sensitive topics BODY DISPOSAL ╱ DIE WITH HONOR ´ˎ˗

[SUNSTAR]

✦　　. 　 ˚　.  cw: descriptions of death / fatal wounds and slight decay.

The dead that litter WindClan's territory are not so terrible in number. They had wounded the invaders greatly, and proved their strength to all that would oppose them. But they did not cleanse this forest entirely of their rot. This was enough, however, and he can only say that he is glad it is done. Their battle won, their home reclaimed. His shoulders ache with the exertion of the night. He wishes nothing more than to sleep here, but he knows that it will not come. Not when their camp is in the state that it is. Nests destroyed, dens weakened with claw marks. Prey half-discarded, unburied. Bodies, worst of all. With a heave of his paw, Sunstride turns over the limp body of a rogue. Their fatal wounds no longer gushed, yet there was a sluggish spill of something fresh between the ragged edges where the dryness cracks. Their fur is matted with it. It was not the kind death of prey.

They care more for rabbits than they do rogues. That does not bother him as it might to a better cat than he. All Sunstride thinks of is how glad he is it is over. How glad he is that it was not any of theirs that would be buried today.

Not that they have any intention of burying these intruders. He looks at the gathered cats, who have volunteered (or been volunteered) to carry out this task with him. His eyes are tired, and his voice is flat, "They will be taken to the gorge. They will be sent over the edge. They do not deserve to be buried in this ground." Not alongside the true warriors of WindClan. Of StarClan, even if Sootstar no longer sees them as such in her grief. He will not speak on it, not caring to incense her in such a vulnerable state, but the glow of their ancestors shines briefly within his eyes. "Come, it will be far quicker if we take one together."

𝘏𝘈𝘕𝘋𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘌 𝘈𝘚 𝘓𝘐𝘍𝘌 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘗𝘖𝘐𝘚𝘖𝘕; 𝘚𝘜𝘕-𝘉𝘓𝘖𝘖𝘋 𝘏𝘈𝘕𝘋𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘌  ╱╱ 9.16.2023 ˊˎ＜

• OOC. set directly after returning home! no journey cats here </3
• ✦　　. 　 ˚　.   FORMERLY SUNNVAR. HE - HIM - HIS OR THEY - THEM. DEPUTY OF WINDCLAN. 4 YEARS OLD. PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  —————————
  
  
  ——  a tall auburn tabby with thick fur and bright glacial eyes. sunstride is broad and bold– a creature standing above most of windclan, though not a beast beyond it, with fur that flames red and deepens to a burnt amber with every stripe. his eyes, in comparison, are a pale summer's blue, still as bold as the rest of them. he radiates confidence and self-assured authority.
  
  

  ✦ NPC x NPC. DECEASED MOTHER, ESTRANGED FATHER. NO LITTERMATES. MATE TO WOLFSONG. FATHER TO BEARKIT, SINGEDKIT, RIVEKIT, SUNLITKIT, AND FEATHERKIT ——

• "speech"

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[Thriftfeather]

A strange mix of disgust and guilt roils deep inside of Thriftpaw. He'd killed — he'd helped Bluepaw kill for the sake of WindClan's home. Could his assumptions have been wrong? Is it that the rogues simply wanted a home? Thriftpaw had thought — without evidence? — that the rogues hated WindClan for nothing else but their wonderful territory. All of the rogues that have died were somebody. Who missed them? Who mourned for them? Thriftpaw had felt one of these bodies die, and he hadn't even known her name.

Thriftpaw wears his frown deep, and for once, does nothing to disguise it.

"In the gorge," Thriftpaw repeats, his tone flat enough to show his disbelief. He hesitates, thinks in a voice harsher than he thought he was capable: no, no, this is too much. But then his dissidence leaves him. They can't leave these bodies out to become crowfood. They need to do something with them. The gorge is practical — it is all so damn practical. Thriftpaw approaches, looks at Sunstride rather than the corpse, and shudders with his whole body.

"Who do..." Thriftpaw starts and then, remembering himself, corrects, "Which one do we start with?"​

WINDCLAN APPRENTICE ✦ GOLDEN TABBY TOM ✦ 8 MOONS ✦ TAGS​

 

[Ebonylight.]

*+:｡.｡ TW for admiring death and loss, read after the {**} to avoid!

Ebonylight looks upon the field of bodies and feels immeasurable pride. Say what you will about her past and how much it's affected her, but this? This is just...amazing. She steps carefully over the strewn body of a rather large foe, his mouth permanently pulled back in a final snarl of defiance, and reflects on how even a behemoth like this - who would've easily taken Ebonylight down with a single swipe - had fallen instead to the unmatched might of a colony that worked so well together. Ebonylight didn't doubt that had she not joined with Sootstar she'd surely have met the same fate as these fools.
But lifting her oddly colored gaze from the corpses, it didn't elude her what else about her expression might be deemed 'unnatural'. From a distance, she watches Thriftpaw in particular, how devastation clouds the tabby tom's visage as though he weren't standing victorious in his own garden of painted roses. Hm. Glancing back down at the rogue she'd passed, she thoughtfully lifted a paw and shook off a clump of dried blood from it. Yes, if Ebonylight wanted to avoid this wretched creature's fate, she'd need to be careful about keeping her spot secured on the winning side.

**

"I suppose we just...pick one?" Ebonylight suggests, a sympathetic, shaky smile on their maw. Stepping up beside Thriftpaw, she'd gently brush his flank with her tail - recalling the time mothers did this to comfort their kits before they stepped up for their ceremony. She hopes she'll come across as kind to the young tom, offering him a source of understanding as he shudders in the wake of this devastation. It must be so hard for a young tom, her expression read. She can't blame him.

Lifting her gaze to Sunstride, she studies his own exhausted features, feeling her brown lower as her own aching muscles come to the forefront of her mind. It's certainly wise to get rid of these bodies lest they attract rats and foxes - if the scent of strife that still perfumes the air isn't enough already. A tongue swipes over their pearly cream maw at the thought, almost nervous but they don't feel the need to dart their gaze around. If a fox did come, it'd go for the easiest to eat - the already dead.
Although exhausted cats weren't too difficult to catch, either.

Rolling her broad shoulders Ebonylight sighed, "Alright, enough stalling" she says, mainly to herself, with a little laugh, mustering the courage it seems to get this difficult job started. Stepping forward, Ebonylight heads for that particularly large rogue she'd stepped over earlier. Perhaps she had a fondness now for the unnamed victim and his tragic demise. She practically stepped on him, the least she could do was not continue to ignore him, right?
She allows herself to noticeably cringe as she bites down on the rogue's scruff, the blood, death, and moon's old rotting mats from long before he'd fallen taste like mushrooms are soon to grow on her tongue! Still, onwards she goes, determined to prove herself a reliable moor-runner of the clan.

Still, it's a struggle. This Maine coon is still a lot bigger than she'll ever be.

//Open for assistance!
Loosely interacting with @/Thriftpaw

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[HEAVY SNOW]

These bodies are practically nothing to him. They were invaders, cats set on destroying his home and his family. He is glad that the souls living inside have been extinguished, that they haven't been given the opportunity to take from him what little he had left. He is glad to be doing this work alongside Sunstride, though he does find himself wishing Thriftpaw were not here. His eyes are too young he thinks, though he himself was not much older when he had first encountered death.

The small yellow-furred apprentice is trembling like a leaf in the wind and while Heavy Snow sends a sympathetic glance his way, he would not offer any words of consolation or comfort. Ebonylight declares enough stalling and immediately goes for one of the bigger bodies. You have to admire her ambition, he thinks with a soft snort before he moves to help "Here, I'll grab this end" he says, sinking his teeth into the cats tail. With his large size, it was no wonder why he had been chosen to help with this task.

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