[ti]Private[/ti]Oh Brother of Mine

[M'Lady]

Ashlark took to Starclan as easily as her brother took to the water. She felt much freer here than she ever had in the world of the living, and while she did miss Whitepaw, this was about as happy as she could be. No one told her what to do, she lazed her days away stretched out on smooth sunny rocks, and every once in awhile she got to bother her favorite medicine cat with a snarky remark or something of the like. But something struck her today, something she never thought possible. Ashlark was bored. She'd never been bored before, she had always done what she wanted and felt satisfaction when she ruffled Froststar's fur. Whenever she had nothing better to do, she went after Whitepaw and forced him to come along some crazy adventure with her. She frowned slightly, crossing her paws on the warm stone in front of her. He wasn't around to come along on her adventures anymore.


It didn't help that she didn't know many cats here. Some faded memories, names which she only heard in stories, distant relatives that welcomed her with smiles and soft scolding for the mischief she'd caused when alive. 

It all changed when Clearstream died. 

He knew her, and she knew him, but they had only greeted each other briefly when he first came to Starclan. Ashlark was a familiar face, it was her 'duty' or whatever to welcome him into the stars. She'd taken to watching him after that, curious as to how the tom would spend his time. She'd always considered him to be subordinate to his sister, and not much about Clearstream himself. To her dismay, he only moped around, gazing into the lake to see the reflection of his living family in the world below. It was a bit annoying. Starclan was wonderful! There was so much to do, and no one to tell you know! Shouldn't he be happy to be out of the reaches of his commanding sister? She remembered watching the rebellion, he was dragged along. Only his choice in his last moments to warn Froststar had brought him here, to Starclan. He was quiet, kept to himself, didn't really speak until spoken to... Her ice blue eyes suddenly shone with realization, and then narrowed with mischief. 

Oh, he reminded her of Whitepaw. 

Her heart suddenly lifted, a grin coming to her features. Oh, he was just like him! Which meant, of course, it would be just as entertaining to mess with him as she had her brother. The starry furred she-cat slunk forward, paw steps silent as she crept behind the male, watching over his sister, and then suddenly shoved her fellow Starclan cat into the beautiful lake he was peering into. A jingling bell laugh escaped her through, tail flicking from side to side. 

"It's a pleasure, Clearstream," Ashlark purred in her lyrical tone, a sly look in her eyes. "How are you this fine day?"

[silverfang218]

Clearstream was caught off guard when a fellow cat with a starry pelt pushed him into the lake he had been staring at. He hadn’t heard Ashlark’s approach, so entranced was he by the sight of his sister and her new mate raising her kits. The tom lets out a growl in surprise as he is shoved into the cool water. Luckily for him, he landed in a shallower part of the lake since he can’t swim at all. Clearstream’s gaze moves over towards his attacker as he climbs to his paws and trots back to dry land.

He pauses right next to Ashlark and shakes himself, hoping to splash her with water. Clearstream can be a troublemaker too. “It’s a pleasure to see you too, Ashlark.” Clear replies formally, with only the slightest hint of sarcasm in his monotone voice giving any indication that he has a sense of humor.

“I was doing quite well until a moment ago. There was a little bird annoying me.” He doesn’t say that the bird is still annoying him. While he is amused by her prank, making himself a mental note to watch his surroundings for other StarClan cats, the tom wants nothing more than to return to his previous activity. Many cats likely believed that he was subordinate to his sister, and they aren’t necessarily wrong, but he was subordinate by choice. His life revolved around his sister, and even in death, it’s hard for him to adjust to her not being by his side.

Clearstream sits near the spot where he had being lying down, his fluffy but wet tail curling around his front paws. He doesn’t say anything, but his head ever so slightly tilts to one side. He is waiting for Ashlark to either tell him what she wants from him or, with her fun over, to leave.

[M'Lady]

She scrunched her face when he shook out his fur, attempting to drench her in the process. Oh what a piece of work he was, well, no matter. She'll find him entertaining enough. At least he wasn't weird like Whitepaw, only talking to cats he knew inside and out. Well, Whitepaw had spoken a lot to her, so she supposed it didn't really matter on her end. Ashlark grinned when he spoke, a laugh escaping her as she went to sit by the tom's side. "Oh look at you, a true Starclan cat already! Are you fond of speaking in riddles?" She mused, eyes as bright and cold as the stars that glittered in her fur.

She frowned, though, when he attempted to go right back to the task she found him doing, and she rolled her eyes before shoving his shoulder lightly with a dark gray paw. "Come on, Clearstream. This is all you do, day in and day out." She huffed, ears flicking back in her annoyance, matched by a quick lash of her tail. "Where's your sense of wonder? This is Starclan! There's so much to do, so much fun to be had, and no Froststar to dampen our spirits!" She exclaimed, lifting her head high and proud for just a moment, before she realized she was probably getting nowhere with him. He was more stubborn than her stick in the mud brother! A pang went through her heart, as she acknowledged once again that her inseparable littermate was... Separated from her. Clearstream couldn't replace him, but he would be a good distraction for seasons until Whitepaw would finally join her in Starclan. Ashlark bowed her head, the mischief in her eyes covering the sorrow of one who died too soon. "You're not the only one who misses your family. But they're down there, and we're all the way up here, so we've gotta make the most of it before they come join us, hm? Do you really want Swiftcloud to come up here and realize you've done nothing but stare at the lake? You'll want to give her the grand tour, so let me show you what Starclan is like."

[silverfang218]

Clearstream doesn’t answer as his companion tells him he’s already a true StarClan cat, speaking in riddles. He supposes that she isn’t wrong; in life, most cats didn’t understand him and thought he was too vague when he spoke. If StarClan cats are supposed to never give a clear answer to the cats down below, who better to speak in riddles than a cat who has never know how to speak clearly?

The big block of a tom still holds his silence as Ashlark gives his shoulder a push and complains that he only does the same stuff all the time. What else am I supposed to do, though? There’s no need for me to hunt, to fight, to patrol… there’s just nothing to do without Swiftcloud around. His eyes do catch the sorrow in her eyes, only there for a brief moment. He silently ponders that a moment, though his expression does not change from its typical emotionless state. Probably because she died too young… ah yes, and she had a brother in MistClan as well. Whitepaw, I believe? If she misses him half as much as I miss Swiftcloud, then sorrow is no stranger to her.

Clearstream’s blank expression does slightly turn to a hint of annoyance at the fact that this she-cat is just not going to leave him alone and that he will not be allowed to return to watching over Swiftcloud’s family. He is a frustrated.

Clearstream had taken the quick look around StarClan when he had first arrived, though he had soon after gravitated towards the lake and taken up his near constant vigil there. He had told Swiftcloud that he knew of a place she would love, and he had not lied about that. He knew a beautiful area where the starlight streams down and there’s a nice flat stone to lay on. A cat could laze about in that area for a long time, feeling the light meld with the starlight coming from their pelts. Beyond that… well, he decides, I suppose it won’t hurt to join Ashlark for a while. The quiet tom nods a bit, telling her that he’ll come with; Clear slowly climbs to his paws with a lazy stretch, an indication for Ash to lead on.

[M'Lady]

He was silent for a moment. Good. Just like Whitepaw, it most likely meant that he was pondering her offer. She wondered briefly what it had been that finally had gotten through to him, and quickly decided that it didn't really matter. All that did matter was his answer. She was struck with a sense of familiarity, and it was all that she could do to not be swept up in the sudden memory that hit her full force. She'd been with Whitepaw, she recalled, in a similar situation such as this.

They were at Bear Lake, Whitepaw sitting at the edge with his eyes focused upon the water, intent on catching a carp for the queens tonight. Ashpaw lurked behind him, dragged along on a fishing trip that she would've otherwise despised. He said they'd be hunting, she didn't see this coming at all, though she should've. Whitepaw had always been better at fishing than hunting anyway. "You've been sitting there for hours!" She exclaimed, earning a scoff in response from her brother. "It hasn't been that long, you're just bored." He hummed, not even looking up from the water. His voice was deep, different from her higher, mischievous tone. She rolled her eyes at his response, but then flipped from her back onto her paws, determination glittering in icy eyes as she slunk forward. Her brother was too focused to notice, until she pounced and bowled him over, both cats ending up in the lake with a large splash. She was laughing when he finally came up, white fur drenched and his eyes unamused. After a moment, though, he couldn't help but a to softly snicker himself. Her laughter was contagious, after all. He rose a wide paw, shoving her back down into the water before pulling himself back onto the shore.

The memory faded, and Ashlark smiled when she witnessed his answer. Clearstream stood, and she brushed him lightly on the flank with the tip of her tail, as if congratulating him on the feat. "See, was that so hard? Don't worry, I was like you when I first came here. I watched him for days, you know. But what's going to be accomplished by that? I can't do anything for him, I just have to wait till he gets here! We'll wait for them together, m'kay?" She hummed, before turning to pad along. Her absolute favorite spot was by one of the rivers, large flat stones that were nearly always warm with sunlight. "The Sunny Stones are my favorite, have you ever been? Probably not, I would've seen you. Let's go take a peek, sunhigh naps there are lovely."

[silverfang218]

Clearstream doesn’t immediately answer, instead staying silent for a few more moments. Wait for them together? Surprisingly… it doesn’t sound so terrible to the tom. In fact, Ashlark almost reminded him of Swiftcloud when she was younger. Swiftcloud had been quite the troublemaker, and his sister had always been dragging Clearstream along with her.

His expression turns into a very small yet still visible smile. “That sounds nice.” He purrs softly in response to her offer to wait together. After all, what else was there to do? Swiftcloud would likely kill Clear all over again if she thought he being lonely up here all by herself. His plan was to lie and say that he hadn’t been lonely, but now maybe he can make it a truth. He’s not gonna get ahead of himself though, no way.

The smile seems to grow almost unnoticeably when his companion asks if he had been to a beautiful place to nap. That’s just something his sister would want to show him. He nods again, happy at that thought. He falls in beside her, his fluffy tail flicking back and forth behind him. Perhaps it’s not so bad up here after all.