Private Leader's Den STANDING IN THE CROWD = [ juniperstar ]

[THUNDERFLASH]

His wound had barely been addressed before he was called into Juniperstar's den. And while he had every intention of cooling off somewhere out of camp, he didn't really have a choice. Wanting her mate's blood on his claws looked bad, but maybe, Thunderflash didn't understand. He didn't know how she could love someone like that- someone who murdered her best friend, someone who lead forces against her to claim their territory. A grimace was set on his face before he even tapped on the entrance of the den. Too much to think about, and too little time.

"'s me." He called interior, waiting for permission to be let within. His ears are turned backwards, flattened against his skull, like a kicked puppy almost. Almost, if not for the way his teeth were pressing into his tongue, if not for the way his bright gaze was adverted from making eye contact.

___________________ YOU'VE GOT MY BODY ☆ FLESH AND BONE, YEAH ___________________

• "speech"
  // @juniperstar
  

• 

• THUNDERFLASH he/him, thunderclanner, twenty one moons.
  ☆ a sh/lh chocolate tabby with low white and stunning baby blue eyes. stands of average height with a 'mohawk' and spiky-shaped mane.
  ☆ mentored by who / mentoring no one
  ☆ whichever relations / want listed
  ☆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[juniperstar]

juniper

finding blame in the softened planes of a youthful and naive deputy was impossible... as if any sharp glower glanced off the smoothness of hopeful, young features. he who is not so different from the idealist that Juniperstar wished herself the space to be... she wouldn't suffocate it. wouldn't allow it to be snuffed out by those with reckless hearts and even more reckless claws. still... still... still he was just as foolish, just as kitten-soft in his jowls as Brightpetal... still just as eager to ease a hurt he couldn't fix. they are frustratingly similar, two sides of a coin that fight in constant juxtaposition of one another.

but his actions had cost her what little leverage she'd had... it was not the simpering coaxing murmur that Sablestar was willing to hear; teaching him to match blood for blood, sending inflammation in his paws that had once run sticky with Hawthorne's blood- Thornstar's blood. her teeth grit painfully against each other, scouring the den to make sure there are not impressionable ears still lingering about to hear their mother's terse-worded meeting... "'S me." a pale-toned jaw sets stubbornly, "Come in."

at the very least, she had the decency not to berate him in front of those that admired him.

his discomfort (or shame?) is clear enough in the way his eyes do not search for hers immediately, trained on the ground first long before they ever find a sliver of ruddy bodice. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" it's unfair to ask, to know she had arranged this deal in a private confessional amongst a graveyard. no one really knew what chords she'd plucked so tenderly to keep them safe... to keep her from being pursued and hunted through the greenery like she were no more than a rabbit her lover hungered for. "Was it worth it? To be the first to try to draw blood and gain nothing for it?" ShadowClan could hiss and spit all they wanted, she trusted that Sablestar wouldn't allow them to defy their agreement. the promise he'd made to her. the promise he'd made to his unborn children.

he understood just as well as she did how fine the line they walked was... that way their relationship frayed at the edges, under the strain of his delusions. "They have no reason to trust us to be peaceful. Sablestar has no reason to offer another chance- I had this under control." this one, miniscule thing within her grasp, that she understood well enough to navigate and contort and bend to. this single... torturous... familiar thing. in the face of everything new and strange at least she could've promised herself that one glimmering prospect for success.

destroyed now. left in tatters.

"You stood no chance of winning- what was going through your head to think that helpful to anyone?"

──✩°｡⋆⸜ ✮

• juniperstar leader of thunderclan nine lives remain

  ignore me

 

[THUNDERFLASH]

He steps in, and even as his gaze is adverted, he can feel hers drilling holes into his pelt. It was too warm in here, too distracted to bother to inspect where Juniperstar had made her den. When she asks, he finally lifts his eyes to match hers. Eyes narrowed at the question, and he knew his place. Starclan, or whatever the fuck they were, had chosen her after Thornstar. Thornstar had chosen her. He could respect that the least. His tail swished, keeping himself silent while he ruminated the question, but the further she talked, the more his ears twitched and a grimace spread over his face. Thunderflash did not bide his tongue much longer.

"M' sorry, didn't realize we were lettin' traitorous bastards walk 'round scot free." He responds, and while his words are sharp, accusing, his tone is quiet. Cold, even. And then it's- I had this under control. "Oh, did ye now?" He presses, ears shoving forward and face twisting into a barely-restrained snarl. "So, no' only do you think layin' around without puttin' up defensible borders is 'handlin' i',' as y' say, but now it's m' fault? My fault tha' it's all ruined?" His accent grows thicker as his anger flares again, cobwebs turning dark red the longer he stands there. Thunderflash takes a page out of Ghoststrike's book, points out the obvious layered with the accusation that she and Brightpetal put on him first. Any workings under the table or behind the wall, he had no idea about, clearly.

What was going through your head?

"Seriously." He utters, eyes turning away, and for a half second, he considers stepping out into camp for air. Its hard to breathe in here, hot and suffocating. His jaw works, throat bobs with a swallow, before he's answering her, ignoring how badly he wants to shout and scream and run, just to get this energy out. "Hawthorne. Thornstar. He was murdered in th' dead o' night, tryna get these lives from Starclan." His tail flicked. "I made an oath, th' day ye came home withou' him." A sharp breath. "I was gonna kill him. He started th' uprising tha' killed half us. He killed Thornstar. He left Serpentberry mateless, her kits fatherless."

Does he pause to consider what he just said, to Sablestar's mate, of all cats? Maybe he had, in the hours following the birth of Serpent's kits, in the moon following the lack of a Sable sighting. "Y' wan' me t' simply roll over? Let tha' bastard walk all over th' clan I care about?" He says, snapping his jaw closed. "I can' do tha'. Wha' happened before- it'll only happen again." History repeats itself. The scar on his chin burns as he curls his lip, flattens his ears against his skull, a dull reminder he doesn't care for.

___________________ YOU'VE GOT MY BODY ☆ FLESH AND BONE, YEAH ___________________

• "speech"
  

• 

• THUNDERFLASH he/him, thunderclan storm guard, twenty one moons.
  ☆ a sh/lh chocolate tabby with low white and stunning baby blue eyes. stands of average height with a 'mohawk' and spiky-shaped mane.
  ☆ mentored by who / mentoring no one
  ☆ whichever relations / want listed
  ☆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[juniperstar]

juniper

"You aren't the one who gets to decide anything," she growls in warning, already off to a poor start by his eagerness to stay agitated, his lack of thought to approach a flickering ember with a pot of oil. "If we want to kill every murderer to exist you should be dead too." she wasn't blind. or stupid. half the clan had blood on their paws in the name of founding something better. just because Sablestar had chosen a particularly vibrant bloom to pluck didn't abstain those who'd pulled up weeds instead.

without putting up borders? her lips peel back, teeth grit into an ugly mask of frustration. she had sent out groups to find some sort of border. some sort of landmarks to define the boundaries of their territory. what else was she meant to do on top of that? babysit the entirety of the clan while raising children too? while trying to organize and reorganize the structure of the clan so that it stopped acting like it had never had any foundation at all? they'd been a colony for moons, hunting and defending without issue, but now suddenly every little mistake belonged to her rather than the cat lunging with his claws out anytime it suited him? "You act a vigilante and when it doesn't actually work out, it's my blame? Isn't that convenient! Suddenly you have the brain of a kit when it's best suited to put the blame on 'mother.'"

must the whole of them be coddled like kittens? was raising three actual ones not enough of a demand for attention? she'd made Brightpetal an authority for a reason... why was his judgement not respectfully deferred to? "Brightpetal is your deputy. I am your leader, you do not make decisions about our borders. About Sablestar. About ShadowClan. You acted out of line- it was never your call to make and you would still sit here and cry wolf that it is because you weren't told not to? Are you completely pinecone headed?" incredulity doesn't begin to cover the outrage that festers like a disease around the corners of her lips, impatient and eager to cut someone else instead of being cut for once.

he declares himself a hero, of a mission self-imposed and one that operates against her best interests. against ThunderClan's. to be rid of Sablestar might give room for Thornstar to rest easier in his watch from StarClan but it did not guarantee renewed safety. he had not picked a deputy that she knew of and even if he did, there is not a soul amongst his clan she'd trust to be honest, fair and amicable about their mutual survival as rivaling clans. he touts himself a champion of the dead like he knew Thornstar on anything more than a surface level. like Juniperstar would not be the best advocate alive for justice on his behalf. "You will not stand here and weaponize the death of my friend for your personal vendetta. This is about more than Serpentberry and even she understands that- you are arrogant to assume you know better than me." the bridge of her nose grows ridged, tension contorting a calmer face into something furious, starved of agency. she would only allow herself to be tread upon by so many paws... Thunderflash had not earned himself the right to be one of those sets.

"I don't ask anyone to roll over but I do ask you not to make stupid, boar-headed choices that affect more than just you. You put this whole clan at risk with your lack of foresight. With your lack of information and understanding- you do not make decisions knowing a claw worth of what you stand to lose or gain. Sablestar will not press me further on this... and neither will you make any attempt to slaughter him unprovoked.... Do I make myself clear enough? Or is Serpentberry the only grieving mother that deserves respect- am I to be a tyrant to you too?"

──✩°｡⋆⸜ ✮

• juniperstar leader of thunderclan nine lives remain

  ignore me

 

[THUNDERFLASH]

His ears flattened against his skull. "M' no' the one who lead a damn ambush to us in the dark of night!" He exclaims. Don't compare me to him. Don't you dare. His body is all rigid lines and agitation as Juniperstar continues, his teeth grit together behind pressed lips, eyes narrowed at her. The longer he stands here, the longer his shoulder stings, but he isn't leaving this be. No, not yet. The only cat he had killed was at the defense of another- and his own. A crazed, starved thing. Ears twitch sharply at her next accusation, which he doesn't tolerate for long.

"Never said it was yers alone." He uttered, head shaking and eyes tilting away. She continues yet, baying like a cornered dog, and it was grating on his nerves. Muzzle wrinkled as he slowly tilts his head back, eyes narrowed and pupils thin slits of anger, but he doesn't speak. Get it out, and get it over with. Get it out! He demands silently, eyebrows knotted together and tongue waiting for it's own moment to lash out. But he doesn't, not yet. Go on then. Her words continue, deep cuts in his persona. Not like another person in the clan hating him would really change anything- the way his clanmate's eyes dwelled on his flank and flesh, blaming him, scared of what he had done.

I did nothing but what any other angry cat would do. His chin lifts with a finality. "So, what, we're simply to be the bigger cats? To let hungered murderers to stalk into our territory- fine, our borders, and roll over? Make nice? With the very cats who killed friends or family or whoever the fuck else?"

Sablestar will not press me further on this-

He draws back like he is stung, eyes widening and ears pushing forward. "You're meetin' with tha' bastard? Behind our backs?" He speaks, words more hurt then angry now. "If y' had some kind of agreement, it would've been nice ta' know!" He shouts, now beyond the point of keeping his voice constrained. Surely, someone outdoors would have heard. "Fine. Whatever. You're crystal clear, Juniperstar." He growls, ears flattening against his head once more. "I have patrols, on our borders, to attend to." He turns, moving towards the entrance to shove free of the den.

___________________ YOU'VE GOT MY BODY ☆ FLESH AND BONE, YEAH ___________________

• "speech"
  // out unless stopped
  

• 

• THUNDERFLASH he/him, thunderclan storm guard, twenty one moons.
  ☆ a sh/lh chocolate tabby with low white and stunning baby blue eyes. stands of average height with a 'mohawk' and spiky-shaped mane.
  ☆ mentored by who / mentoring no one
  ☆ whichever relations / want listed
  ☆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.