Private Camp in the wake of loss / serpent

[Copperstorm]

{$title} Copper struggles with the things he knows and needs answers, i imagine this is shortly after juniper becomes juniperstar, and I think after serpents kitting

COPPER OF THUNDERCLAN

The large brown tabby paced back and forth near the nursery, his mind heavy with restless thoughts. He had refused to seek out Serpent after the battle, focusing instead on tending to his own wounds, cleaning and tending to himself. But despite his efforts, his mind continued to churn, haunted by Serpent and Water Snake-- No, Snakeblink now... the names tangled in his mind. He had scented the tom on his brother's body, piecing the truth together with painful clarity. The only thing he couldn't comprehend was why they had killed Flint.

Flint, who had always been the gentle one, the one who had tried to hold them together. It clung to his heart, pulling him into the depths of grief and confusion.

He knew that if he dwelled too long on it, things would shift inside him... his trust, his faith. He didn't want to become bitter, to carry the same anger that plagued his father. But still, he couldn't escape the hurt. The pain felt endless, and he wasn't sure if there was any understanding to be found.

That day had been chaos, filled with loss and unanswered questions.

Closing his eyes tightly, he took a deep breath, lifting his gaze to the stars, as though searching for answers that had yet to come. As if Flint himself, in some star-touched form, might appear, offer guidance, or stand by his side. But no answers came. Only silence.

With a sigh, he finally broke away from the sky, padding silently toward the den that Serpent occupied. His paws felt heavy with reluctance, but he knew there was no escaping this.

" Serpent...? " His voice was soft, almost hesitant. " Could we... Could we talk? "

you walk along the edge of danger ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

@serpentberry

 

[serpentberry]

She's sent Rowan away. The girl would rather be cooped up in this den than explore the new lands, or even the camp - giving her duty and a mission is all the molly can do to get some alone time. She can't blame the youth; after all, shortly before everything fell apart... she asked to be Rowan's mother.

She tore one family apart; she played a role in stealing Flint from many. And as if she can fulfill a sense of retribution, she acted on impulse, and assumed a position in someone else's tumultuous life.

Perhaps there is something to say about fate, then. That her lover is torn from her instead, the very night that her children are born.

She is alone; alone with three small bodies who know no difference in their lives. They wake and they sleep. They eat and they don't. Sometimes, they'll sidle closer to whoever is quieter in conversation, as if their folded ears cannot take even a morsel of noise. They cannot talk with her, reassure her that she is doing enough - that her crimes simply aren't for there are no rules in survival, only that you must.

A soft voice chimes from the entrance of her den. Not meek, but nervous... Serpent flicks her poison green gaze to Copper, and for a long, painful moment, she stares. She knows that something like this may be inevitable; that the tom her brother murdered would have vengeful family to attend to. He's quiet, through. Uncertain. She doesn't think he could lay a claw on her, with or without the littlelings that cling to her belly. She tenses her jaw and affords him a short nod.

"I have time," Serpent says in equal softness, though her tone betrays the notion that she is alert and careful nonetheless. "I... is this about...?" she trails, as if saying his name would summon a ghoul and not a benevolent spirit.

 

[Copperstorm]

COPPER OF THUNDERCLAN

The large tabby stepped inside with careful, measured steps. His golden eyes lingered for a moment on the mother and then drifted to the young kits at her belly. A subtle twitch of his ear as he studied them, the storm within his gaze softening slightly. A faint flicker of warmth glimmered in his eyes before he let out a slow breath. He didn't want to harm her, or her children, or her family. Even though a part of him had yearned for revenge... had screamed, clawed, and begged... he knew it wouldn't bring his brother back or mend the wounds of the past.

It wouldn't solve anything.

Golden hues returned to Serpent as she cut herself short, her question hanging in the air unspoken. Yes, he thought, it was about his brother. And he deserved to know.

" Yes. " he said simply, the word carrying neither malice nor anger. His gaze remained steady as he looked at her, a faint sadness lingering beneath the surface. " Yes, it is. " A soft sigh escaped him as his shoulders sagged.

" Your scent… your brother's scent was heavy on his body. " he murmured, his voice carrying a trace of sadness. " I… I want to know. I want to know what happened, what could have happened, to lead to this outcome. " His frown deepened. " Flint wasn't a fighter. Nor was he part of Sable's crew. So why? "

you walk along the edge of danger ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

 

[serpentberry]

She realizes as he looks towards her that she's gotten far too used to emotional folk. Thunder with his rapturous laugh, Juniper with her uncertain whimpering, Rowan's determined curiosity and Snake's conniving tongue... Copper looks at her, and though his expression isn't emotionless (sadness rims his gaze, a promise in itself,) he is held together by more than dried reeds and sap. Perhaps he's accepted the unfortunate solution that she and her brother came to in the chaos of it all. But even if he has, he approaches her, an inquiry on his tongue.

His shoulders slouch, his voice breaks; Serpent wonders as she looks at him with the same even grief and chill, if she will make an emotional whelp out of him yet. If he is merely waiting for her to drop the bones of his deceased sibling, so that he may weep over Flint's corpse. (She does not have that power. She does not have that want. Not right now, at least.)

"It was..." she starts, and her own tone shifts. Her gaze moves from him to the empty space beyond her. It's as if she can still see the battle clearly, the way everyone danced as if it was choreographed. It was them, they messed it up. Needle didn't need to save her, she was fine. Her body visibly tenses as she remembers Hawthorne, who had cut down Sable, who had promised to return, who then didn't - and grief both consumes her and builds a bridge of understanding.

"- chaotic," she cuts back into reality with a sharp tone, her tail lashing behind her. "You were there. Friends were fighting friends, family was falling apart... No one knew what was happening, Copper," she lays her defense for her brother, still. Her tail whips the ground once, leaving a divor in the sandy dirt, drawing a line between them. "It started with Needle - she was... heading towards me, and... Snake, he's my brother. We have always been there for each other..." a beat. The accusation swims so clearly in her green gaze. Where were you? Flint needed you, yet who had you locked away? "Snake knocked Needle away, and then Flint... got into the mix..." she blinks, trying to decipher the details.

"Snake had to kill him," she completely removes herself, her lips pursing. "He got angry because - he loved Needle. Did you know that? His spirit, when that molly came for them all... he confessed his love," Serpent is purposeful in her direction. She keeps her involvement minimal in her retelling, for in her truth, the blood never ran down her paws. Her brother may be guilty, however only because Flint decided he couldn't leave well enough alone.

"I'm sorry, Copper," but is she? "It's hard to lose a sibling. I know," Serpent ignores the immediate ache in her chest for Hawthorne and instead pulls from her life prior to this place. The other siblings she and Snake lost... they will always be remembered by her, she knows, but the pain struggles to lessen.

 

[Copperstorm]

COPPER OF THUNDERCLAN

Golden hues locked onto Serpentberry as she spoke, his expression betraying nothing, a stone mask concealing the storm brewing within him. He listened intently, her words washing over him like waves battering against a cliff. The chaos she described was familiar, a war fought over nothing, a war that should never have been. Yet he found it bitterly ironic that those who lost their lives had done so at the claws of the opposing side. His own brother had fallen to someone in Hawthorne's party. Her mate's party.

The faintest flicker of his tail betrayed his internal turmoil as his half-lidded eyes regarded her. Friends had turned on friends, families were fracturing, and trust was shattered. He knew this all too well. But Flint... Flint had never been a fighter. Flint had never wanted to harm anyone. His brother had been a poor fighter at best, only knowing defensive moves because he had taught them to him, insisting Flint learn just in case. And even then, Flint wouldn't have raised a paw unless he truly believed it was the only way. And most certainly not to a pregnant queen.

" Needle... " he said softly, confirming the name, closing his eyes for a moment as he conjured the image of the molly his brother had spoken of so often. Flint had admired her, cherished her, perhaps even loved her without her realizing the depth of his feelings. The thought brought a bitter smile to his face, a pang of grief twisting in his chest.

His tail lashed now, a flicker of irritation rising at Serpentberry's tone. It felt, in some way, as though she was accusing him... Perhaps of not being there when Flint had needed him most. A guilt he already carried, one that cut deeper than any wound.

" I refuse to believe your brother had to kill him. " he said at last, his voice steady but sharp, the weight of conviction behind his words. " I fought in this war, too. I earned my scars. I spilled my blood. I've made my mistakes. But not once did I fight with the intent to take a life. " He inhaled deeply, steadying himself, his posture straightening as he held his head high. He hadn't come here to argue or accuse. He'd come for answers. And Serpentberry was giving hers, whether or not he liked them.

" I doubt Flint was angry. " he continued after a beat, his voice quieter now, more even. " Perhaps you and your brother mistook his despair for anger. " His golden eyes bore into hers. " As you know your brother, I knew mine. Flint wasn't violent. He wouldn't have harmed anyone unless he believed someone else was in danger. "

He paused, tilting his head slightly. " Needle... " he repeated, this time with a softer tone. " She left the battlefield, didn't she? To follow Sable's group. " It wasn't a question, but a resigned statement. His tail stilled for a moment before he continued. " I knew of his feelings for her. Flint dreamed of a future with her, a future where he could have been a parent, a mate. A life he'll never have now. "

His gaze lingered on her, and the wry smile returned, though it didn't reach his eyes. " Save your apologies, Serpentberry, unless they're spoken with honesty. " he said quietly, the words heavy with meaning. " I can accept that you and your brother did what you believed was necessary. But that doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it just. "

His gaze narrowed slightly, though his tone remained calm, steady, deliberate. " But I think you know a thing or two about that feeling, don't you? "

you walk along the edge of danger ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

 

[serpentberry]

He's divisive. Anything she offers him, regardless of how honesty and falsehood intertwine like hawks in a life-ending dive, an embrace meant to dilute the fact that everything is wrong - it is dismissed. His anger is level, his tongue whipping like hers. Serpentberry watches him deflect anything she gives him, and though she understands, she retreats into herself. Her guilt does not remain held out for the tom that does not wish to accept it wholeheartedly, for it is too small, too wasteful. Instead, she chooses to revel in the fact that he feels something about her, rather than nothing at all. Dejection is a crueler foe than admonishment, she believes.

"You can leave, Copper, love," she murmurs. The hope that he would've understood her is gone; her embellishment is sniffed out and hidden details are dredged with aching claws - he smiles, but it does not hold in his expression elsewhere. For once, she frowns. "You serve nothing to yourself here," she continues, his final line ringing to her mind again, again, again. "I told you my truth. You've accepted it. You are not allowed to devalue my worth beyond what I allow." Justice. She did what was just. She was punished for it already. She doesn't need his reminders. "Goodbye." She leaves no room for argument, turning her nose away from him.

 

[Copperstorm]

COPPER OF THUNDERCLAN

Golden eyes took her in, calm and unreadable. His gaze narrowed slightly, studying her words as they settled in his mind. Then, after a long pause, a sliver of a smile curled at the edges of his maw. " Thank you for your truth. It puts things in perspective for me. " he murmured, voice steady, yet laced with something deeper. Something unresolved. His tail flicked once before he dipped his head in a small gesture of parting. " I will see you around, Serpentberry. "

With that, he turned, sweeping his tail behind him as he moved toward the den's exit. The smile remained only until he crossed the threshold, then faded into something darker, something more brooding.

Something told him this wasn't the end of it all.

you walk along the edge of danger ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU