DANCE OF THE DYING LEAVES ⁀➷ BRAVEHEART

[FALLOWBITE]

ˏˋ*⁀➷　"Almost forgot how pretty leaf-fall is," Fallowbite rumbles quietly. Tufted paws bring her closer to Braveheart, pausing in the camp's clearing. Her voice is uncharacteristically soft as she stares out towards the gorse tunnel that divides camp from the wilds. "'S better once y'get deeper in the woods, though." She remembers it, the hazy kaleidoscope of red brown yellow. The painted blur of the treetops as she was dragged through the sky would have been a gorgeous last sight, she thinks.

She thinks of the before, the time too painful to think about. Back when her world was as small as a fox burrow, and her sisters crunching leaves beneath their paws. It makes her chest ache in a way that's not altogether unpleasant. Her eye flicks over to the dappled warrior, one of the first to show her kindness when she had been stolen from her home. He treated her not as the wild thing she has always felt like, but a clanmate. That, too makes her ache.

Perhaps she can show him a bit of that wildness, that tender part of her she always keeps so gaurded. It's as much of an apology as she can manage for her gnashing teeth and pointed words. "Walk with me?" She asks, jerking her head towards the camp entrance.

‎‎┌── GOD KNOWS I❜M ONLY HUMAN ⁀➷ I GET SO INHUMANE ──┐‎

• @braveheart : ̗̀➛
  
• 
  
  

  "SPEECH"

• 
  FALLOWBITE ⁀➷ she / it, warrior of thunderclan, fourteen moons.
  ➳ a scarred, pointed brown and white molly with shaggy fur and golden eyes.
  ➳ standoffish and solitary, always seems to have a dark cloud hanging over its head.
  ➳ baying hound xx npc, littermate to antlerbreeze & doepath.
  ➳ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ➳ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[braveheart : ̗̀➛]

☀ . ° ✦ Crystal sights lift up from the bundle of leaf-litter he has pulled from his tail, evidence from his last 'makeover' game with Littlepaw. They meet with the faint glow of a single honeyed sun, and followed the direction its gaze as if it pulled him with a single sweeping gesture.

Braveheart hadn't been able to see the forest in leaf-fall, having just been a kit. His memories were stocked heavier with snowy landscapes and frost-bitten toes. The stout, fluffy figure of red fur that led him through barren trees and brush. The late night shudder of a cold breath before shuffling closer to his siblings for warmth. His father sitting on Howlingstar's council, his mother caught in her responsibilities of warriorhood once again.

"I've never seen it before." Braveheart's smile slowly returned, pulling himself from his thoughts. Fallowbite had seen it, beyond the borders of ThunderClan and in her apprenticeship, just a moon ahead of Braveheart.

"Yeah? Yeah! Let's go, before someone sees us standing around." He pressed his muzzle into its shoulder in his jest as he hurried out of the clearing and closer to the thick of gorse.

"Has much changed with your tail?" He asked once they were far enough away from camp, surrounded now by the busy chirping of birds and occasional rush of leaf-fall wind. "The medicine den looked so busy... I know you must've hated it in there." His maw curved in a more awkward smile, confidence wavering for a moment. "I've been helping Gentlestorm with his herb stocks as much as I can. It was nice to see you so often, still. Seeing you safe, seeing your sisters safe." Braveheart added just in case. Just in case Fallowbite didn't like him centering so much of his attention.

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  BRAVEHEART — HE/HIM ･ 11 MOONS ･ THUNDERCLAN & WARRIOR ･ PENNED BY beatae!

  A Longhaired chocolate tabby with a white locket and deep blue eyes. A large cat who stands tall and proud. His coat is thick with long wispy curls. Severe scars from owl talons stretch across his shoulders and another that starts from his back down his left thigh.

​

 

[FALLOWBITE]

ˏˋ*⁀➷　Braveheart smiles - and it's an odd feeling, knowing that it's because of her. His happiness has always seemed in spite of its every action, an impenetrable optimism that no amount of trying could break. She feels awkward, out of her depth. "I know," she rumbles softly at his words. This is a memory that she has kept close to her chest. It is just as strange as the joy on his face to see the fire-licked leaves returning, to see this hazy recollection realized in blazing colors.

He presses his muzzle against her shoulder, and she has to blink down the surprise. This is what he's always been like, she knows, but it still feels new. New, to not resist the ease of his affection anymore. New, and bittersweet for all the time she's spent refusing it.

She trails after him more slowly, letting her paws brush against the leaves. His voice joins a chorus of nosy birds in questioning. "Mm, a bit. 'S weird." Fallowbite's tail lifts, pulls closer to her body. Just another scar, another battle-gift upon her body. She won't be climbing trees again anytime soon, but it's a far easier adjustment than her eye had been.

The initial healing, too, had been kinder. "Wasn't so bad," it answers him, "least I wasn't alone this time." It's maw ticks upwards in half a smile, eye darting over to glance at him. The softening of his fondness lands well for the wild warrior. It is a skittish thing, it always has been; it needs distance, for trust. It swallows thickly. It's decided, after so long, to try to close that distance. "I, uh..." It still doesn't quite know how. "It was nice seein' you too. Knowin' you still cared, even after..." A paw lifts up to wave vaguely, and it's glinting golden gaze once again turns away. "Everything."

‎‎┌── GOD KNOWS I❜M ONLY HUMAN ⁀➷ I GET SO INHUMANE ──┐‎

• 
  
• 
  
  

  "SPEECH"

• 
  FALLOWBITE ⁀➷ she / it, warrior of thunderclan, thirteen moons.
  ➳ a scarred, pointed brown and white molly with shaggy fur and golden eyes.
  ➳ standoffish and solitary, always seems to have a dark cloud hanging over its head.
  ➳ baying hound xx npc, littermate to antlerbreeze & doepath.
  ➳ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ➳ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[braveheart : ̗̀➛]

☀ . ° ✦ The lack of resistance coming from Fallowbite is not so quickly noticed by the tom. In some slow, hesitant path his fellow warrior had grown less temperamental and maybe some would say it was his optimism that wore it down. That defiance toward every wave of hopeful thinking and jovial play weakened while his grew stronger, but it is a part of Braveheart that is no different than needing to hunt to survive or find shelter in the snow. If he had faltered, allowed his positivity to be swallowed up in despair and bitterness, he would have betrayed the very purpose of his birth.

A leaf crunched underneath his paw and he silently hoped they weren't near any patrols looking for prey. Fallowbite doesn't seem to have much regard for that, however, letting her gait cause the assortment of leaf-fall skitter away from them. She goes on to explain the detriment of her tail as 'not so bad' and 'weird', but Braveheart still struggled to fathom the outcome of having his entire tail broken. Scaling the sturdy oaks was normally his best shot in a hunt, as it kept him hidden well enough. It made him wonder what kind of struggles he would find in leafbare, when the trees became barren of their leaves.

But Fallowbite's answer is inspiring on its own. It doesn't allow for the injury to let them down, it continues on, must adapt as it always had. His face is aglow with the delight that she liked his company, too. This is the first he's heard it admit such a thing, he thinks. He couldn't think of anyone Fallowbite so openly liked to be around aside from it's sisters and younger kin.

He waved off her awkward gesture with a flick of his growing-white-tipped tail. "Well, yeah of course I do!" He fondly thinks of the last time they spoke in private. When tensions and fear plagued their every waking hour, when he questioned the safety of his siblings. When he felt powerless to protect them. He still felt safe beside her, it felt right to.

"You've always been my friend."

"Some friend I've been."

"You did everything you could to keep your family safe. A lot better than I could for mine... It was dangerous, but you looked so fearless." What had he done, other than sit quietly in wait for someone else to make a plan? "Even if you were scared, I could never tell." And for that he can still say he has his friends; Sunshinespot, Doepath, Tigerwing. So many more Clanmates he thought were lost to Skyclaw's terror.

"I really care about you. I love you." Braveheart felt the words fall from his maw like water flowing downriver. It felt right, it was right.

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  BRAVEHEART — HE/HIM ･ 13 MOONS ･ THUNDERCLAN & WARRIOR ･ PENNED BY beatae!

  A Longhaired chocolate tabby with a white locket and deep blue eyes. A large cat who stands tall and proud. His coat is thick with long wispy curls. Severe scars from owl talons stretch across his shoulders and another that starts from his back down his left thigh.

​

 

[FALLOWBITE]

ˏˋ*⁀➷　Braveheart dismisses her concerns just as he did before; like none of it mattered, like all her cruelty was little more than sand washed away by rain. All her apologies sit awkward and heavy. It's not an apology he wants, she knows. He'd probably be surprised by the notion that she feels she needs to. It eases some of that worry, to know that this is the kindest thing that she can offer him. A walk through the nostalgic sounds of the trees, easy banter, a piece of herself vulnerable and trusting. Teeth caged behind the faintest hint of a smile.

The way he talks about her feels alien. Fearless. It's all she's ever wanted to be and all she's never felt.

The hint of self-deprecation ignites a protective spark. She bumps her shoulder against his reassuringly. "Hey, y'did what y'could. Don't think y'should be comparin' yourself to me, I was out there bein' reckless and mousebrained. Nearly got myself killed." She says it easily, with a shrug. She's never valued her own safety all that much - but the thought of Braveheart risking his life like that makes her stomach twist. Heroism, to Fallowbite, has always felt like little more than recklessness.

And then - he says one word that makes her heart leap into her throat.

Fallowbite stops. "You - what?" Her eye widens, fixing him with a disbelieving stare. I love you. He said it so easily, like it was obvious. "Y'don't mean that." It snorts, shaking its head. It's a childish idea of what love is, a lifetime spent following her around like some lost puppy. It's naive, it's blindly hopeful, it's so achingly Braveheart.

Love. Maybe it does come easily to him. It would, wouldn't it? He's always been so bright, like the glow of sunlight scorching her eye. He's always been good and kind, and she's always been anything but. Love feels like a foreign thing to it. Something reserved for its siblings in clumsy acts of kinship. Something reserved for other cats, better cats.

It's silent for a long moment, before its voice comes in a low rumble. "Love's a pretty strong word, Braveheart. I think y'need t'slow down a little." The words hurt to say, every one like a lancing of claws through its heart. Can't you see I don't deserve this? Can't you see I cannot give you the same?

‎‎┌── GOD KNOWS I❜M ONLY HUMAN ⁀➷ I GET SO INHUMANE ──┐‎

• 
  
• 
  
  

  "SPEECH"

• 
  FALLOWBITE ⁀➷ she / it, warrior of thunderclan, thirteen moons.
  ➳ a scarred, pointed brown and white molly with shaggy fur and golden eyes.
  ➳ standoffish and solitary, always seems to have a dark cloud hanging over its head.
  ➳ baying hound xx npc, littermate to antlerbreeze & doepath.
  ➳ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ➳ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[braveheart : ̗̀➛]

☀ . ° ✦ Her resistance doesn't feel the same as rejection. Even if she was trying to, it wouldn't smother the flame that had already been sparked so long ago. There were more ways Braveheart loved Fallowbite than another cat before. An amalgamation of all he's felt before; he loved her as a Clanmate first. A new denmate dropped in from the skies, a gift from the stars to him. He loved her as he might a sister, once, and again as one of his dearest friends.

He thought he felt love towards Thundergleam. While that rejection had left him more broken than brave the distance and return to their friendship had led him down another path. The love he felt for Fallowbite now was nothing compared to before yet all of it at once, too.

"I do!" Braveheart's insistence arrived on a laugh. Because how could she be so sure? How could she be the one to decide? "I've never lied to you, I really mean it. I love you, Fallowbite!" He repeated again as if to prove it to her.

But it's quiet, now. It's not the same kind of quiet he felt between him and Thundergleam as she etched her thoughts into words to let him down. It's comfortable, silence they've shared together countless times before. "You don't have to say it back." His voice lowered to her volume. "But I can't change it. I'll stay here, I can wait for you to catch up." A paw moved him a step closer, inviting her to do the same. "Deal?"

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  BRAVEHEART — HE/HIM ･ 13 MOONS ･ THUNDERCLAN & WARRIOR ･ PENNED BY beatae!

  A Longhaired chocolate tabby with a white locket and deep blue eyes. A large cat who stands tall and proud. His coat is thick with long wispy curls. Severe scars from owl talons stretch across his shoulders and another that starts from his back down his left thigh.

​

 

[FALLOWBITE]

ˏˋ*⁀➷　He greets her resistance with a laugh, as always. The stabbing pain in her heart twists deeper. The denial was half-hearted - almost hopeful, that she would not be saddled with a love she had done nothing to earn.

She stares at him, at once seeing him anew.

She wants to think it childish, because she has never imagined love to be unconditional. All those times spent trailing after her, love in a thousand acts of forgiveness. Love that snapping teeth could not tear through. This is what's always frightened her about Braveheart, this is why she's been so desperate to push him away. His love is the thing of fairy tales, so far from anything Fallowbite could ever believe in. "You..." The rumbling of her voice shakes, just a little. "Hah, you're really serious, aren't you...?" Of course he is. Braveheart has never been anything but honest, kind, loving.

She knows that she is anything but. And yet... Looking at him now, her heart aches to change that. She wants, in her desperate and thrashing way, as a fox gnawing off its own leg in a trap. She wants to be better, she wants to be the kind of cat who can love as Braveheart loves.

She is beginning to think that these twisting emotions that she has never known how to express - that they might be love too. She hopes that in time she can untangle them. Her love is a bitter and wanting thing, far harsher than what he deserves.

But they have time. He's willing to wait, and that is what finally breaks her.

She's so tired of pushing away the one cat who feels like home. "I - okay. Okay," she breathes, finally letting the shaking come through. It steps forward hesitantly, lets itself lean into Braveheart. Its head comes to rest on his shoulder, a tentative gesture of affection. It's a closeness more than she's allowed to anyone but family. This is as much she can give him, for now. "...Deal."

‎‎┌── GOD KNOWS I❜M ONLY HUMAN ⁀➷ I GET SO INHUMANE ──┐‎

• 
  
• 
  
  

  "SPEECH"

• 
  FALLOWBITE ⁀➷ she / it, warrior of thunderclan, fourteen moons.
  ➳ a scarred, pointed brown and white molly with shaggy fur and golden eyes.
  ➳ standoffish and solitary, always seems to have a dark cloud hanging over its head.
  ➳ baying hound xx npc, littermate to antlerbreeze & doepath.
  ➳ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ➳ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​