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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 8:44:04 GMT -8
THE FIRST DEATH ( 009 ) LAST MOON Spottednose apparently had a knack for finding poison. While originally admiring the bright red berries from a distance, up close he discovered a holly berry bush. Batting at the spiky leaves with one paw, he considered his options. Sure, he was more on edge with making sure his, no not his exactly, the deathberries were safe. However, this bush was small and there were only a couple mature holly berries on this bush. If he took them to camp, another cat wouldn't stumble across them accidentally and consume them. If they were a full-grown cat, they might just get ill, but he couldn't take a chance of a little kit munching on one. He carefully snipped off the small berries and placed them in the middle of the (safe) mint he had also just collected. Spottednose breathed in the smell of the mint as he gathered all of the herbs. It was a soothing scent, perhaps that's why it masked the scent of death so well. Before coming to TwistedClan, it seemed like Spottednose had to use mint every other day. Though masking the scent of dead street cats with only a few sprigs of mint was a hard task. Spottednose's herb collection today was foreboding, but that was only because of him being dramatic, right?
Sunchaser crouched close to the ground in the brush. The shrew was inspecting the ground with an intensity that didn't fit a bird that small. Morningstar and Copperleaf were already in position in the low branches above him, ready to pounce whichever direction the shrew took off in.
Wait, wait, NOW! Sunchaser sprang out as the shrew hopped closer, spooking it into flight. He registered the bird cut off mid-call and then a sharp pain slicing through his paw. Yowling in surprise, he clumsily flopped over and held his up his paw. Blood was seeping out of a long cut across his pads and starting to drip onto the dirt.
"Landed wrong?" Copperleaf weaved her way through the branches toward him. Looking up, Sunchaser could see her head peeking out from the leaves, still in the tree. Morningstar appeared beside him on the ground, still clutching the dead shrew. Sunchaser pushed himself up into a sitting position, paw in the air.
"Landed on a rock." Sunchaser responded sheepishly.
"Spottednose will patch you up back in camp." Morningstar's voice was muffled behind the feathers. "Copperleaf, get his vole and let's head back."
"Really, I'm fine." Sunchaser wasn't fine (he was dreading putting his paw on the ground), but he was very intimidated by Spottednose. Then the leader nudged him, causing his hurt paw to brush the soil and he yelped again. After a pointed look, Sunchaser sighed. "Fine. Well, not fine, but fine. I mean, let's just go."
Sunchaser leaned on Copperleaf all the way back to camp. It was a long walk.
Birchwhisker and Stormstrike were taking turns grooming each other when Morningstar's hunting patrol returned with a limping Sunchaser. This caused Stormstrike to pause licking her ears to good-naturedly call out, "You're one of the youngest here, don't turn into an elder now!" Birchwhisker purred, even though she was missing the grooming session. The trio headed their way.
"Spottednose!" Morningstar called. A black and white head poked out from the medicine bush with a fragment of a leaf still hanging off of one whisker. "You have a new patient!"
Birchwhisker prides herself with being observant, so she didn't miss Sunchaser shrinking down into his already small frame. She admitted herself that Spottednose was a bit daunting at first, but as long as you didn't try to interrupt his flow of words, he was fine. Well, she couldn't do anything to help Sunchaser escape the attack of words he was about to endure, so instead she rolled back to Stormstrike and pushed him.
"You're very distractible." Her eyes were narrowed in mock anger.
"Hmm? I'm sorry, I don't know who's speaking since I keep looking at these ants." Stormstrike turned away pointedly.
Birchwhisker laughed. "Well, I guess I'll have to find someone else to share prey with." She shrugged. Now that got Stormstrike's attention, perhaps too much of it. He practically ran her over in excitement. That almost caused her to miss the glimpse of Copperleaf slipping into the medicine bush after Spottednose had started to wrap Sunchaser's bleeding paw in cobwebs in the clearing. Almost. But Birchwhisker was observant.
PRESENT Copperleaf was crouched outside of camp behind a cluster of trees. She worked quietly, but it was difficult with all of the crunching leaves cluttering the ground. The berry's juices coated her paws as she shoved them into the belly of the thrush she had sliced open. Satisfied with her work, she flattened the feathers over the opening until they seemed natural enough. Copperleaf wasn't worried though, Morningstar was starting to get comfortable around the number of cats now. She was starting to become trusting. And that was very helpful. It made things easier. Copperleaf stuffed the thrush underneath a leaf pile. She would retrieve it after her paws her clean.
Rainpaw was sweeping leaves from the center of camp towards the edges when she heard the familiar sound of pained, choking breaths. Oldie the street cat had made these awful sounds after he got hit by a Monster. She spun around, trying to find the source of the sound. She saw Spottednose sprint towards the steps of the cabin; it was the fastest she had ever seen him move. Her eyes focused on the commotion by the cabin. Her other Clanmates were now gathered over there, so Rainpaw rushed over herself. Pushing past Sunchaser, craning to see over Stormstrike, she witnessed Morningstar convulsing on the ground with a feather still resting on her cheek. Spottednose had brought several herbs in his haste, but Rainpaw was surprised to see he wasn't using anything. Instead, he had his paw down her mouth, trying to claw whatever he could out. TwistedClan stood in stunned silence as their leader took her last shuddering breath and laid still. Spottednose stepped back, his paw matted with thrush and saliva.
"What happened?" Birchwhisker broke the hush that fell over the group.
The medicine cat tore open the remaining prey Morningstar had been eating, but he still looked dismayed. "I-I have to ch-check on my herbs."
"Shouldn't you stay with Morningstar?" Copperleaf's concerned voice stopped him in his tracks. Rainpaw didn't understand the baffled look Spottednose gave her.
"Right, yes. Give her space!" Spottednose barked. Rainpaw shuffled back into Sunchaser.
"Did you see what happened?" She whispered to the young warrior.
"I wasn't really paying attention, I guess. Copperleaf was discussing hunting techniques with Stormstrike and I, so I didn't notice anything until she was uh, choking I guess." Sunchaser shrugged. "Stormstrike?"
"Maybe she swallowed a feather wrong?" Stormstrike suggested.
"Perhaps." Copperleaf's eyes were wide with concern.
"She ate quite a bit of the thrush before anything happened." Birchwhisker gestured to the leftover bird.
"You would think if she noticed something really wrong with the bird, she would have stopped earlier." Spottednose's low voice brought them back to the situation at hand. He was lying beside Morningstar, gently licking her head. She had started to breathe again, her eyes halfway closed, fur still damp with sweat.
"I'm okay now." The leader's voice was soft and weak. "Thank you, Spottednose."
"Do you need help to your nest?" Copperleaf stepped forward.
"No." It was Spottednose that answered. "She will be in the medicine den tonight." His voice was sharp.
Copperleaf dipped her head and relented. "Whatever you think is best." Copperleaf's voice was slightly mocking. Rainpaw was just glad that it was Morningstar who choked. If it was anybody else, well, they would only have their one life.
Eight to go.
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 8:47:30 GMT -8
THE AFTERMATH ( 010 ) LAST MOON Morningstar watched as Spottednose stuck his nose into her tree trunk den from the camp. She chuckled when she saw that he was annoyed that she wasn't there. "Over here, Spottednose." She called, and he trotted over. Hmm, that's not good if he's traveling faster than a walk. She frowned. This meant he probably wasn't just going to chastise her for not resting like he had requested. She had even recently trekked to the Moonpool.
"Morningstar, I need to talk with you." Spottednose's eyes darted back and forth. "Privately."
"Alright," She nodded. "Let's take a walk." She waited for him to protest that it was 'too much energy', either for her or him, but he relented. After they had gotten a fair bit away from camp, he sat, more like slumped, on the ground into the snowdrift.
"I still don't know for sure what happened earlier." He said defeated. "I thought it might have been the deathberries at first."
"At first? Did the thrush eat the berries before we caught it?" She wondered how far a bird could fly after it had eaten poisonous berries.
"No," Spottednose paused. "It would mean that someone would have, um, put them there. But there are still berries where I left them."
"So, then I didn't eat deathberries." Morningstar shrugged. "I really don't remember much from that afternoon. I was just eating; I don't know."
"Well, there are berries where I left them. I don't know if they're the original ones for sure, but some sort of berries is there." Spottednose sputtered. "They do look remarkably like deathberries if they are substitutes, but I can't be certain until I test them. And that doesn't seem like the greatest idea right now, you know?"
"Okay," Morningstar stopped his rambling. "But who would want me to lose a life?"
Spottednose shuffled on his paws. "That is also another problem."
"What, do you have someone in mind?" Morningstar asked aghast. Spottednose opened his mouth, thought better of it, then shook his head. "Then let's go about life as usual." She turned and started the walk back to camp.
Spottednose stopped her with a heavy paw to her shoulder. "Doesn't this make you the slightest bit uneasy?"
She met his eyes. "Of course, but what sort of leader would I be if I showed it?"
"Get up, Morningstar." A familiar voice called to her. Morningstar's memory was foggy, and when she opened her eyes, she was laying on the ground. As she pushed herself to her feet, however, the forest around her was not her forest. She was in StarClan. She turned slightly to the owner of the soft voice, Rainstar, and started when she noticed a faint outline of a cat that looked like herself sitting next to him. "You've lost a life, Morningstar." The old leader gestured to the ghostly figure of herself. Morningstar batted at the figure, but her paw just fell through the air. "It won't become complete until you have lost all nine of your lives." Rainstar explained.
"Alright," Morningstar said. "That wasn't too bad, I suppose." She met his eyes. "But, I do need to return to TwistedClan."
"Close your eyes," Rainstar rested his muzzle on her head. "But remember, live for yourself, Morningstar. Not the past."
Birchwhisker was starting to enjoy spending time with Copperleaf. They passed time on the border patrol speaking about snippets from their pasts and meaningless other small talk. Birchwhisker found that Copperleaf had a reassuring presence, and she seemed to really care about her stories. In fact, Birchwhisker was sure she was telling the majority of the stories, and Copperleaf was mostly listening. Telling stories also distracted the fact that the two mollies were wading belly-deep in the snow. Suddenly, Copperleaf's tail snapped across Birchwhisker's back, and the two halted. "See that?" Copperleaf pointed her muzzle in the direction of a fiery orange cat in the distance.
"Good eye." While its orange coat did stick out in the snowy landscape, Birchwhisker was only paying attention to the immediate area in front of them. Birchwhisker took the lead now; her coat blended in better against the snow piles. As they got closer, the cat, who could now be identified as a tom, turned when he heard the crunching footsteps approaching.
"Well, howdy," The tom greeted. "Bit chilly to be all the way out in the open, isn't it?"
"You could come back to our camp," Birchwhisker suggested. "It's a lot more sheltered than here." And thus, Gingerblaze was welcomed into the clan as another warrior.
•••••••••••••••••••••
Stormstrike held back small branches so he could peek at Rainpaw's progress. Her claws dug into the soft birch bark as she inched closer to the thick branch her mentor was perched on. "Move your back paw on the ridge to your left." He suggested.
"No, no, I have it!" Rainpaw said through gritted teeth, although her back paw did find the ridge. Ripping her paws out of the bark and sticking them back in a few pawlengths up, Rainpaw eventually clambered onto the branch that held Stormstrike.
"Good, Rainpaw!" Stormstrike purred. "Now, this way!" He nimbly ran to the end of the branch and leaped onto a slightly lower branch of another tree. This tree leaned heavily in their direction, so it was an easy jump. He turned to see Rainpaw's eyes wide. "It's easier if you just go for it." A determined look fell upon the soft apprentice's face, and she jumped into the air and landed on the side of the branch, her back half sliding off. Stormstrike lunged and yanked her back onto the branch. "Good, let's try again on the next tree."
PRESENT
Silverstem shifted from paw to paw. She was very thankful her ancestors, or she guessed StarClan as these cats called them, had guided her to TwistedClan. Expecting kits was a daunting enough thought in the nicest circumstances, but now being around a support system with knowledgeable cats was reassuring. While she certainly didn't need anyone to look after her, this was her first litter and she hadn't been keen on going through it alone. "Anything I can help with, Spottednose?" She stuck her head into the sheltered medicine cat bush, sending a good amount of snow raining down. A loud sigh came from the back.
"I've already said that everything is going great." A sharp reply came from the temperamental medicine cat. "You're healthy, I don't need to be told how to do my job, and you can come back in two moons when you're actually going to have your kits." Spottednose shooed her out. "I don't care how you spend your time, as long as it's not here."
Silverstem didn't let his sour attitude dampen hers, however. If he wasn't worried about anything other than his own organization methods, there shouldn't be any reason for her to worry either.
The snow provided a soft blanket covering across the clearing. Stormstrike was staking out a new training area for training sessions. He had wandered around for a good while before deciding on an area slightly uphill from the main camp. The trees on the edge of the small clearing were thick with low hanging branches, perfect for building better confidence for hunting and climbing in the treetops. The ground was mostly clear from bushes and taller grasses, but it was difficult to see underneath the piles of snow. Stormstrike started up a trunk as he heard pawsteps coming closer in the snow. He laid on a branch as Copperleaf came into view.
"Isn't this good for our new training grounds?" He called out while lazily swinging his tail back and forth. The deputy scrutinized the landscape before her.
"I think this looks perfect," Copperleaf finally decided. "Although, it will be easier to tell after all this retched snow melts away."
Stormstrike purred. "Perfect. I think Rainpaw will enjoy training here as well."
"Her final warrior assessment will be coming up soon." Copperleaf reminded him. "Do you think she will be ready?"
"I think so," Stormstrike shimmied down the tree trunk to land next to the deputy. "She really tries her best."
"That's all we can ever ask for."
Spottednose watched a sparrow land in front of the bush he was hiding in. The bird was inspecting the berry in front of it very intently, hopping around it and bobbing its head up and down. Spottednose hoped that the bird would gulp it down and keel over dead, not for sadistic purposes but to know for sure if the berries in his collection were still deathberries. Just as he thought the sparrow would finally eat the berry, Sunchaser and Rainpaw walked into view, conversing about the latest patrols. Naturally, the sparrow took flight, and Spottednose spat in annoyance.
Startled, Sunchaser spun around until he saw the angry medicine cat. "Spottednose!" The young tom bounded forward to greet him, and in the process of his excitement, he stomped on the berries.
"Get back, you fool!" Spottednose shoved Sunchaser away, and he cried out indignantly.
"We have as much right to be walking through here as you do!" Sunchaser rolled his eyes. Spottednose ignored this as he pawed the squished remains of his experiment.
"Was that something important?" Rainpaw had crept closer and watched the tom's annoyance curiously.
"Not anymore," Spottednose sighed. "I'm sure it was nothing anyway." It was probably nothing, right? I guess we'll never know for sure, he thought. I'm just overthinking things now. "Make sure you get all that berry juice off on your paws in the snow." Spottednose warned. "It'll probably make you ill."
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 8:50:29 GMT -8
THE QUIET ( 011 ) LAST MOON Rainpaw was frozen solid by the time their hunting patrol trudged back towards camp, cold and still hungry. She only wished her ears had iced over by the amount of flirting of Stormstrike and Birchwhisker she had just endured.
"Don't be too discouraged," Morningstar fell in step with the only apprentice. "The prey is smart and stays where it is warm."
Rainpaw purred. "If only we could follow suit. I'm turning into an icicle."
Morningstar chuckled. "Soon we'll be snuggled in our nests away from their yammering." Her tail flicked back towards their other Clanmates.
"What was that?" Stormstrike attempted to bound forward but was hindered by the snow piles. Now he was just sprinkled with the cold powder.
"Nothing important!" Morningstar shimmied underneath the bushes barring the camp, trying not to disturb the layers of snow. They were both surprised by Sunchaser on the other side of the twiggy barrier. By this time, Rainpaw was almost overtaking the small-framed warrior in size, but she knew she could never have his easy-going attitude.
"I coff ah aggie." He dropped a bird on the ground. "I caught a magpie! It didn't even know I was coming."
"I'm sure you didn't even know it was coming either." She said off-handedly and was pleasantly surprised that she had guessed correctly.
"It was a happy accident."
PRESENT Gingerblaze was thankful for his heavy coat of fur as Birchwhisker and him tried to sniff out prey. “How are you enjoying your time in TwistedClan?” Birchwhisker spoke over the chilly breeze. Gingerblaze shrugged.
“It’s alright. I would be well-fed if all I could just eat what I caught.” Gingerblaze replied. He was starting to enjoy getting to know the other cats, but he also did like his burly physique. And these meager leaf-bare conditions were sucking away his fat reserves.
“Perhaps you can scare the prey towards me, and I will catch them.” Birchwhisker continued, ignoring his complaints.
“First, we have to actually find the prey.” Gingerblaze looked towards the empty branches.
“Good grief, you’re like another Spottednose.” Birchwhisker sighed.
“I just like to have a full belly!”
Copperleaf was content. She had made a new friend. Silverstem was becoming quite anxious about coming close to her kitting date, and she had latched onto a support system which Copperleaf was surprisingly good at.
“I can’t be a mother,” Silverstem was repeating, “I won’t be a good mother!”
“I think you will exceed your expectations,” Copperleaf reassured. “And I am good at knowing these kinds of things.”
“Really? How can you tell? I’m not so sure.” Silverstem’s eyes were half shut.
“It’s my duty as a deputy to know what my Clan members are capable of,” Copperleaf leaned into the queen.
Copperleaf also liked to think she was very capable at her job. And she was.
Stormstrike shared an awkward silence with his apprentice. Before them was the frozen creek, large ice chunks scattered on the surface. “In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have saved our swimming lessons for the last training exercises in leaf-bare. And I’m not going to ask you to jump in there now since that would be your death sentence.”
“So, what’re we gonna do?” Rainpaw batted at the ice passing by. “It’s definitely too cold.”
“Well, I guess swimming is just like running but in the water, so I thought we could try our best of imitating that in all of these snowbanks.” This was the best alternative Stormstrike could come up with. Next time he had an apprentice, he would make sure this mistake didn’t happen again. If he ever had another apprentice, he grumpily thought.
“We’re still going to freeze!” Rainpaw exclaimed.
“We’ll be quick,” Stormstrike promised.
“You have much more fur than I do,” Rainpaw grumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s what I thought.”
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 8:52:27 GMT -8
THE NEW INTERESTS ( 012 )
Thankfully, the snow slowly melted into a bright new-leaf, and TwistedClan’s spirits were getting brighter along with the days. The horrors of bare-leaf were shut from everyone’s mind and the warmer weather brought out better attitudes and prey numbers. Stormstrike had once again taken Rainpaw out to the creek, but this time the ice has broken up and water was flowing steadily once more. They weren’t the only two at the creek bed; Morningstar and Sunchaser were also tagging along. While Morningstar was understanding of Stormstrike’s lack of hindsight, she thought it would be best for her to oversee the session and make sure Sunchaser was able to keep afloat as well. Rainpaw dipped a foot in the bubbling water.
“It’s still chilly!” Rainpaw flicked water droplets onto the older cats beside her as she yanked it out.
“You’ll get used to it.” Stormstrike pushed her gently closer to the edge. “It’s just like running. Running with your head high.”
“Plus, with your short-hair coat, it should be easier. Too much fur weighs you down when wet.” Morningstar gestured to Stormstrike and Sunchaser.
“It also takes forever to dry.” Stormstrike added. “So, let’s get this over with.”
The creek was wide, so it was a nice slope down towards the middle where the cats couldn’t reach the bottom. Morningstar and Stormstrike waded in until the water was coming up to their chests. Sunchaser was a bit more reluctant but followed closely. His neck was craned up towards the skyline to keep it firmly above the water. Rainpaw grimaced as she got all four feet submerged. She slowly moved into the deeper section, tiptoeing on the pebbles below. She thought this was quite unpleasant enough; why’d they have to swim if they spent all of their time in the trees chasing birds or staying dry on land?
Morningstar pushed Sunchaser off of the shelf they were standing on and followed him to the middle of the flowing creek. Her movements were more graceful and purposeful than his quick, choppy motions, but they were both swimming strongly across to the far side. “If you jump forward, it’s easier to get started.” Stormstrike suggested. He leaped forward in slow motion through the water, his strong legs starting to paddle. He pivoted, trying to stay in approximately in the same place to wait for the apprentice.
“Here goes nothing,” Rainpaw muttered, stepping forward.
Birchwhisker and Gingerblaze sat across the way, sharing a bite of prey. Sunchaser nudged Rainpaw to direct her gaze towards a huffy Stormstrike sitting next to Spottednose, pretending to listen to his ramblings but glaring at the two cats eating. Rainpaw chuckled.
“Do you think she knows what she’s doing?” Rainpaw whispered.
They both fell silent watching the pair for a bit when they witnessed Birchwhisker slyly glance back at the two toms and went back to her conversation. Sunchaser and Rainpaw started quietly laughing. “Oh, she sure does!” Sunchaser flicked his tail back and forth in amusement.
“But does Gingerblaze know what is going on?” Rainpaw asked. “That’s the real question.” Now both Gingerblaze and Birchwhisker sneaked glances back at the two toms.
“Apparently, they’re doing their best to make them jealous.” Sunchaser had to duck away to hide his amusement.
“And I think they are quite successful!” Rainpaw rolled to the side as now they were drawing the attention of other Clan members.
Gingerblaze completely knew what they were doing. He specialized in knowing what he wanted and actually accomplishing it. Helping Birchwhisker was also a plus. “Should we go past them now?” He suggested.
Birchwhisker slowly stretched and pushed herself to her feet. “I suppose. Although, Spottednose does still seem pretty oblivious.”
Gingerblaze deflated a bit. “I didn’t account for him being this dense.”
“He’s not exactly dense, just doesn’t take hints.” Birchwhisker poked him to his feet. She heard a slight commotion from the other end of the camp and saw Sunchaser and Rainpaw enjoying the scene folding out in front of them too much. She silenced Rainpaw with a look but did enjoy seeing them also getting along. Focus, she told herself. She needed to be thinking of the task on hand. “Pardon us.” Spottednose paused mid-sentence.
“You’re fine.” Stormstrike responded coldly. “Spottednose was just telling me all about staking out prey instead of chasing it, but I guess you can just interrupt.” Birchwhisker had to stop herself from purring.
“You hunted?” Gingerblaze sat down, forcing himself in the conversation.
“Before I was in the Clan, yes, for necessity.” Spottednose said somewhat haughtily.
“No, you had prey practically come to you!” Stormstrike defended his friend angrily.
“Do tell,” Gingerblaze settled in next to the medicine cat. Birchwhisker was honestly impressed by the smoothness of what she just witnessed. “I have to work hard, more like hardly work, to keep my figure the way I like.” Gingerblaze continued.
Spottednose looked a bit flustered. “Uh, well, I just used t-to, you know, just wait outside, usually known vole holes, and whenever they came up, I, you know, pounced.”
“You’ll have to try that, Stormstrike,” Birchwhisker thought everything was going pretty well. “Maybe it’ll help you catch more.” The long-haired warrior just seemed to enjoy the attention.
Doing secret things seemed most appropriate at dawn and that was the time Spottednose was shoving foxglove seeds from his last scavenging in the deep crevasse of his medicine store. These were going to be his secret. These needed to be his secret. “Spottednose!” He heard his name called from outside the bush. It sounded urgent. “Silverstem’s kits are coming!” As he ducked outside, he registered the voice of Copperleaf. Her hair was slightly raised, and her eyes were wide. For the second time, Spottednose darted across the camp, closely followed by the deputy. Now or never.
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 8:57:15 GMT -8
THE BURIAL SITE ( 013 ) LAST MOON The Clan held its breath as Silverstem’s wails continued into the night. Spottednose kept Rainpaw running back and forth for water, and Morningstar paced a path into the center of camp. Her kits finally came into the world as the stars were shining bright through the treetops.
“Why is she not moving?” A panicked tone came from the den. “Why is she not moving?!”
Morningstar leapt into action, relieved to have something new to focus on. Spottednose met her at the entrance of the cabin, holding a stillborn kit with his eyes were widen in confusion.
“You handle her; I’ll handle this.” Morningstar took the small bundle from him and motioned Birchwhisker to follow her. A couple other cats stood up, ready to follow, but she shook her head. The quiet night noises of the forest bathed in moonlight was calming. Morningstar led the warrior up a small incline and halted underneath a large pine tree. She nestled the kit by the base of the pine. “I found this area earlier and thought it would be a good burial site for the future.” She paused. “Although I didn’t know it would be this soon.”
Birchwhisker took in the scenery surrounding them. The pine overpowered the other trees around it; the smaller ones had grown sideways to reach the sunlight. Pine needles carpeted the ground in a large radius, so any flowers or bushes were farther out. “I didn’t know we had any pine trees in our territory.”
“This is the only one I know of,” Morningstar said. “Putting cats to rest below the evergreen will remind us that we are always with the Clan in spirit. Ever present.”
Birchwhisker thought this clearing was perfect for a permanent place of rest. “Should we bury the kit now?”
“Let’s wait for Silverstem to properly say goodbye. And give her a name for StarClan.” Morningstar took a minute to pluck a couple blooming flowers to lay by the kit. “I’ll host some sort of service in the morning.”
“Not to be crass, but I’m worried that something might, you know, mess with her.” Birchwhisker didn’t want there to be a gruesome sight when dawn came.
“Good point. I’ll have Rainpaw guard her tonight. This can be in place of her warrior vigil. She’s bound for a final assessment soon anyway.” The two returned to camp, sending the apprentice back in their place.
The burial service was brief with the entire Clan (except Spottednose, curled around newly named Pebblekit) in attendance. Copperleaf and Gingerblaze supported the tired queen. “May you wait for us in the stars, Bluekit.” Morningstar concluded somberly. Silverstem rested her muzzle on the leader’s shoulder for a moment before letting herself be led back to her remaining kit. Spottednose was very relieved when the queen returned.
“I am not a babysitter,” Spottednose said in a low voice when he passed Morningstar.
“I’m sure you would make a lovely queen.” Morningstar retorted. Cue eye rolling.
“Rainpaw, go to bed!” Spottednose turned and snapped. He stopped the apprentice from ducking into the nursery. “You can visit later!”
“I think you might need a nap as well, bud.” Gingerblaze suggested.
“Bud?” Spottednose mouthed to Morningstar. Her whiskers only twitched.
PRESENT
Sunchaser was lounging alongside Rainpaw. It was the day of her final warrior assessment, and she was silent with anxiety. The warrior was trying to be a reassuring presence by talking about his past escapades prior to TwistedClan. It was sort of working since Rainpaw had stopped constantly shredding grass and was now just kneading the ground uncomfortably.
“Rainpaw, are you ready?” Morningstar called. She was going to oversee her final assessment since this was the first warrior assessment of the Clan.
“Of course!” Rainpaw did not seem ready as she trembled standing up.
“Good luck!” Sunchaser whispered. “Don’t worry too much! She won’t bite.” Rainpaw gave him a look that said I’m not so sure about that right now and followed the two older cats out of camp.
Stormstrike watched his apprentice walk out of camp, just as nervous as she was.
“She’s going to make it back alive, you know.” Spottednose didn’t seem very concerned.
“You don’t know that!” Stormstrike argued.
“The worst thing that could happen if she fails and has to retake it next moon,” Gingerblaze shrugged.
“Well, the worst thing would actually be death, but that is unlikely.” Spottednose intervened. “Every worst possible outcome probably involves death in some way.”
“You are now making this worse,” Stormstrike moaned.
Birchwhisker interrupted the trio. “Hey, drama queen, can I talk to you quick?”
“Why are you looking at me?” Spottednose glared at Stormstrike. “She’s talking about you.”
“Coming.” Stormstrike followed the molly to a more secluded part of camp. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to be blunt,” Birchwhisker started. This doesn’t sound good, Stormstrike thought. “I really like you,” she continued. “I would like to spend more time with you.” She waited for a response.
“Okay,” Stormstrike was caught off guard. He thought this was going in the opposite direction and was pleased with this result.
“Okay?” She tilted her head. “What does that mean?”
“I mean that sounds great. I like you a lot as well. As mates. Like love. That.” Stormstrike had previously envisioned conversations like this in his head many times before, but in all of them, he had been a lot smoother. Birchwhisker just chuckled.
“Let’s try out being mates first.” She sounded pretty excited. That was a good sign. “Before kits or anything like that.”
Stormstrike nodded. Now he felt invincible and wanted this energy to be transferred to Rainpaw as well. This was going to be a good day.
Copperleaf dug her paws into the deep pockets in between the medicine cat bush’s roots. While she really had no knowledge of herb identification, she figured it was a safe bet that the more important ones were the ones most hidden. She wasn’t having much luck currently, and her search was cut short by the huffing of the returning medicine cat. She wiggled back out into the entrance of the bush. “Spottednose! I was looking for you.” She received a wary glance.
“What do you need?” He asked.
“I was just checking up to see how Silverstem is doing.” Copperleaf purred. “That kit sure will be a handful!”
“She’s doing well, especially with the whole Clan looking after her.” Spottednose answered. He seemed exhausted.
“Perfect. I’ll leave you be.” Copperleaf dipped her head and shimmied back out. Her nose picked up an unknown scent. New cat.
“Get out!” Silverstem spat. A strange cat wandered into the cabin, making it back into her corner. Her hair rose as she unsheathed her claws and stepped in front of Pebblekit. “Out!”
The tom backed up a couple steps. “Sorry, I just was looking for cats. But I guess I’m bothering you?” The queen stepped up to meet him and swiped at his muzzle. The cat reeled back, a line of blood appeared on his nose. This commotion brought Copperleaf and Sunchaser barreling into the cabin.
The new cat spun around to meet the two warriors. “I made a mistake! Let me out!”
“I’m afraid you’ve lost that option.” Sunchaser lashed his tail.
The tom’s eyes were wide. “I’m Rusty, and I’m lost and please don’t do anything rash!”
Now Gingerblaze and Spottednose had entered behind Copperleaf and Sunchaser. Rusty was not pleased with this development. “Okay, everybody, stand down!” Copperleaf ordered. The tom was clearly terrified out of his mind, and she was sure that even Silverstem could take him down at the moment. “Now, what are you doing here?”
“Just saw signs of other cats,” Rusty’s voice was now hoarse. “Thought I would check it out. Clearly, I am not welcome here.”
“You were close to attacking me!” Silverstem shot out.
“I only said ‘hello’,” Rusty said desperately.
“I think we all may have started a little strong,” Copperleaf stepped forward, and Rusty shrank back. “We’ll wait to see when Morningstar returns, but I doubt we’ll chase you away.”
Rusty nodded. He was just glad that he kept all his fur.
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 8:59:45 GMT -8
THE WARRIOR CEREMONY ( 014 ) LAST MOON Morningstar chuckled as Rainpaw happily barreled back into camp after her assessment. The apprentice held it together quite well through her stress, sneaking behind and catching a magpie, swam confidently upstream, and sparred successfully against the leader herself. They were both greeted enthusiastically by the Clan and one new stranger.
“Morningstar, this is Rusty.” Her deputy walked towards her, introducing the brown tom. He had a dried line of blood across his muzzle and striking green eyes.
“Welcome, Rusty,” Morningstar greeted. “I am pleased that you have found TwistedClan.”
“Believe me, the pleasure is mine.” Rusty responded. “I appreciate the vigilance that your cats here practice.” He gestured to the cut on his nose.
“Silverstem will be a valuable fighter once she is out of the nursery.” Copperleaf added.
“I don’t doubt that.” Morningstar paused. “Will you be staying with us for the future?”
“I think I might enjoy that,” Rusty grinned.
“Morningstar!” Stormstrike interrupted, coming up from behind. “How did Rainpaw do?” He got a disapproving glance from Copperleaf for butting into their conversation, but Morningstar now found his excitement contagious.
“You’ll see,” Morningstar winked. Leaving the warriors on the ground, she bounded up the old tree with the thick, low-hanging branch that extended into the clearing.
“Attention! All cats that can are able to climb a tree gather below!” Morningstar’s voice rang out across the clearing. The cats of TwistedClan gathered below her branch. “Today, we have two warriors joining our ranks. Rusty?” The new cat nodded from his spot on the ground. “You shall be called Ruststripe. And Rainpaw, would you join me up here?” The apprentice scampered up until she was nose-to-nose with Morningstar. “Rainpaw, do you promise to uphold TwistedClan’s traditions and to protect the Clan with your life?”
“I do.” Rainpaw said confidently.
“Then, I give you your warrior name, Rainsong. Remember that your voice and opinions are important and do not be afraid to speak up.” Morningstar rested her muzzle on Rainsong’s forehead while the Clan yelled her new name. “Good job, Rainsong, you deserve this.” She whispered.
“Thank you, Morningstar.” Rainsong looked up with her eyes shining. “I’ll do my best.”
Morningstar descended back to the ground. “Congrats, Stormstrike. You did well.”
“I had as much fun as she did,” Stormstrike replied.
PRESENT Raised voices awoke Ruststripe from his afternoon snooze. He stretched and stepped down into the rainy landscape. While enjoying his last moon with TwistedClan, he preferred quiet when he napped. The noise offenders were Stormstrike and Gingerblaze. Straining his ears to make out their angry words, he bumped into Morningstar.
“Pardon,” He stepped to the side when he startled the leader. “Know what they’re arguing about?”
Cue a sigh from the calico. “Whatever it is, it’ll be some small thing that they’ll forget in a moment.”
With his ears pointed forward, he caught a few of the words being spat out. “Well, Stormstrike just called Gingerblaze a ‘clumsy oaf with four left feet’, does that help?”
“I guess that would clear a few things up,” Morningstar shook her head. “Those two will be the death of me, I swear. Together they will argue until they’re blue and go back to being civil in an entire patrol.” She rolled her eyes.
Ruststripe laughed. At first, he wasn’t so sure about staying in TwistedClan, but he was starting to get used to each cat’s personality and enjoyed working together with them.
“With more cats, there’ll be more arguing, I suppose.” Morningstar narrowed her eyes.
“It’s not life without problems.” Ruststripe shrugged. “Otherwise, it’d be boring.”
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 9:01:54 GMT -8
THE HOT DAYS ( 015 ) The Greenleaf weather had everyone lounging out in the hot afternoon sun. Patrols were only sent in the early morning or late evening, so the cats didn’t just melt into a puddle.
Copperleaf liked to use this time to observe the interactions of the Clan cats and to think. She was unconventional. She excelled at thinking outside of the box, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to recently. She needed to remember to keep a low profile. Her thoughts were interrupted by Pebblekit chasing after a beetle and tumbling into a pile of fluff at her feet. She shuffled back instinctively, and the beetle also scuttled to safety. Silverstem followed close behind. “Watch where you are running.” Silverstem scolded her son.
“I’m fine!” Pebblekit protested. He pushed himself to his feet.
“Over here,” Stormstrike had cornered the beetle by the prey pile. Pebblekit ran off to chase after it.
Silverstem sighed. “I can’t believe how much energy he has.”
“My mother always said as you get older, your worries slow you down.” Sunchaser offered. Silverstem did not look amused.
“That’s why I try not to worry about too much. You never know when you need to run away,” Sunchaser shrugged. “Works for me.”
“You don’t look like you’re in such a hurry now,” Morningstar retorted from her position of lying belly up under the shade.
Spottednose and Galapaw reentered the camp, immediately flopping down underneath the closest tree. Spottednose was slightly panting and both of them sprawled out across the cool dirt.
“See? Spottednose must be very worried.” Sunchaser received a glare for his statement. Birchwhisker was kind enough to grab a clump of damp moss that the medicine cats could lap the moisture from.
“You could’ve waited until it cooled down,” Copperleaf lightly suggested.
“We need to make sure the herbs have enough water through this heat.” Galapaw said, rolling to cool off her other side.
“Still, you have to be careful to not over-extort yourself.” Morningstar chastised.
“I know how to diagnose myself,” Spottednose finally found enough strength to speak. “And right now, I am only dying a little bit.”
Dying, huh? Copperleaf thought. That could make things a bit easier. But, not yet.
Birchwhisker and Stormstrike eventually strayed to the edge of the group of cats. Stormstrike was still watching Pebblekit who was now tumbling around with a leaf in-between his paws.
Birchwhisker followed his gaze and chuckled. “That little one sure will keep Silverstem busy.” Stormstrike agreed. “Would you like to have some?”
Stormstrike whipped his head back around to his mate. “Now?” He was caught by surprise.
“I was planning on waiting a bit but seeing Pebblekit run around camp the last couple moons just made me want something more.” Birchwhisker said.
“Well, I wouldn’t mind one bit.” Stormstrike smiled. Birchwhisker nuzzled his shoulder. “I wouldn’t mind at all.”
Morningstar and Ruststripe jumped from tree to tree, staying underneath the cooling shade of the leaves. “Tina and Queenie were always the best at catching rabbits,” Ruststripe recounting from his younger days. “I would get left behind and just hope that they came back with some food.”
“I’m glad we don’t have a lot to chase any rabbits here.” Morningstar chuckled.
“Me too, I’m built for talking, not sprinting.” Ruststripe said. He tripped walking on the narrower part of the branch and tumbled to the forest floor.
“And apparently not walking either,” Morningstar called down to her fallen friend. As he rolled to his feet, a black and white ball of fluff raced out from the bushes he had landed on. Ruststripe squawked and scampered backwards. Morningstar slithered down beside him, and as the cat peered at the two warriors.
“Hello?” Morningstar stepped towards the cat. Now that she got a better look, she could tell the new molly was young.
“You almost squashed me!” She squeaked.
“Right, sorry.” Ruststripe shook leaves and dirt from his fur.
“Hmph.” She licked her chest fur indignantly.
Morningstar was surprised at her loud personality. She had gotten too used to Rainsong’s quiet demeanor. “Are you alone?”
“So what if I am?” The cat puffed out her chest.
“To apologize, you could come back to our camp and share some prey. Maybe stay a few nights?” Morningstar asked.
“I suppose I could,” The cat stood up. “I’m Lotus Blossom.”
“Why do I feel a bit intimidated?” Ruststripe whispered in Morningstar’s ear.
“You did just fall out of a tree.” Morningstar pointed out.
“Shut up.”
Spottednose caught Morningstar just as she was turning in for the night. “Can I have a word?” He jerked his head towards a quieter corner of camp.
“Is it about my appointing Copperleaf as Blossompaw’s mentor?” Morningstar’s voice was short. She was beginning to get tired of the constant heat of Greenleaf.
“I am just a bit concerned –“ Spottednose started.
“I’m sorry, I missed the part where you became leader.” Morningstar growled.
The medicine cat was taken aback. “You know that’s not what I mean to do, it’s just-“
He was cut off once again. “This is the last we will talk about this. Good night, Spottednose.” Morningstar entered her tree trunk den. Spottednose returned to his own den across camp, curled up, and tried to fall asleep. After the moon was high in the sky, he eventually did.
The sound of the newly thawed rushing creek just thundered on. And on.
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 9:05:58 GMT -8
THE FLOODED CREEK ( 016 ) LAST MOON Stormstrike was sharply prodded awake. “Get off me!” He groaned and rolled back over.
“You’ll want to hear this now!” He heard his mate’s breath tickle his ear and sighed. Birchwhisker practically dragged him to his feet. “Come on! It’s still nice and cool this morning.” Stormstrike followed her outside of the cabin. It was relatively cool in the nice Greenleaf morning.
Stormstrike turned his head up towards the cloudy sky. “It feels like a perfect day.”
“It might as well be,” Birchwhisker purred. “I checked with Spottednose today, and I’m expecting kits!”
“Ours?!” Stormstrike exclaimed.
“I sure hope so,” Birchwhisker laughed and nuzzled his shoulder.
“I’m going to be a father?” Stormstrike smiled.
“No, you’re going to be the greatest father.” Birchwhisker and Stormstrike stayed leaned against each other. Neither one of them wanted to move and break the moment. They sat in a very content silence.
Copperleaf pressed down Blossompaw’s haunches. “Stay low.” She scolded. “Your tail’s waving in the breeze.”
Blossompaw sniffed. “Fine, I’ll try it your way.”
Copperleaf rolled her eyes. “My way is the only way that matters.” She had no idea how Stormstrike put up with this. Rainsong definitely wasn’t this hot-headed. At first, she was enthralled by training her own apprentice, teaching the right way to function, but it would be easier if Blossompaw would just listen and not question everything. Now that Blossompaw was actually in a hunting position, she was moving much more gracefully across the ground. “Finally.” She muttered under her breath.
“Get down,” Copperleaf hissed. Blossompaw flattened her ears in annoyance but obeyed. She had just spent the entire afternoon learning to hunt with her mentor, and she was ready to not have to listen to her anymore. Now, the two were doing the tedious task of patrolling the borders.
“What is it this time?” Blossompaw thought she had said that too quiet for Copperleaf to hear, but she still received a paw thump to the head.
“Cat ahead.” Copperleaf glared. “You stay here.” She started forward but paused. “And if you don’t, you will not leave camp for an entire moon.”
Blossompaw huffed but didn’t move. From afar, she spotted the orange cat Copperleaf pointed out. It was a big larger than she was and alone. What she couldn’t tell from her spot was literally everything else. The apprentice used her newly refined crouch to shimmy towards the two cats. She froze when Copperleaf glanced back. The deputy gestured her forward with her tail.
“This is Blossompaw, my apprentice.” Copperleaf introduced. Blossompaw waved her tail in greeting.
“Galapaw of LambClan.” The new molly stopped and corrected herself. “Formerly of LambClan.”
“’Formally’? What’s that supposed to mean?” Blossompaw cocked her head to the side. She ducked a swipe from Copperleaf.
“I was the medicine cat apprentice of LambClan, but the Clan disbanded, and I got separated from my littermates, and…” She trailed off. “I’m glad I came across another Clan.”
“You said that weird.” Blossompaw said.
“I saw another small band of cats on the way here, but they seemed… a little different.” Galapaw shrugged. “This seems more like my old home.”
Copperleaf narrowed her eyes. “Interesting.” She gathered herself up. “Let’s get back to camp for now.” Blossompaw fell into step behind her, and Galapaw trailed slightly behind the two of them still a bit unsure. Blossompaw’s mind had drifted off a bit, but she slammed back into reality by slamming into Copperleaf’s still back. “Careful.” Copperleaf steadied her. “Do you smell that?”
Blossompaw and Galapaw extended their necks to the sky and scented the air. “Musky.” Blossompaw wrinkled her nose.
Galapaw’s eyes grew wider. “Dog.”
PRESENT
Sunchaser lounged next to Stormstrike, Ruststripe, and Gingerblaze. “I’ve only seen a dog once, and I never would want to see one again.” Gingerblaze exclaimed. “I say just not to bother with them.”
“I would rather bother a few dogs away from camp then have them bother us here!” Stormstrike rebutted.
“Shouldn’t we wait just a little more? Fighting a fight that is unnecessary doesn’t seem like the best solution.” Ruststripe offered. Morningstar joined the group of toms.
“Hm,” Morningstar sat next to Ruststripe. Sunchaser saw that he looked pleased with her chosen spot. “Debating the dog situation, I see.”
“I would rather claw a few noses in their own territory.” Stormstrike narrowed his eyes at Gingerblaze. “And at least we would be proactive.”
“While I understand that, perhaps not jumping out claws first would be the best course of action.” Ruststripe shrugged.
Morningstar pondered this. “I am leaning more towards investigating a bit more first, at least for a moon.” Seeing Stormstrike lash his tail, her whiskers twitched. “Don’t worry, you can be the first to strike when the time comes.” Sunchaser liked to stay mostly silent in these conversations about bigger decisions. He wasn’t the type to worry about every detail; he liked to see where the day took him. However, Morningstar wasn’t satisfied at his level of participation. “Sunchaser, what do you think?”
He shrugged. “I’m not afraid to get my paws dirty, but they haven’t done anything yet…“ He trailed off as Rainsong and Pebblekit came into view. She and Birchwhisker had been taking turns entertaining the kit when Silverstem wanted a break or a stroll through the woods. Must be Rainsong’s time to babysit, he thought. He snapped back to the present conversation with everyone else’s eyes on him. “Uh, sorry, just I was thinking…”
“She’s very pretty, isn’t she?” Morningstar quietly interrupted. She had seemingly followed his gaze towards the young warrior. The rest of the cats chuckled. Sunchaser wanted to actually start to chase the sun to get away from this embarrassment.
Eventually, Ruststripe decided to save him. “I’m sure Sunchaser thinks everyone here is pretty.”
Yep, Sunchaser wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there, forever.
Morningstar was at the head of the hunting patrol, the afternoon sun pounding down on their backs. The patrol was currently by the creek running through their territory, and it was starting to flood over its banks making the surrounding area muddy. Rainsong lifted up her paws gingerly, slightly disgusted by her white paws turning a darker brown with each step.
“Just letting you know, I have no clue how to fish.” Ruststripe offered from the back of the line.
“We’re not fishing,” Morningstar answered. “But the only time the prey is out of their hiding holes is to get a drink. We’re just waiting for them to leave their cool spaces into our bellies.”
The hunting patrol split into two groups underneath two separate bushes. Ruststripe and Morningstar were crouched under a group of young fir trees, and Stormstrike and Rainsong were a few lengths away underneath a lavender bush. Even though the patrol was silent, there was no prey in sight. Ruststripe eventually groaned and stretched his forelegs, accidently shaking the thin steps of the firs. The sudden noise caused two scrawny mice approaching to run towards the shore line panicked. Morningstar startled, instinctively leaping forward towards the mice but pulled herself back as she had gotten a late start. Stormstrike, however, ran forward from the lavender bush into the marshy mud of the creek. As he got closer to the swells of water, Morningstar ran to him following the shore.
“Stormstrike, come back!” Morningstar called. Ruststripe and Rainsong were further behind, watching.
“Almost got them!” Stormstrike yelled back. His next stride sent him sinking into the wet earth. He struggled, causing him to slip into the creek. Morningstar saw his head duck below the surface of the water, and Rainsong cry in alarm. She knew Stormstrike was a confident swimmer, but his heavy fur and fast current wasn’t allowing him to resurface.
“Stay back!” She spat over her shoulder and leaped in after him, her first friend. Morningstar paddled with the current, trying to catch up to Stormstrike. His head popped up for a brief second, allowing him one small breath. Morningstar saw fear in his eyes for the first time. Now Morningstar was underneath the surface, her eyes cloudy trying to see where her friend was floundering. She hit the bottom of the creek bed, causing her to sharply inhale a gulp of water. The current kept her under. Her vision was now tinged with black and her lungs stung. Pushing once more towards the surface, she snagged a branch and fully went unconscious.
"Get up, Morningstar." Rainstar’s voice called to her.
Morningstar found herself once more standing in the forest of StarClan. Her outline was a hair more vivid now. “I have to go back for Stormstrike, I don’t have time for this!” She hissed.
The old leader nodded. “Understood.”
Morningstar awoke, still held underwater. With her lungs cleared of water this time, she maneuvered her back paw out from the branches grip and was allowed to breach the surface. Her paw still throbbed from being twisted in the branches. The force of the water was lessening as they got closer to the split in the creek.
“There she is!” Ruststripe’s voice came from her left. She rolled her eyes towards the bank and saw Ruststripe and Rainsong running to keep pace with her.
“Morningstar!” Rainsong shouted. “Catch that branch!”
The leader reached out and let the creek carry her to the branch, hanging low across the water. The running water had made the bark softer, so her claws easily sunk into it. Morningstar tried to heave herself up onto the branch but found she was utterly exhausted. Ruststripe quickly met her at the branch and hauled her to safety. Her back paw was twisted, not supporting her whole weight, requiring her to lean heavily on Ruststripe.
“Stormstrike?” She asked hoarsely.
Ruststripe shook his head. “No sight of him yet.” Morningstar moaned. She hadn’t even shaken any water off her coat yet, so she looked very small and pathetic shivering on the branch. “But Rainsong is looking ahead. He was in front of you.” Ruststripe spoke in quiet and optimistic tones. He half-led, half-dragged Morningstar off the dipped branch onto land.
Rainsong reappeared, her legs wet. “I found him.” She said softly.
“Did he make it?” Morningstar rasped. Rainsong shook her head sadly. “Show me.” Rainsong had drug him back onto the dry shore, creating water streams surrounding his soaked body.
“What should we do?” Rainsong whispered.
“We’ll take him back with us.” Morningstar nosed Stormstrike, grabbing a mouthful of scruff.
“I got him,” Ruststripe nudged her away gently. “Rainsong, help Morningstar.” The leader shot a glare his direction but didn’t argue. With Rainsong’s help, they made it back to the camp’s entrance.
“How are we going to tell Birchwhisker?”
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 12:01:27 GMT -8
THE LOSS OF A WARRIOR ( 017 )
LAST MOON Morningstar led the way into the middle of camp. It felt wrong. It felt empty. Her friend, her first ever friend, was now gone forever. Her other Clanmates started to filter out from of their dens. Ruststripe gently laid Stormstrike’s wet, limp body onto the short grass. Morningstar stared at it, letting her eyes drift in and out of focus. It wasn’t silent, not completely. There were still the birds and insects singing like usual. They certainly didn’t seem to know that today wasn’t a usual day. Morningstar sneered at the forest sounds, how dare they disrupt the somber silence that filled TwistedClan so? Where they more important than the Clan, the natural predators of this forest? Her paw still throbbed, but that was now only a distant ache, the overwhelming absence and presence of noise were the only thought running through her mind. She half-stumbled, half-fell forward and laid next to her friend, pressing her nose against his damp fur. She could not bear to face anyone else, especially Birchwhisker. Morningstar only wanted TwistedClan to just consist of her and Stormstrike again. Both of them getting used to each other’s company, running through the forest, only thinking about the future ahead. She shut her eyes tightly. What she would give to just tell him how much she appreciated his unwavering support, his good-natured humor, his charismatic charm that Morningstar wished she had.
“What happened?” Morningstar’s head shot up, snapped back into reality. It wasn’t Birchwhisker like she had dreaded; it was Spottednose. The medicine cat stepped closer, neck craning to see if their old friend was breathing. He approached the body after he didn’t receive an answer. “Stormstrike?” Morningstar shook her head numbly. Spottednose deflated. She had forgotten that Spottednose had also joined the duo early on in the start of TwistedClan. Even with Spottednose’s somewhat jaded personality, the two became close friends.
Ruststripe surprised her by laying down next to her, pressing against her shivering body. “I think she’s going into shock.” He said quietly. Spottednose only nodded, retreating into his medicine store to grab calming herbs. Morningstar scanned the faces around camp. Sunchaser was softly comforting Rainsong to the side, and Copperleaf was to the side reassuring the apprentices. Then she spotted Birchwhisker. She was standing beside Silverstem, stock still, not even her tail twitching in the breeze. Against Ruststripe’s objections, Morningstar threw herself to her feet and limped across to the widowed queen.
“I’m so sorry,” Morningstar muttered. “I would have it any other way.”
“Life is never kind,” Birchwhisker closed her eyes. “I wish it was, but it isn’t.”
Copperleaf took control of camp for the next few days. Morningstar took Stormstrike’s death really hard, and she wasn’t fit enough to do much more than eat a few bites of prey. Copperleaf enjoyed flexing her new limits of power, sending out prompt patrols and overseeing the daily activities of the Clan. The unknown threat of the dog scents was still at the front of their minds, so Copperleaf made an executive decision to send a small patrol to scope out the area. She figured Gingerblaze and Sunchaser would be able to gather some information quickly, and let Morningstar further assess the situation afterwards. After checking once more that all of the daily patrols were sent out, Copperleaf turned to her apprentice, Blossompaw who was currently play fighting with Galapaw.
“Blossompaw, time for a training session!” Copperleaf called. Blossompaw’s head shot up.
“See you later!” Blossompaw ran to Copperleaf. Spottednose stepped outside of the medicine store and caught Copperleaf’s eye. Copperleaf met his gaze and tilted her head. After a few moments, he turned back to Galapaw. “What are we learning today?” Blossompaw was trotting a few steps ahead with her tail waving in the air.
“Climbing,” Copperleaf responded.
Blossompaw huffed. “Why do I need to learn how to climb trees?” She whined.
“Well, since most of the prey we catch are in the trees, I feel climbing to be essential.” Copperleaf explained leading her to the training grounds. “But I guess if you want to go hungry, you can stay on the ground.” Blossompaw lashed her tail but did not argue further. Copperleaf unsheathed her claws, sinking them into the soft bark of one of the Training Trees. “The first step is making sure your claws are sharp enough to safely grab onto the trees, obviously.” Copperleaf got a chuckle out of that. “The next step is to climb. It’s not terribly hard with practice, just one paw at a time.” Copperleaf demonstrated and paused on the lowest branch. Blossompaw clawed her way onto the branch, shaking like a leaf.
“Was th-this g-good enough?” Her voice cracked. Copperleaf sighed. This was a lot more work than she had originally anticipated. Needless to say, training a cat scared of heights to climb trees would take longer than one moon.
Gingerblaze was very annoyed that he had to drag himself all the way out to the far border to check out the dog situation. He didn’t understand all of the concern surrounding the dogs if they weren’t close to camp in the first place. At least Sunchaser was content of staying mostly quiet while they traipsed through the trees.
As they got closer to their destination, Sunchaser became more antsy. “I doubt we’ll even find any dogs,” Gingerblaze tried to reassure the younger warrior. “This is just a formality.”
Sunchaser looked back at him. “If you’re sure, I guess.”
“What could possibly go wrong?” Gingerblaze shrugged. “We see something and run away?”
“Of course.”
Rainsong was becoming a bit concerned when Gingerblaze and Sunchaser hadn’t returned by dusk. She kept checking the camp entrance after every rustle, hoping the small patrol would enter. A few small pebbles rocketed off her flank.
“Hey!” Pebblekit shouted. “You’re supposed to be teaching me fighting moves!”
“Pebblekit, don’t throw rocks!” Silverstem called from the shade of the cabin.
Rainsong shook her head. They were both warriors; they should be fine. “Alright,” She started. “Start from a crouch.” She flattened herself to the ground. Pebblekit threw himself to the dirt with his hind end still sticking up in the air. Rainsong pushed his rear down. “Your entire body has to be in the crouch.”
Pebblekit started stalking her, still staying low (at least the best he could) and pounced on her tail. Rainsong toppled over, writhing in fake pain.
“Hey, oh my!” At first, Rainsong thought the queen’s shout was based on their play-fighting, but as more shouts arose, she twisted around towards the commotion. It seemed the patrol had finally returned, but usually all members of the patrol would be walking, not dragged.
“What’s that? Who’s that?” Pebblekit started to run to the group now forming, but Rainsong held him back.
“Stay with me, Pebblekit.” Silverstem rushed to them and further blocked her kit.
“I’m old enough!” He protested. “Let me see!”
“Go,” Silverstem saw Rainsong’s worry. “We’ll be back in the cabin.”
Rainsong hesitantly padded towards the cluster of cats. She felt a wave of relief and then guilt when she saw Sunchaser was the one standing, but Gingerblaze was matted with blood.
“The dogs,” Sunchaser panted. His eyes were wide, and he wasn’t breathing correctly. “There were many of them. We almost got away, but one of them snagged his tail and-“
Spottednose rested his paw on Gingerblaze’s muzzle. “Dead.” He muttered.
“His screams-“ Sunchaser shook. Spottednose shushed him, and he and Ruststripe dragged him away from the clearing.
“We’re cursed!” Blossompaw let out a strangled yelp.
“Cursed?” Galapaw scoffed.
“First Stormstrike, now Gingerblaze!” Blossompaw continued.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Rainsong jutted in.
Copperleaf half-heartedly cuffed her apprentice’s ear. “Cut it out.”
“Be. Quiet.” Morningstar spoke in a gruff voice. “No one is cursed.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the Clan.
A chain of horrible events did just happen, Rainsong pondered. Are we really cursed?
PRESENT Galapaw was looking forward to her first session of warrior training with Blossompaw and Copperleaf. While Spottednose originally wanted her to accompany him to collect herbs, Copperleaf argued that learning how to fight is important for any apprentice, even medicine cats. Since Galapaw was very excited, Spottednose eventually relented.
“Does someone know which areas you should always keep protected?” Copperleaf asked as they got to the training grounds.
“Head?” Galapaw guessed.
“Yes,” Copperleaf nodded. Galapaw puffed out her chest as Blossompaw looked a little annoyed the medicine cat apprentice got the first answer correct. “The head is obviously the most important body part to keep safe, along with the neck.”
“What about the belly and tail?” Blossompaw butted in, not ready to be outdone.
“The belly is also very important as it is a very vulnerable and sensitive place to get clawed.” Copperleaf continued. “The tail was not the answer I was specifically searching for, however.”
“Have you ever gotten your tail clawed?” Blossompaw said haughtily. “It hurts!”
“But it’s not a priority.” Copperleaf sighed. “Now face each other, and I will coach you through a few fighting moves.”
Ruststripe knocked his paw on Morningstar’s tree truck den. “Morningstar?” He called softly. Her head poked up. Her eyes were filled with a bit more life now than the past moon, but her coat was still dull, and she still had a strong limp. “Would you be available to talk to a few of us?”
“Yes.” She replied hoarsely. She ungracefully leapt out of her den and started walking with Ruststripe. They were joined by Spottednose, Birchwhisker, and Sunchaser. “What is this?”
“I’m being honest, cats are actually becoming a bit scared about there is some sort of curse affecting the Clan.” Ruststripe started.
Morningstar looked to Spottednose. “Well?” She sounded defeated.
“I do not have any indication of a curse.” Spottednose also sounded tired.
“There you go.” Morningstar sighed.
“Still, some cats are still uneasy.” Birchwhisker said. “Silverstem starting to fret.”
“She’s only worried for Pebblekit.” Morningstar said.
“Blossompaw is still very adamant. She is starting to make Galapaw question it as well.” Spottednose rolled his eyes. “The young cats might panic. Even Rainsong is uneasy.”
Sunchaser shuffled his paws. “I’m trying to reason with her, but she took Stormstrike’s death really hard.” He looked at the ground, unsure of what to say next.
“Pebblekit will become an apprentice next moon. That will raise the spirits.” Morningstar said. “It’s been hard, but we will go into leaf-fall on a good note.”
“I really hope so.” Birchwhisker said quietly. “It may not be a curse, but you cannot deny TwistedClan has had an unlucky streak lately.”
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” Morningstar dismissed the meeting. “I’m sure this will pass.” She rose and started to slowly walk back in the direction of her den. Ruststripe quickly caught up to her.
“Hey, do you mind having a bite to eat with me?” Ruststripe asked.
“I’m not very hungry.” Morningstar shrugged.
“I doubt that.” Ruststripe insisted. “I haven’t seen you eat a proper meal in days.”
“Well, I wonder why.” Morningstar snapped.
“I’m just trying to help.” Ruststripe got defensive. “I am on your side.”
“I-I’m sorry.” Morningstar deflated. “I’m not used to someone trying to look after me.”
“It’s fine. You just have to stay strong for the Clan. No one will be worried if you aren’t.” Ruststripe said.
“Thank you, Ruststripe.” Morningstar leaned on his shoulder. “I really appreciate your support.”
Rainsong perked up when Sunchaser re-entered the cabin. “Hey, where did you go?” She asked.
Sunchaser avoided her gaze. “Just out in the forest for a little bit.” He sat beside her. “How are you feeling?”
“Should I be worried about you?” Rainsong asked instead.
“No, of course not.” Sunchaser shook his head. “I really am fine. And the Clan is fine too.”
Rainsong tilted her head. “The Clan is fine?” She echoed, a bit confused.
“Yes, just-“ Sunchaser shrugged, “I don’t know, everything is now fine.”
Rainsong narrowed her eyes. “I think I know what you are hinting at. I am allowed to feel however I want.”
“I’m just saying-“ Sunchaser started. Rainsong got to her feet and pushed past him, leaving Sunchaser alone in the cabin.
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Post by spasticjazzhands on Sept 30, 2019 12:07:21 GMT -8
THE RISING TENSIONS ( 018 ) The camp was quiet in the crisp mid-morning leaf-fall air. Pebblekit was running circles around Silverstem who was trying to groom down tufts of his fur. Birchwhisker sat with Rainsong nearby, an unreadable expression on her face. Sunchaser stood beside Ruststripe, not paying attention to what the other warrior was saying but looking back at the group of mollies. Blossompaw and Galapaw were getting reprimanded by Copperleaf after they had a practice scuffle, kicking up dust and leaves around the fresh-kill pile. Spottednose approached Morningstar, crouched at the base of the old tree.
“Have you had any dreams about StarClan?” Morningstar asked.
“Not of StarClan,” Spottednose looked down.
“Any dreams then?” Morningstar narrowed her eyes. “I do not like being kept in the dark.”
“Let me get there,” Spottednose snapped back. “StarClan has been silent, and my dreams have been dark. But I do feel cold and uneasy, even in my dreamless sleep.”
“Have Galapaw patch up the drafts next to your nest then.” Morningstar grumbled. “I can’t lead based on wind.”
“You asked.” Spottednose whipped his tail. “And you’re not the only one still grieving Stormstrike and Gingerblaze, just so you know.” He turned on his heel and walked to his own apprentice. Galapaw was a bit deflated from the lecture from Copperleaf, but she perked up as Blossompaw made faces at her from across the clearing.
Morningstar sat up, ruffled from her argument with Spottednose. She had been in a slump for the last couple moons, but she felt entitled to her own mourning process. Looking around camp now, however, she noticed for the first time that the small Clan was starting to divide into uneasy cliques. She had been pondering who Pebblekit’s mentor should be as his apprentice ceremony was next moon. She had originally been thinking about taking him on herself, but her injured paw had put a damper on that plan. Birchwhisker was her second choice, but she was out of commission with her kitting coming up. She trusted Ruststripe and knew he would do a wonderful job, but he was still the newest warrior to the Clan and wanted her choice to seem fair. Copperleaf had her hands full with Blossompaw, and Rainsong was still very young and slightly inexperienced. Morningstar sighed and glanced at her Clanmates once more. Her gaze landed on Sunchaser. The small tom was easygoing and sure in his ways, easy for her to overlook the first time. She smiled for the first time in a while. Now that she really thought about it, Sunchaser seemed like a wonderful choice. She caught his eye and beckoned him over.
“I’ve been thinking about Pebblekit’s upcoming ceremony.” She started.
Sunchaser chuckled. “I think it’s on his mind as well.” He watched the kit still running his mother in circles.
“What would you say to mentoring him?” Morningstar watched his face to gauge his reaction.
Sunchaser’s face lit up. “Yeah! I mean, I would. I would be delighted to!” Sunchaser grinned. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“I’m sure you will do well.” Morningstar replied. “I promise next moon, you will get to mentor him.” Sunchaser waved his tail happily. He trotted towards Rainsong who turned away. Morningstar sighed. It looked like those two were still having issues about the worries of the Clan.
“That’s a big sigh for a nice day.” A voice appeared next to her and startled the leader. It was Ruststripe.
“It’s been a long day.” Morningstar shrugged. “I seem to be making everything worse.” Her expression soured.
“That’s not true at all. You are not responsible for events out of your control.” Ruststripe reasoned. “Stop being so hard on yourself; it’s been a good day.”
Morningstar met his eyes. “Why are you so nice to me?”
Ruststripe shook his head, embarrassed. “Aren’t friends supposed to be supportive?”
“I yelled at Spottednose for answering my question earlier. I don’t know how friends are supposed to act anymore.” Morningstar looked at the ground. “I think it would be better if you would give me some space.”
“I would argue against, but if that’s what you wish I will leave you alone.” Ruststripe said.
“It’s not what I wish, but it is what would be best.” Morningstar rose to her feet. “I’m sorry, Ruststripe. Perhaps in a better time, we could have worked out.” Ruststripe opened his mouth to protest, but he was too late. The leader was already moving quickly away, alone even surrounded by others. Ruststripe did not follow her however much he wanted to. He would try again; maybe the next day, maybe the next moon, maybe even after many seasons. But he could wait.
Rainsong felt honored, was that the right word?, to be chosen for the border patrol as it wasn’t just a normal border patrol. As Copperleaf put it, it was vengeance for Gingerblaze. While she wasn’t chosen for the main patrol, she still felt adrenaline pumping through her veins. She was on the South-East patrol and while the dogs were originally scented in the northern regions, they were left unchecked for a moon. Heading the South-East patrol was Morningstar, and the timid Silverstem was also tagging along. “Are you ready?” Morningstar was sitting with her head held high for the first time in a while. She was neatly groomed and had a new glint in her eyes. “We should leave before high-sun to return before dark.”
“Stay put with Birchwhisker and Spottednose!” Silverstem repeated once more to Pebblekit who rolled his eyes. “Promise!”
“I promise,” Pebblekit kicked some stones grumpily.
“Ready, Morningstar.” Rainsong said, and Silverstem nodded.
“Copperleaf?” Morningstar called to the deputy. “Let’s go.” Copperleaf nodded and led her bigger patrol out of camp. Their patrol was Dog Patrol, going along the North-West borders where the dogs were spotted last. TwistedClan’s hope was that the dogs had moved on for the winter, but the dogs did already acquire a taste of cat blood. Morningstar beckoned the smaller patrol to her, and the three mollies started their trek across their territory.
“How’s your leg holding up?” Silverstem’s voice slightly trembled as she spoke.
“It doesn’t hurt much anymore,” Morningstar didn’t slow down while responding. “I’m just a tad slower than usual.”
Rainsong thought she could detect distain in her voice; Morningstar would rather be leading the Dog Patrol but wasn’t as agile as she used to be. They traipsed through the forest in silence for a while, assessing every little snap and rustle. After most of the south border was finished being patrolled uneventfully, the patrol was starting to relax a bit. Then they saw a small patrol of cats in the distance by the East border. Rainsong was supposed to be on guard for dogs, not other cats! Morningstar bristled beside her. The new group of cats were walking through the distant trees.
"I'm assuming this is DewClan?" Morningstar narrowed her eyes. "Well, I guess this is better than stumbling across the dogs from our Eastern border." Rainsong did remember that Galapaw and Spottednose had caught a scent of a new clan along their east border, but she didn't think about actually meeting the cats.
"I would much rather prefer friends than fighting who knows what." Silverstem smiled. Since this was her first outing as a warrior and not looking after her kit, she was completely at-ease with this new situation.
"I wasn't expecting to be on a diplomatic mission while Copperleaf is off chasing those dogs off." Morningstar grumbled. "Let's continue on." She pushed Silverstem in front of her.
Rainsong paused. Talking to them can't hurt, she thought. "I'm going to double back!" She called. "Just make sure everything is clear."
Morningstar looked back. "If there's a problem, run. Don't fight alone."
"Right." Rainsong nodded. As the rest of her patrol carried on, she weaved her way towards the cats she spotted earlier. A black and white tom had wandered back. She peeked around a tree. He seemed friendly enough, alert ears, relaxed attitude. "Hello?" She called. The tom slightly startled. "Sorry!" Rainsong looked at the ground. "I didn't mean to startle you!"
“Hello, it’s okay!” He assured, smiling. “Are you a TwistedClan cat? What’s your name?” He asked curiously. “I’m Patchedmask, a DewClan warrior.” He said with pride. “Although, I wasn’t born in DewClan,” He added. “What about you?” He meowed, speaking quickly. “Sorry, it’s exciting meeting a new Clan cat! I never met someone from another Clan before.” He admitted.
Rainsong remained slightly wary, but Patchedmask was very friendly so far. "I'm Rainsong of TwistedClan. I found them when I was just an apprentice." Rainsong checked once more that she had lost her patrol for sure. "This is the first we've really seen another group of cats around here. We usually keep to ourselves." Rainsong shrugged. "It is nice meeting other cats." She ended shyly. Patchedmask had an older charm to him, regal and more put together than Sunchaser ever acted. And his mismatched eyes really pulled her attention to him. "Am I keeping you from anything?" Rainsong didn't want to get him in trouble, but she didn't exactly want him to leave either.
“Not much besides my patrol.” He glanced to his sides for signs of his patrol returning. “DewClan haven’t spoken to any other Clan, at least that I know of. It’s nice to have a friend – I mean, someone to talk to. I’m pretty extroverted myself, but not many of my Clanmates seem to take much notice to me. I guess I chat too much?” He said with a shrug. “It was really nice meeting you. Maybe we could meet again?” He asked nervously.
Rainsong considered this. An outside of Clan relationship was frowned upon, but if they were just friends, what would be the harm? She did feel validated. "I think I would enjoy that. And I don't think you talk too much at all." She met his different colored eyes, and they both smiled. "Right now, things are pretty tense in TwistedClan. It's nice to get away from everything once in a while." She tilted her head. Was it her imagination or were there footsteps faintly approaching? "Where should we meet again, Patchedmask? Around here at the border?" Her voice lowered a bit, but no one appeared through the trees yet.
“Yes, we can meet here,” Patchedmask said rushed. “Goodbye!” As he ran off to meet up with his earlier patrol, Rainsong smiled to herself. She ducked in the underbrush wanting to avoid any attention from the rest of his patrol. As their voices faded away, Rainsong quietly stood and followed Morningstar and Silverstem's scent. She ran into them coming back her way.
"Why are you out of breath?" Morningstar questioned.
"Just wanting to catch up," Rainsong panted. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Marked the shared border extra."
Morningstar evaluated the young warrior. "Okay," she said after a moment. "Let's head back to camp and see what the other patrol found." Rainsong let out a breath of relief. She was in the clear. For now.
Copperleaf was leading with Ruststripe, Sunchaser, Blossompaw, and Galapaw following close behind. Her patrol was Dog Patrol. Her claws were sharpened and ready for a fight. Ruststripe and Sunchaser were close behind, alert for any signs of unusual movement and sounds. Blossompaw already had her fur puffed up with wide eyes scanning the forest. Galapaw was at the back carrying a bundle of herbs just in case.
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