the dark forest THE HUMOR OF A BITTER GOD ⋆⁺₊ ☾ ⁺₊⋆ SILTCLOUD

[Swansong]

They know, as soon as they awaken. They have been here before. They know this place, these towering tree trunks and creeping blooms of fungus. They know this darkness, this clarity, this fluttering feeling of unease in their chest. This is the place where their dead have been condemned to; the starry fields of her youth have not crept into her dreams in a long, long time.

StarClan had little to say to their medicine cat; but she is young, cursed and hardly star-chosen. A victim of the same selfish nepotism that Siltcloud spoke of.

Their ears perk up, slowly. "Siltcloud...?" Their voice echoes through the dim woodlands. Their paws seep into the mud, but they stand their ground. It is her that called them here, just as she had before. They are certain. They peer around the trees, wait with head bowed. "I need..." Their voice is soft. She is listening, they know. "ShadowClan... needs your guidance..." She feels lost. Tell me how to fix this, she pleads silently. Tell me how to save my clan.

// @◇ Siltcloud.

⋆⁺₊ ☾ ⁺₊⋆

SWANSONGㅤ BIOGRAPHY ㅤ/ ㅤTOYHOU.SE
★ demigirl ( she / they ) ㅤ& lesbian, mate to poppyglow (npc'd)
★ㅤ 23 moons old & ages realistically, every 17th of the month
★ㅤ warrior of shadowclan for 11 moons
★ ㅤhalfshade x smogstar ㅤ& littermate to applejaw, ashenfall, garlicheart
★ㅤ ㅤmentored agaterain, swallowflutter & mentored by skunktail, sabletuft
★ㅤ penned by saturnid & ㅤmessage saturnids on discord for plots!

"SPEECH"

 

[◇ Siltcloud.]

I CAN'T ESCAPE IT
IT'S OF MY OWN MAKING​

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siltcloud ♕ 21 moons ♖ female ♘ she/her ♙ dark forest rogue ​

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In truth, Siltcloud grows... tired. Of this game, of being dissapointed. It is not that she is proven wrong - in fact, it's quite the opposite. But Siltcloud, in truth, is not a bloodthirsty creature. Cruel, yes - violent, true. But she has only ever wanted vengence - vindication.

For shadowclan to know they were wrong, that for all she knows she is a monster, she is still the same as each and every one of them.

Marbleleaf pushes her away - busy with starclan, now that Starlingheart is dead... and likely still mad at her for welcoming new kin, free of the stain of their bloodline.

Sneezefur is... a disappointment. She doesn't give up entirely, but as she witnesses Caterpillarfuzz cast aside, she wonders if she has chosen wrong. In truth, it matters little - only proves her point - but witnessing her apprentices plight leaves her... wrongfooted, if nothing else. Memories once burried brought fresh to the surface.

But Swansong...

' I need... ShadowClan... needs your guidance... '

This, she thinks, she can work with.

She'd always been the more rational one, hadn't she? There to soothe Granitepelts paranoia where she could, content to live in the shadows. She can certainly help Swansong along the same path, she's certain, if she tries.

" There is little... we can do for the living world, " she rasps, each word sending pressure through her wounds. But dull eyes gleam with light for the first time in moons, the spark of an idea. " Shadowclan... has always born... such a terrible curse... " she murmurs, skeletal figure slinking to circle the pale molly, kinked tail dragging acrossthe ground. " And yet... we have always... lacked the guidance to persevere. "

She stops short, head tilted, staring unblinkingly. " One gone too soon. Another... mad with power. Another indifferent - and the rest... gone far too soon, " she murmurs. " How long I wonder... until Ternstar fairs the same fate? But there... is little else we can do... we have tried. Shadowclan has not listened. " she says, shrugging.

It is fine, she thinks, to play 'starclan' when needed - but this shadowy place has always held far more power then any ancestor she'd seen. To dream, to touch, to hurt - she has already left her mark upon the waking world. Surely, the possibilities are endless. And so she waits, carefully coiled - to see what Swansong will make of her words.

If she will see what Siltcloud offers.

If she will take it.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

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AND I CANT LET ME OUT ━ WHY CANT I LET ME OUT ?

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[Swansong]

Again, Siltcloud comes to her.

The face of one condemned, cast out from the ranks of their clan. Her voice is a tattered thing, scraped over harsh stones. Still, there is something soothing in it. With her, there are no tangled webs of metaphor to tear apart. Whatever the stars speak to their soothsayer - riddles of hunter's gifts - do not matter in this place. Swansong is one of them, a confidant in the dreary dredges of this once-vibrant place. She is quiet as the other speaks.

A lack of guidance. It aches a bit to hear, when the warrior herself has done nothing but beg the stars to speak. She pleads with the cursed molly softly, eyes glinting in the dim, "I have always listened... Always been faithful..." Her voice wavers. It is not enough. She is little but a half-dead warrior clinging to old days of glory. She is a witness, watching leader after leader and clanmate after clanmate die while powerless to stop it.

Is this how the stars feel too? Perpetually mourning, watching the same mistakes be made... Their words disregarded in the arrogance of mortality.

Their head dips, and the tips of their ears whiskers just slightly. "I will be your voice..." They murmur, a promise made again and again. It has hardly amounted to much... But there is an undercurrent of hopefulness in the spirit's voice. She would not have called them here without purpose.

After a moment of quiet, it clicks.

Guidance. Their head raises, slowly, and their eyes widen into two twin hollows. They stare through the ghost, mind working quickly to catch up. Even if this spirit is less inclined to speak in metaphor, implication has always been the lamguage of the dead. All this talk of leadership... "Perhaps... Perhaps if... ShadowClan were more willing to... hear me..." they murmur, half to themself, gaze searching hers for approval.

Slowly, an idea begins to sprout.

⋆⁺₊ ☾ ⁺₊⋆

SWANSONGㅤ BIOGRAPHY ㅤ/ ㅤTOYHOU.SE
★ demigirl ( she / they ) ㅤ& lesbian, mate to poppyglow (npc'd)
★ㅤ 24 moons old & ages realistically, every 17th of the month
★ㅤ warrior of shadowclan for 12 moons
★ ㅤhalfshade x smogstar ㅤ& littermate to applejaw, ashenfall, garlicheart
★ㅤ ㅤmentored agaterain, swallowflutter & mentored by skunktail, sabletuft
★ㅤ penned by saturnid & ㅤmessage saturnids on discord for plots!

"SPEECH"