i'll be right beside you [twitch]

[QUILLSTRIKE]

DARK BLUE, DARK BLUE, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ALONE IN A CROWDED ROOM?​

---

As the days slipped into weeks, nearing almost a month, Quill found himself slipping. He kept trying to tell himself that it wouldn't be much longer, that any day now Thistle, Blazestar, Orangeblossom and all the rest would come bursting in to free them, but he wasn't sure what would be left of them by the time it actually happened. Cats were taken away daily by the twolegs -none of theirs yet, thankfully- but it was bound to happen sooner or later. Each day spent sitting in there was another day where they could lose someone, and it was beginning to get to the chimera tomcat.

Because what if someone came and took Twitch away? What if they never fucking found him again and Quill was left there alone?

Irritable and restless, the chimera hadn't any problem keeping the twolegs away from him. While plenty seemed drawn to his unusual coat, the hateful, rumbling growls they were met with were often quick to kee them moving on, and if it didn't a violent lunge toward the door definitely did.

Its why he never chided Twitch for lashing out or taking his frustration out on the cage like Slate and the others- he wanted the twolegs afraid of the other warrior too, wanted them to think he was too mean and too wild to ever lay a fucking hand on him. A part of him almost wanted one of them to try, because he knew his friend would happily show them what a Skyclan Warrior could do.

Afraid or not, Twitchbolt wasn't a weak cat.

It was one of the things that Quillstrike admired about them. Every cat in camp knew that the other was a touch paranoid and quick to startle at most things, but anyone who was stupid enough to call them a coward obviously didn't know them very well.

He'd never seen them back down when it truly mattered. Not when that warrior was bullying Butterflypaw. Not when Windclan raided their camp for herbs. Not even after finding his own parents dead in the snow, torn apart by a fox that Quill had personally sunk his fangs into afterward.


He only wished he could have dropped it dead at Twitchbolts paws for what he'd lost.

"I'm bored." Quill all but growled, though the words were only loud enough for the cat in the cage next to his.

He wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse that the other tom had been caged next to him. He could talk to him easily enough like this and was able to easily find his scent among the throngs of others, but the metal wall between them meant he hadn't seen Twitch since the day they'd been brought in.

He fucking hated it.

@TWITCHBOLT
​

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skyclan - male - 14 months (Feb 17th) - bisexual - homoromantic - single - a very tall, dark chimera tomcat with mismatched eyes and several scars. has bluejay feathers woven like spikes along his spine and neck.

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

He wasn't asleep. Why would he be? Even at night he didn't sleep. Dipping in and out of naps, part of Twitchbolt was endlessly glad Quillstrike couldn't see him, as much as he missed setting sight upon the taller tom. The bicolour tom's fur was set into matted knots, their grooming session completely reversed. Wide-set eyes were more sunken than ever, and his involuntary twitching was worse than ever. Every- every five seconds it seemed like, his ear swatted at something invisible. One of his eyelids would seize shut, or his neck would snap to the side.

Quillstrike, he'd been aggressive too. Twitchbolt could hear it, a satisfied smirk crossing his wobbling lips whenever a Twoleg shied away from the door. He could hardly match the scariness, being of a much smaller stature than his friend, but he was gnashing and bristling in his own way, hackles raised and claws leaping free whenever the rock-hard pawsteps of the Upwalkers wandered in...

I'm bored. In the haze of his own zoning-out, Quillstrike's voice pushed through. Though Twitchbolt startled at the sound, the recognition of who's voice it was relaxed him immediately. At least- with everything terrible happening, they were somehow still together. Somehow, somehow. It was like- through all the awful odds, something up there in the universe was looking out for them. For Twitchbolt, at least. He had no idea if the feeling was mutual, but if he'd been left alone here without Quillstrike- not knowing here he was, what was happening... he'd have gone even madder than he was now.

"Me too," he hummed, venom storming in his eyes- not that he could see it. His pelt felt like it was made of brambles- uncomfortable every moment of the day. No plush moss, no warm prey-flesh to fill his belly even slightly. Here, here... he'd go mental, gnaw through the bars... "I'm gonna try and rip one of their- their paws off next time they feed me, I think," and it was half a joke and half a fantasy. As if he was that strong...​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[QUILLSTRIKE]

DARK BLUE, DARK BLUE, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ALONE IN A CROWDED ROOM?​

---

He cracked a grin at the others words, making his way over to the wall dividing them and flopping down to lay with his back against it, as if pressing against the cool steal that was separating them would make him feel a little closer. Ironic, when a few months prior he probably wouldn't have craved the closeness. Hell, if he'd ended up here before finding Skyclan, he might have been content to just lay alone in his cell, silent and content to be forgotten by the outside world.

He couldn't imagine living that life now.

He longed to find his place in the trees again, to walk the borders and hunt prey among the pines.

"I'd give a dozen squirrels to be able to see that." the chimera replied with a snort, clearing amused by the mental image of Twitch screwing with the twolegs, but there was a warmth in his voice that suggested it wasn't just because it'd be entertaining as hell.

He just really wanted to see Twitch again.

"How much longer do you think it'll take Blazestar and them to find us? Slate sid he told them where to find us- supposedly." he added.
​

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skyclan - male - 14 months (Feb 17th) - bisexual - homoromantic - single - a very tall, dark chimera tomcat with mismatched eyes and several scars. has bluejay feathers woven like spikes along his spine and neck.

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Quillstrike's laugh warmed him with the satisfaction that he always felt, given that craved reaction. Something slumbered under his tone, too- a fire-glow, the cause of which Twitchbolt cold not place. Ears twitched to the sound of the other moving, hearing the soft shift of fur on metal. Twitchbolt himself shuffled closer, pressing his body to the cold surface that separated them. At least he had the sound of Quillstrike's voice to keep him warm, unable to lounge at the chimera's side. The cruel, grasping captors hadn't even afforded them that luxury.

For a moment, he held his cheek against the steel. Closing his eyes, he flinched at the odd feeling that flared in his stomach. Left to fend for himself at such an early age, Twitchbolt had never fancied himself codependant. And he wasn't, was he? Still perfectly capable by himself, and somehow blessed with friends who had the patience for his volatility. But- Quillstrike had always been there, watchful. Had always had some... odd draw. It felt almost incomplete to not have the taller tom shadowing him, now, when long ago the other's presence had confused and annoyed him.

Then, he hadn't understood how it felt to have someone in your life who wanted you around them.

Olive eyes shot open again, and Twitchbolt settled his chin on bicoloured paws. Quillstrike's question froze in the air, and he had to let himself ponder it for a few long moments. "Not much longer, I hope." It wasn't really a definitive answer, but- but time seemed to stand still, here. Seemed to perish and dry up and.. expire. He'd kept count best he could, but he hardly knew how long it had been, let alone how long it would be. "But- but they will come. No matter what those- those other cats say, about it being- hopeless, or whatever."

The bristle of his fur was clear in his voice... the rampant pessimism present in the shelter had been sprawling in his mind. He was already prone to the worst case scenario- Twitchbolt needed that shred of hope more than he needed to eat, or else why would he bother keeping himself awake?​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[QUILLSTRIKE]

DARK BLUE, DARK BLUE, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ALONE IN A CROWDED ROOM?​

---

Quill had never really understood the proximity that most cats had with each other. Playfighting, sharing tongues, piling into one nest during colder nights- it all seemed like such a foreign concept to him. He'd watch his clanmates and wonder what exactly it was that made them want to do those things, and then he'd wonder some more about how they were able to do them so casually. It had always seemed like such a personal or intimate thing to be so physically casual with other cats, and that more than anything was what had kept him so limited on his participation in them- not because he didn't want to be touched or because he had some problem with letting other cats know how he felt about them. It was probably some issue that had stemmed from his shitty childhood, but after spending almost a month in that cage away from every cat he'd come to trust or like, he thought he was starting to understand.

It was about not taking what you had for granted.

The cats shared tongues and sought comfort and showed one another how much they cared because there wasn't always going to be a tomorrow. And sitting in that cage, listening to Twitch reassure him that it wouldn't be much longer, he felt his heart twist painfully in his chest at the thought that he might never get to do those things with him again. He might never comb the knots from that unruly fur, or see the small, satisfied glint in Tiwtches eyes when Quill personally brought him a squirrel to eat. Why hadn't he done those things more?

And not just with Twitch, but all of them? Why had he only thanked Thistle the one time for putting up with his shit as an apprentice? He'd never even shared prey with the tom who'd gotten him back on track, or shared a conversation that wasn't coming from the mouth of a stubborn kid. He owed Thistle more than that. And why hadn't he ever told Bananapaw he appreciated her for being his friend? He'd always let her come to him, had never put the proper effort in to show her their friendship wasn't all one-sided. And still she considered him one of her best friend. She was one of his, too. Had he ever even bothered to say that to her?

Yeah, regret was alive and well within Quill, growing stronger with each day alongside his frustration.

"Those other cats can go fucking choke on their litter. They don't know what they're talking about." the chimera agreed easily. "Those guys have no idea how a clan works. If they did they'd be begging for us to let them come with us instead of acting like know-it-alls."

Quill had been one of them once, a stray who had no concept of loyalty to another, social bonds crumbling on the daily like bickering children on the playground picking and choosing friends over the tiniest of arguments. Every cat thought they knew better than the next but they were all really just looking out for themselves. Half the cats here probably couldn't even fathom the idea of another cat risking their nexk to break them out, let alone an entire group of them.

"They're definitely making us wait though. Might give 'em an earful for that." Quill grumbled, a little surprised his old mentor hadn't broken in days ago to get them out. "I think the first thing I'm gonna do when I get back though is hunt. Fuck these pellets man, I want still warm prey."
​

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skyclan - male - 14 months (Feb 17th) - bisexual - homoromantic - single - a very tall, dark chimera tomcat with mismatched eyes and several scars. has bluejay feathers woven like spikes along his spine and neck.