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tardytothepardy · 3 years

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Fruits Basket - Vol. 18

The first part of this book was honestly pretty sweet, I was living for it. The second part of this book reminded me that Haru can kick ass if he wanted to, but for the most part he doesn't. The third part of this book reminded the characters that Tohru wants to help these people in their predicament, but she also wants to help one person in particular out of their predicament.

By the end of it, I kinda want Kureno to carry around a spray bottle and spritz water or vinegar at Akito every time he does something bad. Probably vinegar. It wouldn't do anything bad, but he'd be smelly.

So, the first part. It's mostly just with the Student Council, continuing the graduation ceremony stuff from the previous book (and no, Tohru and Co. are not graduating. I don't know why I thought they were), with some focus on Machi, Yuki, and Kakeru. How fun.

It starts with the one strict guy (I've never had to talk about him at all so I wasn't sure what his name was for a while, honestly. It turns out his name is Sakuragi Naohito. The more you know, I guess) lamenting about how graduation is near, which the rest of the group finds odd, because no one in the group is graduating this year. Then a couple girls show up at the door, saying that Machi knocked down some boxes of chalk, and generally made a mess. They also brought up some random (but very personal) rumor about Machi trying to kill her baby brother a while back, and surely that's why Machi is the way she is. Kakeru tells Yuki about it, from what he was told. It was said that Machi became jealous of her younger brother (who, according to Kakeru, had been decided to be the heir to the family's fortune) and tried to kill him. Afterwards, her parents decided that it would be best if she was removed from the house entirely, and ever since she had lived alone. Kakeru offered to take Yuki to Machi's place, to ask her herself, which Yuki didn't really agree to. Kakeru also mentioned, offhandedly (because he was just jumping from one topic to the next) that he once saw Machi, out in the snow, making footprints all over it. He had no idea why, but he said she seemed pretty intent on it.

So they arrived unannounced to Machi's place, which she did not appreciate whatsoever. She might have been fine with Kakeru showing up, but she was more flustered once she saw that Yuki was also there. (I wonder why,,, hmmm) While they were there, Kakeru was just being weird and put one of Machi's bras, all rolled up, in Yuki's hand. Why did he do that. Don't manhandle bras, dude. They're expensive. Anyway, once he got kicked out for that (they kinda started cleaning up Machi's room, and he was taking out the trash), Machi asked Yuki about the rumor, and if that was why they were here. Yuki didn't answer that, and instead asked Machi if she hated perfection. The answer is yes, she does, because of shit that her mom said and did to her.

Basically (and I feel like this was touched on a bit earlier), after Kakeru acted out and got tired of the family's bs, more pressure was put on Machi to behave, to do the best that she could, get the highest marks in school, have the perfect behavior, etc. She couldn't step out of line, otherwise she would be punished severely. Despite this, her mother would often talk about how boring she was, in front of Machi. This was especially the case after her younger brother was born, and her mother would talk about how glad she was for another heir to the family, because Machi was just so average, so dull. After one of these times, Machi actually confronted her mother, asking, "Why do you say that? I thought this was what you wanted me to be like?", to which her mom was like, "You say that like it's my fault. Well, maybe it is. Oh well."

That sense of "Oh well, onto the next one" was not the thing that Machi needed. She needed reassurance, that she wasn't just some blank, dull, empty person, who brings nothing new or interesting to anything or anyone. I think it's kinda here when she started tearing things apart: anything that was too neat or orderly just reminded her of that suffocating feeling, and she couldn't stand it.

It was then that Yuki praised her, basically, for all the hard work that she did, all that work, just to try and keep ahead. Clearly, this was not something she had ever experienced, because it caused her to break down, and she told him about what actually happened with her and her younger brother: she was just putting a blanket over him. She thought he was cold, and he could get sick. But when her parents saw her holding a blanket over him, they already had a bias against Machi, and were convinced that she was jealous, that she had ill intent. They wouldn't listen to what she said, they didn't care. She had shown a "sign" of something bad that easily fit into their narrative, and took that as a reason to take her away from her younger brother.

Yuki then offers that, if the snow gets thick enough, they can go outside and make footprints all over it, and, honestly? That's some cute ass shit. I love that kinda thing, really. That's romance: stomping around in the fresh snow. Who needs physical contact when you can stomp around on fall leaves? That's the real stuff, right there.

But Kakeru interrupts the scene (he was kinda lingering behind a wall, listening to most of this. I think he was there for the story about their younger brother), but I liked it. It was nice. That wasn't entirely where this section ended, however. There's still a little bit more, with Sakuragi, and why he was so bummed out about graduation.

The short answer is that a girl he likes is graduating. But she (I looked it up and her name is Motoko Minagawa) likes Yuki, who doesn't like her. And Sakuragi is kinda taking out his anger on Yuki, who is mostly just bummed out that so many girls are coming up to him and confessing their feelings, and he just has to turn them down. In the end, Yuki and Minagawa had a chat, things are fine. She told him how she felt about him but she wasn't expecting anything in return, and she said she wished for the best for him, which he was unnecessary. Later, Sakuragi kinda?? told Minagawa how he felt about her, but he mostly just gave her well wishes, and now he is less angry and uppity. How nice.

Moving onwards to the second chunk, Hiro's mom had a baby! Her name is Hinata, and she's not a Juunishi. It's great. Hiro's gonna do his damnedest to make sure that Hinata gets everything she needs, and probably try to protect her from the burning dumpster that is being a Sohma. (Really, it just doesn't seem to be that great.)

While that's going on, there's discussion of Izusu, where is she? People say that she's in the hospital, but they won't say which one, or where. She's not at Kagura's house, where she lives, and she hasn't shown up at school for ages. Kagura had to actually attend Izusu's graduation in her place. It's all very weird. People are started to ask around, but no one has the answers. Kagura's worried, Tohru's worried, Hiro's mom is worried, and at one point Yuki even went up to Haru and asked him if he'd heard anything about where Izusu was. Haru hadn't, but afterwards, he got on the search. On the way to the search, he ran into Hiro and Kisa. They all kinda knew what Haru was doing there, and that's when Hiro told Haru that the last time Izusu got really hurt, it was because Akito had pushed her off a second-story ledge. He then apologizes to Kisa, saying that it was his fault that Akito lashed out at her, and he wasn't allowed to anything about either incident. He then reveals that Izusu is trying to break the curse, and she did something, Akito found out, and that's why she was punished (along with Akito forcing her to break up with Haru).

Anyway, now Haru's pissed. He makes a beeline straight to Akito's room, and he's looking for some answers. He cuts to the point, asking, "Why'd you push Izusu out the window?" Akito denies it, of course, who'd own up to that? He says that Haru must have made that up, or heard wrong from someone, but Haru is not swayed. He's gonna get answers one way or another.

While all of this has been happening, Kureno had noticed that there was a person carrying a tray of food and wandering off to where people don't typically go. He followed her, and tracked her down to a dilapidated building, and he asked her what she was doing. She wouldn't say, but she give him the key to the building, saying that Izusu hadn't eaten in days, she was withering away. So Kureno found Izusu, her hair was hacked off (and Akito did it, it's not even speculation, there's a page where you see him doing it. Well, he's coming out of the room, scissors in hand, with these long clumps of hair trailing on the floor. He totally did it.), and took her to the hospital. So when Haru is questioning Akito, Kureno comes in and tells Haru that she's in the hospital, which is probably a good thing for Akito's sake. Haru is pissed. I haven't forgotten about the "black" Haru thing. The last time that came up, it also had to do with Izusu.

Haru asked Kureno where she was, and it's revealed that she was in the Cat's dungeon, essentially. (I think of it as a dungeon, personally) This totally sets off Haru, who asks if this was another attempt to kill Izusu, and Akito was basically like "So what if it was?" which was not the correct answer. There was no correct answer, at that point, but that one was the most wrong answer. All sorts of feelings were welling up in Haru, at this point, and all kinda gathered into one really nasty feeling: helplessness. He felt like, despite how much he loved Izusu, and how much he cared about her, it wasn't enough. He wasn't able to protect her from the shit that had happened. Fortunately for Akito, he only punched a hole in the wall, rather than Akito's face, but he then left the room. Kureno followed him, and said that he should try to get to the hospital, because he thought that Izusu wanted to see Haru, specifically because she had been saying Haru's name when Kureno had found her.

Later on, we are in the hazy mind of Izusu, who woke up in the hospital and is pretty disoriented. Last she was aware, she was in the Cat Room of Doom, not a hospital bed. She could remember that Kureno was there, that he carried her out. She was looking for him, especially after she saw him talking to Tohru, and when he left, Tohru was crying. She wanted to know what Kureno said to Tohru, and tried to track him down. Turns out that he's pretty elusive. But she did run into another person: Ren. She asked Ren if she knew of a way to break the curse, and Ren said that there was something of hers in Akito's room, a box, and that if she got that box back, she would,,, have it back. She didn't actually say that she would tell Izusu anything, but Izusu's desperate to break the curse. Unfortunately for that desperation, Akito found her, right in his room, holding the box. Akito threatened to hurt Haru, if Izusu tried to get out, but Izusu saw this as payment for her failure, she made absolutely no attempt to escape.

There's a little blip back to Ren and an old lady who reprimanded Kureno for even finding Izusu at all, and it turns out that Ren probably didn't know how to break the curse anyway. She didn't particularly like Izusu, so it wasn't a huge loss on her end. She just wanted to get that box back, for some reason, and was using Izusu to try to get it.

In this hazy dream-state, Izusu's just confused. She can't remember what actually happened, but she's kinda bummed out that she dreamt all of that, and Haru wasn't there. Then he popped up, conveniently. She apologizes to him, saying that she failed, her attempts to save him and break the curse were worthless (and she also thinks that she's worthless). "Dream" Haru says that she can't go off anymore, because he missed her, a lot, and if she went away again, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. She says that this is such a nice dream, but it's not a dream (as I'm sure you could tell with the quotation marks). Turns out, she's lying on the pavement, outside somewhere, and Haru found her. It's reminiscent to the other time that Haru found her lying barely conscious on the pavement, but this time he can pick her up and carry her home. He reassures her that she's not a burden, that she should take help when it's handed to her. In this case, she should let herself be carried when she can't walk.

It seems that Izusu is now staying at Kazuma's house, probably because Kazuma is so chill with that kind of stuff. Tohru was really glad to see Izusu again, which gave Izusu some conflicting feelings (mostly "agh stop don't care about me" but also "hey it's actually kinda nice to know that people care about me"). Tohru wasn't told why Izusu's hair got chopped off, or much about the situation. They ("they" being Yuki, Haru, and Kazuma. I suppose Izusu as well) didn't want Tohru worrying too much, she already was very concerned.

Later, Shigure came by Kazuma's house, to talk to Izusu about what happened, and basically confirmed that Ren was using her, and that she wouldn't know how to break the curse. He also said that he think Izusu should give the curse-breaking thing a rest, because the curse is starting to break itself without anyone doing anything (as we've seen with Kureno). Izusu doesn't believe him, but he doesn't say anything more about it. He just says that, probably in a couple years, it'll be broken, and no one will have to do anything. Then Tohru arrives (who was coming over to see Izusu, and even had a gift for her), and says that that's not good enough, that the curse has to be broken before next spring, before their graduation. This shit has an ever-increasing importance to Tohru. She hates the way that Kyo talks about it, like he's already come to terms with what will happen. Tohru will not stand for it for a single second, and she'll probably do her damnedest (hey look i used that word again) to break the curse before then.

(Also this is kinda, I think, when Izusu and Shigure are kinda like, "Whoa, she really cares about Kyo, huh? Hm, surely there isn't any deeper relationship there, right? Hmmmmm"

#Oh wow it didn't take as long to write this one #Only around a day #And it isn't as long which is also nice #I was reading through one I wrote almost a month ago and holy crap #It's empty #I suppose that's why I make these so long #It's so that I can look back and read through these and still mostly understand what I was saying #Vagueness is not my thing if I can help it #Anyway I'm totally a fan of Machi and Yuki getting closer #For some reason I always adhere onto romances that aren't really the main focus #Like with spop I didn't care about catradora and instead became a huge fan of entrapdak #Idk why they just appeal to me more #Maybe because there's less drama or high stakes?#No that isn't true #Idk #anyway #tohru honda #yuki sohma #kyo sohma #hiro sohma #hinata sohma #kisa sohma #izusu sohma #hatsuharu sohma #shigure sohma #akito sohma #kureno sohma #machi kuragi #kakeru kuragi #naohito sakuragi

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nlights37 · 4 years

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12, 18 and 20 please!

@aenarsnow gets FIRSTIES which means I answer with extra love, of course:)

Let’s GET IT

12. How do you deal with self-doubts?

Well, I get ‘em a lot, just like everyone else, your standard, run-of-the-mill ‘”This is shit, why am I wasting my time on this, it’s crap, I’ve used the same adjective like 15 times now and also how many ways can I actually describe eyes I should be doing productive things instead of writing fanfic people are gonna hate it anyway, half the people that used to read my shit ghost me at this point ughhhhh this fandom suuuuuucccckkkkkkssss and so do I!!!”

Inevitably, at that point, I email whatever I’m working on to @noordinarylines, who has explicitly good taste, and who I KNOW will be honest with me if she doesn’t like something or doesn’t quite thinking something is working.

Then she reads it an emails me back and tells me I killed her in a good way and how dare I leave her hanging there, where is the rest, hurry the fuck up because it’s crazy mean to cliffhang her like that.

That usually gets my head right. :) There are a handful of people that I interact with that are some real, genuine, ride or die people (mostly because I am horrible at things like chatting regularly, etc - like I will genuinely completely fuck up my IRL day if I allow myself to get sucked into things like chats because I get tunnel vision and forget everything else, my full blown inattentive-type adult ADD in full effect). But there are some real ones out here, and they know who they are, and if I think an idea is maybe worth a shot but I wanna bounce it off someone, or I want another set of eyes on something because I’ve stared at it so long I genuinely cannot tell if it’s any good, I reach out to them, and they set me straight.

Once I post something, tbh, I just let it ride, because it’s out there, and the people whose opinion I care about the most have already told me what they think, so I’m pretty satisfied with that. If other people don’t like it they can suck my ass at that point, because I ain’t changing SHIT hahahahaha.

18. What’s your revision or rewriting process like?

Well, here’s the thing about me. I write it as it comes, and a lot of time I can feel when I’m writing it if it just isn’t fucking working. I will backtrack then and there and start over. For me, if I’m in the groove and it’s really rocking along I go with it. There’s a flow to it, and then suddenly it’s been 5 hours and you’re like ‘IT’S GOLD, JERRY! GOLD!”

If it’s like pulling teeth to write it I stop and come back to it later. With a husband, three kids, ‘virtual learning’ and quarantine, my time to write is limited, so I try to make the most of it. I run scenes for fics in my head a LOT, while I’m in the shower, or doing dishes, or folding clothes, so that by the time I get a chance to write I’ve made my mind up on exactly how it will go and I don’t have to sit there and look at a blinking cursor.

I don’t typically use a beta, not because I don’t think I need one (my frantic spotting of every damn mistake I made AFTER I post can attest to that) but more because once I’m done with something, I’m done, and I wanna post it. I just get too excited to wait, you know, like a damn puppy who pees in excitement when someone knocks at the door. I just wanna SHARE IT!

So, the tldr: I do a lot of revision in my head before I sit down to write. I don’t usually rewrite because the minute something stops flowing I scrap it :)

20. Post a snippet of a WIP you’re working on.

Here’s a sneak peek of what @noordinarylines and I have been cooking up for the second story in the Remember the Time universe:

There was something soothing, Daenerys had found, about the line where the sea met the sky, the view afforded from her council chamber one that seemed the best suited for calming her ever-frazzled nerves.

It had been five days since she had taken her tumble on the far end of the island, five days full of the most piercing grief she’d ever experienced, which was truly remarkable. Her losses, ‘til now, had been great and agonizing, but she could not shake the forlorn mood that had fallen over her since she’d found herself ripped away from what she was now classifying as a sweet, indulgent fantasy, borne of the trauma of her injury, nothing more.

And yet…

Tucked up the sleeve of her coat, always with her, was a rolled scrap of parchment, upon which she’d documented every single aspect of that lovely hallucination that she could remember. She knew she ought to squirrel it away somewhere safer, hide it from view, leave it behind so she might stop dwelling on these imaginary losses, but she could not.

It had become a talisman, of sorts, something that gave her comfort, just the scrape of it against her skin when she moved her arm as she walked.

She would be mortified, of course, if it were discovered. She was half-terrified it would slip free, and be found by another, her deepest longings read aloud. But for now, it eased the walk from her chambers to whatever task lay ahead, and so she kept it. “Your Grace?”

Daenerys turned from the wide, carved windows in her council chamber, to find Tyrion lingering, watching her with marked curiosity.

Quirking a brow, she did not answer, merely waited. Her Hand came closer, his fingers trailing down the Riverlands on the painted table as he approached. “Are you certain you are well?”

“I’m faring well, Tyrion.” She managed a tight smile, coming to stand at the head of the table, her eyes travelling over the surface rather than meeting the scrutiny in his. “A few lingering headaches, that’s all.”

“Hmmm.” Tyrion took another drink, then plucked a carved piece from the table, turning it over in his hands. When she peeked up, however, he was still staring at her. “As you say. Perhaps there is something else that troubles you?”

Dany smoothed her suddenly damp palms down the front of her coat, and kissed her teeth. “I think we shall all rest easier once we receive word from Casterly Rock, that your plan has succeeded.” It was enough to shift his focus, and there was a measure of truth in it; Missandei had been beside herself with worry over Grey Worm, and she reminded herself to ask her dear friend just what, precisely, had occurred between them.

Tyrion affected a confident air, and tucked away his wineskin, clasping his hands behind his pace and beginning to pace. “Yes, a victory is just what we need right now. And I have every confidence that we will prevail.” He kept moving, rounding the table, stopping by the depiction of the Northern Kingdom and plucking the wolf from the surface. His eyes met hers, and she froze. “How are things with our openly-rebellious friend? Have relations,” he paused, smirking, “thawed, perhaps, now that you have given him access to the mines?”

She wondered, at the keen tone of his voice, what it was he was truly asking beneath the rather mundane question. In truth, she had been avoiding Jon Snow, these past few days, at least as much as she could. The daytime hours were no issue; he was busy down in the mines, and she had seen several carts of the dragonglass he’d been so desperate for, so it seemed his search had been successful.

It was harder once the sun had departed, for they had taken to dining in the main hall, all of Dragonstone’s occupants, and though she tried desperately not to look at him, there were several times at every meal that she couldn’t quite resist. One night, in particular, he’d been seated beside her, had asked in his low, rumbling voice if her wound pained her, had inquired with a gentleness that had broken her heart anew.

When she’d told him she was well, and not to worry, that she had survived far worse, he had frowned fiercely, as though such a notion troubled him greatly, and it had taken all her strength not to kiss him then and there.

She had resisted the urge, and made cordial, cool conversation with him as necessary, but by the time she’d returned to her chambers she had thrown herself onto her bed and wept. She was tired of this, tired of weeping, of missing a life that hadn’t even existed, had not been hers to begin with.

Thank you for the ask, good sir!!!

#writer asks #ask game #jonerys #jon x daenerys #fanfic questions #I should be ASHAMED of my process #but I can't do it any other way #remember the time Part 2 sneak peek

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warriors-windandfireau · 4 years

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Wind and Fire: Fire and Ice - Prologue

Read on Ao3

The distinguishment between a good decision and a bad one is often a hard one to make, especially if one doesn’t have much experience with being forced into a situation where they must decide whether they would do something life-altering, or leave the idea to die and crumble away.

It could be argued that some ideas, especially big ones, never die, and it is up to whoever it is in question that must make such a bold decision whether the idea is dead if it is never acted upon.

While being able to find the difference between a good and a bad decision may seem something that symbolizes wiseness in someone, there was the argument of, “who is to decide where the line between these two opposites lie?”

In reality, this line was fuzzy- perhaps something could be done, and although it has an outrageously good response, there might be someone who is affected negatively by whatever is done, even if is from sort of a long line of reactions, and, truthfully, it isn’t much of the entity in question’s fault if they don’t guess someone completely unrelated to the issue will be affected badly. If one were to bring up the idea that someone who has no relation whatsoever to the issue at hand might be tossed into some disastrous spiral, they would be seen as paranoid.

But in the moment where one must make the decision of taking that risk, all the details enlarge themselves, all the “what-ifs” and the “but-then-whats” become a tree in the eyes of a termite.

Oh, and guess what? There is a troubled soul traversing a snowy moor, accompanied by his friend, with this entire storm of questions raging in his mind.

The tom in question, an average-sized, scruffy grey one, kept glancing over nervously at his friend, a skinny and lean black tom.

He had agreed to help out his friend, but at what cost? How would he explain his friend’s sudden absence? Would he have to say that the young tom had perished in a border skirmish? It seemed likely that he would have to do something of that nature if he wanted to keep the whole situation a secret.

But keeping that secret would mean lying- lying to both his friends and his superiors. And what for? The unproven hunch that his friend so persistently insisted on?

Even then, if he did go through with lying, saying it was a border skirmish would result in unwanted tension, perhaps even a need for unnecessary vengeance amongst his Clanmates.

But now it was too late.

The grey tom had already agreed to help out his friend, and there was no going back.

Not if he wanted to stay loyal to one of his few friends in his Clan.

But then- would rumors spread? Would the blame be placed solely on the grey tom for the small, meek apprentice suddenly vanishing?

In the eyes of his Clanmates, all they’d know is that the grey tom and his friend had left camp, gone out hunting, and suddenly the grey tom arrived back alone, claiming that his friend was killed, without having any proof to show that such a thing had happened in the first place.

But it was too late.

Much too late.

And the grey tom knew that.

So, really, what was the bother of panicking over it?

Should he give in, accept the possibility that something bad would happen, and he could do nothing to change it or reverse his actions if such a thing were to happen?

It seemed the wisest decision in that moment.

“They must have been gone for awhile,” the grey tom spoke up, finally, after a long, tense silence between the two that had lasted for most of their journey. “I can hardly smell WindClan here at all.”

“Hmmm…” The black tom was quiet, seeming in a daze from all the recent events. “One can only hope that nothing awful happened.”

“More awful than what we already know happened, you mean?”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

The silence returned, and one of the two were grateful for this.

That is, this silence lasted till the black tom spotted a shape in the distance.

“Greypaw,” he said airily to get the grey tom’s attention.

“Hm?” Greypaw asked, following the black tom’s gaze to see the shape he was looking at.

“What do you think that is?”

Greypaw squinted. If memory served him right… “I saw that barn on my way back from the Moonstone. The cat who lives there saved us from some trouble with rats. He seemed friendly.”

The black tom frowned. “Is it worth checking out?”

Greypaw shrugged. “I suppose. There’s plenty of food there, and it’s fairly warm.” When his friend didn’t respond, he continued. “Hey… maybe you could stay there.”

This caught the black tom’s attention. “You think the cat who lives there would let me?”

“No harm in checking to see. I doubt he’d try to attack us.”

And so, that was how the two decided to check out the abandoned barn.

The two trekked the final lengths of the field, until they were just outside WindClan territory, and the barn was right up in front of the two.

While the black tom seemed more hesitant to enter, Greypaw easily padded in, somewhat relieved for the lack of snow and cold weather inside of the barn. His friend followed a bit more tentatively. Greypaw was instantly relieved of how warm it was inside, and as he shot a glance at his friend, it seemed that Ravenpaw thought the same thing.

The two quickly spotted the cat they were looking for; he was fairly plump, chewing on a mouse atop a pile of hay in the corner of the barn. He was mostly white, with some faded black spots and splats on his unruly and dirt-filled fur.

The cat in question also spotted them quickly.

The black-and-white cat seemed to briefly tense, getting up, before recognition flashed in his eyes. “You- your names… I’ve met you two before, right?”

Greypaw nodded. “I’m Greypaw, and this is Ravenpaw. You helped the two of us, Tigerclaw, and our leader, Bluestar, when we were attacked by rats. I believe your name is Barley, correct?”

Barley nodded, jumping down from his perch atop the stack of hay. “Well, what brings you two here? Is there anything Bluestar needs help with?”

Greypaw glanced at Ravenpaw, lifting a brow. He assumed that the small black tom would want to tell his own story.

After a brief moment of encouragement from Greypaw, Ravenpaw began to explain his predicament.

“Well, as you know, I’m an apprentice in ThunderClan. My mentor, Tigerclaw- you’ve met him before- well, I saw him do something. Something… really bad. I think I saw him- he- well, he killed someone. No one believes me, of course, since he’s a senior warrior and really respected… but- but he did do it. And I know he knows that I know he did it. I think he’s planning to do something to me- no, I don’t think, I know.” Ravenpaw paused to breathe. “I think he’s going to kill me if he thinks I’m going to say anything, so I felt… unsafe. Please understand. I… I hate to ask this of you… but I really need to get out of ThunderClan…” he trailed off.

Barley digested this information, before blinking. “You’re asking to stay here?”

Ravenpaw hung his head low, before nodding guiltily.

Barley chuckled at Ravenpaw’s embarrassment, before shaking his head. “No need for the sour look. Of course you can stay here. I have more food than I’ll ever need in this barn, so there's no harm in sharing it with someone. Maybe it’ll mean days will be less boring, too.”

Ravenpaw gaped, seeming confused. “Wait, really? Is- are there any special terms I need to agree to?”

Barley seemed to think to himself, before shrugging. “Yeah, really. And other than, y’know, not hurting me, I can’t think of any sort of terms I’d like you to agree to. This place is plenty big to have more than me living in it.”

Ravenpaw let out a gasp of relief, before nodding. “Thank you, thank you so much. I was worried I’d have to live in the forest as a rogue or something…”

“No need to thank me. Feel free to go and catch something to eat, or find a place to sleep. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Ravenpaw nodded, thanking Barley again, before heading deeper into the barn.

“Now, you, Greypaw.” Barley turned his gaze to the grey tom in question.

“Huh?”

“Why are you here? Would you like to eat something?” Barley sat down, giving Greypaw a curious look.

“Oh. Oh! No, no. I just came here to escort Ravenpaw. I really have to go, actually.”

“Where, if I may ask?”

Greypaw shifted in the spot where he sat. “Brokenstar- the leader of ShadowClan- drove out WindClan. I’m heading to retrieve them and bring them back.”

Barley seemed momentarily shocked, before letting out a sad sigh. “I was wondering why the moors have been so empty. But… you’re going alone?”

Greypaw nodded. “I left without a word to anyone. Bluestar doesn’t know I’m doing this.”

Barley nodded. “Very well. I’m guessing that’s a no to the meal?”

Greypaw dipped his head. “Yeah, I want to head away as soon as possible.”

“Understandable. However… I believe I can be of at least a bit of help.”

“Hm?”

Barley padded out of the barn, and Greypaw followed curiously. “I saw them leaving. I thought it was just a large patrol, but I suppose it must’ve been them.” The tom lifted his tail to point in a particular direction. “They went that way. All of them were deathly terrified. I considered checking if they were okay, but they were all gone before I could even approach them.”

Greypaw dipped his head in respect. “Thank you. And… thank you for taking in Ravenpaw, too. He needed it.”

"Of course," Barley replied. "And good luck on your mission to bring WindClan back. You'll definitely need it."

#Warrior Cats #Warrior Cats AU #FAIChrono

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