AS LONG AS YOU'RE MINE // iciclefang

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

// @iciclefang <3

It had been easy enough to slip out of camp, a quick "I can't sleep!" to Lightstrike who stood guard at camp and she was gone. Her mind races with apprehension that is so unfamiliar to her, just as fast as her paws move through the undergrowth. Meet me at Sunningrocks, She'd said, and now her inner voice is just screaming what are you thinking?! Meeting a RiverClanner in the dead of night is certainly not something her clan would be happy to know about. And so they won't know about it. Her guilt shines in golden eyes, but so does her resolve. She has to see Iciclefang. Does she even want to see me?

Her heart's pounding is thunderous in her ears as she arrives at the river, Sunningrocks standing tall and proud in the moonlight. She lets out a shaky breath as she pauses, hesitating to take that step towards the rocks, but ultimately leaning into a run towards them. She scampers up the boulders until she stands at the very edge, where the stone overlooks the river. Ivory paws grip the peak as she searches the other side, her tail lifting high in excitement. She'll be here. She'll be here! Iciclefang wouldn't leave her hanging.

Rustle, rustle.

Her ears prick, her head craning to get a better look. "Iciclefang?" She whispers into the night air, leaning forward in anticipation.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎

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[iciclefang]

“Meet me at Sunningrocks in a quartermoon,” Stormywing had whispered, her breath hot in Iciclefang’s ear. She’s had plenty to occupy her mind since then; she sits on Smokestar’s council now, after all, with new responsibilities, higher expectations. She’d participated in a council meeting, her voice cool and reasonable among her superiors’ as they’d discussed whether shedding WindClan’s blood would be prudent in the coldest season. Her breath plumes, still and white, before her now as she slips through the reeds. Her paws squelch quietly in cool mud as she walks along the river’s edge. It murmurs in the night, gentle, everpresent. It guides her paws to Sunningrocks, to betray the Clan she serves so loyally.

She can see her broad shouldered figure, backlit by the moon, peering over the edge of one of the sunning stones. Her eyes are pale in the darkness, but Iciclefang knows their warmth, their golden fire. She slips closer to the shore, knowing how her muscles move beneath a slick, glossy tortoiseshell coat, knowing the other she-cat’s eyes are following her every movement.

“Stormywing. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it,” she says, her clipped voice low and hushed. She appraises the other warrior, and a smile splits her frosted muzzle. “You look so—so beautiful, like that. I had almost forgotten…” Her tone slips into a whisper, throaty and full. “It reminds me of the mountains. Of how you looked there, in the tree. Do you remember?”

She exhales, breathless and snared in memory that lights fires beneath her marbled fur.

, ”​

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[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Stormywing holds her breath as the figure slips out from the shadowy reeds, and when the moonlight bounces off glossy patches of orange and black, she knows it's her. She'd know that beautiful pelt anywhere. She perks up immediately, giddy at the sound of her voice. "I didn't know if you'd come," She admits, grinning ear to ear. Iciclefang is right - she is watching every movement she makes, eyes trained on the other like she hasn't seen water in moons, and Iciclefang is an oasis. Damn her heart for fluttering away in her chest, but she can't help but feel like they were still in the mountain, snuggling in the snow for warmth.

Her ears grow hot at the compliment, her eyes flicking to the ground in a brief moment of bashfulness before they flutter back to meet icy blue across the way. "Do I remember? Icy, all I do is remember." Every night in her nest it's a tortoiseshell pelt she imagines curled against her chest. It's eyes of ice that haunt every dream, a smooth, quiet voice that rings in every raindrop on patrol. "Get over here, you mouse-brain," The tabby laughs, beginning to scamper down the rocks to meet her mountaintop companion on the shoreline.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[iciclefang]

Stormywing’s voice is low and husky, but her smile is like the sun, burning away Iciclefang’s misgivings about their impromptu meeting. The tortoiseshell heeds her companion’s call, pebbly paws crunching the shoreline until the two of them are face-to-face. “Do I remember? Icy, all I do is remember.” She shivers, though not from the cold—as always, when she’s near the ThunderClanner, her fur feels uncomfortably warm. “It’s… it’s all I think about, too,” she admits, and she moves carefully to close the space between them.

Her hesitance melts as ice-blue eyes meet shimmering gold. Iciclefang pushes her head beneath Stormywing’s chin, a thin purr rattling in her throat like chunks of ice. “Even when I’m leading patrols, or sitting in on council meetings, I remember the way you felt next to me.” She closes her eyes, letting the sensations of the now fill her senses—the softness of Stormywing’s throat, the scar rubbing at her chest, the perfume of an early leafbare night, the quiet murmur of the river beside them.

“I can’t bear to be away from you anymore,” she whispers, letting her eyes open just into blue slits. “I am in RiverClan, but in my heart, I’m with you in the mountains, feeling your heartbeat…” Her whispery voice trails away, leaving silence in its wake.

, ”​

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[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Her burning eyes don't leave Iciclefang's form as she enters the water to cross to the other side, her heart thrumming with anticipation. Her own paws creep even closer to the shoreline to close whatever distance is left until the tortoiseshell crosses onto ThunderClan territory, the droplets that glide off her glossy coat glittering in the starlight. She steps closer, and nearly freezes in surprise as a sleek skull pushes under her chin, nuzzling her throat. Almost immediately, a thunderous purr that might dwarf Iciclefang's delicate hum erupts in her chest, eyes shutting as she nuzzles back. She takes a moment just to breathe, the RiverClanner's salty scent filling her senses and clouding her mind. She wants to drink in every moment she spends beneath the moonlight with her, finally alone again.

"Me neither," She mews too-quickly, pulling away just enough to stare down at Iciclefang's face, to meet her eyes. Her brow furrows slightly, almost in relief to hear the other say the same words she's been feeling since the journey ended. "I don't care if it's against the Code, Iciclefang, I want to be with you. I- I love you." The words are blurted before she can stop herself, not that it would have mattered. The stormy-gray feline has always been impulsive, headstrong...She is not going to be stopped now. She shakes her head, casting her gaze towards the ground. "The journey changed me - changed us, I think. How can I just go back to being a warrior in ThunderClan without you in my life?"

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[iciclefang]

At her touch, Stormywing purrs. The sound of it is like a gentle thunderstorm, and she allows herself to get lost in the sensation of warm rain on her fur, of distant booming in a sky thick with clouds as she shelters beneath a sturdy oak. That’s what it evokes for her, being so close, nestled in the safety of Stormywing’s chest. Their muzzles brush, their faces fitting together like pieces of a difficult puzzle. I love you, the tabby tells her, and Iciclefang closes her eyes against a wave of shame that threatens to pull her beneath a heady current. “I love you, too.”

Stormywing pulls away, shaking her head with frustration. “How can I just go back to being a warrior in ThunderClan without you in my life?” Iciclefang looks at her, feeling helpless and hating it. “We’ll be twice the warriors our Clanmates are, to make up for it. Having you in my life can only make me a better RiverClan warrior. Every hunt, every battle, I’ll be doing it for you, too…” Her breath shakes, and she draws her muzzle against Stormywing’s once more. “I know this is wrong, but then why does it feel like it’s meant to be?” She loses herself in fiery golden eyes, lets their piercing yellow melt the insecurities that flock to her heart like birds to barren branches.

“We just can’t get caught. Smokestar would be furious. The whole Clan would look at me differently,” she murmurs. “So we can only meet here—or at Fourtrees, or at the Twoleg Bridge, and we can only meet at night.” She nods, determination flaring in crystalline eyes. She will make it work—she has to.

, ”​

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[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Just like that, any worry or fear that had been on her face melts away at the touch of their muzzles, the promises of love in return. Her purr is back, softer than before, as she presses her face back into Iciclefang’s with her ears flat to her skull as she listens. “Twice the warrior, huh? I think I can manage that,” She breathes with a light laugh, welcoming the justification. Her tail finds the tortoiseshell’s, immediately entrapping it with her own in a tight twine.

She stares back at her companion, eyes filled with adoration, and nods dreamily in agreement. “How often can you come?” She will leave camp every night if it means she can see Iciclefang, but she knows well enough that isn’t a realistic plan. The other is a lead warrior now, a mentor. She can’t slip out every night; she can’t draw suspicion.

“You know…I’m so relieved that you still feel the same way. I was terrified it was just me, and- I don’t know, I thought you …maybe moved on.” The admittance is raspy and whispered, her eyes flicking downward before returning to her love’s face. After they’d split, it had been too easy to fear Iciclefang returned home and completely forgot about her; meanwhile, Stormywing’s been doing nothing but thinking of her like a love-struck fool. But this, having her pressed against her and purring and nuzzling her…it’s proof she’d been a mouse-brain to ever think such a thing.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[iciclefang]

“Twice the warrior, huh? I think I can manage that,” Stormywing breathes, straightening and twining her tail with Iciclefang’s. The motion is casual, and yet the warmth it sends shooting through her, from the white tip of her tail to her cold, wet paws, is searing. She remembers when they’d first touched tails, in the close dimness of the underground cave system, and the feeling had been just as electric then. “I know you can. You’re already twice the warrior most of my denmates are.” She can hardly believe she’s saying that about a ThunderClan warrior—but it’s with feeling, her heart in her mouth and between her teeth, raw and heavy.

She tilts her head as Stormywing agrees to her stipulations. “We can’t meet too often… our Clanmates will get suspicious.” She frowns in thought, her mouth flattening into a thin line. “What about… the night of the medicine cats’ gatherings, when the moon isn’t in the sky? It will be easier to meet in darkness.” She isn’t fond of the idea she must skulk through her territory like a fox or a ShadowClan cat, but it’s the only thing she can think of in the moment.

The tabby’s breath is warm on her face, musky and flavored with forest-scent as she tells Iciclefang she’d been half-afraid the tortoiseshell had forgotten about her entirely. “Never,” she murmurs, but then the taut line of her mouth is drawn into a dry smile. “You’re such a minnow-brain sometimes, you know that?”

, ”​

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