BLACKSHEEP ON MY BACK | dandelionwish

[ThistleBack]

There is sweat around his paws as he makes it through camp entrance, mentally marking down one less patrol to do today. He’s shaking out his coat, flecks of foliage and dirt raining down from his hackles and belly. The day was bright and promising, patches of clover are popping up around camp. The pines never loose their color but perhaps they are a more cheery green during newleaf. The pinecones are splayed like paws, and the ferns are tall around the bases of the forest.

He spots the healing windclan exile, having made plans to eventually talk with them. It was always pushed back for another day, Thistleback had a hatred for Windclan that would never be coded out of his DNA and even though his son Coyotepaw had once run the moor- his mercy is not as plentiful as the plants this season.

He feels himself pausing, to stare quietly as he always does at first when he spots the former medic. Then with a series of marching steps he plants himself in the man’s path.

" Dandelionwish. I have a few questions for you. Not- for Blazestar. I’m a lead warrior but… this is different " he is speaking low, eyes hooded as he studies the brown speckled cat with something between curiosity, seething hatred, and a willingness to understand. Juniperfrost, the name was poison to his thoughts but potent as ever now.

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OOC INFO REF

• — @Dandelionwish
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Thirty-three moons EVENT TRACKER | IMPORTANT INFO
  — Lead warrior of Skyclan since 12.22.22
  — Devoted to Deersong 9.29.22 | polyamorous
  — Father of Coyotepaw, Pricklepaw, and Eveningpaw.
  — mentoring quillpaw & Snowpaw
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
  — voice & accent
  — biography･ﾟ✧​
  OPEN for Dice battles | stine#3004
  
• 
  
  

​

 

[Dandelionwish]

Hatred was a funny thing, to have someone affect you so significantly it altered your mood; it was a power he detested others having over him so even despite himself he tried to keep it down. It was difficult, he could still see Sootstar decreeing him a snake atop her lofty throne, clearly misunderstanding a sign sent to her because why then would StarClan waste their time warning him of his possible death if he was so venomous. Hating her was easy, would be easy, but he had realized what would hurt Sootstar the most was his pity. She was a foolish, arrogant cat who would be her own undoing. His old clanmates did not deserve his anger either, a waste of effort on his part to begrudge the mindless their easy life of following orders without question. If he could shut off his mind, his heart, would he not have done the same? Dandelionwish stretched, his back leg ached something fierce but the prickling discomfort meant it was healing; he would be on his feet in no time. Not too long now and he'd be able to give back the kindness shown him. Well, kindness from some. Aloof indifference from others and outright rejection as well, but it was kind as far as he cared. In WindClan they would have snapped his neck at the border before accepting him in. Funny how it worked.

Mismatched gold and green eyes blinked slowly as his head raised from his lounge, eyeing the stiff monochrome figure before him. Thistleback, he had never properly met, but he knew well enough. Coyotepaw's adopted father, one of Blazestar's most trusted warriors.
"Reckon I can spare ye a second or two, fit ye into m'busy schedule..." The chocolate-limbed tom grinned sheepishly, realizing his joke might not be taken too well if he didn't clarify, "Kidding! Care to sit?" His slender tail whipped up and neatly slapped the ground with a flick, a polite gesture; though given how tense the other seemed he wouldn't blame him for not wanting to.
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[ThistleBack]

Part of him wanted to foolishly roar his rage into the ex-Windclanner’s ear, as if it would mirror what he wanted to say to the moorland itself. To caw as the vengeful raven he was, drag nail into sinew and rip the willing from their bodies so they could know how excruciating it had been to have his son taken from him.

It’s what kept his muzzle fixed, twitching at the stitching of flesh that lobed his jaws where his smiles displayed themselves seldom. Quiet blind white anger choreographed the flick in response to such ice-breaking humor. A charming accent, like horse hooves over straw and tumble weeds on the praire. To any other soul, it would coax to a hearth that was this man. It was easy to see, this was not an ill-willing deviant who weaved the blizzard war. This, not the man who wrote the song of hatred into the hymns of his blackened heart. For this, Thistleback offers a rare short smile and hmph of amusement.

the quick recovery and offer-care to sit?, earns a moment of the lead warrior’s searching stare. Dual-colored eyes, neither reflecting the evils of Sootstar’s hounds. Not that he would fear such evils, the shadows and valley were playing grounds but he’d be damned if it layed its head on a nest near his family’s. Dandelionwish was not evil, that was a perfume this nose knew too well.

Thistleback’s hindquarters sink downward, but evenly. His hocks still hoisted, his chin still hooked high as the shepherd’s staff. " good lad " he cleared his throat, crossing his wrists slowly. " I will be honest with you. Dandelionwish, I loathe Windclan. Probably more than anyone here. If I could, I’d burn those hills to the ground. " he’s upfront, nothing slipping the cracks of misinterpretation. It’s not a confession, merely a spoken fact. " but- I think you should know, I do not hate you. "

" that being said. I want to know… since the day they stole Coyotepaw… was he hurt? " silver eyes shift, his demeanor reveals a father who lost too much time with his son. " Can you tell me more of Juniperfrost? " Thistleback’s voice dips into a slight growl with the mention of Coyotepaw’s biological father, jaws that’d rather see his neck than the pronunciation of his name.

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OOC INFO REF

• —
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  Thirty-three moons EVENT TRACKER | IMPORTANT INFO
  — Lead warrior of Skyclan since 12.22.22
  — Devoted to Deersong 9.29.22 | polyamorous
  — Father of Coyotepaw, Pricklepaw, and Eveningpaw.
  — mentoring quillpaw & Snowpaw
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
  — voice & accent
  — biography･ﾟ✧​
  OPEN for Dice battles | stine#3004
  
• 
  
  

​

 

[Dandelionwish]

He watches the other sit, nods slowly as he begins to speak in silent understanding. He did not begrudge any cat their hatred to the moors, he had learned long ago even as their medicine cat that the clans thought WindClan nothing but a stain on the forest, his own attempts to bond with any of his fellow healers had been thwarted by their bloody legacy and his own mentors descent into madness. But he was surprised to hear the hatred stopped at him. Thistleback had not been unfriendly, but he'd not gone out of his way for kindness at first-Dandelionwish had assumed it was a dislike to his presence in his camp and wouldn't have even been bothered to learn as much but...well. Perhaps he had misjudged. The questions both surprise and don't surprise him, this was Coyotepaw's adopted father, took him in after Leopardcloud had passed apparently (things he only knew in passing and mentions) but the look on the monochrome tom's maw as he asked told the ex-healer all he needed to know. He was his father. That look of pain, dejection, knowing he had assumedly failed to protect...he wondered if his father in WindClan felt the same. Harefur had never been a brave cat but, well-suppose there was no point thinking about that now. So the questions he spoke earnestly.

"...physically? No. A few bumps and bruises, a border skirmish with RiverClan that lead to a small injury…a scrape here and there from a failed rabbit chase." Mismatched eyes fell half-lidded, thoughtful, "...but the wounds we don't see? Plentiful. His heart never settled there, even as he tried to hold it back the fire sparked and I had to crush it myself to save him from lighting himself ablaze and burning to ash. It was a foolish and childish fear that brought him to WindClan and it was that same one that kept him in place and under Juniperfrost's watchful eye he must have felt so trapped…I'm glad he got out when he did. My escape was…a bloodbath. Who knows how many of my ex-clanmates died that day…I barely got out with Daisypaw alone."

Juniperfrost. One of Sootstar's most loyal of cats, cold as his name. Poisonous as it too. Their few interactions were strained at best and hostile at worst. The blue tom had no care for anyone but himself from the start but he favored his legacy and he had intended to shape Coyotepaw to fit it. "...I did not see much of their interactions I'm afraid, but I know fear when I witness it and he made himself no friend of Coyotepaws. I don't believe he ever hurt him with more than words..." He wished he could tell Thistleback more, lift some of the weight of concern but he had been so busy during those times he had only ever been able to spare Coyotepaw a few moments at best.

"He's a good kid...your boy."
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