Open Shipyard way down we go ───〃vigil

[Smokewreath]

all you have is your

FIRE

─〃

⟢

In the aftermath the shed looks like a corpse, its skeletal wooden frame hanging over it like ribs framing the earth, the shimmer of sheet metal tarnished and bent strewn around it like many bones - it is a massive dead thing near the shore, a beached whale left to be picked clean and gawked at by passerby. Smoke wonders if the ice in his veins will ever defrost and let him feel warmth again but since that night he has been unable to tear his lone gaze from the crumbling rot of old wood and scent of copper brine; he sees those shimmering orange eyes meeting his in the darkness when he blinks his eyes and it unsettles him still. To know you were going to die, to see death before you in the form of a dark cat with spotted stars on his pelt, a constellation in the night sky; what were her last thoughts, he wonders-her last memory. Did she think of her kit in comfort knowing she was saved, did she remember the day a snowball of curled fur came to be, nestled at her side - did she find it ironic to be the cold body on the ground needing warmth and comfort as a newborn kit would only to receive none. Logically he knows he did what he could, there was no saving her beneath the weight of the collapsed ceiling pillar, no cat alive would condemn him for leaving the molly behind and grabbing only her kit - so why then did the guilt gnaw so violently inside him. Smoke always thought himself a reasonable cat, unyielding to the facts and quick to push aside idealistic drivel, but he can not shake the shroud over him now that whispers he could've done more.

"I'm sorry." And it's unclear if he's speaking to the white kitten standing next to him or the body beneath the debris of what was once their home for so long. They couldn't even dig her out for a proper burial, no one had the strength to waste, there was hardly enough food to keep them going for their journey into the forest; following Pike, of all cats, to something better. Hopefully. He muses how odd it is such a quivering mess of a cat spoke with such confidence on a solution to their problem so suddenly, part of him shares the same worry Bay did that the tom had hidden this safe place from them but why share it now? It was confusing. Smoke shook his head and sighed, picking up the wilted flower he had found at the edge of the woods and stepped forward to place it on the pile of lumber, the remnants of home and a poor excuse for a tombstone. The flower might've been beautiful once, but in this cold it stood now change - the once bright vibrancy of its orange petals all but faded to brown.
"You're not mine." He said gruffly, shaking his head, "I'm not your parent and I'd never replace her, but I'll take care of you."

─ & the place you need to reach.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

& if I fall, I fall

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

• Ooc- @Shimmer
• 

  Smoke

  
  — Future RiverClanner (Shipcat)
  — He/Him
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  — Solid black tom w/vitiligo and one orange eye.
  #ff7d46
  
  

 

[Adderfang]

Death was something Adder had grown far too accustomed to. He had said goodbye to too many loved ones to ever forget the lesson it left behind—before you left home, went to sleep, set out in the morning, show the ones who mattered that you loved them. Saying it was not enough. Show them how precious they were. How worthless life would seem without them.

He tried to do just that every day. His heart was already full of regrets, but damned if it would be because he got too comfortable.

Even now, soreness gnawed at his limbs with every step, muscles aching from wounds both fresh and old. He didn't dare ask Wave how bad he looked—not with his ear, not with the dried blood clinging to his pelt. He didn't have to worry about whether she loved him for his looks though. He was as scarred and mangy as the day they met, and still, she looked at him with an adoration he surely didn't deserve.

Too much had happened, and more was bound to change. They would need to face it together if they were going to survive. But, instead of staying by her side while she healed, he was leaving.

Guilt sank its claws into him, but there was no helping it. He would not let them leave with Pike as their guide, off to scour some unknown land. If that tom led them alone, Adder was certain none of them would make it back. And then what? A few mouths less to feed and still nowhere to call home. Or if they came back and it wasn't as safe as Pike made it sound?

Adder was not going to leave the safety of everyone, including his family, to that nervous wreck. But first, he had some things to take care of.

He spent the rest of the evening searching the shore for something to offer Dewdrop.

He didn't understand why the grief of a cat he barely knew weighed so heavily on his chest. Maybe it was because he knew what it was like to lose a mother. To grow up never hearing his mother's voice again, never feeling her warmth. Or maybe because the thought that it could have been Wave instead—buried, abandoned...

His throat tightened at the thought.

Adder could not pull Dewdrop from the shed's corpse. He didn't have the strength to spare and would not risk his life for sympathy. He could not give her the burial she deserved, but he would make sure she wasn't forgotten. He knew that Dewdrops death weighed on Wave too, though he hoped not out of guilt. She had done enough saving Rose and Russet.

The shell grated against his teeth as he carried it, light but awkward, smooth but cold. By the time he reached what remained of the shack, he was unsurprised to find someone already there. He had hoped to avoid anyone, but his gaze caught briefly on the white kit curled at Smoke's paws.

Adder approached in silence. He looked at the flower already there before carefully setting the shell atop a piece of splintered lumber. It felt wrong, still, leaving her here—her deathbed and grave one and the same.

I'm sorry.

But sorry for what? That he hadn't been able to save her? That she wouldn't receive a proper burial? That her kit was now without a mother. Some good sorry will do her now.

A sigh rose from his chest, eyes feeling just that much heavier. The wind felt colder tonight too. A blade of ice that tore through him with every gust. The night dragged on, and Adder was certain the dawn ahead of them would be even longer.

___________________ There wasn't a wrong or a right he could choose 𓆟 He did what he had to do ________________

• "speech" - thoughts
  

• 

• Adderfang he/him & riverclan
  𓆟 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.
  𓆟 Deep gravelly voice that might unsettle others.
  𓆟 Would and will kill a man.
  𓆟 Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted. For other powerplays, DM.
  𓆟 Fur smells faintly of river reeds and damp earth.
  
  
  penned by Scarlet​

 

[Wave]

Wave of RiverClan

Wave's eyes sought out the shed they had once called home, a soft frown briefly crossing her face. It pained her to see it crumbled, this shelter had provided them with refuge, countless nights of safety. Yet, as much as it had protected them, it had also played a part in the perilous situation they now found themselves in.

Limping closer, she spotted Smoke standing at the wreckage, a kit at his paws she recognized as Shimmer. The sight made her heart ache, a sharp flinch running through her. The kit had lost its mother, and she couldn't help but think of her own kits, Crescent and Rushing, safe with Brook for now.

Perhaps this was her chance for closure... For herself, for the shelter, and for the lost mother. She squinted her blue eyes, then trotted over to Smoke, giving him a respectful nod before she made her way toward the ruins of the shed. It once stood as a barrier, a protector... now just a reminder of a painful loss. She knew Dewdrop's fate was sealed long before the collapse, and though Smoke had done all he could, the reality gnawed at her.

Her thoughts weighed heavily on her as she approached the wreckage. There was little she could've done for Dewdrop, the risk of more debris falling too high. It hurt to think she couldn't have saved them all, but some sacrifices were inevitable... One life for the safety of many.

She stood at the entrance, her eyes softening as she spoke low to the air. " Yer child will live and thrive… " Her voice trembled, but she fought to steady it. " May yer soul be carried over seas, reunited with those who've gone before ye. Yer spirit will linger with us, and we will guide ye home. "

With a final, reverent dip of her head, Wave placed a smooth stone on the ground, pressing her paw gently on it. " Fare thee well, Dewdrop. "

Her breath hitched as the pain in her body flared up again, but she steeled herself. Turning, she caught Adder's gaze, offering him a wink and a fleeting smile to assure him she was all right. Carefully, she limped back to where she had been resting, eager to hold her kits once more, feeling the weight of the day's sorrow as she made her way home.

HOLD ONTO ME AS WE GO ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— As we roll down this unfamiliar road

 

[ROSEPAW.]

It was a bit scary to think about...that she too could have been buried inside the crushed ship alongside Dewdrop. That her body could have disappeard and forever be trapped in there...Just the thought of it made her sad, even more so knowing that Dewdrop's body never would reach the surface, to be buried with her loved ones. It was a sad day, and she mourned the cat who she had barely spoken to but who had lived here for a long time. Rose felt bad for the kit she had left behind, relieved that Smoke was kind enough to take Shimmer in under his wing so her grief at least could get comforted.

Rose would approach the collapsed ship to silently place a stone in front of its fallen entrance, a stone that shines so brightly. It was the prettiest stone Rose owned in her collection. Her more dear and prectious treasure out of all of them. Her favorite stone. She was giving it to Dewdrop as a farewell gift. It was not like Rose could take anything she had collected here on the beach with her anyway to the new home they where leaving for, so giving her favorite stone away like this felt like the right thing to do. Maybe...Dewdrop wouldn't feel so lonely with it, to find comfort and guidence in the stone's light. At least it was a comforting thought.

Dipping her head in farewell Rose took steps back to leave room for the others who might wanna take their farewell to Dewdrop as well. Silently she would sob to herself. It was never easy to say goodbye, to take farewell of someone, to know she never would get to see them again. It made her think of dad....Losing him had been the worst day of her life. Please dad, take care of Dewdrop so she won't feel alone... She hoped the two of them could find each other so none of them needed to be alone.

 

[Shimmerkit]

She did not expect so many cats to gather around, had not expected Smoke, really, to bring her back here to mourn the loss of her mother for the short amount of time they had left with her. She couldn't see her body, cracked and broken underneath the rubble of their old home and in the future she'd be sure that she would be grateful for that but at the moment all the kitten wanted to do was curl up with her mother one last time and hear the stories of the ocean, wanted to be told that everything would be alright once more, but instead she had to pretend. Shimmer pretend that underneath the beams that lay in a broken pile where the cats that gathered knew where Dewdrop was but they could not reach her that she was simply sleeping and was not dead, pretend that the tears that fell silently from her face were instead rain even if it had long since stopped.

She pretend that she did not hear some of the words that were being spoken around her, the apologies as Dewdrop's soul was sent away to be carried over the seas by Wave and as parting gifts were left as offerings among the beams. When Smoke finally did speak once more though she'd finally tear her head away from the wooden slats that marked her mother's grave to the tom, orange eyes finding his own before silently nodding her head. "Thank you." Understanding.

ALL GOOD DEVILS

MASQUERADE UNDER THE LIGHT

• "speech"

• 

• SHIMMER she/her, shipyard, four moons.
  ☆ a sh all white cat // masking cinnamon tortie w/orange eyes. stands at a short height
  ☆ mentored by none // mentoring none
  ☆ "adopted" kit of Smoke, mutually seen as a guardian
  ☆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ penned by tikki ↛ rabbitcake on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[Jinglemoon]

JINGLE(MOON), 22 Moons, Kittypet, Future Riverclanner // He/They // #3b90ff
A long furred blue tabby tom with low white, long pointed ears with curved tips and dazzling blue eyes.
Son of UNKNOWN, sibling to ASTRO
Always walks with a jingle in his step! Good listener and ever curious about the world.

---

After the night of the shelters collapse Jingle had not returned home to his housefolk. Instead he had spent most all his waking moments tending to what he could of the Shipyard cats who had been injured because of the collapse. Guilt gnawed at him still though, no matter how many cats he cleaned up and applied cobwebs to the smell of blood and grief never left him. If he had of just left his twolegs before that night could he have helped change the outcome more favourably? He had spoken to Wave before that day about feeling called to this place, to these cats but still he had returned back to the twoleg nest afterwards, foolishly feeling guilty to leave them at the time. They were safe and sound though and could always get another kittypet, the Shipyard cats on the other paw would never get their shelter back and Dewdrop was forever lost to the results of that night, her kit now having to grow up without her mother by her side. He couldn't bare to look at Shimmer. He should have been there to help earlier.

Jingle would hang his head as he silently took up a spot to sit nearby watching respectfully as other cats placed farewell gifts on a pile of lumber, a remnant of what remained of their old home. Silently he vowed that from this day forward he would not ever return to the housefolk who had raised him, had they not of tried locking him in that night he could have arrived sooner and maybe things would've turned out differently, the life they had given him was not truly for him either. No, from now on he would stay with this group of cats that he became more and more familiar with by the day, being around them is what truly felt like home. He would do what he could to make up for not being there earlier and do his best to ensure that something like that dreadful night never happened again. Wherever these cats went now, he would follow.

With careful maneuvering of his paws the blue tabby would dislodge one of the bells he usually had fastened to his chest fur, picking it up in his jaws to then place it with the other farewell gifts to Dewdrop. All five of the silver bells meant a lot to Jingle-- They were the reason for his whole name after all and after today he would have no means of replacing any of them, but he'd be leaving one behind today much like how he was leaving behind a part of himself too. The part that would've returned to his twolegs after this, the part that wasn't there in time to help save Dewdrop. He hoped that the chime of the bell or maybe the way it sparkled in the sun during the day helped the lost molly to find her way home-- Wherever that was now.

With the bell now placed down carefully he would dip his head to the rest of the cats before padding back to then try and follow Wave wanting to ensure there wasn't anything further he could do to help her with the limping.