Closed The Colony we grew up so well 𓇻 bracken

[juniperstar]

juniper

there's a longing for seasons past, where prey was more bountiful and smiles easier to come by. the hardship that has descended upon them is not unlike a hawk's shadow suddenly appearing over you. it is a warning... an omen of impending death... how do you spend those last moments? afraid? regretful?

grieving.

the pull of a smile on her face is half as sincere as it should be, trotting to approach her younger sibling with a nose outstretched to try to nuzzle his cheek in greeting. "I hope your paws have been more reliable than mine," she starts, forcing a small laugh in spite of her failings, in spite of the way her stomach grumbles with its emptiness. he too had bigger things to worry about than himself, neatly tucking himself in her heart right next to Hawthorne. she'd have new family to care for soon... in the form of blood and bond each, unique and close all the same.

"Your fur is a mess," she fusses, noting the tangled leaves that adorn him like camouflage. "How's Hazel? You two getting enough to eat? Have you been making sure Chanterelle has been eating too?" not that much older than the two but still she feared for her littermates like they were vastly younger.

 

[BRACKEN]

Juniper's easy greeting is responded to in kind by her younger sibling, their nose pressed to her cheek in returning hello as she comments on the state of his pelt. It's tangled and unkempt, but there is a good reason for it.

"Been keeping the expecting mothers fed." He explains to his kin with a flick of one tufted ear. A contented rumble, pleased with himself, echoes in his throat as Juniper drags twigs from his pelt. "Chased a shrew into a bushel earlier - that's why the leaves are there, I suppose - and that helped me find a mouse. Scrawny thing, but better than nothing."

You two getting enough to eat? As if spurred to action by the question, Bracken's stomach stomach gargles a noisy negative. Between the mothers-to-be, then his own kits, and then Hazel ... A huff of amusement accompanies the duck of his head, as if the bashful grooming of his chest fur would distract from the burning in his ears and the hollow feeling beneath his ribs.

"What about you?" He searches her muzzle for the inevitable flinch over the question, tipping his chin forward minutely in a questioning look. "I expect Sable is keeping you from going hungry, with all his impressive talk."

​

☼ WATCH ME BURN

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  BRACKEN ☼ penned by wren
  — — he/they, colony cat
  — — a broad, tufted blue-and-red tabby tom with white patches and amber eyes. often serious-looking, but kindly in demeanour.
  — — mate to hazel ; father to magnolia, honeysuckle, hyacinth
  
  

 

[juniperstar]

juniper

she'd also been keeping up with the wide-waisted queens of late... what few scraps could be pulled together were often sent their way despite the protesting noise of her belly and it seemed Bracken had inherited that same work ethic. still, it doesn't keep her from frowning at his stomach as if it had insulted her directly. the memory of a coiled snake watching between kit-sized bites of food is enough to send a ripple of discomfort down her spine; she hated when Serpent was right.

"Well... I'm glad you caught something," she mumbles, whiskers twitching with an unsettled distaste for their circumstances. was there more to be done if prey just didn't seem to exist here? there were unknown expanses along the horizon to explore but exploration often found danger too... when did the risk become smaller than the reward? would Hawthorne push for it eventually?

again her words are turned against her, a soft-hearted question that feels more like a barbed accusation. Sable. was it so obvious that they existed as contrasting shadows? he did not dote on her with treats of food, just the quiet company of his time and the vulnerability of privacy... a thing he afforded to very few. their love was different... that's all. "Pettiness doesn't look very good on you," the spotted molly answers, tone measured as she plucks a twig from his fur, dropping it on the ground with less tenderness than before. "He's just hungry... and frustrated... like everyone else is. All we can do is continue to try our best-"

aquamarine light shifts towards him with a firm warning, "And not nip at one anothers' throats in the meantime." she shakes her head, settling the tension of her shoulders by stretching her legs. "Don't you have more exciting things to worry about than the shape of my belly anyways, little fern?"