softer sun [dawn]

[LYNX ♥]

the relief that so often came hand in hand with the dawning of new-leaf was sorely missing, and everyone had noticed. after all, no one had been particularly pleased when the ebbing of winter brought on the destruction of the homes they had always known, nor when the sprouting of blossoms brought about a harrowing journey that claimed the lives or allegiances of many. still, the excitement of the last few moons was something no one was likely to forget in a hurry, especially the new warrior brazenthorn.

sure, she had witnessed her father's murder at the hands of her half-brother, but she didn't buy into the drama. shard had been a shitty father anyway, and the biggest reason she acted appalled about the whole situation was for the sake of her uncle and former mentor voidstar. in all honesty, she almost admired wraithlight. though shard had been rapidly aging and lost much of the spark he earned his name from, it was still impressive to see the big white warrior accomplish what so many had been itching to do for moons. that didn't mean brazenthorn wouldn't put out a hateful exterior for him to see, of course, because slowly but surely she was learned to keep her most unpopular opinions to herself.

still, her internal filter was a bit faulty. her horrible habit of speaking before thinking left her sprawled before a rather sizable squirrel, half-eaten, and cussing unashamedly while she spluttered clumps of fur out. "idiot fuckin squirrels," she muttered, "all this starclan damned fluff gonna give me a fucking hairball." she wasn't really particularly upset, although the idea of hacking up half of what she was eating later didnt much appeal to her, the scruffy tawny female was more or less just indulging her bad habit of unnecessary complaining on her meal, since the weather was so beautiful (even through the rolling torrents of fog that was perpetually covering this new territory) and no one was currently nattering her ear off, it was the only thing she could find to be mad at.

[/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Dawn]

"He’s the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes, and he only comes out at night." Dawn, sunrise, damn, he felt creakier than his short lifespan allowed. Time for patrol with his favorite cousin, Dreamfeather. She's really getting to be a bitch, some days. The entire patrol, spent wondering what was eating at her, and then they passed along the Shoreclan border, and he wondered. Splashmist, his sister. Well, the little runt had hardly been kin to him, to tell the truth. Jayblue didn't quite know what it was- he almost felt, well, bad, about how things had turned out in their family. Shit, really. His one and only living sibling running off with some Zephyrclan- well, Shoreclan now- tom and having kits with him and all. Dreamfeather and Splashmist had had some kind of family bond that was like nothing he'd ever had with any of them. So, maybe that was it. He tried to catch the patrol leader's eyes, but her back was turned as she stalked relentlessly ahead, at a pace far too swift for the others. When she did at last, much of the death march later, tilt her head back to call an order to an apprentice just to Jayblue's right, he saw nothing in her hard, ice blue eyes. But he couldn't help but notice how similar their gazes were. And that was all that had happened to him of note. The patrol had gone on long, far too long, he felt. Jayblue was just working up the energy to spit out a gravelly complaint when Dreamfeather doubled back after they had snaked through the territory. What a pointless, woefully in-depth examination of the territory that had been. Head low, the gray tabby followed his clanmates back toward camp, now utterly devoid of meaningful thought. His muscles seemed unwilling to function. He took in none of the camp when they finally made it back, merely parting from the others with his usual bitterly angry posture, body tense and lips turned down sharply. His stomach growled, but he wasn't all too sure he felt like eating. Instead, feeling sulky for no good reason at all, he lay down in the dirt and gave his tail a lash. It wasn't until a bit behind him he heard a like-minded voice, albeit in a quiet tone, but expressing the same kinds of sugarless complaints. Brazenpaw, she was Brazenthorn, now. Weird, to think that his own warrior ceremony had been so long ago that the apprentice had earned her own warrior name now. The superiority he'd held over her through that was no more. "D'you ever do anything but complain?" Jayblue said, turning to look at her with probably his worst attempt at snarkiness.

[/color][bg=668877][atrb=width,253,true] [atrb=border,0,true][/td][/tr][/table][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[LYNX ♥]

she continued to tear at the bits of flesh and chew and spew curses and bits of fur, most ladylike, as she mutilated her poor prey. well it wasn't on purpose, but she really hated trying to grate her teeth through bits of fur. after all, there was a reason her fur was in a continuous state of chaos. fur was gross, and eating it was not really an option for her, and the crumpled look upon her features said everything her words left out. but it was good and satisfying in spite of it all, and she was just licking her chops with loud smacks when she heard a familiar drawl nearby. looking up almost guiltily in her messy state of being, brazenthorn met jayblue's gaze and raised her tabby-marked brows in an expression that almost portrayed concern.

"that's.... it?" she asked, "you're really off your game this morning." the brown female remarked, flicking her tail nonchalantly as she returned her attention to cleaning up at least a little bit of the mess she had made, burying the bones and scraps, dusting away the bits of fur that surrounded her scrawny frame like a morbid halo- she even took a heartbeat to smooth her chest fur, though she didn't exactly know why, and then she looked back up into those chips of ice for eyes and felt her ears go hot. "don't worry about it. you're still my favorite little raincloud," she assured the other warrior in a mock singsong voice, crinkling up her nose at him like a mother would do teasingly to her kit.

suddenly, the young female realized she was actually cleaning her fur, perhaps feeling a bit self-conscious under his penetrating and ever-judgmental gaze, and stopped abruptly with a frown creasing her brow. no, that kind of behavior wasn't really acceptable. well, it was, considering how filthy she probably was after the stress of the last few moons, but totally not-ok under the current conditions. that is, an annoyance of a tom staring her down and constantly managing to make her feel anything but good enough without hardly addressing her at all. no, not acceptable whatsoever. however, she managed a quick save by turning the frown that had been directed at her own actions onto him, almost a challenge.

[/justify]

[Dawn]

"He’s the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes, and he only comes out at night." He couldn't help it, he grinned. Well, it wasn't a grin. It was a half-smirk. It was like one corner of his mouth was amused, and the other countered with a grim set. His eyes flickered, without showing any hint of warmth. It was just what a mess she was. Brazenthorn. He found it... funny? In a weird way. Not really a 'funny ha-ha' way. Or maybe it was, but he didn't feel like laughing. He wanted to grit his teeth. "Yeah, well," he snapped, without really any follow-up. Possibly the lamest line he'd ever uttered, even if his voice was harsh enough to make it sound like an insult. Right up there with a kit squabbling with his sibling and crying, "Yeah, well, you're a bee-brained rabbit foot! Yeah! That's right!" He felt stupid, and he cocked his head so that his eyes busied themselves with the leaves of a nearby tree. Man, were those leaves fascinating. He continued to sulk, not even much caring that he hadn't yet made a counterattack. To hell with it, what did he care? "Don't worry about it. You're still my favorite little raincloud." Jayblue shrugged roughly, finally gazing at her again only to glare. "Your favorite, huh? Anybody else on the list worth competing with? Do I get any sort of prize, or just the pleasure of your company?" He sighed. Yeah, that's it, Jayblue! If you can't insult them, you can at least make them feel uncomfortable! He rolled onto his back and slightly in her direction. "Up for a tussle? You're a big bad warrior now, or so I've heard."

[/color][bg=668877][atrb=width,253,true] [atrb=border,0,true][/td][/tr][/table][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[LYNX ♥]

in spite of herself, the tawny female had her murky green gaze locked on the tom's features, unsure of whether she was simply observing the movements of his face or noticing how very much the snake-like nature of his visage complimented his cold, serpentine gaze. what a weird thing to think, since she didn't find it particularly appealing. not that she generally found any toms appealing, but she didn't really spend much time observing anyone's face, either. regardless of those silly thoughts, brazenthorn narrowed her eyes at the expression forming on his maw, wishing he didn't act like such a goddamned rock all the time- cold and hard on the inside, cold and hard on the outside too.

"jeez I thought you came over here so I could yell at you instead of my meal but you're not really being much more responsive than my dead squirrel. figures, you aren't even going to argue properly." she sighed a bit mockingly, since it was strange, after all, that the tom who usually took such pleasure in being an asshole was voluntarily wasting his time with her. well, maybe sulking at her beat sulking alone. fair enough- it turned out insulting at him was better than insulting alone too. his gaze turned away with sudden interest and she turned her head to find what he had suddenly become so enraptured with and found nothing, with a frown. "see ghosts?" the she-cat mused with a bit less venom than she had intended. jayblue really was looking quite haunted.

she was relieved when he turned back to her with a spark of familiar brooding in his cerulean gaze. "there are a few other rainclouds, I suppose," she murmured thoughtfully, thinking of every member of her family, "but it's not a very impressive list. I guess you don't have to do much to keep your title. yeah you just keep that unhappy smirk on your face one hundred percent of the time and you'll keep your title nicely. king of the fuckin rainclouds in no time, yes." brazenthorn meowed snappishly, noting his sneer with one of her own in return. his next move surprised her a bit, and her heart gave a half-hearted thump when her unthinking reply came.

the small female pounced on him. her claws were in, of course, but the challenge was irresistible. "a tussle? I could take you out little bluebird!" she snapped, realizing with a warm blush how very much of their fur was brushing, and how close their faces were. were her ears on fire? almost in a panic, she got off of him and licked her paw calmly, like nothing had happened. no sir she was not interested in coming in contact with anyone but an enemy on the battlefield and anyone who thought otherwise was dead wrong! dead! "I can't image you having pleasure from anyone's company," she added as an afterthought, though it was very true.

[Dawn]

"He’s the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes, and he only comes out at night." Jayblue rolled his eyes at the younger warrior's complaints. "You can start throwing out witty remarks anytime now," he jabbed back, merely shrugging. It wasn't like Brazenthorn was doing such a great job at arguing either. At least he had an excuse to be sub-par. He flashed her a look with a moody blue gaze. "See ghosts?" "Sometimes," he said honestly, not expecting her to take it as the truth. "Wow, King of the Fuckin' Rainclouds? I didn't know I'd even become King of the Rainclouds yet." He feigned pleased surprise, which really looked quite out of place on his scowl-familiar maw. "Maybe Voidstar will step down and let me lead the clan, in that case." He smirked, only because he was thinking of Dreamfeather's face in that scenario. She would be outraged. When Brazenthorn leaped upon him, he tensed, eyes widening. "Oh." They'd never been quite so close, so much so that he was looking directly into her olive eyes, just above him. He hesitated, and she leaped off him hurriedly. Feeling strangely awkward, he rolled quickly to a sitting position, shoulders stiffened. "You really took me out," Jayblue meowed sarcastically, engrossing himself in the scenery (looking anywhere but at Brazenthorn, to be sure). "Don't you have apprentice duties or- Don't you have a patrol to be getting to-? Something...?" He half-muttered.

[/color][bg=668877][atrb=width,253,true] [atrb=border,0,true][/td][/tr][/table][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[LYNX ♥]

"oh puh-lease," the female drawled, her frustratingly smug features contorting into an even more frustrating smirk, "I don't pride myself in cleverness, silly!" she mewed, singsong voiced. "I'm just good at throwing down the good ol' truth in the most obnoxious way possible, right? when have you ever heard me say anything witty, starclan." shaking her head with a faint smile, brazenthorn curled her long, ragged tail and lashed the tip absentmindedly. she tilted her head a bit sideways and peered at him through narrowed eyes- a common expression for her. after all, she hated when others seemed to be looking at her eyes since they were so... blotchy. it was like they could tell she was nearly blind in the uglier eye of the two, what other excuse did it have for looking so shitty? jeez.

"uuuughh." she groaned, flopping onto her back to expose her long, slender underside, a slightly paler hue than her plain brown coat- almost a pleasant tawny color. it was a dramatic show, which was exactly what jayblue's rainclouds comment deserved, in her eyes. perhaps a more tactful or pleasant feline would have taken the time to explain that he had misinterpreted her earlier snooty comment, but brazenthorn honestly just couldn't be bothered with it. who even cared? this bickering was so idiotic it almost hurt. half of her wanted to tell the tom to scram, but she would have ached to see the only cat who bothered to keep her company go, even if it was just smelly ol' jayblue, with his pretty eyes and other such bullshit.

she was terribly embarrassed that she'd actually, like, touched him, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna know that. grown warriors could playfully scuffle without getting all awkward, couldn't they? she snorted at him loudly, rather unlady-like, and rolled her eyes. "I could take you out, dirtbrain, but it would hurt me to attack such an easy target, you know? like taking moss from a kit. you'd probably just mutter snarky comments with your dying breath, hardly bothering to unsheathe your claws! hm!" she remarked, flicking her tail as she finally sat up straight and continued to peer at him through narrowed eyes like she had been before. "apprentice duties?" she snapped, "I got half a mind to jump on you again for that! brazenthorn, remember? warrior duties, furball. and what are you doing that's so important sitting here? I was here first thank you very much!" she snapped, "jeez, why don't you just come nose around the territory with me? this is boring as hell." the brown she-cat started to get up and dust off her pelt and paused to look at him expectantly.