p | neon signs above integrity

[narcissus]

- b a n e -
chill of death ▵ shadow fiend ▵ mind reader ▵ dreamwalker

before, she'd been silver.

silverpaw.

she'd watched her home turn to filth and ruin. the plague of her existence - dimwits, slackers, fools. she hated to think of them. they'd been nothing more than ungrateful minnows with their brains scooped out by the gleaming talon of a hawk of idiot insecurities and desperation for a place they could never hope to earn. to know they were failing now, she didn't have to return. to bear witness to it - she won't.

so she shed her iridescent, naive name for something that pleased her tongue better to say. bane.

wherever the dandelion fuzz blew, she followed. those wisps settled on dewy grass in the mornings and pointed out the path she should take. the seasons changed. her frame filled out. she matured. her fur grew out, and she shed it when the warmer days came.

her faith in the earth never swayed; she believed her loyalty to it brought her here now: across an undeniably familiar scent she could never forget after all these moons. it'd changed in some ways. Bane supposed her own has, as well. but this was no ship of theseus for her to philosophize: certainly, she'd stumbled across Tansypaw.

in a sea of cretins, Tansy had stood out like a pink-bellied salmon swimming upstream no matter how hard the rest had beat her down into the current. in that cesspool of helpless barnacles, she'd been a shimmering pearl. Bane remembered how she'd admired the former medicine cat, how she'd been desperate to appease her, in some way.

she felt eons older now, detached from her juvenile self in every capacity. she presumed Tansy, too, would differ greatly from that young she-cat she'd been the fateful day she left the horde of bumbling, headless salamanders.

Bane prepared herself for this change as she tracked down the other's scent trail through the long grasses at a leisurely, ambling pace. neither of them, she assumed, were in any hurry. she could move at the moon's snail's pace and still find the patience within her to wait even longer.

eventually, however, as the sun dipped below the horizon, a mottled, tortoiseshell pelt greeted her green gaze. Bane made no effort to sneak up on her former clanmate, though she could very well do so.

"good evening," she called out in a disaffected tone, her expression neutral and devoid of any indication of her inner monologue.

she flicked her ears forward and held her position there, on the crest of a small knoll to look down upon the other cat. closing the distance would ultimately be Tansy's choice - Bane wanted to afford her some respect in her recluse lifestyle.

@silver.

[silver.]

wither
she/her // 18 moons // outsider
agatha kitty - just a scratch - herbal knowledge t2

---

At this point she's convinced that she was doomed to live a life of solitude. Doomed to never enjoy the company of another ever again. Springburst visited every so often and for that she was grateful. But her nest was still cold, even in the hot Greenleaf evenings. And she was sick and tired of it. Tired of waking up to the empty sun beating down on her face, forcing her awake. Tired of hunting for her own food, and hers alone. Tired. Tired, tired, tired. She was always tired. Always have been, always will be.

As of late she had taken to venturing out into the world. Exploring the nooks and crannies of what she claimed as hers in hopes that she would stumble across some other pitiful soul seeking company. Tonight she's collecting herbs. Why? Not even she knows. Perhaps she hoped to one day be a beacon of hope for wayward traveler in need of healing. Or perhaps the more realistic reason was the desire for a shred of normalcy again.

Tonight she's seated before a small patch of dandelions. Chin atop her white paws she stares dully forward at the way they idly sway in the summer breeze. Their scent comforts her. Reminds her of the past that she so desperately longs to return to. Even if it was torture. Even if every day was a nightmare she was forced to relive. At least she had a purpose.

'Good evening.'

The vaguely familiar voice draws her from her stupor. It wasn't the first time she had been taken off guard like this, off in her own little world. Silently she wishes it could have been the last. But no, when she turns she finds another familiar face. One she had never anticipated on seeing again.

"Silverpaw..?"

Just like she, the other molly had aged. Through time or hardship she couldn't tell but something had definitely changed her. Rising to her paws steadily, she tilts her head, as if the figure standing above her, shielding her eyes from the setting sun, was some kind of apparition. Her mind just playing tricks on her, knowing how the loneliness was beginning to drive her mad. But even so she was grateful. Even if it wasn't real. Even if she was still alone in a desolate field of dandelions and other wild flowers.

For a moment she thinks to what Springburst had told her. That Riverclan was no more. So she can only assume that this was something her brain had conjured up to punish her. But maybe... Just maybe... That shred of hope continued beat alongside her heart in her chest.

"Is that really you? What are you... Why are you here?"

bane | @narcissus

[narcissus]

- b a n e -
chill of death ▵ shadow fiend ▵ mind reader ▵ dreamwalker

curiously, she tilted her head to the side at Tansy's words. "it is me," she replied calmly. "though you might call me Bane."

she noticed that, fittingly, in the setting sunlight, the other's pelt looked like molten tree sap, or perhaps its fossilized amber. the many hues of browns and reds and oranges bled together.

Bane tore her gaze from Tansy's fur to respond to her question, finally. "a seagull will change the bays it roosts at," she cryptically explained. "for whatever reason you may choose." it was in her beliefs that she had left for a reason similar to Tansy's, and so she would allow her to make any assumptions she liked.

her eyes strayed down to the dandelions at her paws. like splintered bones, the pieces unscattered and fit together; her mind was in harmony. Bane was satisfied knowing she had picked the right flowers to guide her, though now she has spied a new one to take after.

"i could ask the same of you, Tansypaw," Bane directed at her companion, seeking whatever reason she might give back to her for confirmation.

@silver.

[silver.]

wither
she/her // 18 moons // outsider
agatha kitty - just a scratch - herbal knowledge t2

---

It had been so long since she had heard that name. The sound of it is foreign, unfamiliar to rounded ears. Yet at the same time it stung like the poison of a viper, fire in her veins. Swallowing back the searing pain that threatened her throat she tears her gaze away to also settle on the dandelions at her paws. So Silverpaw, too, went by something else nowadays? Can't suppose she could blame her. Leaving an old life behind was like shedding your skin. Part of it stayed there.

"Wither." She corrects, chocolate hues slowly returning to the other molly's face. "My name is Wither."

To her Tansypaw was dead. It was easier that way. Leaving Riverclan and her identity behind was easier said than done but at this point she had moons to perfect doing so. Wither had no need for the likes of 'Tansypaw', anymore. The cowardly little girl that she was. Though, try as she might to throw her away parts of her still lived within the hardened tortie. And she hated it more than anything. Sighing to herself, escaping her thoughts as best she could, she leans down to bite through the stems of the dandelions one by one, collecting them in her maw to bring back home. Without turning her attention to Bane again she turns and begins back from whence she came, ears alert to catch any movement to follow.

"Hunted earlier if you're hungry. Dunno how long ya been walkin'. If yer paw pads are in rough shape I can take'a look at 'em for ya."

bane | @narcissus