[Ginger]

Emberlight

"In the darkest times, hope
is something you give yourself."

After having spoken to the deputies of the other clans, Emberlight finally felt like he could breathe for a moment. Potentially even look for that face which he had so longed to see. 

Amber eyes scanned the gathering, looking for that face. Looking for her face. 

He couldn't help but feel his heart flutter ever so slightly as he made eye contact with a pair of familiar large yellow-green eyes. Honeynose!

Walking up to the tabby she-cat, Emberlight put on a warm smile, his eyes twinkling. Referencing her last words to him on the Stone Stream, Emberlight purred out a greeting. "I was hoping you'd be here after you told me you hoped to see me later."

He walked closer. Much closer than a warrior of a different clan usually would in a situation such as this. But that didn't bother Emberlight. He saw no harm in showing affection to those whom he felt it for -- to repress that affection would be to lose genuine connection for the sake of social prowess. 

"Our conversation was not one I'll ever forget." His eyes softening with concern, the small tom leaned in towards Honeynose. "How are you doing amidst the sudden...changes... in StoneClan?"

53 Moons. Warrior. RainClan

Notes.Fawn.202 Words

[Fawn]

It was a time of mourning. Heartache. Honeynose arrived at the Gathering with a profound and lingering sadness, same as her Clanmates. Her whole spirit ached for Herondive, Vipertail and Snowfeather especially. The children Hawkstar and Frozenrain left behind felt the loss in a way Honeynose wasn't sure she would ever truly understand. Her own parents were gone. Sickness, as it so often did, stole them away from a peaceful ending, curled up in their shared nest the way Hawkstar and Frozenrain had been.

Maybe it was because this grief was not felt just amongst the descendants of Hawkstar, but of every cat whose life he had touched. Who felt the warmth of his smile and that quiet, all-encompassing strength. He always made me feel so safe... Like a mountain that would never crumble. But time destroyed all things, eventually.

Her heart was in her throat, crystallized by unshed tears, her expression haggard by the weight of StoneClan's loss. Smokestar was upon the great rock, taking Hawkstar's place for the very first time, and something about... about seeing her up there, chipped away a piece of the tabby-and-white warrior's soul. I miss him.

As if StarClan had taken pity on her, they sent her the one thing that could distract her from her mourning. It was a soft scent, familiar. The scent of cool, refreshing water and swaying reeds. Honeynose's heart worked itself into a fervor, seeming to take control of her body and pivot snow-white paws until she was facing the approaching RainClan tom.

Emberlight!

Without a word, Honeynose buried her face in the soft golden fur on his chest. A breath shuddered from her throat. Tears threatened to darken Emberlight's pelt, and Honeynose, remembering where she was and who she was with, pulled back to restore some sense of dignity. "S-Sorry," she mewed, a weak smile in accompaniment.

"It's just been really hard. Since he... Since he left us." Herondive's broken form appeared in Honeynose's eyes, and she resisted the urge to wilt in upon herself, saddened and at a loss for how to deal with her own grief - let alone pull Herondive from hers. Maybe that's just the way things were going to be, for a while.

Honeynose's tail wrapped around herself for comfort, her gaze on her paws. When you love someone really hard, you mourn just as hard as you loved them. And Hawkstar and Frozenrain had been so deeply, deeply loved.

Warrior || 48 Moons || StoneClan

Honeynose

Ginger BlooRey DVD (Herondive mention || Made by Fawn || 407 Words

[Ginger]

Emberlight

"In the darkest times, hope
is something you give yourself."

A slight feeling of surprise passed through Emberlight as Honeynose buried her face into his chest, but it quickly dissipated once he realized just how distraught the striking she-cat was. A deep, aching empathy took place of the tom's surprise, and he felt his throat tighten as Honeynose herself choked out some words that barely scratched the surface of the extent of pain she must have been feeling. 

She had removed her head from Emberlight's chest, but her yellow-green eyes did not raise to meet his own amber eyes. She was crushed. 

The newly-anointed deputy put the side of his face on Honeynose's, a sign that could be taken a few ways. Other cats may see it as the ever-friendly deputy of RainClan comforting a mourning warrior of StoneClan. Some may see it as an enemy warrior making a silent threat to an already-beaten-down warrior. 

But to Emberlight, this motion was so much more than that. As he pressed his cheek to Honeynose's, Emberlight was engulfed in her scent, in her fur, in her everything. For a moment, it felt like they were one living and breathing soul. And he understood her pain. Not only from the words she had spoken earlier, but her raggedy breathing, her tear-stained fur, and her defeated posture.

A whisper, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. "Hawkstar lives in each and every warrior of StoneClan. When I look at you, I can see him. He has not truly left you." 

The ginger tom paused for a moment to listen to her labored breathing, taking her everything in. "I-I want you to know... I'm here for you. I always will be."

56 Moons. Warrior. RainClan

Notes.Fawn.279 words

[Fawn]

Rather than patch the wounds in Honeynose's heart, Emberlight seemed to widen them, to let her feelings spill out into the air between them. This time, instead of sorrow pure, Honeynose felt gratitude and relief, even as she shivered under the weight of all these emotions.
"T-Thank you," she whispered, pressing her cheek against his and wishing for the world that she could crawl into the tom's thick fur until the sadness subsided. She regained enough of herself that she could speak again. "It's so hard, Emberlight. It hurts to go to my nest every night and wake up knowing Hawkstar and Frozenrain will not be there. It's like losing my parents twice."

Honeynose rubbed a paw across her eyes, letting the white fur absorb the tears she couldn't stop shedding the second he'd spoken to her. "The whole valley feels wrong. Empty. It makes me scared, Emberlight." The she-cat paused, her own words surprising her. "Is that strange? Death is part of life, and I'm glad they passed on so peacefully. But without Hawkstar, I don't know what will happen next season and all the seasons after that."

Hawkstar had been their shield. Their foundation. He had been the mountains that protected them from unknowns, and now, gazing at Smokestar upon the rock, standing in the shadow of Hawkstar's legacy, Honeynose did not feel comforted. Smokestar had been a fine deputy, and she would be a good leader, but Honeynose... wished things would go back to the way they were. That StarClan had gifted Hawkstar just a bit more time.

Warrior || 48 Moons || StoneClan

Honeynose

Ginger || Made by Fawn || 261 Words

[Ginger]

Emberlight

"In the darkest times, hope
is something you give yourself."

Emberlight nodded with a somber air at Honeynose's sentiment. "All change is hard," he began, warm eyes looking into her yellow-green ones. "I too lost my parents. To feel that pain again would be..." he swallowed hard, "-unbearable."

However, to wallow in his own pity was not Emberlight's purpose. Now it was time to make Honeynose feel better. It hurt him to see her in so much pain. The ginger tom could only imagine how little sleep the she-cat must have been getting. "I know everything around you is dark and a swirling mass of chaos, but find your light, Honeynose." He inhaled, taking in her scent. "Find your light and hold on to it. Don't ever let go. Don't let the abyss claim you."

Emberlight saw tears staining Honeynose's fur. In an incredibly intimate gesture, the gentle tom licked the spot directly under her right eye that had been tearing up, lapping up the tear. "For someone to pass on to StarClan's grace is a beautiful thing...for them. But for the rest of us on this mortal plane, it's anything but easy. It's okay to feel this hurt."

Change was hard for any cat. It must have been even harder for StoneClan's warriors, who had known Hawkstar all their lives. It was a brutal reminder that even the strongest and most consistent things could crumble. Would Hawkstar's death put into motion a huge chain of change that would shift the dynamic of the valley forever?

56 Moons. Warrior. RainClan

Notes.Fawn.249 words