parallels

[occultation]

( @taillow )

It had taken Fadingstar up until now to really sit with Eaglepaw's disappearance. He'd allowed it to flit in and out of his mind on occasion, but it proved too painful to think about for longer than a few moments. He'd kept his thoughts preoccupied by other things- leadership, the mountains, Dusklion, Wisteriawren (although he'd been avoiding that one recently)... anything but his failure as a mentor.

Now, he sat quietly beside Skydust's stiff, dead body. He'd found it further down the mountain, beaten and battered. What was a result of the cat's death and what came from tumbling down the mountain was unclear, but either way the short-lived warrior certainly didn't look too good.

Fadingstar had dug two graves. One was for Skydust; the leader grabbed the body by the scruff and tried to ignore the stomach-twisting odor that was starting to radiate from the deceased. With a grunt, he heaved Skydust over the lip of the grave and allowed him to tumble down below.

It wasn't the most graceful burial, but it was better than what he'd gotten before. The leader kicked dirt back into the grave, until Skydust's body was covered by a few tail-lengths of dirt. He'd tried to pick a nice spot, underneath a large oak at the edge of the forest that ran before the mountains.

If he was being honest with himself, his main reason for picking this place was because of the second grave. Granted, he did care that Skydust had a decent resting place; after all, he had been a RiverClan warrior, albeit for a short time.

Sluggish paws carried him over to this other hole. He had nothing to bury here. He didn't even have firm evidence that what he feared was true. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like Eaglepaw wouldn't ever come home. Others had found their way back, but she was still gone.

She had minimal battle training (the guilt of that pierced his heart once more), so the odds that she'd be able to survive alone were slim. The outskirts were much too dangerous for an apprentice of any age. He only hoped that if she were dead, she'd died quickly and peacefully.

An optimistic part of him wanted to believe that she'd found a happy life elsewhere, but he found that hard to convince himself of. Eaglepaw was a dedicated RiverClan cat; she would've found her way to them if she were still alive, wouldn't she? Unless she was lying in some ditch somewhere, torn up and unable to walk...

He shook his head and shoved that thought away. No. She had to be dead, living in peace with RiverClan's other spirits. That was that. There... wasn't any other possibility.

And yet, he found himself unable to move from where he was rooted, beside her open, mock grave.

[taillow]

DUSKLION
she/her | riverclan deputy | 30 moons
go with the flow, rapid recovery, beefed up t3, mind reader

She had given it all of two seconds of thought before padding out of camp with a frustrated snarl and roll of her eyes. As much as Dusklion still didn't think Skydust qualified as a RiverClan warrior in her eyes, she felt... a little bad that she had managed to piss her brother off by her decision on what to do with his body. Stupid sibling bond... she both loved it and hated it at the same time. She wouldn't apologize for tossing his body further down the mountains withour a burial, but she could... sort of see where her brother was coming from. Kind of. If she concentrated hard enough.

Tracking his scent was easy enough having grown up with it all her life. She found him just as he was hauling the deceased outsider into a grave. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead watched him for a moment, silent. He seemed to make quick work of burying the cat but... upon further looking there were two graves? One sat uncovered beside the one Skydust had just been dragged into. Alarm bells rang in her head - had another cat died??

But no. It was empty and there was no other cat here. She watched as her brother sat hunched over the two graves. He... didn't seriously care that much for an outsider that had only been with them for three days, did he? She found it hard to believe that... Still Dusklion padded out and over to her brother, coming to sit silently at his side. "I see you found the ou- Skydust," she stated, glancing at the grave. It was a ways away from where she had buried Sunstrike, but that didn't reall matter. It wasn't like they would be able to take these cats back home when it came time to travel back to their territory...

"...Who's the other grave for?"

[ Fadingstar - @occultation ]

[occultation]

( @reiya )

Fadingstar was so absorbed in his grief and guilt that he didn't notice Dusklion near him until she spoke. He didn't react or comment on the part about Skydust, not currently having the mental energy to continue that conversation.

When she questioned him on the second grave, that was enough to draw his green eyes up to her blue ones. He tried to disguise the grief in his gaze; to any cat that didn't know him that well, it would probably work. But his sister had known him for his whole life, so she'd probably see through it.

As he looked at her, this whole thing suddenly felt... stupid. What was the point of this? It wasn't going to bring Eaglepaw back, and it wasn't doing anything to heal the hole in his heart like he thought it would.

Still, he found it impossible to tear his paws away from the mock grave. It almost felt as if walking away was closing the book on Eaglepaw and accepting her fate. He didn't want to do that, as much as he knew he had to.

"It's for Eaglepaw," he finally said. His voice was hoarse, a product of the tightness in his throat. This was the first time in a long, long time he'd spoken with any sort of rawness; normally, he made an effort to push down and mask his grief, guilt, and doubt.

Despite that, he hesitated to say anything further. He remembered the last time he tried to open up to Dusklion about his emotions, when he'd blown up about feeling overwhelmed and lost as leader. She'd given him empathy and kindness, but there had also been vitriol in some of her words. A mixed prey pile.

He sat there for a couple moments, eyes now back on Eaglepaw's makeshift grave. The tom debated saying anything further for a few moments before eventually deciding that, even if it put him at risk of getting scalded, he still wanted to open up to her.

"I figure there's no other possibility for her fate. Eaglepaw was passionate about RiverClan; if she survived, she'd be here now. The fact that she never found us... I don't see how it could be for any other reason."

He scoffed. "I don't know why I thought this would help. It just makes it feel more painful. It just brings it all to the forefront. Eaglepaw was a good kid; I was starting to see her like a little sister almost. At least, I felt responsible for her well-being. And now that's all gone down the river. When I was naming our newest warriors, I couldn't help but think afterwards that Eaglepaw should've been there with them."

Fadingstar stood up and started kicking dirt back into the grave, a little more forcefully than he needed to. It felt good; some sort of outlet for these awful feelings. After a little while, he asked, "Do you ever think about mom and dad? I've been thinking about them more lately. Every now and again I think about all the things I wish I could talk to them about. I wish I could have just a few more minutes with them. I wish the same thing with Eaglepaw. But I guess even then I'd always want just a few more minutes."