Territory ThunderClan merrily we fall out of line // dewshine

[Copperstorm]

You walk along the edge of danger
AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

.

Copperstorm walked in quiet step beside the molly at his side, his mind a stormcloud of thought and tension. His ears flicked back, golden eyes shadowed as he slipped deeper into that familiar fog. Charcoal. The tension RiverClan had warned of. The unease creeping through the forest like fog clinging to tree roots. The newcomers, welcome, but not without weight. His responsibilities as Storm Guard. Young Boarpaw, who wasn't his apprentice but had become so much more than just a clanmate. A son, in all but name. Thistlepaw's training. The ever-prickling tension with Serpentberry. That she-cat knew how to dig under his fur like thorns in his pelt.

But through it all, his constant was Dewshine. Her fur brushed his own, grounding him. He blinked, as though surfacing from water, his heart giving a gentle thud as he looked her way. The storm in his eyes softened as they came to a stop at a sun-dappled patch of earth, the forest hushed around them. He breathed in, slow and deep. " I'm sorry. " he murmured, his voice quieter now, more certain in her presence. " There's been so much on my mind. "

His tail curled gently around her as he leaned in just slightly, comforted by her scent, her warmth. " I've been thinking… about everything, Dew. The border tensions. Boarpaw. The clan. And… " He hesitated, then frowned, his tone darkening. " Charcoal. " Even saying the name left a bitter taste on his tongue." I try to let it go. I patrol like I should. I avoid the ShadowClan border when I can. But sometimes I still catch his scent, and it-- " He growled lowly, frustration flicking through his tail. " It lingers. Like a scar that never fades. "

But then he looked at her fully. Golden eyes locking with hers, steady and unflinching now. " You've been my anchor through all of it. And through everything I carry, there's one thing I keep coming back to. " He leaned closer, voice barely above a whisper. " I would love nothing more than to have kits with you, Dew. To build something real, something ours. "

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33 MOONS

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[Dewshine's icon Dewshine Dewshine]

Come on, come on
We can go away

.

Sometimes she finds herself missing the comfort and safety of her twolegs, other times Dewshine wonders how she ever lived in her twoleg's den for so long when there had been an entire forest and more just beyond her garden. For everything that had happened since she followed Copperstorm into the colony she still did not regret it.

When the tom beside her apologizes she shakes her head, nose pressing gently to his cheek, leaning forward as he too leaned into her. "You don't have to be sorry for anything, Copper..."

She listened, as she always did when he needed to get his thoughts off his chest. So much had changed over the past several moons. It was almost dizzying truthfully but the one constant in it all was that Copperstorm had been there. Patient and understanding with her as she fumbled through learning things as an adult that he'd been taught as a kit. Then of course there was Boarpaw and... She shuddered at the name, her own tail curling around the scar on her leg. Charcoal. Had that flame point not interrupted them she would have been one of the many joining the stars that night.

She frowned, lip curling briefly into some semblance of a snarl at the thought before shaking her head. "...I think it's good that you haven't let it go. I certainly haven't." She paused, hesistant. "Charcoal nearly killed me, love, and I think we both know he wouldn't hesitate to try again if he could."

Pale orange met gold, Dewshine drinking in every word the other said like it was air itself, before ultimately leaning back somewhat when kits were brought up. Something theirs...something without Charcoal's influence tainting something that was ultimately good... She'd thought about it ever since Serpentberry's teasing that one herb patrol, truthfully. And when they'd found Boarpaw and his siblings the feeling had only intensified.

And yet...

And yet.

"I'd love that too, one day," She finally murmured. "...But I'm afraid of what he might do if he finds out... And if he learns we took in Boarpaw..." The molly trails off, not wanting to give anymore room to the terrible thought but voicing it all the same.

36 moons

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thunderclan warrior

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We Don't Need Them

DEWSHINE

✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
✦—Silver She Cat W/ Orange Eyes And Dark Stripe Along Her Tail
#8f85c2

 

[Copperstorm]

You walk along the edge of danger
AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

.

Copperstorm listened in silence. Not the kind born of indifference or hesitation. but the kind that listened with love and care. Every word Dewshine gave him was something sacred, something he tucked gently into the storm-swept corners of his heart. Her touch on his cheek, the soft pressure of her nose against his fur, these were his anchors. And still, the weight pressing against his ribs remained. When she mentioned Charcoal, he winced. Not at her words, he welcomed her honesty, her fire, but at the memory. That monster had nearly taken her from him. Almost succeeded.

And now here he was, pawing through thoughts of kits with her, of a future, while a nightmare whose eyes he carried, who's blood he came from still walked these forests. He swallowed thickly, voice quiet, gravel low and rough from the emotion gathering behind it. " I think about it too... " he murmured. " What it'd be like… you, me, a family. Kits that are ours. Yours. Safe, warm, soft little things we could raise under the canopy and stars and teach to hunt beetles and chase fireflies. " He smiled faintly, just for a moment, before it dropped. His expression shifted, haunted, thunderclouds behind gold.

" But then I see his face. His... HIS staring out of the underbush, staring at Boarpaw.... If they ever meet. I think about him learning Boar's name, realizing it's you and me who took him in. That we gave that boy a real home. That we're happy. He will try to destroy it. " He looked down at his paws, claws briefly unsheathing into the earth. " He'd never let that stand. Not Charcoal. Not that creature. "

His eyes flicked back up to Dewshine, and there was something raw in them now. " And if you were ever pregnant, Dew… " He sucked in a sharp breath. " If he found out... if he saw... he wouldn't just take me from this world. He'd make me watch what he did to you. He nearly did once already. " His tail lashed once before it curled protectively around her again, drawing her in. " I know it's not fair to ask for a future when I don't even know if we're safe in the present. But stars, Dew… I want it. I want you. I want sleepy mornings with our kits curled between us, I want to show them the trees and the river and the sky. I want to grow old and tired beside you and still think I'm the luckiest damn tom in the forest. "

His voice cracked slightly, but he held steady. " But I can't see it clearly. I want it. I ache for it. But all I see right now is him in the way. Again. Like always. " He pressed his forehead gently to hers. " I don't want to let him take any more from me. And I won't let him take you. " Silence followed. But it wasn't empty. Just a moment to breathe in her scent. To ground himself again in the only thing that ever made the storm go quiet. Her.
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33 MOONS

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[Dewshine's icon Dewshine Dewshine]

Come on, come on
We can go away

.

A small, selfish part of her wants to suggest leaving. To leave the forest and the moors and rivers behind them entirely and flee to someplace beyond where the twoleg barns once stood tall. ...Surely if they put enough distance between themselves and Charcoal they'd be safe from him? Boar and his siblings and...and their future kits wouldn't ever have to meet their grandfather..?

Dewshine desperately, guiltily, wished that was the answer. But Copperstorm was a Storm Guard now and had obligations and a duty to be there; Boarpaw and his siblings were still young and she worried such a journey would be too much for their young selves if unprepared. But most of all it felt like it would be a betrayal to Hawthor- Thornstar's trust in her. He had welcomed her with an understanding smile and open arms when she followed Copper back to the colony in what felt like a lifetime ago. He had trusted her with helping the wounded, despite being wounded herself- the night her new life shattered into something else entirely. Running away would not honor the tom's memory.

She shook her head before smiling at her mate's description. His hope for the future. She wanted it too. Truly. To chase beetles and fireflies (What was a firefly..?) with him and their kits... "I want that too." She finds herself whispering, like a prayer. A mantra. A wish that if said too loudly would shatter before it even has a chance to be realized.

Copper is losing himself in his thoughts of his father, again, and Dewshine leans harder into him, hiding her face against his shoulder. "He doesn't have to know we took him in, you know." Wishful thinking, at best. Naivety at worst. They could do their best to try and steer him away from the border- or at least give plausible deniability by not being there at his side. But that was a risk on its own.

And if she was pregnant... An involuntary shudder runs through her from nose to tail tip, the sensation of breath on the back of her neck lingering briefly though she knew no one- certainly not him- was there. "I know... I know, love." Dewshine tries, fails to soothe through the pounding of her own heart at the thought.

The silence feels uneasy, the forest not quite as safe and welcoming as usual despite them being nowhere near Shadowclan's border. So troubled were her thoughts.

A breath is taken. Held. Exhaled shakily."I'm scared, Copper... I'm so scared of getting caught alone with him somehow... I stay away from that side of the border of course but still, what if one day he comes looking..?"

36 moons

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thunderclan warrior

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she/her

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bio

We Don't Need Them

DEWSHINE

✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
✦—Silver She Cat W/ Orange Eyes And Dark Stripe Along Her Tail
#8f85c2

 

[Copperstorm]

You walk along the edge of danger
AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

.

Her voice on the wind wrapped around him like a balm, soft and grounding, and love rose in his chest with a familiar ache, an ache only she ever caused in him. Every word, every glance, every quiet moment with her reminded him why he kept fighting, why he hadn't given in to the weight of everything bearing down on him. But still… doubt always found its way in. Did she regret following him into the wilds? After Flint, after his sister vanished, after all the chaos and war... after Charcoal? Did she ever wonder if she'd made the wrong choice? No, he reminded himself. She's still here. She chose this. She chose me.

" ...He doesn't need to know... " he murmured finally, exhaling slowly as he spoke of him, Charcoal. Of Boarpaw. Of the silent danger that clung to them all like a shadow just beyond the trees. He closed his eyes for a breath, a moment of stillness, as thoughts of the three kits they'd taken in filled him with warmth… and longing. He loved them as his own. But they'd stirred something deeper, too. A desire he had barely dared to voice. What would their kits look like? His and Dewshine's. The thought of it clutched his heart tightly. A future he craved more than anything else.

" I know, love... " he said softly, voice almost trembling with the weight of it. " I understand that fear… I carry it too. " He leaned in closer, breathing her in, grounding himself in the steady comfort of her scent. She was his anchor. The world could burn, and she'd still be the center of it for him. " Dew... " he whispered, his voice low but firm, brushing his cheek against hers with aching tenderness. " I promise you, with everything I am… I won't let him destroy what we're building. He doesn't have that right. And I won't ever give it to him. "

He pulled back just enough to look at her, to meet those soft orange eyes that held his world in them. " Maybe not today… maybe not tomorrow. But one day… when we're ready… we could try. We should try. To expand our family. To make something ours, something good, untouched by the rot he left behind. " A small breath escaped him, shaky but resolute. " We can't let fear be what stops us, Dew. Not when what we have is real. Not when our future is still waiting. " And for the first time in a while, as he looked at her, he could almost see it, just beyond the horizon. A den of their own, filled with the laughter of kits that shared her fire and his gold. A life free from shadows. A life they made.

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33 MOONS

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