fire and brimstone | ripped tag

[Addervenom]

Life doesn't discriminate

Dusk was beginning to fall across the rolling hills of windclan blanketing the moorland camp with a sense of peace as most warriors, apprentices, and kit alike got ready for bed within the next few hours. The extra training session with Sunstride had gone well. He was excelling under the former rouge's tutelage by leaps and bounds. The supplemental spars he received in addition to his regularly scheduled training wore him out at first after the towleg incident. But now he'd built up a tolerance and sported denser muscle to prove it. Heavy, plodding steps bring the silver chocolate tabby back to camp for the night. He had half a mind to turn back and search for a little extra moss for his nest. It was nearly time to freshen it up but he supposed it could wait til morning. Dipping his head low, Adderpaw enters the heather and bramble enclosed tunnel, emerging from the other side with a shake of his pelt. Burning amber eyes skim over the freshkill pile briefly as he ponders eating something other than rabbit before bed. Whilst distracted his gold encased ear flicks at the sound of movement nearby and he pauses, scowling for a moment before he turns his back and keeps walking. (@Azaleafrost and @PEONYPAW) ​

Between the sinners and the saints​

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[Azaleafrost]

The more she thought about it, the more it angered her, actually. Her whole life she'd been looked down on for her kittypet blood, and Adderpaw thinks he can just waltz around with a twoleg accessory and expect it to be okay? That everyone is over reacting? She felt bad for him, at first. Everyone was more bent about the tag than worried about his well being. But the moment he chose to keep wearing it, she felt her blood boil.

Windclan cats don't wear twoleg trinkets. They were not like Skyclan. If it were her in his position, she can only imagine the anger and jeers that would have ensued. They would have either abandoned her, or ripped it out without a second thought. And he wanted everyone to just.... Deal with it.

No, she would not let him carry on with that thing in his ear. Sootstar tasked her and Peonypaw with this job, and she was going to do it.

She waited for the sun to tire, for the day to be over and the clan, including Adderpaw, to be getting ready for sleep. And when it was time....

She watched him pause... Flicking his afflicted ear as if to taunt her. That thing was coming out tonight. She waits..... And when he turns his back, she strikes with the swiftness of a serpent. Crouched, she speeds towards him and launches herself forward, claws outstretched and maw ready to snap down on that tag...

The plan was simple, Azaleafrost would hold his attention while Peonypaw takes him by surprise to grab that ear. Surely nothing could go wrong.​

 

[PEONYBREEZE]

✿ — Peonypaw wonders if his muscles will be sore tomorrow morning after holding his body so tense while dusk settled - before the reminder of Adderpaw's physical attributes slap him in the face. This wouldn't be an easy fight and certainly not one without bruises or injuries. He supposes he will have more to worry about than some pain in his joints when this is all over.

It's for Sootstar, though. That alone makes it more than worth it.

He hadn't dared to speak to Azaleafrost ever since the two of them took their place in camp and waited for Adderpaw's return, out of fear it'd blow their cover. There isn't much to say anyway, not until either her or him has the tag between teeth.

Their plan is simple enough. It all depends on execution.

Peonypaw hasn't truly cared about Adderpaw's decision on this matter, not until he's been given the order to help him get rid of it. He couldn't possibly fail, lest he faces the disappointment in Sootstar's cold gaze.

Adderpaw eventually stalks into view after what feels like forever, and as promised, Azaleafrost makes the first move.

The ribs that hover over Peonypaw's heart might as well get bruised with how quick it's beating, but none of that matters now. What matters is waiting for the perfect moment, the opening between the two WindClanner's tussle that could very well be their shared moment of victory.

Peonypaw leaps out of the shadows and goes for Adderpaw from behind, one unsheathed paw curling under the other apprentice's chin as Peonypaw opens his maw to tear at the tagged ear.​

❝ I DON'T WANT TO RUN — JUST OVERWHELM ME ❞​

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[Addervenom]

Life doesn't discriminate

The sound of paws drumming against the earth at full speed has his head snapping in the newly named warrior's direction. Her lithe form dives right at him, claws extended with her maw clearly aimed for his head. Amber eyes mirror something akin to surprise but for a moment before it is over taken with broiling anger. How dare she have the gall to attack him? The urge to demand an answer bubbled on his tongue for such an atrocious act but he could not focus on that now. Not when he was being attacked. The distance between them was closing fast. Adderpaw knew he was out of time to fully dodge, so he pivots. Her claws catch and snag the flesh of his shoulder while her fangs meet the scruff of his neck. Crimson weeps from the newly formed wound and he grunts, an indication of his discomfort.

Seeking to release her hold on him, he aims to use his shoulder to shove her into the brambles lining the walls of camp, pressing her against the thorns with his weight before following up with an attempted swipe at her eyes with unsheathed claws. Another set of paws sprints forth, splitting his attention in half. Along the edge of his vision his gaze is met with a glimpse of Peonypaw's forearm snaking toward his neck from behind. Was the whole clan after him? Were they attempting to cull him over the gold encasing his ear? He was still an efficient member of the clan, still hunting and excelling in his chores and apprenticeship. He was not some weak link to be dealt with because others did not choose to see eye to eye with him.

Chocolate dipped ears fall flat against his helm as Peonypaw's claws leave scarlet lines across his throat. The breath of the apprentice is hot against the ear he wished to snag, but Adderpaw wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Twisting his head out of reach he heard the clack of teeth resonate right above his ears. In the midst of his twist he opens his own jaws, fangs seeking purchase against the forearm of the tom. Where, if successful, Adderpaw would sink his teeth in, aiming to pull until Peonypaw flipped and fell against the ground on the opposite side of him. His flanks were heaving, hackles bristling as he glared daggers into his opponents. If they were not windclanners he would have tried to kill them where they stood. The thought was tempting even now.

Lifting his chin higher, Adderpaw's tail lashes behind him in serpentine fashion, lip curling in disgust. "Never touch me again." Adderpaw hissed, voice dripping venom. Smoldering eyes gazing upon them as if they were mere vermin. It was spoken as a clear warning and even an underlying promise to something more. (@SOOTSTAR) ​

Between the sinners and the saints​

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[SOOTSTAR]

SOOTSTAR ♀​

Adderpaw overcomes his pursuers, for now, until they recover and come back in full force. The display was impressive to watch, her son- tiger of WindClan of course would’ve put up a tremendous fight. Yet on the other paw it was frustrating, she had intended for this to be finished swiftly before Adderpaw even had a chance to react. Peonypaw and Azaleapaw have done their best, and she’s sure in time they would succeed, but her patience has waned. ”ENOUGH Adderpaw!” Teeth collide with gold, it tasted metallic and bitter on her tongue but her grasp does not falter. With one merciless yank a rip could be heard and blood droplets spatter on her nose. Sootstar pulls away from Adderpaw, but the tag that once dug into his ear now clasped in her maw. It’s spat out onto the ground, covered in blood and spit. Blood trickles down her son’s face, and she was just glad this was over. ”…Someone take the cursed twoleg thing. Bury it in the dirt place or throw it to the gorge.” For the first time in half a moon, she approaches Adderpaw and the will to meet his gaze returns. If he allows her to she attempts to lick his torn and tender ear. ”…It’s over now.”

 

[Azaleafrost]

She is painfully pressed against sharp brambles that dig into her skin and she lets out a hiss of irritation as she tries to squirm from it's grip on her pelt.

But claws rake down her eye, and she lets out a sharp, pained yowl as blood forces her to keep her eye closed. She tears away from the brambles with a few scratches, but they don't bother her, no. It's the eye that boils her blood. Her open eye glares venomously at Adderpaw with a vicious snarl.

"Windclan warriors DON'T WEAR TWOLEG TRASH!" She growls loudly.

She's about to attack him again when Sootstar intervenes, and rips the tag out herself. She feels the hot burn of failure was over her.

She and Peonypaw failed, would Sootstar still trust them?

She yields and stands by, if only to keep wiping blood from her eye.​

 

[SUNSTAR]

There comes over him a great many things at once: pride, and concern, and some strange taste of amusement. He had told Adderpaw of the weaknesses this tag entailed; assured him that it would make an easy target. That should it be torn from him, it will be wound him to distraction. When he had advised him, however, Sunstride had thought not of their clanmates. Some unknown enemy stood across the gorge, with rushing water beneath the field of their battle. Not this moorland grass. Not his peers. Most certainly not his mother.

He stands as the scent of blood washes throughout camp. There is a jolt to him– an aborted leap into action. Whether he intends to hold Sootstar from Adderpaw or assist her in holding him down, not even the warrior himself knows. His voice, however, jumps to instruct. To praise his capabilities. They have trained well from his earlier days. Even before it had been made official, Sunstride had taken an interest in his strength. It does not surprise him that he had succeeded. As skilled as Azaleafrost was to earn such a name, and however hard Peonypaw may have trained, Adderpaw was born of WindClan's strongest. Of course he would succeed in this.

It will not be without its scars. As the tag is thrown aside, he wonders if he will care more for the remnants of his ear, or for his mother's hatred. He does not dare question it. Neutrally, at some distance, the warrior remains. He does not approach the tag, even at Sootstar's orders. Glacial eyes linger unwaveringly upon Adderpaw alone though he speaks to the leader. "Should I fetch Wolfsong? I do not doubt he will need a poultice."

＞ˏˋ〘  OOC NOTES ╱ REFERENCE ╱ 07.10.2023 𝘏𝘈𝘕𝘋𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘌 𝘈𝘚 𝘓𝘐𝘍𝘌 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘗𝘖𝘐𝘚𝘖𝘕 〙ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —

• 

• SUNSTRIDE. named for his coloration and his bold chasing of fate.
  —— cis male, he - him. approx. 40 moons old. lead warrior of windclan + former rogue.
  —— gay, monogamous. mate to wolfsong from 07.05.2023.  npc x npc, no larger family.
  —— has recently regained some of his earlier lightness, but maintains his steady facade.
  
  sunstride is broad and bold– a creature standing above most of windclan, though not a beast beyond its borders, with fur that flames red and deepens to a burnt amber with every whorl and stripe. his eyes, in comparison, are a pale summer's blue, still as bold as the rest of him.

• "speech"

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[GHOSTWAIL]

Claw-tipped paws carry the ivory she-cat to the bloodied tag, the slightest hint of curiosity passing over her skeletal face. It was such a small item, not even the size of her paw, a teeny-tiny signifier of Twoleg encroachment on Sootstar's growing empire. It had begun with the Kittypet King and his army of soft-faced pretend warriors, now their upright pets had followed them deeper into the forest to try to claim WindClan warriors instead.

She turns the thing over, inspecting the foreign texture with a delicate paw. .... throw it to the gorge, Sootstar spits. A wonderful idea, really. Gingerly, disgustedly, the phantom grasps the discarded tag between her teeth. A wonderful idea, she repeats to herself. She could really use the trip. Maybe she would see her old friend across the way as well. Oh, how she missed the little blue point with the shredded shoulders. Maybe she could impart a bit more wisdom to the little fish, maybe a hint that tags were not the only things that could be mysteriously lost among the falls....

// she tookses the precious and out!​

- you call for peace when it suits you​

 

[VENOMSTRIKE]

( ) His gaze was wide as he watched Sootstar rip the tag off of Adderpaw's ear and the way she spat it out to the side, his own ears laying flat against his skull though he didn't dare say anything nor did he bother moving from where he was considering that Ghostwail had already taken the tag and left the scene without a word. Venomstrike's eyes turning over to Azalefrost taking note of the injuries she had obtained from the scuffle, he can't help but inwardly grimace unable to feel anything but conflicted over all of this. He hadn't expected to see his own clanmates fighting one another over a twoleg tag upon the apprentices ear, he understood that it wasn't good and could be seen as weakness to keep yet... He didn't think it was worth the blood that was spilled.

A frown present on his maw as he nodded slightly to what Sunstride said about calling Wolfsong over to put poultice on Adderpaw's wound, Venomstrike held in his breath not having anything else to contribute to this mess. ​

( ME GUSTA LA MAÑANA; ME GUSTAS TÚ )

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Weaselclaw had not been privy to Sootstar’s scheme, but he watches Azaleapaw and Peonypaw chase his son with a muted expression. He’d warned the boy—as his mentor and mother had—about their Clanmates’ ire over such a cursed object in their camp, embedded in one of their own’s flesh. And, like his mate and co-lead warrior, he’s both angered by Adderpaw’s stubbornness and impressed by his skills. Despite his youth, the tom is fierce and clever, telling both winded cats with a snarl that he does not want them to touch him again.

The tabby sighs, his eyes closed. Adderpaw’s wrath and skill is to be admired, but the boy’s hard-headedness vexes him. He does not understand such defiance in the face of authority. Perhaps he never will.

Sootstar leaves his side, her face creased with her own fury. Weaselclaw watches, bemused, as the WindClan leader hisses at Adderpaw to cease his running. Her teeth flash toward the burdened ear, pierce at his tender flesh, and tears. She spits the chunk away from them, and Weaselclaw can se the sun glinting faintly from the tiny tag where he stands.

It’s over. Weaselclaw’s surprise battles with admiration and—sickeningly—relief. When he looks at Adderpaw now, there is none of the taint of Twoleg dominance, nothing to be ashamed of or afraid of. Adderpaw stands with blood dripping from an ear eerily reminiscent of his own now—though Weaselclaw’s had been shredded by Smokethroat’s and Adderpaw’s by his mother’s. Either way, they are a testament to willpower, even if Adderpaw’s is quite different than his father’s.

Sunstride’s expression is unreadable, but Weaselclaw shakes his head. Surely the other lead warrior is proud of his apprentice’s skill as much as he is Sootstar’s swift enactment of judgment. The golden tabby inquires about Wolfsong, and a trembling Venomstrike runs to get the medicine cat in question. Ghostwail slithers toward the object torn from his son’s ear and disappears to rid them of it.

After a few heartbeats, Weaselclaw approaches Adderpaw, and for the first time in a moon and a half, there’s a weary look of pride on the tabby’s face. “You fought your peers well. Now that that thing is gone… you can go back to training to be the fiercest warrior this forest has ever seen.” He ignores the fact that Adderpaw’s training hadn’t ceased—that’s not what his father is saying. He is saying, quite clearly, that such a feat would be impossible to accomplish as long as he had the tag embedded in his flesh.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — weasel . weaselclaw
  — he/him ; lead warrior of windclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Sootstar
  — short-haired chocolate tabby with white and blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Oliver

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[Mouseflight]

When Mousepaw had seen Adderpaw get attacked by two of his clanmates, he was happy. Finally the other apprentice would be dealt with, that trash in his ear would be gone, and they wouldn't have to hide the other away in shame anymore. The fact that Adderpaw fought the other two to keep it on? That frustrated the small calico, and his ears pinned to the back of his head up until Sootstar came in, ripping the thing from her own son's flesh before ordering it be thrown away. As Ghostwail came in to do just that, Mousepaw turned his attention over towards the others, eyes squinting as he thought for a moment.

"Why'd you wanna keep that thing on your ear so bad Adderpaw?" He'd finally spit out, tail lashing behind him as soon as he had done so. "Keeping it for so long when there were so many times it could have been dealt with without having to go this extreme. Starting to think you wanted to be kittypet trash, and if that was the case why'd you even come back, huh?" It was gone now, yes, things were over, but Mousepaw would never think of Adderpaw as nothing more than a kittypet wanna-be now. It didn't matter if he was Sootstar's kin, Adderpaw had shamed his clan by allowing that garbage to be left in his ear for so long.

OOC INTERACTION FIGHTING 彡⛧

• [ooc] all ic thoughts!
  
• dislikes anyone outside of windclan
  if known to be a kittypet or skyclanner, will immediately hate
  is a bully
  -------------------------------------------
  friendly/non-violent powerplay okay
  tag if needed/wanted in a thread
• dirty fighter
  likely to attack first
  will "accidentally" try to kill character if skyclanner or kittypet
  mention when attacking please

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[Addervenom]

Life doesn't discriminate

His lips curl in disgust as Azaleafrost raises her voice against him, daring to chastise him. "You've been warned." He states simply, positioning himself to lunge at her uninjured eye is necessary, muscles bowstring taunt and ready to snap. He nearly lets loose until Sootstar's voice pierces the midnight air. Adderpaw's head turns to face his mother only for his afflicted ear to be met with sharp teeth. Amber eyes stretch wide, the pain seering and white hot as his limbs buckle. He was far too exhausted to keep up with the moorland queen's movements, fully caught off guard by her attack. The sickening rip that follows is a pain that rivaled the day the tag pierced his tag to begin with. The action left him breathless as Sootstart spat a mixture of blood, twoleg metal, and spit upon the ground, ordering the tag to be swiftly removed.

Adderpaw's throat tightens, fiery eyes screwing shut as he shakes his head, as if that could do something to dislodge the agonizing throbbing of his shredded ear. The bridge of his nose wrinkles, teeth gritting as he shakes his head again, splattering the ground and his chest with crimson as the wound continues to weep. It didn't work. All the effort put forth to hopefully show his parents that he was still their pride and joy turned out to be worthless. Proven by the tearing of his tag by his mother's own jaws. He'd fought two opponents at once and still managed to beat them in combat. Yet it seemingly meant nothing, not while the small metal tag remained in his ear. He honestly wasn't sure which grieved him more. Their constant rejection despite his many feats or the pain his ear is currently facing.

Before he could begin to ponder that heartbreaking thought, a gentle tongue rasps over his tender ear and Sootstar's voice echoes soothingly within it. His eyes open again, albeit slowly, to find her looking directly at him, acknowledging him for the first time in half a moon. Weaselclaw appears soon after, praising his skill in battle now that the tag is gone. Here was the acceptance he longed for, but it did not come in the way he expected. Not in the way he wanted. Adderpaw rolls his jaw, expression still pained as he looks between his parents. Bluepaw's voice chimes in his head, recalling their earlier conversation. "You know how they are." He holds their gaze for a moment longer. "Right." What they wanted, it would always be about what they wanted.

His gaze flickers briefly to Sunstride, catching the unreadable expression coating his mentor's face until his attention is severed by Mousepaw's whining. The apprentice's hellfire gaze cuts the smaller apprentice a look that could have caused lacerations if such a thing were possible. Weaving past his parents he stalks up to Mousepaw, blood still marring the right side of his face. "My reasoning does not concern...kits, like yourself." Adderpaw drawls, lip curled as he continues to pin the tom with a judgemental glare of his own. "If it vexed you then surely you would have tried to do something about it? Perhaps I would have told you." Although he still wished to tear into Azaleafrost and Peonypaw for attacking him, Adderpaw applauded their attempt to go after what they wanted. Mousepaw on the other hand seemed to be good at nothing but running his mouth. "Not that you would have succeeded." If Mousepaw did not seek him out to know why before, he certainly doesn't deserve to know now. ​

Between the sinners and the saints​

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