WE SHAKE THE SHIVER — MOVING ASHES

[WOLFSONG]

──ᨒ↟↟ᨒ↟ᨒ↟↟ᨒ── He was not meant to remember where he and Sunstar buried their first meal together as mates. The rabbit bones are meant to be left to weather all storms alone, untouched and untampered. Should they surface, that would be an ill omen for their partnership. But how, he thinks, can rabbit bones eclipse a son's? Surely Bearflight's death and Wolfsong's part in it are greater harbingers of separation than whether a first meal has remained buried— and so he is surprised to come to the place of their union and find...nothing. No protrusions of bone or fur. The landscape is still charred, of course, and the wind has yet to sweep all of the ash away, but the fire and all the disturbed soil have not bared the burial. Surely he would know if birds had taken hold of the decayed carcass and scattered it. There would be signs.

He casts his gaze about, but spies nothing to indicate a deeper disturbance. He drops it to the ground, where he stares, torn. Sunstar shuns him from his side. If the bones were to resurface, would he hesitate to sever Wolfsong completely? To discard him more cleanly than his dog-taken limb?

Wolfsong looks around again, more cautious this time. Then he begins to rake his paws through the ash, drawing it into a layer over the rabbit's resting place, guilt thudding in time with his heart. Selfish coward.
​

WOLFSONG of WINDCLAN FORMER ROGUE TURNED MEDICINE CAT. 42 MOONS, HE/HIM, NPC X NPC. MATES WITH SUNSTAR (07/05/2023). BIOGRAPHY, PINTEREST, & PLAYLIST.

medicinal expertise med. part ii med. part iii med. part iv

• — ★★★☆☆ WOUNDS: You're (mostly) in safe paws. You'll know if he's less experienced if he asks for your permission to try a treatment. No wound can scare him away from knowledge.
  — ★★★☆☆ INFECTION: He can prevent most infections. If you feel feverish, let him know; he'll hum thoughtfully over herbs and sniff your wound before saying, "With your blessing..."
• — ★☆☆☆☆ ACHES & PAINS: If you complain to him of pain, he'll ask where. If it's a headache, you'll likely feel a bit better. For anything else, "Try this, if you'd like, and tell me how you feel."
  — ★☆☆☆☆ BROKEN BONES: At best. he can ask you to remain lying down in the den. He may try to distract you with conversation while he considers what herb to feed you.
• — ★★★★★ TRAVELING HERBS: Going somewhere? No worries; Wolfsong knows just what you need to stay hale and healthy during your journey. The rest is up to you.
  — ★★★☆☆ KITTING: Thanks to Starlingheart and his own pregnancy, he's better prepared for the arrival of kits, but any complications will need a little faith and a lot of luck.
• — ★☆☆☆☆ POISONS: It's best if you avoid eating anything unfamiliar to you— it's probably just as unfamiliar to Wolfsong. The best he can do is offer you yarrow and sit with you.
  — ★★☆☆☆ ILLNESS: If it's white or greencough, you'll likely recover. Otherwise, prepare for odd concoctions and the usual request that you consent to a little trial-and-error.

​

 

[FEATHERSPINE]

Featherspine was not the sentimental type- though in truth, he could be, and had yet to discover that fact about himself even as an adult. The feather Pinkpaw had given him had been guarded for as long as he could manage, but when Sootstar had run Sunstar out of the moors- and Featherspine had naturally followed her father- it had been lost. Cats did not like her enough to give her things... she did not gaze upon trinkets long enough to form any attachment to them. It was a waste of time.

That was comforting, at least... to think it was a waste. To not doubt that he may have missed something.

There was something wistful in Wolfsong's lone eye. Now a warrior, Featherspine could take solace in lonesomeness, could be unnattended withougt permission. Strength rippled through her, so why... why now, facing her ðir, did she feel small again? Feel childlike... and for once, did not hate that little voice that reminded him that he would always be someone's son. Always be Wolfsong's son.

"What are you doing?" Featherspine's question was direct, but her voice was softened. Neatening up the soot that layered their home... "Is it good for the p-puh... p-p-plants?"​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[WOLFSONG]

──ᨒ↟↟ᨒ↟ᨒ↟↟ᨒ── He has, in truth, abandoned much, but so too has he held onto some material delights. When he and Sunstar left their homeland, they did so without the trinkets they had collected in their youth, and curious child that Wolfsong was, he had many. But he has kept what he can, and guarded what he can from the passage of time, though Sunflowermask's butterfly wing approaches its end, and the clean nesting material saved from his kits' birth was recycled some time ago with the start of spring.

But these bones are...different. There is an undeniable weight to them, no matter how Wolfsong's reason may claim that they are simply the remnants of a meal, that they cannot mean anything. But does he not look to the weather for signs? To the birds and the distant trees? Why should these bones be different?

They are not, and the paws dragging ash are all the more guilty for it.

He fights a flinch when he hears Featherspine. He doubts she meant to sneak up on him— the fault is Wolfsong's, and though he speaks softly, merely curious without accusation, he imagines it there all the same. She has no way of knowing, of course. She was not yet a spark in Wolfsong's belly, and the only person who does know is...unlikely to be nearby. Least of all in proximity to Wolfsong.

He clears his throat and smiles slightly. They all grieve, but that does not mean he cannot still find warmth— such as the endearing way Featherspine treats her family. "It is," he agrees. "From their own destruction, they can grow greener than before. In some ways, we are the same— though would that our broken bones could heal so well." Perhaps, with Bearflight's death, they will all become closer.

Or perhaps, like a broken bone, the strength will never fully return.

Ignoring that, he gestures him closer. "Bow your head for me."
​

WOLFSONG of WINDCLAN FORMER ROGUE TURNED MEDICINE CAT. 42 MOONS, HE/HIM, NPC X NPC. MATES WITH SUNSTAR (07/05/2023). BIOGRAPHY, PINTEREST, & PLAYLIST.

medicinal expertise med. part ii med. part iii med. part iv

• — ★★★☆☆ WOUNDS: You're (mostly) in safe paws. You'll know if he's less experienced if he asks for your permission to try a treatment. No wound can scare him away from knowledge.
  — ★★★☆☆ INFECTION: He can prevent most infections. If you feel feverish, let him know; he'll hum thoughtfully over herbs and sniff your wound before saying, "With your blessing..."
• — ★☆☆☆☆ ACHES & PAINS: If you complain to him of pain, he'll ask where. If it's a headache, you'll likely feel a bit better. For anything else, "Try this, if you'd like, and tell me how you feel."
  — ★☆☆☆☆ BROKEN BONES: At best. he can ask you to remain lying down in the den. He may try to distract you with conversation while he considers what herb to feed you.
• — ★★★★★ TRAVELING HERBS: Going somewhere? No worries; Wolfsong knows just what you need to stay hale and healthy during your journey. The rest is up to you.
  — ★★★☆☆ KITTING: Thanks to Starlingheart and his own pregnancy, he's better prepared for the arrival of kits, but any complications will need a little faith and a lot of luck.
• — ★☆☆☆☆ POISONS: It's best if you avoid eating anything unfamiliar to you— it's probably just as unfamiliar to Wolfsong. The best he can do is offer you yarrow and sit with you.
  — ★★☆☆☆ ILLNESS: If it's white or greencough, you'll likely recover. Otherwise, prepare for odd concoctions and the usual request that you consent to a little trial-and-error.

​

 

[FEATHERSPINE]

Something writhed uncomfortably in Wolfsong's lone eye, an internal battle fought that his daughter could not hope to understand. Helpless otherwise, a flicking ear angled- and on taut features, Featherspine tried to mirror his ðir's half-hearted smile. A blinking glare softened considerably. Interet replaces blistering sharpness... the ash from the burned moors feeding the plants... the ash of burned bodies whipped in the winds and boosting the moor-runners forward. Would that out broken bones could heal so well.

A slight puff of laughter escaped her- wishful thinking, certainly. "If only." And if only dead spirits could rise from the dead, their bodies weaving with the ash- soot forming the figures of those lost. Featherspine cursed her imagination the minute that picture entered it, for daring to conjure a world where Bearflight still stood at his side.

Bow your head for me. For a few moments, Featherspine looked at her father blankly. Yellow eyes held his vision, searching for an answer in the silence. The brief quiet, and the comfort of it, brought her closer to Wolfsong, emboldened by the flick of his tail. Bluepool, subject to moons of mentoring him, might have wondered why he did not protest at all- didn't question, didn't argue. But, with the warmth of a thousand sunny moor-running days, Featherspine knew she could implicitly trust Wolfsong. The golden tom would never, never hurt her.

On display was a complete and inarguable trust Featherspine offered to very few as she bowed her head before her ðir.​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[WOLFSONG]

──ᨒ↟↟ᨒ↟ᨒ↟↟ᨒ── Featherspine's easy, unquestioning display of trust is far more precious than he thinks he could express. Despite everything, despite the rightfully suspicious and distrusting stares thrown his way by her father, Featherspine still sees him as his ðir. Perhaps it is dramatic to expect otherwise. His foolishness is certainly grief-driven, and he takes precious comfort from Featherspine's bowed head, swallowing thickly as he gathers ash in his curled paw. He lifts it over darker fur and allows the sooty grains to tip over onto the apex of Featherspine's skull, not enough to sift and tumble into her eyes, but enough that it leaves a mark.

He rubs it in, just above the star-white mark on his forehead. It's a simple streak, a line bridging ear to ear, and his paw nudges under his son's chin to direct her face upward once more. "It may not seem like it yet, but this will make us stronger." It is advice for himself, more than anyone. How he has wished to hear everything will be all right, and how he has resorted to offering Featherspine a comfort he doubts she truly needs for his own sake.
​

WOLFSONG of WINDCLAN FORMER ROGUE TURNED MEDICINE CAT. 42 MOONS, HE/HIM, NPC X NPC. MATES WITH SUNSTAR (07/05/2023). BIOGRAPHY, PINTEREST, & PLAYLIST.

medicinal expertise med. part ii med. part iii med. part iv

• — ★★★☆☆ WOUNDS: You're (mostly) in safe paws. You'll know if he's less experienced if he asks for your permission to try a treatment. No wound can scare him away from knowledge.
  — ★★★☆☆ INFECTION: He can prevent most infections. If you feel feverish, let him know; he'll hum thoughtfully over herbs and sniff your wound before saying, "With your blessing..."
• — ★☆☆☆☆ ACHES & PAINS: If you complain to him of pain, he'll ask where. If it's a headache, you'll likely feel a bit better. For anything else, "Try this, if you'd like, and tell me how you feel."
  — ★☆☆☆☆ BROKEN BONES: At best. he can ask you to remain lying down in the den. He may try to distract you with conversation while he considers what herb to feed you.
• — ★★★★★ TRAVELING HERBS: Going somewhere? No worries; Wolfsong knows just what you need to stay hale and healthy during your journey. The rest is up to you.
  — ★★★☆☆ KITTING: Thanks to Starlingheart and his own pregnancy, he's better prepared for the arrival of kits, but any complications will need a little faith and a lot of luck.
• — ★☆☆☆☆ POISONS: It's best if you avoid eating anything unfamiliar to you— it's probably just as unfamiliar to Wolfsong. The best he can do is offer you yarrow and sit with you.
  — ★★☆☆☆ ILLNESS: If it's white or greencough, you'll likely recover. Otherwise, prepare for odd concoctions and the usual request that you consent to a little trial-and-error.

​