private VELVET RING ⁺˖⋆ raccoonstripe

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ nightbird had nearly burned a hole into thunderclan's camp with all of her pacing. just before dawn patrols, when the thought of consuming any of last nights prey made her stomach shudder. she did not visit gentlestorm to beg for herbs or help. something was wrong, something he could not fix. and the only cat she wanted to speak to about it was off, training his apprentice and serving on patrols. she had barely seen him long enough to to get a word out after they had each left their nest.

it almost felt like some big joke to spite her, the one day she yearned for conversation seemed to be thunderclan's busiest day in existence. the last dusk patrol tread slowly into camp behind raccoonstripe. she did not give him time to rest or settle, practically dragging him back out of camp the moment his paws were placed on the sun dried dirt.

she drew him away from prying eyes and nosy ears, stopping once out of earshot. as her paws stilled for the first time that day, unease settled, knit her brow tightly in thought. she should have seen gentlestorm first, confirmed her suspicions before denying her mate his relaxing night following a long day. but through the course of every emotion she had ran that day, there was no one else she wished to speak to besides the tom before her. still, her words were laced with hesitation, internally she kicks herself for it. it feels strange. "we need to talk."
  • ooc ↛ @RACCOONSTRIPE
  • BvsNLyD.png
  • NIGHTBIRD she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, 33 ☾'s
    a small black smoke molly with a white paw and pale silver eyes.
    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.
 
Greenleaf has come for ThunderClan with a vengeance. When he returns from the last dusk patrol of the day, he is hot, dusty, pawsore, and his throat aches for water, his bones for rest. The gorse tunnel shivers as he passes through, and the face that greets him is that of his beautiful mate—but her features are pinched with apprehension. "We need to talk," she murmurs, and she's whisking him away, back out into the forest he'd just abandoned.

Though he's never unhappy to see Nightbird, Raccoonstripe's expression darkens with displeasure. He wants only to curl against the dark, silver-edged curve of her body, wants only to share in the coolness of her coal-dark pelt. "Can't it wait? I was hoping we could share the pigeon I caught and then..." But he trails off, hesitant. There's something wrong. "Are you okay? Did something else happen?" He tilts his head, worry flowering across his pale muzzle.

  • ooc:
  • 74327127_amPwOaY4eGaGkj8.png
  • 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 shakes her head. it had waited all day, any longer and she thinks she might explode. she is lucky that it isn't long until he comes to sense. still, anxiety twitches her ears, forces her tongue to sweep her muzzle.

she had seen many queens go through these motions, meeting their mates with wide grins and purred admissions. they were ecstatic, beyond it. nightbird couldn't drown the fear that began to swim in her gaze. being a warrior, a mentor, was one thing. she was well versed, took kittens from the flank of their coddling mothers and turned them into warriors with enough sense to write their own path. this was different, at least it felt that way.

nightbird is silent for longer than a moment as she takes in raccoonstripe bathed in moonlight, she longs to stay here a bit longer before sharing the news that was destined to change things. she knows it would be selfish to do so. "i haven't spoken to gentlestorm yet, i wanted to see you first," she explains slowly, holding his gaze steady as if to commit every whisker twitch to memory. "i think we are having kits."
  • ooc ↛
  • NIGHTBIRD she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, 33 ☾'s
    a small black smoke molly with a white paw and pale silver eyes.
    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.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Thorny and mercibun
"I haven't spoken to Gentlestorm yet; I wanted to see you first," Nightbird tells him, and the air seems to freeze between them. His whiskers stiffen; instinctively, his dark gaze falls to the still-healing wound at her throat. "What's wrong?" His muscles still, the fur beginning to rise like static on his shoulders. There's something gravely wrong, he thinks, for Nightbird seems more than solemn. She seems as though she's grieving something, the end of something—

Or, it turns out, the beginning.

"What?" Icewater falls onto him, drenching his pelt, his bones. "We're... we're what?" Illusions shatter like glass about his paws. His jaw gapes, then closes, the teeth clicking closed, locking in place.

"I think we are having kits."

"I..." He imagines it, now, his mate moved away from him, sequestered into the nursery; he thinks of tiny beings crawling over him, scraps of black and tabby fur, bristling and bright as he and his brothers had been in the marshes. He thinks of a kit with wise, sleepy eyes, and his jaw trembles with emotion. "Nightbird. I never..." I never wanted this.

Cricketsong spans between them, the night air thick with it and other swollen sounds of greenleaf. Raccoonstripe slowly presses his muzzle to Nightbird's, and he inhales her scent as though it is the last time he will be able to. "Everything will be different, now," he murmurs. His words crackle with electricity. "Are we ready for that?"

  • ooc:
  • 74327127_amPwOaY4eGaGkj8.png
  • 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.


 
  • Dead
Reactions: vayle
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ her eyes flicker with emotion as he speeds through everything she felt that day in just a few moments. nightbird is understanding, even when she feels the urge to bite at the sentence he leaves hanging under the moonlight. how could she when she felt the same?

any talk of kits was tossed jokingly between them, an unspoken understanding that there were a million things they'd rather do with their own lives than try to raise new ones. misfortune had shredded that, let the pieces scatter throughout the forest upon the night's warm breeze.

she's relieved raccoonstripe does not go chasing after them, that he stays, paws planted before her own. the gentle pressure of his muzzle against hers is welcomed, quells her anxieties for the moment. "we'll figure it out, we have to." they were out of options, nothing left to do but make it work. even if this was the last thing she wanted, nightbird was determined to try her best to do right by these kits. "it'll be okay." she confirms in a shaky sigh.
  • 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.