private MAMBA [✨] Twitchbolt

[FIGFEATHER]

Twilight settled peacefully above the pine canopy that towered over SkyClan's camp. Purple and pink drenched the sky and the gentle twinkle of the stars calmed Figfeather's racing heart.

She did her best not to think about it, but it was difficult on quiet nights like this one. It made her stomach twist knowing that they now lay just outside of camp instead of safely in the warmth of their Twoleg nest. Luckily, she had her own distractions. The situation with Sorrelsong still did not rest easy with her… especially with Orangestar's recent lack of firmness followed by promoting the she-cat onto her council.

She watches Twitchbolt as he looks over the camp several fox-lengths away. Has Orangestar spoken to him about any of this? Maybe he would have information that would help Figfeather keep her fur flat. Maybe he could teach her that Orangestar hadn't made a terrible mistake after all.

She clambers onto her three paws, her mangled leg stiff and aching thanks to the cold. It's a pain she's had to live with well over a majority of her life, she does not flinch as she drags it through the snow to greet the deputy.

"Twitchbolt," She greets him with a respectful dip of his head. Cats wouldn't be able to guess just moons ago she was at odds with the tom, forced to compete with him for a position they both wanted. Figfeather still feels that longing to be something bigger, but she no longer looks at Twitchbolt with jealousy. He was Clan deputy and he serves his Clan better than ever now. She wouldn't discredit him for that, even if she selfishly wishes Orangestar had said her name instead of his.

"I… hope you don't mind that I've come to share concerns and not tongues." Her ears flatten semi-apologetically. She knows Twitchbolt has taken reports from several reports from patrols throughout the entire day and was probably fed up with politics for the day. Unfortunately, Figfeather felt she couldn't spare him from this conversation. It couldn't wait any longer. "…Sorrelsong's promotion… was a surprise. Especially after—well… you've been told, right?"

// @TWITCHBOLT

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Twitchbolt clawed at the earth, chunks torn out beneath his grasping, teeth grinding together. Stress always reflected from him like a beacon, of course; his emotions had always been plain as a cloudless sky, skittering at the surface of his skin. He'd thought maybe Figfeather could tell, was- was approaching him to ask him about it, share some concern that- that he wasn't fit for his position whilst obviously jittering with fear, but, but ... it was nothing like that. As ever, an unkind assumption- one he inwardly berated himself for, as he let loose a sigh.

"Ahah... it's alright, no one has much luck grooming me anyway," he murmured hoarsely, some attempt at a joke- though there was a halfhearted sheen to his eyes, the worry that forever seemed to stand in the way. Especially when steeped in the worst of times, like this. A spasm scrunched his face, one eye tightening to an involuntary wink.

His ears flattened against his head in thought, Figfeather's observations crawling into his ears, burning where they settled. There was no escape from the oddness of it, the ... unpredictability. Anything that couldn't be anticipated had him flush with bristles, anyone who looked at him once would know. And Figfeather had looked at him several times... no matter the clashes they'd had, no matter the mild tension between them, he could at least trust that she knew him, knew this would put him off. Maybe that was why she'd chosen him to talk to... though it was probably just the deputy thing.

Twitchbolt nodded, voice feeling brittle in his dry throat. "It's... yeah, surprising's the word. I like Sorrelsong, but... that was bold..." He winced, thinking of the eyes on her- fire piercing, no doubt. Maggots crawling along your back. He'd check she didn't feel like everyone hated her later, maybe... but perhaps the promotion had helped with that a little. "I- I don't know what Orangestar's thinking, really... I don't, generally..." Further did his jaw tighten, shooting a dull pain into his brain. With loosening, he sighed. "Stars, we can't afford all this infighting..." ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[FIGFEATHER]

Figfeather nods in agreement, "I like her too… I think." After her conversation with Duskpool, she wasn't sure what to think of the tabby anymore. She wanted to think she was maybe just having a bad break—they all have those. Yet to accuse Orangestar of hiding a murder when Duskpool told her it had been nothing of the sort? She shudders.

Figfeather's ears fold back when Twitchbolt confesses he doesn't know what his leader had been thinking. "Had she not asked for your counsel?" A leader didn't have to ask their deputy for advice on everything… but something like that? Figfeather had always assumed Twitchbolt was privy of council additions before the rest of the Clan.

The tabby moves to sit down next to the deputy. At his sigh, she offers him a supportive touch of her tail. "No… we can't." She agrees, though she fears without action the end to the quarreling within SkyClan had no end in sight.

"I suppose we are not innocent of infighting, though." She meows, her half-grin implicating she was making an effort at being lighthearted. "…I hope you know…" She hesitates in a struggle to find the words. StarClan knows she was horrible with them when it came to situations where emotional sensitivity was required. "…That I think you're a good deputy. You're good at it." It tumbles out awkwardly, but it's Figfeather trying her best.

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

The hold uncertainty in common- about Sorrelsong's state, her status, the chaos that had followed an unexpected outburst. Something that seemed so inconsistent to who she was, displayed on full... Twitchbolt winced, inward and outward, at the thought of doing anything like it. Maybe he was weaker than she, then... though he didn't think Figfeather was weak, and it had inspired a similar uneasiness within her.

There was little to be said, besides how mutually stumped they seemed. "Not about Sorrelsong," he murmured, a little more miserably than he would have otherwise liked. Fangs chittered as her tail brushed him, a touch he'd failed to teach himself not to flinch at, by now- but he didn't bark at her, instead offering a small smile once his startling had faded. Fright still slumbered beneath his pelt, after all these moons... it was useless to hide it. The best he could do was make amends when it sprung to the surface.

"No, not really," he agreed, though hoarse tones were brushed to a softness that betrayed his lack of real bite. There was something... odd about him and Figfeather, unique in a way his other friendships weren't. There it was, calling her a friend when sometimes he truly wondered if she hated him. And yet, no... flagging himself for it. "But at least we had the sense to shh-shut up when Leafbare rolled around." Still, there was humour. He really couldn't blame a lot of them for being irritable, truly...

A second startlement bristled across him at Figfeather's unexpected compliment- as factually given as he had come to expect from her, by now. I hope you know, she'd said. And he didn't want to lie to her, say he'd never doubted it. Bowed beneath Orangestar's glare, the both of them- necks out, jaws breathing hot around their throats, there had been a whole lot of doubt then. But... "I know now," he murmured, words given with his usual fang-stashed smile, tight and small but no less genuine than any grin. For a few long moments, no words were spoken- he picked his path carefully. Selfishly, part of him did not want to tell her she would have been, too... to avoid any insinuation he didn't want this, hadn't chosen this destiny with intent to keep it.

"Thank you." He could be nothing but earnest in delivering it. "It- it means a lot coming from you, especially. You're one of the cats I trust most in... in all of SkyClan, really. You always have been- I hope you know that." All of it was meant, and he hoped not too saccharine for Figfeather's tastes. That trust had never really faltered, even when he'd been upset with her. ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[FIGFEATHER]

Figfeather wonders what made Orangestar so certain in her choice to promote Sorrelsong that she didn't think to get the advice of her deputy. Perhaps it was because she knew Twitchbolt and the rest of the council would've advised her against it… There really was no changing her decision now, though. They were stuck with it, Figfeather just hopes Sorrelsong gets her head screwed onto her shoulders for this position moving forward.

She chuckles when he agrees with her, warm mist spilling out from her nose. "We did… we did…" She trails off with a smile, the lightheartedness giving her a fleeting moment of peace. It was rare to share laughter with a friend at this time of the year, it warms her more than a nest of downy.

'I know now,' He meows before they both allow several moments of silence to wash over them. She ignores the awkwardness of it all the best she can, content with what this moment was as is. After awhile he thanks her, she nods. Though she is shocked to hear his next sentiment- honored even.

"Really?" She asks like a kit being offered to be taken out of camp for the first time. She can feel herself get warm underneath her fur, she's flustered, but glad for it. "…That… Thank you." She's positively lost for words, "That means a lot to me—it does." All she ever wanted was to be reliable to her Clanmates, even if she couldn't always be emotionally dependable. She's glad Twitchbolt knows that when push comes to shove he can count on her to be there.

Maybe that was an even higher honor than being named deputy… Well—no, was she kidding? It was close enough though. She cracks a warm smile and allows silence to wash over them.