destiny [tagged: pup]

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[attr="class","rjtext"]rookjaw generally thought of newleaf as the green season. the forest had truly shook off the icy grasp of leafbare and as such new life was flourishing in green foliage everywhere. little green and ivory shoots were popping out of the ground, tiny buds uncurling tentatively from immature flowers. just a few sunrises ago he'd even seen a fawn, unfolding its spindly legs to chase after its mother deeper into the woods. the snowy white flurry about its hindquarters had clearly identified it as a new inhabitant of this world. yet newleaf was more colorful and vivid, in truth, than just greens and whites.

his casual hunting trip that morning had brought him further toward the border than he'd like to admit, through wild lilac bushes immensely sweet in their scent. rookjaw had made a mental note to trail through them next time he returned from fourtrees and whitewolf, his riverclan friend. orange butterflies basked resplendent in their spring colors, and fat yellow bees buzzed about doing whatever it was they did. his walk had yielded two plump mice, a slightly battered frog and a large raven that he was particularly proud of.

he had tracked down the small burial mounds of the mice, linking their scaly tails in his teeth alongside the moist-skinned frog. by the time midday was approaching, he'd already made a quick trip back to camp to drop the smaller catches off, reminded his daughter she needed to put more meat on her bones, and was now on his final trip back, the big sable feathered bird clasped in his jaws.

the massive dusk tabby made his way to the prey pile to drop off the bird. before he'd even had a chance to spit out all the feathers, a flame-furred cat had made her way to his side. "would you like to walk with me, rookjaw?" the dark warrior suppressed a groan as his yellow eyes met rosestar's visage. clearly she had something on her mind. he decided not to comment on the irony that she was asking for help in collecting feathers when his mouth was currently full of them. however, raven feathers weren't all that soft but for the down on the younger ones. ignoring his rumbling belly as he let his catch fall, he dipped his head in assent and followed rosestar without remark.

as they returned to the forest, she cut right to the chase much to his relief. rookjaw was a firm believer in not wasting time on small talk. "is something bothering you, rookjaw? i can see something's on your mind... and smell that you've been to fourtrees lately." his expression didn't change. "are you certain of that?" the big tom questioned with interest, looking directly into her green eyes to show he had nothing to be ashamed of. "it's not even been a full season since..." he paused as his throat constricted, finishing in a low rumble, "her passing."

he considered her request, coming to a halt in a ray of bright sunlight through the pines and settling onto his haunches for a moment. his paws ached from many long journeys over the past moon. "i've done nothing traitorous." rookjaw looked thoughtful. with his massive paws and storm-colored ruff, he appeared solemn and dignified, head lowered as he pondered. "do you remember my cousin, lilacberry, at all? she was a medicine cat apprentice."

shanny

[attr="class","rjtitle"]ROOKJAWi like you  ☾ we can howl at the moon