private TAKE BACK THE NIGHT ] twilightkit

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

The kit most like his mate is the one he'd recoiled at during his birth, his silver-dusted, tufted-faced son. She's beautiful — she's cool-natured, her voice like flowing river water. She's missing a paw, more than that, even, all the way up the joint, and though Raccoonstripe had feared the disadvantage it would put her at in battles and hunting, Twilightkit has adapted gracefully to the disability. He sometimes watches him with stunned interest, at the way he adjusts his body, the way he moves, silver pelt flowing like liquid under unrefined kitten muscles. He's never had the paw, so he's never had to adjust to losing one — that's his theory, anyway. He remembers his brother Berryheart, the paw he'd lacked, how it had never seemed to hinder him too badly, and it touches his heart. Now, when he looks at Twilightkit, he sees not only Nightbird, but the brother he'd lost prematurely, too.

"Have I ever told you about your uncle Berryheart? He would've loved you." His expression is uncharacteristically soft. He settles his striped bulk beside the silver kitten, dark eyes flicking from her pointed ears to the star-pale tufts lining her cheeks. "He, uh... he was a lot like you. Quiet. Smart. And he was even missing a paw." He smiles, using a paw to caress the sharpening bones of his fluffy child's face. "He was the smartest cat I've ever known... and he talked to StarClan."

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

• ooc: @TWILIGHTKIT ⋆
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 43 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
  — mentored by n/a ; mentoring Thistlepaw ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
  — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
  — currently mated to Nightbird.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.
  
  

​

 

[TWILIGHTKIT ⋆]

Natural. Twilightkit would consider much of his upbringing as natural. The sake of competition, falling too-quickly into a well-formed line at the beck and call of their mother, the need for approval even for the little things by their father. Stormkit's blindness, Bayingkit's snippiness, Tigerkit's eagerness, Lightningkit's curiosity - natural. He would say the same of his missing foreleg, for saying anything different would suggest that he is different. And the little tom kit is far beyond considering himself special, negatively or positively so.

And yet, as he sits in beside his father for a spot of afternoon sunshine, he can't help but feel a little unique. Raccoonstripe starts detailing one of his brothers - his litter's Twilightkit, evidently named Berryheart. Down to missing a crucial limb, a cat like him had thrived alongside his father and the other cats. And even more, he was a disciple of the stars themselves. Awe shines in golden eyes, and his foreleg shifts slightly so that he can better face his father.

"He... He's like me?" The kitten repeats. A long pause before the silver child asks, "What happened to him?" Because clearly, his uncle Berryheart is not here to reassure Twilightkit that he is no different than his littermates.​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Twilightkit is quiet and studious in spite of the warmth of golden sunshine, in spite of his father's undivided attention, but his amber eyes snap toward Raccoonstripe at the mention of Berryheart's missing paw. "He... he's like me?" He repeats, and Raccoonstripe nods, smiling. "He was born that way, too," he recalls. "It never affected him... before he was a medicine cat, he was a warrior."

Memories sweep over him of a tortoiseshell figure wriggling beneath his sturdy paws, batting him over the face, a crooked smile plastered over a stoic muzzle... He blinks, and the image fades, and left in Berryheart's place is a wondrous kit who will never know his uncle.

You would have loved her. She's almost nothing like me and everything like Nightbird.

"He died," he murmurs in a low voice. "He — he was born with a sickness. A breathing sickness. We lost him in newleaf." Raccoonstripe blinks rapidly, clearing Berryheart's visage from his mind's eye. "But he looks down on you now from StarClan."

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

• ooc: —
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 43 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
  — mentored by n/a ; mentoring Thistlepaw ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
  — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
  — currently mated to Nightbird.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.
  
  

​

 

[TWILIGHTKIT ⋆]

Her attention does not waver, trained on her father perhaps indefinitely. In truth, the subject matter could be almost anything and she may have treated him with the same enthusiasm. But this isn't about anything, this is about her uncle Berryheart. Uncle Berryheart, who was like her, born like her, a servant to the stars and before that, a warrior.

And... he's gone.

There's a sense of defeat that settles on the she-kit's shoulders. Childishly, she had hoped that he simply... wandered. That he was on a special mission and he'd be back soon, to meet them, to meet her. Her excitement rots, the shine in her eyes fading for a moment. "A breathing sickness?" Again, she repeats. Twilightkit sucks in a deep breath and lets it out with the same gusto, testing to see if the sickness is one she has too. Raccoonstripe says that he watches her from StarClan - a sentiment she's heard of other cats, too. But this time she looks up to the sky as if she can see him, even with the sun out.

"... He has a... a..." the words either escape her or were never borne into her mind to begin with, but Twilightkit tries. "He rests forever, somewhere. Can I see him there?" She asks. A gravesite is surely dedicated to him, as a tom of his greatness should be honored.​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Twilightkit's eyes are trained on him with a seriousness only his mother can imitate, but he can see her little shoulders droop when Raccoonstripe delivers the news. "A breathing sickness?" He tests his own lungs, apparently satisfied with the influx of air. Thank StarClan. Or rather, I'd curse them if one of these kits ended up with that cursed illness. His own grief feels almost raw inside of him, almost as if he's experiencing it for the first time through his daughter's eyes. He would have followed you for days. He would have asked you about every herb, every berry...

His breath is sharp as he inhales. "He does," he answers Twilightkit, his voice softer. "One day, I will take you to visit his grave. You can bring him something, maybe." He smiles distantly. "Or maybe we can share a meal with him there. He was always hungry. He'd... he'd like that, I think."

Would that you could share with your niece the way you should be able to. Would that you could clean the blood from his whiskers and tell him stories and give him badger rides.

"Would you like that?" Twilightkit, if perceptive enough, would be able to pick up on the change in her father's demeanor. He seems as though he's far, far from where they sit together in camp, as though he's blundered into another realm, a realm chockful of starlight and a swollen moon.

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

• ooc: —
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 43 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
  — mentored by n/a ; mentoring Thistlepaw ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
  — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
  — currently mated to Nightbird.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.
  
  

​

 

[TWILIGHTKIT ⋆]

Their conversation grows quieter, but not softer. Not stern, either, as his father disappears into his own mind palace, considering worlds that they do not live in - for better or for worse. Twilightkit is not the most emotionally in tune child, yet even he sees the way his father's mood grows sullen. And in all that Twilightkit is of Nightbird - sleek, well mannered, sharp and serious - there is a brief joy in seeing that he can mimic his father's drooping shoulders to perfection.

"Yes," Twilightkit says, too quickly at first. "I like mice. Do you think he likes - liked? - mice?" It's too far away already. One of those, when you're an apprentice, moments, he's sure. But Twilightkit for once doesn't dwell on the semantics of the situation. He trusts his father to do all the worrying over details for him - and all he must worry about until then, is that his lungs remain clean and clear and his leg doesn't miraculously grow back.

He turns again, outwards into the bustling camp, and leans his weight into Raccoonstripe with ease. "I would like that," he agrees again, feathery tail flicking around his legs.​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

"He loved mice." Raccoonstripe is drawn back to the present as Twilightkit leans his small silver weight into his leg. The pressure, the warmth, takes some of the grief from his heart and replaces it with kindling love. He leans to groom Twilightkit's tufted pale ears for just a heartbeat. "Maybe I can convince your mother to let me take you soon. Just you and me."

He doesn't know why he promises this to Twilightkit — for Berryheart would have loved to share a mouse with all five of his brother's children — but he wants to keep this between the two of them. He wants Twilightkit to have the moment to himself, something he can cherish, something he can hold onto for the rest of his life.

"Here, let's see what the rest of the kits are doing. Maybe I'll go catch you a mouse for supper." He blinks down at his son, exhausting a throaty purr for the silver tabby's benefit, before nudging him to his three good paws and guiding him back toward the nursery.

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

• ooc: —
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 43 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
  — mentored by n/a ; mentoring Thistlepaw ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
  — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
  — currently mated to Nightbird.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.
  
  

​