private IT'S TIME FOR THE TRUTH // fam

[VULTUREMASK]

Trust, Clan, family. He saw no different between the three. What had this three things ever done to him?. Whoever he gave his trust away to would only end up hurting him in one or another way. The clan had done nothing but let him down never treating him like he actually was one of them. Family?. Aha, that was the most fun out of them all. There was only one thing he had ever experienced with family bonds and that was despair. So what good would that be to even have that?. Vulturemask had done his part doing his best to watch over the three of them. He had poured his soul out to them without asking anything for return, ever. But why in the first place had he decided to do such a thing?. Later on they might all end up bedraying him, to cut his heart out and cross it into a million pieces like Sootstar just had done just like so many others. That would leave him like a fool. Giving his everything and gaining nothing in return. He was done with that.

" Shadowpaw, Goldenpaw seat beside your sibling. We have a lot to talk about." Vulturemask had went and got the two brothers to bring them into his den since Sunflowerpaw unfortunately couldn't move from his nest at the moment. To think he had feared this day to come one day. Now he just wanted it over with. Didn't mean he not cared for them still. He always would. That would never change. But he wanted to know how they felt about him. If their bond meant anything to them at all or if this confession would break them apart. They could make a choice right here and then. He wouldn't blame them if they wanted nothing with him after this but if so, if they decided to walk away he would let them and he would never look back. Sootstar had been the final straw and he was done giving his soul to someone who would just take advantage of it.

" You know the story how i brought you into this clan during a snowstorm and gave you to Snowfeather to nurse you, correct?." he would wait for them to give a nod or say anything that had agreement with what he just had said before he contunied, breaking his confession out without any regret. " That's not all of the story. In fact your mother abandoned you to me because she did not want you. She is also my mother. I'm in fact your brother. I brought you in because i couldn't let my own flesh and blood die out there." He laid it all on the table, as raw it might be. Of course he kept the part of the story how he had killed her to save them from her tyranny. That part he would never share. It was far better to let them think they were not wanted. He was the only one who had cared about them. He was the only one who cared a rat about them in this filthy clan. However the choice was still theirs.

He would wait to see what they would do, if they would stay or leave him like everyone else did.

// @sunflowerpaw @SHADOWPAW @Goldenpaw



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[SUNFLOWERMASK]

.°☀ AND IF IT EVER STARTS TO FEEL BAD, LITTLE FANG

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Sunflowerpaw does not think anything is wrong, at first, when Vulturemask brings their brothers to the medicine den. He used to spend a lot of time with them, when they were kits, especially before his promotion. It's nice, having all four of them together. They wave their tail in greeting to Goldenpaw and Shadowpaw.

But there is something wrong with the way Vulturemask is acting.

He's been off, they've noticed, since he went to go meet with Sootstar and her council, and now it is even more pronounced. There is something in his eyes, a bitterness darker than his usual shade. There is a tension that hangs around him, like the smell of ozone before a storm. A fear is threatening to rise in Sunflowerpaw, a worry that the clouds are soon to break.

He instructs their siblings to sit by them, and they are glad for the company. We have a lot to talk about. Vulturemask's words are clipped. They search his eyes, but still they cannot decipher the hurt they see within them.

They nod at his next words, a rehearsal of a story he's told many times before, and then everything comes crashing down around them.

Their mother abandoned them, didn't want them. It's a confirmation of what they already knew, already feared, yet still they flinch at his words, blunt and unyielding. Just because they expected it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. But the next part... He's their brother. Vulturemask is their brother, by blood, and in a sense it feels right. Of course he's their brother, they already thought of him as such, more family than their absent parents ever have been.

But so too does it feel cruel. Their own words come back to mock them: like a brother, they'd said of Vulturemask, naive and oblivious. More than blood, they'd thought, but now it seems hollow. Did he ever truly care about them, the way they did their own siblings, or was it merely obligation? Why would he hide it, if it meant anything more? Was he ashamed of them, these kits who not even their own mother cared for?

But they can't deny that he's looked out for them. They've seen it firsthand, reliant on his care as they are. They've seen the indifference with which he treats his other patients. They must be special, at least in some way, to receive the protection of this bitter-hearted cat.

So what reason could have to keep secrets from them?

The siblings have been silent, following Vulturemask's declaration, processing his words. Surprisingly, Sunflowerpaw is the first to speak up. "You lied," they say softly, tonelessly, staring at Vulturemask but not meeting his eyes. It might be an accusation, from anyone else's lips, but from them it is merely a statement of fact. The sky is blue, the moor is their home, and Vulturemask is a liar. Their next word, sharper and steadier, carries the accusation the first did not. "Why?" They look up to him now, and there is hurt in their eyes, in the downward tilt of their mouth. Did he not trust them, the way they do him? It is a fragile thing, trust, not something easily given for the pale-furred apprentice. They thought they made the right choice in Vulturemask, but they have little trust for liars.

Yet despite everything, there is no anger in their voice. Betrayal, maybe, but not anger. They cannot bring themself to hate their brother (their brother) for deceiving the three of them. They just want to understand.

---

IT'S EASY TO EXPLAIN 'CAUSE THIS WORLD'S NOT TAME .°☀

⟪ OOC ⟫ ⟪ INFO ⟫ ⟪ REF ⟫

• //​
• SUNFLOWERPAW named by their half-brother vulturemask after his friend and mentor.
  — they/them, 4 moons. semiverbal.
  — windclan apprentice, mentored by wolfsong.
  — reserved yet loyal, distrusts most.
  
  primary character, high activity. penned by saturnid.​
• 

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[Goldenstrike]

❝ i just turned 14 ✧°. ———————————— Goldenpaw had been peeved at the need to come into the medicine den. Not that he didn’t like seeing Sunflower in there but, he had been honing his skills and the interruption of that was not welcome. But, he is not really able to say no to Vulturemask. The cat that had saved his hide, he was reminded of that fact as he took his spot next to Sunflowerpaw’s nest. He had wanted to ask how his sibling was feeling but Vulture seemed to be pretty heavy today so he kept it to himself.

Then in a rare moment Goldenpaw actually listened, and listened well.

So, Vulturemask had lied. The thoughts thudded hollowly in his head. Maybe it was that is mind wasn’t fully there, but it seemed he wasn’t able to straighten the tangles of words into a coherent thought. His mother, their mother, had not wanted them. So, Vulture who is also his brother, brought them here. Unlike Sunflower, Goldenpaw’s eyes fell to the floor as he kept trying to wrap his mind around the concepts he had been handed.

He supposes he always thought of Vulturemask in a pseudo-brother role, so real brother shouldn’t be all that different, right? But, it did feel off. And did his pride even allow the idea of abandonment to really phase him, cause even if she got rid of him, Vulture took him right?

He heard Sunflowerpaw and looked straight into Vulturemask’s eyes to hear the answer, although he didn’t really consider it a lie. But, he felt voicing that opinion would not make Sunflowerpaw happy at the moment so in a rare case of wisdom he kept his trap closed.

[penned by user - [tags]]

———————————— .°✧ and i think this year i'm gonna be mean ❞ ​

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[SHADOWRUNNER]

\╱╲I SEE A RED DOOR & I WANT IT PAINTED BLACK╱╲/​

Shadowpaw came to join his siblings and Vulturemask when requested to without much knowledge about why the meeting was being called. The young tom blinked slowly with an air of unease as he sat himself down near Sunflowerpaw's nest, taking the opposite side from Goldenpaw. His greeting to them all was brief and small, just a curt nod out of politeness. Though his gaze was firmly on that of Vulturemask. Had they done something wrong? Well, perhaps, the incident with the snare was still firmly on his mind and he wondered whether they were going to get strict instructions about leaving the camp or something.

That wasn't the case on this occasion. Instead the topic was so much heavier than even that, and at last the shroud of deception was lifted in relation to their past. Unwanted... The thought sent a shudder through him. Why would their birth mother abandon them? How could she? Was there something wrong with them? His gaze lowered to that of the ground and his claws began to flex, scratching at the soil beneath him as his mind raced wildly.

The only shining solace within the storm inside his head was coming to learn that Vulturemask was indeed their blood brother. He'd always viewed the tom like an adoptive brother, or brotherly figure. Hell, he'd even jokingly referred to him as so. Now it was true. But he wished the truth could have been told sooner.

"Why hide this for so long? I don't understand?" Shadowpaw wasn't necessarily angry or hurt, just... confused. He wanted to hear Vulturemask's side of the story and his reasoning for doing things this way.

NO COLOURS ANYMORE I WANT THEM TO TURN BLACK
╲╱╲╱╲╱​

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[VULTUREMASK]

He watched their reactions closely from each one of them. Goldenpaw didn't show any vinsible emotions to him, but the other two did. Sunflowerpaw in particular. Why. Of course they wanted answers not satisfied with what he just had told them. Made sense. Vulturemask didn't answer straight away for once thinking his words out carefully before speaking. How to even explain it?. " You three were so small and vulnerable when you first arrived into this world. The moment I laid my eyes on you three i made a promise that i was going to protect you." he started, and thought back on that very moment when he had first entered that den his mother had given birth to them and how he had curled himself around them making that promise to them right there and then.

" So i brought you three to windclan to give you a home. I let Snowfeather nurse you because i knew she would take good care of you. I decided to keep my kinship away from you because...i thought it was better that way. I wanted the three of you to have a normal childhood there you would feel loved and cared for. " He did not wish for them to have the same childhood he had. Vulturemask had wanted to protect them from that for them to only knew how it truly felt like to be loved...and not the loved his mother had poisoned him with.

Love is supposed to hurt.

That is the only love he knew of, and in the end he might never get to experience it in a different way but that didn't meant he wished the same for them. Vulturemask wanted them to experience love in a warm comfy way, in the way that made their soul burn with joy and brightness. "I did not want you three to grow up with scars..." Emotional scars...for them to question if they belonged here or not. Neither had he been ready to answer their questions about their mother...the molly who had left such heavy scars on him which never would heal. Even as the clans medicine cat he couldn't heal the scars his own mother had left on him. Sootstars bedrayal had only reopend and made them all worse.

" I decided to tell you now because you're no longer kits but apprentices. I'm sorry if you feel deceived." and they had right to be angry at him for thinking what he had done was wrong but still he did not regret it. Back then it had been the right decision both for himself and them. Vulturemask had not been able to be there for them like he had now if they had known he was their brother.



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[SUNFLOWERMASK]

.°☀ AND IF IT EVER STARTS TO FEEL BAD, LITTLE FANG

---

Sunflowerpaw does not move as Vulturemask explains himself, does not interject. They lie still and watch him, watch his eyes and his face. They want to think that he is telling the truth, but now they feel -- off balance. He lied to them, kept secrets from them, and they never even suspected it. Would they know now, if he did it again? But... they bite back their feelings of betrayal, their newly renewed distrust. Why would he tell them now, if he was only going to lie to them again? They have to trust him. They can't bear to do otherwise.

Their mouth twists in displeasure the more he speaks. His words don't make sense. He says he only wanted to protect them -- a soothing thought for their fears of a lack of care -- but they can't understand how. Their mother was gone, abandoned them, and not telling them did nothing to change that. If he wanted so badly for them to feel loved and cared for, he should have told them that he was their brother, that he cared for them, that he would be there to protect them. He's more family than their shared mother anyway, so there was no reason to hide his relation from them. They don't need her, they decide. They don't care about having a normal family -- they like what they have here better.

But still, it stings to hear Vulturemask's confession. It stings, not only that he lied to them, but that he thought that he himself wasn't enough for the siblings, that they would be better off not knowing of their relation. Their eyes fall again to the floor, lost in thought. He was misguided, they think, in keeping secrets from them, but he is still their brother. And he was only trying to protect them.

After a long stretch of silence from the young apprentice, Sunflowerpaw looks up a bit, not meeting their eldest brother's eyes, shifts to they can move their good paw. They reach it out slowly, deliberately, and place it gently atop Vulturemask's own. A wordless reassurance.

They try to push aside their hurt, though it still shows on their face. They will stick by his side despite it.

---

IT'S EASY TO EXPLAIN 'CAUSE THIS WORLD'S NOT TAME .°☀

⟪ OOC ⟫ ⟪ INFO ⟫ ⟪ REF ⟫

• //​
• SUNFLOWERPAW named by their half-brother vulturemask after his friend and mentor.
  — they/them, 4 moons. semiverbal.
  — windclan apprentice, mentored by wolfsong.
  — reserved yet loyal, distrusts most.
  
  primary character, high activity. penned by saturnid.​
• 

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[SHADOWRUNNER]

\╱╲I SEE A RED DOOR & I WANT IT PAINTED BLACK╱╲/​

"I see... I get it, I guess, but I think we could have handled this all sooner. We're strong... just like you." Shadowpaw found himself mustering up a small smile, though it was evident that he was still feeling unsure about it all. Though he'd always poster up a brave front regardless of the turmoil within him. Taking a few steps closer he then aimed to settle in at Vulturemask's side. He wanted to be close to his family, his whole family. "No more secrets, please. I think we have a right to know anything that relates to our family."

NO COLOURS ANYMORE I WANT THEM TO TURN BLACK
╲╱╲╱╲╱​

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