Banned
The residue of the aquatic night left him restless. A mist of the morning sky, with somewhat vile humidity, had been coated in the golden tone of the falling leaves. He blinked once - twice - three times until he cleared his vision. Fatigue had caught up to him. Several nights of just gazing at the contorted trees in the midst of twilight had countered his complete focus that early on in the day. Given a few minutes, a meeting perhaps, then he could've awoken himself to his better self. Luck had been on his side. Such a meeting was called, with the sun-kissed earth spotlighting Shadestar's way forward. Branchfall skirted the edges of the clan, idly rolling his emerald eyes in their sockets. Tiredness was a crutch holding onto him, refusing to let him walk upon his own four paws. It took but a second to remove, yet he took things slow. Anxiety had ruptured his schedule and pattern. Talks of murder never played nice with his mind. The only ones comfortable with the news were those who'd done the same, or worse: held themselves ignorant.
Skykit? Truth be told, it took him a second to remember which one he was. The little silver one, right? Right. Quizzing himself was a necessary tool to correcting his foolhardy intuition. He needed to work on his initiative, he thought to himself, as only time could tell where his missteps would be the result of intense scrutiny. And speaking of such scrutiny, his motioned eyes caught glimpse of another pair staring straight back at him. He felt at odds with meeting one's gaze, until he felt the uncertainty fade within its familiarity. A certain blank-and-red tom gave him a glance he found camaraderie in, a rare yet brilliant commodity he yearned for more.
With Flamepelt waving his tail, gesturing for Branchfall to join him, he couldn't help but seize the opportunity swiftly. He groomed the last bit of disfigured fluff on his pelt and stretched himself out. No time like the morning, not that he wished there was. A slog and a half was all it was. Either way, he tensed up along the way when he noticed the all-too familiar sibling beside him: Dawnstep.
It wasn't that he was scared of her presence, just not as well adjusted. How it'd taken that many moons to come even with just a single cat was already a testament to his social abilities. Extending that reach was another issue entirely, considering he barely provoked the change himself unless he truly felt daring. The tom of the two was more of a saving grace than anything else. Couldn't have had it any other way, really.
His strides lacked pride, but were built on sturdiness. His expression took a short second to soften. Yet, soon he was back on track. With a final breath, he took to his side and let out a slight smile. He relaxed his face and tapped the tom with the tip of his tail. It wasn't too common to see him beam so honestly, but with the golden dew of the brilliant morning, he felt as if it was warranted for the special occasion. It didn't take the most obedient of cats to realise how important the days like these were. A kit was on the road to warriorship. A new cat to fuel the ranks, to feed the desire to survive and thrive in a world that had been so cruel, with droughts, frozen wastes, famines and now the crisis of conspiracies and murder. The thought alone sent shivers as to how he'd made it so far, and how DuneWind hadn't.
"Hey," he began with a slight nod of the head, "sprightly as always?"
He missed the other warriors greeting the siblings just as they'd missed him. No worries, it had been like that for the longest while. A tom can get used to anything as long as he's subjected to it long enough, so they say. Well, if that were true he'd have been fully okay with being a MistClan cat. He was one of them, no doubt, but was he part of them. Oh, by starclan's sake, he let himself drift away from such dire thoughts at a time like this. It was supposed to be celebratory of all things wonderful. Life, the coming of age, and the excelling of the clan's bright and prosperous future. Shadestar was sure of it, so he should've been sure of it. What wonderful news. All so bloody wonderful~
"Uhm, hey." With some hesitation, he looked over Flamepelt's back to catch a small yet clear glimpse of his sister, Dawnstep. As eloquent in visual awe as always, much like a few specific others. Bound by circumstance, unlike Flamepelt, he couldn't bring himself to break that small barrier. Instead he just tried his hardest to give her a genuine smile that he'd given her brother and keep his words strong. And so, he addressed her with a lowly whisper, so as not to disturb the balance of peace and quieted respect for the ceremony's prelude.
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