[Insidious]

R A Z O R F A N G

He sat along the outskirts of RainClan camp, searching relentlessly for the feline he intended to join him on today’s border patrol. Plentiful the acceptable candidate walked passed him, each given a dip of his head in silent greeting, though he refused to settle for anyone else. He generally tried to broaden his social surroundings whenever he was meant to be a part of a patrol. He talked to the same circle of felines on a continuous loop, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to familiarize himself with a few other members of his clan. Therefore, the large tomcat stood stiff as stone, moments away from scouting the warriors’ den to locate the she-cat in hiding until he finally caught glimpse of her nearby. A few elongated strides later, and he was standing directly in front of her, grayish-green eyes cast at a slightly downward angle to address her. “Timberwing.” Unable to recall having ever previously partook in a discussion with this particular senior warrior, he took it upon himself to test out the way her name rolled off of his tongue. He cracked the firm line of his lip into an almost-smile, pivoting on his heel, meeting her eyes once again from over his broad shoulder. “Have you an interest in joining me for a quick patrol?” Although he phrased his words as a question, he’d be somewhat taken aback should she refuse - such was highlighted when the deputy began walking in the designated direction, assured that Timberwing would be following close behind in a matter of seconds.

Razorfang had never been well-known for his expertise in the area of small-talk. He often got right to the point, leaving no room for minor comments; this was partially why he rarely considered border patrols to be a pleasurable experience. He was frequently paired with felines he hardly knew, and sometimes had even lesser an interest in getting to know. Although he couldn’t find any reason not to kick back and enjoy the simplistic company of Timberwing, he was still unable, as of yet, to look at her with anything surpassed a certain level of wariness in his rather uncannily cold eyes. It’d likely be a while before he could talk to her in a manner similar to how he did with Roselight and Russethawk, sometimes also going out of his way to include Mallowleaf and Sands.tar. His “friends” didn’t venture outside of the four mentioned cats, and what with his intimidating exterior and somewhat off-putting personality traits, this didn’t come to him as being much of a surprise.

As of now, he knew nothing about her: nothing more than a name and a summarized background story, anyway. He didn’t often pry into the endless depths of a feline’s life, and it was therefore quite perplexing to reach passed Razorfang’s many barriers and become something more than an acquaintance to him. He didn’t have any ideas as to what Timberwing thought of him, nor was he particularly concerned with finding out. He was well aware of the majorities firsthand opinion, since the endeavor of getting to know Razorfang personally was a feat few dared to try their luck with. He had accepted this fact long ago, however. He was quite content with the few cats he labeled approachable, and unless this patrol was going to be full of shockers - unbeknown to him was precisely what kind of conversation he was in store for - he’d be satisfied by a relatively quiet afternoon, followed by a polite dip of his head when it was over before they stalked in opposite directions and failed to acknowledge one another for the next couple of moons.

@ghostlight

[Deleted]

Timberwing

The Fox of Rainclan

Your face—it haunts my once pleasant dreams

Your voice—it chased away all the sanity in me

---

As usual, the fox colored she-cat had just returned from doing something outside the clan's camp. And this time it would be hunting, she figured that with greencough fading into the distance that a couple extra morsels of prey couldn't hurt for a couple of cats like Swanfeather, Fernpaw, Sandstar and Razorfang since they had all been working so hard during the epidemic. Of course several warriors who weren't sick had worked themselves into the ground, but she figured her body could take a little more. She'd been through worse.

The aging warrioress lifted her head from finishing her mouse snack when Razorfang's deep voice cut through her thoughts. She figured he'd have a question for her, but she wasn't expecting the one, which was more of a demand, he asked of her. The two hadn't had much of intereactions, but she knew lots about the tom in-front of her, some from felines who didn't think much of Razorfang. She on the other hand, help a deep respect for the tom that didn't hold Rainclan blood and now stood as deputy in his adopted clan. It had to be a breath of fresh air, warming and complete to know that his leader trusted him enough to hold such a position.

With a nod of her head, Timberwing pulled herself to her graying paws and made her way after Razorfang, letting him lead the way to where ever it was that the two would be going to. She left the soft wind blow through her long fur as her plume tail flickered around behind, while she picked her way through the reeds, making sure her paws didn't stick in mud or catch in water. Her ill feelings for water made her wonder if the tom in-front of her had the same taste as her or the clan he was adopted into.

"Tell me." She started up, her voice rustic from age, she let herself pull up closer to be near flank and flank with the younger cat. "How does it feel... to be deputy?" She asked, letting her dull green eyes glance at Razorfang. She had never been ambitious, as it had been her brother who had wanted to be leader all the time, she was good with being a warrior that worked hard for her clan. But inside the question, she was really asking how it felt to be deputy of a clan one wasn't born of.

She knew the tom still had cats who didn't accept him in such a position, but Timberwing wasn't one of those cats. She was proud of him, even if they didn't have a bond or relationship other than being non Rainclan by birth. She had seen him grow in his clan from his time as an apprentice, and she had see the torment he had endured with cats who didn't accept him without Rainclan flowing through his blood. She was sure she had spoken to him when he was younger, probably telling him the same that she had once told Crowblaze.

Blood doesn't make you Rainclan, loyalty making you Rainclan.

---

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

[Insidious]

R A Z O R F A N G

Black ears flicked to the side to catch the she-cat’s words, slightly curious as to why his title as deputy, of all possible things to discuss, had been the one to pique at her interest the most. Having grown cautious of his non-RainClan blood throughout his many moons - recalling a certain kithood and apprenticeship with no such fondness - had left him relatively bitter towards topics that held the potential to turn towards the part of him he liked to lock deep down inside of him, throwing away the key shortly afterwards. He was decently apt at interpreting when a feline’s interest was wandering beyond where it was permitted to be. All he had to do was peer into their eyes, and more frequently than not the skepticism, the suspicion, or best of all the disgust was written somewhere within them. On this particular occasion, however, none of the listed emotions seemed to be haunting the fox-like feline’s face. He would never admit to being appeased by this realization. He knew that he should have thought better of someone that was like him, and that understood what it felt like to harbour blood that wasn’t purely RainClan. If someone that was in the exact same boat as he couldn’t even bring themselves to respect what he had overcome in his life to become deputy, then he was afraid that he would have been very close, if not finally on, the verge of snapping a few unlucky throats.

For if there was not respect in blood, then surely there was respect in the fear of blood being spilled, no?

“It hardly feels any different than it did to be a warrior.” Which was the truth, despite the cold way in which he spat the words from his mouth. He didn’t mean to speak so unkindly to someone that deserved much better. It simply took time, and a whole lot of it, for him to open up about the hardships he had been forced to face when Sandstar saw worth in him the day he was appointed. He felt more . . . comfortable, perhaps, considering Timberwing’s background also came from elsewhere. While they were alone, the words that he spoke would be spoken free of judgement. Looking to her now from the corner of his eye, there was an element of wariness. He was juggling the possibilities of what he could and could not say to her. He wouldn’t stand for anyone having any reason to believe him of growing soft. If she wanted him to focus more on the fact that he wasn’t born of RainClan, she’d need to work harder to steer him in that direction. “Except now apprentices and warriors alike have to listen to me, regardless of whether or not they feel like it.” Of course he was only kidding, but there was still some honesty to his statement regardless. It was a lot simpler disposing of the past he often wished he didn’t have to have. There was nothing for him other than RainClan, which made it all the more difficult to see others questioning his loyalty based on the principle of where he originated.

He wouldn’t be surprised if his loyalty to the Clan was a thousand times stronger than over half of the RainClan born and raised.

“Does that answer your question?” He gave Timberwing his full, undivided attention now, almost challenging her to throw her true reasons for asking out into the open. He’d continue to avoid talking about it until it was directly requested that he do otherwise, for it was simply too far out of his nature to turn a conversation onto the topic all by himself. He hated the part of him that wasn’t RainClan. It was something he had long since learned to live with, but all the same would never fully be able to accept. He was full RainClan in his heart, and that would have to be enough.

@ghostlight