PAFP Backwritten Territory my childhood rewound ──✩°｡⋆⸜ honoring the dead

[juniperstar]

juniper

it comes with great difficulty to stand tall in the face of so much devastation... it could only get easier with the passage of time but it trickled by so slowly. and her wounds are not the only ones that still pool onto the floor. every step is another one taken lonelier than before... but the destination still looms like a beacon of promise on the other side. they would be able to build something better than what they'd inherited, given the chance.

the heart can only bleed so much before it stills... ThunderClan's as a collective thrums in weakened pulse, begging for bandaging that can only be harvested from renewed bonds. so Juniperstar extends another branch, another lifeline to remind them of their connection so that it might become renewed. "Copper..." her head dips low as they move around him with ears empathetically pinned back. the churned earth marks where bodies had been laid to rest...

her lips tug down, forlorn but understanding... it is not so simply as burying them and moving on. "You know... when I was a kit... my mother used to tell me that the first flowers you bring will bloom twice as lovely come new-leaf... almost like they're reaching out to us still."

those that had already been brought as offering wilt under the grip of frost... they could only hope that old molly's tale was true to some degree.

──✩°｡⋆⸜ ✮

• pafp w/ @Copperstorm

• juniperstar leader of thunderclan nine lives remain

  ignore me

 

[Copperstorm]

COPPER OF THUNDERCLAN

Copper stood still for a moment, his golden eyes scanning the area as the sting of his father's wounds lingered on his pelt. Despite his injuries, he had refused to stop. He had advised Maple on matters he hoped would be helpful, scoured the territory for materials their new home would need, and tried to keep himself moving, anything to ward off the heavy weight of grief pressing on his chest.

The losses struck deep. His brother and sister, gone. One that went to the stars, one that seemed to be nowhere to be found... Aside that, Possum and Marble had left with Sable, and he couldn't fathom why. Marble's absence cut him the deepest, a wound he didn't know how to mend. She had been kind-hearted, a radiant beam of sunshine as his mother always said about her... And in every faint glimmer of a stripe, every fleeting shadow, he thought he saw his deceased brother. Each fleeting hope was crushed by the relentless reality: his brother was dead.

Copper sighed softly, the exhaustion clear in his posture as his thoughts turned briefly to Dewshine and Tuliptail. Two friends from the Twolegplace, they had integrated into colony life, only to face its brutal reality within days. None of them had been spared the pain, it seemed. The wounds they carried weren't just on their pelts but etched into their spirits, deep and unrelenting.

Juniperstar's voice rose above the stillness, cutting through the haze of his thoughts. He turned his head toward her, blinking twice before dipping his head respectfully. " Juniperstar. " he greeted softly, his voice carrying both weariness and quiet reverence. His gaze lingered on her, noting the weight she bore as their leader.

A faint, sorrowful smile tugged at his lips. " We loved poppies. " he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. " He thought they were one of the most beautiful flowers to bloom. " His eyes returned to the earth where his brother now rested, his shoulders sagging slightly as the raw ache in his heart resurfaced.

" Juni… " he began, his tone heavy with grief. " This pain… This loss feels unbearable. I've tried to understand. I really have. But I can't wrap my head around it. I don't understand why it all came to this. " He shook his head, frustration mingling with sorrow.

Silence settled between them for a moment, heavy but not uncomfortable. Finally, Copper turned his gaze back to her, his golden eyes reflecting a glimmer of earnest admiration. " Considering all that's happened, you… You're doing so well. I'm proud of the steps you've taken to build this new place, this new clan. " His voice carried a quiet sincerity, a rare moment of hope amidst the grief.

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

･ﾟ✦ —— AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

 

[serpentberry]

Serpentberry leaves her kittens napping in her nest, clustered by cleaned squirrel pelts and plumes of rabbit fur to keep them warm. She, brandishing her new name, witnessing her new role, forces upon herself the journey of healing and repairing. For if she doesn't... then who could? The loss that forms around them is insurmountable and though she perseveres with brunt force, she knows that it will not be easy. Not for her, not for her friends and family - not for the fools who caused this whole disaster.

She joins them by happenstance, swallowing thickly as she looks between Copper and Juniper. They both hold candles too closely to her tattered remains, knowingly or otherwise; their flames threaten to burn what sanity she has left. She knows Juniper will not set her on fire even if it kept her own thin frame warm, but Copper is a bit of a harder soul to read. The molly tilts her head down in a soft greeting as she passes by them on slow, loping steps; slipping towards her partner's grave. Her paws press down the dirt that seems tousled by the breeze, and she stares for what seems like hours.

They speak of flowers behind her; how their strength and ability speak to the souls both above and beneath the dirt. At least, that's how Serpentberry takes it, half-listening and half-wallowing.

Copper says, how did it come to this? and Serpentberry bites a hole in her tongue to keep herself from snapping, we were too foolish to cut the head from the body. Perhaps some knew that it was Sable who lead them; Serpentberry did not, and if Juniperstar did, the molly didn't show it so well. She looks over her shoulder, eyebrows pinched towards the center of her expression.

"She's stronger than she thinks," Serpentberry eventually admits, her tail snapping against the ground once. "We all are; but the stars chose her in the end..." she keeps her thoughts to herself thereafter, unwilling to ruin such a heartfelt moment.

 

[Magnoliapeak]

𓆝 . ° ✦

Magnoliapeak lingers further from the others, though she listens quietly to their forlorn exchanges. Her mind drifts to her father, Bracken, and the memory of his horrible death; and to the wailing and mourning of her mother and two sisters following his last words. Though he had fought valiantly it had not been enough to overcome the brutality of ShadowClan's evil nature. Magnoliapeak is not sure if she also wailed. But she does know that she has swallowed all the pain of losing Bracken and it now has settled in the pit of her stomach like a heavy stone. Unwilling to address the pain that thrums against her nerves if she thinks about it for too long, nor the anger that simmers beneath her coat when she thinks of the mercy they have granted their enemies.

Her eyes land on Serpentberry for a long moment. The medicine cat's statement drags out. What had she meant by that? Magnoliapeak hates to admit it, but she does hold some resentment over Juniperstar's head. Sablestar should have never been allowed to live. Her uncle's blood had been poisoned by greed and ambition, and if there were anyone who would have seen that first it surely would have been Juniperstar. Perhaps then Bracked would still be alive. Magnoliapeak watches Serpentberry's expression. For what reason does she have to hold resentment towards the leader?

Magnoliapeak quashes her bitter-edged thoughts and turns her gaze back to Juniperstar. Perhaps she had been blindsided. She, too, suffered many losses in the battle and has to grieve her clanmates (both dead and alive). "They're right," she finds her voice finally "You are strong, Juniper." Even through the conflict that rages in Magnoliapeak's mind, the strength of her aunt to face such things cannot be denied. "As newleaf comes you'll grow as strong as your namesake," Magnoliapeak assures her.

"SPEECH HERE"

✧ ° . ✶ . ° ✧

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  MAGNOLIA — SHE/HER ･ 21 MOONS ･ WARRIOR & THUNDERCLAN ･ PENNED BY CARAT!

  dilute tortoiseshell with amber eyes. here too.