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Post by Warrioress on Sept 2, 2019 19:15:05 GMT -6
Flareheart had spent the last moon since the battle that took her son from her in a sort of focused daze. She focused her goal on patrols, hunting, and helping Haywhisker but there were times that she seemed to just stop and fall away into her mind. She knew, she knew, that she hadn't been a good mother, had been the worst of mothers as she had abandoned her kits to survive on their own. It hadn't been until Brightsplash that she had started to think that she had been wrong, and had fully realized that when she started training Haywhisker. She had been planning on approaching Troutleap and apologizing, hoping that they could build a sort of relationship.
It was all ripped away now, she knew that Riverfrost would never accept her apology, her daughter had made it her mission to just avoid Flareheart at all costs. Flareheart realized belatedly that she was once again lost in her mind but couldn't find it in herself to care. She was sitting outside of the warriors den, her gaze staring unseeingly in front of her. Her once carefully kept coat was slightly matted and her white paws were caked in dirt and mud from hunting in the marshes. She barely registered the passing of cats and the glances sent her way, the clan itself was still recovering from the attack and so no one wanted to approach her to bring up wounds that were still to fresh.
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Post by niftyshark on Sept 8, 2019 20:09:19 GMT -6
While he should have expected AspenClan’s attack, part of him never expected Echostar to go through with it. Part of him hoped that it was nothing but a way for her to appear tougher. Her threats at the gathering came as a surprise—he never heard of any of his warriors crossing the border. It seemed like she was lying. His warriors would tell him of any accidental crossings.
...Wouldn’t they?
But then AspenClan attacked their camp, and WillowClan warriors were hurt and died for it. Shrikestar knew it was his fault. He should have taken Echostar’s threats seriously.
Maybe it was StarClan’s way of punishing him. He wasn’t a true leader. His trip to the Frozenpool was moons ago, so there was no way he could come clean now. He felt uncomfortable and uncertain of WillowClan’s future, but he would have to do the best he could.
It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew he had to approach Flareheart. Her son, his nephew, died in that pointless battle. He had to acknowledge that.
Shrikestar spotted his sister in a corner of camp, and he neared her carefully, anxiously. “Flareheart?” he whispered. He wasn’t sure if she even knew he was there. She looked lost.
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Post by Warrioress on Sept 10, 2019 16:52:34 GMT -6
The sound of her name had Flareheart blinking slowly as her mind was brought back to the present. She nearly hissed at seeing Shrikestar standing in front of her looking nervous. She wasn't sure what he wanted, if he was here to make more pointed remarks against her about her kits. "what?" she asked, trying for a sharp tone but instead coming out as more of plea and aggressive mixed into one.
She didn't want to deal with this right now, she just wanted to drift in her thoughts, away from reality where she had reconciled with her son. "if you're here to once again point out my failures as a mother, don't bother" she said wearily, her gaze sliding away from her brother and instead roaming over the camp clearing, spotting the black fur of Haywhisker and also the gray and white fur of her daughter before Riverfrost exited the camp.
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Post by niftyshark on Sept 28, 2019 11:06:43 GMT -6
Shrikestar struggled against the urge to back away and leave. It was an easy urge to fall back on, and he had to concentrate to keep it from overpowering him. “No... I wasn’t going to say that. Just the opposite, actually.”
He fell silent for a moment as his words lingered in his ears. He couldn’t imagine losing a kit. It could be said that he was a bad father too, since he didn’t really know any of them—in some ways, he really wasn’t any different from Flareheart. “I wanted to apologize for your loss. I know what I say won’t have meaning for you, but we lost a great warrior in him. WillowClan won’t be the same without him.”
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Post by Warrioress on Jan 2, 2020 21:05:49 GMT -6
Flareheart so badly wanted to flee from the conversation, but she knew she couldn't. Instead of fleeing, she seemed to hunch in on herself "it won't matter, he's gone. I didn't protect him, I failed in almost every way as a mother. Nothing can change that now" she said with a shrug, easily ready to dismiss the conversation.
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Post by niftyshark on Jan 4, 2020 18:24:25 GMT -6
Shrikestar didn’t dispute her. In all likelihood her comments were probably right. She needed some self-reflection. But not in this way. Not with this situation. He didn’t know how to help her. The rift between them was so great that it seemed insurmountable, unfixable. The only thing he could imagine making her feel better was him walking away and giving her space. Distantly, he was sure their parents were gravely disappointed. Their kits couldn’t be farther from each other.
“I don’t know if Troutleap would see it that way. He died defending his clan, an honorable way to go. He wasn’t helpless.” Flareheart seemed to be buried in self-pity, so he tried shedding light on the opposite viewpoint.
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