattered in raindrops, covered with more mud than cat, and perhaps the most beautiful sight he has ever seen.

"What in StarClan are you doing? Aren't you afraid of catching a cold?" The words burst out of his mouth, even before he remembers that he is a ShadowClan cat and she is a stranger, a stranger on his territory no less.

"Aren't you afraid of missing the sunrise?" She grins at him wildly, and somewhere within her response, he senses both an invitation and a challenge. And before he knows it, he is climbing up the tree, his untrained claws seeking purchase in the cracks in the wood.

In silence, they watch as the sun rises and thaws away at the last traces of snow, two mud-drenched cats in the rain. She is the rich, earthly scent of flowers fresh from buds and rain on dry soil. The day dawns bright and golden, and in the morning chill is the warm promise of something new.

The first time he sees her is there, in the rain, but after that, he sees her everywhere he looks. 

The calico she-cat in the rain is not pretty by any conventional means, he finds, nor is she pretty like the delicate beauty of a lily. Rather, she is simply her.

Her, with her dancing eyes and mischievous grin.

Her, and her way of savouring things, be it a freshly caught mouse, a story, the midnight breeze. Her love for open skies and wind against her pelt.

Her, with her ceaseless taste for adventure. She moves through life like a dandelion seed in the wind, living from one moment to another with only a split second to catch her breath. She dances in the rain, chases leaves, and wakes him up in the middle of the night to race in a field of dandelions, simply because it is what feels good.

In a word, she is warm and bright and utterly insane. She is youth, freedom, spring.

He is drawn to beautiful things like a flower to the sun, and she is no exception. Later, he will spend a lifetime trying to capture everything she is with words and coming short. Perhaps, he will reflect, she is not something to be captured. Like a dandelion seed in the wind, she is—elusive as a dream upon wakening. 

But after all, he is young and in love, and believes he has a lifetime to unravel her secrets. And so for now, he is content to wait for the right words to come.