DAYBREAK |☀| moonwhisper

[LIGHTSTRIKE .]

❝ WE HAVE YET TO CRASH ✧°.☀ —————————————————————————————
Lightstrike. Lightstrike. Lightstrike. It had probably been repeated through his head at least a hundred times in the past few minutes. Lightstrike. That was his name now. The name he had been working for from the moment he had been born. Earned.

The meeting had ended not very long ago, himself standing and soaking in the cheers with elation swelling in his chest. Cats walked over, congratulated him personally, bumped and jostled him. He was laughing. He was happy. He was proud.

Then, one by one, the crowd began to disperse, leaving the new warriors to settle themselves, himself included. Lightstrike found himself standing, not far from the spot he had received his name and looking around. He could see Sparkwing, Mousenose, and Freckleflame still talking to their parents, and he frowned but left them to it. That left him looking at Moonwhisper.

They were warriors now. No longer bound by permission of their mentors, no longer bound by chores or training at stupid hours of the morning or night. The golden tom bounded over to her, nearly skidding to a halt and practically shoving his head into her shoulder. "Hey hey," he said hastily, practically herding her toward the camp entrance. "We can go out on our own now! Come on! You don't have a choice!" He gave her another firm bump before running ahead a few paces like an excited kit.

Lightstrike paused, looking back. "The others seem busy, so it's just you and me, Moonwhisper. They can catch up if they want, but let's go!" Moonwhisper. The new name felt strange on his tongue. It felt good. They'd earned this.

Only once she'd shown that she would actually follow did the warrior run out into the forest, escaping the chatter of camp and letting out a whooping cheer. "We're warriors! ThunderClan warriors!" he called to the canopy above.

[penned by its_oliverr - ☀]

——————————— ☀.°✧ BUT WE STILL MAY AS WELL ENJOY IT ❞ ​

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[Moonwhisper]

She debates going to see her mother after the ceremonies are done and the meeting is dismissed, staring at the other three as their parents congratulate them and wondering of a time when that might have been possible for her as well; a world where Blazestar chose family over duty and joined ThunderClan to be with them, she wonders briefly what his name might have been were he not to carry the burden of the stars but she pushes it from her thoughts. He had no right being even a passing memory in this moment that was hers and hers alone; she would bask in it and enjoy it for what it was worth though solitude was not to be. Lightpa-Lightstrike nearly knocks her over as he barrles to her side in greeting, her paws steady and her expression twisting to quiet contemplation to one of surprise, "What-", she is being nudged and it was only by virtue of being fond of the other that he did not get his ears cuffed for his forwardness. "Go out?"
It occurred to her then that she need not wait for permission to leave camp any longer, never again would she require a warrior to attend her when she was capable on her own though safety in numbers was never a poor thing - she no longer had to plead with Raccoonstripe to do anything that he might not otherwise care for her to do. Moonwhisper is instantly delighted by the realization, feels a thrill of excitement almost kit-like send her heart racing and she breaks into her own sprint to follow along after the cream striped tom out into the territory with only a brief glance backward to their new peers. Lightstrike's boisterous declaration to the woods themselves earns a laugh, light at first and then more louder as she dashed along just after him. Warriors. Finally, at long last. Distracted as he was to shout his excitement she quickens her pace to finally race alongside before turning to give a sharp shove into the shoulder in a playful attempt to trip him up, as she skid to a stop, "Lightstrike...its a good name."
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[LIGHTSTRIKE .]

❝ WE HAVE YET TO CRASH ✧°.☀ —————————————————————————————
Lightstrike could see the infectious energy reaching her at last when he looked back, grinning ever wider at her burst of speed to catch up as he pranced around the area ahead of her. She's laughing. He's laughing. He feels good.

Only for Moonwhisper to catch up and maliciously tip to the side and send him off balance, the brute of a tom that was Lightstrike promptly tripping over his own paws and nearly tumbling right into the dirt. An affronted noise rose in the back of his throat at that, but he managed to keep himself upright. It did, however, bring him to a halt, his attention on her when she spoke before he could.

For a brief moment his nose crinkled at her, if only out of offense for his forced ungraceful display. Even so, there was no ill-will in his gaze, and the look melted into something friendlier at the compliment. He bounced once on his paws.

"I know, right? Lightstrike," he said, testing it out for the umpteenth time. "It's so cool. Moonwhisper's not bad, yourself! I had no clue what she was gonna give you, honestly, but that definitely wasn't what I expected."

For a moment it seemed as though he would run off again, muscles bunching, but he instead hopped back a few steps, whirling to face her with an elated grin. "Can you believe it? No more moss duty. No more tick duty. No more nagging. No more nothing, ever." He laughed. "We're warriors! The big guys! We're the ones bossing around the apprentices now!"

[penned by its_oliverr - ☀]

——————————— ☀.°✧ BUT WE STILL MAY AS WELL ENJOY IT ❞ ​

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[Moonwhisper]

A smile, devilish and curled winds around her maw as he stumbles and just barely catches himself before his nose hits the dirt, "Ah, perhaps she ought to have called you Lightfoot - an excellent recovery."
Moonwhisper wonders what she might have done, what they might have done, if the names were silly or didn't fit at all. Not that she didn't trust Howlingstar to be reasonable but imagine if she had ended up with something a little more fiesty like Lightstrikes. Moonstrike or Moonclaw.
Moonwhisper was...well, it certainly was unexpected wasn't it? She can not help but feel somewhat awkward about the name. Graceful, quiet, it spoke of many of her traits yet none of the tenacity she had developed, none of her actual skill, none of her appearance - just a reference to her voice and perhaps also in a subtle way her grandmother attempting to calm the fires of her heart with a more docile title. She thinks of Moonblaze again, feels the irritation ignite inside her once more but Lightstrike's joyous bouncing about stalls the storm; she does not want to get angry right now, she wants to enjoy this. Bask in it.
"No more constantly being woken up at the crack of dawn to train, no more being bullied into kitsitting queens so Raccoonstripe can flirt with them-ugh...he's horrible, I truly hope he and Nightbird pair up so I no longer have to see him making a fool of himself to every she-cat in the clan."
Her mentor and Nightbird, a match made in heaven or hell in this matter really, "They're perfect for eachother."
They were both equally terrible.
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[LIGHTSTRIKE .]

❝ WE HAVE YET TO CRASH ✧°.☀ —————————————————————————————
"No way. Lightfoot sounds stupid in comparison. I don't run. Not a runner. Leave that to the rabbit chasers." He just didn't much like getting his fur full of dirt and whatever else, so of course he wouldn't want to fall over. It was a nuisance to clean. Nightbird left him with plenty of that to figure out after the assessment as it was.

Lightstrike as a name... well, he hadn't actually considered it as an option, actually, even on the nights where he turned over dozens of options in his mind. Lightclaw, maybe, or Light-thorn, but at the end of it all, he was content with his name. He was happy.

On some level, maybe, it felt like Howlingstar acknowledged how far he'd come, a badge he could now wear. Named for his battle prowess. He wasn't a sniveling kit anymore. He didn't need to be saved, didn't need to drag down others with him. He was strong, a warrior worth representing ThunderClan and defending its honor, his Clanmates.

Unintentionally, his gaze had grown distant, then, and Moonwhisper's slightly too-tight voice drew him out of his thoughts. Lightstrike barked a laugh. "No more being woken up at the crack of dawn," he echoed in a lower voice, as if it had amused him.

She went on to speculate about their mentors finally getting together once and for all, and his nose wrinkled slightly. "I dunno, it seems weird to think about all that stuff. Yeesh." Like watching their parents kiss, or something. Weirdly gross. Then he abruptly snickered. "Stars, could you imagine a bunch of mini Nightbirds and Raccoonstripes running around? I don't know if that would be funny or scary. Scary for Nightbird, probably. I think she would rather die than have kits."

At some point the tom had sat down, but now he was on his paws again, head swiveling to gaze out into the forest as he paced a few steps. "We should go somewhere," he abruptly suggested. We can go wherever we want. The golden tom thought to himself, then looked to Moonwhisper instead. "Any favorite spots?"

[penned by its_oliverr - ☀]

——————————— ☀.°✧ BUT WE STILL MAY AS WELL ENJOY IT ❞ ​

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