heavily scarred & malnourished black tom with white speckles; cloudy light amber eyes. walks with a prominent limp & has protruding fangs that overlap his bottom lip.
content + interaction warning : this character frequently explores themes of mental health, complex trauma, and abuse. this post specifically summarizes wormbite's time being captured which features non-consensual medical experimentation, torture, and kidnapping. there is also descriptions of dissociation present.
└➤ ⌗ @reiya @occultation | WOOO this took me so very long and i am super sorry y'all! executive dysfunction did not want this done
his expression softened at dusklion's sweet words, he tries to smile but it lasts only briefly, a formality if anything. strange, how he reverted to such ways when face with the dread of plausible rejection. there was no future for him if not in riverclan.
thoughts drift momentarily, fixated on the absence of beansprout. his scent no longer lingered, and he supposed if he explored he would likely found it had long since been changed. it did not feel right. starsdammit, selfishly he found himself wanting to have his snout buried in the other's fur instead of standing in front of his apprentice who wormbite never wished to have him see him like this.
his thoughts snap back to fadingsun once he speaks, the oriental blinks rapidly; his movements feel sluggish, a feeling of surreal filling his chest. wormbite lets out a small chuckle at the other's surprise, at least he was not the only one sounding strained here. "it iss nice to ssee you too, " he responds before clearing his throat quietly, "r,,right - yess - it is, a bit of a long .. sstory. i must recommend us to ssit, " he mewed, tripping over his words. a mixture of his own nervousness & needing to re-learn tongue placements becoming apparent.
*dropping the lisp just since this is a lot of words and i want it to be easy to read but it is still present ! wormbite shuffles a bit, taking a seat in a corner. he always felt safest when his back was shielded by a wall. his tail lays over his paws, rolling back his shoulders and straightening his posture. "i ,,do preface by confessing that my recollection of the events are.. blurry - especially at the beginning, " he starts off by explaining. his gaze naturally trails down to the ground out of habit.
"you see.. during the uhm, last flood - daypaw and i were swept away. i sustained an awful head injury due to ,, falling debris, i believe? nonetheless, i was knocked unconscious for an amount of time that is .. lost to me. " his eyebrows furrowed close together, attempting to recall specific details but it was a blank page. all the oriental had was what daypaw had told him and she didn't exactly bother for much details. (or maybe he had forgotten, how long ago had that been?)
"daypaw had been ,, unable to find any remnants of riverclan but an outsider by the name of mouse did manage to find her - us. she claimed she knew herbs and could treat me. i was.. incapacitated, at the time. she had managed to convince my niece that i was er, in dire need so mouse brought us to her ,, den. right outside of our borders, i think. " wormbite's head ached dully, questions flickering through his own head. where the line of mouse's truths and lies started were an enigma.
"what mouse had neglected to mention was she was residing with another outsider. she called him wolf, though i believe he may have been a former clan cat due to the way he .. spoke. albeit rarely and only to her. he was typically the one hunting whereas mouse lingered. the head injury had in fact left me with quite a few adverse effects, but admittedly i struggle to know which were due to the injury and which were because of the herbs mouse was treating me with, " the black cat knew at least one had been a poison, something to keep him sick. his voice trails off a bit, eyes glazing over briefly.
he shakes his head and then continues. "after a few days and i started to become more aware it became clear that mouse was a fraud. her knowledge was far too inconsistent but i had not quite recovered enough that i believed it would be better to not risk leaving when my condition could leave us in far more danger. daypaw lacked any training and despite my confusion of mouse's and wolf's intentions they did keep us well-fed with shelter. " wormbite's thoughts swirl, a small voice piping up that he should've done something more. he knew something was wrong, and yet everything still took place.
"after a week my symptoms had dulled enough to where i believed we could travel by night to reach riverclan. er, naturally when mouse was informed of this plan any facades were dropped. things swiftly escalated. i had been able to offer an opening for daypaw to escape but it only sealed my capture. "
"i learnt wolf was a contractor. his and mouse's relationship only existed as long as it was mutually beneficial, though the specifics i do not know. with the falsities dropped a routine was put in place. i was never - left uhm, alone unless they had no choice. then it was a mouthful of poppy seeds for me. i did - learn the true reason mouse had insisted on going through such troubles. bit obvious, really, " wormbite swallowed his disgust, his stomach churning. the more he spoke the more he felt less present, his body was there -- but he was far away. the words came out on autopilot, something rehearsed.
he lifted a scarred paw and gestured to the array of scars littering his pelt. "she did not want to risk her own wellbeing when it came to gaining knowledge about ah, herbs and ,, poisons. at - the beginning they, " he pauses, taking a sharp intake of breath, "kept me in decent condition. i hid the progress of my recovery - figured it was likely to be more successful than not if i was underestimated. "
"it would only end up being my second failed escape. ended whatever nice streak mouse was attempting to uphold. she did not want to risk another so i uhm, ended up with a broken hindleg and a wrecked frontpaw. my conditions gradually became .. more restrictive. i would disobey and reap the consequences. less water, less food, colder & wetter places. i know we moved locations .. a few times, at least, but it may have been more. near the end it eventually became less about the herbs and more about how far mouse could push. she er, was bored. easily. " that was the understatement of a lifetime. he saves the gritty details, reckons the implications are enough. hopes its enough.
"never.. saw anyone else besides the one time mouse brought ,,,, a random outsider. i do not understand why, besides she was curious. it - ended in quite the chaos. though, perhaps is the main reason why i stand here today. as time passed i did see mouse less and less. i waited, and i waited and played the game until about most of the stuff she was feeding me i built a tolerance against 'n my limbs were healed as good as they were going to get. i - i killed wolf whilst he was sleeping and mouse was away. i did manage to escape and wandered near the twolegplace. i - think my body had adjusted to the constant intake of herbs that, it left with me nasty adverse effects for a hot while. " nasty was an understatement.
"i ended up being captured by twolegs and they treated me. strangely, once i was up to their standards they did .. simply release me. i have been searching for riverclan since." wormbite finishes after what seems to be an eternity, his shoulders slump in surrender to his weariness. a wave of dizziness washes over him. perhaps he should've waited, but he had wanted - needed this to be said and done.
★ ULTIMATE PREDATOR ★ JUST A SCRATCH ★ SHADOW FIEND ★ SURVIVAL INSTINCTS
on i go, not toward or away [ p ]
