Posts by staccato.

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If you'd like some free FeralFront memorabilia to look back on fondly, see this thread from Dynamo (if this message is still here, we still have memorabilia): https://feralfront.com/thread/2669184-free-feralfront-memorabilia/.

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    " speaking "


    "okay!"


    the child nodded quickly, determined to listen to their brother, to stay by his side whatever it took. they simply didn't want to die, didn't want him to get hurt, and didn't want to be hurt. this was all surreal, like some bad dream that just... wasn't going away. despite the panic that flooded their great big eyes, the child couldn't help but look upon their brother with love and adoration, the panic subdued slightly by his presence. no pressure of course, just know that your younger sibling was looking to you for support and life in this ring of chaos and possible death.


    whoops.


    with that, the child would follow wherever their brother went, tail tucked with terror between their legs.
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    wowie, everyone sure was angry! you know what made people less angry? hugs. hugs made people less angry.


    practically waddling up to the stranger with their stiff wooden legs, the child would smile up at bill and duck past all their clanmates. disregarding any sort of self preservation (they had never heard of bill and certainly didn't understand the anger in the air) the child would announce their intentions.


    [Color=#af6c48]"mm, if i give you a hug will you tell me a joke?"
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    "porce, i know how to grow!"


    ready for kits helping kits?


    the wooden child bounced over to their friend, smile stretched wide. growing was hard and took a long time, but they'd never do it if they were out of the ground! trees needed to be planted in the ground and watered with enough sunlight regularly. while woodenkit wasn't 100% sure that the same principle applied to everyone else, but how else would you grow?


    [b]"first you gotta find some good soil, and then plant your roots in the ground, then make sure your leaves always have enough sunlight!"


    and water, obviously, but even cats drank water!
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    " speaking "


    "hi there mister! who're you, where're you from?"


    there was a constant excitement wherever woodenkit went, as their stiff wooden limbs carried them from place to place. it wasn't always easy being made out of solid wood and birch bark, but it was fun to explore and make friends, and that' what they had been up to when the stranger showed up on the border. like any other person, he was greeted with a wide smile and the child bound up to stand before him, so close that they had to crane their neck upwards just to see him.


    [color=#af6c48]"you look kinda funny! that's okay though, so do i!"
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    " speaking "


    "dai, what's survive?"


    sometimes they realized that something 'adult' was going on, and while the child didn't always understand the grown ups, they did their best to accommodate their strange ways. like the fog in ico's head, and the happy-sad of jekyll when he looks at the photos. there are adult words, and an adult world that they cannot be a part of, and woodenkit cannot help but creep up next to the others with a hesitant smile, trying to lighten the mood.


    [color=#af6c48][b]"that's a sad smile."
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    " speaking "


    "daisy's a mom?"


    the child didn't get much of a chance to say anything else before a snarling astercrown alarmed them, and woodenkit jumped where they stood, eyes wide. however, the tree child didn't move, stuck between the riverclanners and the exiler and tucking their tail between their legs, as though terrified. less of the exiler and more of the situation.


    [color=#af6c48]"w-what's happening?"
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    "ico!"


    there was a small protest as their mama showed up, but the violence and action made the child uncomfortable, and while woodenkit wanted to bury their face in their white mama, to hug him and get him to make them feel safe, holy was ushering them away and the child whimpered quietly, clinging to holydove's legs as though the hug would make everything go away.
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    /we'll miss you!!


    the child rushed forwards, despite not knowing harlock very well, and attempted to hug him with stiff wooden limbs, eyes wide and smile not about to be discouraged despite the gravity of the situation. she had left blizzardclan, and she was much happier here, and he was visiting so it sure was okay!
    [color=#af6c48]"we'll miss you lots and lots!"
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    "h-hey mister? you don't look so good!"


    well, apparently woodenkit wasn't done throwing themselves into matters that didn't concern them, and they tried to wiggle out past the clanmates between them and bub, brown eyes flashing with concern. the guy looked pretty bad, so they weren't too worried. besides, he was outnumbered.


    [Color=#af6c48]"did you maybe think that you might have scared dai? 'cause sometimes if you scare someone they don't wanna be your friend anymore. and none of my friends are very happy with you, so maybe you just gotta say sorry."
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    "no! he's sick and hurt and you can't kill him!"


    well, the child was certainly taking a stand, chest puffing out as though they were trying to make themselves larger despite how pathetic it really was. maybe they would have thought differently had they known what happened, but they were a child and they couldn't understand things like this. they only knew what they saw.


    "just let 'im go, you don't have to be like him!"


    she loved aster, she didn't want him to be a murderer, someone who took life and created a void in the world. once he passed out, the kitten rushed forwards and tried to push on bub, whining quietly as though afraid that he was dead now, that aster had gone too far.


    [color=#af6c48]"c-can someone get my brother? he'll know what to do!"
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    " speaking "


    at first, the child wanted to run away as fast as their stiff limbs would carry them. they had suffered by the hands of this person, a testimony to that being the healing burn scars, the carving in their leg something that would never go away, bark stripped away to make room for the in-flesh carving that now left them as something almost ornamental.


    but there was something different about shae this time, a regret that hung about her like smoke. and since her mama, who laid himself in a cloud of smoke and denial, was so prone to the obscuring of his self, the child was growing used to looking through the clouds that people surrounded them with. they did not see the person that tortured them, oh no. they saw someone of equal standing.


    it took seconds for the child to rush forwards and try to wrap shae in a hug, rigid movements painful in their arthritic sense, but relieving in the emotional plane. they were so glad that shae was here, that she was okay and that they didn't have to worry about being hurt again.


    [color=#af6c48]"hi shae! it's okay, you didn't mean it, and i'm okay too! are you staying to visit? it's a long way back, so you can stay if you want! there's some cool leaves i found and the ladybugs are starting to sleep under the rocks, and if you stay the night then we can watch the stars together!"
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    "let go! lemme go!"


    the child screeched when moved by frenchie, squirming and whining in protest. they certainly didn't enjoy being handled against their will, and as soon as they were placed on the ground they attempted to rush to astercrown, to try and bury their face in their loved one's fur, fear welling in their eyes. they were so naive, so innocent, and couldn't picture evil despite having faced demons, having seen a glimpse of the horrible world. with a whimper, woodenkit would try to latch on to aster and practically whisper, still needing the love and adoration that came with aster but their own thoughts with peace and love.


    "w-we have to bring him back to his home. remember? eve-everyone's got family, and his'll miss him. please, please aster can we bring him home?"


    they certainly couldn't keep him, anyways.
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    there is a silence and a grace to the world that the child both lacks and has perfected.


    while the silvery white gleam of a frosty morning may contrast the roaring fire of the sun, there are little contrasts hidden in the very simple things. some were subtle, the shades of colour along the feathers of a yellow bird as it dipped and dived through the air, the sun lighting the neon hues and leaving the slightest darker hue along the bottom of the wings, the body. others were far more clear, and the black and white pelt of woodenkit fell into this category. it was rather odd to see something made from wood and bark move as a feline did, to see stiff-jointed legs and rigid form bending and flexing with the attempts to imitate the fluidity and grace of a mobile creature. yet that was exactly what woodenkit was, an oddity. whereas their clanmates kept their distance from the joiner, silently awaiting an answer from the lion, woodenkit would skip past them all to get closer to the stranger. the child was a kind creature, and though their motions were stiff and arthritic, there was a softness in their dark brown eyes, looking up at the stranger with excitement and adoration.


    "hi there! who're you? i'm woodenkit! you sure are pretty! do you like to play games? are you from far away? how'd you get so big?"


    ah, the kindness and friendliness of a child without boundaries.


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    " speaking "


    the child, thankful for aster's decision to bring home the other (he was still alive, chest movements subtle but there and woodenkit knew about lungs enough to know that movement was good), rushed forwards. they'd stay of course, but moved to wrap aster in a hug, an ache in their chest that they couldn't quite understand but everyone was sad and angry and the tree child couldn't understand why. the situation was over their head.


    "please be careful. come back soon? please?"


    they just wanted to curl up and sleep, or simply spend time with the other. not like this. never like this.
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    woodenkit didn't like violence. they couldn't see the appeal in hurting people, and as someone who had never understood alliances and politics (they had been a tree initially, clan affairs were over their head) they simply couldn't grasp the depth of certain situations. so panic fueled them, emotion and panic and the desire for things to be nice and serene and fun. games were more their speed, games and fun things because childish desires were simple and so too was the birch bark child. they couldn't understand anger, hatred, or violence. they didn't know rage, they didn't know revenge.


    they knew love. they knew forgiveness. they had never had a sour bone in their body, and concern fueled their actions.


    astercrown had their love, and regardless of what he did, he would always have it.


    without words, the child dashed towards their friend and launched themselves at his mourning form, ears pinned back on their head and tears welling in their eyes. the usually vocal child had no words, bubbly personality dampened by the severity of the past, dampened by the violence witnessed. they may not have understood, but the ache in their chest was unlike the usual lung pain, it was too similar to the pain they had when their mama was upset. they didn't know what to do, so the tearful child simply tried to embrace aster and cling to him desperately.
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    "oh! oh! will there be dancing and games and food and friends and fun stuff?"


    woodenkit was a bubbly and loud creature, rushing up to the tribe leader with wide brown eyes and a smiley expression that did not hesitate to make a welcoming presence in the little tree child. a party would be fun, even if the small child had last been in the tribe against their will. oh well, all was forgiven anyways.
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    "please don't be sad."


    it was quiet, and the child couldn't do anything but ask quietly. the adults had conversations too, conversations about what's right and wrong, what was part of the responsibility of a clanner and what was stepping over the line. they didn't really have the capability to wrap their simple mind around the nonsense (because to a child, such things are truly nonsensical). but to them there was nothing worse than seeing astercrown upset, and they wondered quietly whose fault that was (because one thing they had learned was that there was blame assigned in many situations).


    [b]"i'm sorry."


    they weren't sure why they were apologizing, but the tears in their eyes were quelled once they shut their gaze against the world, satisfied to be close to astercrown, to swallow their worries and spew out concern for their lovely friend, a key parental figure in their life.
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    "hiya!"


    bubbly - their tone was bubbly and kind, a welcoming influence on windclan which really didn't need the help to be friendly but had woodenkit moving towards the stranger with the intent of welcoming her in the friendliest manner that they could! the tree child, covered in birch bark, has a disjointed way of moving but the stiffness and mild pain wasn't enough to stop their joyful advance towards ann.


    [color=#af6c48][b]"who're you? i like your colours! are you coming to visit? are you staying? i'm woodenkit, i like to go and find cool plants. do you like plants? say, can you fly? can you speak bird too?"
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    "hey, hey michael!"


    well, woodenkit had initially intended to show up and drag michael off to this cool locking rock they had found, since the rock looked like a cat and for a second there the tree child thought they'd found a rock feline. in all honesty the rock was pretty normal but if you squinted hard enough you could almost see the outline of whiskers and maybe a misshapen nose? regardless, the kitten was distracted by the box and the child rushed forwards to eye the strange device.


    [color=#af6c48][b]"wha's tha'? it's pretty! and weird. how come it lights up? has it got a little sun in it?"
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    "but... she said she was sorry?"


    to the child, that was enough to forgive wholly the wounds inflicted upon them, the pain they had suffered. there was nothing in the world that could cause unending negativity from the child it seemed, so the denial of being able to go was a little bit of a shock. the birch bark child flicked their dark gaze from windclanner to windclanner as though looking for support from the others, but the only thing they got was a consolation from astercrown and a bundle of confusion.


    [color=#af6c48][b]"i don't understand...? b-but okay."
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