when nightmares end, reality begins. and sometimes that's so much worse. [p]

[ophelia]

[ @Willowfern ]
this is a private role-play set in raspberryswirl's dreamscape

RASPBERRYSWIRL

Chaos. It was chaos. Raspberryswirl was trapped in her nightmares, and somehow that was even worse than the sleepless nights she'd been getting for the past moon. The cacophony of visions and sounds swirled around her like a living cage, keeping her asleep and afraid. The voices were unknown to her but simultaneously so familiar, like something from a dream. A different dream, that is, since she was quite obviously in one already.

And then, just like that, silence. The images continued in their whirlwind, but the noise had disappeared. "Hello?" she croaked out hesitantly, speaking to the discord itself.

"HE LEFT ME NO CHOICE!"

Raspberryswirl shrieked in terror, tripping backwards over her tail as the phantom form of a scarred grey tomcat with green eyes loomed into existence, staring down at her. Her father. She recognized her face from memories long since locked away. But why would he be haunting her? A feeling of inexplicable guilt and mourning washed over her chest, and she flinched away.

"Please, please, please..." she whimpered. She screwed her eyes shut as tight as possible, hoping that when she opened them again it would all be okay.

The grey molly stayed like that for what seemed like moons, curled into a ball. The silence blanketed her like a cocoon, heavier and heavier until she couldn't take it anymore. With a gasp, she leapt to her feet, green eyes staring wildly in search for her father's form. It was no where to be found.

Instead, the warrior found herself in the woods. "What...?" she trailed off as she looked around. Had she sleepwalked out of camp? But where was she? This wasn't Shadowclan territory. Oh no. Oh no. Had she intruded into another clan's territory?? She'd made enough mistakes lately, this was one she couldn't afford. The she-cat backed up frantically...right into a bush.

Fur raised, she whipped around, freeing her pelt from the foliage. Too frazzled to pick the leaves out of her usually immaculate fur, she instead stuck her nose into the plant, sniffing deeply to decipher which clan this was. To her confusion, there was no clan scent. She opened her eyes to examine the bush more carefully.

Each leaf was lush and green, even in the dim night lighting. And the blossoms that grew from the branches were symmetrical. Too symmetrical. Everything shone with a soft, glittering light that radiated comfort and peace. The pieces began to fall in place. This was Starclan.

Raspberryswirl backed away, more slowly this time. She wasn't dead. She was dreaming. Which meant she was here for a reason. Was it her father? He could be dead for all she knew, since her mother refused to speak of him. Maybe he could give her answers. The feline turned slowly, peering through the all-too-perfect trees in an attempt to find whoever had summoned her here. Now that she focused, she could definitely sense a presence, but whoever it was evaded her field of vision.

"D-dad?"

[Willowfern]

Mimicskip
He/Him - StarClan

A ginger tabby tom with star scattered in his own impeccable pelt came flouncing over to her, arching a catbrow at her with a bemused look.

“Puh-lease, I’m not that old fart, the name’s Mimicskip, doubt you’ve heard of me,” He scoffed, trotting in with his tail held high over his head, cocking his head at her, “Ooh, yes, I know who you are, Blackberrywhorl or whatever your name is,” He fixes her with a disdained expression, “Daughter of my enemy, yes,” He dropped into a sitting position frowning, “Y’know, seeing as your ol’ mama, bless her, never had the guts to tell you the truth, I suppose-“ He punctuated this with a dramatic sigh, and Raspberryswirl could probably gather at this point that the tom had a penchant for the dramatics, “-it must fall on me to deliver the bad news.”

He looked her over with a small smirk,

“That being, the reason why you’re a screw-up,” Mimicskip says, tail flicking from side to side, “I loved your mother, y’know, lovely cat, pretty, friendly, great personality, all that. I tried so hard to convince her that I would be a far better mate than that oaf, but, alas, she chose him… a real shame, really. I think I could’ve been an excellent mate and father, if given the opportunity to prove myself,” He examined his claws briefly with hooded eyes.

He looked up,

“Now, I’ll admit, it wasn’t my finest hour, but, you gotta understand, I was pissed-” He began to explain, “I attacked the guy. What can you expect? Heartbreak can drive you mad. Of course, your father, wily serpent, was the better fighter, he was stronger, faster…” He grimaced, “Deadlier. He killed me, y’know, a fatal blow to the throat. Really hurt,” Mimicskip flexed his claws, “You can probably guess what happened next, hm?” He sounded almost proud of himself, portraying the whole thing as if he had done what he’d done righteously.

“I cursed him,” He chuckled, “That’s the cool thing ‘bout being dead, you can curse cats that’ve done you wrong! So, I cursed him, yes, yes I did. I cursed him so that his offspring would never win a fight or harm another cat, putting an end to his silly dreams of a legacy of warriors,” Mimicskip shrugged, “So, there you have it, dear. That’s why you’re a screw up.”

[ @ophelia Hope I did this to your expectations ]

[ophelia]

[ @Willowfern ]

RASPBERRYSWIRL

Raspberryswirl blinked in confusion as a tom with ginger fur emerged from the brush, a haughty air to his lazy stance. That was certainly not her father. And he said just as much, introducing himself as Mimicskip. The name was unknown to her, but something about it rang a tiny silver kitty-pet collar bell in the back of her mind.

"That's not-" she began indignantly, starting to correct this stranger, but he just kept talking. So she sat there dumbfounded, watching him in confusion. She frowned at the rather demeaning reference to her parents, more defensive of her mother than father. Never had the guts to tell her what? And why would she be called into a dream with her father's enemy? She barely even remembered her father!

She opened her mouth again, then promptly shut it, realizing his insult was true. She was a screw-up. It had taken her 20 moons to realize it for some reason, but it was very apparent that she could do anything correctly. Could be a good sister, couldn't contribute to a battle, couldn't even lead an herb collection patrol!

He loved her mother? She studied him more carefully. How would her life have been different if this had been her father instead of her dad? Would her mother have stayed with Mimicskip? Too late now.

She listened with wide eyes as he continued the tale, caught up in the tragic romance. Raspberryswirl was something of a romantic herself. As he spoke, the flashing scenes from her recent nightmares began to fall into place. The ginger pelt, the grey pelt, the bared fangs and sorrowful words. This whole time, she'd been dreaming of Mimicskip's battle with her father, and the terrible strife that had preceded it.

"...I cursed him." Raspberryswirl's blood ran cold as the words drew her out of the dreams. A curse? She'd heard stories of cursed cats, but never thought there would be one so close to her. One that impacted her.

"I'll...never win a fight?" The grey she-cat sat down under the weight of the news, pristine white claws unsheathing and sheathing repeatedly. Half of her wanted to launch herself at the Starclanner, the other half wanted to cry. She didn't care about a legacy of warriors, or her father's hopes and dreams. She knew she wasn't the strongest fighter, or the most ambitious warrior. She just wanted to be helpful! To contribute! And now...

She inhaled a trembling breath, looking up at the ginger tom. He was so uncaring. "Thank you for telling me," she said after a moment of silence, doing her best to regain her composure. She supposed it was better than a lifetime of those nightmares. But now she had a lifetime of...what? Nothing.

Raspberryswirl got to her feet. "Can...can I go now?" She didn't think she could stand one more second in this perfect world, while her own was crashing down around her.