Big question I have for the Tallstar kitten, where does Jake go at the end? If they are co-parenting, then does this child get separated from one of its parents? Would shake come visit? Did Tallstar and Jake have a messy breakup? It would make a very interesting parallel for Onewhisker, Tallstar proudly returning to the clan and claiming the kit as his
The child would very much get separated!!
Tallstar’s Collapse heavily involves the infamous BB!Heatherstar, and the death of tunnelling as she sacrifices it to advance the war with ShadowClan. Kitten or no kitten, the entire book is a lot more bitter as a result.
Tallkit grows up in a Clan that is a community. Palebird is loved and helped through her depression, Tallkit learns from all sorts of different cats. There's issues-- the war and Shrewclaw-- but this is home.
At the same time, he watches Sandgorse and the Tunnelers grow angry and desperate, realizing that Heatherstar is killing their tradition to make more fighters. It's likely that she, or one of her supporters, encourages Tallkit's fear of tunnels and division with his father.
Jake is freedom. He's a paw to offer him an escape from the drama and politics. To see that he does not have to live that way.
But the tragedy here is that Tallstar can't leave it behind. He loves his mom, his half siblings, Woolytail, his mentor, his friends... the moorland is home. Doesn't he have a responsibility to it? To serve WindClan and to fix its problems instead of running away?
WindClan is home. It's family. And Jake is family too but...
Without a kitten it ends here, basically. Tall decides to go home at this point. If he DOES have the kitten...
Then the kitten is probably adopted from parents who died, and that causes Tall to have a bit of an existential crisis. The idea of that is ALIEN to him, there's always someone in a clan to care for the kittens, community is the core of Clan life.
Even at its worst, even when Palebird couldn't take care of him, there was no question that he was loved and valued.
But here's kittens with NO family. If him and Jake and the Nomads hadn't found them...
He can't stop thinking about WindClan after that. The lessons he was taught, the gorse and the heather and the bounty it provides. Palebird and his new siblings, Heatherstar and her aging deputy. How this child he's raising would never know a trip to the moonstone or see its grandmother.
And most importantly; Talltail believes there is value in serving a Clan, and being put to the Stars in death. Where will he go? Where will Fly go??
But Jake does not want that life. He can see that his mate is growing unhappy, but he would be equally unhappy if he went with him. They love each other like a breeze loves a stone; try it might, the wind can't lift the rock.
So they have to part ways.
I think Jake visited for a few years after that, but abruptly stopped. The war grew more intense and it wasn't safe to visit anymore, especially as tensions between Clans got even worse. Tallstar chose his destiny, and Jake chose his.
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Nightmare
Nightmare
Characters: Levi x Hange
Word Count: 749 words
Canon universe
Because I haven't posted any writing on here in a while.
This is for @this-is-krikkit and anyone else having a shitty day - have a free Levihan cuddle.
Inspired by the Smartpass story.
...
The titan lifted its monstrous head, gazing down with eyes like giant, polished orbs. Its stare was devoid of comprehension; empathy; reason. Humanity. It was simply registering the details before it; the small figure standing with their arm outstretched. Any second now, it would lunge.
Strangely, Hange was unafraid. Their arm was held steady; palm empty. Even as the titan swung its jaw open wide, inviting Hange to a view of its enormous teeth, they remained unshaken in their resolve. It was just as unsurprising when a human voice emerged from the giant’s mouth.
"They don't taste good…"
“Mmm?” Hange returned politely, cocking their head to the side. They clasped both hands behind their back. “What doesn’t? Tell me.”
Suddenly the titan uttered an ear-splitting howl. It gripped the sides of its head, thrusting fingers as thick as tree stumps beneath its eyelids. It prised the thin flesh away as though attempting to tear its skin from its face.
“Please… help me, Hange!”
Hange jolted awake. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the gloom. There was their disordered pile of books upon the bedside table; only the names on the spines were too blurred to read, should Hange have needed to do so. The bedsheet had become tangled around one of their legs, leaving the other cold and exposed. The corner of yet another book was digging into their shin. There came a movement beneath them; an arm shifting then withdrawing from their side.
“You okay?” Levi’s voice; still thick with sleep. They felt him turn onto his back. Hange reached towards the bedside table and knocked their glasses to the floor with a clatter.
“Fuck.” Their arm was trembling now, unlike in their dream. “That- that fucked me up…”
A pale shaft of moonlight fell across them. Hange turned to see Levi drawing back the heavy drape which clung to the window.
“Thanks.” Hange retrieved their fallen glasses and pushed them up the bridge of their nose. They sat upright; knuckles blanched as they clutched the mattress, feet digging into the floorboards beneath. There came a creak of wooden slats as Levi knelt on the bed behind them.
“What happened in this one?”
Recurring nightmares were, unfortunately, one of an endless list of occupational hazards faced by those in the Scout Regiment. It was often the result of witnessing too many abnormal things. In fact, most considered it abnormal not to be affected in such a way.
“There was a titan. It was trying to talk to me… It… it said…” Hange gripped their head, much like the titan had done in their nightmare. “It told me that they didn’t taste good.” Their hands balled into fists, pressing their eyes with the effort of remembering. As much as they tried to cling to the memory, the details of the dream poured through their fingers like sand.
“It asked me to help them.” Hange’s throat was tight. “Wh-what do you think that means?”
Levi folded an arm around them and they sank against him, their back pressed to his chest. Levi’s chin rested on their shoulder.
“Levi… what if they don’t want to do it?”
“Huh?”
“...what if they don’t want to eat people?”
Both stared at the door, under which a narrow strip of light filtered. The absurdity of Hange’s statement, and the silence which followed it, settled over the room.
“I don’t know…” Levi spoke quietly. “That’s a question only you can answer.”
It was as though the burden of that unanswered proposal settled upon them in tangible form. Hange’s shoulders sank, their body curving against his.
“Tomorrow, I’ll…”
“You need to get some rest.” Levi’s tone was firm but without his usual acerbity. He held them to him tightly.
“I’ve got you.”
Hange’s eyes closed. Gently, he brought them down with him so that Hange’s back remained against his front. He stroked their scattered hair away from the pillow and tenderly kissed the back of their neck. Hange made a small sound and shifted beside him. Levi reached across them, gently lifting their glasses from their face. He hesitated; the table was just out of reach. He lowered his arm, wrapping it around Hange’s waist; their glasses clutched in his hand. Levi buried his face in their warm skin, feeling their breaths come slower as exhaustion overcame them.
But even though he closed his eyes and allowed his own breathing to fall in rhythm with theirs, Levi knew he would not sleep.
…
Part 2: Dream
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