THE LACEMAKER ⁺˖⋆ MEDICINE DEN

[nightbird]

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ it was strange seeking out gentlestorm's den with no urgency, languid steps as if she were simply on a moonlit stroll by raccoonstripe's flank. the medicine cat's den had embedded itself in her mind as a dreary place. there was always a slumped form in a too pristine nest, herbs lingering in the still air. she always smelled the rosemary first. it cut through the scent of healing plants like a blade. as if it wanted to remind them all that it would be there once the cobwebs and poultices failed, it would dutifully mask the copper tang of blood or the stuffiness of sickness with something equally as overwhelming.

each time she had made a home in this den, it had been a steadily nagging presence, a dirge not yet sung. this time was different. nightbird was not carried or dragged inside with a bloodstained pelt, today she did not seek her friend's deft paws in the face of death. how backwards it felt for rosemary to swirl through her nose on the cusp of life instead.

it is not the only perception that has her jaws clamped shut. as gentlestorm pokes and prods, she is distracted by the tension throughout the den. it is nearly palpable, akin to the stiffness of the atmosphere moments before lightning touches. it was nearly poetic how the two cats she felt closest to could hardly stand the sight of each other. hopefully, they could set their differences aside for a few moments longer. she had enough to worry about, the last thing she wanted was to be caught in the middle of their feud. the medicine cat finally pulls away, nightbird shifts a glance filled with anticipation to raccoonstripe and back. she prays that starclan had their eyes closed when she joked of an abundant litter.

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

• ooc ↛ @GENTLESTORM @RACCOONSTRIPE
  

• 

• 
  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.
  

​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Nightbird's steps are slow, beleaguered, and Raccoonstripe's paws feel made of stone. The great warrior has marched to battle with more enthusiasm than he does to see Gentlestorm for their kits' check-up. He turns to look upon his mate's face, and is startled to see how the lean lines of her body have softened, rounded. It is startling. It is awe-striking.

Gentlestorm approaches, smelling of rosemary, of crushed herbs, gently spiced. Raccoonstripe gives him a stiff nod of greeting, tinged lightly with the respect the medicine cat deserves but with none of the friendliness of Nightbird's greeting. Enormous gray-white paws lift to gently press into his mate's silvered flank. Raccoonstripe watches with dread. "Give it to us straight—how many?" His voice almost trembles at the end of his sentence.

『 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.
  
  

​

 

[GENTLESTORM]

.𓍊↟ DOWN THE BANK WHERE THE DOGS ROAM, POR LA CALLE QUE TE LLEVA A CURICÓ ↟𓍊.​

‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. — When Nightbird comes to see him, he seems in better spirits but the fact that her mate trails behind her makes his snout wrinkle in the slightest yet he says nothing. He must put aside his differences with the ironically named Raccoonstripe and focus on the matter at hand which was his dearest friend, Nightbird, and her condition. He remembers the last few times that he has done this and he's gotten better at it or that's what he believes, his large paws are careful not to press to firmly against the silvered flank of the mother to-be and his copper eyes are attentive. Gentlestorm could practically see the dread in the stand-in deputy's gaze and it sparks an idea in the older tom's mind especially when Raccoonstripe speaks up.

The ghostly tom keeps a stoic demeanor as he decides to not answer Howlingstar's son immediately and a thoughtful hm slips from his throat. "I can feel several little paws." He begins as he pulls one of his paws away and intently watches the black tabby from the corner of his eyes so he could get every bit of his reaction and watch him squirm, "I can faintly hear their heartbeats." It's a lie that slips from his throat but its spoken with so much warmth that it could be taken as the truth and neither of them knew anything about what he's capable of or expecting kits. "Three... no, no." Another long dramatic pause as his brows furrow and knit together and all the tension from his face leaves as a smile pulls at the sides of his mouth.

"Congratulations Nightbird—" Gentlestorm turns to the black smoke then his smile falters in the slightest as he regards Raccoonstripe as well (he supposes), "... and you." He pulls away his other gray paw returning it to his body as he clears his throat with another curt nod of his head and takes a deep breath as he speaks "It seems that Starclan blesses you with a litter of five... It isn't seven by any means but it's certainly a large litter." The grin on his maw still present as he tries to keep himself composed just so he could see Raccoonstripe writhe and wither before his eyes. A part of him wonders if Berryheart would find this amusing...

After a few heartbeats, Gentlestorm turns to Nightbird once more with a small shake of his head and decides to speak the truth to her "I'm kidding. I felt two kittens... which is three less than five, yay?" He hopes that she thinks his small joke was funny if not, well, he would make it up to her later to say the least. "If you need anything and I mean... anything to make your stay in the nursery comfortable, let me know and it'll be done."

⡠﹞AND DOWN BY THE BEACH ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. WHERE NO OTHERS CAN FIND﹝⠢

• 

  MEDICINE CAT IN TRAINING;
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿ FLESH WOUNDS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀ INFECTIONS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀ ACHES & PAINS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀❀ ILLNESS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀❀ BREATHING ISSUES
  — ✿❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀ TRAVELING HERBS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀ BROKEN BONES
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿ KITTING
  — ❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀ POISONS
• 
  ✿ a longhaired blue sepia tom w/low white and brown eyes
  ✿ gentlestorm is a very warm individual and friendly to those who he meets, he's very social and willing to lend anyone a paw if they need it. he's very patient, caring, and it's usually rare to earn his ire.
  ✿ 56 moons old; ages the 27th every month
  ✿ demiromantic bisexual ; widowed mate of little wolf
  ✿ easy to befriend/interact with ; hard to anger/upset ; peaceful powerplay allowed
  ✿ "speech", thoughts, attacking

​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Gentlestorm, irritatingly, takes his sweet time as he hovers over Raccoonstripe's mate. The tabby's ears twitch with frustration. How long could it take? Berryheart would have this done in heartbeats. His eyes narrow as blue-tinted paws press into Nightbird's abdomen, as a hm slips from the medicine cat's throat. "I can feel several little paws," he murmurs. Raccoonstripe's mouth begins to feel dry. "S-several?" He tries for a smile. It is trembling and uncertain. "Well, one kit has four paws, right? So..."

But he can't keep deluding himself. "I can faintly hear their heartbeats," Gentlestorm mews, and Raccoonstripe's pelt begins to prickle. "H-how many heartbeats?" Oh, StarClan, this is like torture. "Three... no, no..." Three! Raccoonstripe's mouth falls open as the bulky tom corrects himself. "It seems that StarClan blesses you with a litter of five..."

The tabby could catch flies in his mouth. He has to force his jaws to sew shut with a paw. "You're kidding," he mutters. "You're kidding." He'd have been okay with one, with two—but five! Five sets of scrabbling little claws, of mewing, high-pitched squeals, of needling teeth in his tail! Five kits who would drain the bulk of Nightbird's attention away from him!

Raccoonstripe feels faintly queasy when Gentlestorm reveals he'd been joking. "That's not funny," he snaps, then, in utter relief, presses a forepaw to his face, as if to wipe away beads of sweat that had gathered there.

『 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.
  
  

​

 

[GENTLESTORM]

.𓍊↟ DOWN THE BANK WHERE THE DOGS ROAM, POR LA CALLE QUE TE LLEVA A CURICÓ ↟𓍊.​

‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. — It takes everything for Gentlestorm not to break into a fit of laughter as he watches Raccoonstripe go through the five stages of grief and he simply holds a stoic air to himself as he keeps his eyes trained on the father to-be. For a heartbeat, he wonders if he would've reacted the same way had things gone differently but he shakes his head a s a dry chuckle slips from his jaws at last "I don't know, I think it was pretty funny." A small grin present on his maw though he glances to Nightbird once more and his gaze is trained onto her swollen belly once more, the smile falters in the slightest as he slips into his thoughts. Two kittens seemed like quite a small litter but it would be ideal to both lead warriors...

He begins to second guess himself wondering if he had truly felt all the little paws necessary to make the right guess but instead chooses to keep these thoughts to himself. Perhaps, he had felt one more set of paws... Gentlestorm kept his jaws shut knowing that if he said anything else relating to the kittens, well, he's certain that the white on Raccoonstripe's body would spread from the stress or he'd turn gray much like his own coat. Still... There's a gut feeling and he isn't sure what to make of it. He lifts his own paw to his forehead as his eyebrows knit together, ah, he mustn't overthink it... He's already giving himself a headache at the thought of three other kits that looked like Raccoonstripe running around.

⡠﹞AND DOWN BY THE BEACH ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. WHERE NO OTHERS CAN FIND﹝⠢

• 

  MEDICINE CAT IN TRAINING;
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿ FLESH WOUNDS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀ INFECTIONS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀ ACHES & PAINS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀❀ ILLNESS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀❀ BREATHING ISSUES
  — ✿❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀ TRAVELING HERBS
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿❀❀❀ BROKEN BONES
  — ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿ KITTING
  — ❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀ POISONS
• 
  ✿ a longhaired blue sepia tom w/low white and brown eyes
  ✿ gentlestorm is a very warm individual and friendly to those who he meets, he's very social and willing to lend anyone a paw if they need it. he's very patient, caring, and it's usually rare to earn his ire.
  ✿ 56 moons old; ages the 27th every month
  ✿ demiromantic bisexual ; widowed mate of little wolf
  ✿ easy to befriend/interact with ; hard to anger/upset ; peaceful powerplay allowed
  ✿ "speech", thoughts, attacking

​