private WITHOUT ARMOR — orangeblossom

[DOEBLAZE]

✿—— when she emerges from the gentle shadows of the nursery, a place so appropriately carved in tragedy's wake, she's surprised to see orangeblossom outside as well. not surprised, exactly, but—she's used to little interaction with her denmate, understandable given that the deputy has five kits to manage instead of three. it makes sense, though—the ginger-and-white shecat's kits are approaching apprenticeship as quickly as her own, which means they can be left to their own devices to be watched from a distance now. hesitance clear in her pale eyes, bobbie settles down alongside the other queen with a trace of shyness, of nervousness, that's characteristic to her when around skyclan's higher ranks.

her gaze slides towards the other queen, reclining in front of the nursery but still carrying the strong, broadened shoulders of a true skyclan warrior. somehow, it feels impossible that she could ever look like that—used to a life of soft paws and fur without tangles, a life where her most athletic duty is chasing after her kits. suddenly a wave of fresh awareness washes over her—warrior training is going to be hard. many of their warriors leave camp at sunrise and some don't return properly until the sun sets, with the heavy sleep and muscled bodies to prove it. she glances at orangeblossom with a new respect, for handling the duties of motherhood and deputyship on top of traditional warrior duties.

"orangeblossom?" her mew is muted, nervous—though they've shared a den for some time, she still feels small around the deputy, like a helpless piece of prey. her green gaze dips and flits like a startled bird, never quite holding the other's, as she shuffles her pale forepaws, "i just wanted to a-ask, um .... what's warrior life really like? i'll be working on becoming one once my k-kits are apprenticed, and i guess i just - i guess i was wondering h-how you handle it all. i don't really know what to ex-expect."

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┏━•✿°•° OOC -ˋˏ ༻⚘༺ ˎˊ- INFORMATION °•°✿•━━━━━┓ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀

• ooc: @orangeblossom !!
  

• 

• ❀ bobbie — for her kithood love of bobby pins she/her ; cisgender female — skyclan — queen — 38 ☾s —— bobbie is a beautiful but insecure lilac tabby, dotted with white patches and with pale green eyes. a queen of skyclan, she's sweet and kind if prone to melancholy; the heartbreaking end of a lifelong romance has left her scarred.. —— smells like sweet lavender & tea leaves ; sounds like sansa stark ; speech in #D64933, thoughts in #B1C797 —— peaceful / healing powerplay permitted ; attacks/contact in underline ; won’t start fights ; will flee ; will show mercy ; won't kill or maim —— pansexual panromantic monogamist, divorced, not looking ; open to friendships, enemies, casual interactions, plotting ; not open to unplanned romance & unplanned battles penned by dejavu— desklamp9 on discord for plots

• shhh don't look here (battle info will go here at some point)

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[Orangestar]

Orangeblossom acknowledges Bobbie with a flick of her whole ear, turning scarred muzzle towards her denmate as her name is meowed. Hesitant, quiet; like she's considering turning tail and running away from the conversation much like Yukio had done from his request of tutelage. When she faces the older queen fully Bobbie's head is slightly bowed, paws shuffling in that same nervous way that Crowkit occasionally does, and Orangeblossom wonders briefly if either of them knows the other does it.

"I found kit-rearing harder than warriorhood." The reply is out of her maw before she realises it, surprising herself with the quickness of it. It's countered by a long silence as the deputy sorts her thoughts, gaze becoming hazy and unfocused for several heartbeats. It's true; warriorhood had always come more naturally to the ginger-and-white queen. She's always taken solace in the forest, the way she's forced to be mentally present in a completely different way than she has to be with her kittens, able to escape into solitude for more than a few moments at a time.

"Warrior training is hard. You'll learn to climb and hunt and fight, to use terrain to your advantage and to track using the wind and all of your senses." Her eyes remain faraway as she speaks, mind running though the forest in search of prey. Habitually, she parts her jaws to take a breath, startled just so by the close scents of SkyClan's camp rather than the trees of their territory. Outside scents carried on the wind are muffled by the log behind her back, but she can just catch the slightest hint of Silversmoke's patrol returning. "You'll fall into your next exhausted at the end of the day and sleep soundly until sunrise, or try not to fall asleep during night watch. It's hard. But it's rewarding. Fulfilling. I can't wait to get back to it."

— info

•  
• 
  orangeblossom. tags.
  — she/her, skyclan deputy.
  — mentor to eveningpaw.
  — attack in #e08550. uses trees as an integral part of her fighting style.
  — mean enough to note that her thoughts don't reflect my opinions as a writer haha.
  — penned by mercibun; @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots. :]
  — art by merc!<3
  

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[DOEBLAZE]

✿—— anxiety flickers in her chest, clogging her throat like smoke, now that she's settled into the conversation. orangeblossom tips a scarred muzzle to her, marred by testaments to her skill in raised bumps of flesh, a brutal trophy. she's reminded of her own scars, their origins far less noble—the lightning bolts of new flesh lacing her side, an aching memory of a poor decision. rings of tooth-marks buried deep into the flesh of her legs in dimpled bumps, pink remnants of phantoms written in blood, old reminders of the skills she'd never held. the soft click of her collar's gilded snaps is both a frozen awakening and another sore reminder, sore memory, of things long buried. why she had these scars. thanks to who she had these scars.

it's rare that both her mind and body are at a fragile peace, leaving room for these bloodied thoughts to pour in, to fill the space until it's a sea of red. the idleness makes her ache, makes her flesh feel too close; she wants to shed herself like a snakeskin, leave these old memories behind to begin a new life. she's stuck, though, by barbed memories that catch in lilac fur and tear. they pull at her raw flesh now, forcing her to crowd them out by focusing on orangeblossom's words, by sinking claws suddenly deep into the earth below in a show of aggression directed entirely at herself. has she ever been this violent? she can't remember. she hates what these thoughts make of her and she forces herself to look at the deputy, to face the younger but undeniably better shecat as she answers bobbie's questions.

"i found kit-rearing harder than warriorhood." the words are a quick return, like a clawstrike reversed, a long silence stretching between them like empty sky once they've left the ginger-and-white queen's jaws. bobbie shakes a heavy mane from her eyes, white and lilac curling into a silken mess about her neck, unsure whether to reply; whether to break the quiet herself. thankfully, the decision is made for her; orangeblossom tells her in wistful words of a life she's yet to live, hard work day to night. difficulty. it's not surprising, exactly—she knows it takes the clan's apprentices many moons to grow from helpless kits to new warriors. she can only hope it won't take her so long.

sharp brown eyes are distant, seeing a landscape bobbie does not, moons of sky-chasing and battle reflected in the soft oaken colors. her own raw observation skills do not catch as much as orangeblossom's; a natural gift laces the heavy scents lingering in her own throat, but she would not know how to refine them. she replies, her own eyes clouded, mind somewhere else as it always is, "i thought it would be. i guess i just - i just don't want to f-feel helpless again. i want to help skyclan, i suppose." her exhale is weary, laced with words half spoken to herself, thoughts somewhere else entirely. that's not all of it, though, is it? she cannot even confront the deepest reason with herself, much less orangeblossom.

"oh, i - i'm sorry. too much s-said." her stutter is a ghost of what it'd once been, self-awareness sour on her tongue; she doubted the deputy wanted to hear about why. bobbie clears her throat, mews, "blazestar said he would h-help me learn, so .... i suppose that's good. i'm excited for it too, i guess."

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┏━•✿°•° OOC -ˋˏ ༻⚘༺ ˎˊ- INFORMATION °•°✿•━━━━━┓ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀

• ooc: ——
  

• 

• ❀ bobbie — for her kithood love of bobby pins she/her ; cisgender female — skyclan — queen — 38 ☾s —— bobbie is a beautiful but insecure lilac tabby, dotted with white patches and with pale green eyes. a queen of skyclan, she's sweet and kind if prone to melancholy; the heartbreaking end of a lifelong romance has left her scarred.. —— smells like sweet lavender & tea leaves ; sounds like sansa stark ; speech in #D64933, thoughts in #B1C797 —— peaceful / healing powerplay permitted ; attacks/contact in underline ; won’t start fights ; will flee ; will show mercy ; won't kill or maim —— pansexual panromantic monogamist, divorced, not looking ; open to friendships, enemies, casual interactions, plotting ; not open to unplanned romance & unplanned battles penned by dejavu— desklamp9 on discord for plots

• shhh don't look here (battle info will go here at some point)

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