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The Apostles is a warrior cats roleplay based in northern Wisconsin. On Lake Superior, the wild cats have made the Apostle Islands their home. It is on these islands - Rocky Island and South Twin Island - that the clan and tribe cats have lived in a peace and harmony that ebbs and flows with the tide.
But as the tides turn, so does the truce that binds them to one another; and as the water raises, a darkness follows, an evil that will end in bloodshed and violence.
It was times like these that he specifically missed the warmth of a lover.
Finchstar never found himself yearning for the pleasantries of a mate, despite being the loving type. There was so much left to give, when he had so much in store for his previous mate and children. But yet, as the moons went on and the seasons changed, nothing had filled that void in his life. So he poured all of that love into the care and endearment of his clanmates, and as his Clan has grown, the satisfaction gained from focusing on gaining friendships within his Clan and pushing them through war had sufficiently restored any gaping holes of loneliness or despair felt from his lingering mental scars. In fact, he had never felt less lonely in his entire life, feeling as if all of his Clan were his family instead of just a select few.
But as the days grew exceptionally colder and, as of recent, the snow being exceptionally stubborn, all Finchstar craved was the pelt of another pressed beside him. It was a guilty feeling, something so physical and raw was so uncharacteristic of him. But yet, as he nestled deeper into his nest, unwilling to face the morning streaks that dappled the innards of his den, he couldn't escape the craving of feeling the embrace of another instead. Having a mate on mornings like this was one of his favorite things about loving another.
With a reluctant stretch, Finchstar pulled himself out of his den and immediately reflected on the fresh-kill pile. If there were any prey, it was covered in snow, for only a white sheet covered the area. As he went over to investigate, he let a paw dig into where the pile of prey should be. Empty. With a quick glance around, blinking the rushing snow that fluttered into his eye, he found that only Pebblefoot was awake. A rush of heat entered his cheeks despite the cold that stung them. He had just been thinking about the comfort of another flank against him...would Pebblefoot do that with him? But as fast as the thought rushed into his head, was a fast as he discarded it. What am I thinking?! The cold must be numbing my brain... Yet, a newfound yearning deeper than the pang of hunger churned in his guts as he proceeded to walk toward the warrior. "Pebblefoot! Up for a quick hunt before we're buried in snow?"
It felt like it had been days since she had eaten, even though there were some that brought her the fruits of the ground that scurried to find shelter before the storm hit. It was warm in the warriors den, a warmth that felt like somehow, her brother was still there, sleeping heavily and waiting for her to wake him up with an annoying song, just like she did season after season. In her funk she would nibble on the prey that others brought her and sip on the condolences of her clanmates. The loss had left her in a strange lethargy that commanded her to stay nested as much as possible, but yet yearned to be out, and back to her old self again. Light work was in her schedule, lighter than most, though sometimes, she would elect to hunt something herself in brief spurts of feeling and persona.
The wretched war had finally ended, but she had to admit to hersel, it was a strange time. Finally, she had what she wanted, what she believed was the legacy of her mother and father had been realized, and the potential for a new era of peace was upon them. Even as she grieved, there was no denying there was a sweetness to be had in that it was all finally, in the past. That the songs she loved to sing so much would ring out over the canopies again, and that Thornfall's absence hadn't been for nothing. Starclan's power had been restored to them as a result of his actions, and she was sure that he was smiling, free of the weight of the war, and wishing she wasn't so down about him.
If only it could be so.
She didn't want to leave the warmth of the den, but when a pair of apprentices told her that had arrived to clean her fur at the behest of the deputy, her face reddened, and she lashed at them with her paws sheathed, swatting the air about them.
"I am perfectly capable of bathing myself! Hmph!"
And so she did. She gathered some old bones and marched herself out of the barracks and into the snow. The shock was reinvigorating, and she spent a moment scrubbing herself down with her tongue and the powdery accumulations around her. For a moment it felt nice, and her ministrations rendered her once more smelling and looking her proper self. Even though the cold was nipping at her heels, there was another sensation that ate at her. From her belly, a rumbling drove her to leave the snow bank and seek out some form of sustenance.
"I need something to eat. Like, now..."
She proceeded toward the where the clan agreed to place its bounty, but there, at the suggestion of a prey pile, was Finchstar instead. She gasped, and with a quick lick, smoothed out the rough edged of her ears and nape. It was nearly impulse, and did so in spite of him being the only cat in the admittedly short field of view. Before she knew it, he was upon her, with a proposition that widened her eyes. He mentioned a hunt, and that was a word that led to other words, like 'prey' and 'food.' Besides, if there was any cat that could help her return to a sense of normalcy, even for a few hours, it was him.
"Yes. Please Finchstar, my leader. Lead me to where the food is. "
The pair stepped through the threshold of the camp, and into the wild Redwoods, covered in the whiteness of the falling flakes. While she walked and sniffed air, she eyed the tom beside him, wondering where he would take her, and if there were any leaderly spots she didn't know of. A small smile ebbed onto her face.
"So...Victorystar, haha. After it was all said and done...that was some speech you gave. If you want my opinion, you could have sang...but..."
She flashed that same grin she wore, now having spread.
"Yes. Please Finchstar, my leader. Lead me to where the food is."
Pebblefoot tugged at his guts in such an odd way. The oddest way, in fact. There was no other cat that danced around predictability and expectations like she did, no other that catered to the uniqueness of herself like her. She was more than her own cat, but her own wind, her own aura, a new brand of existence that lived in the breaths of a single living being. It was too bad, her presence confined in a body that could die, for she deserved to live like the sky does or gentle ebb and flow of the breeze, an everlasting experience that comforted and enlightened every life to come.
Finchstar loved, but rarely deeply. Only once, and never again. But with her, he never felt closer.
And with the gentle flicker of humor in his eye, and a smile that thawed the frozen air, Finchstar wordlessly walked with her out of camp, only faltering in pace when the she-cat spoke. Embarrassment flushed his pelt, and his gaze turned toward the frozen landscape. "I had a great teacher," Finchstar finally spoke after a moment of recovery, a playful smile directly opposing the self-consciousness darkening his glance. With a genuine blink, he emphasized, "I couldn't have done it without you." Then, suddenly, the most subtle of scents wafted in his nostrils, confiscating all of his attention. Rabbit.
Tongue suddenly drowning in saliva, silently he pulled away from his comrade, carefully following the warm touch caressing the bitter cold winds. Soon, the brown tips of ears snagged his sight, contrasting vividly against the pale palettes of winter. It was scrawny, Finchstar remarked to himself, as it hopped into view. But it was big and mature.
Even after some very slow and patient stalking, it seemed the silent and odorless atmosphere was plenty enough to sabotage his ambush, the rabbit taking off before he could even begin a leap. Hissing in frustration, he pelted after it as it quickly dove into a tunnel in the ground. Just as he caught up to it, cornering it in its own den, the rabbit fled into an unseen hole, leaving a confused Finchstar in the dark. It was only after a few moments of listening and searching that he realized it was hopeless, his prey had escaped.
A defeated head rose from the depths, only to be confiscated by snow. Just in the time he resided underground, the light but steady snowfall had transitioned into a dense and heavy whirlwind of white. Blinking the snow from his eye, he called, "Pebblefoot! Down here, there's just enough room!" With a sigh, he added, "Now that the rabbit escaped, anyway."
"Now that's a much better sight to see than his war face."
Indeed, she considered her leader to be handsome, but there something telling about the way he moved his face. Over where there was supposed to be an eye, robbed from him by that conflict that she despised so much, there still seemed to be a way for him to convey the feelings that he wanted to say with his words but sometimes couldn't. In his visage, she could sometimes see more passion and more feeling than anyone could muster, more than she could remember seeing from anyone with two eyes lately, at least.
"Ah, maybe not. But..."
And, at this, she flashed once again a coy and knowing smile, her false grandiosity and half genuine ego acting as a bridge to emphasis, that her next point rode across.
"...you still did. Proud of ya. What kind of Redwood has no sap? I loved it. "
It was her plan to get him to maybe do a few more impressions of his speech, maybe one rendition of his closing affirmation as a the dreaded Minnowstar. However, there was little she could do, once he had seen him drop into his hunting stance. He gripped this opportunity, and so did she. Once her nose touched the scent of the rabbit, her stomach gurgled, and as he promised, she would be led to where the food was. She followed at a distance as to not spook the rabbit, and she waited for the opportunity to sink her teeth into something juicy, especially to share it with him.
"How can it be breaking the code if it's with the leader? Hehehe..."
Just then, before she could utter any more off the wall comments, he leaped, and he was gone in an instant. The powder seemingly engulfed him, and the flurry continued. Nature was about to unleash its full fury, and the silent snowfall began to sing. It was a pleasant sound, and she turned her ear toward it, but only for a moment. The wind became a roar, then losts its majesty and turned to a terrible howling. Not only were her cries for Finchstar being blotted out, but so was she, her tabby coat starting to get blotted out by the increase in snowfall. Cold began to seep in through her pelt the more she moved through the snow, and the moisture of the ground began to turn to ice around her. Then, it was if another song of nature came to her ears, strangely familiar and muffled. She moved her paws closer, and found it was Finchstar, calling her to the burrow he'd lopped himself in. She dug through the pack, and into the rabbit's den, hoping.
"Well...g-g-glad you found so...someplace to hole up. It's colder than...than a...a-a- a dead c-c-cat's nose out th-th-ere. "
She only took notice of her slightly quivering body as she checked herself, seeing only snow, forest debris...a stammer and her voice,and the lack of rabbit.
"C-C- Cold and h-hungry tonight, h-huh? Well..."
She shook herself, evening her voice out with a groan.
"I should just be thankful we both fit...maybe if he decides to come back we can have a party...hah..."
She looked up at him, a sudden concern rippling across her face.
"Oh, fox. Nobody knows we're gone...Everyone else is probably all holed up too. We might be stuck.I mean...in here...you gonna be okay with just me as your clan for a while?
Finchstar's ears flicked with amusement at the eagerness displayed in Pebblefoot's shivering body as she joined him in the small confines of the rabbit den. It was indeed a tight fit, but they did indeed fit, his theory prevailing as the pretty warrior slipped in beside him.
As she fitted herself in, she tossed him a dose of the uncomfortable reality they were in before immediately drenching it with her humorous charm. "I appreciate your unwavering positivity," Finchstar purred with laughter, before replying, "Haha, as long as you are okay with being my new deputy."
As Pebblefoot settled, he suggested quickly, "But we should keep close for warmth." It was a suggestion fueled by the innocence of practicality, being naturally accustomed by this point in his leadership to adapt any situation to its most productive and comfortable limit. But as he spoke the words, heat started to tinge his face, realizing he was just putting himself exactly where he wanted unintentionally.
Stars, I hope she doesn't think this was some purposeful scheme. At least, Finchstar had quite the innocent reputation. Maybe too innocent, in fact. It still did not comfort his paranoid anxieties, though, nervous he would betray his own contentment with feeling her flank on his.
As they got closer, familiar feelings returned, the hot rush of awareness coursing through his fur as the duo's flanks flushed flat against each other's. All of the sudden he felt entirely overwhelmed, hyper aware of the tips of his ears burning and the micro movements of his tail nervously twitching behind him. He felt as if he couldn't breathe, and yet his heart was working harder than it ever had in his chest. He felt trapped, yet safe at the same time. Anxiety took over his tongue.
"...I couldn't stop thinking about that night." The words that tumbled out of his mouth surprised him, his own honesty giving away his thoughts before he could construct more plausible explanation. It wasn't exactly how he wanted to lead into this, but without this context, it could have been even more confusing for her. At least, lucky for him, Pebblefoot had brought it up earlier. Maybe it wasn't too far fetched to bring it up now. "When you helped me with that speech. I...when you leaned on me for a moment, I...it was invigorating, and overwhelming, at the same time...I-" Finchstar interrupted himself, suddenly feeling like an apprentice again as he stumbled for words. "...your fur, that warmth...it was something I didn't know I wanted, or missed..." he slowly looked at her.
"...and I feel that way now." He stopped abruptly with a loud snap of his jaws, shifting uncomfortable in his own pelt. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. Maybe this wasn't the most convenient time to be saying this."
She couldn't help but let out a stifled bout of laughter at the way Finchstar played along with her jokes, and seemed to infect her with a jolliness that was divinely inspired. She was wet, cold, and hungry, but as they bared their smiles to one another, she felt dry and full of heat. It was almost enough to dispel the film of cold that wrapped her fur in it's embrace, and for a moment, she envisioned what a clan of two would be like. No matter what would happen, through the battles, the hunts, the gatherings and squabbles, they'd most likely find themselves in a burrow, huddled for safety against the world at large, much like they were doing now. While she was glad that somewhere else, her large redwood family was extant, she was content to imagine the world as a joint operation, for as long as they were holed up together.
"I guess it isn't so bad..."
"...for warmth."
Pebblefoot had not a chance to agree nor disagree before the leader's tabby pelt was upon hers. Suddenly, there was warmth, more than the imagined stuff that was sustaining her before. There was a calming pressure, and a pleasant tingling, like the sun had somehow found their rabbit hole. Something about that feeling was visceral and raw, as if in sharing his body with her, he was communicating more than a simple thermal transfer, or a need to keep warm. She leaned back into him, reveling in a closeness she had found difficult with others, but effortless with him.
"He's probably buzzing away inside that head of his...poor tom, hah..."
Then, Finchstar began to speak. It was a hurried affair, but slow at the same time as he was apt to sound when he was nervous. Finchstar stopped and started, stumbled and sped, but she could discern what he was trying to say. His words were of the time they had spent together at the waterfall, and how she made him feel. Her heart began to beat faster an faster in her chest as she took in his words. They were so genuine, and so innocent. It was as if he was simply stating a fact of life for him no less true than his lives, or his station. In truth, she was used to hearing opines of her beauty and fun, flighty nature. She was accustomed to the vapid and superficial, so much so that she was caught off guard by his admission. The words had penetrated to a place in her soul, a place where she would face her memories, and realize the feelings were mutual.
"...I feel that way now."
"Finch..."
She began to speak her mind, but was cut off by the squirming of his body and the soundness of his apology. She looked over in concern, rolled her eyes a bit, then pulled away from his pelt.
"Finchstar, you have nothing to be sorry about. You are a wonderful orator. You are a wonderful leader, and an even more wonderful-er friend to me. Even in those times where it seemed like ther ewas no way out, or I was being stubborn, or I...just anything. You're always there. And no matter how you chage...you're always you. After eveything you've been through and all that you've done, you deserve to feel invigorated. You deserve to have every cat in the forest at your back and at your side and you deserve all the warmth of the sun. "
There wasn't much room in the burrow to move around, but there was enough to face him. She locked eyes with him and held his gaze, then she leaned in and with her tongue, planted a passionate lick across his forehead. Then she pulled away again, moving as far back as she could.
"I feel that way too. "
She flopped herself over to her side, slowly arched her neck back toward him, her eyes serious and half-lidded, heavy with an invitation to warm her in a way beffitting two cats in a burrow who happened to like each other.
"I've got what you're missing, Finchstar...come and find it."
With her tail, she flicked her summoning gesture, and soon she felt the weight of her leader atop her in a manner that was much more forceful, much more sating, and much, much more warm.
