private HALLOWED GROUND [flamestar]

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Flamewhisker had left for the Moonstone, Gentlestorm at her side, but it had been Flamestar who'd returned. Raccoonstripe had seen the fire of the stars in her eyes, even as dawn mimicked the blaze of her ginger pelt. She had shared tongues with their warrior ancestors; she had felt their mercy, their power. Raccoonstripe feels uneasy when he goes to the den his mother had claimed for so many moons — even behind the stench Skyclaw and Redflower had left behind, her scent is there, comforting, reaching for him with beckoning paws.

He enters without asking; it's not something he would normally do, but he feels a tug in his paws, something guiding him. Flamestar sits in a newly-made nest, never used by Skyclaw, by Howlingstar, by Emberstar. It is her own. Something about that seizes his heart, but he cannot put a name to why.

"Flamestar." He dips his head. "I hope I'm not bothering you." The den feels empty. Flamestar had no living mate to share her nest with; her kits, too, are grown or nearly so. Loneliness lives here, he thinks. "I wanted..."

Raccoonstripe falters. He had supported Flamestar as she'd rallied the remainder of his mother's council; he had stood beside her as she'd challenged Skyclaw; he had bound from the shadows, swift as a hound, to lay judgment at Skyclaw's paws. The rain had soaked his fur, as had the blood — and at least in part, that justice had been administered for her.

But his paws are not clean.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry." He closes his eyes. "I have no one else I can say it to, now. Howlingstar is gone. Moonwhisper, Skyclaw... they're gone. But I want someone to hear it."

His claws extend, sink into the floor. "I'm at fault for this. At least partially. And I..." His voice trembles, though he remains upright, resolute, "I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it right."

Stars forgive me.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: @Flamestar
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 45 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
  — mentored by n/a ; mentoring Thistlepaw ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
  — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
  — currently mated to Nightbird.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.
  
  

​

 

[Flamestar]

〔✦〕When Raccoonstripe had entered, she had been surprised, but he was a welcomed visitor. It was strange, being the one that her clanmates came to see instead of going to Howlingstar. She had been resting, letting her wounds from the battle heal. Her bite wound on her ankle had healed quite some time ago, but where Skyclaw had tried to pull her down with him was healing slow. Had she not traveled to the moonstone and back, and then later on the gathering and back, it would probably have healed quicker...but she was as stubborn as a heavy rock. If anything, the absence of Howlingstar had only made her stubbornness worse. Now if that were a good thing, or a bad thing, that was up for debate.

The red tabby rose to her paws as she heard his voice, raising her tail in friendly greeting. But when she cast her gaze upon him, he did not wear the blazing cloak of confidence that he normally had. He begins to apologize, and she takes a step forward. "I have no one else I can say it to, now. Howlingstar is gone. Moonwhisper, Skyclaw... they're gone. But I want someone to hear it." His words ignite a pain in her that she had shoved down many moons ago. He had lost so much recently. She, like Raccoonstripe, had never met her father. A lone wanderer her mother had told her one evening when she had asked, but that was all she knew. Her mother had never brought him up, never told stories about him, like she had about Flycatcher. But when she lost her mother, it had felt like her entire world had been torn apart. She had been the one to teach her, the only one to love her before meeting her mate. Her mother had sacrificed herself so that she could escape the hungry jaws of vicious canines. She had found Thunderclan, and spent her first several moons in grief after joining. Raccoonstripe had had his mother in his life for far longer than she did. His mother had gotten to meet many grandkits, and even great grandkits. Her own mother's death felt like merely the passing of a mouse compared to the loss of Howlingstar.

If he would allow, she would pad forward and place her chin on his shoulder for a few moments before taking a step back. "You are not to blame for his actions." The tom had always been a more stern mentor, distrusting of kitty pets...but he was loyal through and through. "What Skyclaw did was on his own free will, not yours. "You have nothing to be sorry about." She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the fierce flash of protectiveness and pride that had flared through her from Howlingstar's life of motherly love before murmuring softly, "Howlingstar wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

even on my weakest days ( I get a little bit stronger ) //

• ooc.
  
• FLAMESTAR —— leader of thunderclan , mentoring merlinpaw . storm x lily . littermate to nala, smokey, and nemo ✦ penned by icey !
  ✦ afab / she/her / 38 moons & ages every 20ᵗʰ
  ✦ widowed / heterosexual / closed to romance
  ✦ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline & tag account when attacking
  —— difficult in battle
  ★★★★★★★★★
  
  ✦ “speech”, 'thoughts', all opinions are in character
  ✦ tags — msg on discord for plots — toyhouse
  
• 
  
  

  a longhaired red tabby with low white and green eyes. flamewhisker's fur is a vibrant hue of red, riddled with thick classic tabby markings. her fur is medium in length, and she has a large, feathery tail. her chest, belly, tail tip, and her paws are dipped white. flamewhisker's eyes are a dark, deep shade of green. her shoulder has a large scar on it from a fight with a dog. she also has a shredded ear from a disagreement with a loner during her time alone before joining thunderclan. on particularly cold days, or sometimes before a major weather change, she will walk with a slight limp from her shoulder injury.

​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

The ThunderClan leader rises to her paws as he enters, her tail lifted. Flamestar's green gaze seeks his dark one as he begins to speak to her — and there is sympathy there; there is understanding. The dark tabby shares a moment with his leader, a moment where grief stretches between them, raw and pulsing, red and visceral. He does not begrudge the ginger warrior for lying in this den, where his mother had made her nest for many moons; he does not begrudge her for wearing the mantle Howlingstar had died with, thorns around her crown.

There is new wisdom in those green eyes. Raccoonstripe starts when she approaches him, as though afraid the heat of her pelt will scorch him, but all she does is rest her chin on his shoulder for a few heartbeats before withdrawing. "You are not to blame for his actions." Raccoonstripe feels the tension in his shoulders begin to loosen, though he does not let them relax entirely.

"I know she wouldn't."" He smiles. It's tight and full of sadness. "You saw her, right? I know you can't talk about it, but..." Loss permeates his fur, ebbs like dark water in his belly. His mother, his littermates, older siblings, his former apprentice, the nephew who'd idolized him — they all seem to whisper from the lonely shadows of the leader's den. "She didn't seem... angry, right? Like she was..."

Raccoonstripe's breath catches in his throat. He swallows around the burr. "Disappointed?"

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 45 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
  — mentored by n/a ; mentoring Thistlepaw ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
  — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
  — currently mated to Nightbird.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.
  
  

​