DEPOLLUTE ME ╱ RIVERCLANNERS FISHING

[CICADASTAR]

it is an average greenleaf day. the sun is high and blazing, clouds rolling lazily across the brilliant blue sky and casting blessed shade upon the thick - furred cats below. a hunting patrol, he'd been sent on.. the leader couldn't find it in himself to complain. despite the low waters, the fish flock to where the river is thickest, splitting apart their land from the rest. he sets towards sunningrocks, the pressure of the falls too high and frothing to catch much upstream. the waters between the stepping stones and thunderclan's strip of stolen land were calm, though deeper than average ; a full paddle for even him, paws lifted from algae - soaked grounds. it would take experience to catch the fish that swim here, but he was not without his doubts.

iciclefang was a battle - hardened warrior ; she'd seen battle since old enough to comprehend it's devastation, honed herself into something bladed. like smokethroat, her expression is ever stony, with a quick tongue and even quicker claws. he'd no doubt in her abilities, but the second of his warriors to have been sent his way.. doubt clouds his mind as he'd watched dovethroat trail along behind him. the dust - colored tom had always been a slight, flighty creature. despite his training and warrior name, he could not help but question the decision his mentor had made to graduate him. iciclefang had seen war, and dovethroat.. despite being a born, bred riverclanner, has forever soft - pawed in the shadows of his peripheries.

cicadastar swishes his tail, aims to tap hazepaw where they would wander at his heel with the feathered ends. the tom gives his apprentice a brief look from the corner of icy eyes before prying himself away from their side, a quirked brow to indicate for them to play along. they should know how to conquer the dark, churning waters ; he'd never been hesitant to push, to shove them into the mold of a riverclan warrior.. and they had never given him the chance not to, unruly and in need of correcting as she'd been. could the same be said for dovethroat? he didnt know, it would certainly be decided today. inclining his head towards a school of flitting shadow just further into the water, cicadastar lifts his voice, " dovethroat, go show hazepaw how you fish from shoals in the deeper waters here. " it is not an easy task for the inexperienced, but the tom was a warrior now, wasnt he? the mottled leader fixates on him with an impassive blue stare, fur dampening at the lower limbs as he wades into the rippling waters, " watch closely, hazepaw. i want you to do the same next. "

COLD & CRUEL LIKE WINDS ON THE SEA  ╱ INFORMATION ✟

• i. they're fishing in the river between stepping stones and sunningrocks < 3 he wants dove to demonstrate so he can see if haze can outperform him in deeper waters under the guise of teaching them, feel free to roll for a catch! thunderclanners are also free to watch and interact bc theyre in the water next to their border at abt midday !! @iciclefang @dovethroat. @Hazepaw
  
• ★ ⋆ CICADASTAR −−−− FOUNDING LEADER OF RIVERCLAN. HOMOSEXUAL, MATED TO SMOKETHROAT. FIFTY MOONS, FATHER TO STARLIGHTKIT, CICADAKIT && BEEKIT. PENNED BY ANTLERS −−−−− ⁺₊✧
  
  
  he / him. tall, elegantly curled smoke tortoiseshell chimera with intense salt blue 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. jutting jawline and a squared chin, 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 ; lucifer in the eyes of an envious god. for all his looks, his expression is lax, void — corpse - eyed and hollow until spoken to, sparking the undead to life. he is tall, lean, cut - glass pretty ; he smiles with too - many teeth, blackened frostbite pulling back his maw to bear canines setn 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 hard lines of his physique. descending from a heritage of overtyped oriental shorthairs, cicadastar stands unnaturally tall amongst his peers, always holding himself with a tragic sort of grace ; poised, prim, and uncannily aware of how he appears.
  
  ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── smells like wet moss and meadowland thunderstorms.
  ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── notoriously paranoid and closed off, cicadastar will tend to lie, assume, and jump to conclusions whenever it suits him. any 'suspicious' ic actions he witnesses or hears about will have a strong effect, and will have ic consequences! if you're unsure of an interactions outcome, please feel free to send a dm!
  
  no character opinions represent my own.​
  
  
• " speech "​
  
  
  

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[dovethroat.]

Dovethroat would have commented indignantly that he was actually of perfectly reasonable size, even taller than average, thank you very much—but Cicadastar had enough tact to not call him slight and filthy out loud, and so all of this rage was nothing more than hypotheticals, pondering and forecasting what the warrior might feel in response to what his leader had not even said. The fact he had been brought out here at all is, however, markedly confusing. Dovethroat is not stupid; he knows that he is not exactly a favorite of Cicadastar's among the warriors. He was not requisitely aggressive, stubborn, unreasonable—he ought to stop himself before he starts rolling his eyes—for him. Why had Cicadastar brought him out here, even?

Immediately, thoughts of the leader trying to embarrass him conquer his mind, but Cicadastar is such a hard genuine read (and Dovethroat is not actually that good at doing that sort of thing, in spite of his intelligence) that he cannot tell. It does not help that Dovethroat is, in many ways, fated to assume the worst of Cicadastar. He does not exactly like him; he has not for a while. But when the leader asked you to do something, the general consensus was that you did it, and so Dovethroat complied and had followed him out here.

When he is stopped, his heart lurches. Cicadastar's voice is frightening and passive at the same time, and Dovethroat listens with a cautious glance in his direction. The task is strange and obviously meant to supply some sort of challenge, but Dovethroat quells any sort of reaction that fights to escape him. "A-Ah... alright," he says obediently, dipping his head politely before he rears back and casts himself into the water.

Perhaps Cicadastar is aware of the fact that Dovethroat is not a strong fisher, to the point where it was something he knew quite well. He was strong on land, just not with this. Hyacinthbreath had neglected to tell him how to be very good at fishing. He stills his breath, and puts on a brave act as he gets to the depths and pulls himself under.

His lack of hesitation, however, is marred by performance anxiety, and he bobs awkwardly in the water as his heart pounds out of his chest for only a moment. Luckily, it is a slip-up anyone above land would not be able to catch.

After only a moment more, Dovethroat resurfaces with a hearty-looking fish in his jaws, and he wades back over toward the leader. "I... ah... d-did I demonstrate w-well? I m-may not have... been the most visible, I'm s-sorry." In actuality, he has no clue how helpful (or not) he was. It is a bit of an instinct of his to preemptively apologize.

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[nightbird]

the sun was nestled high in the sky, apparently with a goal to melt their pelts off before they returned to camp. nightbird panted as she trailed the scent of prey. sunningrocks seemed to be a gamble these days. it was a fine spot for prey to stop for a drink, it's shaded areas seemed plentiful, but all was at the risk of a damn heat stroke.

her tail twitched behind her as she took a wide turn around the rocks, a scent trail wandering down to the bank of the river. from the corner of her eye she noticed the riverclanners edging closer, but paid them no mind as one slipped into the water. it would be a fools endeavor to provoke an attack with only four patrol members, and although her opinion of riverclan certainly wasn't a positive one even they would be so idiotic.

finally, she caught sight of the vole. it wasn't as blind to the swimming cats as she would have hoped, tiny rounded ears fanning around to provide a wide surveillance. nightbird kicked up her speed as it scurried along, weaving to follow it as her paws danced closely to lapping ripples. the chase was short lived, it was soon caught. from a silver peripheral she could see the riverclanner also had a successful kill, popping up from the water with a fish locked between fawn jaws.

her ears twitched, heat exhausting her form as she glanced around for the nearest thunderclanner. "think we're about finished here? could use some shade before we all burn to death," she huffed, shifting her paws for some relief from the hot rocks.

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• NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, twenty-four moons
  ⭃ nightbird is a small black smoke molly with pale silver eyes. a loner turned thunderclanner, her loyalty and drive to provide for her clan is unwavering. however, she is not known for harboring a bleeding heart, instead equipped with sarcastically fueled wit, brutal honesty, and a sharply edged tongue.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[GINGERFLAME]

*:･ﾟ✧ Awww, nothing again! Gingerpaw tried as he might, but his claws couldn't manage to wrangle in anything. He'd been an apprentice for quite some time, yet he couldn't really get the hang of hunting. A failure of a cat he could be considered. Normally bad hunting days weren't a stranger to cats, but for some reason he would usually have a bad hunting day. Suffice to say, he had to work on his hunting. Why is it so hot?! Damn! New-leaf meant warmer moons were to come, yet he'd rather not meet Starclan by being burned alive from the sun. He's practically panting by the time nightbird turns and asks him a question. "Please! Yes! Can we be done? I'm already burning alive!" for once in his life he wished he knew how to swim because this heat was too much!

 

[SHININGSUN]

☼ "Aww... I was just getting started!" Shiningsun whined, in a playful manner of course. In truth he was quite ready to flop down in some shady spot in order to get some much needed respite from the sun's glare. His pale fur had offered some protection from the worst of the rays, but his coat was thick and heavy and worked against him, so whatever advantage he had tried to hold was lost.

Before he could move to slink away he spotted the RiverClanners in the water and it prompted him to wait. The tom was rooted to the spot as his fascination for RiverClan's lifestyle held his attention, and it wasn't until the heat began to make his head throb that he finally broke away so he could head for the trees. It was time for a break.
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[barleysight.]

"Those things are too slippery," the chocolate apprentice observed as they arrived on the scene with @KILLDEERCRY ; following behind. They too were hunting, but it seems the scent of vole she had caught down the stream was in a clanmates jaws. You snooze, you lose. And she had accidentally snoozed. She was a bit frustrated, but it was shown in a flick of words rather than cursing about it.

"Plus they dont taste right," she said quite bluntly, rather enjoying the taste of land creatures. Though she watched with anticipation, observing carefully. "But to each their own, food is food."

She would pause, realizing her manners were unattended to where they should be, so she would dip her head. "Greetings, Cicadastar - riverclanners. Its good to see your bellies are hopefully full." And though it sounded rude, she did not know their names. She already had everything else to remember. At least she didn't throw insults she would say to their face. They were in good moods, and thats something to follow. Match moods, rather than sour the air.

 

[Hazewish]

TRAVELER, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (AND NOW YOU MUST GO) ⋆⁺₊⋆

Some apprenticeships are as easy as guiding a falling leaf to the ground; some are more akin to swimming against the current. Hazepaw likes to think hers falls somewhere in the middle: a push and pull between her and her mentor. Meaning: Cicadastar pushes her to do better and she follows… until she feels like her personal freedom has been infringed on and she pulls a disappearing act to remind him that she will not be pinned down so easily. She toes the line of insubordination at times, but has never crossed it yet; some internal respect for the mandate of the stars keeps her in check.

Today, they intend to behave: they are going fishing near Thunderclan territory, and that sounds pretty interesting. And swimming in deeper water… They like the sound of that very much. There’s a spring in their step as they follow the patrol, nosing the feathery end of their mentor’s tail when it taps their forehead to bring them to attention.

At his demand, they pull their eyes from the swaying leaves on the other side of the river and the dappled shadows they cast over sunlit stones to focus on Dovethroat. The sandi-colored tom looks almost nervous — up until he dives: then it seems to Haze that he is nothing but grace as he disappears in the dark with barely a ripple to remember him by. They count inwardly: 1… 2… 3… 4… and lose the thread as Thunderclanners approach and draw their gaze away. It snaps back when Dovethroat breaches the surface again, a silver flash of scales held between his teeth. It’s impressive; they did not see how he got it.

Well. It’s just fishing; how hard can it be?

Hazepaw steps up to the young warrior, bringing their nose very close to study his catch and then him, for good measure. It’s a nice fish! He must be a good fisher — or very lucky, which doesn’t necessarily preclude skill. If Starclan wishes for you to succeed… Nodding appreciatively, they pad up to the edge of the river, waving a greeting to the Thunder patrol with their tail. Then, with one glance back at Cicadastar, they slip into the water.

Swimming to the deep water is no trouble, and neither is diving with her breath held preciously in her chest. Once under, though, they’re not sure what they were aiming for: the shadows among which Dovethroat hunted have scattered, leaving behind the empty and glittering depths. Haze paws at the water, disoriented for a moment as they turn in place in water so deep it swallows light as easily as it would them.

Soon their chest starts to burn and they have to reach for air. Their head breaks the surface, the sunlight blinding; they get a glimpse of hazy shapes, Thunderclanners milling on their side of the river; the yawning blue of the sky; there: shadows darting in the water. They gulp air hurriedly and dive back in with little subtlety, making up for it with speed: teeth and claws alike snap towards the fish that rush past them, missing the largest one by a whisker's breadth but hooking into the soft scaly body of a less fortunate specimen that they haul back to the surface.

Hazepaw swims back to shore with her catch held tightly between her jaws, pulls herself onto dry land, and places it at her mentor’s paws. It’s smaller than Dovethroat’s for sure, but not so much that she feels embarrassed by the sight of it. Its silvery scales catch the light nicely over the length of its body, and it was caught with at least some skill... or luck, but then that would be a paltry fish for Starclan to put directly between her claws.

// rolled a 14!

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[iciclefang]

Iciclefang is not clued into the mind games Cicadastar plays with Dovethroat and his apprentice. She watches curiously as their leader gives his directive—into the deep water, a demonstration for Hazepaw to follow. She often feels the lead warriors are testing her… perhaps that’s what Cicadastar is doing now. She can understand it. She is not impressed with the dusky-pelted tabby, often sour-faced even if he rarely voices his thoughts aloud. He’d taken moons to become a true warrior… and he’d been close with Hyacinthbreath, which is not something the young tortoiseshell can forget easily.

Still, he re-emerges, a fish writhing and flapping between his teeth. It’s a sizeable catch. She murmurs, “Good one.” Her tail flicks, pale eyes moving expectantly to Hazepaw. Cicadastar’s apprentice is quiet but willful, and she half-wonders if Hazepaw will refuse for some inexplicable reason. They do not—they plunge into the water and when they break the surface, there is a fish—albeit smaller than Dovethroat’s—in her grasp.

It’s her turn, though she becomes increasingly aware of ThunderClanners gathered across the water. One of them even deigns to speak to them. She gives the young apprentice a piercing blue stare before responding, “ThunderClan.” She has no time for mindless prattle with an enemy Clan, however. With a flourish, she angles herself at the water’s edge and shoves her face and forepaws below the surface. Iciclefang kicks against the shoreline and is underwater within heartbeats.

It's dark beneath the river, but the shadows move and create ripples. Suspended, she sees an adderlike creature pistoning it’s way toward her. Her teeth find purchase in its soft, slippery body, and within moments it’s limp, streaming like blood in the water. Her hindlegs catapult her back to the surface—the lamprey is her prize, trailing around her head on both sides.

✧ INFO.

• flipped a coin for catch vs no catch; rolled a 3 on a d3 for size!
• 
  — iciclekit . iciclepaw . iciclefang
  — she/her ; warrior of riverclan
  — lesbian ; single
  — short-haired tortoiseshell with white and ice-blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Pin

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