private so high in the sky // bluefrost

[cottonsprig]

In, out. The scent of the nursery has become nauseating as of late. She doesn't express this verbally, has no need to explain herself to anyone anymore - it just is, as a fact that exists within her life. For the last moon she had busied herself with the patients still laden with yellowcough, but now with most of them recovered, she has more time on her paws. She could continue to send Celandinepaw in her stead to the nursery for check ups - the older kittens are fine in her care, she thinks, it's the obvious trio that makes her upset. (And, in fact, she should, lest Sunstar shred her ears and rip out her tongue with his anger.)

But as she releases another exhale, she makes the silent admission of guilt. Of orchestrating a single moment in the afternoon where she has no choice but to be the cat checking on the kittens. Celandinepaw is heading her own herb patrol, and Wolfsong is still nursing his sickness. The development of kittens is so crucial in the first few moons that if it remains unchecked, some serious issues can be missed. Forgive me, Sunstar, she pleads in silence, still, for she knows the true manner of her actions.

She just wants to see them. Even if her heart aches and bleeds, she wants to see them.

"Bluefrost...?" she calls to her sister with a twitch of her tail, head lowered as she moves into the nursery. She spies the blue smoke not far in, comfortable in her mossy nest with little bodies curled up by her side. Asleep. She lowers her voice, "I didn't come at a good time, did I?"

𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

• ooc // @BLUEFROST

• ❥ MEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE
  ♥♥♡ WOUNDS ; can confidently stop bleeding and mend lacerations. will often request that you keep your injury clean and wait it out first.
  ♥♥♡ INFECTION ; as a side effect of likely her own doing, very dutiful with technique and treatment shortly thereafter.
  ♥♡♡ ACHES & PAINS ; will defer to a dark tunnel and rest. if pain persists, maybe she will offer something.
  ♥♡♡ BROKEN BONES ; has never dealt with a broken bone. likely will ask that you never move. ever again.
  ♥♥♥ TRAVELING HERBS ; learned well from her previous mentor. will pile even too many remedies to tough the wilderness with.
  ♥♥♥ KITTING ; having kittens of her own and helped several others with their litters, she is very well versed with calming techniques and quelling pain.
  ♥♡♡ POISONS ; she knows what they are... but that isn't enough, isn't it?
  ♥♥♡ ILLNESS ; having worked through two yellowcough bouts, she is confident in her remedies. much else... she's operating on trial and error.
  ⸻ cottonsprig is a dutiful and excitable medicine cat. she enjoys company and loves conversation. she'd rather not have too many curious noses snooping around her den... but who is she to quell curiosity?

• 

  ⸻❥ cottonsprig is the primary medicine cat of windclan. a former princess to the moors, she harbors many guilts for her actions throughout her short life. she has no consistent partner, unwilling to commit and settle, and she is training celandinepaw in medicine.

​

 

[BLUEFROST]

Her slumber is thin, frayed; she wakes often to cast half-lidded green eyes around the nursery as though the shadows themselves could unsheathe their claws. She has not bothered to peel herself away from the kits but for basic bodily necessities, and since they've begun to try their tiny paws at mobility, she has become slightly more watchful. StarClan forbid one of them stumble too close to Sootspot — StarClan forbid one rolls too near a cat with a cantankerous lust for their father's blood.

The cat who wakes her is not that. Her sister's pawsteps are hesitant in the dimness within the nursery. Bluefrost lifts her head; surprise chases the drowsiness from her gaze. "Cottonsprig." She yawns and repositions her limbs, ignoring any squeaks of protest the movement may bring. "If you are worried about Rimekit, do not be. She is fine. Look."

Bluefrost lowers the ice-white of her muzzle and hovers over the array of triangles that perk from her kittens' heads. A purr — just the rusted refrain of one — coagulates in her chest. "They hear. And they move. Just yesterday, Rimekit fell asleep with Thriftfeather."

She says this, then pauses. Her eyes flick up toward her sister's freckled face, searching for something — pride? Jealousy? Bluefrost could not say. "They... know his touch. They respond to it. All of them." A test — with no correct answer.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Bluekit . Bluepaw . Bluefrost, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 18 moons old, ages realistically on the 14th.
  — mentored by Sootstar ; mentoring Brackenpaw ; previously mentored n/a.
  — windclan queen. sootstar x weaselclaw, gen 2.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh blue smoke she-cat with white and emerald eyes. aloof, dignified, poised, haughty, composed, distant.
  
  

​

 

[cottonsprig]

Worry could not encompass the mass of swirling emotions in the she-cat's gut, but she offers a shame-filled half-smile regardless. Her sister does not need to know the details of her mind's aching, not when they can be so easily inferred by circumstance alone. She's gestured to peer down at Rimekit, breathing free and clear despite her early stint in the medicine den. All Cottonsprig can say is, "Good..." and she wishes she could say more.

Her tail sweeps around her legs, as if to lock her paws in place. Bluefrost continues, detailing their developments, their excursions from their nest and more. More that is all normal to kitten behaviors, but treasured knowledge to have by the blue smoke. She nods slowly, tries to ignore the sharp pain that comes with the knowledge that they all regard Thriftfeather as a father. It will be an obstacle to tackle, no doubt. Just as further accepting her sister's motherhood as a fact will be.

"... And yours," she murmurs, and though envy swells in the form of tears in her eyes, she continues without a hitch."As a mother. A good one, at that," Cottonsprig says. If the conversation weren't as weighted as it was, she would've laughed. She would've jested - They might call me mom, since we look so alike... But the urge never comes. Instead, she relates to a shared memory, the fondness of it not lost despite the lives they've lived. "I don't... really remember being this small. Sootstar nursed us still, right? When we were this young?" A pause as she tries to recall, only remembering the warmth of their nursemaid instead. She shakes her head.

"... Do you plan on sharing the tradition?" she asks. A pause as her limbs tense, the urge to lay down, to be with her kittens again. It doesn't fade. "Sharing with them moles and rabbits, for tunnelers and moor runners each? I remember that..." Another pause as she looks upon the litter for moments longer. "If you do... Bluefrost, can I catch the prey for them? I... don't have to be here for it. I just... in some way, I would like to be involved."

𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

• ooc //

• ❥ MEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE
  ♥♥♡ WOUNDS ; can confidently stop bleeding and mend lacerations. will often request that you keep your injury clean and wait it out first.
  ♥♥♡ INFECTION ; as a side effect of likely her own doing, very dutiful with technique and treatment shortly thereafter.
  ♥♡♡ ACHES & PAINS ; will defer to a dark tunnel and rest. if pain persists, maybe she will offer something.
  ♥♡♡ BROKEN BONES ; has never dealt with a broken bone. likely will ask that you never move. ever again.
  ♥♥♥ TRAVELING HERBS ; learned well from her previous mentor. will pile even too many remedies to tough the wilderness with.
  ♥♥♥ KITTING ; having kittens of her own and helped several others with their litters, she is very well versed with calming techniques and quelling pain.
  ♥♡♡ POISONS ; she knows what they are... but that isn't enough, isn't it?
  ♥♥♡ ILLNESS ; having worked through two yellowcough bouts, she is confident in her remedies. much else... she's operating on trial and error.
  ⸻ cottonsprig is a dutiful and excitable medicine cat. she enjoys company and loves conversation. she'd rather not have too many curious noses snooping around her den... but who is she to quell curiosity?

• 

  ⸻❥ cottonsprig is the primary medicine cat of windclan. a former princess to the moors, she harbors many guilts for her actions throughout her short life. she has no consistent partner, unwilling to commit and settle, and she is training celandinepaw in medicine.

​

 

[BLUEFROST]

Her sister's troubled expression does not lift with the news of Rimekit's continued health. "Good," she murmurs, trailing off. Little seems to bring Cottonsprig any comfort — not the knowledge her trueborn kits are developing well, nor the knowledge they have acclimated to their new parents with gusto. "They know his touch," she'd said, and Cottonsprig responds with, "And yours. As a mother. A good one, at that."

Bluefrost's mouth shrinks into a frown, delicate as a flower. She does not know what to say. "I do not know about that," she says after a few heartbeats. "I have made my mistakes, just as you have. But..." Her gaze falls to the bundles at her ice-white belly, and she lets it linger there for several moments before she looks to her littermate again.

"They are loved, no matter what. And there is nothing odd about you loving them, too. You are their kin." She says this matter-of-factly, because for all the world knows, it is true. Cottonsprig is her sister; she is aunt to these precious children, and they will flock to her for honeyed treats, for singsong words, for lavish praise their mother will never be able to give them.

That is her wish, anyway — that, with time, Cottonsprig will be able and ready to accept that role and cherish it.

"I don't really remember being this small. Sootstar nursed us still, right? When we were this young?" Bluefrost nods, hesitant. "I believe so. She spent a little time with us, before she gave us to Kestrelsnap. I... I do not remember it well, though." She has many memories of Sootstar, but few of them involve a mother's tongue against her cheek, a mother's belly to snuggle against.

"Do you plan on sharing the tradition?" Bluefrost flicks her gaze toward Cottonsprig's. Oh, she remembers... her father had spent hours in the moor so he could drag home a rabbit for his future moor runners, and Sootstar had descended beneath the earth so she and Cottonsprig could feast on molemeat.

"Normally it would be Thriftfeather, but... I suppose..." She exhales. "Yes, that would be fine." After all, who is to say Thriftfeather will have hunting privileges by then — if he ever will?

She lets the promise settle between them before she casts another glance over the kits. "Which do you think will be tunnelers and which do you think will be moor runners? I think she," and her tongue lowers to caress Sootkit's head, "will be a tunneler, like we were." Pride colors her voice.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Bluekit . Bluepaw . Bluefrost, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 18 moons old, ages realistically on the 14th.
  — mentored by Sootstar ; mentoring Brackenpaw ; previously mentored n/a.
  — windclan queen. sootstar x weaselclaw, gen 2.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh blue smoke she-cat with white and emerald eyes. aloof, dignified, poised, haughty, composed, distant.
  
  

​

 

[cottonsprig]

Her sister is quick to dismiss her praise. Cottonsprig tries to not let her dissatisfaction show through a soft, uncertain smile - she almost expected for Bluefrost to take the praise with pride. To primp and preen like a bird showing off. The opposite is... humbling, almost. Even if the moment is quiet and shared between only one another, it shows some sense of growth in Bluefrost. Growth that, admittedly, Cottonsprig wasn't aware her sister needed.

She says little to nothing with the following comment. Kin, her sister deigns her. An aunt and no more. She cannot help the way her gaze falls to the little bodies, counting the three born of her bone and blood. Her weight shifts from paw to paw but she does not move any closer, holding fast to her taut restraint. A nod is all she offers. In time, in time.

"I don't either..." she follows, thinking of Kestrelsnap, and how most of her youthful memories were intertwined with her. There had been a clean cut at some point, where their nursemaid was no longer involved and Sootstar stepped in once more - apprenticeship, maybe? When she had Bluefrost beneath herself and... Her gaze flutters away, and she tries to not further sully the moment with the unfortunate reality of her rank.

She doesn't necessarily hear the tom's name - it falls from her sister's maw, surely, but soon after so does an agreement. A paw closer, so to say, to remain involved. Her eyes brighten noticeably and if given the chance, she would've prattled on about how she would dedicate a day to the hunt. She would drag Brokenpaw and Honeysucklepaw with her for each venture, teach them the tradition too. How just as Bluefrost aims to reclaim Sootkit, they can reclaim the good parts of their childhoods.

But Bluefrost is quicker. She motions to Sootkit, hope and pride glittering her tone. Cottonsprig eases the tension in her shoulders as she lowers her body, taking on a casual crouch instead. "It'd be fitting," she murmurs. She looks at the kits as a whole, and not the fragmented few of herself. It's easier for the moment. "You'd like to mentor her?" She doesn't ask if it'd be possible. She doesn't open that door to a hard conversation. Instead, she holds her gaze to the kittens.

"I asked Thriftfeather," she lingers on it for only a moment before attempting to obscure any questions her sister may have. "He thinks Rimekit will be a moor runner. I'm inclined to agree - her paws are... rather large. Asterkit, too... she may do better above ground," with her missing paw... she'd be better running the moors than trying to wriggle through the tunnels. And with the recent death, too, Cottonsprig has a heightened sense of fear for her niece.

𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

• ooc //

• ❥ MEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE
  ♥♥♡ WOUNDS ; can confidently stop bleeding and mend lacerations. will often request that you keep your injury clean and wait it out first.
  ♥♥♡ INFECTION ; as a side effect of likely her own doing, very dutiful with technique and treatment shortly thereafter.
  ♥♡♡ ACHES & PAINS ; will defer to a dark tunnel and rest. if pain persists, maybe she will offer something.
  ♥♡♡ BROKEN BONES ; has never dealt with a broken bone. likely will ask that you never move. ever again.
  ♥♥♥ TRAVELING HERBS ; learned well from her previous mentor. will pile even too many remedies to tough the wilderness with.
  ♥♥♥ KITTING ; having kittens of her own and helped several others with their litters, she is very well versed with calming techniques and quelling pain.
  ♥♡♡ POISONS ; she knows what they are... but that isn't enough, isn't it?
  ♥♥♡ ILLNESS ; having worked through two yellowcough bouts, she is confident in her remedies. much else... she's operating on trial and error.
  ⸻ cottonsprig is a dutiful and excitable medicine cat. she enjoys company and loves conversation. she'd rather not have too many curious noses snooping around her den... but who is she to quell curiosity?

• 

  ⸻❥ cottonsprig is the primary medicine cat of windclan. a former princess to the moors, she harbors many guilts for her actions throughout her short life. she has no consistent partner, unwilling to commit and settle, and she is training celandinepaw in medicine.

​