camp KNIGHTS OF CYDONIA — o, confrontation/exile

He does not take it back. The cowardice, the rage– like his namesake, the tom lies in the grass. He makes himself small in his anger, his fear, for he knows that even in this weakness, he was no match for Sunstar. Not for the clan that follows him. "I have known for many moons that you were to be gutless vermin. I had thought that with Sootstar gone, you could learn. But no, you have forsaken your clan, and you dishonor StarClan with your own greed!" Bitter words spit like flames from across his burned tongue; he allows his body half of a hunter's crouch, the lowered tension in a coil, yet his rage wobbles slightly. The grief on his tongue at Wolfsong's name — the clan could not know what was said in the solace of what had been his home, but his faith in the golden tom now tastes of ash.

Blood and bile wind him higher; he comes back from his brief imbalance with a voice even louder than before. "You stand before your clanmates who have fought for WindClan once already! Who have stood before a leader and known when they had gone too far. You think so poorly of them that they would not do so again? The moment that truth calls for it?" StarClan had not deemed it as such. He recalls the lightning strike at the gathering. The scent of ozone, the rippling of the clouds. They had done so with intention. Had they any desire to end this clan. . . they would not have missed. Was this the truth? Or a final defense against whatever truth Snakehiss dares to spout? It is good that few seem to side with the ink-toned tom. Addervenom, whose loyalty he had questioned since Sootstar's demise, stands against him. Firefang, who had likewise been late to turn her shoulder against the ashen molly, does the same.

Bluefrost is the only question among them, and that is where his eyes settle. Upon the face of her mother, and the mellowed venom of her contemplation.

A shifting of his weight, as if carrying his paw towards her direction. To approach her, and spit his anger where she too might feel it. But his leg and his anger both betray him. To Snakehiss, he instead spits, "You think this place your home? Then stand by it. You will not take my lives, you will not trust in your clanmates. You speak as a blind fool, a pathetic worm in the face of all that matters! I know my strength; I know my place here. I know my destiny, and you will not fetter it!" Brief, heaving breaths, where he towers like a mountain.

The warrior steps closer still, his head and voice both dangerously lowered. A charging bull or a raging stag, his fangs are deadly enough to replace whatever points his skull does not wear. Perhaps if he hit with enough force, enough precision, he could split Snakehiss in half regardless. Knock his heart from between his ribs to stain the grass like this fire had. "You say that you will not stand to witness it. Don't. Leave, while you've still the chance to do so on all four of your limbs. You dare to speak my son's name as I mourn him, to blame StarClan for his death. You think they would punish him for my failures? Then tell me, Snakehiss, why you have not suffered the same. Why you have not died for the cruelty of your father, or Sootspot, Addervenom, Bluefrost, Cottonpaw– why they too have not suffered for theirs."

"Take your faithless tongue and leave of your own accord. Ask your kits if they dare to follow you. Or do you admit that they will not survive without the cats you distrust?"
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  • OOC.
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    SUNSTAR. WINDCLAN LEADER.
    ——– AMAB HE - HIM - HIS ╱╱ 4+ YEARS OLD.
    NPC x NPC,. MATE TO WOLFSONG; FATHER TO ONE LITTER WITH HIM. MENTORING RIVEPAW.

    TH ╱╱ A LARGE, SCARRED CHOCOLATE AND WHITE ROSETTE TABBY TOM WITH SEAGLASS EYES
 
  • Nervous
Reactions: ixora
AS HE RAISED HIS FIST BEFORE HE SPOKE — It had all happened so fast. Burst from mere waning sparks of dissent to outright furious flames of shouting just as quickly as their territory had been enveloped. One moment she had been settled within the nursery, working somewhat in vain to rearrange what remained of her nest, and the next moment her ears had been pulled back in irritation. At first she wasn't even focused on the actual drivel that Snakehiss was spewing, the queen instead annoyed by the fact he was screaming at all of them in the first place. Could she really be blamed, after so many nights spent sleepless and worrying over her home, and her coming kits? Rattleheart had thought there would finally be a period of peace and quiet - absent of the beautiful flowers from before, but at least calm.

Instead she found herself slipping out of the nursery, shouldering past the fleeing form of Periwinklebreeze as he gathered his children close. The lead warrior couldn't say that she blamed him, certain that she would have done the same had her kits already been born. As it was, she stood outside of the nursery with a scowl on her face, long monochrome tail curled protectively around her own slightly swelled stomach. "Snakehiss. Still your tongue." Already there was a motherly hiss to her quiet words, a firm scolding that stood out against the frantic shrieking of Pinkpaw nearby. She was trying to give him yet another chance. Another opportunity to correct himself before things escalated even further. Unfortunately, it seemed as though Sootstar's former protégée was more than content to dig his claws in and doom himself further.

He was not a surprise, yet the nearly silent questioning of Bluefrost was enough to grab Rattleheart's attention. Her pale gaze flicked over to the warrior responsible for the scarred over wounds on her chest, eyes suddenly full of hurt. Betrayal she hadn't been expecting. "Addervenom is right, Bluefrost. There is no we when it comes to the ramblings of a madman. Or rather, there shouldn't be." Had she made a mistake, in sparing Bluefrost's life? She would never regret her own mercy, but perhaps she shouldn't have vouched for the other. Raised her voice in desperation for Sunstar to allow her to stay.

Her attention remained locked onto Bluefrost, even as the situation continued to spiral rapidly out of control.

Rattleheart only seemed to reanimate once more when Snakehiss began to shout about his forefathers, prompting the tunneler to let out an unexpected cackle. She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of her, an unexpectedly cruel edge to each snicker. "Snakehiss, your forefathers would be ashamed of you. You are a maggot who has delighted at the chance to follow anyone with power that has even glanced in your direction, and the only reason you're even here is because of your own cowardice. I'd admire you for finally showing some conviction if it wasn't a dedication to idiocy." Her tail lashed freely behind her, claws digging into the ashy ground beneath her as she snarled after Sunstar's own challenging words. "If your forefathers were to see what became of you, I'm sure they would've preferred their bloodline died." Absent was the usual warmth from her words, replaced by icy indifference as she finally turned away from him and back towards the nursery that she had emerged from.

As she disappeared back into nursery, she found she no longer cared whether Snakehiss remained or exiled himself to the loner lands. He had been given all of the chances in the world, and had clearly made his choice - he was no longer worthy of any of their pleading.


  • 75034712_8183RsjuzqJmQXv.png
    longhaired black and white tom with pale green eyes
    51 moons old; ages the 1st every month
    afab; uses he/she/they pronouns
    homosexual homoromantic; mated to venomstrike
    sibling to scorchstreak, lizardbounce, and rabbitclaw
    currently mentoring downypaw
    somewhat difficult to befriend; wary but kind
    "speech", thoughts, attacking
    peaceful powerplay allowed
    all opinions are ic
 
Silence follows her inquiry, and then Bluefrost feels a flame-colored gaze settle upon her pelt. "We?" Addervenom asks her, incredulity flickering in copper eyes. He tells her, we will do nothing—leave him to his delusions, and she wavers, her conviction faltering. Bluefrost's ears flick at Pinkpaw's outburst—coward!, she cries, and the rest of the Clan's smoldering eyes burn into Snakehiss's black pelt.

Snakehiss meets her eyes for a moment, and she sees the uncertainty there. He has no plan, she thinks to herself. He spoke out of turn, and now he will be cast out of WindClan for it. Her heart thrums behind her ribcage as Sunstar meets their queries with thunder, like a lion despite the limb missing from its socket.

And she knows, then, that she cannot leave. She exhales, her head bowing, wordless. Rattleheart's plea does not fall on deaf ears, and neither does her brother's. She had her chance to stand up to Sunstar—to honor her mother's legacy—but she once again has let her down, has fumbled it into ashes.

She cannot meet Snakehiss's eyes. She takes another step back, falling into the line she'd broken out of before.


  • ooc:
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  • Bluekit . Bluepaw . Bluefrost, she/her w/ feminine terms.
    — "speech", thoughts, attack
    — 16 moons old, ages realistically on the 14th.
    — mentored by Sootstar ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a.
    — windclan warrior. sootstar x weaselclaw, gen 2.
    — penned by Marquette.

    lh blue and white she-cat with emerald eyes. aloof, dignified, poised, haughty, composed, distant.

 
The heckling continues, and Snakehiss is stubbornly determined to ignore the backlash — a madman, a disgrace, a bumbling fool they call him. Rattleheart's claims enrage him especially. They know nothing about the will of his ancestors—not just StarClan, but the moor cats who lived on these lands before the colonies laid claim to them. They all ought to be ashamed of themselves, acting like they knew anything! How dare they!

Had Snakehiss the upper paw, had he any authority to do anything, he would have smacked Rattleheart square across their loud mouth. However, he still remains planted on the ground, frozen, on the verge of leaving everything behind completely. Bluefrost had fallen silent, averting her gaze and telling him everything he needed to know. She would cower under Sunstar, a tom who probably wished she would join him and get out of his clan. Emerald hues flick along the crowd of hissing, spitting felines, gaze lingering on Sparkspirit should he find him standing there. They would all die if they stayed here. StarClan's wrath would not cease until that brute was out of power.

Sunstar's words had inspired Snakehiss to now turn his attention to his own brood, the only piece of "advice" he would bother listening to. "Kits," Snakehiss whips his head in the direction of the nursery, where he could see their awe-stricken faces peeking out from behind the warriors attempting to shelter their eyes from their father's tirade. The leader was right about this at least — he would ask them to follow; he had not been the most present parent in their lives thus far, but he would not leave without trying to convince them. "You are too young to realize it, but it's too dangerous for you to remain here. Join your father." Snakehiss demands.

He narrows his eyes, pausing briefly before meowing, "Don't make the same mistake your mother did." Snakehiss searches his children's gazes for a reaction — he has rarely spoken of their mother before. He had not expected to so soon, but he was desperate to take his blood away from this doomed clan.

  • feel free to shoo/chase him off atp asjdckskd
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    *
    snakehiss
    he/him; moor runner of windclan
    long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
    father to violetkit, cricketkit, and privetkit (duskclan)
    "speech", thoughts, attack
    link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​
 

Dimmingsun waits, not with bated breath, but with his nose exhaling roughly, willing himself to stay put. Everyone is watching; none of them interfere, not even when Sunstar presents himself on a silver platter to a traitor. Snakehiss would not manage to take even one life, Dimmingsun is sure of it, but it goes against everything he knows to sit idle and wait for something to happen.

Snakehiss only spats more insults. Harmless.

For what it's worth, Dimmingsun tries. He keeps his maw tightly shut, rows of teeth pressed with such force that one might as well shatter, doesn't let himself talk - that is until his patience is worn thin, unable to listen to such foolish ideas. It's embarrassing.

"You coward," Dimmingsun hisses and echoes what others are already saying, face contorted in anger. "You don't have the guts to truly stand up for what you believe in, so you'd rope your innocent kits into something they don't even understand? Just so you won't be alone?" Sunstar had brought the kits into the picture, almost dared Snakehiss to take them... but Dimmingsun can't stop himself from cutting into Snakehiss' line of sight, cutting him off from his offspring.

Does he have a right to them? Maybe. Possibly. But they'd surely die without proper care, or be molded into something they are not.

Dimmingsun snarls, lips pulled back to reveal fangs. He'd use them if necessary. Green eyes narrow in disgust; he had believed Snakehiss could change, that he could free himself from the chokehold Sootstar's ideals have on him. All of that hope had been in vain. Now all that's left is to drive him out of this place that would have accepted him, had he morphed into something easier to swallow. "Get out."
 
જ➶ His stance is taunt, wired and pulled too tight. If more is said, if more is sparked he feels like he might explode. Anger pulses into him and he can see that the other will not see reason and the wrong of his actions. He simply just cares about himself. The lies he spills concerning his own home and how he is just thinking of that proves otherwise. For if he did he would stick by his leader, stick by the moors that have burned and turned to ash instead of doing this display of treason. His tail snaps and shifts and he is even more disgusted when he actually does give thought to take those kits into a land that is far more unkind and filled with uncertainty. The large ghost feels hackles raise and he hears Dimmingsun. The aggreeance is there and he snaps his eyes back to Snakehiss.

Jaws flex, thick sharp teeth flashing as the fur along his spine rises. "Leave on your own accord or we will drag you out." By tooth and claw, he will shred his pelt and chase him to the corners of the territory if he must. But he can tell that he will not listen to reason. Their words falling on deaf ears that will only hear his own thoughts and voice.
 
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The scene continues to unfold, angry hisses coming from the mouths of both the involved parties and various onlookers, her own kin included. Like many others, one eyebrow raises when she heard her neice utter the word we but Bluepool does not comment on it, only exchanges a look with her mate before waiting to see what would become of this whole thing. She needed not speak for Sunstar, he was more than capable of speaking, and fighting, for himself after all. The disgraced former deputy has taken his tongue to a new low, dragging the deceased's name through the mud like he is nothing more than a sacrificial lamp. Put up on an alter for his father's mistakes, he says. Sunstar's counter is something she couldn't have said better herself if she tried. Why then were they not all suffering for Sootstar's crimes then? Where was the penance for someone like herself, who had stood at the ash colored mollies side for way too long in the name of blood?

Leave then, Sunstar calls and that is when finally she makes a move. She rises to all four paws, teeth bared "Just say the word Sunstar" she says, scrappy tail flicking behind her in anticipation, golden eyes trained on the cat who stands before them like a dog eyeing prey. There was once a time where she respected Snakehiss, where she would have maybe even agreed with him. A rogue leading WindClan? The idea would have been unfathomable in her mind. But Sunstar was a cat who had proven himself in her eyes more than any other, he was worthy, and she would follow him to the ends of the earth if she must.
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    BLUEPOOL WINDCLAN LEAD WARRIOR ; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO SOOTSTAR & MINTSHADE
    A small framed moor runner with a blue toned pelt and black stripes. Her tail is cropped and her eyes are golden in color. On her chest, she sports a large 'X' shaped scar.
    Difficult in battle. A skilled fighter + isn't above using dirty tricks in order to win
 
It's pathetic, the whole ordeal. Mouseflight had never truly liked Snakehiss, their whole youth they had butt heads the few times they had interacted seemingly never agreeing on anything. Despite this they had agreed on one thing then - that WindClan came first, that loyalty came first, and when it was time to test those ties and see who was truly loyal to WindClan it had been Mouse. Snakehiss had come around it seemed, leaving Sootstar's grasp in the last second to fight for what truly mattered but this display of blatant disrespect and cowardace caused the tunneler's nose to wrinkle and his tail to lash out.

He was no healer, he was no cat who could speak to the stars and understand their intentions. The sun disappearing had been scary, had been awful, but any sane cat would not fret until they were told to do so, at least not like this. Did they know that the danger was done and over? No, but it did not mean that WindClan was doomed because of Sunstar. He had stayed to help the clan despite new injuries and lost lives and StarClan had sent them rain to quench the fires, to stop them before they engulfed the camp and killed the warriors and apprentices that stayed behind to try and do what they could.

After fire came ash and soot and though he wouldn't speak it out loud Mouseflight couldn't help but think that the warning had been about those who had stayed behind after following Sootstar so closely. As the warrior turned to his kits to plead with them to follow Mouseflight couldn't help but narrow his eyes and step forward, claws extended as he moved to stand beside Dimmingsun. No words were spoken to the coward who'd rather risk his kits life for a small bit of company than leave with whatever dignity he had left.
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    mousekit - mousepaw - mouseflight
    ⋆ ftm - he/him - 16 moons
    ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
    ⋆ tunneler of windclan
    attack - speech - thought
    ⋆ penned by tikki
 
Their father was a rambling madman.

It was strange to see him like this. The black-pelted tom had always seemed so composed, so stoic. In fact, Rowankit could not recall a time when he had cried, laughed, or even smiled. All he ever seemed to know was being short with his children, being quick to snap at them when they were being naughty. Other than that, Snakehiss had never bothered to show very much emotion at all.

The others try to shield the children from the scene unfurling in the middle of camp, though Rowankit tries to take a peak through the gaps in their limbs and bodies at the sight of their clanmates heckling and spitting at Snakehiss. What is he talking about? The fire and all of the horrible things that had come with it... how could it possibly be Sunstar's fault? No single cat could have possibly manifested harm onto WindClan, onto their home. It was out of all of their control, even StarClan's. The ancestors had found a way to spare them in the end, dousing the flames with their tears.

They all speak of Sootstar, too — Rowankit has heard hushed whispers of her name here and there, though she still did not know too much about her. She certainly did not know what Snakehiss had to do with her.

Then, the man they and their littermates called father called upon them. Come with him, he demands. "Don't make the same mistake your mother did." Our mother? The kits had always been told that their mother was no longer with them, as in she was dead and gone. Snakehiss had never been keen on telling the kits about her before, so why did he choose now out of all times and places? What did he mean by her making a "mistake?"

No. Father was being foolish. Everyone else was calling him a pathetic coward, a maggot. WindClan... it wasn't dangerous. It was home. Sunstar was a leader who had always done everything in his power to protect them all. Rowankit says nothing, only staring at Snakehiss through an empty stare.

"Don't." They would hiss lowly to their littermates should they step forward, or even so much as consider the possibility of joining Snakehiss in exile. They were safer here. He was wrong.

  •  
  • *
    rowankit
    they/she; kit of windclan
    a shorthaired black solid/tortoiseshell chimera with amber eyes
    "speech", thoughts, attack
    link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​
 
༄༄ Snakehiss had a chance to fix this all. He could have stood down and stepped back, and at the end of the day everything would have remained the same as it had been at the beginning. The midnight-black tom could have spent another day at his kits' side, as a present and adequate father. But instead, he has chosen lunacy, selfishness. Baseless accusations fly from his mouth, spittle from a slathering hound, and eventually he drives himself into a hole that he cannot climb out of.

Sunstar finally makes the call—he tells Snakehiss to leave, and the younger warrior calls for his kits before obeying. Scorchstreak stiffens, prepared to strike should their leader to launch an attack and force the traitor to leave. A hiss catches their attention, and the deputy looks over their shoulder to the source. Little Rowankit stands before their siblings, warning them not to follow in the traitorous pawsteps of their father. "You don't need to go with him," they say to the kits. There is little softness in their voice, as Scorchstreak does not consider this the time to be gentle with the warrior's—no, the exile's—kits. They must understand that their father is not wholly sane, and is not looking out for them.

Sunstar may have dared Snakehiss to ask his kits to follow, but the calico has no intention of allowing them to leave with him. Dappled fur bristles, and Scorchstreak takes a step forward alongside her mate. "You are the bearer of your own sins. You will leave, and they will stay with the clan that cares for them." These kits, no matter the identities of their parents, are WindClanners through and through. They deserve to be kits, and to be protected as well as they can.

  • ooc:
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    SCORCHSTREAK ❯❯ she/they, deputy (tunneler) of windclan
    small, slim flame-streaked calico with fiery golden eyes. stoic and shrewd, but clearly cares deeply for her clan.
    mate to bluepool ; sibling to rattleheart & rabbitclaw
    mentor to pinkpaw
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
    penned by foxlore