A THOUSAND FLOWERS A HUNDRED CARDS - grieving mother

[LITTLE WOLF]

When Flamewhisker had told her that Morningpaw, her Morningpaw was gone she did not want to believe her. When she heard those words she immediately wanted to shut them out, to seal her ears and simply pretend she had not heard. Something so terrible could not have possibly happened to someone so young, so innocent. Her baby girl. Little Wolf should have held on to her tighter. She regrets not insisting she mentor her along with Howlpaw.

With tears still stinging her eyes she makes her way to Sky Clans camp. Water blurs her vision though and she often trips over obscured obstacles, her mother has to help her. The two she cats share each others grief. This feeling of loss is not new to them. When Little Wolfs father had died they had been there for one another. She is glad her mother is here now. She would not be able to do it without her.

When finally they make it to the Sky Clan camp, Little Wolf lets out a strained call. "Where is she?" she asks, her voice hoarse. She. The body. Her baby was with the stars now.

When she sees her in the middle of the clearing she lets out a mournful wail, running to her, burying her face into her fur and letting the tears loose. "My baby… oh my baby" she sobs into her daughters fur "Im sorry… so so sorry…" what else was there to say? She lets her grief spill out for all to see as she mourns the loss of her daughter.

// @HOWLING WIND
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[Howlfire]

At some point they had moved Morningpaw out of the medicine den. She didn't know who had moved her or when they had moved her, but she knew it had happened. A part of her questioned why but she supposed there was little else that could be done for her sister now that she had drawn her last breath.

Sitting in Dawnglare's den, Howlpaw is a sniffling mess. She's not sure if Dawnglare appreciates her being there but at least he doesn't shoo her off. When she hears a mournful wail pierces the air she doesn't realise it's her mother at first but when she hears Little Wolf's sobbing and mournful words she hurries out to see her. Well, she hurries out of the medicine den at least, but she rather hesitantly approaches her mother and grandmother. "Mom..."Her voice quivers slightly as she signals her presence. Howlpaw looks between her mother and grandmother and sniffs loudly as tears threaten to form again. "She's...she's gone. It's not fair."​

 

[HOWLINGSTAR]

Somewhere between their camp and SkyClan's camp, Howling Wind had stopped crying. She doesn't know when. She can't keep crying when her daughter is so distraught. Little Wolf needs her - she knows this. She lends her shoulder to help the warrior over rocks and dips in the ground, knowing she's too muddled to even walk straight. This grief, it hangs over them like a cloud fat with rain. She prays and prays for StarClan to send a wind to blow it away so they can breathe. Stars, it's so hard to breathe.

It feels strange walking into another clan's camp. She used to live in ShadowClans, and she stayed in RiverClan's after the fire. Now, she pads into the pine dwellers' home, cheeks damp and eyes glassy. There, in the center of the clearing, lies Morningpaw. There are some cats around her, mourning, and Little Wolf wastes no time in bolting to her side. Her sobs echo throughout the camp, which is otherwise silent. Howling Wind hesitates, face scrunching with grief once more as she sees the body for the first time. Slowly, she takes a step, then another. Tears rolls down her face quietly as she pads closer, and it is her granddaughter's voice that finally breaks her gaze away from the body. Poor, sweet Howlpaw. She looks terrified. Shoving down the wail she wishes to let out, the dark-furred woman moves to press lovingly against the apprentice, a broken purr sounding in her throat. "I know it's not fair. I know," She coos, taking a seat and placing her chin comfortingly atop Howlpaw's head. Her eyes remain on Morningpaw, sorrowful and heavy before they are cast towards the sky. Watch over our granddaughter, Gray Wolf. ​

 

[Fireflyglow]

WE'VE BEEN DOIN' ALL THIS LATE NIGHT TALKIN' ✧​

Where a bright smile once remained, ever present- a frown now took it's place. He's struggling to hold back his tears, lower lip bitten between sharp teeth as he curls up against his sister. His baby sister. Don't leave me, He thinks in agony towards his sister's cold corpse, no longer dripping blood. His eyes are shut tight- half because of his lackluster vision and half because he didn't want to look at her dead body. He didn't want her last memory to be of her laying on the ground dead, but here he was.

His head lifts as his mother wails a sob, his heart aching in his chest. Fireflypaw stands to his feet, hesitating- one.. O-One, two, three- No. Three steps is wrong. One, two, rewind. One, two, three, four. Good. Finished, he continues walking over to his mother and grandmother; curling around Howlpaw to comfort her. Or to comfort himself, he's lost track.

"She was too young to die," Fireflypaw whines softly, tears finally falling down his cheeks- though the exhaustion in his gait is contagious. "She was.. Was so innocent, one of the good ones. Y'know? She never, ever wanted to hurt anybody. She hated fighting." And a fight is what killed her. One of her own clanmates, too.​

 

[grizzlyridge]

He had not meant to find himself among the mourners. Among those that knew the family well, Grizzlyridge could not count himself among their numbers. He had given them distance, an undying caution within his chest. Maybe some part of him had always thought that this would go wrong. But never like this. Never at the cost of a child's life. He watches numbly from a distance, his eyes on the still, bloodied chest as if to reconcile this reality. It still did not feel real. The others cried, sobbed, or bubbled over with rage. But Grizzly...he cannot move at all. It's with a mountain's effort that he forces his paws into one step, and then another, approaching Howling Wind with her head turned skyward. The children he doesn't know how to approach, doesn't know what to say to them, but Howling Wind knew what they had all been through. And he would not interrupt a grieving mother.

"I'm sorry," is all he can say, his typically gentle words turned to an uncertain rasp. I'm sorry for your loss, I'm sorry that you must go through this again, I'm sorry that there is nothing I can do for you. Grizzly had always tried to fix things when they broke. But this– this, there would be no repairing. "Should you need anything while you are grieving, ask me."

☾  OOC NOTES INFORMATION ☽

• 
  ooc: —
• GRIZZLYRIDGE. world-weary warrior of skyclan.
  ──── uses he - him - his, may accept they - them - theirs.
  ──── about four years old.  a former pine group member.
  ──── homoromantic homosexual, but this may develop.
  
  a large, broad-shouldered highlander cat with lightly tufted curled ears and large paws made larger by extra toes. a solid seal point with only a small white marking on his muzzle and deep blue eyes.
• "speech"

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[~Deersong~]

( ♬ ) "Ask any of us." The cooing voice of the deputy would come as Deersong strides up beside Grizzleridge, her half-tail hanging limply behind her as her aqua gaze settles onto the grieving family.

A heavy sigh escapes her before she shakes her head and looks back to Howling Wind, "What a nightmare. Don't you worry about rushing now, take your time." She would look back over her should at Blazestars' den with another pained expression before she sighed again, "I'll let Blazestar know you're all here. Maybe this will finally get us wise to Flower Power around here..." ​

( LET YOU BREAK; MY HEART AGAIN )

 

[Alderfrost]

✧ Alderfrost hung back for the sake of, well, she couldn't really tell. Maybe it was because she wasn't one of their family, though she felt wretched staring from afar at the mourners. She stepped forward and quietly said, "I'm so sorry."

She wasn't sure what else to say. Nothing else could really ease the pain the family felt. She really did mean it- Morningpaw's death was such a shock, and so unfair- she was much too young to die. Alderfrost just couldn't believe it. She knew she looked calm and composed on the outside, but really, she felt shattered. Shattered by grief and anger and denial, and feeling hopeless. Oh, she wanted peace, like Deersong had mentioned, but she knew that might never be.
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[BLAZESTAR]

( * ˚ ✦ ) He hears her wail like a thorn shoved through the graying meat of his heart. Blazestar is on his paws immediately, shoving his way out of his den; the barren branches of the elderberry branch snag at his snarled pale fur, but he doesn't feel it, even when he leaves unkempt clumps behind. Little Wolf is here, crouched over their daughter's body. Howling Wind, too. Howlpaw and Fireflypaw are still here, curling around their remaining family -- grief, grief in their small, contained private world.

Blazestar does not pause to acknowledge Deersong, Grizzlyridge, nor Alderfrost; his Clanmates are loyal, respectful, but he's been needing the comfort of his mate.

Only, what can she offer him? What can he give to her? Blazestar goes to her and begins to nuzzle at her, the two of them an arch over Morningpaw's body. "I'm so sorry," he gasps to her. "This is my fault. My fault we've lost her..." He doesn't elaborate, can't elaborate -- he only takes what little comfort he has in the warmth of his mate's fur against his own.​

( AND EVERY TIME IT RAINS , ALL THE ANGELS CRY FOR ME )

 

[HOWLINGSTAR]

Howling Wind's heart tightens as Fireflypaw speaks up, his small voice a whimper when it used to be loud and boisterous. Her own tears don't stop. She sniffs and leans into her grandkits, wanting to offer them any sort of support she can. They're far too young to lose a littermate. Her daughter is too new of a mother to lose a kit. None of this was right or fair. All she can do is be here with her family, mourn with them, comfort them, hold them. They'd all lost a special cat today.

Grizzlyridge's and Alderfrost's voices goes practically unheard, or at least they seem to. She doesn't acknowledge them. She doesn't want to hear the apologies of SkyClan. It's Deersong's presence, however, that causes the deputy's muscles to tense. She had been there. Everyone knows the SkyClan deputy - she'd been easy for those on the patrol to identify. She was there, and she's here offering her condolences over their dead kin. Self control flies out the window and Howling Wind's narrowed, teary gaze snaps up to look at her, and in the same breath a paw is swiped out. It flies a whisker in front of the other she-cat's muzzle, and a hissed, "Get away from her!" leaves her bared jaws. They'd always been friendly in the past; the tabby might even have gone as far as to call them allies. But now Morningpaw is dead by the jaws of a SkyClanner, and she has no desire for friendship right now.

She turns her back to the SkyClanners, face scrunching up as she continues to cry. It's Blazestar's approach that draws her attention again, silent tears still rolling down her face. She watches as the father of her granddaughter embraces Little Wolf, his voice empty, mournful. Perhaps he's the only SkyClanner she won't chase off. He deserves to grieve his own daughter. He loved her the same as any of her kin did. But she doesn't look at him for long, she can't stomach it. It's his clan that did this. Her gaze drops back to Morningpaw's limp form and she sits in silence, praying to StarClan for her safe journey.

Finally, after what feels like forever, she lifts her eyes back towards the large tom and states, "We will be taking her back to ThunderClan to be buried. It is her birthplace and she has clanmates waiting to say goodbye." Her words leave no room for arguing. She's not asking.​

 

[ThistleBack]

Standing poised, the warrior watches as Grizzledridge gets close to offer anything he could. Thistleback didn’t move to say or do anything. Not because he didn’t care, but because he saw its worth. They didn’t need anything, and what they wanted was Morningpaw back. If anything, the piebald kept his eyes narrowed on the Thunderclanners, expecting some sort of eruption. Eyes of molten silver, traverse his mate’s side profile as she speaks. He’s too far to know what she said but whatever it was made the brown tabby grandmother’s face twist in anger.

A paw swings for Deersong’s muzzle and Thistleback’s respectfully quiet thoughts become new ways to re-light their oak forest on fire. He stands, jaws sewn tight and brows pinched above the nose. His toes crackle under his pressing weight.

" Deersong. " he calls for her, hoping she’d come over to him- but he knows how she gets when she’s hurt. He shfits his sights toward the grieving mates and it relaxes his hackles. Now wasn’t the time, it was barely the time for anything.

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OOC INFO REF

• —
  
  
• 
  
  
  ✧ T H I S T L E B A C K
  thirty-three moons
  — warrior of Skyclan
  — taken by
  Deersong 9.29.22
  — mentoring quillpaw
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes. ･ﾟ✧​
• 
  
  

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[Howlfire]

It's her grandmother who reacts first, moving to press against her comfortingly. Howlpaw lets out a small sigh, glad for the steady and reassuring presence of Howling Wind, whose gentle words mean a great deal to the young girl. After a moment, she is aware of Fireflypaw joining them. Is he trying to comfort her too or is it the other way round and he's seeking comfort from his sister and grandmother too? On this day it falls to Howlpaw and the rest of their littermates to be the ones to comfort him for a change.

She is barely aware of the other cats around them until Howling Wind snaps at someone, and Howlpaw briefly turns her head to see her grandmother sending a paw flying out in Deersong's direction.

When a few moments have passed, Howlpaw finally asks a question that takes her some time to prepare herself to say. "W-What will we do with her now?" She asks the cats surrounding Morningpaw. "What do we do with her...her...her." She can't bring herself to say 'body'.​