tmd-clangen

[tmd-clangen]

MOON 0 | SMILING MOON

As the two strange rogues fled, Heartstripe came to a sudden halt. “Cosmos above! Foxpaw, are you alright?!” Heartstripe cried, veering over to her apprentice. At this point she didn’t care if the other cats got away as long as she ensured his safety. I can’t possibly let Star Night down on the honor of mentorship! But this isn’t about you right now, Heartstripe!

Foxpaw shook himself briskly as the two rogues fled up the slope and away, growling. “Yeah, I’m fine!” he replied, frustrated, though the tone wasn’t a jab at her. “Just all scratched up now…”

Heartstripe pressed her paws to his fur to part the tufts and look closer at each of the red marks on his pelt. “Are you sure you’re okay?! We should get back to camp quickly, wounds shouldn’t stay out in the cold for so long, that’s not good–”

“I promise I’m completely alright, they don’t even hurt that bad. Please don’t worry too much, I’m okay,” Foxpaw meowed, backing away from her a little and smiling lightly. “That tom that attacked me seemed pretty young and inexperienced. They both seemed really little.”

Heartstripe nodded slowly, having made the same observation. The pitches of the tom’s voices, their shorter statures, the lightness of the wounds… It’s likely they’re not any older than six moons, maybe even younger. “Okay. Well, still, we ought to return quick. Star Night is going to want to hear about this. And you know Asterhaze is serious about never leaving even the smallest things unattended.”

“Yup yup, I gotchu,” Foxpaw replied humoredly. “Let’s go then.” He stuck his bushy tail up high and turned around to leave the other way.

Heartstripe let out a pressed sigh, catching up to him and taking the lead. “As if we didn’t already have enough problems to worry about… now there’s the possibility of rogues,” she fretted.

Foxpaw shrugged his shoulders, then said, surprisingly grimly, “Well, they might not be a problem for long, if the next moon turns out to be a blood moon. The beasts will take care of ‘em for us… you know, what usually happens?”

“I don’t wish that fate on any cat, even if they oppose us!” Heartstripe murmured sharply. “I’m rather appalled you think that way–”

“I mean! Not to say I like that happening to anyone, either!” Foxpaw tried hurriedly to repair his statement. “But it’s just… you know. That’s what happens all the time. We have an outsider problem and we don’t interfere because we know we’re guarded enough already and, nature will, well…”

“All right, why don’t we just stop talking about this,” Heartstripe laughed strainedly, trying to put an end to the topic. It’s a little uncomfortable to see he thinks this way… I have no doubt it’s because of Glowroar. She shook her head thinking of the violence-happy golden tom. “I understand what you’re saying but Star Night is going to want to hear about this issue anyway.”

And I need to see how I can resolve this, to a permanent end, Heartstripe thought to herself, brows furrowing slightly as she gazed off into the starry sky. It’s my duty, now.

"Anyway, you think you did good?"

Foxpaw exclaimed proudly, "For sure! I think that's been one of my better training sessions recently! And next time, I won't get all clawed up by some little cats."

“During a training outing, Heartstripe suggests to Foxpaw that this would be a good time for them to practice all sorts of things. Foxpaw gives her all he’s got! However, when they’re about to leave, they have a stressful encounter with two strange cats. While the assumed rogues get away unharmed and Foxpaw is left scratched up, Heartstripe is determined to tell Star Night everything and figure out how to end this new problem.”

[tmd-clangen]

Something is rustling in the grass...

Hello, dear furends, gather round! The breeze off the lake is cool and refreshing, and the freshkill pile is stocked full. All cats will eat well tonight— though in leaner times, harsher times, purrhaps some cats may find themselves lashing out at their Clanmates... The world is wonderful, ever-growing, but all the more dangerous fur it. It's time ClanGen expanded to match.

ClanGen v0.11.1 has released, available now via auto-updater or https://clangen.io/download

Feature: Freshkill pile & nutrition system

Feature: “Destroy accessory” button

Content: Lakeside Forest Background

Content: Murder for the new year

Content: expanded scars: "HINDLEG", "BACK", "QUILLSIDE", "SCRATCHSIDE", "TOE", "BEAKSIDE", "CATBITETWO", "SNAKETWO", "FOUR" Expanded tortie: 'FRECKLED' white patches: 'BLAZEMASK', 'TEARS'

Content: Sibling and constrained patrols

Content: weights and mates

Content: expanded war events

Content: more patrols

QOL: Cat List UI Update

QOL: same sex setting update

QOL: update for freshkill switch

QOL: Patrol type decision enabled in classic

QOL: updated credits list

QOL: change to poetry

Plus many more bug fixes, tweaks to events and patrols, and more!

[tmd-clangen]

MOON 0 | SMILING MOON

part one | part two

cws: violence, blood, eyestrain (art)

The two apprentices went on for quite some time while the smiling moon slid through the sky. By the time both of them were starting to get exhausted, they were laying back-down in the sand, giggling about all their attempts of things.

Sure, they were both really sloppy, but they were having a great time. A pretty fun time with at least some learning experience, with their back-and-forth tips and critique to each other.

“Ready to get back to it?” Leappaw meowed after they’d been laying down for a while.

“For sure,” Irispaw replied, rolling himself back up onto his feet.

But that was when, from downwind, a new scent blew in. It didn’t smell like prey; it smelled like another cat. Multiple other cats. “Mousedung, Leappaw,” Irispaw hissed, “there are cats coming!”

“What?!” Leappaw exclaimed with shock. His ears pinned against his head and he quickly got himself up.

This is horribly sudden! Irispaw looked around swiftly before spotting the nearest barrel. “Quick– get in here with me!” Irispaw whispered urgently. 

He turned to it and dropped his body without hesitance, crawling in through its hole. Leappaw followed after a little too quickly, butting his head into his side before Irispaw fully turned to give him room. It was a tight space with both of them inside, a little too tight for Irispaw’s liking, but it would have to do in a situation like this.

The two apprentices held their breath as the sound of pawsteps soon arrived alongside the scent. Then, voices. They were incoherent for some time until the scent became stronger and the footsteps louder. With that, the voices were clearer.

“Heartstripe?” A somewhat young-sounding voice called, similar to their own. “Check it out, there’s pawprints here.”

“Pawprints?” a second voice echoed, feminine and questioning, assumedly belonging to whoever ‘Heartstripe’ was. “How many?”

Two soft thmmps, and the sound of pawsteps muted. They must be in the sand now, Irispaw thought, biting his lip. Have we already been caught so fast?

“It looks like two sets of them. Two cats,” the first voice said. Irispaw heard Leappaw’s breath hitch in his throat. “They’re not big tracks. It doesn’t look like their claws were out.”

“Well, I recall Star Night and Orangepaw stopped by here yesterday. Could still be their tracks,” Heartstripe hummed.

Irispaw nodded quickly as if there were anyone seeing it. Yes! We’re definitely not new cats around here, definitely your… wait.

“Star Night,” Leappaw murmured out, sounding as surprised as Irispaw felt. “That’s a leader title. Is there…”

“Another colony around here?” Irispaw finished his thought, blinking with realization. Heartstripe does sound like a colony name. She must be a warrior. I wonder who the younger cat is…

“We’re on someone else’s territory,” Leappaw whispered with a lilt of worry in his voice. “We gotta get outta here.”

“You think?” Irispaw shook his head. The other two cats were still talking outside. “But we can’t right now. Not while they’re lingering around here.”

And so… the two of them waited. And waited, and waited, and waited, on and on and on. A ludicrous amount of time passed and all either of them could do was listen as the two cats scuffled and sparred in the sand clearing, assumedly training, just like he and Leappaw were supposed to do. 

Irispaw gritted his teeth. This wasn’t at all how he wanted things to go, it was so frustrating! Only the Cosmos knew how much training they were going to have to make up all on their own. They couldn’t afford to have any time robbed from them.

They also couldn’t afford to be caught by a rival colony. Stars, Poolgleam’s gonna freak out when we have to tell him about this… Irispaw worried.

After what felt like almost two hours, the two cats seemed to be quieting down. They sounded like they were exchanging compliments and settling down to go back to their colony. Irispaw nudged Leappaw slightly.

Leappaw startled and almost yelped before Irispaw shoved a paw over his snout. “Were you sleeping just now?” Irispaw asked him, a little astounded.

Once he removed his paw, Leappaw whispered back unconvincingly, “Uh, definitely not.”

“Okay, sure, well, I think they’re leaving now,” Irispaw told him. He slunk forward a little. “I’m going to check.”

Irispaw poked his head out of the opening of the barrel, looking around. There were definitely tons more pawprints in the sand now, and a few stray pieces of fur, but he couldn’t see either of the cats around. He cautiously stepped out of the barrel completely and kept himself close to the ground, tail low.

His gaze swept to one side and he froze. There were the two cats, with their backs turned, talking about something or other. Now was their best chance to get out of here undetected. He tapped his paw on the ground twice, and a minute later, Leappaw crept out of the barrel as well and joined him.

Irispaw repeated the tapping gesture with a swipe of his paw and then gestured from Leappaw to himself with his tail, ordering him to follow fast. He began to creep forward through the sand as quickly and quietly as possible, and Leappaw stayed very close. Irispaw felt like he couldn’t breathe as they got closer and closer to the sloped wall of the clearing.

Then, behind him, Leappaw suddenly yelped.

Irispaw’s head shot back with alarm. Leappaw held his lightly bleeding paw above a sharp rock that had been hidden in the sand. The moment he looked up at Irispaw with wide eyes, he realized his error. And in the same moment, the heads of the two cats turned rapidly over their shoulders, just as alarmed.

One of them was a smoke-ginger tom with white brows and underbelly, staring at them with surprised hazel-green eyes. The other was a mostly white she-cat with patches of brown tabby fur, her own sage-green eyes looking just as taken aback. She whipped fully around and, though her expression seemed almost frightened if anything, unsheathed the claws of one paw and swiped them above her head vigorously.

In an instant, the ginger-furred tom spun on his heels and charged toward Irispaw and Leappaw.

Irispaw shrieked with fear, turning around and bolting toward the wall. Leappaw cried out and ran after him. Irispaw dug his claws into the dirt slope and tried to scramble his way up, panic enveloping his mind. Even further panic surged through him when he felt the snag of teeth on his tail. “No! Stop!” Irispaw screamed.

The cat yanked him down and his claws came loose from the earth, dropping from the slope and falling back-first hard into the sand. In an instant his assailant’s heavy paws were against his own wrists, pinning him down. Irispaw cried out and tried to bat against his underbelly with his back feet, but the other cat was significantly larger than he was– and apparently a whole lot more durable, completely unflinching even when Irispaw made contact.

“You quit that!” Irispaw heard Leappaw yowl. He looked past the ginger tom’s shoulders only to see Leappaw taking a wide bound back off of the high slope. Leappaw made collision and clung to the cat’s back, making him holler with surprise as he staggered and let Irispaw free.

Irispaw took a moment-long gasp and clambered back onto his paws. He backed away rapidly and darted back to the wall, beginning his way up, but over his shoulder still watched round-eyed as Leappaw dug his claws into the ginger tom’s back. The cat hissed in pain and wrenched himself to one side, flinging Leappaw off. Leappaw, however, managed to land skillfully on his feet and charged forward again with an angry cry. Before the tom could draw back, he swiped at the cat’s front legs and drew a few droplets of blood from shallow cuts.

“Foxpaw!” The white-and-brown she-cat finally shouted, shaking herself from stillness. She began to run over and Irispaw’s fur stood even higher. He let out whimpers of distress until at last he finally made it to the top, hauling himself over the edge and back onto flat ground among the fronds.

He whirled around and looked down to see Leappaw aiming one more swipe at the tom’s haunches, having darted around him now. “We have to go! Get out of there!” Irispaw screamed.

The swipe made lightly-bloody contact and then Leappaw backpedalled fast, head shooting up to meet Irispaw’s eyes. As the ginger tom hissed and backed away as well, Leappaw called back, “I’m coming!” then ran for the wall.

The white-and-brown she-cat nearly came right for Leappaw, but when Irispaw thought she was going to catch him for sure, she instead came to a screeching halt to tend to the ginger tom. Leappaw scrambled up while Irispaw watched her fuss over his wounds and ask him repeatedly over and over if he was okay.

Leappaw nearly slipped again and Irispaw jerked his head forward to catch Leappaw’s scruff in his jaws. With both their strength, he was hauled up finally. “Going, going, getting out of here!” Irispaw cried, not wasting another moment before he bolted through the ferns and into the forest.

Leappaw followed him swiftly and yelped, “We are absolutely not telling Poolgleam about this!”

“You mousebrain, we absolutely are!”

“After being allowed by Poolgleam, Leappaw and Irispaw set out to go training. Irispaw suggests they should try practicing some hunting techniques he used to hear about from the warriors. They don’t have a lot of success as it’s difficult to replicate everything without a live demonstration, but they do have a lot of fun! However, just when they’re getting the hang of things, a strange apprentice from another colony nearly catches them…”

[tmd-clangen]

Soo I've been noticing there are a lot of terminology renames. Like medicine cats are now clerics, clans are now colonies, Starclan is now Star Colony and/or the Cosmos (I'm confused about this tbh). What's the reason? Is there any difference?

theres a lot of reason for these changes and it all mostly comes down to my own personal preference! some changes allow a small level of separation from warriors as well which i feel helps because i would like to make it clear this story is more Built Off Of warriors than it IS warriors, if that makes sense! it's so fundamentally changed that to me it's a lot more than a purely warriors story

the change from medicine cats to clerics was inspired by @/bonefall ‘s au expansions! i would highly recommend checking them out ^_^ currently im working on a pretty big lore/worldbuilding doc for tmd which ill be posting in chunks to this account, and there will be a specific post on clerics!

the star colony/cosmos are kind of interchangeable, it really just depends on what fits better in the moment. cosmos is usually used for the unknowable collective while star colony is used more specifically. this is a bit hard to explain but you'll see it in action. in some cases it also just depends on a specific cat's personal preference!

[tmd-clangen]

MOON 0 | SMILING MOON

part one | part two

“Yes! Yes, thank you Poolgleam!” Irispaw meowed happily, running back out of the cleric’s den and bounding back into the clearing.

By the edge of the shiningfence, Leappaw waited for him, turning his head to look over as Irispaw came toward him. He grinned. “What’d Poolgleam say? Did he say yes?” Leappaw asked excitedly.

“Mhm! He said we had to stay in the closest parts of the territory but that we can go otherwise,” Irispaw affirmed, just as excited. “He seemed a lot more willing to let us go now that the snow’s let up today.”

“Great!” Leappaw exclaimed. “I already told Bush and Serp we were probably leaving. So we can just go.”

“Cool, okay!” Irispaw led the way through the shiningfence’s gap with Leappaw following right after him. 

The two of them moved practically rump-to-rump as they padded through the thin snow coating the ground, kicking up flakes every now and then. Even the trees weren’t quite as coated as before. Unlike the last few days which had been snowing seemingly without end, the snow must’ve let up in the middle of last night and hadn’t returned since then. Leappaw’s light pelt no longer totally blended into the white landscape. Irispaw laughed beneath his breath.

Leappaw caught it, asking, “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about how you don’t blend in so much anymore,” Irispaw said, playfully adding, “now that the snow’s not so thick, you’re not invisible anymore!”

Leappaw laughed now. “You implying I’ve been invisible all this time? Well you’ll sure see me when I smack you in the face!” Leappaw aimed a light paw-jab at Irispaw’s face and he yelped, ducking out of the way.

“Hey! We’re not in training mode yet!” Irispaw cried with amusement. “We still gotta keep walking out ‘til we reach the super secret special spot I found.”

Leappaw stuck his tongue out briefly then asked, “How long until we get there? What’s the spot, even?”

“Well if I told you it wouldn’t be much of a secret, would it?” Irispaw teased.

“Aw, c’mon now, just tell me!”

Irispaw took on an elderly voice and croaked out, “Patience, grasshopper!” Leappaw immediately threw his head back and cackled. Irispaw snickered alongside him.

“It won’t take us long to get there anyway,” Irispaw said, “I still remember the fastest way there, so.”

“Good! I’m excited,” Leappaw meowed, his lashing tail already telling of that fact. “What do you wanna do anyway?”

“We should really try to learn some hunting techniques first of all,” Irispaw remarked. “I think that’s probably the most important thing right now. After all, prey dead to the cold can only fill our bellies for so long, and even then the leafbare cold won’t last forever…”

Leappaw nodded agreeably. “That’s true. How should we start?”

Irispaw paused for a moment. “Err… I don’t really know,” he admitted. “I remember hearing about some hunting techniques from the warriors, and seeing a couple demonstrated in camp. Maybe we can work off of those…?”

“Yeah! That’s somewhere to start,” Leappaw chirped optimistically. “Tell me what you heard?”

“Uhh… lemme think for a little bit to make sure I fully remember everything right,” Irispaw said.

The two apprentices walked further onward through the forest. It took them some time, but eventually Irispaw spotted the familiar wall of fronds that blockaded the spot he’d found about a week ago. He flicked his tail and beckoned Leappaw to follow him faster. Once there, Irispaw nosed through the fronds and stepped forward, carefully placing his front paws on the inclined slope.

Irispaw slid down into the hollow, smiling. A moment later though it receded when Leappaw yowled. He whipped around and saw that Leappaw had instead fallen straight down the slope, landing on his chest. He didn’t appear hurt, though, and Irispaw hurriedly murmured, “Shoot! Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that. The entrance here’s just a straight drop down.”

“Would’ve been helpful to know that earlier,” Leappaw muttered, though his voice was light. He picked himself back up and brushed off his fluffy chest, before looking around. “Wow… this place is cool.”

“Isn’t it!” Irispaw meowed with delight.

The large hollow was surrounded by steep earth walls that were brimmed with ferns and other hardy leafbare plants at their tops. The ground in the hollow, once the snow was brushed away, was revealed to be sandy. To Irispaw’s pleasure when he’d first found the hollow, it was the soft and warm kind of sand rather than the coarse and cool kind. Even with the cold weather, it retained a certain amount of heat that perhaps wasn’t completely natural– though Irispaw didn’t really care whether it was or not.

Scattered around the hollow were three big, cylindrical metal things; Irispaw remembered that Poolgleam had called them barrels. The barrels were all black, but each had a few colorful markings on them that looked kind of splattered. They were much bigger than the apprentices, and inside the carved-out holes in them, Irispaw believed they could both probably squeeze in and hide away. Bushkit would definitely like these a lot once he could wander around as an apprentice.

“Alright, what do you remember?” Leappaw asked again.

Irispaw explained, “Well, first of all, the basics of course. We need to make sure our scents don’t collide with the way the wind blows so that our prey doesn’t sniff us out first. Also, be super quiet of course. I was told the warriors use tail signals, but I don’t remember any of them… so we might have to make up our own.”

“We’ll get to it when we get to it,” Leappaw supposed.

“So just watch the ground for stuff like twigs and rocks and leaves and things like that. But if you find stuff that’s already broken, then that can tell you if prey has passed by, or something,” Irispaw finished.

Leappaw nodded. “Makes sense!”

“Okay. I think we can try out some of the stuff I saw, then. So first of all, the hunter’s crouch… we gotta press ourselves close to the ground, but not too close.” Irispaw dropped his body closer to the earth, and Leappaw mimicked his movement. “And then we… point our tails…”

“In what direction?” Leappaw asked.

“Straight backward, I think,” Irispaw said, sticking his tail back. Leappaw again did the same. He chuckled. “You just gonna obey every word I say?”

“Aren’t you the expert right now?” Leappaw laughed back.

“Hah! I guess so. Hopefully this won’t be too hard to remember everything,” Irispaw mused. “Okay, from here, you have to get your front legs ready to leap and hind legs ready to pounce… wait, no, other way around. My bad.”

“‘Won’t be too hard to remember everything’, when mice fly,” Leappaw teased.

“Oh, shut your mouth!” Irispaw retorted playfully, lightly batting him over the snout. The two of them shifted their legs into ready positions. “Why don’t you lead, if you think you can do it better.”

“Well, maybe I just might,” Leappaw ventured, sticking his tongue out. “‘Kay, watch me do this like the masters do!”

Leappaw wriggled his haunches a little and, true to his name, leapt forward. His back legs sprang to propel him onward, and his front paws landed forcefully in the sand as if he were pouncing on a mouse. He straightened back up and looked over at Irispaw. “Well, how’s that for some first-try skill?” he boasted.

“Totally sloppy,” Irispaw jeered back lightheartedly. Leappaw gave a mocking gasp of outrage. “I could totally do way better than that.”

“Well, let’s see it then!”

“You will!” Irispaw followed the movements he’d performed, back first, then front- jump forward- land perfectly. Except his wasn’t quite so perfect, when he nearly misplaced his paws and overcompensated his back ones.

Leappaw giggled and Irispaw stared hard at him. Leappaw called out, “I saw you slip!”

“No, you absolutely did not!”

[tmd-clangen]

next moon update will be out later today! this one’s a two-parter though i’m not sure if the second part will also be out today or tomorrow instead

[tmd-clangen]

Was the Gilded Colony named that way before or after the destruction of the old colony? How’s the new colony received by the other three colonies if you can say??

the present gilded colony bears the same name as the old gilded colony! poolgleam and the others are carrying on the name in honor :] they want to try and rebuild the gilded colony as best they can, even if theyve lost so much

as for the second question, i cant answer that yet… but it will be explored very soon by one colony in particular! ^_^

[tmd-clangen]

Hehe, can anon emojis be claimed? If so, I would like to be 💝anon! I love your work so far!

for sure! ive always liked anons claiming emojis, i think its fun and it lets me know if someone comes back around multiple times :3 even if i dont know your name i still have something to recognize you by!! its coolio!!

[tmd-clangen]

just to put it out there! school has started for me again so posts might be slower for a bit while i work on art and writing in the free time i have ^_^ thx for your patience!

[tmd-clangen]

MOON 0 | SMILING MOON

“Serpentkit and Irispaw know Bushkit will make a great colonymate.”

“Bush? Where are you?” Serpentkit calls, trotting around the clearing. The two of them were playing hide and seek; and perhaps that was a bad idea, because Serpentkit knew how serious Bushkit got about it. He’d hide away for hours and never surrender. Serpentkit had decided to entertain the younger kitten anyway, mostly because he wanted something to do, too.

Bushkit always found him so easily, though! In contrast to Bushkit’s incredible hiding skills, Serpentkit apparently “stuck out like a sore paw”. Serpentkit sighed. He lasted about ten minutes at best, maybe, before Bushkit found him hiding amongst the gray ferns behind the monster carcass that Poolgleam had decided to be the new cleric’s den.

“Not fair!” Serpentkit had cried. “I don’t know how you find me so fast.”

“I’m just way too good at this,” Bushkit had boasted back in reply, puffing up his already chubby self. “I just have the best eyes.”

“I thought that was my thing,” Serpentkit had whined, recalling how he always found really cool bugs in the most hidden places back at the old camp.

Serpentkit shook his head. He could still find cool bugs here! It didn’t matter if he wasn’t good at finding Bushkit. Or… maybe it did. Now that he was thinking about it– Bushkit being unable to be found right now was making him nervous. Scared. He swept his head around with wide eyes and coiled his long tail around his legs.

“Buuush!” Serpentkit cried.

Serpentkit saw movement out of the corner of his eye, then, and turned to see Irispaw slinking out of the young cats’ monster den. Irispaw flicked an ear and stared at him with a hint of concern in his eyes. “Serp? Is something the matter?”

“Bushkit and I are playing hide and seek and I can’t find him,” Serpentkit whined. “It’s getting me worried now…”

Irispaw blinked, then casual amusement washed over his face. “Ah, Bush’s infamous hiding skill, huh?”

Serpentkit nodded with a mumble, and Irispaw chuckled. “Have you considered looking bigger?”

“What do you mean?” Serpentkit asked him, confused.

Irispaw lifted his nose toward the sky, and Serpentkit followed his gesture. Then he gasped. Standing on top of the tall shiningfence was Bushkit, looking quite uncomfortably squatted onto it in order to keep his balance. Irispaw laughed again.

“Bush! What are you doing up there?!” Serpentkit squeaked. “That’s dangerous!”

Despite the less than ideal position he was in, Bushkit flashed a toothy grin from way up high. “Stars above, finally! I’ve been up here, like, almost the whole time!” he hollered back.

“How are you gonna get down?!”

“Like this!” Bushkit walked along the top of the shiningfence– somewhat shakily, but stable enough he was far from the teetering point that he’d fall– and then simply hopped onto the top of the nearest monster carcass. From there he strode happily across its spine and slid down its sloped head, landing back on the ground once he hopped off. Serpentkit bounded over to meet him and butted his head into his chest.

“That’s hardly safe!” Serpentkit fussed, “I can’t believe you would stay up there the whole time!”

“I can’t believe you took so long to notice, silly!” Bushkit retorted playfully. 

As Irispaw walked over to join them, he asked, “How did you even get up there?”

“I’ve been watching Poolgleam climb up the shiningfence whenever he leaves. My paws are still too small to hook into it like he does, but I can walk across the top!” Bushkit exclaimed.

“Very impressive,” Irispaw nodded.

“And dangerous!” Serpentkit squealed once more.

Bushkit shook his head with a bubbly laugh. “Aw, c’mon, Serp, no it’s not! It’s really fine. Just as long as you can balance good. And I can!”

“The balance and climbing skill will be really helpful when you start training,” Irispaw remarked thoughtfully, “Maybe you should show all of us how you do it? Don’t tell him I told you this, but Leappaw is really bad at balancing… he’s fallen off logs, like, several times now and it’s so funny every time.”

The three of them shared a bout of giggling, imagining Leappaw tripping off of a toppled log. “I’ll go get him right now,” Bushkit mewled, racing off toward the monster carcass.

Serpentkit watched him go, then looked up at Leappaw. “You really think it's good? Even though it’s scary and dangerous?”

“Well… considering our conditions… yeah.” Irispaw nodded slowly, contemplatively. “It's best for us to start the scary and dangerous learning as soon as possible, I think.”

“That makes sense…” Serpentkit murmured.

Irispaw then sighed, sounding contented. “He’s going to make a great warrior. Already learning so quickly and we never even asked him,” he chuckled, “that’s good initiative.”

Serpentkit nodded agreeably. “And just a good colonymate all around… I’m glad we have Bush.” Serpentkit smiled. He remembered every time Bushkit had always been there by his side to help him feel better. Bushkit was always that way, and Serpentkit hoped he always would be. The younger kit’s boundless optimism and enthusiasm was something he wished he had for himself, but getting it from someone so close to him was perhaps even better. “He’s always really good.”

Irispaw smiled further. “I couldn’t agree more.”

[tmd-clangen]

MOON 0 | SMILING MOON

As Poolgleam evaluated the herbstores within the strangenooks of the monster, he hummed thoughtfully. His count of most things was at least semi-favorable; he had the bare essentials, if anything, and that brought an air of peace to his mind. But he felt… burdock was important, and he wasn’t currently in possession of it. His brows furrowed. That should change.

By all means, I should still be able to find some. The tall plant was hardy even through leafbare, so he reasoned it was likely still possible to find it around. The sooner he did, the better. He looped his tail under the handle of his small wicker basket- unfortunately the only one he’d been able to make so far, too busy otherwise- and held it up to carry, paws carrying a dull tap tap tap against the monster’s insides as he exited through its open wound.

He drew in a breath of the chilly air, blinking rapidly at a snowflake that landed on his nose. Then, hearing laughter, Poolgleam looked back up and saw all four of the little cats playing in the snow, seeming to be having a great time. Leappaw and Irispaw appeared to be sparring, kicking piles of snow at each other and fighting totally unfairly, while it looked like Bushkit and Serpentkit were trying to build their own pile of snow as big as they could. The pile was already taller than them, and Poolgleam chuckled.

As he padded over to them through the paw-deep snow, he meowed, “I’m going to go out to gather some herbs, okay? Don’t go anywhere while I’m gone.”

Leappaw stopped frolicking for a moment to look over at him, his tail held high and a cheerful smile remaining on his face. “Yeah, yeah, of course! We’re having too much fun anyw–OOOUF!” A clump of snow was thrown directly into his face by Irispaw, who cackled with glee and stuck his tongue out.

“Goodness, you kids are wild,” Poolgleam huffed with amusement. “I shouldn’t be gone long.”

“Okay!” Bushkit squealed from over by the big snow pile while Leappaw gave an exaggerated yell and barreled right into Irispaw.

Poolgleam nodded to himself then walked past the young cats. Not much more than a fox-length away, though, he turned his head back over his shoulder. “Hey– hey, all of you, please don’t stay out here too long, okay?” he meowed worriedly. “It’s going to get very cold soon with all this snow and I don’t want any of you freezing and miserable.”

“Sure, we’ll go in soon!” Irispaw called this time. He went down seconds later to Leappaw’s batting at his face, and retorted with a shriek and kick of his legs.

A somewhat relieved smile crossed Poolgleam’s face. He knew out of any of them that Irispaw would be the one to really make them all take shelter in the monster when they needed to. With that fret taken care of, he slipped through the hole in the shiningfence and made his way out.

Leaving the kids alone was still something he was always anxious about. Several times he’d nearly clawed himself awake at night to check on them, just in case, even when the secure part of him knew they were safe as long as they stayed within the boundaries of the shiningfence. And even more safe with the Smiling Moon shining in the deep dark sky above. No beasts would be around to threaten any of them… he could have been resting easy all this time, but his mind still found itself wandering lost in the realm of the past moon’s horror.

His jaw clenched tightly. He had to cope with this, all of this. It was just the five of them out here now… he had to make it work. Thinking about this wasn’t going to help with his search right now, anyhow. His recollection, helpful as ever, pointed out the most likely growing spot for the burdock would be near the thunderpaths he’d scouted out several days ago. But while he could remember the thunderpaths at least, he couldn’t remember whether he’d actually seen any burdock plants there.

Poolgleam attributed it to his muddled mind at that time… in the still-red sky, he’d been trying to scour the entirety of the nearby area to make note of its landmarks while also avoiding all the beasts crawling about. His searches had been hasty and only half-thought through, so while he could remember the key lays of the land at the very least, no specific details about them were recalled. Now that it was safer… he was probably going to have to do another big comb-through of the territory.

Puffs of fog trailed from his mouth as he kept it open to catch the scent of the thunderpath, first and foremost. After wandering around for an amount of time that was a bit too long for him to be pleased with, it wasn’t hard for its acrid feeling to catch and he followed the trail. Evergreen trees towered around him until they grew sparser and sparser just over the span of half an hour. 

Again, much too long for his comfort. At least he finally found the slick black thunderpath, gazing down its trail. Large metal trees with hanging glowing boxes were interspersed regularly along it to light its way. The Smiling Moon was making its way closer to the horizon, now, a little over halfway through the sky. He looked far out, gazing past the rolling landscapes below the nearby cliff and at the distant ocean. Nearby the ocean and its long-spanning beach were settlements that looked like they’d once belonged to twolegs… a very colorful looking gathering of twoleg dens on the section of the beach directly in front of his gaze, and to the further southeast an incredibly long and large bridge that was surrounded by countless other twoleg dens.

Poolgleam shivered slightly and decided he’d spent long enough with his eyes on the landscape rather than in the ground where he’d find what he needed. He sniffed at the air and kept his jaws parted again, pressing his head a little lower to the ground. Of course, he didn’t want to dip his nose into the snow, so he didn’t actually get all that close…

He was at this for what felt like, and unfortunately was, a very long time. Gazing up at the moon once again and determining his time, he’d been out here walking down the trail of the thunderpath for far too long. And still no sign of the burdock… was his sense of smell really failing him right now?!

If it’s fruitless out here, I should really get back to camp… make sure they’re all safe… Another tight shiver ran through Poolgleam’s body and he shook his head. “No, no, they’ll all make sure of that th-themselves,” he murmured aloud, trying to reassure himself that they would be just fine until he returned. He really needed to find this burdock…

The snow fell harder and continued to blanket the land heavier, coating his fur with cold white flecks that sent chills through his bones. But he wouldn’t give up just yet. They needed burdock. His pace grew more hurried. “By all the stars!” he cried, throwing his head up with frustration. “Where is this damn heeeer–”

His gaze leveled again and suddenly he was staring right at the towering plant. Poolgleam berated himself in his head for ever thinking to swear on them and instead exclaimed “Oh thank the Cosmos, finally.”

He unsheathed his claws and got to digging through the snow. Getting past the white layer was the easy part, but when it left behind the chilled earth below, that’s when things got hard. He gritted his teeth as he sank his claws into the cold hard dirt and tried to dig. Huffs of exertion left his jaws and with that only more and more puffs of cold foggy breath. 

Poolgleam was shivering more and more as he went. The biting freeze in the air and in the ground was leaching into his body, slowly but gravely surely. But he couldn’t give up yet… He was so… At long last, he saw the long black roots of the burdock streaking through the cold soil and gave a gasp of relief. The roots looked like they trailed underneath the thunderpath as well, far too anchored to even try to dig those parts out.

He reached his paws towards the roots and leaned forward–

Then Poolgleam gasped again, this time from the sheer cold, catching himself just barely before he fell over. The roots were right there but he knew the signs. His body was demanding he go home and he had to obey it. He let out a breath that quickly ascended into a frustrated growl. How foolish he was to spend such a long time out here even without result! He was incredibly lucky he hadn’t already succumbed to the cold. But now he needed to get back to camp fast.

Poolgleam wasn’t sure how quickly he could.

-----

But, just barely fortunately for him, it didn’t take long with the newfound urgency in his steps. In the heavy snowfall and the moon headed even further toward the horizon, now the young cats were nowhere to be seen; likely having turned in an hour ago when it was really getting bad. More lethargically now, he slunk through the hole in the shiningfence once again and gave himself a groan of effort.

Just another minute of trotting through the snow and he made his way back through the open wound of the monster and into the cleric’s den. With the chills in his body making him absolutely miserable and leaving him drained of energy, he didn’t even feel like jumping into his proper nest on top of the softbody. He instead slunk into the thinpelt nest underneath the metal frame that held up the softbody.

Poolgleam began to lick at his pelt the wrong way, hoping to dissipate the chills enough that he’d be able to rest well for some time. The burning up would cease… If he could just handle that, he could handle eating feverfew in the morning to help soothe it further. But right now, he just needed to sleep… he was so tired.

He found it funny how he’d been the one warning the kids about staying out of the cold, lest they get chills, as he drifted off into unconsciousness.

“As the snows of leafbare blow around camp, Poolgleam eyes the herb stores and decides he should still be able to dig up burdock. He heads out to replenish their stocks. However, he doesn’t manage to sniff any out in a timely manner and by the time he does, he spends too long trying to dig up the roots that he is inflicted with shivering. Arriving back at camp, he’s just miserable and cold and desperate to rest.”

[tmd-clangen]

More heart kitties PrickleStar - @brightclan Malo - @dragon-clan BushKit - @tmd-clangen

[tmd-clangen]

a few announcements!!

first of all, thank you SO MUCH for all the eyes on this account omg!! i had around 15 followers just a few days ago and now i have 60 followers which is just absolutely crazy to me. im so grateful for it!! i hope to give you all something you can love and enjoy with this story!!

second of all, with all the new followers coming in i would like to remind that this is a majorly horror-oriented blog. things won’t be getting crazy Quite Yet but there will come a point when it turns. i know that’s advertised right on the label so im sure you all know what youre getting into, but it doesnt hurt to give another notice of that fact ^_^

my posts will ALWAYS be tagged accordingly and if there is something you do not want to see, please feel free to let me know and i can make a note to keep a specific tag for that to the best of my ability. i will later be making a post of all the content/trigger warnings this story will include so that you can be aware of what’s going to come up and what to filter if there’s something you’d prefer not to see. i don’t shy away from El Scary by any means but the comfort of others is important to me too!

third of all, back to something more lighthearted, character asks are open!! and they will be indefinitely, so you can ask any of the revealed cast any questions at any time! i would in fact encourage these because they give me something to do/post in between updates lol. plus i just really enjoy answering questions (you can always ask Me, The Creator stuff too)!

again, thank you all so so so much! i hope you enjoy the moon’s descent!

[tmd-clangen]

so my amigos @frindoka and @stormystarlight get fun inside info on tmd because i talk to them every day and we have a running joke that serpent is a gamer. now something truly has resulted from this

i really dont know what more i can say. to all my new followers welcome to tmd. i dont take anything completely seriously

[tmd-clangen]

GILDED COLONY ALLEGIANCES

LEADER

N/A 

DEPUTY

N/A

CLERIC

Poolgleam - a long-furred silver tabby and white point tom

MEDIATOR

N/A

WARRIORS 

N/A

APPRENTICES 

Leappaw - a long-furred white and dorsal-striped light brown tom

Irispaw - a long-furred dark brown smoke tom

QUEENS AND KITS 

Bushkit - a pale ginger tom

Serpentkit - a dark ginger/dark gray calico tom with vitiligo

ELDERS

N/A

[tmd-clangen]

a long-furred silver tabby and white point tom with a bite scar on the right side of his neck.

TRAITS: Lonesome, great healer and ghost sight

NAME: Poolgleam GENDER: Male (transgender, FtM) PRONOUNS: He/him AGE: 24 moons as of beginning ORIENTATION: ??? LOYALTY: Gilded Colony RANK: Cleric PERSONALITY: Poolgleam is a melancholic and often lost-minded cat simply trying his hardest to keep up with the spinning world around him. He’s never been a social person, finding it hard to keep up with others at time, but now with so much responsibility thrust into his paws… it’s not like he has much of a choice. Despite his rather lukewarm disposition, he does truly care for the people around him, and takes his job as a cleric incredibly seriously. His faith keeps him moving forward most days, and others, it’s the responsibility weighing on his shoulders to keep everything around him stable. If he goes out, then everything around him goes out, too… he can’t let anyone down and he’s determined not to.

*side-note: his reference image is a bit outdated, i need to fix his tail because i’ve decided to draw it a different way than is seen here lol

[tmd-clangen]

a pale ginger tom.

TRAITS: Attention-seeker

NAME: Bushkit GENDER: Male PRONOUNS: He/him AGE: 2 moons as of beginning ORIENTATION: ??? LOYALTY: Gilded Colony RANK: Kit PERSONALITY: Bushkit is a young kit who doesn’t tend to think too hard or too long about the past or future, content to keep his attention on what’s happening in the moment. He goes with the flow and is pretty easygoing, all things considered. Unexpectedly, for his age, he’s quite good at talking others down and cheering them up. He enjoys attention and makes a lot of noise when he’s bored or just wants someone to look in his direction.