THE GODS OF THE RIVER | o, intro

[BUCKGAIT.]

the waters, life-giving and healing, have been her home for 22 moons. the grounds are filled with her, blood and tears and true morality. she can not imagine her without the currents of the river, the river cannot imagine her without it. perhaps she is obsessed, focuses too much on a body of water to give her life a purpose. perhaps she actually understands the streams, speaks the way the trout and salmon do. moves the way the rabbits do. she is so ingrained in the area that her blood may flow in the way the river does.

her eyes, pale and harsh and true, look toward her closest companions. caraway, a close friend to the buck-skinned molly. came from the moving land that the two-legs hold, but she was water-bound. it's what made buck accept them. love them in a way family was. in a way, they were kin with all the moons spent together. safe, and calm. raccoon is similar in kinship, she views them similar to a little sibling, perhaps one she never had. both are loved dearly by her. both are protected by her constant refusal of the outsiders.

and now they are here. she heard of their fighting, brutal and unneeded. and now they are here. buck would never admit it, the slight fear eating away at her. she cannot take on a hoard of felines, but she was always a martyr. she fears they may slaughter her, her kin, her river. it can't happen.

"I hate these forest cats." her voice is rough, a western tale that plays in her throat and coats each word so delicately. "they're brutes. all o'em." her distain for these creatures are evident in the way she watches them. watching them claim something that is not theirs. she is no leader, but that does not mean she won't try to exert some control. even to her comrades, who could never truly flee from her ire. "this is not riverclan. this is the river. we will not bow to them. make friends if you want, but I want them gone. i won't let this place be taken over by greed." they are free to join these treacherous souls, but they will be marked as a traitor to buck. and such is not a beautiful fate. her voice, intent, goals, are clear. the way the woman holds herself makes everything known.

these cats are dangerous and not to be trusted. neither is she.

@caraway @Raccoonpaw ​

[ MY NAME MEANS HEAVY ]​

 

[Raccoonpaw]

They also hated this, hated that these cats seemingly just waltz in and assumed they could take the territory. What about those who lived here before then? What where they do to? Sit back and allow such a thing? They think not! Watching that of Buck pace and speak about how they where brutes, and that she hated them and Raccoon wished they could say the same. Though it was hard for them to hate any cat and they hadn't done anything worthy of hate either. Then again, stealing that of territory could render hate but Raccoon was trying to be as optimistic as they can be.

"I just don't get it, like why would they try to sieze something that others live on? Like did they not consider that others lived here or something?" They asked Buck with those orange eyes widened and round, "Are we suppose to join them or something? Thats the only thing I can think of with them," Raccoon wasn't sure about joining a clan. They liked their freedom of roaming the river side whenever they pleased, but it would prove to be difficult now with these cats in the way.​

 

[willowroot]

( ♬ ) caraway has known many homes in her life, but none as meaningful to her as this river. the nursery had been a cold and cruel place, one created only to house her until she could be weaned from her mother. from there, she'd found safety on the ship, within the comforts of the metal and wood that had constructed her new home. she'd grown used to the crass accents of the sailor twolegs, their brisk laughter and warm hands; hands that she had learned to trust for only a few moons.
the boat had sunk, her companions lost to the tide and the frightening floating devices they had been swept away on. now, caraway's home is the river, her family the two felines she perches next to. she's perfectly content in this life. she often ponders how her life has lead her to this point, asks the stars and soft river stones whether she has a destiny that lies along these shores. she never receives a reply. that doesn't phase her.

a soft sigh exhales from the open mouth of the feline as they lounge beside their friends, dark fur soaking up the pale rays of sun that dance along the river's edge. the past few days have been quite confusing, if they're being honest. cats have always lived in the marshes beyond their own sight, but the recent invasion has buck's sharp tongue flying. riverclan, they call themselves, riverclan, even though caraway has never seen any of these cats at the river before. through glimpses, they've concluded the amateur nature of these invaders, the way they struggle to hook fish from the water and pick their way delicately through the reeds. the young feline is perfectly content with buck's assumptions of the group, even offering a nod of agreement at raccoon's words.

"i don't particularly care for them either. it's one thing for one new cat to move here. they tend to stay out of the way at least. but a whole group?" the femme snorts, adjusting their paws and shaking a wayward fly from their ears. "how do you even claim a territory anyway? the river isn't exactly still." eyes of sage flicker between their two companions. "i dunno, i can't imagine joining them. do you think we'd have to listen to a leader? i guess it could be okay, like strength in numbers or whatever, but i like our life right now." ​

( THE LIGHT YOU GAVE ME )

 

[Frostdrop.]

GOT A HEAD FULL OF SPIDERS​

---

The voices had been what drew Frost towards the scene, having been one of the few loners, despite how she had wished to despise Riverclan, she had joined them; alongside her had been her long time friend, Spider. However, she didn't join so willingly to bend to their silly rules, no she had believed her friend to have a plan, a plan to drive these so call riverclanners out of the land in which they had claimed for themselves, however, that was soon to show a difficult task due to Frost's own gentleness and that would be the fall and drop of both Spider and Frost's gracing light.

She had been trailing near the river listening to the bird sing while following the voices, only to quickly recognize one as Raccoon. Frost's bi-colored eyes brightened as she broke into a sprint before coming to a quick halt when she burst into the clearing, her gaze quickly finding that of Raccoon's figure and a warm smile spread across the young she-cats face. "Raccoon!" she happily called their name before pausing to take a glace towards Buck and Caraway, two other loners she had not recognized and she coughed a bit, embarrassed how she did not spot them until now despite how they all seemed so laxed together.

"Oh... uh hello, you must be friends of Raccoon" She said sheepishly. Frost remembered their last encounter, she had been with Spider at the time and both had declared themselves as joining Riverclan and she wondered if her newly made friend distasted her for that, remembering how Spider had stated loners joining Riverclan were betraying their own kind, but of course, she and him would never do such thing, no, not at all. Spider knew what he was doing and Frost followed along like a loyal subject, despite this, Frost wanted them to realize that the clan wasn't so bad...afterall, or so she thought.​

"speak""Thoughts"​

 

[BUCKGAIT.]

there is a silence of agreement, which alleviated any worry that had been building up within the brown-coated river cat. the fear of losing these two to land cats, ones that didn't even hold a lick of respect to those who had already thrived and lived here. her attention is heavy upon raccoon, their worry is clear. she needs to heal it. "they're the cats form that war in the pines. they only care about their own survival, raccoon." and barely at that, she's already seen cats suffer in the shallowest of waters. hungry from a lack of knowledge. cold and wet because they can't build the proper shelters. paws far too callous and large for the dainty weaving. "i'll take care of this the best i can. ya' don't have to join them at all." she already knows spider would be on her level of anger, but they must be working in different ways.

caraway is next to pipe up, which draws a faithful nod from buck at their words. she's right, the largest group buck has seen was a family of five. some left moons later, others sooner, and a few stayed. "you must've seen how they act, cara. they know nothin' of the water. let alone the river." there needs to be a plan in place. this silent discussion between the opposers won't suddenly drive them away. "they have a leader. i've seen him. heard of him in the battle. i'm not willing to follow some foolish tom." from the shadows, she's fine to watch him. it's not impressive.

her maw opens and shuts again, a snapping turtle's bite as a younger girl rampages in. barking with excitement towards their younger companion. drawing her sight to the feline in question. a cocked brow and a slight grin, a ghost of a tease upon her lips. it drops quickly when her eyes meet frost. following that weasel into the camp of wolves. "you could say that. i didn't know you and raccoon were such...buddies." her voice lightens at the word, unsure if friendship between the two would eventually put raccoon at risk. she does not trust that spider the younger molly hangs about with.​

[ MY NAME MEANS HEAVY ]​