SUN HITS THE WATER // weaselclaw

[SOOTSTAR]

A hunting patrol is what the disgruntled couple had set out on, and as if fated in time they end up alone. The intention was to follow the scent of prey, but all trails have been lost or found to be cold. They begin to head back to the patrol, they do not walk side by side and they do not speak a word.

The blue smoke is tired of this, tired of holding a grudge against Weaselclaw and tired of giving him the cold shoulder. She's tired of receiving it too. The ire she once had for the striped tom has now faded, the only emotion left being frustration and a refusal to be the first to reconcile. Yet with her most recent discovery it was difficult, she finds herself cracking in their silent walk. "Weaselclaw," Abruptly she meows, the crunching beneath her paws stopping as she slows to a halt. "...I'm tired of... this. Aren't you?" Her ears fold in a rarely shown expression, even in the eyes of her mate. "I'm done being mad- after everything that's happened I've learned no matter what I need you by my side. As my lead warrior, my mate..." Emerald stare into ice blue eyes, the sweetest of emotion shone in the depth of her gaze. "As the father of our kits."

Ebony nose points to her belly, she licks a few tufts of fur away to reveal swelling. It was minor, only caught by a mother's and medicine cat's eyes, but she remembers this change vividly from when she expected her first litter of kits. "I love you, and I need you for this, for them."

// @WEASELCLAW lmao​

---

Spoiler: TAGS ★ 12/18

( primary character / "speech" / ic opinions )​

╰ ★ ჻ 001 GENERAL INFORMATION ,
· SOOTSTAR, female — she / her
╰ ‣ 34 moons . pisces. ages on the first
╰ ‣ windclan leader . marsh-born . believes in starclan
╰ ‣ former soldier of the marsh group

╰ ★ ჻ 002 VISUALS & AESTHETICS ,
· DOMESTIC FELINE, smells like heather and wet dirt , status — 100%
╰ ‣ blue smoke . scarred chest, difficult to see through fur . green eyes

╰ ★ ჻ 003 MENTALITY & MANNERISMS ,
· ESTJ-A ❝ EXECTUTIVE ❞ , Slytherin, Lawful Evil
╰ ‣ Cunning, brash, fierce, confident, self-reliant, envious & selfish
╰ ‣ finds great difficulty in relating to others . can be cruel, usually shows mercy to those she can find sympathy with
╰ ‣ sole key to her heart is loyalty, if you have her trust, she often shows a completely different side of herself. Aggression tends to manifest from her extreme paranoia
╰ ‣ Appreciates titles such as "miss, m'am" etc

╰ ★ ჻ 004 INTERACTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS ,
· SOOT CLAW x PEBBLE BREEZE, sister to Pebblenose
╰ ‣ heterosexual. mate to Weaselclaw
╰ ‣ mother to Windpaw & Sootpaw
╰ ‣ mentor to Sootpaw & Coyotepaw
╰ ‣ average fighter . skilled hunter .
╰ ‣ will start fights . unlikely to flee .
╰ ‣ attack in underline . penned by user @ava.​

​

​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

( 彡 ) Weaselclaw hates the distance yawning between them. Despite the love that still churns for her in his chest and stomach, they've been as distant as the two cliffsides of the gorge running along their territory. One wrong pawstep, he thinks to himself, and he could find himself slipping inside to drown beneath the waters.

The hunting patrol hadn't been his idea; after all, why would it be? Even if Sootstar hasn't disowned him as her mate -- yet -- she has stripped him of any power he'd ever had in WindClan. He's no better than Mallowlark, than Yewberry. He's nothing. A soldier, mindless, one who cannot even please the she-cat who leads him.

Not any longer.

These are the sorts of bitter thoughts that cloud his mind behind his headache. Her own voice, when she speaks, is thick with her sickness, but the tone, too, causes him to lift his head and gaze at her with confusion. It's Sootstar who breaks the silence, and he stiffens, wondering what's to come.

"Have you brought me out here to tell me it's over?" He gives her a pensive, searching look, coming up short and dissatisfied. He can't read her, not at first, though as she keeps speaking he realizes with relief that he was wrong.

"I'm tired of this. Aren't you?" Her beautiful tufted ears lay back against her skull, a rare and tortured sign of submission. Not to him, but to herself, to her feelings. Weaselclaw stops beside her, his heart aching behind his scarred white chest.

"Of course I am," he answers, sighing. Pale breath escapes his mouth; his nostrils are too stuffed to emit anything. "But do you forgive me?"

He wants to rejoice at her words -- she wants him back as her lead warrior, back as her mate -- but something holds him back. Some nameless hesitation stays the excitement, though his dim blue eyes begin to glow like the sunlit sky.

"As the father of our kits."

Weaselclaw's heart seems to still, and his breath follows suit. Surprise causes his jaw to drop. The expression on her face isn't bittersweet, anymore; it's not the expression of a proud she-cat who has to give into some internal battle.

It's the glowing green eyes, the warm love, of a mother.

After he comprehends what she's told him, he chokes, icy tears glinting in the corners of his eyes. Oh, he's been so foolish, and he can admit it to himself for the first time -- how could he have ever endangered his relationship to her, to the kits she now carries within her?

Weaselclaw, in a rare flash of emotion, bridges the gorge with a nuzzle to her soft face. She would feel the slight dampness of his tears, but when he pulls back to beam at her, they are gone. Shared between their cheek fur. "I can't believe it," he says. The clouds have cleared from his head. "I love you, too, and I... I'm proud to be beside you. I'll do whatever it takes, from now on, to keep you and them safe. WindClan safe." He bows his head to her.

He's not admitting fault -- but he's vowing to her, to himself, that his pride and his lust for battle come second to her and her honor, to her and his children, to her and his Clan.​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

Have you brought me out here to tell me its over? Sootstar's heart skips a beat as a child-like shrill rings out in her voice, no! never! Sootstar was not heartbroken over the loss of Jaggedoak and Flint as mates, but Weaselclaw was different. She felt a genuine burning passion for him, her heart was filled with love for him, even if he really had pissed her off... If there was any cat aside from her children who could survive any personal ire the she-cat had, it was him.

Sootstar can forgive, but she can't forget and she cannot promise all the frustration will leave her bones. Weaselclaw's actions while she'd usually approve of them now was costing her serious consequences and it's costed her Hyacinithbreath, it caused her to be humiliated at the gathering. Regardless of that this was no longer just about them, there was new life inside of her who needed them to be strong. So they'd both do better, for each other and for the family they continue to build.

But do you forgive me? She responds with a nod as she watches tears form in his eyes upon hearing the news. Sootstar is slow to react to the show of emotion, to say the least she finds herself stunted. Sootstar is certain none of her other mates would've reacted with such joy- not in the same pure and innocent way Weaselclaw was. A smile cracks on her lips, she feels a sting in her own eyes as she returns is nuzzle.

"I know you will, I'm proud to have you by my side." A quiet purr rumbles in her throat, she moves to lean into him once more. "No matter what happens we cannot let anything divide us again. ...Not like that. I promise, Weaselclaw, that I'll do my part in upholding that too." Sootstar was a very proud cat, but she could on rare occasion look her own faults in the eye. She wants to save further apologieze for the past several weeks for later, they should revel in the joy and excitement they felt in this moment, "Are you excited?"​

---

Spoiler: TAGS ★ 12/18

( primary character / "speech" / ic opinions )​

╰ ★ ჻ 001 GENERAL INFORMATION ,
· SOOTSTAR, female — she / her
╰ ‣ 34 moons . pisces. ages on the first
╰ ‣ windclan leader . marsh-born . believes in starclan
╰ ‣ former soldier of the marsh group

╰ ★ ჻ 002 VISUALS & AESTHETICS ,
· DOMESTIC FELINE, smells like heather and wet dirt , status — 100%
╰ ‣ blue smoke . scarred chest, difficult to see through fur . green eyes

╰ ★ ჻ 003 MENTALITY & MANNERISMS ,
· ESTJ-A ❝ EXECTUTIVE ❞ , Slytherin, Lawful Evil
╰ ‣ Cunning, brash, fierce, confident, self-reliant, envious & selfish
╰ ‣ finds great difficulty in relating to others . can be cruel, usually shows mercy to those she can find sympathy with
╰ ‣ sole key to her heart is loyalty, if you have her trust, she often shows a completely different side of herself. Aggression tends to manifest from her extreme paranoia
╰ ‣ Appreciates titles such as "miss, m'am" etc

╰ ★ ჻ 004 INTERACTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS ,
· SOOT CLAW x PEBBLE BREEZE, sister to Pebblenose
╰ ‣ heterosexual. mate to Weaselclaw
╰ ‣ mother to Windpaw & Sootpaw
╰ ‣ mentor to Sootpaw & Coyotepaw
╰ ‣ average fighter . skilled hunter .
╰ ‣ will start fights . unlikely to flee .
╰ ‣ attack in underline . penned by user @ava.​

​

​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

( 彡 ) Weaselclaw had been there for the birth of Sootstar's first litter, marking the moors as their kingdom. He remembered his concern, how wide-open the skies and fields were, how vulnerable she had been with two tiny gray and white kits nursing at her flank.

They hadn't been mates then, and those kits hadn't been his -- not really. Despite the strange paternal affections he has for Windpaw and Sootpaw, the two of them had never greeted them with father, had never truly let him into their hearts. Sootstar was their world, the only parent they'd needed, and he'd respected that -- understood it, even.

But these kits, the kits she carries now, are his. His blood, her blood -- theirs together, born from all that makes WindClan fierce and proud and strong.

She asks him, "Are you excited?" He laughs, a surprisingly innocent sound from a cat so battle-hardy. "I've never been more excited for anything in my life," he says, bowing his head shyly. "I'd never even considered... well, I never thought..."

Kits were a fact of life, but somehow, he'd never considered the possibility that he could participate in that wondrous feeling of bringing someone new into the world. He gives his short striped pelt a shake, eyes brimming with blue joy. "How far along are you? Does... does Dandelionwish know yet?" He brings his gaze to her midsection. It doesn't really look any different to him, but Sootstar has done this once before; she would know better than him, he decides. "Can I..." He's embarrassed again, but he wants to put his paw on her middle and see if he can feel anything. A heartbeat, a shifting, anything to indicate his children are really there, tangible, real.​

( WITH A GUNSLINGER'S DESIRE , YOU'D RATHER BURN OUT THAN SAVE IT )