rookfire gave lostspark a brief glance, eyes softening ever so slightly at the sight of his former mentor and one of the two cats he had actually grown to trust over the short time hes been here. he let flashpaws denial of her abilities (really, killing a whole warrior out for blood was quite the accomplishment) disappear into nothingness between them, not really invested enough to care for flashpaws self esteem. besides, the lingering feeling of being watched had settled heavy on his side so his attention was devided, unfocussed. another glance to his new apprentice, something between pride and dread clouding in his stomach and whilst cinderpaw did not seem very convinced of her abilities, rookfire sure as hell was. "im sure you will" he assured her before averting his gaze. finally, he locked eyes with a cat he barely knew by sight, hazelstripe, (or hazelpaw as he was quite sure she was demoted at the moment) and the anger in her eyes, unexplained and with no appearant reason made him jerk his head up, questioning, baiting.
rookfire wouldve liked to see himself as a level headed and rational person, however, it appeared that some time between his first memory in riverclan and now, he had become quite quick to anger. this probably wasnt the best first impression one could give, appearing out of nowhere to praise someone for the murder they commited, exchange barely a handful of words and then disappear, tail briefly moving from side to side in quick jerks and shoulders set tense simply because someone had looked at him wrong. but thats exactly what he did, find his way around the cats between himself and hazel and come to a halt in front of her, almost too close to be casual. remaining white tipped ear twitching as if attempting to scare away flies, not getting close to flattening yet showing his displeasure clearly, he had straightened up to stand at full height and stare down at her. "you've got a problem?" rookfire asked, voice level and overall collected enough to keep most of the irritation inwards. if necesarry, the tense posture he could explain away by reason of the shoulder pain that had been a part of his daily life for the better part of a moon, and otherwise, rookfire had always been one to keep it just neutral enough to fly under the radar, he had no intention of getting into trouble with dawnstar or mistlewhisker after all. additonally, 'keep the emotions you feel most closest to you', his mother had said, remaining in his foggy mind as probably the truest bit of all her teachings.
[ @Rose , @Neptune. and @Blaaze for the very beginning. @Dark @Mica @Omari @Rowlet sorry if i mentioned someone for no reason, i have no idea whos involved. ]
That is all Hazelpaw felt as Dawnstar continued the announcements. For a moment she broke her gaze from Rookfire and glanced at the leader before returning her amber orbs to rest upon the large enforcer. Each word, each snippet of detail that the leader said felt like nails being driven into her chest, every blow making it harder to breath.
Dawnstar had been her idol – still was, in fact. Though she wasn’t the most active around the clan, doing the right things, and being perfect was what she strove to be. She wanted to make the leader proud, one way or another but she failed. Here she was, being humiliated, driven into the dirt, chewed up, and spat out in front of the entire clan. It was unfair. She’d never made a mistake like this, never would again, but now everyone would know.
She messed up.
She was imperfect.
Her ears quickly flattened against her skull as her pelt burned in shame from the verbal degradation she received. Honestly, she wished the Queen of Mean would’ve just killed her in her den, using her as one of many pelts held therein. She wished she had been exiled. She would’ve preferred anything else over this. This? It was too much. Her apprentice had just become a warrior, and here she was, the entirety of who she was (perfect) being ripped apart for everyone to see.
She. Wanted. To. Die.
She didn’t get to think on that long because Rookfire had noticed her staring and came over, rising to their full height and staring down at her. She felt small. She felt insignificant, and she hated it. Oh, she loathed it almost as much as she did the showing of her screw-up and subsequent demotion. It was hell, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Peppered whiskers twitching with frustration, she met the larger cat's challenge with an indignant look of her own. ”Yes. There is a problem.” A slight paused as her eyes traveled along the length of the other cat. If it weren’t for the fact that they came from RiverClan and was also demanding a lot of Mossy’s attention, she’d maybe have thought them attractive. An annoying thought. ”I don’t like you.” She growled, voice holding all of its usual confidence and coldness as usual. That was something Elmshadow had told her to watch, her abrasive nature and bad attitude. She didn’t care. As much as she respected the late medicine cat, she wasn’t compromising in order to make everyone else comfortable. Au contraire, they should adjust their own actions in order to not get on her bad side.
”You come from another clan, and hog all of Mossy’s attention. You become an enforcer after going to one battle, and from my understanding nearly getting yourself killed. You’re a filthy fish. A fishy she-cat that takes and hogs the things I want. I loathe you. I hate you so much, and if it were not for Mossfreckle favoring you, I’d wish you to drown in the very river you came from.” The tricolor tabby hissed in a low tone as the cats around them began leaving.
[ @Mica – Hillstrider @alec can be continued in a private rp, I just wanted to get this done ]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mica
Hillstrider
ShadowClan
he/him | 21 moons
[Big fluffy orange tabby with yellow eyes] Purrks: Heightened Perception (Hearing)
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As Ravendude suggested they leave, Hillstrider smiled. “For sure my dude! Let’s wait for the meeting to end though.” As announcements continued, Hillstrider was surprised to hear Hazelstripe settle nearby. The orange tom flashed the molly a smile before focusing on the leader again. Blah blah blah, place name, cat name, proper noun… yeah Hillstrider admittedly wasn’t getting any of it.
Instead, his goldfish brain—or more accurately, his ears—picked up the tense pawsteps of Rookfire before the tom actually appeared. He immediately got in Hazelstripe’s face, asking if there was a problem. Hillstrider let his signature sunshine smile bloom across his face, inching closer to Hazelstripe. “Hey my dude! No problem here! Just tryna enjoy the mee—“ And Hazelstripe was talking. Hillstrider’s smile grew a little strained, worsening with each hateful sentence the she-cat spat.
Then she started insulting the Enforcer, and Hillstrider shoved himself a little further in between them. He could hear the meeting wrapping up, and a confrontation like this was bound to get an audience. “Hazelstripe, my dude, let’s not get too heated, yeah? I’m sure we can all—“
“You’re a filthy fish. A fishy she-cat that takes and hogs the things I want.” Hillstrider gaped at the molly beside him, for once lost for words. Yellow eyes flicked between Hazelstripe and Rookfire, then at Ravendude sitting awkwardly in the corner with their apprentice. He needed to get them to listen otherwise the vibes were going to be even more rancid than they already were.
“OKAY!!” Hillstrider said probably a little too loudly, trying to bully Hazelstripe back from Rookfire so the molly would stop digging herself a deeper grave. “That’s enough my dude! Gonna need an apology from you Hazels my guy, but that can come later when we’ve all reset our vibes and are in a better place mentally, yeah?” The look Hillstrider gave Rookfire was practically stricken. “Congratulations on your new apprentice!” It was like trying to disarm a pipe bomb with a sledgehammer. He wasn’t smart enough for this!!!
hazelstripe was certainly something, even after all the weird cats he had dealt with, he had not expected her to outright say she had a problem with him. 'eyebrows' raised in question, head jerked up in something between expressing curiosity and trying to further rile up hazelstripe as the other feline scanned his form. rookfire wasnt sure if she was trying to figure out whether she could take him in a fight (she couldnt and he knew they both knew that) or was simply trying to make him back down but rookfire remained motionless apart from quick jerks of his tail, anyway. more words passed hazelpaws maw and he exhaled a laugh, maw split into a mocking grin, what were they, kits? "oh is that so?. you're ridiculous" rookfire scoffed, spitting the last word at the other in a way that revealed shiny white fangs, "everything i have, EVERYTHING., i worked for, i wouldve died for shadowclan while you were sitting on your ass in camp, hazelpaw." rookfire began, words holding such force that it was obvious he had crossed the line between riling her up for fun and feeling the need to make it hurt. "i earned everything i have, whilst you cant even keep your warrior name. i expect more respect from you, 'wouldve thought some denmother had taught you that already, every apprentice should respect those who outrank them, dont you think, hazelpaw?" he mocked, cocking his head to the side in a short jerking motion. "and do not. call me that." rookfire forced out through his teeth, snapping from minor distain and riling her up for fun to actually mad in an instant, yet forcing himself to return to and keep up the mocking smile when addressing another one of her points. "well if you asked me, mossfreckle is clearly more interested in me than you and that even though i lead a life beyond just crawling at his paws, trying to gather ever little scrap of attention one pure hearted enough might throw at you" the enforcer shrugged as if it were a comment he had made in passing, not one that made him internally panic, fear that this would one day somehow get to mossfreckle and have him end up looking absolutely ridiculous in front of probably the only cat he felt emotionally obligated to do well for. after another carefully timed period of silence, with rookfire mentally gathering the next linguistic stabs at hazelpaw, the enforcer spoke up again, "there is plenty water for you to try and i'd like to see that actually.. you attempt to drown me.. you know, i'd get to kill you in self defense, or watch dawnstar tear you apart." maw split into a smile, head canted to the side slightly, as if offering a genuine smile, if not for the venom laced words and slight spark in his eye. hillstriders words went mostly unheard, entirely focussed on hazelpaw until the tom spoke up rather loudly, far too close to rookfire and silver eyes snapped to glare at him, "thanks" that should be enough reaction to his congrats, before returning focus to hopefully gorge himself on the mollies reaction.
[ hello taker, and/or mica, i am fearful of punishment which is why this posts sponsor is 'under their nose', protecting rooks stupidity! ]
[ @Mica @Dark ]
razel fistfight and hill is there as well ig [p]
]
