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Post by Fate Admin on Jan 24, 2015 20:54:50 GMT -5
Curled up in the shadows the rocks, eyes like glowing embers peered out from the shade, the one flaw to Blacksmoke’s dark disguise. Her paws were tucked neatly beneath her, her tail pulled tightly against her side as she observed her Clanmates going about their daily routines. She had already performed her duty on the dawn patrol and now had time to herself. Her ears angled toward the nursery, recently filled with Hawkstar’s own mate and kits, as a mewl reached her. Ever since Hawkstar’s litter had arrived only a short few days ago, kits had been heavy on Blacksmoke’s mind.
There had been plenty of litters before, of course, but for some reason it was the leader’s kits that caught her attention and made her think. She had never been interested in that life, the life of a queen. Kits were incredibly needy, required near constant attention, not that she was unable to give that. As a watcher and observer, Blacksmoke was quite confident in her ability to keep kits safe and in line, but she had never felt much desire to find out. Being cooped up in the nursery was not entirely her idea of a great way to spend time.
However, she was a she-cat, and StoneClan deserved her service to the fullest extent. Providing kits for the Clan was an important duty, she realized. If all she-cats felt as she had previously, then StoneClan would die out within a generation. And her brothers had yet to find mates for themselves. Though the Clan came before family for Blacksmoke, she supposed she had a duty to them as well, to ensure their bloodline continued on in future StoneClan generations. And she wasn’t getting any younger either; if she waited too long her kit-bearing days would pass her by, her duty as a she-cat of StoneClan unfulfilled.
With these things in mind, the smoky black she-cat had begun to look at the available toms of the Clan in a new way. Which of them was a proven warrior, tried and tested? Which had she seen succeed in battle personally? Which of them brought back the most prey for the freshkill pile? Which displayed both strength and intelligence? There were so few that were up to her standards, it was rather disappointing, but she had finally settled one, two actually, but only if the first refused.
Her ember gaze scanned the camp and picked out that particular tom. She watched him interact briefly with a Clanmate and waited for them to leave before rising smoothly to her paws. She arched her back in a stretch before padding his way on silent paws. She stopped before him, “Hello, Eagletalon.” Normally she saw these simple greetings as superfluous but considering her next words she supposed she should begin with them, “I believe we would make a good match, if you are agreeable, and that our kits would be assets to StoneClan.”
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Post by Fawn on Jan 25, 2015 11:17:44 GMT -5
[smear:dbb623]EAGLETALON![/smear:cc380a]
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44 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan He had been in countless battles. Trained plenty of apprentices. Dealt with more than his fair share of grief and low points and embarrassing moments. And yet it was Blacksmoke asking him to father her kits like she was suggesting a good place to hunt that actually provoked a blush to creep in under his fur. "What?" He blurted, golden eyes wide, his scarred, tawny features radiating his shock; he'd been rather bullheaded in his younger days, and if a pretty, competent she-cat had walked up to him with this very same preposition, he couldn't possibly have said 'SURE!' fast enough.
It felt like a bolt from the blue, the suddenness of her proposal, and his mind worked fast to sort through the crashing waves of confusion and flattery and interest that were all vying for first place inside his heart. She wanted to have kits with him. The logical question would be why? Blacksmoke was not like the other she-cats; she was silent and unyielding in her service to the Clan, her dedication so staunch she didn't have the time or the patience to sit around in the nursery all day and be a queen - so why would she of all cats possibly...
What was it she'd said? That they would be valuable assets to the Clan? She's just doing her duty, he realized with an astonished twitch of the whiskers; she-cats romanticized the whole 'finding a mate and settling down' part of life to the point that Blacksmoke, who saw the two of them having kits together as a task to be done rather than a fulfilling life experience was like a splash of cold water out of nowhere. Eagletalon supposed he could go through with this sort of unattached, one-time-only arrangement she was offering him, but having just witnessed Hawkstar and Frozenrain beam with pride and love for the Clan's newest little warriors, Eagletalon realized he knew absolutely nothing about Blacksmoke, and did not necessarily want that sort of stranger-relationship with a cat who was suggesting she be the mother of his kits. What if she was the sort of mother who did not want him to have any help in the raising of the kits? She could cut him off entirely, if she wanted to, and he had a feeling she could do that without a backward glance - she would throw herself into raising them, but would she raise them right?
There was more to a warrior than battle moves and hunting techniques. Could she see that? Integrity and personality were just as important, in Eagletalon's eyes; he couldn't quite believe he was considering this, but he truly was. It was a small difference in age, between himself and his dearest friend; Hawkstar had found love, and he was very grateful and very happy for him. Eagletalon's romantic life left much to be desired, it was virtually nonexistent, and he didn't see that changing in the near future; what if he died tomorrow, and he and Fallingstar's bloodline died with him? It wasn't that he saw it as his duty to produce offspring, he saw it as a privilege, and perhaps he had been foolish into thinking he had to wait around for the right she-cat to catch his affections for that to happen.
"I'll consider it, but I think it'd be in our best interests to get to know one another a little more." Eagletalon mewed, his voice steady though he was still a bit red beneath the fur. "Let's see how compatible we are." And if you're someone I'd want to start a family with. He was hardly asking for her affection, but he would, at least, prefer her friendship first. 'Detached' wasn't really Eagletalon's style.
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Post by Fate Admin on Jan 25, 2015 13:18:12 GMT -5
Blacksmoke waited patiently, her tail flicking behind her, as Eagletalon stared down at her with shock written plainly over his features. She realized that the majority of her Clanmates were far more emotional sorts than she and that asking a tom to have kits in this manner was… unorthodox at best. However, the typical romance and relationship that generally lead two cats to having kits simply took too much time and effort and was ultimately unnecessary; cats could easily have kits together without all of the nonsense inbetween, so why waste the time? There were plenty of other, more constructive things one could be doing than swooning over some other cat.
The need for emotional attachment amongst her Clanmates was something Blacksmoke didn’t entirely understand. She understood that most cats were driven to loyalty through strong emotional attachment, and that without it most cats didn’t particularly care one way or another and the Clan itself very well may break apart, but she wasn’t entirely sure why. This strong desire to serve StoneClan was something she could always recall having within her; she felt no real emotional attachment to any single cat, but she lived and breathed for StoneClan as a whole. Each and every cat born into the Clan would someday die, but StoneClan was immortal, it would endure until the ends of time so long as she and her Clanmates fought for its survival.
She continued to wait, giving him the time he needed to think about the proposal. The fact that he was thinking about it was a good sign, after all. The nature of many toms would have them leaping at the chance, grasping it in their claws like a particularly delicious piece of prey about to escape without a second thought. She did not want the father of her offspring to be such an empty headed tom. At last he managed to speak, and Blacksmoke met his gaze for a silent moment longer. Yes, he would need to assess her as well, this was another good sign. And she supposed observing from afar was not always the best way to go about things. She could use some up close and personal experience with him to better evaluate his merits as a suitable mate. “Very well. I believe such an arrangement would be beneficial.”
Her whiskers twitched thoughtfully, “Would you like to go hunting?” She was unsure how much attention Eagletalon had ever paid her, and though she had no interest in trying to impress him or somehow convince him to have kits with her, she thought he should at least get the chance to assess her abilities as a warrior before he made his choice one way or another. She would give him a few moons to ‘get to know her’ and figure it out before she decided to give her second choice a chance.
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Post by Fawn on Jan 27, 2015 9:18:41 GMT -5
[smear:dbb623]EAGLETALON![/smear:cc380a]
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44 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan “Would you like to go hunting?”
"First reasonable thing you've said all morning," Eagletalon teased, feeling a note of relief that she had accepted his terms of this bizarre little arrangement; taking the lead, he padded towards the camp exit, the pebbled ground feeling good against his tough, scarred up paws. Their relationship had changed dramatically in the past few seconds, and Eagletalon half-wondered if the rest of the Clan could see it, if they knew just how unexpected a course Eagletalon's life had taken; he didn't necessarily hold the Clan's opinion very high on this matter. This was between him and Blacksmoke, and their potential future offspring. He did want to talk to Hawkstar about it, as much as he wished he knew what his oldest and closest friend would say on the subject, he didn't. Eagletalon shared a private chuckle, picturing the sandy tom's expression when he told him about this conversation later. 'She asked you to what?'
"So," he mewed once they were out of camp. "Ospreywing won the battle competition, you must be very proud." With her natural skill, it hadn't been too much of a surprise, and frankly, after everything that StoneClan had been put through by two of the four other Clans, he felt it was just desserts that a StoneClan cat won. It was their way of telling the valley that they were back and stronger than ever. Gazing to his often-silent companion out of the corners of his brilliantly golden eyes, the scarred tom wondered why she didn't participate more in the training of apprentices; perhaps she respected the other mentors enough to not interfere or make suggestions on what to teach them, but now that they had both become senior warriors, and there was a new generation of younger cats taking on apprentices, it wouldn't hurt to impart a little of her knowledge and experience on them.
"I'd like to hear your input on Redpaw's battle training, once you have the time." He wouldn't impose, or keep her from however she chose to spend her free moments, but he would like her opinion on the subject of his own apprentice. Eagletalon didn't doubt his own skills, but it didn't hurt to bring in an outside perspective to his mentoring. He was old enough now to have unconsciously fallen into a few mentoring habits - habits that could be more detrimental than beneficial. What's gotten into me, he held back a smile. Suddenly he was getting an offer to start a family, and already he was willing to begin any needed self improvement, before he could potentially become a father.
He owed it to the Clan and to his potential family to be the best that he was capable of.
Word Count: 453 Words Tags: Fate Admin
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Post by Fate Admin on Jan 30, 2015 0:11:42 GMT -5
Blacksmoke’s ears twitched. The first reasonable thing? She wasn’t inclined to agree. She did not speak merely for the sake of hearing her own voice, every word was carefully measured so that she did not waste her time and others’ with nonsense. She did not think anything she had said thus far had been in any way unreasonable. There seemed to be that strange inflection in his voice, however, that she had noticed cats picked up when they weren’t entirely serious about what they were saying. Such things always left her a little confused… why would one say something if they did not mean it wholeheartedly? It was rather frustrating, and likely part of the reason she preferred to stay out of social situations. She liked to think of herself as an intelligent cat, but social interactions were so illogical and hard to follow.
She fell into step beside him as he led the way out of camp and broke the silence, speaking of her former apprentice. She allowed a soft purr of agreement to his words, “Yes. It is always rewarding to see one’s hard work pay off. Mine and Ospreywing’s.” She made sure to give Ospreywing his credit, for it had not been her doing the fighting, after all. She had given him all the knowledge and training that she could and he had put those moons under her tutelage to great use and been duly rewarded, “He made all of StoneClan proud that day.”
They seemed to have similar thoughts on the matter, for Blacksmoke as well thought her apprentice’s victory to be a wonderful way to celebrate StoneClan’s return and show the other Clans that they were strong and would not suffer such a fate so easily again. Every Clan would know of Ospreywing’s battle prowess, for though he was only fighting his fellow apprentices, there had been no small number of them, and he had defeated them one after another. One could only imagine how he would improve as a warrior. There was nothing more a mentor could hope for their apprentice than to prove themselves so completely ready for the honor of their full warrior name.
She turned her burning orange gaze up to him as he mentioned wanting her opinion on his own current apprentice’s training. “If you like,” she replied simply, “Perhaps Silentpaw might learn something from you as well.” She had been rather surprised to receive another apprentice so soon after Ospreywing’s naming, but certainly not hesitant to take the quiet little tom on. She wondered if Hawkstar had noticed how she kept an eye on the young cat whenever he strayed from the nursery. Ever since she had caught him curiously exploring the corpse of some long dead prey she had become rather curious about him herself. He was not born in StoneClan, a loner’s kit, and she wondered if that had anything to do with his rather morbid curiosity, one that she had never seen any Clan raised kit display.
After all, the Code demanded one honor their prey. Blacksmoke thought such a notion was rather senseless, and so she had little problem with Silentpaw’s curious ventures that she knew very well most of the rest of the Clan, if not all, would have drawn back in horror from. However, he had yet to learn to keep his habits strictly to himself, far from camp. Her tail flicked dismissively. If he got caught he would deal with the consequences, and perhaps finally learn his lesson. Mistakes tended to make wonderful mentors, and Blacksmoke was not about to shield any of her apprentices from making them and growing into more intelligent, capable warriors for it. She looked over at Eagletalon again, “Tell me, what is it you look for in a mate? It will save us time if I know whether or not I might live up to your standards.”
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Post by Fawn on Jan 31, 2015 13:02:04 GMT -5
[smear:dbb623]EAGLETALON![/smear:cc380a]
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44 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan “Tell me, what is it you look for in a mate? It will save us time if I know whether or not I might live up to your standards.”
The question was, at first, very difficult to answer. What he looked for in a potential mate was not something he thought he would find in Blacksmoke, and, as he had so newly learned, love and kits didn't have to go paw in paw. Looking at her objectively, Eagletalon considered what he did actually know of the she-cat; her entire life revolved around the Clan, she was a loyal, tireless machine towards taking care of daily duties and mentoring apprentices. This was a strength of hers, however, he also considered her rather cold and difficult to relate to, considering conversation was a bit lacking. It wasn't what he looked for in a mate, his ideal match had been Frozenrain of all cats, before Hawkstar had caught her eye and the affection between them had blossomed into an 'everlasting love' sort of relationship.
The answer to her question was probably not the first one that sprang to Eagletalon's mind; funny, loyal, compassionate, gentle when she needed to be. This was more or less the opposite of Blacksmoke, though the loyalty trait definitely carried over. Just what sort of kits would they make? Eagletalon was not in the habit of lying, so he responded to Blacksmoke with the honesty she deserved. "Someone compassionate, gentle, loyal and with a sense of humor - but that last one isn't set in stone." His standards were based on personality, not ability. Eagletalon had a strong suspicion that hers were the exact opposite; she built her assessments based on performance, he built his based on actions towards others. He had little to go by, with the jet-black, stoic feline at his side, but he was keeping an open mind.
He didn't expect her to become a different cat overnight, he didn't expect her to change in any way; if it didn't work out, then it didn't work out. There would be no hard feelings on either end, this was nothing but a conversation, and Blacksmoke wasn't the type to get offended. Of course, Eagletalon, who could be rather impulsive and emotion-fueled when it came to his day-to-day interactions, wouldn't feel slighted if she changed her mind about pairing up with him.
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