private MERRYGOROUND OF LIFE \ starlingheart

[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Starlingheart was upset. Even a still-developing mind could notice that, and Nettlepaw knew enough about himself by now to tell that he liked making other cats feel better. Ever since Heavybranch had died, she'd been a bit lower, to say the very least... and he couldn't deny the concern that swelled up within him, to the point where it felt a bit like he was having his breath squeezed out of him. He loved his family, and was filled with haunting and unpleasant despair at the idea of any of them being hurt. The thought of it shuddered through him at any opportunity it could manage, and he always tried to shake it off. If something was hurting his mother, he'd do what he could to rid her of it.

Still, approaching was pretty hard. Even his own mother. Everyone expected him to be doing apprentice duties, of course- working toward carving himself a place, toward being the warrior he was supposed to be. Living up to his potential. Cheering up Starlingheart was a lot more appealing right now, though.

Five pebbles were crowded in a line along the bridge of his nose. Eyes crossed, he wobbled over to Starlingheart, grin as shining as the white mask of his face. "I've been doing this for ages," he remarked, as if it was something impressive. Humour embedded itself in his tone as he swayed to keep the rocks there. It was pointless, but probably looked funny.

\ @STARLINGHEART ​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[Starlingheart]

Nettlepaw would be correct in his diagnosis. She was tired and defeated, downcast even. But the last thing she wanted was for her mood to affect those around her, to bring down her kits and interrupt their training. She tried her best to be positive around them, but some of the melancholy was seeping through the cracks it seemed.

Nettlepaw had always been different from his siblings. While Ghostpaw and Flintkit were more serious, Nettlepaw had always been a bright ray of sun. Always did he strive to cheer up those around him and she admired her son for his upbeat personality. If the circumstances of her birth had been different, she wonders if she would have turned out similar. Regardless, there are pieces of herself that she can see in him, in all of her children really but especially him.

"Nettlepaw" she says in way of greeting when she senses a presence at the entrance of her den, when she sees ginger fur out of the corner of her eye. She has yet to look up from the pile of herbs at her feet, counting out how much chickweed she had, figuring out how much she needed to last and who needed it most. Her sons voice makes her look up from her work though and when she does her nose scrunches in a snorting laugh "I wonder... how much could you balance at once?" she says, herbs forgotten as she turns away to give her full attention to her son. Her work could wait, for now.

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OOC NOTES . ✦ . CHARACTER INFO

• ooc : — ​
• 
  

  
  ➵ she / her
  ➵ shadowclan medicine cat
  ➵ mates with Granitepelt
  
  

  

  - - a small, black furred she-cat with green eyes
  ↪ toyhouse [ ✦ ]
  
  - - Starlingheart is the reclusive and anxious medicine cat of shadowclan. She tries her best to always be kind and to wear her heart on her sleeve but life has not always dealt her the best hand. Still, she does her best to remain optimistic and faithful to starclan even in the face of her clans cynicism. Because of her stutter, which is starting to improve as she gets older and gains more confidence in herself, she tries to speak as little as possible. Her quiet demeanor has granted her a valuable skill, however, the ability to listen. She prefers to hang back in the shadows and observe over being in the spotlight and because of this she has learned to pick up on things quickly. It is what she can attribute her quick skills as a medicine cat to, the ability to retain information, the ability to learn swiftly. Despite the way life has gone for her, she believes that there is good in everyone she meets. Because of this she trusts easily and therefor is easy to manipulate.
  ↪ INFJ-T 'the advocate'
  
  ➵ skilled medicine cat ; not very good at anything else
  ➵ BRIARSTAR X AMBER; sister to pitchstar, nightswarm, chittertongue, skunktail, and lilacfur; mother to nettlekit, ghostkit and flintkit
  ​

 

[NETTLEPAW ♡]

For a moment, she didn't look up- Nettlepaw thought, dramatically, that she might never. Still, he held steadfast to his performance, his positivity, hoping it would shine bright enough to catch her eye- and it did. A glimmer caught in her periphery, and she laughed- he saw the wrinkle of it on her muzzle. A feeling of satisfaction bloomed within him, like a twisting vine with a flower at its tip. Impressively, he kept them balanced there even with the distraction- snowy ears forked at her soft-toned challenge. Her work was forgotten, he'd infected her with procrastination.

"You wonder..." he repeated, dipping his head to let them clatter to the ground. Deft paws swept up little bits of debris, as confidently as if he knew they were waiting for him there. Eyes alight with playful challenge, sky-blued flicked to his mother's face. "Well, I wonder about you! Most stones on your snout without letting them fall wins... how's that?" It was a stupid game, he'd never deny that. Something trivial to pass the time, but he truly believed it would help mend whatever had harmed his mother's namesake heart. He still had time for this, for her, among his training. How dull would life be without it?​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[Starlingheart]

Her cinnamon furred kin seems to delight in the attention that she gives him, she can see it in the way his features alight when her rounded green eyes fall upon him to watch the spectacle that he was creating. He offers her a challenge then, most stones on your snout without letting them fall wins he says. "Fine, you're-you're on" she says and for a minute she could almost forget everything in this world that is troubling her, for a minute she can let it all go so that she may spend a moment with her son acting like she herself is a kit again. It was nice to let go this way and for a moment she wonders if Nettlepaw knew, if he was doing this on purpose because in his own strange way he could sense the melancholy that seeped from her very being and she thinks that if he had then he is wise beyond his limited moons. More cats could stand to learn from him, herself included.

"If you lose though you have to help me convince Pearlwhisker to take her medicine" and in her eyes there is a challenge, a spark of competitiveness that Starlingheart had not even known was there. If her son had any demands to make of her for if she lost then so be it. She was dertermined not to let him win anyways, no way was she going to pass up having help dealing with the elder who's bones ached but refused to let her do anything about it without verbally assaulting her.

She reaches out with one paw and begins to carefully stack stones one on top of the other until she has five stones balanced on her snout, by the end of it her eyes are crossed and she wobbles in an attempt to keep them all balanced but she wears a wide grin on her face. She feels absolutely ridiculous, and if anyone were to see her right now she is certain they would no doubt question her abilities as a medicine cat, but she doesn't care. This was perhaps the most fun she has had in her life here in this moment with her son.

// pls im sorry this is so late

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[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Never had Nettlepaw been told the full story of his mother's appointment as a medicine cat. As used to joking as he was, with all the revelling he did in making others laugh, he simply read her face as one of extreme glee. All it told him was that he had been doing a pretty good job of cheering her up so far. Gladdened, he nodded- there it was, the stakes. The forfeit. Every good game needed one. And Pearlwhisker was a pretty notorious elder, wasn't she?

He knew his mother wasn't completely, unchangeably softhearted. She was kind, but she wasn't just going to let him win- good, because he didn't want her to! Blue eyes flickered up-and-down, up-and-down, following her movements as she matched what he'd managed before. Five little stones[/I], and her eyes were so crossed it looked like it ached to hold them that way. A medicine cat, looking this ridiculous- it was like getting a leader to stand on two legs while they called a meeting.

Nettlepaw snorted at how she looked, but with no malice behind it. Lighthearted teasing only bloomed cornflower-blue in his eyes, and then it was his turn. Mimicking the manoeuvres he'd done before was difficult- he got all the way up to four before, when attempting to place the fifth stone, he knocked a balanced rock just-lightly-enough to send a domino-effect hail clattering to the ground.

"Aaagh!" he shrieked dramatically, striking the floor with a snowy paw but grinning like an idiot all the while. "Well... to Pearlwhisker it is, then. Can we just hold her down?" It was a stupid joke, and he wasn't entirely sure she'd approve of it, but... the image was funny, wasn't it?​

penned by pin ♡​