private SUBWOOFER LULLABY | Sootspot

[Firefang]

She'd missed so much, a moon had passed where she'd done little more then sleep but she's more then awake now even with the silverpelt shining up above illuminating the hollow. There were many clanmates she needed to talk to but none more then a particular Tunneler, she hadn't gotten the chance to speak with him not fully after Snakehiss' fit and following departure. She supposes she could've sough out Bluefrost instead and yet it's the haughty tom who she approaches instead, maybe it's because she doesn't want to burden her or maybe it's as simple as Sootspot amuses her more. She didn't feel as somber with him as she felt near the other former-loyalist, he had a sense of humor and even unintentionally he did and said things in such a different way then their clanmates that she can't help but smirk at. As clever and intelligent as he thought he was and partially well truly was he was a mousebrain when it came to social awareness, but wasn't she as well? He makes her look better in comparison though! That and they shared a common ground now, a understanding and a bond of trust - she'd likely been the only cat in moons to see his façade fade and he the first in a long time for her to for once be fully forthcoming with. Were they friends? She doesn't know, she sparingly had any.

She doubts he's fully asleep as she stares down as his small sleeping form. Yet she doesn't call his name or prod him, her tail flicks to where it'd tickle against his nose she'd wait until he pushed it away or sneezed before ushering to a follow with a whispered "Come on, we need to talk" spoken just above his ears before she begins to silently as possible run for the entrance as if forgetting Sootspot would never be able to keep up with those short Tunneler legs. She stalls however just outside camp waiting for him to give chase or slowly lumber after her - she expects the ladder.

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  @SOOTSPOT
  

• "speech"

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  Firefang ✩ She/Her, Warrior of Windclan, 24 moons
  ⭃ Black tabby she-cat with amber eyes. former-loyalist of Sootstar, Moorunner.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by Kedamono ↛ @legmeatt on discord, feel free to dm for plots. ​

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[SOOTSPOT]

Curled up at the edge of camp, Sootspot did not dream of much. He was a cat of contradictions, one who could imagine anything yet be empty of imagination and try as he might, he could not picture anything worth thinking about within his slumber. Creases formed around his eyes as something brushed against his nose, the two chartreuse things fluttering open. His first thought was that a black-banded snake had found him, his claws sinking in the ground as he pushed up to move away from the reptile - the moment he did, more of his... (StarClan, what was she to him?) clanmate appeared in his vision. Firefang had seen him vulnerable twice now, and the idea it could happen a third time sent his tufted ears swiveling backward. She had been a useful cat before, broad-shouldered and of similar values, dumb muscle. He had never intended her to be an equal, it was nothing personal, no one should've been an equal to a cat like him. He was Sootstar's prodigy, burdened by bad luck and traitors, forced to wallow in the soil before he earned his throne.

He blinked at her words, not leering past her as he once had. He cast her a pointed look and, brushing away clumps of earth from his chest, stalked after her. Talking to clanmates was like playing with the fire that'd scarred his lungs and scarred her skin, he had thought it was that danger that kept him alive. Tonight, strangely, his heart beat faster, even when he figured the other would not harm him. He felt... odd, knowing that the black tabby had been permanently scarred, knowing that she had recently lost a very good friend. Empathy was lost on a cat whose emotions were so subdued it was like they weren't there half of the time, but when he believed it to be sad, a part of his gut twisted in agreement. Whilst Firefang bounded, Sootspot's movements were slow, sticking to shadows and ducking behind shapes large enough to conceal his minute form. It would likely irritate her, but he didn't care, he would rather be safe from speculation.

The freedom of the moors was eventually his own, and, approaching the she-cat, he did his best to find the humour in the rendezvous, an arid dryness to his question. "Is this to be another moonlit confession?" A lot had happened since their last talk; deaths and injuries and betrayals, things that even the keen-eyed Tunneler was certain he'd missed. He almost hoped they wouldn't be brought up, so his facade would not have to shatter again.


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[Firefang]

True to her expectations the tom has no hustle, but she doesn't grow irritable as she waits merely flicking her gaze from the camp entrance to the night sky. She hopes he uses discretion - that his extra time padding throughout the camp was at least silent, though she supposes with her gone he could easily come up with an excuse he had more of a talent for it then she did. She shouldn't care if they're seen together, they were both loyal to Windclan hadn't they shown that much already? Maybe it's more for his sake then her own, even still the idea of any of their clanmates seeing them or worse listening to them makes the skin beneath her fur itch. Still she doesn't speed off, she waits as patiently as she can muster until he emerges. "What were you doing? Making some dirt, leavin' me waitin'?" she asks an edge of humor on her tongue before he even approaches fully. It's different tonight then it'd been moons ago, she'd so desperately wanted to claw his muzzle and batter him with her words and yet her barbs are soft and her claws stay sheathed. There's a different vulnerability then last time, she doesn't recognize it as simple trust.

Her ears prick at his own words she responds with a snort "I could tell you right here if it was just that and send you back to nighty-night, but that wouldn't be any fun" She meows musingly. His fur has a silver parlor in the moonlight, bringing out the pale shades in his fur the sun disguised and making her notice more that for a dirty muddy tunneler he took care of himself. Beauty must run in his family. "It's nothing serious Sootspot" she'd say gesturing again with her tail "I just want to talk somewhere nice and quiet" without unwanted ears and prying eyes. Firefang had always liked being out on the moors in the dead of night, she's sure she could've gotten ahold of him during the day if she tried but there was a certain calm and tranquility to being alone with nothing but the wind ruffling their fur and the twinkle of the stars above them. Even with the moors charred she sees remenenant of their beauty and she knows one place that wouldn't be damaged; outlook rock.

She doesn't run from him again, making sure her strides are shorter so she doesn't get too far ahead, so she doesn't get out of earshot. "It's so quiet tonight I'm sure if we strain our ears we can hear Snakehiss' crying from wherever starclan forsaken place he ran off too" she remarks over her should, it'd been a long time since she was fully casual with her words. She'd always had to keep some level of decorum and if not bite her tongue as much as she could tolerate. She doesn't half to now.

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‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
  text
  

• "speech"

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  Firefang ✩ She/Her, Warrior of Windclan, 24 moons
  ⭃ Black tabby she-cat with amber eyes. former-loyalist of Sootstar, Moorunner.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by Kedamono ↛ @legmeatt on discord, feel free to dm for plots. ​

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[SOOTSPOT]

He wrinkled his nose at the crassness of the other, taken back to the days of his early apprenticeship where foxdung had been the funniest word he'd ever heard. It was difficult not to cringe at the memory and how harebrained he'd been. After a moment of reluctant silence, his whiskers twitched and Sootspot mewed, "I left it in your sleeping spot, I hope you do not mind." 'Ugh, I am not a kitten.' Though he was confident that he was as mature as any elder, he could not say the same for Firefang, whose toilet humour and use of the words 'nighty-night' caused him to cock his head incredulously towards the other. 'She was not this casual before,' he realised. Even with her emotions exposed on a face too angry to be manipulated, she had held something back, only now did that thing seem to expose itself. Was it trust in him? A longing for kinship? A simple good day? He straightened his posture, staring at flame-incarnate. 'Or maybe you want something from me, or are spying on me for Sunstar?' It was not easy to forget anymore that a captivating blaze could be the deadliest thing on the moors.

She promised it was nothing serious, but every conversation he'd ever had these past ten moons had been serious, could he believe this one would not have dire social consequences? "A shame your legs are built for running instead of tunneling, I find underground is the quietest place of all," he sighed, turning his head towards the horizon. "But, damaged as it may be, I suppose there is a certain... beauty to the moors." He had felt nothing when they bloomed, only the sting of wounded pride and possessiveness when the sight was taken away from him. As best as he could, the little tom kept up with his Moor-Runner companion, avoiding meeting the star's gaze as best as he could. He felt nothing but loathing for them, that they would defy tradition so heartily but do so not to benefit WindClan, but to benefit an ambitious rogue. Firefang, who had thrown herself into harm's way to save Sunstar, felt so differently that he did not dare admit his frustrations. Her ire, therefore, lingered on Snakehiss instead, the Tunneler blinking rapidly at the black cat's name. 'Snakehiss could've been a useful mousebrain... a shame he was more mousebrain than useful.'

An opposed former Deputy, by clan law the rightful successor to Sootstar (he did not count Granitepelt, whom he felt had been self-exiled before his induction the moment he fled), had every reason to turn on Sunstar, but to do so openly was akin to a death wish - to also insult the one cat who may have been swayed to help did not help matters, either. Memories of his insults still stuck to his pelt like burrs, causing his smile to grow malcontent as he addressed Firefang. "I believe his soul has already taken leave, no clan would want him, nor would Granitepelt's group... I never did think him capable enough to survive on his own, the way he clung to my sister was... unpleasant." He disliked Cottonpaw, but his distaste for a grifter like Snakehiss was tenfold. Tufted ears twitched as he sombrely looked towards Firefang. "Snakehiss' fate... that was almost us."
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[Firefang]

Firefang sometimes misses the simplicity of being a paw before all of this happened, when she cared more for proving her superiority over the tunneler apprentices and coming up with good barbs the making sure no one slit her throat when she wasn't looking. She's sure some of her peers thought about it back then regardless. It's funny getting Sootspot to come down from the heavens he liked to raise his head into just so he can snap back like any other cat, and maybe just for a moment they weren't the warriors carrying guilt and burdens upon their back. For just this moment they were little more then 'paws' again, returning to simpler times that had long passed. If only these moments could last, if only she could pretend they were normal friends.

She leads him with the same confidence as any true moor-runner, there's a assuredness in her movements every stride has purpose. The moors were hers she could run them with her eyes closed, and though she looks as comfortable as a kit cuddled up to it's mothers belly she still watches out. Her gaze wanders over the heather and peat (what remains of it anyway) watching for any movement that shouldn't be there. Her ears swivel, she wouldn't be caught off guard by anything even with her attention mostly focused on Sootspot trailing behind her. She wouldn't let some greedy fox run up on them or more likely run up on the tiny tunneler the easier prey of the two of them. She wouldn't let that happen he was under her protection, the prince of the moors wouldn't have so much as a fur missing if they ran into trouble.

She listens as he chatters, and however deep it is now there was still a sore spot at the mention of her legs - at the mention of tunneling. But even those distant moons ago when she'd been training to thrive in the subterranean portion of the moors before she'd even hit her growth spurt (seeing the apprentices now she realizes how young she'd been) but she'd never held the adoration of it's beauty and silence she'd always been on edge down there. She only remembers the roar of a collapsing tunnel with any real recollection as if she'd been down there yesterday, shaking and gasping for breath outside the tunnel covered in dust and dirt as her brother was dug out. She swallows her discomfort, and would nod her head. There's a twinge of pride when he admits that the moors were a sight to behold - that it as damaged as it was, was beautiful. "In a few moons it'll look like that fire never happened" she says hopefully "Seein' it like this makes me miss havin' petals in my fur and pollen up my nose after every patrol." it felt so long ago now, it was hard to believe they once had a surplus of prey and the moors were as resplendent as they'd ever been.

She sees the outlook rock come closer into view with every step they take. She thinks the moors are even prettier now without Snakehiss' ugly mug around. She hopes Sootspot is right, that he hadn't run to Granitepelt's band of rejects - the last thing they needed was for him to run his mouth about their current state of affairs and bring them back to their border. It'd feel good to shred their pelts however, she didn't believe they fought with any honor or dignity anymore there was no reason for them to fight anymore - Sootstar was dead. Still she can't help but worry, as much as she craved a good fight she'd rather it not be on their own turf. She's quickly brought back to reality when Sootspot brings up the joke that was Snakehiss' and Cottonpaw's strange little love affair. She snorts loudly followed by a cackling laugh "Hah thank Starclan she had some sense to dump his sorry tail! Still, that girl has a horrible taste in toms" maybe it was a good thing that now there was a code that prevented her from making another mistake of that magnitude.

Then he drops a weight on her, one that chokes down her laughter and makes her remember what they were and who'd they'd been. It was true that they were grouped up with Snakehiss, that their allegiances had been the same and even now they shared some similar beliefs. She stops in her tracks and looks back at him "Yeah, it almost was" if they'd lost their temper at any point, if they let any of their malcontent slip then the allowances they'd been given would be taken back like his were. He was a mousebrain however one who had no forethought and though loyal to his own beliefs he was disloyal to anyone but himself - he abandoned his clan, his children so easily. "But it wasn't and we'll never be like him" she says her gaze hardening.

"I'd never run with my tail between my legs, I wouldn't...." she looks troubled struggling with her words "I wouldn't cower like I did when she died, I'd face whatever fate had in store for me. I wouldn't run not like he did." was she really done running. She swallows hard and starts walking again her tail swishing for him to follow, the outlook rock is close now.

"Come on, I wanna show you something. Maybe it'll get your mind off of..." everything it wasn't just for him, she used to always pad to the highest point she could find as a younger warrior and apprentice to be closer to the stars. She'd shared it with Icebreath once and since she died she hadn't picked back up the habit... "All this crap, it's depressin'" but she needed it now, and maybe it'd bring Sootspot some peace too to be so close under the gaze of silverpelt.

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‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
  text
  

• "speech"

• 

  Firefang ✩ She/Her, Warrior of Windclan, 24 moons
  ⭃ Black tabby she-cat with amber eyes. former-loyalist of Sootstar, Moorunner.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by Kedamono ↛ @legmeatt on discord, feel free to dm for plots. ​

​

 

[SOOTSPOT]

"A blessing, then, that the tunnels do not house petals or pollen. My own nose disagrees with their beauty... and their necessity." When StarClan crafted him, they must have thought it funny to make him allergic to his own home. Though WindClan would suffer prey shortages, he felt comfortable knowing that there was enough food for himself underground to not starve like the rogues on top. The small part of him that had declared it a shame the other was a moor-runner decided to rear its head again, quietly deciding it a shame that he had to lump her in with those less fortunate than himself. The corners of his mouth curl upwards in a moment of sincere amusement, as the conversation about Snakehiss comes to a close, nodding in agreement. "At least she will not have to worry about that anymore." Truthfully, without her connection to a leader, he did not know who would ever want to be with Cottonpaw - his younger sibling was irritating like that. The mirth was gone in an instant as he reminded the other of their connection to Snakehiss, relieved that she felt the same. We'll never be like him - a pawstep staggered at the comment, the looming Outlook Rock disappearing from his line of sight as he focused solely on the creature in front of him.

He watched Firefang silently, waiting for her to dispute her own claims that she wasn't a coward. She had surrendered to Sunstar, hadn't she? Left the leader she'd pledged herself to die so her own skin would be spared? Sootspot knew he had done the same, only, between confidants, he thought lying about such things would have been beneath the black tabby. 'I guess... we're not really friends though, are we?' They were bound by a shared situation, and the word ally had been used so often by the chimera that the meaning of the word was lost when it came to the other. If the most honest creature he knew still sought to deceive him about her nature, then he would not protest - he found himself not wanting to hurt her with a truth she needed to keep hidden. A quiet hum followed her words, following without so much as a wink of his usual smarminess. Firefang promised him a sight, something to get his mind off of the 'depressing crap' and, confused, he cocked his head. 'I like it.' To pick at the mistakes of others, to know what to do differently the next time; there was a great knowledge to be found in analysing failure - misery loved company so much that the aloof tom had not recognised it to be a curse to others.

He grimaced to himself, 'hmm'ing as if debating whether to speak and, after feeling StarClan's judging eyes, decided to break his silence. "I know you are doing it for yourself. It is ok to admit it, I would just be happy to see what makes you happy." 'Would I?' It didn't feel like a lie, but the chimera's two tongues fabricated the truth out of habit more than necessity. The idea sparked unease within his heart, as if opening it to another, no matter how small the leak, was a death sentence. Firefang had been his age when the clan was shattered by Dandelionwish's escape and Badgermoon's attempted murder of his mother, she had seen him before and after the events, and how it had changed him. Even if he didn't want it, Firefang knew weaknesses the other cats could only dream of knowing about him, and he had to trust she would not use them as maliciously as he would. Sootspot shook his fur and swallowed a lump in his throat, flashing a smile towards Firefang. "Lead on."


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