Private Thread A Question of Loyalty

WRENTALON

Going on patrol with Kestrelswipe wasn't exactly Wrentalon's idea of a good afternoon. He still didn't understand why Moosestar selected the tom for deputyship--why not someone more experienced or even just more confident? At least it was a hunting patrol. The moment he saw a wayward mouse he'd be able to chase it into the brush and gain a moment away from the brown tabby. At least Sunstrike was there, too. Kestrelswipe may be her kin but she was much more sufferable. Enjoyable, even. 

He snickered as she mentioned ditching their patrol leader. “You read my mind.” Glancing around, he paused in his steps. “Oh! I see a squirrel over there,” he said, making sure he was within Kestrelswipe's earshot, “Sunstrike, give me a paw?”

She let out a purr at his agreement, and flicked her tail as Wrentalon hopped away, looking for his non-existent squirrel. "We'll be right back Kes." She called, bounding after the muscular brown tom.

Once alone, Sunstrike stopped for a moment to actually scent the air. They did have to bring something back to the clan when out on a hunting patrol - otherwise this was just a pointless venture for her own vanity. With her last experience in chasing squirrels she was glad Wrentalon was here. But this time would be different. Hopefully he didn't recall that moment when she asked him...

Padding ahead, she led the way through the underbrush for a few more foxlengths, before circling around and tilting her head at him. "I was actually hoping if I could ask you about something Wren, and your opinion." Starclan, why was this so nervewracking?

Wrentalon let the excitement of sneaking away take over for a moment as he leaped across the tree roots. It felt like he was an apprentice skirting whatever duties he'd been assigned while Kestrelpaw, eager to please all the older cats, stayed behind, certain to give him an earful in the apprentices' den later that night.

He slowed along with Sunstrike, however, nearly bumping into the she-cat's shoulder until she pulled ahead of him. His ears pricked at her question. He had thought they were just sneaking off for fun. Grow up, he scolded himself. You're not apprentices anymore, you're both warriors, and you have been for a while. "What is it?" he asked back casually.

Sunstrike paused; and laughed slightly at Wrentalon's excited face. "This is just like when we were kits, huh?" She hadn't spent a lot of time as an apprentice at the same time as Wrentalon -and had mostly kept to herself and.... Sparrowpaw. But there were some training sessions and patrols that she distinctly remembered him helping her out, or showing her a part of the territory she wasn't supposed to go to yet as a younger apprentice. It has been exhilarating.

She slowed, and eventually say, looking out across the forest. "I wanted to ask you about a... worry I have." She let out a breath, before continuing. "I want... I have an expectation on me to continue my family's heritage. Fierceblooded and all." Her ears were pinned to her skull at the mention of the name. "The sooner I get it over with, the sooner my parents and grandparents get off my back."

"I want toms that my family approves of, but I." She wasn't sure how to phrase this in a way that made her seem brave, or reasonable - so she just let it all spill out. "Oh, Wrentalon I'm so afraid for kits. With everything that is going on in the clan; Moosestar and my family feuding - and sides being chosen. There are lines in the sand and I don't want them to have to choose."

She was fighting back tears a bit, but managed to choke out her idea. "I want... I wanted you to sire my kits. But Moosestar - and my cousin. They don't like you. I worry - if this does break out into something violent, they could be in danger." She took a big breath. "So I was thinking; what about asking two sires? One from both sides of the clan. No one could tell whose is whose... it would keep them safe."

Was it a harebrained idea? A little bit. But she had been mulling it over for the past few moons. Obviously, Wren was her first choice. But Moosestar was also there - and a perfect option to try and avoid having her kits targeted. No one would dare touch the leader's kits. Except maybe Savagefox... but he also wouldn't touch Fierce-blood kits.

Wrentalon’s carefree feeling went cold as Sunstrike flattened her ears and started explaining. Kits? Family? Fierceblood? Him? As she kept spilling out everything on her mind, he scooted to sit beside her, pressing his side against hers. In the moment, he had no idea what else to do but wait until she had finished entirely. And when she had, he took a deep breath.

“Well...first of all…if anything is going to protect our kits, I’d be doing that. Second, I'd be honored to sire them at all.” 

He gave a few comforting licks to her ear, trying to help calm her down. “I have no idea what it's like being Fierceblood, but hey, Wildcry likes me, doesn't she? And I get along fine enough with Savagefox? It sounds like Kestrelswipe is the odd one out of your kin. And…I may not like Moosestar very much, and I doubt he likes me at all, but I don't want anything to get truly violent. There may be tensions but in the end, we're all Thunderclan.” 

It was a small piece of reassurance, if it even worked, but he thought it was better than letting her go on imagining war. If he actually had to fight against Moosestar and Kestrelswipe…he wasn't even sure how that situation would come about. Would they just finally get tired of him one day? He could be brash sometimes, but surely he wasn't that terrible? A dozen different things were going through his mind, but he'd always intended to be there to help raise kits he'd sire. And if he had to share that job with Moosestar…the thought put a sour taste in his mouth. “How…how long have you been thinking about this?”

Wrentalon's agreement to her proposition cheered Sunstrike up exponentially. She really did like the sound of 'our kits'. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. She leaned into him as he reassured her -letting herself beleive him for a moment. "I. I want to believe that." She really did. She loved her kin, and her clan more than anything. The tension between leadership and the warriors was something that weighed heavy on her. "Wildcry does like you - at least she would like one of us." At least that was something she could laugh about. "And my mother as well. Ironic, isn't it? Kestrel... well you know how he is. If anything, I like him more than most. Maybe... with the both of us, we could make it work without Moosestar..." Her tail was settling down from the anxiety ridden poof it had been a few moments before, and she let out the breath she was holding.

At his question, she shrugged sheepishly. "Oh, not... that long." That was technically a lie. She had been thinking about her heritage since she had first been able to grasp the idea, but the idea of kits - or at least having kits at a young age - hadn't crossed her mind until the recent impromptu addition. "I only thought of it with how close Brindlepaw, Dovepaw and Larchpaw are to graduating. Without Coyote... the nursery would be totally empty. Which is fine - I'm not really a chatty cat."

The idea of spending time in the nursery as opposed to the warrior's den was a little intimidating - like isolating herself even more from her clanmates... but if she didn't, was she really serving her clan with all her abilities?

Some relief settled over Wrentalon as she calmed down. He was still excited over the idea of siring kittens with her, proud that she even asked him, but something was still bugging him in the way she explained herself. “I mean…just because the nursery will be empty doesn't mean you have to be the one to fill it immediately. That seems like a heavy burden.” With as many warriors as they had, Thunderclan could be fine without kits for a few moons. Besides, what about all the other she-cats who could have kits?