We're the Burn Brothers || Tagged

[Carotius]

Babylonranger
OOC: At looooooooong last!

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"Oi, Lightningflame. You wanted to hunt together, so let's get on with it before sunhigh burns our fur off."

Webfire retracted his head from the warriors den to yawn widely, lowering the front half to his body to stretch himself to full length, extending his claws to scrape against the ground. Damn, this feels good. A mighty stretch like this one felt better than sleeping an extra few hours for the deprivation he gave himself in the last few nights. The white tom with the black paws wasn't going to let anyone know what he'd been up at night, and he sure wasn't ready to tell Lightningflame just yet.

Now, speaking of Lightningflame... The splotched warrior poked his head back into the den, narrowing his blue eyes against the gloom to search his older brother. Yes, Webfire was the oldest brother of the second litter, but Lightningflame was the oldest of them all; the two litters didn't seem to interact too much, but the he managed to bridge the gap between themselves, though it seemed...left behind in some sense. Snorting, he took a whiff of the air, trying to discern the scent of his brother amongst the myriad of others.

[Babylonranger]

((Ooc: You make him sound ancient XD))

Far in the back of the Warriors' Den, well away from the growing light of the sun, a well-muscled white-and-black tom shifted in his half-sleep. As the sound of his brother's call filtered into his ears, however, the warrior groaned and covered his head with his feathery, black-tipped tail.

Why. Why in the name of Starclan had he agreed to a hunt? At this time of day, no less. Time spent with Webfire was always time enjoyably spent, but Lightningflame would not put it past his little brother to turn the outing into a competition. One which the older tom would not be likely to win.

Lightningflame's nose and ears twitched, catching the signs of his brother's approach. Grumbling to himself, he dragged his tail away from his face and shook himself fully awake.

"Starclan forbid you lose any fur," the black-masked tom said with a smirk. "Bramble-bush scars are one thing, after all. Bald patches would just make you look silly."

[Carotius]

OOC: Shhh... Maybe he is ;3

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"Bramble bush? What bramble bu- OOOOOooohhhh, that bramble bush..." Webfire's incredulous question quickly turned into an annoyed mutter, his blue eyes half-glaring at the black-masked tom who was still laying so freaking comfortably in his bed. "I won't lose to nature a second time. Get up, knucklehead; you planned this outing, you jolly well fulfil it!"

Snorting audibly to make his point, Webfire spun around in the space, attempting to march out of the warriors' den in as much of an authoritative posture as possible. If only he watched where he was going, then maaaaybe he wouldn't have tripped over a sleeping brown body while he did so. The warrior yelped in surprise as his muzzle hit the floor with a resounding thud, and he went cross-eyed in confusion for a few good seconds before realising what happened. He scrabbled back to his paws, throwing back a warning look to his brother, before stomping out the den again with as much dignity as he could muster after that tumble.

[Babylonranger]

With a good-natured roll of his yellow eyes, Lightningflame climbed to his black paws at his brother's request and stepped away from his warm, comfortable nest. The muscular white-and-black tom had only taken a few steps when Webfire stumbled over a sleeping warrior. Wide-eyed with surprise, a healthy amount of concern, and amusement, the black-masked warrior could only watch his brother face-plant into the ground and shake himself off.

Lightningflame shook with silent laughter as he followed Webfire out of the Warriors' Den, ignoring the look the splotched tom sent him. "Of course not, though you may want to work on your battle with gravity, Webfire." Yawning widely, he continued, saying, "Besides, I seem to remember bringing up the idea that we could just get together to talk. Don't think I said anything about hunting."

[Carotius]

OOC: Might be a short post.. until I get WiFi back in the house >_> also, Webfire wants to confess his forbidden love lives owo

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The splotched tom would have liked to respond to Lightningflame with a smart-ass comment regarding the 'battle with gravity', but at the mention of hunting not being in the original plan, he held his tongue with a shift of his eyes, and turned away from the other tom. True, hunting wasn't in the original agenda they had, but that didn't mean they couldn't go out for one. That, and...well, Webfire had something to say to his brother, and he wanted an excuse to be as far away from the camp as possible, where it was least likely to be spied upon and have cats eavesdrop them. Huffing, Webfire sped up his pace towards the camp entrance, beckoning his brother to follow with a flick of his tail tip.

OOC: Go ahead and write them heading to wherever you think is best :3

[Babylonranger]

Ooc: Hope that gets sorted out soon Carot owo

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Lightningflame frowned, concern outweighing amusement now. For Webfire to pass up a chance to make a comeback, his brother must have something on his mind. The white-and-black tom followed the younger warrior with a sigh. He caught up with the splotched tom by the time they reached the entrance and gave his little brother a gentle nudge in passing.

"Lighten up, Webfire. If you're in such a hurry to see me make a fool of myself, we can go hunting by the Charred Pine," the muscled tom offered with a smirk. Leaving camp, the black-masked tom sniffed at the air before padding briskly towards the Stormclan landmark.

[Carotius]

The splotched tom held back another snort, sudden anxiety tackling the insides of his stomach as he followed after his brother out the camp and towards the landmark he mentioned. The decision he was making would be the turning point in his young warrior life, and there was most definitely no going back if he let those words be uttered, for words spoken could never be sucked back in the same breath and swallowed as if they never existed to begin with. If he really wanted to go on with this choice, he needed to be sure Lightningflame wouldn't rat him out afterwards.

I have until the Charred Pine to finalise my decision. He glanced up towards the other tom, fixating his blue eyes on the bobbing black tip that he himself shared as a physical trait; the other siblings of Webfire's litter didn't exactly mingle with the oldest two of their parents' two litters, and he, as the oldest of the second, had tried hard since kithood to maintain good relations. It didn't always work out, but hey, at least he was close to his big brother. The question now was would this bond continue to be there once Webfire let the words out into Lightningflame's ears? Or would the connection crumble into nothingness?

Webfire swallowed thickly, unsure what else would follow as a consequence.

[Babylonranger]

Ignorant of Webfire's inner dialogue, the older white-and-black tom continued on through Stormclan's territory, silently going over prey they would be likely to find around the Charred Pine: birds, some smaller mammals - both the ground and tree variety, maybe some reptiles or amphibians who hadn't received the message that leaf-bare was imminent.

Lightningflame grimaced at the seasonal reminder. Prey would either be flitting around stocking up for lean times or already hiding in their nests. A clumsy hunter like him would only send valuable food scurrying for cover, so he sincerely hoped his little brother had something else planned. Especially since they'd just arrived. Glancing back towards Webfire, the black-masked tom stopped in his tracks. "Right, something is eating at you," he said, taking in the splotched tom's worried expression. "No one else is around to hear, so if you want to have it out, now's the best time."

[Carotius]

Mouse-dung. The splotched tom could have sworn he had much more time than this to decide, but thanks to his unrestrained expressions, he just screwed himself over and cut short the grace period by a whole chunk! He lifted his blue gaze from the ground to rest them on Lightningflame, who stopped their forward trek to turn around and give him a once-over with words that demanded nothing else but truth. I need more time!

"Nothing's eating at me," Webfire replied simply, resisting every urge to twitch his ear or his tail tip, both of which have the terrible tendency to do so when he denied something he wanted really bad; right now, all he wanted was to blurt out about the two loves he was having, and the need to pick one over the other to not hurt both. "Maybe you're too bored to find something better to entertain you," he attempted a joke, the tone of which faltered almost immediately by the time he reached the fourth word, causing the tom to let out a sigh. "...Okay, I may have done something against our beloved Warrior Code."

[Babylonranger]

Giving his brother a flat I-can't-believe-you-think-I'd-fall-for-something-so-obvious look before rolling his yellow eyes, Lightningflame sat down and curled his black-tipped tail around his black paws. The white-and-black cat was prepared to wait as long as he had to in order to let Webfire get off whatever was on his chest. Which, thankfully, wound up not being very long at all, since neither of the two brothers were exceedingly patient toms.

"'Something against the Warrior Code'?" the muscled warrior repeated, mildly incredulous. "What hideous sin have you committed lately? Stealing prey from another clan? You'd never abandon a kit in trouble, so it's not that." He paused, black muzzle wrinkling in disbelief. "Tell me you're not in a relationship with Nightpoppy."

[Carotius]

Webfire almost spluttered in disbelief. He'd never steal prey from another Clan! The fish in the river had been adequate enough for them to live on, alongside the other measly prey that began thinning out with the onset of a cold season looming over their heads. Well, at least Lightningflame was sensible in correctly assuming it had nothing to do with leaving a kit behind in trouble; the thought of it was quite gut-wrenching.

And not outright pea-brained as the next guess.

"Ew, no," the splotched tom's reply was instant and thick with the same measure of disbelief with a touch of disgust. Relationships with medicine cats were forbidden by the code, but the idea of him being anywhere in such romances with the Clan's healer was enough to send him running. "I'm not interested in her. She's cranky like every other Med Cat. Not my type." He let his blue eyes rove back up to Lightningflame, before heaving a long sigh. "but yes, it has to do with a relationship..."

One black foot kicked at the dirt, knocking a stone off its resting position and towards the other tom. Webfire tore his gaze away from his brother's to look past him, towards the direction of the river when he'd run towards many times on several nights, all in the name of love that soothed his heart. The decision was to be made now, and there was definitely no going back. StarClan, spare me. He turned back to the black-masked tom, face expressionless.

"I'm with someone across the river."

[Babylonranger]

Lightningflame smirked at Webfire's sputter - served his brother right for trying to lie in the first place. He hadn't been serious about stealing prey anyway; it had just been the first thing from the code to pop into his head. The splotched tom's reaction to his last suggestion went a long way to easing the black-and-white warrior's mind in any case.

"I had to ask," he said, grimacing in shared disgust. "I mean, no offense to Nightpoppy or you, but a relationship with a medicine cat is just asking for trouble." The yellow-eyed tom blinked at the halting admission that followed. He stared blankly at Webfire, not missing how the younger warrior turned his blue gaze away before returning, feelings hidden behind that scarred face.

"Across the river," Lightningflame repeated, stunned. His black-tipped tail flicked over his black paws while he tried to think, but nothing came to him. "How did that happen?" he asked faintly. And then: "You featherbrain, I had plans to corrupt your kits and turn them into pranking jokesters! How am I supposed to do that now?!"

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Ooc: Aaack! I'm sorry for the wait! My muse pulled a disappearing act on me.

[Carotius]

Babylonranger
OOC: Three weeks later, and I'm still laughing at this post.

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This is it. This is the end of me.

Blue eyes were screwed shut, white ears flattened against his head as Webfire braced himself for the tongue-lashing he anticipated to follow from his older brother's hidden dictionary of gargantuan words that probably make no sense when put together. but let's not make that known to Lightningflame - give the tom his pride and ego for once. The tom with the scarred muzzle had to hold in a snicker just for that thought, knowing full well that he was in the middle of getting torched for his 'hideous sin'.

"You featherbrain! I had plans to corrupt your kits and turn them into pranking jokesters!" the black-masked tom exclaimed, staring at the younger warrior. "How am I supposed to do that now?!"

Webfire blinked open an eye, nothing less than confused at what the heck just entailed for him. "Corrupt my... Turn them into... Wha..?" he sat on his rump, black-tipped tail streaming out behind him as he stared slack-jawed at Lightningflame. "You.. Aren't you... but everyone... but... What in StarClan! Aren't you mad at me for this relationship?!" He rolled his eyes dramatically. "That has nothing to do with corrupting them into mini versions of you."

[Babylonranger]

Ooc: *doffs cap while strangling wi-fi* You're still welcome

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The white-and-black tom rose to his paws and took to pacing in a tight line in front of his little brother. To be completely honest, he'd just spouted the first thing that had popped into his head. A relationship with a cat from Midnightclan? It was almost unthinkable. Forbidden relationships were fraught with danger, foolhardy, and not entirely well thought out. Pausing for a moment, Lightningflame acknowledged that it did sound like something Webfire would do.

His splotchy companion tried and failed to say something, which made the muscled warrior grin slightly. It really was too fun flummoxing Webfire when he reacted like this. And when he'd gone and done something as out there as starting a Forbidden Relationship.

"What in StarClan! Aren't you mad at me for this relationship?! That has nothing to do with corrupting them into mini versions of you."

The black-masked cat sat back down, trying to be serious - a tad difficult when most of his serious nature was still trying to connect Webfire's Secret to Forbidden Relationship with a Midnightclanner. "I don't think I'm mad," he told his brother. "Think I'm a bit shocked just yet; the anger might come later. And I'm worried for you, of course." He flicked his black-tipped tail in thought before staring at his brother's scarred muzzle. "Is that how you really picked those up then?" he asked tensing slightly. Secret relationship or no, if he found out some cat across the river was hurting Webfire, Lightningflame would track them down and chew them out.

[Carotius]

OOC: Ooooh, the wifi's taking a beating. XD

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This was turning out a little better than the splotched warrior expected, though now he was just brimming with questions and confusion, and perhaps a healthy dose of suspicion. One could never be too careful when telling a secret to a sibling, much so when they revealed they had plans to turn a little of well-behaved kits into monsters of mischief. I'll do the same to you in return. Just wait. but back to the matter at hand, Webfire steeled himself so he wouldn't instinctively duck from the other tom's question.

"She didn't give these to me on purpose! She was defending her territory like any apprentice or warrior would...and...I got cocky. As per frickin' usual," the indignant retort melted into a mutter of begrudged shame as he reached the end of it, remembering his first first meet with Rainbriar when they were apprentices. "At least she helped heal it. And...uh...there's actually....another one."

Pile it on, Lightningflame... I'm never going to hear the end of this...