private SHARP END OF THE STICK [sootspot]

[FROSTWIND]

꙳•❅* Sootspot is… an interesting guy, that’s for sure. He’d be a good, hardworking clanmate, if he wasn’t so prickly. He’d even be… kind of pretty, if he wasn’t a living reminder of everything that WindClan’s lost. Unfortunately, that’s the case for a lot of Frostwind’s clanmates—capable cats with good looks, but hiding rotten souls underneath. Other than that, he doesn’t mind being paired with Sootspot. The other tunneler is calm, even when he’s verbally ripping someone apart. As long as Frostwind doesn’t say anything that sets him off, they’ll be just fine as partners in this task they’ve been assigned to.

The night sky overhead is scattered with stars, the perfect backdrop for the night watch that they’re set up for. The environment is peaceful, and for the past while Frostwind has noticed his eyes growing heavier and heavier. Sleep threatens to take him, and multiple times it nearly does—but just as his eyes begin to slip shut, a sudden noise from near the border startles him into full awareness again. "Wake up," he says, teeth snapping shut on the words. It comes out as a sharp order, his tone demanding in its concern. He hasn’t even looked at Sootspot again—doesn’t know if the other tunneler is actually asleep or just fighting the urge to rest his eyes. Sheepishly he continues, "Sorry. Look, over there, by those bushes. Something moved." His mouth falls open, scent flooding his senses. Musky and powerful… but not ShadowClan. Not cat.

The undergrowth rustles again, and he leans forward, squinting at it. It’s only a moment before a figure begins to emerge from the brush, stout and black with a pale stripe down its spine. "What is that?" The creature looks up, its focus directly on himself and Sootspot, and Frostwind meets its beady black eyes with a cautious glare. His nose wrinkles with disgust. Skunk.

❆ outpace the dawn

• ooc: @SOOTSPOT
• 
  FROSTWIND ❯❯ he/him, tunneler of windclan
  ❆ scruffy black and white tom with icy eyes. sly and calculating.
  ❆ son of scorchstreak and badgermoon ; brother to scorchstorm, luckypaw, rumblerain
  ❆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ❆ penned by foxlore

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[SOOTSPOT]

There was something callously tactical about being paired with Scorchstreak's son, a sign from the rosette tabby leader perhaps that he had more self-awareness than he would like to let on. Knowing how their Deputy handled misdirected kin, he had never found much reason to seek Frostwind's friendship. They were two tunnelers bound to separate paths, intertwined only by the paws of a leader who sought to send a message - one he would pretend not to see. Sootspot had been silent as the pair watched the horizon. The twinkle of the stars was like a thousand eyes, endless in their staring until they cowered once more in the light of the sun. He had never felt safe within their reach, their judgment, and the burden their abandonment caused was a worthwhile distraction in the absence of danger. With little to say to Frostwind, he devoted his time instead to cursing the sky, lashing out with insult after insult in his head as if a cruel enough jab would demand an answer from his ancestors. A near-hiss was unexpected and, for a moment he felt his heart stop. Did they...?

No, they didn't answer. Sootspot was reminded of his companion and a wave of disappointment washed over him. His eyes narrowed momentarily, his neck twisting towards Frostwind as a smile placated features left sharpened by the intrusion. "I am awake." An apology comes and the Tunneler turned his head away to ruminate. 'Foolish. I should never be so distracted as to forget myself.' Even if his role was greater than the very essence of life itself, he still had a rank and a duty to perform in the meantime, he could not lose one when he had not secured the other. Something moved, Frostwind said, and the chimera ears twitched. It was silent for a time but immediately, he pictured the layout of the tunnels beneath their territory, where the closest one would be should the mysterious beast turn mean. Dusty-coloured nostrils flared, a pungent odour coming from the foliage ahead.

Then, the trespasser revealed itself and the chartreuse eyes of the Tunneler refocused in recognition. A great many creatures had crossed his paths in the underground, but none had provoked more fear within the hearts of his peers than the beady-eyed mephitid before him. Inescapable death had seldom seemed a fear, but losing one's peers to the damage a skunk could do to their reputation? Why, it was a shame he could not control the creature himself. Statuesque as the skunk investigated, Sootspot would wait for signs of panic or aggression from the other before deciding his next course of action. He did his best not to meet its eye. "A competitor, but not one I would fight," he mewed to Frostwind, ears growing flat at the stench. "When threatened, it releases a smell so noxious not even my sister's herbs would remove from you...." His tail-tip twitched in amusement. "Perhaps it is fitting it seems to have come from ShadowClan."


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