the dark forest BLACKOUT | open

[SNAKEHISS]

It's difficult to decipher the hazy visions of the living world from this dark, celestial woodland. Perhaps it is because Snakehiss is still growing accustomed to the newfound "abilities" of the afterlife, but the images that the dead tom attempts to conjure fade in and out of comprehension. A clearer view of a black and mottled chimera... familiar figures of blue and blue smoke that inspire disgust within Snakehiss' gut. Nearby there is a hazy exchange of voices; a smaller mirror image of him—a she-cat—conversing with a yellow-furred tom. That is undoubtedly none other than that spineless Sootstar lackey... but what is he doing back in WindClan? Even more, what was he doing talking to his daughter?

Any more concentration would short-circuit his brain, surely. The white-patched tom breaks from his trance, emerald hues dropping downward as he exhales through shallow lungs. Maybe there are other lost souls wandering nearby, maybe not, but Snakehiss speaks aloud nonetheless, "My kits have grown soft."

He vocalizes his displeasure, his disappointment, as if speaking it into existence will change anything. "They... would've been better... stronger... if they had listened to me." Snakehiss finds that he would have rathered himself floating in a stagnant purgatory as opposed to walking under endless darkness... At least he would not be able to torture himself with visions of his living legacies.

𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒, 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 .˚· 𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒

• @skyclaw but open to anyone!

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  — snakehiss / died 10/19/24 at 23 moons / he/him
  — resident of the dark forest / former rogue & windclan deputy
  — father to rowanpaw, viperpaw, wasppaw, laurelpaw, & privetfrost ( with berrysnap ) & cornflowerkit, rainbowkit, ivorykit ( with ternstar )
  — sh black w/ vitiligo, green eyes & a single white patch on chest, torn-out left eye & a torn left ear w/ heavy scarring
  — click for tags

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[CICADASTAR]

rare is it that he should linger so close. the stale reek of windclan is a mere memory in this empty world, yet it scorches the inside of flaring nostrils with a burn that never ceases. paralyzing blues peer from the dark, the shadows that envelop him, rivers of ivory like blaspheming starlight where he watches the former windclan deputy like a starving raptor. misery haunts him like some awful illness, eating away at what remained of his scarred face and contorting it into something altogether new. snakehiss breathes a sullen sigh. my kits have grown soft. he mutters, and cicadastar understands this with a starkness that curls his scarred lip.

legacy is sensitive. legacy is easily collapsed, easily smeared — he thinks of his own and feels his jaw clench, trembling muscle beneath bladed cheekbones. his bloodline now cast to the shadowed, filth - stricken land he had left moons ago ; genes lent to the place that had starved him, had driven him in search of a better home that he had found. conquered! his son sires the litter of a family that should have tapered with smogstar's timely demise, nine lives damned, and cursed them to live a life of mediocrity across the river. a life of mud - doused misery and starvation, bearing the curled pelt and ember eyes of riverclan's greatest leaders combined.

his daughter still allows a shadowclanner to go unquestioned within their ranks, befriends her and muddles the purity that kept riverclan strong, pulling legacy beneath the water and drowning it with claws to tender throat. it is a slow, painful death.

the tom eyes snakehiss from the corner of narrow blues, claws flexing against the cool, bitter stone underpaw, " your mistake, " cicadastar begins ; tongue sticking against the tacky roof of his mouth, slanted vocals rough with disuse, " was giving them the option to disobey you to begin with. " stars knew he wished he had the chance to instill something more into his own kin — he holds his kits to his heart still, but disappointment plagued him like a trembling storm at the back of his mind. cicadastar stands, stretches languidly . . then approaches in slow, even, curious strides, " they're young still, yes? your kits can still achieve greatness, with help. " ternstar's living parentage gives them power, influence . . with persuasion, there was little they couldn't achieve. what an opportunity wasted on melancholy.

Ｉ ＷＯＫＥ . ˚ . ✦ ( 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜 𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗦 ) 𝟷𝟶 . 𝟹𝟷 ★

• i.
  
  
• " speech "​
  
  
  
• † CICADASTAR −−− FOUNDING LEADER OF RIVERCLAN. HOMOSEXUAL, MATED TO SMOKESTAR ; FATHER TO LOVEBURN, CICADAFLIGHT && BEEFANG. DARK FOREST RESIDENT. SMELLS LIKE FROST ROT AND DIRTY FLOODWATER. PENNED BY ANTLERS −−−−−−−− ⁺₊✧
  
  
  he / him. gaunt, curled black tortoiseshell smoke with paralyzing permafrost eyes. his structure sings a feral sort of hymnal, presenting an almost dangerous sort of beauty veiling what monstrosities lie beneath the ivory of his skull. frighteningly thin, sunken cheeks drawing a shadow beneath high, sharp cheekbones with tall, angular ears settling high atop the flatter slope of his cranium. he is beautiful, in a haunting sort of way ; but for all this looks, his expression is lax, void — corpse - eyed and hollow until spoken to, when he smiles with too many teeth, blackened frostbite pulling back his maw to bear canines set beneath curling whiskers, pantomime skeletal. a predatory gracefulness from the lines that press the image of exhaustion beneath ice water hues to the slow, sure gait in which he walks, nameless strength poorly concealed within the gaunt lines of his physique. always holding himself with a tragic sort of grace ; poised, prim and uncanny, shrouded forever at tendril - like limbs with thick, dark mist.
  

  often found in a viciously protected corner of the dark forest, king of murky ponds and reedrotten shores where fish would never swim. a notoriously paranoid and vicious isolationist, cicadastar tends to lie, assume, and jump to conclusions whenever it suits him. incredibly volatile! if you're unsure of an interactions outcome, please feel free to send a dm! no character opinions represent my own.
  
  

  penned by antlers

  
  
• ─── dark forest resident ; easily perceived as a starclanner to those inexperienced with starclan interaction. silver - tongued and manipulative to his core, cicadastar will often even allude to it himself despite the thin, willowy veil of darkness clinging to too - long extremities.
  
  
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[SNAKEHISS]

Should the living Snakehiss have ever found himself alone in the presence of the infamous Cicadastar, an enemy of WindClan from his very kithood, perhaps he would have trembled in his own paws. Tall and dark was he, steely blue eyes as cold as ice, once a commanding figure of an entire clan. Not that Snakehiss would ever admit to being intimidated by who he would have once called a stinking fish-eater, but the smoke-colored male had possessed more power and influence than the WindClanner could ever dream of.

Here, now, they were both sentenced to the same fate — wandering in the darkness forever, powerless with the exception of the ability to peer into the world of the living.

A torn ear flicks back against his cranium as the fallen leader seemingly casts judgment upon his competence ( or incompetence, rather ) as a parent. However, those kits would have had a bad hand dealt to them either way — even if they hadn't remained in WindClan under the rule of Sunstar and Scorchstar, they would have wandered out in clanless lands as he had. They would have starved, perhaps even succumbed to the elements.

Cicadastar suggests that it is not too late for them to follow a more righteous path, but Snakehiss knows it is not that simple. They are all adults, only held back by their statuses as tunneler apprentices ( how strange that none of them were made moor runners, as much as he tried to bring them prey and encourage their growth in the nursery so that they would not have to live a life underground and covered in filth ). "I fear they are too far gone." The vitiligo-patched exile admits wearily with a disapproving shake of his head. "Their loyalties are to Scorchstar now... far too desperate to abandon any association with me." They would all loathe the fact that he was able to watch them from beyond the grave, surely.

However, what the smoke tortoiseshell says to Snakehiss last piques his interest. It takes a few moments for the spirit to register Cicadastar's words before he shifts his emerald gaze over toward him, "... Whatever do you mean, 'help'?"

NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKEDㅤ ▸▸ㅤINFO.ㅤ/ㅤ1/26

• ooc: snakehiss is not aware of fathering a litter with ternstar or about having a kit in duskclan SO i will give brownie points to whoever can reveal any of that information to him in this thread :3c
• 
  ■■■■■■■ ✶ snakehiss. warrior of the dark forest ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ་༘࿐⋆｡𖦹°⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
  ▸ㅤamab male, he/him | bisexual, mated to no one
  ▸ㅤdied 10/19/24 at 23 moons
  ▸ㅤformer windclan deputy & exile | mentored rivewhisper
  ▸ㅤsh black w/ vitiligo, green eyes & a single white patch on chest, torn-out left eye & a torn left ear w/ heavy scarring
  ▸ㅤfather to rowanpaw, viperpaw, wasppaw, laurelpaw, & privetfrost ( with berrysnap ) & cornflowerkit, rainbowkit, ivorykit ( with ternstar )
  ▸ㅤwritten by beatles, ic opinions | tags‎

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[CICADASTAR]

the river king's criticism falls upon twitching, tattered ear ; he takes it in with head downcast, ruminating in a beat of silence in which permafrost eyes slither across his mangled profile in flicking micromovements. beseeching, sloped skull arched downward on long vertebrae - gaunt neck like a goading serpent . . the rogue, the former windclanner, does not lash at him with claws splayed and cicadastar settles regally at his side, flourishing his tail like a cloak at his hindquarters. attention - keeping. look at me. listen. snakehiss remains still, lingers in his company despite his silence. this opportunity is a gift wrapped in faux stardom, a glory that brings him fleeting joy to dangle above the tabby's miserable head. the open scar of his maw twitches almost eagerly, frigid irises mere pinpoints against wide, imploring white.

i fear they are too far gone, he says. their loyalties are to scorchstar now.

angular ears perk, imperceptible. his tail rattles a curious tick at his heels, and quickly he wraps the curled tip neat around ivory paws. could he be so unaware? his windclan kin was good as gone, as far as he would be concerned . . blind followers to a poor successor. loathe as he was to admit it, perhaps potential would have lied within them beneath sootstar's rule, all those moons ago ; ruthless and honorless as they had been, the dark forest roams with cats marred at the chest by her own claws. but . . " scorchstar? " it's said with a bewildered, nearly amused sort of contempt ; said with the same tone one would use to describe a pocket of maggots, or the carrion they crawl in. distaste, for the way her name settles on his tongue, " ja . . perhaps you're right. too soft now, either way. " once, windclan had raided lands, camps, medicine dens. how the mighty fall.

there is a moment of silence, deafening. thoughtful. after a pregnant pause, he continues slowly, suddenly pleasant. suddenly conversational when he rumbles a, " have you heard that yet another shadowclan cat has ascended the marshland throne? claims to be chosen by the stars themself . . . " it would seem a sudden shift in conversation, but cicadastar is known as nothing if not calculated — a slow, leash - led walk to one, clear conclusion. he sniffs and continues casually, as if they were discussing the weather, the swirling black that surrounds them forevermore, " plucked fresh from the nursery, where she just finished nursing a litter of three. two resemble her, with silver stripes, but the third . . born black as night. " still facing forward, crisp blue irises flit to the corner of his eye, " her name is ternstar, now. of course, it was maggotfur at the time . . " a knowing, twitching smirk, a minute thing, barely there and all - encompassing in the same chilling instance. he sighs, dramatic as the night is endless. what do you mean help? " her kits are apprentices, last i seen . . poor things have never known a father, and their mother suddenly has her paws too full to dote on them. it must be so lonely, don't you think? " they are impressionable. they are potential. they are right there for the taking, star - blooded and all

Ｉ ＷＯＫＥ . ˚ . ✦ ( 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜 𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗦 ) ★

• i.
  
  
• " speech "​
  
  
  
• † CICADASTAR −−− FOUNDING LEADER OF RIVERCLAN. HOMOSEXUAL, MATED TO SMOKESTAR ; FATHER TO LOVEBURN, CICADAFLIGHT && BEEFANG. DARK FOREST RESIDENT. SMELLS LIKE FROST ROT AND DIRTY FLOODWATER. PENNED BY ANTLERS −−−−−−−− ⁺₊✧
  
  
  he / him. gaunt, curled black tortoiseshell smoke with paralyzing permafrost eyes. his structure sings a feral sort of hymnal, presenting an almost dangerous sort of beauty veiling what monstrosities lie beneath the ivory of his skull. frighteningly thin, sunken cheeks drawing a shadow beneath high, sharp cheekbones with tall, angular ears settling high atop the flatter slope of his cranium. he is beautiful, in a haunting sort of way ; but for all this looks, his expression is lax, void — corpse - eyed and hollow until spoken to, when he smiles with too many teeth, blackened frostbite pulling back his maw to bear canines set beneath curling whiskers, pantomime skeletal. a predatory gracefulness from the lines that press the image of exhaustion beneath ice water hues to the slow, sure gait in which he walks, nameless strength poorly concealed within the gaunt lines of his physique. always holding himself with a tragic sort of grace ; poised, prim and uncanny, shrouded forever at tendril - like limbs with thick, dark mist.
  

  often found in a viciously protected corner of the dark forest, king of murky ponds and reedrotten shores where fish would never swim. a notoriously paranoid and vicious isolationist, cicadastar tends to lie, assume, and jump to conclusions whenever it suits him. incredibly volatile! if you're unsure of an interactions outcome, please feel free to send a dm! no character opinions represent my own.
  
  

  penned by antlers

  
  [tab=𝟷𝟶 . 𝟹𝟷] ─── dark forest resident ; easily perceived as a starclanner to those inexperienced with starclan interaction. silver - tongued and manipulative to his core, cicadastar will often even allude to it himself despite the thin, willowy veil of darkness clinging to too - long extremities.
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