[Pending] Redface

[nyme]

SHOULD'VE BEEN A ROCKSTAR

──

REDFACE . 28 MOONS AT DEATH . HE/HIM . FORMERLY WINDCLAN

"What makes you stand out from the rest of the cats who want another chance?"

"My DAZZLING GOOD LOOKS and CAN-DO ATTITUDE!"

Redface is here. He's here and he's nervous but, stars as his witness, he's going to sell himself as hard as he can. It'd been—how long? Not very, but in the time since his quick and underwhelming death he'd watched Windclan swell with kittens, battle a fire...once, he had thought that he would be able to take his death with grace. That he wouldn't be a big sniveling baby about it. It must not have been hitting him in the moment, though, just how final the end would be. How clean-cut. How...over.

But it's not! Or. It doesn't have to be. Why had nobody told him about this sooner? Whatever.

"Hello! I'm Redface! I died! I mean, obviously I died, I'm here, but...well alright, here: I was killed. It was—quick. Ugly. Humiliating, really. I won't pretend I'm not at all motivated by the idea of winning, like, haha ya thought I was dead but I'm not, take that!! Which is selfish, yes! Make of that whatcha will. Can I sit? I'm sitting," and he sits, licking a stripe down his ginger chest. "What I really want is to help, though. I want to help. Have you been keepin' up with Windclan? Lovely folks, Windclan, real sweethearts, but uhhhh...I mean, have you seen their lineup? How many kittens d'you reckon're crawling about down there versus how many older cats to help train 'em up? Weeeelll guess what,"

Aaaand he's standing again. He's—striking poses.

"Taaake it in..." turn, pose. Turn again, chest out, chin raised, pose. And again, tail angled up, legs stanced out all heroically. "You get it? You pickin' up what I'm layin' down? Look at me! I'm tough! I'm charming! I learn from my mistakes! Who better to help, when a clan needs helping? And my clan does. Badly. More than any stupid personal investment, more than soothing my own bruised ego, more than feeling my own heart beating again, that's what I want. To be there. To help."

He drops the foolishness, only standing, only waiting. The fiery tip of Redface's tail twitches to and fro, anxious energy keeping it tick-tick-ticking. "Mighty tempting proposition, isn't it? I know, I know. Take your time...digesting, I can wait patiently." Debatable.

[gayvinegar]

☆*: .｡. o Dewkit o .｡.:*☆

❧ Starclan Warden

The fluffy gray kit padded up to the tom. And flicked her ears in mild annoyance. "As annoying as you are..." she began, "you died protecting an apprentice. I find that admirable. Most would rather save their own pelt." And the warrior in front of her was young himself. No more than 30 moons.

"No one cares what you look like, Redface." she mumbled.

"I need a little bit more information before I say yes. In the hypothetical situation that Windclan does not allow you back in, what will you do? What will you do when faced with a similar situation to the one you died in?"

- @nyme @/other wardens

[dino.]

[ Bogtumble is not a Warden, he's just Here. ]

oooOOOOO HE LIKED THIS ONE VERY MUCH!! He was already giggling as he traipsed merrily out of the shadows, eyeing Redface as if the tom was either a loveable circus act, or... a very tasty meal. It was debatable.

"YOU!" he announced. "I like you! APPROVED! Have fun in WindClan, bye bye!"

[ @nyme @gayvinegar ]

[nyme]

SHOULD'VE BEEN A ROCKSTAR

──

REDFACE . 28 MOONS AT DEATH . HE/HIM . FORMERLY WINDCLAN

He sits up a little straighter as Dewkit draws near, unnerved to be judged by one so young. Not young, Redface reminds himself warily. Just...little. What a shame it must be, eternal kittenhood. But that doesn't mean he should blow off what Dewkit has to say, even if it starts out with an acknowledgement of how annoying he's being. Redface swallows, briefly sheepish. But only briefly.

Huh. What if they don't let him come back? Oh, stars, he hadn't really considered that...it'd look awfully strange to Windclan to have him back, wouldn't it? And he might give those last cats to see him up and kicking an especially nasty fright (well, the apprentice is blind now, what he just...never...talks to her? Is that bad?). What's a guy to do if his one and only big plan falls through?

Redface gets a few false starts in, mouth opening and closing, chest swelling with failed responses. He clicks his tongue and settles himself with one big huff.

"That's an excellent question and—uh, you're right to ask it. I-I mean, what's the point in sending me back if I can't...hm. I don't suppose you'd be satisfied if I toldya there's no chance they wouldn't want me back? I mean, did you really look at me?" Redface almost stands again to strike another dashing pose, but he knows he's already driven that point home and this tiny judge seems wholly uninterested in any more of those antics. He knows, he knows; he's being a lot right now. He can't help it when he's so nervous. "Right, yeah. That's not very tangible. That's not an answer. But I think I could pull it off, don't you? If I stride triiii-umphantly back into their midst to inform them that the very stars deemed them deserving of help, and so sent my lovely self back home for patrols and trainings galore? Who wouldn't go for that? You see the vision, don't you?" Redface implores, tipping his pouting face to one side like a begging dog. That sad little look twitches into a tenative grin; he's sure this won't earn him any additional points, but he can't resist adding:

"Hey, and I bet you they'll welcome me back. Whaddya say? Winner gets an I-told-you-so for the ages. You won't have to wait very long to claim it, if you're right. If, hypothetically, Windclan wants nothin' to do with me at all, if my charm and enduring loyalty means nothin' to them, then I'll be sure to make my way right back here in no time to apologize for the time an' effort wasted. If. Cool?" Redface's tail curls up over his russet paws. "There's nothing left for me down there if they decide they don't need me after all. That's why I've only bothered to ask now that it seems very much like they do need me." It's a good thing he's a very red cat, or else the deepening blush in his ears at his own affected arrogance would be embarrassingly evident. But he's committing to it. No maybes or um, please?'s.

And as for the other part of this question...Redface doesn't bother to suppress the shudder that crawls down his spine. "Hey...that guy came outta nowhere, seriously," he paws at the ground bashfully. Poor Leopardpaw, poor Ravenhawk... "I won't let that happen again. I told you, I learn from my mistakes. We shouldn't have let her out of our sight, I shouldn't have expected him to be an easy fight, we—I handled that poorly, and it cost more than just my life, an' I do regret that. But I only regret it 'cause it shouldn'ta happened to begin with. If the same thing happens again, somehow, then I'll keep my head on. I'll protect my neck, like I know I should." He bristles. Time dead, aimless, has meant time to reflect on what had happened. What he'd done wrong and what he would do differently. So really, he's more prepared for this question than the former.

"Clearly I could stand to improve myself and while I'm at it, I intend to pitch in to help our young'ins out whenever I can. Keep 'em protected, teach 'em to protect themselves." What had happened to Leopardpaw was not her fault. She'd been failed by the two older cats present. Even so, she and young cats like her could only benefit from having this lesson and what to do when the worst is bearing down on you drilled into them againandagainandagain. Redface worries that, with warriors spread thin across the impending wave of bright-eyed future apprentices, more easily preventable mistakes like what had happened that day will come to pass.

"I mean, c'mon, d-don't make—uh," Oh, hey! Ain't this guy tons of fun?? Just as Redface is about to go and get all choked up, there's Bogtumble on the scene, getting his hopes up. Redface doesn't realize that this interloper has no say in what's happening right now and he perks up all sunshine and success at the false go-ahead, baring his biggest and brightest grin. "Really? Hah! Cool! Thank you so much! I like you, too, guy!"

@gayvinegar ; DEWKIT
@dino. ; BOGTUMBLE
+ OTHER WARDENS