camp BUT IT'S JUST THE PRICE I PAY — o, waking up

Oh. He was alive.

Snakehiss had expected to open his eyes to another plane of reality entirely; the details elude him, as a world beyond this is one he does not know, but he had anticipated feelings of... ascension. Weightlessness. Freedom. However, he is still tethered to his mortal husk, as made evident by the dull aching across his throat and cheek. The tom lifts a paw tentatively, prodding the cobwebs that stuck to the scores down his jaw like sap on a tree. Oh, it feels disgusting, but... he feels. He can wiggle his toes, he can prick his ears, he can look around and observe the environment around him. How... How had they left him alive? Was Sootstar still alive? What of the other loyalists?

Snakehiss stands to his paws albeit groggily. He'd been asleep for stars knows how long, fading in and out of slumber as the effects of Wolfsong's icky plants and utter exhaustion grip him stubbornly. The tom shifts his weight, earning a wince and a stinging sensation at the base of his throat as the pain reactivates. So, none of that had been a dream. Harrierstripe really had nearly killed him.

His mouth is dry, having not had a drink of water in over a day, and instinctively he makes a step out of his makeshift nest... then, he hesitates. Everything is different now. Sunstride had won, meaning any authority he once possessed had been stripped away. What would be awaiting Snakehiss should he step into the light for the first time? Was he technically being held as a prisoner? Why had they kept him alive in the first place?

The thin-legged tom grimaces, paw hovering as he debates on what to do. Wolfsong had not noticed him yet and he intends to keep it that way. Snakehiss' eyes dart around the camp, flitting from cat to cat and then to the exit of the hollow. Should... he just make a run for it? Would anybody stop him?

  • open to other meddie den residents and uhhhh visitors/passersby ig (at least until wolfsong shoos them away asjdcksdmcv)
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    SNAKEHISS
    —— he/him; deputy of windclan
    —— bisexual; mates with berrysnap
    —— long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, bite mark on right foreleg & thin scar across chest
    —— "speech", thoughts, attack
    —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
    —— penned by beatles
 
His own wounds still sting, but once the frenzy had faded away he realizes that they were barely anything at all. Why he's still hanging around the medicine den he doesn't know. There's a wound that Wolfsong cannot heal; betrayal is a bite deep upon his soul. It hurts him when the medic isn't looking, and he crawls back hoping for something, anything, that would make it go away. More often than not, it means staring down at Snakehiss' nest for a few moments too long and then leaving again. He had betrayed WindClan as much as it had ever betrayed him. Was it worse than that? Did he bring more harm to WindClan than they had ever done to him by merit of his blood?

All of the trust that Sootstar and Weaselclaw put him was wasted. Harrierstripe was gone, but he wishes he could apologize. Your father was proud of you. I promise he was. They all need to hear it, he thinks. Snakehiss likely never will. He hadn't died on the battlefield. His own panic stilled the black cat's chest, but when he got into the den it became a survivable injury. That they deigned to help him at all brought burning relief to the warrior. (Are they really helping? Are they certain that the wound is not simply rotting away, forgotten and ignored? Whatever's in his chest certainly is.)

His excuse for being here this time is prey. A meager catch of a mouse near the gorge, but something to give the healing cats strength. He had not expected for his shadow over the entrance to fall across Snakehiss' open eyes. The mouse drops from his mouth with a sharp exhale, and an equally sharp swallow in. "You're awake," he murmurs dumbly.
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  • OOC.
  • 🗲  .   ˚ .  SPARKSPIRIT. HE - HIM - HIS. 14 MOON OLD MOOR RUNNER OF WINDCLAN. VERY LOYAL TO HIS CLAN. PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ————
    sparkchibi.png
    ——  a trim mock tortoiseshell tom with mostly black fur splashed with the occasional patch orange. he has a singular white mark on the back of his neck shaped similarly to a lightning strike, and a small scar across the bridge of his nose. his eyes are a shocking electric blue.
    ✦ ECHOLIGHT x ELMBREEZE. ADOPTED BY YEWBERRY. BRIGHTFAM, BUT SOMEWHAT ESTRANGED DUE TO HIS LOYALTY TO WINDCLAN. ————————
  • "speech"
 
  • Crying
Reactions: SNAKEHISS
He sits and stares at Snakehiss, hunched like a vulture. If no one else were around and if he could do it quietly, he'd laugh hysterically at him. No words, just uncontrollable laughter. It feels so good to see him laying there all pathetic and weak. Sparkspirit is here though, and somehow, his brother likes this slimy bastard. He doesn't understand it one bit. There was literally nothing likeable about this tom. He doesn't even know how Cottonfang got together with him in the first place. She and her brother could have chosen anyone to date and befriend and they chose.....Snakehiss. Morningsong has never even BEEN in a relationship so he supposes he has no ground to stand on in that department.

But because Sparkspirit is his brother, he remains silent. He looks upon Snakehiss with a judgemental stare and a small smile, tail neatly wrapped around his paws. Perhaps if he observes his brother and Snakehiss, he will understand them better. But just because he has opted not to say anything doesn't mean he has nothing to do. Just like he did once before, he raises his front paws and narrows them until it looks like he's holding him in his paws from his point of view.....And then he squishes his paws together with a "Sqwish!"

He doesn't know why its fun to do that.​
 
  • Haha
Reactions: SNAKEHISS


Ultimately, Rattleheart knew that going against Wolfsong's orders was a fool's errand, a stumble that would only end up getting him in further trouble down the line. Hence why he was in the medicine cat's den, doing one of his - at the moment - daily visits to check on the bite on his shoulder and the patched up gashes running down his chest. He hadn't even spared a glance towards Snakehiss since his entrance, still not sure how he felt about Sootstar's now former deputy. Deep down inside, he knew that Snakehiss had been manipulated just as much as the rest of the loyalists. Just as much as every warrior of Windclan that had been crushed in her iron grip. Besides, if he was willing to stand up for and support Bluefrost, what was the difference between her and Snakehiss? Why did his actions feel so much more brutal, when he and Rattleheart hadn't even been particularly close in the past?

He didn't really have an answer, but his indecision meant that he wasn't ready or willing to just wholly condemn Snakehiss.

Sparkspirit's voice was what alerted him to the former deputy's shifting, Rattleheart's gaze tearing away from the patchwork of cobwebs on his chest and over to the more heavily injured tom. It almost felt like he was intruding on an intimate moment, the sharp exhale from Sparkspirit and the tension on the air making him want to recoil from the entire scene. He remained in place though, knowing that Wolfsong wouldn't want Rattleheart wandering off before he could finish his work. At least his presence wasn't the most awkward part of this, Morningsong's actions prompting the tunneler to roll his eyes. Even everything they had gone through couldn't stop the warrior's childish ways - a testament to his tenacity, at least.

Looking back towards Snakehiss, Rattleheart swallowed down the mix of emotions in his chest for the moment, deciding he would deal with them later. When Sunstride decided what they were going to do with Snakehiss, and what they were going to do with the rest. "It's good to see you awake, Snakehiss. For a while things seemed pretty touch and go there." He didn't bother softening the details of the other tom's recovery, figuring he could feel just how difficult it was going to be. After all, it seemed like Harrierstripe had been trying to practically rend the head from his shoulders.
[ PENNED BY EO ]
 
What was Snakehiss even doing here? Was Sunstride merely keeping him prisoner, planning to interrogate him and slit his throat when he was no longer of use? Sunstride may have been the leader of the rebels—a tom who detested Sootstar's savagery and moralistic crimes—but he was still a rogue, and rogues were barbaric! Maybe he wanted all of Sootstar's remaining lackeys dead and gone—

His viridian stare suddenly catches sight of azure hues. Snakehiss barely notices the red-splashed tom's mouse, his reasoning for visiting the medicine den; all he knows is that his heart nearly leaps out of his chest at the very sight of him. "Sparkspirit," Caught off guard, he is nearly breathless. Sparkspirit, the warrior he had once detested with every fiber of his being. Sparkspirit, the one he had saved from Harrierstripe in the heat of battle, the one he had nearly died for. Even now, Snakehiss cannot properly comprehend why he'd done it. All he knew was, in that moment, Snakehiss could not stand and watch as Harrierstripe murdered him. Neither enemies nor friends, for now, they simply just were. "I..." What does Snakehiss even say to him?

The presence of other cats watching him is distracting; he cannot even finish his thought as he catches a glimpse of Morningsong out of the corner of his eye. Snakehiss' attention doesn't linger on Sparkspirit's littermate long enough to fully understand what he's doing; he just knows that he's being judged. He is the one under scrutiny now, shamed and disgraced for what he's done. An uncomfortable feeling stirs in the pit of his stomach, gulping over a forming lump in his throat. Snakehiss does not like how this feels.

Rattleheart comes along as well— stars, he feels like he hasn't seen them in ages. It's been so long since he's seen any of them. The tunneler, however, does not mouth off on Snakehiss or anything of the sort. In fact, she is rather... nice about it. He cannot understand what he has done to earn their decency, but then again, she was never known to be the harsh sort. "Er, yeah..." Snakehiss manages, unsure of how to approach interacting with his clanmates normally again. Would he ever be able to do so?

Many thoughts circulate in Snakehiss' mind, jumping from subject to subject, until he eventually remembers something important. He gasps, "Berrysnap," Oh great stars, what had happened to her? Snakehiss could not say truthfully that he had ever loved her ( or even cared for her ), but she was expecting his kits.

Round eyes search the medicine den frantically, then dart from Sparkspirit to Rattleheart, as if they would know something—anything—about Berrysnap's whereabouts. It did not immediately occur to Snakehiss that they would be unaware of his relationship with her. "Did she... Is she...?" Dread makes his blood run cold, his ears pinning against his skull. Please... don't tell him that she was dead...

  • 77053620_v7IN9LxSdUc41lI.png
    SNAKEHISS
    —— he/him; moor runner of windclan
    —— bisexual; ex-mate to berrysnap; not looking
    —— long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
    —— "speech", thoughts, attack
    —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
    —— penned by beatles