WHEN THE REVENANT CAME DOWN ⛧ GRAVELPAW

[Vulturepaw]

˖⁺‧₊ ☽◯☾ ₊‧⁺˖ 　Vulturepaw's steps are quiet, his purpose resolute. The image of Gravelpaw's smiling face falling remains imprinted on the back of his eyelids, and his pace is brisk as he treads through the moorlands. He's close enough to the highstones border, off on his own. The dusty scent is faded, but he follows it nonetheless.

"Gravelpaw...?" He breathes softly, hesitantly. The scent grows fresher, and his heart picks up its pace. "Gravelpaw!" There. Wispy-furred, smoke and snow. He barrels forwards, crashing into the apprentice on clumsy paws. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he babbles, guilt tearing free from his throat. She was hurt - because of him. "I d-d-d... I d-didn't mean..." he chokes, sniffles, cuts himself off.

Pulls back. Casts a glance behind him and lowers his voice. "Um. No one followed me th-this t-tuh-time... I think."

I HAD TO LEARN THAT THE HELPING HAND ⛧ CAN BE THE SAME THAT HOLDS THE KNIFE

• @GRAVELPAW
  

• 

  
  
  "SPEECH"
  ​

• 
  VULTUREPAW ⛧ he / they / she, apprentice of windclan, eight moons.
  ➳ a spiky-furred dark tabby with amber eyes.
  ➳ skittish and dour, with a superstitious sort of pessimism.
  ➳ micheal x npc, adopted by periwinklebreeze.
  ➳ sibling to dustpaw, bilberrypaw, mourningpaw and weepingpaw.
  ➳ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ➳ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[GRAVELSPARK]

They shouldn't be this close. They know they shouldn't... And yet, they still are, the claw-marks on her side finally scabbing over... They knew they should have come this close again. Paw-steps, approaching in a bolt, has her on high alert, catching her in the middle of what she had been doing. They nearly break their neck with how fast their head turns, suddenly bristling. I'm not even fully on your territory! But these cats don't seem to care, do they? "Get off - !" Gravelpaw nearly meets Vulture with whirling claws, a paranoid snarl ripping itself from her throat as her legs collapse under the barreling weight.

The bristling ceases to exist when they hear the apologetic, senseless babbles that leave the cats mouth. She knows that voice, has committed it to memory and she visibly relaxes just the slightest bit; her eyes flicker to where the tall grass lay behind him, half-expecting another cat to come barreling out with flashing claws and teeth. I didn't mean- "I know," their tongue feels like ash in their mouth as they speak, not yet blinking in fear of being caught off guard again. "I know." they repeat, softer. "I just..." and they trail off, silent in their contemplation. There is not many things that they can say that would make the situation better.

No one followed me this time. They frown. Only time would tell, but she'd remain on high alert.

Once Vulture pulls back, she pulls herself up, hesitantly drawing backwards with pinned ears. They do not smile. "Where- How- Why?" too many questions to ask, there will never be enough time in the world to dig for the answers she wants, needs. "You left- You're alive... You- I thought you were dead. I thought... You were dead... No one brought you up ever again. No one answered me when I asked," again, selfish pain rips through her chest as if she had been clawed right through the heart. They feel like hurling.

When she speaks next, her voice is drained of all emotion. All thats left is the lingering exhaustion, the fear that has only built since her mentor had disappeared. "You didn't come back. You left- and then he left, and..." she grits her teeth, and i'm alone again.

𝖨𝖵𝖤 𝖡𝖤𝖤𝖭 𝖠𝖫𝖫 𝖮𝖴𝖳 𝖮𝖥 𝖣𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖬𝖲 ˚⋆｡°✩₊🦇 𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖢𝖠𝖭𝖳 𝖲𝖠𝖸 𝖨 𝖣𝖨𝖣𝖭𝖳 𝖳𝖱𝖸

• 
  ❥ gravelpaw 𓆩✧𓆪 baby, gravelkit
  ❥ demi-girl 𓆩✧𓆪 she/they 𓆩✧𓆪 09 months
  ❥ duskclan apprentice 𓆩✧𓆪 mentored by thriftfeather
  ❥ black/blue smoke chimera with high white and blue eyes
  ❥ "speech, 9d9adf" 𓆩✧𓆪 thoughts
  ❥ single 𓆩✧𓆪 not interested in love (unknown sexuality)
  ❥ smells like chilled rain and pine needles 𓆩✧𓆪 nostalgic & icy
  ❥ penned by chuff

​

 

[Vulturepaw]

˖⁺‧₊ ☽◯☾ ₊‧⁺˖ 　He feels the threading of fear through him once again at Gravelpaw's panicked cry. For a moment, he fears she'll turn her claws upon him, that he's run thin every ounce of good will he held with the apprentice. But no - upon hearing his voice they ease, though not fully. Tufted ears pin back as Vulturepaw pulls away, blinking at the other apprentice sheepishly.

"I'm sorry," he says, again and again like a broken record. I thought you were dead, they say, and he flinches. "I wanted - I wanted t-to say goodbye, but..." His eyes dart downwards - anywhere but looking at her. "It was t-t-tuh - too d-dangerous and..." There was no time, and Thriftfeather had lied about where he was going. Off to find a feather; how was he to know he wouldn't return? The excuses feel ashen on his tongue. "I'm sorry. I ran away. I... I was scared." Ran away. That same almost-lie he used with Sunstar.

She still doesn't know whether she can trust Gravelpaw. She at once feels guilty and shocked at her own remorse. Of course she wouldn't trust the cat who kidnapped her - but the hurt in the apprentice's eyes feels all too real. The scrublands are a lonely place.

He thinks that he'd get desperate too, if he was stuck there all his life.

Vulturepaw is torn from their wandering thoughts only at the mention of another cat. Another cat who left. "He - Th-Thriftfeather?" He squeaks, eyes widening. Of course she noticed his absence; maybe it was him that she was really searching for. Left without saying goodbye just like they did... Suddenly his promise that he had a responsibility to DuskClan's youth feels hollow. "D-d-did he not... Um." They lower their voice. "C-c... Can you k-keep a secret...?" She deserves to know, doesn't she?

I HAD TO LEARN THAT THE HELPING HAND ⛧ CAN BE THE SAME THAT HOLDS THE KNIFE

• 
  

• 

  
  
  "SPEECH"
  ​

• 
  VULTUREPAW ⛧ he / they / she, apprentice of windclan, eight moons.
  ➳ a spiky-furred dark tabby with amber eyes.
  ➳ skittish and dour, with a superstitious sort of pessimism.
  ➳ micheal x npc, adopted by periwinklebreeze.
  ➳ sibling to dustpaw, bilberrypaw, mourningpaw and weepingpaw.
  ➳ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ➳ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[GRAVELSPARK]

I'm sorry, again and again and yet they feel selfish for not feeling satisfied with it. This is not the cat they want to hear those words from. This is not the cat they expected to hear those words from. Finally their lips tilt downward in a painful frown, trying to choke back emotions from bubbling to the surface.

Vulturepaw explains and Gravelpaw all of the sudden feels like they don't need an explanation. Fickle as it is, they forgive her immediately. "... All that matters is that you're safe." previously, they would have screamed, cried before everything had happened, demanded to know the answers in childish expectance like she had to the patchwork Windclanner... Her emotions have been drained, an all time low and she tilts her head downwards, icy eyes fluttering shut. "I just wish... I had known..." perhaps it would have saved them time searching. Perhaps they would not have felt so lost.

All of the sudden, she feels horribly lied to, caught in spiderwebs of others doings. It's an ugly feeling that fills their stomach with dread, plunging them in to icy water thjat no matter how they flail they cannot escape from.

Thriftfeather? Her fur bristles despite the eerily calm stillness that comes over them. "Yeah. Him." her voice is bitter at the very mention of his name that tumbles out of Vulturepaws mouth. Can you keep a secret? She asks, and Gravel reverently nods. "With my life." after all, with Thriftfeather abandoning her... Who else could she even tell? She does not trust any other Duskclanners, not even the leader... Hungerpaw, yes, but this is more of her protecting her rather than the other way around. She steels herself for whats going to come; perhaps he was found dead on Windclans border, or perhaps Vulturepaw knew more...? Their eyes search the other.

𝖨𝖵𝖤 𝖡𝖤𝖤𝖭 𝖠𝖫𝖫 𝖮𝖴𝖳 𝖮𝖥 𝖣𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖬𝖲 ˚⋆｡°✩₊🦇 𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖢𝖠𝖭𝖳 𝖲𝖠𝖸 𝖨 𝖣𝖨𝖣𝖭𝖳 𝖳𝖱𝖸

• 
  ❥ gravelpaw 𓆩✧𓆪 baby, gravelkit
  ❥ demi-girl 𓆩✧𓆪 she/they 𓆩✧𓆪 09 months
  ❥ duskclan apprentice 𓆩✧𓆪 mentored by thriftfeather
  ❥ black/blue smoke chimera with high white and blue eyes
  ❥ "speech, 9d9adf" 𓆩✧𓆪 thoughts
  ❥ single 𓆩✧𓆪 not interested in love (unknown sexuality)
  ❥ smells like chilled rain and pine needles 𓆩✧𓆪 nostalgic & icy
  ❥ penned by chuff

​

 

[Vulturepaw]

˖⁺‧₊ ☽◯☾ ₊‧⁺˖ 　The apologies are already beginning to run dry, and yet they still don't feel like enough. Gravelpaw looks so hollow, tiredness creeping into every word. He misses that babbling excitement form when she first found him, the one crack in her frosted exterior. He exhales shakily. "I wanted to tell you... I - I was worried about you too, Gravelpaw," he admits. She may not be safe, but at least she is alive.

They find themself caught off-guard by the hostility with which she responds to the golden tom's name. His brow furrows in confusion - but he cannot back out now.

He owes her this, at least. Thriftfeather owes her this, but they have never been opposed to righting others' wrongs. She swears to him, and through all the shakiness of his trust he has no reason to disbelieve her. She seemed just as frightened as he did in that terrible place. He makes her a traitor now, divulging the secrets of the enemy and promising to keep them.

"Thriftfeather, he..." their eyes flicker downards, paw brushing nervously against the grass. "He helped me escape D-D-DuskClan. Snuck me out and everything," he explains quietly. It is a secret he has kept from far too many cats for far too tenuous reasons. He has little to lose, he knows; it is not his own safety he hands over, but Thriftfeather's. Still, the idea of holding one's life in a few simple words is far too much power for Vulturepaw to reconcile.

She pauses for a moment, drags each word out. "He's... He's mates with a WindClanner. He c-c... c-came to live with her and - and their kuh-kits. I thought -" A crack of their shaky voice, and their eyes dart up to meet Gravelpaw's, wide and pitiful. "...I thought he would have told you."

I HAD TO LEARN THAT THE HELPING HAND ⛧ CAN BE THE SAME THAT HOLDS THE KNIFE

• 
  
• 

  
  
  "SPEECH"
  ​
• 
  VULTUREPAW ⛧ he / any, apprentice of windclan, eight moons.
  ➳ a spiky-furred dark tabby with amber eyes.
  ➳ skittish and dour, with a superstitious sort of pessimism.
  ➳ micheal x npc, adopted by periwinklebreeze.
  ➳ sibling to dustpaw, bilberrypaw, mourningpaw and weepingpaw.
  ➳ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ➳ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​