standing there with a frown and a cigarette [hyacinth]

[Duskfire]

I WANT SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS​

---

As far as Windclan was concerned, you'd be hard pressed to find a cat that wasn't shouldering a burden of some kind these days. Duskfire was among them, but his troubles were hardly in regards to himself these days. The hawks had half the clan terrified that they'd be next. Emberfang clearly wanted Sootstar dead and had potentially inspired the same sentiment in some of her clanmates. And with this new alliance between Windclan and Shadowclan there would certainly be greater tensions to come between them and the other clans. No matter where you looked, trouble seemed to sit on the horizon for Windclan.

Duskfire, however, had no interest in sitting by and watching things fall apart. If things were going to get rough for Windclan then he and the other warriors would be ready for it, because at the end of the day when everything was said and done, there was no way in hell that Dusk was going to lose his home. After the hell he'd survived just to get here, they'd have to pry it from his cold, dead hands.

Sootstar had warned him once that there would be cats who sought the power they weilded, but aside from the initial hostility he'd faced after his promotion, he'd never really seen it in action. Until Emberfang, that is. The shecat, regardless of her motivations, had put the clan at risk when she threatened Sootstar. She could have destroyed everything, and Duskfire finally understood what Sootstar had meant. Some cats, regardless of the consequences, would always try and just take what they wanted. Had Emberfang had her way, she would have struck Sootstar down, started a war, and caused the slow death of the moor clan.

Troubled by this realization and in need of someone he could trust, he'd immediately sought out the familiar spotted shecat. Hyacinth was abrasive and bias on the best of days, but she was also one of the cats he knew he could trust to protect Sootstar with her life. Lately though, she hadn't exactly seemed to have her head on straight. Neither had he, but it was something he was going to try and change in the coming days. He had a goal now, after all, something to keep his mind busy.

"There you are. I'm surprised I didn't have to trek half the territory just to find your overworked ass." he snorted as he made his way over, offering her a playful nudge of greeting as he took a seat alongside the lead warrior. "You got a minute? I want to talk about a couple things."
​

---

windclan deputy - male - 21 months - single - tall, strong bengal tomcat

 

[Duskfire]

@hyacinthbreath

 

[hyacinthbreath]

Hyacinthbreath had been dealt a hard paw in life, that much was true- she didn't talk about her homecolony, and she didn't talk about family at all. Moonshadow and Pollenfur were the only ones who knew of her heritage, of the fate she was given from her birth- and they didn't judge her. Perhaps it was nice, having people to depend on- but when she hurt those people.. It made it all for naught, didn't it? She sighs softly as she peers down at the bones of a hawk leftover, a patrol having caught it and divided it up into pieces for everyone. This was nice, having good food- and the hawk's skeleton was nice to look at after it dried out.

She smells the scent before she hears him, their Deputy wandering over after having been looking for her. She'd done her best to avoid him at all costs lately, she didn't know how to feel about his loyalty to Sootstar. She would die for the woman, but something was changing and she didn't like it. He's surprised he could find her so close to camp, was it? Hyacinthbreath snorts softly, turning the hawk skull over in her paw as she responds, voice void of irritation or true tone. "Did you bring me an offering before you spill your guts, Duskfire? Apparently, I eat apprentices to stay young." She sarcastically jokes in monotone, then turns to meet his gaze at the mention of a talk. She looks unamused, bored- her life was filled with business, business, business- why did she need more? Or perhaps Duskfire would be genuine, leaning on her for support. She'd avoided that often when she came here. It's why not many cats truly knew her outside of her Lead Warrior's lifestyle. What did she do during her freetime, where did she go? Did she have any hobbies? They would never learn, not more than Moonshadow had. "We're talking right now, aren't we? Go ahead, mate. I'm listenin'." She chuckles softly to herself, giving him a playful shove with her shoulder.​

 

[Duskfire]

I WANT SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS​

---

In many ways, Duskfire and Hyacinthbreath ran on paralel lines. They both came from homes they prefered not to speak of, for one. Duskfire had told only a small pawful of cats about where he had come from, keeping the details vague and offering only half-truths and scraps of the larger picture. He never went into detail. Never told them about what actually went on there and the things he'd had to do just to stay alive. It woul disgust and horrify them.

He also didn't consider himself especially close to any cat. The closest had been Inkylotus, but the other had chosen to leave Windclan, returning to their life of wandering. On the heels of that had come Rosepaws death, two losses he had no idea how to deal with, and with those two gone Duskfires social circle had effectively withered to just Hyacinth, whom, despite their newfound comraderie, still knew virtually nothing about each other. Of course, on the toms part this wasn't because he sought to push others away, he just didn't know how to let them in. Everything he did felt forced and strange to him, like he was fighting his instincts and a lifetime of conditioning. And he was. Never in a million years would it have been acceptable to groom another cat or share food with them or playfight. You'd get your fucking face clawed off for that shit.

To suddenly undo all that was hard, but he was trying.

"Oh, is that your secret? Here I thought you'd been making deals with a demon." he joked back, grinning and relaxing a little when she gave him a playful shove.

"Yeah, yeah we are." he chuckled, tone becoming a bit hesitant. " But I wanted to know what you thought of all that with Emberfang. I know that regardless you would always be loyal to Sootstar, but... but what do you think. Is she really wrong?" It felt important for him to know. No, maybe he and Hyacinth weren't close in the sense that they shared their feelings with each other, but she was still the closest thing he had to a friend and ally in the clan. If Windclan didn't exist tomorrow and Hyacinth needed him, he'd still have her back regardless of weather they shared the title of clanmate, and he liked to hope that maybe a small bit of that sentiment lived in her as well. And so it was important for him to understand her in this moment, to know where she stood in all this.
​

---

windclan deputy - male - 21 months - single - tall, strong bengal tomcat