CRYING LIGHTNING \ thunderstorm

[TWITCHBOLT]

When the wind wailed this dissonant song, when the clouds roared their tantrums and flashed with anger, Twitchbolt was never in camp. His name was a hint to this pastime, unusual to most- for someone so easily-scared, so accident-avoidant, getting close to storms seemed an unfathomable reality. But he'd heard the rumbling, distracting him from his tracking- buried his catch for later and let the rain through the needles flatten his static-stung pelt, scaling the trees as the sky flashed behind him. The lightning only struck when his back was turned, it seemed- when he was focused on getting higher, leaping to the next branch, he would see the fading light, but whip his head around to see nothing.

He was high up- higher than he'd scaled in a while, all while a storm raged afar and a flood spat from the sky. Careless of the danger- or, perhaps, used to it- Twitchbolt's determined eyes met the bruised clouds, widened despite the rain. "Look at me!" he roared, amusement thick in his tone, his smile sure and determined despite his uncontrollable jitter. He did not expect to reach the storm- but he called for it, and it replied. He was blinded for a moment wit a sudden flash of light- and then, several seconds after, a distant, low grumble.

He did not know how far StarClan's power reached. Whether it was just the night sky they walked, or whether their spangled sprawl spanned storms or daylight, too. Which one of you was that? he thought, before he could stop it- though when it settled, he did not push it away.​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[WRAITH]

wraith had always been quite fond of storms. as a kittypet, many of her feline friends took to cowering in the corners when lightning struck, but she'd always pressed up to the window to watch with quiet fascination, intrigued by the look of puddles flashing bright in the dark. so when she'd noticed the stormclouds creeping in today, she'd gotten quite chipper. this would be her first storm outside.

she was out of camp when the rain started, padding through the forest rather aimlessly, humming under her breath. the first drop startled her, the icy cold meeting her skin out of nowhere. she tipped her chin upwards and gazed at the gray fragments of sky visible through the pine branches. another raindrop hit her directly on the nose. her whiskers twitched, then she smiled. it felt strange, but nice. rather calming. she let her eyes fall shut, head still angled up, as the rain began to fall more steadily and the thunder rolled in.

then, she heard a sound overhead. a voice, more specifically. the voice of another cat. she let her eyes flutter open, blinking the rain away. above her in the branches now was a brown-and-white tomcat, yelling into the sky. he looked rather distressed, enough to catch her eye, but it was hard to make out the details of his expression through the rain. she cocked her head to the side and watched him for a moment, waiting for him to say more. he didn't. she looked around to see if he might have come with others, but the forest floor was empty. she sat back on the dampening ground, thinking for a moment, then decided to call up to him. "are you alright up there?" it was worth it to check. she knew many other cats were not quite as happy about storms as she was.
​

 

[Sweetybee]

Sweetybee watched Twitchbolt nervously. She wasn't afraid of heights, thats not what worried her. The storm is what worried her. What if lightning struck and Twitchbolt got hurt? Did he know how dangerous it was to be up there? Or maybe he knew, and wasn't afraid? She wondered if she was over reacting. The rain made it difficult to look up and she had to squint to see. She wanted to go find better cover, but she wouldn't leave her two clanmates out here.

"Are you sure that's safe?" She called to him.


What if the tree falls? What if he gets blown away? All these terrible thoughts plagued her mind and she was just. So worried. Probably over nothing. Everything is fine.​

 

[GREENEYES]

Greeneyes doesn't really think he's ever been the most fond of thunderstorms, but they bring an anxiety now that they didn't used to before. Dread, fear - a trepidation over falling branches, of rubble and claws digging at soil; mud created from blood spill.

And as rain begins to fall from above, as lightning flashes and thunder roars while he's out of camp, Greeneyes isn't sure where he's meant to seek shelter. Camp has been proven to not be safe in this weather, but being outside of it can't be much safer. His heart rate begins to pick up, and he's holding his breath as he scans the area.

A shout from above causes him to jump, wide eyes moving to the trees above him.

Twitchbolt, his friend - the new lead warrior - is stood atop swaying branches, higher in the trees than Greeneyes thinks he's ever climbed himself. A smile on the older warrior's face, a tall stance as he calls to the sky. There was a time when he'd envied his ability to be calm in storms like this, but this might... this might be too calm. Especially with all that's happened.

"Twitchbolt!" he calls from below, worry thick in his voice. "That's pretty high up, don't you think? Maybe... Maybe a couple branches lower?" He doesn't think his mother's former apprentice will want to depart from his hobby any sooner than he has to, but perhaps stepping down lower will be enough of a compromise; one to slow Greeneyes' heart down, even in the slightest.
​

 

[QUILLSTRIKE]

DARK BLUE, DARK BLUE, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ALONE IN A CROWDED ROOM?​

---

It had worried Quill the first dozen or times he'd seen Twitch do it too, so he couldn't exactly blame the others for their concern as they came flocking over at the sound of the tomcats shouting. In all honesty, it still terrified the shit out of the chimera to see his friend up there, but... he never saw Twitch come alive quite like he did during a storm. There was something about it that kept him from feeding into the others natural fear with talk of high winds, stray lightning bolts, and branches suddenly giving way.

He was sure the other already knew it all anyways, and if it meant that much to Twitch that he was willing to overlook it all anyways- who the hell was Quill to tell him he couldn't have it?

Of course, this usually meant that Quillstrike himself was miserable the entire time.

The large, scar-covered tabby was currently sat hunched at the base of the tree trying to avoid the slowl spattering of fat waterdrops falling from the sky. It had been working at first, but the closer the storm came the more it picked up, and by the time the other cats had arrived to check on Twitch he was getting hit about once every five seconds- not exactly a downpour, but he couldn't stand the feeling of it, like ants under his skin warning him of what was to come, threatening him with memories he'd rather not recall.

"Oh, you guys didn't know? Twitch is secretly an adrenaline junkie." he informed the trio, voice flat despite his clear agitation at the rain in the form of spiked neck fur and flattened ears. As much as he'd prefer them on the ground, short of sitting on him there wasn't much he could do to stop them from sneaking off to pull these little stunts.
​

---

skyclan - male - 16 months (Feb 17th) - bisexual - homoromantic - a very tall, dark chimera tomcat with mismatched eyes and several scars. has bluejay feathers woven like spikes along his spine and neck.

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

No voice answered his internal question from the heavens, but calls from down below snagged his attention. The words were near-drowned from the torrent, but with angled ears he heard them, wide-eyes attention peering past the mist of rain to spot approaching Clanmates. Newly-joined, Wraith's nouveau-snow figure was one that took him a moment to recognised- and she asked a similar question to Sweetybee beside her. Was he alright? Was he safe? "Yeah, I'm fine!" he called down, form still dithering, though there was a distinctive lack of fear-bristle about him. The shaking was incontrollable, but... fear was not, it seemed. "I've done this loads," he assured them, for once the one doing the calming-down.

Quillstrike- the chimera knew him best, gave the best answer he could, and Twitchbolt fixed his friend with one of the most genuine toothy grins he'd ever bore. It was rare to see Twitchbolt show his teeth in a smile, usually tight-lipped and trembling- but, as ever, Quillstrike reminded him that there was someone who knew him this well. It had taken him a long time to accept that he was known, that he was liked, despite everything. And though he could tell from his slight tenseness that Quillstrike was agitated by the rainfall, he hoped the taller tom could see how grateful he was that he was out here.

Greeneyes, though- another friend, a kindred spirit in some ways- he'd give in to that request. "Alright," he answered, still cheerful, and descended a few branches in some effort to compromise. The buzz of the storm sent him springing, but he landed well- settled lower, but a blessed gap in the pine-needles allowed a look toward the skies. "B-but- anyway, don't look at me! Look at this," he hummed, and set his gaze back to the storm-swollen sky.

On cue- on some miracle of a cue, a sheet of lightning bled into the clouds, far enough away that Twitchbolt knew they were not in any danger. Seconds later, the earth growled thunderous, and Twitchbolt closed his eyes.​

penned by pin ✧​