RiverClan's Trials

[Neptune.]

Merlin
~<>~
31 moons || he/him || Atari Claw
grey classic tabby w/ flecks of tan, high white and moderate scaring; brown eyes

It seemed that Merlin wouldn't have to go back to camp to retrieve his Crown, as she had instead come to him. With a respectful nod to Saturn, Merlin began to explain.

"Saturn, this cat here... Shogun, you said you name was?" He asks with a nod to the Atari hopeful, "anyway, he was looking for someone, but asked to join us. I was just about to get you." There were no glaring red flags this Shogun was giving off, but you can never be too careful and, as such, Merlin was still wary.

[ @Goopysharkboi - shogun || @Luminous - saturn ]

[Fae]

 

Originally Posted by taillow

DUSKLION
she/her | riverclan deputy | 30 moons
go with the flow, rapid recovery, beefed up t3, mind reader

At first, the deputy had been curious to see what it was Thunderchaser had wanted. She rarely saw the warrior around camp much, outside of meetings. Maybe asking to be put on patrols? Or when RiverClan was going to return - that was a popular question. So when the first words out of her mouth were an insult to her brother, Dusklion felt herself stiffen.

"First off," the dark tabby replied, tone curt, "Fades had nothin' to do with us gettin' kicked from our home. If you want someone to blame, you can place it on me." Fallownose's murder had been the final straw. Sure, other things had led up to it, and sure, there was still a small part of her that tried to find ways to justify it, but the facts were facts; her snap decision to attack the WindClan deputy - a cat who had been at his position for longer than Dusklion had been in the Clans - was what drew the majority of Twilightstar's ire; her jagged flank scare was proof of that. "I get that my brother's got issues - trust me, I grew up with him - but unless you've gotten your head stuck in a rock somewhere along the way, we're on our way to stability. Nothin' like... like the Fogmuzzle situation has happened recently, 'n he called for a retreat before we could lose anymore cats than we already did."

...Despite her own disagreements with her brother, and how she still was frustrated over his dismissiveness towards her during their private conversation regarding what Twilightstar had said, Dusklion wasn't about to just let anyone speak about him like that. Eyes narrowing briefly, the dark tabby turned to face Thunderchaser head on. She knew a threat when she heard one. "You, or anyone else, cause this Clan to lose the beginnin's of stability we've started to gain, 'n I'll see to it personally that you never set paw on RiverClan land again. Even now you're on thin ice - what kind of fluff in your brains do you have to tell me that you're plannin' a rebellion, hm? For your sake, I hope it's just hot air your spewin' right now. I've got no problem draggin' those who only want to continue to see us suffer out of this Clan by their damn ears."

Tail lashing behind her, she wondered whether it would be best to exile Thunderchaser on the spot. At the very least, she would be bringing this up with her brother. Head lifted she stared down the warrior, wondering what else she would try and speak on. "He's been tryin' to fix our current situation - we both have. But stars dammit, if a rebellion pops up in this Clan every time a new leader is announced 'n tries to get their footin', RiverClan might as well die out altogether."

[ felt after writing this that i should state a obligatory "dusklion's thoughts and opinions don't reflect my own! i love thunder and her sparky personality <3 ]

Thunderchaser
—————

Thunder trying to hold back a laugh, tilted her head at the deputy. What an interesting choice of words! Dusk seemingly blaming herself for what happened made the female warrior give a little smirk. Opening her mouth to speak she stared at Dusk.

”If you’re the one to blame for this whole mess, then why have you not been casted out of the role of deputy? You say you don’t want cats suffering and yet there are warriors in this clan who are now dead or worse have to retire because they can’t even walk straight after the battle. The Exile I might add. There’s no stability, and there won’t be any until you and your brother make amends with the other leaders and deputies. Now, I have two questions, do you believe you deserve to be deputy? Do you think that all those cats suffering in the medden or now starclan deserved that all because you made a selfish decision?
The shecat huffed at the other clanmate.

Knowing when to question the judgement of someone in a powered position was important. The actual real question she was asking is did Dusklion have enough self respect to understand the position Fading and her put the clan in? There was nothing saying that the other clans would be actually willing to allow us back. Nothing was ever set in stone, so what was the backup plan? Did they even have one? Thunderchaser shook those thoughts off her mind and addressed the rest of what she had to.

” The clan has been torn trying to figure what they can do to you know fix the situation and what to do when we do get back to the main clan. We’ll still have borders with the clans that hate our guts, how are we to stop them from murdering our cats like we once did to them if you both don’t even want to talk to the other leaders? Have you as a deputy ever once had a civil MEANINGFUL conversation with another clans deputy? Be truthful to yourself.”

Talking this much gave Thunder a dry mouth,ew. She yet she kept her eyes fixated on the shecat in hopes for an actually good response.

[Luminous]

Saturn

Shogun? Eh not something she couldn't get used to; she had heard stranger names. Cats looking to join the Atari always piqued her interest, and copper eyes tinted with curiosity as her gaze glided back to the outsider. Well he seemed well-mannered so far, and Merlin would have voiced his concerns if something had happened before Saturn had gotten here. Her Claw seemed uncertain, yes, but searching the mists of her memories, that was nothing out of the usual.

"Alright, alright... So you want to join? I mean I get why. Well, let's hear it, make a case for yourself, convince me!" Her voice was cheery, almost playful but the challenge was still evident.
__________________________
@Neptune. @Goopysharkboi
Merlin is free to ask questions or give his opinion on whether Shogun should be allowed to join (or you can have him leave, up to you) <33

[Morrigan]

Falconflight sat.

[Weekend-Wondering]

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.

✽❀✽

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?

✽❀✽

// So sorry if there isn’t much dialogue to work with here! ;-; \\

~ @Marigoldwhisper { Owltalon } ~

[occultation]

( @taillow @Astraea )

[ Stepping in here with tal's okay because this is a public thread and Thunderchaser poses a threat to RiverClan ]

Fadingstar had been out for a solo patrol when he overheard the voices of Thunderchaser and Dusklion. Curious, the leader made his way toward them, albeit staying behind a rock so as not to be seen. At first, he figured this was just some typical conversation, but given that Thunderchaser had hardly shown any interest nor effort in being a warrior, his curiosity was piqued.

Imagine his anger, then, when Thunderchaser began threatening rebellion, because supposedly the exile was suddenly all his fault? What a stupid conclusion she'd drawn.

He waited behind the rock, expecting Dusklion to exile Thunderchaser right then and there. To his surprise, however, she didn't, instead choosing to trust for the moment that this was just a threat rather than a promise. His heart did lift, however, at her quickness to defend him. It was the first time he'd heard her defend him without knowing that he was there; it made the recovery of their relationship seem more... real?

Thunderchaser kept going on, about how apparently the whole exile and their Clanmates' injuries were Dusklion's fault, and calling into question whether she should still be deputy. Stars, some cats couldn't move on, could they?

The idea to try to work civilly with the other leaders was downright laughable. Then again, nothing that Thunderchaser had said was at all sensical.

Emerging from his hiding spot, Fadingstar approached Thunderchaser with a sneer. "I find it funny that you suddenly care about RiverClan after spending the past few moons being hardly anything more than a useless lump on a log. You don't do anything for this Clan, yet you think you have the right to judge Dusklion and I? Aside from the battle, all I've seen you do is sit on your lazy ass doing nothing productive.

"Dusklion and I are the most stable pair that RiverClan has had at its helm for seasons. You claim to want stability, yet you think a rebellion, that casting me out as leader, is the key to that? All that will do is create more chaos. Further, I think you must have your head screwed on backwards to think trying to talk to the other leaders civilly is the answer. We tried to work with Bumblestar, and she laughed in our faces and crapped all over us. Twilightstar made it clear that she'll never see RiverClan as allies, and Dawnstar is a rogue of a leader who can't be trusted as far as she can be thrown.

"As for the Clans they lead, it was those cats, not Dusklion, who killed our children and tortured our cats. After that, I have zero interest in having a friendly, civil little chat with any of those leaders like we're suddenly all friends. I won't stand here for a second and listen to my sister's reputation tarnished like that, especially after she's worked harder than virtually anyone else to help this Clan since we were driven out."

His voice had risen to a snarl at this point, fury edging it. "Dusklion is a greater warrior than you could ever dream to be, Thunderchaser. Her care and love for RiverClan isn't just smoke and water, unlike yours. Yes, she made a bad decision, but the Clan made the decision to let her stay as deputy. If you can't accept that and move on, that isn't Dusklion's fault nor problem."

Fadingstar let his claws slide out. "I'm not going to let a mouse-brain like yourself threaten this Clan's safety and stability with a rebellion. You're no longer a warrior of RiverClan. You have one minute to get out of my sight and head out of this territory, or I'll end you where you stand. If I ever see you anywhere on or near RiverClan territory again, I'll kill you. Go."

[ Thunderchaser has been permanently exiled from RiverClan. If she does not leave RiverClan territory in your next post, or if she is ever seen on/near RiverClan territory again, I will be seeking HR PP perms to have her killed without further warning. If you haven't made a post by July 22, Thunderchaser will be treated as non-compliant with Fading's orders and I will be seeking HR PP perms to have Fading execute her.

Please remember that my thoughts do not equal Fading's! If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me or tal ]

[Rose]

Diamond
She/They

Pale blue eyes scanned the clearing, lifting to the sky, to the sun shining above their head. She had been hiding, for the last few days. Or weeks. Skies above, how long had it been? A paw lifted of it's own accord to the nasty, still-healing scar on her face, to the ear that was tattered, and Diamond shrank slightly with shame.

Younger sister to the Crown, and she was just as worthless, just as pathetic as always. The slender molly swallowed roughly, clenching her jaw and grinding her teeth. Heart of gold, everyone told her. Words sweeter and more pure than honey. She didn't want to be that anymore, weak and helpless and easily overpowered. But would that be the role she'd always have to play?

[ Open (: ]

[Myling]

KFC Wanted to be spared from the "Your character has gone missing" gods so she sat down. And then carried on her day.

[Dolomedes]

Altair exists

[Estelle]

Her paws poked around their older sibling's shoulders as she received a badger ride from the older feline. Nephele shot up a glare at their baby sister, still too young to wander camp all alone in their opinion. Their ears flickered.
"Quit poking around Athy, you'll fall off."
But looking unimpressed, Reverie stuck out their tongue and threw up her paws in defiance and a show of stubbornness... Until she unceremoniously toppled off, Nephele whipping around with a worried look.
"Athy!"
Nephele exclaimed, hovering over the young as the claw helped her back to her paws.
"I'm fine, Nele. I don't break that easily."
Said the young one as she shook the dust off her paws with a knit between her brows, Nephele huffing as she bent down to help Reverie clean up.