liquor & apathy | freezing river

[SMOKESTAR]

His paws came down onto the sharp edges of the water and he felt them crack and splinter beneath his pads, again and again. There was a desperate fury as he hunched his shoulders and struck at the ever creeping coating of ice that was now beginning to spread and blossom from the riverbank outward to its depths in an all consuming cage of cold. They would be losing the river before long, it would be cut off from them and leave them floundering to hunt on land and find the few lingering holes it might deem them worthy to have. Smokethroat didn't know if his violent striking at the beginning of the end would do anything, perhaps he was only getting his paws cold and wet for no reason but he hated the sight of it coating the stones and inching into the water.
He hated the glossy sheen of it reaching outward to take what it could from them and given nothing back. The cold took only heat, prey, life, and in return they were left pitiless and despondent in the wake of its quiet and chilling slaughter.

The dark tom exhaled, the great white plume of air the rushed up from his throat screaming his namesake to the sky; shooting a signal to StarClan. Be gentle. If they would show some degree of mercy and restrain an eagerness to fill their ranks then he would be grateful but often times even StarClan could not spare them what came. His headache was back and he winced, wondering the source of it yet again and wishing it would leave him to his stressing in peace. It was going to be a rough leaf-bare and he felt himself growing more and more irritated at the idea of hunting in the forest with every passing day. Smokethroat was never fond of ground prey to begin with, prefered fishing, but he knew how-it was a matter of preference and skill and it would be a lie to say his skills in the wood equalled that of the river. Sending his breath out in short bursts of ivory clouds he lashed his tail and trudged along further down the river's bend to see how bad the icing was along this way; already regretting his outburst from moments before because the cold was sinking into his paws and sending sharp stabs upward into his legs from the chill.

​

 

[Harry Styles]

A S H P A W.

Glass-green eyes track Smokethroat's movements. Ashpaw approaches cautiously, ginger fluff staving off some of the chill.

She'd followed @apricotflower from camp, sticking close to the young warrior like a little sister might, aching for company... and there was Smokethroat! Her ears perked up at first, eyes alight, happy to see him — but he clearly wasn't happy, and one glance at the river made very clear why.

Now she clings somehow closer to Apricotflower, watching the way Smokethroat's tail lashes and his paws slam down. Ice splinters, and the metallic clink of shards against one another makes her cringe. She blinks back memories of similar sounds and of eyes like Smokethroat's, focusing instead on the scene in front of them.

Which isn't much better, frankly.

Ice creeps steadily over the water, and Ashpaw's eyes go wide as moons at the sight. This is her first winter, and she's spent little of her life beyond RiverClan's borders; to her, the river has always been something infallible — rising and falling but otherwise just the same, sunrise to sunrise.

Now it's freezing.

She didn't know it could do that.

When Smokethroat moves on, fury in his pawsteps, Ashpaw follows, glancing back for a moment to see if Apricot will too — but the little tabby catches up to Smokethroat regardless, getting under his paws instead now.

"Hi," the apprentice says. She'll scamper along the riverbank beside him, ears pricked, watching with wider and wider eyes as an expanse of ice unfolds before them.

She doesn't know just what about the ice makes him so angry, but the more she thinks about it the more she starts to get an idea. And the more she thinks about that idea, the more worry creases her brow. Of course everyone is scared of leafbare, she knows that much, but—well, she just hadn't thought that RiverClan would have to worry like everyone else. They had the river, and the river was invincible.

"Um... Smokethroat," she says, gazing out at the fox-lengths and fox-lengths of ice sparkling against the shore. "If the river can freeze, how are we going to fish?"

She's sure he'll have an answer.
​

—— " i found gold in the wreckage "

✦ ooc ✦ character information ✦ recent events

• ooc text goes here
• - 6 month old orange tabby with green eyes
  - apprenticed to lead warrior willowroot
  - happy-go-lucky, mischievous, hardworking
  - very friendly, but defensive of riverclan!
  - "speech"
• - disclosed being physically and emotionally abused by Spiderfall, who was exiled & who then killed her best friend
  - spent a couple months depressed
  - returned to ic/ooc activify

​

 

[LAUGHINGSTALK.]

"cow-a-bunga!"

the sudden shout could be heard as the oddly maned cat ran forward, his paws springing him into the air, before he tumbled down, grunting as he fell on the cold ice, which cracked beneathed him upon impact. that was surely gonna bruise later, but ah who cared! scrambling to sit up, bring very careful on where they shifted their weight, their nose twitched back and forth and back again. there was a beat– a pause of nothing but silence before their laughter had breached its barrier, their paw instinctively reaching up to try and cover it. it was no use. they were in a laughing fit now... very fitting for the cat called laughingstalk.

pulling themself on to the bank, they collapsed to the ground, their laughs still kot stopping. theybonly died down when they heard the soft voice of ashpaw, tongue sticking out slightly as they heaved in and out a rather large breath to control their breathing.

"oh don't be so gloom and doom kit! riverclan'll be fine and dandy, thats for sure! as much as we loooooove those slimey beasts, we got othey prey. we'll be fiiiine!"

in between short giggles he spoke, but he was being serious. he just couldn't help himself.
​

[ FEELS LIKE YOU DON'T CARE ]​

 

[DARKWHISKER]

this is darkpaw's first leaf-bare, and as such, he is preoccupied with all of the new sights and sensations. frost coating the foliage, the chill of the morning breeze, icicles forming from droplets on the willow trees after a rainy night. he even saw a couple of snow flurries drifting down from the gray skies the other day! the grown-ups don't seem to like leaf-bare; they're moaning and groaning a lot more now that the temperature has dropped. but, while darkpaw definitely misses the warmth of greenleaf, he thinks that leaf-bare is pretty.

he isn't looking forward to the scarcity of prey that he hears the grown-ups talking about, but who knows? maybe this leaf-bare, they'll have more prey than they know what to do with! they have the river, after all, and darkpaw is pretty sure the fish aren't going anywhere.

that is, until he sees smokethroat fighting with the ice creeping along the edges of the river while on patrol. he's no expert fisher just yet, but he knows that whatever smokethroat is doing would scare away the fish. darkpaw frowns, a bit puzzled, as he watches the lead warrior. "whatcha doing?" he asks around his pebble, only to come to a rushed conclusion heartbeats after. the boy grins, then, setting his pebble somewhere safe and rushing to the riverbank. of course, this must be a new game that smokethroat's come up with! (even if smokethroat doesn't seem like the type to play games. maybe he's finally taking darkpaw's advice and lightening up that grumpy attitude of his?)

giggling, darkpaw goes to break some of the ice like he'd watched smokethroat doing, only to lose his footing at the sudden slippery ground. the apprentice falls face-first, collapsing into a heap of flailing legs. "oof!" the impact stings a little, but it's nothing that darkpaw isn't used to after an entire childhood filled with playful wrestling. within seconds, he's scampering back onto his paws, his claws unsheathed to try and help him stay upright on the icy shore. "i'm okay!"

ashpaw's question distracts darkpaw from the game. she asks smokethroat how they're going to fish if the river freezes, and darkpaw purses his lips. is that something that could happen? he turns his gaze to the river, staring at the rippling current that seems far too strong to ever be subdued by the ice. "can that happen?" darkpaw speaks the question that's on his mind, now. but, in spite of whatever answer he'd be given, he flashes his friend a reassuring smile. "if it does, then we could just crack the ice like smokethroat's doing!" the suggestion is innocent, the young tom unaware that a frozen river would be much too difficult to break open by even the strongest warrior.​

 

[DogTeeth]

Nervous, a tight knot in the stomach coils the icier the river gets. The darker the waters, swallowing even the shallows in a deep maw of depth. Dogteeth wasn’t a land hunter, he would struggle to terribly to pull his weight these coming moons. He felt guilty, for his only teachings to Minnowpaw had been of fish.

A deep frown pressed the blonde’s maw, as Smokethroat traverses the crystal edge, stamping at it but it was of no use. Every hour grew a whisker’s worth of ice, Dogteeth shakes his head and feels himself in a horror ridden daydream.

He’s tugged from it as Darkpaw plummets, face-first. " Oh dear- !! " he shouts out, instinctive paw shoving forward but he was nearly seven warriors away from the group as they followed the white blotched black warrior. I’m okay, the boy recovers rather quickly.

The blonde blinks rapidly and huffs a sigh. The conversation at paw, is littered with questions very hard to answer. Laughingstalk’s laughter filled the cold air. It should feel warm but suddenly, Dogteeth’s blood runs cold. His gaze feels fragile with several blinks, he shakes his head.

" let’s not… jinx anything " he meows nervously to the laughing feline, whos words may temp fate. " I hope you’re actually okay hun… no need to act tough if you’re hurting " he’d speak to the young kid, a soft smile on his maw. The fear still plastered under the lines of his blue eyes.

​

OOC INFO REFS

• —
  
  
• — Dogteeth
  — twenty-five moons
  — voice ref
  — warrior of Riverclan
  — gay | crushing on n/a
  — small curly-furred blonde and tan tom with blue eyes.
  — very gentle soul / easily upset and sensitive
  — deals a nasty bite
  BIOGRAPHY——— ✧
  
• 
  
  
  

​

 

[Minnowpaw]

( ♬ ) Minnowpaw would follow faithfully after her mentor as they made their way towards the river. She could sense the nervousness coming off Dogteeth's curls like a cloud and she would silently watch him as they walked. Perhaps she should make him something to lift his spirits?

Her attention would be pulled at the blonde tom's gasp and looking towards the reason she couldn't help the tiny smile that graced her lips at Darkpaws' stunt. She liked her denmate, his silliness put her at ease most days. Spotting Ashpaw nearby, Minnow would turn and make her way towards her friend, the question she spoke still hanging in the air as no adult seemed willing to answer it.

She would take a seat beside Ashpaw and also look at Smokethroat and Dogteeth, waiting patiently for the answer. ​

( BUT I WATCH YOUR EYES AS SHE; WALKS BY )