𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴: 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 (𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘒 2) (ROS)

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 3

At the break of dawn, the sun shined on his black, short pelt. Sunflower raised his head, noticing the smell of breakfast food coming from the female two-leg. The food sizzled softly when the elder added the eggs that she had just cracked in the hot pan.

Sunflower also notices the male two-leg sitting on the couch in front of the coffee table. He was reading a newspaper. Lee sat right beside him, watching him curiously. But whatever the owners were doing was the least of his worries. Sunflower was more focused on Peter's words. The feeling of being around the outsiders away from home is something he had feared. He didn't want to disobey his father, but he also didn't want to ruin his chance of freedom. He also has a little sister that he needed to watch over, not just himself. 

Jeffrey came downstairs, stretching his long body. Carmen was still upstairs with Dandelion, so that allowed the tom to catch a break and focus on himself for once. He did notice how his son had been getting up way earlier than usual. He oversaw him, zoning out and staring at the wall. He slowly approached his son; he felt that parental instinct. It was screaming for trouble occurring with his son. 

Sunflower didn't even know his father had snuck on him from behind. He was just focusing about last night. When he felt his tail touch his side, he quickly jumped and nearly fell on the coffee table, startling the male two-leg and Lee.  "Woah! woah, calm down." Jeffrey backed away. He was humored from his son's scare. "Don't do that!" Sunflower hissed; his claws clung against the soft floor. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Quit being dramatic." His father chided. "You were staring into a wall. I had to at least check on you to see if you're alive." He moved closer, Sunflower backed away. "I'm fine, pa. I'm just... not in the mood for right now."

Come on, Sunflower, how is he even going to believe that!?

Jeffrey's eyes appeared to be skeptical. "You know, you can always say something." Said the tom. "I hope you're not thinking about..." He ended off in silence, Sunflower felt a hint of rage with a mix of his grief. "I'm not thinking about him." He turned his head away from his father. "I don't want to be reminded." The tom growled. His ignorance concerned Jeffrey further. He knew too much, but he also wanted to forget it. "Sunflower." He approached his son behind him, his muzzle nudging against his long ears. "You have been thinking of him. And I'm not mad about it." 

Sunflower didn't seem convinced. He turned his head away again, facing at the brown front door. Jeffrey's eyes furrowed. He moved right in front of his son. There was silence between both of them until he spoke up. "Listen. As much as I want you to be happy, I don't want you to follow the same mistakes as me and your uncle had done." His words were firm. "You know this, don't you?" 

"Of how he left us?" Sunflower glared at his father. "You think we're okay about moving on like nothing happened? You used that as an excuse not to touch some grass!" 

Jeffrey stopped; he led out an aggravated sigh. Here goes that argument again. 

 "It's not just about your uncle." He responded, his height towering over his son. "There's some things not most are ready to speak about. I-" He was cut off. Carmen is seen coming downstairs, carrying her kit towards the bed near a heater to warm up the house during those chilly mornings. She overheard her mate and son speaking to each other. "You make every excuse for that!" Sunflower stomped his paws on the ground. "You always say about 'exploring the world', when can I go do that? When can I make decisions on my own?" 

"When you have common sense to survive in the wild!" Jeffrey blocked Sunflower's view, forcing him to look. "You don't know what you'll get yourself into! You are not ready. Your uncle wasn't either, and look what that got him?" 

Sunflower knew he had no say in this. This was like speaking into a brick wall. He ended up walking away, his head looking down on the gray floor. Carmen saw his son passing by and went upstairs. She could tell his pain from his eyes and his slow movement. She and him weren't too different.  Jeffrey watched as his son went off. It pained him to tell these things and destroy his young heart for freedom. But he knew it was going to benefit his son in the end, hopefully. 

The black tom went upstairs, passing by the yellow striped walls. There were thoughts going through his mind and the memory of seeing his uncle, his second father figure, walking away from him. He could remember the strange smell of blood, the dark cloudy skies outside of the window. The rain hitting his uncle's back as he padded off, abandoning his family. 

His attention was set away when he smelt the scent of his owner's son in that messy room around the right side of the corner, away from the master bedroom. He peeked his head through, pushing the door to see the room still unclean. The female two-leg had probably refused to clean his room. He didn't know why, though; he was glad they didn't go through the process. 

The room smelt like flowers and a strong scent of cologne that made him sneeze. He could see the drawings all over the desk close to the wide wall between the windows. He could see the bed being made and small plush toys that Sunflower would find himself cuddling with... which was embarrassing. 

He really loved his ear huggers and those melodies...  Sunflower thought. He stared at those headphones hanging to a small stand on the dresser. And there were records, even one that was, of course, his favorite song. He felt nostalgic for some reason. He didn't know why, but there was an old soul to his childish, anxiety-ridden self. He wanted to escape with his melodies and his drawings. He could feel that the boy may have faced the same conflict with his own parents. But a little differently.

  Sunflower jumped across the desk, nearly slipping on some of the drawn paper. It was a little odd that the boy liked to draw spiders... a lot.

A hint of warm air hit his body when he came close to the open window. He didn't know why, but there were urges. Urges of to just... escape. He's old, old enough to do a lot for himself, he shouldn't have to rely on his family any longer, if his father wasn't going to let him go out, he'll do it himself. There were doubts that something like this could change everything. Maybe he was growing himself up too fast. 

Protect that kit side of yours. Said his mother, remembering what she had told him moons back.

  You won't know it until it's gone.

The words faded off when he stepped foot onto the ledge, staring down at the bushes. The wind from the mountains blew his face. He heard someone walking behind him. It was Lee.

"Sunflower!?" He yelled.

The black tom quickly jumped backward and fell off the window on accident.  "SUNFLOWER!" Lee shrieked and ran to the desk and up onto the ledge. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" 

Sunflower didn't answer. The large bush closed in on him. The thorns pricked his paws and bristled his fur. "Ow! ow!" The tom yowled, now running off from the bush. He was stuck with some thorns on his body. Carmen was staring out in the window. She saw her son running off and immediately jumped from the window ledge. "SUNFLOWER!" She screamed, running out of that small door. 

The tom ran as fast as the wind could take him. He didn't hear his mother or father's distressed calls. "JEFFREY!" Carmen cried, running out of that door to chase her son down, Jeffrey immediately rose from his bed, still thinking of the argument he just had. He escaped. He thought. I told him not, and yet he ends up running off!? 

"SUNFLOWER!" His father's voice thundered, his heart pumping out of his chest. The worry was setting i. Hiss long legs kept a pace behind him. 

The tom ended up disappearing, leaving his parents behind.