- Dec 24, 2022
- 23
- 3
- 3
flurries of leafbare fall solemnly overhead, cruel remebiscence of ash falling slow and dizzy from fiery hills by the burnt sycamore. it dusts his face, the too - long length of his spine where dark rosettes fade into powdered white, where it fills in the dips where his paws spider into the hooks of individual claws. he'd lost count of patrols for the day ; of times he'd slunk from camp on limbs crouched low, ears angled for any sound of frog or lizard should they have decided to brave the cold for the day. the marshlands were unforgiving in this season, but he had managed enough to fill the bellies of their precious leafbare litter and what elders remained after the great sickness. he managed enough for the taste of blood to drip steadily onto his tongue, long, jutting teeth clamped light into the soft flesh of a young toad. it had been unprepared for the season -- a welcome mistake.
the oak den is damp, sordid when he steps casually inside. the buzz of flies seeking shelter from the snow outside brings his ears to an absent tilt, thin - veined membrane flicking whenever one of the fat insects weigh them down. they fly at him frantically but he is used to the marshes, the hoarse cry of hunger ; long enough to learn to ignore it, huffing heavily through his nose and clearing the air around his catch. his eyes adjust quick, the smell of stagnated air and something droll, something troubled thickening the air. a wall, barbed so high and heavy a lesser cat would tuck tail and run from, but serpentspine was a restless sort. he pokes the badger because he can, does it with a flourish, something flamboyant and teasing. chilledstar was his family, the only family that matters ( his fathers eyes burn into him. he prays something brief and bitten, and knows it does not work ). he does it because he cares, stubbornly. defiantly.
” up. eat with me. “ he rumbles, so low and sudden it nearly startles him and he had always been hard to ignore. small, slim - built presence cushioned in shades of black and dappled ivory ; the way a snake in the grass caught the light. the tom drops his catch at white paws, rolls onto a side. he stretches where he lies, arms well above his head when he rolls onto a vertebrae - bumped spine to flash a narrow eyed grin up towards his sibling. blood is beginning to dry cinnamon red along the corners of his mouth, the awkward jut of teeth stained deep with the efforts of his last kill for the day. his paw outstretches towards them, watching carefully, closing his eyes contentedly for a beat to pretend he isnt. eat, ” id come to pry you from that nest but you give a brilliant impression of a mushroom, i'll admit, down to the very smell. you'll mold into this den floor before long. “
concern, laced in a trill and edge of humor, the same tone chilledstar would tease him for his escapades. serpentspine would call it overfriendliness, never the fear of loneliness it was. he prays his sibling would be more open than he could be.
there is a beat of silence, of lips pursing, before he meows, ” the swamp has been unforgiving lately, but you have not. you still prove to be a bigger cat than i could hope to be “ its truthful, as much as his sibling would argue ; their father had bent him, broken and contorted him until unrecognizable. built in his image, he thinks, and feels nothing of it. at least chilledstar had made it out with their mercy intact, ” maybe there is some solace in that. “
the oak den is damp, sordid when he steps casually inside. the buzz of flies seeking shelter from the snow outside brings his ears to an absent tilt, thin - veined membrane flicking whenever one of the fat insects weigh them down. they fly at him frantically but he is used to the marshes, the hoarse cry of hunger ; long enough to learn to ignore it, huffing heavily through his nose and clearing the air around his catch. his eyes adjust quick, the smell of stagnated air and something droll, something troubled thickening the air. a wall, barbed so high and heavy a lesser cat would tuck tail and run from, but serpentspine was a restless sort. he pokes the badger because he can, does it with a flourish, something flamboyant and teasing. chilledstar was his family, the only family that matters ( his fathers eyes burn into him. he prays something brief and bitten, and knows it does not work ). he does it because he cares, stubbornly. defiantly.
” up. eat with me. “ he rumbles, so low and sudden it nearly startles him and he had always been hard to ignore. small, slim - built presence cushioned in shades of black and dappled ivory ; the way a snake in the grass caught the light. the tom drops his catch at white paws, rolls onto a side. he stretches where he lies, arms well above his head when he rolls onto a vertebrae - bumped spine to flash a narrow eyed grin up towards his sibling. blood is beginning to dry cinnamon red along the corners of his mouth, the awkward jut of teeth stained deep with the efforts of his last kill for the day. his paw outstretches towards them, watching carefully, closing his eyes contentedly for a beat to pretend he isnt. eat, ” id come to pry you from that nest but you give a brilliant impression of a mushroom, i'll admit, down to the very smell. you'll mold into this den floor before long. “
concern, laced in a trill and edge of humor, the same tone chilledstar would tease him for his escapades. serpentspine would call it overfriendliness, never the fear of loneliness it was. he prays his sibling would be more open than he could be.
there is a beat of silence, of lips pursing, before he meows, ” the swamp has been unforgiving lately, but you have not. you still prove to be a bigger cat than i could hope to be “ its truthful, as much as his sibling would argue ; their father had bent him, broken and contorted him until unrecognizable. built in his image, he thinks, and feels nothing of it. at least chilledstar had made it out with their mercy intact, ” maybe there is some solace in that. “
-
i. @CHILLEDSTAR.
-
-
skeletal black tom with ghost rosettes and blood orange eyes. oil - slick rot & buzz of hungry horseflies crowding sloughing meat, he is born of his surroundings, forged black like the writhing insects that permeate his homelands. shaped in strands of shadow, long and bony ; a coat of scruffy, rosette - splotched obsidian feathering messily over his gaunt form. maned like a viper in shades of salt and pepper, splintering fur cast in a mock hood along a slim, vertebrae - bumped neck. his name has suited him since birth, eased into the world a long, writhing thing, with limbs of stretching shadow pawing blind at the shadowclan muck. his ears and eyelids are thin - membraned, thick - veined and stark against the darkness of his face. a strange, spidering thing ; broad - shouldered and tall in his maturing age, poor posture bringing his serpentine muzzle to a low, drooping hang.SERPENTSPINE ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𓆦 HE / HIM, YOUNG WARRIOR OF SHADOWCLAN. JAGGED xx SHADOW, YOUNGER BROTHER TO CHILLEDSTAR. FIFTEEN MOONS OLD, SMELLS LIKE BRACKISH WATER & COPPER. PENNED BY ANTLERS---------
