A DARK FALL | honeysplash

[SILVERSMOKE]

Duty of care rarely fell upon the tom's shoulders, whether it be because his smile was like a fox's grin or because he had the bedside manner of a bull, clanmates didn't seem too interested in letting the Lead Warrior be the one to deliver food and check the wellbeing of those who needed it. There were exceptions, sometimes, when the clan was short a paw or two, the silver tom would check in on the medicine den residents. Only one remained following their recent batch of injuries, when Silversmoke poked his head in, it wasn't difficult to see the bundle of cream and white fur on the singular nest. A scrawny mouse dangled from his maw, so meager that not even a hungry apprentice had bothered to snatch it up, but it was better than nothing... smaller cats didn't need a lot of food anyways, did they? He moved closer, wordless until the rodent had fallen from his muzzle and close to Honeysplash's paws. His tail lashed in the quiet of the den, Fireflypaw and Dawnglare were somewhere, but he'd given up trying to track the two cryptics a long time ago. "Someone said you might be hungry."

Eyes couldn't help but wander over the warrior's form, the deep wounds and broken leg marked a tale that didn't bear repeating. He hadn't been there when she'd returned, but he presumed it was Twolegs - it usually was when cats went missing from their nests. He flicked an ear, expression unclear - awkward, curious, stern as an owl, all seemed to dart through Silversmoke's expression so quickly that his muscles hadn't had time to convey what he wanted them to convey. Small talk had never been easy for him, whilst there was better company for Honeysplash outside, he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty abandoning a more social cat to isolation. "Did Dawnglare say when you'd be able to return to your duties?"

@Honeysplash

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[Honeysplash]

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- The medicine den was quiet. Dawnglare and Fireflypaw had gone off to do something herb related for the evening to enjoy the rather nice day out. New leaf was here and everyone was taking full advantages of the kinder weather and open air. She, though, had opted to stay inside for once and lay down for a nap. They had been trying to work on getting back strength in their leg and it was an exhausting endeavor to do. Who would’ve thought learning to walk again would be so difficult?

Regardless, they had curled up in their nest in the medicine den and was quietly breathing. Not quite asleep yet but then there was shuffling, pawsteps and the smell of mouse followed shortly after. Green hues lifted up from the wall of the den to the shadow that casted over them, and then the lifted their head with a curious look to her rounded gaze. Silversmoke? She didnt think he’d be the one to visit her, and it was rather- sweet that he had?

They had no relation outside of him being Chrysalis’ mentor and well respect of a leader warrior too- but otherwise she thought he didnt like her all that much. With is distain for kittypet blood and daylight warriors, was she wrong to think such a thing? Honeysplash then looked down at the small mouse he left at her paws and then back up to his mismatched gaze for a moment, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly in a curious way.

She’d be a liar if she didnt admit to being hungry at least a little bit. Honeysplash hadn’t really been eating normally with how little prey there had been, but now she was more than willing to eat something then go hungry. “Oh? Thank you- thats very sweet of you to bring me- a mouse,” She said in a slightly amused manner and snickered a bit before pulling the prey closer to her

Then Silversmoke asked about her duties and she gave a small shrug, “Hopefully by green leaf, if not sooner? He hasn’t said much about it yet, but I am working really hard to be able to get back to it!,” She answered him happily and grinned a little bit, “How about you? How have your duties been? Do you have an apprentice this season? Or was Chrys too much to handle?” She only teased of course and gave a playful hum noise before bending to pick at the piece of prey with her tooth.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── HERE COMES A THOUGHT ⋅❁⋅ THAT MAY ALARM YOU ──┐‎

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  SPEECH
  

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  HONEYSPLASH ✩ she/they, Warrior of Skyclan, 24 moons.
  ⭃A lithe, cream tabby cat with high white and green eyes.
  ⭃Younger siister to Orangestar, Applefrost and Apritcotflower and littermates with Blueberrybounce and Cloudberrythorn // Former mate to; Quillstrike
  ⭃peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by you ↛ wolf_1997 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[SILVERSMOKE]

Silversmoke met her confusion with the shuffle of alabaster paws, tufted ears half-flat against his skull. Now that he looked at it from a distance, the mouse was utterly pathetic, an insult to most and a declaration of war to the few in SkyClan who sought his defeat. It was all too relieving when Honeysplash thanked him for it instead, but, the tension didn't completely dissipate from his shoulders. He cleared his throat and tussled the fur upon his chest with a lifted paw. "Just doing my job, there's nothing sweet about it." Sweet was too sentimental a word for the spotted tom, when one had cultivated the image of the dutiful warrior moon after moon, it was difficult to admit there was any feeling behind it. His clanmates mattered to him, even the ones who had sent him on a tour of the territory during their warrior assessment. Out of all the apprentices he'd shadowed, he didn't think he'd ever met one so indecisive as to where to hunt: had he any sense of humour, it may have been amusing.

A barrage of questions followed and briefly, his attention shifted towards the light piercing through the den's exit. 'I'll never understand extroverts,' he decided quietly to himself. 'How is anyone meant to feel energised by this?' He shook his head and reclined on his haunches, facing Honeysplash with a neutral expression. "Crowpaw is my apprentice, Bobbie's son, the one with the cut over his mouth?" He didn't know if they'd met previously, SkyClan was big, but he imagined it seemed gargantuan when confined to one tiny den - a lot had changed since Honey's disappearance, for the better and for the worse. He didn't envy her position, when she stepped out of the medicine cat's nest for the final time, she'd be entering a different world than the one she'd left behind. "A moon more of training and he'll be ready to become a warrior. He has all the skills to be promoted early, he just lacks the maturity." Kind of like a certain chimera whose name had graced the conversation. The two seemed... close, but he couldn't imagine Chrysaliswing to be a good friend to Honeysplash, not when his venom towards outsiders was more potent than Silversmoke's had ever been. "Other duties are... tiresome. Warriors don't respect the Leads like they used to, some are flat out refusing to listen to them."

Listen to him. Coming from a world where disrespect was met with claws, he did his best impression of someone who didn't have the strength to disembowel most of the naysayers. Perhaps they'd respond better to physical punishment, but the tom didn't have it in him to claw someone just running their mouth: such a consequence didn't fit the crime. "It's just testing the boundaries of a new leader, I think. Um... anyways, how do you feel now that Orangestar is leader?" Was that how conversations were supposed to flow?



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[Honeysplash]

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- Oh so he did have another apprentice. How fun, Silversmoke was a good warrior and a good mentor. He had been the one to give her her assessment when she became a warrior and he’d done well with Chrys too, so she didnt doubt that Crowpaw was in good paws. She smiled softly as the tom talked, not so happily answering her questions, though she felt for him when he voiced how warriors didnt respect leads. Suppose that was more so a few cats that didnt listen, and she could picture one specific tomcat that wasnt going to listen to anymore any time soon. One of amber and charcoal.

“Im happy to hear Crowpaws doing so well! Hes in good paws with you,” She said softly and pulled pieces of the mouse off to munch on for a moment, “And i get it, new leader, new boundaries, new rules, its gonna be hard for everyone to adjust after Blazestar being around for so long,” She missed him, he had been a good cat and didn’t deserve the outcome of his life. Though he’d live on in their hearts and in Starclan, so of course it would be okay.

Though what she hadn’t expected was for the question to be turned on her. She looked up from the mouse for a moment as she blinked at him slight- how did she feel about Orangestar being leader? Well- she didnt like it all that much. Her sister felt so important now, so out of reach from what they once had, and it made her rather sad. They, however, didnt think Silversmoke wanted to hear about that. It wasnt something he’d concern himself with surely, he was as prickly as Chrys was but just- older?

“Uhm- well i am proud of her, she’s gonna do great things,” She voiced on surface level and pawed at the mouse with a claw for a moment in her thoughts, “I miss her though, like a lot,” It felt like her sister was avoiding her family, but that was probably something she was internalizing out of her own guilt. Honeysplash had been gone for too long and it felt like nothing would ever be the same again. Chrys made that pretty clear to her earlier in the week.

Honeysplash adjusted herself in her nest and found they no longer wanted anything to eat anymore, not that the mouse wasnt delicious or food- she just felt sort of ill to her gut. Maybe it was her own thoughts doing this, “How about yourself? How does it feel not serving Blazestar anymore?” She figured they should keep talking even though she could see Silversmoke struggling.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── HERE COMES A THOUGHT ⋅❁⋅ THAT MAY ALARM YOU ──┐‎

• 
  
  SPEECH
  

• 

• 
  HONEYSPLASH ✩ she/they, Warrior of Skyclan, 24 moons.
  ⭃A lithe, cream tabby cat with high white and green eyes.
  ⭃Younger siister to Orangestar, Applefrost and Apritcotflower and littermates with Blueberrybounce and Cloudberrythorn // Former mate to; Quillstrike
  ⭃peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by you ↛ wolf_1997 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[SILVERSMOKE]

Ears grew warm at the compliment and Silversmoke instinctively looked away, letting Honeysplash talk as he recovered. 'Why does everyone insist on saying I'm doing a good job with him? I could be doing so much better.' He wasn't a bold hunter and so Crowpaw wasn't a bold hunter, he wasn't an emotionally available tom and so Crowpaw wasn't an emotionally available tom. He shifted his head as the cream tabby expressed grief for her sister, squinting in the dim light of the den before he understood what she meant. "A leader must be impartial, if they choose their family over their clan then they've broken their oath of service." It was likely not the comfort that Honeysplash was seeking, but emotions were difficult things to understand when one hadn't experienced the situations surrounding them. Family and bonds had always been short-term things for him, cats died and friendships drifted apart. Only loyalty to SkyClan had stood the test of time, which was why he spoke confidently when talking about his home. "Many will want to see her now, it's sad, but... to be so unbiased with her time is a sign that she's well-suited for the rank."

He wondered if Orangestar envied the freedom the warriors had to be with who they pleased, then, quickly decided it wasn't worth thinking about. She was dutiful, appealing to sentiment would only fracture that. When Honeysplash asked him his thoughts, the Lead Warrior's swishing tail came to an uneasy stop. "I... thought it would feel different," he admitted after a spell of silence, jaws tight as it became his turn to speak again. "Blazestar gave me a home and a rank, gratitude alone should make it feel strange not to serve him anymore, but..." Silversmoke couldn't put it into words, not properly. He could not claim he was apathetic to the change, he'd grieved just as much as any of his clanmates, but he was introspective enough to realise his attitude hadn't changed, only the rules he followed had. "Nothing's changed in my life, not truly. I am still a lead warrior, Orangestar wants the same things from me as Blazestar once had. They are two leaders that share the same motivation: keeping SkyClan safe." As long as that was the goal of leadership, he would help it be pushed to the rest of the clan, as was his duty.
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