Icestrike’s ears straighten. Poisoning herbs? What kind of… Icestrike couldn’t wrap his head around such cruelty. He zips his head towards Ottersplash. Now his icey eyes were as cold as night. The taste of his mouth is metallic and hot, but he swallows it back down.
Icestrike bows his head low to Larkstar when they allow him to guard the nursery. When he looks up, he follows behind Greenpelt.
While walking, he leans towards Ottersplash. “If you keep this up, kit, you’re going to end up with more than a few scars.”
His own claws are unsheathed, but his demeanor is more calm. Collected. As if he’s had to jump into an attack a thousand times. Then he straightens his head and continues on, not looking back.
“Thank you for volunteering,” he says to Greenpelt. His smile returns but it’s tired.
"Honestly, I don't care if you turn me over to ThunderClan." Ottersplash hissed. "They already know that I did it because some filthy apprentice snitched on me. So go ahead Larkwing. Turn me into ThunderClan. And I honestly don't care if I sleep in the apprentices den. Because I won't be. She spat. She unsheathed her claws, as if she was ready to attack the leader at any moment.
If otter does attack lark, it will be worth perm ofc!
"I'm sorry you believe that I'm trying to act high and mighty, that wasn't my intention, Wingkit. You're a very good brother, and Rushwater did the right thing, and I'm glad your brother was okay, Larkstar is just frustrated because she was worried about you two and she's upset that no one told her, because I'm sure she would have torn the territory up looking for your brother if she knew what had happened. Perhaps I should have stayed home instead of attending the burial to make sure that you and your brother were okay, and for that I apologize. And I understand that this is a big deal, I have a few siblings of my own and I care a lot about them, but there are some kids who have been waiting patiently. If you want, we can talk about this after the meeting that way I can give you my full attention. How does that sound?" Birdsnow was trying, dammit. But she had been at a goddamn funeral, and there were at least ten warriors in camp who could have stopped Honeykit- but she wanted to calm Wingkit down and the kid hating her wouldn't sit right. So yes, she would talk to him afterwards. But (her eyes strayed to Baykit who looked crestfallen over her ceremony being interrupted) there were other things that had been cut short by this, and this chaotic-ass meeting needed to get back on track.
That was until she heard Ottersplash running her mouth, insulting the two brothers and insulting larkstar and insulting everyone and that just wasn't going to fly. Moving forward, eyes akin to chips of ice, the molly lashed her tail as she approached the troublesome warrior.
"Oh, you don't care, then? I would be happy to deliver you at this very moment, then." The deputy spat out coolly. surely Otter had a death wish. Instinctively, the RiverClan cat moved in front of Larkstar. Larkstar had one life, as did Bird, but if this cat even tried to hurt Lark, Bird would gladly throw herself under the claws. Hell, she would die if it meant her leader would be okay. LarkSTAR had suffered far too much to fall or be wounded at the claws of such an imbecile. "Ottersplash, I must be seeing things; Surely you don't have your claws out? Because I would hate to have to manually shove them back into your sheaths for you." She growled softly, tail lashing as icy eyes locked on Ottersplash's. If the other cat moved to attack, Bird would be ready.
you can carry as much as you can; hold your world on your shoulders like atlas and play the good guy. it only works for so long, damn it. rushwater had been paying half attention to the meeting until his name fell among the crowd. wingkit yowled up at larkstar— rushwater felt his muscles tense and he remembered why he loathed children, they had no concept of time and place.
he felt the fur on the back of his neck prick subtly up as the scrutinizing eye of his clan turned to him— rushwater was no coward, but in that moment he knew one thought: panic. he wasn’t usually bad with attention, but the perameters under which he was observed dictated that it was with scorn that they looked at him. he felt small, like an apprentice facing fox. the fact that he felt small made him feel weak, and he would give everything to merely disappear from the situation entirely as his heartbeat roared in his ears. the only thing that betrayed his inner turmoil was the way no words escaped him when he opened his mouth to respond to larkstar, his ears flicked then pinned back as if wounded, and his rhadamanthine gaze flickered down to the ground under paw. he cursed himself for his cowardice and his weakness, keeping himself together externally while a mix of fury at the blatant accusation to his face (in that quick moment he perceived it as such) and insecurity at his flaws being displayed (so he thought) for all to see.
when another commotion stole larkstar’s attention (and thus the clan’s), rushwater felt himself shake out a raspy sigh, giving him time to collect himself before the attention was on him once more. he refused to make a fool of himself. he would handle himself with poise and deftness. he had to.
when larkstar returned her gaze to him, much less accusatory this time, he seemed to have steeled himself into a calm force, lidded indigo eyes meeting hers with equal fervor.
“just one sunrise ago, you and most of the warriors were out in the territory,” he began, having to let a small breath escape him to keep his composure. rushwater would not falter. he would not make a mockery of himself and all he strived for. he would not lie down and accept any more judgement unless he felt he deserved such. “you said that older kits could accompany falconfeather’s funeral party to burry him. i was not in camp at the time the party left, and when i returned i decided to abstain from his burial for-“ he’s my brother, too. i can’t face that. i can hardly face you. face them- it’s blood. it’s all blood. “-to monitor the camp. wingkit runs up to me, proclaiming that his brother is gone. now, i don’t keep up to date on how old most of the kits are, but wingkit and honeykit are pretty close to apprenticeship so i thought nothing of it that honeykit might be at his father’s funeral. regardless, i can’t imagine how over a dozen warriors out in the territory not terribly far from camp could lose a kit. so, as a rational warrior might, i calmed wingkit down.”
he took a breath, his gaze flicking down to his paws as he collected his words.
“you can imagine my surprise when honeykit does not return with the burial party. wingkit is infamous for following uninvited, and i’d rather know where he is than possibly lose him as he tries to shadow me through the territory in search of his brother. it was clear that i couldn’t trust any of the warriors in camp to keep him from running off seeing as honeykit had just done that unstopped. he was safer with me than on his own, so i took the less risky decision. we found honeykit under a bush, and i returned them both to camp.”
there was a sharpness in his gaze now, like the subtle purple hue of ice at twilight.
“you’re not the only one who lost their brother that day, larkstar, so i’d appreciate it if you could be sympathetic towards my less-than-perfect actions. must i remind you that i am just another warrior?”
so.
that was it, hm?
just like that, a secret he had sworn he’d carry to his grave- a connection he had tried to sever so aggressively it had been devouring him -was out like a festering wound bared for all to see. this time, he didn’t care about seeming weak or cold or cruel or- or whatever.
rushwater laughed under his breath a bitter, breathless laugh. maybe he was cursed. maybe that was it. maybe his kin would haunt him for eternity and it would drive him insane. maybe it was a cycle that he only encouraged by trying to escape.
"I'm sorry you believe that I'm trying to act high and mighty, that wasn't my intention, Wingkit. You're a very good brother, and Rushwater did the right thing, and I'm glad your brother was okay, Larkstar is just frustrated because she was worried about you two and she's upset that no one told her, because I'm sure she would have torn the territory up looking for your brother if she knew what had happened. Perhaps I should have stayed home instead of attending the burial to make sure that you and your brother were okay, and for that I apologize. And I understand that this is a big deal, I have a few siblings of my own and I care a lot about them, but there are some kids who have been waiting patiently. If you want, we can talk about this after the meeting that way I can give you my full attention. How does that sound?" Birdsnow was trying, dammit. But she had been at a goddamn funeral, and there were at least ten warriors in camp who could have stopped Honeykit- but she wanted to calm Wingkit down and the kid hating her wouldn't sit right. So yes, she would talk to him afterwards. But (her eyes strayed to Baykit who looked crestfallen over her ceremony being interrupted) there were other things that had been cut short by this, and this chaotic-ass meeting needed to get back on track.
That was until she heard Ottersplash running her mouth, insulting the two brothers and insulting larkstar and insulting everyone and that just wasn't going to fly. Moving forward, eyes akin to chips of ice, the molly lashed her tail as she approached the troublesome warrior.
"Oh, you don't care, then? I would be happy to deliver you at this very moment, then." The deputy spat out coolly. surely Otter had a death wish. Instinctively, the RiverClan cat moved in front of Larkstar. Larkstar had one life, as did Bird, but if this cat even tried to hurt Lark, Bird would gladly throw herself under the claws. Hell, she would die if it meant her leader would be okay. LarkSTAR had suffered far too much to fall or be wounded at the claws of such an imbecile. "Ottersplash, I must be seeing things; Surely you don't have your claws out? Because I would hate to have to manually shove them back into your sheaths for you." She growled softly, tail lashing as icy eyes locked on Ottersplash's. If the other cat moved to attack, Bird would be ready.
"I'll fight you both if I have to" Ottersplash hissed. She stood with her tail lashing, and her claws digging into the ground. She stared at the cat in front of her, as well as Larkwing standing behind. She knew that Larkwing only had one life, if she could get to her, it would only take a quick slash to the throat to take her out.
@FrostyGalaxy
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Duststar is the current leader of DesertClan! She has a semi-open den policy!
"I'll fight you both if I have to" Ottersplash hissed. She stood with her tail lashing, and her claws digging into the ground. She stared at the cat in front of her, as well as Larkwing standing behind. She knew that Larkwing only had one life, if she could get to her, it would only take a quick slash to the throat to take her out.
@FrostyGalaxy
The eyes that darted in the direction of Larkstar's throat were not lost on Birdsnow, and a warning rumble came from the ragdoll's throat. Surely Ottersplash wouldn't be stupid enough to try to kill the leader. "You'll fight no one, but if you dare to, you will lose. Very quickly and very pathetically. I will advise you one more time to stand down, I suggest you take this merciful paw I'm offering you before things take a more unfortunate turn." Birdsnow kept her muscles tense and ready, briefly wondering if the Clan would use this as an excuse to publicly murder Larkstar and herself. She didn't understand. Why did these cats treat her leader so horribly? Why did they not give her the respect she deserved? Why were they so determined to not give them a chance? Frustration rippled through her body, and Birdsnow desperately wanted a change, but she didn't know how to change it. Everything she and Lark did was judged and scorned. Why?
Honeykit blinked around at the cats around him, horribly offended that him leaving camp was viewed as a behavioral issue and not a five moon old breaking down after losing his father. “My daddy DIED. I wasn’t looking for an adventure or trying to have fun, I was trying to find my daddy. Thank you for trying to help, m-mister, but kit classes won’t bring my daddy back. Guards at the camp entrance won’t bring my daddy back. NOTHING will, my daddy is gone and I’m sorry I ran away just everyonestopYELLING-!” His voice turned up a pitched as the kit buried himself under Wingkit. Maybe he was weak, pathetic. Troublesome, even, for not being able to handle this. But he was still tired from the territory and very, very stressed.
he met his Auntie Lark's eye and while he didn't have the brightness in him to smile, he blinked at her. Trying to telepathically communicate that he wasn't mad at her and none of this was her fault. Because it wasn't. Really really. It wasn't Larks, it wasn't Wing's, it wasn't Rush's... it was his. His fauly.
His voice came out again as he poked his head out from under Wingkit briefly, trembling words not travelling very far but hopefully travelling to the cats who were important. "I didn't go with the... the burier cats. I got lost and I just wanted to find my dad but I went the wrong way. No one lost me and um.... I guess no one stopped me in camp because I was too fast. It's my fault. It's my fault, please stop yelling at each other." Desperation laced his tone as he shrunk back against his brother, the usually peppy, hyper kid very chastened and very, very scared.
If his brother wasn't out here, he'd be sprinting back to the nursery right now. He just wanted to get away from the YELLING.
Snapfury came back to camp late after taking a walk. What was going on? He knew he was late, but that didn't start fights. Snapfury tried to get clues from around him, but... nah. nothing. Uh, maybe he could ask someone? He felt very confused and that was very not good.
Snapfury walked further into the camp, trying to figure stuff out. He saw a cat hissing at Birdsnow, figuring out very quickly that that good.
"Uh, can someone tell me what's happening? I was late, but I didn't expect this." Snapfury was stressed and confused, so he did all he could not to be very angry. No murder, please and thank you. He thought.
[open]
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"Tomatoes are in the same family as some of the world's deadliest poisons. That just goes to show how rebellious tomatoes are." "What about how the apple can fall far from the tree?" "No, sometimes the tomato falls from the plant."
Blah, blah, blah. With a sharp tone and a glare, Wingkit let out a small hiss towards the deputy. "I don't wants to talk to you. Don't come near mes or my brother." he spat, fur fluffed up. Everything was loud now, and all he'd wanted to go was bring attention to his missing brother. But now there were yowls and threats and another bigger cat hissing at him that she could silence him. He bared his teeth at her and glared - however his heart was starting to pitter-patter too fast in his chest and it was making him breathless.
Sweeping his gaze from the deputy the tom caught the look his aunt through him. It was apologetic, and for a brief moment he regretted bringing this up now. His glare faltered for a moment and he looked at her, almost scared, before the glare returned and he hunched closer to his brother. Maybe he'd go talk to her later or something.
Over all of it though his ears had been perked for Rushwater. The only cat he trusted right now outside of his brother and Pristy. Wingkit turned to look at the tom, who spoke calmly to his aunt. He did his best to shove down the bewildered look when he was called "infamous for following uninvited", whatever that meant. It didn't sound good, so he grumbled under his breath.
But that was all forgotten when he heard what the warrior said next. He'd... lost a brother? His dad was... Rushwater's brother?? Like Larkstar was? That meant...
...Rushwater was his uncle? He had more kin in the Clan? Was that why he had been so quick to help? So quick to find Honeykit?
Suddenly the meeting was forgotten, and Wingkit nudged his brother, concern for him after he'd spoken up. "Honeys... Honeys it's not your fault, okays? It's the warriors. They're supposes to watch camp. Not your fault." He'd done his best to stand over his brother, protect him from the vicious meeting, and while he stayed over his brother, paws wrapped around him to keep Honeykit buried safely in his fur, his eyes kept darting up to Rushwater, pale blue-green eyes round and wide. The had a hint of disbelief in them, but Wing couldn't find any fault in what the older tom said. He had no reason to lie...
Re: RiverClan Floodstone
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