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.”

╭── ⋅⋅✦⋅⋅ 🪶 ⋅⋅✦⋅⋅ ──╮

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.”

╭── ⋅⋅✦⋅⋅ 🪶 ⋅⋅✦⋅⋅ ──╮

"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
✧ ⭒ ♦ ⭒ ♖ ⭒ ♦ ⭒ ✧

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"