Private Shipyard Backwritten RC THIS MESS THAT YOU MADE, IT'S A SIX FOOT GRAVE // Adder

[Torrentsky]

- TORRENTPAW -

Not some average bones, I believe in love!

.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ⟡

Stepping through the shipyard filled Torrentpaw with a familiar sense of unease, his fur prickling restlessly. His tongue felt acrid as the scents of metal and rot flooded his senses, but it wasn't enough for him to lose what he had been tracking. The shipyard carried countless memories that attempted to creep into Torrentpaw's mind, but he pushed them away. He did not travel here with the intention of reminiscing.

Slipping out of Riverclan's camp unheard had been tedious, as Torrentpaw took extra caution not to wake Galepaw and his other denmates as he crept from his nest. He had pawed the sides of his bedding under his friend's head and around his body, hoping to mimic the feeling of his own body around him in attempts to keep him asleep. Foolish as it was, Galepaw hadn't stirred.

Adrenaline began to pound throughout his chest as he continued through the shipyard, leaping over the debris and litter scattered across the sand. The sun had started to set, marking a day since he had left Riverclan territory. Pineheart would have a stern word with him once he returned, but that didn't matter to him now–he had to do this. He needed more answers to his questions.

Suddenly, the young tom froze as the scent he had been following without a moment's break hit his nose, much stronger than before. His body stiffened, lowering himself into a crouch as he began to prowl onward, small muscles rippling beneath his pelt as he prepared himself for whatever was about to happen.

As brown fur flashed into his vision, a low and almost unintentional growl tumbled from the tom's throat, fueled by pure adrenaline. The wiry and scarred form of the tom before him was unmistakable. Torrentpaw unsheathed his claws, circling around the side of the tom, just a couple of fox-lengths away now. His gaze was hard, but behind it carried questions that were just a few heartbeats from blurting from his muzzle.

"Adderfang." Torrentpaw snapped, his body tensing once more in preparation to counter the other's claws if need be. His heart pounded, hard enough to make him want to sway on his paws, but the young tom fought it.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ You can't change me ⟡ You can't hide me‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• ⟡ OOC -
  Takes place July 13th
  
•  
• Torrentpaw
  ‎ ‎ He/Him | Riverclan Apprentice
  
  ⟡
  "speech" - text - thoughts
  
  ⟡
  Mentored by Pineheart
  
  ⟡
  A rosetted charcoal Bengal.
  
  ⟡
  Has a sturdy build with a large head and paws, and short thick fur.
  
  ⟡
  Holds a zealous and determined demeanor.
  
  ⟡
  Usually seen with Squid

 

[Adder]

ADDER

x

The tabby stiffens at the sound of paws pounding up the beach. Whoever approaches him doesn't care if they're heard. Since meeting Wavesong, he hadn't needed to fend off many attackers. Maybe the shipyard wasn't a prize worth claiming, or maybe she was all that could ever dissuade his claws. If she had been there that night, could she have talked him down? Maybe he'd have returned home and slept beside her, instead of soaked in blood, running from the very cats he once protected and built a home with.

Birds scatter as his name rings across the shipyard. He turns slowly, bony shoulders jutting beneath his wiry coat. Out of all of RiverClan, he never would've expected to see Torrentpaw. Usually, the apprentice was stuck to Pineheart's side like a burr. Adder expected the large tom to come barreling down the beach too, but if Torrentpaw was there alone then it had to mean that he left without Pineheart's permission.

The shipyard groans around them, weathered wood creaking. Adder feels a sort of kinship toward this place. He too, feels splintered and aged and just like the ships, his bones lay out in the open for all to gawk at. All manner of vermin sheltering within him, nibbling at his insides, nesting between his ribs.

Something about the look in the boys eyes tells him that he doesn't come with news of his family. He wished he could keep going and avoid it entirely, but there was no dismissing him.

He looks at Torrentpaw, and he can imagine one of his own kits standing there instead. All angles and edges, glaring at him with all the indignation in the world. Not long ago, they were all together on this beach, and Adder had to dissuade a kit from tagging along to a scouting patrol for their new home.

This isn't a game or some grand adventure.

"Just Adder now." He says dryly, like the snap of a twig. The name Pikestar gave him had been stripped from him at the gathering, and though he'd never cared much for the useless tack onto the end, he would admit its absence felt uncomfortable. At first, he didn't understand why that was. Then he figured that after so long, that name had shaped into something of a more endearing nature.

What was it that Pikestar had said? Because of his assertiveness and refusal to see anything other than the truth? If the last few days hadn't sapped the humor out of him, he could laugh. What a roundabout way of calling him a stubborn ass.

The wind tosses, and the sea sighs, the sole witness to their reunion. He doesn't miss the way Torrentpaw tenses, as if facing down a predator. The distrust shouldn't bother him as much as it does. Adder supposes that he's deserving of it. He must've looked monstrous in their eyes that night. Unhinged and desperate, covered in the blood of someone they cared about.

When they spoke of him from now on, was it in hushed tones, the same used on kits to scare them into behaving? Did Torrentpaw expect him to tear out his throat like he did Pikestar? If that were the case, if he trusted him that little... then why come here?

What would he do if Rushpaw or Crescentpaw came to the shipyard, looking at him like that? He supposed they wouldn't understand if he said that he did it for them.

After a moment, Adder sighs through his nostrils, shoulders slumped with defeat. "Go on then, boy." He mutters. "I can tell you got somethin' to say to me."

x

I CANT WALK ON THE PATH OF THE RIGHT

BECAUSE IM WRONG

x

ROGUE

✗ EXILE

36 MOONS

HE/HIM

✕ Chocolate ticked tabby w/ amber eyes. Peppered with scars. Deep gash across the right side of his face, exposing one canine slightly. Missing left ear.
✕ Deep gravelly voice that might unsettle others.
✕ Former RiverClan LifeGuard
✕ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted. For other powerplays, DM.
✕ Fur smells faintly of blood and seasalt.

 

[Torrentsky]

- TORRENTPAW -

Not some average bones, I believe in love!

.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ⟡

Torrentpaw remained as stiff as the silence that hung between them, his eyes burning with a sea of uncontrollable emotions as they pinned down the exiled warrior he thought he knew. When he finally spoke, denying his clan name, the boy tensed, body still apprehensive at the chance of Adder directing his blood-stained claws onto his throat.

Torrentpaw supposed that, even if he did, it would give him the closure he wanted.

His gaze followed Adder's body as his shoulders slouched toward the Shipyard's sand.

Go on then, boy. I can tell you got somethin' to say to me.

Torrentpaw felt his breath catch in his throat, anger uproaring throughout every muscle in his body as he stared at the tom who still had their leader's dried blood stained onto his coat, onto the paws that destroyed what he promised to protect. Torrentpaw's breath grew into rapid, shallow breaths, his claws digging into the familiar sand beneath them. Parting his jaws, tiny teeth showed beneath a snarl, spit drawing between them as he spoke.

"You reek of blood!" Torrentpaw spat, the anger in his voice forceful enough to send his body swaying closer, so much so that he had to place a paw to catch himself. He had followed the scent of Pikestar's death to track Adder; the scent nearly burned into his nostrils.

"Why did you do it?" Torrentpaw pressed, his voice growing thick and his throat seeming to close as his tone swept from anger to sadness and disbelief. His eyes darted across the tom's face, anger welling up inside his chest once more, just as quickly as it left. "You said no one would get left behind!" He blurted, ears flattening against his skull as he took yet another pawstep closer to Adder.

"So why?"

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ You can't change me ⟡ You can't hide me‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• ⟡ OOC -
  
  
• 
• 

  TORRENTPAW‎ ‎ He/Him | Riverclan Apprentice‎
  

  ⟡

  ‎ A rosetted charcoal bengal with a sturdy build and thick, short fur. Torrentpaw is usually seen with a determined smile and always stands tall.
  

  ⟡

  ‎ ‎ "speech" // thoughts
  

  ⟡

  ‎ ‎ penned by arsynne on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[Adder]

ADDER

x

For all the thinkin' Adder had done since the gathering, all the regrets he carried around, not a single one of them was for the blood spilled. He lashed out in anger, and that he regretted like every other time, but what else should he have done? What words might've persuaded Pikestar to action? When he stepped up to lead them, Adder gave the tom the benefit of the doubt, but that grace couldn't last forever. ShadowClan played their part, but Pikestar was just as guilty. Was his fury not justified? After all, it was Pikestar's choices that led to the misfortune his family faced.

How long had he voiced his concerns for the safety of their borders? How much louder could he have shouted about the threats across the river? ShadowClan 'wouldn't slit their throats at night' but they might as well have. Pikestar hadn't bled into the river for it, or wasted away from sickness because the herb stores were bare. RiverClan's so‑called leader might decide for them, but it was the clan that paid the price... and the steepest price of all had been paid by none more than his own family.

Nobody gets left behind, except when it's more convenient to let his mate suffer, and his kits die. Nobody gets left behind, except when he's beggin' and screaming for someone to save his kits. Nobody gets left behind, until he has to choose between the fake family he built and the one that brought his kits into the world.

The boy's anger sends shockwaves, but it's the hurt that reaches fartherest. Adder adjusts his jaw, teeth clicking crookedly into place. There's no easy answer to Torrentpaw's question. "What would you do... if you had to choose between RiverClan and Pineheart?" He doesn't know much about Torrentpaw, but he does know how much he cares for the lifeguard. "If he was sick, and the only herbs that could treat him were gone."

"No matter how much you beg, the one cat with the power to do something won't lift a paw in any way that matters. He tells you to wait, again and again, but Pineheart doesn't have time." Bitterness and grief bleed over his face like colors running together. "He tells you you're tired, to go home, to rest. Could you after watching Pineheart suffer every day, knowing the next could be his last?" Adder raises his chin, eyes finding Torrentpaw's. The hypothetical is cruel but he doesn't say it to torment him. He couldn't be more sincere, asking from the bottom of his chest—What else should I have done?

"Would you accept fate and let him die?"

x

I CANT WALK ON THE PATH OF THE RIGHT

BECAUSE IM WRONG

x

ROGUE

✗ EXILE

36 MOONS

HE/HIM

✕ Chocolate ticked tabby w/ amber eyes. Peppered with scars. Deep gash across the right side of his face, exposing one canine slightly. Missing left ear.
✕ Deep gravelly voice that might unsettle others.
✕ Former RiverClan LifeGuard
✕ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted. For other powerplays, DM.
✕ Fur smells faintly of blood and seasalt.