private ripping roots and picking petals [slatetooth]

[GRAVELSNAP]

The distance between themself and Slatetooth is noticeable—Gravelsnap wonders when it had begun, and how they hadn’t noticed. It seems, now, that they don’t even know their own brother. They wonder how much of it is their father’s fault. Blaming things on Lynxtooth has always been easy, ever since they’d managed to drag themself out from beneath his heavy paws, stopped believing the lies that he’d fed them both. It feels as though Slatetooth has drifted further away, though, and Gravelsnap isn’t certain whether the distance can be bridged. Is their brother even willing to cross the unseen divide that now lies between them?

The two are out on patrol, and Gravelsnap can’t stop thinking about what had happened the other day. The first time they had spoken to Slatetooth in a while, and it was their brother calling them over to talk about themself and Periwinklebreeze. It frustrates them. "So," they begin, hazel eyes shifting to their brother. "How did you know about me and Periwinklebreeze?" They and Peri aren’t anything more than friends, but Gravelsnap has confessed their own feelings for the black-pointed warrior. They’re only waiting for Periwinklebreeze to say something, to acknowledge everything that had happened before he’d gone off to the mountains and returned home with a terribly damaged eye. "Surely you’ve got your own interests, too." Slatetooth has to have interest in someone around the clan, right? Gravelsnap isn’t certain whether their brother even thinks about romance in his daily life; perhaps the black-furred tom merely ignores the concept entirely.


// @slatetooth​

[ you put the fun into dysfunction ]​

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[slateheart]

-ˋˏ ༻☽༺ ˎˊ- Slatetooth often looks fondly back on his kithood; three innocent kittens snuggled up to both their mothers in some distant barn somewhere, enjoying the smaller things in life and blissfully oblivious to the horrors of the real world. That reality was ripped away from him in a matter of minutes, and he hasn't known a moment of peace or kinship since.

He doesn't remember the last time he ever truly sat down and spoke with his brother, besides passing greetings and the recent gossip over couples that he partook in. Slatetooth remembers his apprenticeship; how jealous he was of Gravelsnap's treatment from their shared father, ever in his and Sootstar's good graces, and how Slatetooth - then Slatepaw - felt he could never truly meet those expectations. His brother had a natural affinity to being admirable, and Slatetooth was always nothing more than meek. The jealousy drove a rift in between them, as the young apprentice back then was too immature (and too traumatized) to see past surface level. Now, with the past behind them and the future uncertain, Slatetooth felt the drive to rekindle the relationship they had when they were kits.. but is it even possible now? Has he burnt that bridge beyond repair?

At first, he treats the patrol outing with Gravelsnap as any other patrol with any other warrior, but as his brother begins to speak to him, he feels strangely at ease - like a sense of relief that his existence wasn't going unnoticed. How did you know about me and Periwinklebreeze? Slatetooth never really knew; he was just shooting the breeze at the one cat he felt he actually knew to some extent. His attempt to bond with friendly teasing failed, but maybe he'd be more successful now? "I see you two together, like, all the time," he replied, regarding Gravelsnap curiously. "It wasn't meant to be an accusation or anything, I was honestly just grabbing at straws. Sorry for teasing you about it." It was pretty weird of him to call his brother out in front of a crowd of cats that neither of them likely knew, but he was acting in the moment. It was a better idea in his head. "The way you word it though makes it sound like I was right." A small, knowing smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He'd be happy for Gravelsnap, truly, and Periwinklebreeze too - he remembers the latter from his apprentice days, always a comforting presence.

Gravelsnap's question to him didn't gain nearly as much interest. Slatetooth responded with a casual shrug, as if he wasn't taking the question seriously - which, he wasn't. "Me? No. I don't really know anyone like.. that." Romance never crossed his mind - he always had too many burdens to carry, from the moment he was apprenticed to Lynxtooth, all the way until now. He was never much of an approachable cat anyway, and similarly he's only rarely approached anyone else. It'd be a miracle for him to make a single friend, but a romantic interest? That'd be a StarClan blessed occurrence if he's ever seen one. I don't know who to trust, either, were the words unspoken, lingering in his mind day in and day out. Though he's never shown open disdain for Sootstar's loyalists until recently, in fear of his father's reaction, he'd never trust one in his close circle, with the exception of his kin. And to trust those that weren't would be a risk in its own, as he didn't want to put a target on his head. To remain in the middle as much as possible was ideal for him. In doing so, he hasn't made many connections with.. anyone, really. If he lives to see this all end, if it ever does end, well.. maybe that'll be a different story, when the time comes.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG ⋅❁⋅ YOU'RE A LOADED GUN ──┐‎

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  SLATETOOTH ✩ he/him, moor-runner of windclan, 17 moons.
  ⭃ a reclusive short-haired black tom with low white and green eyes.
  ⭃ mate to no one. son of lynxtooth x adelaide. brother to gravelsnap and ashpaw.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by ixora ↛ @.ixora on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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