SILHOUETTES ABOVE THE CRADLE \ coyotepaw

This is the moon Coyotepaw is meant to become a SkyClan warrior. And this pending graduation feels so much heavier than the past two apprentices he’s gotten to warriorhood. Cosmosbloom had been mostly-trained by Vermilionsun already, and Butterflytuft… well, he still believes her potential as a member of SkyClan lies somewhere outside of patrolling and hunting. Coyotepaw, though…

The cream-colored tom had been brought to his Clan as a kit alongside his sibling. Leopardcloud, the WindClan queen, had lied about her relationship to him—and only on her deathbed had she revealed the truth to Blazestar and then her son. Coyotepaw had made the choice to leave the Clan his mother died in to be with his father, a ruthless WindClan warrior, a father his mother had fled to protect him from. His return had been met with suspicion and fury, and Blazestar did not know if Coyotepaw would ever truly be accepted back into SkyClan.

When he looks at his apprentice now, strong and assured, with his mother’s pelt and his father’s green eyes, he sees a cat who has solidified his decision. His conviction is with him now, in his Clan, and Blazestar believes that. Coyotepaw will fight for SkyClan, will die for SkyClan, and although he knows the pale tom will likely spend the rets of his life proving it to those he’d grown up with, Blazestar is proud of him for fighting that battle.

The two of them walk under a sun-dappled trail, pine needles crunching underpaw in withering heat. The wind is still fierce—it’s only days after Snowpath’s death and sequential ceremony, only days since Coyotepaw had lost a denmate he’d known since his initial arrival. Blazestar is quiet, contemplative, but he breaks the wind-wrought silence between them with, “You will be accompanying me to the Gathering this moon.” He levels the young apprentice with a look. “I’d like you to come as a SkyClan warrior. What are your thoughts on that?

@Coyotepaw


[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]
 
Angry at all the things I can't change
Equal levels of both dappled sunlight and patchy shadow overlay his flaxen pelt as he walks alongside his mentor. Deep though plagues him most days, its not the haunted expression he often wore during the days he returned to skyclan. But rather attempting to find a sense of release and acceptance for the long list of unfortunate events that have swarmed the clan as of late. After all, Snowpath probably would have scolded him for sulking too long. Blazestar's voice breaks the silence, causing the cream colored tom to blink and focus back on reality. Lifting his head a little higher he slowly turns his gaze upon the large tom, a steady breath exiting his nose in the process. Mint green eyes flicker ahead once more, contemplative as he searches for the right words to say.

It'd been so long since he last attended a gathering and while he was honored for the invitation to stand amongst all the clans as an official warrior of skyclan, another concern pings within his mind. "I look forward to it Blazestar, truly." Coyotepaw murmurs in a low tone, almost too low to be heard. "But, are you not worried about Sootstar? She's retaliated in the past, coming to get me and such. Are you not concerned for what she might do once she realizes I stand amongst your ranks?" The moorland queen was ruthless, anyone with at least two brain cells could piece that together. But he did not want to be the reason windclan comes knocking on skyclan's door yet again.
When you're lost in the universe don't lose faith