camp KNIGHTS OF CYDONIA — o, confrontation/exile

[SNAKEHISS]

The moors... they're gone. They have been flattened completely by the raging flames, charred nearly beyond recognition. WindClan's sense of safety and security, the heather and grasses that had provided them with cover and resources for generations, were now blackened.

It did not take long for the clan to jump back into action after the diminishing of the fire completely, beginning to slowly pick up what was left and round up their clanmates sheltering in RiverClan's territory. The kits, the elders... they would return back home only to see nothing left of their beloved moors. "We ignored StarClan. We ignored their warning, and we paid for it." Snakehiss says aloud to no one in particular, gazing out onto the smoldering territory. Sure, perhaps they had shown them mercy at the last possible moment, if only to spark the fear of death into their very souls. This could—this would keep happening—if WindClan kept turning a blind eye to StarClan's will.

Snakehiss is done being silent. "You..." The moor runner's narrowed eyes find the large, rosetted form of Sunstar, lips curling to bare gritted teeth. "You have wreaked havoc upon WindClan!" He cries out in accusation, emerald eyes alight with a wild fury.

And who was not to believe him? Who was going to keep holding onto the hope that StarClan would never turn their back on them, that they were protecting WindClan from harm? Snakehiss would beg any who differed to open their eyes. "Look at our territory! All of our prey is gone. Who knows when they will return? We'll- We'll starve!" Any prey who had remained behind surely burned to a crisp! What were they expected to survive off of, now?

The midnight-colored tom gives a lash of his tail, ears pinned against his head as he fully expects voices of discontent to combat against him, though his tirade was not yet finished, "And your leg- StarClan was trying to kill you all along! And.. when they couldn't, they took your kin, instead!" A low blow, but it was the truth. StarClan was angry, siccing a hound after the leader and smiting his child when the first attempt did not work. They were trying to punish Sunstar.

Snakehiss' claws tensely knead the soot-laden soil; it is unknown what will happen now, but he is certain that his cause is just. If nobody else wanted to heed StarClan's words, then at least he knew he was the only one listening. "You are not worthy of being our leader. You will only drive us into further destruction!" Snakehiss' mind is made up; it is beyond convincing at this point. He is entirely of the belief that Sunstar is to blame for his clan's recent misfortunes.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝙎 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

• no need to wait for @SUNSTAR but please do not physically interfere with whatever may or may not happen!

• 

• 
  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾
  snakehiss
  

  — he/him; moor runner of windclan
  — long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
  — father to violetkit, cricketkit, and privetkit (duskclan)
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​

​

 

[PINKSHINE]

TIt was over. It was over, that was how she reminded herself that things were good, even when she glimpses the charred remains of what was outside of camp; even when she thinks about Bearpaw. Soon, they would be on their way to get the kits and the elders and.... everyone. Soon they would all be WindClan again, and everything would be okay. Then Snakehiss starts talking.

StarClan's warning. Did he mean the sun? She tilts her head at him, not getting whatever he was saying. And then he turns to Sunstar, Sunstar, who lost his leg, Sunstar, that fixed all the damage Sootstar did. What has Sunstar done? She opens her mouth to gape, " Huh? "

Look at our territory! All of our prey is gone Not... true. Rabbits lived in burrows didn't they? And lots of other animals, or Pinkpaw wouldn't spend so much of her time in the dirt. They'd be okay. Maybe there wouldn't be as much as last time, but... And your leg- StarClan was trying to kill you all along! Pinkpaw is bristling now. Sunstar doesn't need her to defend him, but she can't accept that, she can't " They weren't! They wouldn't! " Pinkpaw shouts, hackles rising. And when he talks about Bearpaw, she shrieks, " STOP IT! "

Wolfsong didn't cry for Snakehiss to use it on Sunstar. Her best friends didn't cry for Snakehiss to use it on Sunstar. " Sunstar is alive because of StarClan! " He didn't die because of them. What is wrong with him? Snakehiss and Sootspot and everyone? Were there more like them? " Shut up, Snakehiss! Shut up! Someone make him shut up! " she cries, and if no one did, she would make him shut up herself.​

 

[Periwinklebreeze.]

OH, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE SOMEONE ━
THAT EVERYBODY HAS TO TALK TO━​

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

periwinklebreeze ❀ 21 moons ❀ demi-boy ❀ windclan lead warrior ​

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Periwinklebreeze's first instinct when the shouts start, is to step in - to stop it. Sunstar is their leader, chosen by the stars - had freed them of sootstars cruelty. Had picked him as lead warrior. But the words die on his tongue, frozen in place at nursery's maw as he watches the tom scream with wide eyes and silently parted jaws. Because, is he really wrong? Had he not thought the very same thing deep down, even if he'd been too scared to voice it aloud. They'd watched the border burn together - ad he'd agreed then, hadn't he? They'd he'd peace, finally, at last - and it'd been shattered by omens of the sun, by fire and ash and sunstars loss of a life. Of a limb. Of a son.

He's a lead warrior yes... 'but hadn't hyacinthbreath once been sooststars lead warrior, too?'

The thought leaves him sick - and for a moment it is not Sunstar and Snakehiss standing there, but another, a pair of she-cats. A memory so haunting he's not sure he'll ever forget it no matter how hard he tries - something no kit should've born witness to, windclanner or not. Shouts of unfairness and insanity and greed, the sickening crunch of the body as it hit the ground, thrown from the high rock by the moorland queen. The way his mother had egged it on, approved of it, even taken pleasure in putting a traitor in their place - and yet, had emberfang been wrong, really? Stomach churns, and he nearly heaves - body is shaking, trembling from a memory he can't shake himself from.

Al this violence, and for what? History repeats itself it seems - perhaps, they'll never really be free from this hell. Perhaps... perhaps sootstar hadn't been the problem at all. Maybe it was the clans - or starclan - or whatever madness it was that gave windclan leaders their lives. Curse - all of it. All of them. Nobody was safe, they'd never be free. Panic spirals his thoughts as he struggles to breathe, and in the end the lead warrior chooses what he always does - to flee, head ducked as he vanishes back into the nursery, frail frame trembling with every step as he gathers his kittens close.

They don't need to see this - not like he had. Whatever snakehiss's fate, they deserved to be sheltered from it a little longer. To be safe.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

━H E━H AD━N O━O N E━T H A T━H E━C O U L D━T A L K━T O━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
// CW: brief mentions of ptsd flashbacks and panic attacks
in & out, peri will be lurking in the nursery for the rest of this

 

[SUNNVAR]

There is a long moment of passiveness. Of a silent, unfeeling wall of flame before the shadow of Snakehiss' pelt. A ring of embers surrounding the darkness. The sun that would rise after the night. He had not allowed himself rage since the first fires licked at their territory. His cautiousness, guidance– he had commanded himself when all was falling apart, and he had not had the time to crumble since. In his own death, and his flight from the fire. In mourning his son. Had the stars warned him of this? Or had they spoken it with finality? Like a lightning strike upon stone? They claim themselves caring, and thoughtful. They looked down upon them eternally as if they could ever truly care the way that the living could. StarClan alone could choose to watch another cat die. And StarClan alone could be blamed for what became of this clan now.

On that, at least, they could agree.

A swift breeze to embers, heat licks the tear-soaked grass as Sunstar rises on three unsteady paws. Pinkpaw is screaming. Eyes are upon them. "If StarClan has spoken to you, Snakehiss, speak to the clan!" The rage is met and reflected, his thick fur beginning to bristle. "Have they told you their intentions? Spoke of what they would have us do?" A step forward. "The sign that you say I have ignored — the sun, blacked out by their wrath — did they tell you this? You? The cat who followed madness to its very brink, and chose to cower before the fall?" Another step, guided by the push of a phantom paw.

His claws itch for something. To hold Bearpaw's fur again, to knead the nest he had known in Wolfsong's den, to race the moors with the confidence his body no longer possessed. To sink into a traitor's flesh, and remind himself that there is still a battle to fight. That this loss is not the end of everything he had held so dearly. "Perhaps the stars spoke of you," he spits; a barb unfounded until his heart latches on to it. Darkness overtaking the sun. "That the rot I allowed to remain in my clan would rear its head once more; that I could not give you more than you deserved." Nothing. Nothing. Not this clan, not absolution, not his own forgiveness. This clan had raised a bully, and for all that he may hope, not all poison can be seared from a wound.

"You speak of StarClan on the day that my son has greeted them. So soon after I myself have stood before them again, said my farewells and returned to live among you again. You think me unworthy of the lives they have gifted me?" For a moment he is the gold-burnished tom who had stood proudly for his first meeting. Who promised redemption for WindClan, a new place for them all in the ashes they had landed in. The pain could be washed away, but there stands a warrior who is flame and blood, who steps closer to Snakehiss again and bares his teeth and spits, his voice vicious and low: "Then take them."

⋆ 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"

​

 

[SNOWGLARE]

જ➶ All he has been doing since his collapse upon the moors is resting. The rain brought with it a much needed relief and put out the flames. Thank goodness for that and now the rest of his clanmates can return home. He is worried about Slateheart's condition even if his own is somewhat unstable. Blinking his pale pink tinted eyes he finds himself about to fall into another fitful sleep when he hears words spoken. Rising he drags himself tiredly from the small meager nest he occupies and stares forth at what is happening. As with Pinkpaw he too has his own confusion for it hardly makes sense to him. His ears pull back, a grimace pulling across his face at such sudden viciousness. Blaming Sunstar for the things that twolegs have wrought. Does Snakehiss believe that Starclan can control twolegs now as well. He can understand the unknowing of the sun but he does not believe that spirits have such an ability when it comes to them. His maw parts before he snaps it shut again and then he shakes his head. "That sounds utterly ridiculous."

But his voice dies down in his throat as Sunstar makes his approach. His eyes widen as he speaks and talk about allowing him to have stayed at all. The other having become a turncoat when all of those crazed loyalist met their downfall. Snow narrows his eyes slightly. He was one of them. It figured then that he would look for any claim against Sunstar even after having been allowed to stay. Yet as Sunstar challenges him to try and take his remaining lives from him the large ghostly tom's gaze widen. They just got him back and the camp as well. The moors will heal. Did they need this reckless bloodshed? He steps a bit closer as if he might intervene, yet he merey watches on baited breath.​

 

[slateheart]

Slateheart's paws remain sore, but walkable. His sprained paw, now, held his weight. The timing of his recovery and that of the moors together was nothing short of a miracle. He expected to continue his life the way it was, before RiverClan, and expected that others would follow suite.

But.. nothing is ever that simple is it? As WindClanners began to settle down and adjust their days-empty nests and whatnot, one particularly prickly warrior seemed to have other ideas. Snakehiss speaks to no one, at first, and as always, Slateheart ignores him. It was always easy to push the nonsensical ramblings of Sootstar's mourners to the back of his mind. But as the black-furred warrior speaks, he seems to fuel his own rage; and soon enough, it's directed at their leader.

Slateheart knew this would happen one day. It was only a matter of time before the loyalists' got tired of playing pretend and shown their true colors. But - today, of all days? They had just returned home, some were mourning the loss of a loved one - Sunstar, bearing the worst of the trauma, was recovering from the loss of life and limb. So why.. did he have to make a public spectacle today?

The tom does not dare open his mouth. Protective as he was, he felt he knew Sunstar just enough to know that the golden leader might not take kindly to his intrusions - he could fight his own battles, and would request aid when needed, just as he had before. But as the situation escalates, Slateheart finds himself retreating into uncertainty - into fear. As Sunstar dares that Snakehiss takes his remaining lives, the tom averts his green eyes. He feels fear, perhaps on behalf of Snakehiss, of Sunstar's sudden snap. He is nervous and uneasy - his fur prickles uncomfortably with each spit aimed Snakehiss' way.

Stars knows that WindClan cannot suffer any more bloodshed. Not today. All Slateheart can do is keep his mouth shut, and hope that both cats are bluffing.
​

♡ — OUT OF CHARACTER ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ CHARACTER INFORMATION — ♡

• speech is #bbbb88​
• 
• 

  slate slatepaw slatetooth SLATEHEART
  ━━ MOOR-RUNNER WARRIOR of WINDCLAN
  ━━ 22 MOONS,, ages every 6th
  ━━ LYNXTOOTH xx ADELAIDE xx SILVERFOOT
  ━━ SIBLING to GRAVELSNAP and ASHPAW
  ━━ MATE to none | PARENT to none
  ━━ MENTOR to none | MENTORED by LYNXTOOTH​

 

[cottonsprig]

Cottonpaw feels loss as deep as she had when she was told Harrierstripe had perished. She had grown alongside her mentor's litter, treating them as if they were her own little siblings (she knows she will never have any.) Bearpaw walks freely in the stars now, and there is some relief in knowing pain does not ail him, but it still hurts to know the young tom has left them so soon. His siblings still live and breathe, his friends must shoulder the loss of a companion - and Snakehiss uses his death as a weapon against Sunstar.

"Snakehiss," her voice slips out between clenched teeth, eyebrows furrowed. She's sat in beside Foxglare and utilizes the predominantly white tom as an anchor, lest she approach her former flame and demand him to stand down. Sunstar may be missing a leg now, but she severely doubts that had incapacitated him so badly. The show makes her chest clench, as if she still cares for the warrior, and she presses her shoulder to Foxglare's for a sense of comfort.

Her maw opens as if to say more - a further warning, advisement, anything, but Sunstar's slow ambling and pressure pushes the usually talkative she-cat to be silent. They will figure it out between them, and she will just have to be a bystander this time.​

 

[Bluepool]

By the good graces of the stars, their territory had been spared though their salvation had not come without a cost. Bearpaw, her apprentices brother, her leaders son, was gone. Gone and he wasn't coming back, not like his father would. Sometimes, she reflects on the unfairness it is that regular cats only possess one life while leaders got nine, but she would never dare speak such a blasphemous thought out loud. Snakehiss, on the other paw, seems to have no qualms about speaking out against their leader because his voice, loud and grating against Bluepool's ears, is immediately piping up to offer its unwanted critique.

Instinctually, her own lips curl into a sneer. Fangs barred and tail flicking behind her in anticipation as golden eyes peek at Sunstar's cinnamon pelted form. The way her clanmate was speaking, the way he dared voice such an opinion when they all knew it had been Sunstar to save them from her own sister's iron claws, it was nothing short of traitorous and if directed to, she would have absolutely no problem sinking her fangs into his throat. To drive him out would only serve to give what remained of her sister's supporters another able bodied warrior in which to use against them.

Sunstar's challenge rings out across the clearing. Then take them he says and a chill runs up her spine. He is still healing certainly he cannot... She doesn't say anything in protest but instead she backs up so that she is standing next to her blue-pelted niece. Briefly, she looks down at the young medicine cat in training, an uncertain look in her sunshine hued gaze. Did she think this was as bad of an idea as Bluepool thought it to be?

( ➸ ) test my worth in blood

• 
  
  
• 
  BLUEPOOL WINDCLAN LEAD WARRIOR ; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO SOOTSTAR & MINTSHADE
  

  A small framed moor runner with a blue toned pelt and black stripes. Her tail is cropped and her eyes are golden in color. On her chest, she sports a large 'X' shaped scar.

  ✦ Difficult in battle. A skilled fighter + isn't above using dirty tricks in order to win
  

 

[SCORCHSTAR]

༄༄ Many of Sootstar's formerly loyal warriors would not have been allowed back into the welcoming arms of WindClan, had Scorchstreak gotten her way. Snakehiss, Sootspot, Bluefrost, Firefang… each of them carries a mark of betrayal in her mind's eye, a poison in their bloodstream put there by Sootstar. It must be bled out. They must be made to suffer for their crimes. Firefang and Bluefrost, she believes, have suffered more than enough punishment, but there are greater antagonists in Snakehiss and Sootspot. Both toms cling to the way WindClan had functioned under Sootstar—unstable, running itself into the ground with battles and hostility. Both toms should count themselves lucky that Scorchstreak cares too much for the rules of clan life to kill them under cover of night.

Snakehiss is not the worst of the two, but still he finds ways to make the calico's blood boil. Still he finds ways to turn against StarClan, to assume that he understands their will. Scorchstreak certainly does not recall him being named a medicine cat, at least. Yet here he stands, a fraud, standing against the leader approved by the stars. Fire meets fire in their gazes as the toms face off, and the rest of the clan watches on. Then take them, Sunstar demands.

Standing a tail-length from her mate and former apprentice, the deputy goes still. Sunstar will prove his point, and even on three legs he certainly wants no help with such an endeavor. And so Scorchstreak is once again standing sentinel for her clan, golden eyes not leaving the dark-furred former deputy. The two can brawl, for all that she cares. It is only when Sunstar falls that she will intervene; and knowing Sunstar, he will not fall.

࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ she’s a growing bed of thorns

• ooc: —
• 
  SCORCHSTREAK ❯❯ she/they, deputy (tunneler) of windclan
  ༄ small, slim flame-streaked calico with fiery golden eyes. stoic and shrewd, but clearly cares deeply for her clan.
  ༄ mate to bluepool ; sibling to rattleheart & rabbitclaw
  ༄ mentor to pinkpaw
  ༄ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ༄ penned by foxlore

​

​

 

[FOXGLARE]

⁀➷ It was as if the weight of the sky itself was pressing in on his body from all sides. The guilt — or was it shame? (Was there a difference?) — of leaving the clan to fend for itself while he was ordered (gently, by a certain medicine cat apprentice) to sit with the young and injured at that grove in Riverclan bogged down his pelt alongside the ash and rain falling from the sky. He should have been there to help, rather than letting himself get knocked on his ass by breathing in a bit too much smoke.

Inaction. It haunted him. It crowed its consequence into the very air now, and Foxglare could only sit and watch.

The mounting pressure of rage within him grew white-hot as Snakehiss yowled about Starclan and where Sunstar could be blamed for their various hardships. Evoking the name of his son, the brother Foxglare's apprentice, an innocent youth stolen by agonizing flame makes him go very still. The white and tabby tom tenses, and oh how badly he wants to kill him right now.

Fox had been so close, too. He remembers the feeling of thin skin beneath fur and that moment he'd almost done away with the viper. It wasn't worth the trouble, he decided. The slithering creature had looked so pathetic, slinking around with downcast eyes as if to tell everyone that 'he'd only been scared!' It was a lie.

"I knew it..." He let out a low growl, hardly realizing that he'd said so out loud.

It was better to dig out the rot and dispose of it than to let it fester. There was no saving a beast as spineless as this one, and Foxglare felt vindicated in the knowledge that he'd been correct. Letting the weak-minded and cruel skulk amongst their clan was a mistake, Snakehiss was a stain that needed to be scrubbed out. It would have been so easy...

Something real — something warm and solid — presses against his shoulder and Foxglare finally breathes in a slow breath he did not know he was holding, aching lungs a reminder that he is real. He flicks his tail to brush Cottonpaw's in acknowledgement, and sees Bluepool and Scorchstreak sit beside them in his periphery, but he keeps his eyes trained on the scene ahead.

Snakehiss evokes the name of their ancestral clan in order to drag Bearpaws honor through the mud. A life, an individual, whittled down into nothing but a pawn used to punish his father. Foxglare wondered if Starclan would be angry at their name being used by this lowly snake in the grass. He found no sympathy for the spirits, though, only anger. If their power was so great, they would have had the foresight to reject Sootstar of her almost-immortalities, or they would have sent the rain sooner, before anyone would have gotten hurt. No. Foxglare looks upon this religious fanatic with nothing but disdain and a wondering if the stars gave one damn about any of them.

If Sunstar was wise, he would strike down this snake swiftly, and hope his venom had not spread already.

DAY OF JUDGMENT GOD IS CALLING ⁀➷☾⁺₊ ON THEIR KNEES THE WAR PIGS CRAWLING

• OOC:
• 
• 
  — neza . sun . fox . foxpaw . foxglare
  — he/him. 18mo moor-runner of windclan. currently mentoring sunlitpaw.
  — a large, scarred white and golden tabby tom with grey eyes
  — smells like dewy oak and sedge
  — sounds like leon kennedy, with a vague texan drawl.
  — the straight-faced and taciturn adopted son of houndthistle, lived as a twolegplace loner until 6 moons old, now a moor-runner of windclan. steadfast and reserved, in an era of attempting to forge bonds with others and create a future to look toward.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — fullbody by antiigone, hs by tropics
  — penned by eezy

​

 

[SOOTSPOT]

And thus, when the blackened sun found its light and the flames had settled upon their lands, soot had once more revealed itself to WindClan. His chartreuse gaze narrowed as he skulked closer to the shouting, steeling himself against the erratic drumming of a heart that'd witnessed such scenes too many times already. Confusion found Sootspot's frown, this was not a rebellion that Snakehiss would win, yet the former Deputy hissed anyway, eyes like mad emeralds. The air was as thick as mud, so noxious that he felt it crawl into his throat as he stared down his adversary. Though the prickles of angry stares were aimed towards Snakehiss, there was a part of Sootspot that had once aligned itself with the black tom, a vulnerability so readily exploited by the council that Snakehiss had practically demanded it to be mentioned. Instinct drove him to shield behind Firefang should the injured she-cat find herself present, standing as tall as stumpy limbs would allow, as visible as a shadow but not at the forefront of attention. That honour went to Sunstar and the adversary, his breath hitched in his lungs as he realised the likely possibility he would watch Snakehiss die. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards for but a moment.

"You covet the lives that once would have been yours." He blinked and a brief visage of himself appeared in Snakehiss' place. Jealousy was the only similarity he would claim to have with the disgraced Deputy, but his own could be tempered, controlled to a point where waters could be made tepid but never boiling. Snakehiss had long since tipped over that edge. He forced a sneer upon his muzzle, the expression halfway tilted towards a smile. 'You stole my opportunity and wormed your way into my family's demise. Let my enemy and yours paint the moors redder than the flames that killed his son.' "You need not challenge Sunstar if you wished to reunite with Sootstar, a simple hare would've sufficed for one as frail as yourself."

​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

Tethered to his convictions, desperate for validation by the stars themselves, Snakehiss stands his ground. He was not daft; it did not take a smart cat to know that StarClan's initial "omen" had signified a dark fate for WindClan. "What else am I to believe when disaster falls upon our clan immediately after the skies had gone dark?" The twolegs had been spotted within a day of the blackening of the sun, lest Sunstar forget. That was no mere coincidence in Snakehiss' mind. The miraculous event had been a harbinger of death and destruction!

Sunstar tries to twist the meaning of the shadowed sun, but Snakehiss refuses to be convinced otherwise. He sneers, holding his head high, "Maybe they did speak of me. Maybe this is what I've been meant to do all along!" Snakehiss had pleaded to the ancestors moons ago to send him a sign, a direction of where to go. The sun turning black... as black as his own pelt. It all made sense now.

"Then take them."

The weight of the challenge stunned Snakehiss briefly into silence, green eyes boring against hues of electric blue. They are all looking at him, expecting him to attack Sunstar, but Snakehiss is no fool. He was not a star-killer, one who knew how to take multiple lives at once. He wasn't even sure if he could stomach taking one. Not even spilling the blood and innards of his enemies would be enough to deter his deep-rooted fear of mortality. Besides, Sunstar was far stronger than he was. He could potentially land a fatal blow, even with just three limbs.

Snakehiss skirts around the leader's words, instead choosing to battle verbally as opposed to physically. "You forget that StarClan granted Sootstar lives as well! The stars clearly know something that we don't. I will not make the same mistake of following an unworthy leader." Perhaps it would be only a matter of time before Sunstar started showing his true colors; WindClan had been blind to Sootstar's dark intentions in the beginning as well. Badgermoon and Hyacinthbreath had been exiled for speaking out; Snakehiss did not think about the possibility of exile now, though. All he cared about was letting his clanmates hear his reasonings and, with luck, wake up to reality.

The male twitches his ears as his attention is brought to a series of contemptuous remarks, spoken by none other than the Moor Queen's son himself. He is inserted amongst the crowd, perfectly content hiding behind his larger clanmates like the sneaky, slippery adder he was. Words could not describe how much Snakehiss absolutely loathed hearing his voice at the moment. "Silence. You weren't even worth your own mother's time, so I haven't a damn about what you have to say." Why else would have Sootstar chosen him to be her deputy over her own son? Snakehiss had turned his back on Sootstar in the end, but as far as his personal rivalry with the tyrant's children went, he had always taken a smug pride in somehow being deemed as "better" than her blood.

Perhaps, beneath the surface, there was a part of Snakehiss that wondered what it would be like to usurp the throne and take the reigns for himself. The prospect of leadership, of overseeing the moors of his predecessors was a dream long since abandoned, but Snakehiss would not object to it if that was StarClan's will. Or, if it was simply StarClan's will for him to be a messenger of their word, then so be it. Right now, he does not believe it possible to take any lives of Sunstar's, let alone eight of them. If it was Snakehiss' destiny to lead the moors, then today would not be the day.

Murmurings of disapproval and anger begin to rouse among the rest of crowd, to which the dark-pelted tom looks around with a bright stare. "Are you all blind to the truth? Am I the only one who sees what is happening here?" Snakehiss challenges the others with passion. "WindClan will only continue to suffer!" He cries out, begging them to listen to StarClan over their leader. That was how Snakehiss had nearly gotten killed. If he had followed Sootstar to the end, he surely would have met his demise!

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝙎 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

•  

• 

• 
  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾
  snakehiss
  

  — he/him; moor runner of windclan
  — long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
  — father to violetkit, cricketkit, and privetkit (duskclan)
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​

​

 

[FEATHERSPINE]

When they couldn't, they took your kin instead.

Those words made her blood freeze- made ice-gleam eyes turn to Snakehiss, cryogenic already. Rage slitted her pupils, and Featherpaw strode forward, anger drowning her grief- her brother, dead, and this filth dared to say it was StarClan's will? StarClan, who had given Sunstar lives, who had assured Featherpaw that he had done the right thing in helping usurp Sootstar, in bearing a scar spanning his spine...

They would not take Bearpaw away. They wouldn't- and Pinkpaw shrieked it too. Hearing the upset in her voice, Featherpaw could do nothing but stare for a few long moments- buried under snow into silence, it appeared almost as if his ire was directed at her. But, no... surprise twinkled in her eye- the ferocity with which Pinkpaw defended her father might have made her smile, if she had not already been glacial.

Sun-gleam rime soon found Snakeblink, but Sunstar was there first- his words as well-picked as ever, burning through Featherpaw's blood and reminding her where his strength came from. Sunstar's challenge flooded from his mouth hot, scorching spittle- then take them, he said.

The chocolate tom's first instinct was to call out to her father- to tell him to stop, to think about what he was enabling. Her mind raced, though, to where a battle like that would likely end- Snakehiss' eyes, rolling backward, bloodsoaked as the paws of the ashen leader he'd fawned beneath so desperately.

He was almost disappointed when Snakehiss refused to show his claws- when his tongue continued to lash assertions about a StarClan he knew nothing about. The fire could not have been them, Featherpaw refused to believe it- refused to search for meaning in every awful thing, because it would only make her as faithless and miserable as Sootstar's loyalists- and the leader herself- had been. It was the will of the stars that Sunstar bore his lives, she knew it- why would they punish him after granting him WindClan's helm?

Ever unafraid of speaking out of turn, Featherpaw's face crumpled into the cutting scowl she so easily bore. Verglad glinted venomous from a flaxen flare, and Featherpaw spat above the stupid, whining din, "You're a p-p-puh- pathetic coward."

Leaders blood gave her this strength of will- Wolfsong's blood gave her keenness of tongue. "You're only p-p-prattling on because you know he could rip your rotted t-tongue out, and have StarClan with him as he did it." He'll have Bearpaw on his side, Featherpaw knew that- knew her bardic brother would rally the stars behind his father to get rid of this wretch.​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[BLUEFROST]

There's still ash on their tongues when Snakehiss breathes his own fire into existence. Every word is a lance thrown deftly in Sunstar's direction. The tunneler's ears flatten, expression cooling into a mask of uncertainty. What had she seen in the blackened sun on that day—Sootstar bringing her darkness to the forest, or Sunstar stealing it from her? Her head spins first one direction, then another, as Snakehiss boldly challenges their leader in front of their ravaged Clan.

Sunstar meets every challenge with bared teeth, with ferocity she has seen him exhibit only under her mother's command. Snakehiss tells the golden tabby he is not worthy of being their leader, and he retaliates with a challenge: take my StarClan-given lives, then. Bluefrost's blood chills. The cracks in her own heart splinter further.

Where do her loyalties lie? Even she does not know, she realizes for the thousandth time, as cats begin to hiss under their breath, as Pinkpaw screeches. Bluefrost hears Cottonpaw's warning, and the gray she-cat turns to look at her sister with narrowed eyes. So you do still care. Does she—does she throw the dice and let them fall where they may? Does she go to stand beside the cat who had served as her mother's deputy in the end?

She swallows. "And what do you propose we do, Snakehiss?" Her cool green gaze flicks from the black-pelted warrior to Sunstar. Did he have a plan, did he wish to meet Sunstar's challenge and wrench the lives from his ravaged body? If he did—if he did, would Bluefrost join him?

She feels a familiar flicker of uncertainty light in her chest. She owes Snakehiss nothing, but she owes Sunstar less, she feels… isn't that right?

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: ninja'd by pin but too lazy to edit asdgsfg
• 
• Bluekit . Bluepaw . Bluefrost, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 16 moons old, ages realistically on the 14th.
  — mentored by Sootstar ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a.
  — windclan warrior. sootstar x weaselclaw, gen 2.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh blue and white she-cat with emerald eyes. aloof, dignified, poised, haughty, composed, distant.

​

 

[Addervenom]

Ash and soot hardly had the opportunity to settle upon the ruined moorland before an uproar severed the solemn silence. A familiar voice spat accusations across the blackened fields as chocolate-tufted ears swiveled to listen. Snakehiss. The tom was a fool, attempting to rattle and rouse the crowd with maddened shouts. Addervenom's muzzle crinkles, there would be no one to fall in line with his speech regardless of whether he dragged Starclan into it or not. This clan's climate has shifted to meet Sunstar's views and expectations. From what he's seen since the fall of Sootstar, everyone rejoiced at his former mentor's leadership. However, treachery and upheaval ran thick as blood through Windclan's history, and the silver chocolate tabby doubted it would end any time soon.

Slowly he sits his hulking weight amongst the crowd, amber eyes drifting from one combatant to the other. Sunstar issues a challenge, to no surprise and, as expected, Snakehiss does not take the offer. For a moment, disappointment flares within his burning gaze. Only because he could not imagine Sunstar striking him down without Snakehiss being the one to initiate it, he'd never seen the dark warrior as the battle-hardened sort, eager to spill blood for their convictions. Sootspot lifts his voice, tossing a verbal dagger aimed at Snakehiss' pride and the recipient barks his insult. Addervenom's gaze drifts toward the general direction of his half-brother hidden from view. It was a low blow. But his interest does not lie in verbal banter. No, he longed to see what would become of Snakehiss after everything was said and done.

His silence remains amid the former deputy's rallying speech, unmoved by his fervent passion. He despised seeing Sunstar on his mother's throne and it grieved his heart that his family usurped his own. But in the grand scheme of things he owed Sunstar his very life. Had he followed Sootstar to the end he would have been dead alongside her. Unspoken vendettas aside, Addervenom would rather align himself with the golden tabby that has faithfully ushered him this far than place an ounce of trust in Snakehiss.

The aloof mask plastered upon his visage shatters once Bluefrost presents a question that makes ice run through his veins. Surely she wouldn't side with him? She couldn't. He couldn't allow herself to become entangled in his messy affairs only to be destroyed alongside him. "We?" The statuesque gargoyle drawls, lifting his head to eye his littermate carefully, a hint of pleading rests within the depths of smoldering amber. A silent cry beseeching the blue molly to retract her inquiry. A single word was spoken, but a thousand swam within.

His blood simmered to a rolling boil, the brute's gaze scalding as it bores into acid green. No, Snakehiss would not rope her into his ideals. He wouldn't lose Bluefrost because of him. "Every clan has shouldered their season of suffering, Starclan has made it clear we are not above the rest in that regard." His heart thrummed while curved daggers gripped the soil, steadying himself. "We will do nothing," Though he spoke aloud it was not a response on behalf of the clan, but for his sibling. "Nothing." Addervenom spoke a degree softer, turning to hold Bluefrost's gaze. "Leave him to his own delusions." He finished, as an unspoken please lingered behind ivory fangs. ​

»»———- windclan warrior / sixteen moons old / he/him ———-««​

 

[PINKSHINE]

She looks around, at Periwinklebreeze, at Scorchstreak, at Bluepool, waiting for one of them to step in and tell him to go sit in a sat corner somewhere, but none of them say anything. They just stand there, watching. In the end, the one that does open their mouth is Sunstar himself, finding his voice in a bristling roar despite the smoke that still stung all their throats... or was that just her?

Pinkpaw goes quiet along with the rest of the clan, watching as the two toms spit at each other with wide eyes. Soon, everyone is watching, and their disapproval comes in murmurs. Then take them, says Sunstar, and Pinkpaw lifts blue - ringed e yes to glimpse him. Cause... cause that couldn't happen. It shouldn't. She goes to move, but if the Lead Warriors weren't moving... why should she?

It was silly to think Sunstar needed her help, she knew it was... She'd try to believe what Scorchstreak believed, that he could always take care of himself. And really, Pinkpaw thought Sunstride— Sunstar could do anything. And he'd do it a million times better than Sootstar ever could. She doesn't care what Snakehiss says. Maybe they did speak of me. Stupid! Maybe this is what I've been meant to do all along! Be a bully, is that what he means?

All he wants do to is talk. All of them fought for Sunstride to be leader, but cats like Snakehiss and Sootspot only ever talked! She bunches up beside Featherpaw, tail fluffed in anger. " Coward! " she joins her in yelling. That's... that's what he was, wasn't it? " All I see is a mouse - brain! StarClan didn't talk to you! You're not a medicine cat, you're just a traitor! " She doesn't know what Bluefrost is saying. Why isn't she more upset?​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

Disapproval rings out from a handful of younger members, including one of Sunstar's own children. The apprentices were foolish, young, and ignorant — Sootstar had lied to them all, had exploited them for her own personal gain. Why did they think that Sunstar was somehow not capable of doing the same? Only StarClan possessed more power than any single leader and they were all turning their heads to the truth! Snakehiss had been an ignorant youth once, too, chasing Sootstar's approval like a lost puppy. Maybe one day they would wake up to reality, just as he had.

However, Pinkpaw's accusations invoke a response from Snakehiss, a scoff emitting from his maw. "Harebrained apprentice," He had half a mind to ignore the loudmouthed scrap of fur, but he continues, "And do you really think that, if StarClan had spoken to Wolfsong instead, he would have acted on it? Would Wolfsong choose the will of StarClan over his own mate?" Like it or not, it was something to consider. Wolfsong and Sunstar had known each other prior to their arrival on the moors. Surely their bond and trust in one another transcended their loyalty to the clan? Or... maybe it wouldn't. Perhaps, in time, that question would be put to the ultimate test.

His eyes finally find the azure-hued form of Bluefrost, gaze lingering for a few moments as he tries to find the words. Was… she on his side? That talk that they shared before the fire—before all of this madness ensued... had it been enough to establish an agreement between the two of them? He would have never expected the daughter of Sootstar to put her trust in him; he had once considered her nothing more than a nuisance and a stump in his path. However, desperate in this moment for allies of some shape or form, Snakehiss would not reject Bluefrost's comradeship.

So, what would Snakehiss do? He is running out of options, running out of time. He knows this; the blood roars in his ears as all he receives are angry stares. Most of his clanmates are kneading their claws, licking their teeth, readying to rip him apart like mindless hounds. Snakehiss had preached StarClan's truth, but it had come at a great cost. As long as Sunstar was still living, as long as he still reigned over WindClan, Snakehiss did not belong in the moors. "The lands that my forefathers roamed are destroyed because of your ignorance!" The warrior barks at Sunstar in a last-ditch attempt to sway the leader's confidence, a fiery passion still burning in his eyes though gradually beginning to dim as he accepts his fate. His heart begins to sink into his stomach. They have a plan for me. This was always their plan.

His father had always told him the stories of how his predecessors had hunted and raised their kits in the moors, long before WindClan had formed. Snakehiss was a WindClanner, and most of all, he was a moor cat. This was his home. "I-I have more of a right to this territory than you ever will, rogue!" Sootstar had dragged him and the rest of her rogue lackeys onto the moors when he was only a kit. That, he never forgot. Rogues were thieves and murderous brutes; Sunstar was one at his core, Snakehiss was confident of that. "I… I will return home. Mark my words." When Sunstar is dead and in the ground… whenever that would be.

He swallows over a lump in his throat.

The midnight-colored tom steps back, looking to his clanmates once again, stating, "I will not stand to witness WindClan be ripped apart any longer. If you've any sense at all, I implore you to do the same." His sharp gaze lingers on the crowd for a beat. As much as Snakehiss had always utterly despised a good portion of his fellow warriors, he did not know a world where he lived without them. Surely someone would join him? Would he have to bear the wilds alone?

Snakehiss stands there, ears flattened, his stance somewhere in between ducking away and waiting for something to happen. In reality, the moor runner doesn't want to leave his home, and yet at this point he hasn't a choice. His jaw clenches tightly. He's terrified.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝙎 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

•  

• 

• 
  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾
  snakehiss
  

  — he/him; moor runner of windclan
  — long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
  — father to violetkit, cricketkit, and privetkit (duskclan)
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​

​

 

[Firefang]

Firefang feels every throb of her nerves as they scream beneath tattered fur and flesh, the walk between the copse and the moor had only served to irritate the blooming wounds if not tear them. She hasn't bugged neither Wolfsong or Cottonpaw yet, she can cope just fine on her own she wasn't weak and didn't need to be babied, she'd survive this and would go on to run the slopes of the moors the moment her body allowed her to. It makes her irritable as it is and she doesn't think she can get more irritable until Snakehiss' nasally yowl disturbs her from where she lay, half awake and gritting her fangs a ways off from the medicine den. He's raving mad howling his convictions as if anybody would listen or care, he's a fool and can't see this isn't the time for another bloody rebellion. He believes every word he says there is no doubt that he truly has faith in his beliefs, but he doesn't have the might to back up his challenge to Sunstar and the very stars themselves. He's never been willing to die for his convictions, he was a slimy toothless serpent coiled into a corner and hissing at a claw coming down on him. He could spit venom but it did no damage then ruffle pelts. Whatever blooming respect she may have had for him withers, he's a coward nothing more then a kit pretending to be a warrior.

She watches Sunstar careful, gauging his every reaction and he doesn't show his neck or bow down on his three remaining legs. She doesn't expect him to, he'd faced greater threats then that of the unworthy former deputy but she's still keen to see if his paws will stray into Sootstar's muddled prints. Snakehiss would hurt his former clanmates far more then he'd ever hurt Sunstar, he'd set a precedent and they'd be treated more like an infestation of snakes then they already were. He goes for low blows calls into question their suffering and blames it on one man. If she were Sunstar she'd have gone for the throat the minute Bearpaw's demise was used as ammunition. Sunstar doesn't call for an exile yet, nor do his warriors streak towards the lone tom to ravage his flesh and fur until he was more red then black but she sees the tension in her clanmates muscle as if all they were doing was waiting.

Some things would never change.

Sootspot hovers around her and even hunched over as she is she still feels she towers over him - he hides behind her as he hisses his words and Firefang knows it's personal. She laughs at his words loudly, even the smallest rabbit would've been able to fell her mentors weakest apprentice.

Snakehiss doesn't listen, doesn't cower away to lay in soot and ash and wallow in his failures and she can respect that much. He's still a preachy foxheart however and mousebrained enough to try and fight the powers at be when every warrior was either suffering from ailments from the fire or too tired. He wouldn't have had her support if she'd been in good shape, he was less of a worthy leader then Sunstar he would never live up to the legacy he preached about and would only be another blemish on Sootstar's legacy as if being her deputy hadn't been enough of one. She feels a headache coming on and she's sure it'll go away when he does. He threatens to leave that he couldn't stand for watching his territory destroyed and she sneers.

Her temper rises and even if her throat aches she still howls out her words. "For the love of Starclan, shut up!" her tail lashes and she forces herself to stand, she leans heavily on her right side her left paw hardly touching the ground. It hurts but she ignores it to continue. "The moors are destroyed because of twolegs but your nose is too far up your own back end to realize that. Don't use our suffering to try and start a coup! You're nothing like Sootstar, you're a whiny kit who doesn't have the claws to back up his words!" for all her harsh words she'd only once turned away from a fight to save her life at the loss of her dignity.

A ragged cough makes her stop and she wheezes but continues on her voice gruff and grisly. "Tuck your tail between your legs and get lost and cry to the Stars to preserve some of your dignity! One less mouth to feed right now is a blessing!"

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• text

• "speech"

• 

  Firefang ✩ She/Her, Warrior of Windclan, 23 moons
  ⭃ Black tabby she-cat with amber eyes. former-loyalist of Sootstar, Moorunner.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by Kedamono ↛ @legmeatt on discord, feel free to dm for plots.​

​

 

[REDHEART]

Stunned silence befalls the young warrior as he watches the confrontation unfold. Disbelief evident on his open maw and widened eyes. For a heartbeat a familiar fear nags at his side. Would anyone be foolish enough to believe this? Yet, when he looks into the crowd all Redheart see's is outrage. Clanmates turn their fury onto Snakehiss and for once in his life the world seems to make a little more sense. Redheart wasn't going to take the drivel of Sootstar's leeches ever again.

Pelt marred with ash he slunk closer to the front to face Snakehiss. Windclanners worth their grit would hopefully not stand for it either. Falling in near Firefang the ruddy warrior releases all the pent up rage boiling inside. "She's right!" His retort is ground out and spat. Fury that had been neatly tucked away within the furnaces of his belly. Now open for all to see. Moons upon moons of discrimination, loss, hatred, and pain could no longer be ignored.

Growling each word, head swinging side to side in disgust. "You're a damn fool to think anyone would ever go with you!" Stamping his paws to the earth Redheart latches his claws to the dirt. "No, you need to open your eyes and look around for once in your life! No cat here is out to get you. Starclan is not punishing us with the whims of two-legs!" Anger races up his spine like the fires that rages across their homeland. Despite his earlier snarls his next meows are cooled.

Green eyes looking to the now three-legged tabby with sorrow. His friend just lost her sibling and now a deluded former loyalist found it justified to torment them. He couldn't imagine what that kind of pain does to someone. How much hurt Sunstar was shouldering when he could barely stand. He doesn't deserve this blame. "Our leader has always done what's best for us and proven that. He cannot control every outside force." Anchored and hefty with certainty he levels Snakehiss with a burning gaze.

His lip curling back to show pearled fangs. "Leave like the coward you are." Body bowed and bristling. He's tired of this all of it. This was his home and even if there was nothing left to return to he didn't care. The cat's who had loved him were what made the difference and there was no room left for individuals like Snakehiss. ​

♡♡♥♥♡♡♥♥♡♡ ▹OOC◃ ♥♥♡♡♥♥ ▹INFO◃ ♥♥♡♡♥♥ ▹HEALTH◃ ♡♡♥♥♡♡♥♥♡♡

• ​
• 
  ❥ redkit, redpaw, redheart
  ❥ maine coon/somali mix, lh red ticked tabby
  ❥ amab, cis male, he/him, 10 moons
  ❥ ex-kittypet, moor runner of windclan, mentor to TBD
  ❥ pansexual/romantic, single, crushing on rivepaw
  ❥ G1, adopted by venomstrike + rattleheart
  ❥ "speech", thoughts, powerplay
  ❥ peaceful and healing powerplay accepted
  ❥ penned by tasmagoric, tags, heartchart, art
  ​
• 

  strength
  ♥♥♥♥♥♥♡♡♡♡
  stamina
  ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♡♡♡
  agility
  ♥♥♥♥♥♡♡♡♡♡
  hunting
  ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♡♡
  swimming
  ♥♥♥♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
  climbing
  ♥♥♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
  charisma
  ♥♥♥♥♥♥♡♡♡♡​

 

[downyfur]

Downypaw feels sorry for Snakehiss until they don't. She can staunch the attack against a broken man, the snarled truth of their world as it is now, but the mere mention of Bearpaw sends her suddenly plummeting.

Soostar's claws had not sunk as deeply into Downypaw's back as it had Periwinklebreeze's or Scorchstreak's, but the despot's faithless WindClan was the one they were raised in. She could try to understand how the desperate creature in all of them would turn to something, anything, to explain away the tragedy. She could try to understand the relentless need to find a reason why.

All the past moons, ever since Sootstar died, they'd been trying to puzzle it out too. Just being on the opposing side of the fight was enough to get Lilacstem and Larkfeather slaughtered, their bodies practically desecrated: victims of blind faith. The simplicity of it all was a difficult thing to swallow. Even now, the notion sits in the bottom of their belly like a cold stone.

Bearpaw's death was an accident. If she had to blame someone, she could blame the twolegs, or herself, or any of their ill-fated patrol. Collateral damage between the heavens and one tom, he was not. Just the idea makes them seethe with tears. Was the entirety of Bearpaw's existence then just a symbol? An argument? Could a life be reduced to nothing more than its use? A life maybe, yes, they relent. But a death? Nothing could be more meaningless than death.

Downypaw remains silent as their clanmates begin to call out. Exile, not execution. Coward, they all jeer. Cowards wouldn't have the spine to murder a cat caught on the edge of the territory, but desperation could drive rabbits to monstrous things. Cowards wouldn't confront their problems in the first place. Cowards wouldn't put their life on the line for their convictions.

Their gaze flicks from Sunstar to his sickly shadow. In swimming, burning blues, they imagine bloodied teeth again, an ice-sharp glare above. Their chest aches something fierce; in this, they discover they are angry. For a moment, they imagine themself one among the mob, another tooth in the moorland maw, another howl in the night.

And then they open their eyes and see him still standing there. Ears flat, eyes frantic: waiting for the storm to break. Stranded in collective monumental helplessness. And they think of Bearpaw, and how he wouldn't have wanted this at all, and in the end they just curl their tail a little tighter around themself.

windclan apprentice | "speech." | tags​

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