Poisoned Night Sky [Skyy/Beetleberry]

Beetleberry despised mornings. Not simply due to their purpose as the time of waking for many cats. It was the way the sun rose, the rays slinking their way across camp. The way the shadows vanished and grew from long and dark to something small, hidden. The light always took away the shelter of darkness where roaming could be done freely, where thoughts and actions didn’t need to be controlled, to be monitored. It was the sign of a new day and a new event that would no doubt have his growing pain at the ever mighty warriors growing, expanding.

From the edge of his nest, where one eye sat slightly open, his paws and tail wrapped closely into his lithe frame, he watched the creeping rays with something akin to revulsion. It twitched at his whiskers, stood in the slight lowering of his ears, and the ever so persistent twitch of his tail tip. A rare moment where nothing in his body language hid his thoughts. What would the day bring? Another warrior with a thorn in their pad demanding arrogantly that his help was useless? Or would it be Redstar acting high and mighty and checking he was doing his join and talking to StarClan?

Or, would it be his brother, bringing more tales of the stars and dreams that hinted at what Beetleberry didn’t want to acknowledge, that maybe his brother was the cat that StarClan had decided to talk to instead of him. For ancestors they were increasingly daft, putting his act at risk and causing much disturbance to what he needed. For all he did, did they not care for the clan they once served? It was enough to get a snort from the tom at the mere thought. It hardly mattered, even if they did.

He had an apprentice now, and despite her… enthusiasm toward life, Flurrypaw was a cat he could work with. She was eager to please, eager to learn. It wouldn’t take long to get her on his side and working the way he wanted her to. Together, they would make WindClan bow. Opening both eyes, sleep long since have evaded him, the medicine cat’s gaze swept over Flurrypaw’s pelt, green gaze softening ever so slightly. She was a good cat, a good apprentice. But she’d be even better with age and lessons. It hardly matter for the moment, he supposed.

Slowly, Bettleberry pulled himself free of his tight ball, stretching each limb out in any direction, before rolling to his stomach, and climbing slowly to all four paws. Sharp eyes glanced out into the main den, a lone figure sleeping there, before his attention was back to the den entrance. He supposed an early bite to eat wouldn’t go astray. If only to calm his mind and focus his attention. The medicine cat’s paws moved quickly, soundlessly, barely touching the dusty ground as he emerged into the clearing, the figures of clanmates and their nests over the far side from the medicine cat’s covered den.

Yet, once glance around had his gaze finding Nightnose, his brother’s lone form sitting free of the collections of cats scattered across the clearing at the far end. What a peculiar position. His plan changed, and for one of the rare times, there was no disguise to Bettleberry as he slunk forward, body low, gaze sharp, and pawsteps only growing to make noise as he reached his brother’s back. It seemed that the noise alone was enough to get the tom’s attention. Green eyes stared at Nightnose as he jumped and span around, expression almost unchanging, beyond the faintest of smirks that twitched at the corner of his mouth. His gaze was dangerously clear.

“Beetleberry. You scared me.” The medicine cat straightened his shoulders, and raised himself to his full height, meeting his brother’s gaze without hesitation or façade in place. Simple silent consideration. “My apologises, I didn’t believe I was that hard to see,” he murmured in response, the hint of a tease there, a ghost in his words as he continued to stare for a moment long, before, carefully, he stepped forward to his brother’s side, and sat down. “What turmoil has you up at such an hour? I thought you’d be well and truly still wrapped up in that pretty little nest of yours.” Beetleberry’s gaze only fell to his brother side-ways, head straightforward and attention seemingly elsewhere. Yet, he wasn’t missing a thing. Every moment his brother made was there and noticed. If there was one cat he both trusted, and needed to be careful of, it was Nightnose.