DEJA VU // Goldenroar

[HoneyflowerHoneyflower's icon]

Slow Down, Just Breathe

The argument had been weeks ago now but it still lingered in Honeyflower's mind. She could take a guess at who had caused it, but he wasn't about to apologize for it anytime soon so it was up to her to clean up the mess her brother had left behind. She still needed to talk to Merrystalk but for the moment he was nowhere to be found in camp. On the other paw... A familiar tom appeared at the corner of her vision, leaving the warriors den.

"Goldy..!" The nickname left her mouth without thinking, and her ear briefly flicked down in embarrassment. Should she have called him Goldenroar instead of Goldy? He WAS deputy now after all... "...I wanted to talk to you about the orher day at the barn." Or where it used to be.

The calico raised a paw to beckon him closer, tail twitching anxiously behind her before she curled it around herself to keep it still with her free paw on top of it. "I still need to talk to Merry too but," She began, voice lowered as her friend stepped closer. "I wanted to apologize for Sassafrasschill... He means well, really. He's just not very good at showing it."

She could still see the panic on his face that night when he was looking for her and Sweet, the relief that oh-so-briefly flickered before his signature scowl once more masked his true feelings. He acted tough, and cold sometimes, but he did care. About the barn. About her. Honey was sure that somewhere he did care about Merry and Golden as well.

"Please try not to hold it against him too much... I think he just needs some more time to adjust to everything..."

xxx

All We Have Is All We Need

Tags

Honey

✿—Moor Runner Of WindClan
✿—She/Her
✿—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
✿—Dilute Calico Shecat With Green Eyes And A Floppy Ear
#a4e1ba

 

[GOLDENROAR]

A yawn splits from Goldenroar's mouth. In the days following his deputy-ship, he's been inflicted with responsibility for realsies. Not that he really minded, after all. Goldenroar had already kind of been doing it and all that but... the title meant it was official. If anyone knew his temperament, someone would be expecting him to flip out and drop out soon. He slips away from where the collection of nests for the warriors were, eyes blinking foggily at the cat that starts talking to him. Honeyflower. He brushes off any kind of drowsiness and places that ever-familiar smile on his face.

"Hi, Honey." The nicknames went both ways here! "... Oh?" Goldenroar asks after her sentence. He hadn't been here for the chewing out his brother got from Dustystar after the return, but he had heard wind of it. He steps closer to her, settling down nearby after a small stretch of his front legs. Aqua eyes shifted to her, warmly blinking before growing more serious. Goldenroar supposes that a part of being deputy would be dealing with the drama that surrounds a group of cats living with one another. The longer she spoke, however, the more he drew upright and more serious.

He doesn't respond instantly, vision shifting away to the moors, then back to her after a few heartbeats. Sassafrasschill means well, she says, and given the way the tom backed off just from intervention from Goldenroar... he slowly bobbed his head. "My brother isn't without fault, either- they're both at fault." He says, voice delicate but firm. "But don't get me wrong. This isn't anything like any of us have experienced. Names and rules and ranks... it wasn't like this in the barn. He isn't the only one that feels that way, I'm sure." Goldenroar says, recalling how some cats were speaking out against it at that first 'meeting' since they arrived.

Sure, cats have accepted their names and the roles they had been handed, but he's still not sure about where they've settled, not sure about the lack of walls and roof above their head for the cold season. A long breath leaves him, almost a sigh. "I'm not holding anything against... anyone, at this point. No one drew claws. As far as I'm concerned, that argument went as well as it could have after I stepped in. Both parties backed off, and haven't attempted anything since." He reminds her softly, the warmth of joy gone, leaving something like a serious tiredness. "How are you handling this change in everything, though?" He says, redirecting the conversation to her specifically. She mattered, too- not just as an agent of her brother.

_______________________ I KEEP RUNNIN' BUT ☼ I'M STANDING STILL _______________________

• "speech"
  

• 

• GOLDENROAR he/him, windclan deputy, thirty six moons.
  ☆ a lh golden red marbled tabby with low white and glimmering aqua eyes. often seen with a smirk, confidence oozing from him in heaps, but always the ever-helpful guy.
  ☆ mentored by who / mentoring no one
  ☆ older brother to merry
  ☆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  
  ☆ mini by tasmagoric, ref image by dallas (yours truly!)

 

[HoneyflowerHoneyflower's icon]

Slow Down, Just Breathe

Goldenroar's silence felt damning. Every second that ticked on by had the molly wondering if perhaps she should have worded her explanation- plea, rather- differently. She nearly opens her maw to continue her defense of her brother when Goldy interrupts her.

Honey nods along to the deputy's words, expression soft. "I don't blame Merry, either." She agrees. "Everything is so different so suddenly, I'm surprised an argument like that didn't happen sooner, to be honest. It'll be an adjustment for everyone, I'm almost jealous of Owlbear's kits- this is all they've ever known." Despite the smile on her maw the gale guard couldn't help but worry.

What would happen when the farmers rebuilt the barn? Would they all return or stay out here? What if they never rebuilt it? ....What had even caused the fire to begin with? She couldn't imagine one of the twolegs doing it. A horse, perhaps..?

She's so engrossed in her own musing that the tortie almost misses Goldenroar's question. She closes her eyes so tightly she sees stars on the backs of her eyelids- the unbearable heat from the fire is something Honey fears she'll never forget for the rest of her days, the burning in her own throat a close second. She had not been able to bring herself to help get anyone out aside from herself and her mate. If she had thrown herself back inside the barn to help would more of their number survived or would she have been just another casualty? It's a question that at times has her restless at night.

"...I'm alive. Sweet and the rest of my family are alive and well. I'm luckier than some. It's enough. Life moves on." She finally murmurs with half-lidded eyes trained on her paws rather than the deputy. It would have to be. Many of the barn cats had depended on her to help, and now as gale guard she felt a pressure to help like she'd never felt before. She wondered if she'd be able to live up to the expectations she'd set up for herself or if she'd crash and burn like the barn had.

xxx

All We Have Is All We Need

Tags

Honey

✿—Moor Runner Of WindClan
✿—She/Her
✿—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
✿—Dilute Calico Shecat With Green Eyes And A Floppy Ear
#a4e1ba