[taillow]

 

Originally Posted by SpiritedWarrior

@taillow

He could practically feel the heat of tension through Redhawk’s gaze. But more than that, the Hornet had no problem expressing concern. It was all so… so believable. Her attitude reminded him of Sweetsong for a split second, which brought tears to the corners of his eyes as they softened.

”It’s not like I want to fight in the Dark Forest! I was forced to… I- I was given a choice, b-b-but at the same time I wasn’t.” Crowpaw was used to shedding tears by now. He had to have shed over a hundred in his lifetime! But this time was different. He was shedding tears in front of one of his Clanmates, in a Clan that he had never felt at home in (and still doesn’t). “T-this… Dark Forest warrior, s-she… wants me to protect her sibling. I- I tried getting away… t-that’s how I got t-the bite mark and scratch… I… I… I feel like it’s better I tell you who it is she wants me to protect, but I- I don’t… I don’t feel comfortable doing it with the rest of ThunderClan around. I don’t- I don’t even know if you’ll keep it a secret.”

How would he even explain a bite mark, one that was clearly from another cat, to two medicine cats? Getting in a tussle trying to hunt with Redhawk would be good excuse, but he didn’t want to risk her position in the Clan. “I’ll… I won’t feel right saying that. L-lying to a Hornet is a lot more different than lying to a medicine cat.”

While he was admitting he lied to his mentor, he was trying to not get many others involved in what was between him and Poisonberry. He already planned to involve Sweetsong, but only because she is Poisonberry’s living sister and knew her better than he did. Telling Redhawk who it is the Dark Forest warrior wants him to protect wouldn’t be a bad thing… would it? I hope they don’t tell Bumblestar. If Bumblestar ever finds out, I’m screwed.

REDHAWK
she/they | thunderclan hornet | 32 moons

As soon as she spotted the tears in Crowpaw's eyes and the way his gaze seemed to soften, Redhawk felt her heart break a little bit. She tried to press her flank against his if he would allow it, lifting her tail to brush it over his back. The wounds weren't bad persay, but they would need to be looked at. "If you don't want to t-train there anymore, t-then you look t-this cat in their face and you ss-ssay no, okay? No one... no one sss-should ever force you to do anything you don't want to do, Crowpaw..." What was it with those pesky dark spirits and sticking their nose into everything? Redhawk had her own opinions on the shadowy forest - she'd never been there, but it was well known that Dawnstar and her Clan followed their teachings, and that was all the hornet needed to never associate with that wretched place.

Taking a bit of time to think, Red eventually came up with an idea. "How about I t-take you to get t-them looked at. You don't have t-to explain anything, I can do the t-talking. Once they're patched up, we can go for a walk if you want? I can sss-show you the last border in your tour... and you can t-tell me then?" She already had a secret she was keeping from Bumblestar in regards to what had happened with Sunglow - if this wasn't something earth shattering or that would negatively impact ThunderClan, she didn't see why she'd go tell the leader.

"How does t-that sound, hmm?" Once again she tried to lift her tail and run it across the young tom's back, much like how she remembered Does doing for her whenever her sister noticed her getting overwhelmed.

[ Crowpaw - @/SpiritedWarrior ]