no shortage of sordid / Burnstorm

[ROEFLAME .]

ROEFLAME — I fell in love with the fire long ago.

Despite her adoration for the brindled medicine cat, there was not enough honey in the world to quench the bitter taste on Roeflames tongue as she finds herself in the medicine den once more, met with uneasy and feverish flashbacks of her battle with Yellow Cough.
The tabby had made herself a small presence, tucking herself in the furthest unoccupied corner she could as she waited for her shoulder to heal. The warrior hopes it doesn’t leave a scar, a vain and fleeting thought.
The news of Little Wolf’s death traveled quickly, and while her own heart mourned the ebony queen, Burnstorm’s well-being was a much more overwhelming feeling.
Lilac and pinks are painted across the sky when Roeflame hears a rustle at the entrance, eyes fastening quickly onto the broad silhouette of her…
Well, that wasn’t what was important right now.
With a bit of effort, she lifts herself from her mossy bed, her gait wobbly but determined as she makes her way from her nest to Burnstorm, tucking her forehead under his chin in a melancholy greeting.
"I need some air, will you come with me?" Her tone is unusually delicate from where she still remains in her best attempt at an embrace, careful not to disturb the other slumbering patients or Berryheart himself.

@BURNSTORM !
"speech"

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[BURNSTORM]

Burnstorm has been a mess since he had learned of his mothers death. He cannot stop imagining her green eyes, the light dying from behind them, her small body laying broken and bleeding in the snow an when he blinks suddenly it is Morningpaw who lays in her place. Why did the stars always take from him? When would they ever deem him worthy of giving something in return? It is a selfish thought, one he immediately regrets the second he lays golden eyes on silver hued fur. They had not said in words what they were to each other now, but when he steps foot into the medicine cats den he can feel it. Perhaps the stars had taken pity on him after all.

He does not speak but somehow she senses his presence and before he knows it she is standing and making her way to him. His heart twists in his chest as he watches her stumble forward and if he could find the rogue who had done this to her and kill him again he would not hesitate to do so. For her, anything for her. Her presence cannot take the pain of losing his mother away entirely, but when she presses her head against his chin it does lessen the sting of thorns in his heart. He closes his eyes and revels in her touch for a long moment, not daring to be the first to pull away. If it were his choice they would climb into a nest together, he would curl around her and close his eyes and he would forget about the world for a time. Safe surrounded by the comfort of her familiar scent.

She finally speaks, breaking the spell, and it is a request. How can he deny her anything when he owes her everything? "Of course" he says, without hesitation and as much as he did not want to he pulls away and steps out into the twilight. His golden eyes flicker around camp, to all the cats who are settling down to share tongues, to share meals. It is crazy to him how easy it was for life to just continue even without the presence of someone who had once been so vital. He finds a spot not far from his uncles den and lays down, leaving space close to him for Roeflame to settle down into if she wished. "How's your shoulder feeling?" he murmurs, his voice gentle.

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[ROEFLAME .]

ROEFLAME — break the air to feel the fall.
Content to follow in his lead, Roeflame settles beside him with ease, no longer uneasy to rest her flank against his, the gesture feeling more natural than anything.
When Burnstorm speaks, his tone is oddly soft, spoken with a delicacy Roeflame had heard only once or twice before.
"Sore, but you should see the other guy." She hums with a spark of mischief, remembering fleetingly how Burnstorm had practically appeared out of thin air to barrel her opponent off of her, coming to the tabbies rescue once more.
Her eyes are steady on his, flickering to and fro as she did her best to study the lead warriors expression.
Her empathy, while there, could only extend so far. Losing Cinderfrost had been a grief-stricken spiral of betrayal, losing Dewfrost had been sudden and angry. Roeflame could not imagine a life where she was given a pure, true bond with either she-cat.
Yet, the cinnamon warrior still remembers when Burnstorm- Burnpaw, then- had sought her out in the medicine den, how he had let her cry on his shoulder of her lost sibling before drifting off to sleep, or bringing her a meal when she could not have a care to feed herself after Dewfrosts death, how he had seemed to always be her rock in her darkest hour.
Roeflame does not expect the tom to burst into tears like she had, but still a forepaw is extended silently, resting over his. "We don’t have to talk about her, or we can until the sun rises and sets again. It’s going to hurt until it’s not, and I promise to be by your side through everything, and after." While her voice is steady, Roeflame is filled with uncertainty, never knowing the right thing to say.
So, she decides to let her words hang in the air for a moment and instead rest her head lightly against his shoulder.
"speech"

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[BURNSTORM]

If he is being honest, he isn't entirely certain what he wants to do. A part of him wants to scream and scream and scream about how unfair it was that nearly all of the other cats who had departed got to come home, that everyone got their happy ending, their joyful family reunions, except his family. Little Wolf was gone and he hadn't even gotten to say a proper goodbye. She was gone and she was buried on some far away, unreachable mountain and it wasn't fair. He wants to shout at the stars, demand they bring her back. But on the other paw he wants to crumble into himself, into Roeflame even if she would let him. He wants to put his paws over his eyes and pretend like this news was something straight out of a bad dream but he knows that neither of the options he had layed out for himself would make him feel any better so instead he sighs. "I just.. how is ThunderClan ever going to feel the same now that she's gone. Y'know?" his voice is quiet as he speaks, his faraway gaze focused on their paws that overlap. He is grateful to her, grateful that she is here because he is uncertain if he could walk this path of mourning alone. Stars knew Moonwhisper would not have done it with him. These days it felt as if she were too busy being angry and discontent to enjoy much of anything anymore. He had seen the change in her slowly forming, and yet he had done nothing. Because he had been angry too.

"She was a good cat Roeflame. Despite what others may have thought of her, she was always kind, always saw the beauty in everything. I don't think the forest will ever know another like her" he remembers a time when he had been much younger than he was now, a time when he was once smaller than the ebony she-cat, she told him that love is seeing an imperfect cat perfectly. At the time, he wasn't sure if he understood but now... Now when he looks at Roeflame, when she leans her head into his shoulder and he inhales the familiar scent of oak and lavender that seems to follow her around everywhere he understands. "Im glad you're here with me right now" he says as he presses his nose to the top of her head and closes his eyes.

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