i wish you would've come down, talk to me | stars #3400

[coffee.berry]

dune has always had a good life, surrounded by friends who care about her.
but one day, she hears someone talking badly about her, and things start
to turn. dune does everything she can to change the cat's thoughts about her.

does she succeed or fail?

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[coffee.berry]

𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.


• balcony (by dayglow)
• two time (by jack stauber)
• fighter (by jack stauber)
  
  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  
  𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.
  
  dune ⏳
  dune is a cat, beloved by everyone. she isn't full of herself, but has always been
  determined to prove herself to others. even if she's the most popular trainer at
  camp, she always works to become the best version of herself.
  
  nightdew 🌒
  nightdew is dune's very best friend - he's always there for her and would defend
  her with his life, as dune would for him. he's very kind and loves going on patrols
  to scavenge for his beloved clan.
  
  falconsnow 🌨️
  falconsnow is a cat known for his humour in the clan - he's always been jealous
  of dune for getting more attention than him, and although he isn't really a rude
  tomcat, he likes to make fun of her.

[coffee.berry]

𝐨𝐧𝐞.

dune woke up in a daze. it took her a second to fully open her eyes, but when she did,
her face lit up. the sun was so bright and beautiful today, shining down on the flowers
and tiny critters of peaceclan camp. she loved being awake when the sun was up!

she shook her fur and finally got onto her feet. today it was a new day - a day for
training! being the most esteemed trainer in the clan, she would help the newly made
fighters and hunters really get into the warrior spirit!

when she came to the hunting grounds, the she-cat grinned as applecreek, another one
of the trainers in the clan on duty today, came. they greeted each other and waited for
the newly ranked cats to arrive.

azyrei, the 15 moon old spell wielder, arrived first. he was going to practise using his
spells on applecreek, as he would become the best protector of peaceclan when he
finished his magic training, and applecreek had read a lot about witchcraft.

soon enough, dune's student, dawnbriar, came storming in with her companion,
naga the dog. the two had a very strange relationship, but naga was very friendly.
"sorry i'm late, dune!" dawnbriar exclaimed, trying to catch her breath.

"don't worry about it." dune smiled. she then began training the young she-cat,
showing her hunting techniques and ways to catch different animals. she then asked
her to practice her running.

when training was over, dune's best friend, nightdew, came to visit her. he looked
worried. "what's wrong?!" dune asked, ready to fight whoever hurt him. he took a
deep breath. "i lost my rock!" he said, referring to a purple stone he'd found in the
lake a few moons ago.

dune set off to find it, and did - but as she was going back to nightdew, she passed the
warrior (adult cat) den, overhearing a conversation between falconsnow and his best
friend, marshstripe.

"gods.. dune is such a bad trainer." falconsnow was saying. "she could barely show
dawnbriar how to catch a squirrel today!" marshstripe raised her eyebrows, thinking
about her friend's words. "maybe she just had a bad day?"

"no, she's just a bad trainer." falconsnow rolled his eyes. "she's also pretty annoying
with all that popularity." he said, shaking his head. marshstripe didn't answer, not wanting
to get involved.

dune didn't stick around. tears streaming down her face, she continued looking for nightdew,
and by the time she found him, her tears had dried and she was determined to change falcon-
snow's opinion about her.

[coffee.berry]

𝐭𝐰𝐨.

the next day, dune began working on her newest project - getting falconsnow to think highly of
her! she knew that it would take patience, for falconsnow was.. very annoying, but whatever the case,
dune would do anything to achieve her goal. she couldn't stand getting her self-confidence damaged!
it was too important to her.

the first thing dune did was go on a patrol with falconsnow, nightdew and ghostfeather. once she saw
falconsnow volunteer, she asked to as well; it was a golden opportunity! on the patrol, she cracked jokes
as much as she could, and caught her target chuckling at one of them.

afterward, the determined she-cat scavenged for prey for the clan along with the others, and just when
a squirrel was getting away from falconsnow, she pinned it to the ground and let him catch it. the tom
nodded to her in thanks, and took the squirrel to ghostfeather, the leader of their patrol.

everything was going well for dune. she was sure that falconsnow had begun to like her, at least a little
bit, up until the moment dune went and messed everything up - for herself, and for the patrol.

the team of cats was passing by the fish hole outside peaceclan borders, when nightdew noticed that
there was a school of healthy looking fish there, waiting to be caught. he suggested that they go in and
get them, but dune took that a bit too literally.

once falconsnow, nightdew and ghostfeather began walking toward the fish hole, dune took a deep breath
and ran as fast as her legs could carry her into the pool of water, as she didn't have any experience
catching fish - even as the most esteemed trainer. this resulted in nearly all of the fish swimming away,
and the cats only caught three because ghostfeather ran over to help dune.

at the end of the patrol, they'd gathered lots of prey, but falconsnow still cast disapproving glances at dune.

[coffee.berry]

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞.

dune tried to change falconsnow's opinion for the next week, but he only seemed to change slightly.
"at least it's something!" nightdew would tell dune whenever she ranted about the topic to him. she
would nod, hoping that her quest was over soon. "i don't even know why he dislikes me!" she said,
rolling her eyes. "i'm a good trainer!" dune exclaimed, and nightdew smiled. "one of the best."

little did dune know that it was the final day of her quest - the day falconsnow's point of view would
change. falconsnow had picked up long ago on dune's hopeless tries to impress him, and although he
had already begun to not mind her, he thought it was funny to make her believe he hated her.

dune decided that, since it was day seven of "trying to reach my goal", she would try to make actual
conversation with the tom. she walked over to him as casually as she could and said whatever her
mind could come up with.

"hi, falconsnow! how're you today?" she flashed him a brilliant grin, and he smiled back crookedly.
"hey, dune." he said. "i'm fine, how are you doing? don't you have training today?" he questioned.

"well.. silverstar told me i needed a break. she's taking over for me today." dune nodded. "anyways,
i wanted to say sorry about the fishing incident." she said, referring to her first day of trying to impress
falconsnow. he laughed. "ha! that was actually a pretty funny day. i'm not mad about it anymore."

falconsnow didn't know why exactly, but he didn't want to hurt dune's feelings anymore. he decided
to talk to her like any normal cat would. it was almost as if she made him regret being jealous?

"anyways, uh.. i have to go see nightdew now!" she said, grinning sheepishly. "see you later!"
"alright." falconsnow nodded. "also, dune? i don't hate you anymore. you're cool."

then he turned around and walked away, leaving dune dazed, not knowing what she'd done right.
she grinned to herself and decided that her quest was over.

"that was easier than i'd expected!"