Murderers in Riverclan V.3 [welcome back!]

[inky.]

mark.

[AquilaFuga]

ＲＩＶＥＲＣＬＡＮ

The cursed cat lay curled in their nest, their tail fitted
snugly around their muzzle in an attempt to keep off
the leaffall chill. It wasn't that the den was cold-- the
cat's dreams were giving them shivers. Their mother
stood snarling in front of them, a badger facing down
the queen. The cursed cat was a kit again, small and
innocent, and their mother was just doing a queen's
job. Fighting to protect her children. After a few
swipes of her claws, the badger backed up, running
directly into a longhaired calico shecat. The badger
whirled around, its jaws sinking into the calico
and shaking the life out of her lithe body.

The cursed cat's eyes snapped open. That dream...
it came around too often. They were almost deadened
to it now. Unable to sleep, the cat got up and shook their
pelt out, strolling out of their den into the clan clearing.
They weren't surprised to see that they weren't alone.
The calico shecat from their dream was there. She was
almost always there, taunting the cursed one at the edge
of their vision. She never spoke to them, and they never
spoke to her. The cursed cat padded to the freshkill pile,
picking out a small vole and taking it to a corner to eat
it alone. The shecat continued to watch them.

After a moment, they grunted softly. "Do you want some?"

It was the first words between the pair in moons. The
shecat shook her head, but moved closer regardless. Her
ears twitched inquisitively, and then a pompous smirk spread
across her features. "You know, I've been unable to determine
what made her decide that you would be a better life to save
than mine. A kit for the deputy. I don't understand. And I still
don't." She leaned in close, her starry eyes dancing. "You are
pathetic."

Her words chilled the cursed cat's heart, unsettling their stomach.
They looked at the vole for a moment, then pushed it away. They
weren't in the mood to eat anymore. The nightmare was always
haunting them, always pushing them to remember. They couldn't
forget. The cursed cat turned to the ghostly shecat, their eyes
somber. "Do you want something from me?"

The calico shecat's eyes glowed. "Everything."

--

That was four moons ago. Now, it was late leafbare, and new-
leaf was just around the corner. The interactions between the
cursed cat and the ghost had been more and more tense each
day, and the cursed cat was beginning to worry that their
clanmates would suspect insanity. The glances in corners,
suddenly hushing their voice, flattening ears...the ghost was
scaring them, and it was beginning to show. She had began
threatening to hurt their clanmates two moons ago, and
the cursed one had thought the words were empty, until
a clanmate began complaining about waking up with
scratches, theorizing it was a hidden thorn. But even the
cursed one could see that the injuries were just a bit too
deep for a thorn, and too repetitive. They had gone through
the cat's nest at least four times already, and found
no thorns, yet the cat still woke with small injuries.

Now, the cursed one was out hunting, a fish clamped
triumphantly in their jaws. The calico was hovering
nearby, her starry pelt glimmering menacingly. After a
few moments, the cursed one turned to the dead
shecat, their voice wavering as they mumbled around
the fish. "What is it, Doeflame?"

The calico chuckled under her breath. "Oh, nothing,"
she mused, beginning to lap at her tailtip innocently.
"Just letting you know that you may want to give a
certain young tom your goodbyes tonight."

The cursed one's eyes widened, and the fish fell
from their jaws. The stood, and began to dash to camp,
their hackles raised. Doeflame watched silently, not
making any movements. The cursed one's attempts
would not do anything. She knew they wouldn't dare
risk being outcasted for talking to spirits that didn't
exist. She would just wait for the right moment...

The moment came soon enough. Applepaw came trodding
noisily through the undergrowth, chatting to himself and
seemingly congratulating himself on his recent kills. A
carp, a minnow, a salmon...what did Doeflame care? She
sat patiently, flicking her now-poofy tailtip at the apprentice.

Applepaw didn't notice the ghostly shecat as he stared into
the water. That was, of course, how Doeflame wanted it.
He wouldn't see her sneak up on him, wouldn't hear her
pads against the damp stones, wouldn't know of her existence
until her fangs sunk into his scruff, shoving the smaller tomcat
forwards and into the river, wouldn't know what to fight as he
was pushed and held below the rushing spring.

The cursed one wouldn't find Applepaw in came when they
arrived. Perhaps one day he would be spotted in Starclan,
awaiting the arrival of those he loved. But today, his bedraggled
body rested half-sodden on the bank of the river, wounds from
an unseen killer gracing his soaked neck.

And Doeflame slipped back into the night, to haunt the
dreams of the cursed one once again.
Applepaw has been killed! Look out, Riverclan...
something unknown haunts your lands.

Leader --
↳ Bramblestar // shecat // yung gravy

Deputy --
↳ Tanglebelly // tom // iceypopCS

Medicine Cats --
↳ Breezefire // shecat // Breezecat
↳ Eelskip // tom // honeystorm.wishes

Warriors --
↳ Firefeather // tom // 22tabby
↳ Scarface // tom // shimmerstream
↳ Emeraldeye // shecat // Tainted~Wings
↳ Yellowgaze // tom // veritas.
↳ Dawnpetal // shecat // Firefoxx01

Apprentices --
↳ Sunnypaw // tom // kitty_cat_meow_face
↳mentor: Tanglebelly
↳ Nightpaw // shecat // Fading Dreams
↳mentor: Yellowgaze
↳ Applepaw // tom // fengo;
↳mentor: n/a

Queens --
↳ Nettlesong // shecat // twistedSongbird

Kits --
↳ Dovekit // shecat // _Pockii
↳ Heronkit // shecat // BrightDays

Elders
↳ none

----

round info: MiR Doc
round type:
MiR Chatzy
[removed]

toms: 06
she-cats: 08
total: 14

----

families + relationships:
- Tanglebelly + Nettlesong = Dovekit, Heronkit
- Dawnpetal + Firefeather = Applepaw, Sunnypaw, Nightpaw
- ??? + ??? = Firefeather, Breezefire
- ??? + ??? = Bramblestar [l2], Yellowgaze [l2], Tanglebelly [l1]
- ??? + ??? = Eelskip, Nettlesong, Scarface, Emeraldeye

[web.]

Yellowgaze awoke, shaking out his fur as he got to his paws. Walking outside, he squinted his yellow eyes as the sunlight strained them. He was going to take Nightpaw out for early training, so he looked around the empty camp and shivered. He figured that they would join the dawn patrol, but since no one was awake yet, he sat outside the warrior's den.

[Fading Dreams]

Nightpaw had woken up in her nest straining her ears to hear anything interesting but had only heard her brothers light snores in the den. The she-cat slowly sat up and yawned before looking around the quaint den she shared with her siblings. She spotted the light orange pelt of Sunnypaw, but the black and orange splotched pelt of her other brother, Applepaw, seemed to be missing from the apprentices' den. Thats odd, did Applepaw wake up early today? Nightpaw thought to herself as she stretched and started to pad out of the den towards the clearing, making sure not to disrupt Sunnypaw as they slept. The black-pelted she-cat then spotted her mentor, Yellowgaze, and slowly padded over to him with a yawn. “Morning Yellowgaze, have you seen Applepaw?” The young apprentice asked curiously.

[web.]

Yellowgaze dipped his head to his apprentice as she approached, and his facial expression shifted into one of confusion as she asked about Applepaw. "I haven't seen him. He isn't in the den?" He clenched his jaw a moment, thinking hard. "No one else is awake, I don't think. Dawn patrol hasn't gone out yet, and if he did leave camp he left without permission. Did he say anything to you about wanting to hunt alone?". He flicked his tail before wrapping it around his paws, ears perked. "I suppose we can look for him while we train. We might as well head out now instead of waiting for the patrol to wake up."

[SpiritKitty]

Sunnypaw slowly opened his eyes, blinking away sleep as he glanced around. His brother and sister were both missing from there nests. he shrugged his shoulders, as they would most likely be socializing, or with their mentors. he slowly padded out of his den, his golden eyes darting around the camp, before they landed on his sister, and his brothers mentor. he slowly padded over to the two. with a yawn he curiously asked "Hey, what are you two doing?". his tail flicked behind him as he stared at the two.

[DaisieGames]

Heronkit shifted in the nest she shared with Dovekit and Neetlesong. Glancing around, she noticed the others were still asleep and carefully got to her paws. Wondering if Scarface was up. She silently exited the nursery and padded over to the warriors den. Purring softly as she saw the warrior asleep, she glanced around the camp, wondering what to do.

[Tainted~Wings]

Emeraldeyes
She looked at yellow gaze and night paw as she exited the warrior den. "Did some cat say my apprentice was missing?"

[shimmerstream]

Scarface yawned and opened his eye. From where he lay he could just see a sliver of the camp’s clearing. It had a dusting of snow, but it might melt as the sun reached its peek. Either way he could feel new-leaf coming in fast. It’d be nice to have the water warmer than freezing again.

Scarface stood and stretched, arching his back, careful not to disturb any of his denmates. He left the warrior’s den and glanced around... Nightpaw, Sunnypaw, Yellowgaze, Emeraldeye, Heronkit. He wandered over to Heronkit who was doing the same thing as himself. Scarface sat down and let out a soft rumbling purr. “Are you going over to bother Eelskip about more herbs? Just don’t sneak up on him, you might make him jump through the roof.” Scarface was lighthearted in what he said to Heronkit, but in the back of his mind he knew better than most how hard a time the medicine cat had it sometimes. Scarface himself had spent much of his kithood terrorizing his siblings, his brother especially, but he’d grown since then. He hadn’t picked on Eelskip once since he’d changed his name as an apprentice. Now he just wanted his family happy and healthy, his young neice Heronkit included.

[Firefoxx01]

Dawnpetal

The small she cat woke up in her nest. Yawning and stretching quickly, she walked out of the den and out in the camp. The morning breeze ruffled her fur slightly and the air smelled of mist. It’s sedmed like a good day...

Until she realized that one of her kits were missing.

Applepaw wasn’t anywhere in sight. Not in camp, not in the apprentices den, not with his littermates, and not with Emeraldeye.

So she went to her last resort; Tanglebelly. She went up to the deputy, “Did you send out any morning patrols? If so, did you send Applepaw without his mentor?”