DEATH IN BLOOM \ visiting a grave

[MALLOWLARK]

In his maw were clasped a bunch of blood-red flowers tossed with dusk-purple heather. As Mallow trotted across the territory, blackened paws hitting the ground with glass-smashing intent, a discordant hum struggled past his mouthful of stems. His song was tuneless and barely identifiable even as idle singing, but to Mallow there was hardly a difference. Flower-stalks bled bitter onto his tongue, pierced by his smile; but they were offerings to something lost, they needed not be pristine.

He had been intending on making a beeline- but his bouquet was lacklustre, and that realisation struck him as a path of yellow-petalled blooms snagged his periphery. One side-quest, and then onward he would go- the grave was not far from here anyways, only ten or so tail-lengths. Gently, gently, he set his pre-gathered flowers to the ground and began to wrench some of the yellow ones from the pale grass- they could have been buttercups, or tansy, or... ah, he'd never been good at botany. Perhaps he'd ask his mother when he next saw her. ​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

Mallow was weird. Sootstar didn't like him.
Something was just... incredibly wrong with him. Everything from his smile, the way he held himself, and his mannerisms. She might not like much about the new family in WindClan, but the white and black tom? It's he who she especially doubts.

"You plan on plucking them all from the ground?" She snorts dryly as she passes by, why would this tom be collecting flowers? If it was for some cat he had his eyes on he best just forget about it... ​

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[EMBER]

Ember does not appreciate how her nephew is treated amongst some of their new clanmates. The stares, the whispers, the disgust. He is different, but that is what makes him Mallow. The world would be boring if every cat were the same. She appreciates every quirk of his, she encourages him to be weird because there is beauty in the abnormal. And she will not tolerate any negativity shown to him.

Her fur bristles when she overhears Sootstar comment dryly on Mallow's flower-picking. In the blink of an eye, the flame point is beside her nephew, glaring at the WindClan leader. She doesn't know what he is picking flowers for, but she'll be damned if she lets Sootstar discourage him in any manner. "And if he does? What, you needin' 'em for something, princess?"​

 

[MALLOWLARK]

Set upon his task, Mallow had not registered the footfalls of Sootstar as she strode toward him, nose upturned at his activity. He did little to read into her body language; in fact, the dryness of her demeanour struck him as humour, and he understood not why his aunt's tone was so sharp as she sprung to defence. "It's ok! She can have some, if she wants." He was not delicate in the way that he offered them- he twisted his neck to the side and hurled a couple of the flowers so that they rode the wind toward Sootstar's face.

They would not reach the velocity of a flung mouse-corpse, not with their feeble frame... but the intention was there, even if they did not reach her!

"Anyways, I don't need that many. Just enough to finishhhh... ah!" Spotting the place in which his bouquet lay, he laced the yellow blooms with the sanguine and ianthine, his satisfied grin reading no different than his default. "This! It's for an old friend- buried just over there..." Giggles tagged the end of his sentence, as always. He'd learned to be optimistic about loss.

A night-gloved paw motioned to a spot with a small, sharp branch sticking out, as well as a pile of flowers bleached and withered by the beating sun. As he began to skip over, a half-tail beckoned them to the resting place, should they want to accompany him. ​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

On second thought, maybe she disliked Ember the least.
Eyes that burned with annoyance glared at the flame point, did she have no manners? Princess? "It was purely a simple question... If you want to address me with a title next time it's miss or ma'am. Princess will get the tips of your ears ripped off." A threat that Sootstar wasn't sure she'd follow through with... not yet anyways.

And when she turns her head back around? She's treated with a faceful of flowers delivered by the wind. Her blue head shakes and she spats a couple out of her mouth, ...StarClan help me...

A friend? Buried? Huh, she should've guessed.
"Who was it?" Sootstar asks, trailing behind. In all honesty, she didn't care... just a faux attempt at courtesy. ​

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[MALLOWLARK]

He caught not onto Sootstar's indifference- in fact, he was thrilled the leader had come this far! Unaware of her issues with his aunt's chosen nickname- princess was something Mallow would not mind being called (and he hardly fathomed that the smoky molly had a different outlook on life)- the tom simply flashed the leader another 'winning' smile, wraithlike in its complete emptiness.

Screeching to an unceremonious halt, he craned his neck down to place his bouquet right on top of the dead flowers from weeks ago. He frequented this spot often- it was an important grave, after all, and he was still acclimating to the loss. "The half of my tail that got ripped off!" he exclaimed, gaze snapping to meet Sootstar's. Then, clockwork-quick, his attention settled then upon the grave. "I tell you this every time- but I miss you! My balance is getting better. I've almost re-mastered stalking." Patting the ground, his smile truly reached his eyes for a moment, curving them slightly with the movement.

"Do any of you guys wanna say any words?" ​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

The half of my tail that got ripped off!
What? Sootstar's mind completely shuts off in bewilderment, it takes her several seconds to process just what this tom said. His... tail?!

Blue paws find themselves at the grave before she has a chance to turn around and not entertain this. Jaw agape, she doesn't know what to do but stand there in utter shock.

"Your.... tail...?!" At last she breathes, eyes wide in complete and utter judgment. This tom was even more insane than she had thought! Who does this?! Who buries their own body part, gives it flowers, talks to it? Was his whole entire family like this?! Did they hide it better?! "...I don't think your tail gives a hare's rear what we say to it." It's never even lived to begin with! ​

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