private FOR THE LONGEST TIME —— orangestar

[SLATESNARL]

It is not uncommon for Slate to be slumbering away like a badger nowadays. Despite his temporary nest being uncomfortable and small, he actually found himself getting the best rest he's had in seasons. Then again, it could just be the poppy seeds...

However, the former lead warrior was not asleep now — he had just woken up a short while ago, with Dawnglare and Fireflyglow having stepped out of the den for varying reasons such as herb gathering and sharing tongues in camp. Eyelids heavy, his amber stare cast out of the den's mouth, tracking the distant movement of his clanmates. Stars, what Slate would give just to be able to walk to the riverside again and hear the water coursing through the bend. He was quite tired of having to hear constant camp chatter and smell a concoction of herb scent.

Suddenly, his sight is graced by the ethereal beauty of the queen of the pines herself. The athletic cream and ginger she-cat ducks into the medicine den, filling Slate's gaze, with a flood of elation surging in his chest. It's curious, just how much happiness the mere appearance of a single cat could invoke within the stony and guarded male. Perhaps the Maine Coon's separation from her was only making him yearn more intensely. It's stronger than it's ever been, especially now that he knew that she felt the same way.

"Hi," The injured tom cat cannot help the purr that trills from his lips, though it is low and crackling ( he does not tend to purr much ). Based on the fact that none of the healers were present, Slate gathered that the molly was here to visit him. He knew that she was occupied with leaderly matters, including mentoring two apprentices, so for her to take any time out of her schedule to sit and talk was special indeed. "I've..." Slate trails off momentarily, tongue tying into a knot as he uncharacteristically ponders the words to say. Words of vulnerability and affection do not come easily to the Maine Coon, after all. Such a sweet sentiment is foreign on his barbed tongue, though after hesitating for a moment, he manages to communicate, "I've missed you."

It was the truth. After a few beats, he wonders to himself, Have you missed me, too? Somehow, Slate still finds it hard to believe that another cat outside of his kin could care for him in such a manner. He didn't know what it was like to be missed; Slate knew that he was an asset to SkyClan, but in his absence, he doubted that the general populace would miss his attitude and spiky demeanor.

𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 ✹ .　 + 　˚ 　　 · 　 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

• @Orangestar

• 

• 

  a warrior ( formerly lead warrior ) of skyclan, slate is forty-two moons. he is mated to orangestar. he is a hulking longhaired maine coon with black fur and prominent reddish rusting on his chest and belly. scars litter his form but are prominently present on his face. ✦

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[Orangestar]

Orangestar almost hopes that Slate is asleep when she peers into the medicine den. She can't remember the last time she's felt this way, so unsure of herself that it makes her teeth ache, as if she were a vapid mockery of her usual sturdy self. StarClan ... how had she missed it? Her fragility was obvious, in hindsight, but Orangestar had just thought she was too busy to process things properly.

She has to tell him sometime. If cats were already starting to notice (again, how had it been Edenberry?), it was only a matter of time before Orangestar began to show more obvious signs of carrying kits, or another Clanmate mentioned it first.

Alas, Slate's bleary gaze drifts to meet her, and Orangestar's whiskers twitch.

"Hey." She bumps her head against his, gentle, a rare show of affection that she feels secure in due to their relative privacy. I've missed you too, she doesn't say, though Orangestar hopes that it would show: in the gifts of soaked moss and prey left at his side for him to wake up to, and more importantly in her lingering presence now.

She glances him over, finally meeting amber eyes with an earthen stare of her own. "You've been asleep when I come past a lot of the time. How are you feeling?"
// mobile
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[SLATESNARL]

A foreign yet unexpectedly welcomed warmth invaded his thick chest as his mate physically greeted him. Slate's elevated spirits soon descended back down to reality, though, as he was forced to confront his current state. "I can hardly move." The former lead warrior reluctantly admits, a glimpse of shame worn upon rugged features. It's not easy for him to come to grips with the fact that he cannot be of use to his clan for the time being... and for whoever knows how much longer. "It's not like dealin' with scratches or bites. It makes my whole leg hurt." I don't know how long I'm gonna be stuck in here, he wants to say, but ultimately decides against it. He'd rather not put another worry on Orangestar's shoulders.

Speaking of which, Slate is curious to catch up with the leader ( and take the attention off of himself ). He's been too out of it to retain any knowledge of recent happenings, so he inquires, "What about you?" The question lingers for a moment, consideration creeping on the tip of his tongue before he adds more hesitantly this time, "Have you had any more dreams?" The former lead warrior still cannot bring himself to understand nor believe in the mystic ways of StarClan, their cryptic messages. Orangestar's connection with the ancestors is something that the tom would never grasp, not fully anyway. Although the Maine Coon reserved doubts about StarClan, he supposes he cannot say for sure whether Orangestar's visions are substantial or merely just dreams woven by her subconscious.

𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 ✹ .　 + 　˚ 　　 · 　 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

• 

• 

  a warrior ( formerly lead warrior ) of skyclan, slate is forty-two moons. he is mated to orangestar. he is a hulking longhaired maine coon with black fur and prominent reddish rusting on his chest and belly. scars litter his form but are prominently present on his face. ✦

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[Orangestar]

Slate's complaints earn a frown from Orangestar, heavy brow drawing over softened eyes as he describes his injuries with the most lucidity she's seen from him since he'd first awoken. She can't imagine not being able to move. It's one thing to be stuck in one place with a bite or a claw, but to have something so deeply wrong that you aren't able to stand up is a sickening thought. Independent of his thoughts, Orangestar reaches a similar conclusion: how long would it take him to leave the den?

What about you? He asks, and Orangestar forces her ears to remain pointed forward. What about her? Her nose wrinkles against the wave of bitterness, the familiar helplessness that rises in response to the question, but she quells it with a grind of her teeth. Hopefully he's too tired to notice her hesitation. She doesn't know if she could handle concern from him, too.

"No." She sounds a touch breathless as she answers his second query instead. Thankfully. "But I do need to tell you something."

Orangestar takes a seat by Slate. She had been spared this confrontation with her first litter, Ashenclaw securely in the claws of the twoleg traps by the time she had discovered her pregnancy. Her eyes dart back and forth over nothing in particular, searching for a place to affix her gaze that isn't going to attack her for speaking the truth. Slate would never do so, she knows this logically, but Orangestar can't help but feel on edge with the knowledge that Slate had disappeared the first time after realising his own affections.

A wry and sickened amusement brushes past her mind, reactive to the memory: he couldn't run from this knowledge while he was stuck in the medicine den. Orangestar dismisses the thought immediately, surprised by the vindictiveness of it, though the impression where it had been makes her feel better.

Her tone is a touch lighter, though still retains its usual stern rasp when she decides to just come out with it: "I'm pregnant."

ooc ✧ 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦

•  
• 
  
  [ art by pin ]
• ORANGESTAR ✧ she/her, leader of skyclan | seven lives
  
  
  — "a scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes."
  — (undisclosed) mate to slate ; mentoring ashpaw
  — speech is in #D2977D
  — tags | penned by mercibun, contact on discord for plots.
  
  
  
  

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[SLATESNARL]

Mangled ears prick attentively, amber eyes trained onto the ginger-splashed she-cat shifts her position, disclaiming that she had something to share with him beforehand. He can determine that this news must possess something of importance judging by the closing gap in proximity between the two as well as the uncertainty that begins to haunt Ora's expression. Perhaps this had something to do with her council — did she perhaps want to reinstate him as a lead warrior? It is wishful thinking, but Slate had been hoping that Orangestar would change her mind eventually. It was not as if he would serve SkyClan less than he had been, but holding a rank meant that he would be in a better position to support and help her make decisions.

"I'm pregnant." The words that leave the leader's lips sentence Slate to a state of shock.

"You- ow!" He had jolted from his reclined position uncontrollably, causing his bad hip to jerk. Slate clenches his jaw tightly, cringing as a sharp bolt of lightning shoots up his spine and makes his fur bristle. "You're... pregnant?" He nearly gasps as he recovers from the pain.

Slate's jaws part, his canines drawing apart from each other, an utterly flabbergasted countenance contorting his sharpened features. Faux brows knitted together, heart charging like a wild stallion, the Maine Coon stammers, "I... I wasn't... I didn't mean..." Reality threatens to slip through his paws, his head spinning at the speed of light. Stars above. Orangestar was with kits—his kits—with SkyClan dealing with rogues and with leafbare on the horizon. How could he have been so careless?

The burly tom takes a moment to gather his thoughts, trying to suppress his panic, before he inquires to his mate, "Are you sure? You've asked Dawnglare?" Of course, Slate would not think to consider that Orangestar had experienced pregnancy before and knew better. He did not consider that Orangestar was smart enough to consult with the medicine cat first before breaking such serious news to her partner. Slate was simply in disbelief.

A cocktail of shock and anxiety flood orangeish hues, vulnerability unraveling the seams of his stony exterior. Kits. Slate had never envisioned himself becoming a parent. Hell, he never would have anticipated himself taking a mate. Now, both had happened. "What do we... I mean, what do we do?" He asks, as if there's anything that could be done. This was all happening too quickly; the warrior had barely spent any time with Orangestar since they'd confessed their feelings for one another and now they were going to have a family?

𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 ✹ .　 + 　˚ 　　 · 　 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

• 

• 

  a warrior ( formerly lead warrior ) of skyclan, slate is forty-two moons. he is mated to orangestar. he is a hulking longhaired maine coon with black fur and prominent reddish rusting on his chest and belly. scars litter his form but are prominently present on his face. ✦

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