private POINT OF VIEW ♪ buck

[CASCADESONG]

The river counteracts the heat of the sun with light spray across his paws, dampening the pale fur that lay there. The sun was growing cooler, losing its power, he could feel it. The Greenleaf season was always full and teeming with prey, and between all the days he's spent sunbathing, it almost seems to last forever. As much as he'd rather deny it, the season was coming to a close. He wonders how long it will be until the chill truly settles in.

A form at the edge of his vision would distract him from his thoughts. She's familiar, a common presence on this land. Mahi− Cascadesong straightens up. His tail waves wildly in a greeting, seeking to get her attention "Buck! Come join me!" he calls out, flashing a toothy grin alongside his bright call.

The frantic waving slows to a leisurely sway, brushing light against the damp grass. He'd caught glimpses of her often, so often that he kinda forgot she wasn't in Riverclan until she'd said as such before. He didn't really get why she seemed so opposed to it. She cocks his head in a questioning look. "Actually, are you even supposed to be here? I don't think so," he says, pursing his lips in thought. Well, he liked her, soo... "I won't tell, though! Uh—"

...Would that get him kicked out? He wasn't really sure what the curled leader thought of him. Trusted him enough to see Ash home, but he had kinda referred to him as unaligned that one time. His tongue peeks over his frown, considering. Everything was kinda...complicated. He wouldn't have to worry about it if Buck joined, anyways. "Hey Buck, why don't you like, join Riverclan?"

[ @BUCKGAIT. ]​

 

[BUCKGAIT.]

MY NAME IS BRUTUS AND MY NAME MEANS HEAVY ✧​

mahi-mahi had always been favorable in buck's mind. he stayed out of the way, was usually agreeable, and generally didn't bother her. so as the tom beckons her to his side, she finds no reason to deny him. she actually liked him, he was a small light. the darker female stalks over to him, even if he has switched to clan life, mahi was still a welcoming tom. her eyes roving over him to simply see if he's been okay and well-fed. if mahi is doing just fine there, then raccoon and caraway should really have no problem.

the ginger brute mentions about her technically not being allowed here, which draws a sneer across the girl's darkened features. not supposed to be on territory she had lived in far before them...yeah, right. they'd be digging her bones out before she left the river. a small huff escapes her as she settles beside him, watching clouds roll idly by. the days have been far too emotional for her, and she's in need of someone with a far more optimistic outlook on life than she.

"i wish i could, mahi...is it still mahi? i heard cicada was no longer allowing our names." it's a royal use of we, allowing both mahi and buck to be fitted together in this. she knows what he is trying to rid his clan of. in the end, he'll erase the history of the land. "i've lived by the river my entire life. we were free and able to survive. i helped so many cats settle down here and taught youngsters on how to swim. i would have accepted these cats but..." there's too much in the way. her pride, her morals, their arrogance, their greed. "mahi...they took the land because they couldn't settle their differences. they stole from families, they stole from me." her family, her life, her own home. now they'll try to force her out, because buck is something dangerous and untamed in their eyes.

"i can't join them mahi. I'm happy you can. I'm happy caraway and raccoon can. but they already took so much from me, i won't let them take more. " she hopes the tom can understand her plight. she is not expecting his sympathy, but offering her view of things. some clan cats are okay with her, others want her pelt.

​

 

[CASCADESONG]

The name change had been sudden, an announcement growled low in the throat of Cicadastar, bloodied and beaten, his eyes blown wide in a frenzy. It was strange, being given a new name so suddenly. But at least it wasn't something ugly. Cascadesong only brought pleasant images to his mind, a babbling brook, a song whispered through a waterfall. That must mean it's in good faith, right?

"I wouldn't say no longer allowing..." he says. More of a suggestion maybe? Something to build rapport. It was like... one big family when they all had similarly-silly names! His smile dips into a carefully controlled expression as she continues, brows furrowed with an inkling of concern. He could... sort of see it, but- "I dont— I don't think they're bad guys! They came to get away from the bad stuff... I think. Under that Cicadastar guy, and they like him a lot, so he can't be that bad! I don't think."

"I don't think they took anything— okay um, maybe the other day they officially did but um— not at first! I think... I think he's just really scared right now," he says with a pout. Even if his eyes had shined with anger and claws curled into the bark of the fallen tree, his words were those of someone afraid. "I don't know what happened to all of them before they got here, but it was somethin'... bad, and... I don't think they're fully... over that, y'know? They're not... super comfortable around strangers. And like... you don't have to be a stranger, but you're kinda... making yourself one? I think? Does that make sense at all?" he blinks at her earnestly.​

 

[BUCKGAIT.]

MY NAME IS BRUTUS AND MY NAME MEANS HEAVY ✧​

buck listens to the once-loner spit his defense of the clan, and she isn't sure what she expected. mahi had given up his name, his freedom, his wandering just to be under the rule of someone he didn't even know. but buck did. she knew what kind of cats moved into the land, there is no shortage of truths from the pines of the actions they fled from. it was something horrid and selfish, motivated by hunger and greed. "he's scared?" she can't help but laugh. his response to fear is driving cats from their home. "i've been scared plenty o' times. never had i taken land and forced cats from theirs." when she's scared she has to face the problem head on. buck didn't have the cowardice of walls and warriors. she only had what the heavens had given her. teeth and claws.

"there was a war in the pines. these cats fought over food and slain the innocent because they never thought about working with each other. y'know i talked with that cicada and he put blame on the river cats for not saving them. that's the man you're defending, mahi." it comes out harsher than she intended, with her spitting voice and fangs peeking through with every word. she's trying to get him to see it from her eyes. to give him the information she has. if she was as tenderhearted as the tom, as naive as a him, she'd probably have joined by now. but buck knows the dirt they're trying to bury. "i ain't making myself a stranger. i've talked to these clan cats. when they were threatened by raccoon for being in the water. i've offered a few my help, but i see now that it's useless." under cicada and his paranoia, these cats will die. the winter will starve them out, and buck will be just fine. she knows every ounce of survival in these watered lands.
​