private can you just be honest [rattleheart]

[SCORCHSTAR]

There are ShadowClan kits living in WindClan territory. They are orphans, or so they say, and Sootstar claims that they were rescued from the marshland. Scorchstreak would have once been quick to believe the smoky-furred leader’s account, but after the journey it is more difficult to believe. It’s especially hard to trust Sootstar’s word when ShadowClan so recently showed up at the border asking after two lost kits. Smogmaw’s kits, no less. The deputy of the clan’s children would undoubtedly cause a war if ShadowClan were to find out, and WindClan does not need another war. After the journey to get lungwort and save all the clans, they should not be antagonizing other clans by removing their kits. Scorchstreak is no fan of Smogmaw, but she must admit that trekking alongside the tom on the journey has made her more sympathetic toward him. Besides—she thinks of what she would do if her kits were taken from her. She would be distraught, surely. Mistreatment or not, the tunneler cannot support the secretive carrying off of kits, as though WindClan is no more than a band of vultures.

That Rattleheart must also condemn their harboring of these kits is an easy conclusion to draw. But it is not something that can be easily discussed, and especially not in the middle of camp. Not while everyone else mills about well within hearing range. Scorchstreak is used to clandestine operations both within the tunnels and without; she doesn’t think twice about striding up to her sibling once night has fallen. "Rattleheart," she murmurs as she shifts closer, voice lowered. "Come with me." She doesn’t wait for the other tunneler to respond, and instead sets off in the direction of the nearest tunnel entrance. It is a comfort, to recall just how well she knows these lands. She knows each tunnel that connects to the camp like the back of her paw, and it is no feat to lead her sibling deeper into the tunnel system until she’s sure they will be unbothered.

At last, the calico comes to a step, blazing eyes trained on Rattleheart. "Those ShadowClan kits… what do you think of them being here?" She needs to know. She has always trusted her kin to be her confidants, and now is no exception. And now—with Weaselclaw now resting in a grave, with Badgermoon and Curlewnose exiled and disappeared, with Sootstar acting more strangely than ever, with Bluepool surely following her sister’s every word without scrutiny—Rattleheart may be her closest friend in the moorland, anymore.

// @RATTLEHEART​

[ BE A FIRE, BURN THIS DOWN ]​

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[RATTLEHEART]

Really, Rattleheart held no special love for Shadowclan. Though they were infinitely grateful for the support that the clan had offered during the rogue invasion - others called their offers too little, but the tunneler could only focus on the fact that many more of them would likely be dead if not for the intervention - that hadn't suddenly turned them into a diehard supporter of Chilledstar and their ilk. However, one didn't need to adore a clan to think that stealing kits from them was wrong, especially with a story that seemed as shaky as Sootstar's. She claimed they had been abused back in the marsh-dwelling group, but there was no sign of discontent from either of them. No wounds, no starving bodies, no sudden proclamations of the struggles they had endured. It all seemed far too convenient, and far too dangerous.

The last thing any of them needed was a war. Even beyond that though, Rattleheart couldn't support tearing away kits from the family that their clan represented.

Everything had been weighing quite heavily on them when Scorchstreak approached, pale green eyes flicking up to meet her own blazing orange ones. There was a seriousness to her tone that set them on edge - not because they distrusted their sister, but because they worried for her. She was a lead warrior in the clan, after all... what if Sootstar had manipulated her? What if she wanted to tell them to retract their "traitorous" statements? The very thought left them uneasy and nauseated, though they followed her without a second thought. They had trusted her all their life, and that hadn't changed so far because of anything - not because of Windclan, not because of Sootstar... not even after losing Dappledsun. The tunnels themselves also offered them a welcome relief, away from the prying eyes of the clan as a whole.

It isn't until they're well into the earth that Scorchstreak turns back to them, and her question is far from unexpected. The answer feels like a boulder in Rattleheart's throat for a moment, far too heavy and choking to properly get out - though really, they simply couldn't lie to their sister. "I don't think it's right. In the past there have been times where I've questioned Sootstar's judgment, but never like this. I had always thought she had Windclan's best interests in mind, but..." Their jaw tensed for a moment, eyes trained on the ground before flicking back up to Scorchstreak. "This doesn't feel like that. Stealing kits from their homes... it's wrong. They should be with whatever family in Shadowclan they have left, not here where they could potentially incite a war. Perhaps that truly is traitorous of me to say, but all I can think of is what if the roles were reversed? What if Shadowclan had stolen away your kits, or potentially ones of my own? I wouldn't... I couldn't rest until I knew they were safe." They were just children. They didn't deserve to be in the middle of a potential war, or away from the ones who had been watching them grow.

They deserved to be home, no matter what Sootstar said.
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[ PENNED BY EO ]​

 

[SCORCHSTAR]

As she waits for her sibling to respond, Scorchstreak’s posture turns more rigid by the second. She’s asked her question, and in doing so has put her uncertainty on display for Rattleheart to see. Whether or not the other tunneler picks up on it, she can’t entirely tell, but for her own sake Scorchstreak hopes that her sibling shares her viewpoint. And as the black and white warrior speaks, it seems that they do agree. They begin by saying that they don’t think it’s right—a tight smile crosses the calico’s muzzle. She worries more for her sibling with each word, knowing that they are putting themself at risk just by disagreeing with the smoky-furred leader.

"Rattleheart…" she murmurs her sibling’s name, voice soft. She fears being overheard, even so deep within the tunnels. Were their leader to find out, somehow, they would both be exiled from the clan, just as Badgermoon and Curlewnose had been. Scorchstreak supposes that her own crimes are nowhere near as great as Badgermoon’s, and certainly lessened by the cure that she had helped to retrieve—but she does not trust that she wouldn’t be chased out if Sootstar’s distrust were to fall upon her red-patched pelt. Golden eyes narrow, settling on Rattleheart’s face "I’m glad that you, of all cats, agree with me." She would never turn her back on a friend and a leader like Sootstar—but is Sootstar still a friend? Is the leader she’s returned to the same leader she’d left behind? She once thought that she knew Sootstar well, but after hearing of the kidnapped ShadowClan kits, she cannot be sure.

She adjusts her stance, rolling her shoulders in an attempt to loosen some of the tension there. "I don’t think it’s right, either. Taking those kits from their clan, from their family… there is no excuse. Why would she do something that will certainly only lead to war?" ShadowClan will realize that their deputy’s missing kits are in WindClan eventually. Sootstar has always kept the good of the clan in mind before, although no leader is without their questionable decisions. But now? With Weaselclaw gone, has Sootstar finally stopped caring? Has she become a threat to her own clan? Scorchstreak hates the thought, but she cannot stop picturing Luckypaw’s face when she looks at Larkkit. What would she do if it were her own kits taken from her? She would take a war to ShadowClan, surely, and she would not stop until those responsible were tossed over the gorge.

She flexes her claws into the dirt, tail lashing as she fixes her fiery stare on her sibling. "Just… please. Don’t tell anyone else what I’ve said. Not even my kits. They’re already in enough danger, after what Badgermoon did." Scorchpaw has been reassigned to Sunstride, and the tunneler can only hope that it isn’t a sign of Sootstar’s distrust; Scorchpaw had been the one who stood up for her father the most, after all. She cannot lose her family, though. She has lost enough cats she cares about already.​

[ BE A FIRE, BURN THIS DOWN ]​

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