LAUNDRY DAY [✦] granitepelt

[Starlingheart]

There is still so much work to be done, not only around the camp but also in her den. She finds that, lately, she has the urge to gather moss, feathers, anything that will make her nest more comfortable, bigger, nicer. If she sees a rock out on her excursions she will stop and think to herself 'would a kit like this sort of thing?' the memories of her own kit-hood are blurry, marred by grief and loss and hardship. In her memories there is only one thing that is crystal clear. Granitepelt. He had been there for her since she was little, her knight in shining armor. He had come to her rescue when she had that thorn stuck in her paw and he had kept her safe from that opossum so many moons ago. The only thing that can settle her nerves about being a mother was that, at least, he would be right there with her. By her side like he always was. It was simply the way things were meant to be.

Magpiepaw is off doing other things. She had sent him to help with the camp reoperations, one of them tidying up the medicine cats den would be enough, after all. And it wasn't like she would be allowed to do any heavy lifting or anything that would put too much of a strain on her. She is not expecting the dark tom back anytime soon so when a shadow crosses the entrance of the den she flicks her ears in surprise, only when she turns the pelt she is confronted with is gray and not black. "My love" she says with a purr rumbling at the back of her throat. She puts down the herbs she had been sorting and she goes to give him a warm greeting, the top of her head connecting with the bottom of his chin and her snow-tipped tail waving high in the air. "Di-did you come here for a break?" she asks as she pulls away, her green eyes shining in poorly disguised adoration. He was a hard worker, that was for sure. But it was proving to be a particularly warm green-leaf and no one would blame the tom for stopping for a drink of water and some shade. She would welcome anyone to try!

// @GRANITEPELT

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[GRANITEPELT]

He has stood in the mouth of her den for nearly a minute, admiring the little movements she makes as she sorts through her things. Her pregnancy has brought a tenderness in her features—not for the first time, Granitepelt realizes how fragile she is. How breakable. The swell of her belly emphasizes all that could come to be—all that will come to be. He flexes his claws, a ferocity awakened inside him. He will do everything in his power to protect her from harm. He will never let her, soft blossom in a shadowy marsh, be trampled or snapped.

She finally notices him, looking briefly startled. Perhaps she’d been expecting her apprentice. Granitepelt smiles as she approaches him, a purr wreathed about her throat. “My love,” she says, and he returns her affection with a gentle rasp of his tongue against her cheek. “Yes, I did. It’s hot work. We're trying to patch some of the dens up, and then I need to try and find some prey that hasn't been scared off by bears…" He confirms, then murmurs, "and I wanted to make sure you’re doing okay.” He makes a point to look at her round belly. “You aren’t exerting yourself, I hope.” The one good thing about Magpiepaw’s existence is that he can relieve some of the burden from Starlingheart.

But a break isn’t the only reason he’s come—and perhaps she can sense that. He gestures with his tail for her to lie beside him in the cool, fragrant shadows of her den. Her heartbeat flutters, birdlike, in her chest—and then, when he listens, he swears he can hear the heartbeats of the kits she carries. It’s astonishing—he blinks, looking away from her abdomen with a flush. He’s still not accustomed to the idea that there will soon be kits here, their kits, and every tangible reminder is like a slap to the muzzle.

“I’ve come to tell you something, too… and then I want to talk about our kits.” He noses a bit of velvety fur behind one ear. “The last Gathering I went to, before the bears came… I spoke with a WindClan warrior. Harmless conversation.” Forest-green eyes narrow. “Or so I thought. But we were rudely interrupted by none other than Sootstar herself… and she threatened me to stay away from her kits. Referenced my kittypet mother.” His tail begins to swish. “Surely, you understand, my curiosity was piqued. I went to the WindClan border at night, and I met with Sootstar.”

He turns to look at her, face carefully neutral. “She told me something… something I never knew. About my father.”

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — granitekit . granitepaw . granitepelt
  — he/him ; warrior of shadowclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Starlingheart
  — short-haired gray tom with white and green eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Meg

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[Starlingheart]

To his concerns about over-exerting herself she simply shakes her head no "It’s c-cool in- in here and I’m just- just sorting my herbs and- and cleaning" moss needed scraping out and new moss brought in and inside these stone walls it was kept nice and cool. She would have no problems sorting plants and making nests. Still, his concern for her tugs at her heartstrings. Though she wishes she could help with repairs more, the clan would not be any better off if something were to happen to her. She knows that as well as anyone. Magpiepaw was a studious apprentice but he was not at a level she would be fully comfortable trusting him to heal on his own quite yet. "I-I’m glad you’re here" she admits softly. Sometimes, during the day when he has patrols and she had patients or other duties to attend to, it would be rare to see each other during the day. Not until they settled down for the evening to share prey and tongues did they finally get a free moment to chat. This was a rare gift, one she intends to treasure.

She watches him contemplatively as he listens to her heartbeat, no doubt he could also hear their kits heartbeats, evidenced by the look on his face when he pulls away. All she offers is a gentle smile but she doesn’t comment. She can tell something is on his mind but she doesn’t want to pry. Besides, by the time she finally thinks of a change in topic, something about the weather or den repairs, he has parted his jaws to speak again.

She listens quietly, her features contemplative and her mouth forming a thin line as she bites her lower lip. She looks back through the far reaches of her memory and yes she can recall faintly seeing him out of the corner of her eye, talking to a warrior from WindClan with patched gray and white fur. At the time she had thought nothing of it, why should she?

Then he says something that alarms her. Sootstar?! Her green eyes go wide at the mention of the war-faring Molly. "Stars I’m-I’m just happy she didn’t- she didn’t ri-rip you to shreds" she murmurs quietly, concern showing in her facial expression. But she does understand. If she had learned that her mother or father had held a secret that was important she would like to think she would do the same. "what- what was it?" she asks while leaning forward slightly, her interest piqued.

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[GRANITEPELT]

She invites him in, and he’s tucked safely against the curve of her spine, feels the swelling of her abdomen even from where he lies. She tells him she’s happy Sootstar hadn’t torn him to shreds, and he flicks an ear. “She was close,” he admits. “But I’d interested her enough, at least. She told me…” He meets her gaze, dark green with floral. “…Her kits are my half-siblings.” He waits for a reaction.

“My father, Flint, had been with Sootstar before the Great Battle. When she left for the moor, she’d told no one about their sire, except for Sandra.” His jaw tightens. “That fool. Can you imagine, learning something like that about your mate and continuing to sing his praises? She never said a single bad thing about Flint to me or Siltcloud. Kept pretending he loved her… she was an idiot until the end.” His eyes flatten, hard as gemstones. “But regardless, Sootstar confirmed that my brother and sister live in WindClan.” He tilts his head at his mate. “What do you think?”

Granitepelt leaves out the ending of their meeting—the vow, pact sealed with blood-smeared paws. It’s for her protection—and if she knows about it, she is at risk.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — granitekit . granitepaw . granitepelt
  — he/him ; warrior of shadowclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Starlingheart
  — short-haired gray tom with white and green eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Meg

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[Starlingheart]

Green meets green as he turns and she is confronted with those two eyes that remind her so much of the forest around her. 'She was close' he admits and her mouth presses into a thin line of worry, it is evident in the way she looks at him that she is concerned but she can tell that there is more to the story, more that he has yet to say so she says nothing and listens.

At the revelation that he has half siblings, that they are Sootstar's own, her features twist from concern to surprise to confusion. Her eyebrows knit together and "Wha-" is all that escapes from her mouth before he explains. She listens quietly, twisting in their shared nest so that she could study his face better as he speaks. Flint had betrayed his mate, but if you had known Sandra you never would have known. She remembers the cinnamon coated molly telling her kits stories of a brave hero, a tom that she loved above no other. Starlingheart had always wanted that kind of love for herself. Unconditional and without fault. To hear that that love had not been real, it was unsettling. "I don't-don't know wha-what to think" she admits quietly "This whole-whole story, it's-it's crazy but- how-why would she lie about something like that?" she wouldn't put it past the moorland queen to not tell the complete truth, but it was too specific, too out there, to not be the truth. She lets out a long shaky sigh, her eyes drifting from his face to her paws. Her eyesbrows knit together as she thinks about what this information meant for her mate. His father was not the hero he had grown up thinking he was. She cannot imagine ever having her perception of Amber torn apart in such a way, it would leave her lost, stumbling.

Looking up she presses her nose to his cheek, closing her eyes. "Wha-whatever you chose to do with this-with this information I'm here-I'm here for you no matter what" she doesn't know what it meant, what he would do, but short of abandoning her clan she would do anything for him.
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[GRANITEPELT]

And, as he had expected, Starlingheart does not rebuke him for meeting with Sootstar in secrecy. The understanding and sympathy glowing from her soft green eyes flood Granitepelt’s body with familiar, aching warmth. The gentle press of her nose to his cheek is met with the swift rasp of a tongue over her soft ear. “I agree. I didn’t get the impression she was lying. The way she acted at the Gathering was too… strange.” He presses his muzzle briefly to hers. “You don’t have to worry, though. They’re still just WindClanners. My home is here… with you.”

He tells the lie shamelessly—and really, it’s only half a lie, isn’t it? He’d never abandon Starlingheart to live in empty moorland with siblings he does not truly know. “Siltcloud is the only sister I need,” he adds, his paw settling atop hers, gray on snow. “I just couldn’t help but be curious.”

Granitepelt lowers his chin to rest it atop her head. “I could not be the kind of cat my father was,” he murmurs. “I pledged myself to you, and I could never look at another she-cat the same way.” His voice drops to a near-whisper. “There’s not room in my heart for anyone else but you.”

A few moments pass before he remembers he’d promised to ask about the kits squirming in her belly. With a reluctant twitch of his nose, he adds, “…and our kits, of course.” It’s only the second lie he’s told her today.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — granitekit . granitepaw . granitepelt
  — he/him ; warrior of shadowclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Starlingheart
  — short-haired gray tom with white and green eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Meg

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