private TOY SOLDIERS OFF TO WAR — addervenom

[WEASELCLAW]

Unlike Cottonpaw, Addervenom is not accustomed to awakening from slumber and finding himself in a new place. Tonight, his eyes peel open to seek velvet darkness, oppressively pushing at him from all sides. Tonight, he rises to his paws and feels vines and soggy, mold-littered leaves squish beneath his paws. Tonight, he lifts his head toward the sky, aching to see stars, to see the moon, and he sees nothing but blackness. If he were to part his jaws to taste the air, he would possibly recoil—there is no cat-scent, no prey-scent, only the bloated and terrible taste of carrion.

The overgrowth rustles. A scarred tabby apparition, a mimicry of the living pale tabby Addervenom presents as, slithers from the shadows. Narrow blue eyes meet lively copper. He does not look like the father Addervenom had known, once—his movements are stiff, his voice scratchy and dry—but he will recognize him as such all the same.

Weaselclaw weaves himself around the striped warrior he once called his son. His teeth are bared, though no moonlight glints from their surface. “And you, you wretched fool,” he growls, and the sound is like peeling a dead body from stiff grass, “how dare you betray Sootstar in favor of that fool who leads you now?”

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[Addervenom]

Roused from his slumber by the putrid stench of rot and decay, Addervenom's gaze snaps open. His lungs burn with the need for a fresh moorland breeze that never comes. Instead, the tom found himself surrounded by a darkness that could nearly be felt. Every corner threatening to suck him in and swallow him whole. In the midst of pushing himself to mismatched paws his gaze snaps to and fro. Gnarled trees stretch their warped and twisted limbs toward a sky void of light. Rancid moisture oozes between his toes as he steps in a tight circle to better view his surroundings. Everything around him either smelt or looked of death, prompting the uncomfortable rise of his bristling nape. This was not windclan.

Amid his confusion the underbrush rustles, soggy ferns peeling back to reveal a ghost of his past. A new layer of fear weighs upon the tabby as his heart thunders within his chest. "Father..." The word comes out half-choked and with trembling. Weasleclaw tattered, marred. He was but a shell of his former self. A far cry from the burly tom he'd looked up to in his younger days. Nightmares often plagued him throughout the night but none felt as real as this especially once the normally silent apparition that would stare on in his dreams spoke. Weasleclaw's growl sent threads of ice through Addervenom's veins, face contorting into a grimace full of remorse.

Every word spat felt like a physical blow. Like salt poured and scoured into an already festering wound. An apology creeps its way to the edge of his lips and his maw opens partially but no words follow. Tufted ears pivot to hug his broad skull, head dipping low and immediately the typically haughty warrior is humble and meek before the ragged remains of his father. His eyes narrow, glowering at the ground as shame adds another heavy layer to his back. "I didn't want to, you should know that." He admits, sincerity leaking into his tone. "Regret clings to me everyday. Everyone is just so happy now that mother is gone and I...I hate it." He mutters through gritted teeth, claws digging into wet soil. ​

»»———- windclan warrior / seventeen moons old / he/him ———-««​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Addervenom is surprised—that much is clear from the glow of his ember-stoked eyes. His son has grown into a finely-built warrior, with a thick, luscious silvery-brown pelt, impressively lean and swift, bared fangs. But his constitution—was it sufficient? Weaselclaw eyes his firstborn son with gleaming blue pits. He’s pleased to see Addervenom’s mannerisms; the tabby dips his head, his ears twisting to flatten against his skull. Those flame-colored eyes dip toward the ground, to where his paws squelch through the muck of the forest of darkness.

“You had your chance, Addervenom,” he hisses; the sound is serpentine. “You and Bluefrost both had your chance to die for Sootstar, and you both failed her.” His tail whisks behind him, and he begins to circle his son—much the way he had begun to circle his daughter. There is power in his movements, despite how stiffly the joints roll.

“But there is guilt in your heart, I see,” Weaselclaw mutters. “Your mother will not face you now, not now that you’ve betrayed her. Should I do the same, son? Should I abandon you here, lost forever in this Dark Forest?” His lips split into a grin, revealing cracked and yellowed teeth.

, ”​

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[Addervenom]

The frown decorating his maw pulls tighter in light of Weasleclaw's words. Guilt twists its paralyzing knife deeper as the older male reminds him of his failures. Of his betrayal. Blazing amber eyes clamp shut as the haunting memory floods his mind. The sight of his clanmates all seeking their pound of flesh against Sootstar's already battered figure made his muzzle wrinkle. "I didn't know he would kill her, he had no right. His pelt prickles further as unforgiveness seeps into his tone. His idea that Sootstar would've been given a season of rest to return to her senses was dashed when Sunstar raised a paw against her. "I would have fought until my last breath had I known." He breathed raggedly, opening his eyes once more to find the former lead warrior circling him like a vulture over carrion.

He couldn't imagine a world without Sootstar in it, knowing that he practically played a part in her death ate away at him day and night. Once the eerie grin splits his father's lips, Addervenom raises his voice. "No!" The word echos around them. Not out of disrespect, or demand. But of desperation. "No...please." His eyes stretch wider, following the horrid figure of his father as he rambles on. "After all this time you've finally spoken to me, it must be for a reason. Mother's legacy, I haven't forgotten. Windclan wishes to forget it, but I swear to bring it back." Turning again he steps close, seeking any form of trust in the phantom's searing blue eyes.

" Mother was it's founder. Windclan has always been under our family's control. I've been biding time...looking for opportunities. But without trust or influence my progress has been slim..." Scorchstreak watched him like a hawk and if Sunstar still held doubts the tom didn't make it obvious. What he needed was guidance. Besides Bluefrost, Sootspot was perhaps the only other cat he'd assume would aid him. Addervenom admired his half-brother's intelligence and cunning, but his confidence in asking Sootspot was nonexistent. ​

»»———- windclan warrior / seventeen moons old / he/him ———-««​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Weaselclaw shakes with his anger in a way he had not done with Cottonpaw. “That damned sickness stole me from her side, but I went to my death content, knowing our children were true and loyal,” he hisses. Weaselclaw watches the flicker of Addervenom’s eyelids as they slip over burning copper eyes—as he relives the memory of his mother’s death. The tattered tabby warrior slinks closer, his rancid breath hot against his son’s face. “I would have fought harder, had I known what a craven you would turn out to be! I would have died fighting them, but you stood there and watched!”

His chest deflates as the breath leaves him. Addervenom yelps, No! Pleads for him to stay. That brings a smile to his broken lips. Mother’s legacy—I haven’t forgotten. WindClan wishes to forget it, but I swear to bring it back. “Perhaps there’s still some of what I taught you buried down under there, after all,” he murmurs, raking blue eyes over his firstborn son’s pale tabby pelt. “But you cannot hope to do this alone. You’ll need my help… my guidance.”

Weaselclaw lifts his claws. There is no light to glint off of their sharpened tips. He attempts to draw them across Addervenom’s chest, where Sootstar’s scar still marks Weaselclaw in death. If successful, he will pull away, admiring his work. “We will meet again, Addervenom. Don’t forget what you’ve vowed here tonight.”

With that, he slinks away, into the darkness, shrinking against the starless night sky.

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[Addervenom]

The tongue-lashing continues but he takes it, receiving every blow intended because this is what he deserves. Had he stood remained diligent and not fallen for Sunstar's smooth words his father would have been proud of him and Sootstar would not have shunned him even in the bowels of death. But somewhere along the line the agitated tabby stops and it seems as if Addervenom's words have soothed his anger. "But you cannot hope to do this alone. You'll need my help...my guidance." Hope flickers behind his gaze as the building fear begins to ebb to some degree. Weasleclaw would not abandon him in this dark, fallen world.

He gives the older tom a hasty nod of his head, spotting the paw that lifts against him only after it strikes to cleave against his flesh. His fangs clench, grinding together as crimson wells to the surface. "Don't forget what you've vowed here tonight." He eyes the former lead as they turn to leave. "I won't. You have my word." He speaks into the darkness. "I will not fail again..." He vows to himself as the world around him begins to swallow him whole. ​

»»———- windclan warrior / seventeen moons old / he/him ———-««​