TALE OF THE COSMOS ✦ HAZECLOUD

[EVENINGPAW]

An eternity seems to pass since the last time Eveningpaw has had a heart-to-heart with Hazecloud. The warm, cozy enclosure of the nursery has not been their base of operations for what feels like a lifetime already — even if she enters it for the odd job here and there for the queens or kits, there is no familiar, curly pelt to greet her with a trill anymore. That same cat is out and about, doing important stuff.

Truly, Eveningpaw does not want it any other way. The pride she had felt as deputy Lichentail's daughter had been unprecedented for her, and then it only grew when that pale head of theirs got kissed by the stars, and now- Hazecloud fills the spot of deputy, essentially turning Eveningpaw and her siblings into royalty.

But... not even all that joy can replace the safety that was always found beside her mama's belly.

Eveningpaw finds it now; seeks it out like a drunken, lost sheep, quickly taking Hazecloud's side when the last few of the gossiping warriors leave and prepare to settle for the night. Hazecloud is sure to follow soon enough, so this is the perfect opportunity.

"Mama?" Eveningpaw murmurs. Her voice always has the tendency to lower when around the queen — always one in her mind —, her heart's beat losing its frantic pace so she can hear that comforting voice over its clamor. It is needed now, following the emptiness that Streamkit's unfortunate fate has left in its wake. Eveningpaw swears she's heard Hazecloud mutter a name that remains dear to all of them, even after all this time... or maybe because of all this time. With each new milestone Twinklepaw, Horizonpaw and Eveningpaw take, Snowflakekit's untimely demise is a cruel reminder.

Idly, she wonders if it's her turn to be cruel. She is merely operating on somber curiosity now — whatever Hazecloud and Lichenstar might feel when their son's name is uttered, Eveningpaw does not know. She asks anyway, in spite of the uncertainty. "Can you, umm... tell me something about Snowflakekit? Anything at all. It feels like I barely know him." That last bit certainly feels cruel as it escapes her maw. A brother, and yet... all she knows is his name and that he's been taken too soon.

@hazecloud

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[hazecloud]

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There was no doubt that the natural distance of simply growing up would pain her to see. Little paws are not so little anymore, and each pair of eyes are more keen with each day. Each nose sharper with every morning. Their training had started off just as she had imagined, each of them taking a strong head into the skills their mothers led them into. It seemed they would all make fantastic hunters, taken to the rivers current just as she hoped.

It still hurt, though. She didn't envision herself just as busy as they were, learning beside them the lengths of these new responsibilities. At the very least she had been able to warn them, wean them into their new independence as apprentices. All she had to guide her into deputyship was ill-timed correction after a mistake was already made and a council she mostly doubled in age watching her fumble.

While their days are dragging, normally on opposite ends of the territory from one another, it is only in glimpses of dawn and dusk when she finds her children coming back to her, as they always had. "Evie." She greeted her daughter with a smile as she wrapped a paw over her shoulder. They've all grown so big now, how many of them would take Lichenstar's height and loom over her?

Streamkit's unfortunate death had left many of them shaken still, and Hazecloud isn't sure herself how this would ripple in effect for Graypaw's future. She understood the tom was a friend to her own kits, but she would be lost on any sound advice for how they should feel in regards to it. She wouldn't want them to stop being friends with Graypaw, or to shove him further into whatever form of isolation he would undoubtedly make for himself, but there was a part of her that worried if it could happen again. If Graypaw would underestimate his own strength another time.

"Snowflakekit?" Eveningpaw must have heard her quiet prayer then, and was not approaching her to ask about her denmate. The queen sighed softly, leaning closer. "I do too..." Because what else could she have known outside of the single breath he had taken?

"It's hard, sometimes, seeing all six of you and not know where he would fit in. If he would be more like Horizonpaw, or more like Pebblepaw..." Lichenstar had seen him, however, a life given alongside a message. 'He wanted to say hi.' So simple, a little hello.

"I've heard he is very smart, though, and loves to smile. Loves to watch us from the stars..." Lichenstar said he had grown from the newborn he left as but still remained a kit. Somewhere around three moons or so, forever youthful. "I think the marsh colonists from the Great War have been taking care of him for us. They were me and Lichenstar's friends, of course."

✿ ———— I'll be your regular mama ✿ ————— And I'll put that gun away

•  
• 
  
  
  Hazecloud
  —⊰⋅ Deputy of RiverClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ LH blue smoke with green eyes.
  

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[EVENINGPAW]

Evie, Hazecloud calls her, and it never fails to make Eveningpaw's heart flutter with the knowledge that she is loved. Tranquility settles over her just like she settles beside her mother, paw wrapping around her to keep her in place — as if there is reason to anchor her so. When she faces the world like this, Eveningpaw feels like she is up somewhere high; untouchable and unafraid. So much has happened since the pair had been stuck in the nursery... but at least this feeling has stayed the same.

Eveningpaw's head rests on her front paws, but she still makes certain to look up at Hazecloud, closely listening to every word she says. She says it's hard — and strangely, Eveningpaw wants nothing more than to find that relatable. Isn't it a bad thing, to not feel the full blow of grief for your sibling? Of course... she wishes Snowflakekit was here, that she had another addition to her already large family, but she can't miss what she does not know of.

Evidently, she is only making the pain grow by asking Hazecloud... but it is the least she can realistically do.

"It would be nice to know," she says, simple as that. Why had StarClan not allowed him to stick around long enough for his personality to shine through? To display his traits and qualities not amongst the stars, but right here, amidst tangible hearts...

Despite the somber topic, Eveningpaw finds herself smiling; it is gentler than usual, reserved but still full of emotion. "Of course he's smart." Golden gaze climbs to the sky. "I wonder which star he is. Probably the biggest and the shiniest." Eveningpaw picks one, and raises her paw, as if she could touch it and let Snowflakekit she loves him. "What are they called? Your friends?"
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