The stars are but cold fire, unfeeling and distant
. · ˚ ✧ · ˚ · ✧ ˚ · .

The storm had passed but the earth was still wet. Gemini moved like a ghost through the undergrowth, fur damp from crossing over into RiverClan territory. Through the voices sifting through her head one shadow stood out - the cat she was tracking.

A grey tabby. Could have been doing anything, but when he paused to sniff the air, Gemini struck from between the foliage. She slammed into his flank with all her weight. Stoneclaw snarled, twisting with surprising speed and meeting her with teeth bared. His claws raked across her shoulder. The pain seemed far away in her mind as she countered.

She barreled into him once more, jaws angling for his throat. Mud churned beneath them as their yowls carrying through the trees. The entire strike lasted only a couple miniutes with Gemini escaping, blood dripping from her wounds, while Stoneclaw was barely able to walk with multiple injuries.

rise from the smoldering pyre of wormwood and weeds
↫ ⭒ ☽ ⭒ 〄 ⭒ ☾ ⭒ ↬

Nettleplume's pale cream pelt stood stark against the damp earth as he led the way out of camp. The morning air was brisk, carrying the scent of thawing ice and the faint stirrings of new growth beneath the soil.

He flicked an ear toward Ambersmudge as she followed, his sharp blue gaze scanning the undergrowth for any signs of the daisy stems he sought. "The frost makes things trickier. New sprouts are fragile this time of year, and if we don’t find them before the next freeze, they’ll be useless."

His tail flicked in a motion for her to spread out as they moved through the territory. "Keep an eye out for small, serrated leaves close to the ground. They won’t be in bloom yet, but they’ll stand out if you know what to look for." He cast her a brief glance, assessing. "Shouldn’t be too hard...unless you need a lesson in plant recognition?" His voice carried its usual dry edge, though the challenge in it was lighthearted.

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

Goosesong's paws carried him quite eloquently along the edge of the silverfall gorge, but far enough so he wouldn't really take any fall into it if the event should occur where the edges are slicker than normal due to the slowly melting ice. Goosesong hadn't really felt the safest in gorges since Reedpaw's death, so he always tried his best to keep away from them for the most part, though he wasn't an apprentice now, and he was certainly less frail then his sister had been.

With him, was Cottonbright, a cat he'd known for a long time but only recently had gotten more acquainted with, his friendship with the mostly white she-cat was something he was still getting used to; since the last time he had a friend was his own littermate, Reedpaw. And the whole of RiverClan had known how that ended, well, the cats around his age and older. 

Goosesong took a glance back at Cottonbright, not too far behind him is where she strode, this was a simple patrol of the border to see if anything was up to standard and nothing was out of the ordinary, Goosesong had his fair share of those throughout his life and he was sure that he would see a fair share more of them in future. "Forgive my silence on this patrol, there hadn't been much to talk of recently" Goosesong said to his clanmate and... did he have the honor to all her his friend? She was the closest thing he had to one at least

I am shaped by the trials I refuse to surrender to.

✧✦✧༄༅:･ﾟ🕊️･ﾟ:༅༅༄✧✦✧

Lilyriver had requested that Ebonyflare meet her at the river copse at sunset earlier in the day, and she sat at the edge of the river, gazing down at her reflection for a moment, then her working eye caught sight of the orange light of sunset cast a familiar, warm glow over the river that they called their home. Lilyriver flicked on of her ears in thought, she had specifically asked Ebonyflare to leave at least a pre-gathering meeting's worth of time before meeting her, she didn't wish to give the impression that Ebonyflare and herself meet up on a regular, because normally, they had the clan for that, but this was something that shouldn't really be asked in camp, at least Lilyriver didn't think so.

The RiverClan elder's pure white fur blended into the snow near perfectly and if it hadn't been for her injured eye then she would have been able to blend in perfectly with the snow, but her goal was not to blend in, it was to only be seen by one cat if anything, his pelt practically opposite to her own, which she humored to herself at the best of times.

Lilyriver had mulled over her options for a sire for a few days now, all potential sires brought her back to Ebonyflare, she didn't want any sire to interrupt her raising her kits with his presence, and while both Coldgaze and Ebonyflare didn't desire the active role of a sire, which she preferred more than anything really, she knew Ebonyflare more than she did Coldgaze, so she felt Ebonyflare would have made the better choice in any case. And it wasn't like she was going to share the sire regardless.