three's a crowd (c)

Subject: three's a crowd (c) Tue 12 Dec 2023 - 18:24

Perchstar had been horribly ill since they arrived. However, today seemed... better than most. Her flashes of hot and cold were less searing, and more like warm and chilly spells. She still coughed, but not to the point of being unable to speak. And she was not currently experiencing any daydream delusions... at least. She hoped she wasn't. It was still difficult to tell thought from reality these days. But as far as she could tell, she was walking across the new area, eyes roaming the large crowds of cats. Clans were beginning to settle into their own areas. Still, she did her best to avoid anywhere that smelled remotely of SkyClan--fighting was the last thing she needed in her state, as much as some part of her wanted to find Beechfang and tear out her throat immediately--because that was not her current purpose. She'd told Poppyshine that she needed to speak with Mottlestar, and it was true. The alliance with SkyClan was over; there was no question on that front. Their former allies were now their sworn enemies. For all she knew, Birdchaser was plotting to strike first while her Clan was disabled with sickness. She wouldn't put it past someone who already valued her non-murdering Clanmates' lives so little. But with Mottlestar... it was a different story.

Perchstar trusted Mottlestar. At least, she truly hoped that she did. Her trust was still aching from the recent unexpected blow; but every time she thought of the sweet tortoiseshell she couldn't fathom that they could possibly be enemies. There was no ounce of guile in those amber eyes. Would a liar trust RiverClan with Murkyriver? Would a liar shelter Perchstar's trembling corpse as she lay dead from overexertion? It didn't track. And yet she hadn't thought Birdchaser to be a liar, either, so the tiniest of doubts still lingered. Only a conversation would put them to rest. So it was that despite her haggard appearance, the leader of RiverClan made her way over to where ThunderClan's cats gathered, and requested a meeting with their leader. "I would like to speak with Mottlestar, if I may."

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⸙ Larchbreeze ⸙ ~ ♡ Hedgepaw ♡ ~ ◈ Dovetail ◈ ~ ○ Bubblebeam ○
⸙ WindClan ⸙ ~ ♡ ShadowClan ♡ ~ ◈ RiverClan ◈ ~ ○ ShadowClan ○
⸙ Tier 4 Warrior ⸙ ~ ♡ Apprentice ♡ ~ ◈ Tier 4 Warrior ◈ ~ ○ Tier 3 Warrior ○

~~PM me here or on Discord if you want a topic with any of my cats!~~
~Signature and Avatar by Xaandiir!~

Subject: Re: three's a crowd (c) Wed 20 Dec 2023 - 11:24

Mottlestar

“May the stars light our paths.”

It had seemed that Starclan was not keen on fully allowing Mottlestar to enjoy the triumph and security that arriving to the lake had brought. Close to the end of the journey, with hope at its lowest, she had begun to fall ill herself. It had only been a cough at first, for actually a significant amount of time, before it turned into more. Chills that rippled beneath her pelt as if she'd plunged herself into the gorge in the middle of leafbare, or heat that was as if she had fallen beneath the belly of a monster as it rumbled by on the Thunderpath in the hottest part of greenleaf. Even worse, visions of those she knew were long gone morphing themselves into the faces of their living kin, or whispers of clanmates even longer gone whispering in her ears on the wind. Logically, she knew it wasn't real. But every part of her had believed it was for the longest time.

As some desperate effort to keep herself from getting more of her clanmates sick, of infecting them with whatever plague had decided to work its way into her system, she had isolated herself. Even Quailprowler had been sent away, the tortoiseshell now easy enough to find on her own right given how seldom she moved. How much she slept. How little she interacted, or ate. Strength came and went, but for the most part, Mottlestar had been as useless as an elder. She'd forced herself to push well beyond her limit to bestow a name upon the first of her grandkits, only for that to cost her energy to the point she'd spent the last three sunrises doing nothing but sleeping. Fitful dreams, sending her to places that felt as if she was walking among her clanmates, or somehow visiting past friends in the stars. All of it felt real, but in actuality, the leader had been in a deep sleep, her body only pausing to cough as it failed to take a breath, only to resume the wheezing rise and fall of her chest.

Finally, though, had she been awake. Hardly lucid, but awake. Distantly, she heard the voice of one of her allies. It was Perchstar, wasn't it? She liked Perchstar. Minnowfin had liked, her, too. With her ears half-pinned, drooping with her exhaustion, she tried to blink away some of the crust that had embedded in the corners of her vision as she sneezed. Forced her paws to move in an attempt to make her somewhat presentable.

What did she have to tell Perch? She had something to tell her. Was it... Oh, yes. Skyclan. Stars, she still needed to talk to Birdstar about that. Another sneeze, this one puffing up her tail with some false sense of alarm, but it at least had cleared her eyes.

As the silver and white pelt came into view, though, it was not the actual cat she first saw. Tears immediately welled into her gaze as the name fell from her hoarse voice, struggling from its primary purpose only being to cough in recent times. "...Minnow?" She asked, swearing it was the tom that she saw before her. "Love... is it you? Did... I die?" Pain wracked the question as she hoped it not to be the answer, her chest heaving in rapid breaths as her mind attempted to sort out just what it was she saw in front of her. It wasn't until she forced her paws to once more swipe at her eyes, to make sure it truly was the tom in front of her, that the Riverclan scent fully hit her nose.

Her deluded vision cleared away, the image of her late mate changing to be who it truly was. Her friend. Ally. Perchstar. Not Minnowfin, but she knew that Minnow had liked Perchstar enough to keep kind company atop the Great Rock. Stars, that had been ages ago. "Perchstar... I-I'm sorry." Her chest burned as the forced the words out, another heat-rippled chill making its way through her body as she fought back another sneeze. It'd be quite rude of her to sneeze on her friend, after all, but it seemed as if she had been struggling with something similar. "Stay back a paw or two... I don't want... I'd be an enemy to get you sick with this." The most words she'd spoken in almost a moon, at this point. Her voice was muffled by the congestion that otherwise plugged up her nose, a subconscious sniffle breaking up any silence.

While she would have attempted to push herself to her paws, she knew the energy simply wasn't there. She'd gotten rather scrawny from lack of desire to eat in the last few sunrises. "To what do I owe the visit?" She at least managed to ask. After all, if Perchstar came by, there was a reason she was here.

code by kiiko • edited by kitty

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v e t e r a n . u s e r • f o r m e r . a d m i n
p r o f i l e s • h e a r t . c h a r t

Murkyriver • Snowvixen • Hollowgrove • Mountainpaw • Loonkit

Subject: Re: three's a crowd (c) Wed 27 Dec 2023 - 19:37

Thankfully, their status as allies was not yet questioned. Though Perchstar noticed that the warrior gave her a wide berth, likely noticing her trembling frame and the shadows beneath her eyes, they led her to Mottlestar--though with a warning that the leader was not feeling well as of late, either. Of course not. StarClan's punishment is absolute. Did their ancestors even care, up there? Was Cloverheart aware of what was happening? Did Finchstream send a plague upon them for their arrogance? It was impossible to know. She had to focus on the here and now. Though lucidity tried to slip away from her, she held firm, putting one paw in front of the other and ignoring the searing heat that began to warm her pelt from the inside out. There. Mottlestar was close. All she had to do was sit... and talk... and hope that her ally believed her. Hope that of the two, RiverClan was worth choosing. ...She was worth choosing.

But Perchstar stopped in her tracks, blinking hard, at the name that fell trembling from Mottlestar's mouth.

"...Minnow?"

Minnowfin. Mottlestar's mate--the former leader of ThunderClan. Who had taken the position only to die a moon later. Though shock turned to a mixed tangle of grief and empathy and a tiny strain of jealousy that her friend was hoping for someone else, Perchstar managed to keep it from her face. Memories of her own most recent death, coming to terms with... her own mate's loss, it was impossible to judge. She simply sat, trying to control her breathing. It took only a few moments for Mottlestar's moment of delusion to pass. Perchstar understood. She understood the sorrow--she understood the sickness--she understood waking from a half-dream, calling out the name of someone who would never respond. So it was that when the tortoiseshell apologized, Perchstar responded with uncharacteristic gentleness, "It's okay. I... I am sick, as well, so. I doubt that it could... get much worse. And I've had... dreams... too." She took one more pawstep closer, but stopped there, in case Mottlestar simply did not want to be near her right now. She appreciated the thought, anyway.

At the reminder of why she was here, Perchstar's face hardened again. Right. She hadn't fought her way to her feet and wheedled Poppyshine into listening in order to just talk about pleasant things. She couldn't have such a luxury. "Right. I... wish it was... something happy. Don't overexert yourself... you may simply nod, or shake your head... if you need." Ice-blue eyes slipped down to the ground, studying every blade of frostbitten grass. Though the fires of vengeance had not let go her heart since the name Beechfang had slipped from her daughter's maw, they felt cooled by the sudden wave of shivering cold that swept over her. This awful illness couldn't make up its mind whether to freeze her to death or burn her alive. She shook her head, hoping to regain some clarity, and spoke once more. "Tell me, do you remember... Beechfang? And Cloverheart? I know it was... a while ago. I thought the matter... settled. Hoped it settled. But it's... reared its ugly head... once more." She raised her eyes, meeting the amber gaze that she'd sought in Gatherings and at borders so many times. Though guilt panged her somewhere deep inside, she knew she would need to ask yet another favor. "Beechfang... has been accepted... back into SkyClan. Despite... their promises. I talked... to Birdstar, but she... has chosen. Our alliance is... no more." Her throat tightened--she held back a cough. It wouldn't do to appear weak in such a pivotal moment. In the questioning of which alliance Mottlestar would pick. "But you have done me... no such injury. You wouldn't. I trust... you wouldn't. So, if you would... I would like to remain allies... with you. But not if you would still... call SkyClan your allies. Though I hate... to ask it." She waited. There was little more to say. Some fear in the back of her head, the one she'd grown up being consumed by, hissed that SkyClan had more to offer. That Perchstar had only been a burden. That a sick and failing leader was a useless ally. But something quieter and stronger--fed by talks at Sunningrocks and a rainy, desperate evening--whispered hope. So she waited.

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⸙ Larchbreeze ⸙ ~ ♡ Hedgepaw ♡ ~ ◈ Dovetail ◈ ~ ○ Bubblebeam ○
⸙ WindClan ⸙ ~ ♡ ShadowClan ♡ ~ ◈ RiverClan ◈ ~ ○ ShadowClan ○
⸙ Tier 4 Warrior ⸙ ~ ♡ Apprentice ♡ ~ ◈ Tier 4 Warrior ◈ ~ ○ Tier 3 Warrior ○

~~PM me here or on Discord if you want a topic with any of my cats!~~
~Signature and Avatar by Xaandiir!~

Subject: Re: three's a crowd (c) Thu 28 Dec 2023 - 14:22

The guilt that had tightened her chest even more harshly than the illness was at least lessened by the affirmation that Mottlestar wasn't the only one struggling with how the sickness morphed her vision. Still, she knew at least part of it had been driven by the affinity that she felt towards both Perchstar and Minnowfin. Part of her had expected long ago to have already lost a life, especially during the worst of it that had her sleeping for almost four days straight. During that time, she'd hardly even risen to do so much as drink water, only ever getting something down her maw thanks to Fawnshine or Echosong practically forcing it down to keep their leader alive.

So long as Perchstar had been ill too... Stars, the leader had made it all the way over here in being just as rough of a shape as she was? Mottlestar had to commend the Riverclan leader. But it was as she thought of that act that she also evaluated just why it was that her friend had come. There was no good news to be made of a leader traveling herself when most of the Clans were in such a rough shape. Though the lands they took shelter within no longer was the near-ruin that it once was, that ilk seemed to have turned inwards onto all of the Clan cats. Even those healthy enough simply to hunt were scarce, a reality that Thunderclan was looking at with much discomfort. She would have gladly allowed the Riverclan leader to rest at her side, then, knowing her state to not be much better... but Mottlestar also knew that it would likely make the departure that much more difficult.

So she listened. Her gaze sharpened into something fierce and jagged as those two names danced in her mind, a slow nod of apprehension confirming that yes-they had indeed been familiar. Cloverheart's murder had not been something taken lightly, the resolution not entirely known by the tortoiseshell leader. Even then, she had remembered mention of it during their initial agreement to enter into alliance. For it to come up again... something in Mottle's chest tightened as her stomach dropped. As she bore into the icy blue gaze that had sought out her own, there was a connection there that meant the rest of Perchstar's words did not need to be said. Even as she listened, it was a future she had known to be the unfortunate truth the moment it slipped her friend's maw. Betrayal flickered like a hot flame, rising throughout her entire body. Or was that the illness, waving through her once more? It did not matter. This simply added fuel to a flame that she had quelled, had whispered, Not now, my friend. We shall blaze later. It seemed that now was that later she had whispered gently, in that sweet motherly tone as if she nurtured her justice like a kit.

"Skyclan is an enemy." She rasped the statement, but the sharpness that laced behind it wouldn't be lost despite her voice hardly existing. "I waited, too... Skyclan has also... wronged me." Stretching as best she could, the mangled leg of the tortoiseshell stretched just enough to show a particularly jagged scar that led dangerously close to her belly. Sorrow and anger heated the otherwise benevolent leader's gaze. "I had wanted to come... and ask if you, too, would fight... Fight by Thunderclan. We... I don't need to, now." A dry laugh escaped her chest. How ironic was it, that the same Clan had turned on both of them? In such different ways?

"Before we left," Mottlestar began, turning her head away to cough sharply for just a moment, "there was a border fight. ... A Skyclan warrior, Sunfire... Trespassed. Did not listen to my warning. ... He also took one of my lives. Without reason. ... Any other cat? ... It would have been a murder." Was it truly such a different way if they were both seeking retribution for the same thing? Murders shouldn't go unchecked in any forest. That was one value that Mottlestar upheld throughout her whole leadership. Trufflesnap's face flashed in her mind's eye for just a moment. "Their selfishness... and blatant disrespect... of our alliance..." Though she wheezed between most of her words, there was a dangerous shake of her head. "We will march. ... Together." It was a promise. A promise that held the sharpness of lethal claws, honed to the fine tip that meant minimal alternatives would be accepted. If Riverclan had been wronged by something so long ago supposedly made right, then it only made sense they would have no respect for the alliance.

Another laugh choked its way out of the tortoiseshell, her head shaking as a contorted, bewildered smile forced itself on her maw. "We were both played... and we are no fool. ... We will get justice."

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v e t e r a n . u s e r • f o r m e r . a d m i n
p r o f i l e s • h e a r t . c h a r t

Murkyriver • Snowvixen • Hollowgrove • Mountainpaw • Loonkit

Subject: Re: three's a crowd (c) Sat 6 Jan 2024 - 22:17

Hope. It was all Perchstar could cling to. Hope that, despite the delusions that mixed the tortoiseshell face with a gray and white one, that they would remain separate. That no condescending smirk or self-righteous fury would appear from Mottlestar, who she was still sure she could consider a friend. And it seemed that for once, her hope would be accepted. For once it would be enough. For once, no second star came shooting from Silverpelt to knock her upside the head into a brand new world of betrayal and agony. Mottlestar's eyes were ablaze, yes--but the anger was not directed towards her. It was something that Perchstar realized she was missing. The reaction she wished maybe Poppyshine would have had. A sense of anger... on behalf of the one wronged.

No. The ones wronged. SkyClan was the enemy of Mottlestar as well? Light blue eyes widened almost imperceptibly as they scanned the deep, garish-looking wound on the ThunderClan leader's leg. An attack? Her fur bristled. Who had it been? It didn't matter. It was a SkyClan cat, that much was for certain. They had messed with the wrong Clan. Even if Beechfang had been long gone as promised, even if Birdchaser hadn't spat at every offer of friendship and alliance for her own selfish desires, then Perchstar would have denounced them if only to stand by Mottlestar's side. Realizing this now somehow made the past moon or so of suffering belatedly less awful. She should never have doubted Mottlestar. They could do this together. They could do it for each other. If only the two of them weren't both so sick--!

Trespassing. Murder. It made Perchstar's skin crawl. She focused on every one of her friend's words as if they were lifelines, hanging to them and forcing herself to keep sane and ignore the illness that made her body wrack with tired coughs. "Together," she agreed. Though her voice was thick with illness, the word held the cold lethality of truth. Justice. Finally, someone who understood. "Once we... can." The RiverClan leader nodded, eyes of ice-blue meeting their golden-amber counterparts. "I will be... by your side. We will. RiverClan... fights alongside you. I promise." Though she was far too sick to do so, the burning through her trembling limbs had her almost convinced that she could march all the way to SkyClan right now. Together, she and Mottlestar would tear those traitors apart until they begged for the mercy that they were too far gone to give. They would destroy every murder-loving foxheart, every stain of disease that called itself a cat, until any who would kill without remorse had been purged. And if that meant all of SkyClan would diminish... then, as she had told Birdchaser, "So be it."

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⸙ Larchbreeze ⸙ ~ ♡ Hedgepaw ♡ ~ ◈ Dovetail ◈ ~ ○ Bubblebeam ○
⸙ WindClan ⸙ ~ ♡ ShadowClan ♡ ~ ◈ RiverClan ◈ ~ ○ ShadowClan ○
⸙ Tier 4 Warrior ⸙ ~ ♡ Apprentice ♡ ~ ◈ Tier 4 Warrior ◈ ~ ○ Tier 3 Warrior ○

~~PM me here or on Discord if you want a topic with any of my cats!~~
~Signature and Avatar by Xaandiir!~

» Three's a Crowd [CLOSED]
» Three is a crowd [whin and little and storm]
» don't remain too lonesome in a bad crowd [c]
» The In Crowd (closed to SkC elders)
» Alone in the Crowd, Solitude in the Loud [CLOSED]