♥ ❜ // ── 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑺𝑰𝑪𝑲 !! ❀

[Bronzewing]

Z E N I R || The Rogue
Rank: Rogue || Tags: None

Zenir knew little about the nature of clans. His understanding was that they were groups of cats, doing something out in the forest, restricting what you could do and where you could go... and it wasn't even the strongest that led, as the rogue was used to. The streets were controlled by the cat that could beat the rest, and he wasn't even sure who that was. Not many bothered him due to his size, and if they did he was quick to dash away, his spotted tail disappearing into the trees faster than a mouse. But now, he found himself specifically walking towards this collection of cats, straight into the mouth of possible death... and he wanted nothing else but to run away as fast as his paws could take him.

But he held back, keeping his paws moving forward- his mind full of the cat he had decided to call his mate. He never thought he would be the kind to get a partner, but he had fallen hard for Pineblossom despite how different they were from him- the way they moved, the clan stories they shared, how she kept him company throughout the winter... he missed her, and it was only her that would make him do something he was in such fear of. How did these cats take things like this- would they murder him, his mate, throw him to the curb? Something told him he would have to join up with them, and he wasn't sure if the loss of his freedom was worth it... Pineblossom. Of course it was worth it.

He was somewhere near their borders, judging by the strong scents he was picking up on- he was never much for scent, but it stood out more than any of the natural scents of the forest... or maybe he was just used to picking up on cats. He forced himself to keep going, crossing a border before pausing, thinking over his decisions... and the she-cat's face came back up into his head. "Keep going." he told himself, padding further into the territory with a deep breath. He wasn't at all sure how long it would take for him to be found, or for him to find whatever camp he had heard about... and then see his kits (KITS?!), his mate, the cats he had heard about...

He would have been excited if he wasn't in complete fear of being murdered.

[harbinger]

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role.. (. the young warrior .) ........ tagged.. (. rowanflame .) ........ location.. (. in camp .) ........ wc.. (. 913 .)
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xxxxxxxhe'd often wondered, growing up, what life would be like as a warrior, what his life in particular might look like as the moons wore on. in many ways, it had lived up to his expectations and hopes, with little throwing him for too much of a loop. he couldn't lie, though—the recent changes implemented by palestar, however, had caught him a little off-guard.

xxxxxxxon a personal level, cloudleap didn't think the idea was awful. though, to be fair, romance was a concept that, quite frankly, continued to elude his understanding. others spoke of it, and he saw it in them as well, as they fell in love and had kits and chased their 'happily ever afters.' but if he really stopped to think about it, cloudleap wasn't sure how all that was supposed to feel, and at this point, he was too afraid to ask. had he experienced it before? did he feel it for pineblossom? ...maybe? she was nice, and he thought they got along well enough, but he could say the same for a lot of his other clanmates, too. so what was love, exactly? how would he know it for sure?

xxxxxxxwell, maybe it didn't matter. cloudleap was confident he could find happiness down the path he was on, so questioning it further would likely only lead him to needless confusion. at the very least, what he did know for sure was that he'd always liked the idea of kits. and, pretty soon, starclan willing, he'd had some of his own to look after! that was pretty exciting! he'd take that joy as another sign that he was at peace with these arrangements (even if, deep down, it felt a little odd to have the element of choice removed from something that seemed so important).

xxxxxxxhe could only hope pineblossom was looking forward to it as much as he was. there were moments when she seemed a little distracted, like her thoughts were elsewhere, and cloudleap hoped there wasn't anything serious bothering her. he wanted to be someone she felt she could tell those kinds of things to, but... maybe they weren't there yet. maybe it wasn't even anything serious—to be honest, if he had to guess, he'd probably just blame his own high-energy nature. cloudleap was accustomed to cats seeming a little distant around him, like they'd checked out of the conversation a while back.

xxxxxxxit stung less now than it used to, thanks in no small part to the one persevering exception: rowanflame. his greatest, closest friend, and someone who had never made cloudleap feel like he was too much or an annoyance. he cherished rowanflame with all he had, and he knew that as long as they had each other, everything else would find a way to work out, too. they'd been spending a little less time together since palestar had assigned mates, as cloudleap had gotten so focused on doing the best he could for pineblossom, but that just made the morning announcement for dawn patrols all the sweeter.

xxxxxxxcloudleap perked up when he heard his name called alongside rowanflame's. he'd been up and out of the warriors' den for quite some time already, having woken up early and been unable to fall back asleep. he'd never been very good at that; as soon as he woke up, he would get up, and usually walk the perimeter of the camp a few times to burn off the most of his immediate anxious energy—not too much, though, lest his patrolling abilities be hampered in any way.

xxxxxxxcloudleap rose to his paws as the meeting concluded and gave one final stretch, back arching until his legs shook. as he relaxed, he swept his dual-colored gaze over the rest of the camp, eager to pick out his patrolmates. getting to spend some time with rowanflame was exciting enough, but they'd also been paired up with briarshade, and even though cloudleap was a proper warrior now, he couldn't help but view any time spent with the deputy or leader (or even just more experienced warriors, for that matter) as amazing learning opportunities. he held nothing but respect for those ranked above him, which was probably why he accepted palestar's changes so readily, unwilling to question the decisions of someone who surely only had the clan's best interests at heart.

xxxxxxxit didn't take him too long to catch sight of rowanflame, as he knew the other tom well enough to figure out where he'd be watching the morning meeting from. typically, cloudleap probably would've been with him already by now, but, well... again, pineblossom had taken up a fair amount of cloudleap's time lately. he'd wanted to check on her, but the meeting had been called before he got the chance, and as it ended, he'd already seen her heading back towards the nursery. he'd have to make sure to stop by and see how she was doing today as soon as they got back from patrol—for now, though, duty called. cloudleap bounded over to rowanflame with light steps, as though he was trying to keep his paws off the chilled ground as much as possible.

xxxxxxx"good morning!" he chirped, waving his feathery tail in greeting. "shall we secure some borders?" as he spoke, he peered around in search of briarshade. perhaps he should have found her first, given her superiority in rank, but... what could he say? his eyes had simply sought out rowanflame first.

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