private open book // sootweasel kids

[cottonsprig]

Cottonfang was once the youngest of seven, if they were to include their mother's older litter. And though the number has never shifted, the proof of such has. Shrikethorn, demolished by her mother's own tooth and claw. And Harrierstripe... Her breath is shaky as she tries to figure out the best way to tell her siblings, if there were any at all. They have to know, if not for the fact that Harrierstripe was their brother, too, but because Cottonfang is selfish. She cannot shoulder this grief alone, she simply refuses to.

She sends off an excitable apprentice to find Moorblossom and Addervenom - Bluefrost is more often than not nestled in the medicine den, due to her injuries, so she doesn't have the worry of misplacing her twin. She waits, admittedly not so eagerly, for her siblings to arrive before escorting them closer to Bluefrost's nest, just so that the other doesn't have to justify leaving it. The tunneler is healing, after all - and Cottonfang must put her health above all.

"I won't keep you long," she says, ears folding back, "I just - I just thought you guys should know, if you've not been told already... Harrierstripe - he ran off during the fight here. I don't know how, but he ended up in SkyClan. They, um -" she swallows a lump in her throat, "They told Sunstride that he had attacked Blazestar. Sunstride didn't come back with his body, so I can only assume... that it's gone to us." Cottonfang stares down at her paws for a few long moments, ears turning backwards.

"He - he had gotten Snakehiss pretty bad, and clearly didn't have the best course of action in mind, but -" she takes in a deep breath, shaking her head, "He was one of us. I wish... I wish..." she feels like a pitiful kitten, nearly blubbering, and allows her voice to trail off.

[ @BLUEFROST @MOORBLOSSOM @Addervenom ]​

 

[BLUEFROST]

Cottonfang holds something grave in her mouth as though it is a sour piece of prey. Bluefrost can tell by the expression on her littermate’s face that something bitter rests against her tongue, something she wants to spit out and swallow all at once. Something flutters in her belly when Moorblossom and Addervenom approach her nest—she almost recoils at the former’s appearance. She had forsaken her ebony-pelted sister, had written her off as dead, had even vowed to be the one to kill her at one point. Seeing her again in WindClan’s camp, in Wolfsong’s den, unmarked and strong and vibrant, is enough to set guilt’s fiery teeth in her intestines.

She flicks her green gaze toward Cottonfang. She begins to speak, hesitantly, speaking around a lump of grief that has settled thickly into her throat. Harrierstripe. Bluefrost’s shoulders tense. He’d been her last littermate to stick by their mother’s side—she had assumed he’d escaped with Granitepelt, that he’d live his remaining days on the fringes of WindClan’s territory with the former ShadowClan cat. “He’s… he’s dead?” Bluefrost’s jaw tightens, her teeth gnashing together. “He died in SkyClan? But… but what was he doing there?”

He'd gone to attack Blazestar, Cottonfang says around the gloss of her tears. He’d gone to make Sootstar and Weaselclaw proud of him one last, bitter time, and Bluefrost chokes. “Oh, Harrierstripe,” she murmurs, her voice cracked with sorrow. “That damned harebrained fool. That—” She turns her face away from her littermates’, unwilling for them to see the depth of her grief.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Bluekit . Bluepaw . Bluefrost, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 13 moons old, ages realistically on the 14th.
  — mentored by Sootstar ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a.
  — windclan warrior. sootstar x weaselclaw, gen 2.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh blue and white she-cat with emerald eyes. aloof, dignified, poised, haughty, composed, distant.
  
  

​

 

[MOORBLOSSOM]

She bore witness to that dreadful revelation, looking upon its mouthpiece with grief and censure in equal measure. A major fraction within her turned away Sunstride's terrible words and condemned them as naught but the mewls of a misinformed tomcat, one whose mind was made all fuzzy from a day's worth of prolonged travel.

What good did the leader-to-be expect her to do, once given the grim tidings? Moorblossom held neither the authority nor influence needed to lift one whisker on her (late) brother's behalf, but now, she was halfway inclined to withdraw from the moors to find Harrierstripe's remains. It would be a step further than anyone else had taken. Revulsion coiled tight about her innards like a python. Revulsion, and spiteful incredulity.

It is possible that distress clouded Cottonfang's vision to the point where her perception omitted the moor runner's involvement in the moment. Regardless, she responded to her summons without delay, scampering into the medicine den at full tilt.

Emerald eyes need not scour Wolfsong's refuge for long before identifying their mark; nestled atop a nest redolent of herbs lay her other sister, Bluefrost, in all her bitter glory. The ethereal molly's perspective on her, however altered in this past season, remained inscrutable as ever. Does she retain any affection for her, or was that all cast away like sand?

Her gaze holds on her blue-pelted littermate, even as Cottonfang delves into the reason why she'd gathered them here. It need not be reiterated. She's yet to surrender completely to this unproven truth. Slight tension draws her brows together when she watches her own reaction play across Bluefrost's mien, nearly plucking the words right out from her throat.

A wince precedes the withdrawal of her whiskers, the younger she-cat's frame lugging backwards as if dragged down by unseen paws. Woe overwhelms her, as it does any cat to have learned their kin met cruel death. Harrierstripe did not deserve an end as shameful as that - not her headstrong, passionate brother. "He was a misguided, reckless idiot, but SkyClan did him wrong!" Contorted into an ugly sneer, Moorblossom angles her muzzle steep. "Harrierstripe should be buried at home, no matter how badly he wished to see it torn apart."

Breath draws out in precarious increments, claw-tips flirting with the clammy ground underfoot. "Sunstride, he didn't bring his body back. So how do we even know if he's really gone, huh?" Then, her sightline attaches solely onto Cottonfang. Solemn, sullen, somber, she asks softly, "How do we know?"​

 

[Addervenom]

The pestering of a giddy apprentice begging for him to approach the medicine den finally pays off. Minor irritation lay plastered upon the tom's face. Truthfully, basking in his siblings presence was the last thing he wanted. His stomach churns with a myriad of emotions. Guilt for at one point seeking the demise of both Cottonfang and Moorblossom. Regret for failing to change Bluefrost and Harrierstripe's mind before the final battle. And finally, Filthy. For defecting to Sunstride's side after being given a moment of grace instead of remaining with Sootstar until the bitter end. He should have taken his last breath beside her. Spent his final moments fighting for a kingdom that was rightfully their's. But now he carries the weight of disappointing their mother when she possibly needed him most.

He remained standing, hoping this meeting would end sooner than later. However he would never be prepared for the words that came spilling from the medic's mouth. With every word she recants the tale of Harrierstripe's death and his heart sinks like a stone. He could feel bile rising up and filling his mouth. "They told Sunstride he attacked Blazestar" His mind flits back to a night where he and Harrierstripe sat on the edge of shadowclan's turf. Back when rogues plagued the forest and clan cats worked together to journey to the mountains. That night he shared coveted words spoken on Weaselclaw's sick bed. A promise to rid the world of their father's enemies, Smokestar and Blazestar.

Star Killers the duo dubbed themselves that night. Now Harrierstripe's body lay abandoned in a kittypet wretched land to rot and turn to crow food. A fate that could have easily been avoided if he'd been there to aid his sibling. Harrierstripe was likely dead because of him. Because Sunstride's words of wisdom altered his decision to walk a bloody path. His breathing hitches as Bluefrost and Moorblossom speak their piece, fluttering in and out in rapid succession. Chocolate ears meld to his skull as his eyes screw shut. More disappointment, more regret, more filth. Failure after failure. Addervenom grits his teeth as the beginnings of hot tears cloud his vision. With pressure so tight he was sure his fangs would shatter. "Harrierstripe, forgive me please..." A useless plead to a soul that would never hear it. Abruptly, with rigid intensity, Weaselclaw's lookalike turns and leaves. Quivering with sorrow and drowning in loss. ​

»»———- windclan warrior / thirteen moons old / he/him ———-««​