can't stand the rain | storm

[covecatcher]

Grief clouds the camp, makes it impossible to breathe. The hours following her death were long and painful and even though Cove had joined the memory sharing she just feels empty. And yet perhaps it is the simple spoken words that Ember had uttered to her, the two words that would make her feel better about this. It's okay, small, but she can hear her voice. How long until it fades in to the rest of her thoughts, the twinge that makes Ember lost to time?

She shakes her head, rises from her nest. It's suffocating in this den, left to her own thoughts as she watched flanks rise and fall. She pushes out of the den. Middle of the night and theres not a cloud in the sky, the snow is melting and she knows she should feel happy about the rebirth of the new season but... Emptiness. It's a cage and shes trapped in it. She'll keep pushing on with a smile though, it's how she normally gets through things and now more than ever does the clan need someone to smile after they lost their flame. She stands there with a scrunched face, eyes flickering between the starry sky and the muddy earth below her paws.

Was Ember watching from up there right now?

Ironically, a twig snap and Storm emerges from the warrior den she had just exited. "Can't sleep either?" whispered gently she tilts her head upwards. "Actually I don't think anyone can." she giggles, the heavy feeling in her chest only building as she flicks her tail in a gesture to come sit with her. "Find anything cool on patrol lately? I found a shell, earlier, and- oh! I need to give it to you when I go back. It had your colors." she'll distract herself with small talk, a smile already slipping through the cracks as she talks.

// @Stormchaser
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[Stormchaser]

"WELL, I'VE GOT THICK SKIN AND AN ELASTIC HEART"​

Sleep seemed to always be just out of the warrior's reach these nights, the somber and heavy feeling dragging at his eyes but no peaceful slumber ever taking him. He feels everything around him, every paw step and shift; even the light snoring or light breaths tickling his tufted ears. He sighs, shifting himself every few moments in search of a more comfortable spot—but it's like there's thorns within his nest. The image of Emberstar's bloodied and maimed body plagued the depths of his mind's eye, flashing every so often or even the distant howling and baying of hounds in the distance. He swears he can hear it, swears their amble pawsteps draw closer within the camp. Large incisors would flash in the moonlit scenery, saliva flinging from the jowls to sink malicious jaws onto his flank—

Stormchaser jumps, a soft touch gliding across his plumed tail. Apricot eyes narrowed to focus, detecting the small silhouette of a cream tabby. Oh, it's just Cove. Is she alright? He debates if he should check on her or not, wondering if she wanted to be alone. But the images of vile creatures snatching her small frame up had the fur along his spine prickling with apprehension. He slides out after her, carefully placing his paws before emerging into the chilled air of the clearing. His glowing gaze immediately find her silhouette sitting a bit away, her neck craned up to the stars. The warrior shifts his paws, a bit unsure of what to say. Not paying attention to wear he's placing his snow-dipped paws, he hears an amplified crack as a twig gave in under his weight. Covecatcher immediately places her attention onto him, offering him a smile and wave of her feathered tail.
Can't sleep either? He offers a meek smile, ambling towards her before taking a seat. Stormchaser stays close, but not enough to brush up against her in case she wanted a bit of space. "Not really, unfortunately." He huffs as a heavily yawn passes over his tongue, revealing ivory teeth. "No one can, hmm? Tell that to the snoring that was right beside my ear. Someone is knocked out." He offers the cream molly a playful grin, gesturing towards the warrior den with a flick of his prominent ears. A brief wave of silence falls between them then, his eyes meeting hers briefly. "Oh, something cool, eh? Well when I was with Nightbird we saw some ShadowClanners, they were talking about getting to the point of almost eating each other. It was—kinda funny, I guess? Though I hope he was joking. I can't imagine that we taste good. Too much fluff!" His eyes widen a bit with a nervous chuckle. "You found a shell, hm? What color was this one? Oh—you found one for me? I wanna see." The tom leans in closer to her with interest, the violent images that plagued his mind began to disappear bit by bit.

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[covecatcher]

Not really, unfortunately. "I don't blame you." sympathetic meow in response, ears swiveling backwards. If there was anything she wanted in the world more than for things to be okay, its to see her friends smile, which is the exact opposite of what he's doing right now. When he yawns, its passed to her, turning her head to do so before chucking at his next sentence. When she tilts her head back she finds a smile on his lips, contagious like his yawn, it feels right.

And for a second, everything else also felt right in the world as he cracked jokes. Something cool, and then he goes on to explain that Shadowclan had... resorted to eating their own? The thought of it was morbid and even in a time of starvation she cannot imagine turning against her own clanmates. She blinks in surprise until she realizes he was going on to say at least he hopes it was a joke. Her whiskers twitch now, in amusement, happy to laugh knowing that both of them were on the same page. "I hope so! It'd be a pain to get around the fur." a dramatic sigh, placing a paw on her forehead before she erupts in giggles. She probably looked really, really stupid doing that.

Eyes turn to the sky for a second and back to Storm, thinking hard, Storm kind of looked like he had the moon itself in his pelt with how blue it looked, the silver in the moonlight. Hm... She opened her mouth to make a silly joke about it until he inquires about her shells. Almost instantly giddy, she thumps her tail against the ground as a wide grin parts. "It's blue and white, and when you put it in the moonlight, it kind of shines! Like you." so thats why she was staring! She hadn't made the moonlight connection at first but now that she blurted it out she sees the correlation. Hah!

"Hold on, hold on, i'll go get it." and promptly does she enter the mouth of the den, disappearing in the darkness, only to reappear carrying the shell. A clam shell, she had learned from another cat, thats what the flat, ridged ones were called. "Here, its yours, picked by the very best!" a purr as she tilts her head. Would he like it? She hopes he does. Oh, she should get some shells for her other friends as well... They mean a lot to her, the lot of them.
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[Stormchaser]

"WELL, I'VE GOT THICK SKIN AND AN ELASTIC HEART"​

He shares a smile with her, his toothy grin mirroring hers as she sighs heavily with a paw placed upon her forehead before erupting into a sing-song giggle. His brows raised slightly, lightly surprised she found his morbid jokes funny but returned her giggle with one of his own. Immediately she pipes up at the mention of him wanting to see the shell she had collected that resembled him, rushing to the den to get it. His eyes traced over her figure for a moment, studying her. Covecatcher's usual cream coat was now swathed in a silver-white vile, her blue eyes danced like the stars above the forest. Suddenly he feels his cheeks begin to flush as the blood rushed to his head as he waits for her. She's quite—something.
Lost within his own thoughts, it takes a moment before he realizes she returns with the shell in tow. He locks his gaze with her own before quickly looking away and stifling a cough. He shifts upon his toes, a wave of unease settling in his abdomen. His attention is turned to the shell now, it's smooth but rigid finishes gleamed in the light of the moon. He smiles as he brushes a white paw over it's surface, studying the blue-ish gray color. It did remind him of his own coloring. "Cove, this is great! I like it a lot. Heheh. Uh—sorry I don't have anything to give in return. But...thank you. Really! I'll keep it in my nest as a reminder of you." The tom speaks now, his tone gentle like soft rain. A moment of silence wedges between the two before he perks up immediately with wide eyes. "Oh—er, not of you. Well—yes of you but not like that! Of our—our friendship!" A moment of panic sets into his chest as he feebly scrambles for words, finally sputtering them out in tumbled heaps. The warrior sighs as he dropped his head, his own stupidity getting the best of him. Covecatcher was probably going to laugh at him now. Laugh at his foolishness.
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