private A ROAD TO SOMEWHERE \ brightshine + echolight

[MALLOWLARK]

Gathering up his mother and sister- asking for an innocent walk, nothing else, though they likely saw through the sharp emptiness of his grin- reminded Mallowlark of a time a secret was spilled. Two kittens, fathered by a RiverClan tom... Echolight's! And back then he'd thought it funny that they'd both been drawn to cats outside of their Clans. Back then, the love he shared with Dawnglare had gone yet unuttered. And in truth he felt guilty for never having told his family that he'd found someone to drag him away from the ruins of his home. Stopping in the golden light of sunset, he sat beneath Outlook Rock, a sigh heaving his large frame.

"I've got something to tell you." A heavy voice, his words were devoid of its usual cheer. His smile remained, but it was remarkably lightless. Hushing his tone, he continued- he was a good tracker, could smell anyone from a mile off, but he didn't want to take a single chance. "My..." A swallow- a hesitation. "My mate lives in SkyClan, and he's- he's said we should live there together. And I want to. I really, really want to." It was likely better to just get straight to the point, wasn't it? He shuffled his paws, but forced himself to look at the faces of his closest family. He hoped, he hoped they could understand. They had lived here for so long, but...

"I'm so sorry..." his voice began to waver. In golden sun, tears glinted in his owlish gaze- and he could feel the hysteria starting to build. "I can't stay- stay here, anymore. 'N- I don't think you guys can come with me, 'cos... I've got a p-place to go, but you..." His voice trailed into a squeak, into shuddering sobs soon after. He wished there was a better way- that they'd chosen to join the pines instead. But SkyClan was not kind to moor dwellers, for good reason. He could only go because he already had a half-empty nest waiting for him.

\ @BRIGHTSHINE! @Echolight . ​

☺PENNED BY PIN​

 

[Echolight]

Her mind had been a dark place as of late, darker than it had been when Elmbreeze had left her to care for the tiny kits that had been born not even a moon later.
Dandelionwish’s departure with Daisypaw had only been the start, Windclans raid on Riverclan almost enough to be her tipping point.
Yet, she’s able to push away the melancholy for even just a moment as she contently walks beside her mother and brother, the familiar scent of the moors in newleaf bringing back a nostalgic feeling of her and Mallowlark as children, tumbling through the fields.
When they come to a stop beneath Outlook rock, Echolight quirks a brow bone curiously, watching her brother stumble upon his words without their usual chipper tone sparking anxiety in her chest, it was all too akin to her pregnancy announcement.
My mate lives in Skyclan.
I don’t think you guys can come with me.
Echolight’s expression wavers from contentment only to surprise, subconsciously masking the sorrow that plagues her heart.
Dandelionwish, Daisypaw, Yewberry, Pollenfur, Emberfang, and now… Mallowlark.
She chokes on her words as she goes to press a scarred forehead against his temple. "Oh… Mal, I’m so happy for you." Despite her masked sorrow, there is not an ounce of ingenuity in her words. Unwillingly, tears fall down her singular blue eye. "You two will have a wonderful life together, me and mama got good heads on our shoulders, so you don’t worry about us, okay?" Her words are strained with emotion when she draws away.
She doesn’t think she could go despite her wishing, not as Sparkpaw grew more enamored with his Windclan role models by the day, and Larkpaw so content on the moorlands, their true home. She is tethered to every corner of the camp, but it’s for her children.
Her only other option only being to drag the two by the ears to Riverclans border, to profess their true heritage- but, that would mean to tell them to truth. Yewberry was not their father, Sparkpaws dark fur and Larkpaws taste for adventure came from elsewhere, across the river bank.
She was not ready, one day she might be, but at the moment she could only focus on the swelling grief in her heart as she gazed upon her mother and brother.
"Speech."
​

[ WHAT A TIME ]​