Sunkissed Creek

[redshiftreign]

never tasted a sweet a poison as you have; you're an urge that can never be cured.
silver tongue always active.
[ @navarra [alderstep]

rowanhowl’s paws rested in the gently ebbing stream, refreshing new water rolling over them in slow motion. they reveled in the peace for all of seven seconds before alderstep began to stir. though they heard the huff of annoyance, the only indication was a flick of their ear. they’d heard plenty of ‘please shut up and die’ sounds over the moons from kithood to apprenticeship, long before they had learnt how to twist their words to soothe, or that the less you speak the more you say, or that one action is worth a thousand words- suddenly rowanhowl realized how much their life depended on their ability to speak in a way others fancied. now, it wasn’t often (nearly never) that they were on the receiving end of irritated sounds, so they had to admit alderstep’s annoyance (though not surprising them) had shaken their confidence a bit.

regardless, he dismissed the thought and instead prepared himself to answer alderstep’s question- er, more so demand.

“hm,” rowanhowl rolled his head slowly up and to the left, watching the tree canopy across the creek as if he was pausing to count, “ten seconds, give or take? not long, surely.” he had a way of speaking- (all those phrases and words and suaveness) -that made one wonder if he took ‘escort outsiders to the border’ as ‘gossip hour’.

a brief pause elapsed, stretched like eternity between the two, then rowanhowl quickly and smoothly delivered a playful comment, “a better question would be ’how long has our deputy been lying here asleep?’, i think.” his tone rose and fell in the distinct cadence of a question, and his smile was relaxed but the corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a faint smirk.

his gaze turned back towards the water, analyzing how it swirled and sloshed around his paws like miniature rapids. the fleeting thought of what may lie beyond the horizon far crossed his mind, but he purged it.

they were still reading the room, gauging how friendly or how distant they needed to be, choosing their words carefully and testing the waters. relaxed, calm, confident- charming. those were the words rowanhowl chose to be defined by, and that was exactly who they’d be.

[ this is definitely going to be interesting for sure; someone who’s very cocky and charismatic and someone who’s asocial and prickly- what could possibly go wrong?]

[shaae_26]

Originally Posted by poppy.

 

Listening to both warriors before picking her poison for today, the molly couldn't help admitting that fishing sounded cool. "Okay! Good luck, Sparky!" She chirped, skipping behind Eveningdance, sitting down beside him. "Can I watch you fish first, and then I'll try somewhere else?" She asked softly, not sure if fish had ears and could hear her if she was too loud.

[:sweats: totally didn't forget about this nuh uh]

Originally Posted by silverwynds

eveningdance // he/him // 44 moons
purrks: -

---

"Of course. It takes practice so do not feel discouraged if you do not catch anything."

And then he falls into silence. Fishing, in his opinion, was a skill even more difficult than land hunting, especially since Thunderclan didn't offer lessons in doing so. All of his practice had come from his own moons of continued practice and his fondness for the creek. He was no Riverclan cat, but he didn't have as much of a distaste for water as most others from his clan. Hunkering down to patiently wait for a perfect time to strike, he nearly forgets he's being watched. He's so honed in on the movement of the prey in the water before him that it slips his mind. Using his long limbs to his advantage, he swipes out into the water with a hooked paw to scoop a chub back towards land. It flops pathetically in the grass before he rounds upon it and delivers a swift bite to stop it's movement.

lotuspaw | @poppy. // sparkleap | @5H43_26

In his own part of the territory, Sparkleap started stalking a squirrel. He caught the chubby creature with ease and buried it while he searched for something more. It wasn't long before a sparrow fell into his catch too, and he then brought his two catches back to the others.

[alkaline]

alderstep

Okay, so that was better than what he'd expected. Ten seconds was better than a few minutes, or, daresay, an hour. Still, it was ten seconds too many. His glare flicked upward, momentarily following Rowanhowl's, but Alderstep quickly returned his glower back onto the other cat. If his company was looking to the heavens in hopes the stars would save them from his wrath, let them. It sure won't do them any good.

Especially since this guy just had to go and worsen it all with that extra, absolutely unnecessary comment. One side of Alderstep's lip peeled back into a half-snarl, and he hunched over even more. His dead stare worsened, glinting with flinty dislike. Maybe it was a good question. Stars, he was asking himself that all the time. Who was he to waste the clan's time with his selfish intent? Some fox-hearted creature that crawled up out of the sinkhole, perhaps. Sure felt like that.

But there was something so indignifying about that being said aloud (or at least implied) by a fellow clanmate. It made Alderstep feel like he'd had his insides strung out, displayed to any passerby. Like someone pointed at him and confidently declared, 'That's a bird!' It felt wrong. So, so, so very wrong. He'd swear he wasn't dozing off when he could be doing an infinite amount of better, more useful things, but he didn't swear falsified oaths. Or so he thought.

Every ounce of self-respect within Alderstep had either shriveled up and died upon Rowanhowl's question, or cried out with agony then begged him to say something snarky in reply to salvage his image. To prove that he could technically be here and that it was okay to be here. His shoulders drew up, tense with anticipation of what he'd say back to the agitating presence that was Rowanhowl.

Except the guy had looked away as if he didn't really care? Of course, that made no sense since they'd asked the question in the first place so clearly they wanted an answer, unless it was rhetorical. Then Alderstep would've just wasted more of his time overthinking, as he was wont to do, left only with a bruised heart. Not that he should care anyway. It's just that he did. Sort of.

So saying, "Yeah? Don't care," came to his unknowing surprise. Alderstep had full well intended to just sit there in that silence that he loved to frolic in, but clearly, his voice had other things planned. Oh well, the worst thing that could happen would be Rowanhowl going back to camp and decreeing that he was a weird loser who says random things and sleeps like a half-dead insect. Which still sounded pretty bad, so Alderstep cringed internally and pretended to study the sky and its very interesting clouds to save himself some embarrassment.

[ @redshiftreign ]

[redshiftreign]

never tasted as sweet a poison as you have; you’re an urge that can never be cured.
silver tongue always active.
[ @navarra [alderstep]

those three angry words sent rowanhowl into a low, deeply amused chuckle that lasted several long moments. sunlight danced on their thick pelt as it shook with the rock of their laughter. something about it— maybe it was how used they’d grown to nearly unconditional amicability with fellow thunderclanners, or perhaps it was just apart of who they were, but regardless the long-furred feline seemed to find the hostility amusing. their voice had a strange cadence, some words trail a bit longer than they should with an occasional waver or crack- like a soft hum, or a howl. it was especially noticable when they were laughing, because short chuckles turned into shaking hoots.

“good for you, adlerstep. good for you,” he ended his chuckling with a soft shake of his head, “everyone needs a break sometimes, so don’t mistake my teasing for criticism,“

that was rowanhowl’s biggest strenght, not the way he can use his size to slam down opponents or the way he could smooth over any minor dissagreement- no, his biggest strenght was the way he let hostility and insult slide off disregarded like water from an otter’s fur. he was okay with it, and that allowed him to smile at alderstep despite the very obvious boiling rage coming off of him in droves.

the whistle of midmorning birdsong lived in the trees above, and a distant mockingbird stole rowanhowl’s gaze. it perched stop one of the conifers on the far side of the stream, singing proudly the songs of other birds it had heard. rowanhowl tilted his head slightly, wondering what it would be like to have the voice and wings of a bird. how far would he travel? how many songs are there to sing? what lies beyond the far horizon at the end of the world?

they glanced back at adlerstep, “you’re an interesting fellow, alderstep,” rowanhowl said, their honest opinion, “oh, and prickly,” they added with a musing tone. they had to admit, it was pretty fun to try and guess what his reaction might next be. a guilty pleasue of rowanhowl’s was talking to the meanest, most asocial cats who had little care for his sweet and charming words. it humbled him.

[sorry for the delay! been busy with jrotc.]

[alkaline]

alderstep

As the saying goes, you hear something new every day. Alderstep unamusedly watched Rowanhowl shake with mirth. His ears shifted back, briefly interpreting the laughter as derisive because the tabby was completely sure he hadn't even attempted to be an ounce comedic. And yet here the other guy was, practically howling at his expense. Because that's what it was, right?

Nope, wrong. He really had wasted so much of his worrying capacity overthinking just then. It took every bit of Alderstep's self-control to not physically cringe away. Stars, this was pathetic. The cat tore his sky from the blue skies, regarding Rowanhowl with new vigor. As quickly as it had come, the fight seeped out from his bones, wearing him down as he released the stiff tension from his body. Not to say that he was relieved. But. He was. If his escape, despondently disgusting as it was, had been infiltrated by the embodiment of his self-deprecating thoughts, Alderstep might have just snapped worse than the Thunderwillow.

Might have. Alderstep barely took in the smile of the other before their attention was snatched by the birdsong. Hesitantly, as if moving would make his ears burn worse, Alderstep shuffled his paws back close to his body and tucked down once again into a loaf as he observed Rowanhowl's traveling gaze. He scoffed lowly at the first thing the other warrior said, then scowled at the second addition. "Maybe," he muttered. Whatever constituted him as 'interesting' would remain a mystery to him, but at least Alderstep could understand being perceived as prickly. He put the most effort into maintaining that image, for sure.

Glad to know some people remembered that when talking to him. Seemed as if more and more cats were nagging at him with less fear. Not that he was complaining about being treated like a living being for once, but he'd never expected it to ever happen. Sometimes he could still feel the pull, tugging him away so he could fade away into the background of nothingness, just a name thrown around once in a blue moon.

[ @redshiftreign - no worries! (: ]

[poppy]

Originally Posted by spookywynds

eveningdance // he/him // 44 moons
purrks: -

---

"Of course. It takes practice so do not feel discouraged if you do not catch anything."

And then he falls into silence. Fishing, in his opinion, was a skill even more difficult than land hunting, especially since Thunderclan didn't offer lessons in doing so. All of his practice had come from his own moons of continued practice and his fondness for the creek. He was no Riverclan cat, but he didn't have as much of a distaste for water as most others from his clan. Hunkering down to patiently wait for a perfect time to strike, he nearly forgets he's being watched. He's so honed in on the movement of the prey in the water before him that it slips his mind. Using his long limbs to his advantage, he swipes out into the water with a hooked paw to scoop a chub back towards land. It flops pathetically in the grass before he rounds upon it and delivers a swift bite to stop it's movement.

lotuspaw | @poppy. // sparkleap | @5H43_26

Lotuspaw watched Eveningdance try to catch the fish, eyes widening at the impressive catch. "Wow! Good job, mister!" She chirped, moving along to crouch along the bank, searching the water for a fish of her own.

[redshiftreign]

never tasted a sweet a poison as you have; you're an urge that can never be cured.
silver tongue always active.
[ @val [alderstep] ]

rowanhowl’s ear flicked, head tilting slightly towards alderstep. he hated to admit, but there wasn’t much his suave words could do for the deputy, especially when he seemed to be looking for just about any reason to snarl at them. rowanhowl had to keep themself from laughing again- part of them admired alderstep’s dedication to being about as pleasant as a thorn-filled nest, and another part of them found it unfathomably intriguing. other cats are like a puzzle to be solved, a mystery to unfold and a tale to unravel. rowanhowl wondered how deep the metaphorical pool that is alderstep went, and if there would ever be a bottom to reach. they wondered how one might survive long enough to reach the bottom, even.

that was an interesting thought, for sure. though, they supposed, over analyzing their clan-mates isn’t exactly considered polite, and as much as they yearned to know what powered every decision and step made by this equally normal and odd feline, it would do them no good to pry and tread where they were unwanted and unwelcome. some mysteries were meant to remain unsolved, and some paths are forever blocked. rowanhowl had come to accept this, though it had been a hard bite of prey to swallow.

“well, as much as i enjoy your company,” he said with humor, again smirking, “i’d hate to overstay my welcome.”

rowanhowl rose to his paws, shaking leaf litter from his thick pelt. a stillness had settled in his bones from his small break, and he had to stifle the yawn forming in his chest. he did, however, allow himself a small stretch before flanking back the way he had came-

the russet reverse-point tomcat paused to look back over his shoulder, “alderstep,” rowanhowl addressed, “i know our paths don’t often cross, but, i’ll always welcome the opportunity to. . .” he made a small circle with his head, trying to think of the right words, “chat.”

with that, he turned back towards the treeline with graceful movements and began his exit with poised pawsteps, tail moving in rhythm with his steps. he walked in a manner that looked more like gliding than stepping, with precise and long strides. hunting, he thought, i ought to get back to hunting.

he’d hate to be perceived by anyone- especially not someone so renowned within his clan as alderstep - as annoying or pestering, so when he felt his quips were growing more a nuisance than he’d intended them, he had found the quickest out.
admittedly, he was a coward for turning tail so soon.
he was okay with that- he could admit that. he was not, however, okay with being annoying. anything to prevent that feeling again- the twisting, agonizing feeling of fading into the background like white noise, and having not a single valued word. he’d not permit that again; the dose of disregard he had received in his youth had been plenty for a lifetime in his opinion.

rowanhowl would be seen and heard. they would not be ignored or forgotten. it was selfish to want their name to be the word on every cat’s tongue, but it was his guilty desire to have and one they’d never deny. ask them; they’d speak nothing but the truth. whisper it with love, or sneer it with loathing- as long as it is heard.

[]

[stag]

Floodedshadow
17 Moons | He/They/Rain

[ grey and white tom, dark grey and black freckles, deep blue eyes ]

Mention(s): @elaif

↻ Floodedshadow had somehow managed to drag the deputy out to the newly taken creek, letting out a yawn, the cat stretched rain’s legs. They had no use for fishing, it served zero purpose unless he was in Riverclan. “Old man, how did y’all manage to steal this this anyways, considering that crazy leader Bumblebrain has like zero chill these moons. Did Dawnstar finally teach the mutt a lesson?” More of a rhetorical question but he was free to answer regardless. The young warrior flicks their tail wildly, white fur getting caught in the small breeze. The Tom lets out a faint hiss at the wind as it moved rain’s fur a bit uncontrollably, tail now settling down as they slammed a paw into the waters surface, scaring the fish around the area. The cat laid down in the spot, legs spread out in a sprawl as rain yawned once more, smacking his mouth open and closed a few times before fully closing it.

[LunaStar22]

Ivorypaw and her mentor would walk over to the Creek at sunrise just for fun.
"" COME ONNNN IFWE DONT PUT PEP IN UR STEP WE WILL NEVER MAKE THE SUNRISE LETS GOOO". She scowled @Spooky Galaxy

[Galaxy_]

Originally Posted by LunaStar22

Ivorypaw and her mentor would walk over to the Creek at sunrise just for fun.
"" COME ONNNN IFWE DONT PUT PEP IN UR STEP WE WILL NEVER MAKE THE SUNRISE LETS GOOO". She scowled @Spooky Galaxy

Echosine growled "You dont talk too your mentor like that." she signed "When i get back im talking to dawnstar and making you clean the elders den for a moon"