blood and chocolate / family snuggle time

[Needledrift]

☾ The coming cold had done little to soothe Needledrift's worries, her constant, aching anxiety forever pounding away at the confidence she had struggled to build since the first moment she opened her eyes again under Bonejaw's chilly gaze. Her jaw ached from clenching too hard... her claws were uncomfortably sheathed, her left paw a little sore from wrenching a claw by accident in her daze... it was a problem that she was so tense, a genuine problem.

But she could not show it. Not that she believed Ferndance or her children would hate her for doing so (though... maybe that was a thought that crossed her mind once or twice) but because showing the fear and the panic gave it power, and she could not afford to lose any more of herself to the despair. It would be soul-destroying if she did...

She snuggled closer to @FERNDANCE in their nest, her fluffy little body more sensitive without an extra layer of fat to warm her. Faintly, distantly, did she also notice another body to her back, and a head on her tail. Mint-green eyes fluttered open and she swiveled her head to look at her children, ther sleepy eyes evident even in the dim light of the den. "I have always needed a bigger nest, haven't I, loves?"

@Bonechill. @SHADEPAW @BLOODWING @Gigglepaw @BRANCHPAW @MORELPAW ​

 

[FERNDANCE]

Every day, she believed she saw more of the Needledrift whom she had known through most of her days within ShadowClan, the one who could be social and funny and affectionate and strong and so many more things she feared had withered away with the brutality of life. A short while ago, the cinnamon tabby wasn't sure if Needledrift would've let her get this close; now, their whole family was bundled together as if things were normal again. In her loaded state, the she-cat's smile was gracefully mirthful, her pupils as soft as silk as her attention shifted between young and old kin. In this brief moment of time, where the world around them seemed to stop and the encroach of Leafbare seemed nothing more than a bad dream, they were family. In this brief moment of time, she hoped the peace and warmth would last forever.

"Give it a few moons..." she purred, blinking slowly towards Morel, Branch and Giggle - when had they gotten so big? Just yesterday, it felt as if they were in the Nursery, mewling and writhing with closed eyes and reckless abandon. She saw the new Leafbare kittens and wondered if she would ever like to be a Queen again, if the three would like to know what it was like to be older siblings instead of younger ones. The idea was snuffed out like a last ember as she believed that Needledrift needed her full attention, and that opening things up again could lead to pain - and beyond that, the idea of enduring those cloistering walls again for six moons sounded like torture.

They were happy. If they were happy, things didn't need to change, things didn't need to be spontaneously decided upon. Ferndance, who found as much joy in the erratic as a piece of warm freshkill, had to remind herself of that whenever family was involved. "We will take up half of the warrior's den... perhaps we can convince Mirestar to make a den of our own in camp... our own little paradise..."

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[Bonechill.]

*+:｡.｡ Bonechill, ever a man of few words, announces his wakefulness only with an amused huff. That'd be nice, he'd imagine - a whole den all to themselves. Despite living an entire season within Shadowclan, Bonechill couldn't say he owed any of them his affection. He much preferred those currently within his read. Funny Shadewhisker, fierce Bloodwing, creative Ferndance, spirited Gigglepaw, gentle Morelpaw, loyal Branchpaw, and, practically the matriarch with her soft touch and compassionate eyes, Needledrift. Although the space left empty by Snowypaw's absence remained achingly cold, it was smaller - a little crevice in an otherwise perfect bundle of complete, warm bodies. She made her choice, and it was easier to think about her less than wonder endlessly what she could possibly find better elsewhere when this, all these people who held every piece of Bonechill's heart together were right here, within reach.

Curling himself around Needledrift's back, he admired being big enough now to blanket her in warmth, the way she had when he was a kit. The second-oldest set to grooming his mother's pelt. As much as he still missed Snowypaw, he didn't think he wished anymore to go back to his youth. He liked how far they'd come. Ferndance, a pinnacle of Shadowclan, Shadwhisker, and Bloodwing now proud protectors of this family, and Gigglepaw, Morelpaw, and Branchpaw with plenty of time to find their paths, but still small enough for Bonechill to pinch their cheeks and heckle them with loving concern.

More than the entirety of shadowclan, this small moment was home.
He didn't realize he'd begun purring until he was practically vibrating from it.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 10/4/24

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ☠ Shadowclan — warrior
  ☠ DMAB— He/Him — Unsure
  ☠ 12 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ☠ Son to Ferndance x Needledrift
  ☠ Littermates with Bloodwing, Shadewhisker, Splashdance
  ☠ Half-brother to Gigglepaw, Morelpaw, Branchpaw
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ☠Physically hard | mentally hard
  ☠ Attack in bold #738171
  injuries: None currently

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[Needledrift]

☾ "My sweet boy," Needledrift rumbled contentedly at Bonechill's touch, her tiny body vibrating with absolute joy. It was rare that she was able to catch her children before they were running off to the next thing to explore... or destroy, so rare that she found herself almost itchy-behind-the-eyes at the closeness. Despite hating every moment in the nursery, locked tightly away from her charges and wards, Needledrift desperately loved being a mother. Her children each held a piece of her heart within them, a tiny porcelain piece made to hold and protect whoever it graced. Her heart physically ached to be parted from them - which was a feeling that Needledrift had thought she felt for her Clan, but this... this was much stronger. Maternal instinct ricocheted through her, a live wire direct to her nervous system. Everything she did, she did for the wellbeing of her children. Her precious, beautiful children.

She turns her head to lap at the ruffled spot between her son's ear, ratting so happily that it seemed to vibrate her mate as well. "Sweet, sweet dove." though, in that moment, it was her that was cooing. ​

 

[Gigglepaw]

It had been awhile since they had been able to sleep like this, cuddled up at her mothers and siblings' sides. It took her back to the moons she'd spent in the nursery, flank pressed against Needledrift and Branchpaw and Morelpaw - and perhaps now was even better, being able to curl up with the entire family. It felt right, like this was the reward they'd earned after everything they'd given for the Clan.

"Y'really think Mirestar might do that? Give us our own den?" Gigglepaw whispers, wiggling excitedly against closed-in bodies. That would be nice, she thought - just having to bed down alongside her family, like a sleepover every night. At the very least, they would be taking over a portion of the warriors' den, when Gigglepaw and her brothers became warriors.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎OOC ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎ .ᐟ.ᐟ INFO ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• !
  

• 

• GIGGLEPAW ✩ apprentice of shadowclan, eight moons
  → blinks incessantly & uncontrollably.
  → peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  → penned by Archivist → .archivist on discord.
  

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[BRANCHPAW]

𓆱 The boy kicks out at Bonechill’s flank as the older tom’s body begins to vibrate—an involuntary reaction, and one that pulls him to wakefulness at last. He yawns sleepily, lifting his head from where it rests upon his mother’s back. Ferndance’s voice breaks into his muddled thoughts, talking about a den for just their family, if Mirestar allows it. "Yeah… that’d be nice," he murmurs, amber eyes fluttering with drowsiness. He’s so warm, pressed in close to his kin, and for once he’s untouched by the simmering rage that’s laid beneath the surface for the past month. Finding out that Snowypaw—Splashdance—is alive, and that none of his siblings or parents told him, is a hard thing to let go of. It’s only Needledrift’s presence that has made him feel remotely normal since he’d found out.

His littermate asks whether the leader would truly allow it, her own whisper pitched high in excitement. She has too much energy. He just wants to go back to sleep, but he forces more words out of his mouth instead. "A den to ourselves… that’d be nice." His maw splits wide in a yawn, and the boy tucks himself in closer to his kin, allowing Bonechill and Needledrift’s fur to warm him as he sinks back into a dozing slumber. This warmth is the greatest he’ll ever know, and Beanchpaw finds himself hoping that they’ll get to share it again. Maybe someday, when he and Giggle and Morel are warriors, they’ll all make one super-large nest for the whole family to stay in.

archers never make good kings 𖠰𖠰 fly headfirst into everything

• ooc: —
• 
• BRANCHPAW ❯❯ he/him, apprentice of shadowclan
  𖠰 fluffy lilac tabby with white spotting and amber eyes. quiet but cheerful, a natural storyteller.
  𖠰 son of ferndance and needledrift ; brother to bonechill, bloodwing, shadewhisker, snowypaw, gigglepaw, morelpaw
  𖠰 mentored by flintwish
  𖠰 peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  𖠰 penned by foxlore

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