Private YOU WERE MY EVERYTHING [ teaselpaw ]

[cygnetscratch]

Greenleaf... It's nice - better than leafbare no doubt. The rain is a touch frustrating given her apt to climb (wet trees are not often safe to scale,) but she supposes even then the showers render her more capable of climbing than the slick ice of before.

The molly slinks down the trunk of a pine, searching for her mentor's nod of approval before rejoining the ranks of her fellow apprentices. She slips in beside her sibling, offering Teaselpaw a flick of her tail as yet another youngling is sent to scale the pine and examined in form. Not usually one to break rank, the predominantly white she-cat isn't quick to speak to her sibling. When their mentors turn, however, she nudges them with her shoulder.

"I passed my assessment last night," she chirps. Her tone flickers with a rare warmth and excitement. "My paws are aching, but Lionfire believes I'm ready to be one of SkyClan's warriors...!"

 

[Teaselfeather]

TEASELPAW

Over hill, over dale, through the valley and vale do not weep, do not wail, I am coming home to you

Teaselpaw stood in still silence, their gaze fixed on the vast stretch of sky above. A thoughtful, almost distant look shadowed their features. Everything around them had unraveled, crumbled like dry leaves beneath a careless step... And all they could do was watch. Crowsight had vanished from their life, a gaping absence no words could fill. And Flowercloud… Flowercloud had never told them until that dreaded day, the day everything fell apart. That silence had driven Rosepaw and Cygnetpaw away, driven a wedge between siblings and their mother. Lavenderpaw, sweet Lavenderpaw, had slipped through their paws too, like fog in the early morning. Lost in ways that still ached, even now.

And through it all, Teaselpaw had been passed between mentors like a kit left behind in a storm. First one, then another, then back to the first... And somehow... Somehow they had passed their final assessment. The difficulty of it didn't matter anymore. The pain didn't matter. What mattered was that they had made it. Somehow. But the weight of everything still hung thick in the air. The scent of grief clung to their fur, no matter how often they washed it off. The tremble of whiskers, the flicker of something just out of sight, a cat long gone. A ghost. Their eyes flicked toward it, though they knew better than to hope. The dead didn't speak. They didn't answer. They only lingered in the still places, in memory, in longing. And sometimes... Just sometimes, Teaselpaw looked for Lavenderpaw in their faces.

A quiet flick of the ear drew them back to the present. Cygnetpaw. She had joined them after showing off her climbing skills, so confident, so fearless. A rare purr stirred in Teaselpaw's chest, soft and shaky. " Cygnet... " they breathed, her name like a song on their tongue. The way they used to whisper lullabies beside her when the wind howled and the storms made the den feel too big. " Congratulations… That's amazing. " they added, warmth spilling through their voice, lighting up their tired eyes. With a paw, they patted the ground beside them twice, an unspoken invitation. Sit. Stay. Be with me. When she settled, they leaned in, pressing their head gently to hers in a quiet show of affection. The kind of love that had weathered every loss, every change. The kind that didn't need to shout to be heard.

" You'll be a great asset to SkyClan... " they whispered at last, pride making their voice tremble.

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