new beginnings. [fate & garnet]

He looked up and let a rough purr escape his throat, acknowledging the milky sunlight filtering down from above CelestialClan's lush foliage. It was refreshing to have such a pleasant change from the freezing overcast weather that had been shadowing the clans for what seemed like ages. The tom didn't always mind winter all so much, as it was such a beautiful and peaceful handful of moons, but it held too many cons for him to truly enjoy himself while snow still littered the forest floor, and now knowing spring ought to be rising up soon he was incredibly eager. His paws itched for the warmth and prey that new-leaf promised, and this day was faintly reminiscent of the paradise to come.

This, of course, was the reason he found himself out wandering the territory now. He had half a mind to peek over the VertigoClan border, perhaps just to settle his racing thoughts and maybe clear his mind if he could confirm that he and that lovely ginger lass were true rivals after all, but after the first meeting he just couldn't convince himself. She seemed to enjoy his company almost as much as he enjoyed hers, and that struck him as incredibly odd. He just couldn't get Flamingarrow out of his head!

With a soft sigh, he continued to slink through the trees like a pale shadow, and yelped quietly when he quite literally stumbled across the petite black form of one of his clanmates, who had been napping in the clearing he had only just found himself in. "Oh gosh! I'm sorry F-Fatesong!" He stumbled over her name as he called it to mind, but then dipped his head when he knew for sure that was her name. Also a former rogue, but she'd been in the clan longer. "I didn't even see you there! You looked like a shadow.." Garnetbone added, a bit awkwardly now that he had woken her and so thoroughly embarrassed himself, he didn't know what to say to patch up the situation.

Her immediate reaction was hostile, which threw him off a bit before he remembered hearing about her origins. Delirium. Of course as any cat in the area had, Garnetbone had been bebriefed on that group of rogues lead by the now TempestClan tom known as Blackshard, then just Shard. Of course, he also felt a bit self-conscious as she peered into his hauntingly scarlet eyes. Of course, they were enough to put anyone off a bit. He shivered as the recognition slowly dawned in her gaze, and her fur once more lay flat, but visuals accompanying stories he had heard about the rogues still flashed before him. That was, until Fatesong spoke. Chiding, but not overly upset. "Sorrysorry!" He yelped again, flattening his ears against the nape of his neck rather sheepishly, "Sorry...." Obviously he was feeling quite apologetic, and surely this clanmate saw that, so he stifled any further 'sorrys' that threatened to bubble up out of him uncalled for, and sat down, still rather regretful, he wrapped his long tail about his paws and glanced at her hesitantly.

I dont think I'll flay you this time, She promised him rather graciously, and a grin finally broke over his rough features, "Oh I'd be ever so grateful if you'd spare me this time ma'am!" Garnetbone purred, at last regaining his spirits a bit now that he was forgiven. "Oh, not... much." He meowed, almost guilty as he recalled what exactly his intentions had been. Better leave that bit out of the conversation. "Just making an escape from the activity I suppose, as I haven't got to patrol until this evening. Best enjoy a bit of solitude before then right? I assume you're doing the same. I guess I generally assume we're on the same page with a lot of things, huh? Maybe I'm wrong, but living in a clan's a little too hectic for anyone at times."

Once they were, at last, on the same page, Garnetbone allowed a more genuine smile to sweep across his face which considerably ligthened his rather ominous features. "All apologies past," he mewed, chuckling, "I'd say it's all good and settled." The former rogue purred and twitched his tail, gliding gracefully from his former sitting position to a more comfortable spot on the ground, where he sprawled his rather sizeable frame along the grass that carpetted the clearing, and squinted up at his clanmate, flicking his whiskers contently. She responded, and at once the tom knew he could get along with her. She seemed so amiable, but there were fierce undertones to her movements and words, her gaze could surely turn to daggers in a moment's notice-- he liked that, she seemed strong. He could only guess at the she-cat's history, sure it was just as rich as his own, if not more so.

Leaning back slightly, the ivory fellow closed his eyes and listened to her speak, so willing to chat with him. It was nice-- social interaction without the pressure, he thought. Without opening his eyes, he answered rather softly, as he occasionally did. "It's like being a part of a big family, I like that," He bobbed his head, as if agreeing with himself, "But yeah, I can't stand it sometimes. I think maybe one day I'll get used to it at least a little bit but I feel like there'll always be a part of me that needs alone time. I've just been trained that way. I mean, I always like company and as a rogue I was always incredibly lonely--" He winced visibly when a vision of his younger brother, a black ball of spirit and energy, flashed before his eyes for an agonizing moment, "Which is why I joined the clan in the first place. Company. But so many moons of being by myself and being raised to have the company of only a few cats at a time makes all this constant activity a little exhausting. I mean I used to be able to do what I wanted whenever I pleased. I miss that a little bit." The albino admitted almost guiltily, though he assumed Fatesong would be understanding about it, he still cringed at the thought of fessing up to anything less than absolute love for his new home. Thus he quickly backpeddled.

"Nothing against CelestialClan, of course! It's great. Lots of perks." He chuckled, then cocked his head, thinking back a moment to something she had said before. Peaceful? His thoughts took him back to the battle against TempestClan and he shook his head, "I wouldn't say peaceful, really. My life as a loner was relatively docile. And," He paused, wishing the tingling in his claws would go away as he recalled the sensation of shredding the flesh of strangers, "I've never seen something quite so violent as a battle between clans."

Though his eyes remained serenely shut, leaving him in the dimly-lit cave that made up his thoughts and the peaceful presence of another alone in the forest. Around him, the predominantly leafless trees danced and swayed, clacking together like bones-- a sound Garnetbone had always loved, as haunting as it was. A dirge that only winter could bring and resonate in the ears of all for moons on end. It was strange, how he hardly even heard it until he pricked his ears and tried to find it in the crisp air, the promise of new-leaf brushing through his fur. "Yeah..." He murmured absently, taking a moment to distance himself from his clanmate in an effort to embrace the dead forest's song. But with the weak wind came little noise other than a subtle birdsong, so he opened his eyes for a brief moment to glance her way, satisfied that she had joined him on the forest's generous carpet, and felt all the more casual with her there and then.

"Yeah." The albino repeated, finding himself at once more firmly in the present. "Of course I ran into some not-so-great stuff along the way. I mean really that's grossly understating some of the stuff I've seen--" He interjected himself, then went on thoughtfully. "But you're right, my life has always been fairly peaceful. At least compared to the mental image I've got of Delirium," Garnetbone coughed then, shivering to think of Fatesong's upbringing there, in the land of what had always seemed like nightmares to him. He still had trouble wrapping his paws around it as a reality for some, much less such for the ebony female before him. She seemed so at ease, which in turn let the tom relax himself a bit more. He felt as thought he fought to keep up a bit of a false pretense when with the other members of his clan. Doing his best to keep them all pleased, to prove his worth at every turn. She, of course, could identify with that.

"It's a good thing you didn't see that damned fight. I have no doubt you've seen worse but still..." He trailed off for a heartbeat, reminiscing. "Anyway, you had kits to care for still. Hm? Oh, oh yeah.." He murmured when she meowed a soft question to him, he bobbed his broad head. "As good as I could ask for. CelestialClan is obviously a very proud clan, so of course it's a little hard to make my own niche, you know? But it's better than being lonely, and I've.... made some friends." The former rogue let his voice trail off as he added the last bit, wishing he hadn't. Was Flamingarrow really a friend? He still wanted to convince her to be more, but that would never work of course, and he didn't really have other friends in the clan. No one to be close to at least, just acquaintences. The thought dug into him like a thorn, and he picked it out and spat it away. He'd make friends with time, his clanmates just needed to get used to him.

"It had to be rough, especially coming from such a dodgy past-- no intentions to be insensitive of course!" He amended hastily, shaking his head, "But like I said they're proud cats, and if I'm correct in my CelestialClan history, Hallowstar wasn't in the lead back then was he? I can't keep track, but he's definitely a wonderful leader. I'm glad he was kind enough to take me in like a lost kit anyway. But yeah," Garnetbone bobbed his head in agreement, knowing he didn't need to rehash just how refreshing it could be to relate to someone in a world of near-strangers.

They'd just been out of the nursery, She commented, and it made his heart twinge a bit as he thought of it- her, a life lost. He almost pitied her before he caught himself realizing such a feeling was his no place to give, and did his best to empathize instead. Of course, it would've been hard for her. Her mate was gone, to where Garnetbone didn't think it was proper of him to inquire, but nevertheless gone. The young ones in the throes of a whole new life, one where she felt like a stranger in her supposed home. How rough it must have been! At least his entering CelestialClan had been relatively easy and painless, though he felt that he was forced to fight TempestClan to prove his worth- but in the long run it was easy as could be! Not to mention little to no emotional strain. He couldn't say the same for Fatesong though, looking upon her with a new respect in his eyes as all of it dawned on him. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime," He murmured, quite absent as he said it, hoping that perhaps he wouldn't come off as pressing. He didn't want to reopen any particularly painful wounds of hers, and simply assumed talking about the rogue clan may bring some of those injuries to the surface.

"Yeah I've heard some mention of Cometstar here and there. Titianfoot was.... a bit cowardly was she not? Or maybe too young for the job.. either way I haven't heard much good of either of them. I'm not one to judge though-- some just aren't cut out for positions of authority. I know I'd struggle. Sometimes, though...." The albino paused, mulling the idea over, "Sometimes I think I could do it. I'd like to give it a fair shot anyway, huh? I don't think I'd be too shabby of a leader. I've got a lot to learn though before I could ever consider something like that. I don't think rogue-born cats really get the chance at that kind of thing anyway." He shrugged, not particularly dejected anyhow. Being a warrior usually suited him just fine.

"Oh." He meowed softly, with a slight start. That was rather ubrupt, and he wasn't even sure he could articulate all the points in his life that made him who he was. "Well, I can try to tell you. Or.. I mean, I could summarize. I've been alive quite a while, after all." He laughed softly, and closed his eyes again, rolling over to expose his downy belly, taught with winter's bane.

"Let's see here..." The tom began, sifting through his thoughts and pushing away Flamingarrow's lovely face to the corners of his conscience. No, that wasn't the she-cat he was looking for, but instead a different lass. Far more ignorant, far more pathetic. His mother, that was the one. A stunning brown tabby, vivid golden eyes to boot, surrounded by toms throughout Echer's entire life- none of the chaps did her a lick of good. Only bad, she was always suffering, and he could only stand by and watch, eventually becoming very similar to that himself. Wincing at the thought, he began in hushed tones. "As melodramatic as it sounds, I never knew my dad. I mean, you know toms er- have a tendency to up and disappear.." He completed his thought just having realized how relevant it was, and twitched his whiskers sheepishly, wishing he could be a bit more sensitive.

Nevertheless, he went on quickly, "I was always with my mum. She was a stunning she-cat I think, since toms couldn't get enough of her. I think she hated me a little bit, too, because I was... Well, weird looking. Anyone can agree I'm not really attractive. I've got these awful, awful eyes and just stark white fur and bulky and well yeah. I don't know if I ever had siblings but if I did they were dead pretty quickly, since I don't remember them. Anyway like I said she raised me because she felt obligated but we moved to the city so she wouldn't have to be around me so much I think, because after we moved I only saw her when I could hunt her down. She abandoned me, in retrospect, but at the time I guess I could never get it in my head. I saw awful things there, in the city. Things they did to my mother,

He continued to leave his namesake-gaze hidden safely away behind his eyelids, so he couldn't exactly see his clanmate, but he heard her shifting slightly near him, and appreciatively grunted at the light tones of her voice. It brought a smile to his maw, though it faded quickly as it came, though his mood hadn't dissipated much. Still, it was hard to keep his spirits up when he brought his past to the front of his mind, letting those vivid and frankly horrible images rattle his thoughts. So while not entirely gloomy about it, he couldn't really keep his cheery facade up in that moment anyway. I admire the fact, she told him, and he snorted, opening his eyes and rolling so that he was right-side-up again, and looked at her with his broad head cocked slightly.

"Yeah?" He shrugged, though it was awkward as he was lying down, making the movement stiff and cold-looking. One could tell from his ever-friendly features, though, that Garnetbone would never be icy on purpose, it was simply against his nature and his glowing heart wouldn't put up with that sort of behavior. "I didn't think twice of it, to be honest. You are.... genuine. To me. I guess I still don't know you very well, but I think that if we both expounded on each others experiences we'd find a lot of overlap, you know? We're one in the same in a group like CelestialClan." The albino drew a forepaw over his nose thoughtfully, then turned and let his gaze drift. "It's not corny, it's sweet, and I really really appreciate the gesture." He smiled into the forest, but he was sure Fatesong would have seen it, as he turned back to meet her eyes, his own gaze softened. "I really appreciate it. I'm sure you know I feel the same, I'd always be here if you need me. Although I'm sure you're much more accustomed to clan life by now anyhow. Regardless, friends?" He asked, as though needing to make it official.