Sisterly Bonding [Fawnstep]

Ginger-root
» She stands upon the hill to watch the stars, though she does not believe in them

Upon exiting the RiverClan Camp, Ginger-root had discovered that the woods were alive with life on this particularly brisk afternoon. Squirrels hurried about, gathering and burying nuts for winter, and birds readied themselves for their journey south. While the process may have seemed exciting and full of opportunity for the average Clan cat out searching for prey, Ginger-root found the activity a bit too overwhelming for her tastes.

Seeking a quieter location for hunting, the young she-cat had followed the water down the Clan's territory, selecting a branch of the river that split off from the main flow to trail along as a wide stream. The little brook skirted and wound about the trees, hugging the roots of willows as though protecting them from the chill of the hard-packed earth around them. Though the sun glared high above, the shelter of the willow's vines provided comfortable shade. It was here that Ginger-root settled, listening with quiet interest to the noises of the small creatures about her. A frog pipped in a nearby pool, mosquitoes hummed what might very well be their last song before leaf-bare, and a vole scurried between the water's edge and the hole he called home.

It was this last creature, the vole, which seemed to catch Ginger-root's attention most. While she was not opposed to frog herself, she fretted that such a catch would be given odd glances upon its placement on the fresh-kill pile. The rodent would do just fine.

Stepping lightly, Ginger-root approached the bank, waiting for the vole to dart out of his entrance once more to fetch bedding for his nest. She hovered on a patch of moss just above his hole, her tail swishing in anticipation. Her plan could not be more perfect -- just as the creature exited, she would reach down and bat him away, then pounce the life from his furry body. If only she were fast enough...

OOC: Short, at work again, sorry Wishers. I have a meeting in a few. But this should be enough to get us started.

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"I didn't expect to see you here." The she-cat meowed quietly. Fawnstep silently picked herself through the undergrowth and approached the ginger she-cat. She felt a smile bud in the corner of her lips. For sisters they weren't terribly close. Fawnstep had always been closer to Skykit, he always dragged her along on his stupid adventures, while Ginger-root preferred to stay in the nursery instead. After Skykit's death, Fawnstep figured they'd get closer - instead they drifted further apart. "It's weird, isn't it?" The words left her mouth before she could stop them, "The last time we did anything was after mother's death." Fawnstep brought herself closer to the she-cat, and pulled herself in a sit. She knew Ginger-root had been hunting - she knew she probably didn't want to have this conversation. The warrior cast her a sister a long, sideways glance. Silentpool, their mother, died of a broken heart. After Firefox's death, she broke down completely. She refused to leave her nest and wouldn't even glance at the prey they brought her. Love was a powerful thing. Fawnstep remembered watching the warriors kick the dirt over her mother's calico pelt. She remembered pressing herself against her sister, agony ripping apart her chest. Afterward she kind of expected something - anything. But they both returned to their respective routines and rarely brushed paths. "How are you?" Fawnstep began. It was supposed to be easy - they were sisters after all. But there was a distance between them, a chasm separating them completely. Ginger-root and her were entirely alike. They were both quiet, observant she-cats with little to say. They were more nervous than confident and if it weren't for their physical appearance, they could almost be mistaken for the same cat. The she-cat felt her claws dig through the earth, anxiety tight in her chest. She was nervous - she wanted this to be perfect. [bg=ab8078]

Ginger-root
» She stands upon the hill to watch the stars, though she does not believe in them

Ginger-root was made aware of her sister's presence long before the tortiseshell's voice reached her pricked ears. As she awaited the vole's swift exit from his den, the breeze suddenly shifted, blowing Fawnstep's scent in the young she-cat's direction. She started, rising from her crouch above the bank, but did not turn to face her sister. Her eyes were fixed ahead and began to lose focus on the world around her, the scenery fading into a painful blur. Why had she come to find her?

Repressed memories began flooding back to Ginger-root, stinging echoes of the past that the warrior had buried within her many moons ago. She had made a point of avoiding Fawnstep ever since their mother's death, for no other reason but to prevent these recollections from surfacing. With a deepening sorrow rising in her chest, she sat in silence, pondering this thought, until Fawnstep's voice suddenly evoked a sad realization that flooded her body, shaking the warrior to her very core. Why should her sister suffer for the wrenching agony she felt? A feeling they surely shared?

It was at this point that Ginger-root decided to turn. Her gaze was soft, but her meow cracked as she spoke, the welling lump in her throat tightening around her voicebox. "Yes, it is weird." She quickly brought her forepaw up to her face and rubbed her eyes vigorously, hoping to brush away the tears that were beginning to well there. "I'm..." Ginger-root paused suddenly, unsure of her next words. She was not "fine," as tempted as she was to blurt out a positive state to her concerned sister, who very much seemed to need reassuring after their long separation. Finally, she settled on "I've been better," and lifted her head with a faint smile. But even Ginger-root knew that her weak attempt at cheerfulness would not fool her sister. Fawnstep would see right through her -- she always did.

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No...you're not...you're not alright, are you?" The words left her lips in a faint murmur. They fell before she could stop them. The she-cat passed her sister an apologetic glance. She didn't want to point accusations, but it was it painfully evident that Ginger-root was suffering. Fawnstep felt a heavy breath resonate in her chest, she had to bridge the distance. "But I'm not either." The words were louder, stronger. "Ginger-root, I haven't been in a long time." Happy - the word was hollow in her mouth. There were moments where she'd find herself smiling, and for a second she'd feel the familiar warmth spread through her veins - but at night the emptiness enveloped her. The she-cat was alone. Despite her cheery pretense and friendly demeanor, her clanmtes brushed passed her like a leaf in the grass. They never saw her. They looked through her calico coat and never once into her heart. She was unimportant. She didn't matter. "I remember when we were little..." The words trailed off her tongue, did she dare bring up their past? The one spent ignoring Ginger-root almost entirely. The one where her and Skykit stood on top of the world together. Fawnstep let a quick breath seep through her teeth, "Things were happier, better then..." She couldn't collect her thoughts, where was she going with this? "Why can't we be happy like that again? Why can't it be easy?" [bg=ab8078]

Ginger-root
» She stands upon the hill to watch the stars, though she does not believe in them

Ginger-root fell quiet again, her eyes drifting to her muddied paws. Her talons were speckled with dirt and grim, not an unusual sight for a cat recently on the hunt. She had not had any time to lick her pads clean before her sister's approach. For a reason she could not comprehend, this troubled Ginger-root, for in that moment, the young warrior felt as though her entire body was covered in filth, a layer of dust that no amount of washing could wipe clean.

It was guilt, she realized, weighing her down and polluting her soul with its heavy stench. A sense of shamefulness for not being able to revive their mother from her heartbroken stupor, for not standing by her sister and brother when Silentpool's strength had faded. But then, had they stood by Ginger-root? Had they comforted her in her time of sorrow? Forced her to see the sun when she wanted nothing more than to sleep away moons that only promised more pain and heartache?

The she-cat shook her head, dismissing her negativity. Fawnstep was not to blame. She was never to blame. Ginger-root had denied her affections from the beginning, choosing to cope on her own. "If we continue to look back, we may never find happiness moving forward," she answered softly, glancing up to meet her sister's kind eyes. "Maybe... Maybe we can start over. Put it behind us. I know it won't be easy, but..." As she trailed off, Ginger-root lifted a paw to her muzzle and began to clean away the muck with quick strokes of her tongue. A pained sigh rattled in her chest. As her suggestion settled in the air -- and her hasty grooming worked through the sticky muck on her paws -- she could slowly feel the weight easing off her tired shoulders.

OOC: Apologies for the lateness! Work, Thanksgiving, etc. You know the drill.

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Fawnstep watched her sister carefully, she could feel the sadness pull at her chest, dragging her downward. It radiated from Ginger-root in waves. It made her sick. A twisted, churning in her gut that gradually resonated in her throat. She didn't like seeing someone, her sister especially, like this. The she-cat spent the majority if her life trying to see the happiness in others. It was the only thing she had, the only string of hope in this messed up world. "Maybe... Maybe we can start over. Put it behind us. I know it won't be easy, but..." The she-cat snapped from her thoughts, her round, green eyes focused on the ginger warrior, "I'd like that." Her words were soft, but sincere. A small smile spread across her features, "Maybe we could go visit mother's grave?" The breath she'd been holding in left her mouth, following the words into the air. She felt them hang there, echoing in the silence. Fawnstep knew that her mother was a touchy subject. Ginger-root had been much closer to the she-cat than she had been. Silentpool had cared for the three of them with as much love as any mother would - but she gave a little more to Ginger-root. Fawnstep and Skypaw had spent a lot of their days running around outside of the nursery; Ginger-root had spent them nestled into her mother's stomach. Their mother's death had shaken them, but Fawnstep found solace in her friends. She didn't have many, but at least she had a familiar face in a sea of strangers. Did Ginger-root have anyone? The calico watched her sister draw her paw to her face; the sight rattling her bones. How much did she suffer? Fawnstep narrowed her gaze, admiring the she-cat for her strength to press on. How did she do it? Her sister never made the lame, feeble attempts at socialization as she did. Fawnstep was desperate for attention. She wanted recognition, she wanted someone to smile with, she wanted the warmth to spread from her toes and end on her lips; what did Ginger-root want? ps. pfffft, it's fine. i'm busy as heck myself [bg=ab8078]

Ginger-root
» She stands upon the hill to watch the stars, though she does not believe in them

Ginger-root lowered her paw at her sister's agreement to put their sorted past behind them. Though the fur on her toes was still flecked with dirt, Fawnstep's words had served to somewhat cleanse her muddied soul. It would do the siblings a great deal of good to be sisters once again. Too long had they turned the other whisker to each other's pain.

Fawnstep's suggestion to visit their mother's grave forced another pang of guilt to surface. Ginger-root met her sister's wide eyes with her own, which were equally open, but her pupils were far smaller, shrunken by the fear that now possessed her. The warrior had not seen Silentpool's resting place since the day she was buried. Before today, Ginger-root had thought that her avoidance, both of her deceased family member's ceremonial home and her only living family member's company, was fully merited. In her heart, Ginger-root had decided long ago that her mother, in her grief, had abandoned her. Fawnstep, too, while she had never outwardly shown any negative emotions toward her, had never made any attempt to console her.

But in reality, Ginger-root had abandoned Silentpool just as much, before her death, in lacking the understanding to comfort her, and after her death, refusing to even think her name. Indeed, she had turned her back on all of StarClan since their mother's passing. Furthermore, Ginger-root had never sought her sister's comfort and had made a point of keeping her distance. She was the cause of her own demise, a victim of a loneliness for which she herself was responsible.

Ginger-root blinked hard to clear her thoughts. "I think it would be good for us to see her again. I owe her an apology." She lowered her head, and though she did not say aloud, she thought silently, And you, too, Fawnstep.

OOC: Zomg finally getting back to this. Gathering + holidays. Excuses, excuses.