frolicking in the dirt, consuming filth.
|
Post by trashheap on May 4, 2024 14:53:57 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/OQ2cESJ~png “ Thank you. Yes, these will do nicely. Bring them back for me? There’s still something I need to do. Yes, I’m sure. Thank you.” The hills were an open and lonesome place, littered with flushed spring grasses, odd bushes, and straying trees. The sky was open here; no branches to collude over one’s head or hinder the descent of lofty-winged birds. Some found unease beneath a sky so open. Midgecloud was not one of them. He gave no thought to the sky as he toiled away at the earth, plucking the budding roots of fresh growths from the earth to be ferried away. He cared little for the keening of the hawks or the minute shadows that would flit precariously over his work. The hawks did not harm him, and the rabbits were more filling. It was something of an agreement between himself and the great birds. There would always be fatter, easier prey than he somewhere else. Or so he told himself. It distracted from his own negligence. Again, he pried another sprig of goat’s beard from the earth. The patrol he had left with was departing, leaving him, and his eyes lifted at last from the soil and his dirty paws. He waited until there was only himself and the rain clouds overhead, groaning with thunder, to push himself to his feet, taking the herbs in his teeth—not for Maplefrost’s larders, but for something else entirely. Something that took him to the base of the Hills, where a certain tunnel had caved in with the rains. No cat had been out to tend to it with the weather; no cat was fool enough to waste their efforts on such an endeavor when the rains were still so constant. None but his brother. Midgecloud found him with his back toward him. His head was flecked with fallen earth, and his paws were stained with wet soil. Midgecloud could hear the sound of his breathing from where he stood, and for a time, he said nothing. Then, at last, twitching an ear, he spoke, “ Stonefur—” another motion, and the tunnel roof crumpled again. His brother did not turn; he only shifted to shore the wall again. “ Stonefur.” Still, no response. Stonefur only muttered something under his breath and kept on. Midgecloud blinked and drew closer. Only then did he notice the stench of blood, and his eyes fell to the scuffed pads. How long has he been at this? “ Stonefur.” A tail tip to brush against a broad shoulder. That was enough to turn his brother’s eyes toward him. “ You shouldn’t be out here. It’s going to rain.” He blinked and set the goat’s beard beside him as delicately as if they were spider silk. “ Why don't you head back with me?” Silent appeal there. Midgecloud could not help but be hopeful. It was the only thing he ever seemed able to be. |
|
|
|
Post by tor on May 7, 2024 9:19:09 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/bQgPhgF/stone~jpg Stonefur felt the collapse of this tunnel as if his own chest had caved in, ribs snapping one by one until they threatened to puncture his heart, his lungs, his stomach. He couldn't bear the weight of it. So when the first light of dawn cracked over PrairieClan's soft meadows, he followed the loping hills out toward the collapse. New-leaf treated PrairieClan's territory well. The grass around him was alive with small, budding flowers and the faint buzzing of pollinators. He saw signs of life everywhere he went: from the early morning songbirds overhead, to the mouseprints in loose earth, to the green trees that lined the edge of the meadows. Soon, the pale green grass around him would erupt with sunlight, turning golden and amber under bright blue skies. He liked that time the most, when green-leaf's sun warmed his bones, a feeling one could never capture in the ground below. He needed to fix this tunnel before that happened. In green-leaf, the hot sun baked the earth until it was hard as stone, unmovable. Few repairs could be made when the tunnel entrance was bone-dry. He would have to wait till the rainy season, or next new-leaf if the rain was too overwhelming, and Stonefur wasn't sure his body could suffer through so many broken ribs for that long. Even if it was just a metaphor. Dirt caked into his paws as he dug, changing his fur to the color of mud and dulling his claws. Still, he dug. And when the repairs he made collapsed under their weight, he dug some more. The more he dug the more he ached, his paws and ribs and heart hurting, his lungs burning. He didn't stop. The blood that mixed into the earth was an offering. A plea. If I give you more of me, he thought, watching half the entrance cave in once more. Will you stand? It's a burden I can shoulder, if it means no one else is hurt.The tunnel did not respond. Stonefur pressed his paws back to the earth. "Stonefur."For a moment that stretched out far too long under the gray sky, Stonefur thought he'd been wrong, and the tunnel did respond. But the tunnels never spoke to him like they did other tunnelers, and the voice was too familiar. His brother. "You shouldn't be out here. It's going to rain." When had the sun been taken away? How long had he been here? Shame trickled silently in the back of his throat, knowing he had missed a patrol Nettlefang assigned him to. "Why don't you head back with me?""The rain will make this repair harder tomorrow," he said, eyes dull as he watched small stones tumble down the collapsed opening. It felt like he was being mocked. "The ground is moldable. It needs to be done now." Yet, what his brother didn't know was how long he'd been trying, and how fruitless his efforts had been. Midgecloud was right. It was going to rain, and part of Stonefur knew it was pointless to try and finish before the clouds opened up. "Are you out here alone?" The meadow was clear of any patrol, even just a partner Midgecloud could walk with. Stonefur didn't like it. He'd seen too many raptors flying back to the forest after leaf-bare ended to be comfortable with his brother walking around alone. "Is that wise?" |
|
frolicking in the dirt, consuming filth.
|
Post by trashheap on May 10, 2024 13:34:24 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/OQ2cESJ~png Stonefur seemed almost small, sitting in the crumbling mouth of that tunnel. Shrunken down and stooped—like a child bent over a ruined toy. One they were desperately and hopelessly attempting to mend. If only it were the easy. For this toy had been broken for some time, and very few remained with patience enough to fix it—Midgecloud among them. Midgecloud guiltily in agreeance with them that there was no point, that it was better to let the old thing lie. Stonefur was different. Much like their parents, he venerated those old earthen walkways, however treacherous they had become; however many lives they had and would continue to claim. Midgecloud wondered over that fondness. He likened it to the very one he had for the soil and bugs and the tangled roots of plants. To think of it that way, he almost understood. Though no herb has ever been so treacherous. No herb had ever sunk roots so deep that Midgecloud had torn the leathers of his paw pads to reach it. Or caved over his head and crushed him beneath. He had never had to be clawed out from rubble in pursuit of leaves; nor had he felt the uneasiness beneath the open skies that he always felt underground, shoring walls that would have no qualms with pinning him under them. That with each season weakened and bowed more unpredictably than the last. No doubt this one won’t survive the storm, either. But his brother knew that. Even now, Stonefur’s eyes chased the rubble as it fell, his tired voice cutting through the silence. “The rain will make this repair harder tomorrow. The ground is moldable it needs to be done now.” Midgecloud peered at the sky. Overcast and gloomy. “ …does it? So you can come back and fix it again after it’s collapsed?” There was a hint of teasing there. Not as much as he would have liked, though the most he could manage. If only he could have gotten an answer. Stonefur only turned to other matters. He looked behind Midgecloud and offered a question of his own—one Midgecloud felt obliged to answer. “Are you out here alone? Is that wise?” And Midgecloud could only glance negligently over one shoulder, at the empty field, alive now and rippling with wind. “ Oh,” he said as though he were only just noticing it. “ I suppose not. But neither is this. We have that in common, I guess: making poor decisions.” In a stride, he came to stand beside his brother, seating himself and stretching out a paw to goad one of Stonefur’s up from where it was stubbornly planted against the ground. “ Let me see them,” Midgecloud murmured softly, turning them over to peer at the pads—bloodied as he had known they would be, caked in soft earth. " You’ve been at this all day. I can tell.” Green eyes sought his brother’s ambers. There was no accusation in the look they imparted, though they were saddened in the wake of Stonefur’s grim expression. “ …honestly, Stonefur, I don’t know why you put yourself through this. Surely, your health is more important.” |
|
|
|
Post by tor on May 12, 2024 7:36:35 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/bQgPhgF/stone~jpg Midgecloud had a point. If Stonefur managed to repair this tunnel today, there was every chance the rains he worried about tomorrow would bring it down once more. And, predictably, he would return to this same spot, just to bleed into the earth again, determined to put the tunnel back in place. It sounded so futile, when he thought of it like that. Something told him that was the point Midgecloud wanted to make. But Stonefur didn't think it was futile. It wasn't a waste to return to the tunnels over and over, lacing their repairs with scraps of his torn, cracked paws. A day spent doing this could protect lives. It could keep a tunnel standing for many more moons. It could save a whole clan. Did Midgecloud not understand that? Or perhaps the jest in his words meant he understood that perfectly well, and that understanding wasn't enough to make him agree. That was fine. Stonefur didn't need them to agree on this. They could still care about each other while their opinions conflicted, as evidenced by the easy way Midgecloud moved into his space, taking his aching paws into his own. Stonefur let him without complaint, and tried to ignore the soft voice behind his eyes that told him he was letting Midgecloud distract him because he didn't want to do this anymore. "You've been at this all day. I can tell." "Only since dawn."
"...Surely, your health is more important."Stonefur shook his head. "We have medicine cats and herbalists to ensure my paws heal," he said, looking back down at where his paw rested in his brother's smaller one. Midgecloud was gifted with the size for the tunnels, but it was Stonefur's broad paws that made digging so easy. For the first time in their lives, he found he wasn't jealous of Midgecloud's stature. "But for the tunnels, we are the healers." I am the healer, he wanted to say, but the prideful sentiment died on his tongue. It was unkind to assume no one else in the clan cared about tending to the tunnels, just because he was the only one out here now. It still felt like that, sometimes. "Let me try one more time," he said after a moment, wanting to compromise rather than fight. "And then I'll escort you home." And see Maplefrost, he supposed. "Why are you out here, anyway?" |
|
frolicking in the dirt, consuming filth.
|
Post by trashheap on May 18, 2024 9:49:33 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/OQ2cESJ~png In the stillness, Midgecloud lent an ear to his brother's words. Words meant to lessen. To take Midgecloud's eyes off the rough leather, torn, rutted, and bloodied in his own paws. Such large paws. His brother had always been so, and Midgecloud small. Yet it was only in moments like this—in rare passings of closeness—that Midgecloud truly remembered how different they were. But for our mother and father, no one would know we shared a nest. Or that their first games had been played together. Even now, as adults, did their likeness separate. Stonefur was even darker than he. More serious and brooding and occupied with things Midgecloud scarcely understood. And understood less as Stonefur shook his head in the wake of his brother's fussing. " We have medicine cats and herbalists to ensure my paws heal." And there was truth in that. Truth which Midgecloud did not allow him to savor. Our herbs are precious, the smaller brother wished to say. We cannot waste them on things such as this. But to say such things was to sever something between them. Midgecloud did not dare to do so. " But for the tunnel, we are the healers." And Midgecloud considered his brother, the reverence in the words, the pride only he felt. And the tunnels, the destroyers. The killer of innocents. The fickle, yawning mouths waiting to clamp on unsuspecting passersby. What need did they have for tenders? Better they all fell. Another thing he dared not say aloud, and so his silence pressed on. Long and thoughtful as he weighed the fissured flesh in his paws. It was Stonefur's voice that pulled him from his reverie of blood and torn tissues. "Let me try one more time," his brother said, with his paws that could not endure it. " And then I'll escort you home… why are you out here, anyway?" " Herbs," Midgecloud replied simply and shifted, reaching for the goat's beard that rested behind them as if for proof. " Maplefrost will have need of them if there are tunnelers like you, who are too bull-headed to look after themselves." He meant the words affectionately, but there was a note of something else there. ". ..and keep digging even when their paws are broken and bleeding." He sighed and relinquished his brother's paw from his grasp. Reluctantly. To see it rest against the dirt again made him wince. " …please, Stonefur. Leave the tunnels for now. For a few sunrises after the rain, even. Let me mend you, and we can go back to camp and get your paws wrapped. Any more of this would be…" he faltered. " …I couldn't allow it. You'll get an infection or something worse. Then you really won't be able to be your tunnel's healer. And we—" and he meant the other tunnelers when he said this, though he hardly felt one " —would be lost without you." |
|
|
|
Post by tor on May 24, 2024 8:41:43 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/bQgPhgF/stone~jpg Herbs, as if Midgecloud had any other reason to expose himself under the dangers of PraireClan's open skies. Stonefur could not fault his brother for that. They were born of the same blood, the both of them seeking fulfillment in their work, even if that work posed a risk. Stonefur, paws cracked and bleeding and begging for infection, his shoulders ready to try and hold up a collapsing tunnel even if it spelled the end of his life. Midgecloud, small enough to be carted away by any passing raptor, stubborn enough to avoid the tunnels that would bring him home safely. Stonefur raised his head to the sky as Midgecloud continued speaking. With clouds as thick as the one above their heads, he was doubtful he'd catch sight of a raptor until it was dangerously close. Perhaps the rain would drive them away, back to the safety provided by MistClan's trees, or RidgeClan's peaks. "...who are too bull-headed to look after themselves."Matching his brother's jest he said, "Why waste the energy, when I have you?" Except, they both knew they weren't as close as they once were. Even if they were, it was Stonefur's job to look after his brother. Not the other way around. "They're not broken. Only bleeding." Semantics. He had no other argument. Midgecloud kept speaking. Stonefur wished he could ignore him, wished he could drown out the sound of his brother's voice with the approaching cascade of rain soon to fall from the sky. He made too much sense. Any work Stonefur did here would likely be lost to the rains, and if he didn't seek treatment soon, he wouldn't be able to come back and work after the earth dried. Lost without you. There was a veneer over his words. Something Midgecloud was hiding behind. Stonefur opened his mouth to protest, to call his brother out for wielding Stonefur's status among tunnelers, rather than speaking from the heart. Tell me what you really want to say. His mouth closed, unable to bring the sentence to life. He thought that Midgecloud wasn't falsifying the care in his tone. Rather, he wasn't speaking plainly—wasn't telling Stonefur that he cared simply because he cared, because they were brothers, because he loved him. Midgecloud was trying to speak to him in a way that Stonefur would accept. Maybe it stung that his brother didn't think their bond was enough reason to rest his paws. Stonefur didn't have time to process that, before the first drop of rain fell on the stone before him. "Very well," he said. "You've stalled long enough to get your way." He punctuated his words with an amused hum. "We can go home." If they were lucky, and quick, they might even avoid the worst of the downpour. "Tell me about your training as we walk? It will distract me from the sting in my paws." |
|
frolicking in the dirt, consuming filth.
|
Post by trashheap on May 28, 2024 19:54:47 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/OQ2cESJ~png Stonefur attempted humor of his own. “ Why waste the energy when I have you?” But Midgecloud could not find it in him to smile, though he chuffed softly, turning that paw over in his grasp. You may not always have me, he wished to say, but didn’t—out of fear, and what might arise if he said such things. Instead, he pretended his brother’s paw was a most vexing article. One he could not pull his eyes from, and was glad when his brother spoke of it again. “ They’re not broken. Only bleeding.” Always the pedantic one, aren’t you? Another comment kept well away. Midgecloud relinquished his brother’s paw. He urged him again and saw something in Stonefur falter. Just enough to grab hold of and twist. Mightily and with all the force Midgecloud’s gentle spirit could muster. And how fortunate he felt when it did not require very much twisting at all. For the rain was there, and that was prompting enough. There would be no more tunnel digging for that day. And hopefully not the next or the one after… So Midgecloud was glad for it, though he did not like to think about getting wet or what might become of his herbs as they marched home through it. Though such things felt small knowing his brother would not linger on at his task. Futile as it was. “ Very well. You’ve stalled enough to get your way.” Midgecloud purred at that. ” We can go home.” “ I knew you'd see sense. You'll thank me for it, I swear—and so will your paws.” Midgecloud brushed his tail tip against his brother’s shoulder, though his expression changed somewhat at Stonefur’s following words. “ Tell me about your training as we walk? It will distract me from the sting in my paws.” “ Are you sure you wouldn’t rather talk about something else? Like shelter. I’m sure I could sniff something out…” but he saw in the expression his brother knew that he could urge him no further. He had already clasped upon one victory; no good came from seizing after another. So he could only frown. “ Very well. If you mean my tunneling, it’s going about as terribly as it was before. Even though I spent so much of my apprenticeship in the soil, it would appear such talents don’t translate in the realm of tunnel digging.” Midgecloud snorted. The air was thick with moisture. Somewhere in the clouds, thunder peeled through. “ But I can shore walls better now. And they don’t cave in on my head as suddenly as they did before, but wait for me to be out from under them when they do. An improvement, if you ask me. Someday, I might even be decent at it… never like you, though.” He blinked and looked aside. What humor had possessed him before dulled. His eyes listed aimlessly over the earth. “ …tell me, do you really love digging so much? Aren’t you afraid that one day… what happened to Ravenpaw might…” |
|
|
|
Post by tor on Jun 5, 2024 7:30:24 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/bQgPhgF/stone~jpg Shelter. Stonefur considered that with a stern glance at the sky, as if he could will the worst of the rain to wait until they got back to camp, or at least to a tunnel he could use to guide them back home. The ones this far out in the territory were all too small for him — he could fit, very technically, but risked the integrity by bumping along the walls as they hurried home. Maybe Midgecloud was right. The next few drops of rain fell in quicker succession, and Stonefur didn't relish the idea of spending the rest of his day sopping wet. Still, he tried not to think about it as Midgecloud spoke, wanting to afford his brother the attention he deserved. His ears twitched in amusement, listening to Midgecloud speak about the tunnels, and his attempts at improvement. That wasn't the training Stonefur meant when he asked. But it was kind of his brother to share those updates anyway. He knew Midgecloud didn't care for the tunnels quite as much, despite being gifted with his small size. The kindness quickly departed. Stonefur's mood went sour as Midgecloud brought up Raventhorn. It was a grab he'd heard before — mostly from other cats who didn't care for the tunnels, including Raventhorn himself. Keeping his tone steady and cold, Stonefur said, "I am afraid." But it wasn't the sort of fear Midgecloud was expecting, he thought. It wasn't the sort of fear anyone expected. "I am afraid it will happen again. And that is why I dig — to ensure it does not."Simple. It was just so simple. Stonefur wasn't willing to hear arguments for and against the tunnels when the fact of the matter was that cats were still using the tunnels. And as long as they used them, someone needed to maintain them. To keep them safe. To keep everyone safe. "I would appreciate you not using my friend's accident to prove anything, brother." Except, he nearly stumbled over the word accident, knowing Raventhorn's near-death had been completely preventable, if only Fogbreeze had stuck to his commitments. A fresh wave of bile rose up in him, thinking of the other tunneler's failures. His laziness. Midgecloud didn't deserve the anger Stonefur felt toward Fogbreeze, though, and so he bit his tongue. Instead, looking to change the subject, he said, "Thank you for sharing about your work in the tunnels. I did mean your herbalist training, though. You said you were out collecting herbs? How is that going?" |
|
frolicking in the dirt, consuming filth.
|
Post by trashheap on Jun 14, 2024 18:31:52 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/OQ2cESJ~png It wasn’t long until the first peels of thunder were in the air—that fat droplets fell groundward to dampen and tug down their heavy coats. Soon, their stolid steps slackened, and Midgecloud’s ears pinned against the roundness of his skull. Yet he saw, even in the dreariness of the world around them, how it could not have held a light to his brother’s expression in that instant. One that was as cool and unyielding as his tone. One that spoke of a fear unlike his own, that was rooted in some stubborn, unbudging place in his brother’s heart. “…And that is why I dig—” his brother told him steadily, as though it were that obvious. That simple. “—to ensure it does not.” But it will. Midgecloud found his ears flattening for more reasons than the rain. Had they any room, they might even have sunk lower with the warning that followed. “I would appreciate you not using my friend’s accident to prove anything, brother.” And the words held a finality in them that Midgecloud faced dumbly. His pace faltered. He hung in the rain and did not mind how it hastened or hissed around them. His face was wretched in the wetness. Green eyes implored the dark ambers of his kin. Even as Stonefur turned the topic elsewhere. Even as he fled from that thing he did not wish to confront, Midgecloud did not budge. “ Who cares about my herbalist training,” he said under his breath. “ You know, Stonefur, you can’t keep making it seem like you care just to get out of talking about things.” And Midgecloud quickened his pace, turning sharply to bar his brother’s path. His breath was quickness in his throat. He fought desperately to quiet it. “ I mean- what about you?” A moment’s pause, then. “ Every day, you march out here, digging at the earth like your life depends on it. But it doesn’t.” He took a step toward him. “ You dig until your leathers are split; I can always smell the blood on you. I just- I don’t get it.” Midgecloud looked up into his brother’s eyes insistently. “ If- if I could give up herbs for mum and dad, I don’t see why it’s so difficult for you to-“ He stalled, thought, pressed on abruptly, jarringly. “ I mean, you’ve heard Cinderstar. This tradition, it… don’t you think it’s like beating an elder to death with herbs? I mean, sure, herbs might lessen the pain of dying; they keep them around for a few days more, but why not stop the herbs completely and let them lie in peace? Would that be so bad? There wouldn’t be any more accidents. No more time wasted on maintenance. We could forget about them. Breathe the open air up here without wondering when the sky will come crashing down on us, and you- you’ve always been more skilled than me. You could be a proper warrior. And I could stop—” he faltered, searching for words “ —worrying when they’ll come in with news that you were the next accident.” And something feeble cracked in his voice, his breath spent and voice with it. His eyes shifted desperately between his brother’s own, seeking something he did not have a name for. |
|
|
|
Post by tor on Jun 26, 2024 8:02:16 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/bQgPhgF/stone~jpg So desperate for the shift in mood between them to be blamed on the incoming storm, Stonefur did not turn to look when he sensed his brother pause his steps. He did not turn to look when Midgecloud's soft voice barely reached his ears, nearly drowned by the patter of rain around them. He did not turn to look when Midgecloud wielded words so sharp they could only be meant to hurt. But it didn't matter that he did not turn — moments later, Midgecloud was in front of him, his pale eyes glinting in what remained of the daylight that peeked through thick, gray storm clouds. That would be a better name for him right now, Stonefur thought, stuck in place by his brother's anger. Stormcloud. He looked so fraught like this. Standing his ground, despite the impossible difference in their sizes. Fur plastered to his small frame by the falling rain. Ears pinned back, frustration on his lips, his teeth bared with every additional word. Stonefur was not so dense that he couldn't see the thread of concern that tied Midgecloud's every word together. His brother wasn't standing before him to spew the same anti-tunnel nonsense that had been growing in popularity in recent moons. No, Midgecloud was just... frightened. Sympathy welled in Stonefur's chest, though he couldn't help a spark of annoyance that caused him to tense his shoulders and raise his fur. A lecture wasn't what he expected, coming out here today. And a lecture about this, when he heard the same thing from his friends all the time, was unwanted. If it hadn't been his brother delivering it this time, Stonefur might've snapped at Midgecloud. Instead, he just bristled. "The tunnels are important to me," he said, holding back his tongue from what he wanted to say — to accuse Midgecloud of never knowing passion, dedication like this, and thus being unable to criticize Stonefur for it. "As they are important to so many of us. You can't compare a tradition older than any living cat to a dying elder." It felt disrespectful, really, but that wasn't the point of this. "Tradition can be important for tradition's sake. It needn't be a dying practice. It only is if we choose that." And maybe Cinderstar had chosen that. Maybe Midgecloud did. It didn't meant Stonefur had to. Voice still sharp with irritation, Stonefur continued, "Your lecture is undeserved. I don't view this as time wasted." Ancestors, he prayed Midgecloud would understand that. "Each moment I spend with the tunnels, each drop of blood I shed — I want to do that. I want to preserve this tradition."But maybe this argument was pointless. Maybe they were having two different conversations entirely. Stonefur enjoyed the time he spent repairing tunnels. Midgecloud saw no point in the tunnels at all. "Life isn't a guarantee for any of us," Stonefur continued. "We risk our lives when we hunt or patrol near the border. We risk our lives every day with those rogues on our territory. Worry less about me and my work and find somewhere else to dedicate your attentions." |
|
frolicking in the dirt, consuming filth.
|
Post by trashheap on Jul 24, 2024 11:04:20 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/OQ2cESJ~png For a moment, however brief, there was a faltering. A surrendering and an understanding between them and Midgecloud allowed himself to feel hopeful. He coaxed his brother on with reason, and Stonefur regarded it only momentarily before casting the whole of it aside. Annoyance reared in the place of fatigue. Furs, slicked down with rain, prickled with frustration. With the wet to diminish them both, Midgecloud realized, not for the first or the last time, the difference in them both—not just in size, but in other matters entirely. Things which, no matter how often he prodded and pressed, might not ever change. “…important to me,” Stonefur told him, and the words were harsh from him. In the hiss of the rain, they were as the thunder, indomitable, unavoidable. Trembling. “…a dying elder…we choose that.” “ Then maybe we should choose that.” Midgecloud could not help himself. His voice broke on high, and his ears, pinned against the roundness of his skull, pressed themselves more firmly against his head. “ Maybe—” But Stonefur was not yet done. There were words yet to be expressed, and in the rousing of his temper, they would not ease until the whole of them were spent. Midgecloud listened, quiet, chastised, and did not interrupt again. “…undeserved…. want to preserve this tradition.” Midgecloud only stared a lump in his throat, a terrible unease. “…dedicate your attentions.” Lightning cut in the dark. What remained of the light had faded, so it was only them, the rain, and the precipitous thunder. A low, feral booming. A signal for them both to return to their nests with haste. Yet Midgecloud could only stand there, trembling, his eyes pleading, and his brother’s closed off to him. A terrible fear wrenched at his heart, yet he knew, to look upon that face, turned staunchly from his own, he would earn nothing for his efforts but further upset—further words he could not bear to hear, further truths he knew and could not change. He swallowed softly and, in the pause between words, bowed his head and did not meet his brother’s eye again to spare himself the discomfort. “ Very well. Do as you please. But-“ he lingered. “ Just know that… it is not the only way for you to serve. Just because the tunnels may be abandoned does not mean you will no longer have purpose. You can care for it all you like, but it will only be a matter of time before something… we cannot fix happens. I only hoped to spare you from it.” And with that, he turned, stalking through the fields, not waiting for his brother to attend him. He knew the way—he had always known it—and he could not bear a moment longer in Stonefur’s presence, for the sadness that swelled in his chest and colluded in his thoughts. Better to be away from it. Better to find solace in his own solitude. As he had always found it. |
|
|
|
Post by tor on Aug 19, 2024 9:56:13 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/bQgPhgF/stone~jpg They should not be out here. Go home, the weather screeched, threatening them with dark, rolling clouds and bolts of lightning so bright they put the sun to shame. Stonefur tried to keep his focus on his brother, desperate for some sign that despite the argument, they were alright. But it was hard when the world raged around them. When the storm grew worse and worse. He was cold. His thick fur held up only a few heartbeats longer than Midgecloud's did to the pelting rain. Like this, he felt small. Frail. He thought he could see the lines of their family in their bones, revealed by their drenched pelts. Even soaked, he towered over his brother, but the similarities were still there. As best he could, Stonefur found comfort in that as Midgecloud argued against him. He wants them gone, Stonefur thought, filling in the words Midgecloud did not say. He wants the tunnels gone. He's just like Raventhorn. How many cats that surrounded him felt the same? How many more of Cinderstar's supporters would he uncover in the coming moons? Anxiety ached in his stomach, thinking of all the other friends he might lose. You don't have to lose them. The thought came with another flash of lightning. You could join them. More anxiety, thinking about choosing his friends over the tunnels. Stonefur thought he might be sick with it. And then the nausea faded as Midgecloud spoke his permission. It was a bitter granting. Stonefur knew his brother wasn't happy to give it. "Very well. Do as you please." The rest of his words were drowned out by the storm and the relief that rushed through Stonefur's body. He hardly even noticed when Midgecloud turned and walked away until the next flash of lightning revealed the empty space where his brother once stood. He was alone. Nausea curled back into him. It felt like an omen of what was to come. The rain continued to pour, its roar now just a dull hum in Stonefur's ears. Stonefur watched the grass move up ahead, a sign of Midgecloud's now-distant steps toward camp. He flicked his ear, tossing more water into the air, before setting off after his brother. |
|
