a tide comes rolling in ✘ RiverClanners

die with memories , not dreams .
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He swallowed. He hadn’t tasted battle until RiverClan appeared. He wasn’t sure what to feel with that realization, blinking sluggishly at his father’s familiar hide slipping past his son’s battered frame, not even sparring him a glance. Oh. He’d forgotten about that. His stomach churned with unfamiliar emotions.

Kaede shifted, glancing at unfamiliar terrain, curiosity sparking deep within dual-toned optics, but gradually shrouded in a haze of pain, stumbling over a root. He bit back a grunt, claws digging firmly into the ground to keep him upright.

He breathed, staring at unfamiliar cats, catching bits and pieces, but none of it made sense. He blinked, confusion outweighing the burning pain of his shoulders, ichor bubbling and staining the chimera’s fur.

He wasn’t sure what to feel. He didn’t know everyone. He couldn’t help but feel awful for worrying about his family more than them, but he still had his suspicions. He still couldn’t trust them even if they spilled blood together. He was confused. His wounds throbbed causing him to lean against an unoccupied tree, willing his body to stand. He wasn’t weak. His father taught him better than that, but he was confused and tired and nothing was making sense.

He always prided himself in his quick responses, mind like a maelstrom of thoughts, barely able to latch onto a proper thought without hurtling into another. He breathed shakily, feeling odd. He breathed, shaking his helm, standing upright. “Does anyone need help?” He’d call, voice steady despite the turmoil running rampant in his mind. ​
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thought speech​
 
The adrenaline that burned like a blazing storm underneath his skin had since ebbed away. The shallow wounds that clutched at his chest no longer stung but now ached like an echo to the pain. Each pulse in his veins sent another pang against the punctures that adorned his chest, streaks of murky red now dried in clumps of fur. Otterpaw had kept himself focused on looking ahead, staying where he could see everyone. He lingered somewhere between Coyotecreek and Pikesplash, trying to ignore the concerning whimpers from his younger denmates or the shocked cries from the nursery-dwellers.

SkyClan cats greeted them and without question Blazestar expressed his hospitality to them, only for their Lead to protest. A sharp stare narrowed at Silversmoke and deliberately continued to push on with the rest of his Clanmates before turning to Bumblekit, nearly tripping over her. "Hey-" Otterpaw's voice snapped, but he forced his fur to remain flat and softened his tone. "Come on, we'll walk together."

-- interacting w @Bumblekit ​
RIVERCLAN APPRENTICE ✦ BLUE-BLACK CHIMERA ✦ 6 MOONS ✦ TAGS​
 
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XXXXXA voice speaks from behind him, speaks his name in a low urgent voice. “Blazestar.” The Ragdoll turns to meet the silver tabby’s mismatched gaze. There’s almost regret there, he thinks—regret that he has to be the one to speak caution into the air? Silversmoke tells him they cannot support themselves, much less another Clan with inflated numbers. Blazestar dips his head. “You speak out of concern for your Clan. I recognize this will be challenging for us as well.” There’s unmistakably a part of him that wishes to do as Silversmoke asks of him—to send Smokethroat beyond their borders into Twolegplace and let them find refuge there. But…

XXXXX“This is RiverClan, though. They do not know Twolegplace like we do, and I fear for kits making the journey into a place like that.” Even as he speaks, his gaze drifts from the kits to the injured, the sick. Their medicine cat—Ravensong, still young, still new to the role—breaks into a fit of coughs, sinking to his belly, clearly fevered. I cannot send these cats to their deaths.

XXXXXHe regards his senior lead warrior with a solemn expression—one that he hopes communicates all he feels. You are speaking for the good of your Clan, and I know this. Blazestar flicks an ear, turning back to the cats who now look pensive, concerned. “And RiverClan has saved our lives once. I have not forgotten that. This is my chance to repay that debt.” He bows his head once more to Smokethroat, to the two lead warriors who linger close to the riverbank. “You may follow us to our camp.”



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There was an uncomfortable silence to the RiverClanners at Silversmoke's suggestion, it was like they believed that if they ignored their death warrant, it would simply fade into nothingness. It was only a kitten that seemed to ask where the Lead Warrior wanted to take them, and the tom felt a stabbing in his heart at the innocence. He squeezed his eyes shut at the pain, taking a deep breath to steel his resolve once more. He wished he did not understand Johnnyflame as readily as he did at that moment, there was a strange comfort in believing the lie that one told themselves over and over, that Twolegs would care for the sick and young, that any responsibility one had for damning another to doom was taken away by pretty ideals. Since he'd first stared death in the face, eye contact was not something the tom had ever been comfortable with. It had been some rogue that'd taught him to hate the looks of others, he'd never known the beast by name or scent, he'd only stolen a rat from him, but the hatred was enough to shake him all the same.

He didn't expect a similar look from Blazestar as he met the Ragdoll's bright gaze, but he did not expect as much understanding as he received either. They were both animals committed to their own codes, both were to do what was right by SkyClan, and only one saw more light in the world than Silversmoke ever did. He hears coughing behind him, he sees apprentices move past him scornfully, the Lead Warrior can only truly pay attention to his leader. "Then let our Daylight Warriors guide them. They talk about the kindness of Twolegs, let them prove it." A comment made before the spotted tom ever had the chance to gather his thoughts, a chance to be proven right about the Twolegs once and for all in a crucial moment, to have someone finally admit it... but StarClan, it was not the right time. He blinked slowly, apologetically, and was more grateful than he would ever like to admit when the other's look shifted to those around him. Ears flattened and finally, a resolution was offered. To repay an old debt, from before the time Silversmoke was a lead warrior, from before the time SkyClan had suffered by themselves and learned to stand by themselves, RiverClan and his home would burn together.

He tried to speak, but the words turned to ash in his mouth. Silversmoke could not remind Blazestar that his debt was with Cicadastar (who was not there to demand it repaid), he could only stare with grief and acceptance riddled within his wide eyes. SkyClan's end had the potential to come ever closer, all because of his clanmate's bleeding hearts. He thought to the Journey Cats, if they would cut their losses and escape to lands unknown should they find out that SkyClan may not survive the moon. Slate certainly would, perhaps even Chalk and Figfeather, perhaps Cherrypaw too. His claws unsheathed as if to try and rip away the very thought of them. "I'm..." He had his own debt to repay, written in blood from the very moment he'd stepped foot into the Pine Colony. It would be so easy to cut his losses and run, to survive another day in greener pastures however SkyClan, beautiful and flawed SkyClan, was his dream - there was no greater shame than turning his back on that. "I'm with you." He would not ask Blazestar to forsake his own code, not now, not when it was all the clan had left.

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MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

Once again they are exiles: their leader dead, their home invaded, lost to them for the foreseeable future. Stars, it rankles so much more when it is due to the claws of other cats rather than the careless cruelty of nature. Snakeblink aches; that rogue got a few good hits in before they finally gave up the chase, but deeper than that, he feels sick at heart. The sight of Cicadastar’s bloodied, broken corpse, the rogues swarming him—

It doesn’t bear thinking about.

He keeps his mind off of it by pacing up and down their sorry procession, offering his shoulder to elders struggling to keep up with their younger clanmates and shadowing the sick in case they collapse out of exhaustion. His ears flick at the slightest noise, his eyes track every shadow, already expecting the rogues to be following them, coming to finish the job. But no one hunts them down further than the border of their territory. What would be the point? They are defeated. He throws a glance at Smokethroat, but their deputy shoulders the heart-wrenching duty of guiding them with his usual hard-eyed determination. His voice wavers but doesn’t break as he speaks to Blazestar.

Snakeblink keeps his head down and his ears pointed forward as the cream cat argues quietly with a silver warrior. Twolegplace — the cursed place that stole Buckgait from them, that abducted so many of Skyclan’s own cats? He shudders, jaws tightening. It would be the smarter thing to do.

But Blazestar does not send them off on their way. His welcome is such a radical decision, such an unspeakable relief, that when he only calls it a debt repaid Snakeblink cannot help the way his mouth opens, his tongue working past his chaotic mind to spout words.

”Another leader might not take such a risk,” he rasps, wondering if he means Cicadastar by this. ”And we would be infinitely worse off for it. I cannot express how grateful we are for your…” foolishness ”Indebtedness.” Glancing off at the lead warrior standing at the leader’s side, he adds: ”If there is anything we can do to lighten the burden of our presence, you must only say the word.”
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——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely ​
ooc. information.

  • — Snakeblink • he / him. 45 ☾, riverclan warrior
    — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
    — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo


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It would be a funny feeling standing at the SkyClan border once more had Robinpaw not witnessed such atrocities; had not heard her own leader fall and be overcome by vicious rogues. She bears a grim face as conversations pop up around her - questions from Blazestar and the SkyClanners, murmured words of comfort to the shaken kits, worried whispers between apprentices. Robinpaw gingerly sets the kitten she had been carrying down and slowly guides them to Willowroot's side to huddle with the other kits. She would hate for the queen to miscount or worry about the whereabouts of one of RiverClan's youths. As for the multicolored apprentice herself, she remains by her mentor's side and grimaces at Silversmoke's idea of sending the misplaced RiverClanners to the twolegplace. Robinpaw would never return to the twolegplace - she may wear the collar of a kittypet but that was a life she would refuse time and time again; as Cicadastar had said to her upon her return, she was a RiverClanner. And she vowed to always be a RiverClanner from that moment onward.

"I can help get Willowroot and the kits settled in the nursery, then if help is needed getting the elders settled please let me know. This was a long journey for them and I'd like to make sure they are able to rest," Robinpaw volunteers, looking to Smokethroat and Blazestar for approval. She hopes she is not overstepping, she simply wants to look out for the members of RiverClan who may need the most assistance settling in (and she feels she owes it to Blazestar and SkyClan after he had taken her in for a night when she had escaped her twolegs).
 

This isn’t the first time he’s run to the cover of the pine forest. The first time, Gillsight had sought aid in a battle, land stolen from under the River’s paws by Thunder. It was merely a failed attempt then, one that resulted in him returning to the battle field with reopened wounds and a freshly exiled warrior - a failed match following suit.

He is here again, seeking aid from a battle, from an invasion. This time, Gillsight doesn’t come alone, but behind Smokethroat’s lead, his heart pounding as he walks among the RiverClanner’s seeking refuge.

And, to be honest, even with all that’s gone on - with their leader’s fate unknown, with strange cats on their territory - Gillsight holds little hope that they’ll be able to seek refuge here. After what had happened the last time he’d stepped foot in the forest, how could he ever feel welcomed here? How could any of them? They are bound to be turned away, bound to seek shelter elsewhere - perhaps ThunderClan, or worse, WindClan.

But, Gillsight is surprised as Blazestar makes his presence known, as he listens - as he offered them shelter. No longer is the ragdoll’s image intertwined with fear in his mind, but unravelling from it, he thinks. One of his counsel members suggests they continue on their way, that they seek shelter in the twolegplace, and for a second, Gillsight worries that his previous thoughts might have been right, but Blazestar stands his ground. They are to seek refuge here - to be pine cats, if only for a moment. It’s better than living in the twolegplace, he supposes.

A golden gaze blinks at SkyClan’s leader, before he politely bows his head at him. “Th-Thank you.”​
 

Dew’s heart pounds against his chest, pale eyes wide as he scans the canopy above him. Another home found, another home lost. It seems that’s all that it will ever be for him, for the Ripple Colony. Problem after problem - for both them and RiverClan.

And he’d only just begun to settle in among RiverClan’s camp. Only just begun, only for more cats - ones not invited in by the river cats - to appear, to wreak havoc on the territory. To tear into their leader, their warriors. How do the clans live like this? Dew doesn’t understand.

Just like he doesn’t understand where he’s standing now - what do you mean, there’s more clans? SkyClan, this one is called - he learns they have their own Cicadastar: rather, a Blazestar, from short conversations around him. Were they to become one now? Just as Ripple and River did? Dew barely knows all the river cats yet - how is he expected

He looks around with uncertainty, moving to stand beside Kaede as they are invited to follow the SkyClanners around camp. “Can I… Can I walk with you?” he asks the older cat, voice low as sky-hued eyes move to scan the area once more. . At least he can find one familiar face here, among the wreckage.
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