Too Good at Goodbyes [VA]

[Rose]

A thread, where Kat can post multiple character tidbits that took place in the past, future, or present.
Featuring Larkpaw, Howler, Flintfang, Fablespinner, Berrypaw, etc.

Other little threads to see, if interested;
---> A Lark's Calling [VA]
---> Wolf's Lair [Semi-Open]

[Rose]

Background Info: I thought @/lane.'s idea about cats hearing fireworks was really cool, and just had to experiment. Also, this thread takes place at midnight on the 31st of December, 2022 -- 1st of January, 2023. We'll just have to pretend this is the past, lol.

Larkpaw
| Post Count: 130/100 | ft. Fablespinner |

It wasn't every day Larkpaw left camp. Alone. On her own, by herself. You get the gist. Finally, after four moons of joining and mingling among ShadowClan, Larkpaw had finally been given the right to be allowed to leave camp. On her own. It was a perk of being an Enforcer, she supposed. So, technically, Larkpaw didn't have a right to complain, even though now she had to look after the entirety of ShadowClan, minus the other Enforcers, instead of herself. She wasn't stupid, going out on her own. Not exactly, though some would probably think her daft or an idiot. One could call her reckless, but it wasn't like she did this every day. In fact, this was the first time in a long while that Lark had set her mind free, letting her paws carry her in whichever direction they wanted.

It was quite ironic when Larkpaw found herself standing at the edge of ShadowClan territory, staring blankly beyond the wall that marked the Twoleg place. Rows of neat upwalker nests lined the streets, each looking no different from the last. Nostalgia filled the lithe apprentice at this sight. Sitting among the shadows, Lark felt... small. After such a long time, she felt tiny once more. Once more like the distraught kit she'd been all those moons ago, lost helplessly in ShadowClan's formerly unfamiliar woods. But now, returned to the place where it had all begun, these upwalker nests that had been the place of her earliest kithood days, Larkpaw couldn't help but feel as if she was drowning.

Drowning, like the first time Fablespinner had thrown her into the water and expected her to swim.

But it wasn't water clogging up her breathing system this time, it was raw emotion. Her father had treated her with so much love and care when she had lived with him and his upwalker. So then, why had he given her away? Given her away after so many days of showing her upmost affection. He had told her he'd loved her. So then... Why had he gotten rid of her..? Gave her away to Fablespinner instead.

Fresh, wet tears splattered on the ground, briefly startling Larkpaw out of her reverie. She hadn't even realized when the tears had begun to flow down her cheeks. Had not noticed the heat pricking behind her amber eyes. And just like everything else tonight, it had been so long since Lark had let herself cry. The flow of tears would not stop, would not halt, and Larkpaw did little to force its pause. She cried, sitting there and wishing for the stars to end this deep well of pain. Praying to the skies to stop letting her heart shatter open every time something terrible happened.

Because that was the truth. Larkpaw was sensitive. It was easy to hide behind a facade. A cool mask that pretended she was not fazed by anything. It had been hard to build that mask over the moons. Fablespinner's company had done that, turned her from the constantly teary-eyed kit and into an unfeeling rock.

"A shame." The words came out of nowhere, causing Larkpaw's head jerk up, her attention diverting from the ground and towards the source of that painfully familiar voice that still struck fear into her heart. "I thought you'd given up showing weakness. But you always were a crier."

"Mother." Larkpaw whispered, but her voice was drowned out. The sudden burst of fire in the sky had both females flinching backward in surprise, wide eyes traveling upward to meet whatever.. whatever that thing was, shining so high. A few beats passed, and the light entirely disappeared, making Lark's brow furrow with confusion. "What-" Lark began, and then emitted another gasp of surprise, and mild fear, when burst after burst of light lit in the sky, momentarily blinding both felines.

For a few seconds, Lark could have sworn her mother angled herself infront of her, putting herself between her and any kind of danger. Because for that brief few moments of seeing fire explode in the sky, Fablespinner felt a deep, natural instinct to protect the kit she'd weaned. Mother and daughter stood side by side, ears pinned back against their skull and watching in quiet horror as the sky split before them, the land trembling beneath her paws and the air turning into ashy, ugly-smelling smoke. Neither spoke for a long time, and then finally, finally, when the chaos had quieted, Fablespinner turned back to her daughter.

For an instant, the expression on Fablespinner's face even looked motherly. But bitter resentment didn't take long to seize control, and the brown-furred, beautiful oriental longhair had seized her daughter's chin with an unsheathed paw, tilting Larkpaw's face upward for further inspection. "I've always hated your eyes. His eyes." The tall damsel crooned, leaning closer to her daughters face. Sharp, lime green hues didn't miss a thing, and Fablespinner's pointed ears definitely did not fail to notice the smaller feline's sudden intake of breath. "You're still afraid of me, I see." Fablespinner noted. But her voice was so cruel, claws so unyielding that Lark could not help flinching back as if she'd been physically struck. Brutally shoving her daughter backward, Fablespinner stepped away. "You're lucky I didn't come out here to find you, Lark. But now I know where you are. And believe me when I say this, I will be watching you." And with those words, the spinner of fables turned and disappeared into the night, leaving her amber-eyed daughter alone in the dark once more.

[Rose]

Background Info: This VA features Flintfang and his former best friend, Goldenrose, back when the two were apprentices.

Flintpaw
| He/Him | ft. Goldenpaw |

"Leaving." It was all Flintpaw could echo, sage green eyes crinkling with bewilderment. What did she mean? He didn't understand, nothing made sense. "What do you mean, leaving?" He breathed, breath fogging in the crisp, frosty air. It was leaf-bare, one of the coldest winter nights that Flintpaw could ever have imagined. But despite this, the coldest part of tonight to him was the inside of his heart, where his best friend had just withdrawn herself from. What had prompted Goldenpaw to suddenly decide leaving? Maybe it was Flintpaw's fault? Perhaps, because of his carelessly reckless ways, she'd decided to distance herself. His childhood best friend, the one cat who'd ever bothered to pay attention to him when he'd been in the nursery. She'd stuck by his side for so long, and now, on the night before their warrior ceremonies, she was.. leaving? "Goldenpaw--" He began, trying again to make sense of this sudden turn their friendship had taken, but she shushed him with a paw, placing it against his shoulder.

"You'll be fiiine, Flirtpaw." She says affectionately, that oh-so-familiar grin lighting upon her face. "I just.. You know me, I always want adventure, and RiverClan is... y'know, boring." A pause, here, as Goldenpaw notices her denmate flinch. "No, you're not boring, I just meant, you know, RiverClan in general!" But no amount of explanations made sense to Flintpaw. If she was bored, why not find something fun to do within their Clan? Why leave?

"Please stay." It was all Flintpaw could ask, could beg, of his best friend. "..Please..?"

But alas, when the silver-furred tomcat woke up the next morning, his green eyes fell upon a vacant, empty nest. Goldenpaw was gone, she had fled in the night.

[Rose]

This VA is a response to Darkclaws' VA; 'Thank You, I’ll be taking it from Here'.

Fallenpaw
| She/Her | Former ShadowClanner | Current StarClanner |

It wasn't every day one saw their little brother. Living the life of a trapped StarClanner, Fallenpaw no longer counted the days that went by. The days, that she no longer spent talking, or walking, or ... in all oddities, eating. It felt like cruel mockery, not having to eat up here, as Fallenpaw had died of starvation. Alone. Cold. And forgotten, that was what she was. She supposed she couldn't complain. No, that was a fact. Burnt into the very ground she stood on, with it's starry plains and rolling hills. Fallenpaw had always imagined StarClan to be whatever she willed it to be, but now that she was here, in a place so filled with light and a landscape that matched WindClans, Fallenpaw felt more out of place than she'd ever felt before.

Her heart throbbed. It pained her. Or at least, Fallenpaw hoped she had a heart. A... heart that worked. A heart that hoped. A heart.. that lived. But her heart had never lived. Her heart had existed, from the time she had awoken, snuggled at Snailpounce's side, to the time she had spent, sprawled in her nest as she awaited death. Because Fallenpaw had been born with a flaw. Her heart had been broken from the start, and it had refused to work. She had been born with a worm in her chest, a worm that slowly gnawed away at her life and stole moons of her life.

But Fallenpaw was not here to mourn the life she had never been gifted. She was here to visit her brother. And not just any brother. Her lovely, dark-furred littermate, the one who had stuck to her side till the end. He hadn't failed her. Hadn't forgotten her, like everyone else seemed to have. And watching him now, watching Darkfall approach her grave to speak with her, Fallenpaw felt her heart beating with pride. Beating, once more for the first time in a long while. Maybe in reality it wasn't, who knew? But for the first time in moons, she felt capable of emotion, capable of feeling immense love and pride for this cat who'd grown up at her side.

And as Darkfall began moving away from her grave, further and further and fading from her sight, Fallenpaw pressed a paw against the vision as if she could hold him there forever. As if she wished never to be parted from her littermate's side. "I love you, Darkfall. Now, and forevermore, my dearest of brothers."

[Rose]

Background Info: A long overdue Flutteringkit VA, from when she was still a part of WindClan.

Flutteringkit
She/Her

Deep within the recesses of WindClan's Nursery sat a lone, brindled she-kit, flaxen eyes glowing in the dark. But behind those golden hues, a deep rage stirred, one that would not go away. Flutteringkit had reached her limit. She'd thought sitting in the corner, staying out of the way, being an obedient, perfect little girl would get her what she wanted. To be named an apprentice, and then to be made a warrior. But even then, Cowpaw's class had called out to her, the yearning to know herbs burning deep in her chest. But Flutteringkit was a perfect little girl, she didn't go out of her way, she didn't step into other people's paths to ask them to do things for her. Just like she hadn't said anything all these moons after her blind old mother's self-inflicted death, hoping that someone would notice what an amazing, patient little thing she was and bestow upon her all she wished. But nothing had come of her patient, silent waiting. Nothing had come of it, and what had she gotten in compensation?

Nothing.

Absolutely.

Nothing.

Tiny, sharp claws dug into the mossy nest beneath her paws as Flutteringkit recalled the meeting where everything had turned upside down for her.

The meeting where Twistedpaw - no, she would be Twistedkit forever if it were up to Flutteringkit - had been named an apprentice. And before Flutteringkit knew it, her rage had spurred her back in time and into that same scene, that same horrific moment when she'd noticed Twilightstar call Twistedkit up not to throw her out of WindClan, but to promote her of all things.

'Gotten her name! Twistedkit had gotten her apprentice name! Pure, undiluted rage clicked in Flutteringkit's head, swirling around and messing with her thoughts. How DARE she get her name before Flutteringkit got hers? Sure, Twistedkit was older, but she was... She was... deformed!'

That was where the vision cut off, for Flutteringkit had felt so mad she'd whipped around and stormed back to the Nursery. She had missed the entire scene of the cat attacking Twistedkit, which would have brought her too much pleasure to witness, but instead Flutteringkit had remained in her nest for so many days after, not bothering to step out of it.

So now she sat, brooding. Glaring at the shredded moss between her claws. Flutteringkit had sworn that she'd leave WindClan if Twistedkit was made an apprentice before her. Now she felt too much of a coward to do it. But as the young she-kit willed her limbs to move, carrying her to the edge of the nursery and towards a small, familiar hole in the side of the den wall, Flutteringkit was only met with one choice.

She squirreled through, and only after a few hours of aimless wandering, the brown and cream kittens fate was decided. It wasn't clear what happened to Flutteringkit next, for she could barely make sense of the events that followed, and sharp, bright hot pain made it hard to tell what was happening. Gold eyes dimmed, turning bleary with pain and confusion, but they did not lose life.

They fluttered painfully shut, and the vengeful, brindled kitten was lost to sleep.