BELIEF FROM LONGING — STARCLAN

[STARCLAN]

this thread begins starclan's formation and interruption of our great battle! please be aware that this thread will cover themes of death, blood, potential gore, violence, and other potentially difficult topics.

at this point in time, deceased cats are allowed to materialize but not speak or (closely) interact with the living.

---

Teeth flash red and white between clumps of fur as a battle rages. Emotion does not disguise itself in violence– it is a part of it, as inherently as a living being and its heartbeat. It thumps in the bloodstream of every warrior, reveals itself in desperate strikes of paws and the unceasing pressure of teeth sinking into skin. One cat fights for another's life, one heartbeat continues at the cost of another. Hatred in amber eyes, fear in soft yellow. Gray fur in white teeth, both stained red for the sake of survival. Wounds that weep into neutral ground and eyes that do the same.

The battleground is muddied with the lives of the dead and dying. Between the tufts of fur caught in the strands of grass and the long scars of claws gouged to the earth, or lying silently at the clearing's edge, the still bodies of those who had succumbed to their wounds rest against the fire of a rising sun. The clarity of night has crept further from the battlefield, and under the growing heat, desperation reigns. Above their heads, where few know to look, the stars still cling to the blanketing sky. Another warrior falls to panicked teeth, another cries out as loss rips through them. And against the curtain of blood and the pinkening sky, the outpouring of grief and loss breaks through.

A backdrop of grey sinks over Fourtrees with a ferocity and intensity enough that those below startle and recoil. The violence begins to still, confusion and alarm written across many faces as they disentangle from their opponents and look around with flattened ears and crouched bodies. Others stand in wary anger still, adrenaline racing despite the weight of the changing sky. It is not until the darkness begins to lift that the battle stops entirely. From gray clouds come figures of dewy morning ice. Ghosts of old stories come to life, carrying with them the tang of frost, the sweetness of blossoming new-leaf. In these figures, there is everything and nothing, violence and forgiveness both. And as their paws begin to touch the bloodstained grass, leaving glittering stars in their wake, there is only one thing that is certain:

A future is being forged.​

 

[BRIARSTAR]

She had done this. It was her fault.

In the heat of the battle, Briar had failed to recognize how many had fallen around her, allies and enemies alike. It wasn't until a pine cat had torn away the thing she loved most that she realized that her worst fears had come true. Cats had died today - her friends, her family. Among the dead is her sweet and precious Amber - her best friend, her mate, and the father of her children. Ripped away from her suddenly and brutally. When it had happened, she had been filled with indescribable rage, but as she sank next to his fallen form, the rage had melted away into a kind of guilty despair that she could not put into words. It felt like her heart was literally being torn in two. Amber was gone. Asphodel, Ash, Moth - all gone. All her fault.

Large tears filled the molly's eyes. She desperately tried to contain them, but she could not stop the weakness in her joints that caused her to buckle over Amber's body. She couldn't force herself to her paws to fight any longer. She was an easy target now. If someone wanted to end her, they could. After all, killing her would be the quickest way to end this fight. Her eyes shift from body to body, looking for more friends, staring into the cold, lifeless eyes of her foes.

A blue tabby tom rested among the fallen. Rain. He was gone. The battle was already won, yet the fighting continued. Killing her would do no one any good, though part of her wished someone would end it so she could be with her dear Amber. Dread crept into her heart where a spark of pride and joy should be. How many more would fall before they realized that Rain had died in the fight? How many more of her cats would she lose? She had already lost her mate - what if one of her children were next?

Briar buried her head against Amber's body. It was going cold. The warmth was already seeping out of it. A shadow passed over her eyes and for a moment she expected to look up and find a pine cat looming over her, claws and teeth flashing to kill. Instead, the clearing went silent. All eyes turned towards the sky. A dark cloud, ominous and foreboding, passed over the squabbling cats. All battle cries had ceased, all cats disengaged from the fight with one another. Maybe this was the distraction she needed to tell her cats to go home, to warn the pine cats back to the Twolegplace. Briar stands, abandoning her lost love, her dull and teary gaze locking on the sky.

The clouds roll back, revealing ghostly figures that take the shape of cats. She recognizes them. All of their bodies lay strewn and bloody on the very battlegrounds they stood on. Her prickly fur bristles as she watches this impossible thing unfurl before her very eyes. She watches the ghostly figures walk among them, her eyes searching for Amber. The creatures smell like ice and stars and forest. Their pawsteps leave exploding little stars in their wake. She doesn't know what's going on, but she knows it's about to be something big.​

 

[EVEREST]

"SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FACE THE THINGS YOU FEAR, EVEN IF IT'S YOURSELF"​

;; starclan cat.

Standing atop a tree root is a burly tom with starry eyes, a gentle look in his eyes- but underneath such was an anger; simmering, boiling beneath the ghostly pelt. This fighting was unnecessary, but no voice could be pulled from parted lips. His eyes shifted across the living cats, before they searched for a familiar face- his Crow. So full of sorrow, where were they?

The glittering of stars above, the smell of frost. The ghostly figure peered at Briar in question; but made no move to get closer to the living cats. Then, he turned towards the gathering crowd of ghostly cats; welcoming them to the paused battlefield.

The fates were odd.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[TWILIGHTFALL]

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ Her ear is torn and bleeding. Her body is bruised--but she lives. She limps away from the flame point who'd refused to run, her mercy plain in the set of her face. She has no time to kill, to take someone from another cat. She has to find out how her colony is doing.

She has to find her son.

But the battlefield has quieted, and the pall is ghastly. Twilight moves like a dappled shadow among bodies that twitch and bleed in pain, bodies that cry, bodies that are still as stone and can no longer move at all. Pale green eyes search the clearing, the trees.

"Ash!" Her voice is forceful. Her son came to war today. She brushed noses with him before they parted ways, and she'd watched him walk side by side with Cloudy with love in her heart. They kept each other safe, surely. Safety in numbers. They've been close lately, and she almost wonders in that silly way mothers do if Cloudy will become a daughter to her someday.

But she does not find the femme's snow-white pelt, nor her son's heavily spotted one. There's no use attempting to discern scents; everything is murked with blood and death. She frowns, wondering if he ended up retreating--she will not be upset if he did. She only needs to know so she can continue to check on everyone else.

Eyes fall almost at random to a still lump. In the dreary gray of morning, his body resembles the dew on the silver grass. But she knows him by the black tail, the dark ears. That innocent face she kissed when he snuggled close to her for milk and warmth, the eyes she licked open to peer at their brilliant kitten-blue.

"No," she murmurs, disbelieving. She pads closer, but her paws have gone numb. He's knocked out cold. He's sleeping. But how did it happen? She lowers her face, nuzzles at his ears, and then recoils as though he's a snake that has bitten her.

His body is cold. It does not respond to her touch at all. There's nothing there. From this distance, she can see his yellow eyes staring blankly into nothing. Yellow eyes that she had gazed into only this morning, with a promise to keep himself safe and return to her.

"NO!" Her voice tears through the remaining din with piercing agony. Her throat is wrenched, torn as though her words have claws. "MY SON! WHO DID THIS TO MY SON!"

Her legs buckle. She cannot support herself any longer. Twilight uses her forepaws to pull him close as though he's a naughty kitten covered in dirt. She begins to groom his body frantically, as though she can clean away the death stench that clings to his fur.

Twilight, at first, does not notice the cat who stands before her. He is only a little taller than her as she lies and grooms the body of her only child. But he gazes at her with all of the sorrow a cat of nine moons can. All of the love a son can give his mother.

But he does not speak.

"THEY TOOK HIM FROM ME!" She howls like a wolf at the still-starry sky, her stomach clenching as though she's giving birth anew. To a lifetime of misery and emptiness. To a pain she has not known a body or heart could bear.

When she looks ahead, finally, she meets his eyes, and she's too stunned to speak. Her forepaws clutch the lifeless body, but her eyes burn into the soul.​

✦ PENNED BY MARQUETTE.​

 

[AMBER]

The sky darkens for a second, covering the ground in what can only be pure darkness before the light comes back. The sounds of hissing and spitting stop. Uncertainty finally gripping and he understands why. He is part of that which has halted them. This fight, this battle is something he has been against for a while, though his tongue has stayed still and never said a word. Yet it has like others, befallen him with the cold grip of death. Now he comes with stars dusting his pelt as he steps silently onto the ground. They spark and shift with the powder of stars as he stands there for a moment on top of a tree branch. His tail hangs low and he seems to whisper a sigh. The scent of blood again does not suit this place or these cats and it is a shame, a burden that they all must carry for the destruction of themselves. Amber feels this deep sorrow, this deep pain and he slowly floats to land upon the ground.

Sea colored orbs flock to the fields for one being and one alone. The love of his life, his mate. He had to leave her and it cause a deep wound within him. But he wants her to be strong, to lift her head up even if it is without him. He steps lightlu across the ground, a translucent and ethereal being before he finds her. But not close, not too close. Yet he does give a smile, a small acknowledgment that he does see her, he does know her. His everything and though she hurts now he knows she will become stronger for it. Understand and learn.​

[ PENNED BY RHOS ]​

[/COLOR]

 

[ELK.]

ELK —
Dead, yet alive.
A tall figure dressed in white with stars glittering throughout had replaced the mat cat who's body lay in a ditch. This newly sparkling tomcat had once held blue eyes, yet star glitter now filled their sockets. An anger rolled inside him like boiling water as he knew his previous actions were senseless. All of them had committed a senseless and pointless act! One that was the cause of death and destruction amongst a group of very different cats. This act killed many cats. It had killed him and left behind a family. A new sadness took hold as he cast those storm brewed orbs towards the marshland camp.

Warbler.
Partridge.

They were left without their protector, but Briar? Would she do what was right? Pulling away from the misty eyed memory, staring across the silenced battlefield at the gathering starry warriors, he stood like a starlit lamp. Soon enough those [olar paws would move him through the stilled cats. They were gathering together. A group of starry warriors. Elk's paws hadn't made a sound, yet they left starlight explosions in their wake. They would learn today, these cats, that actions like these were rewarded with death and misery. Gloom filled eyes would search out the wailing she-cat.
Twilight.
This wasn't going to be the only grieving mother and the large bear-like head shook with a sadness. Death and misery.

Learn a lesson, he willed as the starred cats gathered.

"SPEECH"​

[ PENNED BY DROID ]​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

Ivory claws were racing in hopes of slicing Fritter's skin when suddenly she felt an intense shadow wash over her. In sharp shock, she halts her attack, jaw agape she peers upwards to the sky that was now ashen. For a split, second Soot wondered if it was an abrupt thunderstorm, but it was something so much more than that.

She blinks, wondering if she was beginning to hallucinate. Yet no matter how hard she blinked the vision before her would not fade.
She stumbles back with a loud gasp.

Before them, all were figures... of mist? No- stars... Soot could see it in their pelts. They spoke not a word but she could feel their gazes burning into her pelt, she felt as if she was being looked straight into the eyes.

They're deceased cats of this battle. Dead soldiers.

Soot isn't sure whether to be joyful or scared as she breathlessly falls onto her rear. Were these kind-hearted spirits here to make things right? Or were they filled with bitterness and revenge, the desire to take out the rest of the living with them?

She draws in a staggered breath. ​

---

 

[emberstar]

"WE ARE THE BROKEN ONES, WHO CHOSE TO SPARK A FLAME"​

The haze of adrenaline and desperation pumping through her veins had Ember glancing up with claws at the ready as a shadow fell over her. Prepared to face her next assailant. Instead, her eyes are drawn yet higher, to the sky above. Darkness had fallen over the battle. As if the sky itself sought to display its disapproval. The sight sent a shiver down her spine.

Then the blanket of clouds was pulled apart, and from within figures descend. Cats, made of dewdrops as soft as morning rain, and glimmering with the light of the stars. She blinked at the sight. With some effort, she tore her gaze away from them to glance around her. Everyone, friend and foe alike, stood in as much enraptured awe as she did. The battle forgotten beneath the unnatural sight before them. Slowly, she let her heart steady, let her claws retract. Finally, it was over.

Her eyes found the starcats once more as their paws touched the ground. Uncertain, unconscious steps take her toward them. Curiosity compelling her to get a closer look at these strange creatures. Yet, they are not strangers. She recognized them, each and every one. All have the faces she saw in the battle. The faces of those she lost and those she fought. They were all here.

It was a miracle.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[CICADASTAR]

tw for emetophobia for the first paragraph. basically, he is located on the edge of the clearing getting sick.

---

− ♱ ABOUT : he'd gotten sick. the memory, the feeling of teeth ripping deep into the pine colony leader's jugular ghosted heavily within his maw until he was sick in the bushes he'd retreated briefly towards after the angry eyes of his soldiers turned on him. the smoke had crouched shaking, heaving, shuddering into the undergrowth until he emptied all of what he'd devoured in preparation that morning ; the mess on his paws emanates a bitter stench that causes him to gag violently again despite himself, the pulling at his stomach now nothing but a dry strain. the delicate skin over his belly aches, still open and stinging against the muddied ground, fresh wounds mottled with mud and blood that didn't belong to him. his slim body is trembling with a vengeance, too - long limbs refusing to lift him back to unsteady, white - tipped paws until his throat stopped clicking. the scent of nearby flora was sickeningly sweet amidst the heady iron and crimson, their gently swaying pastels a mockery of the slaughterfield the clearing had become. the gentle pink of tulips rendered only images of blushing wounds, dripping steady despite his clumsy, sodden paws.

the male thinks about quiet. he thinks about pumpkin, bone, briar, his colony . . he couldn’t fight any more, but he supposed the war was soon to be over. the kittypets would soon retreat, either to their pine where the marshlanders would continue to drive them out or to their twolegs nests — their leader, slain by his own paw. another wave of nausea hits him like a physical blow at the thought, blistering wounds still sending additional ripples of agony throughout his nervous system. he's crouched jaggedly on the edge of the clearing, panting heavily through saliva - ridden mouth and glancing rapidly back and forth, making sure to keep any opposing threats away from his weakened form when the sky darkens. his breath hitched and he’s suddenly hyperaware of the space around him, how open the clearing is. he longed for familiarity. anyone — someone he knew, to come press against his side. he was weak, spots clouding the edges of his vision in fizzling shades of black.

something emerges from the shadows to the sound of twilight’s agonizing wails. bodies. cats. starry paws press into bloodstained grass and the mix can do nothing but stare, mouth falling gently agape. cicada wonders briefly if he’d died as well ; if someone had attacked him as he had attacked rain, or the flame point he’d fallen to protect, or the charcoal tabby bone had ripped from him and killed herself. the tom she’d saved him from, along with gray. the man pants heavily, audits falling to pin sharp against the narrow slope of his skull. he dares not speak, only watching wildly as the specters enter their existence, temples pounding with misery and loss.

out of character information translations

• − CICADA ; he / him, roughly thirty two months old, marsh group member
  − tall black smoke tortie chimera with icecap eyes and curly fur, homosexual
  − speaks with a german accent, attack in #171717, penned by antlers
  
  
• none.

​

​

 

[pumpkin]

Her dreams were full of the void. There was nothing, no afterlife, no father welcoming her, just black and the feeling of being numb. It was a terrifying thing but as she sits longer in her thoughts the less fear she felt. Theres a knock to her right and all of the sudden she gasps for air, eyes flinging open despite the crusted tears and blood around the edges. Her left eye would not open. She coughs, bile rising in her throat and theres a tiny gasp besides her. She does not recognize her voice, but perhaps the fighting is finally over… Maybe shes dead. Tears roll down her face again. Before she knows it shes pushing her face in to this strangers shoulder with a cry, her body shuddering with the effort it took to keep calm. Her whole body screamed for mercy, she thought she had died. The fear floods back.

"Please… don’t go." her legs feel like theyve been smashed in to a billion pieces and she knows she cant get far at all without this strangers kindness. She wants to cry out for Flicker, for Cicada or Soot but her voice wont work. Her right eye is slowly unblurring and she can see clearly now. Theres a kind girl (Kelp, id she recalled) pressed against her side, keeping her up and Pumpkin sighs. She feels the prick of unconsciousness banging at her head again and the world tips before she leans further on to Kelps shoulder. She feels like hurling.

Pumpkin spots Cicada and she begins to weep again. He was battered like she was, but he was safe. "Cicada!" her voice is a whisper yell, harsh, a whistle tone that cracked in the middle because of strain. She tries to move to get him but she forgets her legs dont work and she flops to the ground. She shoots a sheepish smile at Kelp, black around her vision once more. Tired. So… tired… Theres a shriek from someone. Its blood curdling and she sighs tiredly. Someone had gained a new loss.

Theres a twinkling that catches her eye. Theres carnage on the ground, blood and guts but theres these ethereal creatures that are walking, every step emitting the stars themselves. Pumpkin couldn’t believe her eyes, surely she had to be dead, there was no other explanation. She looks at the cats, the ones who stood over the dead bodies and walked through them as if they were nothing. Surely she was dead.

No. The throbbing pain of the wounds and lack of vision in her eye was a telltale sign she was alive. This was gonna be something, bad or good. Tired eyes flitter through the living cats. Brace yourselves.
​

"speech"​

 

[Sandylights]

Sandra ✧ She/Her ✧ Marsh Group. ░░░░░░░░░░░░░
It was like the world had been paused, like someone had cut the air and it was hard to even breathe. These cats seemed to press stars into the soft grass, eyes glowing with wonder and mystery yet Sandra found herself unable to do much but stand there. Watching with wide eyes before wails cut through the air like a sharp claw against the eardrum. Those amber eyes mixed with soft green turned from these starry pelted cats to that of her friend, Twilight. Seeing her grasping at the body of Ash, and she felt her heart sink directly into her paws.

Sandra suddenly felt light-headed, suddenly felt sick and the world around her warbled in response. This wasn't good, she knew this was a bad idea, knew that this was all in vein. Now these cats surely came to punish them, surely came to repremand that of Briar and Rain because of their own stupid decisions. The cinnamon tabby shook herself briefly, trying to re-form the world around her, and staggered her way over to Twilight.

Those amber eyes watered, a few tears falling freely as she peered upon a black and white body. Ash had been a cat she knew of briefly, but yet adored because even if their time was brief it was impactful. The first cat she had trained, someone she had gotten to know and how lonely he had been with no friends. How she promised to be his friend no matter what, and the only cat who managed to catch prey depsite her awful teachings. His fur was still as dirty as ever and she watched Twilight try to groom his body, paws vice-gripping the cold form of Ash.

Sandra moved so sit behind Twilight, and gently pressed her head into the she-cats shoulder. No words could be uttered, nothing came to mind to even begin to make things right. Just hoped that her being there for the she-cat was enough, that she too mourned the loss of Ash as he was far too young. Too young to have been out here, too young to have fought grown cats. Ash I am so sorry, I should've done better The thought trickled its way through her mind like an itch she couldn't scratch.

This was all Briars fault. This was all Rain and Briars' doing. They should've talked it out, should've done more than just declaring war on a group of cats. Now look where they were, in a world of blood and death. With starry animals waiting to put an end to this all. ​

 

[HAKU]

From vicious storm comes dawn peeking through the clouds, between life and death. Haku, along with many of his kind, knows not quite what he is. Eyes filled before with sadness now weep starlight, icy tears that glitter in visions of frigid blue. Glitter skitters across his pelt like the shimmer of water in summer sun- water that had been his final breath, a burning pain he has already forgotten. Among the fallen he stands tall, no slouch diminishing him, and within his mind whispers a puling pleading.

There are some who he has not yet met in this beautiful limbo- Blaise, Mud, Ember- mournfully searching for them, he expects the worst already. But when Haku finds them their pelts move with breath, and he sees soul in their eyes that does not yet walk spangled. The clearing fills with keening wails, and pooling vision finds a marsh molly, wailing over the body of her son, her son. Filled with unsurmountable grief, he knows she will not be the only one. Rain, a father to many, walks now in this between, and many more are parents, are siblings, are children.

It could perhaps be a surprise to some that Haku's ethereal form is able to sit upon the ground. Aglow with lament, his gaze settles on everything and nothing. In this stillness, he wishes to listen to the breaths of the lucky and living. ​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​

 

[~ Zaeya ~]

SO YOUNG, YET SO BROKEN​

---

Blood was still pounding in the lanky toms' ears, and the cut on his shoulder was stinging with every movement. However, that wouldn't stop him from raising his paw once more to give his opponent one final swat.

The shadow that swept over the clearing didn't phase him at first. No. What DID affect him, was the sudden silence. His ear would flick as the area seemed to go still and he lowered his paw and looked around to see the others around him had stopped their fighting.

The NPC he had been battling took that moment to slink away, and Leaf would have called him a coward if it wasn't for the literal star cats walking towards them. His jaw dropped, ears flattened against his skull in what was first fear and then awe. This...this wasn't possible. Father had always said that you were nothing after death, that's why you had to become powerful in life! So why...

His heart was pounding once again, and as much as his instincts told him to run back home, he was glued to his spot, eyes wide and his frame trembling. What did they even want? ​

---

A GLIMPSE OF US​

---

Spring was absolutely exhausted. Her chest heaved with every breath and the tufts of fur she was missing on her flank, as well as the claw marks on her side were enough to prove that the young molly had fought, and fought hard. She was looking around wildly for another opponent when she noticed that everyone had froze. Spring was about to ask an NPC what was happening, had they won? When she spotted the lifeless body of Rain and felt her stomach turn.

No....NO NO! the young molly was about to run to the body when yet another caught her eye and this one knocked her world out of axis. With a wail akin to a dying animal, Spring rushed forward. She paid no mind to the miracle of star cats that was happening just above her. Her mind was all consumed by the body of the older tom she had come to view as an older brother.

"Everest! Everest Please! W-Wake up!" The she-cat would desperately nudge the lifeless tom with her nose before she sank to the ground and buried her face in the now cold fur. She wouldn't notice that the spirit of the cat she was currently grieving over was now standing in spirit from just a few tail lengths away from her.
​

 

[tora]

He's failed him.

Compassionate, determined, patient— effortlessly kind and good, even to a wretch like Tora, and he is dead. He sought revenge for Char's death and for his shortsighted folly forfeited Rain's life.

His front right leg is a weeping mess of gouges left by two different cats' claws, useless and too weak to support weight. One of his back legs aches deep below the skin, threatening collapse, yet he does not stop crossing the dead and dying battleground until he can fall at Rain's side. There is enough warmth left in his shoulder to mock Tora, but it is rapidly fading as the soil swallows every drop spilled. He does not see the stars take shape and walk among the bodies: his eyes are closed, his face pressed against a stiffening back. The pain dulls many of his senses, but it cannot lessen the sharp edge of grief sawing apart his ribs to bite at his lungs until he cannot breathe.

He shakes but he does not cry. The salt that would stain his cheeks crawls into his wounds instead, and the bitter burn fuels a rising famine for ruination, a drought that can only be watered by the blood of Rain's murderer.
​

—(information)—​

 

[BONERIPPLE]

Never in her life has she seen anything like this. Her eyes are like round orbs, a breath locked in her chest as she witness the shapes of ghostly cats walking among them. At first she was too busy looking at her sister, feeling her agony as if it were her own at the fallen form of what used to be Amber. But now all she can do is gawk at the bodies of translucent felines that she stumbles back from. She almost snaps her teeth in something akin to terror as they move about, not sure of their purpose here or anything that they have to do. This is madness but everyone can see these dead apparitions. They have stardust in their pelts and they move with a grace they did not have in life. It's unnerving to her and she tires to find someone, anyone that she can stay near. Her limbs are weak and she limbs, no, hobbles to the closest marsh cat he can find. Cicada. She attempts to press her figure up against his own, not thinking about the test of blood on her tongue or anything she has done during this battle. All she knows is that things have stopped.

The darkening of the sky has quieted down the rage and bloodlust of the battle and she supposes she can be grateful for that. Yet whatever this is she is not too sure and so she sticks almost glued to Cicada's side. eyes flicking over to spy Pumpkin whom cries out his name. What is going to happen now? Will these ghosts seek to punish them or just to do as they will? She's not sure and fighting a ghost is implausible. ​

[ PENNED BY RHOS ]​

 

[salamander]

Eager fangs were near inches away from Finch but divine intervention halted her vengeance. Stars fell from the night sky - Wait. When had it turned night? A dark haze had settled on the battlefield. Stars danced down from the heavens. Temporarily, shimmering lights dusted over the gruesome aftermath of the war. The essence of life, blood, was illuminated by the ethereal lights and somehow managed to look (in some weird way) pretty.

A grief-stricken yowl caused Salamander to step away from Finch. Twilight. The horrifying, gut-wrenching scream belonged to Twilight. Ash's mother. Which meant, which meant... He really was dead. At last, the flimsy rope holding her heart together broke and left her shattered.
Stars took corporeal forms, mirroring their fallen counterparts. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something - no, someone that created tiny butterflies of hope in her stomach.

"Toad..? Is- Is that you..?" No, it couldn't be. A few feet away from her, his body lay cold and unmoving. What kind of sick joke was this? Had she been poisoned? Presented mushrooms that would draw forth such ridiculous hallucinations? Possibly but Salamander wasn't the only one witnessing this miraculous event.

Did that mean...? Did that mean that Toad was truly alive? "Toad! Where- Where did you go? Please say, say something. Please.." she begged and pleaded.

Defensive wounds on her face bled, causing her to spit out a wad of red. But, at that moment, Salamander didn't feel the pain. Maybe she was dying. Maybe they were all dying. But that would be okay. The sins of her and her fellow cats would be punished. Good - everyone would soon reap what they sowed.

For a brief moment, she allowed herself to embrace a fleeting rush of hope.

ooc:// @abri hope this is okay! ​

​

 

[Rain]

His last thoughts of are how he needed to protect his son, how desperate he had been to not watch the life ebb from the flame points eyes. He would’ve gladly given up his life for any of his children, would do it all over again if he could. He had done his duty as a father, he had protected his kits. It had been his final thought as he had laid dying ‘at least my kits are safe’ it’s in his thoughts now as he rises among the other spirits, he’s grateful that none of his kits are there with him.

He looks upon the cats remaining with saddened yellow eyes, his eyes lingering for a moment on Cicadas dark form. He sends a nod in the toms direction. The starry cat harbors no ill will towards his killer, in the heat of the battle, who knew, maybe Rain would’ve done the same.

He wants to go among his cats, wants to wipe their tears away and tell them not to grieve, to tell them it would all be okay and that he would watch over them always. But the tom had a different purpose now, one that he didn’t fully understand but knew in his heart must be carried out. ”cats of the forest, listen” he speaks loud and clear, looking around at all those who were left, tattered and broken as they were. He hadn’t wanted this, this loss. ”This fighting must cease” his gaze lands on Briar as he says these words lingering for a moment before traveling on to others, sweeping across the blood soaked clearing. ”in order to keep the peace and to survive, you must grow and spread like the leaves of a creeper vine.” hopefully, they would understand what he meant, hopefully they would heed the words spoken from his mouth. He knew not every cat here respected him but he hoped that they would listen to him now that he would walk among the stars with their brothers and sisters. In the stars, there were no divisions, no fighting. Finally, he would find peace. ​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Blinding Star]

( ✧ ) He grits his teeth, sets his jaw as he follows the closest thing he has to respite. Yarrow, someone who he can only recognize as a dull voice and a shoulder to lean on. The foreign body feels strange against his own. Improper. He was young, able-bodied, spry; but a single blow had sent him sprawling, clamoring for a surface he couldn't see, no matter how hard he tried. Darker than any fallen night.

The world comes to a standstill. He can feel it, fur shifting against his own. Breaths drawn in close and never let go. All of the too-loud yowling had ceased, left only silence and bated breath in its wake.

And then, mourning wails, barely-concealed cries falling from the jaws of one, two— many. A chorus of howling wraiths extends from all sides. His voice cracks, a low hiss. "What's happening?"

A voice then stands out among the others, Rain, a drawl that his mind has managed to retain. His words frustrate him. They're strange and vague. The call to end the battle should've been uttered ages ago had he known that was all it took. After all the blood that's been spilled, only now the marshers realize it's pointless? A muted growl rumbles in his throat. All sense is lost to him. He strains to see. Grow and spread like the leaves of a creeper vine. Blinding Star bristles. "Are we supposed to know what that means?"​

 

[HAZE]

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ Haze had seen his father's end too late to help him. He'd been tending to the wounded hind leg that the damnable albino had left him with, wondering whether it was worth it to try to taste the traitorous bastard down. He had seethed inwardly, picturing him in and out of their camp in a slip of pinkish white, bizarre eyes surveying them with only moderate interest as though they'd all been foreign beings. It had been a distraction.

He had seen Indigo, had seen Squall, and was satisfied that they lived. Perhaps some minor injuries, but his brothers survived. It was the glimpse of cream-colored fur struggling beneath a spidery dark tom that had shot ice through his veins. And he had been too slow, the leg catching when he put too much weight on it. He had only been able to watch in horror as Indigo's littermate and his younger brother was almost slain.

His father had saved him, and had paid the price. The marsh cat had run, the coward, and Haze has been lost since. A war Rain had never wanted, had done all he could to prevent, has now seen him on his way to whatever meager afterlife there might be.

Murky yellow eyes widen at the appearance of the star cats, shades of the living engulfed in silver and looking at those they'd left behind with palpable sorrow. Haze had choked when one had risen above the rest, his fur long and silver even through the glisten, and had spoken to them in strange words.

"Rain," he chokes, staring at the starlit tabby with visible dismay. The creeper vine. It meant nothing to him, was useless. Stop fighting? Would he not want Haze to avenge him, find that tortoiseshell and rip his throat out for him?

Haze finds Cicada by sight amidst his marsh companions, as starstruck as the rest of them. He glowers at him with all of the hatred he has left in him. He will not fight, because Rain has wished they will not. But he will not forget that sharp-featured face, that curling fur. He will not forget the way his jaws had bloodied with his father's life.

"Rain, I..." He tries to say I love you and can't speak anymore. Silent tears prick at the corner of his eyes and stream down his cheeks. The creeper vine. Peace.

He hopes his father is at peace now.
​

✦ PENNED BY MARQUETTE.​

 

[EVEREST]

"SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FACE THE THINGS YOU FEAR, EVEN IF IT'S YOURSELF"​

There was a sadness in Rain's voice, a disappointment- and Everest mirrored such. His sister, his precious Spring was wailing out for him in agony, and Everest found himself unable to step further. He wanted to. He wanted to press his cheek to hers and tell her she'll be okay, that she's strong- that Deer and Tugger will look out for her. But no words leave his lips. He watches, the prophecy one that might have confused the living cats of the colonies.

A pawstep forward, before unsure eyes searched Rain's for reassurance. But his body language is at peace, calm now- and Everest resigns himself to that same fate. His eyes search out for his beloved Crow once more, before his ears lower- where were they? Would he leave without being able to tell Crow he loved them? His eyes shut.

I love you. I love you. I love you.​

✦ ★ ✦​