private The bells are ringing out ✶ Howlfire

[Owlheart]

Hawkpaw and Blazingpaw, the last of the young apprentices. She was never particularly close to them but she thought of the apprentices warmly, well near warriors really. The meeting should be around the corner, any day after Orangestar comes home, whenever she's coming home. The thought of her mother not being here was concerning, it brought a creeping fear within her mind. She needed something to focus on instead, Owlheart guesses that's why she was thinking about these apprentices.

The sun sets over the crest of the sky, dark purples peeking through the vast coverage of clouds as the sun bleeds orange in protest of being tucked away. A chill starts to fall over the cover of night, the red tabby in this moment finds herself by the fresh-kill pile. Eyeing off a squirrel as her mind swung between worrying about her mother and trying to distract herself from it. Thinking about what warrior names they'd receive, ears twitch as she hears the approach of paws behind her. Glancing behind she smiled at the sight of Howlfire “good evening… Would you.. Like to share this squirrel with me?” she asks trailing off as she looks back to the squirrel on the pile.

Plucking it by the tail she finds a spot on the outskirts of the camp clearing, glancing over at the warrior to join her. Silence fell over the tabby as she pushed the squirrel to the she-cat. “Your children are 12 moons right? They'll be warriors soon then?” She can't help but glance at Howlfire as she asks. What was she feeling in this moment? Was she excited that her children would hopefully be graduating soon? “Do you have any hopes for their warrior names? I know we're not really supposed to have expectations for them but I'm curious since you're their mother-” the warrior cuts her ramblings short with a chuckle. Hopefully she knew what Owlheart meant, that her questions were coherent.

// back written to take place before the meeting :3 @Howlfire
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[Howlfire]

Orangestar has yet to return. With every passing day, the worries increase, as does the tension. There were so many questions about what had happened and why Orangestar had left so suddenly. Usually, they would look to the council for guidance, but with Silversmoke still missing on top of everything else they were in a bit of a mess themselves.

At the sound of Owlheart's voice, Howlfire lifts her head, smiling back when the younger warrior turns to her. She asks if Howlfire would like to share a squirrel with her. Howlfire took a moment to consider the question before nodding, "Sure, I could do with something to eat," She admitted with a chuckle. She hadn't really eaten much save for a quick mouse before she had joined a hunting patrol earlier in the afternoon, so was beginning to feel the familiar pangs of hunger settling in. Howlfire lets Owlheart retrieve the squirrel before joining the warrior just on the outskirts of the camp. She is surprised when the squirrel is offered to her first, but does not hesitate to take a bite or two. "Any day now," Howlfire confirmed, when Owlheart mentioned her kits would be becoming warriors soon. Well, she hoped it would be any day now. She hadn't been told otherwise, nor did anything suggest Blazingpaw, Hawkpaw, or even Sillypaw would be held back from their ceremonies. "I don't know if I had any hopes for their names though! Just the odd little idea for warrior names that might have sounded nice," Howlfire confessed. "I used to tell Blazingpaw I could see her with the name Blazingheart one day. Hawkpaw would have become Hawkfeather and Wolfpaw..." Her voice catches slightly at the mention of her missing child. "Well, Wolfpaw I could have seen as Wolfsong, but I doubt she'll ever get her warrior name now."​

 

[Owlheart]

She was thankful that Howlfire took her up on her offer, something else to think about other than a cycle of worry was preferred. There was knowledge that Howlfire was a warrior now, hasn’t been a queen for a while but old habits of politeness are hard to shake. Plus, she was older than her and in Owlheart’s mind that meant she should get the first bite. She wondered how that must feel, to be in the nursery for so long- well- less time for Howlfire anyways. Then to be a warrior again, were there still old habits that she couldn’t break after that experience? Or maybe as the kits grew that changed, so much time has passed after all.

“Is it weird to think that they’re warriors soon?” Maybe that question was too blunt, she stammers to add on “I-it’s just that it must be hard to not just think of them as children right?” Or maybe that was just an assumption, she would hate to assume. Stars she was drowning here, the offering back of the squirrel saves her from making a deeper grave for her social skills. Taking a bite and just letting herself fall silent for a moment, to take in Howlfire’s reply. Blazingheart sounded nice and Hawkfeather brought a grin to her maw, she silently wondered if that was because he was named after a bird or if there was a deeper meaning to it.

Owlheart finds that words escape her at the mention of Wolfpaw, she hadn’t considered how difficult it must be for the warrior to think of ceremonies when one of her children wasn’t here to receive her own warrior name. She shifts to bump her paw against the she-cats, a silent gesture of comfort. “Wolfsong is pretty, I think it suits her” it must be scary, to not know where she is. After another long pause between words she clears her throat “do you think Orangestar could.. Give an honorary name? So when she comes back she has a warrior name waiting for her?” Is that something the leader could even do? Maybe it couldn’t be star blessed by any means but it would provide some kind of comfort right? Some form of hope maybe.
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[Howlfire]

"Very weird!" Howlfire admitted quite openly. Was that perhaps strange to think of or a common reaction queens had to their children? Howlfire could not answer on the part of others but knew she herself would always think of her children as little kits to a certain degree. They might have been as big as she was now, but that did not mean she stopped seeing them as the small, curious little bundles of fur they once were. Tumbling around beneath paws, asking questions, playing their innocent games. "I think no matter how old they get, I will always see them as my little babies," Howlfire finally mews, after a considerable amount of consideration. "Even if I had another litter or my children had children of their own, I would think of them as such."

The chocolate torbie listens to Owlheart's following suggestion with an open expression. "I'm not sure if Orangestar could do such a thing," She mewed. Well, as far as Howlfire was aware it had never been done before, but that didn't mean it couldn't be done. "Perhaps that's something best left for when - if - she ever returned," Howlfire suggested, heart aching at the thought she might not ever see Wolfpaw in the clan again. "Something for us all to celebrate?"​

 

[Owlheart]

Owlheart hums thoughtfully, it made sense to her she guessed. She was thankful that Howlfire hadn’t taken offence to her question. She gets so in her own head at times that she completely forgot that not everyone would take something she said to be in bad faith. The tabby wondered if that was common, if other queens or ex-queens she guessed, had the same thought process. Did her own mother? She never really thought of it, to be always seen as a baby. “That’s sweet, I bet they would protest that” her tone is light hearted and she can’t help but chuckle. Hoping that once again, what she said wouldn’t be taken in bad faith.

She slides the squirrel over to Howlfire as she speaks. Ears flatten slightly in response to her mewing, of course Orangestar couldn’t do such a thing. Embarrassment washes over the warrior easily, she guessed that it was for the better that she suggested this in private to her rather than possibly suggesting it to a louder crowd. She was probably right though, it hadn’t been done before so it didn’t seem like something that her mother could do. The suggestion eases her embarrassment, something lighter and hopeful.

“Having something to celebrate sounds good” she concedes, taking the suggestion to heart. It hurt to see Howlfire have to resort to if’s, trying to keep herself grounded like that. Her brain searches for a way to change the subject naturally, to give the grieving mother something else to focus on if she so chooses. “You’re Hawkpaw’s mentor, right? Are you going to give him a gift or something to celebrate his warrior name?” It seemed like something some mentors did with apprentices, she thought it was a rather kind gesture. “Or, maybe you could give gifts to both of them?” She didn’t want her suggestion to lead into a misinformed perception of favouritism.

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