private Ragged and torn (Sootstar)

[Badgermoon]

Some things had to be seen to be believed. And yet...and yet...no matter how hard Badgermoon had tried, he had not been able to reconcile what he had seen with what he knew to be true. Or what he had thought was true. The broad-shouldered tom sat in the familiar hollow, surrounded by those he knew so well, going about their usual duties. All the activity in camp had long since blended into a comfortingly familiar wall of sound, like the gentle roar of falling water. The early leaf-fall sky was immaculately blue, enriched with fluffy white clouds. A crisp breeze raced over the moor, bringing the scents of heather, cotton-grass, and hare to Badgermoon's nose. He breathed in, deeply, savoring the feeling of home...and preparing himself for what was to come. Then he pushed himself to his paws and strode towards the Tallrock and the den at its feet, trying to appear as if he were going to see Sootstar for nothing more important than a brief question about a patrol. There will be an explanation. There must be. It'll be alright.

Perhaps somewhere deep down he knew that there would be no coming back from this. Perhaps he stepped so gently past his Clanmates because he knew it would be the last time he would have the privilege of doing so.

"Ma'am?" he spoke quietly in the leader's direction, his yellow eyes luminous in the shadow cast by the towering stone. He kept his voice as light and as steady as possible. "May I speak with you? Perhaps just out of camp, by the gorse wall...? I wouldn't want anyone to overhear." The black-and-white tom would wait for her to agree before turning and walking quickly towards the camp's exit, keeping his movements as relaxed as he could. Badgermoon's chest ached, inside and out: the mark which Sootstar had left on his body pulsed as if it were fresh, in time with his hammering heart. Once the pair had left camp, he turned to face her, struck as always by the intensity of her eyes, the ferocity she packed into such a tiny package. How he so admired that ferocity. How he had worked for approving glances from those eyes. How he had imagined relying on her in life and in death, as he followed in her pawsteps.

All gone, now. Unless...just maybe... His golden gaze met hers, eloquent with desperation. Beseechingly, he stared into his leader's eyes, and spoke. "Sootstar. I...I saw what you did." Badgermoon's voice was steady, but his words came slowly, as if he had to examine each one. As if he were astonished he had to speak them in the first place. "The omen. Cottonpaw. I - " he shook his head in disbelief. "What reason could you possibly have for...for pretending to know StarClan's will? For faking a sign from them?" There was anger clear in the creases of his face, but confusion, hurt, and hope, as well. He prayed that she would clear this all up - just a few simple words and his whole life would make sense again. A single sentence, and everything would be okay again.​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

SOOTSTAR​

Badgermoon’s proposition to move outside of camp for this discussion was met with an odd look. What was so important, so hush hush that he did not trust the stone walls of her den? Her gut feels as if its twisting and churning, yet regardless she nods. Rising onto her paws she quietly slips outside of camp, following the tail of her deputy. She tries to read his body language, any tensed muscles, any agitated twitching of the tail, but the black and white tom gave her nothing. Her fur bristles uncomfortably. Now outside of the den they turn and face each other, her green eyes burning as her mind races to prepare for whatever Badgermoon may throw at her. ’Sootstar. I…I saw what you did.’ Her eyes darken in instant realization, her fur lies flat. Her calmness is threatening. The deputy seeks a reason, but she has none that she can share with him. For the first time ever, she falters with a convincing lie. ”Badgermoon… whatever you think it is you saw- you did not.” She speaks this in a threat, she is trying to scare him into ignoring the truth than trying to manipulate him. Claws unsheathe, digging into the soil. ”I was long asleep by the time StarClan whisked the cotton into camp… we all were.” ’Even you.’ Her menancing gaze seems to warn.

☾ INFO BATTLE

• 
  » Soot ․ Sootstar
  » WindClan Leader
  » She/her ․ Mate to Weaselclaw
  » Tiny blue smoke she-cat with green eyes.
  » "Speech" ․ thoughts ․ attack
  
• 
  » A high-stamina foe who can be difficult to hit.
  » Excels in quick, short moves.
  » Fights to kill and maim
  » Fatal attack of choice is an underbelly dive.
  » May powerplay minor harm. Can powerplay healing

​

 

[Badgermoon]

For a moment - just a moment - their lives may have proceeded on as if nothing had happened. If she had given a swift, casual answer...if it all could go away...With a desperation that kept his throat suffocatingly tight, he waited for Sootstar to reply. When she spoke, her voice was dark, threatening. We all were. A grim expression settled upon his countenance as she lied, with so much hostility in her voice that nausea swelled in his gut. Slowly, Badgermoon shook his head, flicking his gaze down to watch as her claws sunk into the earth. He took in another breath, steadying himself as his legs threatened to buckle. The whole world had dropped out from under him, and for one frantic moment, he thought about simply nodding and walking away. Pretending like this had never happened. Pretending that things long since brushed aside were not now surfacing, that pieces were not falling into place. The lightning strike. The sicknesses. The traitors and prophecies. The murders.

It would be easy, Badgermoon thought: he could just shrug and pad back into camp. He'd organize some patrols, have a few bites of prey, find his daughter and go out onto the moor with her. They'd talk and laugh and sweat under the still-hot sun, til they grew tired and came home to rest. He'd share tongues with his Clanmates, hear about their days, and then stretch himself out beneath the stars. Perhaps he'd play with the kits, or hear a story from one of the elders. It would all be okay: it would be like it had always been. But. But. Those stars could not be slept under with a black heart. His Clanmates - his children - would never be safe, not if what terrible things he now worried were true...were true. Not if it was as bad as he feared. No one would be safe: not in life, not in death.

"Damn you, Soot." the large tom said at last, lifting his eyes to stare into her eyes, hard and gleaming like shards of emerald. His voice was oddly flat, as if the weight of his anger and fear and grief had squeezed all of the life out of the syllables. "You and I both know that's not true. Don't - " he grimaced as if physically wounded, feeling his anger grow more intense. It licked at his insides like a forest fire. "Don't try to lie to me. I...you..." a pause, a heartbeat. "The lightning strike. That wasn't about WindClan's strength at all, was it? That was StarClan trying to warn us - trying to warn all of the Clans - about you." he took a step closer, and the fur along his muscular shoulders spiked. "What are you planning to do, huh? Are you trying to lead your Clan astray? Trying to bring the sky crashing down on us? Who even are you?" his expression darkened until it was nothing short of thunderous, and he gave one, single lash of his tail. It would be visible to Sootstar, of course, but to someone else, too: the only other person with whom he had spoken about what he had seen, and what he feared.

@curlewnose​

 

[curlewnose]

"maybe I'll find where it all fell apart, but I haven't yet"​

Curlewnose had not been surprised when Badgermoon had come to him. In their last moon of tentative friendship, the two had bonded over their love of Starclan and the moors they called home. The tom had not been surprised either by the deputy’s confession that Sootstar had planted the cotton bud; he loved the tunnels and he loved his clan, but he had been increasingly worried by the aggression that covered the moors like a low fog in early morning and the way it caused cats to strike out at not only other clans but at each other.

Now, waiting in the tall grass, Curlew saw the flick of his deputy’s tail. He had been close enough to hear Sootstar’s words, close enough to see the tremble in Badgermoon’s legs. Steadying himself, the blue-and-white cat melted from the brush, lanky legs bringing him to Badgermoon’s right. Out of habit, he bowed his head to the older tunneller before shaking himself out of muscle memory. It was time for his habits, his inaction, to change. ”He came to me first, you know. He wanted to be wrong, for it to have all been a nightmare.” Curlew glanced at the broad-shouldered tom. ”He wanted you to be who he thought you were… but now you leave him with no good choice. Your deputy is good at heart, and will do what is right for the clan.”
​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

SOOTSTAR​

Sootstar grimaces when he doesn’t give in, the last time she had made a threat like this had been Vulturemask, the black medicine cat had agreed oh-so-easily. Badgermoon, damn his foolish love for the stars, would not be so easy. This was not the first time her early-praise and worship for StarClan would cost her, but if she couldn’t control Badgermoon this would be her unraveling. ’Damn you, Soot.’ She refrains from extending a paw to smack him across the head. The only thing stopping her being shock. The lightning strike, Sootstar bares her teeth in a warning for him to hush but he proceeds. Somehow, whether it was her misstep in the false omen or otherwise, the black and white tom had dug even deeper. Back to the infamous lightning strike that she had only covered up with Vulturemask’s aid. ’Who even are you?’ A question she’s not even certain she could answer- truthfully. She played the role of two cats at once perfectly, one heartbeat she was on Tallrock. Sootstar the iron-clawed leader, devot worshipper of StarClan who praised them and her own clan’s strength above all else. Only alone in the eyes of Weaselclaw she molted from her disguise, became something more true. Badgermoon lashes her tail in what she thought was aggravation, yet from the shadows the figure of a tunneler emerges. A blue-masked face on a white body, Curlewnose. Her heart lurches. The habitual bow gives her a brief moment of hope, Curlewnose would stand by her. She could convince him that Badgermoon’s blubbering was nonsense- get rid of him. A mistake to be erased- she’s erased past mistakes before, Honeytwist, Dandelionwish, Hyacinithbreath, more. But she’s mistaken, Curlewnose is not here for her. ’…Now you leave him with no good choice. Your deputy is good at heart, and will do what is right for the clan.’ Sootstar’s heart pounds against her chest, a wild look blazes behind her eyes. Right behind her was camp where her sleeping clan slumbered, and out here was Badgermoon and Curlewnose. Her deputy and an established tunneler, one word spoken too loud by either of them and it was over. They’d be bound to yowl and scream if she chased them out, she’d have to let them. But with a little proof… maybe she could spin an ulternative story to her clan. Sootstar just needs to spill her own blood. With little of a warning she pounces directly at Curlewnose. Her jaws snapping, aiming to plunge into his neck. To kill him would be most satisfying, but what she truly seeks would be near unpredictable. The attempt to kill should be a good enough motivator. Eagerly she awaits for claws to shred her skin.

☾ INFO BATTLE

• 
  » Soot ․ Sootstar
  » WindClan Leader
  » She/her ․ Mate to Weaselclaw
  » Tiny blue smoke she-cat with green eyes.
  » "Speech" ․ thoughts ․ attack
  
• 
  » A high-stamina foe who can be difficult to hit.
  » Excels in quick, short moves.
  » Fights to kill and maim
  » Fatal attack of choice is an underbelly dive.
  » May powerplay minor harm. Can powerplay healing

​

 

[curlewnose]

"maybe I'll find where it all fell apart, but I haven't yet"​

Curlewnose’s heart skipped a beat as Sootstar leapt for him, jaw unhinged like a snake’s before it devours prey. As he reared backwards a screech made it halfway up his throat… and then the leader’s teeth were upon him, cutting off his voice and filling his mouth with blood. Desperately the tom lashed his tail, a gurgle rising as Sootstar’s jaw held tight. ”Go!” he gasped, pushing air from his burning lungs. ”If you attack her, she wins!" Another gasp, shaking his body within her grip. "Go wake the clan!” Curlew pleads, hoping that Starclan will intervene before his throat is crushed.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Badgermoon]

Perhaps what was most disturbing was her silence. The tension was nigh on unbearable as Curlewnose appeared at his side, reassuringly real and normal in this heartbeat of madness. Solid, even if his body was small and skinny. The tunneler had an even-temperedness about him, a reasonableness, which Badgermoon was irresistibly drawn to. It felt like cool rain onto the hot wasteland that lurked deep in his spirit. It was part of why they'd been carefully reconstructing their friendship, part of why he'd spoken to the tunneler first - and to him only. His love of StarClan, his loyalty to WindClan, his understanding of a tunneler's life...surely if anyone could help him make sense of what he'd seen, it would be Curlew. Surely he was a good choice to bring along when he finally spoke to her about it. It had seemed wise at the time, to not go it alone. To have a witness for...for, well, this.

Now, though...now Badgermoon realized he'd made a terrible mistake. Dread lanced him directly through the heart as Sootstar lunged forward without a sound: nothing but a shadow upon the moor, all claws and fangs with a wildness on her face that chilled him to his marrow. "CURLEW!"
a bellow ripped from his chest as her teeth sank into Curlewnose's soft throat, and he watched in horror as blood began to flow from the wound and bubble at the corners of his lips. "You're insane." he spat, taking a stride towards Sootstar. A red haze was beginning to form like a morning mist across his vision, as something immense and hungry roused itself from its slumber. "You're going to kill him! Let him GO, you - you - " what could he say? What was there to say? How could you possibly speak to someone who was so utterly without sense, without goodness, without a soul? Curlew's strangled voice was nothing more than the whisper of the cotton-grass: less than a mote of dust in the light of the rage inside him.

She'll kill us all. Everyone. Every last cat, if she has to.

The realization scraped across his mind like talons over stone, and the path seemed suddenly clear to him. I understand, now. Perhaps for the very first time. Badgermoon threw himself forward with an air-splitting scream, slamming his broad body into her tiny, lithe frame. She was knocked from where she had been latched onto Curlew's throat, and lay like a heap of ashes, momentarily stunned. Badgermoon stood staring down at her, his flanks heaving, golden eyes aflame with feeling. He made no attempts at a killing blow, even with what he now knew: he wouldn't be like her. He wasn't like her. He would incapacitate her, remove the danger, get her away from him, hasten Curlew into Wolfsong's den. He'd summon some warriors and they'd keep an eye on her, put her in her den, post guards out front. Then they'd...they'd...they'd do something. Surely, something could be done. He would fix it, somehow. It would be okay again. Life would...continue on...the way it always had?

Somewhere, deep below his fury, below his fear for his friend's life, below his visions of his children sent to die in some pointless battle at this monster's command, there was a sinking feeling. That this - that he - was not enough. This was not a problem he could fix. This was not a fight he could win. Even if he won their physical battle...what then? She had many lives to his single, fragile one. She had the love and loyalty of her Clan. She had a silver tongue and a legion of warriors at her command - all of whom were well-used to chasing out, and hunting down, traitors. What did he have? A story about a bud of cotton, surreptitiously planted, seen by no one but himself. A reputation for having a temper. A long tenure as her second-in-command. Perhaps too long, they'd say. Maybe he got impatient. Maybe he wanted that power for himself.

She'd kill him - and Curlew - for this, he knew. If not now, then later. Perhaps she'd do it quietly, or perhaps she'd execute him in front of his Clanmates. In front of his children, his friends. To remind them what happened to traitors, usurpers, and liars. Anger and fear made his whole body tremble as hastily, wildly, a plan began to stitch itself together in his mind. Maybe...just maybe...if we're quick, and if we're careful...if we tell the truth, but make it a good story...the vision of a towering pale cat swam into view...of tall trees, bright colors, and claws that stung. He stood as his thoughts raced, as Curlew bled onto the grass, as Soot lay - not like a cat defeated, but like a viper. He had stood for only a few moments, thinking as quickly as he could, but it was a few moments too long. She lunged forward again, and he was not quick enough to avoid her slashing paws.

Flesh split like a leaf between claws as she sliced along his right side and Badgermoon let out a cry of pain. "RUN!" what else was there? There was no other thing to do, was there? He couldn't simply stand here and let her kill them, and they'd made enough noise - the Clan would come, and they would see what she wanted them to see. A power-hungry deputy and his co-conspirator, attacking their brave and powerful leader, who was only defending herself. If he could fight well enough to knock her down, he surely couldn't convince his Clanmates he was doing it for the right reasons. If he could somehow manage to kill her, she'd simply come back. Again, and again, and again. All it would take was one misstep, one mistimed strike, and she'd cut the life out of him as easily as he killed a mouse. And all the while, blood flowed from Curlewnose's throat: Badgermoon could smell it, hot and ferric in his nostrils. Or was that his blood, which poured generously from the wound she had left him?

"Curlew, Curlew, get up, we have to run, we have to go, wehavetorunnowgetupwehavetorun -" he babbled it to the shellshocked blue-and-white tom, who lay in a crimson-stained heap, watching the proceedings with a hazy expression. Badgermoon forced him upright with a few rapid bumps with his shoulder and a pull on his scruff, and then they were flying, sailing across the moor, all of their moons spent racing these familiar paths coming to their aid as they went. The wind itself could not keep up as they fled, first being cats running at top speed, then becoming fast-disappearing blurs, then nothing but a greasy streak of blood-scent in the air. And, in time, nothing but a memory.

[ Permission to powerplay given by both Ava and Python <3 ]​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

SOOTSTAR​

Brute force rips her away from the grip she had on Curlewnose. She tumbles to the ground next to the paws of Badgermoon, though it only lasts for seconds it feels like she's staring up at him for eternity. Her face is screwed in a snarl and her ears folded back, go on- kill me! Hurry up and kill me!' Her mind swarms. She anticipates a heavy paw slamming onto her throat, or maybe he'd sink his fangs into her as she had to Curlewnose. But to Sootstar's surprise she's faster than Badgermoon- or had he not even tried to kill her?! She pounces again and feels her claws collide with his cheek. She's infuriated by his, seemingly, refusal to attack her. Instead of remaining for a fight he bellows, 'RUN!'. The moor runner is fast with the tunneler at her side, they're a blur racing across the moors. They leave her behind in the scent of blood. They leave her behind deputy-less. She hears concerned clan-mates rushing through the gorse now.

☾ INFO BATTLE

• 
  » Soot ․ Sootstar
  » WindClan Leader
  » She/her ․ Mate to Weaselclaw
  » Tiny blue smoke she-cat with green eyes.
  » "Speech" ․ thoughts ․ attack
  
• 
  » A high-stamina foe who can be difficult to hit.
  » Excels in quick, short moves.
  » Fights to kill and maim
  » Fatal attack of choice is an underbelly dive.
  » May powerplay minor harm. Can powerplay healing

​