wait for me / trying to fish

[dovethroat.]

Something has struck Dovethroat as odd as of late, and yet he has not really bothered to tell anyone. Talking about it felt much too silly just on principle alone—there was hardly reason to even think about it, he scolded himself, let alone worry about it. Such inner conflict has resulted in his attempts to rectify this awkward malaise to be taken out without incident, without announcement, without involvement of any other people as far as he can allow it. Of course, people will notice things. That was unfortunate—for Dovethroat, anyway. Being not noticed was very easy. It got rid of a lot of stress.

Dovethroat has not successfully caught even one fish since the journey began.

There, he said it. Or thought it, one supposes—at least, this was the first time he was thinking about in unabashedly, without any sort of self-censoring in his inner soliloquy. it was not as if he was not contributing any sort of food at all; he just was not catching fish. The competency he had in it had vanished, it seemed, alongside his departure from the RiverClan camp. It's vexing, it's embarrassing, and it's a little worrying. It makes him think of how far he is away from home, from Ravensong. Will they be gone for so long that Ravensong will hardly care at all when he returns?

I mean, Dovethroat thinks bitterly. He spends so much time with Snakeblink; he probably wants to be with him more, anyway.

Frowning and huffing, Dovethroat had positioned himself at the side of a creek for the past much too long, pointlessly fiddling his paw in and out of the water. Nothing. No successes. He leans over to catch his reflection. ...Maybe Ravensong would like it more if I had bigger ears?

A fish darts out next to him, and he lets out a stupid-sounding yelp as he fails to nab that one, as well.

[⋆]​

​

 

[Orangestar]

𝐵𝑈𝑇 𝑇𝑂 𝐴 𝑊𝑂𝑀𝐴𝑁, 𝐵𝑌 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐸𝑁𝐷 ✧ 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐋𝐋 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀

• 
  
  — orangeblossom | tags
  — she/her ; deputy of skyclan, mentoring eveningpaw.
  — scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes.
  — "speech" ; thoughts
  — chibi by waluigipinball
  — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
  
  

​

"I'm no RiverClanner, but I don't think that's how it's done." Orangeblossom rumbles to the nervous-looking tomcat, his yellow eyes wide and ears flat as a fish jumps out of the water next to him. She, personally, has not noticed Dovethroat's plight; she doesn't eat fish, has no idea how to catch them, and therefore does not care. However, seeing the young warrior struggle like this, recoiling as if stung by the splash, does strike some small chord within. A mentor's instinct, or a mother's, she doesn't know.

"Are the fish here different to back home, or is it something else?" She queries, dully curious underneath the familiar furrow of her brow. He doesn't owe her an answer, though in lieu of past discussions she wonders if he will do so anyway.
​

 

[hazecloud]

Like moths to a flame a RiverClan cat always finds their way to water. It should be no surprise to find Hazecloud looming over the waters surface, patient, quiet. Much like Dovethroat she is deeply hidden herself under the wight of her own thoughts. Much to her dislike she can still hear the echoes of animosity as she peered at her reflection. No matter how hard they prevailed, how much they conquered despite the odds mounted against them, she can't shake it off.

Rookfang had drawn a type out her stubborn roots in the worst of ways. Part of her felt guilty about their fight. For not sparing the moment to really listen or look at her decision from his perspective. Deep down she knew even if she had it wouldn't have changed her mind, that she would still be just as adamant about leaving, but could she have been kinder about it? Of course, but she hadn't.

Lichentail wouldn't have bothered to argue with me about it. The thought even surprised herself. The guilt twisted itself further into her belly.

Hazecloud would have felt grateful for Dovethroat's sudden disruption as it pulled her away from the depths, but it was quickly replaced with wavering displeasure.

"... and be gentle to Dovethroat." She had promised to abide by Ravensong's request, so instead she directed her attention to the SkyClan deputy that caught his fumble. "The water's certainly much colder." She offered Orangeblossom coolly. "I wouldn't even want to swim in this."​

 

[nightbird]

the water was cool and crisp from where nightbird drank, much akin to the half frozen streams that ran through thunderclan's territory during leaf-bare. perhaps if she closed her eyes she could pretend that she were surrounded by snow covered oaks, surrounded by only those she was familiar with. but there was no sense in pretending, letting her imagination wander for even a moment wouldn't provide any comfort because she wasn't there, and wouldn't be for stars know how long.

a yelp has her head pulling sharply upstream where she found a dusty-furred riverclanner peering over the edge, dovethroat, if she remembered correctly from their time in the caves. his paws were wet from failed attempts at fishing, something the skyclan deputy is sure to point out before she gets the chance. hazecloud speaks of the water's temperature, nightbird's ears twitching in recognition. her nose was ice cold by now, water lapping up and over the surface. "fish seem to like it just fine." fine enough to choose staying in it rather than getting swept out by a paw, but perhaps neither option was superior. still, she dips her head again to drink from their home.

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
  
  

• 

• NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, twenty-six moons
  ⭃ nightbird is a small black smoke molly with pale silver eyes. a loner turned thunderclanner, her loyalty and drive to provide for her clan is unwavering. however, she is not known for harboring a bleeding heart, instead equipped with sarcastically fueled wit, brutal honesty, and a sharply edged tongue.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[DUSKPOOL]

anger makes you stupid . stupid gets you killed .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

He watched the RiverClanner fail, turning a deadpan gaze to Hazecloud, tail flickering. “Freeze yer fur off.” He muttered, coming to settle a little away from the bunch, staring at the liquid death with a crinkled nose. He sure wouldn’t be thrilled if they had to cross another river, no less in the cold weather that made his bones groan in protest.

“Got somethin’ on that brain of yers, kiddo?” He pivoted, staring at Dovethroat with a raised brow. “Don’t need to tell me, but fish are slippery buggers.” He grunted, tone deadpan. He hadn’t paid much attention to the warrior, but watchin’ the other out of his peripherals made him wonder. ​

​

thought speech​

 

[dovethroat.]

He is not even sure how much the rest of the journey-goers care about his undeniable connection to Hyacinthbreath, though she seems to be unpopular with just about every crowd. Even if Dovethroat cannot logically find much blame to give them, he still finds it rude. Regardless, being unable to fish well, combined with all else that was known about him; it was quite difficult to not start feeling like the black sheep of the RiverClan delegation more and more.

His paw soaked with mountain-cold water, he shakes it out with an unusual amount of disdain for wetness. "I—" he fails to protest successfully for very long. "N-No, it's—it isn't, I... I just l-lost... my focus." He blew out a breath, lowering onto his haunches as he continued to search through the water. The very act of it, though, was beginning to make him feel sick to his stomach. The water seems loud and unforgiving, and he wants to be rid of it.

"It's... th-that must be it." Trying to convince himself, he goes along with Hazecloud's explanation that any sort of deficiency is a result of how cold the water is. Dovethroat hated the cold, anyway. That made sense; even if he knows, deep down, that it is wrong. But he does not know what is right, either. He looks over at Duskpool, and he very nearly flinches. "Ah... that's—I—" he tries to come up with an answer that is mostly true, at least. "I've—I've j-just been on edge. Since the caves. My b-bad."

[⋆]​

​