[Taxx]

When Spiderbite woke, it was the middle of the night and most of the cats were already gone from the den. His sunhigh patrol had granted him some leeway, so no cat ought to get too angry at him for not being awake as night came on. He was well rested- a little hungry, but that was fairly normal for leafbare and he knew he couldn't eat until he'd hunted. So with that in mind, Spiderbite glanced over to where his sister was curled in her nest, quite close by, and with a stealthy rise and a wag of his hind end he hopped on her, sprawling paws up with an upside-down grin to her suddenly wide awake face.

"Hi. I caught you, and now you're prey for the Clan." He wiggled a bit, sliding to the soft lining of the nest off her body and stretching all four paws out until his legs quivered. "You should feed the kits and elders just fine, what do you think?"

He would have been more than happy to remain here, but a burst of laughter alerted him to the approach of a Clanmate- probably coming to rest after a patrol- and he flipped over to his paws and busied himself with an attempt at nonchalant grooming. Nope, he hadn't been flopping over his sister like some dying piece of prey. Just getting rid of clinging moss and feathers before heading out. Still, his offer to Mothlight was genuine, ears perked hopefully as he paused in the smoothing of his chest fur. "We can hunt though? The Clan does need it. Maybe Roachpaw would like to come too? I'll go ask him, if you don't have any other patrols waiting on you."
Fawn Phoenix

[Phoenix]

Mothlight

And just like that, she was wide awake.

“Wha--” Pulse thudding in her ears and eyes wide with surprise, she stared for a moment at the brown tom’s wide grin before recognition broke through the shock and her blank look transformed into a warm smile. Taking a moment to regain some dignity and allow her racing heart to slow to a calmer pace, she gave her chest fur a quick lick and lazily raised a slender leg, batting at his face with a gentle paw. “You’re not wrong, but I’m not sure how good I’ll taste,” She responded with a grin as he slipped to her side. Mothlight shifted so she faced him, shaking her head in good humor at his antics. “You gave me a heart attack, Spiderbite; I think I lost five years of my life.”

A quiet purr rumbled through her chest as she relaxed back into the comfort of her nest. She loved nights like these, where she and Spiderbite could goof around and enjoy each other’s company like old times. Warm fondness rose within her as she remembered days that had long since passed, where their time was their own to spend however they wanted with minimal demands from others. Now, with their attention divided between their warrior duties and spending time with their respective friends, that sort of family time didn’t happen nearly enough, and the pale orange she-cat would take whatever unguarded moments she could get, no matter how brief. As if StarClan had read her mind, the sound of laughter broke through the pleasant reverie and jolted her back to reality. Once again, they were Mothlight and Spiderbite, warriors of NightClan before they were brother and sister.

“Sure. I’ve got no other patrols, and that sounds like a great idea,” She agreed lightly, pushing herself to her paws. A quick shake of her fur shed any lingering moss and feathers from her pelt, and the warrior added lightly, “I’ll come with you to see Roachpaw.” Though she loved him dearly, the thought of their younger brother tempered her good mood. He had been so pleasant as a kitten, but in the long moons that had passed since then, the strong-willed tom had developed a harsher side – a mean streak – that she hoped was nothing more serious than the product of angsty apprentice years. But he had become so antagonistic, toward Spiderbite especially, that she had to wonder if there was something else…

But no matter. With a flick of the ear, she brushed away the troubling thoughts and stepped toward the entrance to the den, tail bopping her brother on the nose as she strode by. Yellow eyes scanned camp for a moment before settling upon a familiar brown apprentice, and with her brother by her side, she approached the younger tom. “Hey Roachpaw,” Mothlight greeted him pleasantly, waving her tail. “Are you busy? Spiderbite and I are going to go hunt and thought it’d be nice if you could join us.”

Fawn Taxx

[Fawn]

The goop Shadowchaser had dabbed on his left ear felt so cold and so foreign against his skin, that Roachpaw almost wiped it off then and there. But a scar gained during a training session with his powerful, merciless mentor was nothing to be proud of. Better to let it heal. Besides, the lesson Cobrastrike imparted on him was meant to sink in deeper than any scar.

Stretching out sore muscles, Roachpaw groaned, rising out of a contorted posture just in time to see two shapes padding towards him. His expression went from interested to repulsed in the time it took for a cricket to rub it's legs. "Ugh, it's you." He growled to Spiderbite, as if his very presence were somehow offensive. Where's your big gang of friends, Spiderbite? Did they finally get sick of using you to sharpen their claws?

That memory from so many moons ago flashed before Roachpaw's eyes, and the repugnance was still visible on his face when he finally locked gazes with Mothlight. That harsh expression softened, however, and his eyes were half-lidded, head slightly cocked as if to consider her invitation. She wanted them to hunt together. Like family.

Don't you know how much of a coward he is? How low and weak he is? Roachpaw didn't have to attack his brother to know he'd probably beat the slender tom in a fight. He'd been training damn near every single night since his apprenticeship (and before it, if you counted that battle with No-Voice), and what had Spiderbite been doing? Groveling. Snivelling. Whatever it was that cowards did.

"I'll hunt with you," he said pointedly. "As long as he stays out of my way."

Phoenix Taxx 281 Words

[Taxx]

His tail sprang aloft at Mothlight's agreement, and Spiderbite rushed through the last of his grooming, yanking a loose tuft of bird down, and a couple of his own hairs, from his belly before springing after her. He leaned close, his voice barely a whisper in her ear while his eyes scanned the clearing as the two exited the warriors' den. "Sorry for scaring you. I won't do it again, promise." His shoulder brushed against hers, and his eyes brightened as he spotted Roachpaw padding from the medicine cats' den. His yellow eyes noticed the ointment plastered to the dark tom's ear, concern sparking in his expression as Mothlight called the invitation.

"Ugh, it's you," their younger brother snorted in reply, dismissive gaze resting on Spiderbite, and hurt was a thorn's barb in his heart as his tail drooped. Suddenly uncertain, he flashed a glance at Mothlight, peeked at Roachpaw again, and then lifted his head and puffed out his chest as he replied.

"No, that's okay. If you two want to hunt together, I'm sure I can find someone else to go with." As if it didn't matter, the harsh way Roachpaw spoke to him. About him. As if confusion wasn't eating at him, completely lost as to the change in his little brother's behavior toward him. One morning he'd spent playing with him, a gentle spar meant to help hone the then-kit's muscles and stamina... and that afternoon, when he'd stopped by with prey for the queens and kits, Roachpaw had just sat and stared at him like he was a stranger.

Really, Spiderbite would have given anything to understand what had happened... to know why Roachpaw seemed to hate him.

[Phoenix]

Mothlight

It had been so long since the three of them had spent any time together as a family that she had subconsciously started to hope that whatever hurt or incident had caused the rift between her siblings would have been tempered somewhat by time. But in the heartbeat it took for Roachpaw’s expression to change from mild interest to utter loathing, she felt her heart sank to familiar depths as any trace of that budding hope quickly evaporated. His animosity remained as strong as ever. Yellow eyes followed his disgusted gaze to land upon the other warrior, reading the confused hurt in every line of his body as clearly as if it had been written on the ground before her.

What had happened between them? She had asked then-Roachkit, but instead of being forthcoming, he had only given her a look as if asking how she didn’t already know. StarClan knew that trying to get answers that he did not want to give was about as futile and painful as pulling teeth – Demon’s teeth, specifically. So she had let the matter rest and approached the other party involved, not truly expecting the worst yet still unable to completely quiet the insidious, heartbreaking fear at the possibility, however slim, that Spiderbite was not who she thought he was and that he had somehow hurt their younger brother. But the pain in voice and the confusion in his eyes was horribly genuine when he told her that he was as mystified as she.

And it appeared that time, instead of healing old wounds, had only allowed them to fester.

Yellow eyes narrowed slightly at Roachpaw addressed his next words to her, but as she opened her mouth to try to – to do what, mediate or scold, she didn’t even know – Spiderbite beat her to it, dismissing himself without hesitation. Exasperation laced with an old frustration had her turning to look at him. They hadn’t even taken a single pawstep toward the camp entrance, yet here they were falling apart because one brother habitually picked fights and the other one would lose before they even met at the frontline. Like the creature he was named for, Roachpaw had a talent for scuttling into weak spots and causing damage where it hurt, and Spiderbite knew that yet he made it so easy for the apprentice to do so anyway. For a moment, she found herself wishing that the warrior would stand up for himself, that he would get angry and fight back instead of simply rolling over and taking it because surely that would be more effective than her anger on his behalf – but he never did.

That wasn’t who Spiderbite was. She knew it, and she knew it wouldn’t change. He had a soft heart and a soft spine to match it, always ready to bend rather than stand straight. And if she told him how these fights made her feel like she was forced to pick sides – stand by Roachpaw in silence or defend Spiderbite in protest, a lose-lose situation with no right answers – between her two brothers, she was afraid of what might happen. Surely he wouldn’t expect her to abandon him too, and yet…

Her frustration faded into resignation. “No, Spiderbite,” She said with a sigh. “Stay. Come with us – I want to hunt with you.” Her gaze drifted back to include Roachpaw. “Both of you.” There was a brief pause in which she dearly wanted to hiss at the apprentice and ask him what his problem was and if he was proud of himself for bullying his older brother, but the knowledge that such an action would, though satisfying in the moment, likely only alienate the younger tom held her back. Instead she settled on, “I don’t know where the attitude came from, but it’ll just be a patrol, Roachpaw. Do you think you can be civil for that long?”

Fawn Taxx

[Fawn]

The kid has got a dark side

Push too far you'll see

You're about as tough as wet leaves, Spiderbite. You're so pathetic! Spiderbite's cowardice showed through this time (and every time thus far) that Roachpaw had snapped at him. Spiderbite didn't argue. Didn't fight back. It's as if he didn't know how. Or Blackstag and the others had taught him what happens when he fights back.

Once again, Roachpaw realized he'd rather die than live his life the way Spiderbite did. Skittish and soft. Prey in his own Clan.

Mothlight interrupted the brown tom's acrimonious thoughts, and he managed a scowl as she played peacekeeper. Mothlight still valued Spiderbite's company. For moons Roachpaw had chalked it up to them being littermates. Hard to believe it, but there had been a time when Roachpaw hadn't been around, and it had just been Mothlight and Spiderbite.

A thought slipped into his head just then, and even Roachpaw felt a few pangs of guilt over it. What if Spiderbite had been the one who died, instead of Antkit? It was a cruel question, and Roachpaw couldn't find it in himself to mean it. The feelings he had for his older brother were complex and drenched in anger and disappointment - but they only went so far.

It was this guilt over that unspoken question that prompted him to agree. "Fine."

It was all he gave for a reply, and his scratched ear quivered as he battled the urge to flick it. Roachpaw stretched, groaning at the soreness of his muscles from so many brutal training sessions. "Just a patrol? That's gonna get boring fast. I'm going to hunt too." If Mothlight expected him to just take a lovely evening stroll with her and Spiderbite, she'd be mistaken.

He'd come back with prey. Roachpaw swore long ago that he'd never come back emptyhanded.

Roachpaw

nightclan apprentice | 9 moons | 297 words| Phoenix Taxx

[Taxx]

SPIDERBITE

nightclan warrior

Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do

And they settle 'neath your skin

Sometimes, Mothlight tried too hard. But how could he complain when she was the only sibling who seemed to still want to be around him? The sister who had been at his side at his lowest point, despite all the warnings... the old memory of waking fevered and ill flickered in the corner of his mind, as well as the comfort he'd felt at his sister's warm ginger pelt pressed to his, the calming purr that had soothed him- assuring him that even then, he hadn't been forgotten. How could he complain, when it felt like when he needed her, she was there, no matter what?

Still. While Mothlight's attempt to placate them was appreciated, Roachpaw's clear distaste remained an open wound. It dampened Spiderbite's previous enthusiasm for the outing; he lagged a bit behind the other two as they left the camp behind. "We were going to hunt anyway. I caught a vole the other day, and Cinderfur and I found its nest. I can show you where it is, there may be more in the same area."

He didn't tell them the whole truth- they didn't need to know. He had almost stepped on the vole where it had been trembling against a root; his shock at the tiny fleeing body had kicked instincts into gear and he'd flung himself at it. His hind paws had slipped on the snow and he crashed to his belly- with the vole snagged briefly on his claws. It had whipped around and bit him, tiny sharp teeth sinking into his pad, and he'd flung it off with a squeak. Mid-air, Cinderfur had smacked it back to the ground and killed it before they had unearthed the grass-lined pocket of earth and killed a couple more panicked voles as they tried to flee.

"This way!" he called, suddenly charged with energy again and forgetting to keep his voice down, or his steps silent, as he charged headlong through the pines.

Kept on the inside and no sunlight

Sometimes a shadow wins

xx moons | xx words| Fawn Phoenix