private See how the world could be | Turtledove

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

He finds Turtledove (he has been rolling the name in his mind until it smooths all over like a stone, making sure he never gets it wrong) a little before she is due to start her vigil. The night is cold and thick with the smell of Leaf-fall: it smells like an ending. It is, to his surprise, more sweet than it is bitter.

"A word, if you will," he tells her, nodding towards the edge of camp.

The hour is late enough he doesn't have to go far to find a quiet, secluded spot to have Emotions in. He sits primly, kneading the ground a little, still antsy from the meeting earlier. His mouth constantly wants to pull into a smile; he lets it now, although his first words are a little grim for the expression.

"When I was young," he starts quietly, "I had a brother named Turtle — Pond Turtle. You do not look or act much like him — you are much older than he ever got to be, for starters — but…" He turns his head, swallowing hard. His voice stays level, mostly out of habit. "You are a little similar, nonetheless. Brave… Strong in more ways than one."

He looks back at her then, his smile fading but his face remaining soft and his whiskers tilted, all of his fond. "Turtledove," he says softly, "I do not have kits. I never had this chance. But if being your mentor for these past moons is the closest I ever come to it, then I will consider myself infinitely fortunate." He clears his throat, awkward, and huffs a faint laugh. "Smokestar would have cuffed me over the ears for saying that."

It's true, though, in a way. He watched her grow, gain in confidence, her boundless energy maturing into steadfast determination. He watched her rise to every challenge. He does not know what it feels like to be a parent like Lichenstar or Willowroot are, but he'd like to believe it feels a little like this: pride and affection, joy at the thought of all the things left for her to do.

(And crushing anxiety, of course, at what might happen to her, but tonight is not the right time for it. He'll have this particular breakdown in the privacy of his nest.)

"You were a better apprentice than I could ever have hoped to be trusted with, and there is no doubt in my mind that you will become the best of all of us. I could not be more proud of who you have become." His eyes narrow, playful, and he adds (quickly, before the feelings have too much time to settle:) "Also, I have a gift for you — a promotion present, if you will." ​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely​

ooc. information.

• @Turtledove
• 
  
  
  — Snakeblink • he / him. 57 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  

​

 

[TURTLEDOVE]

—————————————————【 riverclan | warrior | she/her 】————————————————

【◈】Turtledove felt dizzy. Everyone was walking up to her with congratulations and using her new name. After each quick "thank you" muttered, she was whipped around by another smiling face. When she turned and saw Snakeblink's achingly familiar face grinning at her, the new warrior heaved a relieved sigh and followed at his word. She never thought the day she was tired of talking would come, but this warrior ceremony had her leaving like a dried creek bed.

She sat before him and a stark realization hit her. Turtledove had to look down to meet Snakeblink's eyes. When... how...? She thought back to when she was first apprenticed to him. She had bowled into his chest with a fervor. He seemed so tall then. A giant with infinite knowledge ready to show her the world. Now he was her peer and he was shorter than her.

She was patiently quiet as he tells her of his sibling. Turtledove couldn't relate to having siblings related by blood. All she had were the cats similar to her in age. Even they were so much more different than her. Still, she tried to imagine this tiny furball that looked like the older tom standing before her and she beamed at the compliment buried in that story. She had always wanted to make Snakeblink proud, and with the sentiment he shared just now, she knew that she had. Warmth bubbles in her paws and her eyes begin to water again. Had she ever cried this much?

Turtledove opened her mouth to thank Snakeblink, but quietly stopped herself at his soft tone. She was an orphan. A common fact in RiverClan. She had never longed for her parents, though. She only had pride in them, but she couldn't deny the comfort of Snakeblink's touch or soft voice. And you are the closest thing I've had to a father, she wanted to respond. She wanted to tell him so much in that moment, bit in a rare instance, she held her tongue.

At the mention of a gift, Turtledove perked her ears and felt kit-like excitement pour into her. Gifts were rare. Gifts were precious. A gift from Snakeblink was like giving her the river and all the fish within. She laughed loudly while throwing her head back. "You didn't have to get me anything, you old fuddy duddy! Being my mentor was a gift enough. Truly. But if you insist I can't wait to see what you got me!" She can feel the tears threatening to spill over despite the wide grin plastered on her face.

[penned by muddly].

​

 

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————

"Fuddy du—" Snakeblink snorts a laugh, baffled and fond in equal measure. "I should have held you back until you were twenty moons, perhaps then you would have some respect — and better nicknames."

Being my mentor was a gift enough. He tucks his smile into his fur as he twists around to reach the small gift he stashed close-by for this very occasion.

It's a turtle scute, shed at some point in the past moons: he spent many patrols and late evenings searching high and low for it, digging around known turtle-spots and sometimes digging up entire disgruntled turtles as he went. It's a smooth, pleasant brown, lighter and darker hues wrapping together like shadows in water, about the size of his two paws put together; he brushes off specks of dirt clinging to its shiny surface before carefully plucking it from its hiding place and placing it at Turtledove's paws.

"You are your own warrior now, so you will not have me around to protect you anymore," he says, a little choked-up even as he is joking: she is large enough that he could do little to protect her that she could not do herself. "But I hope this brings you luck and sturdiness when you need them, so that you can face every danger that comes your way and live to fight another day."​

​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely​

​

ooc. information.

• 
  
  
  — Snakeblink • he / him. 57 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo

​

 

[TURTLEDOVE]

A dull ache started in her chest at the thought of just a little more time with Snakeblink. Even just a moon more of training and being under his watchful eye. She knew it was impossible, and that she would have probably been as impatient as she was just this morning to receive her warrior name. She also knew that Snakeblink would have been so patient with her while she waited. She grinned through the feeling and patiently watched as her former mentor brought out his gift.

A turtle scute. She could not hold back the squeal of delight that left her. She stuck her face close to it, inspecting it and cooing at the colors it held. She had always carried a fondness for her namesake. Most thought of the turtle as slow or lazy, but she knew that a river turtle was one of the fastest swimmers other than fish. If Turtledove could find one sunning itself on a river rock, she would jump into the river near it and race it as it fled her surprise. She never won.

Gingerly, she picked the scute up with her paw. Where would she put it? Would she affix it to her fur like some of her clanmates? Or would she stash it in her nest like her bug collection? That was a decision for later. Right now she watched wide-eyed as Snakeblink explained his purpose for the gift and felt her emotions give way.

Slowly - and careful to not step on her most prized possession - Turtledove made herself tiny and tucked her head under Snakeblink's jaw. She had no father, no mother, and no living kin. She had no one in this world but Snakeblink. She had watched the other cats her age do this exact maneuver with their own parents, and was now trying her best to imitate it. Her ear, pressed to his chest, found his heartbeat.

She had, in her relatively short life, only heard the heartbeats of the queens who had taken over her care as a kit and now Snakeblink. Was this what cats with kin heard whenever they would press so lovingly into each other? Turtledove wished for a moment that the universe was kinder and Snakeblink was really her kin from the start. That he had always been in her life and she never felt so alone. "Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you, Snakeblink," she whispered into his chest fur.

✧ ✧ YOU COULD LET IT ALL GO

• ooc:
•  
• — large stocky silver charcoal tabby she-cat with short tail and green eyes
  — 12 moons old; ages the 1st every month
  — bisexual(?) ; currently not looking
  — child of Pondstep and Shadoweye
  — riverclan ; loyal to lichenstar
  — easy to befriend ; trusts easily with a kind word
  — "speech", thoughts, attacking
  — peaceful powerplay allowed and encouraged!

 

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

If there's one soft skill Snakeblink is truly proud of, it's his gift-giving. He is usually quite good at finding something that his clanmates will enjoy -- though not always at actually giving it. He is more used to leaving his presents somewhere they will stumble upon on their own, as if by chance -- sometimes in their nest, if he has some sort of scheme that could use the gentle nudge of their good mood which only an anonymous but pointed trinket could encourage.

Never has one of his gifts elicited such a strong reaction. At first, Turtledove responds with the excitement he's come to expect from her, making happy noises as she inspects the scute. But then she steps over it and folds her not-inconsiderable frame as small as possible, right into Snakeblink's space.

He leans back on his hindquarters a little, half standing up -- making space for her to curl against his chest. It's instinctive and not thought-through: Snakeblink is still staring blankly down to her as he does so, a little baffled, unsure what to do. Lichenstar has gone through some trouble to… socialize him, so to speak, and get him used to the casual touch he so craves and makes such a big deal out of every single time; still, few cats go out of their way to… cuddle him, and he is rather at a loss for how to respond.

Turtledove feels sturdy and warm against him. Slowly, in case this is a fluke and she is about to slip off again, he brings up one forepaw and puts it on her back, not quite pulling her closer but keeping her there. Being present. His chest rumbles with a deep purr, and this one he makes no effort to curb. Oh, Smokestar would shout at him for this -- treating his apprentice like a kit.

"I will always be your mentor," he says quietly. It's the only thing he can find to say.

He tucks his chin over her head and hopes she understands what he means by it: You will always have me around. As long as he draws breath.​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely​

ooc. information.

• 
  
  
  — Snakeblink • he / him. 57 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  

​