wrap my teeth around the world

Bounceheart

i've found catharsis in every wave
Oct 17, 2022
74
4
8
bounceheart ✧ she/her ✧ riverclan warrior (=˃ᆺ˂=)


Things have changed.

If she had nothing else, there would be RiverClan. Their fate was outlined in the stars. As the moons crawled by, she stuck to her daily tasks. Fish. Patrol. Head count.. repeat. As of late, there had been a disruption in her routine. There was a dream that kept revisiting her. It was as though she was sleeping in the warriors' den, only to smell burning around her. There was heat, but it didn't burn- and she couldn't open her eyes. All she was left with, was total comfort. No fear. It was as though she was floating.
When she woke, the smoky smell lingered for just long enough to panic about a fire. Only, there never was any.

A huff was the only sign she gave of waking up. There was no burning den around her, and everyone was safe. In the distance, she could hear the usual sounds of the night - which was not much around here. After a moment of laying in the den, contemplating the meaning of whatever message she was presented with, it became obvious she would not be returning to sleep. So, she headed out to the camp. Above their heads, the skyline was beginning to glow as morning creeped upon them.

It was too early for a patrol, so she instead would find her way to the river to do some fishing. Over the past few months, she had really honed in on that skill. As the tabby sat on the water's edge, she waited for the slightest movement under the waters- and then she would strike. A sharp gasp could be heard as she emerged from the crisp waters, a fat trout flapping from her jaws. Overwhelmed by excitement, Bounceheart squealed as she struggled to pull it and herself from the waters. Last year, she could hardly catch a minnow. Now, she was fighting a trout for breakfast.
"You're mine, baby!"

 

Carp-paw had began to struggle to sleep as soon as a cruel line was carved into her. Her back, her side, her heart, where her grandmother had run away. Despite the betrayal, something that she may never come to understand, Carp-paw had attempted to steady herself and return to the den where she had rested before hand. The apprentice's den was fine, and all- but waking up next to dead bodies really did something to a young cat's mind.

Earlier then normal is Carppaw stirred from her sleep. Something about the acid choking her in the throat was distasteful, so she pushed herself to her paws, wandering out into camp just as dawn began to break. Blue eyes blinked towards the sunrise. Padding towards the river's edge for an early morning drink- and to get that taste out of her throat- the squealing of a warrior caused her brief shock. The apprentice stood straight, vision snapping towards Bounceheart- only to relax, picking up her back to approach the warrior.

"Come on! You got it!" Carppaw cheered, quietly- she didn't want to wake the whole camp and forest- but she was watching with great interest, her initial departure from the apprentice's den forgotten.




  • 1.png
  • CARP-PAW she/her, apprentice of riverclan, six moons
    a shorthaired black smoke with blue eyes. her deep smoke colored mottled pelt making for good camouflage in the dark. white mottles her pelt here and there. born to riverclan, she lived peacefully until the rogue attack. sustaining a back injury, she's fallen quiet. loyal to her clan, wants only to make them stronger, but she's terrified of falling short again. the large scar across her back is obvious, and her once-curious nature is now timid.
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
    penned by you@dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

Though he was a warrior now, Ferngill still felt rather often as if he had catching up to do. For so long, he'd gone through his apprenticeship without a single fish to his name. Through the struggle of catching up, of re-learning how to fish with one eye, getting up early had become part of Ferngill's routine. Dawn hadn't struck quite yet, and the sky was bruised with the aftermath of night. Ferngill lit his eye rest upon the sky for a few moments, admiring the gossamer smudge of the clouds, before making his own way to the river. An early-morning swim would wake him up...

Jaws split in a yawn, coaxing tears to prickle at the corners of his eyes- through the bur of drowsiness he spotted Carp-paw cheering on Bounceheart at the river's edge, and a smile eked slowly at his lips before it became a full grin. "Getting up early pays off, huh...?" he asked, voice hoarse with morning croak but holding a fair amount of cheerful approval to it.
penned by pin
 
Since recent events Moonpaw had found herself sleeping more lightly than usual. Unsure of if another attack would come - whether it be from rogues or WindClan - caused her to be on edge and although she found herself getting more comfortable within camp once more, she was never fully blissfully unaware of her surroundings as she had once been. She had yet to get back to her normal sleep schedule, waking up earlier the past couple days to see the cats coming back from the gathering as well as catch Smokestar coming back from the moonstone. Now she was awake simply because her body said she must be, and so carefully moving from her nest the white apprentice stretched before padding out towards the edge of camp to get some water, much like Carp-paw.

Though as she heard the noise coming from nearby she quickly took a step back, no longer needing the water to wake her up as she had just been scared awake by the sudden noise so early in the morning. Fur lie flat when she saw who it was and quickly the girl licked the fur on her chest to smooth it down before ears swiveled around listening to the soft words of those around her. Head nod in response to Ferngill's words "Maybe we should start fishing earlier since Bounceheart seemed to do so well." She'd comment, lighthearted as she thought about it. She didn't want to get up any earlier than she was now, but food was food and Bounceheart had caught a monster of a fish. It'd feed so many.

  • 72197262_ih0kl09k9BIlFkG.png
    ratkit - ratpaw - moonpaw - moon???
    ⋆ female - she/her - 7 moons
    ⋆ homosexual - not looking
    ⋆ apprentice of riverclan
    ⋆ peaceful powerplay allowed
    attack - "speech" - thought
    ⋆ penned by tikki
 
bounceheart ✧ she/her ✧ riverclan warrior (=˃ᆺ˂=)
All it took to silence the trout was a crook of the neck. It was quick, but she sat with her teeth sunken in for a moment as though she was expecting it to come back to life and continue its struggle. That was not the case. When the warrior felt that it was really dead, for real, she heaved it up the bank between them all like some sort of spectacle. Even she was wondering how she had pulled off such a feat. Disbelief was struck across her face, as she stared at the now-deceased fish at their paws.

"If I caught something like this every morning, I would only sleep during the day," she commented. To date, that had to be the largest fish she had pulled from the river. It wasn't huge, but it was certainly bigger than some of the apprentices they had around the clan. Considering how young they were, she almost felt afraid for them in the future - what if they had to battle before they were ready? What if they didn't teach them enough to win? She had seen creatures twice her size, even more massive. Not to mention the ruthless rogues; she was no stranger to them. Clan life was much more gentle and pleasant than what you could experience outside of it. Being part of a community meant you always had someone to care for you, and vice versa. No one would ever be forced to fend for themselves - it was all about the well-being of the Clan, as a whole.

Pondering of outside dangers was cut short as she realized that she was actually staring at two apprentices, lively and bright-eyed (or close enough to it) so early in the morning. "What has you two up? Preparing for a nap later?" The question was raised jokingly, though her ears pricked curiously for an actual answer. ​
 

Sleepiness half closed his eyes, but awe still glimmered across his sighted eye as Bounceheart hauled the fish to shore, a bold daub of pride across her face. It was a good catch- not a talented fisher, Ferngill imagined it would be quite a few moons before he managed to haul something like that to camp, especially with... distance issues, he'd been prone to calling them. Judging his aim had been much more challenging since his injury, and though he was a passable fisher now, he was by no means so excellent that he could haul a trout to shore.

His days of writhing envy were over, though. What a miserable life it'd be, to dwell in how behind he had been! The emotion he felt was clean and simple, displayed upon his face as brightly as the greenleaf golden-hour sun, blazing. Moonpaw words coaxed an easy laugh from him. "Yeah- bet he's regretting waking up so early," Ferngill joked, gesturing to the fish with a paw. A joyful eye found Bounceheart, then. "Could ask you the same question. Destiny or something must've woken you up for this, and woken us up to see it."

It was something of a joke, but Ferngill did not keep secret his genuine beliefs in superstition, luck, and karma. Maybe Bounceheart had recently done something worth rewarding, and she'd been blessed with a sixth sense.
penned by pin
 
bounceheart ✧ she/her ✧ riverclan warrior (=˃ᆺ˂=)
That glint of pride was wiped from her face at Ferngill's mention of destiny. Destiny was such a complicated subject - something she spent nearly every second pondering in her mind. What was her purpose? What was their purpose in the clans, if it was not to have peace? What did she want, and why couldn't she have it? And what was tethering her here?
The brain vomit continued as she stared through the russet warrior. Considering karma and cosmic balance felt blasphemic with StarClan in play. Or, the opposite, since they were.. the stars. The whole matter was still conflicting for her. Starry cats could not be responsible for every happenstance and struggle. And then there was the dream. Ueventful, dark and warm with a hint of smoke. "I had a weird dream," she explained cooly. "I suppose you could call it destiny. We all came here to watch an elder buffet!" If she knew anything, it was how to insert comedy as a segway out of a conversation. No need to ponder the gravity of dreams aloud. ​
 
Last edited:
*+:。.。 "I believe we're going to need to change the phrase to 'The early Bounceheart catches the trout' from now on" Silverbreath laughed amicably, approaching with a pep in his step thanks to all this contagious joy. It made his heart swell to see his clanmates being so quick to praise the silver she-cat - sure, supporting one another was a trait expected of cats living and fighting together, but it was still nice to see it in action. His ears did perk up however when, seemingly out of nowhere, Bounceheart became deadly serious. For a split moment, he thought she was about to say a starclanner had visited her in that 'weird dream', leading her to this miracle catch - what a weird time to send a prophetic message indeed! And ultimately she did reveal a message for the future - a prediction of a grand feast to come! Another guffaw leaves the relaxed warrior's maw, "You should ask Ravensong if there's a spot open for another medicine cat, what with a talent for prediction as accurate as that!"

Waking early in the morning was nothing new to Silverbreath. It's how he got his name, actually! So it was nice to be able to be the one joining cats in their early dawn adventure for once. He takes his spot comfortably beside Carp-paw, gently wrapping his tail around hers in a subtle show of affection. When do young cats stop appreciating their dads lovingly harassing them again? Honestly, he'd much rather pull her into a hug - tuck her little body under his chest like a mother bird, just like when she was an itty bitty kitten so small even his thin coat managed to blanket her away from sight! But he figured she'd appreciate a more out-of-sight form of endearment. Ah, the heartbreak of kits growing too quickly! Carp-paw he particularly enjoys seeing out and about on his favorite time of day...or, he would, if he wasn't acutely aware of how uncharacteristic this is for her. He makes a mental note about asking her for updates on her well-being. Maybe he'll even pull Moonpaw aside as well - young cats such as these two should sleep in as much as they can for the sake of their growing bodies!

But times are rough, he understands. Nightmares are at their darkest and fatherly forehead licks just won't cut it anymore in dispelling them. Thankfully happy events like these are a great distraction! "Why don't we all see if we can catch the next big trout? Make sure Bounceheart's prophecy comes true with as massive a feast as we can provide " he suggests with a cheer, lightly tugging on his little one's tail with his own to encourage her to follow as he makes his way to the bank.

"I'm quite envious of you, Bounceheart," Silverbreath purrs as he hovers over the water, lifting his usually sealed lids to stare into the depths, "my dreams are never so useful. They're always just about Carp-paw's kittenhood and the many times I've nearly tripped over her! Like this one time when she insisted I wasn't allowed to leave the nursery for a patrol-oh you wouldn't believe how adorable her little pout was!"






  • GENERAL:
    Silverbreath
    DMAB— He/Him — Bisexual
    35 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
    Father to Carp-paw

    Riverclan — Warrior





    COMBAT:
    Physically hard | mentally hard
    Attack in bold #7d7d7d
    injuries: None currently