Status: Alligator bites are focused on the down stroke of their bite. YOU CAN HOLD THEIR MOUTH SHUT. [YAY]
Gender: Any pronouns, but non-binary
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Re: The Starpoint
Silentstrike just watched.
Crowglow and Skyfall had pretty much zoned out.
Moonpaw and Grimpaw were having a staring contest.
Mousekit looked up at Fadingstar with eyes full of childlike joy.
Duckpaw chanted beaverkit one last time as the leader said that we had lost a fellow clan cat, losses were not hard unless Duckpaw knew them, but it still broke his heart, he bowed his head in respect for the fallen warrior. After that he listened carefully as the leader said who the lionheart leader would be as the position was open because dusklion had stepped up in rank. He hoped it would be seabreeze but it was just as good for the other cat though. He let out a cheer when he heard it would be duskleaf. As the ceremony ended he decided to pad over to beaverpaw, formerly beaverkit. As he got close to the new apprentice he opened his maw to talk. "Hey, congratulations on becoming an apprentice! Trust me, it's cool being a big kid!" he said in a cheerful voice.
Beaverpaw was surprised when someone approached him.
Oh, wait, it was Duckpaw.
He knew Duckpaw.
"Thanks, Duckpaw." Beaverpaw responded in his usual quiet voice "Are you enjoying your apprenticeship?"
Maybe hearing another apprentice talk positively about being apprentice would give him some sort of confidence boost.
Because, right now, he was not sure it being 'cool to be a big kid'.
Witheredstar is the current leader of SunClan, she has an open den policy! ART SHOP! PURRKS: Rapid Recovery-Raccoonsun(RiverClan) Silver Tongue-Whitekit(ThunderClan) Chill of Death-Leopardpaw(WindClan)
Fishpaw at dovepaw with a smile and then turned back to her main concern, marigoldpaw, she understood where marigoldpaw was coming from when she said that goldfish had to come with them, she wondered why marigoldpaw asked her what she thought even though she was going to get goldfish to come with us anyways, some cats were complicated sometimes, she shook her head, trying to get back to being normal fishpaw. Fishpaw shook her head again to get the fur out of her face, she had bangish fur that hung down and kinda curled on her face, she thought it made her unique. She then looked at marigold paw. "Yeah safety first I guess! And thank you for wanting to be friends!" she said with a smile on her little face.
@Marigoldwhisper -i love the silly omg-
sorry that it's so short, I couldn't come up with anything really
Covepaw raised an eyebrow, perking his ears. Did he overhear that conversation right? No! He must've messed up listening somewhere at some point. Right? Whatever! Whoever or whatever they were talking about was actually starting to sound interesting.
"Hihi! I'm Covepaw! Nice to meet you too!"
He smiled widely, sitting up straight proudly. He tried to match the cats energy, smiling even wider.
"Who's Goldfish?"
He asked, completely oblivious to both cats ranting. Was Goldfish some kind of magical, awesome, talking fish? That'd be so cool! Though he'd only been sitting there for so long. Goldfish could just be some random cat. Not that he wouldn't be excited to meet a new cat! It just wasn't what he would be imagining. Especially with death involved ... whatever! Adventure was adventure... maybe he could tag along? Wouldn't that be rude of him? He shook his head and decided to ask anyways.
"And can I go with you?"
Covepaw's voice held so much interest and enthusiasm that it was hard to tell if he was excited by the thrill or the idea of exploring.
Marigoldpaw
She, Her\Appretice\8 moons\Riverclan
"There will come a poet whose weapon is his word."
Purrks: Dreamwalker [ACTIVE] Chill of Death [ACTIVE]
- - -
"Oh, no problem. I'm always open to meeting some new cats," Marigoldpaw hoped she hadn't hit a nerve, since it had seemed that Fishpaw's aura had shifted in front of her. Of course, Marigoldpaw was no mind reader, so she couldn't tell for sure, but she hoped what could've been the sign of a growing grugde would be stamped out like it was a dying fire. Soon enough, Covepaw entered the scene. Marigoldpaw perked her curled ears, swerving them towards the apprentice.
He seemed to keep smiling while she was smiling. Which was nice, but it had gotten to the point were Marigoldpaw feared their face would split right open if they kept it up. That wasn't possible though, so Marigoldpaw didn't entertain the horrifying thought (her mind did. She got a pretty memorable image to go alone with her intrusive thoughts. Oh what joy...).
"Oh uh, Goldfish is my mentor, I'll be asking her to come with me and Fishpaw to get some trinkets." Marigoldpaw nodded, wondering how old Covepaw was. Even though Marigoldpaw had gone a pretty long while not knowing Speckles name before apprenticeship, she had still seen the warrior up and about, she'd even heard about her from Jayfrost and Minkpaw. She still had to meet her kits.... She'd get around to it. Soon.
Oh gosh, Covepaw wanted to come too? Pride made her fur rise and burn. She'd actually recommend something helpful, done something that brang cats together for a nice scavenging expedition! Fishpaw seemed to like Covepaw quite a bit, so that was all Marigoldpaw needed to know. "Yeah, yeah, of course! I just gotta, uh, um, figure some things out, like if Goldfish'll take us." Speaking of Speckles, her mentor seemed to be saying her name quite a lot. Even if her voice was faint in the sound of mews, she could still make it out. Plus, that was her name, her brain was practically hardwired to pick up on it.
Hazel eyes fluttered over to where Speckles sat, next to Dusklion. They seemed to be engaged in conversation. Sweet. And yet, Marigoldpaw had this awful sick feeling churning in her stomach. Gosh, they were talking about her? Had she done something wrong? That seemed common for her. No, no, no. It's alright. Speckles doesn't look mad. The deputy though... She looked off, and it made Marigoldpaw want to stick her head in a hole. She couldn't forget. Maybe she should. But...
The thin apprentice turned her head back to her clanmates. "I'll be looking forward to it, regardless. Uh, I'm sure it'll be fun! Just three really good pals." She made a mental note to grab something nice and interesting for Jayfrost and Speckles and Aspenkit. She wasn't sure what the latter liked, but nocat could possibly dislike shiny things. Unless they did, then she'd get them something different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weekend-Wondering
Beachkit
Male / About 5 Moons / RiverClan / Sexuality Unknown
Pale bluish gray tom with tufts on his ears and nose and sandy patches with bright/light gray eyes
“O-Okay. I’ll swim the rivers, climb the mountains, reach the skies… yeah… but first I’ll have to learn to walk without falling on my face, I think,”
~Conch
TW: This character experiences frequent attacks of nervousness, panic, anxiety, and similar emotions that may be triggering to some readers.
✽❀✽
Beachkit could not resist the strong feeling of shame as he approached the brown Lionheart, and despite his intense efforts to silently assure himself that nothing was wrong with approaching somebody for some simple social interaction, especially if this said-somebody had proved themself to be extremely kind during their first encounter with one another. But nervousness and hesitation was something that Beachkit was going to struggle with no matter how hard he tried to adjust to it all, so he just tried to cope with it as best as he could by lying to himself that confidence was in Sorrelkit’s blood, so why would it not it be in his? Silently begging this confidence to show up any moment now, Beachkit’s gray gaze snapped down to the rocky floor of RiverClan’s evacuation territory, ears flattening slightly against the top of his head. It had to be there somewhere, otherwise Sorrelkit was just going to have a natural advantage over him for the rest of his life. But then again, look at Seabreeze… At the thought of his older brother’s name, Beachkit felt his heart sank, and lightly, the gray and sandy tom-kit bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling again. He doesn’t seem like the most confident kind of guy… oh, stars, I’ve inherited the worst things possible, haven’t I? I’ve got Seabreeze’s worrying, Sorrelkit’s… well, naive issue, and who-knows-what from my mother and father. I suppose I got my mother’s lack of dedication… because looking at Seabreeze, uh… oof. Anyway, clearly I struggle with dedication, too… I just left her. I left her back in the Twoleg place, and… yeah. As for my strengths? Ha, bravery? I wish- that seems impossible for me. And worst of all, optimism. As much as everybody else generally thought highly of optimism, viewing it as simple positivity that brought along happier cats, but with his personality. Beachkit had manage to ruin it. He was optimistic, and due to this, he always got his hopes up, setting him right up for disappointment. For heartbreak. If he could ruin something as good as positivity, then what could he not ruin?
Beachkit blinked and snapped out of his head for a moment to pay attention to Owltalon and their interaction with one another. As he gazed up at the Lionheart dully, the small urge to apologize for bothering her and immediately run off without another word began to grow. Goodness, silence was so awkward, but the blue-gray and patched little tom-Kit never knew how to fill it up. He could never find the words. But eventually, Owltalon covered that job fr him, graciously taking action in the quiet. When she smiled with joy, his heart lifted a little bit, and the small tom raised his eyebrows. Alright, so she was equally happy to see him, then? Well, more or less, you could call Beachkit relived, rather than happy, but good feeling was good feeling, so it felt almost as nice. Beachkit stared at the Lionheart for another moment or two, debating with himself as to whether or not the what-looked-like-happiness at the sight of him was actually genuine or acted out for the sake of making him feel good about himself, and in the end, the blue and sandy tom-Kit came to the conclusion that it was real. Somebody was happy to see him… somebody who was not Sorrelkit, at that. His mother was alright, but obviously their relationship with one another couldn’t have been too strong, because Beachkit had agreed to follow Sorrelkit into RiverClan without much hesitation. All in all, Beachkit was surprised to see Owltalon’s joy. She was older, wiser, and certainly braver, and it was odd to see her taking so much pleasure from his wimpy little self’s presence. But it’s nice, I suppose… Beachkit told himself, shifting his paws uneasily. I can only hope that I… that I don’t ruin it, or… or S-Seabreeze convinces her I’m some… I dunno… I just hope she keeps on appreciating me, b-because otherwise I’m l-literally dead. The anxiety’ll kill me without somebody else’s help, that’s for sure. Sorrelkit was helpful, but she definitely wasn’t everything that Beachkit needed to stay happy and healthy. He needed somebody that could make him feel a little bit lighter just by existing near him, and who knew, maybe Owltalon would become that somebody. Only one way to find out: interact with her as much as possible, and of course, hide behind her during clan meetings.
As he sat quietly lurking in the she-cat’s shadow, Owltalon craned her neck to gaze at him with amber eyes. Forcing his stormy gray gaze to land on that of the Lionheart’s, Beachkit waited once again in awkward silence. He was relieved to hear the scarred brown she-cat purr, ‘Hey, Chap!’ once the words left her mouth. The little gray tom-kit was also happy to hear the familiar word, ‘Chap’ being thrown out constantly. It was similar to, ‘Lad’, and/or, ‘Youngster’ in a pleasant, friendly way, and when he heard it, it was as if he could immediately confirm that Owltalon wasn’t annoyed with his arrival. No, she greeted him with that casual nickname, so there did not seem to be anything for him to worry about. So with a soft smile of his own, Beachkit stammered, “Y-Yeah, h-hey…” The words were drawn out slowly, hesitant as they left his mouth, but hey, they made it. It was always something to celebrate when Beachkit managed to say too much without tripping over his own words. He shrunk further back into Owltalon’s shadow when the she-cat turned around to properly face him fully, avoiding and barely dodging the sudden bits and dashes of sunlight that aimed at his pelt when the she-cat decided to shift her position. Then with an awkward, small simper, he sat slumped in her shadow once again, fur bristling just a little due to the sudden movement. Oh, but it wasn’t over. Owltalon’s moved yet again. Beachkit found himself lowering himself down into a scrunched up loaf-position when Owltalon kneeled down and rested her head on her paws. Even Beachkit wasn’t quite sure why he was so reluctant to stand in the sunlight- chances were, he had just mindlessly decided to early on in their interaction, and now he was just staying committed to that behaviour. When he finally went still, staring blankly into Owltalon’s eyes, he started to realize that she was looking him over more carefully now. He went ahead and made the accurate assumption that she was making sure he looked a bit more in shape than his earlier sleepy-self, and the awkwardness that was eating at his heart became more painful. So thanks to this awkwardness, he started to tremble slightly. But perfect timing, because the Lionheart seemed done sleepy-scanning him, and she was right on back to smiling at and speaking to him.
Beachkit tilted his head and perked his ears to listen, storm-cloud gray eyes wide and waiting. Firstly, the long-furred and brown she-cat told him that it was nice to see that he had ‘joined his old gal’ for a clan meeting. Beachkit could not help but slowly raise an eyebrow. …Old? Is she old? I mean, she’s strong and all of that, so I won’t judge, of course… maybe RiverClan oldies function better than the elderly kittypet cats, and maybe- ah, crud, I’m overthinking a probably insignificant word, oh- shut up, brain, jeez! He shook the thoughts from his head, ears flattening again, and stiffly, he proceeded to stare at Owltalon. When the sound of her voice met his earshot again, he tried at putting more focus into her words, much less into his own head. Owltalon started to question the little tom-kit about why he was hovering back in her shadow, and in less than a second, Beachkit fell right back into the depths and webs of his mind, his thoughts. Oh, what fun anxiety was! He glanced emotionless at the sunlight that he was avoiding with as much effort as he possible could, poking at the ground miserably with one of his tiny claws. Aaaand yep, she noticed. They. Always. Notice. My. Stupid. MISTAKES. Wow. Chances were, Owltalon already noticed that Beachkit was a mistake. The blue and sandy patched tom-kit was too invested in this last thought to think too hard over its lack of realism, so sorrow crept into his expression, taking over his mood. As Owltalon continued, kindly letting him know that she wasn’t particularly small, and by sulking in her shadow, it would be harder for him to see the meeting properly. So miserably, Beachkit shot the sunlight another quick glance, and then slowly, he inched towards it. His gaze remained on the ground as he felt sunlight reach his pelt, making he gray light up into something almost blue-white instead, the sandy patches fading into something more yellow. Then in a small voice, he whispered, “Y-yeah, uh- t-true.”
Perfect timing- the meeting went on just as those words led this mouth. Beachkit’s head snapped up, and his gaze flashed at the sight of Fadingstar as RiverClan’s leader began the clan meeting. He sat focused and attentive as the orange and black tom explained that he was reassigning a mentor to an apprentice, and Beachkit felt a vague wave of curiosity fall over him. Clan meetings like this, as it turned out, would offer the perfect opportunities for Beachkit to get to know some of his clan mates. Beachkit, being the type of guy who falls over in panic the moment he’s put into a situation where he is forced to get to know somebody new and/or unfamiliar, was not a very big fan of social interaction. Clan meetings allowed him to recognize and identify new cats just by hearing their new mentors, names, and ranks get announced, and at the same time, it offered him some more clan-wide, RiverClan lore. That was what he needed most: information. Not in a creepy way, of course- Beachkit just wanted to get to know this clan and it’s history before he dedicated his literal soul to it all, just to make him a bit more comfortable doing so. So when it was announced that some Covepaw-Apprentice was getting themself a new mentor, Beachkit looked up brightly. Mentor change? Cool- who’s it gonna be, I wond- The name entered the air, and instantly, Beachkit’s thoughts came to a stop. ‘Seabreeze!’ The small kitten’s heart sank, and grunting away some discomfort, he found his eyes landing right on back to the floor. Ah… of course, yeah, because… he’s uh… strong, brave, all of that.. of course, Seabreeze… always… Seabreeze… GAH, STUPID CLAN LIFE!!! Well, what fun, he wanted to cry again. As hot tears fought their way out of his eyes, one or two making it down his cheeks, he took a paw and swiftly started to bat at them, muttering grumpy nonsense underneath his breath, something along the lines of, “Ah, crybaby… messed up, patch-face… wobble, dumb paws… idiot… mess… sorry, sorry… sorry, Seabreeze, sorry… Owltalon…?” Then he went quiet, keeping his eyes on the ground. Pathetic. There, that’s it.
Eventually, he got over it, and scraping away the teardrops from his face, he took a quick breath before facing Owltalon again with an excessively wide, fake smile. “Yip yip… hooray… for S-Seabreeze… do- um- d-do I cheer? Do we cheer f-for reassignm-ments, or d-do we just… watch, I don’t know, I’m uh- sorry- um-” He couldn’t help it. Slowly, he scooted on back behind Owltalon, fading back into the she-cat’s shadow. “I’m happy for him, I guess. Speaking of um… S-Seabreeze, and all of… that…” He gazed up at Owltalon, forcing his fur to lay flat as he spoke to the scarred she-cat. “I suppose he doesn’t want to see me. He’s… um… h-he’s still being avoidant, but… that’s alright, I’m still going to try… just… only once I’m an apprentice, hehe… um… yeah. Looks like you’ll have to be the new caretaker, hehe- oh-” He blinked in humiliation, lightly clawing at his paws with annoyance. “Gah- sorry, I mean- I mean, uh- um- if you want, I mean, yeah- only if you want. J-just, do what you want, if… if you don’t want to, I- I- I can easily take care of myself. Well, n-not easily, but easily enough… er- n-no p-pressure, of course, no pressure!” Still smiling awkwardly, Beachkit could feel tears threatening to break through again. One interaction- just one… he couldn’t even get through one interaction without tearing up. What was he, a newborn? A mistake. It’s that simple. Why do I try, oh stars, why do I try? That was the big question, the big issue- and why did having such strong motivation always get him trapped in the darkest of corners? Why did his positive traits always lead to the worst things? It isn’t… fair.
✽❀✽
// Whoa. Motivation on my end just died there for a second, oi- so sorry that this is a bit late! \\
`~Owltalon
She, Her\Lionheart\44 moons\Riverclan
"Are you listening, starchild?"
Purrks: Agatha Kitty [ACTIVE]
- - -
The meeting, of course, marched on. Owltalon perked her ears towards Fadingstar, keeping her paws nice and steady to make sure there gaze was level to the leaders. Well, as level a gaze could be when said leader was quite literally standing on what could be considered a hill. A fuzzy black and orange blob, that's what Fadingstar was, and Owltalon had to squint real hard just to see him. Had he always been so hard to see? Which, made Owltalon wonder how Fadingstar's eyesight was. The raid on Riverclan was still fresh in her mind, so she wondered if he still had dry blood circling his iris, if he to had to squint to see. If he did, he showed no signs or indicators of it. He looked around just fine from what Owltalon could see, which wasn't much.
That was the reason why she sat so close to the Starpoint. Seeing was out of the equation, thus hearing was everything. Owltalon couldn't even remember the last time something clearly entered her vision. She wasn't completely blind though, if a cat was close enough to her, she didn't have to bend over backwards and do a rain dance to Starclan just to see them. A good thing, Owltalon would hate to loose all her dignity like that. The thought allowed a silent chucked to rumble from the bulky she-cat, her shoulders bobbing up and down in short irregular movements.
Beachkit was a cat she could see, not too far from her line of sight. She was glad to have encouraged him to watch the meeting for himself, especially since this once might be of some importance. "Awesome, thanks chap, yer really outdoin' yerself, comin' out 'ere to watch the---"
A name.
A murmur.
A forced smile.
Two grey misty eyes.
He was crying, and Owltalon couldn't stop him from doing that. I mean, why would she? But he was trying, trying so hard to stuff his "embarrassing" tears back into his eyes. The murmuring only confirmed her thoughts. Beachkit hated himself. And Owltalon couldn't just sit there and let him do that.
She didn't pay much mind to the meeting after that, it was just her and a really awesome kid with crippling selfesteem. The horrid part was Beachkit seemed to be making an effort to actually forget about what was probably eating him up, something Owltalon was making note of to congratulate him on later, just so he knew that that was a good thing. A healthy thing. But then his walls molded and his fur spiked in the bright light of the sun. Frail little hairs spiking in pure shock.
"Ya don't 'ave ta." Owltalon looked back down at Beachkit, having to shift her position once more as he inched back into her shadow. She wasn't going to force him out, he wasn't ready, but he wasn't going to stay there either, not for long. "Ya don't 'ave ta cheer." Owltalon specified, settling her legs into a loaf, and poof! Her paws were gone! Beachkit's paws however, were now subject to a light tearing. Owltalon watched with horror as Beachkit willingly scrapped at his paws, and fear flashed and settled onto her scarred face. "Don't do that, chap. Ya need yer paws." She rested her own, and much bigger, paws on his, slipping them from underneath her bed of fur. "Don't hurt cha self. Cats care 'bout you, I care, yeah?" Owltalon nodded, not allowing Beachkit an answer, or a pause, to let any seed of doubt sprout through his mind.
Caretaker huh? Owltalon looked at the hard ground and thought, knitting her eyebrows together as she sifted through her mind. She didn't have to dig far though. Being a mother, heck, even a kitsitter, that's all she wanted to be. That and an awesome Riverclan warrior, but that was besides the point. She loved kits, loved them more than the satisfying crunch of bones underneath her teeth. But, she couldn't have any of her own. She just... She never felt anything romantic for another cat. As she grew she thought, This'll be the tom, or I should start feelin' somethin', right? but it never came to fruition. Owltalon just wasn't cut out for that romance and mate kinda stuff, she hadn't been for awhile. Now she saw a kit, a kit that Owltalon quite liked even if Beachkit couldn't say the same about himself. She saw him as anxious and feverish, but kind and sympathetic. And brave. Why not? Anycat could be brave. Owltalon truly believed it.
"Yeah, oh jeez," stars above, was she crying or had her vision just gotten worse? Thick tears puddled down at her paws and sleeked her once matted fur. Tears pooled and blurred her vision to the point where Beachkit's grey-blue fur no longer held the form of a cat, just a blob. But she let the tears come, she didn't even wipe them. She needed Beachkit to know that even the strongest warriors cried and that crying was a good thing. A joyful thing. Owltalon relished the burning in her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, chap. I'll be your mama. That's whatcha wanted ta ask? I'd be happy ta."
New information entered her ears in the form of a sharp yowl. New apprentices. Owltalon lifted her head, keeping Beachkit in few, and cheered for them. She was just about to bend right back down and talk to Beachkit once more, but then something else entered her ears. Duskleaf. Head Lionheart. Brown fur shot up and a smile stretched her maw far and wide. She couldn't help but yell. "Stars above! Dusky, flipping congratulations!" Her voice was thick and cracky with tears, but she was joyful all the same. "I OWE YOU FISH!" She hollered at the ex-Lionheart, completely overjoyed. She then turned back to Beachkit, a large smile still present. "Sorry if I gotta bit loud there, chap. I'm just proud of my clanmate 'ere. But... Ya wanna go back to the nursery? I can talk with ya a bit more there," Owltalon touched her nose to his forehead, a wet nose that was runny with tears. Her voice had also lowered to a low and crackling whisper. She'd hate to freak Beachkit out and send him running for the hills.
__________________
❝Whatever will be, will be. Don't care what anyone else thinks.❞
-When You Grow Up, Your Heat Dies
The grey tabby tom sat in silence for the majority of the meeting, breaking it only to call out the names of those who'd achieved a higher rank. It felt extremely odd to be holding a meeting in a new place, and somehow the same all at once. He supposed that spoke to the sentiment that a clan was made of the cats, not the territory. Although much had changed during his absence, this was still unmistakably the same Riverclan it had always been. And for that, Beastflame was thankful.
The mentor assignments went by in a blur, and he studied each of the pairings out of habit. He was not expecting an apprentice to be placed with him, not after his incident, and he was rather glad of that. Although there'd been a couple kits and paws that he'd had a soft spot for in the past, the majority of the furballs were quite a bit for the reclusive warrior to handle. He'd been in charge of outsider joining in the past, and found it pleasant enough to educate more mature individuals on the ways of the clan, but six-moon-olds? What a nightmare.
Lastly came the topic of Lionhearts. He glanced over at the current team, which was quite small. only four cats. Solid warriors, to be sure, but uncomfortably few in numbers. Especially given their current condition. Beastflame nodded in approval as Fadingstar announced the search for new additions. Reinforcement was certainly a smart idea. He didn't know many of the younger warriors, but there seemed to be quite a few good options. It would be hard to go wrong.
very large, muscular, & scarred light brown tabby tom with stark blue eyes and a torn ear; beefed up tier 3 | just a scratch
[ riverclan warrior | tomcat | 52 moons | gruff & battle-hardened, yet thoughtful; loyal to a fault ]
—
Stagheart bowed his head in silence for Skydust; he'd never gotten to speak to the tom, but as Fadingstar said, losing a well-meaning warrior was never pleasant. RiverClan needed more of those now than ever.
At the announcement of Bearsnout's addition and Duskleaf's promotion, a small grin stretched his maw and he nodded in approval. Excellent — those two had so far proven to be strong, faithful warriors. He had no doubt they'd do their jobs right and help restore honor to the title. He cheered their names alongside his Clanmates.
As Fadingstar went on, the gruff tom's mind wandered. Perhaps he'd be considered for Lionheart status... it'd be an honor. But wouldn't change too much for Stag whether he did or didn't — he'd keep serving his Clan, through and true, and pick up and lead in spots where he needed to, or just follow along. Wherever he was needed, as usual. His stoic blue eyes sparked as they flitted between the cheering cats, feeling another glimpse of hope for RiverClan; they'd gotten knocked down, but they were building back up. Slowly, yet surely.
♤ Goldfish ♤ ♤The Ace of Spades♤ Go With The Flow | Agatha Kitty | Primal Instincts [Climbing] ____________________
Goldfish curled her dappled tail neatly around her paws,golden hues of used on the task for a moment before she looked up again, noticing Dusklion glance over toward Mari. She looked at her for a moment, ears tuned for any abnormality. But it indeed wasn't her business if Dusklion was looking at her. The tortoiseshell warrior quickly averted her ebony pupils back toward her companion. "Yeah, I feel that. I really miss Riverclan territory. Too rocky here. But other than that I'm doing pretty good. It's nice that we don't have to worry about the starsdamn clans too much here, unless thinking about the future. Sure, there's there's Atari, but that's different, there's one Atari to worry about, as far as I'm aware. There's three clans." Her voice deepened to a growl for a moment, but she smoothly transitioned to something better. "On a brighter note, my sister Spottedstream returned to the clan a couple days back, n Marigoldpaw's showing potential. She thinks outside of the box. Very creative."
she mewed, then looked up at the Starpoint as Fadingstar spoke. Her golden hues blazed with ambition as he mentioned Seabreeze. Great Lionheart. One of the most dedicated cats. The Ace of Spades wanted that. The title, the compliment. She wanted to gain the respect of the leader as Seabreeze himself had. She couldn't hold back a grin. But then he moved on to Apprentice training. Right. Restrictions. Mari was 7 moons. She became an apprentice at seven moons. Goldfish showed no response tor this, but inwardly she felt an urgency to get her trained. As he moved on, her mind lingered. Alright, yeah. She can do this. As kitscwere called up, her mind wandered back to Dusklion's look at Mari. Well, she was pretty sure the brown and white apprentice had never trusted Dusklion that much in the first place. "If you'd ever like to tag along when I train Marigoldpaw you're welcome to." She said quietly, as she was thinking hard. "To get her to trust you more.. y'know?" in all honesty Goldfish didn't know a lot about Marigold and her trust in Dusklion, except for what she had picked up herself. But it was a friendly offer.
____________________
@/taillow
DUSKLION
she/her | riverclan deputy | 30 moons go with the flow, rapid recovery, beefed up t3, mind reader
At least she wasn't the only one who missed home. Dusklion nodded in agreement, glancing around at all the rocks that surrounded them. It was sort of cool, but the deputy missed the water that made the Clan who they were. "I don't think I'll be able to be pulled from the river once we get back - I miss bein' able to swim," she chuckled, recalling how nice a dip in the stream felt on hot greenleaf days. But there were pros to being this far away - that being exactly what her friend(?) had stated; they didn't need to worry about the other Clans here. "So far I haven't had any... bad experiences with this Atari group. Met their healer, 'n they seemed alright for the most part." It was a weird conflict; the ingrained desire to drive outsiders away from their borders but at the same time recognizing that the Clan was in unfamiliar territory, far away from the Clans they knew.
Spottedstream had returned? "That's good, 'm glad she was able to follow the scent trail left behind." It did worry the deputy briefly that with the scent trail being as trackable as it seemed to be, that some of the more... opportunistic cats in the other three Clans would follow them up here. Dusklion watched as her brother called the to-be-paws up, pushing away the thoughts for now. There were quite a few of them it seemed, which was good. So when Goldfish offered for her to tag along to one of hers and Marigoldpaw's training sessions, she blinked in surprise. Would... the apprentice even want her along? Glancing once more at the 'paw, the deputy shrugged. "Sure," trying to be as nonchalant as she could, "...guess I still need to work on that with most of the Clan." And there went her nonchalant-ness.
New apprentices were named and given mentors, and Dusklion fell quiet for a moment to watch them. The deputy found herself disagreeing with the idea of giving Pebblesplash an apprentice. The she-cat hadn't done anything since her return, and she still didn't trust her all the way - not after she'd done much of the same before going missing and apparently dying. But the decision wasn't hers - the deputy would, however, keep watch and make sure the warrior actually trained the 'paw. If not, she'd be stepping in to say something.
Skydust's death was met with a small huff. "He only had a name..." she muttered, mostly under her breath. She knew her and her brother's opinion differed on it. While getting a name and sitting on their ass doing nothing might've been good enough for Fades, for Dusklion Skydust hadn't proved anything except that he wasn't cut out for Clan life.
New Lionhearts - now that was something she could get behind. A thump of her tail on the ground as a bright grin spread across her face, glancing over at the tom. He was doing well, and would be a good addition. After his name came Duskleaf, and her blue gaze shifted to him next. A good choice, though part of her still wondered if it was for the best. After all he had gone straight from Lionheart to Head Lionheart without getting a feel for the duties. But she was one to speak, having gone from a regular warrior to Head Lionheart.
And with that the meeting was wrapping up. Dusklion's gaze flickered to Marigoldpaw once more, who was watching both of them. The deputy got to her paws and glanced at Goldfish. "Well, I'm open to joinin' you two on a trainin' session - but only if she wants it," the deputy flicked her tail towards the 'paw, keeping her eyes on the ginger and black warrior. "...Don't wanna force anyone in this Clan to interact with me if they don't wanna. I know I'm not the crowd favorite." A half-hearted chuckle left her, shaking her head. "See you around?"
With that the dark tabby padded off, nodding to both Duskleaf and Bearsnout in congratulations as she passed.
[ Goldfish - @/Blaaze ] [ Duskleaf - @Seamrog ] [ Bearsnout - @chickadee ]
[ apologies for the delay in this! ]
Fadingstar started the meeting with apprentice reassignments. Only one, good. None would be ideal, but with some of the excuses of warriors in this clan, one was about the best they could get.
Before starting on the apprentice ceremonies, he gave a few reminders on who was eligible to receive an apprentice and named one who was close to reaching the deadline for his training. Maybe she would reach out to help him meet the requirements sometime. Hopefully not much was left to be done; it would be a shame if RiverClan lost a good cat because his training hadn't been completed fast enough.
Fadingstar went on to call out Morningmimic for not training his apprentice, and Irisfrost's tail lashed angrily. Cats like him were the reason RiverClan had been reduced to the state they were in- homeless, defeated and unstable.
Five new apprentices were named, and Irisfrost cheered their names before Fadingstar announced the death of Skydust. She hadn't known the warrior well, but she dipped her head in respect for the fallen RiverClanner as silence filled the camp. A moment passed, then Fadingstar resumed speaking.
Her brother, a Lionheart. Warmth filled her heart as she scanned the crowd for Bearsnout, dipping her head in a silent congratulation. It wasn't hard to remember him as a kit; now he was serving the clan as an elite warrior. But even as a kit he had displayed the qualities necessary for the position, supporting their mother in the moments when grief overcame her.
Fadingstar was looking for new Lionhearts? Irisfrost would be lying to say the position didn't interest her. But even if she didn't get the title, she would work hard to rebuild the clan. Ambition wasn't a bad trait, but it could be if she let it grow too much and consume her. Cats had committed horrible crimes for the sake of power.
Duskleaf was the new Head Lionheart. Irisfrost didn't know him well, but he must be a competent warrior if he was getting the position. She gave him a brief congratulating dip of her head. Hopefully with him in charge and Bearsnout on the team, RiverClan could finally rebuild.
Beachkit
Male / About 5 Moons / RiverClan / Sexuality Unknown / Pending Purrk
Pale bluish gray tom with tufts on his ears and nose and sandy patches with bright/light gray eyes
“O-Okay. I’ll swim the rivers, climb the mountains, reach the skies… yeah… but first I’ll have to learn to walk without falling on my face, I think,”
~Beachkit
TW: This character experiences frequent attacks of nervousness, panic, anxiety, and similar emotions that may be triggering to some readers.
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The mixed emotions were killing him. Now, although it came without a doubt that Beachkit liked and appreciated Owltalon, he still was not completely sure how he felt about interacting with her. It went by the whole, ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ logic, because no matter how much he loved the Lionheart’s company, he was still far too invested in his own lack of social abilities to enjoy that love, too busy hating on his every action and movement to focus on the positive feelings he felt when interacting with the older she-cat. She had been kind and patient with him during both of their encounters, but Beachkit couldn’t help but feel ashamed whenever he out even just a little bit of thought into the fact that it was he who had approached first in both interactions, it was he who had forced her to talk with him, and it was he who would be responsible for issues that might show up during their encounter because of this. In other words, he had been the one who started this currently ongoing interaction, and he felt like it was his fault if something went wrong. But things were already going wrong, of course- he already wanted to cry, and he already found himself panicking as if the whole of RiverClan had just started eyeing him, all because he did not know how to talk to one single, patient cat. A kindhearted cat, at that. What a shame, what a shame… no wonder Seabreeze hated them, no wonder Sorrelkit probably found him obnoxious… no wonder everybody wanted him t-
Well, now I’ve started to overthink. That’s even MORE annoying, huh… maybe if I quit doing that I’ll feel better? I don’t think there should even be any ‘maybe’ to it- I KNOW I’ll feel less stupid if I just stop thinking about… thinking. But there, it gets complicated. That’s all. Telling himself to ‘just stop thinking’ was like telling somebody on fire to ‘just stop burning’, or somebody who was drowning to, ‘just breath.’ He couldn’t just turn off his thoughts, they came naturally, and they came like explosions. What else was there to do than cry about it? The worries normally left afterwards, falling away in the form of teardrops, but in public situations like this, these said-teardrops only humiliated him. And what did humiliation lead to? More thoughts, hence, more panic. It was an annoying cycle, but there was nothing he could to do stop it. Or at least, there was nothing that he knew of that could put an end to it all. Goodness, was he not too young for all of these feelings? Five moons old, and already viewing himself as the equivalent to a literal thorn buried in Owltalon’s fur? He blinked until he could focus on Owltalon again, shifting his trembling paws until they finally quit shaking so much. Then awkwardly and quietly, he gazed up at the Lionheart, awaiting her reaction to his words. It’s a real shame that she has to hear me venting so much, but… at the same time… does she want to hear it…? Well, n-no… what? Nobody likes to hear idiots ramble… a-and… I’m no different, and I’m no exception, and- I’m annyoing, that’s what I am- the thorn- the annoying, itchy, painful th-
The sound of Owltalon’s voice pulled his thoughts to a stop, and Beachkit blinked himself into focus. The bulky she-cat was beginning to tell him that he was really outdoing himself by coming out here to watch the meeting, but then their little incident interrupted her. Yes, Seabreeze. It was always Seabreeze, and the moment he was forced to think much about the tom-cat who he had expected to be his caretaker, tears came down like waterfalls. Or, at least, they tried to. His humiliation usually pressured him into drying them up, but sometimes that just didn’t work. Sometimes they just came trialing down his face anyway, no matter how hard he tried to contain them. This was one of those times, and when the usual panic hit him like a storm, they uh… well, they were the rain, unfortunately for Beachkit. It was terrible, and the blue-gray and sandy tom-kit grew too invested in his worries and humiliation to try and keep quiet in Owltalon’s presence. He started to mutter his thoughts aloud, vent to himself and wait for the thoughts to clear out from his head by filtering them into the air, wait they remained. It was no use, really. Eventually, the sunlight hit his pelt, so nervously, he inched back into Owltalon’s shadow, and she spoke again. She told him that no, he did not have to cheer if he did not want to, and Beachkit had a feeling it would be an awfully long while before he had the courage to raise his voice alongside the rest of his clanmates. The small, watery-eyed tom-kit felt a strong surge of relief at the sound of Owltalon’s words, but his fur proceeded to bristle. In spite of this, he whispered, “Th-Thank you- for the answer, I mean… yeah.” Hopefully that was enough to tell her that he was thankful for her assurance. Genuinely.
Unfortunately, this assurance was not enough to prevent all of his panic, before it kept on building up, alongside nervousness and shame. Eventually, it got to the point where anxiously, he scraped lightly at his paws, similarly to the way he tended to bite down on his lip or nip at his fur, always to distract himself from the emotional break-downs. Today was no different, and just like all of the other days, it did not work. It only caused some mild pain, and it did not ebnerfit him at all. Unfortunately, Owltalon caught sight, and when Beachkit’s stormy gray gaze flickered up to the scarred Lionheart, fear was flashing across her face. His heart dropped into his stomach, his mouth drying up. Oh… Oh no. She told him not to do that, mentioning that he needed his paws, and the shame blew up. It seared through Beachkit’s mind and traced his face, and miserably, his eyes landed right back on the ground. First he cried away a storm, then he scraped, and now what? What stupid thing was he going to do next that left Owltalon hating his company? What else made him… weird? But when Owltalon’s paws, like boulders in size-comparison to his own, slipped out from her bed of fur to rest on his, oddly enough, he felt a bit more at peace. Not fully, of course, because chances were, Owltalon could feel his paws shivering themselves into oblivion, but enough to allow him to release a small sigh of relief. It did not stop the tears, but by now, he was giving up on trying to get rid of them. They were just his way of coping, and a healthy way, at that- not that he realized this, of course, but the truth was so,where in the back of his mind, waiting. Owltalon then told him not to hurt himself, noting that cats cared about him, and the small tom-kit felt a strong surge of mixed feelings; He felt doubt, gratitude, and some other weird sadness that he could not identify, and the mixture certainly made him feel uncomfortable.
But it the end, when the topic of caretaking popped up, it became clear that he was not the only one who was struggling eith some tears. When Owltalon’s voice sounded again, something was off, partially the words themselves. ‘Yeah, oh jeez.’ That was enough to convince Beachkit to tilt his head and give her a glance, but when he did, he found water filling up in her vision. His own eyes flashing with fright, Beachkit quickly started to apologize. “O-Oh… I’m sorry, I- I’m sorry…? Sorry… S-So-” His voice died away, and Beachkit shivered. He had a feeling that Owltalon was used to his tears, his shudders, and his self-loathing by now, but each time he felt those feelings nip at him, it only felt even worse. As he stared directly up at the Lionheart, he noticed thick tears falling out from her eyes and into thick puddles at her feet, and his heart flipped- not in the good way. No, not flipped… twisted? Clenched? Ached. But unlike Beachkit, she allowed them to fall, and she did not bother to wipe them. Beachkit felt confused. She- she seems alright with it, but why’s she crying… I made her cry, oh what did I do- what h-have I done? Why- why did- does she- why- His thoughts were cut off when she smiled. But even at the sight of the smile, he did not feel any better. He assumed it was fake. But that thought of his was immediately wiped away once the next words left the Lionheart’s mouth, and at the sound of them, Beachkit caught his breath. She accepted. She told him that yes, she would be his ‘Mama’, and wasn’t that what he wanted to ask? She even told him that she would be happy to. Beachkit couldn’t help it; The young tom’s first thought was, Wrong. Of course she wasn’t happy to. Seabreeze didn’t even want to take care of him, why would she? Nobody wanted to take care of him. Heck, Beachkit had abandoned the only chance at a parental figure he ever had, leaving them to just miss him from back at home. But speaking of home… that was RiverClan now, so why did he hate it here so, so much? Would Owltalon change that, make this clan a happy place for him?
Sh-she can’t be lying to me, she’s crying. But… what if that’s WHY she’s crying? No- that isn’t her, that isn’t how she thinks… feels… but what do I know? I don’t know her well, but I want to- but I- she can’t- we won’t- we- huh. He gave up then and there, deciding for himself that yes, she was happy to care for him, and yes, he definitely wanted to finally be somebody’s son again. He wanted a mother. Owltalon was the perfect fit… he didn’t see why not. So the tears kept coming, and as Owltalon cheered for some random RiverClan cat that had been mentioned in the meeting, he buried his face into the fur of her paw, awkwardly letting the water of his tears spill and gather up there. It was basically the equivalent of getting your tears all over somebody’s shirt- awkward, certainly, but for some reason, comforting all the same. Then when she asked him if he would like to go to the nursery, where they could… talk more, his heart even lifted. Just a little, but so did the heavy weight over his barely functioning shoulders. So stiffly but willingly, Beachkit nodded. When he spoke, his voice was frail and small, strained as tears kept flowing. “Y-y-yeah- yeah- sorry, er- salty, tears- um-” For the first time in forever, he managed to laugh a little at the sounds of his stutters, before just letting his thoughts fly off of his tongue. “Th-thank you so much, thank… y-you… thanks, yes, uh… yes! Yeah… if we could go to the nursery, that would be… n-nice, yeah… sorry, thanks…” To talk to her. That was all he wanted. That’s how mother-son relationship ships developed, right? How any relationship developed?
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// So sorry if there isn’t much dialogue to work with here! ;-; \\
- My characters’ opinions, thoughts, and behaviors are not necessarily a reflection of my own. I can assure you that we are certainly separate beings. -
Re: The Starpoint
