Open to Join Elder Branches

Honey makes the world go round
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Honeyglow’s gait was uneven, his front leg still stiff from the sprain that he had mostly recovered from. He’d gone no further than the dirtplace, but even that short trek left him moving slow on his return tail swaying in a lazy counterbalance.

He nearly missed her at first - surprisingly so given her stature. Eaglecry, curled ears pricked and posture still betraying the pride of a warrior, even though her paws were folded into the same circle he now walked. Honeyglow’s expression was warm, a smile tugging faintly at his wide muzzle.

"Well." He rumbled, gravelly voice carrying a note of warmth. "If it isn’t my little sister finally caught in the snare with the rest of us old gophers." His green eyes softened as he came closer, a small limp hitching his step.

He eased himself down onto his haunches near her, slow and deliberate, shoulders rolling to settle stiffly into place. "Peace and sun warmed stone are pretty good companions."

Honeyglow gave her a sidelong glance, his voice lowering just enough for her. "It’s not the same as a warrior’s nest, I know. But I'm here to help ease the transition." He didn't add that it might not be for long, as he was pretty far along and close to StarcClan's call. He didn't want to worry her further.

Every scar, every flaw, and every loss still belongs to the light that makes us whole.”

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Eaglecry let out a warm chuckle as Honeyglow nearly walked past her, backtracking slightly to greet her. "You going blind in your old age huh big brother?" she trilled, giving her white paw a brief few licks before playfully swatting at her older sibling with it, narrowly missing, the corners of her maw turning upwards in a grin that still held youth, but also held the wisdom given by age.

"Snare? You say it like it's always been a bad thing to get rest" Eaglecry chirped through a chuckle that sent a burst of warmth in her chest. "I think I'll have good companions in there, heard Redthicket likes to visit" Eaglecry shifted herself to be closer to her red tabby brother and opened her mouth into a wide yawn. "He's a good one I think"

The large ticked she-cat raised a brow "Ease the transition? Honeyglow, I'm not a kit." She replied, though it lacked any real bite to the words, filled with the mirth of a much younger cat "I may be younger than you but my kit days are far behind me now" She purred, she knew Honeyglow had something he wasn't really telling her, but it would take more than that to ruffle her fur. "Anyway. How’s that sprain or yours coming along?"

Honey makes the world go round
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Honeyglow let out a rumbling laugh, low and deep, when her paw swiped just shy of his whiskers. "Wouldn’t surprise me. The world gets blurrier with every sunrise. Maybe StarClan’s way of easing me into that final sleep." He blinked slowly, amused. "Or maybe you’ve just gotten sneakier in your moons. A dangerous thought, that."

Her words about the snare brought another smile tugging faintly at his broad muzzle. "Rest isn’t a bad thing, no. ..I suppose snare wasn't the best way to describe it, unless the snare is just an inevitable part of life." His chin tucked briefly to swipe at his chest, thoughts moving towards the young warrior as he was mentioned. "Redthicket’s a good cat...but I may be biased."

He followed her shifting closer, green eyes softening at her playful rebuke. "But you’ll forgive me if I still see you as a kit sometimes. You’re my little sister. That doesn’t change no matter how many moons line your back."

With a sigh Honeyglow finally glanced down at his paw, extending it out in front of him. The limb stiffened awkwardly, toes flexing against the cool earth. He gave it a testing roll, a dull ache was all that remained even with full functionality.

<b."still nags="" me."<="" b=""> He admitted, voice more matter of fact than troubled. "Won’t ever be the same again, I think." He leaned back with a sigh, shoulders loosening as he let the honesty settle between them. "But...If it slows me down now, that’s just my paws reminding me it’s time to enjoy the view." </b."still>

His gaze flicked to hers again, warm but firm. "Don’t worry over me much, Eaglecry. I've made my peace here already. I'm old and I'll likely be called to StarClan soon."

Every scar, every flaw, and every loss still belongs to the light that makes us whole.”

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"You've made your peace with it I see" Eaglecry replied, her playful tone screeched to a bit of a halt, turning a little dry... distant even. "You are getting up there in age aren't you" she added with a mutter, like her voice was drowned out, buried beneath a tree-length of water. Her aqua eyes moved to the ground and her lids settled into looking a little heavier, like something was now weighing them down. "At least one of us would be ready for it."

Her fur bristled but her hackles laid down, the tips of her pelt rigid, as if she was grieving him before he had even made his journey to StarClan. "It's a little heavier thinking about how you're my last bit of kin in the clan, I'm far to old to have kits now, too many risks for me and the youngins." she let out a dry laugh, one that didn't really have much behind it, as if all the meaning behind the laugh had been dried up by the sun.

"Ah, but that's a Eaglecry issue, not a Honeyglow one" she added, giving her paw a few licked and drawing it over her curled ears her eyes finally flicking back to her older brother's, no matter how old he got, she'd always recognise those eyes anywhere. "I'm glad you're sprain is feeling as good as it can right now" She tried her best to sound a little less... down, like it didn't, but now that Honeyglow had mentioned it, there was no moving past it, at least not yet.

Honey makes the world go round
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Honeyglow’s ears flicked at her tone, his smile softening into something quieter. He shifted against the earth, letting his forepaws stretch long before tucking them neatly beneath his chest. "Hmm." He murmured. "I’ve made my peace. But that doesn’t mean you have to start mourning me before I’ve even had my share of tomorrow’s sun."

He watched her carefully, the bristling of her fur, the weight dragging at her eyes. It pulled at something in him deeper than his aches. "Eaglecry… you’re not losing me yet. I’ve still got breath in me."

Her mention of kin struck sharper, though, and Honeyglow drew in a long breath, letting it out slow. "I may have kits...I may not. That's not for me to announce." He admitted, green eyes finding hers, steady and unwavering as he thought about Clovershine. "But that just means If StarClan calls me sooner than you’d like… you’ll still have cats here who’d fight tooth and claw for you."

For a moment he was quiet, gaze drifting toward the dusky sky above camp, as though trying to read the stars through the fading light. "And for the record this old paw is still good enough to swat you if you go on talking like I’m already gone"

Every scar, every flaw, and every loss still belongs to the light that makes us whole.

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Eaglecry's ears dipped low, and she pressed closer to him, her flank brushing his with a faint tremor. His words eased her worry like balm, but they could not quite scatter it. "I know you've got sunrises in you," she murmured, her voice thick with affection, "but forgive me if I can't help fretting over the one cat who means the world to me." She tilted her head, the pale light catching in her eyes as they searched his. "You're my brother, Honeyglow. My only remaining kin. You've always been the one steady thing in my life, and I can't bear the thought of a camp without you in it."

She paused, her tail tip brushing his flank as though anchoring herself there. "If you do have kits... oh, StarClan they're so lucky." She breathed a soft purr lifting at the thought. "You'd make such a wonderful sire, your kindness, your strength... they'd be wrapped up in it. And if they're anything like you, I'd fight tooth and claw to keep them smiling." A wistful little laugh left her then, though it wavered at the edges.

Her gaze lifted skyward, following his to where the dusky sky bled into stars. "I suppose you're right. I shouldn't speak as though StarClan's already called you." She admitted, her tone half-scolding herself, half-gentle. A smile curved across her maw, faint but true. "Besides, I'd like to see you try and swat me, old badger. I'm quicker than I look, you know." Her purr deepened as she leaned her head against his shoulder, her voiced dropped soft as a promise. "But until that day comes, I'll be here, reminding you just how loved you are."

Honey makes the world go round
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Honeyglow let the warmth of her flank against his seep into his bones, a comfort that eased the dull ache in his paw and the sharper pang in his chest. A soft chuckle rumbled low, his whiskers brushing her crown when he dipped his head. "You've always been quick, Eaglecry. Suppose some things never change."

Her words lingered, though, weaving into him with more weight than he wanted to admit. His tail curled faintly against her side, steadying as much as returning the anchor she offered. "If StarClan wills it… then I’ll do my best to make them proud. And I’d be grateful knowing they’d have an aunt like you." His purr rose.

For a moment he let silence stretch, broken only by the soft rise and fall of their shared breaths. Then he nudged her lightly with his muzzle, amusement returning to his eyes. "You should see Emberdust's brood...Specklenose and her are a bit young, but...they're doing alright."

Every scar, every flaw, and every loss still belongs to the light that makes us whole.

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Eaglecry followed the sensations of Honeyglow's whiskers against the top of her head with a notable purr a deep rumbling that resonated deep in her throat, like the purring of stormclouds before the thunder. "You don't have to try" She replied, her voice softening to something that rested just above a whisper "I'd wager you've already made a difference in their lives. If you've got kits at all" she stated.

She thought of Redthicket and Dazzlepaw, they looked like Honeyglow... somewhat, at least Dazzlepaw did. There was no real way to tell if they were his, but... she liked to think they were, a piece of him that could be left here. And even if they weren't his blood, she felt he may have made more of an impact on Redthicket than he realised.

"Emberdust's?" Eaglecry cast a glance toward the nursery, twitching one of her curled ears "Ay, I've seen them around, haven't visited, but I've seen them. Wolfkit mostly" she replied, thinking of how Wolfkit seemed to act rather strangly compared to his sisters, he certainly stood out in many ways. "Haven't heard a word from the little kit though, nothing beyond a faint murmur" she added.

"Wonder if he just doesn't understand as much as his sister, or... maybe he thinks we're too boring to talk to" she made a light jab, lightly pushing herself onto Honeyglow's side with a playful shove.

Honey makes the world go round
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Honeyglow leaned into her shove, his chest vibrating with another laugh that was gentler this time. "That must be it. Too boring. Poor kit must look at us and think we'll talk his ears off." His eyes gleamed with humor as he gave her ear a soft flick with his tail tip.

He blinked to himself, a slow thoughtful blink ."Reminds me of myself, in some ways...I think." Whether or not he remembered fully was another thing. He let out a low breath, shifting his paw once against the earth before stilling it again. "Who knows. Might surprise us all."

Every scar, every flaw, and every loss still belongs to the light that makes us whole.

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"Maybe" Eaglecry replied, flicking her air as it met the slowly thinning red fur of tip of Honeyglow's striped tail. She let the rumbling settle between the. His laugh and her purr, the two blending together in a relaxing mix of comfort and contentment. "Who knows he might be the leader that never talks!" she joked, flicking her short tail back and forth.

While her voice lacked the uncomfortable weight it bore before, she glanced toward the nursery, a twitch in her whiskers betrayed more thought than she was trying to let on. "He's just so... different from his sisters, his mother, his father, wonder where he gets it from" she pondered, words not laced with anything harmful, just a curiosity that travelled a little beyond fascination.

"But, different's never been bad. Just make them more recognizable, he's got a character that's for sure" she added fondly, giving her paws a brief few licks before her bright teal eyes landed on her older brother, a little distant but still present. "Even if the poor kit is a tripping hazard, I think I scared the stars out of him the first time I did it."

Honey makes the world go round
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Honeyglow’s whiskers twitched at her joke, a soft huff of amusement slipping free. "StarClan help us all he’d have every cat guessing what he meant just by the twitch of a whisker." His eyes warmed, crinkling at the edges as his purr joined hers in that steady rhythm of kinship.

His gaze drifted briefly toward the nursery as well. "Different can be a gift. He may not fit the mold of his kin, but maybe that’s the point."

A chuckle rumbled in his chest when she spoke of nearly frightening the kit out of his fur. "Ha! No doubt you did. You’ve always had a way of shaking others without meaning to. Poor kit probably thought you were going to flatten him."

He nodded once, perhaps just to himself, but nevertheless continued his train of thought. "Give him time and I'm sure he'll open up." Surely the open, warm personalities of the rest of his kin would soften the edges.

Every scar, every flaw, and every loss still belongs to the light that makes us whole.

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Eaglecry laughed at Honeyglow's huffing continuation of her joke, something calm and familiar, how she remembered him as her kin. "Apprentices would have to guess who their mentors are and Warriors would be able to come up with the own names!" She exclaimed boldy, shifting her weight and raising a paw theatrically "I can just imagine it now! 'Wolfstar! Is my mentor Echobright ot Brackenwing! I can't tell!' " she laughed, rolling onto her back and stretching out her legs.

"Heh, can't blame him, he looks like a clump of ash-coated thistles, must have thought he was just an unkempt feather and nearly trod on the poor thing" She let out a fond breath of amusement leave her nose as she flipped to her side, not as gracefully as hoped, but efficient regardless. 

She was then given a small thought, flicking one of her curled ears "Hmm, who would you think Palestar'll hand him off to when he has his ceremony do you think? A patient soul I'd bet" she added, folding her front paws under her thick, mane-like chest fur while keeping her muscular hind legs sprawled out comfortably. "I bet it could be Dawnflurry or Heronsong. Heronsong did a fine job with Duskmantle" she added

Honey makes the world go round
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Honeyglow’s rumble joined her laughter, his chest shaking with quiet mirth at her bold imitation. "Cats would be tripping over themselves left and right."

He shook his head fondly at her image of the kit, green eyes crinkling. "I think there’s more to him than that quiet. He’ll grow into himself."

At her question, Honeyglow tipped his head back, considering. "Heronsong... I was a bit unsure at first, not in any disservice to her. She did well with Duskmantle. Although maybe Wolfkit might be better suited to Specklenose or Echobright to help bring him out of his shell." His gaze shifted toward her, a small smile lingering in his voice. "Dawnflurry would be fine too, I think."

Every scar, every flaw, and every loss still belongs to the light that makes us whole.

╭── ⋅⋅✦⋅⋅ 🪶 ⋅⋅✦⋅⋅ ──╮

"Maybe he’ll visit us one of these days. We could use some company in the elders’ den once in a while, especially from a polite kit like Wolfkit" her reply came out soft and lifting, with calm indignation like she was hop in that her words would be able to summon the scruffy tom-kit to them in the blink of an eye. However that wasn how it worked really, but just for a second, she swore she saw orange eyes peaking out from the nursery entrance.

Eaglecry then stood, stretching out her front paws and arching her back in an indulgent stretch, letting out a soft groan as her muscled stretched to accommodate the pose before standing tall once more "I reckon I’ll make the most of my free time and get some rest while the sun’s going down, don’t be afraid to join me you old gopher"

Her voice was teasing but light as she slipped calmly into the elders’ den, moving to find a nest that she had claimed for herself. It was softer and much more cushioned than the warriors’ den and it nearly put her to sleep right away, however she gave Honeyglow one final glance, a purr escaping her as her aqua eyes shut for the night