THE DANCING HORSES — rumblerain

[SNAKEHISS]

When Rumblerain had offered to accompany Snakehiss on a hunting patrol out upon the moors, the new deputy could not say he was thrilled. It had been easy to avoid Badgermoon's brood up until this point, at least until Sootstar had named them a warrior unexpectedly early, meaning that they now shared the same set of duties in WindClan. Now Snakehiss would be expected to treat them as an equal, just another warrior, as if their father had not been his teacher and guide for many moons. As if even merely looking at their dark and light splashed features didn't remind Snakehiss of the tom who betrayed WindClan—who betrayed him—all those moons ago.

And yet, curiously, Rumblerain is unlike their father in one way — they had not chosen to flee. They remained a soldier of Sootstar, even when their kin ( including Scorchstreak's siblings ) had presumably run off to join Sunstride's rebel commune.

As the pair made their way out of camp, passing by two other clanmates who were on their way in, a snort sounded from one of them, "Let's just hope that Sootstar's new deputy won't turn-tail like his old mentor..." Smallwhisker confided aloud to the other WindClanner, unabashedly voicing their skepticism for all to hear. Snakehiss bit back a fiery insult to defend his honor, but the mere thought of Badgermoon stung like a welt upon his chest. He'd rather just ignore them and move on, letting his dedication speak for itself. He would prove them wrong.

Snakehiss could have just chosen to remain silent and simply walk to the hunting grounds without a word, though a desire for knowledge prods him to open his maw, "Rumblerain, I'm... curious about something." Their name feels odd upon his tongue. He's never said it before. "Your entire family flees, and yet you are the only one to remain behind. Why?" Snakehiss isn't sure why he wants to know so badly. Maybe a part of him was doubtful that Rumblerain was entirely loyal, that they had ulterior motives of their own. It had been difficult for him to see Shadowsight run; for them to lose their entire family must have been even more difficult. Did they not feel a pressure to join them?

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝

• @RUMBLERAIN

• 

• 

  ✰ SNAKEHISS
  —— he/him; deputy of windclan
  —— bisexual; single; not looking
  —— long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and a notable bite mark on his right foreleg
  —— "speech", thoughts, attack
  —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
  —— penned by beatles

​

 

[RUMBLERAIN]

𝐵𝐸𝑇𝑊𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝑊𝐻𝐴𝑇 𝐼𝑆 𝐿𝑂𝑆𝑇 𝐹𝑂𝑅𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅 ✧ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍

• 
  
  — rumblerain | tags
  — they/them ; moor-runner of windclan.
  — lanky black-and-white point with blue eyes.
  — "speech" ; thoughts
  — art by mercibun
  — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
  
  

​

They're not sure why they'd offered to join Snakehiss on a hunt. He's generally unpleasant, snappish and snooty in a way that made them roll their eyes every so often. It doesn't help that their only memory of him was of when they were first apprenticed, moving their nest into the open with a smug and newly named Snakehiss lording over them.

Tension stiffens their shoulders at the hesitant yet blunt query, and they look at Snakehiss for a long moment. The fur on the back of their neck prickles at the intensity in his eyes. He'd been Badgermoon's apprentice before he deserted WindClan, ran for the hills with Curlewnose in tow. That must have been hard for him. Embarrassing.

They might have more in common than Rumblerain originally thought.

"I'm ... I've-" hot shame chokes them for a moment and they look away from the deputy, paws kneading the ground. The space under their eyes feels like it's being pressed on, and it's with a shuddering breath they continue: "They left me behind again. None of them even asked me to- they had to have been conspiring or something, from- from the journey. At least the Clanmates who stayed behind helped me."

They don't love me. Rumblerain hides the last thought behind gritted teeth, stinging like violent nettle even though they're sure it must be true. It's confusing, but there's some vicious comfort to the idea. They remember the look of disappointment on Scorchstreak's maw when they and Scorchpaw were announced as moor-runners. They remember how none of their littermates had spoken a full conversation with them since returning before the topic shifted to the journey again. Even Scorchstreak's littermates had been too busy to make time for them. It made sense; Rumblerain wasn't their responsibilities. But Hollowcreek and Shalestripe had always had time for their questions. Badgermoon would have too, if he'd still been here.

"Sorry about Badgermoon." They sniffle. They're not crying, but that pressure beneath their eyes threatens to block their nose. "That must have been horrible for you."

​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

The deputy observes Rumblerain's reaction to his inquiry, irises narrowing as they reveal the truth behind the separation from their kin — they had abandoned them. Shadowsight had too fled in the heat of battle, though he intended to see his son again one day when things were right again... at least he thought. In the dark crevices of his mind, he wonders... could Shadowsight have utilized the battle as a means of abandoning Snakehiss himself? Could he be worlds away, starting life anew with another mate and eventually new kits?

Snakehiss considers the mention of the journey, realizing that Rumblerain really had been left in WindClan by themselves while their littermates and mother went off on a trek to save the clans. Curiously, all but one of the cats who had gone on the Yellowcough journey had turned out to be traitors. Snakehiss had been jealous of them all at first, bitter that Sootstar had not given him the attention and recognition he deserved, but the journey had made them all soft. Even Sedgepounce, who remains behind in WindClan, was not a stark Sootstar loyalist. It would be only a matter of time before he turned tail too, he figures.

Caught off guard, the night-hued tom stiffens when the seal point mentions his former mentor. Snakehiss had been content in refusing to even mention his name thus far, and he would continue to do so. That name left an acidic taste on his tongue. Suddenly, Snakehiss feels like a young warrior again, hurting on the inside and feeling utterly blindsided by his role model's betrayal. It was horrible. Badgermoon... that cat had cared for him, seemingly more than Snakehiss' own— No. Badgermoon had abandoned his own kits and turned his back on his clan, so why would Snakehiss have ever mattered to him? He had been nothing in the eyes of the former deputy the moment his children had been brought into the world.

Bitterly, Snakehiss dismisses Rumblerain's sympathy with a cold response, "They don't matter anymore." Scorchstreak, their siblings, Badgermoon, and all the others. They were dead to them now, at least as far as Snakehiss was concerned. It was easier to think of them that way, rather than being alive and living a fulfilling life elsewhere. "If they're so willing to turn their backs on you, then you need to do the same to them."

The long-limbed tom keeps his stride, paws crunching on the snow. It seems that he has forgotten the task at hand and is more content with strolling along rather than hunting. "I will do better for WindClan than the others ever did." Duskfire, Badgermoon, Sunstride. Snakehiss was determined to take the mantle of leadership one day, even if he had to suffer through Sootstar's tyranny for moons to come. It was his destiny to fulfill, it was StarClan's wish. Sootstar still had nine lives bestowed upon her by the ancestors, and he would receive his in turn by remaining a loyal deputy by her side. There was no other way. "Would you ever wish to be deputy?" A better one than Badgermoon? What were Rumblerain's motivations now that they were a part of this new era of WindClan?

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝

• 

• 

  ✰ SNAKEHISS
  —— he/him; deputy of windclan
  —— bisexual; single; not looking
  —— long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and a notable bite mark on his right foreleg
  —— "speech", thoughts, attack
  —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
  —— penned by beatles

​