Private ONLY HAD ONE WISH | hopekit

[BRIGHTPETAL]

Brightpetal hadn't expected being Deputy to be as easy as chasing their tail, but the longer they precariously settled into the role, the more responsibilities seemed to rear their heads. Patrols was one thing, taking charge when Juniperstar wasn't available was another, but the duty of emotional labour was... interesting. Before, being optimistic had been a choice, a means to feel hopeful about the future without letting the tragedies of the past cloud his judgment. Now, it almost seemed mandatory, as if he were to lose hope, then the whole clan would too. For now, he could keep smiling, keep being that rock and, thankfully, today's problem did not seem to be as tumultuous as a spat along the borders.

He had been watching Hopekit for a few moments, long enough to notice that he was either deep in thought or potentially half-deceased. Brightpetal had wondered what was so interesting about the empty space that they seemed to be staring off into, but after several more seconds of inaction, his curiosity and concern became too much to stomach. Meandering forwards tepidly, Brightpetal used the time to practice his smile; he didn't want Hopekit to think that what he was doing was a big deal, but well... it was sort of weird.

"Uh.... hey little buddy." He waved a paw in front of Hopekit's face, hoping the combination of that and a greeting would get him back to reality. "You... you feeling ok?"

@hopekit

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[hopepaw]

Hopekit blinks as a paw is suddenly moving in front of him, distracting him from his thoughts… he looks over and sees one of the older cats standing next to him– the nice one, with the warm voice. Bright… Brightpetal.

"Hi, large… large friend," Hopekit says, hoping that Brightpetal doesn't take offense. He is, afterall, much larger than Hopekit. And he did call Hopekit small. "I'm okay. I was just thinking about…" what was he thinking about…? He looks back in the direction he'd been looking before, then spots it– trees! "I was thinking about trees," he says. "Why do some of them have brown… legs…? And some of them have white legs?" He wasn't sure what you called the part of the tree that wasn't a leaf, but he hoped Brightpetal would understand.

 

[BRIGHTPETAL]

His eyes blinked wide at Hopekit's nickname - fair, given what he had said before, but Brightpetal had always seen himself as fluffy, not large (though in the mind of a kitten, he supposed he was both, it was easy to forget how giant and scary the world once was). Brightpetal listened with a large smile upon his face, tilting his head as he was finally given an answer for Hopekit's vacancy. "Trees?" Were trees truly so magnificent as to bamboozle one into a state of complete emptiness? "Right... right on!" He gleamed enthusiastically, perhaps there was something to the little one's fascination that he was simply not seeing. He'd been surrounded by trees all his life after all, their leaves and branches were like a second pelt with how familiar he was with them whereas Hope had only known the same Nursery walls until quite recently.

The Deputy fell upon their haunches, taking a moment to decipher what exactly Hopekit meant by tree legs. He pictured a tree within his mind with cat paws, walking about the forest and tripping over anything a mere tail-length off the ground. Perhaps that was why there seemed to be so many trees falling over, they were merely as clumsy as him, unused to their weird feet. The thought caused his whiskers to twitch in amusement before he considered an alternative to Hopekit's description. "Oh... legs as in the roots?" That would make more sense. "Trees can't walk, their legs are called roots, it keeps them in the ground. I think it's what makes them strong, no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to push one over." He sighed playfully, shoulders slumping in a defeat only felt mere seconds ago.

"As for why some are brown and some are white... I dunno. Why do I have orange fur whilst Ghoststrike's is dark?"






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[hopepaw]

Hopekit listens attentively– this is the part he's good at. He is good at listening. And Brightpetal's voice is nice, warm… Hopekit nods as the older tom explains. Tree legs… are roots. Trees don't walk, they're stuck in the ground. Brightpetal seems sad he cannot beat the trees in battle.

"As for why some are brown and some are white... I dunno. Why do I have orange fur whilst Ghoststrike's is dark?"

"Well," Hopekit says, thinking hard. "Well, you're orange because… your voice is orange. It's like… sunshine, warm… but Ghoststrike's voice is dark and blue… cold… so it makes sense…" he pauses. That wasn't entirely true. Heartkit, his sister– her voice was light blue, but she was as bright and warm as anyone, maybe even more than Brightpetal. He frowns at this. "No, maybe that's not it. Sis' voice is light blue, like the sky. But she's not blue…"

 

[BRIGHTPETAL]

"My voice is orange?" As he spoke, Brightpetal paid attention to his own inflections and decided that his voice was more of a yellow. Something light yet energetic, where he considered orange to be that of fire, something far more passionate than he could ever claim to be about the way he sounded. Ghoststrike's voice, however, seemed accurate to Hopekit's analogy. The Deputy nodded along to the other's suggestion until his face contorted in what Brightpetal could almost describe as disappointment. Heartkit wasn't blue and airy like her words may have suggested, for just one moment in that awkward silence, he felt a pang of sympathy for the kitten. Such an amazing feat of thought... Brightpetal himself could be sad that it led nowhere.

He tilted his head. "Maybe..." A paw was placed to his chin, tapping it as if reaching a great deduction. "Maybe it's not the fur that's blue, but the soul." He moved his paw to his chest, bopping it in rhythm to the beating heart. "When we leave for StarClan, maybe we'll all be different colours up there, to show what our voices were like in life." It was something he could almost believe in, even if his eyes had seen the shimmers of pale stars themselves, that, beyond his comprehension, the sky was painted like a rainbow.

Brightpetal's smile broadened as if comforted by the kinder thoughts.

"What soul d'you reckon you have? Yellow? Green? Maybe you're a mix of 'em?"


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