but we're having such a lovely time || praying, rta

[betonyfrost]

Betonyfrost loves in the same way that a tree love the sky: stretching and unreaching. Futile, she thinks, but she is not a tree, and she has forgotten to root herself to the ground. Without anything to hold her, even grasping as the thick mud beneath her tends to be, there isn't a thing to stop Betonyfrost from pushing upwards with the whole of herself. She doesn't have a reason in the world to stay grounded beyond the press of the sky to keep her down.

Above, the stars watch. There are expanses covered by pitch-spill clouds that do little to diminish the glory of Silverpelt. It is easy for Betonyfrost to believe not only in StarClan, but the good of StarClan, when the sky is like this. When she dies, she will have the comfort of clouds to catch her, and then she will be allowed rest.

"StarClan," says Betonyfrost, suddenly overcome with gratitude because she is not dead, "I know my clanmates don't believe you are looking out for us, but I know."

She pushes herself to standing, as if the miniscule difference between that and laying makes a difference to the stars, "We still need you. We are still hungry. Don't let the ungracious among us convince you otherwise. I know you watch out for me!"​

shadowclan warrior | blue mackerel tabby | 17 moons | tags​

 

[LICHENTAIL]

Why had her brother left Betonyfrost to wither away in the snowstorm? Lichentail cannot even remember the blue she-cat's many sins, but she trusts Pitchstar inherently, the way a bird trusts the branch beneath its talons. Without his guidance, ShadowClan is lost. Without his leadership, they have all lost their final connection to Briarstar.

Nevertheless, the jet-pelted warrior feels pity when she looks at the cat Betonyfrost is now. Thin, as they all are, but the scars she bears, the shriveled and eaten-away ears -- they are signs of a cross she bore badly. Lichentail hears her prayer, though -- not like she often murmurs to her mother on the wind, but aloud, praising their ancestors, telling them thank you.

She blinks watery green eyes at Betonyfrost. "I didn't know anyone else felt the same way." Her whiskers tremble as she tilts her face to the sky. "ShadowClan has not been forsaken. Soon, newleaf will come, and we will eat again. We will forget everything we've suffered in leafbare."

Lichentail sighs, curling her tail about her bony paws. Some would say forgetting hardship would not be prudent -- she can't say for certain. Growth would come regardless, she feels.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

​

 

[Rainecho]

Rainecho doesn’t usually concern herself with thoughts of StarClan. Why should she? They obviously did not return the favor. She believes in them, of course. You would have to have bees in your brain to have fought in the great battle and see what they all saw and still deny their existence. But she is convinced that they do not care what happened here in the dirt and the muck and Rainecho, unlike some other clan mates, cannot blame them. If she lived in the sky among the stars she doesn’t think she would care either.

She overhears Betonyfrost’s prayer though, and it draws her closer, curiosity more than anything guiding her paws so that she can better hear the striped molly. Apparently she is not the only one.

Rainecho’s mismatched eyes fall upon Lichentails black pelt, surprised to hear another clanmate feels like Betonyfrost does. She thought all her clanmates, save their overly pious medicine cat, had forsaken their starry ancestors. "Stars I hope so! If I don’t get a good meal soon you ladies better watch out" she says with a loud laugh. She would never actually eat her clanmates, she doesn’t think. Actually on second thought with the way some of them smelled she can’t imagine they taste good either. Ugh.
​

 

[Wolfpaw.]

❝ and they saw trouble in my eyes ✧°.☀ ———————————— Grey eyes blinked away sleep as the kit was awoken by the laughter in camp. He sees eyes turned to the sky and can't help the curiosity. He just had to slowly creep out from under the nursery's warmth and safety. His dense smoky coat was trying hard to beat the chill that grabbed his bones as he touched the night air, a shiver running down his back as his eyes became aglow with the stars in the sky.

They were pretty that was for sure. He honestly hadn't been told much about Starclan, besides hearing its cursing on occasions. His frame reflected the hard times the clan was facing, and he was eating better than others. So he had guessed that curses were probably in order.

His eyes stayed entranced by the lights in the heavens. For once he didn't really fear being seen by the warriors sitting a ways in front of him, it seemed like it would be worth getting caught if he got to see the sky for just a second more.

[penned by user - [tags☀]]

———————————— ☀.°✧ they were quick to recognize the devil in me ❞ ​

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[LlLACPAW]

Ooc Edit here: Please assume Lilacpaw ran away after the replies and to not tag her account further in this thread for the RPers comfort! Thank you!

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There is a horrible bitterness that plagues Lilacpaw's relationship with the stars.

They favored no one, cared for none in a way that should result in worship and prayer. Nothing but dead cats who thought it alright to use the living as playthings, greivance them with prophecies and strife that came with the cryptic fallout of such horrible riddles. However, she was mildly hypocritical in her hatred of them, for she could never hate her mother, never hate her father, despite the fact that they resided within enemy bounds now. Surely neither of them would partake in such horrible games, surely they would not make a mockery of the clans like they were characters from one of Lilac's kithood plays.

Its no surprise to her that Betonyfrost, who had lashed out at her for absolutely no reason at all, was a pawn in Starclan's games. Though it seemed the young warrior had been taken willingly as opposed to her littermate and older brother. No the surprise comes from her older sister speaking praises of those who had wronged their loved ones. It is a thorn coated betrayal. Being forsaken was not about starving, it was about family member after family member being stolen from them! Of course they'd have a rough leafbare, the forest had burned, it had no time to recover before the world was plunged into dormancy. That was inevitable, that was what some of the older cats had said, what Nightwillow had said.

But Briarstar's lives? That...that wasn't an inevitablitity, not like that. It never should've been like that.

"It would be better if they just left us alone until we died." The apprentice spits, eyes filled with anger, with hurt. "We didn't ask for them to meddle in our lives! For them to treat us like toys and entertainment!" She's burning another bridge, she knows it. She can't stop, and some part of her doesn't want to because she knows its wrong to be blind in hope.​

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☾⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—–✦ OOC ⁠☾⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠——✧⁠⁠——⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠☽ INFO ⁠✦–⁠⁠—⁠—⁠—⁠——⁠☽

• - owowowowow
• [Please ping @/Chérie if this character is needed, instead of this account]
  Lilackit - LILACPAW
  9 moons, closeted demigirl [currently uses she/her]
  A willowy, longhaired chocolate marble tabby with a distinct ruffle of neck and chest fur that trails down her back and white markings, has pale/dull green eyes
  Lilacpaw is currently a mirror to those around her, she should be considered a spineless, two-faced cat among her peers, and a rather useless cat to the clan by most adults. She tends to strive for positive attention from everyone, only to have it blow up in her face and spawn negative attention instead.
  Has recently lost her mentor Nightwillow to starvation, is becoming increasingly unstable.
  Speaks in #AD8AE1
  ​

 

[smogstar]

The dark-smirched tabby is not a non-believer, but he sure as hell is a cynic. For moons unending has he pondered the night sky, casting his gaze into the everlasting void more so than the stars themselves. There is absolutely something out there; Pitchstar's continued existence confirms that supernatural forces govern them, because otherwise he'd be food for the worms right about now.

Conversely, this purported higher power cannot be easily perceived or understood. It makes little sense for some groups to thrive whilst others wane, for some to receive prophecies whilst others endure radio silence. It is for this reason Smogmaw absconds the idea of worship. For all he knows, StarClan may very well hate ShadowClan. They certainly haven't given any reason to suggest differently.

The starry above is the perfect analogy. A dark, insipid expanse of nothing tangible, nothing intelligible, broken by fleeting moments that illuminate the path ahead. Yet, their illumination is faint and circumstantial, sometimes blocked by cloud or rain. One is better guided by the day's light than the stars'. The day reveals the obstacles in one's environment, the higher grounds, and dangerous paths which ought to be avoided. The stars offer no such mercy or aid.

Betonyfrost's pleas do not perturb him as they do to others, but he can recognise why the leader's sister reacts in such a way. Her mother was torn from existence in one violent swoop, which does not align with the so-called nine lives that leaders receive. Solemn footfalls carry him over to Lilacpaw's flank, coming to a halt a respectable distance away from her. "Let her pray," he advises. "This has been a comfortless season. I would rather Betonyfrost give the stars her misery than inflict it on us." ​

 

[betonyfrost]

The nubs of Betonyfrost's ears pivot before her head turns to follow, eyes landing on Lichentail. It's easy for Betonyfrost to imagine that there is two of her, that she exists in a past tense inaccessible to the version of herself today. A snake doesn't slither back into the skin it outgrew, and Betonyfrost is changed into something unrecognizable from herself. Lichentail unknowingly reminds Betonyfrost that this isn't true.

She realizes that without smokey hate clouding her eyes, she still wants more than anything to be approved of. No one has ever been this delighted about any aspect of Betonyfrost.

Uncertain as to what to do, Betonyfrost deflects, "Yes, well." and doesn't continue, instead looking down to her own paws.

She's saved by the arrival of others — Rainecho makes a comment that suggests without naming cannibalism, as seems to be a trend among her clanmates, and Lilacpaw spits hateful words about the stars. Smogmaw is quick to defend Betonyfrost's worship, a surprise that nearly halts the growing heat in Betonyfrost's chest.

"If Lilacpaw were smart she would speak for herself," Betonyfrost snaps to Smogmaw, then continues, twisting her head Lilacpaw's way, "When the snow was at its deepest, I was sure I was going to die. I was going to die. I felt it. But then I asked StarClan to spare me, and I am still alive today."

Her nose wrinkles, something like revulsion, "It's no wonder that we are in such a terrible situation when — when our own apprentices make baseless assumptions about the intentions of StarClan."​

shadowclan warrior | blue mackerel tabby | 17 moons | tags​

 

[LICHENTAIL]

Lichentail does not mind Rainecho's silly remark. She only gives the strange-patterned tabby a small smile -- one she turns on Wolfkit as he tumbles towards the gathering of she-cats, marveling with them at the spread of stars.

It's her sister who begins to spit venom at StarClan, who blasphemes even knowing their mother and father live among Silverpelt. Lichentail turns wide, shocked eyes onto Lilacpaw, her ears angling backward. "What did you just say?" Smogmaw attempts a modicum of damage control, but like Lichentail, Betonyfrost is not impressed by this careless spewing of hate.

The black warrior flicks an ear, silently affirming Betonyfrost's conviction. "Have you forgotten who StarClan is? These are not nameless, faceless gods who meddle in Clan life." Her lips peel back from her teeth. "StarClan is Briarstar. Is Amber. Is everyone we know who has been taken from us." Her long, feathery tail lashes behind her. "I pray you learn to respect StarClan before you turn into someone truly hateful."​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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