Carrying the body of Darkpetal to the burial site, the queen gently laid it down and tried to clean up what she could, placing what little flowers she could around his neck wound. In her opinion, positioning his body or try to decorate it was far too morbid for her liking, so she just pulled back, covered in the poor tom's blood, and turned to head for camp, feeling very lightheaded and much like she wanted to literally throw up.
"what did you just say?" the words left his mouth as soon as he arrived on scene, watching the quickly growing conflict rise between Hazelpaw and Cracklepaw, "What the hell did you just say?" White hot rage burned in the apprentices eyes as he padded towards the larger apprentice. Bumblestar had already reprimanded him, but just telling him to stop wasnt going to work. When had it ever worked? He was the type of cat who only acted worse and worse if it meant it got them some attention, and attention was exactly what he was getting. Stars, it made him sick. Now, Goldenpaw wasnt a super kind or selfless kinda guy. Far from it, actually. But he at least had a basic sense of respect for those around him, especially those he considered to be in his inner circle of friends. Especially Hazelpaw, someone who was the closest thing to an actual sister he ever had.
"You- youre absolutely pathetic. I bet you wouldnt be so excited if it was your own dad that died, would you? Or would you still be grinning in stupid sadistic joy? Actually, you know what? I think it wouldnt be much of a stretch to think that you were the one that killed him. After all, you are the one who said to throw a kit into the sinkhole, so I wouldnt put it past you. Stars, you make me sick. Bumblestar might be fine with just letting you off with a warning, but I sure as hell am not. Watch your back, Cracklepaw." he snarled, voice shaking in pure, undisguised rage as he glared up at the white tom. It took everything in him not to slash his claws right across Cracklepaws stupid smug face, but for whatever reason he was just able to hold himself back. Something that probably would save him from getting into a ton of trouble with Bumblebreak, sure, but getting in trouble was far from the thing he was most concerned with.
With a final look of contempt thrown at Cracklepaw, he stomped over to Hazelpaws side and went to guide her out of camp behind Dovefluff. "Im going to kick his ass later" he hissed to her under his breath, tail lashing behind him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ares
• Springpaw •
long-furred, oriental-shaped, gray-and-orange calico molly with blue eyes, torn right ear
_________________________________________________
Wait… his body was half-eaten? Springpaw’s gut clenched tightly as her throat immediately began to clench itself from the sheer horrific thought. Why would a cat eat another cat? That’s… that’s just wrong! She could’ve swore that she felt warm, salty tears from at the corner of her eyes from the thought, a paw raising as it covered against her mouth to keep away to horrific stench of blood. Her ears didn’t only take in that bit of information though, as her fear-drenched eyes quickly darted towards the next cat that approached the matter. She could’ve swore her heart sank when she saw the she-cat glaring suspiciously at Dovefluff. Words fought themselves up her throat to defend the blood-sodden molly, yet she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Pity and shame coursed throughout the small calico as she glanced guiltily at Dovefluff. I’m sorry, Ms. Dove, I wanna help but…
Her thoughts were quickly dissolved as soon as she heard Hazelpaw screech, Springpaw’s quickly whipping around to face the distressed molly. A frown grew apparent on the calico’s face, and she opened her jaws to speak, only to suddenly shut them once Cracklepaw began running his little mouth. Her lips quickly curled into a small scowl as Cracklepaw started to ask both merely unnecessary and uncomfortable questions. She hoped she wasn’t the only one that thought that the weird furball was both somewhat annoying and arrogant. It was almost like he was trying to get himself in trouble, as it seemed to the pastel calico. Her ears then angled themselves towards another voice that spoke, Mothdapple, she assumed, as the feline began to speak about why a ShadowClan warrior was here. Springpaw felt her irritation start to bubble in her chest, the young seven moon old molly quickly forcefully speaking up. She was tired of Dovefluff being looked at like she committed this heinous crime.
“Dovefluff didn’t do this,” Springpaw spoke up, glancing sideways towards Mothdapple and anybody else that decided to start accusing Dovefluff, “I don’t know Dovefluff much, but I know that she wouldn’t do this to an innocent cat. Especially one of her own clan-mates.” A blue eye flickered in the gray felines direction, hoping it would be enough for her to not be accused so much by them. Within her very soul and mind, Springpaw knew that Dovefluff wouldn’t do such a thing to cats or to even her own clan-mates. However, the back of her mind screeched at her for making an accusation, as it felt foolish to make. Yet, Springpaw knew deep down that Dovefluff wasn’t the type of cat to do anything like this at all. With that being said, began to quickly follow after the molly after she spoke, head tucked low as she approached her side. She remained silent though, but she mentally awaited a response from the queen as she followed closely alongside her.
Mothdapple's eyes widened as she took a step backwards. "Oh.. no, no. I've never accused her of being responsible for this." She said reassuringly, a bit taken by surprise. She turned her gaze, slowly blinking towards the ShadowClan queen. Sure, the tortoisshell molly had been surprised to see her here, but she could never imagine her hurting anyone. Mothdapple couldn't imagine any clan cat who'd commit such a horrible crime, and to.. eat.. their victim too. She gagged a bit at the thought. No, she was certain this wasn't the work of Dovefluff. "Whoever did this couldn't have been a clan cat, I refuse to believe that. If anything my bet is on some bloodthirsty and very.. immoral rogue" The she-cat almost choked on her last words. There was something very wrong with this and the warrior felt a chill running down her spine as she imagined someone actually.. eating another cat. Mothdapple quickly tried getting herself together before offering a reassuring smile to Dovefluff. She knew it wasn't her.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leafí
v-Crackle'paw-v
He acknowledged DUMBble'stars words with a quick roll of the eye. Pffft- whatever. Why would he even act up over something so dumb? This was obviously another case of the new leader being quite daft. Not really a surprise though. He didn't bother to give his attention any further to the argument and simply listed her words as a quiet agreement. Dead panning his bored gaze over to the entrance in camp, Crackle'paw was about to head out when a splitting screech reached his ears. To his surprise Hazel'paw was lunging right at him.
Eyes flashing in utter surprise, his muscles tensed as he readied himself for the attack. But it never came. Gaze showing even more confusion, he found that Dove'fluff had saved him from the blow. He should've just been grateful that the queen saved his pelt from a good scratching, but that emotion rendered useless in his fool hardy mind. Peeling his lips back into a snarl, the apprentice attempted to shove past Dove'fluff. " Oh! It's worth it all right! This idiot wants to fight me, so let her!" snarling out the words he carried on, hoping to lite this fire even more. "C'mon Hazel'paw! Come and show me your not a nobody, unlike you father!" cackling darkly, he felt eager claws sink into the ground. " Maybe you can even put up a better fight than what he did!" With that last comment tossed out to the wind, Crackle'paw waited for a reaction; gleeful eyes narrowing down to small slits that held nothing but sick amusement.
It happened far too quickly for her to react in time. Hazelpaw, rightfully upset, rocketed forward out of nowhere before Dovefluff stepped in to take the brunt of the attack. Bumblestar took a step back, startled by the display. At first it seemed like it was handled. But then Cracklepaw opened his great big mouth again.
Bumblestar stepped around the other two quickly to intercept the apprentice before an actual fight could break out. "That's enough outta you," she snapped. "You're remaining behind." No, she didn't agree with Hazelpaw's decision to attack a Clanmate, but clearly the apprentice was distressed, and with the added mockery from Cracklepaw, Bumblestar really couldn't blame her. "I don't want to hear another word from you taunting either Hazelpaw or her father. Go to the apprentices' den. Now."
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonwind
Ah yes, time to go along. The she-cat followed after, trying to keep her back from their great leader, and defend the rest of the clan. If she died to Dovefluff, she'd at least fight back, and help the clan in her last moments. Glaring at her, again, she made sure that Dovefluff was not going to hurt or threaten a thing.
Dovefluff
The first thing the young queen saw when she turned was Dragonflycliff looking at her like she was a goddamn murdering scum. The warrior even went so far as to try to keep Dovefluff away from Bumblestar, passive aggressively, and the former ShadowClanner's nostrils flared, and her face tightened with exhaustion. She wasn't about to flip over and talk for an hour trying to convince a bullheaded cat that she wasn't the killer. She had no strength to. "If you could stop treating me like a criminal, that would be nice. As I said, the only involvement I had in Darkpetal's fate was finding him and alerting you all. The cat who attacked him had brown fur, it was caught between his claws. You can check for yourself when we arrive." The fluffy queen's voice was just plain tired, no malice in it at all, turning back to Hazelpaw and the newly arrived Goldenpaw, a slight look of defeat on her face but she quickly shook it off. Her whole time here she looked at funny, especially with the hostility between her birth Clan and her home Clan rising, but really? This was too far.
Turning to face a warrior who looked at her like she was an enemy warrior who busted down the camp walls and announce that she had just killed someone. "And Mothdapple, I'm sorry.... but I'm a member of this Clan and I have been for 5 moons, so I don't understand why you're looking at me like I'm trespassing." There was no hostility in her tone, just resignation. Okay, she knew that she was from ShadowClan and she could never live it down. But when cats treated her like she was going to rip someone's throat out or looked at her like she didn't belong, it made it damn hard to get up and try and prove herself. She didn't even have the energy to try to shush Cracklepaw, luckily Bumblestar and Goldenpaw did a mighty fine job of that- and she was sure Hazelpaw would, too.
Her ears swiveled as another cat spoke up- the only cat to support her innocence, Springpaw. Oceanic blue eyes softened in relief, and Dovefluff felt her shoulders sag with the weight of someone finally believing her. Springpaw then proceeded to hurry to catch up, and Dove was ready with a weary smile (that looked more like a hurt grimace) as she blinked down at the young cat. "Thank you Springpaw, I... I truly appreciate it." Dovefluff attempted to gently nuzzle the young calico's shoulder, before glancing back to check on Hazelpaw and Goldenpaw. And all it took was a ThunderClan born cat, even a young apprentice that wasn't close to either cat, for Mothdapple and Dragonflycliff to stop looking at her like she was a traitor. Her stomach clenched and the young queen deflated slightly, turning and ushering the small mourning party to where Darkpetal lay in Willow's Rise. She was worried for Springpaw and Hazelpaw, but Dovefluff knew the importance of closure and the final goodbye. Hopefully the flowers she had covered the worst wounds with would soften the blow a little, so it wasn't outright goriness..
------
Silently, she led the small cluster to where the body lay, the scent of blood making her feel lightheaded like it always did, but she sat back on her paws, ignoring the stinging claw marks where she had placed herself in between Hazelpaw and that... imp, Cracklepaw. She made no facial expressions to show that she was in any discomfort, only the slight crease of her brow as she glanced at Dragonflycliff. What next, was the warrior going to accuse her of eating him, next? Or maybe she was going to be accused for Sundust or Thrushstar's disappearance? Or maybe she would be blamed for how cold the winter was? It progressively got more and more dramatic, and instead of wallowing (she detested wallowing in the stagnant thoughts), she turned to the three apprentices, keeping herself open for anyone who needed comfort or... well, anything.
"I didn't know him well, but I know that he was a very strong and caring cat. It was an honor being his Clanmate." She wasn't going to make a speech, she just softly said her piece, to open up anyone who wanted to say goodbye, or to let those words hang over them as Goldenpaw would probably comfort his friend, as Hazelpaw battled with the loss of her parent, and Springpaw... she didn't know what was ailing Springpaw, but she had an idea that it was similar to what plagued herself.
Cruel, cruel world.
[pspsps ik lillian has yet to post but i felt the need to move this out of the clearing so they don't have two different vigils/death reaction rps going on at the same time. apologies for any inconvenience ]
Starting with rules we’re always good, they prayed to starclan that all
of them. “Ripplepaw, Crowpaw, Wolfpaw, let’s start with some ground rules for this. Once we reach the actual gravesites. Try to avoid stepping on them, go to the side. If any of you start fighting or arguing, we are going back to camp in a heartbeat. Am I understood? ” They grumbled out the statement, ugh. This is why they wanted to stay apprentice free. They were all either brats or disrespectful assholes. Goldenpaw was in fact a wonderful example of the both of these. As Houndchaser turned back around and towards the large willow tree, only stopping whenever they could notice the marks on the trees bark, avoiding stepping on the graves and went around the side, a basic pathway.
Skittering through the underbrush, the small grey molly poked her head into the clearing near the willow with a few quick sniffs. The scent of freshly turned dirt and a fading smell of iron was on the air, but no cat seemed to be around. She didn't want to disturb anyone here to mourn.
Grey eyes scanned her surroundings and after deeming it safe she padded in. There was tidying up to do, and a certain cat she wished to visit. Careful steps pulled her towards a pair of gravesites near the edge of the clearing, and the small she-cat took a seat in front of both before dipping her head in greeting to the mounds of earth.
"Hi Cloudy," she murmured, tail flicking over to brush across the permanent nest of her sister. "I hope you a-and Brightpath are... happy up there... Please keep an eye out for Rainhound and Bushtuft... I miss them..."
A deep breath huffed out of her muzzle as she let her eyes close for a few moments and simply listened to the soothing sounds of the forest around her. This was a nice place to be. Very quiet. Probably the quietest place in the territory.
Grey eyes blinked back open, and a crooked half-smile cracked across her face. Cloudy was safe here, so she'd best be getting to work.
Pushing up to her paws, Mistheart began to brush a few stray bits of forest debris that had fallen onto her littermate's grave before moving onto Brightpath's (they were family, so of course she'd take care of them first). Once they were sufficiently cleared, the grey molly moved around the clearing to take care of the rest; brushing off debris, clearing away old gifts that were beginning to mold, and taking brief stops to wish the forever sleeping cats below her well in their new homes.
Now covered in bits of leaves and dirt, the grey molly moved up to the willow tree itself and began to inspect the odd crevice's around the roots and trunk. They had just gained new medicine cats... Perhaps she could bring a gift in to help them out...
Finally spotting her target, Mistheart let out a short and pleased 'mrrp' before eagerly snatching up a small twig and jamming it into an opening under one of the roots. Eagerly, she twisted it around a few times before pulling out a now cobweb-wrapped stick. Continuing to poke around, the grey cat found 2 more cobweb stashes that she quickly added to the stick before happily skittering out of the clearing.
"Mye Cloufdy..." she hummed around her stick as she moved back towards camp, hoping against hope that her words had made it all the way up to the stars.
__________________
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
Steady footsteps led the way to his clan's burial ground with his sacred charge held gently in his jaws.
His tail still rested gently atop the queen's back, and the large golden tom made sure to keep his pace matching her own so Dovefluff wouldn't feel rushed in any way. Burying the ones you cared for was no easy task, and he imagined the grief of burying one's kits was even more heart-rending.
The forest was still; peaceful and serene considering the season. As Willow's Rose came into view, Lioncrest gently placed his charge on the ground before turning to look towards Dovefluff.
"Where would you like them to sleep?" he rumbled, voice low as he glanced around the clearing. She had no ancestors in this clan, but that merely meant more choice in this queen's paws. "You may take your time to choose; I will guard them here."
The molly numbly followed Lioncrest, eyes locked on Echokit, forcing herself not to collapse or use the large warrior as a crutch, stumbling forward on her own.
The molly let out a hoarse whimper, nodding and padding around the clearing, being careful not to step on a grave. On unstable paws and with soft sobs of disbelief that she was picking a grave for her daughter, it took a while before the molly picked out a spot where she imagined a deep root of the willow to be. So her daughter would be connected to the rest of the forest she had spent her short life in.
Then, she shuffles to the edge of the clearing where small red flowers bloomed, plucking them with a nip, grabbing a bundle and padding over to the selected spot, staring at the kit in her friend's jaws with a wave of nauseated grief.
The molly numbly followed Lioncrest, eyes locked on Echokit, forcing herself not to collapse or use the large warrior as a crutch, stumbling forward on her own.
The molly let out a hoarse whimper, nodding and padding around the clearing, being careful not to step on a grave. On unstable paws and with soft sobs of disbelief that she was picking a grave for her daughter, it took a while before the molly picked out a spot where she imagined a deep root of the willow to be. So her daughter would be connected to the rest of the forest she had spent her short life in.
Then, she shuffles to the edge of the clearing where small red flowers bloomed, plucking them with a nip, grabbing a bundle and padding over to the selected spot, staring at the kit in her friend's jaws with a wave of nauseated grief.
Amber eyes dutifully watched the clearing as Dovefluff stumbled forward to complete her task. The light chirping of birds and stillness of the woods around them provided a certain blanket of softness to this moment... A softness that was sorely needed during such a time as this.
Careful pawsteps brought the larger tom over to the area that the queen had indicated. It was a good location; close to the willow of their ancestors and secluded enough to be private if necessary. Gently, Lioncrest laid Echokit at the paws of her mother before stepping over to the unmarred ground.
"I will make her a suitable nest," he murmured, unsheathing his claws and beginning to scoop large pawfuls of dirt from Dovefluff's chosen spot in a steady rhythm. "She will be safe here, I promise you that."
Lapsing into a concentrated silence, the golden tom worked as swiftly as he could. Paws scrapped and scooped until he deemed the grave deep enough that predators wouldn't scent out an easy meal; a tragic consideration, but one that was necessary to make in their territory. Stepping back from his task, Lioncrest turned to give a solemn nod to his companion.
"You may take all the time you need Dovefluff," he rumbled, hoping to convey a sense of comfort with his words and presence. "I will not leave you here alone. Whatever you need from me, whether it be comfort, silence, or action, simply say the word and it will be done."
Settling back onto his haunches, the large golden tom resumed his sentry-like pose to protect his charges and fulfill whatever needs were requested of him.
__________________
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
Nightgaze padded carefully into Willow's rise doing her best to not disturb any graves she sat down quietly and smiled at her apprentice "So this is Willow's rise what ya think?" she asked cheerfully she knew that she'd been asking her apprentice the same thing each time but she wanted Fawnpaw to love their clan's territory.
Fawnpaw kept following her mentor "it seems like a good place to relax " she said, her gaze looking around the palce...huh, is that why dead cats are buried here...because it's relaxing? That'd kinda make sense right? She started to wonder if there's any spirit cats in the area...though even if there is she probably can't see them anyway
Re: Willow's Rise
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