Private Thread Between Two Skies

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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The night air clung cool against Duskmantle's mid-furred coat as he moved through the shadow. Where he ventured was somewhere between borders and memory...of a promise that a few certain cats would appear.

His ears angled in all directions in the stillness and paused beneath sparse cover. Hoping. The thought of Flutterdream flickered unbidden, an unwelcome flash. He pushed it down with a frown and continued forward to their meeting spot. Two days after the full moon.

Then in the moonlight he spotted a familiar pelt...a scent not caught in many moons. He stepped forward into clearer view, cornflower eyes catching what little light the night offered. "Coyote..." He spoke low but just loud enough for the sound to catch. She wouldn't be an apprentice, not anymore.

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

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The thoughts eating away at her seemed to come to a sudden halt as a familiar voice, a familiar scent, a familiar cat caught her attention. She looked up to spot a sleek, large body slipping through the path from ShadowClan. The pale she-cat paused for a moment, paws quivering as if she was preparing herself to launch herself at him like she had when they met as apprentices. But she didn't she chose not to, it would be more... professional.

"Coyotebloom." She answered, her brother seemed, much more well off than she felt in her own clan. But she didn't want to assume things of him. Perhaps they felt the same about their place, but perhaps he didn't. She could never be sure unless he said so himself. But he was healthy, he was alive, that was more important to her. "I assume you're Dusk...something now? Or has Palestar swapped your name out again?" The last remark was lighter, trying to make a soft joke at the changing of names, since she had first known him as Murk, part of her would still remember that kit, but he was now something new, he now had something that was completely his own.

The lilac she-cat closed the distance between them pressing her nose against the fur on Duskmantle's shoulder before allowing herself to lean into him. Oh stars... she hoped he didn't forget about her much, they had spent... so much time apart. Coyotebloom would have cursed that stupid rogue herself for splitting her from her littermates if she weren't already dead. But Coyotebloom was just glad that they were safe to see one another again. Though... she wondered if the other usual company was coming. "Do you know how Fallpaw- whatever his name might be now, is doing? Or Mistypaw?" she asked, hoping she wasn't overstepping.

She hadn't seen her kin in so long, she wanted to catch up on everything. Especially since they were all warriors now.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Duskmantle's ears flicked at her correction, the faintest huff of breath leaving him at the formality of it. "Coyotebloom." He repeated more to himself than for her. Clans always had some reason for name changes, no doubt hers was becoming of her. "It's Duskmantle...They call me Duskmantle now as a warrior." He clarified but was unable to say more before she closed the distance.

Fur against fur caught him off guard. He didn't let any cat in ShadowClan touch him like this...and the fact he had to remind him that it was okay, that this was his sister, made him accept the affection. "It has been a while, huh?"

He half expected more shapes to focus in the dark at her mention of their siblings, but his warm, nearly purplish eyes turned once more on her instead of the reeds. "They're both warriors now...Fallpaw's Fallheart now and I'm not so sure about Mistypaw. I'm sure she's doing fine in RiverClan."

The shadowy tom inhaled his sister's scent to engrain it to memory. "ThunderClan treating you well?"

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

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As her brother shared the names, Coyotebloom paused in her affections. "Duskmantle... Fallheart..." She repeated them as if tasting them on her tongue, they were no longer Murk and Waterfall, they were long gone, but now they had become warriors of ShadowClan and WindClan, like how she was a warrior of ShadowClan... as much as she didn't really feel like one. "Befitting I'm sure." she chirped softly before pulling back at his question of how she was doing in ThunderClan.

"I can easily list the cats that actually like me without judgment on one paw." Coyotebloom replied, she had only just recalled a passing interaction with Brindlespice that morning. "I don't belong there... those Fierceblooded cats have made that very clear. But... what other choice do I have? If I leave that will prove them right, but if I stay they won't stop." she explained, voice cracking under a solemn whisper. "Duskmantle, I'm stuck."

For a moment she paused, was she oversharing? She probably was, but this was her brother, not just any random ShadowClan warrior. She felt she could share as much as she needed to. And... he did ask. "Cats like Bravesong, Orchidflame, Leopardrose and Greypebbles are great, they treat me as a warrior, but I'm worried I'll be shunned forever."

Now she was oversharing... she shook her head and took a few pawsteps back. "I'm sorry, you don't need to hear all my issues. How are you in ShadowClan?" She asked, desperate to change the conversation now.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Duskmantle went still as she spoke. "That's nonsense...Fiercebloods. It's just another way to draw lines." He felt upset for her but only his tail lashed out once against the reeds. "You're choosing to stay, you're not stuck. There's a difference.

At her quick apology his ears flicked forward again, some of the tension easing. It wasn't gone...and his heart ached for her yet. "Pft...If you can't say it to kin, then who?" He busied himself with a quick couple licks of his shoulder as if to distract himself to her retoricle inquiry about ShadowClan.

"ShadowClan…" He paused, searching, then settled on honesty. "No one's pretending I don't belong...Or at least, none to my face." His snout scrunched up in a moment of darkness before his gaze softened as they swept back over Coyotebloom.

"Have you considered trying to get Moosestar to notice you more? Cozy up to your leader so that others may be less inclined to bully you... but you shouldn't have to fight just to exist where you stand."

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

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Coyotebloom sighed, she knew that Duskmantle was probably right, Fiercebloods, all it was was kits and expectations. Sunstrike has the blood of what they describe to be a fierceblood, but she's... kind enough... if they'd had any time to talk that is. They usually weren't in the same vicinity to converse with one another. And her kits were fine too, Robinpaw and Finchpaw were kind souls... at least she hoped. Come to think of it, she didn't have much of a relationship with most of her clan, except Leopardrose... Bravesong... probably others but none that she could think of immediately.

"I'm staying because if I leave, I know cats would talk of how right they were about me being a 'untrustworthy rogue' or... something like that. But I stay for loyalty too, they raised me for a good chunk of my life, despite how much some seem like they don't want me there." Coyotebloom's voice grew distant, but she shook her head at Duskmantle's suggestion. "He hates rogues as much as any other cat, I couldn't think of a time I actually spoke to him outside of ceremonies." the lilac ticked she-cat murmured just above a whisper. But she shook it off, like it meant little to nothing right now. Did it matter? Or was she just overthinking it all? Sure her clan saw her differently but did they truly hate her? Or was she imagining things? Whatever it was, she'd hate to blow it out of proportion.

There was a moment of silence where Coyotebloom began to think about Duskmantle's suggestion a little more, now that she thought about it a bit more, Coyotebloom hadn't really spoken much to any cat outside of who she considered family. Now Bravesong was as much family as her brothers and sister, and Leopardrose showed her that she didn't need to be truly clanborn to mean something. Not everything in ThunderClan was terrible. "I... should probably start talking to others before I start sucking up to anyone though." She spoke with a soft laugh, the prior desperation almost forgotten.

After a moment, a light but silent moment, her voice broke the silence again. "I still think about you all sometimes, about what it would be like to step in your pawprints. But... I don't really think myself anywhere but ThunderClan now. After all, I don't think I'd stomach one of those slimy frogs!" She chirped, more lighthearted as she nudged Duskmantle lightly with her shoulder. "I'm still debating if you were joking about eating bugs as well!" She hummed with a bit of delight seeping back into her tone. Perhaps... ThunderClan wasn't the worst place she could be, she was protected when it mattered and she didn't have muddy paws!

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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A faint huff of amusement left him despite himself, despite the implications of their meetings or her unease with her Clan. The tone had shifted somewhat, and the tension loosened from his shoulders. "When I was younger...yeah." He gave her a small laugh. "I might have tried every bug I could get my paws on."

Inquring on the taste was a different matter. The arch of his sharp muzzle wrinkled a fraction, but there was some humor in it. "Some weren't half bad." He relented, partially honest, partially exaggurating.

His cornflower blue eyes flashed in mock warning. "Hey now, frogs are a delicasy. More meat than you think and your don't have to de-fluff or de-feather first." Thinking she might appreciate them more if she thought about it more logically. Made for a good meal on the move.

With a smile, his back arched playfully as he flicked a beetle in her direction straight from a low hanging reed. "If you're so curious, try one out."

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

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When the beetle came flying at her against its will, Coyotebloom flinched but dodged to the side, the beetle finally opened it's wings and flew past, quickly as if it expecting to be whacked again. "Watch it!" She yelped, but the laugh behind it was unmistakable. "If I ate that thing and it got me sick I'd never hear the end of it from Tigerrush. And Palestar would probably think I'm trying to steal ShadowClan's precious hard-shelled 'prey'" she chirped with a bit of her giggle as she shook her fur flat. "I think I'll take the food that doesn't have six legs and doesn't smell like... whatever that was-"

Coyotebloom let out a sigh that was more good humored than anything else. For a moment, she stood in silence as the beating of beetle wings faded into the distance. Her body rippled beneath her pale ticked pelt for a moment before she sat, tail curled around her paws for a moment, her gaze distant as if trying to find words. "I'm glad you're living a good life in ShadowClan at least. Have anyone you'd consider a friend over there... or anywhere?" Coyotebloom didn't have many cats her age except for Fallstripe, and she was always too quiet to branch out anyway. But she hoped her siblings had more luck in their new homes than she had.

For the moment of length between her question and her brother's reply, there was silence, nothing that weighed heavy on her, but with patience in her wait for an answer. Surely her brother was more likeable than she was, he had to be! He wasn't an anxious mess like she was. Maybe Fallheart had some friends too, and Misty... she'd find out one day or another, if she put her mind to it.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Duskmantle's amusement lingered at her wry reaction to the beetle, but it dulled shortly after in regards to her follow up question. His ears tipped back just a fraction... Friends. That was a word that he understood, but held little meaning.

His gaze drifted slightly passed her shoulder, flickering against the light of a passing firefly. It didn't offer him an answer to what he might say to her, so he simply stated the fact and without shame. "Not really..."

His tail gave a slow flick behind him. "Palestar keeps me busy and Clovershine looked after me in the nursery...and she had her two sons - my den-brothers...Dazzleflame and Redthicket. My old mentor, Heronsing, is nice enough and there are a few I share duties with. Nightwhisper... sometimes." He paused, whiskers twitching as he glanced back at Coyotebloom hoping she didn't catch a glimpse of his uncertainties.

"I've met cats outside the Clan... I've been searching for our father and they've been most helpful." He lifted his shoulders in a shrug despite how much it meant to him that he found Kosmo. That he answered his questions.

"I don't think I've found someone I'd call a true friend yet...but doesn't mean I won't."

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

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"Hey it's better than being an age that isolates you from the rest of the clan." Coyotebloom paused, as if the light tone was inappropriate for the words spoke, so she softened it to something a little more quiet and less bouncy or animated. "There were no kits in ThunderClan when I joined no apprentices to train with, just... me, but being in the warriors' den hasn't been any better, I don't share my story with many, only Leopardrose... really. Other cats have grown up without understanding of it. I can't blame them for that." she added with a little hum, thinking back to a few remarks about her, but she chose not to linger on the snide growls of some of the ThunderClan bunch, it wasn't worth thinking too much about.

However, at the mention of their father, she twitched her ears. A little less animated than before, she had no reason to look for him, he had abandoned her at fourtrees when she was in her most grief stricken moment and hadn't even bothered to try and look for her, she intended to return the favor. "I'm glad you're moving forward in your search, Duskmantle, but... I'm not going to follow it. Our sire made his decision when he left us with the clan cats. If he doesn't want to be found, I won't look for him." She sighed, she knew it was truth, but she worried it would offend her brother, ruin the bond they had, but she was being honest, and she hoped honesty meant more than lying to him for the sake of keeping the peace. "You can chase him if that's what you want to do. I just don't want to give him the thought."

Part of her had actually forgotten what Kosmo looked like, he was reddish, but she knew not much more than that now. Perhaps it was because she had chosen not to search for him, but she didn't look like Kosmo, not from her knowledge, nor did she really look like her mother, of whom was more memorable with her sleek dark fur. But perhaps Coyotebloom had remembered the limp corpse at the edge of the Thunderpath more than anything else. "If I may ask... actually," she began, flicking the tip of her tail before taking a hesitant step closer. "What brought you to look for him?"

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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There was no flare of annger or disappointment in his expression as Duskmantle regarded her about their shared sire. Her refusal didn't surprise him…not really. But hearing it said aloud was reassuring in a way.

"I didn't expect you would." Coyotebloom had always held onto things differently than he did…Or perhaps she'd just chosen a cleaner break than he ever could. The lift of his angled shoulders shrugged lightly, tail held still. It was a question that he sometime asked himself.

"Fallheart mentioned seeing him in front of WindClan camp after Badgerstar was stolen by Twolegs...But didn't get to talk to him." His ears tipped back slightly as he searched for something more solid than that, something that made sense of the path he'd been walking...There were too many coinsidences. From the Mad Rogue killings.

"He may have had something to do with WindClan and RiverClan alliance too...just I don't like loose ends." That was the truth of it. Duskmantle had more or less gotten over his abandonment, but there was a strong part of him that burned to know why.

"I'm not chasing him because I need him." He clarified, voice like a firm stone. "I'm chasing the truth."

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

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Coyotebloom nodded along with Duskmantle's words, more captivated by his reasonings than the mentions of WindClan and RiverClan, she had been... vaguely aware of their alliance, but it didn't mean much more to her than the ground beneath her paws. Regardless, she took a final, definite nod. "So it's closure." She finally spoke after he had finished his words. It made sense, Duskmantle was never able to leave something without an answer. But to Coyotebloom, some questions were best left without answers, for they could very well be worse than the cause of question in the first place. "I understand... somewhat, believe it or not." She added, her tail stilling with a calm outward breath.

"When I was a kit... when I first joined ThunderClan, and even the days when I was training with Leopardrose, all I did was wonder, wonder why we were taken to fourtrees instead of our sire staying with us, why the clans chose us, wondered if I belonged in ThunderClan at all. But I learned from a few cats that thinking too much about things that don't matter to you... could weigh a cat down." Coyotebloom's voice was soft, but certain, her bright orange eyes gleaming slightly as the light, reflecting an understanding, a careful method of thinking that she didn't have before. "I suppose he just didn't seem important to me. Not as important as he is to you." She didn't diminish how her brother felt about their sire, nor did she try to change his mind, only the untamed thoughts she carried with her from the moons they've been separated.

Coyotebloom took a moment before sitting herself down beside Duskmantle, letting her tail rest at her side. She didn't speak again for some time, lost in thoughts that seemed to have buried themself deep. Why did their father leave them at fourtrees? Why didn't he try to see them afterwards? Did they stay in the back of his mind still? Or have they simply vanished from his memory like they had never entered it at all? "Tell me if you find anything, yeah?" She asked finally, her muzzle turning to face Duskmantle with a soft and gentle smile curling the corners of her lips. Soft, but present enough to be noticed, especially on Coyotebloom.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Closure was a good word for it.

At her explanation, his whiskers twitched faintly. The steadiness he saw in her now was well met. He could see how she'd come to that conclusion, even if it wasn't one he shared. "Maybe. But not knowing weighs on me just the same." If not more so. His brows furrowed briefly at the thought, but it was fleeting as she came close.

He dipped his head towards her. Any knowledge he gained would be shared equally to all of his siblings. "I will." He answered simply but there was conviction there. Even if it didn't bore much merit, they'd know.

"f it turns out he's not worth the trouble…then I'll stop walking all over the forest trying to find him." Together they shared the moments, two siblings separated by Clans. It was just nice to know they hadn't lost each other completely.

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

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"As much as I don't want to see him, his explanation might be nice. To question 'why' is to seek out something beyond understanding. The urge to learn. It's good." She replied, watching the subtle movements in his shoulders the dip of his head. Duskmantle had changed from how he was as Duskpaw, but she expected as much. No cat can stay the same forever. Maybe that was the beauty of it. That nothing is stationary, everything is moving at its own pace, even nature moves with them. Nothing is ever still, and Coyotebloom questioned for a moment... how comforting that was.

Coyotebloom didn't leave herself to settle for much longer however. This wasn't permitted, not usually, not frequently. If one of the warriors in ThunderClan found out that she was out here, speaking with Duskmantle, a cat from another clan, they would snap at her, growl and hiss at her for 'betraying the clan' but she had no intent on leaving, this was her brother, but they were in two different clans. That was how it was staying.

For a few more heartbeats, she gave him a smile cordial and friendly, but with a small piece of longing that didn't travel beyond a look in her eyes, she wanted to know too, but she didn't think about it enough to worry about going to the lengths Duskmantle had... the lengths he would go, that wasn't her purpose. She knew that much, even if she hadn't figured the rest out yet. "I wouldn't want to keep you. Would you like to meet again? When... things are... less heavy with ShadowClan." she had heard from word of mouth about what happened at the gathering, about Flutterdream, her eyes gave her condolences before her words had. "I wish you well, if this is where we depart for now."

Coyotebloom took a step back, but didn't leave, not wanting to make Duskmantle think she wanted to leave him, he would leave first, then they would... once again, go their separate ways.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Duskmantle's whiskers twitched faintly and he gave a small, acknowledging dip of his head. "Maybe that's all it is." He voiced as his gaze lingered on her a moment longer. She didn't chase that feeling like he did, but neither were wrong for their feelings.

Her offer caused his ears to shift forward as he both considered and accepted another inevitable meeting. He wouldn't have had it any other way. They'd meet again under better circumstances. "I'd like that." It was the truth; he had nothing but respect for his birth-family. Even though they were pulled into Clans in different corners of the forest, they'd find a way.

He shifted on his paws, stretching his muscles after the inertness of their chatter. "Don't worry. Things will settle..." Whether he believed that or not…he wasn't sure. But it felt right to say. "You too, Coyotebloom. Don't get caught in trouble. Let meet again two nights after the next Gathering." His muzzle teased a grin as he gave her one last look.

His tall frame slipped back into the reeds and shadow as he retraced his path toward ShadowClan. At least this time the distance didn't feel quite as wide.