#branchkit wc

[lemnnshark]

"Branchleap is a white tom."

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 10 (Final)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Despite ForestClan's best efforts - the Living Tendrils appear when Cloudthunder gives birth. The tendrils steal two of Cloudthunder's five kits. Redstar latches onto a tendril and tried to sacrifice herself to save one of the kits. She can only return to camp with a body. Redstar now has 7 lives left.

(Redstar, leader, female, 68 moons. Strict.) (Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 43 moons. Adventurous) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 10 moons. Loving) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 24 moons. Lonesome) (Living Tendrils. Gnashing, shifting roots. Without age. Cruelty incarnate.) (Warblerkit, male, 3 moons. StarClan cat.)

---

ForestClan tried. They really, really did. It's why it hurt so much when they failed.

They piled cold snow around their walls. They lit fires, and preserved them with pine resin. They even gave a crash course to the former outsiders on how to use half-burned sticks that were still white with ash and flashing red with the heat of cinders. Windfur had given Shiverpaw detailed instructions on how to assist a queen's delivery, and even used a dummy made of deer hide, dried straw and newborn-sized stones to let her practice. They were prepared, and ready to be quick and efficient with repelling the dangers.

It hurt so, so badly when it was not enough.

Cloudthunder thought she had mentally prepared herself for this. For three moons, she desperately tried to pretend she wasn’t pregnant. If she could pretend she was never going to be a mother, then she wouldn’t get attached. After all, it was true. It was fully possible that she was never going to be a mother, and that was alright. This was an accident, anyway. She expected nothing, and if she ended up with something - well, that was a pleasant surprise. She talked to Iciclepool, and Olive, and even Riversnow offered a few words of support. Sure, she had to ignore the shards of worry that scattered their expressions every now and again, but that was alright. Of course they'd be worried - she was their Clanmate. But it would be alright, no matter what happened.

This was a complete failure.

She gave birth to five kits. Five. It took everything in her to not grow attached to every single wriggling kit that Shiverpaw and Windfur helped her deliver. She saw the mounting dread in their eyes as she gave birth to her third kit, and yet she wasn't done. Cloudthunder felt terror surge through her as she heard violent yowling and the crackling of roots snapping the ice off of their ends.

She yowled in despair when Windfur and Shiverpaw were assaulted and thrown to the back of the nursery, and then she found herself with two less kits.

Her heart was carved in half. She wailed, and wailed, and wailed.

*******

Redstar's jaw was locked on one of the tendrils like a bear trap.

She refused to let go.

Not even when she knew it was too late. Not even when she felt her leg shatter again. Not even as the tendrils started retreating, and the vine in her jaws writhed and hissed and pulled her with the strength of rabid dogs. She barely heard the cries of Iciclepool and Hopechase as her body was dragged over the camp walls and through the cold woods. She was filled with indomitable fury. Her claws flailed as she sought to grasp anything to stop its movement.

She grasped on a tree's trunk, and felt her claws rake across the bark uselessly as the tendrils pulled her. She snarled as she felt twigs and snow pelt her eyes. The tendrils wrapped tightly around her muzzle, and grasped for a way to wrench her mouth open to free itself.

It would never find a way. Its disgusting attempt reminded her of Lakestar begging for her life before her death. Ruthless murderer, pleading for mercy. Redstar bit down harder until her gums went numb.

It had no right to demand mercy.

She felt pain surge through her as her broken leg was now mangled thanks to the forest floor. She wouldn't be able to use her body to slow herself down - she had to trap it. Force its hand. Her eyes darted as she saw other tendrils retreating in the distance, coiled around the stolen kits. She could do it. She could force them to choose her. She just needed -

She grunted as her head hit a branch. She hissed, then felt her body moving…at an incline. Her eyes widened. She frantically tried to readjust her eyes. She was being dragged down a hill, down a center path, towards a Woodcrawler den she was all too familiar with.

That's it! Redstar knew where a large oak was - that was how she'd do it. She held her breath and shifted her entire weight towards the right, forcing the tendril's path with her. Her eyes narrowed and her body tensed as they approached the tree, and she braced herself. The tendril hooked itself around the oak tree, and Redstar's weight prevented it from untangling itself, pulling taut. Redstar raked her claws around the tree's trunk, anchoring herself to it. The tendrils thrashed as something from the den was desperately trying to retrieve its appendage. Its writhing became more and more desperate, like a fox bleeding out in a fox trap, and Redstar had no mercy.

She glanced to see one of the coiled tendrils in the distance buckling and writhing in the snow. It twitched like an insect's dying throes.

Come on, she thought. Kill me. Let it go and kill me. Do it!

The last thing she remembers is the coiled tendril releasing its former prey, and diving towards her. She felt the tendrils wrap around her neck, and she wanted to gasp as the air was stolen from her lungs. But no. She would not. She could not release it. She would die. She had to die. She allowed her heart to beat with overwhelming terror, and she felt her vision leave her as nothing could enter her body. Then, she felt surprised when the pain was instantly gone, replaced with blackness.

Redstar gasped and felt air return to her lungs. She swallowed the oxygen around her as relief and life coursed through her again, and she found herself lying on pale, blue grass, painted over an endless sky of stars. He allowed her heart and lungs to slow, and she slowly turned her head around.

Her eyes fell on a grey and white kit, his hazel eyes twinkling with starlight.

"Warblerkit," she rasped.

"Hi Redstar," he meowed. "Icypaw told me that you're losing a life. I, um…I didn't know you could do that." Warblerkit's eyes beamed excited awe. "That's really cool."

If Redstar hadn't been filled with adrenaline, she might've laughed. But instead, she just swallowed.

"How…is my body right now?"

"Um…" Warblerkit stared out into the distance, and his starry eyes glowed. He winced. "Well…the tendrils slowed down. I think you made them really tired."

"Good," she huffed. "But my body, Warblerkit, please."

"I think it's trying to heal your leg. I can't really tell. And your eyes."

"Eyes?"

"Um…tendrils went in it," Warblerkit winced again. "I-It's out now, but…"

"That's alright. Thank you, Warblerkit," Redstar sighed. So that's why she didn't suffocate to death.

"Oh, hello!" Warblerkit chirped. He pranced behind Redstar suddenly, and when she followed him with her gaze, her heart dropped as she saw the truth. Two small, newborn kits, the center of their lucid bodies bright and compact like dense, forming stars. They let out confused mews, and yet their cries went quiet as they found each other and huddled together with security and comfort. Wablerkit pressed his nose against their pelts, and said cheerfully, "It's okay, you'll be safe here. You can try again some other day, okay?"

"Warblerkit," Redstar breathed, confusion and grief filling her.

"There's this really nice molly named Whiteflower that said newborns haven't fully lived, so sometimes, their stars go in other kits when they're born." Warblerkit looked up at Redstar, his hazel eyes flickering. "...I, um…I know you wanted to save one of them." His ears folded sadly. "I'm sorry."

Redstar felt her heart sink. She knew that it was too late. Deep in her heart, she knew.

She hated that she hoped she was wrong.

"You're waking up, Redstar," Warblerkit mewed. "Good luck!"

Redstar's vision turned black, and the next moment, her eyes flew open.

Warblerkit was right. The tendrils were dragging her body very slowly towards the den, like a snake trying to constrict its prey. But the speed it had while trying to escape their camp was spent. Redstar remained still, playing dead to not alert the tendrils. Her gaze darted around. She saw that they were wrapped around her active legs…and they left her broken one alone. A mistake, as it had now healed.

Redstar took a deep breath, and slowly dragged her back paw to her other, and unsheathed her claws.

She yanked the tendrils off the back and scrambled up, pulling her front legs out of the wrappings before dashing up the hill, and looking back.

Just like that time last newleaf, she watched as the tendrils grasped more firmly around a fading, grey echo of her former self, and dragged it more aggressively into the den, until it was wrapped in roots.

Redstar let her heart beat rapidly. She stood, and waited, until everything fell quiet, and only the leaf-bare gale remained.

She stood still for a short while, until she jumped back down the hill and rushed towards the direction of the bundle that the tendril released. Her pawsteps slowed as she found what she knew she would, and she felt tears well as she saw the limp, suffocated form of a white and silver kit.

Redstar stared up at the stars and released an angry caterwaul, then buried her nose in the pelt of the tiny kit.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I'm so, so sorry. I failed you. Please forgive me."

******

It didn't take long for Tree and Hopechase to find Redstar. When Hopechase saw the limp body of the newborn being carried by her leader, she glanced at Redstar's now-healed leg, and her gaze softened.

Tree was solemn, and somewhat wary at Redstar's now-healed form. Their tail flicked once, and that was enough for Hopechase to quietly explain.

"Redstar has nine lives, blessed by StarClan. We spoke of it before."

"...And StarClan can heal injuries like this?" Tree's voice was trembling.

"If she dies…yes."

"...Can they…" Tree trailed off, staring at the small body. Hopechase's ears folded back, and she shook her head sadly.

Redstar's gaze remained distant and exhausted. She gently put down the body, and kept her head bowed. "...I tried. I tried to save them. I'm sorry."

Hopechase sighed deeply and brought her nose to Redstar's head. "No one expected you to, Red."

"But I should have. I should have done better."

"Redstar." Hopechase's tone forced the calico tabby to look up. Hopechase's blue eyes were firm, then softened with kindness. "You did more than any cat could've ever done. You retrieved a body. Denied the woods another catch. I know it'll never be enough, in your eyes." Hopechase placed her tail on her leader's shoulder. "But I promise that it means something."

Tree nodded slowly. "...The roots take everything. But Cloudthunder can grieve this kit, at least."

Hopechase purred in approval. She paused, then asked, "It's only this one you retrieved, yes?"

Redstar nodded weakly.

"Let's not be here for longer than needed," Tree meowed.

When the three returned back to camp, Redstar felt her stomach turn to stone again as she saw Cloudthunder's eyes widen with hope from the nursery, until she looked closer, and her heart broke all over again. Windfur trotted across camp, prepared to treat Redstar, only to stop and his expression faltered when he saw her walking. He looked down at the dead kit, then sighed.

"...I'm sorry, Redstar," he said glumly. "I thought…I thought I could work faster…"

Redstar merely shook her head. The world around her moved as Iciclepool gently took the weight from her. Shiverpaw tended to Cloudthunder, sympathetically pressing her head against the queen's. Windfur quickly treated everyone's injuries. Barleywave and Hopechase started gathering larger branches, preparing a small funeral pyre.

Redstar went through the motions as her clanmates gathered around the pyre. Cloudthunder forced herself to walk out of the nursery and sit vigil for the body of one of her two kits. Redstar recited the Rite of the Lost, partook in the ritual meal, and allowed cats to grieve in silence. Branchkit seemed distraught, and Perchkit was staring vacantly at the fire, her pupils mere slits. Redstar felt her heart sink for the two kits. Was this...their first experience with death? Yes. It had to be. This would've been so hard for them both, especially after the noise and the chaos.

Riversnow's cream pelt was grey with mud and soot. She must've tried to grab the hot cinders when her stake broke in the battle. A heavy emptiness rested in her eyes. She didn't touch the funerary food before her. It was only when Barleywave quietly sat beside her and whispered something, did she reluctantly bite off a corner of the jerky.

Iciclepool's expression was distant. Hopechase sat next to her gently. The white molly let out a sigh, and pressed her head against Hopechase's shoulder. Hopechase rested her chin on her head in response, her blue eyes filled with sympathy.

When the ritual was done and the body was burned, Redstar helped Windfur gather the ashes, and carry it to the graveyard. The process was heavy on her heart. But she bore it. It was the least she could do.

By the time she returned to camp and cautiously approached the nursery, she heard Shiverpaw and Cloudthunder speaking.

"...The other was a white and light grey one. It…it had a white patch over its ears and eyes," Shiverpaw said quietly.

"...Like flower petals?" Cloudthunder's meow was small.

"Yes…I would say so." Shiverpaw's voice tightened.

"Magnoliakit." Cloudthunder said, wavering. "Thank you, Shiverpaw. It hurts. But…" Her voice tapered into a sob. "I can't forget. I just can't. Never, ever, ever…"

Redstar closed her eyes tightly as she fought back her own lump in her throat. She named her lost kits. Oh, StarClan, she named them. How she wished she brought them back alive. She wished she was stronger, more powerful. Why? Why this?

"Redstar?"

Shiverpaw must've seen her. Redstar swallowed down her sorrow and gently peered into the nursery. Cloudthunder and Redstar's eyes met, and there was a shared understanding of pain between them.

"I'm sorry," Redstar said.

The gray and white molly shook her head sadly, wordlessly grooming her still-living kits. After a long moment of silence, she said, "...At least, I'm still a mother…right?"

"You always would've been one."

"...I understand that now." Cloudthunder looked back up at her leader. "...Thank you for trying. Thank you for bringing…for bringing Bearkit back," she whispered. "So I could say goodbye."

"He should've been with you," Redstar retorted. The words held no teeth.

Shiverpaw stared at the floor during this exchange, until finally, she uttered, "I'm sorry that I didn't work faster. I learned as much from Windfur as I could. I didn't know it would be…"

"No, Shiverpaw," Redstar interjected. She rested her tail on the apprentice's shoulder. "No. This isn't your fault. You did what you could."

Shiverpaw took her blue eyes to her leader. There was an innocence and a level of wisdom that Redstar couldn't identify. "...So did you."

---

Redstar retrieving one of the bodies of Cloudthunder's kits provided her with some closure. She names her stolen kits Bearkit and Magnoliakit, to not forget them. Then, she names her living children, praying that they outlive her tenfold.

(Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 43 moons. Adventurous) (Deerkit, kitten, female, 0 moons. Brown and high white tabby. Know-it-all.) (Cottonkit, kitten, female, 0 moons. Chocolate tabby. Fearless.) (Airkit, kitten, male, 0 moons. Grey and white tabby. Polite.) (Bearkit, male, StarClan cat.) (Magnoliakit, male, StarClan cat.)

<PREVIOUS | NEXT >

[rosemist50]

Okay look, I know I usually put the old version of the design first, so it's like reading it from then to now, but that means when I get a notification on the post, the old art is what shows up in the thumbnail, and it kinda throws me off, sooo I'm changing it. New art first.

Anyways first up is Tawnypelt!! She is one of the most redesigned cats, I have such a hard time getting a design I like for her. Sorta same story as in the previous post; I like her old design, but not enough for her as a protagonist, if that makes any sense? If she stayed as a side character then I think I'd be fine with the old design the way it was, but now that's she's a protagonist I wanted to change it. Then is the one and only Moonpaw!! :3 Her body design has stayed pretty much the same throughout design testing. Next is fixing up the new kits to follow the Super Edition's allegiances preview thing. I put Leafkit on the new one even though her design didn't change so that I wouldn't need to pull up two separate images in any drawings. Branchkit and her are now twinsies! And Grasskit is described as auburn?? Gave that a shot, most of her body design is taken from Branchkit's old one, I thought it was a better blend of their parents than Grasskit's old one. Then is Rapidkit, Floatkit, and Troutkit. Rapidkit and Floatkit pretty much swapped most of their design elements, and Troutkit got some spots and color changes. And thennn Russetfur!!! Wow! I did NOT like her old design, so here's a much better one.

Tawnypelt design extras under the cut

Y'all,, okay, so Tawnypelt's design gave me so much trouble omg.... You can see I started tweaking it in May, three months ago. All of these were Tawnypelt design concepts that I didn't like for one reason or another. I knew I wanted some yellow in there for her mother but that was kinda it. I know split face is popular with her, but with Moonpaw being split faced already I didn't want to make Tawnypelt also one. Too much white in the face was the problem with the first two, then not enough, then I took a break and came back at it with a full page of just throwing stuff at the wall (and a scrapped Branchkit idea hehe). I sorta wanted her to also have some brown, but I couldn't get it to look right so I scrapped it, then I tried a sort of lykoi style, which I thought looked cool but ultimately decided against, then got to the last two where I was trying alternating black and brown, and I liked how the first one on the end looked on paper, but when I put it in digitally there wasn't enough black so I ended up going for all black instead. And here we are now 😁 I very much hope that I like this design enough to keep it around for a while.

[jayfrost-designs]

Up next for the new FeatherOat kits, we've got the only boy, Branchkit!

Branchkit has no physical description given other than his pattern, so I came up with my own for him. I gave him his mother's skinny oriental build to fit that skinny Branch- name of his, and his father's short fur.

For his pattern, Branchkit is described as a white tom. I gave him brown eyes, a darker shade of his mother's amber, which also fits for his name.

Overall, I'm really happy with how he turned out. Simple, but effective, y'know?

[pinestripe37]

Names for the current kits and apprentices!

Frostlight Mistmorning Grayshine (All the triplets and their best friend Whis have a matching light theme) Rapidbrook Floatcloud (Fognose's little sister and apprentice!) Troutsplash (The name just works but it's also sad.. he has to wrestle with not just looking like his brother but being intentionally or coincidentally named after him. But Trout is a different cat than Splash and he and his clan will come to accept this.)

Whistledawn (I love her kindness. She gets a special name and also to match with her riverclan friends' special names.) Leafdrizzle Grassberry Branchfrost (I love Whistlepaw's adorable baby siblings and I really like these names for them.) Stripereed Brookstarling

Wafflesong Waspflight (I know he left but that's not the end of his story, at least not in the ideas I have planned) Bristlesedge Stemstripe Graypuddle

Birchflight Firbristle Streamripple Whisperpool Bloomshadow (I love Cinnamon's kits, Stream has a bubbly personality and Whisper is a thoughtful kitten who wants to be medicine cat and they're all a really nice family.)

Beetlespot Beestripe Ridgeflicker Duskflow

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Huzzah! They are here! Bouncefur lived long enough to see their kits become apprentices but I didn't feel like drawing apprentices lol. Dolly is/was some sort of ex-kittypet rogue hybrid situation, and she met Bouncefur during a solo walk for both of them. She actually joined Thunderclan shortly before Bouncefur's death to be with her family!

LOOK AT THEM THE WIFEY AND THE BABIES

The fact that Dolly joined to be with her family right before Bounce died--OOOOF that's rough. And then she has to stay with a Clan that is probably xenophobic towards her (especially considering the era this took place). I wonder if they blame her for her love's death (and if that leached onto how the kits feel about her)

[clover-warriorcats-main]

All Named Animal Characters In Warrior Cats A–Z (PART 1)

COPIED OFF OF THE WARRIORS WIKI

(UPDATED AS OF IVYPOOL'S HEART)

* MAY CONTAIN NAME BASED SPOILERS *

* THIS LIST CONTAINS ALL NAMED CHARACTERS ASIDE FROM HUMANS *

* I DON'T THINK I MISSED ANYONE? *

* LONG LIST BELOW CUT *

PART 2

- A -

Acorn Fur

Acornpaw

Acorntail

Adderfang

Adderkit

Adderpaw (WC)

Ajax

Alder

Alderheart

Algernon

Amberclaw

Amberleaf

Ambermoon

Antfur

Antpelt

Apple Blossom

Appledawn

Appledusk

Applefrost

Applefur (OOTS)

Applefur (TF)

Appleshine

Arc

Arc Shadow

Archeye

Ashfoot

Ashfur (ShC)

Ashfur (TC)

Ashheart

Aspenfall

Aspentail

- B -

Bacon

Badgerfang

Bailey

Barkface

Barley

Bayshine

Beach

Bee (CotP)

Bee (Ro)

Beech

Beech Tail

Beechfur (RC)

Beechfur (TC)

Beechpaw (SkC)

Beechstar

Beenose

Beepaw (SkC)

Beetail

Beetle

Beetlenose

Beetlepaw (SkC)

Beetlewhisker

Bella (KP)

Bellaleaf

Benny

Berryheart

Berrynose

Bess

Betsy

Bigteeth

Billystorm

Birch

Birchbark

Birchface

Birchfall

Birchpaw (ASC)

Birchstar (RC)

Birchstar (SkC)

Birchstar (WC)

Bird That Rides The Wind

Birdflight

Birdsong

Birdwing

Birdy

Black Ear

Blackbee

Blackclaw

Blackstar

Blade

Blazefire

Blizzardstar

Blizzardwing

Bloomheart

Bloomkit

Blossom

Blossomfall

Blossomheart

Blossomkit (ShC)

Blue Whisker

Bluebellkit

Bluestar

Bob

Bone

Boots

Boulder

Boulderfur

Bouncefire

Bound Hunt

Bracken

Brackenfoot

Brackenfur

Brackenheart

Brackenpelt

Brackenwing

Bramble

Brambleberry

Brambleclaw(star)

Branch (DotC)

Branch (HJ)

Branchkit

Brandy

Braveheart

Breeze That Rustles The Leaves

Breezeheart

Breezepelt

Briarlight

Brick

Bright Stream

Brightflower

Brightheart

Brightsky

Brightspirit

Brightwhisker

Brindleclaw

Brindleface

Brindlestar

Brindlewing

Bristlebark

Bristlefrost

Bristlepaw (ASC)

Broken Feather

Broken Shadow

Brokenstar

Brook Where Small Fish Swim

Brookkit

Brownpaw

Brushpaw

Bubbling Stream

Bug

Bugeater

Bumble

Bumblestripe

Bunny (Dog)

Burr

Buster

Buttercup

Buzzardkit

Buzzardstar

- C -

Casper

Cedarheart

Cedarpelt (RC)

Cedarstar

Chalk

Chasing Clouds

Cheddar

Cherryfall

Cherryfeather

Cherrypaw

Cherrytail

Chester

Chestnut

Chestnutkit

Chirp

Chiveclaw

Cinderfur

Cinderheart

Cinderpelt

Cinders

Cinnamontail

Claw

Claw Stretch

Clawface

Clawwhistle

Cleo

Cloud (Sister)

Cloud Spots

Cloud With Star In Belly

Cloud With Storm In Belly

Cloudberry (RC)

Cloudberry (TC)

Cloudmist

Cloudpelt

Cloudrunner

Cloudstar

Cloudtail

Cloudy

Cloudy Sun

Clover (TC)

Cloverfoot

Cloversplash

Clovertail

Coal (FQ)

Coal (TNP)

Cobweb

Coco (DK)

Coco (PK)

Cody

Conefoot

Copperpaw

Cora

Coriander (BrS)

Coriander (DK)

Cow (MFV)

Creek

Creek

Creekfeather

Crest Of Snowy Mountain

Cricket (DotC)

Cricketkit

Croak

Crookedstar

Crouchfoot

Crow Muzzle

Crowfeather

Crowfrost

Crowfur

Crowtail

Crystal

Curlfeather

Curlypaw

Curry

Cypresspaw

- D -

Daffodil

Daisy (DK)

Daisy (TC)

Daisyheart

Daisytail

Daisytoe

Dancing Leaf

Dandelionkit

Dangling Leaf

Dappled Pelt

Dapplenose

Dappletail

Dappletuft

Dark Shadow On Water

Dark Whiskers

Darkflower

Darkfoot

Darkstar (CotC)

Darkstar (MV)

Darkstar (SkC)

Darkstripe

Darktail

Dart

Dash

Dawn Mist

Dawn River

Dawnbright

Dawncloud

Dawnfeather

Dawnflower

Dawnpelt

Dawnstar

Dawnstripe

Deadfoot

Deerdapple

Deerfoot

Deerleap

Deerpaw (PC)

Dew

Dew Nose

Dew Petal

Dewkit (ShC)

Dewnose

Dewspots

Dewspring

Dewstar

Dewy Leaf

Diesel

Dodge

Doespring

Doestar

Domino

Dotty

Dove's Wing

Dovestar (RC)

Dovestar (WC)

Dovewing

Downkit

Dragonfly

Driftkit

Drizzle

Duckpaw

Dudley

Duke

Dusk Nose

Dusk Smoke

Duskfur

Duskkit

Duskpaw

Duskwater

Dust Muzzle

Dustpelt

Duststar

- E -

Eagle Feather

Eaglekit (WC)

Eaglestorm

Eaglewing

Ebonyclaw

Echomist

Echosnout

Echosong

Eeltail (CotC)

Eeltail (MV)

Egg

Eggs

Elderkit

Ember

Emberdawn (LH)

Emberdawn (TBC)

Emberfoot

Emberkit (CJ)

Emberkit (DotC)

Emberstar

- F -

Falcon Swoop

Fall

Fallen Leaves

Fallensnow

Falling Dusk

Falling Feather

Falling Rain

Fallowfern

Fallowkit

Fallowpaw

Fallowsong

Fallowstar

Fallowtail

Fang

Fawnstep

Feather (GC)

Feather Ear

Feather Of Flying Hawk

Featherkit

Featherpelt

Featherstar

Featherstorm

Feathertail

Featherwhisker

Featherwing

Fennelstar

Fern Leaf

Ferncloud

Fernleaf

Fernpelt

Fernshade

Fernsong

Fernstripe

Ferretclaw

Ferris

Fidgetflake

Fierce

Filou

Finch Song

Finchflight

Finchkit (WC)

Finchlight

Finchstar

Finleap

Fircone

Fireface

Firefern

Firefly

Firestar

Firkit

Fish Leap

Flailfoot

Flame

Flamenose

Flamepelt

Flametail

Flashnose

Flaxfoot

Fleck

Fleetfoot (Leopard)

Flick

Flickerkit

Flight Of Startled Heron

Flintfang

Flipclaw

Floatkit

Floss

Flower (KP)

Flower (Lo)

Flower (Ro)

Flower Foot

Flower Stream

Flowerpaw (TC)

Flowerstar

Flowerstem (AVoS)

Floyd

Flurry

Flutter

Flutterfoot

Fluttering Bird

Flystar

Flytail

Flywhisker

Fog

Foggy

Fognose

Fox (DotC)

Foxclaw

Foxheart

Foxleap

Foxnose

Foxwhisker

Foxy

Frecklewish (SkC)

Frecklewish (TC)

Fringewhisker

Frisk

Fritz (KP)

Fritz (Lo)

Frog (Ro)

Frogleap

Frogtail

Frondwhisker

Frost

Frostclaw

Frostfur

Frostpaw (RC)

Frosty

Furled Bracken

Fury (GV)

Fury (Boar)

Furze

Furzepelt

Fuzz

Fuzzball

Fuzzypelt

- G -

Galekit

Galestar

Goldenflower

Goldenstar (Lion)

Gooseberry

Goosefeather

Gorseclaw (RC)

Gorseclaw (TC)

Gorseclaw (WC)

Gorsefoot

Gorsepaw (WC)

Gorsestar

Gorsetail (PoT)

Gorsetail (TNP)

Grass

Grassheart

Grasskit (WC)

Grasspelt

Grasswhisker

Gravelnose

Gray Sky Before Dawn

Gray Wing (WC)

Graymist

Graypaw (RC)

Graypaw (TC)

Graypool

Graystripe

Graywing (RC)

Greeneyes

Greenflower

Gremlin

Growler

Grub

Gullswoop

- H -

Hailstar

Hal

Half Moon

Halftail

Hareflight (FQ)

Hareflight (TR)

Harelight

Harepounce

Harestar

Harley

Harrybrook

Harveymoon

Hatchkit

Hattie

Havenpelt

Hawk (RH)

Hawk (Sister)

Hawk Swoop

Hawkfoot

Hawkfrost

Hawkfur

Hawkheart

Hawksnow

Hawkstar

Hawkwing

Hayberry

Haze

Hazel Burrow

Hazelstar

Hazeltail

Hazelwing

Heatherstar

Heathertail

Heavystep

Henry

Heronwing (RC)

Heronwing (TC)

Hickorynose

Hillkit

Hollow

Hollow Tree

Hollowbelly

Hollowflight

Hollowspring

Holly

Hollyflower

Hollykit (TNP)

Hollyleaf

Hollypelt

Hollystar

Hollytuft

Honey Pelt

Honeyfern

Honeyfur

Honeyleaf

Honeytail

Hoot

Hootwhisker

Hop Scratch

Hopekit

Hopper

Hopwhisker

Houndleap

Houndstar

Hunt Growl

Hunt Leap

Hunter

Husker

Hussar

Hutch

- I -

Ice (Sister)

Icecloud

Icewhisker

Icewing

Icicle

Ivypool

Ivystar

Ivytail (RC)

Ivytail (ShC)

- J -

Jack

Jackdaw's Cry

Jacques

Jagged Lightning

Jagged Peak

Jagged Rock Where Heron Sits

Jaggedtooth

Jake (IH)

Jake (TPB)

Jasper

Jay

Jay Frost

Jay's Wing

Jayclaw

Jayfeather

Jessamy

Jessy

Jester

Jet

Jigsaw

Jingo

Jumper

Jumpfoot

Juniper Branch

Juniperclaw

Juniperkit

- K -

Kestrelflight

Kestrelwing

Kinkfur

Kinktail

Kite Wing

Kitescratch

- L -

Lakeheart

Lakeshine

Lakestorm

Lapping Wave

Larchkit (MV)

Larchkit (TNP)

Lark (CotP)

Lark That Sings At Dawn

Larksong (AVoS)

Larksong (BP)

Larksplash

Larkwing (BrS)

Larkwing (FQ)

Lavenderkit

Leaf (Lo)

Leaf (TC)

Leafkit (WC)

Leafpool

Leafshade

Leafshine

Leafstar

Leafstorm

Leaftail

Leap Growl

Leopardfoot

Leopardstar

Lichen

Lichenfur

Lightleap

Lightning

Lightning Stripe

Lightning Tail

Lightningpaw

Lightningpelt

Lily (FQ)

Lily (GV)

Lilyflower

Lilyfur

Lilystar

Lilyheart

Lilystem

Lilywhisker

Lion's Roar

Lionblaze

Lioneye

Lionheart

Lionstar

Little Mew

Littlebird

Littlecloud

Littlekit (YS)

Littlestep

Livy

Lizardfang

Lizardstripe

Lizardtail

Logfur

Loki

Longtail

Loudbelly

Lowbranch

Lulu

Luna

Lynxkit

- M -

Macgyver

Madric

Mae

Magda

Maggottail

Magpie

Mallowfur

Mallownose

Mallowtail

Mapleshade

Maplestar

Maplewhisker

Marigold (GV)

Marigold (TS)

Marigoldkit

Marlow

Marmalade

Marshcloud

Marshkit

Marshpaw

Marshscar

Max (KP)

Max (Ro)

Meadowpelt

Meadowslip

Melody

Melting Ice

Merry

Micah

Midge

Midgepelt

Milkfur (MV)

Milkfur (WC)

Milkfur (YS)

Milkweed

Millie

Minnowkit (CotC)

Minnowkit (CP)

Minnowtail

Mintfur (RC)

Mintfur (SkC)

Mintkit (ShC)

Mintpaw (CJ)

Minty (KP)

Minty (Ro)

Misha

Mist (CP)

Mist (RH)

Mist Where Sunlight Shimmers

Mistcloud

Mistfeather

Mistkit (TC)

Mistlekit (SkC)

Mistlekit (TC)

Mistmouse

Mistpaw

Mistpelt

Misty

Misty Water

Mistystar

Mittens

Mitzi (KP)

Mitzi (Lo)

Mole

Molepaw

Molepelt

Molewhisker (RC)

Molewhisker (TC)

Molly

Monkeystar

Moon (Sister)

Moon Shadow

Moon Shining On Water

Moonflower

Moonlight

Moonpaw (CS)

Morning Fire

Morning Star

Morning Whisker

Morningcloud

Morningflower

Morningkit

Morningmist

Morningstar

Moss (KP)

Moss Tail

Moss That Grows By River

Mossfire

Mossheart (ShC)

Mossheart (TC)

Mosskit (TC)

Mossleaf

Mosspaw (ShC)

Mosspelt

Mossyfoot

Moth (CotP)

Moth Flight

Mothpelt

Mothwhisker

Mothwing

Mottlepaw

Mouse (MFV)

Mouse Ear

Mousefang

Mousefur

Mousewhisker

Mousewing

Mouthclaw (Snake)

Mud

Mud Paws

Mudclaw (ShC)

Mudclaw (WC)

Muddyclaw

Mudfur

Mudpuddle

Mudthorn

Mumblefoot

Myler

Myrtlebloom

- N -

Nami

Nectarsong

Needleclaw

Needletail

Nettle (AVoS)

Nettle (DotC)

Nettlebreeze

Nettleclaw

Nettlepad

Nettlepaw (RC)

Nettlesplash

Nettlespot

Newtspeck

Night (Ro)

Night Of No Stars

Nightcloud

Nightfur

Nightheart

Nightkit (TC)

Nightmask

Nightsky (TBC)

Nightstar (RC)

Nightstar (ShC)

Nightwhisper

Nightwing

Nutmeg (OC)

Nutmeg (Ro)

Nutmeg (TPB)

Nutmeg (TR)

Nutwhisker

- O -

O'Hara

Oakfur

Oakheart

Oakleaf

Oakstar

Oakstep

Oatclaw

Oatpaw (RC)

Oatspeckle

Oatwhisker (TC)

Oatwhisker (WC)

Oddfoot

Olive

Olivenose

Oliver

One Eye (DotC)

One-eye (TPB)

Onestar

Onion

Oscar

Otterheart

Ottersplash

Owl

Owl Feather

Owl Song

Owlclaw

Owlfur

Owlnose

Owlstar

Owlwhisker

- P -

Pad

Pale Sky

Palebird

Palefoot

Palesky

Pancakes

Parsleyseed

Parsnip

Pasha

Patch (KP)

Patch (RF)

Patch Pelt

Patchfoot

Patchkit (MV)

Patchpelt

Peanut

Pearnose

Pebble Heart

Pebble That Rolls Down Mountain

Pebblefoot

Pebblefur

Pebbleshine

Peg

Pepper

Perchkit

Perchpaw (MV)

Perchwing

Percy

Petal (DotC)

Petal (Sister)

Petaldust

Petalfall

Petalfur

Petalkit (Lion)

Petalkit (TC)

Petalnose

Petunia

Pickle

Pigeonflight

Pigeonfoot

Pikepaw (BotC)

Pikepaw (MO)

Piketooth

Pine (TS)

Pine Needle

Pine That Clings To Rock

Pineclaw

Pinefur

Pinenose

Pinestar

Pink Eyes

Pip (Dog)

Piper

Pipsqueak

Pixie

Plumclaw

Plumstone

Plumwillow

Pod

Podlight

Polly

Poolcloud

Poppycloud

Poppydawn

Poppyfrost

Pounce (RP)

Pounce Whisper

Pouncestep

Pouncetail (RC)

Pouncetail (ShC)

Prickleface

Pricklekit (RC)

Pricklekit (WC)

Pricklenose

Primrosepaw

Princess

Prowl Sleek

Puddleshine

Pumpernickel

Pumpkin

Purdy

Purr Roll

[need1etail]

Wanted to draw the babies ;w;

Treekit and Redkit are twins of Twig and Fin sometimes hard to tell apart, especially when they were kits. The both take after their mom more than their dad. Redkit is a trans tom. They both have heart shapes (Treekit on her chest, Redkit on his back) and Treekit has a bit of a tree looking marking on her back. Treekit is a scottish fold like her mom (I am no good at scottish fold ears please forgive me). They're both pretty quiet, but compared to Treekit, Redkit could be called chatty. He's shy, but when he's with friends and family, he won't stop talking. Treekit grows up to be Treebark (Kind of odd name name but she fits with Snappaw, Flypaw, and Spotpaw, plus it was Bramblestar so) and of course Redkit's name is Redfeather.

Needlekit, Branchkit, and Featherkit are all Tree and Violet's kits. Needlekit is rambunctious, loud, and carefree, a lot like the cat she was named after. Though she has an aloof attitude, she is fiercely loyal to her family and her Clan. Branchkit is quieter than his sister and is a big momma's boy. He likes staying in camp and is interested in his father's life as a mediator. Featherkit is a bit hard to figure out. She's quiet, but can be loud when she wants to be, though it's not common. She's got a small group of friends, including Quailpaw, Nectarpaw, and Fringepaw. She's nonbinary. They grow up to be Needlestrike, Branchtail, and Feathershade.

[lemnnshark]

"Branchkit is a white tom-kit."

"Grasskit is an auburn she-kit."

Old designs below

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 7 (Part 1)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Hopechase has a big fight with Olive, pushing her to actually name her kits. She tells her that they're asking Hopechase to give them names, because Olive refuses. Hopechase sympathizes with her fears, but she begs her to give her kits this grace. Olive finally breaks down and names them.

(Hopechase, warrior, female, 89 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 62 moons) (Branchkit, kitten w/ brown pelt, female, 2 moons) (Perchkit, kitten w/ lilac pelt, female, 2 moons)

Barleywave spends time with Perchkit and Branchkit. He still misses Warblerkit, but he vows to do what he can to protect them.

(Barleywave, warrior, male, 36 moons) (Branchkit, kitten, female, 2 moons) (Perchkit, kitten, female, 2 moons)

Redstar surprises Talonpaw with something nice, as a thank you for doing his apprentice hcores without complaint. Talonpaw wants to be just like Redstar when he grows up!

(Redstar, leader, female, 65 moons) (Talonpaw, apprentice, male, 11 moons)

Iciclepool spends some time with Shiverpaw on patrol, happy to be with her and watch her skills grow. Shiverpaw is just glad to have her mom by her side for a while, especially after everything that happened the moon prior.

(Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 7 moons) (Iciclepool, deputy, female, 63 moons)

Hopechase asks Iciclepool if she'd like to spend some time together. Hopechase asks if Iciclepool ever thought about mates after Cliffstep's passing. She pauses before saying she was very stressed after his passing, but she does miss the support and comfort of a partner. Hope asked if, hypothetically, she ever DID want a partner, what kind of traits would she be looking for? Hypothetically.

(Hopechase, warrior, female, 89 moons) (Iciclepool, deputy, female, 63 moons)

The Plentiful Gathering is hosted, with Cloudthunder cooking and Redstar and Hopechase teaching stories and history. During the festival, Redstar timidly shows an idea for a new Clan symbol - the ideal future she hopes they can reach together: a gentle home, ringed in spears.

(Talonpaw, apprentice, male, 11 moons) (Redstar, leader, female, 65 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 62 moons) (Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 40 moons)

---

Redstar hoped that the Clan would love this. She really, truly did.

When she was an apprentice, she imagined that these types of festivals would be massive, filled with so many cats willing to show their chosen foods to the Clan, with everyone trying a bit of everything. She was quickly brought back down from her daydreams by Hopechase pointing out that the Clan consisted of eleven members, two of which were kits, three couldn't leave camp without a warrior, and two more were restricted to the medicine den.

"It used to be only one person was in the medicine den, but..." Hopechase eyed Redstar's bandages and splinter stabilizing her back leg.

Redstar's pelt turned hot. She groomed her front paw to hide her shame. She stayed quiet as she thought about what Hopechase said. She admitted that she had a point. Only five cats were capable of hunting the required food on their own - and that's only if she forced Windfur into doing so. The more she thought about it, the most unreasonable it seemed for the Gathering to be grand.

It broke her heart...but she had to be a better leader. Too much all at once would do nothing but stress her Clan.

"Do you have any suggestions for a smaller scale event?" Redstar asked.

Hopechase tapped her tail on the ground pensively. "Well, the celebration was originally to remember the culinary works from the lost clans," she mused out loud. "Unfortunately, many of the preserved recipes were lost with the death of Flametwig."

Redstar's heart sank as she fondly remembered the old gib. Their bushy face lit up with wonder at every spice Chicoryglint would defeatedly surrender. They made the greatest steamed birds and jerky.

She wished she had spoken to them more.

"What I'd recommend," Hopechase started slowly, "is to start with just one Clan this year. When our Clan has more members, we can expand to remember the rest of them."

"But - what if something happens to you? What if we lose that knowledge?"

Redstar's objection was sudden and despairing, and she knew it. She felt guilty the moment Hopechase looked at her quizzically.

"I'm not saying we don't talk about the other three Clans. I'm saying that we choose one Clan to make a dish for, and we could share stories or history of the other Clans during the celebration. You and I could talk about what we know, and explain our plans for future seasons. We're a small Clan now, Redstar. Starting small is the best we can do."

Redstar paused for a while, then sighed. "Very well. You're right. I just...don't know where to start. How could I be made to choose?"

"What about LakeClan?" Hopechase suggested. "They were known for their fish and roe. Cloudthunder has developed quite an adventurous streak over the past year. She's been coming back with all sorts of new things to cook and taste test." Hopechase's whiskers twitched in amusement. "She's always enjoyed working around a fire since she was an apprentice, and I'm sure she'd be glad to see what she could do with some fresh fish, if we can manage."

"But none of us are apt at swimming. How can we catch fish from the lake?"

"Well, it doesn't have to be from the lake..."

****

Redstar and Hopechase had spent more than a week's worth of time preparing for this. When they had announced to the Clan together their plan for this year's revived Plentiful Gathering, there was an anxious excitement in the air. Cloudthunder wanted to try drying out minnows, and Windfur offered to give her some spare rosemary to spice them with. Barleywave offered to rake some fallen leaves for the kits to play in during the festival, and Talonpaw was eager to help with any fishing endeavours. Only Morningpaw seemed hesitant to step outside of camp, and Iciclepool redirected her to keeping Olive company and playing with Branchkit and Perchkit.

Redstar hoped that now, during the second full moon of leaf-fall, she and her Clan had done enough to honor their ancestors.

The sun vanished and the sky had darkened enough for the stars to glitter above. Not a single cloud was present, and Redstar took it as a sign that StarClan was watching over their revived Gathering with interest.

She brought her sights back down to the camp before her. She slowly crawled down from the High Rock, careful not to put weight on her broken leg.

Cloudthunder had made a small cooking fire in the middle of camp, and built it up rapidly with the help of Twoleg matches she stole. The smell of roasted bass invaded her nostrils as it was being cooked over the flames. Redstar's whiskers twitched in amusement as she remembered how Talonpaw acquired it. He wrestled the catch out of the beak of a young heron - much to Iciclepool's dismay and subsequent lecture. Redstar couldn't help but feel a tinge of pride for the tom. Maybe, in another time, an ambitious LakeClan apprentice also ambushed a heron for the prey in its beak. Redstar decided to sit down by the cooking fire, basking in its warmth. She glanced around the rest of camp, admiring her clanmates.

The apprentices took it upon themselves to decorate the camp with Hopechase's guidance. The dark warrior regaled them with stories of the other clans, and they decided to make little decorations for each Clan. Morningpaw and Talonpaw taught Shiverpaw how to make rope from pine roots, and all three of them made frames out of sticks in the shape of cat heads. In each head, they used pine sap as glue to put symbols of the other clans within them.

"But how am I supposed to stick water on this?" Redstar heard Talonpaw complain.

"You could do MountainClan instead?" Morningpaw offered.

"But I wanna use the heron feather I snagged the other day! Using it for LakeClan makes sense!" The black tabby tom grumbled. "It would look really cool if I could make it look like it was floating on water. You think the transparent stuff Twolegs have might work? Like, the things they put food and trash in?"

"You want to leave camp in the middle of the night to steal from Twolegs?! No! What if something bad happened?" Morningpaw protested.

Shiverpaw worked quietly on her piece as the two warrior apprentices bickered. She put a simple bit of a pine branch facing upright to create ForestClan's symbol before putting it aside, and weaving a few more sticks again to make another frame. Redstar suppressed a purr of amusement. She knew Iciclepool was keeping an eye on them from the camp gates - she trusted her deputy to make sure they were safe.

Redstar glanced at the nursery, and saw Windfur helping Olive to her feet. He had spent the past moon pushing her into gentle physical exercises. She still needed assistance to keep her brace intact, but Redstar noticed the steady recovery - and from a molly that recently gave birth, at that. Windfur helped her move outside and settle on a firm bedding near the campfire, next to Redstar. Windfur noticed the leader sitting at the fire, and frowned.

"I thought I told you not move from your den until I came to get you."

"I'm fine, Windfur. I know how to climb down a rock."

"You have a broken leg. One wrong move and your healing process will need to restart." The tom's eyes narrowed. "I'm serious."

Redstar sighed. She didn't like being confined, but she decided not to argue back at this time. "Understood."

Windfur stared at Redstar for a moment before walking away from the fire and towards the medicine den.

Olive, meanwhile, looked around the camp. Her green eyes had been filled with apathy and emptiness for the past two moons, and although she had nursed her kits willingly, it took much longer for her to name them. Redstar watched as the mother's eyes fell on Barleywave and her kits near the apprentice's den, where Branchkit squealed and threw herself into a pile of leaves. Perchkit let out a playful yowl as she jumped in after her. It wasn't long before the kits tumbled out, biting at each other's ears and leaving leaves scattered around camp.

Redstar glanced back at their chef for the night, and couldn't help but snicker. Cloudthunder's pupils were dilated with excitement as she stared intently at the marinated bass.

"This is going to be so good. I can feel it in my bones, Redstar," she said.

"I don't doubt it. It smells wonderful."

"Hopechase told me that LakeClan used to have other spices thanks to trading with MountainClan, like salt and spicebush. Couldn't find any of that, but rosemary will do great!" Cloudthunder started scattering a few dried herbs over the fish's meat.

Olive stared at the food for a while. "...I've never met any cats with the ability to do what ForestClan does," she murmured.

"To do what?" Redstar asked.

"Create fire. Cook food. Cats do not need to do that. We can eat raw meat just fine." The gentle fire was reflected in Olive's eyes. An unknown emotion spread through her. "...Your walls, your gates, your baskets and herbs. I've seen cats play with string and colorful toys provided by their Twolegs. I've seen them steal Twoleg food and pelts. But you...can do what Twolegs do. Not on a large scale like they can. But enough to be an echo."

Redstar waited quietly. Outsiders often had these kinds of feelings towards ForestClan. She assumed Olive had more to say.

"...And still, you choose to live here."

There it was. Redstar braced herself ahead of time, preventing her fur from bristling. Cloudthunder wasn't prepared for it, however, and the grey and white molly's expression darkened. A tense silence fell around the fire as it continued to crackle.

Finally, she found a retort. "Have you ever considered that if there was a territory free of all danger, we would've already gone there?"

"Free of all danger? No. You'll always have to live in places with some danger. But you live here. Where something evil has claimed the territory as its hunting ground." Olive turned to meet Cloudthunder's gaze. The two mollies regarded each other steadily. Cloudthunder saw no hostility in Olive's eyes, just fatigue. The younger molly forcibly relaxed. She misread Olive's intent. She licked her paw and started grooming herself.

"...I know that this place has many evils. We've all seen them," Cloudthunder said. "But, the Clans have been here far before the Woodcrawlers have."

"But there's just one Clan now, is there not? Why stay in this place?"

Redstar's tail tapped against the ground. "Those are reasonable questions to ask, Olive. And ones that many cats have asked themselves. There is a reason why ForestClan has such small numbers."

Olive glanced at Redstar from the corner of her eye. "...Small?" she echoed.

Redstar suppressed a mrrow of amusement. "Yes, we are much smaller than we used to be the year before. A Clan is a society, a culture..."

"....And maybe something we can teach you more about tonight!" Cloudthunder interjected as she started shuffling the bass onto a cold serving stone. The light returned to her words. "It's easier to show you why we value our home and Clan than to tell you."

Olive didn't reply. She took her gaze back to her kits, and watched them play.

The full moon had reached its apex when the cats finally all gathered around the cooking fire, with Iciclepool helping Cloudthunder serve the bass and dried minnows. The apprentices hung their makeshift clan symbols below weaved branches around the High Rock, and Hopechase started to regale them with the history of the Plentiful Gathering.

Redstar listened as Hopechase explained the cultures and renowned traits of the four lost clans - LakeClan, FieldClan, MountainClan and MarshClan. Redstar looked around the campfire, and felt a soft joy as Perchkit and Branchkit listened with wide-eyed awe, questions dancing impatiently on their tongues. Her warriors were focused on Hopechase in between mouthfuls of fish, and the three apprentices listened in varying levels of interest, to Redstar's amusement. Shiverpaw was attentive, Talonpaw was half-listening, distracted by food, and Morningpaw looked almost too focused, as though worried she was going to be quizzed on it later.

"...And so, for this year, we will start small. The Plentiful Gatherings involved the preparation of food found outside our immediate borders, near territory the former clans would've lived. This year, we're starting with one Clan, and we will increase the dishes we will make each year." There was a hint of pride to Hopechase's voice. "Tonight, we have dried minnows and roasted bass, food that would've been a staple to LakeClan meals. LakeClan was thought to be well-fed, as fish were in no short supply near their riverbed home. Salt might've been used as seasoning, if they could trade with MountainClan. But today, we're using rosemary."

"What's trading?" Perchkit asked.

Redstar answered. "It's where one clan would offer up food or materials found on their territory to another clan, usually in exchange for something they couldn't find on their own territory."

Olive's ear twitched. "...And they didn't just try to steal the materials?" she asked.

"Well, that, we don't know," Hopechase admitted. "I have to assume that the Clans weren't completely free of strife - especially in the colder seasons. But what we do know for certain, is that in the end, the clans valued each other." She continued with more solemnity. "In their greatest hour of need, ForestClan housed every cat that escaped from the great monster that rampaged over the territories so long ago. The Wretch was a creature more horrible than we can describe. It cared little about the camps of the other clans, and...it was known to absorb cats into itself," Hopechase said more cautiously as she glanced at Perchkit and Branchkit. They seemed upset, but not horrified, and they remained quiet. "But the Wretch could not breach ForestClan's defenses. The walls of tall pines that cascaded our landscape halted its advance, and prevented it from hurting more cats. Within our camp, the other Clans sought protection and refuge."

"...What happened then?" Branchkit asked meekly.

"I think Redstar is more qualified to answer that one, as a historian," Hopechase meowed as she glanced at Redstar with a glint of affection. Redstar licked her chest a few times, bashful. She cleared her throat, then spoke.

"Well, historically speaking, when the Wretch disappeared, the Woodcrawlers and Nature's Mockeries started appearing around the territory. One of the clerics of ForestClan, whose name has been lost to time, received a vision from StarClan. They dreamed of a large, sprawling camp, housing cats of every background, shape and size - even former kittypets and loners. The cleric stepped outside the camp, and saw that the walls were ringed in sharpened spears, with points of starlight. The light repelled the shadows of monsters. No matter what they did, they could not breach the walls."

Redstar couldn't help but smile as her clanmates listened intently, their eyes flickering. "The vision came with four words. Some saw it as a prophecy, and for others, a mantra. Loyalty. Bravery. Sacrifice. Death. Many cats could not make sense of this sign. Clerics and leaders debated its meaning for many seasons, choosing to follow their own interpretations of the vision. I think - or rather, I hope - that I can share my thoughts with the Clan about these words." Redstar glanced at Hopechase and Iciclepool for encouragement, who nodded at her in response. Redstar took a deep breath as she stumbled to her feet, careful not to put weight on her broken leg.

She felt a tinge of nervousness as her clan watched her. She had never been...this vulnerable with them before. This was something that mattered to her. She only hoped that they treated her kindly.

"I believe that the night the clans almost died, we were sent a message of hope, and peace," Redstar began. "That one day, it was possible to build a sanctuary. Not just for clan cats, but perhaps, one day, all cats who sought refuge against the woods. But, it could not be done without effort." Redstar slowly limped towards the base of High Rock, and picked up a cat head frame that she had made in private, long before the start of the Gathering. As she brought it back towards the circle, she hid it from view, waiting for the right moment to reveal it. She sat back down, and continued. "The words that were shared with us, I believe, had meaning. Loyalty. Loyalty to each other. To this cause, and this faith in a better world. We had to be united against the Woodcrawlers.

"Bravery. We had to be brave. The world was cruel, and dangerous. There would be monsters in our home now, trying to overwhelm us, frighten us away. But in a world where there is loyalty, there will be bravery to remain loyal to our friends, family and cause.

"Sacrifice. No change came without sacrifice. Unfortunately, I would be lying if I said this did not lead to many eras of pain and strife in ForestClan." Redstar's voice lowered. "Many thought this meant collective sacrifice. We would need to sacrifice wants, needs and safety, to guarantee survival of the whole. But I don't believe in this. I believe that in our acts of bravery - there will be sacrifice, no matter what. A parent protecting their children."

Iciclepool's eyes brimmed with sorrow.

"Cats fighting to protect newborns."

Barleywave's head hung low.

"Our love for one another, as clanmates, friends, and family," Redstar meowed. "Love drives sacrifice. We find something we are so willing to be loyal and brave for, that we are willing to sacrifice parts of ourselves for it. Which leads me to the final word."

All eyes were focused on her now. Even Talonpaw had sat up and was now watching her intently.

"Death. I know this has been construed as an omen of fear, especially after how many cats we've lost to the woods for years and years on end. In the past, it was used to justify apprentice trials, and to accept that kits would always be at risk in the woods. But I believe, with all of my heart, that it was always a message meant for the leaders, blessed by StarClan. Why else would our ancestors gift leaders nine lives, if not to use them to protect their clan? It is the embodiment of all the remaining tenants. We must sacrifice, and die, and be brought back again and again. Because that is the burden we must carry. As leader, I will take the lives I'm given, and I will fight with all I have to make sure you are safe. I am one cat. I cannot prevent tragedy." Redstar felt her heart tighten with sorrow as she remembered Warblerkit, and the lives of her former clanmates so long ago. "But I will die trying. Until StarClan calls me one final time."

Perchkit and Branchkit stared at the leader with wide eyes. Had they not been told about the lives Redstar was given? Olive's ear also twitched at this, her expression unreadable.

"I know that for as long as ForestClan has stood, our symbol has been the sturdy pine tree. I come offering a proposition - something to truly separate us from past leadership. A new beginning, and a sign of my commitment to you all."

Redstar pulled the frame she crafted, and held it up for her clan to see. Everyone's heads bobbed to forward to see, and admired the bent branches and lashing knots that took the shape of an arch, with pointed spikes on its outside. On its inside, was a small rectangle with pointed ears - a cat.

Hopechase's whiskers twitched in amusement. "A gentle camp ringed in spears?"

"As I said, I am only offering it as a proposition," Redstar said hastily, the heat rising to her face. "I'd rather leave it to a vote."

"Well, in that case, let's vote," Cloudthunder said with a twitch of her tail. "I like this symbol, Redstar, but I think the pine tree makes us humble. It reminds us of what saved ForestClan during the attack of the Wretch - our defenses, made of pine trees. By that notion, the pine tree itself is both the wall and the spear, no?"

Redstar bowed her head in response. "That is very true. The pine tree is the symbol of our home, and the sign of what we have always been. Regardless of the adversity we face, we will always be ForestClan, and the trees will always be there for us." The leader's tail brushed the ground lightly. "I will abstain from voting, as I believe that this should be a decision made by the clan members themselves."

"Very well. All those for the ringed camp?" Hopechase declared as she raised her tail. Redstar couldn't help but feel her heart race. She looked and saw Barleywave, Talonpaw, and the two kits raise their tails excitedly, but felt deflated when the others didn't.

"Those for the pine?" Cloudthunder asked. Iciclepool and Windfur raised their tails, but the nervous Morningpaw and Shiverpaw abstained, shuffling on their feet. Redstar swallowed down her feelings to be a good leader. Yes, she wanted the ringed camp, deep down. But the pine was also the spear. It was not wrong to keep it.

"Morningpaw, Shiverpaw? It's alright if you wish to keep the pine tree. It's been a symbol for your home ever since you were born."

Morningpaw didn't meet Redstar's gaze, but she hesitantly lifted her tail. "I'm sorry Redstar," she meowed quietly. "I just...I remember my first day out of camp. When Iciclepool and Barleywave taught me how to climb a tree. From the top of a pine, I saw home." She lifted her head, her amber eyes flickering with feeling.

A few of the cats purred at that answer, and Redstar felt empathy for the young cat. She blinked slowly at her in reassurance. "That is a wonderful perspective to have, Morningpaw. I wouldn't ask you to feel any less." The leader looked at the youngest apprentice. "And you, Shiverpaw?"

Shiverpaw looked away, shuffling on her feet. Redstar noticed that Shiverpaw had become more withdrawn since the last half-moon, and she knew why. She felt a pang of sympathy for the poor kit. Being tasked with carrying StarClan's greatest secret was a burden she knew very well - one that Redstar had chosen to put aside. She could not help StarClan when she was alive - only when her soul was accepted above could she help them fight the Iris. For now, she could only control what happened here. But it seemed like that knowledge weighed on Shiverpaw's decision, which saddened the calico leader.

"I...I don't know," Shiverpaw mewed. "I...I feel like it's...a heavy task. To ward off everything. To...be responsible for protecting everyone." She swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Shiverpaw." Iciclepool, her mother, touched her nose to her kit's ear. "While I do love the new symbol, I think we need more time to grow like the forest." The deputy gave Redstar a kind look, and Redstar nodded. She understood her position.

"I dunno, I think you're all overthinking it," Talonpaw scoffed. The young tom's tail flicked with anticipation. "Like, yeah, ForestClan has pine trees. But that's not the thing that defines what we do, or who we wanna be! Maybe the pine tree was a good symbol when the other clans were here, but they aren't. We need to make a new symbol - one that represents not just ForestClan, but the other clans too. They didn't just die for nothing, right?" Talonpaw took his gaze towards Redstar, seeking approval. Redstar couldn't help but feel her heart warm with affection. Someone understood what message she wished to convey - and she was happy.

"That's my reasoning as well," Barleywave spoke. "The other clans came to ForestClan for protection, but it sounds like they simply conglomerated into ForestClan. If we became a clan ringed in spears, we'd be making them a promise to never forget them. We're not just ForestClan - we're all the Clans. That's why you made four points, right? One for each lost clan?"

Redstar looked at her symbol again. Yes, she did make four points on the arch.

That was completely unintentional.

"Yes, of course that was a part of it," Redstar lied. "I didn't want to sway anyone's opinion based on it, however, so I kept quiet."

"Well I like it!" Branchkit piped up. She jumped to her feet excitedly. "It means that anyone who sees it knows they're safe!"

"Yeah! And I like the little cat," Perchkit added. The older cats purred in amusement.

Cloudthunder seemed pensive. "Well, in that case, without your vote Redstar, it means we're tied." The young she-cat looked at Olive, who had remained quiet. "What about you, Olive?"

Olive looked at her with wide eyes. "Me?"

"Well, yes. You're a part of the clan."

Olive looked like she wanted to hide behind her whiskers. "I don't know about that," she mumbled.

"Olive, you've been here for half a year," Barleywave snapped. "Don't try to tell us that we shouldn't see you as a clanmate, because we won't believe you."

Cloudthunder suppressed a mrrow of amusement at Barleywave's comment. "It's true, you have been with us since newleaf. Your voice matters to us."

Olive blinked rapidly, as though caught off guard. After a few moments, she asked, "Has it really been that long?"

"Since the end of newleaf, yes," Windfur confirmed. His dark blue eyes softened. "I know it hasn't been pleasant for you."

"And yet, you would spend your resources to help a loner like me. A cat with a broken back, pregnant, in these woods. And I haven't been able to repay a single thing in return."

"But mama, we love you," Perchkit mewed as she stumbled towards her mother with wide eyes. "Branchkit and I wouldn't be here without you."

"And we really like it here!' Branchkit added.

Redstar bowed her head. "Helping vulnerable cats is the right thing to do, Olive. There's nothing to repay."

Olive looked at the innocent eyes of her two kits, then lifted her head to meet Redstar's gaze.

"...Please vote for the spear camp?" Branchkit blurted.

The clan laughed and Perchkit shoved her sister roughly. "Stop it, Branchkit! It's her choice!"

"But it's so cool!" Branchkit whined and rolled around on Olive's paws. "Pleeeeease?"

Olive huffed lightly. She lifted her paw and put it on Branchkit's face, causing her to squeak in protest.

"Nooo! Stop!" Branchkit whined in between trying to playfully bite her mother's paw.

Redstar then saw something from Olive that she had never seen since the molly was first brought into camp. After months of pain and sorrow, Olive smiled.

"Redstar. You said that in the vision, the camp housed outsiders. Is that true?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"I didn't understand why you stayed in these woods at first. And a part of me still doesn't. But I think I understand a little better what you are trying to do. It's...kind. Almost too kind to seem true." Olive removed her paw from her kit, letting the little kitten scramble and dash away giggling. "But if that's truly what your shared goal is, exemplified through your treatment of me, even if I can't ever return the favor," the queen's green eyes softened with kindness. "Then it feels like the ringed camp already exemplifies everything you've been to me."

At this, Branchkit and Perchkit squealed with delight and tackled each other in their joy, barrelling towards Talonpaw.

"Hey, hey! Careful! Watch the plates!" Talonpaw protested as he pushed aside the flat stones.

Redstar purred deeply at the sight. Joy swelled in her heart. She could not express the gratitude in proper words. But still, she felt like if half the clan wished to keep the old symbol - she could not simply ignore that.

"I've decided on a compromise. The pine tree has always been ForestClan. Like Cloudthunder said, it keeps us humble. It is our home. We've always relied on the safety of the pines, and it's only right to honor it. So, the ringed camp will represent all clans. The ones of the past, StarClan, and ForestClan's future. The clan we wish to become, together."

At this, Iciclepool and Morningpaw visibly brightened, and Windfur nodded sagely.

"Oh, this is so exciting!" Cloudthunder exclaimed with her chest fur puffed out. "We're making history today with a new symbol! We'll have to find a way to tell this story to future kits, wouldn't we?"

"Didn't you vote against it?" Windfur asked, his head tilted.

"I can still be excited that we're making history, beebrain!"

Redstar purred in amusement, and watched as her clanmates started chatting among themselves with the warmth of fire surrounding them.

She took her eyes to the night sky. The stars flickered brilliantly above, as though showing their approval. She twitched her whiskers, and hoped that she made them proud.

---

< PREVIOUS | NEXT >

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 10 (Part 2)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Hopechase and Morningpaw find an old badger sett. Or at least...they THINK it is. Hopechase remembered the stories of the Gardens Below, and reluctantly grabs a long stick and stabs it into the sett. No animal was there, but dark roots were. Hope tells Morning that if they come back and the roots grab onto the stick, then this was where a Woodcrawler might come from.

(Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 12 moons) (Hopechase, warrior, female, 92 moons)

Windfur tries to apologize to Shiverpaw for the moon prior. Shiverpaw isn't interested in hearing it, interjecting him whenever he tries.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 24 moons) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 10 moons)

Olive suddenly finds, after moons of being unable to move her back legs, that she can walk again. She takes a few hesitant steps, and for a moment, she is in awe as Perchkit and Branchkit approach excitedly. Windfur also feels relieved, releasing a breath he held for moons. Olive purrs as she genuinely thanks Windfur for his patience, and apologizes for her rudeness during her grief.

(Olive, mediator, female, 66 moons) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 24 moons) (Branchkit, kitten, female, 5 moons) (Perchkit, kitten, female, 5 moons)

---

Olive was scared.

Yes, she could walk without pain. Yes, she could move her tail again - albeit with some soreness, due to the muscles being stiff. She understood Windfur's desire to remove her cast and declare her healed. It was strange, how something that had once been a symbol of her agony and pain had become a source of comfort. She had worn the cast since spring. Her life in ForestClan began as an injured loner, waking into camp with it. It was now winter, and the camp that sprawled before her was a set of roof-less tunnels, the snow shoveled aside to give clear paths to every major point of camp. There was no ice to slip on, and she was overdue to walk freely again.

And yet…

Windfur gently began untying the ropes around her cast. Windfur had been quieter over the past two weeks. She didn't blame him. She likely would, too, if she had gotten the full brunt of an angry Iciclepool and Redstar. She understood their anger - to send Shiverpaw out at the start of the snowstorm was a foolish decision made without thought. She wasn't a child, but the young cat hadn't experienced snow in such large quantities before. When the patrol hadn't returned on time, they blamed his poor judgement, and she was describing this lightly. Iciclepool hadn't spoken to Windfur in days, pointedly asking Shiverpaw for any medical assistance instead.

Olive's eyes shifted towards Windfur as she felt the cold air hit her normally-covered back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steel her nerves. Windfur must've noticed her anxiety.

"...Any pain?" he asked.

"No."

"You seem tense."

Olive didn't reply.

Windfur slowly gathered the pieces of bark and old moss. He gently placed it in a basket, then began bunching the twine into a bundle. By the time he finished and grabbed the basket, he gave her one last look.

"...I'm going to dispose of the cast materials."

"That's fine."

"...You should be able to walk now."

"I know." Olive sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment. She felt her tail brush against the cold dirt and snow beneath her.

"Could you try it for me?" Windfur's voice was tense. Olive could've sworn that she heard a sense of dread lingering behind the statement. Olive stopped the swaying of her tail. Was he unsure of himself?

Olive looked out across the camp again, and saw her two kits laughing as they played in the snow. Perchkit's migraines had subsided, and she watched with softness as Perchkit dived under the snow, then stuck her head straight up like a gopher popping out of its burrow. Branchkit burst out laughing, deciding to do the same. The two cats playfully kept diving and popping their heads out from the snow, then emerging in progressively sillier poses.

A surge of warmth bloomed in her heart. It was dampened by tightening fear, then shame.

She was so afraid to have hope, for so many moons. The despair that plagued her was like she was submerged in mud. Her fears of her litter being taken had come true, and poor, innocent Warblerkit suffered the same fate in a vain attempt to prevent it. Nothing mattered for so, so long. She expected them to come back and take her remaining kits. There was no point to having hope.

The grief lessened as she watched her kits grow, and learned how to walk again. But the familiar pang of depression and defeat was comfortable. Familiar. She knew how to navigate it. Avoid it. Ground herself to suppress it. But allowing herself to feel joy? It had been foreign to her for a long, long time. And yet, here she was, without her cast. And here were her kits, unafraid and abundant in their happiness.

The first step was always the hardest one. The one with the most fear, and uncertainty. Something she would have to wrestle with her own mind and body over - teach it again that the world is not ending.

She wished she could step forward unafraid. But she couldn't.

Olive breathed deeply, letting the cold air pass through her lungs. "Courage is not without fear. Courage is not without fear," Olive muttered to herself quietly. She braced herself, and pushed herself to her feet.

She felt the weight settling on her back legs. She allowed her tail to sway slightly, stretching out the lingering stiffness. Then, she stepped forward. Once. Twice.

She found herself focusing on her kits in the distance.

She felt the wet, cold ground under her paw pads. She felt her tail lifting slightly, keeping it off the ground. She watched as her kits rolled out of the snow in laughter, and Branchkit's sage green eyes met with hers suddenly. They widened, and then Branchkit squealed with joy as she leapt towards her.

"Mom! You don't have a cast!"

Perchkit's head swiveled and her eyes were struck with wonder as she dashed after her sibling. Perchkit looked like she had just seen a miracle. "You're walking without it?"

Olive let out a breathy laugh. "Yes. I…I suppose I am."

"Woah, that's awesome! Does that mean you can play with us?"

"Well, hold on. I still have to get used to this again." Olive allowed a quiet purr to escape her.

"Does that mean your back is healed?" Perchkit piped. She still looked amazed, as though a miracle had just been performed.

"It does," Windfur meowed. Olive turned and saw that he had padded after her, still holding onto the waste basket. Windfur seemed more relieved than she had ever seen from the tom before. It was as though he had been holding a breath for a long time, and only now could he finally release it.

Olive, for the first time in many moons, allowed the warmth to surge through her. She let go of the fear and allowed it to surge down to her feet, and leave into the earth. Her sage green eyes wavered with feeling.

Despite everything, she was here. And she was alive. She couldn't possibly return the kindness and treatment that she was given, but it was given freely. ForestClan saved her. Windfur saved her. Despite how defeatist and hopeless she felt, the tom never gave up on treating her.

"Windfur," Olive started quietly. "Thank you for your patience and kindness for many moons. Despite how I've treated you and others in my darkest moments, you still treated me with respect. I know my words hurt. I'm so sorry for how I treated you."

Windfur sheepishly put down his basket and started grooming his arm. "It's - ah - it's fine," he answered. He put his arm back down and stared at his paws. "I've heard worse."

"That's not an excuse." Olive's expression was clouded with feeling. "I just…never thought I would get better."

Branchkit playfully batted at Olive's shoulder. "But you are better, mom!"

"I am. And that's thanks to Windfur, and Shiverpaw as well by the end. So…thank you." Olive bowed at him.

Despite Windfur's stoic expression, his raised tail betrayed his relief and gratitude. "Just…let me know if you get any pains or anything, okay? I still want to check up on you for a bit."

"Of course."

"Mom, did you wanna see the funny game Branchkit and I came up with? It has to do with finding each other in the snow!" Perchkit piped up as she ran back towards the snow banks.

"Show me, then," Olive purred as she padded after her kits.

Windfur couldn't help but watch as the mother watched her children play in the snow. Olive's eyes were filled with a kind of peace that he hadn't seen from her before, and for once, after moons of screwing up and failing others, he felt like maybe, he succeeded just this once, for this one person. Despite everything going against Olive - her broken back, her pregnancy, the woods' cruelty, her grief - here she was, walking, and purring as she watched her kits hunt each other in the snow.

For a brief moment, he allowed himself to purr with contentment. His tail tapped lightly on the ground, and he closed his eyes. He listened to Perchkit and Branchkit's mewls of excitement, and he was happy.

His tail stopped when Olive let out a hard cough. ---

A few days later, Olive's occasional coughing gets consistent. Olive is miserable as Windfur says it's yellowcough. Windfur feels REALLY bad for her. Thankfully, he has a surplus of lungwort, but that doesn't make Olive much happier, now that she's stuck in the medicine den again.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 24 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 66 moons)

Branchkit appreciates that Riversnow always seems to ask how she's doing.

(Riversnow, warrior, female, 59 moons) (Branchkit, kitten, female, 5 moons)

Perchkit hates how Olive keeps getting attention lately, and doesn't understand why she's not being allowed to see her. What does Windfur mean, "she's sick again"? Her back was fine a few days ago! Windfur tries to be patient when explaining it to her.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 24 moons) (Perchkit, kitten, female, 5 moons)

Talontooth tries to offer Morningpaw a compliment, and fumbles on his words before awkwardly running away. Morningpaw suppresses a mrrow of amusement, and feels warm and fuzzy.

(Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 12 moons) (Talontooth, warrior, male, 14 moons)

Barleywave thinks Talontooth is being very helpful when he brings him dinner. The two toms also end up having some friendly bickering.

(Talontooth, warrior, male, 14 moons) (Barleywave, warrior, male, 39 moons)

< PREVIOUS | NEXT >

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 8 (Final)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Tree helps Shiverpaw find herbs, and they run into a Woodcrawler. Tree miraculously incapacitates it, barely getting hurt! Tree tells the Clan that they've warded off Deep Root entities before. Closer to the ends of their legs, their roots are sensitive. They're like a heel - the tendons are weak. They can be torn apart, causing the entity to lose motor control.

(Tree, warrior, non-binary, 39 moons) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, 8 moons) (Woodcrawler. A mockery of nature. Without defined age.)

---

Shiverpaw felt uncomfortable when Windfur told her that she was capable of gathering plantain by herself. She felt even more uncomfortable when Windfur asked Tree to accompany her.

Ever since she came back to camp with Talonpaw the moon prior, Windfur had been stiff around her. She didn't know if it was something Talonpaw told him, or something she did, but the fact that she was being ousted with a stranger in the middle of the woods to gather herbs made her feel like…like Windfur didn't like her. She wasn't…doing anything bad, right? She knew that earlier in the moon they got into a fight about the Nature's Mockery she saw, but she thought that enough time had passed for it to not matter anymore.

It was hard to believe that when Windfur was looking at her less and less.

She quietly grabbed one of the woven baskets by the handle, and quietly padded up to Tree, who was waiting patiently by the camp entrance.

"Well, no time like the present, eh?" Tree meowed.

Shiverpaw nodded wordlessly, then walked past them and through the entrance. Tree padded after the apprentice, their eyes staring at the ropes and sliding mechanisms that were attached to ForestClan's front gates. Their tail twitched with interest.

Shiverpaw wasn't sure what to make of the former loner. They were brought back to camp by Cloudthunder and Morningpaw the moon prior, and almost immediately went from non-committal about joining, to gaping and inquiring about every little aspect of Clan life. Tree had especially taken interest in speaking to Windfur, fascinated by the amount of medical knowledge and herbs he had at his disposal. Windfur noticed the tinge of lemonweed emitting from their pelt, and offered to provide them with regular dosage, if they wished. Tree was happy to agree.

This happened with almost every single clanmate in camp. Tree asked about the fire burning beneath a makeshift table of stones, and Cloudthunder was happy to show them how they dried out strips of meat. Tree asked about the thick ropes binding the logs of pine and spruce that created their walls, and Barleywave was happy to show them the ropes, literally. Tree asked about how long they've existed in this forest, and Redstar was happy to give them ForestClan's history. Every day, Tree seemed to have another question for someone to answer.

But not for her.

Not that she could really blame them. She…wasn't exactly the most interesting cat. At least, she didn't think so.

As the two cats trekked through the undergrowth, Shiverpaw took a moment to appreciate the sunshine. It was getting colder, and the red and yellow hues of early leaf-fall had long gone. The ground was painted in husky brown leaf litter, and the birch and oaks were stripped bare of their foliage. The only thing that remained were the evergreens, their pines growing dark under the cold.

Shiverpaw's appreciation of the gentle sun was cut short by cloudy overcast. She sighed.

"Ah, poor sunshine." Tree's voice spoke up from behind her. "I was enjoying that."

Shiverpaw let out a huff of agreement. "I was always told that I'd miss the sun the closer to leafbare we got. But…it's hard to really get that when you're a kit."

"Experience is the best teacher," Tree said simply. They paused, then tilted their head slightly. "So you've never felt winter - er, I guess you call it leafbare - before?"

"No," Shiverpaw confirmed. She started walking again, remembering the path towards plantain that Windfur showed her.

Tree padded up beside her and continued the conversation. "It's not very pleasant. The cold is the worst part of it. And how dark it gets, so early."

Shiverpaw gave them a curious glance. Her ear turned towards Tree, attentive.

"But, despite the cold and the darkness, there's something…oddly reassuring about it." Tree's green eyes were filled with unknown emotion. "It's a little mad, with how many creatures manage to survive a time that is so hostile to life. There's beauty in that - but perhaps only a hateful beauty. One that's admired only because we appreciate that there are things not like it. Such as your clan." Tree gave Shiverpaw a look. "It's wonderful how much you create together."

Shiverpaw blinked in surprise. The way Tree described leafbare was harsh, but also poetic. It strangely made her look forward to leafbare - but she'd never admit that to anyone in the clan!

"I'm glad that you like our camp. We work hard on it," Shiverpaw meowed quietly, staying polite. She stopped as the path beneath her feet turned from dirt to stone, and she found the patch of plantain she needed. "Oh, here it is." Shiverpaw put down the basket and trotted towards the herb, carefully cultivating the leaves - as wilted as they were becoming.

"Did you need any help grabbing them?"

"Um, not right now - I'm trying to see what's still good to take."

"Take your time, then. We're in no rush." Tree sat down comfortably on one of the flat stones on the path. They stretched out their front legs and arched their back, letting out a big yawn. Shiverpaw caught them yawning from the corner of her eye, and failed to suppress one of her own. Tree let a mrrow of amusement.

"I suppose we're all due for a nap later."

"That'd be nice," Shiverpaw agreed. She kept winnowing the plantain, hoping that she was leaving enough of the plant to grow back in newleaf. She was so focused on her careful task, that by the time she had turned around with a bundle of them in her mouth, she was caught off guard by Tree standing upright and staring off into the woods.

"...Um, Tree?"

Tree lifted their tail up as a sign to stay quiet.

Shiverpaw froze and her hair stood on end as she panned the scene, desperate to find out what they were looking at. All she saw were rows of tree trunks sticking out in all directions, growing smaller into the horizon. The undergrowth was a heavy layer of dead pine needles and dormant plants, with the largest being the now-bare branches from a broad shrub. Brown leaf litter dappled the ground. Her eyes flicked back and forth, her heart racing.

She scanned around her again. The tree trunks. The branches of shrubs. Leaf litter.

Again. Trees. Shrubs. Leaf-litter.

"I can smell it. I see it." Tree whispered. "Don't move."

Shiverpaw did as she was told. Then, the wind blew softly against her, and her blue eyes widened with terror. Her heart seized in her chest and it took everything in her to not start panting. Her eyes watered as she remembered the wretched scent that invaded her nostrils two moons ago. When she returned to the Dome last moon with Windfur, the absence of the monster gave her peace. She dreamed of StarClan. Icypaw spoke to her clearly, and seemed relaxed. She even saw Warblerkit, and he told her that he was going to be a big brother to any kit that needed his help - it made her purr. It made her happy. She thought, maybe, the moon she was apprenticed - it was all a bad dream. A horrible nightmare that she could move on from, and she could be a good cleric for her clan, just like she wanted.

She wanted to wail and burst into tears when the wet, bloody scent invaded her body.

She didn't want this. She didn't want this.

She couldn't force herself to look away from the undergrowth. She expected a red, foul mass to crawl around the branches of the shrubs and pull itself up to reveal the dead, black eyes of a cat's deformed skull. It would rise above the trees, above the sky, blot out the sun, and lock its eyes on her. Its jaw, raw and haggard, would shudder. "WE…CAN…HEAR…YOU."

"Shiverpaw." Tree's voice pierced into her waking nightmare. "Hold your breath. When the legs rise - run."

Shiverpaw was jostled from her nightmare, rattled by Tree's words. Legs? What legs? What -

She scanned again. The branches of a shrub. Thicker than normal. The tree trunks. Far on the horizon. The leaf litter. The branches of -

Shiverpaw's eyes shot open wide and her claws unsheathed.

Those were not branches.

The legs of the Woodcrawler rose.

Shiverpaw burst into a dash back down the path. Her heart dropped as Tree was absent. She skidded to a halt and looked back to see them hissing as the Woodcrawler's legs jabbed down.

"TREE!" she howled.

Tree did something unfathomable. They dodged, and then jumped at one of the Woodcrawler's legs. Their green eyes were wild with unbridled fury. With all four sets of claws outstretched, they latched on and started gouging. They plunged their fangs around a bulging point near the base of its leg and started tearing.

The Woodcrawler thrashed in silent agony, its legs flailing as it tried to stab the tortoiseshell cat. Tree glanced up to see one of its dagger-like legs above, and pushed themselves off as the attack came down. Tree sprinted towards Shiverpaw screaming, "GO!"

Shiverpaw didn't need to be told twice. The rush of terror and bewilderment that Tree just did that gave her the boost of speed she didn't know she had. Her head throbbed as she felt something chasing them. She could hear it thrashing through the woods, its many legs skittering across the dirt and leaves, rumbling like a Thunderpath. It lasted only a few moments before she heard a loud crash and snapping branches, then silence. The sound of blood pumping through her ears and Tree panting as they ran beside her replaced it.

Shiverpaw felt desperate relief as she saw the tall walls of the camp come into her line of sight. "WOODCRAWLER! HIDE, HIDE, HIDE!" she screeched.

ForestClan sprung into action, everyone's furs on end. Shiverpaw felt the world around her spin. She could hear Redstar barking orders and scrambling with her three functional legs to close the gate with Barleywave. Windfur and Morningpaw's pelts blurred as they dashed into the nursery and pushed Olive up. Branchkit and Perchkit were wide-eyed and limp as Cloudthunder and Talonpaw grabbed them by the scruff. Before she knew it, the clan was huddled into the back of Redstar's den, trembling in the dark.

Iciclepool was at the den's entrance.

Redstar was staring out into the woods from the gate, her ears swivelling.

Shiverpaw could still hear her heart in her ears.

She felt the world around her blur as she stared at the interior of the den. The brown tree hollow was dark and splintered. Redstar's bedding was made of yellowed moss.

Her eyes couldn't focus on the moss. Something was wrong. It rippled and shifted. Like something had smudged it and dragged its shape out of reality. It felt wrong. The dirt floor was flat. Too flat. There was a beetle on the floor. It crawled slowly across the den, its antennae waving gently. It stopped, frozen. Shiverpaw wanted to blink. She didn't know how. Was the beetle real? Was the bed real? Were her lungs, her heart, her mind? Was -

She felt someone's paw press against her shoulder.

Shiverpaw blinked.

She looked at the paw, and saw a brown, spotted texture rising along its leg. She slowly turned her head to see Olive staring up at her with softness. In silence, Olive pointed to her own claws. Then her ears. Then her nose. One, two, three. Remember.

Shiverpaw took a deep breath. She unsheathed her claws and dug them beneath her. Dirt. It was dry. It snagged into her claws. Shoot. They were dirty now. She'll have to clean them later.

She breathed through her nose. She could smell her clanmate's individual scents. She smelled pine. The air was cold.

She twitched her ears. She could hear…birds? She thinks so. She could hear a songbird or two. Then, she heard something unfamiliar - a…flock of large birds flying overhead? They made a nasally bellow.

Tree's voice mumbled. "Geese. Big black and brown birds. They're just migrating. It's okay."

Branchkit and Perchkit must've heard the sound too, as their eyes twinkled with relief when Tree spoke. The two kits were wrapped around each other, seeking comfort. The rest of the clan remained quiet.

As Redstar gave a final chitter of alarm, Iciclepool sighed deeply. The camp was allowed to breathe again, and Shiverpaw and Tree were interrogated. Shiverpaw could barely recall what her answers were. She felt her mind move and speak automatically. It wasn't like the time at the Half-Moon Dome. There, she felt like something had actively taken over her. Now, it felt like her own mind had picked her up by the scruff, carrying her around and speaking for her. She knows Iciclepool curled up next to her and started grooming her. She knows Redstar spoke to her calmly. She knows Morningpaw brought her a few strips of jerky to eat. But she didn't really remember how she ended up in the medicine den, sitting in her bedding as she watched Windfur and Tree speak to one another.

"I'm going to have to clean your muzzle with water and mouse bile."

"A bit late for that. It was on my teeth. I spit it out, but if there's some kind of infection related to it, well…"

"Let me put it to you this way - I haven't seen someone insane enough to attack a Woodcrawler and survive," Windfur hissed as he started shoving the water and bile-soaked moss on Tree's face.

Tree hissed. "Ow. Ow. This sucks."

"Wouldn't need to do this if I knew what was in Woodcrawlers to begin with," Windfur sighed. "I guess I can sacrifice some of the honey, but I'm not happy about it. Next time, just run."

"We did run."

"No, you attacked it, then you ran. Big difference."

"If I didn't, it would've successfully chased us. I decided to not bring a giant spider back during my first moon living here, thank you."

Windfur's tail thrashed as he padded towards the back of the den and grabbed a flat pebble and a massive slab of honeycomb, carefully peeling away the wax and scraping off some of the honey. "You could've died," Windfur said gravely. "...You should have died."

There was a tense silence in the medicine den as Windfur grabbed Tree's paw and wiped it clean with moss, then added a layer of honey around a bleeding claw.

Shiverpaw stared blankly at Windfur's treatment. Honey for outer infections. Honey. Yes. That was nice. She tried to bump herself back to the present, coaxing gently. She knew the song, right? Windfur showed her last week.

"Bo-bumblebee, bo-bumblebee, give me a cure, one sweet and so dandy, for my little bird…" she mumbled the start of the nursery rhyme Windfur taught her. She was too quiet for either of them to pick up on it.

Tree watched as Windfur used a small, leather pelt to wrap around their foot. Windfur secured it tightly, then looked back up at Tree.

"...How did you live?"

Shiverpaw's ears twitched. She looked at Tree.

Tree tested their paw on the ground. Seemingly satisfied, they gave an answer. "I've had to fight them before, but I do not recommend it. I made a calculated risk, but you're right. I should be dead." Tree's emerald eyes were solemn. "This one was…I'd say the size of a large bramble bush. I wouldn't recommend confronting anything larger than that - which most Woodcrawlers are. Fighting it close to its den is also a death wish. It doesn't need you dead immediately, only tangled for long enough to drag you down. This one was either desperate, or a hatchling. It was nowhere near its den. Otherwise, Shiverpaw and I would've caught the scent of the den long before we saw the beast."

Shiverpaw blinked. She felt extremely uneasy as she remembered staring right at the Woodcrawler and only seeing the branches of a large shrub. It was so incredibly still that she wouldn't have known if it weren't for Tree.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt her face turn hot. She didn't know where the feeling came from. Embarrassment? Shame? Lingering terror? Tree saved her life. She'd be dead if they weren't there.

"That's not the question I asked," Windfur said curtly.

"I'm giving you the preamble because it's the same story I gave to Redstar," they meowed. "Running from Woodcrawlers is the correct answer. However," Tree's eyes grew stern as they glanced at both Shiverpaw and Windfur. "The ends of their legs - their points - there's a grouping of roots near the base of them that are sensitive. There's no bark or scale, just tendons. You can tear them out and cause them to lose motor control. If you're fast, you have time to disable one leg and then make a break for it. But that's all," Tree scowled, their tail twitching. "You can only stop it from chasing you and knowing where you sleep. In the moment, I decided that was a good option." There was a pause, then Tree's expression softened slightly. "But I understand the worry for my well being. Given how promptly you responded to the danger, I think I'll feel better now, knowing ForestClan can defend its home against the Woodcrawlers."

---

< PREVIOUS | NEXT >

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 8 (Part 2)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Hopechase notices that Morningpaw was acting off ever since Tree was invited back to camp. She flags down Barleywave, her mentor. After a lot of pestering, Barleywave agrees to try and talk to her. Hopechase appreciates his effort.

(Hopechase, warrior, female, 90 moons) (Barleywave, warrior, male, 37 moons) (Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 10 moons)

Morningpaw confesses to Barleywave that she's scared of living in the Woods, she's scared of being sacrificed and doesn't want to feed them. Barleywave doesn't know what to say. Desperate, he thinks, "What would Hopechase do?" He gets into a play bow and starts poking and prodding until Morningpaw starts laugh-sobbing, swatting back at her mentor until her pain dulls, becoming bittersweet.

(Barleywave, warrior, male, 37 moons) (Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 10 moons)

---

Barleywave was way out of his depth.

StarClan, why was Hopechase good at bullying you into being a better cat? He was awful. This was awful. He wasn't good with feelings, and even less with being vulnerable about them. He either laughed away his suffering or buried it down in a dirtplace never to be spoken of again. Barleywave, your apprentice is feeling down, Barleywave, go talk to your apprentice, be there for them! Yes. Easy. Definitely, perfectly easy and normal. He was an adult. Feelings were normal. He could talk...about....

Nope, still nauseous.

Barleywave took a deep breath as he approached the entrance to the apprentice's den. He stopped and sat down, briefly taking a moment to admire the outside of it. Talonpaw and Morningpaw had grown attached to the frames they made for the Plentiful Gathering, hanging them outside to show off their work. He remembered how proud they were. They were happy.

And now, Morningpaw wasn't. Hadn't been for a while. And it was his responsibility to fix it.

Come on, Barley. It's just a training patrol. You're just bringing Morningpaw out of camp and hoping to talk. It's not hard, he mentally berated himself. If only it were that easy.

He took a deep breath. If he kept overthinking it, he'd be waiting at the den entrance forever. Forcing his paws forward, he ducked his head inside.

"Hey, Morningpaw?" He asked.

A light brown and white bundle at the back of the den lifted its head up suddenly. "Yeah?"

"Uh, hi. Would you - actually wait, first of all, good morning," Barleywave stumbled on his words. Well, at least he caught himself.

"...But it's sunhigh?" Morningpaw meowed.

Mouse dung.

"Er - right. Apologies. But uh, I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a spot of training? Could exercise those reflexes?" He said with a grin.

Morningpaw didn't seem enthused, but she dragged herself out from her bedding and stretched briefly. "Okay."

Barleywave gestured out the door, allowing Morningpaw to pad out first before following behind her. He noticed his apprentice's sluggish movement and drooping tail. His ears flattened briefly with concern before perking up again. "Alrighty, let's head out. Hey Redstar!" Barleywave called out across camp.

Redstar was having a conversation with Windfur. She seemed to be in a tense mood as she turned to look at Barleywave. Her blue eyes were glazed with boiling anger.

Dear StarClan, was everyone having the jitters this moon?

"I'm taking Morningpaw out training at the clearing!"

Redstar nodded and dismissed him with a wave of her tail before resuming her strained conversation with Windfur. Barleywave was glad that Redstar wasn't talking to him right now. He beckoned Morningpaw to follow him, and his apprentice complied without protest.

The forest had grown colder, and the trees had been stripped bare of their colorful leaves by this point in the season. It was always a dull time between leaf-fall and leafbare - too warm for rain to turn to snow, but too cold to enjoy much of anything. Barleywave's dark grey fur bristled out under the wind. 

"Brr," he chattered as he shook himself out. "Pretty cold out, huh?"

Morningpaw didn't respond. Barleywave stopped and turned his head, only to feel his apprentice bump into him.

"Oof - sorry!" Morningpaw squeaked as she scrambled backwards. Her amber eyes were nailed to her paws, and she repeated more quietly, "I'm sorry."

"Hey, no worries." Barleywave felt his chest tighten. Morningpaw was always a bit of a jumpy cat, but he realized that Hopechase was right - she was acting off. By this point, Morningpaw would've launched herself into an endless string of apologies, meeting his gaze with wide, pleading eyes. The fact that she refused to even look at him made him nervous.

Barleywave stopped for a second, lifting his tail to let her know. Morningpaw sat down wordlessly.

The warrior glanced around him, his hazel eyes wide with surprise. Wait, was he doing this now? Well, they weren't at the clearing, but they were far enough from camp. No suspicious plants or bushes, he couldn't smell anything. He guessed this was fine?

Barleywave sat down and faced his apprentice with a nervous expression. How…okay, how was he going to break this subject? How does one ask if someone's doing okay without pressing them? Did - no, SHOULD he press her? He was her mentor. Did he phrase it like a leader? Morningpaw, you must tell me - no, no, that was too pushy. She didn't have to. Yo, Morningpaw, I think - no, wait, who was he? Talonpaw? Well, maybe if -

Morningpaw had torn her gaze from the ground to glance up at her mentor. "...Barleywave?" 

"You good?" he blurted.

Fox-dung.

Silence fell on them like an eagle dropping dead into camp. Barleywave held his breath as he waited for Morningpaw's answer, and the longer she waited, the more anxious he became.

Morningpaw's amber eyes finally wavered with an unknown feeling. "You…you don't have to ask. It's okay."

"What?" he blurted. The air released from his chest and was replaced with jumbled words. "No, no, I'm - come on Morningpaw, I'm your mentor, I'm just asking if you're good. Cause, yannow, I stopped really suddenly and all, and you seemed rather down - not that I'm assuming anything, but, you know, just in case."

"I'm fine. Really."

Barleywave blinked, feeling like a rock hit his gut. He stayed quiet for a moment. "...Are you sure?" Barleywave surprised himself with how firmly he said this. But, he stood by it. It was fine if Morningpaw didn't want to talk to him - he was no good with feelings, everyone knew that after…

His mind muddled the image of a grey and white kit together, before blowing it away.

But…despite that, he wouldn't be a good mentor if he didn't try. He was no good talking about feelings, but maybe his apprentice just needed company, or a listening ear, or something else to focus on. He could spare ten minutes to be the bigger cat, for once in his dumb life.

Morningpaw met his mentor's eyes, and something changed. Maybe she saw something in Barleywave's eyes, maybe she was surprised by his honesty or maybe it was the last straw. But her amber eyes glazed over and flooded with fear and grief. Her lips curled into a fearful snarl as she lay on the floor, covering her eyes with her paws.

"I'm scared!" she wailed. "I'm scared of the woods! I'm scared of the Woodcrawlers, and the tendrils, and - and the Fake Twolegs, and I feel like no one else feels like I do!" Morningpaw's claws unsheathed into her forehead as she continued. "I don't want to die! I don't want to feed the woods! Everyone says that won't happen because Redstar is here, but what about Warblerkit? What about Olive's third kit? What about every single Clan that used to be around the lake?!"

Barleywave froze. His hazel eyes wavered as he stared at her.

"I thought - I thought with Tree telling me there's other territories, that we could leave! We didn't have to live in the woods! We could go somewhere else - where there weren't any Woodcrawlers, and we - and I wouldn't need to be scared anymore, but they told me that wasn't true! They're everywhere! I can't hide, and no one can, and we're all going to die! It doesn't matter if - if I become a kittypet, Woodcrawlers go after Twolegs too! It doesn't matter! There's no hope! I'm - I'm going to die, we're all - " Morningpaw choked back and let out a long, pained caterwaul.

Barleywave stared at his apprentice with wide eyes.

Oh. That was - yeah, that was bad. That was a lot to handle. He was woefully unequipped to deal with existential doom. In fact, he spent the majority of his life not thinking about it, otherwise he would have spiraled into despair. Well, fox dung, maybe that's why he was bad at feelings. But - what could he even say? Nothing he said could fix this. Because she was right. The Woodcrawlers were terrifying. Fake Beings were terrifying. And tendrils -

His face turned hot with repressed emotions. They rippled at the surface with wide open jaws.

Normally, he'd shove a rock in those jaws and kick them down to hunt later, but maybe, just this once, he could watch them. Not act. Just…watch. Morningpaw was scared of those jaws too. So, maybe…

Barleywave closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't know what to say, so he didn't. He placed his tail gently on his apprentice's shoulder -

He should've opened his eyes before doing that. His tail landed on her ear.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he shifted to her shoulder. But Morningpaw…laughed. It was an exasperated and humorless laugh. One that could only be made in dismay. But still. He sat there quietly, letting her cry her heart out for as long as she needed. He kept trying to find something to say, but he never did. He eventually just shifted beside her, and purred sympathetically.

Sunhigh passed into the early afternoon before Morningpaw sat up, her eyes dulled with pain and her face ragged with marks of her own paws. Barleywave brought his purr to a slow stop, tucking his tail back around his paws.

They remained silent for a while, their environment filled with the sound of wind and the occasional shuffling in the undergrowth. Barleywave had time to think, and despite it all, he had found nothing to say. Finally, after being frustrated for so long, he thought - what would Hopechase do? If she had nothing to say, what would she do to comfort a young cat?

He slowly raised his paw and prodded at her shoulder.

Morningpaw peered at him from the corner of her tired eyes.

He poked her again. The tip of Morningpaw's tail tapped the ground. Barleywave blinked slowly and padded her again.

"Don't." Morningpaw hissed weakly. Barleywave did what she asked and stopped, his paw still half-raised.

The two cats stared at each other, until Morningpaw's eyes narrowed and she let out a defeated laugh. "You look stupid."

In response, Barleywave smirked and batted his paw at her shoulder again.

"Quit it!" Morningpaw whined. She batted back at him half-heartedly.

"Oowww, oof! I've been had! Defeated!" Barleywave yelled dramatically as he flopped to the floor, his eyes flickering.

"You're not taking me seriously!"

"But I am! And yeah, it sucks." Barleywave tried to squish her face between his paws, and Morningpaw pouted as she pulled back and swiped at his face.

"It doesn't just suck, Barleywave. It's over. I'm just going to be scared forever, and - mphff!" Morningpaw ended up with her mentor's paw in her mouth, somehow. She growled and spit it out before tackling him. "Stop it!"

Barleywave had an idea.

He started poking, prodding and play fighting with his apprentice - no training, no serious skill, just pretending like she was a kit in the nursery and goading her into fighting him. Despite her verbal protests, she never ran or distanced herself from him. She always fought back. After an hour of bouncing off trees, rolling into pinecones and Morningpaw yowling at him to get back here so she could bite his stupid fur off, Barleywave watched his apprentice's expression go from despairing to bittersweet. When Morningpaw finally knocked him off his feet one last time, Barleywave heard her yowl with pyrrhic triumph.

"Stay down!"

"Grraah, Morningpaw has bested her mentor! How could this happen?"

Barleywave heard Morningpaw force a laugh. That was good enough for him. He shuffled back onto his feet and started combing through the stray pines stuck in his fur.

"Sorry. Sorry," Morningpaw finally mumbled, looking at him with guilty eyes. Barleywave purred. That was the Morningpaw he knew. He stopped, then met the young cat's gaze.

"Look, Morningpaw. You're right. I didn't have to ask, and honestly, I'm not good at the whole 'feelings' stuff. But, that's 'cause I'm scared too."

Morningpaw gave him a bewildered stare.

"Hey, don't gimme that. I'm serious. I was never good with hiding my fears. So I just kicked it down the road instead. Left it as a problem for future me." Barleywave felt himself staring at the jaws on the surface of the water. His instinct to kick a rock at it was strong - but he couldn't. This time, he had an apprentice to teach beside him. So, he taught. He could do that. He could teach. "But, it's no good to run from them. I ended up running from…lots of other feelings. If I couldn't deal with it, then I avoided it. Avoided sadness. Grief. It, uh. It sucked." His throat tightened.

"You don't have to talk about it," Morningpaw mewed hesitantly.

"Nope. But I will." Man. He really, really wanted to shove a rock in that stupid ass jaw rippling over the water. What was it, a bass? A pike? Could it mind its own business? Was he comparing his emotions to fish? Yep. Whatever it took for him to deal with it.

After a while longer, he sighed and let the feelings pass through his back. "I get it. World's a scary place. It's hard to feel like there's a chance for something better. I grew up thinking that nothing mattered. But, that's why I followed Redstar. 'Cause maybe, if we really fought hard instead of being scared, things could be different."

Morningpaw's ear twitched. She waited for him to continue.

"I won't go into too much detail, but the leader before Redstar was…scared of a lot of things. Enough to prioritize it over caring for the rest of the Clan. We didn't want to live like that anymore and…well, here we are now." Barleywave took a moment to collect himself again. "...What I'm saying is, you don't have to stop being afraid, but you do have to do stuff while you're scared sometimes. It's way easier said than done, trust me. I mean, look at me. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that. I've failed at doing that. I failed to be better for…for Warblerkit."

Morningpaw seemed surprised to hear that name, then sad. Barleywave continued quickly. "But, it starts somewhere, right? I mean, you managed to put some of your fear down for long enough to best me in single combat."

Morningpaw pouted and her tail twitched. "I wasn't fighting you for real."

"But we had fun, right?" Barleywave asked. Morningpaw hid behind her whiskers and started grooming her chest fur. Barleywave suppressed a mrrow of amusement, then continued.

"I can't…really tell you how to be brave or stay calm, or whatever. I don't have the solution to that. I think Windfur or…heck, maybe Olive might be able to help more. But if you need a distraction, I got plenty of those. If you need to feel like you're running from something, we can go for a sprint and get that out of your system. It doesn't make you brave, but it does make you feel less cornered."

Morningpaw remained quiet. The air was tense and for a moment, Barleywave wondered if he said the wrong thing. But then, Morningpaw said tersely, "I need to run."

"What, like right now?"

"Please."

"Can do," Barleywave stood up and stretched his legs. His hazel eyes flickered. "Sprint to the border and back to camp as fast as you can. Let's not stray too far from each other."

And so, Morningpaw ran, and Barleywave followed.

He thought about Hopechase, and for a brief moment, he was glad she pushed him into doing something. It was like pulling his teeth out, but he hoped Morningpaw felt a little better. Or at least knew who to go to next. That's all he could ask for.

---

Barleywave overcame a tough challenge for him, and is really excited to tell Hopechase about it. Hopechase congratulates him and bats his ear affectionately.

(Barleywave, warrior, male, 37 moons) (Hopechase, warrior, female, 90 moons)

Talonpaw has a nice conversation with Olive. Olive reassures him about something that was bothering him.

(Talonpaw, apprentice, male, 12 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 64 moons)

Olive had recovered from giving birth, and has relaxed a bit. She recognizes the insight and personalities her two kits have, and despite her best efforts, a creeping sense of hope fills her. She plays mossball gently with Branchkit and Perchkit, who are happy and exciteable. Olive wishes she could be more optimistic like her kits are. It's hard...but she'll try her best.

(Olive, mediator, female, 64 moons) (Branchkit, kitten, female, 3 moons) (Perchkit, kitten, female, 3 moons)

<PREVIOUS | NEXT >

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 9 (Part 2)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Riversnow is greeted with a lot of kindness, to her surprise. Tree offers to show her around the camp, and Iciclepool offers to have one of the apprentices sent to help make a bed in the warriors' den. Riversnow is a bit overwhelmed by the company, but manages to keep herself together to agree to this.

(Iciclepool, deputy, female, 65 moons) (Tree, warrior, non-binary, 40 moons) (Riversnow, warrior, female, 58 moons)

Branchkit happily bounces up to Riversnow, telling her she looks pretty and is happy to have her as a clanmate. When Branchkit wanders off, Barleywave says that Branchkit is one of the kits that Warblerkit saved. Riversnow closes her eyes and, surprising even her, she buries her head into Barleywave to suppress a sob. Barleywave tries to be a good cat, and lets her do so.

(Branchkit, kitten, female, 4 moons) (Riversnow, warrior, female, 58 moons) (Barleywave, warrior, male, 38 moons)

Talonpaw is finally declared to be a warrior, and was given the name Talontooth. He was honored for his good hunting skills, and Talontooth mentally thanks Iciclepool for teaching him to follow his moral compass, and be quick to act on his feet. Redstar allows herself a moment of pride to fill her heart - she named her first warrior.

(Redstar, leader, female, 67 moons) (Talontooth, warrior, male, 13 moons)

Morningpaw helps Windfur scrape up herbs in the snow, and finds something interesting: the bulb of a pure white flower, sprouting, even amidst the winter. Windfur thinks this could be a good sign from StarClan, and is glad she found it. Morningpaw keeps it with her as a good luck charm.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 23 moons) (Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 11 moons)

Branchkit bonds with Cloudthunder and Olive in the nursery. Cloudthunder asks Olive how she coped with her pregnancy, and Olive points out she didn't. Branchkit makes a joke to defuse the tension. She's really happy to hear Olive and Cloudthunder laughing.

(Branchkit, kitten, female, 4 moons) (Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 42 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 65 moons)

Olive exercises a bit around camp. She can slowly walk short distances. Iciclepool helps her practice.

(Iciclepool, deputy, female, 65 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 65 moons)

Tree sees Shiverpaw isolating herself in the medicine den and asks her bluntly if she has any friends to talk to. Shiverpaw looks a bit dumbfounded at the question, then sad. Tree drags her out of the medicine den, telling her to get a meal and socialize with Morningpaw. Only later does Shiverpaw appreciate Tree's concern.

(Tree, warrior, non-binary, 40 moons) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, 9 moons)

Perchkit woke up with a migraine. She's stuck in the medicine den, and whines very loudly, bothering Redstar. Windfur tells Redstar to deal with it, kits in pain will be very loud. She can tolerate it or go hunt. Redstar bitterly points out that she cannot. Windfur sighs, staring at the floor, feeling angry at himself. Redstar regrets snapping, knowing that he was trying his best to repair the bone.

(Redstar, leader, female, 67 moons) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 23 moons) (Perchkit, kitten, female, 4 moons) <PREVIOUS | NEXT>

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 6 (Part 2)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Windfur gently tries to recommend that Olive name her two kits. It's been a moon, and they deserve to have some names. Olive bites back at Windfur, saying there's no point - no thanks to Windfur, she still has a broken back and there's no promise the woods will spare her kits. Windfur bristles. He tries not to take it personally, but he does.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 20 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 62 moons)

Hopechase overhears the argument between Windfur and Olive. Her ears droop as she finishes playing with Olive's kits. Windfur has been trying really hard to care for Olive - his life as a medicine cat isn't as easy as it seems to be.

(Hopechase, warrior, female, 88 moons) (??? Lilac pelt kit, kitten, female, 1 moons) (??? Brown pelt kit, kitten, female, 1 moons) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 20 moons)

Windfur teaches Shiverpaw about basic herbs and their uses. He's surprised when she asks if there's any rhymes that can help her memorize clan rituals, like assisting a queen's birth or preparing a funeral. [SKILL REVEAL: LOVER OF STORIES]

(Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 6 moons) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 20 moons)

----

"Well...yes, there are. I can teach them to you later. Those are usually more advanced medicine that you'd learn later in your apprenticeship," Windfur said

"Helping with a labor, I get. But..." Shiverpaw stared at her feet with a guilty look. Windfur waited for her to get on with it, until he saw the sadness that pooled in her eyes.

Ah. Right. Warblerkit.

Windfur sighed. She must've seen him prepare the funeral pyre - something that was genuinely quite rare for ForestClan, but a necessity if the body was still present.

He really didn't want to talk about death and funeral rites with Shiverpaw on the very first week of her training. But...this was ForestClan, and death would be a common occurrence. Reluctantly, he stared at the wall and looked through the funeral herbs lined up in the shelves. He prepared himself as he offered to give a basic rundown.

"Well...I'll tell you about the fine details later. But truth is, Shiverpaw, Warblerkit's situation was...different. Rarely do we have a body to burn."

Shiverpaw's cobalt blue eyes were wide with shock, before it seemed like she remembered why. Her bristled fur flattened. "...So...we wouldn't make a fire, usually?"

"No. Not a funerary one, anyway. We'd cook their favorite dish if they had one instead, and the Clan would partake in it. Instead of burning anything, we'd bury important mementos of theirs in our graveyard."

"That sounds different from what we did for Warblerkit." Shiverpaw said, her head tilted. "Why? Why do we burn the body?"

Windfur paused. He knew why. He knew exactly why they burned any bodies they could physically retrieve. But looking at the young apprentice's eyes - he couldn't do it. As he remembered the screaming chaos of the late greenleaf storm, as he left for just a split moment to staunch bleeding coming from Olive - the sight of tendrils retreating into the darkness with a small, pale bundle shook him. He wanted to bury the memory and let the woods take it too.

Windfur must've failed to hide his emotions, as Shiverpaw's curious stare rescinded. She shifted uneasily. "It's...It's okay, I don't need - "

"It's just what we've always done," Windfur sputtered. "We just...we burn the bodies, if we have them. We...we don't like seeing the woods taking our clanmates. I heard from Hopechase that it used to be a FieldClan ritual that we adopted after they were destroyed. To honor them."

A lie, Windfur thought. Shiverpaw looked at the funeral herbs that Windfur had taken out of his stores. She gave a soft nod, deciding his answer was honest. Windfur sighed. He wasn't good at this. He wasn't like Chicoryglint. She'd have had some sort of answer for everything. He felt like an apprentice being told he was now the adult supervision for the nursery. But here he was. An apprentice teaching an apprentice.

"...So, like you saw during Warblerkit's funeral," he started, pointing to the herbs he pulled out, "we use fennel, rosemary and catmint, if we can spare any, to decorate the body. This is to hide any unpleasant smell that may arise while we're pending rites."

Shiverpaw stared at the herbs carefully, then pouted a bit. "...No rhyme to memorize?' "...There is one."

"Can I hear it?"

Windfur shuffled a bit in place. "Uh. Yeah. Hold on, I have to remember how it goes..." He cleared his throat, remembering the melody as something almost march-like, as though trying to sing while dredging through layers of dense forest - breathy and rapid. He wasn't sure if he remembered the melody exactly right, but he had to give it a try...

"Bring the fuel to stack the fire, Let the flames climb ever higher, Hear it crackling, hear it singing, Blazing heat is all-cleansing. Weave the mary-of-the-rose, Fennel, catmint, by the row."

Shiverpaw's ears twitched intently, focused on his melody.

"Our hearts may cry to forestall, But this brave soul answered the call... Bring the fuel to stack the fire, Let the soul free from the pyre, Let our prayers sound free, Loved ones bound to memory. May their ashes be preserved, Round the marker, one with earth."

Windfur stopped, grooming his chest fur. Before Shiverpaw could make a comment, he continued. "That ah, last part is what we do after the fire dies down. We collect the ashes of the dead and try to wrap it in something - leather, large ferns, whatever. Then we bury it at the graveyard out west."

"It kinda sounds like a battle melody, but it's a...a requiem?"

Windfur's tail twitched. "I, ah...I guess. Where'd you even learn that word?"

"Requiem? From one of Barleywave's stories, when I was little," Shiverpaw insisted.

Windfur decided to push that aside, choosing to help refocus Shiverpaw on memorizing herbs, now that he got her attention - especially with fennel, which had nearly a dozen uses.

Windfur didn't think about the nursery rhyme for the rest of the day. Truly, he didn't. Cloudthunder had cooked the Clan some smoked meat, Redstar and Hopechase had shared with them their plans to reintroduce the Plentiful Gathering on a small scale. He checked up on Olive again and did his best to respond softly to her grief-stricken lashes. He dismissed Shiverpaw and let her join Morningpaw and Barleywave on learning how to make bulrush rope. By all means, this was a good, productive day.

Which is why he hated that the moment he lay in his nest, he couldn't help but stare at the walls of the medicine den. He told himself he was admiring the beauty of nature, how the giant oak fell and left a massive log den, to be hollowed out by years and years of carving and pillaging by insects. Now, the walls were sturdy and flattened by cat claws. Yes. That's definitely what he was thinking about.

If it weren't for the memory of Chicoryglint's shade settling behind him. The molly gave him a dry smile.

"Did you know that there used to be another part to the rhyme?"

Windfur remembered how his younger self replied. "Really? Can you tell me?"

"Well, there isn't much use to that part of it anymore, Windpaw. The second section was more of a cautionary segment than a ritual explanation. Besides, it's quite...morbid."

"Well, of course it's morbid. It's about funeral rites. Like...maybe it's rare, but surely there's rites for bodies that are really badly gone? Like, the flies got to them already?"

"Oh, no, it's the same rites. We just apply a lot of chive, and break out the mint and lavender if it's really bad. It's the only time those herbs are used - they're poisonous otherwise."

"Well, now that you've told me, I'm curious," Windpaw had said with a twitch of the tail, his dark blue eyes narrowed with frustration. "You can't just tell me there's another part and then refuse to tell me."

"Oh, alright, fine," Chicoryglint's pale grey and golden tail twitched, purposefully tapping the apprentice on the shoulder. A look of mischief appeared on her face. "But it is still very disturbing, nothing like the first half. Might be the most frightening thing in my repertoire. Because its melody sounds more like a battle chant, some lorekeepers suspect this song had a different purpose, once."

"Chicoryglint, no offence, but after vowing to protect StarClan's secret, nothing else really terrifies me."

A tense silence fell in the air for a brief moment. Chicoryglint casually used a single claw to separate two different sets of herbs. Then, after Windpaw had quietly sat curled up with his tail around his paws, Chicoryglint let out a small exhale before giving him the second verses.

"Blood and gore, by the score, Falls to the woods' core.

Show our might; annihilation, Wipe out all foul creation, For our flesh is not our own, When the woods puppet our bones. All scream out their final breath, To the cunning roots of death.

So ignite the funeral pyre, Pile the bodies ever higher, See them burning, see them seething, Saved from the woods' scheming.

So ignite the funeral pyre, Sound the screaming of the choir, End the Fake Cats from rising, Standing high upon your graves."

Windfur blinked. He felt the fur on his pelt stand on end.

He quickly shook his head, chasing out the memory from his mind. He took a deep breath, then curled up tightly on himself, burying his nose into his pelt.

He decided he would never mention the missing verses to Shiverpaw.

Those ones would die with him.

---

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[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 8 (Part 1)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Cloudthunder is pregnant! This surprises a few cats, but they always knew her to be adventurous. Cloudthunder grooms herself bashfully, feeling pressured to explain herself, but Redstar decides to step in. She reinstates a law that she knew existed before Lakestar's reign - the Queen's Law. No parent has to disclose the parentage of their kits, if they chose not to. Cloudthunder is relieved.

(Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 41 moons) (Redstar, leader, female, 66 moons) (Hopechase, warrior, female, 90 moons)

Cloudthunder won't say it out loud, but deep down, she wonders if she could just...pretend it wasn't happening. That way it won't hurt when the woods come for the kits. Iciclepool sits down next to Cloudthunder quietly, providing support that didn't require any words.

(Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 41 moons) (Iciclepool, deputy, female, 64 moons)

Branchkit is asking Tree interesting questions, and the warrior is happy to entertain her. Branchkit thinks that Tree is really cool!

(Branchkit, kitten, female, 3 moons) (Tree, warrior, non-binary, 39 moons)

Perchkit keeps comparing herself to Morningpaw. Morningpaw thinks that Perchkit is acting increasingly annoying and uncomfortable, and she tells her off firmly. Perchkit doesn't understand, and doesn't like that Morningpaw yelled at her.

(Perchkit, kitten, female, 3 moons) (Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 10 moons)

Redstar is stress from being bound to camp with her broken bone, the wound getting infected. She can't keep wasting time. She knows the woods need to be fed. She should be out there, not in camp. In her anger, she makes snide comments at Tree and hisses at Cloudthunder about what kind of sire would want to give a Clan cat kits. Both cats are taken aback, given her usually kind nature. [STRESS EVENT: MELTDOWN]

(Redstar, leader, female, 66 moons) (Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 41 moons) (Tree, warrior, non-binary, 39 moons)

Windfur and Shiverpaw get into an argument that leaves them both feeling tense and upset. Neither of them apologize. Windfur is afraid that Shiverpaw isn't being honest with him.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 22 moons) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 8 moons)

---

"And you're adamant that you didn't touch it?"

"No, Windfur," Shiverpaw repeated defensively.

Windfur felt a twitch of annoyance surge through him. "Are you absolutely certain?"

"I said I was sure!" Shiverpaw protested, her voice angled with frustration. "Why are you so mad about this?"

"Because they cause hallucinations, Shiverpaw," Windfur retorted. Shiverpaw shrunk under the harsh emphasis of his words. "Talonpaw said you came into contact with the Nature's Mockery. For everyone's safety, I need to know if something happened to you during it."

"Nothing happened, Windfur! We found it and Talonpaw said we had to go back to camp. I swear that nothing else happened!" Shiverpaw pressed, her blue eyes filled with anger.

Windfur's tail twitched. He bit back on a hiss and stopped himself from saying that she was lying to him. He wanted Shiverpaw to confess what Talonpaw had told him - that she was stuck in a trance and muttering something that he didn't catch.

This wasn't the first time this happened, and while he hoped that it was all just a coincidence, a kit's hyperawareness of the forces around them, now he was getting anxious. First, Shiverpaw seemed to be aware of things she shouldn't have known when she was a kit - reports from Redstar and Talonpaw where she knew that Living Tendrils could force their way into dens, and there was a hungry eye she was worried about. Then, there was the night Warblerkit was taken. The entire camp was in heavy disarray, and Windfur had just finished looking over Olive's condition and removing the water that flooded the nursery. Shiverkit stared at the dark, rainy sky. Her eyes held an intensity that bore through the fabric of the sky above, as though she could see beyond the veil.

He would never forget her final words - whispered and unnaturally cold.

"The vessel floats into the maw. The jaw unhinges."

He wanted her to tell him what she saw and felt. He wanted some kind of reassurance that her words were from StarClan, or were her own. But still, she denied it. And that scared him.

StarClan did everything in their power to shield ForestClan from the Iris' gaze, but what if it had found a loophole? What if it found a way to observe them in the waking world? Did it even have that ability? Could Shiverpaw have somehow become the beacon? Did he just doom ForestClan by agreeing to take her on as an apprentice, allowing something to see into StarClan? Did she even know? Was she aware that it was happening? Which answer was worse - ignorance or deceit?

He must have been giving Shiverpaw an intense stare, as the young cat's ears flattened and her tail was tucked between her legs. "W-Windfur?" Her voice was meek.

Windfur closed his eyes and turned away from her roughly. "Just…nevermind. Forget it. Sort the herbs you collected."

The tense silence that followed unnerved and upset him. It took everything in him to ignore Shiverpaw cautiously tip toeing around him with a basket in her mouth, then removing and sorting every herb as though they were delicate, newborn birds. He should've enjoyed the silence, but he didn't. He liked silence. He liked working alone. Now his silence was filled with the permating presence of a child who may or may not doom the entirety of ForestClan, and it would be his fault if she did.

A foreign emotion broke from its seed, and sprouted. He was reminded again of his dead mentor, of how she seemed to know just what to do, and felt like he was left with nothing and no one to rely on. In his den, right now, was possibly a threat to all of ForestClan, and he was alone with determining the truth.

He couldn't do it. Windfur stormed out of the medicine den and found himself heading towards the gates.

Hopechase was standing guard this time, and as he approached, she twitched her ear.

"Going to the graveyard," he grumbled.

Hopechase merely nodded at him before letting Windfur stride past her.

He journeyed past the west of camp, scaling up the slope of cold ground and dead leaves. He stepped on every leaf in his path, not caring about the noise he could possibly make. He just didn't care anymore.

Finally, as he crawled up the top of the hill, he stared at the large clearing around them, lined with stones and one, singular oak tree branching out to shield the graves in dark shade. Windfur stared listlessly at the tree's large trunk, with rows and rows of scratched lines engraved into its bark, encircling it over and over. After the storm, he had scratched one more line for Olive's unnamed kit. One line for every unnamed cat and unknown stranger whose bodies were lost to the woods. 

A monument to all of their pain and suffering.

Windfur stared at the towering oak for only a moment longer, before his eyes fell on a dark, slated stone with dried chicory resting upon it.

With a heavy heart, he padded towards it and sat down.

"...Hi, Chicoryglint."

Only the wind replied to him. Windfur's dark blue eyes locked themselves on the grave. A squirrel shuffled up a tree in the distance. For a moment, Windfur let himself sit with his thoughts. He failed to parse them into separate subjects. Why was he even doing this? This wasn't going to help. A grave wasn't going to tell him what was wrong with Shiverpaw. So why?

You're here to confess your failures, he thought.

"...I've made a horrible mistake, Chicory. I really have." Windfur's throat tightened. "I…I brought something into StarClan's skies. I thought after the last moon, that maybe, Shiverpaw was normal. Maybe she just…had a stressful episode during greenleaf. Maybe she had potential, and she could have a good bond with StarClan. But…" He trailed off into silence, his thoughts swarming around him like gnats.

"...Look, I know…I know you don't like talking a lot. I…I get it, I'm the same. But, I could use my mentor right now."

Chicoryglint wouldn't answer him. Not at a grave…and not in his dreams. Even after moons of waiting for anything from her, after they held a vigil, and ate her favorite meal, and shared their memories…

He had visited the Half-Moon Dome ten times since her death. Ten times she could've visited him.

"Look, I know I've driven us all into fox-dung, the least you can do is tell me how to fix it!" He lashed out all of a sudden, his tail thrashing. "I've brought StarClan some kit who may or may not be linked to…to that thing up there, and you won't even bother to tell me if she is, or isn't, or just - "

Windfur spiralled and started snarling when he realized what he was doing. This wasn't about Shiverpaw, was it? He thought it was, but maybe it never was.

It had been ten moons now. Ten moons since Chicoryglint was seen alive. Ten moons of silence. Ten moons of her not visiting him at the Dome.

Why? Was he a failure? Did Chicoryglint see a prophecy that spelled him as a harbinger? Was she ashamed of him?

"Why won't you see me, stars damned it all!" He yowled and furiously scratched at the gravestone. He felt his eyes stinging with pain. "I don't want to fail us! I can fix it, if you would just tell me! What is wrong with her? Is she connected to the Iris? Have I brought the Iris into StarClan's abode?"

Windfur glowered at the gravestone with pale scratch marks now stretched across it. The dried chicory was now crushed, the petals scattered. The woods were silent.

"At least my father told me where he was going when he left," Windfur hissed. "At least he asked me to join him. He gave me a choice. I…I turned him down. I stayed, because you asked me to. And then you left. You just gave me my full name and…died." Windfur stopped. A feeling of dread crawled up his legs and surrounded his heart. "...You…you died."

An intrusive memory broke through his defenses. Iciclepool was speaking to Redstar in her den. Windfur had just brought back herbs and passed under the High Rock. He was going through the motions, not thinking, not feeling. He couldn't accept that she was truly gone. And his ears picked up on something that made his blood turn cold - more than any monster or beast of the woods could ever inflict on him.

"She isn't dead, you know."

He froze. He wanted to keep moving. He didn't. His ears strained to listen.

"Redstar, we don't know that."

"I was a part of their little in-group for moons, Icicle. She was a walking contradiction. Unwilling to hurt others, but willing to protect her own life more. Windfur's story about how she told him to head back to camp and she'd catch up…how she had given him his name before vanishing…"

Windfur bristled. He couldn't turn away. He couldn't leave.

"You're suggesting she ran."

"I am."

"Why didn't she leave with everyone who abandoned us when Lakestar died, then?"

"The same thing that's always motivated her."

Windfur clenched his teeth. He felt the taste of bile and dandelion.

"Fear."

Windfur yowled as he broke free of the memory. He slammed his paws into the dirt and started digging, his claws dragging every inch of grass and mud that housed Chicoryglint's grave. He dug until he felt the stone wobble uneasily. He ripped it out of the ground, and he felt like it held the weight of a mountain. He sobbed, his face burning with indignation.

"Tell me you're dead! Tell me you're actually dead! I don't care if you're mad at me! Just - " Windfur's dark blue eyes stared at the stone pleadingly, as though it held all the answers. He closed his eyes firmly, and bit back a screech.

He hoped. Pleaded. For so many moons that she would show herself to him when he went to the Half-Moon Dome.

But he realized something.

He realized that if he died tomorrow, even if Shiverpaw was linked to the Iris…he would have visited her, at least one last time. One last time to say that he was sorry, and that if she really did doom cat-kind, it wasn't her fault, it was his. It was his fault for agreeing to mentor her and bring her to StarClan's abode. It was his fault for not figuring it out sooner, and not stopping it.

He would still visit her, and he didn't even know her.

Windfur pushed the rock with his head, shoving it over every other gravestone and monument with his paws. He hissed as he kept getting snagged and stuck, and eventually he grasped the flat rock in his mouth, ignoring the pain of the stone dragging down on his teeth. Finally, he made it towards the edge of the clearing, which gave way to a sloped hill.

He dropped the stone and watched it tumble down thrashing against every branch and tree before finally landing flat, dragging a layer of dead leaves and flattened twigs with it.

Windfur stared at the stone at the bottom of the hill. Pain throbbed in his paws and teeth. He felt numb. As the sun continued its path, shifting the shape of shadows below, Windfur focused on the rise and fall of his chest. His anger cooled, and he stared sadly at the stone thrown across the forest floor.

A drop of guilt sat at his paws.

That was still his mentor. His teacher. The one who sang him rhymes and taught him the value of patience and precision. The same skills he was trying - maybe failing, but still trying - to teach his apprentice.

But he still felt betrayed.

“If,” Windfur swallowed, “if you come to visit me. If you apologize. If you tell me what to do, I’ll bring it back up. I’ll put it back. Do you understand?”

He heard the sound of dead branches falling from a tree somewhere.

He breathed deeply, then slowly turned away and padded back down the hill, back to the only home he'd ever known. He felt the pain jab at his paw pads. He stared at them briefly, and saw bruising. He scowled as a melody for soothing bruises appeared in his head, and he pushed it aside as he allowed the pain to anchor him to reality.

He was an adult cat now. He wasn't a fresh, young apprentice. He wasn't a newbie healer. He was ForestClan's sole medicine cat.

He...he couldn't keep doing this. He couldn't keep relying on the memory of someone he thought he knew.

If only it was easier on his heart to embrace. If only.

---

Talonpaw clears up a misunderstanding with Shiverpaw. He only told Windfur about the Nature's Mockery, and doesn't know why Windfur is acting out. Shiverpaw believes him. Unfortunately, Talonpaw lied - he did tell Windfur about the trance Shiverpaw had. Talonpaw feels really guilty, believing that he got her in trouble. But...what else was he supposed to say? Shiverpaw scared him.

(Talonpaw, apprentice, male, 12 moons) (Shiverpaw, apprentice, female, 8 moons)

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