Calm the storm [p]

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]
Enforcer Commander
Shadow Fiend | Agatha Kitty | Kitty Softpaws

Hawkbite had been in the territory, it was well past midnight at this point. It wasn't uncommon for the Commander to dwell in the night, but he wasn't out here to patrol tonight, no. From a distance, it simply looked like he was shuffling in place. Sitting beneath the stars and shuffling. Little known to anyone else, he was seething. He'd been seething and uncomfortable about it for moons now. The pot had boiled over. It was draining all over the forest floor. His body ached from the pressure and stress on his muscles.

The closer one would approach, the more it was obvious it was that Hawkbite simply wasn't shuffling. Beneath his claws sat a half-decayed body of some sort of bird. Too decomposed to identify, but his claws still tore through the feathers and skeleton. It left behind a pile of shredded bits and feathers scattering around him.

He was antsy. He was angry. He was sad. He was mulling on decisions he couldn't change and ambitions he kept failing to achieve over and over. He wanted to scream aloud to the stars, but he didn't want to attract the attention of anyone around. So, Hawkbite sat in his quiet anger, ripping and shredding the corpse.

Something had to change.

@Mica - Mistlewhisker

[Mica]

Mistlewhisker
ShadowClan Deputy
she/her | 42 moons
[Large black cat with a half white muzzle and a pale green eye]
Purrks: Beefed Up T3, Shadow Fiend
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Chariot ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Hawkbite - @SuspiciousMindz ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Solitude wasn't hard to find in this territory. The dense forest provided many good places to huddle and brood. Mistlewhisker wasn't a brooder herself, but occasionally liked to dabble in scowling. Coming out into the territory at night and sitting under the shadowed stars was a source of relaxation for Mistlewhisker. Just sitting peacefully, listening to the sounds of the forest. Usually, she could go out undisturbed. But tonight... someone was here. Mistlewhisker paused at the edge of the clearing, watchingg Hawkbite with a glinting eye. Well then. She had been meaning to speak with him anyway, and it looked as though he was seconds away from exploding. Knowing his track record, he'd get himself hurt, and be stuck in the med den for a week. Mistlewhisker wasn't about to let that happen.

The deputy cleared her throat to make her presence known as she slipped out of the shadows and into the dimly lit clearing, the smell of blood and prey thick in the air. Poor thing. She hoped it had been dead before he started shredding it. Mistlewhisker settled a tail-length away from the commander, tucking her paws under her and wrapping her tail around her loafed form.

She said nothing for a short while, waiting on Hawkbite to speak first, if he so desired.

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]
Enforcer Commander
Shadow Fiend | Agatha Kitty | Kitty Softpaws

The all too familiar scent of Mistlewhisker filled his nostrils as the she-cat made her presence known to him. The last time he'd had alone time with her, he was trying to teach her how to relax better. He was happier. They'd been playful... she wasn't deputy.

She wasn't in the rank he'd been striving for everyday of his warriorhood existence and while he'd given her a recommendation, he couldn't help but resent her for it anyway. It was wrong. He knew it was wrong, but it was one of the things that'd been building up within him.

Resentment towards a warrior he had high respect towards. Ugh.
"Mistlewhisker."

It was such a different tone than the last time he'd addressed her. The frustration practically foamed from his mouth. His claws had stopped working at the corpse and he simply sat there, staring down at it blankly. There was no stopping the way his fur bristled along his shoulders.

@Mica - Mistlewhisker

[Mica]

Mistlewhisker
ShadowClan Deputy
she/her | 42 moons
[Large black cat with a half white muzzle and a pale green eye]
Purrks: Beefed Up T3, Shadow Fiend
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Chariot ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Hawkbite - @SuspiciousMindz ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Well, his tone answered the question she had been harboring ever since her name had been called during that meeting. Hawkbite resented her. Mistlewhisker found this peculiar, and puzzled over it for a moment. Hawkbite confessed to her that he had recommended her for deputy. She had been grateful to him--still was, in fact--and figured that despite his obvious desire for the position, he recognized that his strengths were needed for the Enforcer Commander position.

Had he really harbored this resentment for her this whole time? Something in her chest clenched uneasily. It was an unfamiliar feeling; settling around her heart and slowly squeezing. Guilt? No... Disappointment? Not quite. Internally, Mistlewhisker hissed. Of all the times she needed words for her emotions, now was one of them. She was aware that Hawkbite's resentment was not her fault nor fair, but that feeling still coiled further and further.

Mistlewhisker knew ambition. Her ambitions had driven her farther, faster, up through the ranks and into the position she desired. She hadn't become an Enforcer early, like Silverlark or Sleepysunrise. She hadn't even been on anyone's radar until she was almost thirty-seven moons old. Until recently, Mistlewhisker had been the very thing she abhorred. Average.

Perhaps that was what fueled Hawkbite's fury. He had worked so hard, done so much as Enforcer Commander, and Mistlewhisker had shot up beside him only to surpass him. Ambition could make even the most level-headed cats lose their minds. Seeing her friend be one of them was... painful. As Mistlewhisker looked forward into the future of all of this, she found herself hoping that their friendship would not suffer because of her rank. She needed him to know...

Mistlewhisker followed Hawkbite's gaze to the shredded prey beneath his paws. Had he imagined it was her face? Her flank? Her belly? His own, for recommending her? What was she to say here? I'm sorry? Well, she wasn't. Not in the least. I understand your frustration? She didn't, actually. If Hawkbite, any of the Enforcers, hell even Lostspark became deputy she would be glad to serve under them. But then again, she didn't really know how she would have reacted, did she? She was deputy, and that was that. Mistlewhisker had no plans to let her position go.

Perhaps if she could provide no words of comfort, she could merely state the obvious. Sometimes, just pointing out what was around you could get someone's dams to finally break. Once Hawkbite actually talked to her, they could start on the road to getting back the way they were. She wasn't about to lose one of her only friends over her dream coming true.

"You resent me." She meowed softly, voice as cool as the night air around them. "I do not blame you." That was true, also. Again, she knew his jealousy was less than fair, but jealousy never really was fair, was it? Not to the cat feeling it, and not to the cat it's directed at.