spikespoke
[ SUNFEATHER ] The lithe molly was on her back, staring at the sky. The cool stone to her back was gentle on her sore neck. The fox encounter had left her in somewhat of a daze for a few days now. Thinking again and again how close she had been to death. It wasn't as if she was assured she'd die. It was more the idea that a fox's fangs had taken one of Bristlestar's life. It could have just as easily taken any of them. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and thought back to the days when she was a kit. Thinking about Gorsekit and Cloudkit roughhousing together and how they'd pull her in even when she begged not to. She remembered the warm green-leaf sun on her back as she and Gorsepaw spent their days soaking up the breeze and talking the evening sun into the horizon.
Sunfeather's nose curled as she also recalled her brother's distraught face as she crossed over to Bristlestar's side. The line drawn between StoneClan and LeafClan. How he didn't seem upset by StoneClan but more so that he could not support Sunfeather going to them. The disappointment. That's what stayed in her mind. Yellow eyes opened as she was left staring at the blue skies above. Where was she going with this life? No Cloudfang. No Gorsejaw- there never was going to be a Gorsejaw though. No family. Only new friendships to be made. Though she felt comfortable among her clan now, she still wondered... were any truly labeled as friends now? The she-cat rolled back onto her paws and sighed, wincing at the gentle ache to her neck. How was it that recovery was more exhausting than anything else? Head on her paws, lost in thought, she blinked as a familiar dark pelt passed by. "Oh! Hi Ashblaze," she purred, looking eagerly at him. It was hard not to see how brave he had launched himself into battle. Like a starstruck kit, she was curling her tail to think that perhaps she could be brave him Ashblaze one day.
GreekGodsNerd
By now, the tom was bearing scars from his injury the fox had given him and still walking with a slight limp. Even if it was advised to not walk too much around while recovery, Ashblaze couldn't just stay still after some period of time. The events of the patrol would come back into his head otherwise and he didn't want, or need to deal with that while his injury was healing. Hearing someone call out to him, he flicked an ear and looked over to see Sunfeather looking at him. He gave a small hum before approaching. "Hello Sunfeather," he said, taking a seat near the smaller light-furred warrior. "Pretty nice day so far."
spikespoke
Oh! He had stopped to talk. That really brought a clear smile to her face as a soft purr rose up from her throat. Sunfeather took another glance at the sky, glad to finally see blue rather than the grey of the clouds they had the last several days. "Yeah, it's beautiful," she said, perhaps a bit more to herself than to him. Still, she cleared her throat and looked to Ashblaze again with a twitch of her whiskers. "Um, I- I wanted to say thank you. You were so brave.... that fox- I mean, how you handled everything... Uh, I really a-admired it."
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze glanced at her, looking a bit unsure before glancing away. "... I didn't actually handle it that well. You and Softbelly were the ones that brought up that we needed to get Bristlestar to camp and help."
spikespoke
'He doesn't see how big of a help he was,' she thought to herself. Sunfeather didn't want to make him feel bad or sit here and pressure him with the praises she wanted to throw so heavily at him. She anxiously toyed with her tail, clearing her throat as the nerves set in. "Well, I thought you... did well." Enough of that. She wasn't here to chase him away with praises. After biting her tongue on that, she perked up some. "So, what are you up to today?" Perhaps a change of topic would help.
GreekGodsNerd
"Just walking around in circles. Can't really go on patrols just yet and I ... kind of need a distraction honestly," the tabby admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed before sighing. "Kind of that itch, ya know?" He went on as he looked back at her, his ears back but otherwise at least a bit more laidback than usual. "What about you?"
spikespoke
Guess casual camp life didn't suit Ashblaze. That seemed to make sense. Sunfeather tried to assure she made a mental note of that, though worried instantly if she'd forget it as well. When he responded with his own question, she looked down, lip curling down into a minor frown. "I was thinking about family," she sighed. "I miss my brother. It's been so strange to not have him by me every day. It's been hard to get used to."
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze stared at her for a few moment before his face twisted to being sympathetic. "Blackcough?" he guessed, thinking to what he heard of from others about how Stoneclan came to be split from Leafclan and the events that had lead up to it. It's actually was something that, while not happy that he viewed it as such, was the start of some common ground with some of the other members of the clan.
spikespoke
Sunfeather's head shot up with wide eyes to think of black cough and Cloudfang in the same sentence. "No, thank the stars, no," she mewed. "He's just in LeafClan. He just chose to stay back." Her brows furrowed then. "He and I, we were always best friends. But when this split happened, I wanted to... t-to be brave. I was always a coward. So I thought... StoneClan, moving here, it'd make me brave. I admired Bristlestar. I admired Twilightface. I wanted to be like that." Her eyes clenched then to hide the fact that tears were starting to appear. "He and I didn't see eye to eye on that..."
GreekGodsNerd10/03/2019
Something flashed in Ashblaze's eyes as he listened to her. He let her say a few more words, a small wave of relief washing over him from the fact she didn't outright say she felt betrayed or not. A very small one. But he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit annoyed as well. So he did the first thing that came to his mind and place one of his large paws on her face to cover it.
spikespoke
Sunfeather blinked several times to make those tears go away. When she tried to meet Ashblaze's stare again, she was actually staring at his paw.... what? The cream tabby couldn't help but give a small chuckle as the image of Ashblaze's big paw just on his face left her with a very amusing view. "Ashblaze...?" she asked.
GreekGodsNerd
"Is he alive? Is he healthy?" he asked, unable to hide some of his annoyance, attempt to comfort, and very clear envy in his voice. "Considering what could be the other possibilities, getting two out of three isn't so bad." She wouldn't be able to see it with his paw on her face, but his ears were pinned back as he continued to speak in jealousy. "Besides, every pair of siblings have their arguments, their differences. Anyone who says different either never had a sibling, has wishful thinking, or is just plain out lying."
spikespoke
The cream warrior didn't expect such words from Ashblaze. Nor the tone for that matter. At first, she felt guilty for his acidic speech, wondering if she had done wrong. Then it slowly dawned on her that he had quite the point. "Cloudfang... he's well," she finally said, meekly, after a long silence. "He's a really good warrior. He loves to hunt. He thinks hunting is as much a game as a requirement. He would hunt all day if you let him." Her eyes began to shine again with the memories of Cloudfang's endless hunting trips. "He's always been good to me and- and that won't change." No longer were there tears. Instead, Sunfeather felt relief to think that yes, her brother was well back in LeafClan. He was leading his own life, true, one they no longer shared. But if she saw him wandering the border, looking proud as ever, she'd consider that a blessing. "Thank you, Ashblaze. I never thought of it that way." Her humble response sounded heartfelt as she chuckled and hiccuped. The tears were back but this time, as she blinked and let a few fall, she laughed and smiled brightly. "I'll always miss him. he's my brother. But you're so right. He's still smiling. So as long as he's happy, I-I'm happy too!"
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze let out a long exhale through his nose and lifted his paw off of Sunfeather's face. "Good. And don't ever forget that." He said, tail twitching back and forth. He looked around the camp clearing as well, still very clearly enough annoyed. "Wished some of the others here would get that idea too when they talk about this stuff."
spikespoke
Sunfeather gazed around camp and realized how true that was. Most everybody was still mad rather than being thankful to have perhaps new beginnings. Not to say they were not humble for the chance but there was a lot of bad emotions. Curiosity struck her then as she asked, "What about you, Ashblaze? Do you have any siblings?"
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze was quiet at being asked the question at first, just twitching his tail before answering. "I had a littermate, a brother named Soot. If I have any older or younger siblings, I don't know about them. Probably wouldn't be surprised if so." He moved to lay down, resting his head on one of his paws.
spikespoke
It was easy to imagine Ashblaze as the older brother type. Her imagination got the better of her as she could see him easily tussling with a smaller cat and playing gentle with them. His burly shape and tone she had noticed gave way to a very smart and kind heart beneath. At least something that had sympathy enough to follow her plight along with everybody else's. "You know what I remember?" she mewed, looking happy at the thought. "There was this... really, really big fallen log." At this point, Sunfeather would close her eyes with a wispy smile on her face. "It was down by the training hollow. Cloudfang, and I? We'd go down and spend so much time climbing it. I was too puny when we were younger so he'd have to grab me and lift me up every time. But as I got older, I got to climb it myself!" Seeing Cloudfang's big smile in her mind was enough to keep her smiling for ages to come, honestly. SHe opened her eyes again and shared that same joyful smile to Ashblaze. "It's a good memory of mine."
GreekGodsNerd
He didn't exactly know where this 'training hollow' was, but he gave a soft smile as he listened. "Soot was made for speed," he started off, leaning his resting head to the side. "When we went off to on our own and found a nice area to live with, we had to deal with a bunch of other loners, rogues, and some kittypets. Well, the thing was that Soot was bigger than me." He lifted his head and raised his paw a bit. "Not a lot bigger, but still noticeable bigger, so it would take them by surprise when they try to beat me up and it turn out I was the stronger one while Soot would run right into their sides to get them off balance."
spikespoke
There was no hiding that Sunfeather was very invested in his story. As Ashblaze spoke, she slowly tucked her paws under herself and kept her curious stare on him. It was hard to imagine a little Ashblaze wandering around with some perhaps lanky brother. Even more so to imagine this guy as the "little" brother of the duo. The little pale tabby gave a purr as she even giggled at the thought. "You always do seem full of surprises," she pointed out sweetly. "He sounds a lot like Cloudfang. Always there to help you." Though she hadn't missed the words. The past tense of all his statements. "What games did you and Soot play? We always played as if we were warriors growing up. But I guess that's different when you live as a loner."
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze gave a small huff, smiling a bit before he realized that he actually had to think on what he and Soot had done for fun as kits. "Just wrestling and swimming..." he said, his eyes furrowing upon realizing that. "We didn't have a lot of time for games when we were with our parents and when we left to live away from them, we ended up more busy with dealing with other problems or just surviving. Probably did play something before our dad started training us but it's sort of hard to remember most of the stuff that happened before we had stopped weaning." He raised his head again, looking towards her. "Soot liked swimming more, but it's sort of hilarious thinking back to when we were first starting it out. Our mom was the one who taught us to swim and she did it by throwing us into this stream. It's wasn't big or that deep, we were just that young of kits when she did it."
spikespoke
Ears went up quickly to think about just some poor kits being tossed to the waters. Still, it seemed he survived it (though she would never, herself, do such a a kit) and all for the better. Sunfeather gave an appreciative sigh to think that he had gotten through that. Then another thought crossed her mind as she humorously replied, "I am only going to imagine you were twice as fluffy when you were tiny." Her little nose curled as she tried to hold back laughter. "And all that heavy fur being so water logged on little Ashkit!" Then she couldn't stop as she laughed out loud, mentally seeing a soaked tabby kit looking as grumpy with the world as Ashblaze could today.
GreekGodsNerd
"Alder," he absentmindedly corrected giving a light chuckle. "I was Alder then. And yeah, yeah yeah laugh all you want at that image. By all means, from what I gathered from the code and clan life, mine and Soot's upbringing was far from conventional. But like I said earlier, Soot actually enjoyed swimming. He didn't step foot near water to do so until after we had left our parents, but he still enjoyed it more than wrestling." He shook his head, still smiling as he rested his head on his paws again. "Yeah, Dad would have hated knowing that."
spikespoke
Alder. It didn't seem fitting for the same cat she knew. Not... to say she knew him well. But she wanted to. And to see that fire-warm smile on his maw was enough to say Alder didn't fit nearly like Ashblaze did. "So I guess you weren't a swimmer?" Sunfeather questioned, tilting her head towards him. "Or was the wet fur too much to bear?"
GreekGodsNerd
"Neither. I don't like the sound of being submerged," he answered honestly. "The sound of water in your ears and all that? Not a huge fan of that. I can handle being stuck sitting in a heavy rain storm though."
spikespoke
Sunfeather visibly shivered and pinned her ears back at the thought of a storm. "When it would storm, Cloudfang would make sure he'd find my nest and lay down next to me. H-honestly, the thunder scares me." The tabby sighed as that probably was a very obvious fact. What didn't scare her? "So he'd lay down next to me and start talking until I fell back asleep. I guess that's the same feeling. Not a fan of the sound of the water- just, you know, a bit different."
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze let out an exhale through his nose. "Lighting for me. Not as bad when there's still rain going on though. At least then I know any sparks are likely put out before there's a spread." He seemed a bit lost at the thought, one of his paws flexing.
spikespoke
"You? Scared of lightning?" That was... surprising. Still, Sunfeather nervously smiled as she offered, her voice now showing hesitation for being so bold, "W-well, at least we'll, um, have each other." As quick as it came, she cleared her throat and tried to move on so as to not thing of the awkward words she had said. "Rain's not bad though. Have you ever just listened to, um, the rain on the leaves? It's so soothing." Even if she tried to be normal, there was no hiding the way her ears went back as she also turned her eyes away. It was easy to say such words. If nothing else, Sunfeather purely thought it'd be the very words she'd want to hear as well.
GreekGodsNerd
"Not scared just.... uneasy, you know?" he tried to defend himself. "But yeah, listening to the rain's pretty nice. Being out in it isn't so bad either, more depends on if you out in it because you didn't find a place to be in yet or because you actually want to be in it." He had quite an amused look on his face.
spikespoke
Scared, uneasy. Sunfeather wasn't going to spoil his pride by making an argument over simple wording. "I can't think of a time you'd... want to be in it," she admitted, looking a bit confused. "Why would you want to be in the rain? Wouldn't you get cold and sick from it?"
GreekGodsNerd
"To get the smell of smoke out, for one," he muttered, his smile now a bit more forced. It was the first reason that came to his mind and it brought back a ton of other things he hadn't wanted to.
spikespoke
Smoke...? The smaller molly stared at him for a moment, wondering where his distant stare was. She hated to think his mind was cluttered by things he did not want. Instead, she nodded and reached out, gently touching her paw to his. It wasn't long, hardly a mouse's breath long, but one that allowed her to give him a very sweet smile. "Well, that's true," SUnfeather would state. "And maybe... maybe to wash off mud too!" It was an attempt, one perhaps a bit too clear by her strange stumble of a transition, but an attempt nonetheless. "Like when Cloudfang and I were kits, we'd roughhouse in the mud and boy, we were always in trouble. I was pale enough but he was white! We'd come back looking like two balls of dirt and have to spend the whole evening being groomed."
GreekGodsNerd
He almost jumped out of his skin at the touch, his eyes darting quickly to look at her. Ashblaze blinked for a moment before giving actually listening to what she was saying and giving a bit of a more forced laugh. "I've been actually meaning to ask about that... you never answered my question back on the patrol."
spikespoke
Wait, what question? It was clear by her wide eyed stare that she had completely forgotten whatever question he had asked long ago. That patrol felt like moons away by this point even as she coudl feel the tight stretch her neck muscles were still doing. "Um, you may have to remind me," the warrior sheepishly admitted.
GreekGodsNerd
"Why Sun?" he repeated in the exact same tone he had then. "Like... I've been trying to understand some of the others names and whys and most of what I got is that the first part is when the parents name you and the second parts later but like..." he gestured towards her with his other paw as he raised a brow at her.
spikespoke
"Oh!" Her voice squeaked in quick realization. He had meant it. For a moment, she opened her maw, quick to respond, until her face fell. Then her lip twisted into a frown and her brows furrowed. There was a solid moment of silence before she spoke up. "Well, they told me it was because of my fur. My sunny fur." The striped tail gently rolled across her side, the thought of her fur being the only reason sounding nicer than the true meaning. "But it was my name before I came to the clan. Same with Cloudfang. Those were our names. Sun and Cloud." Quickly, the molly forced a smile, trying not to let the memories, or lack there of, of her mother get her down. "So I guess for them, it was easier that way. Keep what I knew and it matched what I looked like. I think I remember my mom telling me... something about my smile. How it was bright. And how Cloudfang, how he was as light as one. I- I guess I don't really know. I was so young, I couldn't have remembered much correctly if I tried."
GreekGodsNerd
"Ah, okay," Ashblaze said. "Honestly, when we were on the patrol, I was a bit confused because I thought with the pattern you were a Sand or something."
spikespoke
It was so easy to forget the sad things because Ashblaze and Sunfeather alike were quick to turn back to positive meaning. The she-cat giggled and perked up at that thought. "Well, maybe that's my new name. Sandfeather. Like Softbelly's new name!" The golden eyed cat laid her head down adn closed her eyes. "But you can stay Ashblaze. I think that suits you more than Alder."
GreekGodsNerd
"Honestly, I never was told why my parents named me that to begin with," he admitted. "I still get confused by some of the names around here."
spikespoke
She peeked one yellow eye at him with a little grin. "What? Our way of naming is confusing? I wonder what you'd name your kits then if you think our way is confusing!" The idea of a mismatched name like Alder to Ashblaze couldn't sit right in her head. It just didn't make sense. Still, guess if you didn't grow up like this, it would seem just as strange in reverse.
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze gave an honest shrug. "I mean... I'd guess a name one Soot if they looked like him in some way."
spikespoke
"Sootkit," Sunfeather quietly corrected. "I think that's really sweet, Ashblaze. I'm sure Soot would love that." Her eyes came to his injury, wondering how he had been getting by. Resting after all that was a luxury though her heart felt bad for not being able to participate more. "You really have fit in really well, Ashblaze. Nobody would know the difference. And StoneClan I'm sure is really glad you were there. I sure was with that fox. H-how's your shoulder, by the way?"
GreekGodsNerd
Ashblaze wasn't sure how to respond to being told he was fitting in well. He doubted it a bit, but didn't say something. His gaze went back to her upon being asked about his injury. The tabby let silence set in as he tried to describe the need to itch or but not wanting to reopen the wound again, or how he really was tired of just being in camp. He decided to settle on, "I now know how Soot felt when he broke his leg and was stuck in our den."(edited)
spikespoke
Being in camp was enjoyable for her. Sunfeather embraced the chance for the quiet middays when warriors were out working or for those simple nights when cats huddled together, sharing tongues and sharing tales and gossip and merely talking to one another. The younger cat hadn't realized that some may not have shared that feeling. "When are you allowed back out?" Sunfeather questioned.
GreekGodsNerd
"By the end of the moon, from what I understood." Ashblaze couldn't help but make a face at that. He certainly had no knowledge or understanding of herbs and that sort of thing. He was never able to wrap his head around it as a kit, and he certainly hasn't as an adult now.
spikespoke
Sunfeather frowned as she realized that was quite a while away. "Well... that's for patrols and hunting. Nobody said you couldn't go for a nice walk to, um... g-get some fresh air?" she finished on a questionable note. It sounded right enough and her confused face was merely trying to make sure the excuse sounded right. "Do you wanna take a walk with me? They didn't restrict me. My injuries weren't bad."
GreekGodsNerd
"Yes," he said immediately, almost ready to pounce right onto the said walk.
spikespoke
His eagerness was definitely felt. The tabby stood up and waved her tail towards him. "Well, let's go then!" she purred. A walk sounded lovely while the weather was nice. It was good to enjoy it all now before leaf-bare hit them in the near future.
GreekGodsNerd
He got up as quickly as he could without straining his injury and followed along. "And who knows, maybe we'll find another fox," he decided to joke. Hahaha... not the best call.
spikespoke
Sunfeather normally reacted with a sharp jolt. The idea of a fox would have sent a spark up her spine. But Ashblaze's humored tone made her glance his way and feel safer that she coudl chuckle in response. "Only if you fight it this time," came the retort. "I, um, I wanna retire from fox hunting."
GreekGodsNerd
He only responded with a humored grin before getting somewhat more serious. "Don't worry, we'll probably be fine by leaf-bare. And as long no one leads a trail back to camp." Yeah, that left a grim image in his mind.
spikespoke
The younger warrior lead them out of camp and she looked around before taking a left out of camp. It seemed less cats had gone this way and she didn't really want to get Ashblaze in trouble because of her suggestion to help him out. "I trust you." Those words came easy. Then again, Sunfeather rarely put a wall between herself and her blind, naive sense of trusting others merely because StoneClan was attached to their name. "Do you like the snow? I know we have less prey but maybe the snow will be at least some fun to play in."
GreekGodsNerd
"Honestly? Never knew what to think of snow. My first encounter with it was... what would have honestly been last leaf-bare," he said, thinking back to the frozen, crystallized water that was snow. My first leaf-bare was far enough south that Soot and I didn't encounter it then. So last leaf-bare was... unique." Ashblaze nodded his head a bit with a perplexed expression written across his face. "Both Soot and I thought the world was going to end at first."