pafp GOT TOO MANY MEMORIES - catching up

Since he had been back there had been very few things on Mouseflight's mind. He was tired from the journey, he was worried about WindClan as a whole - he could see they looked worse-off from when he had left, and could only imagine the time they had within ThunderClan and ShadowClan's territory - and he wanted to catch up with Cottonpaw. He had been gone for weeks, time enough for her to go through two of her own gatherings with the medicine cats and medicine cat apprentices of the other clans, not to mention one gathering with everyone else, and he wanted to know what he had missed, wanted to talk about the journey and share with her the different things he had experienced - the good ones at least.

He had sought her out, choosing to sit beside her and help out with whatever task she was doing to the best of his ability, whether it was just moving plants around, giving her whatever food he could find, or simply sitting there for some company so that she wasn't bored out of her mind - the tunneler knew he would be if he was in her paws. He would have liked to go back out into the territory as they had done before he had originally left, but with tensions still too high and everyone on alert in case the rogues came back he had decided it was best to stay in camp. "I wish you could have come, when we were on top of the mountain heading back there was a giant river of water-" Paws outstretched as he spoke as if to show how big it was, "I'm glad we weren't close enough to touch it, but it was so big it looked like the sun was drowning in it, no one could see the other side if there was one." He was trying his best to go in order of the events that had happened, but he left out the topics that would bring the mood down. No one needed to know he'd felt like he'd die within those caves or that too many cats had almost fallen off that cliff - himself included.

  • please wait for @cottonpaw and @SNAKEHISS to post!
  • tikki_com.png
    mousekit - mousepaw - mouseflight
    ⋆ ftm - he/him - 12 moons
    ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
    ⋆ tunneler of windclan
    attack - speech - thought
    ⋆ penned by tikki
 
Cottonpaw likes having many of her friends home again. Many of them had stayed behind whilst their Clans were ravaged by illness and rogues, but almost as many scoured mountains for herbs that seemed mythical in nature. The journeyer's return brought hope once again, and watching as her sister and aunt grow healthy again brings her happiness... if only the overhead stress hadn't been so great.

Mouseflight found her parsing bark from stem from leaf and so on - menial tasks to keep her busy until Wolfsong needs her elsewhere. Upon his request to help, she only directs him to pull bark from plant. It seems the easiest to her, as inept as she believes herself to be. She listens to his stories with intense attention, often forgetting her own task at hand. The sun seemed to drown whilst they were away, he says.

"I wish I could've gone - that sounds beautiful," she purrs her own amazement, pressing her shoulder to his briefly as she does. She doesn't pick up on Mouseflight's missing details, living in the bliss that is ignorance. She leans away from him, continuing the conversation, "I never thought that I would be hearing you talk so highly of the open air, though, Mouseflight. The mountains have changed you," it's a jest accompanied by a smile, but she does follow up with, "What's it like, coming home after all of that?"
 
Things should feel normal in WindClan again. The journeying party is back alive and well, the lungwort has cured the sick, and the rogues have been driven far from the moors. And yet, with Sootstar's escalating condemnation of StarClan, Snakehiss is certain that more trouble for the clan is on the rise. It's only a matter of when, as long as Sootstar still lives, and that is what makes Snakehiss anxious.

For now, Snakehiss simply focuses on the elements of his life that he can control. A bitterness sours upon the moor runner's tongue as he spots Cottonpaw sitting way too close to Mouseflight, even cozying up to him for a moment. His claws dig into the ground, the thought of all of his efforts over the past few moons going to waste now that the other warrior was back from the trek. Cottonpaw was the type of cat to act friendly ( perhaps too friendly ) with her clanmates, so it was up to Snakehiss to ensure that his own relationship with the medicine cat apprentice was not overlooked by anyone else.

So, the lanky dark tom struts in the direction of the two, purposefully ( and especially rudely ) butting into the active conversation, "Cottonpaw, join me, will you? The sunset is stunning today and I would like us to watch it. I know just the place to go." A dazzling smirk dawns upon his features, an inviting gleam forced to surface upon his viridian gaze. "A beautiful sunset and a beautiful she-cat go together just right, don't you think?" Snakehiss purrs, stepping forth and waving his tail so that the tip of it brushes against the blue smoke's cheek.

A pointed stare is sent toward the tunneler next, his jaws parting to sneer, "Besides, I think we've all heard enough stories about those mountains, hm?" Snakehiss has never had much of a glaring issue with Mouseflight, aside from the occasional exchange of taunts and smart comments, but he was not keen on allowing the torbie to usurp him from his position as Cottonpaw's favorite.

  • gJTx1fs.png
    SNAKEHISS
    —— he/him; moor runner of windclan
    —— bisexual; single; not looking
    —— long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and a notable bite mark on his right foreleg
    —— "speech", thoughts, attack
    —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
    —— penned by beatles
 
It makes sense that WindClan didn't exist in limbo while they were away, but it feels like Sedge missed out on a million different things that he can't really keep track of. Rogues and ShadowClan and evacuations and heresy. Perhaps easiest to notice is Weasleclaw's death by Yellowcough, if only because of the surly tom's absence around camp. He's kept an eye out for Cottonpaw for the few days they've all been back, just in case...but she seems okay, all things considered.

He finds her now in the throes of conversation with Mouseflight and Snakehiss. Cottonpaw's always been something of the WindClan capybara, capable of befriending even the most polarizing of cats. And though his fondness for Mouseflight has grown since their journey, he cannot say the same for Snakeblink.

It's an ugly expression which contorts across Sedgepounce's face. Hidden from Cottonpaw while her attention is turned to the smarmy tom, he halts just on the threshold of their conversation, rolling his eyes at the over-indulgent tone spilling from Snakehiss' maw. He obviously thinks he's smooth, but the worst part is that Cottonpaw thinks so too.

Whatever. He's not about to burst her bubble, even though that whole beautiful she-cat line was just about the corniest thing Sedge has ever heard in his life. He sits quiet and waits for the lovebirds to go wander off together.​
 



The journey. It was such a strange thing in Halfkits mind. Before she had been born, there were cats who had left. Left to go and find a cure that, for her mother and many others, had come too late. Her own father had been on the journey and desperately Halfkit wants to ask Mouseflight about it, about him. But Sootstar had told her to forget about Smogmaw and she does not think that Sootstar would like it if she started asking after him. Still, the journey is something that interests her immensely and, as Mouseflight speaks, she finds herself nearby, leaning in to listen without being too obvious but failing.

Finally she gives up pretending that she isn't interested in the conversation and her blue and white paws bring her closer to the small group. Cottonpaw is a nice cat, a cat who she likes. She doesn't really want her to leave but she says nothing on the matter, her focus is entirely on Mouseflight. "That sounds scary! Were you scared? I wouldn't be scared I don't think. I'm super brave and I'm not afraid of anything and plus that sounds super cool. Maybe one day when I grow up I'll go on a super cool journey too!" wouldn't that be cool? Though she supposes that she technically already was on a journey of sorts.

 
If she's too physically affectionate, no one's yet told her off for it. Her actions are not careful or calculated, but flippant - she cares deeply for her friends and expresses so easily and without thought. Cottonpaw is not, however, lacking awareness. At least, not with Snakehiss. It seems that every time she grows closer to a cat - leans against them, laughs with them - he appears, frustrated, with soft, loving words for her. He calls her pretty, and asks her to do things with him! And - sure, it's annoying that it always happens when she's hanging out with friends, and that he always pulls her away, but... but it seems like he likes her! And she likes the attention, admittedly. And surely she likes him too - he's kind (to her) and funny (sometimes,) and fairly handsome (if you can call a long legged rabbit handsome,) so... so, she's okay with it.

Yeah.

Speak of the devil - Snakehiss joins them, only to proposition her and ask her to watch the sunset with him. For a moment, she fumbles. Her warm smile sours and becomes a pout - but his own grin works quick to nix it from her expression. Again, he calls her pretty, comparitive to the sun's set. She wonders, briefly, how lovely it would be to watch it drown from the mountaintops, like Mouseflight had. Sedgewhisker - she realizes, as the tom approaches in silence - too. (But she can't ask, not so quickly, not so bluntly. She wants to, as seeing the world beyond their moors is just interesting enough to her ever curious mind to coax her into overindulgence. But she can't.)

"Snakehiss, can't we -" she tempts, a step forward just as his tail tufts her muzzle. Her smile becomes girlish, a short laugh escaping her maw before she continues, "I mean... the sun, it's a bit before it sets, right? How far are you taking me?" Maybe she can convince him to sit with her and her friends, even for sparing seconds. It's Lark-kit's appearance that (hopefully) shifts the tides, furthering her hopes that the tom will agree with her. She motions a paw to the supposedly orphaned kit, "Lark-kit just got here. Surely we have time for one more tale, don't we?" She doesn't notice how her voice cracks with hope. She doesn't want to be brought away from her friends again. Snakehiss means a lot to her, surely, and his time and attention is precious, but -

She grits her teeth, pulling away from the group only to press her cheek to his, "If we must leave soon, however, you'll owe me a hare." Cottonpaw gives in, perhaps too easily. The cards are on the table to stay, to indulge and laugh and enjoy company outside of the two of them. But all the same she leaves the black furred tom in charge of their night, willingly, with a blissed smile on her face.​