private EVEN WOLVES BLEED LIKE SHEEP ☾✩ raccoonstripe

[nightbird]

the boars were a thought gone from her mind. passed right through, not a care for the lives they took or the injuries they gave. it was a massive relief they did not extend their vacancy, thunderclan could move back to their daily life until the next threat arose. for nightbird, that meant making sure that lightpaw had everything in order to become a warrior in one moon. that apprentice seemed to often have one goal- to be a thorn in her paw. he had come a long way, even passed his assessment only a few days prior. a relief that had unfortunately left her aching, a well rested pain in her leg awoken with a vengeance in need of fulfilling.

ignore it as she tried, the lead warrior was cursing the apprentice's name with every step. slowed down in all areas, it was a last resort that she sought out berryheart for some form of relief. it was rather late as she moved jaggedly across camp to the fern tunnel entrance, pushing through quietly she searched for the mottled pelt of the medicine cat or his protegee. empty, it was. where they were off to at this time was unbeknownst to her. perhaps the bodies that occupied the den would have an idea, if they weren't down for the night already.

a frustrated sigh and she was turning to leave with a plan to return alongside the sun. in her whirl, however, someone stirred. a quick glance would prove that a certain tabby was not asleep as she would have hoped. raccoonstripe looked weak nestled in, herbs covered the leg that was drenched in blood not long ago. a final farewell from the beasts, avoidable in it's entirety. it was reckless to wander off alone, endangered the whole patrol. such insanity was inexplicable, but she hadn't perceived him as a stupid feline before. perhaps she had been wrong, or the death of his brother had truly driven him into an unrecognizable state.

for nearly too long she stared at the well dressed injury, a dim fire lit in her silver gaze. "know where they went?" nonchalant, distant as she questioned him. a feathered tail twitched as she would finally shift her eyes away from raccoonstripe's injured leg and to his face, awaiting a response.

// @RACCOONSTRIPE ​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

He’s going stir-crazy. Raccoonstripe loves his brother, and Lichenpaw isn’t so bad, but the smell of herbs drives him half-mad. He’s watched his niece rise to his rank, which is bittersweet—and his mother is slowly getting back on her paws, tending to her duties as he wishes he could. His wound had not been severe as hers, but StarClan has not taken the sting from the gash in his hindleg; only endlessly-applied poultices drying into an itching paste to draw infection out and keep his flesh together.

The tabby lifts his head from the moss-and-bracken prison he’s contained in, half-lidded dark eyes widening as a recognizable ebony shape burrows her way into the den. Glinting pale eyes meet his gaze, and as usual, they are unreadable and cool as a lake frozen over in leafbare. Raccoonstripe squirms under her stare, but his smile is genuine. “Berryheart took LIchenpaw out somewhere. I think they’re out of something.” He shrugs. As much as he enjoys his brother’s company, medicine cat talk is all but drivel to his ears. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. Who has you all beat up?” The lead warrior’s tail wraps around his body, and he sinks back into the nest with a sigh. A short reprieve from duties would be one thing, but he feels his muscles becoming weaker with disuse… and Moonpaw’s ceremony is approaching.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — raccoon . raccoonstripe
  — he/him ; lead warrior of thunderclan
  — heteroflexible ; single
  — long-haired black tabby with white and dark brown eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

​

 

[nightbird]

out of something, fetching it now was surely a good thing for the next injured soul to enter, the sentiment did little but fix her face with a miffed expression. a small frustrated sigh passed her lips as nightbird began to turn over her shoulder to leave. the motion was abandoned when raccoonstripe spoke again.

a brow raised at his comment, indignant huff quick to follow. "you're one to talk." for a moment, she reconsidered leaving. there was no reason to stay when it the ones who could help were gone at the moment. yet, making the journey back to her nest wasn't entirely alluring either. she settled on a short break before heading on her way. pointed ears twitched as she shifted her weight off of her hind leg in search of a more comfortable position. it provided little relief, eventually she gave up and sat down. "lightpaw had his assessment, guess i underestimated how badly he wants me out of his fur." badly enough to specifically target an annoying weakness, apparently. nightbird still wasn't sure whether to praise or reprove him for it.

it still rang true that it did not even compare to the tabby's injury. mangled, bloody. it would not have surprised her if the loss of crimson caused the same fate as his mother and brother. nightbird couldn't ignore the notion that it was all avoidable. she had seen that for herself when they had escaped the boars with no bloodshed. it was a puzzle that even after hours of searching, she could not find the perfect piece. any longer to fester, it would drive the lead warrior crazy.

when she finally spoke again, her words were curious and direct, but not malicious. "what were you thinking?" she never was good at beating around the bush.​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

The ginger way she supports her hind leg causes Raccoonstripe to fixate on it. “StarClan, you aren’t kidding.” His smile is wicked, full of pointed fangs. “I can’t say I share his sentiments. I’ve been dying to get you alone again, after our date in the tree hollow.” He can feel the judgment waving away from her slight body, the smoky-silver of her eyes, and he knows she is either going to ignore him or show him the rough side of her tongue.

Amusing himself further, he wonders, Is there a non-rough side? She settles disgruntledly into one of the nests Berryheart has sitting about for patients. Raccoonstripe waits a few heartbeats to see if she is going to say anything else to him. This is the first time he’s seen his co-lead warrior since Howlingstar’s horrific death. He has assumed she is not happy with him, the way many of his Clanmates are not.

After a moment, Nightbird speaks, her tone flat but ringed with curiosity. “What were you thinking?” Quick, blunt. The tabby’s smile fades, but it’s not at her tone—truthfully, he’s both used to her taciturn nature and relieved that she is speaking to him at all.

“I wasn’t, clearly,” he says, giving his bandaged hind leg a rueful look. Pain flares in his eyes—behind dark, shadowy irises, he sees his mother gored by tusks as Graystorm must have been. He sees blood bubble from the corners of her mouth, he sees the glow leave her green eyes soulless and empty. “I was lost in my thoughts,” he murmurs, lifting a haunted dark gaze back to Nightbird. “I’ve had… I’ve dealt with that off and on, since the Great Battle.” His ears flatten, but only momentarily. “And they’d gotten better, after awhile, but then… Graystorm…”

His claws extend, beginning to aimlessly shred the moss under his body. “Yes, you don’t have to tell me. My foolishness cost Howlingstar her life. My…” He licks his lips; his mouth is dry, but he can taste an iron-y bubble of blood begin to rise at the back of his throat. “My issue caused my mother to die and put my Clan in danger.”

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — raccoon . raccoonstripe
  — he/him ; lead warrior of thunderclan
  — heteroflexible ; single
  — long-haired black tabby with white and dark brown eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

​

 

[nightbird]

wolfishly, raccoonstripe locks onto an injured leg, delivers words that have the molly wishing her ears deceived her. a date, it's laughable considering the true circumstances. rolling her eyes, nightbird responds with a click of her tongue, too tired or otherwise displaced to play along.

his former expression is soon diminished by her questioning, something not entirely unexpected. he wasn't, it did not come as a shock to hear. at the edge of her throat a concurring hum sits, swallowed as he casts a glance towards his bandaged leg. tail sweeping across her paws, nightbird listens well. she hadn't been around to see the moments leading up to the great battle, nor the events themselves. however, its warpath appeared to leave many cats daunted. not even raccoonstripe was immune, the dimly lit den couldn't shadow his tormented gaze.

ears twitch at the sound of ripping moss that fills the background behind his speech. "i wasn't going to." there is a bite to her statement that she did not attempt to subdue. perhaps it was a selfish question of her to ask in the first place. only inquired to assure that the display of reckless behavior was a fluke to soothe her own mind. she couldn't offer honey-dipped comfort, it would only be barbaric to push further at his expense.

"nothing can be done now, but it's unnecessarily cruel to torture yourself by holding onto that blame." there was a soft hint of a sigh as her eyes narrowed slightly. she could not lie, he wasn't wrong. however, those actions could only live now through regret. what an awful thing to give power to.

under the cover of a feathered tail, mismatched paws shuffled as she felt herself grow silent once more. there was surely someone better equipped to handle such a topic. "i shouldn't have asked, it wasn't my place to pry. it's selfish of me to disturb you so late and i'm sorry." her apology was uttered earnestly, yet her ears burned from the embarrassment of having to say one at all. however, it felt right, even as her gaze averted from the admittance of her mistake.


​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Nigtbird does not say much regarding his admission about the Great Battle. Raccoonstripe remembers she’d joined a loner, born under the name night but with no affiliations to Briarstar or Rain. She’d known hardship, but she had not known the camaraderie that had bonded them as they fought claw and fang for unclaimed territory. “I forget we weren’t all in the colonies at some point,” he murmurs. “Where did you come from?” He knows astonishingly little about the dark lead warrior—and now, the two of them battered and exhausted and alone in the medicine cat’s den seems as good a place to pry as any.

Her response is biting, but Raccoonstripe is not antagonized. The tabby flicks an ear. “I wasn’t going to.” Some of the frustration ebbs at his heart like a slow tide sucking at sand and pebbles. She wasn’t going to, no—because she does not care for him beyond a Clanmate. He does not know if that bothers him or impresses him. Perhaps it’s a combination of both. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to guilt trip you.” The lost, unfocused quality of his gaze fixates on her, regaining clarity—regaining presence. “And no, you’re right. There’s no point in dwelling on the past logically… but…”

Raccoonstripe thinks again of the tortoiseshell’s blood in his mouth, Lakemoon’s mate’s flesh in his claws. “It’s my weakness, admittedly.” His expression loses its flintlike quality, melts into some semblance of warmth. “Really, don’t apologize. If you had put yourself in front of danger like that I’d be here to scold you too. Especially if you ruined that pretty face.” He is more than a little astonished that Nightbird has deigned to apologize to him—he doesn’t think he’s ever heard her sound the way she does now.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — raccoon . raccoonstripe
  — he/him ; lead warrior of thunderclan
  — heteroflexible ; single
  — long-haired black tabby with white and dark brown eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

​

 

[nightbird]

where did she come from? it was a simple question, would evoke a simple answer. yet, her ears twitched with restraint. it would be unfair to withhold such frivolous information when he had shared so freely, but her jaw felt heavy as she spoke.

"not far, maybe a day's walk along the thunderpath." it had taken her much longer to make the journey, following vague direction and prey trails alone. focused, she assumed it would take not so long. "a forest, lot like thunderclan's. i lived there with my family." black lips curled slightly as if the word was wrung with bile. nightbird barely considered them as such, but for simplicities sake the word would do.

she hardly had thought of them since joining thunderclan in it's youth. their wellbeing, present lives, none of it was relevant to her anymore, would never be again. unlike raccoonstripe, she couldn't dwell, it was a weakness as he stated. glaring, blinding. but perhaps it was easier for her, anything that she may have been haunted by was far in the past. nightbird wasn't forced to see faces that induced pain nearly ever, it made repressing them effortless.

"it's good to know you'll keep me in check," she returned sardonically, mouth curling into a wry grin. "though, i can't promise that no harm will come to my face. i fear that if we meet riverclan in battle they'll be aiming for my tongue." she couldn't blame them if they did, she had begun to enjoy watching them crack under the weight of their pride. and when the fish-eaters were so easy to rile, the temptation was just too much for her to dismiss.

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
  
  

• 

• NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, twenty-three moons
  ⭃ nightbird is a small black smoke molly with pale silver eyes. a loner turned thunderclanner, her loyalty and drive to provide for her clan is unwavering. however, she is not known for harboring a bleeding heart, instead equipped with sarcastically fueled wit, brutal honesty, and a sharply edged tongue.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Nightbird’s expression is stony as she tells him a terribly abbreviated version of her history. There’s nothing warming her tone when she says family, and there’s a curl to one side of her lip, as though the word has tasted bitter on her tongue. He notices it, and his own interest is piqued. “Do you miss them?” He’s never heard Nightbird mention her kin at all, and he now wonders if there’s some insidious reason for that. His own heritage is nothing to be ashamed of—for the most part. His father had been a marsh colonist with a loyal heart, his mother now a Clan leader blessed by StarClan. His siblings fight by his side or dedicate their paws to healing or rearing kits. His bloodline is strong, and until Little Wolf had dabbled in kittypet things, it had been pure.

Raccoonstripe is prying, and he knows that. He is prepared for her to react poorly to the digging; even the sharpest parts of her tongue can be shrugged off. He doesn’t know why, but her jabs do not get beneath his fur the way some of the other disrespectful mollies’ in the Clans have. Nightbird backs up every bit of her snark with loyalty and bravery—and in truth, she’s one of the few cats in the Clan he holds genuine respect for.

“What a shame that would be, for you to lose that silver tongue,” he says, grinning widely to match her dry smirk. “I would let you have mine, but I’m afraid SkyClan might snatch it out of my mouth before I can offer it to you.” His ears twitch. He’d pissed more than one of their lead warriors off, and every time his SkyClan niece or nephew show their face at the border he can’t help but remind them of what they’d given up.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — raccoon . raccoonstripe
  — he/him ; lead warrior of thunderclan
  — heteroflexible ; single
  — long-haired black tabby with white and dark brown eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

​

 

[nightbird]

perhaps her willingness to share a lick of her past was starting to bite her in the tail. it wasn't as if the events leashed her to some stake of sworn secrecy and no harm would come from sharing, yet she remained reluctant. it felt redundant discuss cats that would never be present nor relevant again, but raccoonstripe had asked and she would oblige.

"no." there wasn't a trace of hesitance in her tone, as if it was a decision made moons ago. "they weren't cats worth missing." not like his honorable lineage, if they were she would have had no reason to abandon them. her care was placed thoughtfully onto deserving individuals, there would never be enough space in the molly's heart for the unworthy.

nevertheless, her jaw ticked as she grew quiet. eyes narrowing a touch to warn the lead warrior off from further prying. nightbird had no problems facing the truth, answering what he wanted to know. but the sun hadn't touched thunderclan's forest for a long time now. she grew tired, a feeling that aching pain wasn't doing much to help. he could find some other time to meddle to his heart's content.

"a heart touching sentiment." she sighed in a tone mocking thoughtfulness. "it sounds like our popularity could use some help," nightbird jokes, tail arching over her back as she moved to stretch. the stiffness in her muscles was intent on settling in now, sitting in a cramped den was not helpful in the slightest. "i'll stop bothering you so you can get your rest," a yawn interrupts her sentence, paws already beginning to shift towards the entrance. "you won't have to miss me too much though, i'll be back in the morning. maybe if i'm feeling kind i'll grab a mouse on the way."

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
  
  

• 

• NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, twenty-four moons
  ⭃ nightbird is a small black smoke molly with pale silver eyes. a loner turned thunderclanner, her loyalty and drive to provide for her clan is unwavering. however, she is not known for harboring a bleeding heart, instead equipped with sarcastically fueled wit, brutal honesty, and a sharply edged tongue.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​