The Five Giants

022 - Sol's Apology

"The truth is out."

Phoenix brushed past Honey, giving him a quick, sly look as if she had just figured out something amazing. Phoenix looked up at the sun that kissed the horizon. Dusk was fading into night. She ran to the corner of a mint bush and sat down, making sure all attention drifted away from her. Phoenix lapped at her paws, a very familar scent getting heavier as a shadow loomed over her.

Phoenix's tail twitched as she cleaned herself, but did not glance up at the tabby tom once. "Yes, Sol?" She meowed between licks. Her ears picked up a small thud and she moved her amber eyes towards a hawk. Phoenix's eyes widened as she lifted her head up towards him.

Sol sat by her side and pressed his nose against her neck, making her feel a bit uneasy. Why was he suddenly acting like this? He moved his cold gaze towards him, blood continued to trickle down his handsome face. He smiled softly at her, pulling away then his eyes went dull and he frowned. Phoenix didn't bother question him, but stared at him until he was ready to speak.

Sol sighed, "I am sorry for everything I ever did," he mumbled. "It's just. . . I fell for a cat and he looked so enraptured by you, so I repeated what Snake had said about the prophecy to them and. . ." His voice trailed off, searching her eyes. She seemed rather calm, too calm for Sol's liking.

"Who did you like?" She asked, hitting him lightly on the shoulder with a paw.

When she hit him, she was sure he was going to answer. He looked down pitifully, but Phoenix placed a paw on his shoulder reassuringly and his lips parted.

"Silver," he said quickly. He looked away, expecting a negative reaction but all he got was a loud squeal. No wonder his ears were bleeding. He looked down at the molly, who looked awfully happy.

"You're into toms? Sol, that's so cute!"

"Could you keep your voice down?" He hissed, "I'm still in the house!"

"Oh," Phoenix frowned. Why do cats have to be 'in the house'? She wondered with a sigh. Phoenix felt herself hate gender norms even more. Her ears hung low as she lowered her gaze to the ground.

"It's fine. Why are you so happy?"

"You and Snowy would be such a good couple," she blurted out, making him cringe.

"He wouldn't like me. Besides, does he even like toms?"

"You never know."

"I guess so, I mean all isn't terrible. I do like girls so that's something, I guess."

Phoenix pressed her nose against his cheek. For the first time in forever, she actually began to like Sol as a friend. His scent was pulling her in, almost making her forget she had a mate in the first place. She could smell his unease in his vanilla-scented pelt and released her own lavender scent to hopefully calm him down. It did its job perfectly well.

Sol's unsheathed claws retracted and his tensed shoulders loosened. Sol's breathing also slowed as well; he hadn't even realized he was panting heavily. He looked down at her with softness in his eyes. His eyes were locked onto hers as he used a paw to pull her chin up. If Sol wanted to show his emotions, he would be smiling widely from cheek to cheek. He raised his tail in the air, the tip of it was slightly crooked.