Ok...it felt kind of nice to NOT write 2020 LMAO. Welcome to 2021! To kick off the brand new year, we're introducing a round of updates, including new bio and forbidden romance rules, our Secret Santa reveal, OTM winners and nominations, our monthly patrols, and a fun new infectious disease! So make sure to check out the January Announcements for all of the new content! As we leave 2020 behind us, we hope everyone is able to put themselves first this year and practice self-care! Here's to another one! Let's write some cats!
The Apostles is a warrior cats roleplay based in northern Wisconsin. On Lake Superior, the wild cats have made the Apostle Islands their home. It is on these islands - Rocky Island and South Twin Island - that the clan and tribe cats have lived in a peace and harmony that ebbs and flows with the tide.
But as the tides turn, so does the truce that binds them to one another; and as the water raises, a darkness follows, an evil that will end in bloodshed and violence.
A cold morning mist hung in the air. It trickled down into the camp between the cracks in the rocks that shielded it. Willowshine picked her way through the ThistleClan camp's entrance. She entered the thick forest, which glowed green. The air tasted wetter and colder than it usually did on hotter days. It might rain... she thought to herself.
She was on autopilot. She was used to being able to leave the camp, which was one of the many perks of becoming a warrior. Yet, her paws weighed her down suddenly. Thievingstar's orders demanded that any cat leaving the camp between the hours of dawn and dusk needed to be accompanied by at least one other warrior.
Willowshine's ears flicked in irritation. Who was around that she could take, anyway? It had been a busy morning. Everyone was antsy to be out and about while they could, with the new curfew, so they'd left already. Willowshine turned back around and sauntered into the camp, looking around for any signs of an active warrior. She wouldn't wake one from their sleep.
When her eyes landed upon a familiar silvery-red pelt, she stopped in her tracks. Sorrelfeather. An instinctive guilt overcame her. They hadn't spoke in... moons, save for the occasional spat about their brother and what she'd caused their family to go through. On the day of their warrior ceremony, there were no words shared to celebrate their warriorship. Only a haunting feeling of guilt, and a familiar sense of blame. She wanted to turn away before he saw her, to retreat into the depths of her nest, but something kept her there.
Thornpaw wouldn't want us to be like this... she gulped, starting a few steps in Sorrelfeather's direction, it's been so long.
Thornpaw is the one who died, but I lost two brothers that day.
Willowshine's brows pressed together as nervousness clouded her thoughts. She stood before her brother meekly. "Hey," she started, clearing her throat and boldly proceeding to say, "how long are we going to do this? ...Act like we don't exist to each other." She winced. She could feel the rejection emanating off of him, or perhaps it was just her own feelings projecting upon him.
Who cares? There's no place safe to hide Nowhere to run, no time to cry
Sorrelfeather was quite used to being early to rise and usually on foot immediately to find the morning pickings of prey, arguably some of the best. With the curfews in place, however… He was well aware that he could just as easily bring along some poor sap to join him for the hunt, though what was the point? The company would drag him down in his efforts, chances were they’d just distract him or ruin his hunt. Now he was simply reclined to sit around pointlessly until it was time to hunt again, perhaps to have a chat if he was really bored, though mostly to work off the morning chills. Cold still clung to the air after rainfall, he was simply lucky enough to have the pelt to deal with it.
Though it was futile considering his usual routine, the tom worked on cleaning his coat with the spare time he had. It would be messy the moment he could step out of camp, but what else was he to do? He couldn’t even preoccupy his mind on the side. It was ridiculous to waste a cool green-leaf morning and the prey it held for a curfew, the regulations far too strict for his taste. If he couldn’t manage on his own, that would be his problem. Weren’t they supposed to look out for themselves?
The urge to escape could only continue to build from there, however. The cameo-furred tom’s ears swivelled towards the unfortunately familiar voice for a moment, though he stared blankly ahead, rasping his tongue over a paw to draw it behind his ear. He addressed her when it suited him, of course, unamused amber gaze finally meeting her in return when he’d decided he could pause in his grooming. “When one of us starts existing,” he responded flatly, preening the long mane-like fur coating his neck.
Another long break in speech followed, the silver-red tom suddenly invested in the neatness of his pelt now that he’d been interrupted. He gave some focus to his plumed tail afterwards, half-expecting the she-cat to turn tail and give up. Of course she wouldn’t… Willowshine would stay as stubborn as ever, wouldn’t she? Unfortunately for both of them, however, they shared the same blood… And their stubbornness.
“Why even bring this up? Haven’t been living the dream lately? Boy troubles?” The last question was spoken in a sing-songy tone, Sorrelfeather all too comfortable in his derision. He gave an uninterested yawn afterwards, flexing his claws into the dirt ground. The long-furred tom scoffed after yet another drawn-out moment of silence, still somewhat bemused by her rather unwelcome appearance. “You’ve got someone else to talk to, eh? Go bother them instead.”
Amber gaze met amber gaze and, for a moment, Willowshine's nerves eased. Yet, his sharp words pierced right through her heart. Her nostrils flared with every offending syllable he spat out at her. Her ears folded against the back of her skull and she lowered her head in a pout. He'd have to do worse to get her to give up, after so long of leaving him to his own cold devices.
Much to her chagrin, Sorrelfeather resumed his careful preening. His pelt was practically spotless! She ground her teeth so loudly that the sound could be heard behind her lips. She knew he was trying to get at her, as he mocked her issues and continued his charade. How did he even know about that, anyway?
Her jaw unlocked and she slammed her paw down on the ground in front of him. Her anger vibrated through her body from the motion.
"The only one of us who stopped existing was Thornpaw, right? Isn't that why you treat me like this? Go ahead, say it. Say it, Sorrelfeather," she insisted, her face inching closer to his, "say whatever it is you're thinking about me, just rip my heart up! As if I haven't apologized enough, as if I don't pay for it every day that I'm alive. I'm not gonna grovel anymore. It's your turn to apologize, you..." she flustered, and then, "rotten piece of foxdung of a brother! If it were you instead of-" She stopped, breath hitching, eyes widening. I shouldn't have said that... It was already out, it wouldn't take a genius to know the rest of that sentence.
Who cares? There's no place safe to hide Nowhere to run, no time to cry
Well, if he had to give her credit for one thing, it was how upfront she’d decided to be for once. She’d have to get sick of him eventually, of course, which was the point of the act in the first place. When she finally came to that boiling point, however, Sorrelfeather hadn’t exactly expected to face her wrath in the process.
Not that he couldn’t deal with wrath… Though it certainly was quite the personal attack. The personal part of it wasn’t the insulting aspect, however, it was the victimhood in her words. The mention of his brother caused a flicker of anger to show in Sorrelfeather’s usually mellow gaze, though he didn’t say a word. She’d prattle on and on whether he argued against her or not… It was a never ending cycle that only frustrated the cameo-furred tom further. Oh how high and mighty she thought she was… At least he knew he wasn’t a gem to talk to. She seemed utterly delusional in that regard.
He listened to her emotional drivel, eyes narrowed and feigning disinterest despite the pause in his grooming. She was certainly pushing the line, a mix of her words igniting his anger and making him so utterly annoyed with the victimising tone she held. Woe is me, woe is me was all Sorrelfeather heard for the most part, until, of course, she decided to bite back in the only way she knew how.
Being called foxdung was certainly no first. And from his so-called sister? He could take that easily. It was what he should’ve expected. What she said after took him by surprise. Not a strange sort of pride in her ferocity, but all the proof he needed that she wasn’t worth his time. He watched her instant regret, his own expression growing in intensity as hers began to falter, but his gaze said it all. Too late. Unlike her, he didn’t have to play moral hero. If anything, this was just a slip-up of her true thoughts. The angry cat was often the most honest when they lost control, weren’t they? At least he never had those slip-ups, as many friendships as it had lost him.
“...And you wonder why I don’t want to talk to you?” his voice was quiet, yet unmistakably dangerous. He never was much of a shouter. “So sanctimonious. You really think you’re better than me, don’t you?” Amusement flashed through his expression for a moment, as though he couldn’t believe her. Well, that was true in a way… His judgements had been pretty spot-on, it seemed, yet he still didn’t think she’d stoop so low with her high and mighty moral standing. Wanting to be Thornpaw, huh? Her awful play on their long-deceased brother only angered him further. She could never be him… Especially not now. She lost the battle of morality, and now he was free to take the pickings.
“Admit you want to get me killed, too. Go on- don’t be shy. Don’t look at me all surprised like that, Willowshine.” He even sneered as he spoke, as furious as he’d become, almost revelling in this disgusting turn of events. “Do yourself a favour and pretend I’m dead, too. Looks like you’re not too far off from that, anyway.”
He spoke his piece, and she was fully intent to let him. She deserved it. He threw that heart-wrenching accusation at her and she flinched as if he struck her with his claws.
"Don't look at me all surprised like that, Willowshine!"
She looked away, casting her gaze to the ground. The words he spoke were unmistakable proof... that he did not know her at all. He'd spent so much time giving her the cold shoulder, he'd forgotten who she was at all. She had tried and failed to bring him back to her side. This would surely be another failure to add to the ever-growing list of them. Her claws flexed, scraping against the stone floor beneath them.
She lifted her chin up once more and her eyes blazed at him. "Sorrelfeather," she snapped, but this time it was not a yell, "I've tried. You refuse to give me a chance to right what I've done wrong. You force me to hate you with how you act towards me. It's almost like you want to see me fail, you want to push me into this corner. You want me to be this horrible cat you've made up in your mind. I'm sure you wish that I'd been the one to die that day." she shook her head angrily, rolling her pained eyes, "you have no idea who I am. I'm not going to kill you, you fucking idiot, and I didn't kill Thornpaw," she spoke that last part with a snarl on her muzzle, "but go on, Sorrelfeather. Go tell yourself more about how I'm a murderer because I made a mistake as a child. Go on. I don't care, anyway, you just blend into the background like the rest of them. I didn't do this to beg your forgiveness. I've tried that enough times, and I know you've heard me."
She broke her eye contact as her mind drifted. It took her back to those days of crying after him, pleading for him to stop, to come back. He'd never listen to her, though. Why should now be any different? "I did this because I deserve to have forgiveness. I wanted to give it one last chance, a chance to make amends, but you..." she scoffed, "To think I actually thought it'd be different this time. I'm done. You may still be alive, Sorrelfeather, but you are not my brother anymore." She leveled him with her stare, meaning those words with every fiber of her being.
400+ | ight this time, he might be Resting in Peace | gammaneise
Post by gammaneise on Jul 30, 2020 20:28:08 GMT -6
Who cares? There's no place safe to hide Nowhere to run, no time to cry
He wasn’t exactly surprised to see her jump back to being the victim so quickly, but despite her ploy to slash at his heartstrings with her pitiful whining, he didn’t doubt that it was an act. Did it matter if it was? She’d already stated point-blank that she would’ve preferred his death over their brother’s. Perhaps he couldn’t blame her for that. He had a tendency to get her in trouble by his own whims, he technically should’ve been the one to die instead… And he still hadn’t stopped thinking about that, either. It didn’t change her involvement, however. He didn’t have to forgive her for wishing death on him, either.
“I haven’t forced you to act how you did. That’s a rather… Problematic thing to say, don’t you think?” he commented dryly at those words, only more patience being lost at this point. “You just aren’t honest, Willowshine. I’ll say I hate you as many times as I want, but you can’t even admit that you hate me without acting like it’s my fault.” He gave off another semi-amused exhale as she continued to argue her point, the cameo tom’s tail whipping from side to side in frustration despite his airy expression. “You don’t have the guts to kill me, anyway. It took a stupid bird the first time, didn’t it?” he spat back, amber eyes tracing back to the ground. He definitely would’ve been there if he hadn’t decided to hold back, Thornpaw would be safe in camp… But that was something he had to live with. Thornpaw was gone, simple as that. He wouldn’t be seeing him again, and he wouldn’t be all too productive if he blamed himself over that, would he?
They were young, that was true. Young and stupid. He remembered how dangerous their adventures had become before he finally sat out, always joking about the danger Willowshine used to get herself into just to be the strongest warrior. He wouldn’t have joked if he knew. There were a lot of things he would’ve done, precautions he’d take… But that had no bearing on their lives now. Even if Thornpaw’s death wasn’t on purpose… He knew it was her fault. It was his, too, but he wouldn’t say those words. Not to her.
“...You don’t deserve forgiveness.”Nobody does. He was silent for those few moments she made her final scathing words, in thoughts of his own. Forgiveness couldn’t be deserved… It had to be earned. He didn’t have to forgive her. If Thornpaw were alive, he wouldn’t have to forgive either of them. Her proclamation that he was no longer her brother didn’t earn much of a reaction, the tom only levelling with her stare as her gaze burned into him. “...Glad you finally got the message, then. We’re not family anymore.” It had taken a long time for that message to sink in, hadn’t it? It was only fair that they should separate, after all. Their brother never had that chance.
“You’ll make a new one anyway, won’t you? Go on. There’s nothing here for you anymore.” He flicked his tail dismissively, lowering himself back to the ground and facing away from her.
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