clangen-shenanigan

[clangen-shenanigan]

moon's companion

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[clangen-shenanigan]

[clangen-shenanigan]

I've fallen off with updating for my MistClan lore challenge, but here, have the cutest photo I've ever taken from my other Clan.

[clangen-shenanigan]

Bonus post !

Here's to one year of Stemclan backgrounds, some more hasardous than others.. I hope you'll find them fun ! I sure had a lot of it drawing it, and I'm impressed with how nice the finishing gradient looks !

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moon 13

Echohusk died in the night. For a moment, Fogmeadow thought by some miracle she might recover; she found enough breath to argue with Magpiefreckle. But when he woke from his nest in the morning, her fur had already gone cold. They held a warrior ceremony for Bluebellpaw at sunhigh, with a funeral to follow. Cinnamonstar’s naming felt lackluster; “I name you Bluebellbat in honor of an Echo,” and everyone nodded like that made sense. The orange-furred tabby hunched and bleakly touched noses with Cinnamonstar, wishing that Echohusk could have waited just a few more hours to see her last apprentice receive his warrior name.

Before moonhigh, Magpiefreckle was named deputy. There was no way to follow the rules of taking an apprentice before becoming deputy in a Clan this small, with no apprentices or kits. Cinnamonstar felt StarClan had waived that requirement when they added Echohusk to their ranks.

To give the ruin of the day its final touch, Cinnamonstar came running back from her solo evening patrol with bad news; FlaxClan had harassed her at the border, throwing jeers at the lonesome leader and skirmishing. No harm came to her, but her pride was wounded and the fragile standing of MistClan amongst their neighbors had been soured. The whole Clan looked ahead at the new year, terrified of what it might bring.

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moon 12

“How is she?” Cinnamonstar asked. “First the message about next leaf-bare being hard, now this…”

Fogmeadow thought about how best to explain. “We can make her comfortable, and hope. There’s little I can do to fix her injury from the outside. Legs I can reset, wounds I can keep close and heal, but this is internal. She has a broken rib. I can’t get to that.”

They both looked towards the medicine den. “I have to consider next steps,” Cinnamonstar said softly. “What do you think about Magpiefreckle? He’s young, but he knows what the right path is, and he is a righteous follower of the warrior code.”

Fogmeadow twitched his whiskers. He didn’t know the black cat that well, and he wasn’t…thrilled, but he had to admit Magpiefreckle was a good option. He could help keep the Clan stable and productive. If the worst should come to pass with Echohusk.

Cinnamonstar was filled with too much nervous energy to wait for her medicine cat to agree or disagree. She swept away busily to find work to do. Fogmeadow gazed after her and shook his head.

Blazefish was taking a bath outside the warriors’ den. He changed tactics and approached the she-cat. “Blazeprance,” he greeted. “How are you doing?”

She looked up in confusion. “Um, Fogmeadow, that’s not my name.”

“Yes, it is.” Fogmeadow watched coldly, feeling the way StarClan bent the shape of the world around him.

“But it’s - my name is Blaze…Blaze…” She struggled, sure that something wasn’t right but unable to understand it. Then she frowned. “Sorry. I guess it is Blazeprance. That’s funny! Can’t believe I forgot.” Blazeprance licked a paw nervously.

There, that was settled now, too. What kind of a name was Blazefish?

He slipped away, back into the medicine den to check on Echohusk. It was quiet among the rocks and tangle of driftwood, aside from low, ragged breathing. Fogmeadow crouched beside the deputy and touched noses. Echohusk’s eyes slowly blinked open. She didn’t even lift her head from the moss. A bubble clung to her nose, tinged pink. “I’m…dying, aren’t I?”

Fogmeadow nodded. “I believe your rib has punctured a lung.”

Echohusk sucked in a shallow gasp. “How long?” 

“That’s in StarClan’s paws. I can give you tansy and poppyseed, but…”

“Nothing else?” she mewed, desperate as a kitten for milk.

He gave a small shake of his head. “They’re not in season. I wouldn’t even usually consider collecting them. The birds have likely eaten any left, this late into leafbare.”

Echohusk might have sighed, if she had the spare breath. Instead she twitched, stretching her forepaws. “Some medicine cat you are.”

Fogmeadow gave a dry chuckle. “It’s not as though this is good-bye, for you and me.”

The deputy pondered that. He waited for a response, but Echohusk’s eyes had drifted closed again and her shallow, pained breath the only notice of unconscious life.

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moon 11

“Help! Fogmeadow! Help! Echohusk is injured!” Firepatch yowled. The medicine cat could smell the fear, and the blood. He got up as fast as he could, though his fur prickled with fever. No time to worry about greencough spreading to a patient when he was the only one with herb knowledge. Cinnamonstar and Firepatch were supporting Echohusk between them, as the deputy half-staggered, and was half-dragged by her scruff.

Her white pelt was soaked with blood, all over her chest. Fogmeadow barely heard Firepatch rambling about a dog. Echohusk was breathing raggedly, red foam on her lips. “Get her into the den,” he ordered. “Lay her on her side, so I can get to the worst of it.”

He found the energy to run ahead of them, back into his herb stores. He wound a sticky bunch of cobwebs around his paw and met Echohusk and her patrol at the entrance. Even before they laid her gently on a nest of moss, he was packing the webs over the big punctures of dog teeth. “Now, out.” Fogmeadow flicked his tail at Cinnamonstar and Firepatch. “I need space to work, and you two don’t need greencough. Echohusk will have to risk it.”

***

Cinnamonstar paced back and forth in the clearing, searching for something to distract herself. This was her fault. She was the patrol leader, she was the head of the Clan, this is what her lives were for. Firepatch shouldn’t have run ahead, yes, but she should have scented the dog before then. 

Blazefish came over to her. “You need to stop. There’s nothing you can do by walking except get sore pads.” Cinnamonstar sighed and sat down heavily. She scraped at the dirt with her claws. Blazefish leaned against her and they sat for a while like that, sharing their fear.

The chill wind off the lake blew a dead, frozen moth over. Cinnamonstar picked it up, turned to Blazefish, and tucked it into her ear fur. Blazefish, startled, didn’t move but accepted the odd accessory with grace. Cinnamonstar licked her forehead with a nervous, motherly affection, and nodded in Firepatch’s direction, who looked as miserable as they did. “Go tend to your mate. She needs it.”

Blazefish blinked, touched a paw to the moth on her ear, and purred. “Thank you, Cinnamonstar. With any luck, Echohusk will be feeling better soon.”

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moons 8-10

MOON 8

Fogmeadow caught whitecough. Not a good omen for the clan. Desperate and grasping for a chance to stay in control of something, he told Cinnamonstar to push forward on all patrols that day. StarClan needed it. Fennelsnarl accused Fogmeadow of not taking care of cats properly, seeing as people keep getting sick all the time.

MOON 9

As the leaves fell, so did the hearts of cats fall in love. StarClan whispered to Fogmeadow, and he turned his eyes upon Blazefish and Firepatch. He saw their daring, the tug of the stars upon Firepatch’s pelt. “Go talk to her,” he whispered to Blazefish. He felt the words pull at her, settle in beneath her fur and shape her mind. No need to guide the hearts of other cats; Talonfeather and Cinnamonstar managed that all on their own.

…And of course, as cats found love and others failed, Hazelmallow’s insecurities grew, and Fogmeadow smirked as he saw the ill-named Bluebellpaw caught in the role of a sympathetic ear.

MOON 10

That first leafbare started well, with the prey running even after the first flakes of snow settled on the shore of the lake. Greencough and whitecough both caught cats unawares, but Fogmeadow easily dispatched the illnesses before anyone lay sick in their nest too long.

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moon 7

Echohusk recovered quickly, coming back to active duty just in time to pick up Bluebellpaw as a new apprentice. The two went on a territory walk together, and had a nasty run-in with FlaxClan. Even though Bluebellpaw insisted they’d just been trying to make sure some lost kits got home safe, Fogmeadow found the young cat disagreeable, in part because he simply could not get the incongruity of the name and the cat’s orange pelt out of his head. Maybe the apprentice was making the situation out to be more innocent than it actually was. Echohusk had dipped into the leader’s den immediately, so he didn’t get the chance to ask.

“Fogmeadow?” The low voice of Magpiefreckle wormed its way into his ear fur through his thoughts. “Can I talk to you?”

Fogmeadow padded out of the medicine den, finding the dark-furred warrior nervously wrapping his tail over his paws, huddled on the ground like he had a bellyache. “What is it?” he said, trying not to sound rude. Talonfeather kept telling him to be more sociable, and Magpiefreckle wasn’t a bad cat, just…rubbed his fur the wrong way sometimes. 

“How…how would I know if StarClan told me something in a dream?”

The medicine cat’s eyes widened. Finally! he thought. Fogmeadow brushed up against the other cat’s side and guided him towards the camp exit. “What’s been troubling you?” he asked, cold and smooth. “I can only help if you tell me, too.” 

It took several minutes’ silent walking before Magpiefreckle spoke up. “I saw…visions of all of us, dead, bleeding, from so many different things. Roaring waves, dogs’ jaws dripping with foam, fire…” His mew faded into a hoarse rasp. “Capture, being lost forever, never finding the way home to StarClan.”

Fogmeadow patiently let him finish. It was a simple vision, given to many cats to let them know what danger lurked in the shadows. “It means you must trust your leader, your medicine cat, to tell you when to back away. We wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt.”

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moons 5-6

MOON 5

Greenleaf stretched long, the hot days tempered by the cool waters of the lake, which Cinnamonstar dipped into at every opportunity. Fogmeadow watched her paddling around with disgust. Hazelmallow’s joint had been fixed and he’d healed up well, and with no one in the medicine den, there wasn’t much to do besides gather herbs in the less hot morning. He lay on a shady rock overlooking the water, belly pressed to the cool stone. As much as he couldn’t understand his leader’s desire to swim, keeping an eye on her meant he didn’t have to hear Magpiefreckle and Blacklilac’s bickering. Still, it felt like he was waiting for the other paw to drop. No contact from StarClan, not even at the half-moon meetings. He waited around in their starry fields, looking into the far distance. Even old Scorchspots was nowhere to be seen. But Cinnamonstar had said, “wait out the year”, and he’d give them that long.

MOON 6

Leaf-fall came in swinging. Echohusk caught whitecough, and the deputy slipped unhappily into the medicine den to quarantine from the other cats on Fogmeadow’s command. “We don’t have enough healthy cats to risk anyone else getting sick,” he said. “We can barely keep up with patrols as it is.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, I’m the one who organizes them,” Echohusk muttered, and coughed.

Fennelsnarl poked her head through a crack between driftwood branches to look down into the medicine den. “Yeah, you’d think Cinnamonstar could be stepping up to lead better. There’s hardly any food, this mist off the lake makes a mess of my nose…”

“So you agree? This might be the wrong place for us to live?” Fogmeadow asked idly, extending a claw to mix some tansy. He pushed the lake clam shell over to Echohusk and she started lapping at the herbal drink.

Their onlooker frowned. “I wouldn’t go so far as that. It’s a good place. Cinnamonstar just needs to focus.”

Fogmeadow’s tail twitched. “Well, the mist is horrendous. I can’t dry any herbs in this weather. And get out of here, don’t you catch this too. Go patrol with Blacklilac or something.”

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moon 4

Talonfeather traveled back to WaspClan to talk about hunting disputes, but they sternly looked at him from the border and he was reminded of what happened last time…he beat a hasty retreat and tossed a half-hearted “Oops, we haven’t set the borders yet?” over his shoulder. Back at camp, Magpiefreckle finished his vigil upon becoming a warrior and went rockhopping with Hazelmallow in the early morning. Hazelmallow’s insecurities, however, had a chance to grow, as he slipped and dislocated a leg. Fogmeadow was unimpressed with this addition to the medicine den.

Firepatch burst into camp, voice muffled around something hanging from his mouth. “Ev’ry ‘un, halp!” 

Fogmeadow rushed out from tending to Hazelmallow and stared at the ball of fur the warrior spat onto a soft clump of grass. “What is this?”

“It’s a kit!” Firepatch licked some ruffled fur away from the kit’s face hurriedly. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”

The medicine cat chuckled. “Calm down, Firepatch, they’re past weaning age, it’s not going to die for want of milk. What’s your name, little one?”

The orange ball of fluff perked up its tiny ears and squeaked, “Bluebellkit!”

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moon 3

The newly named Firepatch sat bursting with pride, his vigil ending just as Cinnamonstar and Fogmeadow broke the silence with angry yowls.

“I wouldn’t have to if you would just give up already!” Fogmeadow snapped. “I’m thinking about the safety of the Clan!”

“No, I’m thinking about the safety of the Clan! You are thinking about yourself, like always!” Cinnamonstar huffed and stalked over to sit on a log.

“Hey, hey,” Talonfeather said anxiously. “Don’t leave each other like that. Everyone in camp can hear you, you know.”

“It’s not ‘camp’,” Fogmeadow said, putting a certain amount of derision into the word. “It’s a place to rest before we move on. I haven’t had a vision in moons, Cinnamonstar! Not a whisker brush from StarClan! Face it, we’re in the wrong place.”

“Give it time,” Talonfeather urged. “StarClan has to get used to our move, too.” Before Fogmeadow could add a snide remark, he said firmly, “At the very least, you two need to go find some more herbs. There’ve been a lot of sniffles around camp, and I think you can both agree that whether we are staying here or not, sick cats will always need help.”

Fogmeadow shook his pelt irritably and brushed past Cinnamonstar, smacking her in the face with his tail. “Come on, then, since Talonfeather has decided we need get-along time.”

The warm greenleaf sun simmered their fur as they trotted along the lakeshore. “Mallow today,” Fogmeadow said in a clipped meow. Cinnamonstar nodded, keeping quiet for the time being. But of course, that didn’t last. 

“Will you tell me what you’re looking for?” she asked.

Fogmeadow took a deep breath. “Their voices. I need to hear them speak to me, as plainly as they speak to us all in dreams. They can visit us here in our world, you know. Or for anyone - anyone, to have a dream. It should have happened by now.”

Cinnamonstar listened, a look of wonder growing on her face. “Maybe Talonfeather’s right. They need time to adjust, like we do. At least…at least give them a year. Then we can move on.” She took a step forward and a plant squished under her foot. “Oh! Is this what you were looking for?” She inspected the pink blossoms stuck to her paw pad.

Fogmeadow stared at the leader, a funny twinkle in his eye as she peeled the plant away with her teeth. “...Yes. Yes, it is.”

[clangen-shenanigan]

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moons 1-2

MOON 1

Blazepaw became Blazefish in honor of the finding of the lakeshore. Firepaw became so upset that her best friend graduated ahead of her that she started sobbing during training with Cinnamonstar. “I’ll never be a warrior!” Cinnamonstar shuffled her feet, not knowing what to do. Meanwhile, Talonfeather went to introduce himself to WaspClan as a mediator and was caught catching prey on their territory. He tried to brush off the offense with a casual, “Oops! We haven’t set the borders yet!” and ran away before they could react. A patrol also met a WebClan apprentice, already begging to join the new clan. They decided that was not their problem. Fogmeadow tried to scout for some mullein and the patrol was no help, dismissing the herb as useless weeds.

MOON 2

Hazelmallow dumped his insecurities onto Magpiepaw, who listened thoughtfully and comforted the warrior. Fogmeadow grumbled about how he never did anything helpful anyway. The patrols continued to strengthen the borders, kicking out badgers and rogues. The apprentices had an assessment with Cinnamonstar, and Magpiepaw caught some prey.

[clangen-shenanigan]

Moon 0 - The Founding

Cinnamonstar led her small troop of cats to the lakeside. Paws weary, they all stopped for a drink. “I think this is the place,” she said softly to her deputy. 

Echohusk eyed the ancient driftwood, battered and weathered from so many years of unmoving exposure to the elements. “If you say s–hey! Blazepaw! I heard that!” The black-and-cream she-cat lashed her tail and gave her apprentice a stern look. Blazepaw sheepishly twitched her whiskers and pretended she hadn’t been whispering to her fellow apprentices. “Fogmeadow, what do you think?” She called to their medicine cat. 

Fogmeadow frowned, padding over to Cinnamonstar. “I don’t like it,” he said flatly. “My herbs will be ruined by this wet air. And what about kits? They’ll walk right in and drown.” 

Cinnamonstar flicked his shoulder reassuringly with her tail. “No they won’t. I’ll teach them how to swim. Let’s at least patrol and check out the area.”

Fogmeadow rolled his eyes. “You heard Cinnamonstar! Everyone, go get your paws wet.” He pushed Cinnamonstar ahead of him, wanting to get the survey patrol over and done with. Were there even any herbs he knew around here? This was so different from the old redwood forest. 

They left behind the noise of their other exploring Clanmates. The lake produced a steady rushing sound, soothing to the ear if you were inclined towards such a thing. Fogmeadow found it irritating. Horsetail and other swampy plants could be found on its banks, but it still meant a chill wind in leaf-bare. He sniffed at a patch of springy moss. 

“So what do you think?” Cinnamonstar popped up beside him. “Any signs yet?”

“That’s not how it works,” he growled.

“Well, how does it work?”

Fogmeadow thought about the mystical power of their ancestors, and tried to simplify it. “You know when you were given your nine lives? It’s exactly like that, and not like it at all.”

Cinnamonstar blinked in confusion. 

“Never mind.” He sighed. “This is a waste of time. I don’t know the territory. I’ll have to go out another time and find where the herb patches are growing here.”

They trekked back to what Cinnamonstar intended as base camp, a haphazard, thick tangle of driftwood and rocks. Blazepaw was soaking wet, grinning back at Firepaw from her mentor’s side.

Cinnamonstar didn’t spare the apprentices a glance, turning instead to Blacklilac and the skittish Hazelmallow. “What did you find on your end?”

Blacklilac licked her lips. “Chased off a dog. Little thing, yappy. Hazelmallow gave it the ol’ what for.” Hazelmallow swallowed hard.

The leader nodded. “Excellent. We need to make sure we’re on top of border patrols and setting up marks so these things stay away. Fennelsnarl? What did you and Magpiepaw find?”

The last two Clanmates glanced at each other uneasily. “There’s the Thunderpath we crossed on the way here,” Fennelsnarl began. “It didn’t seem busy at the time, but I think we shouldn’t push our territory past it, to be safe.”

“Then this isn’t a bad place to settle down,” Cinnamonstar insisted. “Nothing we haven’t dealt with before. Let’s make nests, at least give it a few moons.”

[clangen-shenanigan]

Beep boop first post to get my clangen blog up and going.

Featuring MC of my current squad