private IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS : ̗̀➛ HOUNDSHADE

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Despite her blunt-edged tongue, despite the mockery she'd tried to make of him after he'd tread onto SkyClan territory, Raccoonstripe seeks Houndshade's dust-colored fur as the border patrol disperses. He stops to mark a clump of bracken, rubbing his cheeks along the angles; dark eyes flash wearily as Houndshade stops not too far from him. He clears his throat. "Houndshade. A word? I saw you miss your catch earlier." A ruse. He does not know if she'd missed a catch or not, but he hopes the comment is inflammatory enough to snag her attention away from the patrol.

He waits until she nears him. He regards her wearily, unsure where she stands. His gut tells him Houndshade is loyal to ThunderClan, not to Skyclaw... and there is only one StarClan-chosen leader now that his mother has fallen. He sits, scanning the forest behind her for wayward ears, sneaky paws, and exhales.

"How are you doing with... with everything?" He eyes her features, sinks into her eyes, reading her every twitch. Who will you follow, when the time is right?

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

• ooc: @Houndshade
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 44 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.
  
  

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[Houndshade]

At least patrols were still consistent, she found herself clinging to some kind of normalcy amongst the discord that wracked the clan. Even if that normalcy was volunteering or just stubbornly following any patrol she could sink their claws into. With a flick of her tail she presses her cheek to the bark of a sturdy oak tree, taking this opportunity to let tense shoulders lax for just a moment.

Muscles tighten as she heard the sound of Raccoonstripe's voice. Teeth grind and she turns her head to glare at him, despite the irritation she can feel her ears grow warm. Ah, he had managed to notice that then? It should have been an easy catch, that mouse had been lethargic enough for a kitten to catch. Her mind was elsewhere though, as it tended to be since Skyclaw started his bloody reign. “The sun was just in my eyes you know” she begins the wind up a defensive rant, yet the bark doesn't carry much weight to it.

“Look, can we keep it between us? The last thing I need is to be thrown back into being an apprentice or something” could he even do that? Skyclaw just seemed to bend and make up whatever a leader can do on a whim so who's to say no. Raccoonstripe achieves his goal in the end, she approaches in order to keep her voice low.

With hesitation they mirror his posture, taking the fact that he's sitting as an invitation to do the same. With an ear flick she squints, how's she doing? Is this some kind of weird test? “Not great. Can't say anyone with a brain and not a fox-heart would say that they're fine right now though” they don't mince words, though the lead warrior should know that already based on their previous conversation back when she was a paw.

“I don't sleep much, not beyond what's necessary to stay functioning. Which sucks by the way, the sun is at a great tempreture for naps these days” it was easier to shuffle into complaints about how they can't keep up their previous comforts in lifestyle. Trivial matters like that felt easier to tackle than to dive deep into the negative impacts this had on them. On what impacts it was having on anyone.

“How are you? How's Nightbird and your guys' kits? I hope…” She trails off, how does one really formally say ‘hope you're doing fine after witnessing the murder of your mother by the paws of your other kin?’. Instead after a noticeable beat of silence she continues “...I hope that everyone's doing okay.”

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