if I touch a burning candle - gill

[Lilacbird]

the air was surprisingly still, the cold that settled upon the land a bit tolerable. as long as winds didn't start out of the blue, she could deal with it. she hoped gillsight would be able to as well. ice fishing was hard, and required a lot more patience. they were fortunate for their fur, she wouldn't know what use she would be if they didn't have that.

"I hope it d-doesn't get completely frozen again. we need everything we can g-get."

the last leafbare was intolerable- it was even harder to feed those who needed it. shed consistently find herself not eating for days to make sure others who needed it more would get it. some would take it for themselves, but she never could find herself to do that. she was too sacrificial, and she'd rather others who did more for the clan get it.

lilacbird would approach the riverbank cautiously, noting a silhouette further away from the shore. hopefully this wouldn't scare the fish too bad. with an inhale, she'd lean back on her hind legs before slamming down into the ice. it cracked and splintered, before she finally broke through it on the second try, leaving them with an area to work with.

"do.. d-do you want to make it a competition? just for fun, of course?" she asked the other, a small smile on her face.

@GILLSIGHT

​

 

[GILLSIGHT]

Though Gillsight is used to the air's cold bite against his short fur, leaf-bare's stark weather holds little fondness in his mind. Tragedy-struck, flood-washed, and hunger-carried, the warrior survived the last leaf-bare — his first — but only barely. Perhaps it's a miracle, brought down by the stars, that Gillsight is able to see the frost again; that Gillsight is able to carry his mentor's name, his memory, into another leaf-bare.

He can't quite say the same for his love of the river's warmth — wariness toward nearing inky-black depths bubbling within him more often than not, these days.

Gillsight isn't quite sure how he got roped into this, ice fishing in chilling gusts with Lilacbird. The fluffier of the two previously tauted a talent in leaf-bare fishing that the tom didn't wholly share, his final moons of training temporarily skewing toward a drypaw's means of hunting in the previous cold season. RiverClan needs all the prey they can get right now, though, so it's better Gillsight is here instead of lounging in camp, he supposes.

" I-I hope it doesn't e-either, " Gillsight agrees, golden gaze watching as the lilac-furred molly chips away thin, splintering layers of ice, opening the river up for their paws to dive into. " Or... Or flood. W-We can do without the flooding, t-too. "

Gillsight can do without falling into the river, can do without waking up under collapsing walls, without relocating camp all over again. He wishes for peace, this leaf-bare, but doubts such solace ever settles in snowstorms and ice-capped rivers.

The younger moves to stand beside the older, a white paw gingerly toeing the now-opened shore. Deep breaths, he remembers Clearsight encouraging him. He can do this, he knows, though fear still entangles itself in the ice-riddled scene before him.

Lilacbird speaks again, and the night-furred tom lifts his head. " Huh? " Sunlit eyes blink at the smile on her face, and a breath is forced. A competition, she says. For fun, but Gillsight nods at the means of distraction.

" W-We can do that! " he stammers back, his head tilting to the side, " Maybe... Most c-catches wins? " Gillsight assumes Lilacbird will win, but he's glad for the air of competition anyway — if anything, they'll have a decent bounty to bring back to camp when they're done. ​

✦ ABOUT

• 

  GILL ‣ GILLPAW ‣ GILLSIGHT
  ── Warrior of RiverClan
  
  ── ??? x ???
  ── AMAB; He/Him
  ── A scarred, black and white tom with yellow eyes.
  ── Mentored by Clearsight
  ── "Speech"; Attack​

​

 

[Lilacbird]

it was her second leafbare- but it didn't make it any easier. She was just glad that they were able to avoid the flood that gillsight mentioned. "Th-that was awful. D-dont jinx it!" She said, her eyes widening a bit in alarm, pulling from the stream with water rolling off of her fur. Shaking her paw, she let out a soft sigh, watching the black and white warrior approach. Her gaze drifted back to the water, watching carefully.

She liked the flow of the water through her pelt, but it was quite too cold to actually want to swim. Unfortunately. Others may take the risk but she couldn't bare the idea of coughing and sneezing- or worse.

"It's b-been a rough year, but, we p-pulled through."

Barely. And her expression changed to somber before shaking her head. She shouldn't have said it- left that air alone. She was quick to turn the subject away, a small gulp as she took a step to the side to make room for the other warrior.

They may have made it, but so many others... didn't. And she couldn't bare the guilty feelings that they lost good warriors.

"Yeah! N-not too long though, we g-gotta make sure we don't get sick." Riverclan could do without losing more paws. She shuffled uncomfortably a bit, blue eyes watching the water. But they did have to bring back at least enough for a few mouths...

A shadow caught her attention, and after a moment of watching and waiting, her paw would shoot forward, already gripping onto a fish and throwing it out of the water in a fluid motion of sudden realization. She had almost missed it, a brown body flopping on the shore and her form quickly diving to end its life.

Well, there was something. Even if it was on the smaller side.

​

 

[GILLSIGHT]

Don’t jinx it, Lilacbird tells him and Gillsight’s gaze mirrors hers, widening at the thought that one mention of the previous leaf-bare could cause the current season to falter, for their camp to crumble into sodden rubble all over again. That’s not how it works, is it? The warrior doesn’t think so, but he finds himself silently praying to the stars anyway, sending them an apology for mentioning the river’s hardships.

A laugh brings his attention back to the river, to the competition set before them. Gillsight forces out a laugh of his own, a nervous smile spreading across his face. He agrees with her next statement with a small nod. “ O-Of course — R-RiverClan can’t have us getting sick on th-them. “ With the chilling river, fish was already far more difficult to get ahold of, to find enough of to feed the clan.

Lilacbird takes her turn as the first to spot a shadow cast within their watery hunting grounds, and Gillsight watches on, taking note of the technique she uses. She is quick, almost too quick, as her prey scrambles out of her grasp and it’s death is made on shore. It’s small, but the warrior isn’t certain they’ll find much bigger than that today. “ G-Good one! “ he says, because, even if it’s not as big as they’ve initially sought after, it’s still something — someone will get to eat today.

Another shadow catches his attention, and he leans forward to watch its movements. As soon as the wriggling form moves into his line of attack, Gillsight strikes, aiming to hook the fish with his claws as his paw dips into the icy water. It’s a successful movement, and the tom pulls his catch upwards and out of the river, setting it aside to create his own pile. It’s small, much like Lilacbird’s, but their game is quantity, not quality.

“ Th-Think you can c-catch a big one? “ Gillsight still asks, wondering if any of the larger fish will rise to investigate the sunlit hole they’ve created in the ice.​

✦ ABOUT

• 

  GILL ‣ GILLPAW ‣ GILLSIGHT
  ── Warrior of RiverClan
  
  ── ??? x ???
  ── AMAB; He/Him
  ── A scarred, black and white tom with yellow eyes.
  ── Mentored by Clearsight
  ── "Speech"; Attack​

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