private but i'm not dead } scorch jr

[RATTLEHEART]

With all that had been going on as of late, Rattleheart hadn't really had the chance to reconnect with those that had returned from the journey not that long ago. A group that contained a significant chunk of his own family, the weariness in their eyes when they had returned understandable, but also a source of great anxiety for the tunneler. It didn't help that they were now all also struggling with the ongoing hostility that had begun to fester within Windclan, driving a wedge between two large groups in the clan. He could only pray that he and his kin were on the same side regarding the Shadowclan kits that had been stolen away from their home, since he truly wasn't sure he could take being at odds with any of them.

With the last threads of yellowcough finally seeming to let go of their crushingly tight hold on him, he found himself needing to take the new opportunities he had to talk once more. Which was why, when he spotted Scorchpaw wandering back into camp through the heather tunnel, he had practically leapt up to his paws to approach her. No longer deathly afraid of passing on some kind of crippling illness, he bumped his head lightly against his niece's shoulder in greeting once he reached her. "Scorchpaw. We haven't had the chance to properly talk since your return." His voice was still slightly hoarse, and he questioned each day whether it would ever return to the relatively easy scratchiness of before, but at least now he could actually speak without devolving into a cacophony of wheezing coughs.

Casting one last glance back at camp - as if searching for the very clanmates who saw fit to call him a traitor - Rattleheart then gestured with his head back out towards the moors. "Would you mind going on a walk with me? I'd love to hear about your journey... and I think it might be a good idea to get out for a little while." The last thing he wanted was for anyone to think Scorchpaw was some kind of turncoat due to her connection to him, but he wasn't going to prevent himself from talking with his own kin. All of them had a right to that connection with their families - including the very Shadowclan kits everyone was chattering about.
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[ PENNED BY EO ]​

 

[SCORCHSTORM]

It is difficult to share blood in WindClan. This is not to say that Scorchpaw would ever trade her family for anything — rather, it is difficult to be a unit of bold cats in a Clan that would prefer blind obedience. Maybe once Scorchpaw would have submitted to that call. But after her journey into the mountains, getting to know the other Clan cats for who they truly were and not for who Sootstar had painted them to be... she can't imagine falling for it ever again. Though Rattleheart's reputation among her clanmates is tenuous, Scorchpaw understands him now more than ever. And quietly, though it pierces her to do so, a piece of her wonders if maybe Badgermoon had been the same — not a traitor as much as a cat unafraid to speak his mind.

Rattleheart approaches her and Scorchpaw is relieved to be able to truly embrace her uncle again. She purrs as he headbutts her shoulder, brushing her cheek against his crown in return. "Hi, Rattleheart," the flame-streaked apprentice greets, her smile genuine for the first time in what feels like moons. It's nice to feel truly connected to someone within her Clan, even if he's still family. When he invites her on a walk, she nods her acceptance. "Okay," she agrees, and they're off through the gorse tunnel in little time.

It's certainly nice to get away. The pressure in camp is stifling at times; there are too many eyes on her, on her brother, on her family. Scorchpaw has grown used to falling into obedience, but it makes her weary to mask her deeper feelings so often — especially when so much in WindClan has... changed. Sootstar's clique is difficult to engage with. Her father has been replaced in full now that she has been assigned a new mentor in Sunstride. And the kits... Scorchpaw is uneasy about them, certainly. Still, her grievances are not entirely what she wants to discuss. Rattleheart wants to hear about the journey. It's the one subject Scorchpaw can talk about without much fear of judgment (as long as she leaves out anything about marbled red fur and the flash of butterfly wing scales behind the ear; as long as she leaves out the friends she has found across borders; as long as she leaves out the ways in which WindClan is wrong about them).

"What do you want to hear about? It was so long, and there was so much... it's hard to know where to start." She offers Rattleheart a weary grin, wondering how much heartache he'd want to tolerate alongside the more exciting parts of her journey.

/ so sorry for how late this is!!!

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐈 𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐔𝐆𝐄 ✧ 𝘼𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙈𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙇𝙊𝙊𝘿

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  — scorchkit . scorchpaw
  — she/they ; apprentice of windclan
  — short-haired tortoiseshell she-cat with low white and orange/yellow eyes
  — "speech" ; thoughts
  — signature by deja, template art by ska-i
  — penned by meghan

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