Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
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It was a big night for Rosethorn- she was leaving her son without either of his parents for the first time. He was entirely safe, and was actually doing pretty well today, but it still frazzled her nerves. The occasion wasn't anything fancy, just a night walk with her mate.
Things had been strange between them lately, with each of them processing their grief separately. There was comfort in his presence, but Rosethorn didn't know how to reach out, how to be a support for him, when she was still feeling the acuteness of their loss. But if time didn't heal, at least it numbed, and she wasn't so bad anymore. Now she just felt guilty for how thoroughly she had shut down.
"Hey there, handsome," the pretty queen said, meeting Phantom by the exit to camp. "Are you ready to go?"
Shame hung like a curtain masking the light he previously contained in his heart, kindled there by the warmth that accompanied love, and it wouldn't be hard for Rosethorn to glimpse it in his eyes---if Phantomfox met hers at all. He slept in the nursery, bundled around her and Foxkit, but when it was time to start handling his duties to the clan and to Aspenstar, he was anywhere but in the nursery, sometimes scarcely found in camp, the evidence of his own grieving laced across his shoulders and sides in the form of gashes patched up by himself (because Pinesimmer certainly wasn't about to do him any favors).
Still avoiding her sharp amber gaze, which would have relaxed him to see the light beginning to return within it, he gave a once-over of her pelt, reaching to nose a stray tuft back down. "I'm ready," he agreed, but hesitated. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" Aspenstar herself was watching Foxkit for the night---from a distance, so he could have a whisper of independence for one of the first times.
"Of course I'm ready," Rosethorn said, trying to convince herself as much as Phantomfox. Why wasn't her looking at her, anyway? Rosethorn moved a little closer, nudging his chin gently. "C'mon," she said, her soft foot-falls leading out into the territory beyond the camp. It was silent for a moment, and the queen was glad for that fact, as it allowed her to gather her thoughts.
"I've been thinking," she said, keeping her tone light. "That maybe you could train me once Foxkit gets promoted. I'd like to be a warrior, I think."
The scent of jasmine whispered against his senses and pulled his eyes up, scarcely able to catch sight of Rosethorn's as she glanced back at him. He followed behind, drinking in the familiarity of her scent and enjoying the memories it evoked, but Rosethorn caught him off guard, her voice freezing the reverie and her request arresting his step mid-stride. "A warrior?" He echoed. "You... Are you sure?" The Rosethorn he knew, his Rosethorn, couldn't stand even the insinuation of death and gore.
Phantomfox studied her for a moment, as if to take her in for the first time again, his eyes tracing her features. Physically, she was unchanged, but there was a hint of that fire, that willpower, seeping back in, his mate standing just smidge taller than she had recently. Or maybe she'd been for a while and he just hadn't noticed.
"What, do you think I can't do it?" Rosethorn teased- more gently than she would've before, but still with that returning spirit that had been so thoroughly smothered a few moons prior. It seeped out around her, testing out old tricks, returning in a twinkle of her amber eyes. "I'm sure, love. Never again will I be bested by a feral raccoon."
Perhaps he was worried about her training? That would make sense, as she was now twice as old as the youngest warriors and so far behind she hated to think about it. Still, she had thought long and hard about this.
His lips crooked in a smirk. "Oh, already talking about feral animals, are we?" He loped to catch back up to her and settle into a more comfortable gait beside her, the ends of his chocolate coat gently whisking against her cream-and-gray patches. "Of course I think you can do it, love. I suppose if you wanna become the muscle, I'll allow it. I can retire and be your trophy husband," Phantomfox quipped. sunlight
"Once I master the basics, I'm marching out to find the first rabid creature I can. To avenge myself for those many moons ago," Rosethorn responded, leaning into the warmth of his darker coat. "And you won't ever retire. You wouldn't be able to keep yourself from starting fights out of boredom."
Rosethorn was surprised- and delighted- how naturally these quips came back to her. It was a warm and balmy night, and the stars shone like gems against the navy backsplash of sky, and she was in a very good mood. "I wanted to thank you for suggesting Aspenstar and I go out to the river a few weeks ago. It really did help, you know. She's been a good friend, so far."
Rosethorn's quip revealed a deeper truth, recalling the absolute bloodlust he'd reveled in that night with Glowstar. It had felt good to let loose, to feel bones break under his weight and not fear his mate or son witnessing the crime. He shivered, the nerves along his skin awakening in the memory, but as quickly as it thrilled through him, it was snuffed out and ice chilled in his blood. "Aspenstar is a great friend," he agreed, the real depths to the sentiment kept sealed beneath clipped neutrality.
"Speaking of Aspenstar," he pressed, shuffling the subject to more comfortable territory, "she mentioned ceremonies will be coming up. Perhaps your training will come along and you can assist in his. I'll bet he'd be excited about that."
Rosethorn didn't know exactly how deep her mate's bloodlust ran- she thought he used it mainly as an outlet, or even self-harm from time to time, but she hadn't ever suspected how murderous he could be for the sheer pleasure of it. If she knew that, or knew exactly how friendly Aspenstar was with Phantomfox, her mood wouldn't have been nearly as buoyant.
"That sounds great," she said with a genuine smile. "Otherwise I'd feel left out of the little circle you two would make around yourselves during training. I told him recently that we might be able to visit Summerclan again- to see his cousins. I think I'm ready."
"I'm sure he's thrilled," he heard himself say, and he felt his maw form a smile. SummerClan. It would always be home to Rosethorn, but never again would he feel serenity amongst the beautiful meadows. The poppies ran red with his sister's blood, after all. That was maybe the most distinct difference between his and Rosethorn's strengths. While he feared no enemy, it has been seasons since Foxpaw's death; only a handful of moons had passed since their kits' losses, yet his mate was prepared to return. "I'm... not sure I can join you. Not yet. I'm sorry, I'm just not strong enough." Phantomfox turned his face away, hiding the shame and vulnerability settling on it.
"I understand," Rosethorn said, pressing into his side in an effort to get him to look back at her. "You don't have to come- and it doesn't make you weak." She understood how he felt- going back would be difficult for her too, but the good memories of Summerclan were far more numerous than the one Very Bad One. And their kits had been nameless, while Foxpaw had been alive, had formed memories connected deeply with the territory that Phantomfox couldn't return to.
"It was enough, that you came out there for me when I needed it." The fluffy cream and gray she-cat said, nosing his chin with a faintly melancholic smile, teasing through her revived (but numbed) pain. "I never would've guessed I meant that much to you."
Her warmth curled against his side, Rosethorn's tactic succeeding in regaining his attention. Phantomfox turned his ashen eyes back to his mate and there it was: That familiar, soulful devotion, the embers of his love for her reignited by the presence of the fireflies floating by and the intimacy of her presence. "I would do anything for you Rose," he vowed softly, nuzzling against the top of her head. "I'm glad you're here in NightClan. I know it doesn't always seem that way, especially lately, but being apart... I felt like I was stumbling through the dark all my life, but you were like a light cutting through the darkness. I'm sorry if... I'm sorry I failed to do the same after I brought you here."
He'd spent most days wrapped around Rosethorn and Foxkit, just like those nights in MoonClan after the snake bite, but when it came to actual comforting, emotional vulnerability, or facing the same pain his mate had quietly grieved through in his absences, he'd found any excuse to avoid that. It meant that Rosethorn's pain was diminished--not for anything he'd done but due to her own strength--but Phantomfox's was still very, very fresh.
Rosethorn softened, closing her eyes as he nuzzled the top of her head. "I'm glad I came out here too," she said, quietly. "It gave me space to heal." Even if it had been hard, and lonely, and so alien at first- she had adjusted. "You've been great." She didn't need to hash out her grief with him specifically- in fact, he'd been too closely related to the grief to be someone she wanted to talk to. It had been the same with her parents deaths- Orchiddrop had been too involved for Rosethorn to be able to confide in her. It had been enough that Phantomfox had been there, physically, for her.
"If I can do anything for you, let me know," she said, leaning back to grin up at him. "I can go and get mauled by a wild animal so you can vent through your ferocious revenge tendencies."
