Private Thread What Does Blood Mean to You?

Pebbleshine looked at her kit a little guiltily. Had she just ruined the moment, spouting her own troubles onto them? Brackenwing's reply told her that they had hardly thought about her questions before, and her muscles relaxed as a sigh escaped her. Even Pebbleshine wasn't exactly sure what had happened to Brackenwing's parents. She just remembered not long after kitting her own litter, she was asked if she could take another in. She didn't even need to see the tiny scrap of fur to say yes. She would take in any kit without a doubt, no matter where they were from. Brackenwing was already a ShadowClan kit though, so really she was just doing a favour for her clanmates that had passed. When she saw the tiny brown kit, she knew exactly what she would name them. Brackenkit, after the plants that were strewn across their territory. A tough plant that perfectly reflected the tough little kit that she now called hers. 

Closing her eye for a moment, Pebbleshine took in Brackenwing's words. It was relieving to hear such things, that she really was their mother in Brackenwing's eyes. 'That's all I needed to hear..' she said quietly before continuing forward, her silvery paws tentatively placed on the cold ground. The pair walked together for a few moments of silence before Pebbleshine decided to speak up again, really just wanting to break the silence. 'I don't go out much anymore. I always feel like something will creep up on my blind side, but this is really nice being out here with you.'

'I come from a family of long, thick pelts so leafbare doesn't bother me too much. Your sibling on the other paw hates it. He has the same coat as me, yet never stops complaining about how cold it is. Sometimes I think they don't actually feel it, but he just wants an excuse to complain' she said with a snort. Specklenose could be overly dramatic, although most of the time her kit was doing so to put a smile on another's face.  

While Pebbleshine couldn't see as well as before, her ears worked fine, and the gentle rustle from a tree caught her attention. It wasn't enough for her to take a look, but her ear twitched in recognition. 'Ah, those three rascals. I haven't seen a name change in a while but I think Duskpaw suits the kid. He seems very... different? Not in a bad way, he just seems more intense compared to his brothers. Y'know, you are kind of similar to Duskpaw in both loosing your mothers, perhaps you should talk to him sometime. Anyway, I have hopes for all three, as long as they keep out of trouble.' Pebbleshine could still remember the day her kits became apprentices. It was bittersweet, but she couldn't have been more proud. Unfortunately, her kits were troublemakers and one of them ended up with a permanent injury due to messing around in another clan's territory. Brackenwing was always a good kid though, it was the other two that caused problems.

'A mouse in a tree? You don't see that too often, are you sure?' She asked, giving her kit a curious look before turning her singular blue eye to where Brackenwing was looking. She could pick up a few gentle rustles of leaves coming from the area, and with her eye narrowed she could just visibly see the rustles. Focusing too hard on one area was a little disorienting, so she blinked her eye shut, taking a step back as she regained her balance, not wanting to get a dizzy spell from straining her eye. There was definitely something in the tree, though whether it was a mouse, Brackenwing would have to find it first. It was too far away to actively identify by scent, and while she wanted to scale the tree and have a go at hunting, such a task was too risky for a handicapped feline like Pebbleshine. 

'Too dangerous for me to go up there. You be careful if you go up there. Come back in one piece, alright?' There was no point in telling her kit not to do something, as no matter how much she didn't want them scaling the tree in pursuit of a 'mouse', they were a fully grown cat and were capable of making their own decisions.  

Trusting that Brackenwing would be fine, she watched as her kit scaled the tree, clinging onto the bark with powerful muscle. She edges closer to the tree, her paws treading across the ground as though it were moss, silent as ever. From this spot the scent of the mouse was now clear, and Pebbleshine was glad to know that the pair wasn't imagining things. Watching her kit's careful movements, the silvery tabby waited with anticipation, ready for Brackenwing to precisely strike at the mouse. Instead, an ear splitting screech pierced through Pebbleshine's ears, causing her fur to puff out instantly. Memories of the attack all those moons ago flooded Pebbleshine's mind, and she found herself shrinking into her body, backing away from the scene as her vision clouded with red, and phantom pain seared through her missing eye. 

The elder's head was spinning, heart thumping faster than it had in a long time. It was like she was stuck in place, going through the motions of the hawk attack over and over again. The thing that snapped her out of it was the pained yowl from Brackenwing, sending Pebbleshine back to her paws instantly. Her ears were pinned back with aggressive fury as she prepared to scale the tree and aid Brackenwing, though before she could make a move, Brackenwing had leapt towards the ground, the bird stuck beneath his claws. The pair landed with a sickening crunch, and the ShadowClan warrior finished off the bird with a swipe towards the neck. 

Still partly in shock, Pebbleshine stood there for a moment, staring wide eyed at nothing. Her brain was on overdrive until the fear kicked back in and she approached Brackenwing with concerned anger. 'I told you to be careful!' She screeched, ripping the owl away from her kit so she could inspect that it was properly dead. Such behaviour was unusal from Pebbleshine, but it seemed as though the attack from the owl had triggered a unusual response in the silvery she-cat. 'What if you died? You could have lost you eye! You can't turn out like me, you are supposed to have a good life, not one like mine. Look at yourself, those injuries on your back!' She spat, each breath coming out as a struggle. Her blue eyes were trained on Brackenwing, but rather than being filled with anger, they were filled with nothing but fear and pain. She stood in silence for a moment, glaring at her kit before she took a shaky step back, her gaze no refusing to look at Brackenwing's. The words she had just yelled to her beloved kin sunk in, and a strangled sob escaped her mouth as she look to the floor. 'Brackenwing... I- I'm sorry. I shouldn't yell at you like that. I just- I got scared. I don't want to loose you, nor do I want you to be bound to a fate like mine.'

She knew she overreacted, but it was something she just couldn't control. Fear still seeped through her veins, at the thought of her kit getting hurt. But she knew they were capable, more than capable. Capability would never diminish a mother's concern though. She briskly began to clean some of his newly gained wounds, her tongue raking over them with fierce licks. 'Let's just get you home and cleaned up, alright?' she said, while placing her long, plumed tail over their shoulder before guiding them back to camp.