MANY HAPPY RETURNS \ stormywing

[FERNGILL]

Quiet lulled more and more over the group as they advanced further. The knowledge that they would soon be splitting up had hit Fernpaw especially quite suddenly, and though he white-knuckle gripped his cheerful nature he couldn't deny that the impending sadness when they went their seperate ways was already beginning to get to him.

A stony pelt walked nearby, slow and silent. He and his sister both had grown a friendship with this she-cat, who moons before had been a sworn enemy- especially on Fernpaw's part. As a young apprentice he'd sworn childish revenge against her, ready and willing to get her back after she'd humiliated him at Sunningrocks. But really... he'd humiliated himself, hadn't he? Scrawny and underdeveloped, he'd thrown himself headfirst into the fight and had only looked toward the outcome- an outcome that had never ended up happening. Joking with her under low moonlight had worked to change his outlook quite considerably.

"You owe me a spar, next time I see you." Determined to cheer her up a bit, to be good company, he picked up his pace to fall in step with her. Still was he smaller, carrying shorter strides... but he knew he could be a match for her. When he was Fernclaw, or Fernfur, or something else... a RiverClan warrior. And it helped to mention a next time, to have faith there'd be one.

\ @STORMYWING ! ​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Stormywing's muzzle is pointed towards the ground, her eyes downcast as she walks. She appears to everyone else as deep in thought, or perhaps her spirits are low, and in truth she is both. The journey is drawing to a close. This should be a moment she celebrates. Instead, all she can think about is Stormpaw, left behind with the others. Flamewhisker had ordered her to go on ahead and make sure her share of lungwort makes it back. She understands...but it doesn't make it easier to leave her crippled kin behind. And then there's a certain tortoiseshell, and that impending goodbye seems harder than ever. She wants to avoid thinking about it.

Fernpaw's voice startles her out of her thoughts. She picks up her head and blinks at him a few times, refocusing. He issues a challenge, albeit with a smile, and she returns her own smirk. "You're on! Name a time and place and you know I'm there." She playfully shoulders him, tail lashing lightheartedly.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[FERNGILL]

She didn't really know her own strength- or maybe she did, because with her shoulder bump Fernpaw lost a little bit more of his balance than he would have liked too. Managing to stay upright, though, a giggle burst from him at her cheeriness. Name a time and place- and maybe it was nothing to do with him, and she'd just have taken any fight, but it oddly meant a fair bit to Fernpaw. That she'd see him as worth fighting, not just an easy opponent to bulldoze who'd surrender no entertainment.

"Well, if you think RiverClan'll just sit around without Sunningrocks forever..." And he was really joking, but- also not, really. Sunningrocks was rightfully RiverClan's, stolen from them by the ever-righteous Thunderclanners, and just because he considered Stormywing something of a friend now didn't mean he was going to go easy on her when that inevitable battle happened. "You're dead wrong! I bet I'll see you there." The offer was there if she wanted it. A promised opponent in every battle RiverClan and ThunderClan ever had. An odd olive-branch of friendship- in fact, it was hardly an olive-branch more than it was a branch fashioned into a stake- but it did stem from a soft place, nevertheless. ​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

If there's one thing Stormywing takes seriously, it is her clan's rightful stake on the territory they won. She levels him with a narrowed glance - and perhaps there is something of a warning in them - before she huffs, "Then I'll be lookin' for ya pelt in the crowd." After a moment, a sneer still breaks across her muzzle, intentions shifting back to good. Perhaps Fernpaw was once an enemy, but those days are gone. This journey has changed her - changed all of them. She'll never be able to see the tom as just some RiverClannever ever again. He will always be Fernpaw, her friend from the mountains, whether their clans like it or not.

"Say, uh," She begins, changing the topic. "Icy- Iciclefang, said your sister and father are sick. You excited to get back to them?" She tilts her head to him, expression falling more serious, more curious.

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[FERNGILL]

The challenge landed well, but he didn't miss the glimmer of determination in her eye. That typical-of-ThunderClan righteousness- though for once, he could see that in the gaze of another cat and receive it with good humour. What he wasn't expecting of her was her talking about his sister and father- something Iciclefang had mentioned, apparently. Icy. He hadn't missed it. Ashpaw used to call her that. They'd become close during this journey, hadn't they?

Fernpaw smiled at the distant memory of his family whole and healthy and happy. It would be like that again, soon. "Yeah. If I get made a warrior after this... I bet my dad'll be thankful to finally have a new apprentice." It was starting to get a little easier to joke about, now- because this purgatorial apprenticeship, he hoped, was coming to an end. Even Iciclefang had admitted she thought of him as a warrior. Half-blinded from foolishness as he was, still himself, but he'd be home and he'd have earned it. "And my sister, she wanted to hear everything. So I'm excited to tell her!" Everything. It was daunting, but more than ever he felt like he could manage it.

A verdant eye turned to her, inquisitive. "What about you? Do you have anyone sick, back home?" ​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

She chuckles, a rumbling sound in her throat in response to his joke. She's sure it isn't true; in fact, she thinks he's lucky to have kin mentor him. If Flycatcher had been her mentor...well, she feels training would've been much more of a breeze! Barkjaw had become an idol of hers, but there is no doubt he'd been hard on her. It made me better, She acknowledges inwardly, flicking her tail.

She looks to him again when he asks about her family and hesitates. "My sister," She finally says, nodding. "Cloudyfur. She's the reason I came on this journey. I can't wait to get the cure back to her." She looks to the horizon wistfully, eager to reach the forest and shove the flowers right down her clanmate's throat! Deep down, she fears the worst...what if another family member had fallen sick while she'd been gone? Or Burnstorm or Wildheart or Wolfwind or Mousenose? Well...if they have, then I'll shove the flowers down their throats, too!

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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