unlawful pride // weaselclaw

[cottonsprig]

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Cottonpaw feels as if she's become something of a scourge among the apprentices - whilst they all get into their own bits of trouble, it's been a while since any of them had been brutalized by another Clan for simply being too curious. In the days since her mess up, she's tried to lay low and pay back the Clan as best she can, however being the busy body she is, it still doesn't feel like enough. And now, on top of all that, a warrior's come and told her that her father's asking for her whereabouts. It's very rare that she feels fear towards her very own parents, but maybe it was in due time.

"Weaselclaw...?" she nears a cluster of cats, spying her brown tabby father among them. Despite the unsure beat of her heart, Cottonpaw attempts to square her shoulders with continued pride. Neither of her parents would have her cowering like a kitten - not now, not ever. "I heard you were looking for me. I've got some daylight before I'm due for hunting in the tunnels," she tells him, head tilted just slightly.​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Weaselclaw has a bias toward all of his kits in one way or another, but perhaps it’s well known he has the softest spot for Cottonpaw. Last-born, sweet and inquisitive, a soft and playful incarnation of her mother—but lately, he’s begun to wonder if she’s not a little harebrained, too. The incident with Smokethroat had soured his opinion of his favorite daughter, and even now, when she approaches him with some trepidation in her blue eyes, he grimaces at the scar laid bare across one of them. His enemy had been right—every time he looks at her now, he thinks of her foolish mistake, of the cat he wants dead more than any in this world.

“Cottonpaw. Come, sit. We shouldn’t be terribly long. I wouldn’t want to keep you from your duties.” He flicks his tail, beckoning her closer. “Scorchstreak would have my fur if I did.” His tone is flat, and she must know from the look on his face that he is not pleased with her. He never did give her the tongue-lashing she deserved for the RiverClan incident, but this most recent thing with the ShadowClan apprentice has him staring at her with flinty eyes.

“I took a patrol to ShadowClan not long ago. Imagine my surprise when one of those little freaks calls for me, asking about you.” His jaw tightens. “Black fur, big empty eyes? He asked me if I’d give you a gift from him.” He has to force his fur to lay flat on his shoulders. If he scares her too much, he may not get a lick of truth from her. “Tell me. Why is a cat from another Clan so interested in my daughter? A WindClan apprentice?”

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — weasel . weaselclaw
  — he/him ; lead warrior of windclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Sootstar
  — short-haired chocolate tabby with white and blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Oliver

​

 

[cottonsprig]

Very rarely did Weaselclaw regard her with a frown - in the least, prior to the many incidents plaguing her recently, he would wear something more neutral on his face. If anything, he would be saddened. Cottonpaw feels her shoulders drop for a second, a child breathing in her father's disappointment, before slinking in beside him obediently. He speaks of Scorchstreak (her new mentor is harsher on her too - perhaps for the better,) and a part of the apprentice wants to jest that the mottled molly wouldn't mind, for one reason or another. She holds her tongue, though; for once, she finds that she might do better to be silent.

He continues to speak and her tail twitches as he does. Fear doesn't catch her gaze as he mentions ShadowClan - moreso curiosity and confusion. Does he fret over them now that they've taken one of Sootstar's lives? Or is he planning something for revenge...? She isn't left to her thoughts for too long as he speaks quickly. Oh, the way he speaks, jaw tense, tells her that she's done something wrong again. There's no bone in her to find a lie or to blow off the situation in its entirety. The truth is precious, she thinks, and will prove that whatever Magpiepaw tried to gift her means nothing to her, at the end of the day.

It hurts, only a little, to think that, but she continues on regardless.

"Magpiepaw?" her hesitance remains for too long prior to her speech, but she offers the tom's name to her father with ease. "He was at the border during one of my patrols - told me all about how unlucky their leaders are, over there," a pause as she debates regaling her father with stories of squished cats, before she decides that he likely already knows. "And I talked with him at my last gathering... that happened before Sootstar lost a life," and yet, she clarifies. Again her tail twitches and there's a spot of nervousness in the action, and she thinks briefly of Adderpaw, all but disowned for his outlier actions and thinking. "Maybe ShadowClanners don't know how to teach their kittens about boundaries," Cottonpaw tries to blame, holding her father's gaze, "I've not asked anything of him, I promise - I haven't even been to the ShadowClan border in weeks -" her pitch sharpens as she's quick to try and absolve herself of blame and guilt, however she hitches and stops before she can tumble down a hill of far-too-many scapegoats.

"Can I apologize? To you, I mean, for having to encounter such... stupid cats?" And yet she feels she must apologize to Magpiepaw, too, however she witholds the thought, waiting and hoping that her father's gaze softens, even if only for a moment.
​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Cottonpaw’s pale blue eyes blink up at him with so much honesty that Weaselclaw is forced to relax. She says they’d met at a border patrol, and he’d spoken to her at a Gathering before Sootstar had lost her life during their battle. The tabby’s pounding heart begins to slow, the suspicious, flint-like sheen in eyes so like his daughter’s beginning to soften. Still, there’s an edge in his voice when he responds to her. “So you did nothing to make this ShadowClan apprentice believe you were… friendly toward him,” he says.

Perhaps he wants to believe it too badly. Weaselclaw flicks the tip of his brush-like tail as he listens to Cottonpaw attempt to make it up to him. “Can I apologize?” She searches his face, though he does not know if it’s out of fear, respect, or something else he cannot identify. “You may apologize.” He does not want to be angry with Cottonpaw. He does not want to be angry with Adderpaw, either. He wants his kits to be brave and courageous WindClan warriors… he wants them to be safe and loyal.

He wants them to live without fear of StarClan—he wants them to have what has been ripped from their mother, that he has given up to remain by her side. Weaselclaw wants that for all of them, from stubborn Adderpaw to quiet Harrierpaw to boisterous Moorpaw to his beloved tunneler daughter.

“Perhaps you will accompany me to our next border patrol,” he asks slowly. “And should we encounter this Magpiepaw, you can tell him while I’m there exactly what WindClan thinks of their stinking marsh cats.” He eyes her sharply, as though his guard is up again.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — weasel . weaselclaw
  — he/him ; lead warrior of windclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Sootstar
  — short-haired chocolate tabby with white and blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Oliver

​

 

[cottonsprig]

There's a smidgeon of relief when his own gaze softens, morsel by morsel. Cottonpaw doesn't immediately do the same, however - her father's lighter acts are only because she's so determined and stern with her own telling of the story. She dare not smile and jest like normal, lest Weaselclaw think her acts a ruse. "I was, at most, amicable," she decides, "I don't think I could be friends with someone who has muck between his ears." All the same, she doesn't entirely believe the words she says. Just enough to make them true, surely - she wouldn't be in this mess if Magpiepaw hadn't acted in line, after all.

"Then - I am sorry," she tilts her face down, breaking her gaze from his for the moment. "ShadowClan cats don't know their limits, and I apparently shown one too much kindness..." Cottonpaw leaves it at for a moment before straightening her back again. The pause hardly lasts longer before she adds, "I'll do better." What 'better' is, she's not immediately sure. Other cats talk on border patrols and in gatherings - is she not to do that? Or is it just that Magpiepaw really is that dense?

He speaks again, pulling her from her thoughts. Just as she wonders if she'll get the chance to ask the black-and-white tom what his deal is - Weaselclaw brings up the possible opportunity. However, all the same, Cottonpaw feels just a spot of ice in her chest, too cold for her to process. She almost wishes she could have that damning moment alone. Given that having moments alone with the tom likely got her here, however, perhaps that's not for the best. She nods in time, "Yeah!" she samples her normal cheeriness, furrowing her brows partially to contrast the smile attempting to bloom on her face. "Especially after their behavior recently. In no world should any of them think us friends."

Maybe in another world, this wouldn't be as big of a deal as it is. Regardless however, she lives here, and has no intentions of upsetting her father this bad ever again. If that means losing... something, in Magpiepaw, then so be it.​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Weaselclaw listens to her explanation. Cottonpaw insists she was only friendly to him, the way a cat would be to anyone on the border. The tabby warrior does not understand this sentiment—he’s never exchanged pleasantries beyond a nod of acknowledgment. Most border patrols he’s on either end in flying fur and bloodshed or screeching insults flung like dung piles. Still, he knows he wouldn’t fault Cottonpaw for being friendly toward a ShadowClan apprentice if—if he had not memorized her father’s face, had not asked for her by name, had not tried to give her a gift.

This is more than friendship, he tells himself.

“ShadowClan has always had issues with boundaries,” he tells his daughter in a serious tone. “Before you were born, one of them was caught being a spy for the ThunderClan leader… one of Pitchstar’s lead warriors.” He scowls. “She was her mate. They died fighting dogs.” Weaselclaw’s frown twitches into a smirk. “And we already know how gleefully they cross borders. ShadowClan cats cannot be trusted, Cottonpaw. They’re all snakes and liars and thieves. And you are better than that.”

He leans forward to rasp his tongue against her ear. Though the gesture is sincere, it is dry and perfunctory. “I will ask Badgermoon to lead a patrol there. Like I said… ShadowClan has no honor. I can’t trust them not to attack us alone.” He gives her a serious look before rising to his paws. “Is that all you have to say? If so, I will send you back to Scorchstreak.”

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — weasel . weaselclaw
  — he/him ; lead warrior of windclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Sootstar
  — short-haired chocolate tabby with white and blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Oliver

​