private I FOUND A WAY TO GET LOST IN YOU — stormywing

A sleek figure slips through reeds and fronds of bracken, her tail lifted high and her blue eyes shining through the furtive darkness of night. Clutched in a white-dusted mouth is a jagged chunk of gravel, plucked carefully from the shallowest depths of the river that runs through her home. Iciclefang had enlisted the help of her Clanmates, all of whom had likely been a bit perplexed at her choice of prize—but to her, it’s perfect. It’s exactly what she’d been looking for. She’d seen numerous pretty, useless trinkets; stones without blemish, stones that shone a particular shade of blue or were rosy-tinted, almost pink; she’d seen bits of glass, bits of twoleg refuse that shone as brilliantly as any cast-away star.

But this is the one she has to give to Stormywing. This is the one she’d found, as if fated by StarClan themselves. It’s clunky in her mouth, and she is so distracted by the enormity of her task that she moves a bit clumsier, a bit louder than she otherwise would. Her ears swivel, listening to the churn of the river slapping against either side of ThunderClan and RiverClan’s territories. She hears pawsteps, and for a heartbeat she’s alarmed—but then there’s that familiar scent, musky and warm and flavored with the forest’s song, and her body relaxes.

Iciclefang moves like water toward the shore, trilling her greeting from behind the stone. Once Stormywing approaches her, she’ll proudly drop the prize between their paws, her smile small but confident. “Look,” she says, her purr explosive in her throat. She nudges the stone closer to her chosen mate’s big white paws, her tail twitching behind her with excitement. “Isn’t it perfect? Look at the top of it!

A slim, delicate white-tipped foot taps the surface of the stone, revealing a tiny mark etched into the top that looks like a crooked “X”. She eagerly eyes Stormywing, watching her expression. This is momentous in RiverClan, after all—this is official, now. Iciclefang is now openly asking Stormywing to be her mate.

[ @STORMYWING ]


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She'd hardly been able to contain her excitement. Tonight is the night she gets to see her lover again, and it's the same song and dance she has performed before as she slips by the night-guard, complaining of insomnia. She can't sleep, of course, but it's not because of nightmares or cold weather. It's anticipation, the same anticipation that has her legs working faster as she bounds to the river.

When she arrives, she slows to a stop in the frozen sand, golden eyes lighting up when she spots the patched fur that slips from the reeds. Her gaze is squinted with a smile, a purr so loud that it's deafening as she strolls forward. As always, she is mesmerized at how Iciclefang cuts through the water as if it's nothing more than ferns on a walk through the forest. "Hi," She trills excitedly, moving in for a nose-touch but instead is interrupted at the soft thunk of an object landing between them.

She pauses and looks down at it, round eyes blinking curiously. It's a stone, one that the tortoiseshell describes as perfect. It just looks like any old rock to her, but maybe she's missing something. She leans down, peering closer at the top where she finds some scratches. An X. "Heh, it's like my scar," She comments with a lopsided grin before pushing herself back up. Her gaze flicks in slight confusion from the rock to Iciclefang, head cocked slightly. She's looking back at her expectantly, as if she's waiting for a specific response. "Um-" She hesitates, unsure of what she wants her to say. "That's a cool rock, Icy - I mean, wow!" She tries to feign excitement, but she really doesn't know what's so special about a rock of all things.
I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎
 
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Iciclefang’s enthusiasm begins to curdle—if only slightly—as Stormywing peruses the stone. She correctly observes that she’d chosen the stone to match the “X” scar shorn across her chest, but confusion gathers like dusk in the tabby’s golden eyes as she waits for further commentary. “Cool rock?” Iciclefang echoes, her brow furrowing slightly. “It’s—it’s a mating stone, Stormywing.” Could the other she-cat really be that dense? Or…

After a moment, the tortoiseshell’s brow smooths, and she gives a high-pitched, crackling laugh. “Stars, you don’t do that in ThunderClan, do you? For a moment I feared you were minnow-brained!” She goes to twine her tail with her lover’s, her purr rumbling with amusement now. “In RiverClan, cats search for a gift to give their mate to make it official,” she explains. “Normally, it’s a special stone that reminds you of them. Collecting isn’t really my thing, but I found this one and knew…” She moves her white-splashed muzzle to press against her mate’s. “I wanted you to have it.

After a moment, she pulls away, starlight twinkling in her blue eyes. “So what's new in ThunderClan? You look thin," she murmurs, her mew tight with concern.



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A mating stone? Stormywing's expression is blank as she stares back at the tortoiseshell, eyes round with confusion. What the heck is a mating stone? Whatever it is, it sounds...romantic? Serious? Like, something she should really know about and is now sitting right in front of her and oh stars she's embarrassing herself. Her mouth forms a tight smile, unsure and nervous, before Iciclefang realizes she has no idea what is going on. She gives her a small shake of her head, a quick but light, "Nope," on her lips, and she feels relieved. It's a clan thing! She thought she was minnow- er, mouse-brained, too!

Her tail is taken in a tight twine, which of course brings her purr right back, but her eyes remain on the other she-cat as she explains. In RiverClan, cats search for a gift to give their mate to make it official. Her eyes involuntarily stretch wide. Iciclefang is making it 'official?' To be my mate? Her mouth is dry as her mate touches her muzzle to her own, her ears burning. "Heh...R-really? Wow, that's...that's great! We're mates." She purrs, unable to find the words to express how special she feels, how honored. Iciclefang is my mate!

"Oh, gosh, do I have to give you something now?" She pulls away suddenly, wide eyes searching the area around them in something akin to a panic. "How about a, uh, mating leaf?" An oak leaf, dry and brittle and absolutely dead, is plucked up in her teeth and offered with an anxious grin. It only takes her a heartbeat to know just how stupid that is. "I'll find you something better next time, I promise," She whispers with a sheepish laugh.

Iciclefang then asks about her thinness and Stormywing tries to puff out her chest, shrugging off any concern. She doesn't want Iciclefang to be worried, after all. "Oh, you know, prey is always scarce in leaf-bare. Nothing I can't handle. But how about you? Is fishing okay, you know...when the water's so cold?"
I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎
 
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Her gift is better received with the explanation, to Iciclefang's amusement. Stormywing's eyes electrify, bright with warmth at the term mates. "Never imagined you'd have a fishbreathed mate, did you?" She purrs, the sound rusty and stuttering in her throat. She can hardly believe it herself—she'd not allowed herself the possibility, first after Ashpaw's separation and again after her return from the journey. The term mate, in her head, had been reserved for cats like her parents. Mudpelt and Icesparkle, Cicadastar and Smokestar, before their previous leader's untimely death; Willowroot and her bad-tempered lover, Poppysplash.

She cannot revel in her newfound romance in the comfort of her camp—nor can her Clanmates even know of her new status. The thought stings, just a little, like ice-cold water being flicked onto her fur, but she basks in the closeness of her beloved anyway. Blue eyes narrow with curiosity as stormywing pulls away, scrounging along the ground for an erratic gift. She finds a dry leaf, big as her face and fragile to the touch, brown and long-dead, and offers it. "A mating leaf," Iciclefang echoes, amusement thick in her mew. She touches it solemnly, gingerly, with a white paw. "I'll guard it with my life."

Stormywing, with her characteristic ThunderClan pride, puffs out her chest and lets Iciclefang's concerns roll away from her fur like beads of river water. The tortoiseshell huffs playfully. "The fish don't leave the water when it's cold, like the birds leave the trees," she explains. "Fishing is harder when it's cold, though. At least the river hasn't frozen this season. Last leafbare, we were forced from our camp because it flooded." She frowns at the memory. "And there's something else, too. Smokestar allowed some loners to join us sometime before we got back from the journey." Her ears twitch, anger flooding her mew and edging it with iron. "Two of them attacked him and Lichentail and fled." She shakes her head, wondering just how much she can share of her Clan's secrets with her mate, and then decides not to trouble her further.

After a heartbeat, she says, "RiverClan is fine, though... nothing we can't handle." She echoes Stormywing's words.

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