private loveless bedrooms ⟡ cherryblossom

[edenberry ?!]

Her presence is sought out like it can satiate a different kind of hunger... not one that can be filled with mice or kibble (the color of prey, the taste.... it all brings back hole-riddled pelts and vacant eyes in their memory, ruins whatever appetite once existed). They yearn for the tiny touches that she brushes against them, the half-attentive looks she offers like a coy game they can only win by catching her in the act. They steal another starved glance, admiring the pillowy texture of carefully manicured tufts of fur... the confidence with which she trails these worn paths, untouched and untouchable at the same time.

It was like no experience ever really made contact, like the wounds just glanced off of her. A marble statue of reverent beauty.... and far too out of reach for someone made of unfired clay like them. Their whiskers twitch, dragging their gaze off of her, suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling that they are drooling over her like a slavering dog. Had they really been so needy for her attention...? Or had that only grown in recent moons?

They stop to sniff at the air, ears swiveling abruptly as prey scent floods their senses. Edenberry does not have any interest in catching it for themself... but there are now far more kits in the nursery than there had been in seasons... It couldn't go ignored with leaf-bare on the horizon. "Do you smell that," the bi-color feline asks on a whispered breath, leafy gaze trailing the treetops above to find its source. "A vole? Or maybe a squirrel...?"

Their nose defies them, makes a mockery of their talents as if poisoned by its most recent experience. Do not make me search, it begs, unable to escape the etchings of death along its ridges. "We could bring it to Oddgleam.... say hi to your sister's kittens...?"

@Cherryblossom

⟡₊ ⊹ i ll betray you like a man

• 
• -- edenberry / skyclan daylight warrior / any pronouns / 18 moons
  -- mostly white with black pinstripe and green eyes / scarred face and back
  -- color #728c69

​

 

[Cherryblossom]

And just like that, Leaf-bare is upon them. It's only one of the multitudes of things Cherryblossom doesn't notice, and perhaps the most excusable of them. Even the overnight cold snaps had been precipitated by browning leaves and grouchy elders. She stalks through the riding auburn tide of undergrowth near the ThunderClan border, as near-always trailed by her ostensible beloved. Fiery crown bowed low to the forest floor, she scarcely notices whatever feelings flit across Edenberry's face, if any were even strong enough to break through their cheerful facade.

The musky smell of prey douses her nose just as it does the other's. Mismatched ears poke up out of the foliage, swiveling faithfully towards the hushed voice. "Yeah," she says, similarly whispered as she quietly pulls herself towards them. "Something like that, probably..." She's no Drowsynose nor Lupinesong. The delicate pink point that twitches at the end of her muzzle is too unrefined to tell the differences between prey. She'd know what it is when its blood spurts on her tongue.

Emerald eyes trace the pines above, a sea more vivid than the sky. She studies them studying their surroundings, for a moment trusting them more than her own faulty senses. "I guess. Are their kits even old enough to eat prey?" she scoffs, but it's weakly said. "Whatever, we could just give it to Oddgleam. Come on; it's this way." She brushes against their shoulder, maybe a little too harshly as she urges them both in the direction of thicker forest.

ThunderClan scent thuds against the roof of her mouth. It'd nearly drown out the prey-scent if it weren't so strong. Sunlit eyes narrow in the shade of the denser canopy, lighting upon the depths of ThunderClan territory certain. "Are we gonna go get it or what?" she breathes, turning back towards her companion who, if she's not deceived by the deeper shadows, has fallen farther behind than usual.

ooc: FINALLY!! not the reply a month later </3​

 

[edenberry ?!]

Her disinterest is felt like thorny barbs dug against their pelt, just as sharp and jarring as the rough contact with which she glances past them. It sends a fluttering uncertainty in their chest, wondering after what toils in her head- they can hear Owlheart's soft tones, sturdy and rigid like her sister. You have to tell her. But already she seems so frustrated by the world... would she be furious? Would it be the last little nudge where she balanced on a thin branch, to plummet to the ground the same way Sweetnose had? "Well they're already a moon old-" Her feathered tail slices through the air, sweeping their answer away before they can even finish it. "Whatever."

They practically wince against the sharpness, skin prickling with a sensitivity unusual to their nature. Maybe it's just the cold seeping into thin fur that makes them feel so raw out here... so exposed. "Alright," they appeal to her desire, rolling over again to appease, to avoid conflict. Their spindly limbs wander after her, pausing only as the markers of their neighbors grow overpoweringly strong.

They were overcompensating... the fear of being trespassed again evidenced by the reek that overwhelms their nose. The calico dream wanders further still, teetering on the edge of something more than just a border. "Uhm..." Moss creeps up the tree towards their target, eyeing what little distance they have to chase it. "Yeah..."

They size up the sturdy pine nearest them, creeping up its length with as much stealth as they can to not prematurely alert their prey. They can see it, the further up they venture, nibbling thoughtlessly on a meager pine nut that can't possibly be satisfying enough for its belly. Each adjustment they make to slide along the branches is careful, the hammering of their heart growing more wild as the wall of scent draws nearer. It's too close to the border... They'd admonished Figfeather's foolhardy idea in the first place... what would it mean now if they betrayed that? Would they not be disappointing Blazestar, who'd impressed the code and all its weight into their back? They spring and their lack of confidence shows in their footwork, landing awkwardly on the branch near the squirrel with far more swaying than is ideal. It darts away, alerted and panicked and Edenberry swears it knows the exact direction they don't want it go.

Because it goes that way- lunging for the ThunderClan side of the tree-line, they hurriedly try to pursue, claws reaching for a last-ditch effort to grab at the tiny beast's hindlimbs but it veers sharply... and they miss. They linger on the last branch that separates them from becoming a trespasser themself, staring after its disappearing shades of sepia fur with a heavy-set frown. "It's crossed the border- I can't chase it into ThunderClan, we have enough problems with them as it is. It's not worth the risk," they call down, swearing the gleam of something unfamiliar in Cherryblossom's eyes.

Nervousness settles uncomfortably in their stomach, leaping from the lower limbs to meet her on the ground though she hovers there, as if considering something Edenberry is unwilling to humor. "I'll just... I'll find something else."


// all good, sorry to jump u with an immediate response! no rush ofc <3

⟡₊ ⊹ i ll betray you like a man

• 
• -- edenberry / skyclan daylight warrior / any pronouns / 18 moons
  -- mostly white with black pinstripe and green eyes / scarred face and back
  -- color #728c69

​

 

[Cherryblossom]

Daylighter or not, the slenderer of the pair is a better hunter. It's not a title begrdugingly bestowed; Cherryblossom is well aware of her shortcomings, though she blames them more on Slate's lackluster teaching than anything. Edenberry is a flurry of snow up the nearest tree after the thing, the brief white underside of their tail flashing like a fleeing deer's. Cherryblossom remains grounded in case the creature makes the unwise decision to run there, though her paws flex with the annoyance of being tethered. Flaxen eyes follow the hints of alabaster through the foliage, watching them steadying in preparation for the leap.

Except, they're not very steady. Even I could do better, she thinks, watching the white shape lunge haphazardly forwards and land on nothing but wood splinters. It shows on her face: the heavy press of her too-long blink, the slight curl of her pale lip. She stares up at them, suddenly annoyed by the volume and what she hears as the screechy undertones of their voice. "I saw." Her gaze strays into the deciduous forest as the warrior rejoins her, shadowed with something more than leaf dapple.

It's like Edenberry is trying to shirk their duties. "You can't," she snaps suddenly. Cherryblossom subtly rounds on them, the black tip of her tail flickering to life unbeknowst to her. "I mean—" She sighs through her nose. "It's right there." The warrior stares openly at their face, trying to pluck a reason from the play of emotion on its narrow lanes. "So what if it's on ThunderClan territory? Didn't they just trespass like a few sunrises ago?" Why would Edenberry care anyway? It's not like they went on the Journey and had an excuse to be buddy-buddy with other clans. "If you won't go then I will," she decides tersely, turning away from them and towards the border.​