private take me on // lichenstar

[splashdance]

I met some RiverClan apprentices last time, she lies, and it doesn't feel the best to lie. Fleabounce must quirk her eye, flick her tail, and dismiss her all the same. Maybe she utters something like, 'Be careful who you befriend,' or maybe she stays silent. Snowypaw cannot hear past the blood rushing in her ears. Her feathered tail sweeps across the grass as she looks around the scenery. Cats of all sorts mingle and chat, some are guarded, some are eager. During her first gathering she had been disoriented due to the overwhelming scents, but this time she had a mission. She still found trouble, but she singled out the cat she needed before it became too much.

"Hey," she greets, and she hates the way her voice carries. Her brow furrows for a moment and she clears her throat, speaking up again, "Hey - um, you're Lichentail, right?" She dives right in, hoping desperately that the chaos of the gathering would muffle their conversation. "My name is - and - well -" she stumbles. Practice would've made perfect if Snowypaw felt she needed it for cats outside of her immediate circle. It's backwards for her and she presses her lips together in frustration. The blue lynx point in front of her doesn't seem to amused either, and so the black furred she-cat lays it out simply.

"My father is a RiverClan cat." A pause fills the space between her words - however it is short as she is quick to fill the silence. "He - he lives with you now, currently, and I'd like to get to know him. No, well, not just - Lichentail, I'd like to live within RiverClan. I would like to become a RiverClan cat, please. If that is something you can help me with," she swallows, but she doesn't let up yet. "I've gotten fairly good at hunting, and my tracking with murky water isn't too bad. The borders.. won't be the same... but I can learn! I'm very good at learning -" Snowypaw cuts herself off, gritting her teeth together. "Please, if at all possible. I'd like to live with my father."​

 

[lichenstar]

✦　˚ 　✧ ˚　.˚　✦ 　✦

CLAIM THE BURIAL I SEEK IN DREAMS FLOWING RIVER CEMETARY ✧

• So enraptured by the many gazes that flit away to avoid her wandering glances, Lichenstar hardly notices the nervously tail flicking of an eager-eyed apprentice approaching her. The squeaky greeting that catches her attention is startling... but far more comforting to hear than the rugged voice of an adult who would have questions as to Smokestar's location.
  
  The tension that had pulled her face taut softens, pale eyes searching mirrored stare with a sense of curiosity. The name is... wrong... now... but she feels no need to correct it, that would be made very clear very soon and any last moments she can hear her name before it is entirely forgotten she relishes in. But the girl stumbles through introducing herself, ultimately, fails... and Lichenstar is left fumbling for who exactly she's talking to beyond the strong scent of ShadowClan.
  
  The conversation is made far more intriguing by the moment, if not for the fact it meant a code breaker lurked amongst her rank. The semantics of how a RiverClanner even had a litter with a ShadowClanner, who they share no border with, is a whole different pile of worms. "Sorry... sweetie... you said... your father?"
  
  She leans closer, opting to remove any distance between them so they might share this conversation in careful murmurs. This should not be allowed to spread at the Gathering.. it would be a miserable web to untangle in front of clans who were not involved. "I hear you," she assures, trying to assuage any concerns that her request to join RiverClan had not been understood. "You... have a right... to RiverClan... if that's what you... want. But..."
  
  Her brows furrow and she struggles to withhold the furiousness from seeping as she asks, "Who... is your father?" Not because she didn't believe the dark-furred child but rather, needed to know whose hide she'd have decorating her den once she got home that night.
• about
  speech hex code ✧ #6368A5
  ooc notes ✦
  tagging ✶
  penned by tieirlys
• ˚　　★⋆. ࿐࿔　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 .
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[splashdance]

She's never spoken to Lichentail prior - she only knows the woman through word of mouth, having spotted her at the previous gathering standing in beside other deputies. Snowypaw admittedly doesn't know what she expected of the blue shaded moggy; did she expect outright kindness and a personality rivaling sunshine? Or perhaps someone as callous as those in her own home - which would thus be a sense of familiarity and comfort? Lichentail speaks achingly slow, though the child does not know it to be due to injury. Her impatience and anxieties manifest in a ticking tail, still, and stumbling words - but ultimately Lichentail reveals herself to be like most other cats. Curious, pulled by intrigue, by scandal.

"It is what I want," Snowypaw repeats. Her mouth remains open for a long moment as she tries to recapture the words she must say - but Lichentail reinforces that she mustn't worry about the details. She is heard, in all of her fumbling and brazen declarations, she is understood. The deputy (as she knows the woman to be) posits the easy yet terrible question, and Snowypaw finally closes her mouth. Why must she feel shame? Her parents drown in love they cannot experience, divided by borders that she so desperately wishes to cross. Why is it her existence must be so... trivial, wherever she goes?

"Pikesplash," she says, and she rolls her shoulders back in a faux fashion of confidence, "I've not met him yet, but - I'd like to. I..." Snowypaw trembles, faltering yet again as she debates inwardly on what to say and what not to say. She thinks of her mothers, her siblings - the abandonment she must commit to... "Chilledstar does not know. My mother... she did well with her secrets. My siblings know of my intentions and I have already said my goodbyes. I... will not miss ShadowClan, I assure you." Plagued by the many circumstances of her birth, Snowypaw does not yet bother the other with them. The forever troubling ShadowClan nature surely will not follow her out of the shade. Surely.

"Will Smokestar and yourself have me? I'm quite the fool back in the marsh - it'd be no different to return a failure in my endeavor," she quirks a smile and tries a soft laugh, but her tail still tick, tick, ticks.​

 

[lichenstar]

✦　˚ 　✧ ˚　.˚　✦ 　✦

CLAIM THE BURIAL I SEEK IN DREAMS FLOWING RIVER CEMETARY ✧

• She isn't sure what name she hoped to hear... Cannot sum up what individual she already thought would be the type to do this. Maybe because... it never even crossed her mind. That her clan-mates, ones she shared a den with, could so willingly and intentionally betray their clan. She is still hung up on the process... for it to be ShadowClan seethes with intention. This is no accidental development of love, no case of bonding over a moment of shared horrors. They have no connection and yet-
  
  "Pikesplash."
  
  The fur along her spine stands on end despite her efforts to keep calm, to not alert the child that trusted her with this great secret that it was a mistake to share. Carefully, very carefully, she turns her face to stretch out her neck, to release the bubbling tension and keep her tone cool and collected. He would be dealt with properly later... for now, she had a new charge to worry about.
  
  "I'm sure... he would be happy.... to see you," she says, and doesn't think it a lie. Pikesplash had been a diligent father for Otterbite, even if he did lack a spine to raise that boy into a more model citizen. He was competent... and decent.. She'd just make sure this one got a better mentor... one with some boundaries.
  
  "I see..." Chilledstar's lack of knowledge could prove a problem later but... Lichenstar was willing to make herself the villain if it meant protecting their mutual reputations, and prevent said family from being humiliated publicly. Their children, ignorant to just what their birth meant, did not deserve to suffer.
  
  "Very well..." She leans forward to plant her nose delicately on the young girl's forehead before rising to stand, knowing the announcements were soon to come and she had... a great reveal to offer the clans. "We'll be changing your name.... For your protection... And to give you.. the new start... you want." Her tail flicks this way and that, sweeping her vision across the crowd to make sure there were no intent eyes watching them. "We'll hide you... in the crowd... as we disperse."
  
  "And... be careful... that you are not... watched."
  
  It would not be seamless and silent if anyone caught on before they'd managed to make it past the border.
• about
  speech hex code ✧ #6368A5
  ooc notes ✦
  tagging ✶
  penned by tieirlys
• ˚　　★⋆. ࿐࿔　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 .
  　　　.   　　˚　　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　 　　　　 ੈ✧˳·˖✶ ✦　　˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚ ★⋆. ࿐࿔
  　　　.   　　˚　　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　 　　 　　　　 ✦　　​

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