TEMPUS EDAX RERUM | return

[ThistleBack]

It’s a form of static, reaping that with which had been sown from a life of hellish topsy turvy intervals of questionable circumstance. What if not would this be but the continuance of this strange man’s story.

Two moons ago, twolegs had made good work of stealing Skyclan warriors. Even better work had been made of that patrol sent to free those stolen from their homeland- that which Thistleback himself had been a part of. A cog upon the ever-dependable spindle of justice, something you could count on. Well, the moment the cage snapped shut around him with that familiar clang, he couldn’t help but smile in the way one does with bitter irony. No matter how hard he clashed with those bars, he’d sooner bruise then they should bend. His only thoughts, were those filled with prayer for his family. He knew they would do fine without him, he had raised them as such. Like steel, he had hammered and shaped those he loved to be ready for the worst. To be able to weather any storm.

yet once again, somehow unhindered by the grave Rhinnon saves his life or rather- diverts it. The purple collar around his neck, though he shall never know it- paved his sudden freedom. He was taken to the home of Rhinnon’s owners with the guidance of the address inscribed upon his collar, where a pair of deeply confused twolegs. No doubt wondering why and how their dead pet’s collar is sported upon this strange looking stray. He had escaped in this moment of confusion.

The streets in which he spent his youth windes before his paws, littered with trash and the distant barks of stray hounds. Ode to the familiar. Thistleback knew just how far he was from home, and with a deep sigh he takes his first step. A moon of travel would bring him here, the loner lands bleeding out before him. The salty smell of concrete is giving away, where the taste of the pines though faint- he breathes in for the first time in two moons.

His grey eyes appear to adjust with menace upon the treelined horizon, his brows pulled scornfully but it could be further from what he feels. The first time ever, the word home whispers to him. So much could change, it didn’t take moons for everything to shift. A part of him wonders what had happened, another wishes to not know. It would be easy to go back to his wicked ways. To be a nameless stray, and blend back into the alleys like a rat in the rubble waiting for death by age or illness. If anyone could let go so outwardly easily it was he. Per noctem in nihilo vehi ( to vanish by night into nothing ). But of course, his callused paws pull him forth.

Once he stands among the towering pines he once sailed on claws, he closes his eyes and feels just how much his body ached. How hard hunger burrows in his gut, he would be skin and bones had it not been for the muscles sculpted by survival and travel- if not for the tough rancid meat of city rodents. Instead he looks a beast, riddled by grime, grease, and rats made prey. He stinks like rubber, burning tar, and carrion. A societal roach that wasn’t so easily squashed under hardship.

He doesn’t make a move, not a sound. Not yet- no doubt they could smell his presence. He settles into a sit, wincing as his hip aches- scowling into the darkening woods. The sun was sinking low, and an umber tune is set in the impending twilight. In these woods, on this dirt, under these nettles he had spilt his blood, built his family, and established his loyalty. Skyclan, and so the hound returns to the flock.

" It’s been a long time " his husky voice rolls off of vocal chords like a blade over the ridges of stone. Lack of use, it creaks on rusty hinges. Looks up with a nicked white skull crowned with withered ears like the prince of tattered flags. Thorns of black was this thickened coat, knuckles rubbed raw with dirt and a propped out heel. He slides down to his belly, rests his chin so tenderly on his paws. They’d come. Sooner or later- a much needed rest falls over him. The ache- finally does it subside come slumber.



​

⛤ OOC INFORMATION REFERENCE ⛤

• — TLDR; Asleep on the border and exhausted atm , His collar has the address of his childhood friend! - he landed a month's travel away from sky but he's back and looks like he crawled out of hell.
  * I'm coming back to casually write with breaks inbetween! I missed you guys sm
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  forty EVENT TRACKER | IMPORTANT INFO
  — Lead warrior of Skyclan since 12.22.22
  — Devoted to Deersong 9.29.22
  — Father of Coyotepaw, Eveningpaw, Briarpaw, Damsel, Sunflowerpaw, and Rosepaw.
  — mentoring Snowpaw graduate(s) Quillstrike
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
  — voice & accent
  — biography･ﾟ✧​
  OPEN for Dice battles | stine#3004
  
• 
  
  

​

 

[✧ Sootspritespark.]

✸​✸ I KNOW THAT I'VE GOT A BIG EGO ✸✸​

---

sootspritespark & 38 moons & demi-girl & she/they & skyclan queen​

---

Well - this certainly complicates things. It is one thing, the molly thinks, to absently claim her kits named in honor of a brave missing warrior thought dead - it's another entirely, to spill such lies to his face. Not that it will stop her, but yellow eyes blink slowly, a flash of uncertainty and irritation flickering within before she carefully blanks her face once more, shoving her disconcert thoughts to the back of her mind. Curls bounce as the round figured femme makes her way closer, pearly whites flashing as she loudly calls out - "Well if it ain't Thistleback! We worried you know, thought you dead. Have you come runnin' home, or is there something else we should know?" it is not her place to give judgment, to make claims of where he ahs been during this sudden disappearing act. And she certainly won't speak for blazestar himself, assuming he'll be let back in. But there's no harm in being friendly - no, it's best to play her cards close, walk the line laid of before her until she knows what's best.

— really don't know why its such a big deal though ✸

• Actions && "Speech," && ' Thoughts/Quotes '
  
  ooc: —
  tw/cw: —
  
• 
  — a small and notably round molly with ink black curls and a white-speckled belly. she wears a bowtie collar with a bright white and lemon yellow plaid pattern, and always seems to be smiling. beyond the normal clan-scent, she smells heavily of milk-scent, dog, and twoleg.
  
  — physically medium && mentally hard
  — non-violent powerplay allowed && healing powerplay allowed && minor injury powerplay not-allowed
  — please attack using [b][color=#ffff99]action here[/color][/b] and tag account

 

[Hazelbeam]

"I'm pretty sure he's out like a light, Sootspritespark!" Hazelbeam wanders over on light, delicate steps, she had not quite made it to camp when she scented the stranger at the border and so she still wore her hat and bow with jingling bells that she normally left in camp when she headed out on patrols. The black and blue she-cat creeps over, lowers her head to offer a tentative sniff to the scruffy fellow with the black cloak of fur draped over his back like some kind of cowl. He might've been scary looking if he wasn't so peaceful snoozing away. The other warrior had mentioned him with familiarity and she thinks of the name with a thoughtful hum, vaguely recalling it being mentioned once or twice. This was Eveningpaw and Coyotecrest's father wasn't it? He'd gone missing assumedly, no body so hope still lingered and she knew they would be ecstatic to hear!
"Wait here! I'll run back to camp!" Without hesitation, and making sure the other molly confirmed she was fine with it, Hazelbeam went full sprinting back to the camp, the floppy brim of her hat bouncing with each hurried step before bursting in and making as much of a scene as could be allowed without screaming, "Blazestar! Thistleback is on the border!" Napping! But the details could be sorted later, she was sure several cats would be delighted with the news!
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[Ooc]
Fetching @BLAZESTAR & also yelling in the camp for anyone to hear lol
​

 

[LUPINESONG]

❀‿ Lupinepaw, born in the wake of a tragedy and raised in the new nursery dug out from the death place of a young tom, had never met Snowpath nor the vanished warrior who'd mentored him. She watched Hazelbeam race away back to camp from atop a low-hanging branch nearby and now turned to look upon him with a wary gaze, glinting jade from the shade of the pine. "Oh, was he a Skyclanner? Uhm.. why was he gone?" she asked down to Sootspritespark's curly-furred head, feeling confused and trying to play catch-up on just who this cat was.

He was napping in plain sight, which only heightened Lupinepaw's anxiety towards him, thinking about the sickened cats—her brother now amongst them, she reminded herself painfully—back at camp, sleeping fitfully yet too exhausted to eat or speak. Did he have the sickness too? "Excuse me," she called down towards the slumbering yet-still-intimidating tom, "Are you alright?"

JUST LIKE THAT ⊹₊°❀‿ THE MOON GOES FLAT

• OOC:
• 
• 
  lupinekit . lupinepaw
  — trans she/her. 4mo apprentice of skyclan
  — ??? ; single
  — tall, long-haired black smoke with low white and green eyes
  — smells like sweet lupine flowers and young pine needles
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — icon by saturnid, fullbody and chibi by nya
  — penned by eezy

​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

The words feel like cruelty breaking over him.

"Well if it ain't Thistleback!"

He has to be mishearing, and that makes it worse because that means he's doing it to himself. But there's that initial jolt of 'really?!', the dog perking up at the sound of it's masters keys jingling before they turn the lock- a knee jerk reaction he can't help despite knowing that it's probably a mistake. But he wants to hope. Wants to believe that there's nothing in the world that would keep a living, breathing Thistleback away from his clan.

He arrives just behind Hazelbeam, overhearing her announcement that 'he's out like a light', and the short, stocky bobtail tries to crane his neck to get a look around her pointed hat, squirrel still clasped firmly in his jaws. And he still can't see, but there's a scent in the air that makes his skin prickle beneath his fur long before the shecat pads off and finally gives him proper view of the newcomer on their border.

To the call of "Blazestar, Thistleback is on the border!" echoing through the forest behind him, the squirrel he was holding falls to land in the dirt by his paws.

Exhausted and filthy -but not defeated- lays an all too familiar figure.

"Your here."

The words are little more than a mumble, some attempt at verbal confirmation to kickstart his brain out of the shock it's surely in- to do more than just stare as if he expects the tom to disappear on him the moment he looks away. He wants to yell at him for disappearing, to drag him to Dawnglare for a proper check up, to force him into a proper nest so can get a decent sleep- and it's the inability to do them all at once that keeps him frozen to the spot.

[/b]

---

​

 

[Drizzlepelt]

Miracles weren’t something that happened to Drizzlepelt, not really. Most of his life was soaked in tragedy until he made a name for himself in his new home. And even then, much more has befallen him and his family. Sometimes there was hope that things would change, but pessimism was a hard beast to fight. It tended to win out in the end.

In saying that, the last thing Drizzlepelt expected was for Thistleback to actually return to the clan. He knew that the warrior had the spirit to keep on going no matter what challenges he might face, but to actually decide that his future lay with SkyClan… it wasn’t clear whether he decided to leave on his own accord or ended up captured by twolegs, but that’s not what’s important to him as he hears the nostalgic name ringing out.

He’s quick to run to where Hazelbeam says he’s appeared, the day of him joining the clan flashing back to him once more. Thistleback is the first face he saw, and even if it intimidated him at first, he was a cat that Drizzlepelt grew to appreciate greatly. He doesn’t feel any resentment towards his disappearance, just sadness that he wasn’t there when he was made a warrior.

Despite that, he’s just happy to see the familiar purple collar enter his line of sight. It doesn’t take long for the waterworks to start, as Drizzlepelt gasps from both joy and shock. The state he’s in…it must have been a rough journey back. But he is. He’s back. He’s actually back! “Thistleback…!” The warrior cries, trying not to crowd around his unconscious form, just letting the tears fall.​

 

[Fireflyglow]

Thistleback is on the border!

"Last I heard the guy was long gone. Must've been snatched up by twolegs." Fireflypaw meows from his den as he steps out of it, tail dragging against the ground momentarily. His eyes peer wide towards the direction of Hazelbeam's voice, the hefty tom carrying himself over to follow the rest of the cats leaving camp to go greet the old ex-Lead Warrior. Gone, just like most of the others in the past. Sheepcurl had come back only to die, didn't she? He blinks sadly, guilt settling in his gut.

When he finally makes it to the border, cats are asking if Thistleback is alright- that he was passed right out, and worry settled deep in his gut. "You okay, big guy?" Fireflypaw asks softly, lowering his head to sniff at Thistleback's ear. Hopefully he could be annoying enough to keep Thistleback awake; Blazestar would want an explaination, after all.​

SKYCLAN MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE ✦ 13 MOONS ✦ CHUNKY, BIG-FOOTED SEAL POINT ✦ TAGS​

 

[GREENEYES]

He follows the news just like everyone else - with racing paws set toward the border in hopes of seeing a face returned once more.

Thistleback is on the border! Hazelbeam's voice had rung through camp. The daylight warrior is far too new to SkyClan's ranks to know who Thistleback is off the top of her head, so it mustn't be a lie. And yet, it feels too good to be true. Another face returning from moons away - it couldn't be, right?

He didn't think Thistleback would ever come back, thought he'd held the same fate Daisyflight had - disappearing, ascending to the stars before a return could be made.

And yet, orange and white paws guide him to the border, attempting to catch a glimpse of familiarity in spiked fur and pale eyes. It's a hope that comes to fruition, though a sight that leaves his stomach twisting - the former lead warrior does not stand at the border, but lays at it instead. A form carried by slumber, an exhaustion he'd recognized in Sheepcurl's form when she had returned from her own disappearance. Before she --

"Thistleback...?" he slowly asks, uncertainty held in his voice as he observes the form of his fallen brother's mentor. His head turns to look at Fireflypaw, watching for a moment as his friend assesses the situation. "Is he... Is he okay...?" Had yellowcough reached him before SkyClan could?
​

 

[Howlfire]

Thistleback. He was one of the cats who had been a large presence in Howlfire's life since she was a lot. He was a good tom. Loyal, fierce, and brave. He was the epitome of what a warrior should be and was a close friend of Blazestar.

When he had gone missing, the loss had been felt keenly by the clan. There were no signs he had died but many had given up hope of seeing him again. So, when Howlfire hears her clanmates speaking and mentioning his name in surprise, she too is surprised to see him standing there. A little worse for wear but otherwise alright. "Thistleback!" Howlfire greeted warmly. "It's good to see you again. Are you...are you well?" He didn't seem sick but you could never be too careful.​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

Blazestar has been worn thin by loss, and his optimism has been shredded like so much moss for a nest. The cats who’d been taken by Twolegs had all been found, with three exceptions. Sheepcurl, who’d returned sad and lonely, only to be taken by yellowcough. Grizzlyridge, still nowhere to be found.

And Thistleback.

The flame point had been practicing tree climbing—to the best of his ability, anyway—with Bobbie on the outskirts of camp when Hazelbeam had found them, her voice an excited chirp. “Blazestar! Thistleback is on the border!” Blazestar’s belly had warmed as though he’d been lit aflame from within, and his paws still tingle with excitement and a strange brand of nervous energy as he approaches the gathering crowd of cats.

At the heart of his Clanmates, he can see a familiar shape, thin and rough-pelted from travel. Thistleback’s eyes are closed, his head laid on weary white paws, and for an earth-shattering moment, Blazestar fears he’s come home only to die. “Thistleback?” His voice shakes, just a little, before he manages to steady it. “Give him some space, everyone…” He parts the metaphorical sea of flicking tails and shaking whiskers, coming to a stop before his old friend.

He watches Thistleback in the throes of well-earned rest, and he drops to his stomach so that the two are nearly nose-to-nose. “Welcome home, my friend,” he whispers. He waits for a heartbeat, and then reaches out to touch his nose to Thistleback’s ear. “If you want to come back with us, we’ll get you a more comfortable place to sleep.”

✧ INFO.

• @bobbie
• 
  — blaise . blazestar
  — he/him ; leader of skyclan
  — pansexual ; divorced ; single
  — longhaired flame point Ragdoll with blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Mercibun

​

 

[ThistleBack]

It was a strange dream, though no longer of cages and caterwauls. Replaced by a forest floor covered in nettles, and the laughter of children, the purrs of his estranged mate. Thistleback is swallowed by the warmth and comfort lacing around his tired cold bones- he cannot see it but he can hear and feel it.

One would think him dead, perhaps his beloved clanmates would peer into the stars and wonder if he too walked the skies. Only, he himself thought he had paws too heavy for the skies of the innocent. So might as well live, if not but out of pure spite. His soul mourns though, blackened as it was and as many could testify- but one could just as easily argue that anything so close to the flame of reality would blacken eventually. Soot could turn a crystal into charcoal, and time would make good on that unspoken promise.

Thistleback, his warrior name is called by an echo almost as though it is coming from a world outside of this underwater reverie. His bodily and spiritual ache returns like a pestilence to the crops of his brief moment of peace; eyes crack open to the real world. Where the ground is cold but no less home. There are voices, jovial and hushed confusion alike. A stranger’s muzzle is placed before his bleary vision, the groggy traveling beast registers the question but only in warped fantasy. This foggy world where the evergreens quiver noisily and there is no childish laughter. This young tall youth, with concern in her voice, it’s incomprehensible in this moment. Lupinepaw’s words sink into the sea of his subconscious.

" S-…yes..I’m just resting my eyes Eve. Don’t …wake… your …mum " he whispers, thinking he’s speaking to his daughter in this state of delirium that quickly fades with a few blinks. That’s when his mind returns to the present. When the heartbeat in his hip returns like a hammer on a nerve. His skull rests still but his eyes flutter back closed.

When the world stops spinning for a moment, there stood a sight for very sore reopened eyes " Johnny " a patched pelt and yellow eyes, frozen in place like a statue. Was he still dreaming? How cruel were the stars to stitch his dreams so vividly as the patch markings of his beloved friend. No, this was real. He felt his gut twist and the blood rush to his head as he peels his chin up from his forearm. Johnnyflame, memories had a way of glittering behind the eyes in moments like these. He opens his maw, but closes it just as quickly when the group grows larger.

Drizzlepelt’s eyes are glassy with tears, Thistleback’s soul stirs from a state of hibernation. Had he not realized the effect he had on his clanmates, the love was so dearly returned? He was speechless with warmth glowing in his chest. A memory of a young lad on the border, eager to prove himself.

greeting him next, was another one of the children he watched grow up among his very own. Howlpaw, oh how she had grown- he paused to reflect on it but briefly. " the older you kids get, the older I’m starting to feel " he murmurs, " It’s good to see you Howlpaw-… I’m quite alright, just- a long … very long journey " he adds despite the dizziness. Drizzlepelt, Greeneyes, and Fireflypaw had all left the blacksmith’s anvil of childhood before his very eyes. It was a gift, was it not? His love for these clanmates was that of a father, brother, and son. A type of affection where blood hardly distilled it. He hoped they all knew just how much he adored them, only as it was with his own children- he knew not how to show it in such menial form.

" Look at you young warriors… " it’s obvious the pain is swelling the sentimental but if anything it makes his tongue loose and gives the reigns over to his heart for once. A rare display indeed. Fireflypaw sniffing at his ear brings his groggy attention unto the youthful healer. " Fireflypaw- you… look so much like your father " completely blinded the boy may never know- it needs to be spoken doesn’t it? A question had been asked but was left unanswered as he pulls his legs under his chest with a wobbly tug. He closes his eyes again, nettles cushioning his ribs but he fights back against the exhaustion just in time for a pale red muzzle to come whisker to whisker with his. The ragdoll’s familiar shape bringing a new aura of peace upon him along with the touch of his nose to a cold white ear. Thank the stars, what would the Sky be without Blazestar if but a sky without the sun. " Blazestar… " he greets hoarsely around a weak smile.

" I could sleep through leafbare " he admits. His elbows quiver as he pushes up from the ground. home, one word now held a thousand meanings for him.
​

⛤ OOC INFORMATION REFERENCE ⛤

• — I'm crying over every response :"O <3 ahhh I missed yall
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  forty EVENT TRACKER | IMPORTANT INFO
  — Lead warrior of Skyclan since 12.22.22
  — Devoted to Deersong 9.29.22
  — Father of Coyotepaw, Eveningpaw, Briarpaw, Damsel, Sunflowerpaw, and Rosepaw.
  — mentoring Snowpaw graduate(s) Quillstrike
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
  — voice & accent
  — biography･ﾟ✧​
  OPEN for Dice battles | stine#3004
  
• 
  
  

​

 

[Coyotecrest]

Angry at all the things I can't change

Although his name was certainly not Blazestar, the cream spotted tom responded regardless. Limbs move with haste as he gathers himself, swiftly following in behind his former mentor. Coyotecrest's heart thrums wildly within its ivory cage breath hitching as he draws ever closer to the border. During every border patrol he made time to seek out Thistleback's scent with unwavering diligence, stubbornly holding onto a frail glimmer of hope that could not be snuffed out. He refused to believe his father was gone forever and he was right in thinking such.

Peering beyond Blazestar's shoulder was the very bristle backed tom he'd searched for day in and day out. A breath of relief falls from his maw and flaxen paws continue to bring him forth. With tunnel vision he closes the distance, lowering a broad skull to butt it gently against Thistleback's own. If only to be sure the figure before him was not an apparition seeking to play tricks on him. But warmth and fur collides with his own, and the feel of it rims green eyes with the beginnings of tears. "You're back." He whispers, screwing eyes shut, lingering there. "Thank starclan you're back..." Another string of hushed words that threatened to crack under the sheer weight of the warrior's return. He rarely thanked the star pelted cats above, but this was certainly cause for praise.

Reluctantly he pulls his head back to meet the Thistleback's gaze. "Here, lean on my shoulder. Conserve your energy." Coyotecrest murmurs gingerly before passing Blazestar a glance. "I can make him a fresh nest." ​

When you're lost in the universe don't lose faith​

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[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Relief had never felt so sad to Johnny, so heavy. He was happy- of course he was happy- but now that Thistle was home and safe it was like every bit of disappointment and sadness he'd been keeping at bay in order to remain optimistic was now threatening to overwhelm him. It was unexpected. Made his breathe catch in his throat.

"Johnny."

He could have purred if his throat wasn't already working against him.

"Thistleback." he answered, steady because he would always answer if they called.

What cat did he owe more to than this one? Who had ever given him more? Skyclan meant so much to him, and he would have never even known of it's existence if it hadn't been for the piebald warrior. Hell, if he had he still might not have joined given his past with strays, but somehow the elegant bastard standing in front of him had managed to make him understand simply be being the cat they were.

It had made Johnny want to do more than just sit on the fence of a garden his whole life. Had made him want to be better than he currently was.

But then, before he even had a chance to express that gratitude or explore the friendship they had grown, Thistle had disappeared off the face of the earth.

Yellow eyes finally shifted around the growing crowd, other cats drawing close and calling greeting, Blazestar and Coyotecrest among them. No longer pinned under the weight of silver eyes, Johnny took the chance to get his head back on straight, gently clearing his throat in an attempt to shake the tightness in it and blinking the extra moisture from his eyes.

"Welcome back, sir." he offered, gaze flicking toward the other but for a moment before darting away as if thinking better of it.

His brain could malfunction another time. Right not they had to get Thistle back to camp. He was clearly exhausted and sore, in need of proper looking after. As Coyotecrest offered to make him a fresh nest, Johnnyflame nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Once we're back I've got a fresh squirrel here he can eat while he waits. "[/i] he offered, scooping the plump rodent up to carry back for them.

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

He did not bound towards the news, the Lead Warrior, whose grudges hibernated and morals struggled to budge for any cat, instead prowled after his giddier clanmates. Pushing through the luscious leaves, the large feline came to an immediate halt when the rumours revealed themselves to be true, his breath quietly hitching as he tried to wrestle with the slew of emotions that rushed to his head. They had not parted as friends. Silversmoke had recalled the warrior's actions with visceral disgust whenever an emerald eye locked with greys, even now, covered in a smell that reminded the tabby of old blood, he couldn't help but wonder how much of that stench came from Kuiper's memory. But absence had softened his hardened heart, less did he see an untamed dog and instead, a loyal clanmate who would've fought the very Stars themselves if it meant returning to the place where he belonged. The Lead Warrior chewed his own tongue at the thought, hoping it would retain its spite if provoked, hoping he could find more faults in Thistleback. After a dozen seconds, he relented with a sag of broad shoulders, circling the grounded tom and casting his sight towards the lands he dared not venture.

"If you dare hibernate, I'll put you on tick duty for a moon." His voice was as frigid as the winter months themselves, a permafrost there that struggled to melt even as the sun's heat crawled amidst his thick fur. A singular blue eye looked back towards Thistleback, making zilch out other than the spikes of black fur and the smear of disgusting purple, and shot his gaze back out towards the horizon. There were two types of Warriors, those who would sacrifice their loyalty to work alongside those who dared to hurt them (be it out of fear or an easier life, Silversmoke didn't recognise the difference) and those who would claw and bite each furless hand that came its way and fight for the freedom the forest gave them. A rare smile appeared on the spotted tabby's features, contorting the broken skin around his muzzle and leaving the side of his face sore. For Thistleback the fighter, it was worth it just this one time, even if he felt the need to hide his happiness behind the blinding rays of sunshine. "Welcome back, should we prepare a place in the elder's den for you?" A joke, one he hoped the other would understand behind the bite.

​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

✿—— when hazelbeam summons blazestar with an excited mew, bobbie's quick to swing down from the tree on which they've been practicing. training time interrupted by some cat or another summoning blazestar has been both disruptive and informative - on the one paw, her focus breaks every time their little sessions do. on the other, though, the experiences she's had in her moon and a half or so flanking the golden tom on each trip to the border are ones she treasures, ones she's fortunate to have - that she certainly wouldn't were she training with a regular warrior. still, it's become a routine thing, and she's quick to cut her focus towards whatever today's was - a cat on the border, a name she initially doesn't recognize.

thistleback.

as they head to the border, towards the growing crowd of cats, she squints and tries to remember when she'd heard it. she knows she has, but she cannot put a face to it, and the thought occupies her mind as the clump of felines draws into view. when she spots the spiky-furred form her mind finally snags it - moons upon moons ago, her kits sleeping dreamless within her stomach, her paws clean of blood and her mind free of clouds. a timid question, a muscled tom with a strange accent and neat manners offering prey to the elder she'd been talking with. green eyes blink, shocked, as she grounds herself—the past is a sharp and shocking thing, and it's difficult to summon up that time when she'd been so naive, when scars had been a question to be asked instead of something rippling across her own side.

blazestar's voice is barely steady as he speaks and she glances sidelong as he presses his nose to the piebald tom's ear. it's ... good, to see him happy for once. to see one of the seemingly thousands of cats he's lost, as many as there are stars in the sky, returned to the clan. watching the way he greets blazestar with a weakened smile, it's clear he's in need of the help the golden leader offers as he lifts himself shakily upwards.

again, as she has before and no doubt will continue to, she feels like the outsider she is. she does not really know this tom, she has no history with him - the emotional reactions rippling through the crowd, though they touch her heart, have little meaning to her. quite suddenly she feels as though she's intruding on something and, turning on her paws before anyone can stop her, she murmurs, "i'll go tell the rest of the clan," before disappearing between two trunks of pine.

NO LOVE, HOWEVER BRIEF (✿) 𝑰𝑺 𝑾𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑫

• ooc: late but i wanted to squeeze a post in </3 in & then out again
  
• nothing here, have a nice day :-)
• 
  — bobbie
  — she/her ; warrior of skyclan ; 40 ☾s
  — "speech" ; thoughts ; attacks
  — chibi by its_oliverr
  — penned by dejavu
  

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