(Scratch&Bleak) .:Brace For Impact:.

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch felt Owl pull him out from under him. He was suddenly thrown in the air and hit the bricks with a thud! He landed on his back and his forleg. He leaped onto the ground, hissing with anger when pain shot through his paw as it hit the ground. He saw Owls shadow pass over him, as if he was running away. Scratch figured that he was trying to get him to chase him. The black tom jumped onto the fence, almost falling back to the ground. He hobbled after Owl, trying to catch up. When he caught up, he sat down, being tired from only using three legs. "What the hell? Do you want me to not be able to fight because of a broken paw?" He hissed at the cat, waiting for his stupid answer.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Owl stopped. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched and listened to Scratch. "Shut up!" he yowled, his form slinking back to its average form and color. "Tired of your complaints. Exhaust me." It really was wearing him down. The constant stream to whining was annoying. Twig is easier to handle... I guess I ought to fix him. "Come here, Big-Tom. I fix." Owl rose up and padded over to the black cat. He took the injured leg into his paws. With a soft sigh, a small puff of pale blue came from his mouth and drifted lazily over the extremity. Owl felt everything fall back into place and heal as it was.

Letting go of the leg, Owl sighed. "Come. We work on tracking later. You not ready." Springing from the fence, the tom-ghost looked back up at the tom. Twig, are you finished? Yes, Owl. Bleak is rather tired. You might need to fix him up some...[/i] Owl sighed once more. He was the only one who could heal like that...

"We done, Big-Tom," he meowed. "Murder-Swipe hurt. He need fixing." Owl didn't wait for the other. He started to walk toward the direction that Bleak and Twig had drifted away to.

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch was glad that Owl wasn't really mad at him. When he said that Bleak was injured, he jumped up. He followed Owl, trying not to hurt his paw worse. Owl had made it a little bit better, but not fixed all the way. He hobbled after the male, using his bad paw as little as possible.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Twig walked with Bleak at his shoulder, leaning on him for support. "Sorry, Bleak," he apologized. "I didn't mean to be so rough on you..."

Bleak blinked. "It's fine," he meowed. "I'm not strong enough yet..." He lowered his head, the movement making his neck hurt. He was bleeding in several places. The blood trickled down to his paws and belly. Twig was strong.

Owl scented the air. The decaying smell of Twig came seductively to his nose. Suppressing a shiver, Owl picked up to a trot until the two groups met.

Twig dipped his head as his brother came into view. He placed down Bleak and looked at Scratch. He flicked his tail, motioning for Scratch to follow him. Turning, Twig padded away and sat down out of earshot of Owl.

Owl simply busied himself with Bleak's wounds.

Bleak glanced up at Scratch, mouthing, "Hey. Love you."

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch hobbled faster as Bleak and Twig came into view. He saw Twig twitch his tail, mealing for the black tom to follow him. He looked at Bleak as he passed and Bleak mouthed I love you. "I love you too," he mouthed back. He went over to Twig and meowed, "Whats up?"

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Twig twitched uncomfortably. "Umn... Did, uh," he stammered. "Did you see Owl smile or anything? Any sign of happiness?" Twig leaned forward intently. If this cat got Owl to smile, Twig would scream. Please... Please... You couldn't have gotten him to smile! I try my best and I get nothing! Twig sent his prayer up to wherever prayers went, hoping that he would be heard.

Bleak looked over at Twig and Scratch. They were talking, but he couldn't understand their words. Twig looked anxious, and Scratch just looked like himself; curious and sexy. He lowered his head once more and shut his eyes, feeling the soothing touch of Owl. It felt wrong to have Owl touching him; he belonged to Scratch. But it wasn't like that. This was for medical purposes.

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch shook his head. "Not that I can recall. Why? Doesn't he ever smile? I figured he didn't just because we were training." While he waited for the other cats reply, he glanced over to look at Bleak. They were both looking at each other and their eyes locked. The black tom smiled at his lover, then turned back to Twig.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Twig couldn't help but feel relieved at the tom's words. He hadn't gotten a smile! "Umn, no," he admitted. "Owl never smiles. Ever. I wish he would, though... I just want one smile." He watched silently as the tom smiled at Bleak. Bleak had been watching through wide eyes, as usual. "I think Owl hates me," he murmured as his gaze drifted up to the cat, who was focused on his work. With a sigh that made his throat tingle, Twig looked away.

Bleak had watched Twig and his sorrowful movements. He had returned a smile to Scratch. As soon as Owl had finished healing him over, Bleak stood up and began to groom the blood from his fur.

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch nodded sympathetically. "He probably doesn't hate you. But I know how you feel. My parents hated me from the day I was born. I never knew what love was until I met Bleak." He sent a flirtatious smile at his mate. He was glad that he didn't know if his parents were alive or dead, and he was hoping for dead. They hadn't liked him, and never been proud of anything he had done.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Twig felt his lips pull up. "It's not fair!" he spat quietly. "How come he knows what love is, and I can't even get a smile from my big brother?" Now was just not one of Twig's moments. He hated Bleak; hated him for having love, hated him for getting so many smiles, hated him for killing his family. With a frustrated hiss that gurgled, Twig turned and walked away, lying down and growling angrily.

Bleak had returned the smile, but it left as soon as Twig looked furious. He cocked his head to the side questioningly at Scratch, his gaze flicking over to his brother and back. His eyes read, "what's wrong with him?"

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch felt bad for Twig. He watched as the ghost walked away. the black tom didn't know how to comfort him. He knew that the ghost was mad at Bleak for having love and killing his own family, but He say Bleak send him a questioning look at him. He walked over to him and sat by him. "I'll tell you when we get back to the cave." He got up and he realized they could probably leave now. He stood up and meowed, "Well, since Bleak and I are injured and can't fight, we should probably get back to the cave. We're not doing any good by sitting around."

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Owl sneered. "Not hurt!" He snapped. "Murder-Swipe healed. Big-Tom have only bruise. Not broken." Turning, he glared at his other brother. "Twig. Stop pouting. Time to go." He looked back to the coupled cats and meowed with less ferocity, "We walk with back to home. No surprises."

Bleak gladly leaned on Scratch and listened to Owl. He felt bad for his brother for how Owl was treating him, but he didn't let it show. He stood up with a nod and padded in the opposite direction. He couldn't wait to get home and sleep...

Twig rose to his paws and padded hollowly over to Owl. "Sorry, brother," he muttered. He wasn't pouting! He was just a little upset. Owl would never smile at him! Never!

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch frowned as Owl 'yelled' at them. He didn't want them to come with, but he couldn't tell that to Owl and Twig. He liked them and all, but he didn't want them to know what he had planned. He padded after Bleak and matched his pace. "I wish they weren't coming with us. I had more planned for tonight than just sleep." He smiled at his mate seductively at the last part.

OOC: Sorry so short.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Bleak smirked. "Yeah," he murmured. "But they're only trying to keep us safe. My father is only a couple days off." Bleak picked up his pace so Scratch didn't have to walk so slow. "How do you think Ash did with her training? I hope Shrill didn't do much damage... But, Ash is strong, right?" Bleak tried to smile with as much confidence that he had.

Owl had decided to plod along next to Twig. "Why do they do that?" he asked softly. He glanced down at his smaller brother, who had been silent since they left.

"It's called affection, Owl," Twig grumbled flatly. He didn't look up at the other cat, didn't dare stare into those hollow violet eyes. "They worry for each other and show love to each other... Maybe you should try it sometime..."

[*Beechstar*]

Scratch sighed. He noticed Bleak picked up his pace, and so did he. "I know." He listened to Bleak. "Yeah, she's pretty tough. But shouldn't you know, she's your 'mother'." He smiled as he said the last part of it. "So are you up for some 'fun' when we get back to the cave," he asked sexily. He ran his tail along the smaller cats side seductively.