FREE FALL & ESCAPE

[sparkspirit]

Snakehiss is WindClan’s deputy. What a fitting end for all of this. Though he still stood at Sootstar’s side, there is no escaping the knowledge that he had forsaken it all. Like a mouse batted between the paws of fate, Sparkspirit is bloodied and bruised. His heart gave up on WindClan and Weaselclaw, and all that he had ever wanted to be. This camp is empty, and so is Sparkspirit.

"Morningsong," he whispers, prodding at his littermate’s shoulder. "We have to go. Now, while everyone’s asleep."

The night surrounds them like a shroud– aside from the gore-splashed red and pinprick blue eyes, Sparkspirit is lost to it. Just how he prefers it to be. Hopefully none around them would wake. The empty nests must help with that. Each one so far removed from another. Shattered islands of sanity, none of them his own. None of them WindClan. What was this place? Not the nursery where he was raised. Not family or hime. All that remains of him is a nebulous nothing and there is no hope of surviving it. So he will save his brother instead.

He guides him around nests, to a hole in the gorse, perhaps shredded by an escaping rebel. Maybe his family. He won’t allow himself to linger on that thought. "We’ll see them at the horseplace. It’ll be fine."

𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘞𝘖𝘙𝘋𝘚 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘐  ･｡ﾟ  🗲  ╱╱ 11.07.2023 𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘈𝘠 ˊˎ＜

• OOC. —
• 🗲　　. 　 ˚　.  SPARKSPIRIT. HE - HIM - HIS. 14 MOON OLD MOOR RUNNER OF WINDCLAN. VERY LOYAL TO HIS CLAN. PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ————
  
  
  ——  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"

​

 

[Morningsong~]

Morningsong has not slept. What was supposed to be a search patrol for lost kits turned into a nightmare from the deepest recesses of his mind. To come back to camp to find the aftermath of the chaos that had ensued shook him to his core. To see Lilacstem's body unmoving and knowing without a doubt at that point it had been one of Sootstars beasts who had done it....

Grief and hatred wracked his heart and mind, and yet with the company he was in now, he could not show it. They cast her body out of camp like garbage and he found himself thinking of how best to poison every single cat in camp. He wanted to watch them all drop dead for what they had done. They have taken from him for the last time.

He hates this place. He hates everyone in it. He hopes the moors burn, a cleansing fire to disintegrate the rot that has taken over so something new can grow.

And then there's Sparkspirit, his brother. He finds he is unsure of if he can trust him. He's always been loyal to Sootstar. Weaselclaw. To the cats who have hated his family. And now he prods him, telling him its time to go. Is this a trap? To lure him out and have him slaughtered by bloodthirsty cats no better than rogues?

He doesn't say anything at first, just gives Sparkspirit a suspicious look at first. Did he really stay behind to help him get out? Morningsong finds he doesn't have the will to care anymore. So what if its a trap? Nothing matters anymore.

"Lets go, then." He says, voice void of any warmth or energy it usually held. Because he has no warmth or energy left inside.​

 

[sparkspirit]

The lack of kindness in Morningsong's face and voice doesn't escape him. How could it, when he had schooled his own expressions to exactly the same thing for so many moons? He looks upon his littermate and sees himself reflected; there's no room for hatred in the midst of all this understanding. He won't push at him. He doesn't ask anything of him, except for him to follow. Because no matter what happened, if he could fix something — anything — it all would have been worth it. He can't truly release himself from who he had been. Weaselclaw would always be there. Sootstar would always be there. (In some terrible way, he thinks of– another cat that he could never name like this.)

"I didn't see Larkfeather," he whispers. "But the kits– I think– I think they're okay." It's a pathetic attempt at distracting them both from Lilac's body that is surely burned into both memories. Sparkspirit had spent so many moons denying his love for them. She died thinking that it was true. (In odd moments of looking at Sootstar, he's not sure that it wasn't.)

His claws gently pull at the hole in the wall so that Morningsong might slip through easier. His back is to the dark moorland and stars, framing the warrior in pale silver now that they are both gone. It was not quite a full moon. Would Sootstar ever go to the gatherings again? Would she come down upon them like a terrible beast? Killing everyone that stood before her? They need to leave. Everyone– everyone needs to leave, and as Sparkspirit's neck begins to prickle with the instinctive fear of eyes on his back, he wishes he could drag them all with him.

𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘞𝘖𝘙𝘋𝘚 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘐  ･｡ﾟ  🗲  ╱╱ 11.07.2023 𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘈𝘠 ˊˎ＜

• OOC. pls hold blobl it is time
• 🗲　　. 　 ˚　.  SPARKSPIRIT. HE - HIM - HIS. 14 MOON OLD MOOR RUNNER OF WINDCLAN. VERY LOYAL TO HIS CLAN. PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ————
  
  
  ——  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"

​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

He cannot sleep. How can Snakehiss possibly close his eyes and slumber peacefully, knowing the blood spatter and bodies that littered the ground around him only the day before? Knowing that he was now the second-in-command to the very woman who commenced the carnage and would be expected to do her bidding or face exile— or worse, death?

The camp reeked of death, overwhelming his senses, making his stomach churn. Movement roused the newly made deputy's attention, his head straightening while his eyes attempted to track the source of the pawsteps. He peers forth toward the edge of camp, barely making out two silhouettes inspecting the gorse wall. What in the world was so interesting about it, especially at this hour?

Ever eager to butt his way into his clanmates' business, the thin-legged tom rose from the site of his new nest and padded from the edge of the den. His dark pelt was shrouded in the surrounding darkness, paws light and well-versed in stealth, allowing him to slink close enough to hear the voices of Morningsong and Sparkspirit. Snakehiss' eyes can recognize their unique forms now as they tear into the wall, and the realization that ripples down his spine makes him perk up instantly. They're making an escape, aren't they?

"Sparkspirit." He hisses, just quiet enough to avoid waking the others. He would not sic the hounds on them, not just yet.

Intense viridian hues dart from brother to brother, a scowl tugging on his maw. "I should have known. It's in your blood to run, isn't it?" Even now Snakehiss could not resist an opportunity to take a jab at the numerous members of their kin who have either run from WindClan's savagery or died to it.

Snakehiss stands before them both now, backing them against the very wall they sought to crawl through. His claws might as well be at their necks, knowing he has the upper paw here. One yowl to signal the chase and it was all over. "I could wake them all now, they'd tear you apart like dogs." He pauses, slightly cocking his head, supposing, "Or you could go 'n join the others. It'll only be a matter of time before they find where they're all hiding." Of course, there was a small possibility that Morningsong and Sparkspirit could run off somewhere far away from the clans entirely, which would be the smartest idea in his opinion. It was what Snakehiss hoped his father had done — start anew where the mad queen wouldn't be able to track him down. However, Snakehiss knew that the brothers would likely want to seek refuge with their kin and clanmates. That, he knew, would be their downfall.

Don't, Snakehiss wants to say, though it dares not jump up from his throat. He just glares daggers at them with that sour expression that he's mastered since his youth. Stay here, wait things out. It'll be better for all of them soon enough. They just had to wait for the right opportunity. Ever so faintly—betraying everything he's ever said and done to Sparkspirit and his kin—shining in his gaze is a plead to stay.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙞 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚

• 

• 

  ✰ SNAKEHISS
  —— he/him; deputy of windclan
  —— bisexual; single; not looking
  —— long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and a notable bite mark on his right foreleg
  —— "speech", thoughts, attack
  —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
  —— penned by beatles

​

 

[Morningsong~]

He hadn't seen Larkfeather either, and that worried him. He can only hope that she had made it out with the others when they fled, but he had no optimism left in him now. Lilacstem was gone. Larkfeather was missing, and these vile, filthy savages would expect him to be happy about it. He quietly follows Sparkspirit's lead eying the hole in the bracken and preparing to squeeze through.

"I hope they're okay." He says quietly. If he doesn't see them when he gets to the horseplace, he'll go insane if he hasn't already.

But a familiar voice hisses his brother's name, and his lip curls as he turns to give Snakehiss a look so full of venom and hatred you'd think he were a different cat. Morningsong always had a cheeky grin or kind smile on, but there was none of that now. No, That Morningsong was likely gone and never to return.

"Where's your father, Snakehiss? I haven't seen him since I got back.... Oh no, did he run too? Guess it's in your blood too." He hissed.

Snakehiss threatens to wake the sleeping dogs and Morningsong feels himself oddly unafraid. "If you wake them, I'll make sure you go down with me. You are so, so very within range." And that was a threat if he ever spoke one.

Morrningsong sees the look in his eyes, the plead to stay. Is he insane? Stupid? Both? "Tch. I see that look. You really think we'll be safe here? Please. Every single one of those dogs over there will jump at the chance to make an example out of us and then leave our bodies to be found by the rest of our family and Sunstride's exiles. They're probably dreaming about it right now. I'd be careful if I were you, since your father is nowhere to be seen and all." He spits.

"Lets go, Sparkspirit." He says, giving Snakehiss one last long glare before moving to slip through the brambles.​

 

[sparkspirit]

It isn't even enough to surprise him. His hackles rise but his breath is still calm despite its stutter-skip. There's something awful about how Snakehiss only addresses him. Morningsong is quick to bite back, to speak of his father, what was left of his life, but Sparkspirit cannot escape the barb the black tom had sank right into his heart. Worst of all was that he didn't seem wrong — that he was proving everything he had said about him right in standing here now, leading his littermate through the gorse wall. Sootstar had been proud of him. She had glowed at his warrior ceremony. He was the last warrior that her mate had trained to warriorhood. And he abandoned them entirely. He ran.

Snakehiss stood above him now, but he'd never been afraid of a venomous tongue. Casting a glance to Morningsong as he slips through, and then furtively back to the newly named deputy, he steps closer. "Come with us," he offers– pleads, a rushed whisper where Morningsong couldn't hear him say it. The hatred that poured off of his brother's tongue wasn't misplaced. With all that had happened, all that they had seen...stars, but he really was a fool to see something good in him, wasn't he? But the blood still staining his own mouth binds them in a way his blood would never understand. "You can't really think you'll survive her, Snake." How many had died for her, at her paws? He doesn't have the strength to see her as anything but the all-seeing queen that she had made herself to be, but those paws are stained with death and there is no removing that from his sight.

He backs up from him, a half-step at Morningsong's call. "Call them or not. We'll all die if we stay. Just–" Can we start over? He'd wanted to ask that a mouthful of times before. Hi, I'm Sparkpaw. "Don't die," Sparkspirit murmurs, and follows his the last of his family into the night.

𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘞𝘖𝘙𝘋𝘚 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘐  ･｡ﾟ  🗲  ╱╱ 11.07.2023 𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘈𝘠 ˊˎ＜

• OOC. —
• 🗲　　. 　 ˚　.  SPARKSPIRIT. HE - HIM - HIS. 14 MOON OLD MOOR RUNNER OF WINDCLAN. VERY LOYAL TO HIS CLAN. PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ————
  
  
  ——  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"

​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

Any expression of genuity quickly wipes from his expression as soon as Morningsong opens his maw. Between the two siblings, he'd gladly throw him to the hounds first as opposed to Sparkspirit ( which was... something he had never imagined he would admit ). Snakehiss had, for a lack of a better word, reconciled with Sparkspirit whereas he still found Morningsong's presence gratingly annoying and therefore he spared no sympathy for him whatsoever.

Slowly, Snakehiss clenches his jaw as the tabby chimera dares to bring up his father. Anger simmered within his stomach, as Shadowsight had no place upon this filth's tongue, but he managed to maintain his composure. He had to lie. "Shadowsight was a fool, but I am not." Any insults to get under Snakehiss' skin would be to no avail now. He had gotten what he wanted; he had secured his role as Sootstar's deputy. Whatever Shadowsight did didn't seem to matter in the eyes of the Moor Queen.

He lashes his tail and takes a step back when Morningsong threatens him, gaze suddenly ablaze with wariness. He wouldn't. Would Sparkspirit even allow him to? Or... were they mortal enemies now, destined to see to the death of the other?

Suddenly, Sparkspirit bridges the space between them. "Come with us," His ears flick back slightly, lips parting as if to say something, but there are no words. And if Snakehiss did, if he just left everything he'd ever known behind would they begin anew? Would they be able to explore something between them that they never knew they could possibly have? What of the others, who had lived under his scrutiny for so long? Would they accept him? It's too late. Snakehiss' place was here. "You either live or die under Sootstar. I know my place. I intend to live. If you were smart, you would know your place, too." Sparkspirit was a fine warrior, one who had separated himself from the reputation of his kin up until now. Sootstar still trusted him. It wasn't too late to change his mind.

Frostily he looks upon the brothers now, particularly Morningsong who doesn't seem to keep spewing a bunch of nonsense. Well, it isn't nonsense, really. There was some truth to his words, as much as Snakehiss wanted to believe otherwise. One slip-up, one pinprick of doubt and they would be reduced to filthy traitors like the rest of their kin. They were not safe either way; seeking refuge with the others would buy them time, but it would not stop Sootstar's fury.

Snakehiss watches them depart with a cold look. If they were smart, they would run far away. If not, then Snakehiss knew it would only be a matter of time before he witnessed Sparkspirit's body going limp in between a loyalist's jaws. The rabbit, again. The rogue, again. When imagining the red-splashed tom in their place, an uneasy feeling gnarls in the pit of his stomach.

With a wintry breeze ruffling his coat, he turns back toward his nest.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝

• 

• 

  ✰ SNAKEHISS
  —— he/him; deputy of windclan
  —— bisexual; single; not looking
  —— long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and a notable bite mark on his right foreleg
  —— "speech", thoughts, attack
  —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
  —— penned by beatles

​