private DRIVE THROUGH THE NIGHT // fernpaw

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

// @FERNPAW

She still finds it difficult to sleep in such unfamiliar places. And where they sleep tonight, there are no trees to hunker down in, curled up in the branches and off the cold ground. No, the lot of them are laid up on slabs of moss they were able to find, sheltered by an overhang in the mountainside. She is uncomfortable, evident in the constant shifting and turning before she finally gives up on getting any sleep at all.

With a huff, she throws her head onto her paws in frustration and scans the darkness with bored golden eyes. Her group-mates all sleep soundly around her, their bodies huddled together as they gently rise and fall with each breath. Her eyes latch onto twitching ears, a lifting head. It's Fernpaw, she quickly realizes, his scarred eye giving him away in the moonlight. Bored out of her mind, she doesn't see the harm in hissing out a soft, "Psst! Can't sleep either?"

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[FERNGILL]

Fernpaw's inability to sleep had nothing to do with their surroundings, really. He missed his nest, piled high with trinkets, of course- he missed the soothing rush of the river, lulling you to sleep as you heard water slip between stones. But in truth, the real reason he could not sleep was because he was scared.

New stubbornness to an anger he'd never felt kept him separate from the familiarity of Iciclefang, someone he might have bothered otherwise. And he hated that he felt scared- that wasn't who Fernpaw was, was it? Fernpaw was brave to a fault- had his eye carved out by a fox in a desperate, pathetic bid to prove his worth. Fernpaw never turned down a fight, even if he knew he probably wouldn't win it.

But he couldn't shake the image of cave walls collapsing, of the world constricting around his already-narrowed view. Stormywing's voice startled him, and he twisted his head around to meet her sunny eyes. Bemused, he could only look at her blankly for a few moments, answering her question purely in his silence. "Um, no," he admitted, immediately regretting the shake in his voice.

Clearing his throat, he let a smile return to his face. "I meant to say... thanks, for looking out for Iciclefang." He kept his voice hushed, figuring now was as good a time as any. Even if he couldn't stand to be near his sister right now, he didn't want her to suffer. ​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

No, he says, and she shuffles closer eagerly. If she can't sleep, she may as well chatter with someone her age. Any rivalry he may feel towards her ever since the Sunningrocks battle is lost on her. That was moons ago, she was a child then and some territory dispute means nothing all the way out here. "Me neither," She whispers loudly, finally arriving much closer to the ginger tom. She settles onto her belly, wrapping her striped tail firmly around herself to keep warm.

A bit of surprise crosses her face when he thanks her; she supposes she shouldn't be too shocked, though. They are clanmates, after all. "Oh, are you two friends?" She asks curiously, maybe a little too curiously. Any mention of the tortoiseshell lately has her perked up like an apprentice seeing the Great Sycamore for the first time. "It's nothing...she's not as bad as I thought, you know. Never thought I'd say that about a RiverClanner though," She tacks on as a joke, the jest evident in her grinning tone.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎

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[FERNGILL]

For a moment or so, Fernpaw wondered why it was Stormywing couldn't get to sleep too. Maybe it was just mundane insomnia, just... restlessness twitching beneath his muscles. Pinning him at Sunningrocks was forgotten, then, as he finally thought of her as someone who experienced the same tumult as he. And if almighty Iciclefang seemed not to despise her company...

Though he was tired, he let his face soften to something more welcoming past the exhaustion as she shuffled closer to him. Are you two friends, she asked, and for a second Fernpaw thought she was joking- he was still a little bit unused to this situation, in which every cat around him did not know him as the disappointment of RiverClan's first litter. "She's my sister," he answered her, a little bit of humour seeping into his tone. He didn't say whether they were friends or not- Fernpaw in honesty wasn't sure if they were friends right now.

It was odd to joke about the separation between their Clans, but the lack of aggression in her expression relaxed him to an equal level. "Well, I never thought she'd grace a Thunderclanner with her presence," Fernpaw laughed, managing to keep any bitterness out of his tone. He supposed Stormywing had proved herself to Iciclefang in a way he had not yet been able to manage. "S'pose you couldn't avoid each other in those tunnels."​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

She doesn't know what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't that. Her jaw hangs slack for just a moment in surprise, brows lifting. "Your sister?" She repeats, subconsciously sending a quick glance in the sleeping tortoiseshell's direction. She supposes she can see the resemblance. Despite his runty size and how sickly he once looked, they both now bear the same shining, sleek pelts and bright eyes. Her ginger patches match his fiery pelt. Neither are too hard on the eyes, if she could ever say such a thing about a tom.

His joke earns a snicker out of her. "Yeah, I guess borders were the last things on our minds when we're, y'know, faced with the possibility of imminent death." Her eyes are bright despite her darker joke, though they seem to glimmer with something else. Borders are sort of hard to remember out here. Harder than she would have ever thought.

She shakes herself from her thoughts and fixes the red tom with a smirk. "Hey, that was a pretty cool thing you did in that river." It is unclear whether she is talking about him initiating the solution that got everyone across or his rescue of the kittypet. She means all of it.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[FERNGILL]

Her surprise settled in his heart oddly- had it not been obvious? Though... he supposed Stormywing didn't seem the type to get too invested in why everyone was here, how each cat from each Clan knew each other. They had that in common- he wasn't too bothered with the specifics, either. "She tells enough people," he said, a statement that could have sounded boastful or judgemental if not for the obvious hollowness of Fernpaw's tone. When they'd been sticking together at the beginning of the journey, he'd always been introduced on his own behalf as my brother, Fernpaw. Looking back, maybe if he'd been more vigilant about the intent behind it he could have gotten insulted over that, too- that she didn't even trust him to introduce himself properly. It counted for something that she'd stopped, he supposed.

Her joke, the darker depths into which it delved, earned a very half-hearted laugh from Fernpaw. Imminent death was very apt. Though, in those tunnels he hadn't really been facing it- he'd been trying to get everyone else to look forward, to have hope for a new dawn. There'd been no-one doing the same for him. A grateful breath left him, a silver of a sound, as she swiftly moved on- talk of rivers, of swimming, served to brighten his gaze.

Crinkling with his smile, his unharmed eye glimmered with genuine pride. "Thank you," he said earnestly, his voice dipping a little too much into emotion. Clearing his throat, he re-steadied his tone. There was an effort to very slightly deepen his voice when he continued. It helped with the stability. "I love swimming, you know. But that doesn't stand out much in RiverClan." Another joke. He didn't want to boast that he was naturally good at it, that it was merely second nature, because it would involve him having to divulge he was quite lacklustre at everything else. Suddenly he felt as if he should get the attention off of himself. "How much practice have you had at climbing, though? You looked confident on that cliff." His interest was genuine, and as obvious as every other emotion he felt.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Stormywing's gaze rests on him again as he speaks, telling her of his love for swimming. He's right, he sounds no different than any other RiverClanner, but it's nice he enjoys it so much. She shivers at the thought of enjoying such a thing. ThunderClanners don't go near water, and she can only imagine how uncomfortable the feeling of cool water on her skin would feel.

She pricks her ears when he brings up her climbing and naturally it brings a smile to her face. "My mentor was an incredible climber. He made sure I was most comfortable in the trees and now I am!" She licks down her chest fur proudly. She likes that her talent had been noticed, it fuels her already large ego but she is never satiated. She up any praise she can receive and when she shoots a glance back at him her eyes are lit up. "A little different climbing rocks, though," She can't help but admit.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[FERNGILL]

Unlike the skill he bore, Stormywing's was actually remarkable for the Clan she lived in. Thunderclanners weren't known at all for their climbing, though in hindsight he supposed it actually made a fair bit of sense. The weak, willowy trees of the wetlands would not a good climber make- while the sturdy oaks of ThunderClan's domain would support a cat's weight much easier. She spoke proudly of her mentor, attributing her success to him- it was the sort of thing Iciclefang often did with Smokethroat, a shred of modesty that made such heights seem a little more achievable to someone as unremarkable as him.

A little different than climbing rocks, though, Stormywing offered, and Fernpaw laughed a little. "I can imagine!" Fire-hued paws flexed a little, remembering the strain that had incinerated all the way across his body when he'd been hauling himself up that cliff. "I was so achey afterwards, I thought it'd never end... is it always like that when you're learning?" As ever, Fernpaw couldn't conceal his thoughts very well- they shone on the surface like sunlight glimmering on ripples. He was earnest, agleam with genuine interest.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

He flexes his paws and she pulls out her own from beneath her chest to examine them. They are calloused and sore from the climb and for a moment she wonders how the SkyClanners had managed such a feat without dealing with the same pain as the rest of them. When he asks her another question her attention is quickly back on him, ears pricking as her half-smile grows across her face. "At first," She confirms with a quick chirp. "Your muscles get used to it after a while. My paws, though...they weren't used to that."

Her gaze travels towards the sleeping forms around them, seeking out the yellow fur of Figfeather. "I hate to say it, but I wouldn't have made that climb so easily if it weren't for that SkyClanner," She admits to him, whispering again. At least this one didn't have a collar, so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[FERNGILL]

His eyes widened with a reeling sigh- even her paws had struggled in the face of a cliffside's roughness, well-versed in climbing as she was. It was some kind of miracle that they'd managed to get up it. No- not a miracle, actually. It was the Skyclanners, like Stormywing had said. Realisation settled in his gaze, and he looked past her for a few moments- at Figfeather, too. That Skyclanner was a strong one, wasn't she? And as far as he was aware she was forest-born, just like him. But Bobbie and Chalk had managed it too, bearing their loner-kittypet names. They were all strong, he realised. "They're not as pampered as I thought, you know. The kittypet-ones, I mean," Fernpaw admitted, voice very low. He didn't mean to insult, but... he'd always thought they had to be strange, soft and endearing in some way to Twolegs, to be able to live among them. Really, they weren't awfully different... beside from the fact they couldn't swim.

A bright eye tipped toward the silver-specked sky. "It's a bit like StarClan knew they had to send everyone, isn't it?" And he did wonder how they'd known- how all of this prophetic poetry worked. When you died was there some... odd, innate wisdom set upon you? ​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Stromywing lets her eyes drop momentarily, mulling over his words. She doesn't like them very much. No collar-wearing cat should get the same acknowledgment as a true wild cat. She firmly believes that. She'd lost her collar long ago and she is better for it, her loyalty to the forest secured. "Kittypets don't belong here with us," She asserts lowly, ears pulling backwards. Didn't they understand they'd have to do just as Stormywing did? Work hard to erase their past, not wear it proudly on their neck? Her eyes drift to Bobbie and she scowls before she looks back at her paws.

"But...the other SkyClanners got nerve. I can see that." She chews on her lip for a moment thoughtfully. Fernpaw is right. It's like everyone needed to come. The river, the cave, the cliff...she couldn't have made it here without a RiverClanner, a ShadowClanner, and a SkyClanner. "Every clan had to come for this to work," She murmurs in realization, looking back at the red tom with her eyes lit up.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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