Rise Tryout - 1321 & 1322

[shoelaces]

This is happysparrow and my form for these two Rise cats!
Please don't post unless you're either her or me :- ).

All writing/art has been made by us.

[shoelaces]

The two sisters share a rather complicated secret, a secret that had at one point not only been shared by them, but a third, causing the web to grow larger as it kept on growing. A web entwined with strings of forbidden love, murder, and even more little white lies.

Rivershadow sat alongside the tall grass, soaking in the sunlight and the sweet newleaf wind. It was quiet, and almost holy, and it was then that she saw the large tom slink out from his hiding spot behind the rocks. It was in that moment that Rivershadow broke away from her voluntary vigil and joined the darkly-coated tom, pressing her forehead against his in a sacred yet oh-so-forbidden dance; however, was this not exciting? Was such a horrid romance not alluring, and mysterious, and give her extra butterflies that no Dogwoodclan tom could ever give her? She purred, and she pressed close to her lover, sharing her day and listening eagerly to his. She loved this boy that she had met seemingly so many moons ago, the one that even her beloved sister barely knew of. This tom cared dearly for her, and it was in both of their minds that this gentle white lie to both of their clans would be able to last forever. That was, until their sacred meeting spot had been spotted, and the web was tested…

Oceanfang disapproved about the little bits she knew about her sister’s romance, but loved her sister too much to even try forcing them to break it up. Let the lovers be, she’d think whenever she remembered the secret and shrug it off.
While Rivershadow had one of her secret meetings, Oceanfang was elsewhere. In Dogwoodclan’s camp, she sat, talking to another cat. She’d previously been mourning the old leader, feeling guilty for not being able to do anything to help the tom. It’d been a few days since his passing, but it felt like a fresh wound for her. She wished she had someone like her sister did to distract her from it all. Adderpelt, the she-cat she had been speaking to gave her a bit of comfort, but seemed more agitated than anything.
“I’m sorry- it’s so selfish of me to keep coming to you about my sorrows. Are you alright yourself?” The blue she-cat asked.
“No, it’s alright. It’s just this whole Owlstar, Dogwoodclan business, she’s far too young and reckless to be a leader! I struggle to see a future where this clan doesn’t go soft. Maybe I just need some air…” Adderpelt huffed out.
“That’s alright… maybe you should take a walk to get your mind off things?”
Oceanfang didn’t know exactly what to say, she’d always been more of an optimist, if not a realist, but at this point Adderpelt seemed to be brewing up something more than just annoyance. It felt like a negative event was also a future in Adderpelt’s mind.
This suggestion led to the web being spun larger, just a small part would make a large difference in the sisters’ lives.
Adderpelt nodded towards Oceanfang, and she made her way out of camp. She remembered her sister would be having her forbidden love near the territory, but she promised to herself that Adderpelt’s walk wouldn’t affect anything!
She was very wrong.

Adderpelt had been strolling through the forest, cursing over the new management, in time to catch the scent of Rivershadow. What would she be doing so deep in the forest, they’d certainly not be sending lone patrols out at this time! She followed after it, her eyes narrowing as a scene unveiled in front of her, two lovers. Rivershadow and… who was this? A loner! Adderpelt could spit, how disgusting! This whole clan was falling apart wasn’t it? She watched the two, she could end it right there and now… however, what would that do for her? This was just the thing to spark a rebellion in the clan.
It was a few days later, Adderpelt found a time where the clan was oddly silent.
“I need to talk to you Rivershadow!” A fake bright tone boasted, “Preferably alone.”
Rivershadow nodded, only to see the other cat take off, their tail swishing as an invitation to follow. Her heart jumped in her chest as Adderpelt brought her closer… and closer… to where she and her love had met only a few days before.
The other she-cat glared back at her, “A forbidden love? Nothing can’t be forgiven though, only requiring your help in a rebellion.”
“Forbidden love? Rebellion? What do you mean…” Rivershadow trailed off.
The two kept speaking, Adderpelt threatening that someone else may find out, dominoing down to Owlstar’s ears. The increasingly agitated cat had it clearly laid out that it wasn’t a white threat.
Rivershadow had no dramatic motive for her romance, no great alibi. It had merely been that she met this tom and fell in love with him very quickly, and it felt like destiny… no, it was destiny - it had to be; however, Starclan must have had something more sinister in mind.
They thought they had been quiet enough, and had found a good spot. Everything had seemed so perfect, and so pure, and it had been! After all, why punish something as beautiful as their love had been? Alas, however, someone had caught wind of their hiding spot, had caught the lovebirds.

As she stood a week later, above the stiff body of Adderpelt, the lifelessness contrasting Oceanfangs quickly beating heart. What had lead Oceanfang to do this? She could hardly answer her own questions which ran rampantly in her head.
It stemmed from an unofficial duo hunting trip early in the morning. As they stalked deeper through the tall grass, she knew it was the time to confront her about her threats that her sister had told her about days before.
“Don’t try to convince me not to, I know what’s right for this clan. Things must be sacrificed,” Adderpelt had retorted back to her.
“You’re going to throw another cat under the bus, for your own gain? What are you hoping to get from this?”
“I’m not enough of an imbecile to tell you my plans, Oceanfang. Your sister knows what she’s doing is wrong. Try to stop me.”
Adderpelt had no guilt from her threats, the sheer look of satisfaction after her statement had enraged Oceanfang. She stood with her fur standing up, her stance opposing the dark brown she-cat as her blood boiled in her veins.
“You’re being rash, in a moon this clan will be as strong as ever. Don’t make any mistakes because you want to prove yourself in some sort of rebelli-”
“I told you not to try convincing me otherwise. My mind is set on this.”
“This is going to hurt Rivershadow! It’s not all about your plans!”
“I don’t care about Rivershadow, the sky doesn’t revolve you and your sister. Don’t you understand?”
“Adderpelt, why won’t you rethink this? You don’t care about ruining someone else’s life and possibly getting them exiled?!” Oceanfang knew she was arguing with an unmoving boulder, and Adderpelt had no response.
There was no other way, Adderpelt wouldn’t change her stance, she had to do something! Oh the something, the something that lead to crimson dripping down her paws. A quick slash… it wasn’t supposed to be fatal, she should’ve controlled herself. How could she have done something like this, Murder another cat? Rustling from the tall grass behind them perked her ears. Oceanfang looked back down in front of her, hoping somehow, somehow the something hadn’t happened. But, as she looked down, the brown she-cat was still lying stiff in the growing puddle of blood. Her heart jumped into her throat, pounding for her to run as the rustling grew closer.
The face of her sister appeared, urging her on to sprint away. Oceanfang knew her sister wouldn’t tell anyone, their secret grew larger, strings connecting, building, building more complicated than either had intended it to become. From the whispers of forbidden romance, something more vile spread. These events ran through her head, amongst her uncontrolled thoughts and questions. She didn’t understand, what had happened? What was she thinking! Her legs felt weak as her paws brought her to a river. How could she explain what she’d done? Would she even? She needed to talk to her sister… as if she wouldn’t be disgusted with her.
Oceanfang let the current of the thin river run over her paws, up to her haunches was soaked with the water. She wished it could clean her mistakes, her shame, her secrets, the webbing away, the- the everything away from her life. Those couldn’t be washed away, and she’d carry them back along with a fish as she went back to camp.

Now - oh, now, Rivershadow watched the pool of blood spread around her paws. Shocked, she took one step back, then several all in a row, not believing what she found, or who she’d seen just moments ago. Yes, the act of tattling on her would have been insanely cruel, but Rivershadow assumed Oceanfang would merely bat her around a bit, not murder her! Her lover had seen the gruesome scene and had fled, leaving the young she-cat to face this alone. It was… disgusting. It was cruel. It was unfair. Holding back a cry, Rivershadow hurriedly scurried off, taking a moment to feverishly wash her paws of the evidence. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t rat out her sister, of course, but what choice did that lead her? Running back to the clan, she thought of the only excuse she could, “Someone’s been murdered!” she yowled, “By a loner!”

[happysparrow]

x



Having your closest friend not trust you anymore is an awful feeling, especially when that friend is your sister. Oceanfang felt like an outcast in the clan, even with their clan-mates unaware of the murder, she felt like the cats in Starclan stood over her, telling of a cruel fate. She’d try to catch even a glimpse of Rivershadow’s eyes wandering over to her, meeting her own. What she did was wrong, but it was really an accident. Others would never know of how sinister Adderpelt’s plans were- breaking apart a clan over a new leader? ‘Sacrificing’ a cat’s place in the clan for it? Oceanfang only wanted to warn her of what would come of going through with such a plan… The murder stuck in her head when she returned, playing over and over as she tried to talk normally to the other cats; She could only imagine their faces in shock and horror as if they knew what she’d done. She couldn’t handle staying here. Not when her own sister probably blamed her for everything. 
As snoring cats surrounded her, Oceanfang took one last look over at her soundly sleeping sister. Tears slipped from her eyes as she retreated out of the den. Anything was better than staying in a clan she betrayed. Rivershadow would be better off without her, she assured herself as tall grass that grabbed at her fur became tall trees that protected her. She’d never share her past, what she’d done, to any cat. 

x


x

x

x
x


x

Rivershadow had never felt so torn about anything in her entire life. Even the forbidden romance had been nothing more than a little puppy love and young rebellion - how in the world did it end up in murder?! Owlstar had taken sympathy on Rivershadow for being the one to find the horrifying crime scene, and had given the young warrior some time off to collect herself and her thoughts. Rivershadow hadn’t dared to tell her leader the truth, or anything close to it for that matter. If she said anything, Oceanfang could be in huge trouble; however… is that what her sister deserved? Rivershadow gave a miserable groan, curling up tighter in her gentle bed of moss as she thought. Even her lover hadn’t returned to meet her, to see how she was… Had that gone sour so quickly, too?
Usually in times of trouble, River would curl up with her sister, cry about whatever was bothering her, and usually Oceanfang would have something wise or kind or just sincere to help the young warrior settle again; however, Rivershadow hadn’t been able to meet her sister’s gaze since the incident. She tried her hardest to keep things normal between them, but it was almost subconscious the way she would sit just a little farther, or find something to do when her sister asked about a chat or going for a walk. In all honesty, River felt the most torn about how she was supposed to respond to Oceanfang… 
However, she certainly hadn’t expected her to flee. Waking up next to an empty nest, Rivershadow had sprung to her paws, looking around wildly. It was very rare that Oceanfang ever woke up earlier than she did, and where could she have gone? She was torn, of course, but she didn’t know what to do without her sister! They had been together forever, and even in this terrifying time, it was even more terrifying for Rivershadow to realize that she was now fully and truly alone. 
She searched the camp and the surrounding territory, under every rock and around every clump of grass, and when she came back empty-pawed, she could barely stand the sympathy the other cats were trying to share with her. Rivershadow didn’t want to be surrounded or told it would be alright, she just wanted to know what she was supposed to think and supposed to do. From that moment on, her demeanor became almost robotic, and constantly confused. It would take a few times before an order made sense to her again, and even then, she became very quiet and withdrew from the rest of her clanmates. It was like she was a whole different cat, and when she finally stopped waiting for her sister, she changed completely beyond repair. It would be different now for the young warrior - she would retreat inside of herself far too often, and the cats who knew her before would tell anyone that it wasn’t always that way. While she considered wandering off to become a loner, she never could do it. One day, she would know what to do… one day.