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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:21:32 GMT -8
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:23:23 GMT -8
Swan awakes with a start, clambering up with wide eyes and perked ears. Slowly she crawls out from the little den she hastily put together last night, and eyes the area.
The day before, the tabby had finally found the little island in the lake that she had been seeing in her dreams for the last moon. She had left her family to come find this, left her home to find an unknown lake that she had been having visions of. Her family didn't understand her need to find this place, but they hadn't exactly stopped her from leaving, either.
Now here she is, coming out of a little den she made for herself on the island from her visions, practically vibrating with glee. She excitedly bounds towards the shore of the island, splashing in the shallows. She then pauses, before then circling the island. It takes a while to do, just a bit over an hour, but it's more than worth it. Once done with that, Swan heads back to where she had set up camp for the night, and sets to cleaning it up.
The den is just something simple, just a bush she had found with a lot of room underneath it where she could crawl inside and sleep. So, for this first day she sets to making it look a bit better.
She digs under a few other bushes, taking breaths every so often to pick out little splinters in her paws and swim in the shallows to wash off the dirt and spiderwebs that get stuck to her pelt.
That night, in her dreams, she's greeted by the faces of cats she's gotten very familiar with over the past moon. The old Leaders congratulate her on finding her home, and start suggesting she go by Swanstar instead of just Swan. She's a bit uncomfortable with it, and politely declines the 9 lives for now. After all, she'd like to have others for her Clan first, and know that they're comfortable with her being their Leader.
However, before she wakes up, she makes a request. She asks them to aide her in finding a Medicine Cat, since she's definitely going to need one if she does make a Clan here.
The next day she swims back to the mainland, stalking along where she believes boundaries could be placed, while also attempting to hunt. She hopes she finds some other cats around the area, and hopes against everything that if she does, that they end up being friendly.
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:39:46 GMT -8
Splash!
Swanstar grumbles a little and rolls over, ignoring the sound of something in the water. After a minute or two, she suddenly scrambles out of her little den, ears perked up as she looks over to the shore. She makes her way over, cautious with her steps as she approaches the water.
There, in the shallowest part of the water near where Swanstar had decided to set up camp for a Clan, was a thin tabby with a short tail. It looked like it might've been cut in half, and the thought of this stranger being a mean rogue scared her almost enough to not speak up.
However, this is her home, and so she shoved that fear aside and strides out from the bushes, head held high as she stares the stranger down. "You there! Why are you here!" she demands, and mentally congratulating herself on not physically reacting when they suddenly snap their head over to stare her down. She focuses on their light green eyes, absently noting how wild one side of their whiskers looked.
"Oh, you're already here." The stranger absolutely does nothing to answer her question, and instead begins walking towards her. Swanstar forces herself not to take a step back, and instead growls low. He pauses, before then sitting down in the dirt of the shore. "Sorry, I'm just. So glad to know you're already here. I've had visions of this place, of a great Clan starting here, of what this place can become."
His voice is soft, and it soothes Swanstar's fear just as easily as the appearance of him brought it up. She sits down where she is as well. Tail curling around to rest on her paws as she looks down on him. There's a little bit of a step from the shore to the main part of the island, and she had been standing up on it to get extra height on him, so she stays there now.
"You've had visions of this place to? I've seen this place in my dreams for the last moon, but never really saw any faces in it properly, or what would happen in the future. Only the location, and had the words of the StarClan members telling me I was to live here." She looks up as she speaks, silently thanking them for sending someone to her.
"I'm sure there's some meaning to why they shared things differently between the two of us, but we can deal with that another time. For now," he nods to his left, and Swanstar's eyes follow the gesture to see a small bundle of leaves to the side. She's assuming he placed them down after the small swim here to splash around in the water. "I really hope you have a place I can store these herbs."
The tom settles in fairly easily after that, and together with him - Spiderwhisker, he said he'd like to be called - they manage to dig out a few other dens, and stack some bigger branches up over some of the bigger bushes to make bigger areas.
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One day, when Swanstar was out on a patrol of the woods around the lake, she came across a few other cats. there was a pure white female with two different coloured eyes, and with her was a black female with a small white patch on her chest and a sad looking face.
"Back up!" the white one demands, fur bristled and teeth bared. Swanstar pauses mid-step before backing up a little as she requested. She stares down this stranger, eyeing the other female out of the corner of her eyes as she did. They stand there for a few minutes, tensely watching one another, before the black one sighs heavily and steps forward.
She bumps her shoulder against the white female, causing her to stumble a little bit, before glancing apologetically at Swanstar. "I apologize for her behaviour. We've been travelling a long time, and she's a bit on edge. I'm Bear, and she's Frost. You are?"
Swanstar's tail lashes behind her, before she moves to sit, and purring softly when Bear moves to copy her. Frost stays standing, still glaring at Swanstar, but she doesn't let her gaze bother her.
"My name is Swanstar, and I'm actually starting up a Clan not too far from here. You're welcome to come with me, if you'd like?" She notices how Frost seems to bristle even more, but Bear seems to be thinking it over. "It's the island in the lake, if you're interested. There's a shallow section that leads right to the island just out of the woods here, but I'll leave you to decide on your own if you'll be joining or not."
She gets up and turns to go back the other way, deciding she can always search that side of the border later. She doesn't want to crowd the two of them, and Frost was really seeming like she was about to pounce if Swanstar had stayed any longer. She's confident, however, that they will join. The one, Bear, had really seemed like the idea of the Clan had appealed to her, and Swanstar's certain that Frost will follow if Bear decides to join.
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A few days later, Swanstar is woken by someone shaking her awake.
"-star, Swanstar. Come on, wake up." she bats tiredly at the direction of the voice, and manages to get the intruder right on the nose.
She then yelps and scrambles to the back of her den when they retaliate by batting back at her own face a few times. She shakes her head to clear the sleep from her mind as she stares at the amused face of Spiderwhisker.
"You really need to learn to be a lighter sleeper," the tom teases, before he backs out her her den. He glances back in when she doesn't immediately follow, eyes rolling as he beckons her over. "Hurry up, there's someone here to see you."
He then leaves, and Swanstar grumbles a little as she makes her way out after him. She then pauses, noting there's not just the two females in her camp, but there's a third stranger with them. The young tabby between them is practically bouncing around them, occasionally darting close to bat at one of their flanks and them taking off before they can snap at him. It's cute, and it makes her think of what the future can bring for this little Clan.
"Ah, Swanstar! We've finally decided to join you." Bear greets, before glancing over at her two companions. "We met this kit while we were still thinking it over-"
"I'm not a kit!" he young tom claims, but Bear easily ignores his protest.
"-and we couldn't just leave him alone out there, so I hope you don't mind that we brought him along with us."
Swanstar glances over at Frost, and she looks off to the side almost sheepishly, nose scrunching up for a few moments before she lets out a huff and lifts her head to lock eyes with Swanstar. "I'd like to apologize for my behaviour from the other day. We've been travelling for a long time together, since our home was attacked, and I wasn't going to take any risks."
"It's fine, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm glad you've decided to join us now, even if you were hesitant. It means a lot." Swanstar glances over to Spiderwhisker, and they share a look before she looks back at the trio. "Well then, welcome to IslandClan. Bear, Frost, and. Actually I didn't catch your name."
The young tom puffs out his chest as he looks up at Swanstar, and it makes her chuckle a little bit. "My name's Minnow! Are we gonna get cool names like people in Clans? There was one where I used to live, and they all had cool two part names, like you do! I want a cool two part name too!" he declares, stomping a paw as he does.
Spiderwhisker gives a small laugh, effectively drawing all their attention to him. "Of course, you'll all be getting the two part names that cats in a Clan do. So will anyone else that joins." Minnow then goes back to excitedly bounding around them, his energy almost doubled at this news.
"Of course, if you two would like to choose your warrior names, you're free to." Swanstar offers, looking over at Frost and Bear. The two share a look, before nodding. "And Minnow shall be Minnowpaw, while he trains to become a warrior. Then you'll get a warrior name of your own." she says towards the excited young tom, and he nods but otherwise doesn't slow or make any move to stop.
"If it's alright, I'd like to be Bearfang. She'll be Frostfur." Bear claims quietly, glancing at Frost as if for confirmation, and gets a small nod from the white female.
Swanstar nods, before getting back to her feet. "Alright, then from now on you are Bearfang and Frostfur. Welcome to IslandClan. Bearfang, I'd like you to be Minnowpaw's ment-"
"No, I'll do it." Frostfur butts in, and Swanstar sees nothing but determination in her dual-coloured eyes. So, she nods, before then correcting herself.
"Alright, then Frostfur, you will be Minnowpaw's mentor. Please, do what you can to teach him."
And with that, it finally begins.
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:41:05 GMT -8
Frostfur gives a small grumble as she awakens, shimmying a little bit closer to Bearfang in her drowsy morning haze, only to scrunch up her nose and blink open her eyes at the lack of a figure next to her. Slowly the white molly gets to her feet, looking around the now familiar little den to try and find her friend.
She slowly made her way out into the clearing, and any complaint she had on her tongue died off. She watches for a few moments, taking in how soft the bigger molly looks talking with Minnowpaw. Watches the way her sad looking face gains a bit of a happier look to it as she talks to the apprentice; the way her movements are slow and clearly trusting even when Minnowpaw jumps around and bats at Bearfang every so often while he tells her whatever tale he's spun up this time.
Eventually, Frostfur decides to approach the pair. Minnowpaw lights up at seeing her, and easily changes his little loop to include her in it as she comes over to sit next to Bearfang.
"Oh, Frostfur!! I was just telling Bearfang about the dream I had last night! I was, like, a bird? I don't know what kind, but I was soaring over the camp and ate a bunch of fish!" His excitement makes Frostfur huff out a small laugh, and she knocks her shoulder against Bearfang's. They share a fond look, and then Frostfur gets back to her feet and bats at Minnowpaw's ear the next time he gets close enough.
"Alright, little bird. Since you're so experienced with hunting now thanks to your dream, how about we see how well you do as yourself."
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Swanstar makes her way through the bushes on the main shore, picking through to find decent bramble to bring back to the island. When she puts her face into one bush, however, she is startled and stumbles back a few steps.
A little ginger tabby kitten lunges out at her, fur puffed up as it darts forward to bat at her paws playfully. Swanstar goes to say something, when suddenly two other kittens come stumbling out, followed by who she's assuming is the mother.
Swanstar dips her head a bit, doing her best to not seem like she's a threat to her or her kits. She watches out of the corner of her eyes as the molly makes her way closer, the kits all happily heading back to weave their way around her paws.
"Who are you?" the stranger questions quietly, and Swanstar raises her head again to offer her a hopefully trustworthy expression.
"Ah, my name is Swanstar, and you are?"
The molly visibly relaxes at her name, and tilts her head. "You're a Leader of a Clan? Where is it? And, ah. I'm Amberlight, and these are Redkit, Poppykit, and Lionkit. We come from SnowClan, and have traveled a long way to get here." she glances down at her kits, her eyes soft and fond, before looking back up to Swanstar. "If it isn't too much too ask, I'd appreciate it if we could stay. Even just for a few days."
Swanstar gives a small chuckle, her gaze focused mostly on the kits. "I'm the leader of IslandClan, which is located, as the name suggests, on a little island in the middle of the lake just a little ways from here. I'm not sure how good your kits are at swimming, but there is a shallow enough path that it shouldn't be too much of an issue to carry them there, if you're alright with that." she then takes a better look at Amberlight, and gives a small frown.
"Is there, something the matter with your leg?" she questions, and almost regrets it when she sees how Amberlight flinches at the question. When Swanstar is properly paying attention, it's easy to see how the molly doesn't seem to be putting a lot of weight onto one of her back legs. She also had a bit of a limp coming out of the bushes, but Swanstar hadn't paid that much attention at first.
Amberlight ducks her head, looking a bit embarrassed, before admitting "back in SnowClan, I had a nasty slip, and pulled something. It's not broken, or anything like that, just a bit sore to walk on at the moment. I'm sure it's fine." Swanstar hears what's unspoken there. She is fine, but probably won't be good for getting across to the island with her kits.
Swanstar gives a nod, before turning and heading towards the water. "It's just this way, and if you're fine with waiting a little bit, I could get some others to come help with bringing your kits across?" she offers, not waiting for a response before she picks up the bramble she had found before and setting off.
It takes a good while before she gets back to the island, drops off the bramble, and then gets back with Spiderwhisker and Bearfang to help Amberlight bring her kits to the island, but overall they make it there safely, and Swanstar is very thankful for it.
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Spiderwhisker hums gently to himself as he shakes off, take a few steps into the woods. He's out here to gather some herbs, and is pretty confident he can find something good around here.
He gives a nod to Bearfang when she also gets out of the water, and watches for a few moments as she heads off to try and hunt in the woods. Swanstar has been gathering fish, but she's sure they're going to need some other kinds of prey, and is secretly grateful for the black molly and her dedication to getting other things to eat.
So, with that in mind, he heads into the bushes just off the shore, hoping to find something useful to stock up on. He knows there's a lot of good herbs that grow near the water, and is hoping to find some good, fresh herbs in the damp soil.
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:46:51 GMT -8
Frostfur sits on the shore of the island, tail absently flicking behind her as she waits.
It's not long before Minnowpaw appears before her, practically tripping over his own paws in his excitement. However, she continues to ignore him for a few moments, just staring out over the water.
"Frostfur! Come ooooooon!" Minnowpaw whines, and Frostfur gives a fond shake of her head before finally shifting her gaze to settle on her apprentice.
"You need to learn to appreciate what's around you, little bird." she teases, and gives a huff of laughter at the whine he gives in response. Slowly she gets up to her feet, and nudges him gently when she passes.
"I know you've made the trip across the shallow area, but have you properly swam before?" her question is met with a hesitant shake of his head, and she nods to herself. She'd thought as much, and honestly, looking back, this should've been the first thing she taught him to do. Well, better now than never.
Making her way more towards the water, Frostfur dips in a paw, before splashing the water at Minnowpaw when he ventures close. She lets out a laugh at his betrayed face, before she makes her way more into the water before he can think to splash her back.
Soon she's in to a point where her paws no longer touch the ground, and she looks up to see him hesitating along the shore.
"Come on in, Minnowpaw, there's nothing to fear. To begin, I want you to join me here and just move your legs enough to keep yourself afloat. Can you handle that?"
The apprentice hesitates for a few seconds longer, before a determined look crosses his face and he heads into the water after her. When he can no longer touch the ground his treading before a bit more frantic, but Frostfur doesn't say anything else yet, hoping that her calm about this will keep him from freaking out too much.
Eventually this seems to work, and soon he's beaming at her and awkwardly attempting to swim circles around her, laughing as he does. "This is fun!" he claims, before suddenly yelping as she pounces on him.
The poor kid flails under the water, but just before Frostfur can dive under to pull him back up, his head breaches the surface again, coughing and sputtering as he frantically slaps his paws against the water and struggles back to a place where he can touch.
Frostfur gently nudges him along in the right direction, and waits for him to cough up a bit of water before speaking. "Alright, we'll continue over here for now. You need to keep your mouth closed when you're under the water. You're not a fish, little bird, so you can't breathe under the water; even if you are named after a fish. Don't breathe, and be calm when you're under."
She pauses for a moment, watching as he calms down and takes her words to heart. At his nod, she speaks again. "We'll try swimming under water a bit more, and be sure to stay ready for an attack. I'll also try to teach you some skills for catching fish, but we're focusing more on just swimming today, alright?"
Minnowpaw nods, and Frostfur kicks off to get deeper again. This is going to be a long day.
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Spiderwhisker hums softly as he heads over to the Queen's den. It's a lot better looking than it originally was when he first got here, since him and Swanstar had been working hard on making this a place that cats could live comfortably in.
It's the same as the other dens; just a hole dug out under a particularly large bush. Although, it's much nicer looking than, say, the Apprentice's den. It has wonderfully soft moss along the floor so Amberlight and her kits can sleep comfortably, and the entrance is hidden easily by some of the easier to move branches of the bush.
He shoulders the entrance aside, and stands there for a few moments, just making eye contact with Amberlight. At her small nod, he steps back, and waits for her and her kits to make their way out. The den is rather dark, since the entrance doesn't like to stay open, and he'd much rather do their check up out here where he can see them properly.
Little Lionkit is the first one out of the den, and she rushes forward to headbutt his front leg, eyes narrowed up at him.
"My, that's a solid head you have on your shoulders," he fondly comments, doing his best to not let it show that the headbutt kind of hurt. "Does your leg hurt much anymore?" the question is aimed at Amberlight, and she gives a small shake of her head.
"No, being able to sit and let it rest has really done wonders for it. Though, feel free to check it over anyways. I'd rather not wreck it again by accident." she quietly responds, only glancing up at Spiderwhisker for a moment before her attention is back on her kits.
The Medicine Cat nods, and makes his way forward to gently poke and prod at the leg, instructing her to walk on it, to put weight on it, and other such things.
He notices fondly how young Poppykit seems to be shadowing him, watching what he does with wide, curious eyes. Spiderwhisker will absolutely be mentioning this to Swanstar later, but for now, he focuses back on his task.
"It seems to be fine, just maybe keep taking it easy until you're out of the Queen's den. Speaking of, how old are they again?" He speaks as he checks over the kits, watching as they tumble over one another in some kind of game that he can't begin to understand.
"5 moons. It's 6 to become an apprentice, right?" Amberlight responds quietly, and Spiderwhisker nods with a soft hum.
He'll have to make sure he talks to Swanstar about Poppykit sooner than later then. He's sure the young kitten would make a wonderful apprentice for him in the future.
"Well, you all seem to be doing well. I'll be going now, but if you feel in pain at all, some and see me right away, alright?" He gets a nod in response to this, and after nodding back, he heads off back to his own den.
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Swanstar shakes herself off as she leaves the water, glancing back towards the island for a moment before heading off into the surrounding woods. She has volunteered herself to do the border patrol, and is glad that it's just herself.
Not that she hates her Clan or anything, far from it. Just, sometimes it's nice to have some time to herself. It's quiet out here, with a lack of any known neighbouring Clans around this area, and it reminds her a bit of home. It wasn't nearly as loud back home as it gets here occasionally, but she knows that if she were given the chance to do this all over again, she'd still leave her home in a heartbeat to come here.
A rustling ahead startles her out of her head, and Swanstar crouches down. It sounds a lot bigger than any of the prey they catch here, and so she's definitely on edge.
It seems whatever is there hadn't heard her, as the rustling keeps getting closer and closer, until suddenly there's a face in front of her.
This seems to startle the stranger, as they leap a good foot in the air with a surprised yelp, hackles raised.
A shiver runs through Swanstar's body at the stranger's noise, and her own hackles raise for a moment, before she gets a proper look at the stranger. Suddenly she's standing straight up on her paws again, and moving forward with wide eyes.
"Crow?' she questions, eyes flickering over his face quickly. She takes in the amber eyes, the black nose, and the little splash of black on the inside of his right ear, and at the area between his right eye and the bridge of his nose. There's a knick on his left ear, and Swanstar knows that this is Crow.
The tom hesitates for a few moments, before he slowly raises up to his own paws, eyes wide and searching as they flutter over her own features, before he asks in a soft and awed voice, "Swan?"
She gives a giddy tap of her paws, before tackling the black and white tom to the ground, laughing brightly. "It really is you! How'd you find me?"
Crow laughs back, and wrestles with her playfully for a few moments before letting her pin him down, looking up at her with a cocky grin. "You didn't think I was gonna let my favourite cousin leave without me, didja?" he questioned, reaching up a paw to bat her nose.
Swanstar moves off of him, letting him get up to his feet with a huff. "So, who told you where I went? Was it Trout, or-"
"It was Magpie, actually." Crow scrunches up his face a little at saying his own sister's name, and Swanstar understands completely.
Crow and Magpie never had a very good relationship, even as kits. Crow was always more fond of hanging out with Swan and Trout, while Magpie for some reason thought it below her to interact with their cousins. This was probably because their fathers had a falling out just after they were born, but either way it wedged something between the two forever.
"Are," she pauses for a moment, clearly her throat, and takes a few moments before trusting herself to speak again. "Are they all alright?'
Swanstar's scared for the response, but gives a relieved sigh when Crow simply nods.
"Trout's pretty upset that you took off so quickly after hearing her mate's story, and seems to be blaming him for your departure. Though, they seem happy; it's clear they both know it's just her way of trying to get over it. Tuna had her kits! They're adorable, and she was already trying to tell them stories of their missing aunt. Auntie and uncle are both doing alright. They miss you, but it's clear they're happy that you decided to follow your dreams. They're real proud of you, Swan." He pauses for a moment, knocking their shoulders together, before continuing a bit more hesitantly. "And, uh, I'm not actually sure about Hawk? He wasn't there when I was back, and no one had any news of him that I hadn't heard the last time I was home."
Swanstar had been fighting off a few tears as Crow told her about her family, but the last bit has her frowning, giving Crow a weird look. Hawk was always big on exploring, but it had been almost 5 moons since she left home, and he always checked back in at home after only 2. Crow hadn't been home when she left, so Hawk must've been away from home for even longer than she has been now. That leaves her feeling unsettled, hoping that nothing had happened to her brother.
Shaking it off, Swanstar gives a small sigh before knocking their shoulders together again and then getting to her feet. "Well, since you're already here, would you like to come meet my Clan?"
Crow nods enthusiastically, and then their racing towards the water, Swanstar in the lead since she actually knows the way, and she can't help but hope once more that her brother is alright. She also hopes that Crow decides to stay. It'd be nice to have some family around.
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Swanstar sighs softly as she sits. She's up on the highest point of the island, and she looks down to where her Clan should all be sleeping by now. She's so glad that they've all come so far. Forstfur seems to be coming out of her shell more and more every day, and is training Minnowpaw so well. Amberlight and her kits are settling in nicely, and Swanstar knows without having to ask that they're not going to be leaving any time soon.
Crow has decided to stay, at least for now, and took on the name Crownose. She's so glad he isn't leaving yet, and can't help but feel selfish and hope that maybe, just maybe, Hawk is also trying to find his way here; that her brother will also join her at her side.
Pushing that thought aside for now, she instead turns her face skyward, and closes her eyes as she feels the wind blow gently around her, letting it wash away her worries and doubts.
"Please," she softly speaks, barely hearing herself as she lets the wind carry her words away in hopes that it'll take them up to StarClan. "please guide another warrior here. One that an stand by my side and claim responsibility as my Deputy."
She then settles down, making herself comfortable on the exposed ground as she closes her eyes. She could head back down to her new home, to sleep amongst her Clan, but she allows herself to have a night up here. To have a night to sleep where she did the first night she came here, when she finally reached her goal. To let the nostalgia wraps her in the wooly confines of sleep.
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:48:56 GMT -8
Swanstar smoothly slips out of the water, giving a shake to get off the brunt of the water from her fur. She then begins moving forward, one ear flicking back for a moment as she listens to the other two warriors make their way out after her.
The trio stays quiet, standing there on the shore of the forest as they listen close to the sounds around them. They're out here to hunt, and they all know not to make unneccesary noise; wanting this to just be over and done with.
Out of the corner of her eye Swanstar watches as Bearfang moves down to a crouch and begins approaching the tree line, her eyes locked in one something up in a tree.
In the other direction, Leopardfoot has already headed into the trees, quiet as a mouse as he creeps through the foliage.
With the fleeting thought of how lucky she is to have these cats in her life, Swanstar heads into the trees herself to earn her keep. Not literally, she mentally corrects herself, letting out a soft huff of a laugh before her attention is brought to something snapping in front of her.
There, just past the bush she's making her way around, stands a squirrel attempting to crack open some kind of nut. She watches it for a few moments, noting how calm it is. It's clear the little rodent hasn't noticed her presence yet, and she now notes that the window is favourably blowing towards her, instead of towards the squirrel.
She watches for a few more moments, before suddenly pouncing. The squirrel is clearly caught of guard, and it lets out a screech as it tries to shove it's nut into it's mouth before it turns to run. However, it doesn't get more than two steps away from where it was originally standing before Swanstar has landed with a paw on it's tail, her clams holding it down.
The squirrel attempts to keep running, and she lets it for a quick moment before she dips her head down and places her jaws around it's sides and biting down. Its bones make a small crunching noise, and after a few more seconds of twitching the creature lays still.
Swanstar stands up with the limp body held between her teeth, and heads back to the shore. She finds Leopardfoot already there, a frog dangling from his jaw. He gives her a short nod, before he begins heading back to the island, awkwardly swimming while also still holding on to the amphibian.
She is quick to follow him into the water, the blood in her mouth from where her teeth punctured the squirrel easily being washed out by the water flooding her mouth when she reaches the deeper area.
Once back on the island, Swanstar looks back over to the mainland. Bearfang is just now coming out of the trees, something brown and furry dangling from her own mouth.
Yeah, she's definitely glad she's got these cats to join her Clan, she thinks, before heading to the center of camp to where they store their freshkill.
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Frostfur sighs heavily, tail flicking behind her lazily as she walks through the forest. Behind her are Crownose and her apprentice, Minnowpaw. They're out on a patrol, and it's definitely looking to be a boring day.
Minnowpaw excitedly bounds alongside Crownose, speaking practically a mile a minute.
"-nd then Poppykit came out and stole the shiny rock I found! Amberlight laughed at me when I brought it up to her, which was rude, but I'm gonna get it back! Poppykit can't stay awake forever, and I'm gonna get that rock back whether he likes it or not!"
Frostfur rolls her eyes and zones back out of her apprentice's excited rambling. The make a turn, just walking along the Clan's borders, and so she's not too bothered by his constant chatter. From the look of Crownose, it seems his babbling is the only thing keeping the other warrior awake.
There's a quiet rustling off in the distance, and Frostfur doesn't pay it any mind. She keeps walking, and therefore she completely ends up missing what was right in front of her.
There's a sudden gasp from the duo behind her, and then Minnowpaw is calling out.
"Hey! Who're you?"
The white molly freezes up at the questioning voice of her apprentice, and turns with her hackles raised to where she heard the rustling. Sure enough, there stands a large white molly. She's staring the trio down with wide eyes, and she has one kit hiding underneath her and a second now whining in complaint. Frostfur's gaze flickers down to see the molly has stepped on the other kit's tail, most likely to keep it from approaching them.
"Who are you?" she parrots in response, her voice rough and cautious. She's slowly lowering herself down to crouch over her second kit protectively, and Frostfur gives a small sigh before moving to approach.
"I'm Frostfur, and these two are Minnowpaw and Crownose. Where are you from and why are you here." Frostfur internally winces once she's done speaking; she's never been known for being very charismatic.
The stranger seems startled by Frostfur's blunt tone, and seems to cower even more. Her face takes on a more stern look, and Frostfur is absolutely certain she just blew it. Good job Frostfur, you're doing so good at this conversation thing. Damn it.
Before she can speak, Crownose takes a few steps forward. Her narrowed eyes immediately lock on to him instead.
"You'll have to forgive her; making friends isn't Frostfur's strong suit." he glances over to Frostfur, and after getting a small nod, he continues. "What's your name? And what brings you here? We live across the water that way," he pauses here to glance quickly back in the direction they came, before looking back to her "and you're just about to cross into our territory."
She seems to calm down a little bit as Crownose speaks, and Frostfur feels her own worry leave because of it. Thank StarClan that Crownose was here with her.
"My name is Clove, and these are Fawn and Cotton. We lived a bit away from here, but we had to move. And so now we're here." She stares up at them defiantly, like she's asking them to try to challenge her claim, but none of them do. Crownose nods, and offers her a kind look.
"Well, my cousin is the leader of our Clan, and I'm sure she'd be more than willing to welcome you to join us." Crownose offers, and this clearly takes Clove by surprise.
Suddenly her paw is off of her kit's tail, and he shoots forward to crash into Minnowpaw's front leg, practically vibrating with excitement at being released. And yeah, Frostfur feels like they're going to be staying for a while.
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Taking a deep breath, Swanstar makes her way up to the top of the rock they'd moved to the center of camp, and looks down over her ragtag Clan. They've already come so far since StarClan lead her paws here, and she couldn't be more grateful.
"IslandClan!" she calls down, easily catching the attention of everyone sitting below. She looks around, noting that Amberlight and Clove sit close to one another with all their kits tumbling around between them. Minnowpaw also sits close to them, with Fawn and Lionkit pouncing after his tail whenever it flicks around.
Bearfang and Frostfur sit close together closer to the front, tails practically entwined behind them. Swanstar's happy that they're so close, and kind of wants to pry about it. Maybe later.
Spiderwhisker ambles over, knocking his shoulder against Crownose's gently before settling down closest to the rock, just a bit in front of Leopardfoot. With him settling down, that accounts for everyone, and Swanstar begins.
"This is our first proper meeting, so, welcome. I've gathered you all here today to address our newest Clan members, and give them their official Clan names." she smiles down at Clove, and watches as the white molly gets to her paws, ushering her own two kits away from Amberlight's to approach the rock.
(Swanstar takes a mental note to rename the rock. Just calling it the rock is so bland.)
Swanstar hops down to the little empty space in front of the rock, and waits patiently as Clove shepherds her kits over.
Once they're all there, Swanstar starts to speak again. "Clove, you and your kits have spent the last few days here. It's been wonderful to have you around, and we'd love it if you'd like to make your stay more permanent." this bit is mostly for show; Swanstar had a long talk with Clove about this yesterday, and had even let her pick out her own warrior name for this ceremony. This is more just for the kits; for them to feel loved and welcomed here.
Clove gives a nod, purring softly as she urges Fawn and Cotton to nod as well. "Of course, we would be honoured to be allowed to live here. Your Clan has been so kind to us."
Swanstar dips her own head, before looking back out at the rest of the Clan. "From now on, you shall be known as Cloverbloom." she then looks back down at the kits, and crouches down to look them in the eyes before she speaks again. "And these two, they shall be known as Fawnkit and Cottonkit. Welcome to IslandClan."
Almost as soon as she finishes speaking Swanstar is smothered. The two kits have lunged at her in their sudden excitement, yelling their thanks as they do. Clove, no, Cloverbloom, lets them do this for a few moments, before rolling her eyes and calling them off.
Making her way back up to her feet, Swanstar gives a good natured glare towards Cloverbloom, before looking back over the Clan. Cloverbloom makes her way back to their original spot by Amberlight, Fawnkit and Cottonkit tackling the other kits to excitedly whisper about their new names.
"There's one other announcement I have to make today." there's a murmur that goes through the Clan, even though she's certain they're all already aware of what's going to be hapening.
She locks eyes with Crownose, and he gives her an encouraging nod, and that gives her the strength to continue on with what she was saying.
"As many of you are aware from stories Amberlight has been telling, most Clans have a Deputy. Someone to be the second in charge, to take control when I can not. I asked StarClan, for someone like this to come to us last moon." she pauses yet again, looking out over her Clan with pride, before deciding she might as well get this over with.
"Leopardfoot, may you come forth?"
The tom looks up, clearly a little bit startled, but takes it all in stride as he approaches her spot closer to the rock. He stands before her, tall and proud, and Swanstar can't help but chuckle softly.
"You appeared the day after I spoke to StarClan, and you've been such a wonderful help for the last moon; an absolute gift from StarClan. It would be an honour to have you serve as Deputy."
Leopardfoot dips his head, and Swanstar takes a step forward to touch her nose to his shoulder, and faintly feels him do the same. She takes a step back, and gives him a small nod.
He's practically beaming back at her. "Thank you so much for this privilege, Swanstar. I hope I don't let you down."
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:49:40 GMT -8
Swanstar sighs fondly as she looks down over IslandClan, standing atop The Sand Stone (which, by the way, is immensely cooler than the rock). She's super excited for this meeting since there wasn't a proper ceremony back when Minnowpaw joined. She's had dreams for the last few days from StarClan, getting glimpses of how apprentice ceremonies go, so she's sure she'll get this right despite not having any previous experience.
"Cats of IslandClan, may I have your attention please!" she calls, and effectively manages to make everyone fall quiet as 14 pairs of eyes look up at her.
"As I'm sure you're aware by now, we're gathered here to appoint a few new apprentices!" looking down at the crowd, she's happy to notice how the kits all shake with anticipation, their little paws shuffling on the sand under their paws as they wait to hear what else it is she has to say. "Redkit, Poppykit, Lionkit. Come up here, please."
She hops down from The Sand Stone, and meets the trio of kits in front of it. They still shuffle their paws a little bit, but it's clear that they're now putting in some kind of effort to try and be still. After all, this is a serious matter.
"Redkit. You're kind and brave, and show excellent potential and a willingness to learn. It's commendable, and I hope you continue to be willing to learn as you go through your training. You will now be known as Redpaw, and I name Bearfang as your mentor." She touches her nose to the little kit's, before then taking a step back and watching as Bearfang smoothly gets up to her own paws to approach.
"It is a privilege to be chosen for this role; I will work to teach her to the best of my abilities." Bearfang softly announces, before stepping forward to touch her own nose to her new apprentice's, and then goes to sit back down where she was previously leaning against Frostfur.
Swanstar watches this all with great joy and turns to the next young kit to meet his glimmering gaze. "Young Poppykit. It's clear how you've been keenly watching as Spiderwhisker makes his rounds. It gives me hope, and for that, I shall be appointing you Medicine Cat Apprentice, and you will be known as Poppypaw. Spiderwhisker, if you may." she gently touches her nose to Poppypaw's, before stepping back and watching the tabby come forward to greet his new apprentice.
"You showed such great interest in what I was doing since you first came here, and I'm so glad to be able to train you to follow in my pawprints. I will do my best to teach you all that I know, and I hope that StarClan smiles down upon our time together."
Both Spiderwhisker and Poppypaw are practically vibrating with how excited the pair of them are about this, and after they briefly touch noses Spiderwhisker is quick to make his way back to where he was sitting. Presumably, so that this ceremony doesn't get too held up so he can start training with young Poppypaw as soon as possible. Which, by the way, Swanstar thinks is fucking adorable.
"And last, but certainly not least, we come to Lionkit. You show great skill and a tenacity for battle, and a great thirst for an adventure. I'm sure these things will lead you on your journey to becoming a warrior, and because of those skills, I am entrusting your mentorship to Leopardfoot. My loyal deputy, who I am sure can teach you many things that would not learn from others. You shall now be known as Lionpaw, and I hope you cherish his guidance." they touch noses, and then Swanstar steps back to watch her deputy come forth.
I am honoured, to be able to teach this young apprentice; to be able to help shape and mold the next generation. I hope to pass on as much of my knowledge as possible." Leopardfoot then touches his nose to Lionpaw's, and then making his way back to go sit near Crownose.
"That now concludes this naming ceremony! I hope these three go on to learn many things from their mentors, and that StarClan guides their paws on their journeys."
She nods to each of them in turn, and then simply walks off. It's clear that this meeting is concluded, and she can hear the apprentices behind her scurrying off to their new mentors, excitedly asking what they're going to be learning. It's adorable, and she smiles fondly to herself as she heads towards the water.
There's the soft sound of paws in the sand behind her, but she doesn't bother to look behind her to see who it is. Sitting at the edge of the shore, she waits for her companion to settle down next to her.
It's silent for a few minutes as the two sit there, and Swanstar keeps her eyes closed as she basks in the soothing sounds of the lake water lapping at her paws and her Clan at her back.
Eventually, her companion speaks up. "Thank you, for taking us in. It means a lot to be, to know that my kits will grow up in such a nice Clan, among such nice cats." Amberlight speaks softly, her voice almost carried away by the soft winds before they reach Swanstar's ears.
The two molly's continue to sit in silence, just staring out over the water together.
Eventually, Swanstar gets to her paws, and gently touches her nose to Amberlight's shoulder before heading back to camp. Neither of them have been good at talking together since Amberlight joined, but Swanstar knows without a doubt that the meaning behind her action was well received. And that's what truly matters.
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Redpaw excitedly bounds alongside Bearfang, eyes wide with wonder as she looks over everything they walk past.
"Is all of this forest so pretty? I haven't been off the island since we came here! This is so exciting, what do we do on border patrols?" Redpaw is practically vibrating in her excitement as she walks, and she completely misses the fond look her companions share.
"Well, for starters, we usually don't jump around as much," Bearfang gently teases, chuckling softly at the pout the young apprentice shoots at her over her shoulder. "We also scent certain places, to mark our territory. You're just to observe this time since I'm sure the scent of a kit won't intimidate many."
Redpaw pouts more exaggeratedly, before stopping to look back at Swanstar. "Swanstar! Make her stop bullying me!" the apprentice complains, and Swanstar can't help the burst of laughter that she lets out because of it.
This only makes the apprentice complain more, and the rest of their patrol is mostly the same.
On their way back to the lake, Bearfang suddenly freezes up. Redpaw also stops, giving her mentor a curious side-look, before the scent of the stranger finally reaches her own nose. It makes her fur stand on end, and her breathing starts to quicken. Is this stranger going to be nice, or scary? Will they have to fight? She's play fought with her siblings and denmates, sure, but she doesn't think she could hold her own in a proper fight just yet.
Swanstar, on the other hand, perks up at the scent. Her mouth falls open to scent it better before her ears perk up and she darts forward with a happy yowl.
A second yowl joins soon after, sounding more angry and confused. Bearfang surges forward at the sound of it, clearly concerned, and Redpaw follows dutifully with wide, terrified eyes.
However, instead of the fight she had been expecting, Redpaw finds herself looking at a playful kind of tussle. The kind of play fighting that she used to do with Poppypaw and Lionpaw back in the nursery.
Swanstar playfully nips at the much larger tom's ear, and he bats back and her with soft paws and an annoyed kind of laugh. Well, this is certainly not what she was expecting.
"You brat," the tom snarls, but it's clear there's no real anger or bite to his tone. "I can not believe you really set off on your own like that! Didn't even take anyone with you? Or wait for me to come home? What if that dung-brained idiot had been lying to you about this place? What kind of fool are you?" the large tom complains, before easily rolling the pair of them over to pin Swanstar down by her throat.
Swanstar squirms under his hold, and whines high in the back of her throat. "Come on Hawk, you're being unfair! You would've done the same, you ass!" she squirms a bit more, and manages to get out from under his paw with a pout.
Redpaw looks between the two of them, eyeing up the pair of them, before gasping, and suddenly feeling wise beyond her moons.
"Are you siblings?!" she shouts, and doesn't even flinch when the gaze of all three adults snap towards her.
This stranger, (Hawk, apparently) snarls at her, and goes to move forward but is stopped by Swanstar stepping up to knock her shoulder against his.
"Very perceptive Redpaw! This is my brother, Hawk."
Bearfang glances between the pair of them and Redpaw a few times, before sighing slightly and moving forward to gently nudge Redpaw. "Well, we'll be going now. It was nice meeting you, Hawk. I hope you plan to stay."
Redpaw gives a wordless noise of protest, but otherwise simply lets her mentor herd her away from their leader and her brother. Well, this was certainly an exciting first patrol.
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:50:41 GMT -8
It's quiet, out in the woods. Minnowpaw can hear the soft pawsteps of the rest of the patrol he's out with to his right, and so he heads towards them. Frostfur had told him to not come today, and so he had waited until they were deep enough in the woods to not see him swim across to follow.
Frostfur had been trying to teach him stalking over the last few days, and so he saw this as his chance to prove how good he has gotten.
He's pretty proud of himself so far, since they haven't noticed him yet. Frostfur is always quiet when she's on patrols, and Crownose and Fawnpaw aren't the most talkative cats either.
Nothing big has happened, and Minnowpaw's honestly growing pretty bored, when he sees Fawnpaw stumble behind a bit. It makes Crownose stop as well as he turns to check on his apprentice, and then Minnowpaw's completely caught.
"What the," the black and white tome mutters, before Minnowpaw bursts out of the little bush he was hiding in, staring into Frostfur's multi-coloured eyes with pride.
"Aha! Betcha didn't even know I was following you the whole time!" he crows, and completely misses the small eye roll from his mentor has he does a little victory prance.
Frostfur, disappointingly, doesn't say anything. She simply turns back around, and carries on her patrol. Crownose and Fawnpaw exchange a hushed, confused conversation, but Minnowpaw ignores them in favour of skipping ahead to walk beside his mentor. He can tell she's proud of him; she didn't say anything so she clearly has nothing bad to say about it. And that's more than enough validation for him.
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Lionpaw purrs deep in her chest when she spots Minnowpaw, and makes quick work of dropping the prey she caught - by herself! - into the pile before bounding over to him. "Minnowpaw!" she yells, and the tabby tom looks up at her with a grin.
He knocks his forehead against hers once she's close enough, purring softly as he does. They've become good friends during the last moon, and despite being 4 moons younger, Lionpaw easily towers over Minnowpaw already.
He beams up at her once they pull apart, and reaches out a paw to gently nudge her chest. "I feel like you get bigger every time you leave camp. Stop that." his tone is light and teasing, and it makes Lionpaw laugh.
They head towards the apprentice den, but Minnowpaw stops suddenly. It takes Lionpaw a few seconds to notice that he isn't beside her anymore, and she turns to look at him in confusion.
Minnowpaw's attention is on something across the camp, and she squints to try and see what it is he's looking at. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, just Poppypaw stretched out taking a nap by the medicine cat den. There's also Spiderwhisker working dutifully a little bit beside him, and besides them there isn't anyone else over there.
Scrunching up her nose in confusion, she calls out tentatively, "Hey, Minnowpaw? You comin'?" and he snaps his head towards her with wide eyes. She's pretty sure that she can almost feel his embarrassment from here, but she still can't figure out what the hell he was looking at.
Minnowpaw rushes past her to the apprentice den, smacking her in the face with his tail as he does, and that just makes her more confused. She follows after him, happy to note that none of the other apprentices are in right now, and waits for him to explain himself.
Minnowpaw's chest heaves as if he just ran away from a fox, and Lionpaw waits patiently for him to calm down. Once his breathing seems under control, she's on him immediately for questioning.
"Hey, so. What were you lookin' at back there?" she questions, and is extremely pleased when he seems to go right back to panicking.
"Lionpaw, this is a disaster." he hisses, and Lionpaw leans forward more, eyes wide and nodding as she waits for him to say more. Oh, if Minnowpaw thinks something is a disaster, this is bound to be good.
Waiting him out always does the trick normally, and it's clear that it's going to work here too. The tom is always talking; so much that's his silence on this is honestly a bit of a shock.
"How do you know if you like someone?" Minnowpaw finally lets out in one big breath, and it takes Lionpaw a few seconds to understand what he said. When she finally does, however, she immediately cries out and lunges at him, smothering the older apprentice.
"What do you mean like someone? Like how Frostfur likes Bearfang? Like a grown up like? Who! You were looking at Poppypaw and Spiderwhisker when you stopped does that-" here she pauses, noting how he froze up when she mentioned Poppypaw, before screeching again.
"YOU LIKE POP--"
She doesn't get to finish that thought, because Minnowpaw surges forward, rolling Lionpaw off of him to instead pin her to the ground as he hisses loudly in her face.
"Shut up! No! Yes! Maybe! I DON'T KNOW THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING HOW YOU TELL."
The both look up at the clearing of a throat, to see Fawnpaw and Cottonpaw standing at the entrance of the apprentice den. Redpaw also seems to be bounding over, and Minnowpaw's ears flatten in embarrassment as he scurries off of Lionpaw and scuffs the dirt under his paws.
"O-kay then, gonna. Pretend we didn't hear none of that and didn't see nothin' neither." Cottonpaw claims, before ducking in anyways and curling up in his corner of the den.
Lionpaw scrunches her nose up in distaste, and looks over to Minnowpaw. He's retreated to the deepest part of the den, and with an eye roll Lionpaw gets up to go join him. It's clear he isn't going to talk more about this right now, so she can at least maybe snuggle him a little so he'll be comfortable enough to try talking about it tomorrow.
Besides, she's now gotta set him and her idiot brother up, so it's probably best if they don't talk more right now. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:51:42 GMT -8
"Attention!" Swanstar calls from her perch on The Sand Stone, and smiles fondly down at her gathered Clan. It seems like she's doing these ceremonies every month now, but she can't say she's complaining. Fawnpaw and Cottonpaw's apprentice ceremony last moon had been really nice, and Cloverbloom's been so much more lively now that she's out of the nursery. She's going to miss having kits running around though.
"As we all know by now, 12 moons is when an apprentice is old enough to be a warrior. Over the last few days Frostfur has been diligently watching over Minnowpaw, and I am glad to announce that she's declared him worthy of passing."
Swanstar watches proudly at how Minnowpaw almost falls over at the news, his head whipping over to Frostfur with a shine to his eyes that makes her think he's about to start crying. Lionpaw is excitedly shoving her shoulder against his from where they're sitting next to each other, and Swanstar almost laughs, but she has to be serious for this.
"Minnowpaw, can you come forward?"
The young tom is quick to jump to his feet and head over, weaving his way past the rest of the seated Clan with a practised ease that Swanstar's honestly a little envious of.
Soon enough he's standing before The Sand Stone, and Swanstar elegantly makes her way down to stand in front of him.
"You've grown so much since you first came here. You were practically a kit, and one of the very first members to join IslandClan. I've had the honour of watching you grow; of watching you learn all that you can from Frostfur. You've apparently passed your assessment with flying colours, and so I am honoured to present you with your Warrior Name."
Minnowpaw dips his head, and Swanstar sits before him, and places a paw on his shoulder. "You are diligent and brave, and everything we could've asked for in our first fully trained apprentice. I hope you continue to live a wonderful life, and serve IslandClan to the best of your abilities. You fly circles around all of us with how kind and welcoming you are, and for that, I dub you, Minnowflight. I know you'll continue to be an aspiration, and I hope that when you one day get your own apprentice, you will be able to take them under your wing and teach them to the best of your abilities."
Minnowpaw, no, Minnowflight, finally looks up, tears streaking down his face even with the smile threatening to split his muzzle in two.
"I hope to live up to all your kind words, Swanstar. Thank you." he then gently touches his nose to hers after she lowers her paw, before then getting up and making his way back to Lionpaw with his easy grace.
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Minnowflight is practically vibrating out of his fur. The rest of the ceremony had just been Swanstar going over something or other, but he hadn't been able to focus at all.
Lionpaw is excitedly running circles around him, and he's just beaming as he watches.
"Minnowflight! You're a warrior now! You have a warrior name! And it's SO COOL!" Lionpaw crows, shoving at him playfully until he laughs loudly and begins shoving back.
"Yea! Yea I am!" he catches sight of Frostfur out of the corner of his eye, and beams even more as he sees her give him a small nod. He's absolutely going to have to talk to her later, but for now he's too excited.
He isn't exactly looking where he's going, so when he suddenly hits a solid body, he ends up stumbling back a few steps and tripping over his paws, resulting in him falling on his ass. Minnowflight looks up in a bit of a daze, before then freezing up as he realizes it was Poppypaw of all people.
Poppypaw gives him a frown, but it's a kind type of frown. Minnowflight can't explain it, but he knows that Poppypaw isn't mad at him or anything, just from the shape of his frown. Is that weird? Minnowflight thinks that's probably a bit weird.
"Congratulations, Minnowflight." Poppypaw offers, and Minnowflight feels like he's glowing at the praise. He sees Lionpaw roll her eyes at him from behind Poppypaw, but resolutely ignores her to instead beam up at the medicine cat apprentice.
"Thanks! I'm so excited, I waited so long to have a cool warrior name! Hey, what d'you think yours will be?" The question's aimed at both of them, but from the teasing look in Lionpaw's eyes, he thinks he's being a bit too obvious in that it was mostly said at Poppypaw.
The other tom blinks slowly at that, before tilting his head. "I've never really thought about it. What about you, Lionpaw?"
Lionpaw startles a little bit at being suddenly brought into the conversation, before beaming as she steps forward to nudge Poppypaw and look down at Minnowflight. "I dunno, maybe something cool, like Lionheart or something! I think you'll be something like Poppyseed, or Poppyleaf. Since you're a medicine cat." It's clear that her words are meant to tease, and Minnowflight almost swoons at the way Poppypaw rolls his eyes and shoots Lionpaw an offended look.
"Enough about that," and oh no. No, Minnowflight doesn't trust the gleam in Lionpaw's eyes one bit. He'd flee if he wasn't still currently sitting.
"Now that you're a warrior, it's time to start growing up! So, young Minnowflight. You got any crushes?"
Yeah, Minnowflight was right to not be trusting her.
"Come on, Lionpaw! I haven't even been a warrior for an hour! Besides, why would I only suddenly have a crush now that I'm a warrior? Am I not allowed crushes as an apprentice?" Oh no, he made it worse, didn't he?
Lionpaw gives him a wicked look, before turning to Poppypaw. "That, Minnowflight, is an excellent point! What do you say, Poppypaw? You got any crushes?"
Minnowflight watches as Poppypaw seizes up a little, and frowns as he watches how the other tome seems to stand a little bit taller, almost as if this kind of topic is beneath him.
"Of course not, I'm a medicine cat apprentice."
Minnowflight tilts his head, confused and honestly a little disappointed. Poppypaw clearly sees his expression, and seems to take it as the question it is and carries on.
"Medicine Cats are not allowed to take on mates, or have kits. It's forbidden, and I will abide by that rule. If StarClan doesn't want me to have children of my own, I'm perfectly fine with that. In fact, I prefer it over the thought of having to help raise kits of my own. It sounds like a horrible idea, and I'm glad Spiderwhisker took me as his apprentice so I don't have to live through that."
Minnowflight can feel his shoulders droop more and more with every word that Poppypaw says, and glancing at Lionpaw he can see how her face is twisted in regret. It's clear she's realized that she also made a mistake here, and that this conversation has not one bit gone in the direction that she wanted it to.
When Poppypaw opens his eyes - because he closed them when he was speaking, which is unfairly adorable - and Minnowflight rushes to put a smile back on his face. Though, he's sure it doesn't look convincing at all.
"That's, uh. That' super cool, man! It's cool that you're, uh, so dedicated to being a medicine cat like that. I don't think I'd be able to listen to them if they told me to-" he clears this throat here, and looks away with a sad smile "if they told me that I couldn't be with the one I love. I don't think I'd be able to accept that."
He looks back to up see Poppypaw watching him, and forces himself to try and look happier. He's pretty sure he failed, since both Poppypaw and Lionpaw look at him strangely, but he then gets up and gives a little shrug.
"It's getting late. I should be heading to the shallows to start my silent vigil. See you guys tomorrow, yeah?" ad with that, he leaves.
He has a long night of silence ahead, and has a lot to stew over.
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Gatortail hums to himself as he works on cleaning his chest fur, his tail swishing softly behind him and leaving a small dent along the ground in its wake.
"-pypaw no, put the goldenrod near the poppy seeds. The b- no no, the parsley should be over by the raspberry leaves."
Spiderwhisker's soft voice carries over to where Gatortail is sitting, and the large, fluffy tom perks up and looks toward him. He thinks it's real sweet how Spiderwhisker is paws-on with Poppypaw's training. Which, he guesses makes sense since that's how mentoring works, but it never fails to intrigue him how much closer Spiderwhisker and Poppypaw are than the other mentor-apprentice pairs he's gotten to know over the last moon.
Glancing around, Gatortail notes how not a lot of others are around right now, and gives a small shrug before getting up and practically prancing over to the medicine cat and his apprentice.
Spiderwhisker pauses mid-sentence when he catches sight of Gatortail, and the larger tom is almost disheartened by the way his body tenses up, but pushes forward anyways.
"Aye, 'ello there! Is there any way in which I could offer my assistance?" Gatortail offers, and is extremely pleased to note how Spiderwhisker loosens up a little bit.
"Sorry to disappoint, but Poppypaw has this covered." Spiderwhisker softly responds, still refusing to look back at Gatortail. He then dips his head a little more, before getting up and rushing off to who knows where.
Gatortail pouts, and he's pretty sure if he could've managed it, all of his fluff would've been flattened in his disappointment.
"You keep coming back, no matter how many times he makes it clear he isn't interested. Why?" Poppypaw questions, his voice even quieter and softer than Spiderwhisker's. Gatortail gives the apprentice a toothy grin, and gives a one shouldered shrug before sitting down, his tail curling around to rest on his paws as he fondly looks off in the direction Spiderwhisker disappeared.
"Don't really 'ave a reason, I guess. I just. I want 'im to be happy, yea? And I wanna be a part of that. Even if it means just tryin' to be friends." Gatortail then moves his gaze back to Poppypaw, and tilts his head at the scrunched up expression the apprentice is wearing.
"Now now, ain't nothin' to be upset about. Feelin's ain't alays reciprocat'd, an' that's just how it be sometimes."
Poppypaw takes a deep breath, and Gatortail watches in awe as the apprentice smooths over his features with such an enviable grace before he speaks again.
"I know you may not be the best to go to, in terms of being on the receiving end of affections. No offence," Gatortail raises and waves a paw at this, smiling lopsidedly. He isn't taking any offence by that. "but as someone who is being turned down, how would you, uh. How would you want them to let you down. Gently, so it doesn't hurt too bad."
Gatortail watches the way Poppypaw's claws sheathe and unsheathe as he speaks, and it's clear that's some kind of nervous tick of his. The apprentice is practically kneading the ground, and Gatortail fondly thinks that's adorable.
"Well, first off, how do you feel about 'im? Whoever it is you're lookin' t'be lettin' down easy?"
Poppypaw frowns again, and shoves aside the pile of sand he's been kneading at.
"They're a friend, I think. We only really started talking a lot more lately because my sister's horribly insistent for some reason, and he's really nice. I used to take some of the things he liked when I was a kit to try an get his attention, but I'm sure he's forgotten about that by now and that's why he's trying to be my friend. Lionpaw ad him asked me about crushes the other day, and I just. I dunno, I'm a medicine cat apprentice. We're not allowed to take mates or anything, so I've never really thought about it. But when I told them that, he got this really sad look on his face, and when he smiles at me lately it hasn't reached his eyes. It,"
Poppypaw takes a deep breath here, ducking his head to scowl at the ground.
"I don't know why, but it's. Really upsetting. I want him to smile. I want him to be happy all the time, and I want to be someone that makes him happy. But I think he likes me, like the way you seem to like Spiderwhisker, and I can't handle that. I have to find a way to let him down gently, so that he stops giving me those fake smiles."
Gatortail lets out a small huff of a laugh, and Poppypaw's head whips up to give him a very nasty look.
"Ah, apologies, Poppypaw. I didn't mean to slight you in some way. I just. I don't think you really wanna reject 'im, do you?"
Poppypaw's face drops at that, and he goes back to frowning at the ground. Gatortail gives a dramatic sigh, before getting up and brushing past him, nudging him gently as he goes. "You e'er need to talk 'bout this to someone again, I always got 'n open ear. Two, actually. Don't be a stranger, yea?" He doesn't wait for a response, and instead heads towards the warriors den. He's sure he just scrambled poor Poppypaw's brain; but he can't wait to talk to him about it again. Young love is always so cute.
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"You've overworked yourself, Fawnpaw. I'm afraid you'll be needing to rest this moon. And here," at this he pulls out a specially kept comb, and pushes it toward the apprentice. "Eat this, and just. Take it easy, okay? Your cough isn't that bad yet, but it could develop into something more serious, and we don't want that happening. I'm sure you'll be fine, as long as you take your honey and rest."
Fawnpaw nods as he listens to Spiderwhisker's words, staring blankly at the honey comb. Is he going to die? Spiderwhisker says he's going to be okay, but he's not to sure if that's the truth or just something the medicine cat is telling him to make him feel better.
The thought makes him frown, so he shoves it aside.
"Thank you, Spiderwhisker. I'll do my best." Fawnpaw finally responds, before carefully picking up the comb and moving himself to the little area of the medicine cat den that Spiderwhisker has told him he has to stay in. It's to make sure he doesn't accidentally get the other apprentices sick, but it's still a bit upsetting.
Apparently he fell asleep at some point, because he's shaken awake eventually by Cottonpaw. He smiles sleepily up at his brother, before frowning at the expression on his face. It's thunderous, and if Fawnpaw wasn't half asleep and sick he'd probably be scared.
"Is everything alright?" he questions, and practically gets whiplash from watching how quickly Cottonpaw's expression changes.
"Yeah, it's. Everything's fine, Fawn. You're fine, we're okay. It's okay."
Fawnpaw relaxes at his brother's voice, and hums out something that may or may not actually sound like the 'good' he was trying for, and then he's asleep again.
When he wakes up next, it's to Amberlight gently nudging him awake. He's a little confused, but allows her to get him up to a sitting position, and accepts the little pieces of fresh kill she rips off of the squirrel for him. He also eats a bit more of the honey when prompted, and slumps against her when she settles down next to him.
"Wh're's m' ma?" Fawnpaw questions sleepily, and if he was more lucid he'd be concerned about the way she tenses up, and the small growl that he hears. He's never heard Amberlight growl before, and convinces himself that it was just his imagination, before drifting off again. Maybe Cloverbloom will be here when he wakes up next time.
A few days later when Fawnpaw wakes up, he's glad to note that he feels significantly better than he has the last little while. He doesn't even know how long he's been in the medicine cat den, because he's just been sleeping whenever he can, and eating honey, and taking a few other random herbs that Spiderwhisker shoves at him. The whole medicine cat den smells of so many different herbs, that he's been feeling kinda loopy from the weird mixed scents on top of it all.
He hears voices outside, and strains to hear what's going on.
"Shut up! You have no right to be here. It's been a week and a half, Cloverbloom. Don't pretend like you didn't ignore him that whole time."
Amberlight? Weird, Fawnpaw's never heard her so mad. And why did she say his mom's name?
"Get. Out. Of. My. Way. You're not allowed to just, bar me from seeing my own son."
"She certainly can, and I hope she does. You have no right to call Fawn your son."
Mom, and Cottonpaw? Fawnpaw thinks about getting up, about going outside to see what's going on for himself, but he finds he can't move. He needs to know what's going on, and he just knows that the conversation will stop immediately if he comes out.
"What did you just say to me? Cotton, stop out of the way. I'm going to see Fawn, and you can not stop me."
"We can, and we will stop you, Cloverbloom. Your son fell ill with a mild cold, and you treated it like he was about to keel over and die at any moment. You wouldn't even come to see him for the last week and a half! Do you know how much he kept asking me to see you? Asking about when you'd come to see him? Do you know how much you probably hurt him by deciding he wasn't worth a second of your time?"
"Who gave you the fucking right to talk to me like that? I absolutely will be seeing my son, and if you don't get out of my way, I'll have to make you."
There's a laugh, and Fawnpaw shuts his eyes tight, trying to picture what the hell he's hearing.
"Really? You'll use force? You're usually pretty good at sweet talking, mother, but you're not at all a match for Amberlight in terms of strength. I suggest you back off, because when Fawnpaw learns about how easily you threw him aside, about how easily you accepted that he was just going to die here and you weren't even going to try and say goodbye before it happened? I doubt he'll want to see you."
There's a loud snarl, and then Fawnpaw can hear someone stalking away, and he can tell that it's his mother from the sound alone. He shuts his eyes tighter, and tries to will himself not to cry.
After a few moments he can feel two bodies curling up around him, and he shoves his face into Amberlight's side fur, and lets out a small sob as he feels Cottonpaw lick behind his ear.
He ends up falling asleep like this, and can't help but be extra hurt at how Cloverbloom never comes back to try again.
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Swanstar gives a small hum under her breath as she leads her patrol through the woods, fondly listening to Cottonpaw and Lionpaw chatter amongst themselves. She glances to her right for a moment before bumping her shoulder against Hawkeye's, and chuckling at when he sticks out his tongue at her.
Being around the apprentices remind her of being younger, and spending time with Hawkeye and Crownose. Tuna and Trout never liked to play with them, and Magpie just thought they were all annoying. She can tell Hawkeye feels the same, or else he wouldn't be playfully nudging her back right now before darting forward.
Swanstar gives a startled laugh, loud and clear, before chasing after him. She hears Cottonpaw give some kind of childish war cry from behind her,a nd can hear him and probably Lionpaw chasing after her and Hawkeye. Amberlight and Leopardfoot are unlikely to join in on the fun, but then all of a sudden Swanstar is yelping as she's shoved to the side Leopardfoot's lithe form.
Hawkeye gives a hearty laugh at the sight from where he's stopped and turned around, but it's quickly turned into an offended cry when the two apprentices are suddenly jumping up on his back and playfully nipping at his ears.
Swanstar scrambles back to her paws after managing to shove Leopardfoot off of her, just in time to see Amberlight roll her eyes dramatically. So, Swanstar crouches, and then leaps at Amberlight.
The fluffy molly gives an undignified yelp as she scurries out of the way, Swanstar catching a mouthful of tail fur when she lands.
There's bright laughter all around as the border patrol falls into a giant play fight, and Swanstar can't help but mentally thank StarClan for sending her these wonderful cats.
Suddenly, however, there's a shrill mew of a kit, and everything goes silent. After a few moments it happens again, and Amberlight is the first to surge forward in the direction the sound came from.
It takes Swanstar a few seconds to get her bearings, but then she's hot on Amberlight's heels as they follow the sound.
It's a bit of a ways away - which makes Swanstar wonder how strong the little kit's lungs are to have been heard that far away - before they finally find the source of the sound.
There's a plump black and white molly standing there, with the tiniest kit Swanstar's ever seen held gently in her jaws. It's probably a week, maybe two at the oldest, and it's clear that it isn't her kit.
Amberlight steps forwards, and it's clear to Swanstar how tense the other molly is.
"'r' y' g'ys a Cl'n?" the stranger manages around the kit in her mouth, eyes wide and pleading.
Swanstar then steps forward, shooting Amberlight a look before focusing on the pregnant cat in front of her.
"Yeah, yeah we are. I'm Swanstar, and we're from IslandClan. Who are you?"
The stranger awkwardly moves to lay down, and plays the kit down on her paws to speak easier. "I'm Rimestar. Or, I was, Rimestar, that is. I'm Rimefrost, now. I used to lead VerglasClan but," she trails off, eyes going a little sad for a few moments, before it's quickly replaced by a kind look again. "You don't hav'ta worry about me possibly overthrowing you or nothin', StarClan took my nine lives when I left. I lost my mate when I was on the way here, but I did find this little one. I don't know who her mother was, but she's Petalkit. And I'd really appreciate it if we could maybe stay in your camp? Until I have my own, at the least. Then I can maybe set out to find where Mallowpath ended up."
Leopardfoot then bounds forward, moving himself in front of Amberlight and Swanstar both. "Hey there, I'm Leopardfoot. I can bring Petalkit, if you'd like. Our camp is located in the lake, so you'll need to swim there."
Swanstar lets out a small sigh, and allows Leopardfoot to help the molly to her paws and carry the kit. She definitely chose the right cat to be Deputy, and isn't too worried about leaving him to help Rimefrost on his own. She nods to Amberlight, and then the two are heading back to camp, Cottonpaw and Lionpaw hot on their heels. Swanstar can't hear Hawkeye following, so she assumes her brother is also going to help.
Inhaling deeply, Swanstar slows down a little to gently bump shoulders with Amberlight. "Looks like we should get the nursery ready for new arrivals, huh?" She only receives a tense nod from Amberlight, but she knows the other molly is just caught up in her thoughts, and takes no offense. After all, what Cloverbloom did is still fresh in both of their minds.
Though, Swanstar can feel deep down that there's no chance that this Rimefrost will ever be anything like that.
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Post by obnixious on Jan 29, 2020 22:52:40 GMT -8
Humming softly, Bear buried her face more into the fluff in front of her and began drifting back to sleep. However, the sharp intake of breath above her makes her pause, before reaching out a paw to jab at the offender.
"Hey! What the hell!" Frostfur hisses in response, and Bearfang smiles before nuzzling closer once again.
"Hm, your breathing too loud and too fast. I'm trying to sleep here, Frost. Cut it out." Bearfang is certain that her voice is scratchy and full of sleepy undertones, but Frostfur seems to be putting effort into calming her breathing anyways.
They stay there for a while longer, listening as the other warriors get up and head out to start their days. That's good for them and all, but Bearfang is perfectly content staying here, with her face shoved into the fur of the molly that owns her heart. Not that she's going to tell her that, but still.
Eventually Frostfur lets out a pained whine, and begins softly pawing at Bearfang's back. "Come on, Bear. I gotta piss."
Bearfang's answering snort is very undignified, but she rolls off of her regardless, and listens fondly as the white molly scrambles to her paws and books it out of the den.
Yawning loudly, Bearfang gets up herself, and stretches out languidly. She can feel it in her bones that this is going to be a lazy day, and smiles fondly as she tries to memorize the feeling of Frostfur breathing under her.
After a few more moments she heads outside, and is pleased to note that Frostfur's already back in camp, clearly trying to ruffle Minnowflight's metaphorical feathers. Ignoring the two of them for now, she turns towards the apprentice den.
Sure enough, Redpaw is inside, still curled up between Cottonpaw and Lionpaw. It's really cute, how close they all are, and Bearfang decides she can let her apprentice sleep a bit more before taking her out for training.
Instead she heads over the Frostfur and Minnowflight, taking a small piece of prey with her as she does. It's absolutely going to be a slow day.
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Fawnpaw is practically vibrating with excitement as Poppypaw looks him over one last time. He finished off the last of the honey, and was more than ready to be let back out into the world.
True he had a little bit of a cough yet, but Spiderwhisker said that it probably wasn't anything serious; just some extra throat tickles as it leaves his system.
Poppypaw pulls back from where his ear was pressed up against Fawnpaw's chest, and beams up at him.
"Well, you're good to go. Take it easy still; you probably shouldn't start training up again until next moon just to be safe, but you should be fine!" Poppypaw proudly claims, and Fawnpaw gives an excited thank you over his shoulder as he rushes out of the den.
The first place he goes is the apprentice den, and is excited to find Redpaw.
"Redpaw! Hey!" he yells, and she whips around in surprise, but her expression is quick to change to joy.
"Fawnpaw! You're finally free!" she shouts back, before rushing forward to but heads with him playfully.
Their laughter rings brightly through the camp, and it isn't long before Cottonpaw appears, still soaking wet, and pounces on Fawnpaw.
"Look atchu! All healthy and happy! I told you it was all gonna be okay!" he crows, chest puffed out proudly as he easily ignores Fawnpaw's laughing protests at how he's being smothered.
"Get oooooooff!" Fawnpaw wheezes, and Cottonpaw finally does. However, not before he licks between Fawnpaw's eyes, and messes up his fur. He swats at the pure white tom in playful annoyance, before licking his own paw and bringing it up to try and fix it.
Looking back up, Fawnpaw beams at Redpaw, and blames him getting over his cold for the way his heart seems to leap when she laughs down at him.
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Redpaw frowns to herself, later on in the day. After Fawnpaw was back, she couldn't deny the strange feeling at the back of her throat. It started yesterday, when she was training with Bearfang. She couldn't focus on anything her mentor was trying to teach her, and ended up with a lung full of lake water when she ended up losing her balance.
She hadn't stopped coughing until just before Fawnpaw had been released, and after being around him and his leftover coughs for the rest of the day certainly hadn't helped keep it away.
Sighing heavily, she gets to her paws, and skulks off to the medicine cat den. She certainly hopes she didn't catch anything herself, but at this point? She certainly wouldn't be surprised if she did.
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Cottonpaw sighs heavily as he hears someone approaching him. He may not be looking in their direction, but he knows immediately that the careless kick of the back feet mean it's his mother.
"Cloverbloom," he greets, his voice hard and closed off. He is willing to hear what she has to say, but that doesn't mean he's going to pretend to be excited to see her. He hasn't spoken to her since when they got into that fight outside of the medicine cat den last moon, and isn't sure he wants to talk to her even now.
"I'm your mother. It would do you good to call me as such." Cloverbloom softly responds, and even just the sound of her voice makes his fur bristle. He only gives her a grunt in response, and her heavy sigh almost makes him smirk.
"I want to see Fawnpaw."
Cottonpaw finally looks away from the water, squinting at her cautiously. She looks a bit haggard, almost like she's been beating herself up about what she did. He look back to the water.
"If you really did, you would've gone to see him when he was with Spiderwhisker." he can practically feel her about to say something, and so he quickly speaks again. "Don't bring up that one time you went. You could've gone literally any other time. You could've seen him when he was first admitted; or in the last few days before he was allowed to leave. Do you know how many times he asked me when you were coming to see him?"
Cloverbloom sniffs haughtily, as if she's above this conversation or something. It makes Cottonpaw's skin crawl.
"Well, I tried to go and see him, but you and that vulgar hussy refused to let me."
Before she can say anything else, Cottonpaw snarls low and whips his head back to glare at her. "I know you didn't show up on your own accord. I heard Redpaw chewing you out about ignoring him; about you pretending he wasn't worth your time. You only showed up to get her off your back, and that's not what Fawnpaw needed. Fawnpaw needed love. Hell, he still needs it. And you made it clear that if it isn't convenient for you, that you won't be the one to provide it."
He gets up then, fully intent on heading back to camp to leave this ridiculous conversation.
"Cottonpaw, wait-"
"No, shut up. I don't want to hear whatever mouseshit you're planning to keep spewing. It's clear we can't rely on you. Besides," he pauses, and turns to give her a soft smile. "you could've gone and seen him yourself now, instead of coming to track me down to ask permission. Amberlight's truly proving to be more of a mother than you ever were."
And with that, he heads back to camp. He keeps his steps soft and even, not wanting Cloverbloom to think he's trying to flee, and making himself not prance or something. He can hear her angry, choked off sobs from behind him, but can't find it in him to care. He's said what he had to say, and now he just wants to get back to camp and take a nap.
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Panting heavily, a strange molly stands on the edge of the shores of the strange lake. She can see the island at the middle, and can clearly see that there's cats living on it, despite it being a ways away. The scents of this strange Clan are obvious, despite the water between them.
She's travelled for a long time, following faint scents here and there to make her way through these strange woods to get here. She used up the last of her travelling herbs the other day, and it honestly exhausted. She should--
"Hey, who're you?"
The molly gives a screech and jumps probably an entire tail length in the air, before whipping her entire body around to stare into the blue-green eyes of the stranger that spoke up while breathing heavily.
Taking a step back, she winces at the cold of the water, before looking up at the strange molly sternly.
"Who am I? Who are you? Appearing and scared the living hell out of me."
The stranger laughs, and she's shocked to note how it's such a sincere sound. Like she actually amused this strange, giant molly.
"Your funny! I'm Lionpaw. I'm part of IslandClan. So, who are you?" it's clear from the look in her eyes that she's actually curious to know, and Fennelpaw can seem some of the tension seeping from her bones the more she looks into Lionpaw's eyes.
"I'm, uh. I'm Fennelpaw. I used to be part of RoseClan? But," she stops and shuffles her paws, glancing down at the ground.
"Come on now, none of that frowning business!" Lionpaw chimes, and moves forward to bump her shoulder against Fennelpaw's with a bright grin, and Fennelpaw doesn't understand at all how she can be so nice to a complete stranger.
"You coming?" comes Lionpaw's voice from behind again, and Fennelpaw whirls around to see Lionpaw already a bit out on the water. Was she really so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the other molly enter the water or start swimming? "Come on! I'll take you to Swanstar, I'm sure you'll be able to stay with us! Even if you don't stay forever, Swanstar wouldn't turn you away if you just need a place to stay for a few days!"
Huh, so apparently everyone in this Clan is ridiculously trusting of strangers. Shaking it off, Fennelpaw bites down on the inside of her cheek as she steps into the water, shivering strongly at the cold. Lionpaw seems unaffected by it, so she hopes that if she does end up staying, that she manages to get used to it.
It looks like quite a bit of a swim, but Fennelpaw's almost looking forward to it. Maybe she'll be able to find a new home here. She certainly hopes that's the case.
Lionpaw grins back at her, and then continues swimming back up a bit ahead of her, and Fennelpaw pushes aside all other thoughts as she tries to focus on getting herself across. After all, she can think about this all she wants once she's finally there. In IslandClan.
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