camp 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐋 ╱ 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆

[SUNNVAR]

Three paws stained black smear each stride around the edge of camp. Untouched, for the most part — a ring of safety contained by desperate trenches and splashes of water. Faint heather-scent beneath the current of ash. Drifts of familiarity beneath the wasteland. And through it all, he, like a ghost, haunts it. Bloodied stump towards the eyes of all warriors inside, Sunstar walks. Each stride is a flex of wounded muscle and a grimace across his face. Jagged, flame-cut fur ripples from his cheek to his nape and down to the bloodsoaked cobwebs. Burnished gold to burnt flesh and the inky dark of scabs torn open. His paw keeps touching the earth, though it will never do so again. He walks as if it would be there to catch him. Instead, the remaining catches up. A small free fall, saved in the final seconds.

Again, and again, he treads around, until his pace has slowed to a near crawl and the aching tension of his haunches threatens to drop him wholly. And still it has not become any easier. Sunstar can do naught but growl under his breath, and turn his head to the setting sun in quiet dismay.

⋆ 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄  ╱╱ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝗕𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐋 〚 04.17.2024 〛 𖤓ᨒ

• OOC. —
• 

  SUNSTAR. WINDCLAN LEADER.  ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆
  ——– AMAB HE - HIM - HIS ╱╱ 4+ YEARS OLD.

  NPC x NPC,. MATE TO WOLFSONG; FATHER TO ONE LITTER WITH HIM. MENTORING RIVEPAW.
  
  TH ╱╱ A LARGE, SCARRED CHOCOLATE AND WHITE ROSETTE TABBY TOM WITH SEAGLASS EYES

• "speech"

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[SOOTSPOT]

He did not think his mother would've ever allowed a three-legged cat to become the leader of the forest's grandest group - other clans may have indulged in such weakness, but Sootspot's had always been better than that. It was a struggle to see a world where the moor-runner would bound after rabbits as he used to, where he could fight giant beasts and earn victory through anything more than luck. Watching Sunstar from the camp's entrance, the Tunneler felt like a wolf waiting for its prey to tire, after months of vulnerability, there was a sense of twisted elation within his heart that it was not him who had to suffer for once. His figure was small against dusk's outline, pressed up against the wall as if it would provide him some much-needed elevation against the size of his clanmates. Snakehiss' 'betrayal' was still fresh on the chimera's mind and, as with most violence, the underground had become a respite from it all. To be above ground was to be regarded with the same suspicion as a fool, and though he did not know when to let sleeping dogs lie, he refused to have any association with a lack of intelligence.

When Sunstar stopped, the long-furred tom crept closer, squinting at the chaotic mess of pawprints and flattened strands of grass from heavy steps. His whiskers twitched, followed by his nostrils, then, the Tunneler looked up with a smile. "Perhaps it would be wise to seek guidance from another." His tail coiled like a sidewinder, slow and deliberate as contemplation reached his yellow-green gaze. "You are not the first to be changed in such a way, should there be a similar feline in another group... why, I am certain they will teach you how to move." The only one he knew of had been devoured by wolves, but with his long-term absence from gatherings, perhaps the demographics had changed somewhere.


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[RATTLEHEART]

AS HE RAISED HIS FIST BEFORE HE SPOKE — The sheer shock of Sunstar's injury was still fresh on Rattleheart's mind, his thoughts having not yet caught up fully to the reality of the situation. After everything with the fire had moved so fast that he hardly had a chance to process any of it, the new opportunity to just sit and contemplate felt more foreign than anything. Then again, he considered himself lucky to at least have that chance.

It wasn't as if Sunstar possessed the same luxury, their leader throwing himself wholly into trying to adjust to his new way of life. Though the tunneler couldn't blame him for just wanting to get the hardest parts out of the way, he did have to wince with each stuttering step Windclan's leader took. Each precarious near-fall caused the fur along the nape of his neck to stand up, half-convinced the next step would be the one to send Sunstar stumbling to the ashy ground.

After seeing Sootspot approach, the lead warrior very nearly didn't want to get anywhere near the scene. He was honestly ready for a fight to break out, expecting Sootstar's neglected son to spit something cruel and unnecessary - whether he intended for it to come off that way or not. Instead though, it seemed for once that he had at least some grip on reality. His suggestion didn't immediately make Rattleheart's ears pin down to his head, instead prompting a low hum of acknowledgement from the new queen as he finally grew closer. "He may actually be right, Sunstar. Not that I don't think you can adjust to this on your own, but I'm sure it would go faster if you had the guidance of someone with experience." It was the same principle they often used with queens, plenty of those in the nursery having already offered their bits and pieces of advice to him as his kits grew nearer with each passing day.

Though there was one flaw in that plan, and it was one that Sootspot had already thought of himself - who were they to turn to? A heavy sigh left Rattleheart as he glanced out beyond the walls of their camp, trying to think of any familiar faces that sprung to mind with little success. "Although... I'm not quite sure who we would turn to." His trips to the gatherings were often brief and businesslike, especially ever since he had become a lead warrior. He preferred to attend just so that he could keep up with the news, rather than because he was looking for new friendships.

THE RIGHTEOUS HAND OF GOD 𓆩♡𓆪 THE DEVIL THAT YOU FORGOT

• 

• 
  ❥ longhaired black and white tom with pale green eyes
  ❥ 51 moons old; ages the 1st every month
  ❥ afab; uses he/she/they pronouns
  ❥ homosexual homoromantic; mated to venomstrike
  ❥ sibling to scorchstreak, lizardbounce, and rabbitclaw
  ❥ currently mentoring downypaw
  ❥ somewhat difficult to befriend; wary but kind
  ❥ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ❥ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ❥ all opinions are ic

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[dimmingsun]

It's a pitiful sight, objectively. Not the loss of a leg - Dimmingsun is not quick to jeer at the difficulties others face, the kind that he has no experience in and even less of a right to discuss -, but the way Sunstar seems to be handling this new development.

Which is to say, not handling it very well at all.

Dimmingsun can't even find it in himself to blame him. The two are not the slightest bit comparable, but he can at least sympathize with finding something as simple as walking to be difficult when his own lungs refuse to work properly. It's like being born anew but with a core piece missing. Idly, he wonders; is that also how losing a life feels? The very gift of the stars stripped from you, painful as the moment of your birth.

He wishes he could stand by Sunstar's side and tell him to stop, but he knows those ears would not listen. Dimmingsun can't imagine himself not doing the same if he were in his leader's place. How would those weak, exhausted legs carry him towards Fourtrees to represent an entire Clan?

"Rabbits might fly today," he comments in lieu of a hello, weaving between the small gathering of cats. Sootspot's right for once? Dear StarClan.

Much like Rattleheart, Dimmingsun doesn't see sense in turning an idea away, even if it comes from someone as unlikely as Sootspot. "Perhaps at the next Gathering, Wolfsong and Cottonpaw could ask the other medicine cats for their assistance or experience. It's more dignified than asking all five Clans right there in the open, anyway." He imagines medicine cat business stays between themselves and the stars, unless the safety of their own is at risk. Nice and private. Away from judgmental eyes and attentive ears that want nothing more than to hear of vulnerability.
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