Sweet Nightmares... [P]

[Tiabirb]

Sweetsong of RiverClan

She/Her
34 Moons
Purrks:

Herbal Knowledge T1; Flock Together T1; Dreamwalker
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She gazed at him for a long time. In her heart, she knew she needed to hear his story. Someone needed to know how deep his pain went. To hold it and share its burden...but she shook her head, though she smiled with an apology. "You have spent enough time in those dark places." She whispered, "Let's enjoy this," She turned her eyes back to the water, taking a long, deep breath. "I think I was meant to find you, Crowpaw....so I will find you again. I will hear your story then..."

Sweetsong eyed the line where the water met the sky. "Do you think...we will see the sun rise here?" She asked him, "I've never had...a dream like this...so dark and cold..." Sweetsong shivered. "This part of your dream is so much nicer...you should be here more..not in that scary cave..."

She could remember the last nightmare she had had. It was when...she was alive. Her sister, the beast known as Poisonberry. Sweetsong could feel herself shrinking down. Her cave had been a thicket, with tangling thorns and brambles, cutting her pelt and ears, and then they had become...her sister's silver and white paws, her claws tearing at Sweetsong...

"Pathetic," She would hiss. "Weak. You will die, sweet little sister, and no one will remember your stupid name, or your bleeding heart..."

Sweetsong could remember every word, every barb, jab and cutting insult.
But she also remembered finding her sister's body. Broken and stiff...she had died hunting at night...snatched up by an owl. The feathers and blood showed she had put up a fight and had freed herself...but the branches piercing her body had told Sweetsong just how horrible her death had been. She had fallen onto a branch, snapping it off, but it had been stuck inside of her ribs as she kept falling...and she had landed on it a second time, the impact sending more of the broken wood through her silver and black tabby body.

None would know how deeply Sweetsong blamed herself...she and Poisonberry had argued that evening...over Boulderkit, Poisonberry's son. Sweetsong hadn't liked how twisted the young kit had been becoming, seeing troubling signs of cruelty...but Poisonberry had screeched at her, belittling Sweetsong, sneering that she should have had the damn kit herself if she wanted to be a Queen so badly...
But even then her paws were drawn to the medicine den...to herbs and healing. The argument had ended with Poisonberry tossing Boulderkit back into the nursery by his tail and storming out of camp just as the last of the sun's light had faded behind the distant hills and trees. She had stayed with Boulderkit for as long as she could, but when Poisonberry hadn't returned by moonhigh, Sweetsong had set out to find her...

"I know what it is like to have family who loathes you," Sweetsong admitted after a long while of silence. "To see you as lesser...to be unwanted...I know the conflict of relief and...anger...Only one cat has ever made me...angry...and that was my sister..." The small pale ginger she-cat whimpered, her ears falling.
"I was in that dark place too once...after she died...but when I realized she wasn't going to haunt me...that she would never...hurt me again..my nightmares stopped." Sweetsong looked up at the sky. "I want to believe she went to StarClan....but I know deep in my heart she was never meant to go there....the things she's done...said...what she would have done if she were still alive...I know she went to the Dark Forest...that's where cats who are truly wicked and unforgiveable go..."

Sweetsong sniffled, lifting a soggy paw to wipe her nose. "Cats couldn't believe we were related...and sometimes...I couldn't either..." She no idea why she had shared this. It was a not-so-secret secret to Sweetsong. Poisonberry's death had gone on and few had mourned..she hadn't been a likeable cat.

@SpiritedWarrior

[SpiritedWarrior]

Crowpaw

Purrks: Heightened Perception and Agatha Kitty
@Tiabirb

While Sweetsong stared at him, which seemed like a real long time, the young tabby was beginning to think that someone would listen. Unfortuantely that was not the case. All he got was an apology. Of course not. Why do I even try anymore...? There was no hint of surprise in his eyes, but he understood. How could such a nice cat want to be burdened with the mess that is his life? He wanted to cry, but there was no point. Not anymore. All he could do was swallow his emotions, nod in acknowledgement, and look down at his paws.

He felt only a little bit of relief. One night, he'd tell Sweetsong his story. And she'd listen, but tonight was not the night and Sweetsong had made that clear. He didn't pay attention to her until she spoke again, and he had looked up once more. "Can't say I'm surprised... y-you're so nice." And merciful. "I didn't even know this place existed in my dream..."

She hardly knows me... yet she knows me so well. I was unwanted. Loathed. By my own family, too. His pupils went wide in shock. Her own sister? Crowpaw couldn't imagine if Quailpaw, Fallowkit, Lavenderpaw, or Bluekit hated him. They all loved him... at least for the time he knew them. Although she never experienced a nightmare like she had just seen Crowpaw experience, she knew what it was like to have nightmares.

"Wicked and unforgivable? Your sister must've been pretty bad then. My sisters were great... I couldn't imagine if I was hated by them. But I don't doubt for a moment that Thrushstar and Quailfur went to the Dark Forest. I used to hope Quailfur went to StarClan, but... not anymore. But like you said- that's a story for another time. I couldn't believe I was related to them either, much like you and your sister."

He reached his paw up to hug her, to comfort her in the only way he knew how, but he wasn't sure if Sweetsong would want that. Perhaps she needed to talk? No... she's moved on. She probably wouldn't want to talk about it anymore. "I don't know if we'll see the sun rise, but you mentioning the sun reminded me of something I started thinking about two moons ago when I had good days. The moon comes and goes... we'll always have bad times, but... the sun comes and goes too. We'll have good days, even though we may have more bad days. The sun never follows far behind."

When he was a kit, and reprimanded for sneaking out of the nursery (though he only went to the Highledge to be with his father, a warrior at the time, to watch the meeting) by his mother, his sisters had crawled on top of him to comfort their crying brother and pleaded for their mother to forgive him. That was the only memory he had of his littermates being together with him. The only truly good memory of their bond. He wasn't even five moons yet, perhaps he was closer to three or four. Lavenderpaw was a kit at the time, just new to the family. Crowpaw couldn't remember when Quailfur adopted her, but Crowpaw always remembered how he loved his mother for taking in a blind kit.

But all of that happiness was gone now. He was betrayed by his father. Lived without love with both his parents. Watched his sister die. Watched his mother die. His sisters were never looked for nor were they found. It was safe to assume they were dead considering they had never returned to ThunderClan. Pondwhisker was dead now, too. Sweetsong's right. I do have the ability to rewrite my family's story. But I don't know how... I know what love is not, but I hardly ever experienced it. How do I love someone without hurting them like my family did to me?

"H-how... what made you realize she'd never hurt you again?" He was asking for himself, yet he was also taking an interest in Sweetsong's life. Perhaps she could teach him how to move on? It wasn't too far of a stretched thought. Crowsong was genuinely curious and was sick of being in the same, scary, tormenting place every night he went to sleep. He'd do anything to get out of that nightmare if he could.

[Tiabirb]

Sweetsong
34 Moons
She/Her
Purrks
Herbal Knowledge T1; Flock Together T1; Dreamwalker
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She could practically taste his disappointment. She wanted to hear his story, to know every little detail so she could share it all...but she could sense the night moving on as they stayed in this void of time.
Sweetsong's soft gaze were pools of sorrow and self-loathing. With her own pain shared, he seemed to take interest, but he didn't quite understand why.
But she did.

Sweetsong was unlike the typical warrior, and she would never try to say otherwise. She didn't hunt. While she could, she couldn't bring herself to take the lives of the mice and birds she watched with admiration. To be prey but to live on with their lives as though the thought of being struck down and eaten was never a concern in their worlds.
Among her Clan, her Clanmates...Sweetsong knew she was prey. Weak. Useless. Her fate to be devoured by the rage and hatred and venomous words and hearts all around her. Poisonberry's abuse hadn't stopped...it had only changed faces...
The most recent face that had looked at her with disgust...had been Birdsnow. Her own leader. Never had she incurred a response like that before...but her kind ways and gentle nature were displeasing to the cat who she believed would bring RiverClan back from its own destruction. And that simply broke her heart into pieces.

He spoke about the sun, and how its light is never far away from chasing off the darkness. Sweetsong was lost in her thoughts at this point, staring at her faint reflection as the waves pushed and pulled the sand at her paws with the tide. He asked how she knew. Sweetsong didn't look up. She closed her eyes and bowed her head, her ears pinning back to her skull.
"I found her body..." The small ginger she-cat whispered, "And my faith in StarClan prevents her from invading my dreams...She is dead and gone. In all but memory..."

Something silver flickered in the corner of her eye, and Sweetsong let out a soft gasp. Standing three fox-lengths away down the shoreline was a massive ghostly figure. Shadows licked around the feline frame, as if the black tabby stripes were peeling off themselves, wreathing and snaking around...
Dark green eyes flashed knowingly, and within the same heartbeat, claws and teeth came lunging for them. Sweetsong yelped in alarm and stumbled back, slipping in the sand, but when she righted herself..the image of her sister was gone. "D-did you see her?" Sweetsong whimpered, her green eyes wide and horrified, her head swiveling to either side, like an owl. "Oh... I shouldn't have said anything..." Sweetsong panted, feeling herself curl into herself. "Everytime...everytime...she tries...she tries..."

Sweetsong, so calm and comforting before, was now huddled close to Crowpaw like a frightened kit, and her entire body trembled and shook. Her entire thick pelt was fluffed up in her terror. Her voice, once so honey-like and full, was a quivering one.

"She tries...she tries...poison and lies...she never dies...."

@SpiritedWarrior

[SpiritedWarrior]

Crowpaw

Purrks: Heightened Perception and Agatha Kitty
@Tiabirb

Crowpaw had been so engulfed in the flames of his own pain, he hardly ever recognized that there were other warriors- other cats- out there that went through difficult times. In the back of his mind, he knew, but he never thought to recognize that he wasn't the only one with terrible family members. A pang of sympathy lit in his eyes. The only good thing he got out of his disastrous family was the knowledge that siblings were supposed to get along. They were supposed to be supportive and protective of each other.

It was truly a shame that there were more bad than good cats in the Clans. Well... at least that's what Crowpaw experienced. Sparrowstar, Thrushstar, and Bumblestar were all bad in his opinion. Plus all the Clanmates he grew up with. And the whole of ShadowClan. Without having enough knowledge on RiverClan, he couldn't form a proper opinion of them, but he knew that there had been at least two good warriors in RiverClan.

Pondwhisker and now Sweetsong. Whether there was more, Crowpaw truly didn't know. ThunderClan was turning out to be ShadowClan 2.0, whether he wanted to admit it or not. There are times where he understood Bumblestar's reasoning for acting and doing what she does, but he didn't think his own Clanmates should be murdered. Then again... Bumblestar no longer thought exile was a good enough punishment for those who wronged ThunderClan. While she was valid in her feelings toward the traitors, killing was just... wrong. But is it really? Killing was only permitted if the cat was outside the code. And by betraying the Clan... does that make them outside the code?

It was certainly a thought, but not a thought that mattered in this very moment. Sweetsong's words brought him out of his thoughts and back to the present. "That's horrible. I'm sorry you had to go through it," Crowpaw murmured in a calm, sympathetic manner. If Sweetsong's faith in StarClan prevented her sister from haunting her dreams anymore than she had, and Sweetsong was in Crowpaw's dream, what did that mean for the RiverClan she-cat? Crowpaw's dream was a nightmare, but now he was staring out at the horizon, watching the endless lake's water lap at his toes.

Crowpaw rested his head on his RiverClan companion's head in comfort and sighed. He momentarily closed his eyes to feel what he had lost long ago: true peace. Unfortunately, that 'true peace' merely lasted a second before it was interrupted by a strange figure. A shadowy one... with a silver-ish pelt and green eyes. Who is that?! Just as soon as the green eyes made an appearance, the figure leapt for the pair. Instinctively, while Sweetsong was terrified to what seemed like her very core, Crowpaw's protectiveness took over and he, too, leapt for the strange figure with claws and teeth ready to sink into the shadow figure's pelt.

Her? Sweetsong's sister... Crowpaw looked at Sweetsong, his kind demeanor returned, and whispered, "You're all right... she won't hurt you. Not while I'm here... I'll make sure of it." When he was younger, he thought he'd take on the whole of StarClan after everything that had happened. And he'd do the same with the Dark Forest if need be. There was not a single cat, living or dead, that'd take away his friends' happiness without having to go through him.

Sweetsong was now huddled against Crowpaw like a kit. It was funny in a way. Here he was, a 19-moon-old apprentice, protecting a 34-moon-old warrior. Then again, her sister had caused her pain. And she sought comfort with me. He wanted to yell out a warning for the Dark Forest warrior, but he didn't want to say something that might hurt Sweetsong's feelings more than they already were. His pupils enlarged and stared into Sweetsong's golden pelt. He let out a comforting purr and smiled at his companion.

"You're okay. I won't let anything bad happen to you."

[Tiabirb]

Sweetsong
34 Moons
She/Her
Purrks
Herbal Knowledge T1; Flock Together T1; Dreamwalker
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Sweetsong was aware that he had sprang forward to defend them. She was frozen in place. Fear rooted her to the spot, and Sweetsong closed her eyes as she tried her best to push her sister from her thoughts. But the apparition was gone, leaving them alone in Crowpaw's dream. Crowpaw's dream.


But the memories persisted. The deaths of her parents. The suspicion behind their deaths. The delay of her training over and over...too scared to even kill a mouse that practically leaped into her paws. Poisonberry's lies and whispers, pushing her to simply sit in the corner, and pretend she was a rock. Worse, a pebble. Insignificant and small. Sweetsong had stayed so quiet...her only reprieve had been her days to herself, singing by the river as she watched the birds fly high above her head. Watching as her first love was swayed away by Poisonberry. Another death shortly after. His death. She had taken his rejection and death as a sign she was not meant to have love...a mate...a family.

And then Boulderkit was born, and Sweetsong had watched her sister bully and abuse her own son...and when she had finally spoken up, finally held her ground...
The tragedies had stopped. The next morning came. But her wicked sister did not come with it.

Crowpaw's soft tones reached her, and her shrunken pupils slowly dilated as she realized how close he was. How gentle he was. So much different than the hostile cat she had met. Sweetsong felt tears spill from her eyes, and she bowed her head. She was so grateful to have someone there...even if it was only a dream. Ashamed too that she was not truly over her own fear and pain.
Aside from her sister, Fallenwish, Crowpaw was the only one who had any idea of how deeply she had been hurt. How deeply she was still hurting. She had learned long ago to wear a mask of patience...over time it had stopped becoming a mask, and a way of life that allowed her to survive the turbulent and violent ways of the Clans. Not that it changed the pain inside of her, but it made it easier to hide it. The perfect camouflage.

The gentle vibrations of purring soothed her tense muscles until Sweetsong practically melted onto her belly in the sand. She looked up at Crowpaw, gazing at him. How could she express her gratitude to him for leaping to her defense? Even if it was only an illusion, and they naught but strangers. She pushed herself up onto her paws and thrust her face into his neck, standing on her toes to rub her cheeks over his fur, a weak, tremoring purr rising inside of her own chest.
"I appreciate your words, Crowpaw...but this is a dream...I wish it weren't...yet I am glad to have met you like this.." Sweetsong pulled away, green eyes shining once more, though this time the warm feeling within was unreadable. "In the waking world...we will be neighbors again..." Neighbors.

Rivals.

Enemies.

She didn't dare say it aloud. How could she? They did not see the borders here. Only each other's pain. Here they could speak like this, openly and honestly. Here they could be this close without fear of being caught, or accused of betrayal. Nor had the wound over her own heart closed. But something told her she needed to see Crowpaw again. That this wouldn't be the last time his broken eyes would look at her with hope and light. He had been so dark, shadowed in his anger and grief...there was something truly beautiful seeing his true soul shine through, to see the kind and brave and...himself. Which was something he probably hadn't had a chance to be in a long time.

"I want to hear your story," She whispered, "Let's meet here again. On the shore. T-tomorrow night?" Sweetsong added hopefully.

@SpiritedWarrior

[SpiritedWarrior]

Crowpaw
Purrks: Heightened Perception and Agatha Kitty
@Tiabirb

Seeing Sweetsong in such a vulnerable position, cowering in front of the ghost of her sister, touched Crowpaw's heart in a way he forgot was possible. He lived so long in the shadows of his own thoughts. His own experiences. And here he was, protecting a cat he had just met. I may not have many emotions anymore, but I still have a shred of protective behavior that I'd use on anyone. Cats deserved to be real around each other. Not some sort of emotionless loaf that was criticized by their own Clanmates. That was simply not a good way to live life, and Crowpaw knew that from his own personal experience.

Feeling Sweetsong's fur rub against his own was life-changing. He had never felt such affection before. It was always him initiating such an action. The only cats he was ever protective over were his littermates and Bluekit, and he had only cuddled with Quietpaw for about a moon or two after she returned from being missing for moons. It was a shame to have seen her death at 12 moons old and Quailfur's death shortly after. Deep down, he still had a shred of love for his parents even though they committed unforgivable deeds against him. Perhaps it was because he was related to them by blood? That had to have been it because if he wasn't, he would have zero love for those two felines.

"I'm glad you came into my dream, Sweetsong." He probably- no- he definitely would have struggled to make it another day. Being in such a dark place for so long, he probably would have attracted a Dark Forest warrior and started training, morphing him into something he wasn't born to be. The reason he was here, in this happier place, was because of Sweetsong, and he'd be forever grateful for her accidental dream walking. He put his paw around her shoulders in a hug for a few moments before Sweetsong pulled away.

Excitement flared in his warm chest as the golden she-cat whispered. Her words echoed in his ears and a purr erupted from deep within. "Sure, y-yeah. On the shore. Tomorrow night's good." Everything in him told him to express his joy, but he didn't quite know how. All he did was smile an awkward, toothy smile. "Thank you," he added and touched his forehead to hers. "T-thank you so much."

Tears quietly shed. These tears weren't sad, for once. They were happy tears. Tears that he had only ever shed one time before. He was getting a second chance! He was being rescued from the depths of his despair! The tidal waves of his past would be lurking in his mind no longer, and he couldn't be happier to talk to someone than he did in this very moment. "I'll be here, waiting for you. And I'll tell you everything I can."

//I love them so much

[Tiabirb]

Sweetsong
34 Moons
She/Her
Purrks
Herbal Knowledge T1; Flock Together T1; Dreamwalker
--------------------------------------


The hug was a surprise, but Sweetsong leaned into it. She wasn't sure what the funny feeling in her stomach was when he hugged her, and a part of her was frightened by it. She had felt it before... but not like this. She didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

She found his toothy smile endearing, though the tears he shed...she smiled back into his eyes, touching her nose to his. Her heart felt so full and warm, as if bathed in honey and blanketed in rose petals. A soft laugh escaped her, "Thank you, Crowpaw...for bringing me to you. Sweet dreams..."

Crowpaw shimmered before her eyes, and Sweetsong glanced down to see her own small white paws fading. She understood what was happening, and she looked up quickly, watching the world around them fade away, and finally, Crowpaw was gone too.

Her eyes opened. Dawn had come, and for once, Sweetsong didn't rise with it to greet the morning songbirds. She stared at her paws, real and flesh, but she could only see the brown and black tabby tom of her dreams.

Nightfall couldn't come swiftly enough...


@SpiritedWarrior
[FIN! We did it! I absolutely LOVED this roleplay, and I crave MORE! MORE I SAY!!

[SpiritedWarrior]

Crowpaw
Purrks: Heightened Perception and Agatha Kitty
@Tiabirb

The meeting with Sweetsong was the first of many. The sparks in his chest relit the flame that had once distinguished, and he couldn't have wished for a better time in his life. Sweetsong was the missing piece in his life. His sanctuary, the one he could rely on to make him happy when he couldn't find a reason to feel such emotions. The dream had ended, but it would return, and with it, the RiverClanner that saved him from drowning.

He awoke, or at least thought he did, in an unfamiliar den within a dark atmosphere. Had he returned to his darkened and plague-filled thoughts that haunted him for moons? No, that's i-impossible. Sweetsong took me out of there. So then... where was he? It wasn't ThunderClan, that's for sure. None of the dens in his camp had herbs on them. And it was never as dark as this.

Where was he? And why was he here? Had another cat attracted him, just as he had attracted Sweetsong? Crowpaw blinked and looked around in the den he laid in. There was only one nest. Weird... It didn't feel like he was in another's nightmare. Everything was hard to look at because it was just that dark. He would think of the Dark Forest or StarClan, but he never got a dream sent to him by his ancestors, so he couldn't know what the afterlife looked like.

It was so... cold and lonely. Everything was... lonesome, to put it nicely. Crowpaw's green eyes looked outside of the den he was in and squinted. What was it that he was staring at? If I weren't partly blind in one eye it'd be easier to tell... "Someone out there?" he more so asked himself, but was open to hearing another's voice. Would he really want to though? It wasn't as scary being here as it was in his nightmare, but he couldn't help but feel chills going down his spine. Something was off, and he wanted to know what it was.

[Tiabirb]

Poisonberry...


It worked. The link had been so sudden, but faint. Barred from the dreams of her pathetic little sister...the 'golden' child with her lovely eyes and voice. If only her sweet little sister knew how much power she held within. But a new prey had entered her sights. A scrappy young thing, that had disgustingly fallen over himself for Sweetsong.

She had slipped in through the link. Seen them practically spilling their guts to each other. It had been revolting. But now...

He was where she wanted him. Pulled him into her own waking nightmare. Clawing briars and thorny leaves brushing aside, a massive white paw planted inside of the mouth of the den, silver fur and black stripes winding up the dark warrior's leg. She leered into the den, and for a brief second, Crowpaw would get the sensation of what prey felt like, as hungry, deadly eyes locked onto him in the darkness, the rest of the feline's face shadowed.

"My, are you lost, little one?" The voice that slid out was almost identical to Sweetsong's, but there was a deeper sound, and the tone was cold and chilling. "Welcome to my home, Crowpaw..." The rest of the she-cat slipped into the den, and Poisonberry revealed herself fully.

"I have to thank you." She cooed gently, "Pulling my little sister into your dreams was so very helpful...I was trying for so long to see my precious sister again...I don't understand why...but she blocked me from her dreams...I have something to tell her, to tell my son..." Poisonberry's dark green gaze filled with tears, and she looked positively distressed. "I died so...suddenly...I never got the chance to apologize."

She of course, had never intended to apologize to her sister or her son. But this was such an excellent opportunity, and Poisonberry found herself thinking of all the possibilities that this could open for her....

@SpiritedWarrior

[SpiritedWarrior]

Crowpaw
Purrks: Heightened Perception and Agatha Kitty
@Tiabirb

Oh, what fresh nightmare was this? Crowpaw's spine did not release the chills he felt much to his displeasure. One bit at a time, a figure arose from the depths of the thorny entanglement that this den was. Crowpaw didn't want to, but he recognized the figure from his dream that he had shared with Sweetsong. This was his RiverClan friend's sister. The one Sweetsong had nightmares about. The one... that had bullied her. I'm in the Dark Forest!

Her presence was terrifying. The chills that ran down his spine were now running all over his legs. His belly was as solid as a rock, churning in discomfort. As she appeared closer, in her fullest form, the young tom backed away until the base of his tail hit the back wall of the den. Despite the fear that hardened his belly and dried his mouth out, he scrunched his nose and straightened up to face off to defend his friend.

"Oh, cut that fox-dung. You can't go all nice and acting lovey-dovey one second and cry the next when you and I both know you had the opportunity to apologize to your sister when you saw us together." he let out a hiss and added, "You and I both know exactly why she blocked you from her dreams, so don't you try lying to me."

That might have been a mistake, but he didn't care one bit. Poisonberry was in the Dark Forest for a reason, and he knew that she had a great opportunity to apologize to Sweetsong. She didn't take that opportunity. Instead, she scared her sister, and that kind of action did not mean anything would come of whatever 'pity me' tales Poisonberry decided to weave together.

Crowpaw didn't and wouldn't believe any of it. Poisonberry was not good, and he intended to find out why he was brought to the Dark Forest. What was it that Poisonberry really wanted to do to him? Sweetsong confided in me. She told me how Poisonberry died. I'm not about to ruin that trust by believing the dead, clearly evil warrior, over a warrior that gave me a second chance.