private THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM — nightbird

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Raccoonstripe had sent Thistlepaw to work on solo hunting for the day. He approaches the nursery with a grim expression, but he does not arrive empty-pawed; his jaws are laden with fresh-kill, with a pigeon whose fat body spills from between his teeth. He slips into the cool, dim cocoon of the nursery with deft movements. The other queens are out in the clearing with their kits, thank StarClan—he had passed them by, sunning themselves, sleepy eyes trained on scrabbling kits in the leaves.

"Nightbird," he greets his mate. She is silvered shadow in the mid-day gloom. Despite her stoic beauty, he has to admit she looks miserable. Her midsection is swollen impossibly, and on her tiny frame, he wonders how she manages to move about at all. Raccoonstripe offers her the pigeon and squeezes into the nest beside her, lacing his feathery striped tail with her smoked plumage. "How are you feeling today, love? You look positively... radiant." He flashes his teeth at her, a grin full of both amusement and love.

After a few heartbeats, he begins to groom the fur on the back of her neck. The movements are slow, tender, and he begins to sink into a reality he has so far avoided wetting his paws with. Their kits are coming soon. It's a fate they cannot run from. There will be little tabbies, little dark-smoked kits, black scraps of fur nudging at Nightbird's flank within the next moon. He allows himself, for a moment, to imagine it—strong, sturdy bodies, white-chinned faces, amber eyes burning up the remnants of kitten-blue. "We haven't even talked about names yet, you know," he mews, smiling down at her.

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

• ooc: @nightbird
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 37 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.
  
  

​

 

[nightbird]

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ nightbird's head raises from her paws as the sun spilling through the mouth of the nursery is swallowed. the corners of her muzzle tilt upwards as raccoonstripe's voice reverberates through the bramble, it is a welcome change from the high pitched squeaks she grew accustomed to. she hums in tired appreciation at the bird delivered to her paws, shifting slowly to allow him more room in the nest.

"radiant, hm?" her brow lifts with amusement. she certainly felt less than. "i feel as though i've swallowed sunningrocks." as if in spite for her comment, the lives stowed away in her abdomen reposition. it sends a ripple down her flank, unease for a sensation she wasn't sure she particularly enjoyed.

it is washed away as the fur along her neck is gently smoothed. the topic he brings is one she has lightly milled in rare moments alone. she never got far, and as if to prolong it further she fills her mouth with feathers, tearing them roughly from the belly of the pigeon. at gentlestorm's reassurance, they only had to procure two. it shouldn't be that hard. "would 'raccoonkit' and 'nightkit' make us sound too pretentious?" nightbird jokes, her gaze adopting a more serious edge as it flicks back to his. "i don't know, this place doesn't inspire much creativity. what do you think?"

‎ ‎‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎‎ ‎‎ ‎‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎‎ ┌── BLAME IT ON THE BLACK STAR ⋅⋆⋅ BLAME IT ON THE FALLING SKY ──┐‎

• ooc ↛
  

• 

• 
  NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, 33 ☾'s
  ⭃ a small black smoke molly with a white paw and pale silver eyes. currently a queen residing in the nursery.
  ⭃ mate to raccoonstripe / / mentor to none
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Nightbird remarks that she feels as though she's swallowed all of Sunningrocks. Raccoonstripe's jaws part to allow a jagged laugh. "All the more reason for RiverClan to hate us, I suppose," he jests, and, against his better judgment, a wandering paw flicks out to feel his mate's rounded flank. The little stones in question have chosen this exact moment to move, and he feels the ripples in her flesh with wide eyes. He jerks his paw back toward him, as if he's been burned. "They're moving," he remarks in a voice not-quite-steady.

Raccoonstripe can feel Nightbird relax into the rhythm of his grooming, and he purrs as she speaks. "I think Raccoonkit and Nightkit are lovely names," he rumbles, his tail wrapping around her rounded form. "Maybe Twilightkit instead of Nightkit... what do you think?"

He huffs after a few moments. "Creativity isn't my strong suit." His teeth flash again, though, chasing his dour expression and sending it fleeing. "They deserve strong names. Maybe Tigerkit instead of Raccoonkit..." He muses, remembering the stories his mother had told him of TigerClan—slinking massive cats, their pelts rippling gold with night-black tabby stripes.

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

• ooc: —
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — "speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 37 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.
  
  

​