the pain of betrayal ;; open - joining

[DUSKMANE]

"WE’VE COME TO A DANGEROUS PLACE"​

Dusk’s fur was mangled, torn in certain areas. Blood caked the wounds drawn upon his fur by the claws of cats he had once trusted. They had called for his blood because he had been kind to a wanderer. He padded with a limp, his yellowish green eyes full of hatred and coldness. The dark feline, hued like the night sky, could smell the stench of a clan and kittypets. He was vaguely familiar of the smell. “SkyClan.” Dusk muttered, unfurling from his lips like venom. “Of course they chased me here.”

The tom looked behind him, eyes watching from the distance. He knew the eyes of those he had once been friends with. Azriel, Midnight, and Bran. Once they had travelled together as friends, believing they could change even the clans themselves. Change everything, except their own hearts. That was until Dusk had provided a meal to a wanderer, giving them something to fill their empty belly. In the twoleg place, there was plenty of food. Rats, trash, and kittypet food. He had not been picky in what he consumed while a loner.

A mangled collar still hung from his neck despite his injuries. The constant reminder of why he shouldn’t trust now paired with the betrayal of three souls. He sighed, scraping it from his neck and placing it to the ground. “May we meet again as friends some day.” The prayer soft upon his lips as he turned towards the SkyClan territory, limping forward once more. The scowl of hurt rested on his brows, knitting them softly in thought. Could he find safe harbor here? Dusk could not be certain, yet he continued until he couldn’t anymore.

He fell to the ground and yowled out in pain. Would he survive this? Dusk felt uncertain.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[HUCKLEBERRY]

( ☼ ) now fully into leaf-bare, huckleberry has noticed just how eeriely quiet the forest has become save for the sound of snow crunching beneath travelling paws and the brisk winds that occasionally whistle through the trees. the smoke doesn't entirely mind the silence that blankets the territory but he sometimes he finds himself missing the noisy birds that hide behind pine needles or the tiny pitter patter of squirrel feet scampering across ground and chittering to their friends.

a sudden nearby yowl would interrupt his wandering thoughts and cause him to jolt slightly in surprise, that wasn't something you hear everyday. taking a detour from his usual walking path, huckleberry trots in the direction of the noise before he comes across the collapsed body of a bloodied stranger with a collar that looked like it was about to fall apart at any second. "well, this ain't good. you must've been in one naaasty fight." he mews, approaching dusk to get a better look at his injuries.

"ah'm sure some of my friends will come 'round soon but fer now ah can try and help ya out best ah can. you got a name stranger?"
​

( i hear the wandering streams and the song of the birds )

 

[~Deersong~]

( ♬ ) "Huckleberry?" The familiar coo of the cream and mocha deputy would sound not far behind the warrior. Eyes of clear aqua would blink at her friend in concern, "We heard a yowl. You alright?" Her gaze would flicker to the injured tom near Huckleberry and she would tilt her head to the side in surprise, "Whoa, say brotha' you lookin' pretty roughed up."

She would flick her tail to one of the members of her patrol to run back to camp to report their findings to @BLAZESTAR before walking forward and standing beside the black smoke, "You managed to drag yourself all the way to Skyclan, dude. I'm Deersong, Deputy of this place. Can you tell us what happened to you?" There was no real hostility in the she-cats gaze, only a genuine concern for his injuries, but she wanted to be cautious too. So many injured cats had turned up as of late, her mind flashed back to Centipedepaw and Figpaw before she swished her tail and continued.
​

( LET YOU BREAK; MY HEART AGAIN )

 

[ThistleBack]

Behind his mate, traversed the frozen world like a wraith with vengeance was Thistleback and his apprentice. The warrior’s maw curls at the sight of blood matted fur and cuts, an unfamiliar splashed across the ground that were home to his beloved family.

" look at this mangled mess" he mutters with a glance to Huckleberry, eyeing the southern inky man for any wounds of his own. Gentle as this giant may be, he could probably have easily done this. Then again~, the warrior had no blood on the paws.

" he’s going to attract larger teeth, I’ll follow down and cover up his scent. " the tang of blood hung low in the air from the frost of the forest. With a growl he trots down the footfall path.

​

OOC INFO REF

• —
  
  
• 
  
  
  ✧ T H I S T L E B A C K
  thirty-three moons
  — warrior of Skyclan
  — taken by
  Deersong 9.29.22
  — mentoring quillpaw
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes. ･ﾟ✧​
• 
  
  

​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮​

The warrior that had come to fetch him explained Deersong, Huckleberry and Thistleback had found an outsider, dark-pelted and covered in blood. Roughed up by someone -- or something. Blazestar finds his way to the group quickly enough, the blood scent hard to ignore.

He sets his jaw, eyes flicking over the loner's injuries. Huckleberry has asked for the tom's name, and Deersong asks how he'd come to find himself in such a tattered condition. Blazestar tastes the air absently, wondering if whatever had attacked this cat had followed him into their pine forest -- but he detects nothing.

"I'm Blazestar. I'm the leader of SkyClan. You've met Deersong, my deputy, and Huckleberry and Thistleback, two SkyClan warriors." He jerks his chin at each cat in turn, keeping his eyes carefully centered on the outsider.

"We mean you no harm as long as you don't mean us harm. Speak. Tell us your story." His tone is not unfriendly, but it is brisk, cautious. Blazestar flicks the tip of his tail, waiting to hear what the loner had to say.

- ,,​

​

 

[DUSKMANE]

"WE’VE COME TO A DANGEROUS PLACE"​

The feline looked to the cats that had surrounded him. His eyes became dilated, showing fear. The fur on his back bristled, his tail lashing behind him. His ears pinned. The fear caked his throat, making it nearly impossible to speak. He felt at their mercy. The tom looked at each of them. How could he trust their words? That’s all they were. Words. A hiss rumbled his chest, peaking through his lips. He couldn’t go back to his home. Not after all of this, but they wouldn’t attack him on the clan grounds. Dusk whipped the snow on the ground as best he could, trying to give himself space. The mumble of “no” now made itself known.

“My name is none of your concern.” He spat at Huckleberry. “My story is none of yours.” His gaze turned to Blazestar and Deersong. It was clear there was distrust in his voice. After all, his so call friends betrayed him. Trust was broken, shattered. Laid before these cats in the wounds that clearly still bled. He attempted to lift himself to his paws, but couldn’t muster up the strength to get himself on his paws again. With a small huff, the dark tom’s green gaze met the friendliest face or as he perceived. Deersong had not earned his trust, but she had greeted him with a tone that seemed rather…neutral and undemanding to say the least.

“My name is Dusk.” The only words he spoke before growing silent again. ​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Lionsnarl]

"LIFE DOESN'T DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE SINNERS AND THE SAINTS"​

Fear. All he saw was fear, eyes wide... darting... he knew that look well. He knew what that felt like. He felt it every night, every night in that damn forest, with that damn cat haunting his darkened dreams. That reoccurring nightmare that never ended. He had heard the yowl, had followed Huckleberry - didn't want the big fool to be mauled in his haste to help, after all - and had come across this. The stranger's snappish attitude had has fur bristling within a singular syllable -

- but then he saw it. The indent of the stranger's fur, flattened in the pattern of what seemed like an old collar. This cat wasn't one of Vermillionsun's sewer rats, he was... well, he was like them. The blood, the anger, the fear, it all wafted around him, hitting the ginger king like a wave. He's transported back in his mind, back to a time before SkyClan, back to one fateful day where he returned from a walk - not too dissimilar to this one - to find a battered child with the same look in their eye.

"Finch..." He breathes, before catching himself, slowly, groggily, returning from his hellish reverie. The cat in front of him isn't that little red-and-white scrap of fur that had been attacked all those seasons ago. He is a stranger again. He swallows and corrects himself, dark eyes trained on the stranger. "Dusk. You don't owe any of us shit, but we can't..." He rolls his shoulders, suddenly uncomfortable with the amount of cats that were around, with how vulnerable he felt, how shaken he was by the sudden memory.

"Keep your story. What's the story of those wounds? Healing a cat-scratch is different than a fox-bite."​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[~Deersong~]

( ♬ ) Deersong would frown slightly as the stranger spit at Huckleberry and then attempted to throw snow at the group in an attempt to scramble away from them. The deputy would look back at Blazestar, but only concern would glow in her aqua gaze. Covered in scratches and blood, distrust and hurt radiating off their aura like a miasma, she was not surprised when Tugger stepped forward to try to calm the tomcat. Just what had this cat been through to make him so....feral?

She would take a deep breath, as the name 'Finch' slipped through the flat-faced tom's lips, and the memory flashed in her own mind. The deputy would step forward as well, meowing softly, "We will not hurt you, but you must calm down and speak with us if you want our help. And no more throwing snow." She tried to offer a smile of comfort before motioning towards Tugger, "Crimsonbite here is right, brotha'. Ya gotta tell us what took chomps out of you."

Her eyes would move over the tom's form, and the number of cuts that covered his pelt and the tattered collar only furthered her sympathy towards the on-edge tom. ​

( LET YOU BREAK; MY HEART AGAIN )

 

[DUSKMANE]

"WE’VE COME TO A DANGEROUS PLACE"​

Dusk’s eyes turned to this tom Deersong called Crimsonbite. “These stories are one in the same.” He replied, seemingly less hostile as before. None of them seemingly had come to attack him as of yet, which to Dusk, it meant that they were unlikely to attack. After all, in the loner lands, they had to fight quickly if they wanted to survive. If he had been injured like this there, cats would have torn him to shreds so even the foxes couldn’t pick him. “Betrayal for being kind.” Dusk felt the anger towards those that had betrayed him, sadness for the cat he had shown a kindness to, and fear because of the uncertainties.

“If you are asking what type of beast did this, then cats would be my answer.” His tone was still full of distrust. These cats didn’t know him and he didn’t know them. Why should he tell his full story? Why should he trust them? Trust was earned. Not given. He watched the eyes of the deputy trail to his tattered collar he had just discarded of on the ground. “A story of betrayal all the same.” The thought of his two-legs. Leaving him behind. An act of hatred. An act that set his heart to ache for those harmed and abandoned. It set him on a path to help. Why could no cat in the loner lands see that? Maybe…just maybe…SkyClan could. After all, they were showing him mercy. Right? His eyes narrowed with thoughtfulness and a hint of his distrust vibrant in their peridot glow.

The tension began to ease, but he remained vigilant. “Fine. No more snow.” The nightly pelted feline agreed. “Just don’t ask me to speak more of my past. If you must pass a sentence upon me, I ask you swing your claws swiftly.” ​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮​

This cat, despite being met with friendliness and neutrality, smacks the snow between them and scurries backward. He regards them all like a trapped beast, a fox with its leg caught in a trap. Blazestar sets his jaw at the outsider's response: "My name is none of your concern. My story is none of yours."

Blazestar thinks of rogues leaving bloodied pawprints at his borders. He is about to speak when Crimsonbite, speaking out of turn, tells this newcomer they don't ower them shit. Blazestar turns to him and gives him a flat look. As if he can bring a cat who may be dangerous to his camp, who he knows nothing about, just by virtue of needing herbs meant for his Clan's kits, elders, queens?

The leader keeps a hold on his tongue for now, letting this 'Dusk' speak. He speaks of betrayal, wounds at the claws of cats he'd considered allies once. Blazestar had seen, as the others had, the dimpled fur at the loner's neck, a signal he'd been a kittypet at least once.

Blazestar raises his tail, a signal for his warriors to cease speaking. "I don't ask you questions to be unkind. I have an entire Clan's safety to think of. I have to be sure cats like yourself aren't a threat to those I am responsible for." His eyes flick warily over the wounds again. "Dusk. Very well. If you're seeking refuge, and you swear right now to lay no claws or teeth on a cat within my Clan, you may receive treatment." He nods his head once. "Herbs are not easy to come by in the snow. If you plan on staying in SkyClan, you will be asked to help contribute as a warrior who hunts for everyone instead of just himself."

He stares at Dusk for a heartbeat. "Thistleback, Huckleberry, you'll be tasked with keeping an eye on this newcomer. You will escort him to Dawnglare's den and explain the situation." His eyes glow. "We take care of our own in SkyClan. If I hear about any hostility to Clanmates, you will be cast out."

He shakes frost from his thick cream pelt and gives a tail signal: follow me. He expects his warriors to flank the outsider. Despite everything, Blazestar does not trust him, but he has no reason to drive him away... yet.

- ,,​

​

 

[DUSKMANE]

"WE’VE COME TO A DANGEROUS PLACE"​

Dusk looked to Blazestar and passed judgement upon him as well in his mind. ”I understand your need to protect your clan, but there is no reason to ask for my full story. I told you all that you needed to know. No cat needs to know all of my past to determine my future. After all, I’m sure many of your cats here have told you lies about themselves or ensured that you believed the best in them. Betrayed you. I do not believe in sugarcoating the truth nor am I forthcoming with it when I met strangers. I tell what they need and not what they want.” The loner spoke without hesitation, his gaze harsh upon the cream tabby. “I bring no ill-will towards your clanmates and will ensure to do my best not to show hostility. However, I will say that if I need to defend myself from harm, I will. I just hope that it will not come to that.”

He had no malice or spite in his words nor did he show anymore signs of aggression. Dusk did his best not to turn a nose at the names of the cats assigned to him. He wasn’t sure about this Thistleback character nor was he a fan of Huckleberry. He saw the helpfulness of Crimsonbite and liked that one the best for now with Deersong as a runner up. The inky feline, however, wouldn’t press his luck further. The tom struggled to his paws and stumbled slightly, like a fawn learning to use its legs for the first time. His body shook as he found his footing. Turning to face his collar on the ground once more and then the border behind him, he sighed. “I suppose.”

Dusk followed behind Blazestar between Thistleback and Huckleberry, limping towards this unfamiliar place.​

✦ ★ ✦​