private I WILL PROTECT YOU დ CRAGPAW

[iciclefang]

Perhaps Cragpaw had seen the distrustful glance she can't help but toss toward Splashpaw. The freckled gray tom's question is earnest, quiet: "Why?" Iciclefang thinks of Splashpaw's kin, of a mother who had let her daughter leave the Clan without raising hell, of a father who had never known his kits but who sacrificed his own place in RiverClan to have them, of the littermates Splashpaw had left behind, irrevocably, and her teeth bare in the slightest glimmer.

"Splashpaw is half-Clan," she tells her son. Iciclefang lifts her gaze; they are relatively alone in their isolated corner of camp. She knows Lichenstar would claw her ears for revealing this badly-kept secret, but Iciclefang sees no point in omitting it for her kits. All of RiverClan should know, should see Pikesplash's mistake, should see Lichenstar's for thieving a ShadowClan apprentice and bringing her into an enemy Clan.

She straightens her spine. "Splashpaw comes from ShadowClan. That's where her kin still lives." The tortoiseshell sniffs, remembering her talk with the earnest, blue-eyed apprentice. I still do not hate you. I just wish you had never left your true home. Even having her in RiverClan makes her pelt creep, makes her feel as though other secrets could be exposed to the bone at any moment.

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

• ooc: @CRAGPAW
• 
• Iciclekit . Iciclepaw . Iciclefang, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 26 moons old, ages realistically on the 17th.
  — mentored by Smokestar ; mentoring Pinepaw ; previously mentored Cicadaflight
  — riverclan lead warrior. mudpelt x icesparkle, gen 2.
  — former mate to Stormywing ; current mate to no one.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh tortoiseshell and white she-cat with ice-blue eyes. confident, capable, proud, dry, conceited, condescending, distrustful.

​

 

[CRAGPAW]

He's heard rumors here and there, fluttered gossip between teeth and tongues in the apprentice's den. Behind on the news with only recently becoming an apprentice, he isn't sure what to think of any of it. It's true, he had no idea where Splashpaw had come from that night, and it's always been noticeable to him how Iciclefang treated the subject. So today, when he noticed the glare she casts at the older apprentice, he couldn't help but finally ask her about it. He wants to know everything, after all.

Cragpaw's eyes widen slightly as his mother answers him, absorbing her words with a mix of confusion and contemplation. He shifts his paws as he tries to process the revelation. "Half-Clan?" He echoes, the term feeling foreign on his tongue. His mismatched gaze drifts toward the direction of Splashpaw across camp, his thoughts racing. He soaks in every bit of the bitterness his mother exudes, his own voice filling with scorn as he utters, "So that's why she's so…different." The young tom scowls, his claws digging into the ground. "Why would Lichenstar let a cat from ShadowClan into RiverClan? It doesn't seem right. We don't need another clan's blood here." She might try to blend in, but she'll always be half-ShadowClan, and that means she's not truly one of them.

Cragpaw looks at Iciclefang again, a mix of frustration and determination in his eyes. With resolve, he decides that if she's from ShadowClan, then they should be careful. They can't just ignore that! Why is everyone else?

​

 

[iciclefang]

Cragpaw echoes the word with haunting disgust: "Half-Clan," he says, a question ringing on the tail-end. Iciclefang nods, giving nothing away. "So that's why she's so... different." "She has RiverClan blood, too," she says, though there's little empathy in the tortoiseshell warrior's voice. She knows that is what Lichenstar would say — had said — that her blood is what makes her belong.

Iciclefang's jaw knots. She knows there is sense in that logic, but she refutes it with every strand of fur on her body. ThunderClan blood or not, her kits will never belong anywhere but the Clan they were born in, raised in. "But imagine if you were Splashpaw. Would you want to go to another Clan after moons of living here, when your siblings are here? Your mother?" She twines her tail around her paws, waiting.

It is a test, but Cragpaw can never know it. He was born from my body. He was raised by my careful paw. He is being trained by Ferngill, led by Lichenstar and Hazecloud. He is as RiverClan as any of the kits in this Clan. She sniffs. She is as certain of it as the air she breathes.

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

• ooc: sorry this is so late adfgsdfgsfg if you don't want it to continue i'm cool with that
• 
• Iciclekit . Iciclepaw . Iciclefang, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 28 moons old, ages realistically on the 17th.
  — mentored by Smokestar ; mentoring Pinepaw ; previously mentored Cicadaflight
  — riverclan lead warrior. mudpelt x icesparkle, gen 2.
  — former mate to Stormywing ; current mate to no one.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh tortoiseshell and white she-cat with ice-blue eyes. confident, capable, proud, dry, conceited, condescending, distrustful.

​

 

[CRAGPAW]

// NO WORRIES I'm happy to continue <3

Cragpaw's tail flicks as he listens to his mother, her words swirling in his mind. He isn't sure how to feel about Splashpaw's mixed heritage - it leaves an odd taste in his mouth, but Iciclefang's question catches him off guard.

What if I were Splashpaw?

For a moment, he pauses, ears twitching as he considers the thought. Would he want to leave everything he's known behind, even if part of him didn't fully belong? His brow furrows as he imagines himself in his denmate's place, surrounded by clanmates who will fully accept him, and yet, still having family here. "I don't know," He admits, voice quieter than before. He glances over at Splashpaw again, this time with less of the scorn he'd felt earlier and more...curiosity. "I guess...if I were her, I'd want to stay with my family. It'd be hard to leave them. Leave RiverClan.

His frustration still lingers beneath his pelt. She doesn't belong here...does she? His gaze returns to Iciclefang, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Just because she's got kin here doesn't mean she's really one of us. It's like…half of her is still somewhere else, in ShadowClan." He shakes his head, claws flexing against the ground. "I don't think I could trust someone like that."

The young tom's determination hardens again. Even if Splashpaw has RiverClan blood, she'll never be like him - fully RiverClan, heart and soul.
​

 

[iciclefang]

Cragpaw appears to be caught off guard by her question; it leaves Iciclefang, momentarily, breathless. After a few heartbeats, her son tells her, "I don't know." Mismatched eyes flee toward Splashpaw's freckled face; he appears to study her now. "I guess... if I were her, I'd want to stay with my family. It'd be hard to leave them. Leave RiverClan." Iciclefang exhales, hard, through her nostrils. The tortoiseshell had not known what exactly to expect from Cragpaw — if he'd known he'd had true kin in another Clan, would his answer have been different?

She catches the way his mismatched eyes narrow. He tells her just because Splashpaw has kin in RiverClan does not mean she belongs, that half of her is still somewhere else. "I don't think I could trust someone like that." Iciclefang licks her lips; she feels as though she is treading on ice.

"Perhaps." She lowers her muzzle to Cragpaw's head, resting it there, snow-smeared, briefly. She feels the softness of his fur, the tempered movements of his ears, the heart beating at his core. "But the reason I think she cannot be trusted is because she left the Clan of her birth for a Clan who has never known her. A cat like that cannot truly be loyal." She draws away, her expression serious. Blue eyes glimmer with hidden feeling. "Don't you agree?"

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

• ooc: —
• 
• Iciclekit . Iciclepaw . Iciclefang, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 28 moons old, ages realistically on the 17th.
  — mentored by Smokestar ; mentoring Pinepaw ; previously mentored Cicadaflight
  — riverclan lead warrior. mudpelt x icesparkle, gen 2.
  — former mate to Stormywing ; current mate to no one.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh tortoiseshell and white she-cat with ice-blue eyes. confident, capable, proud, dry, conceited, condescending, distrustful.

​

 

[CRAGPAW]

Cragpaw tenses as Iciclefang lowers her muzzle to his head, her deliberate words fluttering in his ears. He closes his eyes for a moment, letting the warmth of her touch seep in, even as her voice fuel the fire of his own doubts. Loyalty. It's the most important thing to him - something he's always taken for granted in his clanmates. To even think of betraying RiverClan feels like an impossible notion to him, a breach of everything he stands for.

As she pulls away, Cragpaw's eyes snap open, meeting her gaze with a newfound intensity. "I do," He says firmly, his voice quiet but resolute. "Loyalty isn't something you can split in two. If Splashpaw was willing to leave her clan once, who's to say she wouldn't do it again?" His claws flex, sinking into the soft soil beneath him. "She may be here now, but she doesn't belong here. Not like the rest of us do." He glances toward the camp, watching Splashpaw from afar. They can't afford to trust someone who could turn on them. His gaze returns to Iciclefang, his tail lashing once behind him as he speaks with certainty. "We need warriors who are loyal to RiverClan, no matter what. If she's got even a single thought of ShadowClan in her mind, that's dangerous for all of us."
​