SNOWCRUNCH

[ @Rose ]

>> The frost of leaf-bare clung to Snowcrunch’s fur as he pushed into the nursery, a squirrel swinging from his jaws. The warmth inside wrapped around him like a stranger’s embrace — moss, milk, and the faint, rhythmic breaths of slumbering kits. It was a place he didn’t visit often, and for good reason. Memories stirred unbidden, cold and sharp as ice, but he shoved them aside.

Amber eyes adjusted to the dim light, settling on Softdaisy. She lay curled protectively around the deputy’s kits, her gaze seeming soft but tired. Snowcrunch stepped closer, setting the squirrel down with quiet precision.

“Softdaisy,” he greeted, his tone low, steady as stone. He nudged the prey forward with his paw. “You should eat. Kits’ll run you ragged if you don’t take care of yourself.”

He lingered a moment, unsure if he wanted to stay or escape the weight of the nursery walls.

https://warriorcatsonline.com/forums...ictureid=62224
She/Her | [ #Softdaisy ]

Someone bringing food? For her? Daaaww, Softdaisy was going to become spoiled. Didn't mean she would complain though, because her stomach was protesting now that she'd picked up the scent of fresh kill. When was the last time someone had brought her prey, in the Nursery, to her nest? If room service was a thing, Snowcrunch was earning all five stars just like that. Spiderthroat should take some pointers, really. Sniffing slightly at the thought of the deputy - as much as she disliked to admit that fine, he wasn't that incompetent, the calico was still going to hold a grudge.

After all, they were in the same boat. The thirteen kittens baby bugs Softdaisy's sister, Briarberry had given birth to - and consequently left behind for Softdaisy to look after - were not Spiderthroat's kin. The grudge she'd held for so long, that the deputy hadn't been there to at least watch the mother of his supposed kits take her last breaths? It had fizzled out when she'd guiltily realized that the deputy hadn't lied. That her rage and grief and hatred for him had been unfair. They weren't his kits. They weren't Softdaisy's kits, either. They were Briarberry's. Her sister, who'd lied to her, who'd lied to the Clan and claimed that the deputy had sired her kittens.

But now here she was, fostering them. She was their aunt, she was their mother. And shame only colored her fur when she admitted to herself how generous Spiderthroat was being by not publicly outing Briarberry's lies. He cared about the kits even if he didn't have to, she'd seen it herself. And a small part of her broke with that truth. Why had her sister lied to her? Hadn't they shared everything? Done everything together? Wasn't she worth knowing the truth? Briarberry had died, and with it, she'd taken all the answers to the questions Softdaisy had.

Ripped out of her brooding after her consciousness reminded her that she'd drifted off in the middle of a conversation, the calico queen pulled herself back into reality. "Thank you, Snowcrunch." She sits up to accept the squirrel, burying the desire to stretch. His words had her thoughts drifting again. Elsewhere, this time. "No more kits to run me ragged, soon enough." Softdaisy aimed to crack a grin, bushy tail drifting over Mitekit. Her last remaining baby bug in the Nursery. "The ones that are still around are all apprentices." The rest... flown the nest. She didn't know where her missing kits had gone, but in her heart they remained with the stillborn kits she'd had too early. "I've been in here for so long it feels strange how close I am to warriorhood again." Right, her stomach was grumbling, upset at her for making niceties when she could be eating. "Thank you. For the prey."

SNOWCRUNCH

[ @Rose ]

>> The nursery always felt too small for Snowcrunch. Not physically —though his broad shoulders nearly brushed the edges of the den— but in a way that made his chest tighten. The air here carried the weight of something he couldn't name. Ghosts, maybe. He'd stepped into this space a dozen times since Emberleaf’s death, but it never stopped feeling like a reminder of what could have been.

Softdaisy’s thanks pulled him from the depths of his thoughts. Her voice carried a forced lightness that wasn’t lost on him, though he made no comment on it. He nodded once, a slow, deliberate motion, and shifted his weight as she reached for the squirrel.

“You’ve done more than most would,” he said, his tone quiet but steady. His amber gaze lingered on the tiny shape of Mitekit for a heartbeat before returning to the queen. “Not everyone would take on what you have.”

He almost stopped there. It would have been easier to let the words settle and turn away. But something about the way her grin faltered, the way her tail brushed protectively over the kit, made him pause. The kits were apprentices now —most of them, anyway— but she was still here. Still trying.

“I doubt the warrior’s den will know what to do with you when you return,” he said finally, his attempt at humor dry, edged with a flicker of sincerity. “They’ll have to figure out how to share their space with someone who’s carried about half the Clan on her shoulders.”

There was a beat of silence, the kind that felt like an open door he wasn’t sure he wanted to walk through. But curiosity, or maybe something softer, made him press on. “Do you miss it? Warrior life?” He tilted his head slightly, his amber eyes steady but unintrusive. “Or have you grown used to this?”

The faintest twitch of his ear betrayed his discomfort before he dipped his head, an almost formal gesture. “Please, eat. You’ll need the strength if Mitekit has half the energy of the others.”

https://warriorcatsonline.com/forums...ictureid=62224
She/Her | [ #Softdaisy ]

Okay, fine, she was too hungry to wait until the conversation was fully over. Could you blame a gal for eating while listening? Her heart lightens at the words of kindness. Kindness she isn't sure she deserves. Anyone could raise a child, she was just doing her part. Did she miss it? Being a warrior? Had she grown used to it? Questions that'd been swirling in her mind lately. Questions that she didn't know the answer to. But now that she was faced with them, in the form of someone else's voice, there was no shying away. She wasn't the youngest anymore. But her trip out of ThunderClan's walls for that hunting event had proved that she could still provide for her Clan. Though rusty, her skills hadn't left her. They'd just needed refreshing.

Which brought her back in a full circle. Did she want that life again? After spending so much time in here, after seeing kits who'd never really be hers grow and flourish and mature? A small part of her whispered its answer. Her maw parts, head lifting from where she'd been staring down at Mitekit, eyes distant, to look at Snowcrunch again. To deliver her answer. Only to be cut short at Maplekit's appearance, to be stayed by the kit's words.

Her tongue had almost slipped. She'd almost asked the kid where her parents were. It was a heartbeat later that Softdaisy recalled Maplekit not having parents. She'd taken in Loonkit, she'd taken in Snakepaw. She'd attempted to take in Lynxkit, but the little tom had been adamant about Bumblestar being his mother. If Maplekit had no parents to care for her... who was she to discriminate? A split second of decision is all it takes.

Gold eyes soften as she gazes down at the little darling, the corner of her mouth quirking upward in amusement at the hostility directed at Snowcrunch. Her tail shifts over the ground in an attempt to sweep Maplekit into her nest, away from the cold of not being near any source of warmth. "No, Maplekit. If you want me to stay until you become an apprentice, I will." And then her actual answer to Snowcrunch's question, spoken soft and still barely a flower bud of a thought, underdeveloped. "I'm not sure. Maybe I'll find Bumblestar once the little ones in my care grow. Ask her if I could join Weepingwillow as a Forever Queen." Her lips tilt in a small, wistful smile, marred by sorrow. "Or maybe not. Not now, when she's grieving over Wolfhive's loss. It isn't every day you lose a son." Softdaisy would be forever grateful to the former Head Hornet. For being there when Briarberry had given birth, helping her sister along before she passed.