private you and me hanging from the willow tree // gravelsnap

[Periwinklebreeze.]

TASTED LIGHT BUT FED THE DARK
WAITING FOR THEM ALL TO SEE​

---

periwinklebreeze ❀ 18 moons ❀ demi-boy ❀ he/they ❀ windclan moor runner​

---

It's late, but the boy cannot sleep. His sleeping sickness rears it's head once again - or perhaps it's just the chaos of his tattered mind. Paws weave their way through the crowd in silence, util he winds his way up to the rafters where he can be... alone. Moonlight filters in through a gap, and he can only stare out at the darkness before him, lost in thought.

Homesickness - it's a familiar feeling to peri, after spending so long wandering the mountains in search of herbs they weren't sure they'd ever find. And yet - he hadn't expected it to creep up on him - not here, not now. He was finally free of sootstars reign - even if it was far too little, far too late. There's nothing for him back there now - his collection of memories scattered by battling paws and the wind alike. All that was left behind are graves - some of them empty, nothing more than a painful memory. And yet...

Blue eyes stare blankly off into space as he sits hunched over in the shadows, and he can only grieve. Surely, the stars are mocking him - why else would things have turned out like this? If he'd known his bloodstained path would carry him so far from home, he would've gone with hyacinthbreath. Would've chased after moonshadow when she'd disappeared. Fled with dandelionwish to skyclan.

The what ifs and could've beens haunt his mind, and it's all he can do to take a shaky breath and keep from crying.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

---

T O ━ L O V E ━ M Y S E L F ━ I S ━ W A Y ━ T O ━ H A R D

---

@GRAVELSNAP

 

[GRAVELSNAP]

➴➴ Sleep must be difficult for all of them, with the threat of Sootstar and her loyal warriors hanging over all of them. Even when the black-patched tom feels like smiling, like laughing, he's quickly reminded of the thick fog that's descended over everyone━it feels like claws at their throats, like they'll be swept away the moment they let their guard down. And there's no escaping whatever fate awaits them. Sootstar could sweep through the barn with her warriors right now, and would they be prepared to fend her off? What if they fail? Gravelsnap left their friends behind; they'd left everything behind. What if Sunstride dies, and all their fighting has been in vain?

Gravelsnap hasn't been sleeping well, but has managed to get by. They sleep far from the rest of the cats, maintaining a distance that makes them shiver on colder nights—but it is better than the alternative of slithering into the midst of their clanmates, feeling the brush of their warm fur against his own. His skin prickles at the thought. But there is one cat whose touch does not make him flinch, and Gravelsnap watches him rise from his nest and up into the rafters of the barn. They yawn softly, dropping into a careful stretch before following after their friend.

The moonlight paints pockets of the barn in vibrant light, but the figure that they search for is hunched over in the shadows. Gravelsnap has known Periwinklebreeze for a while now, and with a short glance they can tell that the other warrior must be having a harder time than they’d previously thought. They slink over to settle at Peri’s side, eel-black tail hovering close to his flank. "Peri... are you okay?" They wince at their own words. Of course the other black and white tom isn’t okay. "Did you have a nightmare? Is there anything I can do?"​

​

 

[Periwinklebreeze.]

TASTED LIGHT BUT FED THE DARK
WAITING FOR THEM ALL TO SEE​

---

periwinklebreeze ❀ 18 moons ❀ demi-boy ❀ he/they ❀ windclan moor runner​

---

He doesn't mean to wake gravelsnap - and yet, periwinklebreeze can't help but feel grateful that he did, when suddenly he's no longer alone. Now mismatched blue eyes turn to look at his- his friend, and for a moment words fail him, throat feeling choked up as though he's swallowed stones. " I- " can he tell him? Trust... is not something that has come easy to the boy, he's been betrayed to many times after all. He's never been one to confess his sins - and nt to gravelsnap. no, another had held that place, but they too were dead and gone now. " Do you th-think they're alright? " is all he says - voicing his worries about those left behind. Lets himself focus on the only problem he can solve. There's no point in wishing for the impossible - to change the past, to bring back the dead - no, not even starclan has that power, not unless you're a leader with nine lives.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

---

T O ━ L O V E ━ M Y S E L F ━ I S ━ W A Y ━ T O ━ H A R D

---

 

[GRAVELSNAP]

➴➴ The other warrior speaks, and Gravelsnap listens. They don’t understand the question that he asks at first, tail flicking gently. "Do I think… who?" They blink, trying to figure out what Periwinklebreeze could be talking about. They tip their head to the side—then it clicks. Their clanmates. The cats left to follow after Sootstar’s every whim are doomed, no matter whether StarClan destroys them or Sunstride does. "They used to be our clanmates. I hope some of them are alright," they say at last, ear twitching.

They hope that Bluefrost is okay—but of course, their concern for her is unnecessary, because she is Bluefrost. Sootstar’s daughter, her apprentice, a glittering gemstone of the moorland with edges just as sharp. She will be alright. Thriftfeather, on the other paw… Gravelsnap does not think their apprentice is alright, but they can hold onto hope. But cats like Snakehiss, like Addervenom, they couldn’t care less about. They can understand why Peri worries, though. Their friend has lost enough in recent months—this must be awful for him. "I think they’re doing fine right now. But the next time we fight, they won’t be." And we might not be, either.​

​