their feathers congeal ✧ execution order

[FOXTAIL]

Foxtail had thought today was a somewhat normal day. The cold breeze brushed up his long fur, though the young warrior didn't mind. In the back of his mind, the warrior was planning to take Eelpaw out to explore RiverClan's territory. He doesn't want to delay her training... but before he could go and fetch her, Lichentail's voice rung out. His ears prick up as her voice thunders throughout their camp, drawing in attention. The young warrior finds himself padding over to the deputy, and his eyes widen at what he hears next.

Thornmask and Cedarblaze— known as Deacon and Sasha— killed their leader? He's unable to stop his fur from bristling at the news... He knows that StarClan gifts clan leaders with extra lives, but that didn't mean he couldn't be alarmed. He thought everything had been okay with the ripple colony cats... they took on warrior names, accepted clan culture as their way of life. Sure, there were probably some bumps here and there in the road, but he never thought they would do something like this.

His apprentice seems to find him amongst the crowd. His fur relaxes as she presses her side against him, looking down at the young apprentice. Eelpaw is young, too young to understand the tension between RiverClan and the ripple colony cats. Some RiverClanners believed the ripple colony cats have never belonged in RiverClan, while others think the opposite. He doesn't want to scare her, but she has a right to know what's going on. "Thornmask and Cedarblaze have been exiled," He explains to her in a hushed voice, "They attacked and took a life from Smokestar." The next part was going to be hard for him to say, as even he struggles with the thought of taking a life. "If they are seen in our territory again, they are to be... killed on sight." He frowns, knowing that it's easier said than done to do a task like that. StarClan forbid he and Eelpaw run across the traitors... he'll do the honors himself. It won't be easy— the young warrior isn't exactly known for his battling skills— but Eelpaw is so young. Too young to have blood on her paws.​

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ —— 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦

• ooc notes here
  
• 
  
  

  ---

  credit to tieirlys for the artwork <3
  
• Foxtail

  ​
  

  warrior
  warmhearted
  timid
  experience: trained
  backstory: tbd
  biography: [HYPERLINK]
  credit to nopeita for the pixel <3
  

  cisgender male [he / him]
  eyes: green
  pelt: cinnamon/chocolate
  fur length: long
  parents: dawnflower and redfur (riverclan npcs)
  15 moons
  

  ---

  ​

​

 

[DIPPERFROST]

Evil is not something she knows - not well, at least. She knows WindClan is evil because the older cats said so, because they force their apprentices to grow up too fast, because they lie and they cheat and they steal. She knows it is wrong to murder outside of battle, to kill senselessly, all of this she understands. But what she does not understand is why. What had caused the two cats - cats that RiverClan had provided food and shelter and family to - why had they turned on them? Dug claws into their backs and expected any other outcome than the one that had actually happened. Did they truly believe it was a good idea? That the whole of RiverClan would not bare down upon them like a tidal wave and rip them apart until the river ran red with their blood?

As she listens to her mentor speak about exiles, she comes to stand next to Ferngill, her plumed tail flicking his side gently in greeting but she does not turn to him. She focuses on Pikesplash as he spouts nonsense, is about to say something when her mentor quickly handles it. "I'll go with the patrol" she offers to her mentor, an attempt to let the pointed molly know that she was willing to help out in any way she could.

​

 

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

Lichentail’s stare pierces through Snakeblink, driving down the ice shard of her words. Killed on sight. What a fate for the cats they welcomed among them—

His fleeing eyes fall on Smokestar’s prone form.

The cats who betrayed their trust.

He swallows past the lump in his throat, staring down at Smokestar’s ravaged pelt, the blood barely seen on the dark backdrop of his fur. Does it always take this long? He remembers Cicadastar’s gasping in and out of life as the rogues drove their teeth and claws into his flesh; remembers him stumbling home days after being pinned to a tree by twolegs like a mouse on a shrike’s thorn-nest. There is no rhyme or reason to these things. Only the wait, time flowing like water — sluggish and too fast in turns. And the memory of Lichentail’s fleeting look burning the back of his neck through it all, the guilt and anger mingling with his overwhelming concern.

My fault, for not doing enough.

A shudder of life; a gasp; Smokestar returns the way one might slip out of ice cold water back on land. Snakeblink lets out the breath he had been holding for him, shrugs duty back on like a shed skin he’s not ready to discard yet.

”This is an indictment of Deacon and Sasha, not of the former Ripple colony as a whole, and none other than they shall be hurt for their crimes,” he tells the amassed cats, looking at each in turn to make sure he’s understood, nodding at Foxtail as the warrior explains the same thing to his apprentice.

He glances at Lichentail, restraining a chiding expression at her shortness of temper — he understands. Stars, he wishes he could snap, too. Instead he makes his tone softer, confidential almost, and nods his head towards Dipperpaw in echo of the apprentice’s words. ”I will lead the patrol — unless you need me elsewhere?”
​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely ​

ooc. information.

• 
  
• — Snakeblink • he / him. 48 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

​

​

 

[Silverbreath]

*+:｡.｡ Lichentail's call draws the thin warrior forth, ears flattened as the tension building from the crowd surrounds him like a storm ready to roar to life. He's reminded again of how truly fragile loyalties can be, especially during such harsh times. He'd never had the pleasure of getting to know Thornmask and Cedarblaze...Deacon and Sasha now, so their betrayal is not significantly damaging to Silverbreath in particular. But it still makes his blood run cold to think cats capable of killing someone they'd fought so hard alongside lived among them for so long. If they hadn't wanted to be part of Riverclan, that was all well and good, but why kill? He hoped Smokestar's life would return in full, but what if it didn't? What if the damage left him weak, the effort to restore his life taking much of his strength, could the tom survive the harsh season?

A life for a life...Silverbreath never really thought hard about killing cats unprompted. He'd fought tooth and nail during the rogue invasion, and didn't doubt that if he ever met the cat that hurt his baby girl he'd tear them a new asshole, but to look at Th-Deacon and Sasha at the border and slam their heads into a chopping block...it made his pelt itch uncomfortably. He wasn't sure he could do it - to hurt a former clanmate - but he didn't believe entirely that they deserved mercy, either. He just hoped the two would be wise enough to stay far away from Riverclan after their foolish stunt.

His ears perk up when he hears his apprentice's voice cry out among the chattering voices. He's tempted to make his way over to her, but soon he hears that she's taking Shellkit away, shielding her from this difficult talk no young cat ought to hear. Smiling to himself, he makes a mental note to praise his 'paw properly for her quick thinking and selfless act, as well as to check up on her. It's difficult for Silverbreath to swallow these unfolding events, he can't imagine it's any easier for a young molly like herself.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 12/15/23

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ☮ Silverbreath
  ☮ DMAB— He/Him — Bisexual
  ☮ 35 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ☮ Father to Carp-paw, Mentoring Goldenpaw
  ☮ Riverclan — Warrior
  
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ☮Physically hard | mentally hard
  ☮ Attack in bold #7d7d7d
  injuries: None currently

​

 

[iciclefang]

Her Clanmates split, divided through the line like wildfire. Iciclefang feels Beepaw at her side, the rage of a daughter who has watched her fathers die too many times, and her jaw tightens. Willowroot dares to growl in her direction, and the tortoiseshell meets her sage gaze with frost-blue eyes. “My ears work as well as yours do,” she hisses. “But are we to turn a blind eye to a potential threat?” Other cats protest around her—Hazecloud, Snakeblink, Pikesplash—but her ears only twitch as she directs her attention to the RiverClan deputy, who issues her and Beepaw a challenge. Would I have brought them here if they were a threat?

The younger lead warrior stifles her frustration, her lip curling. She lets her tail lash out behind her once. “With all due respect, Lichentail, I don’t—” She halts, gaze flicking to where Smokestar jerks awake. Life returns to a formerly still and glazed amber eye, the fire stoked and returning with a vengeance. There’s fear there, regrettably—to see it is like tasting blood. He asks Lichentail if the rogues have gone, and she’s quick to reassure him.

Iciclefang’s stare shoots toward Dawnstorm, who pleads for cats’ lives—other rogues, rogues who don’t belong in their Clan, who never should have integrated. Her expression is bitter, but she does not respond, and she does not finish her thought. She is a lead warrior, but her voice is meaningless in a sea of complacency, she thinks with a sick feeling in her stomach.

, ”​

​

 

[Asphodelrain]

*+:｡.｡ "The former ripple colony members ought to be put on probation!" Perhaps it was the naivety of youth making him so bold or the terror that ignited in him seeing the blood pool from Smokestar's throat and mouth as he painfully revived himself, but Asphodelpaw couldn't keep his jaw shut on the matter.

Smokestar was dead, half-dead now, and thank Starclan he'd be fine soon enough but the man had been brought back home deceased, and yet Pikesplash and Willowroot were all too quick to defend the potential threats still lingering near Sootstar! Asphodelpaw's blood boiled, finding himself baring his teeth in agreement with Iciclefang as his pale icy blue eyes shot daggers at the other two Ripple-cats. Dawnstorm and Dewcloud look meek and uncertain - one might say shameful. Because they, too, had wanted to kill Smokestar? Because they regretted not running away with their allies? Because they knew they were only lingering to be moles?!

No one expected Deacon and Sasha - they didn't ever deserve clan names, ungrateful traitors! - to betray them, who's to say Dawnstorm and Dewcloud, or any of the other Ripple cats won't follow in their allies's paw steps? "Until we can be certain of their loyalty, how can we just forgive and forget their connection to murderers?" Asphodelpaw spits, snapping his gaze over the gathering to stare accusatorily at the other former Ripple-colony members. If Asphodelpaw were the leader, he'd have them prove it by eating absolutely last. By working extra shifts, training again like apprentices, make them all 'paws until they earn their warrior names back! It was the least they could do!

After all, had Dewcloud and Dawnstorm done anything to defend Smokestar?

*+:｡.｡ Updated 11/22/23

• 
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ☆ Asphodelpaw
  ☆ DMAB— He/Him — Unsure
  ☆ 8 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ☆ Mentored by Crashingtide
  ☆ Riverclan — Apprentice
  
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ☆ Physically easy | mentally medium
  ☆ Attack in bold #9fc3fc
  injuries: None currently

​

 

[RAVENSONG]

He jolts out from his den at a slower pace than Moonpaw. His paws still feel heavy and difficult to drag. The Clan has gathered around them and Ravensong shoulders past a few to get to where their leader lay. His eyes grow wide as he examines Smokestar, breathing a sigh of relief when his lung inflate and expel air once again. He must be exhausted, Ravensong thinks.

The medicine cat had been wary of the ripple colony, though that wariness had only been held at the beginning of their merge. He had been more focused on the practicality of now suddenly having to support several more cats with the limited amount of herbs he had in the wintry season. That wariness had waned now that the colony cats settled into their role. It was like a grain of sand being made into a pearl. What was once an irritant had become part of their culture.

He is not involved in politics so he allows the council to settle themselves. He glances at Lichentail with a look of wariness before directing his attention to Smokestar. "You do need to rest, and I will have to continue looking you over in the medicine den. It is too crowded here."

☾₊ ⊹ темная ночь — dark is the night

•  
• 
  RAVENSONG of RIVERCLAN — LH BLACK POLYDACTYL MALE (CARRYING CINNAMON, DILUTE) a tall, slender creature with pitch-black feathery fur, large ears, and a sharply angled skull held up in an aloof manner. smells of dried herb, speaks with a low and rumbly accent and walks with an elegant slinking gait.
  
  — born in twolegplace and orphaned at a young age, he joined riverclan at its inception and began training as a drypaw warrior known for a bitter temperment until beesong made him his medicine cat apprentice. after his mentor's untimely death, he had been named ravensong at the moonstone, young heart revitalized with anger and guilt. he is a somber and thorough medicine cat that guards every word spoken in the confines of his den.
  
  — secretly loves "the stars but not so much what inhabits them" — openly suffers from chronic migraines — single, but "it's complicated"

​

 

[CRASHINGTIDE]

The large feline padded up towards his apprentice and motioned with his tail to silence the other. "Hush yerself, Asphodelpaw." His words were harsh towards his apprentice. "Lichentail has probably already thought of that. They are deputy after all." The titan looked to the gray tabby and hoped that for all of their sakes that they had. The warrior grew quiet once more. Traitors and their blood...sometimes the blood of the covenant was stronger than the water of the womb. Other times, blood is thicker than water. He held onto a hope that those related to the traitors would be faithful to the clan rather than faithful to their kin.

"Probation isn't gonna do anythin' other than make them wander in their loyalty. Believe they ain't a part of the clan." He spoke up in defense of the others. They were all part of RiverClan, all of them. No matter if they were Marsh colony, Ripple colony, loners, or rogues. They took their clan names and had taken an oath of sorts to defend RiverClan from its enemies. To be faithful. "Stars above, y'all have fish for brains sometimes. Two rogue cats don't make all of 'em traitors. So, give them a chance to show their loyalty."
​

RIVERCLAN ✦ WARRIOR ✦ 26 MOONS ✦ BROWN TABBY​

​

 

[DEWCLOUD]

Dewcloud feels like he’s going to be sick.

Everything’s gone wrong. They walked as four with Smokestar and Lichentail, and now they return as two. Cedarblaze and Thornmask are no more, but Sasha and Deacon again. And Deacon… Deacon killed Smokestar. His friend, his colony-mate. They are neither anymore, after this.

He keeps close to Dawnstorm as they walk home in stark silence, for Dawnstorm may be all he has left — his closest friend out of all of them, Dewcloud doesn’t think he can lose him either. So he keeps close, as if straying any further during their death march home would make Dawnstorm change his mind, as if looking away for a split second would be cause for the older tom’s disappearance.

He knows this looks bad, as they return to camp. He knows all of this looks bad, because it is bad, and he knows that because he saw it with his own eyes. Dewcloud is knows, and yet finds himself sucking in a breath at Lichentail’s words.

Kill them on sight.

Should he have done so, in the unexpected throes of battle? Should he have done what the Moon wishes for then, so he wouldn’t have to speak the words now? The thought of sinking his claws into another Ripple cat’s throat — the thought of killing faces who’d looked after him in his youth — makes him dizzy, makes his head dip to focus his gaze on his paws.

And the RiverClanners’ words. They do not help at all.

“ No! No, we — “ Dewcloud stammers out, a wide eyed gaze pointed toward the crowd, his heart pounding against his chest. We’re not like them! Couldn’t they see? Couldn’t they see they weren’t Deacon, weren’t Sasha? Dawnstorm and him, they’d sworn by Smokestar. He promised to do better, but better doesn’t seem to be enough for the judgmental gazes that burn into his pelt, seething words that make him wonder if the order to kill will be extended to them too.

Dawnstorm must think the same. He is shielded from view, but not from their scrutiny. Stay close, he’s told, but he’s been listening before the patchworked tom could even give him orders. The elder council might’ve been proud of him, for how well he listens, for once.

And though Lichentail comes to aid — though others do too — it feels like a losing cause, just as hoping the four of them would stick together through this had been. Don’t hurt them, Dawnstorm says. Dewcloud braces for the worst.

Ears flat against his head, the gray tom closes his eyes tightly, pressing his face into two-toned fur. If there truly is a StarClan like the River says there is, he prays to them for this nightmare to be over soon. ​

✦ ABOUT

• 

  DEW ‣ DEWCLOUD
  ── Warrior of RiverClan
  
  ── ??? x ???
  ── AMAB; He/Him
  ── A gray tabby and white tom with blue eyes.
  ── Mentored by the Ripple Colony
  ── "Speech"; Attack​

​