sensitive topics I'LL KEEP WISHING THIS ISN'T THE END \ death

[MARBLEPAW]

cw ; canon-typical gore

It is well past sunhigh when Marblepaw leaves camp unattended. She knows Starlingheart does not like for her to do that — especially if Marblepaw does not tell her where she is going beforehand — but she feels so damn guilty about the number of sick cats occupying nests in their den. Starlingheart is busy tending to them, and the black-and-white she-cat looks worn at the end of each day. And isn't it Marblepaw's fault so many had fallen ill in the first place? She'd been the tadpole-brain to lead a patrol into the blizzard, and she's lucky no one has lost their life due to her foolishness.

The fawn tabby slips through marshgrass, her tail high behind her. She had asked Starlingheart about the catmint, determined to find more, but to her dismay, her mentor had told her the herb had been a gift. Catmint does not grow in ShadowClan territory. Marblepaw cannot accept this — there had to be some somewhere. She thinks her best bet is by the WindClan border; she thinks she remembers Starlingheart telling her they collect it on their moorland. Maybe if she's lucky, some growth will have spread to their side of the Thunderpath...

And if not, and she sees some, well... what Cottonsprig does not know will not hurt her. If the smoke knew Sharpshadow was so sick, surely she'd be happy to part with a few stalks? Celandinepaw surely wouldn't mind...

Her thoughts are a tangle of guilt and determination. She's on a mission, and as such, she does little to cover her tracks or stay aware of her surroundings. By the time she's reached the Thunderpath, her senses are dulled by the sting of the asphalt, by the noxious fumes of monsters racing their path. Marblepaw tastes the air, hoping for the familiar delicious scent of catmint... but there's something else here, something rotten and foul, utterly unfamiliar to her but reminiscent of...

Fox? She twists her head around, her fur beginning to prickle. She half-expects to see an auburn snout part the grass and begin to snarl in her direction, but she's startled by a blunt black-and-white face instead. She's never seen such a creature — it's ungainly, slower than a fox, and hunched over big, powerful shoulders. Its eyes are beady and small and berry-bright.

Marblepaw's hackles stiffen the moment it shows its face. A badger! She'd heard tales of the wicked beasts who frequent the forests and burrow under the moor, but they were a rare sight in ShadowClan territory. She backs away, her tail beginning to lash furiously behind her. Maybe a WindClan patrol chased it this direction...?

Ultimately, it doesn't matter where the creature had come from. Its cheeks are sunken in, and she can see its ribs beneath its patchy ivory fur. It's hungry, and it's mad from whatever had happened to it before Marblepaw's fateful meeting. It approaches her on lumbering paws; she can see the glint of sunlight on soiled claws. The apprentice hunkers down in response, trying to puff out her fur as far as she can. If she can scare it, will it leave?

Her fur, though, hasn't thickened to its leafbare density. And she's skinny herself, skinny and non-threatening and untrained. I should never have left without a warrior. She trembles, realizing how foolish she'd been. Starlingheart doesn't even know where she is, and now —

Now she has to face this wretched creature alone, and she's scared. She's so scared that all she can do is turn tail and run. She has to be faster than the badger, right? But her paws find a slick spot, and she ends up tumbling into a pile of frost-laden pine needles. Her heart thrums in her chest; the blood roars in her ears. Get up! Get up before it —

Pain like she's never felt before eclipses her vision. She yowls, shocked at the force of the blow. The badger had caught her flank, right by her hindleg, and the blood spurts like liquid fire onto the snow. Marblepaw scrambles away from a second blow, but the third catches her right below her collarbone. She flinches from the wave of pain. "H-HELP ME! PLEASE!" Would someone hear her over the roar of the Thunderpath? Would a WindClan patrol spot her, cowering and covered in blood and filth? Had ShadowClan's patrols already returned for the day? Am I going to die here?

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: closed for now :)
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 11 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.

​

 

[Starlingheart]

tw: death and canon-typical gore

If anyone knows a thing or two about foolish mistakes, it's her. She had told Marblepaw not to go out during the blizzard, had advised her that the risks of such a thing far outweighed the reward, but her apprentice hadn't listened and had decided to brave the storm anyways. When she had returned, Starlingheart had been shaking with fear, tears still staining her cheeks as relief was quickly replaced by fear. But she hadn't had it in her to stay angry for long. Marblepaw was kin, after all. She had just been relieved that she was safe.

Her admonishments must not have been enough though because when Starlingheart's eyes open that morning, her apprentice is gone once again. At first, her absence doesn't concern her. Perhaps she is just out to the dirt-place, or grabbing breakfast. It is easy to dismiss today as just a normal run of the mill day. But when Starlingheart rises from her nest, wanders around camp a little bit asking Has anyone seen Marblepaw? to any face she sees and gets a staunch No every time, thats when she starts to worry.

Concern etches her features into a mask of worry as she sets her sights on the camp entrance. Marblepaw wouldn't be so foolish as to leave without telling her... would she? Starlingheart's heart flutters in her chest when she catches sight of pawprints in the snow, accompanied by the sweet smell of herbs, the unmistakable mark of a medicine cat. "I-I need a patrol" she croaks out "Quickly" she doesn't even bother to make sure anyone had even followed her before setting out into the forest, in her mind a million and one scenarios are playing out. Her mother, all nine lives taken at once. Her son, his chest ripped open and bleeding. Her dearest friend, face down in a pool far too shallow to have taken him without assistance, and her last apprentice. Struck down by that monster before her very eyes. If something were to happen to Marblepaw... No. She doesn't want to picture it, her broken body laying surrounded by crimson in the snow. It's too much. So she presses on, determination and fear making her feet fly over a familiar territory,

As she draws closer to the WindClan border, she starts to understand. Catmint doesn't grow in our territory... she remembers saying and she could claw herself in the face for her own naivety. Of course Marblepaw would go to the neighboring clan in search of help, especially since she had told her a story of how she had done similar before. I think all the medicine cats should help each other. But hadn't she also warned her of the dangers of leaving camp alone?

A scream sends the birds in the trees around her flying and she pauses, her heart dropping as she turns towards the sound. Across the thunderpath... in WindClan territory someone was screaming for help. But it wasn't a WindClanner. "MARBLEPAW!" She calls out, her single eye wide and her feet nearly slipping in the snow in her panic, in her desperation to reach that terrified voice "MARLEPAW IM COMING!"

The scene she arrives upon is ripped straight from her nightmares. Her apprentice's leg torn open, bleeding. So similar to the wound she had endured that fateful day when the course of her life had changed forever. The sight of Marblepaw's blood makes her eye mist with tears but she only hesitates for a moment before turning immediately towards the badger. "He-hey! Over here!" she calls, hoping to distract it long enough for her patrol to catch up. Her whole body trembles with fear but she doesn't back down, even as the hulking beast turns towards her. Marblepaw was in no condition to run. There was nothing she could do alone. She had never been a fighter after all.

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the thought that hammered in her head, singular and determined I will not stand idly by and watch another cat I love die.

"It'll be okay Marblepaw... I love you. It's okay. she says, voice impossibly soft and a smile finding the corners of her mouth despite the terror that grips her body and then, before the badger can start to loose interest in her and turn back towards her apprentice, she lunges, the fiercest yowl to ever leave her lips cracking the still air as she rakes her claws across the creatures nose. Immediately it swipes out with a massive paw and connects with her ribs, sending her flying. A scream of pain leaves her unbidden but this is nothing, she tells herself. This is nothing compared to what she's been through already. She forces herself past it, forces herself to get up despite the fact that she cant put any weight on her hnd legs anymore, despite the burning in her side, the way breathing feels sharp (breathing wasn't supposed to be this painful right?) She bares her teeth in a hiss. The badger is unimpressed. It lunges again, this time grabbing her neck in its powerful jaws.

With a loud SNAP its over in an instant.

The light leaves her eye and before she knows whats happening, she's outside of her own body, watching as it falls to the ground, as the badger turns once again towards Marblepaw, just as a patrol mercifully breaks the treeline. Relief makes the tension in her body melt away. She would be okay... Thats all that mattered. She had bought just enough time...

// this is open now </3

( ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. ) fly me up on a silver wing

• 
  
  
• 
  STARLINGHEART SHADOWCLAN MEDICINE CAT; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO PITCHSTAR, CHITTERTONGUE, NIGHTSWARM, SKUNKTAIL, AND LILACFUR. MOTHER TO NETTLEPAW, FLINTWISH AND GHOSTMASK.
  

  A skinny she cat with short black and white fur littered with scars and one singular green eye.

  ✦ Easy in battle + has little to no formal battle training
  ✦ Easy to befriend but doesn't trust easily
  ✦ Mentoring Marblepaw
  

 

[STONEPAW]

Stonepaw had been out of his nest bright and early, as usual. He didn't tend to pay much mind to if anyone was awake along with him, unless they crossed paths or someone spoke to him. He had been stretching the sleep from his limbs and mind when Starlingheart had asked him, "Have you seen Marblepaw?" The question piqued his attention. Marblepaw wasn't here? "Uh, no, haven't seen her," he mewed, dread crawling up his neck.

"I-i need a patrol, quickly," the medicine cat spoke with an urgency that he couldn't possibly ignore. And with her abrupt exit he could do nothing except follow. He looked around to see if Salamandersnap was around, following along with him. He hoped she was, but he also wasn't about to wait for permission. The lilac apprentice raced after Starlingheart. Please be fine... he thought. He and Marblepaw weren't friends really, but he held a deep respect for her drive and kindness. He didn't even feel the chill of the air as he ran. Only the pounding of the ground beneath his paws and his heartbeat. The screech of terror he heard set the chill into his blood.

Starlingheart was fast. Faster than he was. "No!" his cry was instinctual. The crack. The blood. This was different to Needledrift. He hadn't really... seen her. Seeing the lifeless body of Starlingheart was sickening. He swallowed the bile rising in his throat. He had to protect Marblepaw. Tunnel vision set in on the apprentice. The badger and Marblepaw the only things he could focus on. "Get away from her," he snarled. This was what he was good at. He could fight. He could help. The badger gave a low growl. Stonepaw leaped at the creature, sinking his claws deep into it's shoulders. The beast shook him off, sending him into the snow.

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• mentor tag @SALAMANDERSNAP
  
  "speech"

• 

• STONEPAW ✩ he/him, apprentice of shadowclan, ten moons
  ⭃ pretty lilac with low white and blue eyes. very driven, wants to be the best, pushy. has built up a bit of muscle but is still agile.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by Twitchtail ↛ @iliawonders on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[MARBLEPAW]

Marblepaw thinks, at first, she has hallucinated the scream that slices through the air. "MARBLEPAW!" She knows Starlingheart's voice, can hear the shrill panic, the dread, and she begins to tremble in place. The badger stirs, distracted by the new threat to its prey, its territory. She can see her mentor stalking through the marshgrass on scarred limbs; her single eye blazes with emerald fire.

Starlingheart calls for the beast to approach her. Marblepaw's teeth begin to chatter. "N- no," she chokes, but the badger's ire gleams in beady dark eyes, and it twists, the sharp tips of its claws gleaming in the dull leafbare sun. Starlingheart's fear-scent is palpable, but the medicine cat does not run. Does not cry.

She meets Marblepaw's horrified gaze and smiles. It's tired. It's the smile of a she-cat who has looked her fate in the face and accepted it. "It'll be okay, Marblepaw," she tells her; despite the clamor, despite the huffing grunts from the badger that separates them, Starlingheart's soft voice carries. "I love you. It's okay."

"NO!" Marblepaw jerks as Starlingheart rakes her claws across the badger's snout. It roars in rage; its forepaw reaches out, bludgeons her across her ribs, and sends her tumbling into the snow. The medicine cat rises, but she's in too much pain; blood leaks from her lip, from some damage done internally, and the badger descends upon her with fury.

There's an audible crack! before Starlingheart's body falls, limp, into the snow. Marblepaw's mind begins to fray like a bit of moss shredded between claws. She lurches to her paws; the forest is still. Something rings in her ears, but she doesn't know what; it's so loud, and everything else, every other noise, is like static.

She limps across the battlefield. She collapses against Starlingheart's body, savoring the rapidly fleeting warmth, cherishing the softness of her mentor's fur against her face. Marblepaw flings both forelimbs over Starlingheart's body and presses her stricken face into her blood-smeared pelt.

I did this to you. Oh, StarClan, I did this. Oh, Starlingheart. Oh, no.

Her world spins behind her closed eyes. She can hear the thrum of paws against the ground behind her; the rest of the patrol was here to chase the badger away. To see what final needless sacrifice Starlingheart had made for the Clan she loved. She turns, her vision blurry — Stonepaw flings himself into the badger and is tossed away. She should help him — she knows she should help him, but she can't — she can't leave Starlingheart, not again, not for real.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 11 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.

​

 

[scalejaw]

★ A year ago, a whole four seasons of this land turning beneath the sun, did Scalejaw face a badger. A blizzard like this, where Smogmaw and herself had dragged their apprentices out for a stint of training. Sharpshadow, Smogmaw's own, lay sick in the den now, not able to see this sight. Flintwish, the apprentice she had shoved out of the badger's path, likely to remain close to home in favor of his mate and their young. Smogmaw was nowhere near to save her like last time.

She had followed Starlingheart, the desperation in her words enough to make any warrior cripple. Scalejaw had called a pawful of warriors and apprentices to tail her, ensuring that they had ample backup if need be. Enemies surrounded them in viscous manners these days, and Scalejaw wanted to make sure any kind of pushback would be meant with overwhelming reinforcements. But the scream that rang out in the territory, the sharp noise that came from the pines- no, she knew those noises, that scent on the air, tinged with the red. Badger.

Scalejaw ran after Starlingheart, but by the time she and her patrol made it into the clearing, Starlingheart was in the badger's jaw. CRACK! All of the fur on her body stood up, glowering eyes going wide. Stonepaw cries out, just as Marblepaw did, but Scalejaw was nothing but numb to the noise. Eyes were focused on Starlingheart as the body was discarded and Stonepaw leaps at the badger. Then, and only then, did she leap into action, a roar leaving her jaws. This was payback to the badger that had nearly stolen her life. This was in return to Smogmaw's heroic act.

Scalejaw's body leapt at the badger just as Stonepaw was thrown off, claws raking over the beast's distracted eyes. The resounding roar from the beast shook the clearing and Scalejaw's very soul. The warrior ducked backwards, blood dotting the snow from the now blinded beast. "SPREAD OUT!" She snapped to the patrol that had followed, her teeth flashing in the sunlight. "Someone cover Marblepaw and Starlingheart! Watch it's claws!" She ordered, before leaping into again, finding herself ramming into the side of the badger, teeth digging into the soft flesh of it's neck.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎┌── AND JUST LIKE THE RAIN ⋅❁⋅ YOU CAST THE DUST INTO NOTHING ──┐‎

• "speech"
  // anyone is welcome to be the cats that scalejaw rallied!

• 

• SCALEJAW 🌧 she/her, lead warrior of shadowclan, sixty-seven moons.
  ★ A SH black/LH blue smoke chimera with glowering orange eyes, tufts of fur that make her look dragon-akin, and scars that she wears with pride. motherly and stern attitude, with a warm streak for clanmates and a cruel streak for enemies.
  ★ mentoring no one
  ★ padding after no one / / mother to bonerattle, nightwhisper, and shadefall
  ★ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ★ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[Sycamorebloom!]

[ ༻ 𐃉 ༺ ] His concern was only for his sister, Marblepaw. She had gone alone without anyone not even him and if he found her alongside the patrol he was for sure to tell her, lecture her for disappearing like that. Yet it had been too late, a badger had found her first, Starlingheart who did not wait for the patrol was in the snowbank, blood staining the snow around her as her body laid limp. His aunt dead, and his sister severely injured making anger burn hot in his chest, he should've been here sooner. Green gaze flash towards the badger, Stonepaw already quick to lunge himself at the nasty creature while Scalejaw gave instructions.

Sycamorepaw was quick to push himself in front of his sister, feral eyes on the beast while his fang bared sharp and wild, claws unseathed while his tail and hackles were fluffed out making him much bigger than he was. "How dare you attack my sister you filthy beast" he spat out towards the badger. He aimed to lunge at one of the beasts shoulder, digging his claws into the creature's body in rapid furies of blows, his cinnamon body still in front of his sister, making sure the creature alongside the patrol could not get to her.

He will not lose another family member, he would refuse the thought of losing the only cat he had a strong bond to, the one who suffered alongside him all those moons ago. No, he will not lose Marblepaw like he has just lost his aunt, and he did not blame Marblepaw for Starlingheart's death, no one could have seen this coming, yet his sister was still a fool for not taking someone with her in his mind.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── So breakable unbreakable ──┐‎

• "speak""Thoughts"
• 
  Sycamorepaw 𐃉 He, She, They, Shadowclan apprentice, 11 moons.
  ⭃ LH Rosetted Cinnamon Tabby with low white and green eyes, has an extra set of toes
  ⭃ Lilacfur x Siltcloud
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted (ask first) / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by Ryn ↛ @/Rynnaro on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Nettlepaw appears with the crack of bone, a burst of stardust sparkling. Baby-blues glanced over the scene, over the panic ... kin he had never gotten to meet. ShadowClan apprentices surrounding him. Oh, his name was to be used in stories, wasn't it? Passed around like an urban legend, as if he'd never been real ... Nettlepaw went out on his own. Don't ever go out on your own. But wasn't that a bit like being adored?

There's one cat he knows loves him, though - his mother. She has always met him kindly in dreams, as tender as she had in life. Truthfully he'd hoped she would hang on a little bit longer ... Marblepaw earns a pitying glance from him, a wavering look. There'll be a whisper on the wind- "You can let go of her..." A soft smile given in the cold rays of too-bright light, in the static of the air. Maybe it would not be words that reached Marblepaw, but a feeling instead. "I've got her. You can let go of her."

And she should, before her body broke too. Scalejaw breaks away, barking orders ... but in flooding starlight, Nettlepaw silences it all. There's nothing spirits can do about violence but try and smile in the face of it. There's nothing he can do here but flock to his mother, press close to her starlit chest and murmur into the white of it, "Starlingheart." The heart on his chest seems to pulse with light as he speaks it, mystical strings plucked. It's a melody. She'll be loved here, just like he is... loved unconditionally.

It's backwards, really. Silly. She should be getting him, but it all went wrong moons and moons ago. Fratricide, splattered across the border. But she knew all of it, didn't she? There would be all the time in the world to talk about it. Time everlasting. "I said we'd walk together in the stars, remember?" Sweet little smile given on rounded features, still a little bit plump with youth. Forever given childish softness, in the stilling of his heart ... it's awful, but he looks wonderful. "Well, we've got to get there first ..."

Bounding, he beckons her. "I'll race you." Flash of his eyes, like daylight ... it's too much, this sadness. She's done a good thing... there should be some fun at the end of it. ​

penned by pin ♡​