SKELETON KEY + siltpaw

[GRANITEPELT]

There are only two cats Granitepaw can trust in ShadowClan. In the forest. In the world. The first, of course, is Starlingheart, whom he has complicated feelings for. A complex friendship he cannot verbalize, not to her or anyone who inquires about it. She is his and his alone, and he will fight anyone who tries to take her from him.

The second cat is Siltpaw, his only living littermate, his only blood kin. Granitepaw and Siltpaw had shared their traitorous, mouse-hearted mother's womb, had shared the grief the Clan had glossed over when their sibling had died and had suffered Sandra's shameful behaviors alone. Granitepaw feels he has drifted from his sister since he moved into Starlingheart's den; it's his one regret about moving away from the other apprentices.

He seeks her out, her dull cinnamon pelt an achingly familiar soft shade. It reminds him of Sandra, but on Siltpaw, it's nostalgic, puts him into a place of memories that tug at his limbs and head. He finds her alone, as she often is, his green gaze going to meet her own. "Mind if I sit here?" His voice is gruff, concealing any emotion that could betray him.

He waits for her response before settling beside her. Granitepaw leans over to groom Siltpaw's fur in an exceedingly rare brotherly show of affection. It's not something he's done since they were kits together, but he's feeling so strange today. So lost.

"So weird about Flickerfire," he murmurs, studying her expression as he speaks. "Did you ever get any signs she was a traitor? Any hints at all? Did she teach you anything..." He makes a disgusted expression. "Weird?" His sister must be upset about it, but he doesn't know in what way. He himself would be furious if the cat he'd been assigned to learn how to be a warrior from had turned out to be a filthy ThunderClan spy.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[✧ Siltcloud.]

HUMBLE MY BONES WITH A CARDIAC
siltpaw | 09 months | female | she/her | physically medium | mentally easy | attack in bold color

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There is little in siltpaw's world that can be relied on - remains constant and unchanging. The seasons come and go, passing by at a speed that surprises even her. Friends and family and clanmates leave - some taken by starclan, others cowards and traitors. New faces have also appeared - poppypaw with her sunshiny-smiles, loampaw with her little smirks, nettlepaw with his aloof green eyes that tell so much more than her own. Once upon a time, perhaps she'd have thought to count bonejaw or flickerfire upon that little list; but they're gone now - turned tail and run, turned traitor. Look what it had gotten them - one an outcast within her own family, the other dead and gone. A cold body fit for nothing more than to be swallowed up by the earth and eaten by the worms.

But the only variable that has not gone and changed is Granitepaw. His surly disposition, blunt words, cold gaze - it fills her with warmth and a strong sense of stability. They are all each other truly has at the end of the day after all - all she can truly trust. She'd do anything for her brother - well, almost anything. She doesn't think she could give up the friends she's made, not now anyways, not without a good reason - they're hers now after all. But anything else? In a heartbeat.

Green eyes meet green, a hint of a smile curling at the corner of her mouth as eyes soften ever so imperceptibly. "Of course," she says softly, words hushed and monotone yet clearly warm and well intentioned. His gentle touch is unexpected but welcome, dull eyes closing briefly as she leans into it for a moment - savoring the casual touch, the comforting feeling leaving her warm and contented. "....mmm, yes... weird." it's such an apt descriptor - there is so much and yet so little she can say about the situation, her feelings a tangled mess she cannot be bothered to unravel. perhaps she should be more sad - traitor or not, someone she knew had just died. But she just feels... odd. Off. Empty even.

Eyes snap open at her brothers questioning, the faintest bit of hurt upon her face. "Of course not," she says, though she does not snap, does not speak any louder or harsher than her usual soft tone. "... well, she wasn't around very often, but she was always like that... I just... thought she was busy," Flickerfire, much like turtlenose before her, had been very much a hands-off kind of mentor - throwimg her into patrols and having her learn by watching others and giving it her best shot. Praise was rare until she'd finally got the hang of things, and she could not think of a single moment shared outside of their duties as mentor and apprentice. She'd liked that about flickerfire in fact - there was only action and reaction, no empty words, no time wasted on mindless conversations and social interactions that siltpaw would just fail in the end.

"... what is it about love that drives cats insane?" she wonders absently - she does not think she has ever felt such a feeling. Certainly, perhaps, she loves granitepaw in her own way - but it is more like a slowly burning ember, like a snake coiling about a mouse, constricting and all encompassing, but still willing to lash out at any creature that tries to steal it away. Could she really betray shadowclan for him? She's not sure... though there s very little else she can think of that she wouldn't do.

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