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forestclan-clangen · 2 months ago

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MOON 11 (Part 2)

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While out on patrol, Perchpaw was seen sharing fresh kill with a kittypet. Windfur recognized the kittypet; his father, Lucifer. When invited to the Clan, Lucifer turns them down. He had some cats to look after...and while he'd always be an ally of ForestClan, his time with it is now over.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 25 moons. Lonesome) (Perchpaw, apprentice, female, 6 moons. Adventurous) (Lucifer, kittypet, male, 74 moons. Confident.)

---

Windfur was really, really tired. Physically and emotionally. But, here he was. Digging for burdock root. Dragging a really disinterested apprentice to help him.

Perchpaw seemed keen to do anything but help him dig. She was half-heartedly pawing away at the snow, her blue eyes bored and annoyed.

"...Digging involves your claws." Windfur said crossly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, it's just cold," Perchpaw grumbled.

"...It's leaf-bare. Everything will be cold."

"I know," she sighed with exasperation, putting in a bit more effort. Windfur spotted the roots finally peeking out from the wet dirt.

"There," he said, stopping her. "That's what burdock looks like. Now it needs to be extracted carefully."

Perchpaw sniffed at the roots questionably, until seemingly, something else grasped her attention. Her ears perked up and her gaze darted into the bushes near the border. Windfur scowled.

"Perchpaw."

"Wait - Mom said she really wanted a vole earlier…"

"Perchpaw, you're not on a hunting patrol - "

"I'll be super quick, I swear! Warrior's honor, Windfur, I'll help you with the burdock," Perchpaw interjected before dashing into the bushes without even looking at him.

Windfur didn't even bother to call out to her. He sighed deeply and stared up at the light gray sky above. StarClan, he knew that Perchpaw was restless, but this was too much. He didn't need an antsy apprentice right now, and Hopechase's claim that she could use a "patient paw" for an afternoon was a load of mousedung. Windfur wasn't stupid; the entire Clan could see that she wanted to spend some time with Iciclepool. Why they weren't mates yet was beyond him, but he felt like the Clan's personal scratching post for the past two moons, and he hated it.

Windfur stared at the burdock flatly, then carefully started digging around it.

Shiverpaw would've been patient and focused. But Tree was ill and she offered to stay and look after them. Windfur wasn't stupid on that front either. Shiverpaw seemed to have some sort of crush on Tree, whether she recognized it herself or not. She liked being around them. And she pointedly didn't like being around Windfur.

He felt a tinge of frustration in his heart. He thought she knew where its exact location was. The trip should've taken no more than fifteen minutes. She was attentive, good natured, and always asking questions - why wouldn't he have faith in his own apprentice to do her stars-damned job -

Windfur ripped part of the burdock.

He yowled in aggravation and raked his claws on the nearby tree, his tail lashing. He scratched at the bark for a few, long seconds before taking deep breaths. His ears folded back and he pressed his head against the bark in shame.

No…no, it wasn't her fault. Iciclepool was right. She was nine moons old. She never experienced the start of a blizzard or how much it would impact her line of sight. She wouldn't have seen the trail markers correctly.

But Chicoryglint sent him to find herbs during a very hot leaf-fall once. He figured out how to stay cool thanks to the river. He was nine moons old, then, too. Chicoryglint praised him for pushing himself to be better. Resourceful. He figured out how to help himself. He just assumed…

…What did he assume?

...Was her praise worth dehydration, at the time?

Windfur took a deep breath. Then exhaled. Thinking about Chicoryglint hurt his brain. Thinking about Shiverpaw upset him. This was not helpful. Right now, he was supposed to be helping Perchpaw -

His eyes flew open. How long has it been? Oh, foxdung -

"Perchpaw?" He called out, immediately smelling the air and chasing her scent through the bushes. Oh, StarClan, had Hopechase taught her about Nature's Mockery yet? Windfur's eyes dilated as anxiety surged through him and he whipped his gaze around to find her lilac spotted pelt. "Perchpaw!"

He continued following her trail. It was going towards the border. His pelt rose as he caught her scent - and blood. Oh no. No, no no no -

"PERCHPAW!" He shouted as he dashed through the trees and towards their border to the Twoleg Place. "Perch - "

Windfur's voice was caught in his throat as he skidded to a halt and saw Perchpaw sitting at the border with a skinny, grey tom in front of her. Both cats' eyes whipped towards Windfur's direction and stared at him with startled expressions.

Windfur was flabbergasted as he scanned the scene and processed what he was looking at. Perchpaw was pushing a dead vole towards the grey tom. Blood. It was the vole's blood.

"W-Windfur, I-I - " Perchpaw was stammering with fear in her eyes.

"...Son?" the grey tom hesitantly stepped forward, his yellow eyes filled with recognition.

"Eh, what?!" Perchpaw retorted, bewilderment smashed across her face as she glanced between the stranger and Windfur.

Windfur's pelt prickled as he realized who this was, and his voice mantled over his adrenaline. "Father." Windfur forced his fur to fall flat, then slowly approached them, his heart still racing. "Perchpaw, I shouldn't have let you go. Never do that again."

"B-But - "

"No, he's right," the older gray tom interrupted. "Never wander alone in the woods."

"Hey!" Perchpaw hissed. "Then why were you hunting near here? Actually, better question, you're related?" She gestured between him and Windfur.

"Yes. I'm Lucifer," the gray tom responded. His yellow eyes softened. "I'm Windfur's father."

Windfur cautiously glanced at Lucifer. He hadn't seen him in several moons. The last time they met was in greenleaf, where he timidly asked how the clan fared under Redstar's leadership.

He never knew how to act around his father anymore. A moon after he became the sole medicine cat, his father approached him and said that he was leaving ForestClan, and he wanted Windfur to come with him, if he wished. Windfur felt numb, back then, and shocked. Lucifer - then named Ferncreek - didn't push him to have an answer, or forced him to join. He just looked at him with love, and sorrow. Even deeper behind those yellow eyes were imprints of pains and horrors far beyond any cat should be forced to endure in their lifetime. Windfur wanted to lash out at him, but he couldn't bring himself to. After Chicoryglint vanished from his life - he was just happy that Ferncreek wasn't leaving him without answers. Windfur said that he had to fulfill Chicoryglint's promise to stay with ForestClan. Ferncreek merely nodded, and said he understood.

The day he left felt like a betrayal to ForestClan at first, until he expressed his reasons and his pains. The long goodbye ended not with anger, but with grief, and it was the only time Windfur had seen Redstar weep openly. The Clan shared tongues with their former clanmate one final time before he left, padding towards the Twoleg cabins in the distance.

The next time he saw him after that - Ferncreek had taken the name the Twolegs called him. Lucifer, he said. His name was Lucifer, and he was happy.

Which is why he didn't know what to say to him, now that he was here, and he was skinnier than a kittypet should be.

"...What brings you to the woods?" Windfur asked.

Lucifer merely blinked at him. "Hunger."

"I said you could keep the vole if you left," Perchpaw mumbled. "I mean…don't you want it?"

"I would, actually," Lucifer meowed sheepishly.

"Take it," Windfur sighed. "But what happened to the barn? I thought the Twolegs left it open during leafbare?"

"They do."

"Then…" Windfur gestured at him.

"It's…complicated," Lucifer replied reluctantly. "There's…a few more cats than normal there now. I'm trying to be kind."

"To the point of starving?"

"Come now, I'm not starving," Lucifer scoffed with a flick of his tail. "Lower amounts of prey during leafbare isn't a new occurrence."

"But you're in one of the Twoleg storages. There should be an abundance of prey there."

"Windfur," Lucifer interjected sharply. His yellow eyes brimmed with intent, and for a moment, Windfur forgot that this was a former warrior. "I appreciate your concern, and I understand how you feel. But remember, you needn't worry about me." Lucifer gently pawed the vole away from Perchpaw, and towards himself. "After all, leafbare is coming to a close. I expect the ground keepers to return full time during the next moon. I'm only housing a few wayward cats right now. From their actions, I anticipate that they are eager to leave once the weather gets warmer."

Perchpaw was listening patiently until an idea occurred to her, her expression lightening. "If they want a place to stay permanently, they could stay with ForestClan! Um…but if they're pregnant, maybe they shouldn't…but, after that, they could come," she meowed. Windfur winced at this statement and was about to chide Perchpaw for trying to make a leader's decision, but Lucifer purred sympathetically.

"Seen the tendrils, then?"

Perchpaw froze, then stared at the ground, as though caught in a memory. She blinked, then replied quietly. "Yeah."

"Tendrils are indiscriminate. They don't solely target ForestClan." Lucifer's tail twitched. "...A Clan would provide more protection, for certain."

Windfur's ear twitched. "...Would you need that protection yourself?"

"I appreciate the offer, Windfur. But I've made my decision many moons ago. I will always be a friend to ForestClan, even if I live a different life. May StarClan forgive me." Lucifer offered a bow to Windfur. Windfur felt a tang of hurt and discomfort as he saw his father show him any sign of reverence. He wasn't…he wasn't StarClan. He was just a cat.

"...Can you promise to stay safe?" Windfur prompted.

"Always. And if you need any help - I trust you know where to find me."

Windfur nodded. Lucifer returned the gesture, then blinked slowly at Perchpaw with kindness. He grabbed the vole and walked away from the border without looking back.

Perchpaw watched the tom leave, then tilted her head. "...He seems nice."

"...Yes. He is." Windfur paused, then scowled as he looked back at Perchpaw. "Now. Let's finish uprooting the burdock. And please," he hissed with emphasis. Perchpaw's ears folded back meekly. "Please do not run off like that again. I thought," Windfur stopped, then sighed. "...I thought…you were hurt when I smelled blood."

Perchpaw's eyes widened. "...O-Oh. I'm sorry…"

"Just…please remember that it's dangerous to be in the forest alone. And Lucifer might not have been a friendly cat."

Perchpaw stared at the floor and licked her chest in embarrassment. "Okay. I'm sorry."

Windfur said nothing. Maybe there was just nothing left to say. He trusted that Perchpaw understood him. He turned around and headed back towards his herb patch, the apprentice's footsteps padding not far behind him. ---

Cottonkit and Deerkit interact with Tree after hearing that they were hurt, trying to keep their mind off of their sickness. Cloudthunder admires how kind and thoughtful her kits are. Tree also appreciates the kits' distractions.

(Tree, warrior, non-binary, 42 moons. Adventurous) (Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 44 moons. Adventurous) (Cottonkit, kitten, female, 1 moon. Fearless) (Deerkit, kitten, female, 1 moon. Noisy)

Branchpaw shows off the hunting crouch she learned to Airkit. Airkit is clumsy and falls over when trying to mimic her. He's glad that Branchpaw pretends not to notice it.

(Airkit, kitten, male, 1 moon. Polite.) (Branchpaw, apprentice, female, 6 moons. Ambitious)

Morningspot tells Shiverpaw a secret - that she met a loner at the border recently, and was hoping that she could bring a spot of marigold for them. Shiverpaw allowed it - as long as she came with her. This turned out to be Endie - who was recently injured, although she doesn't reveal from what. After being helped, she disclosed her full name, one she does not give often - Endless.

(Morningspot, warrior, female, 13 moons. Nervous) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 11 moons. Loving) (Endless, loner, female, 47 moons. Sneaky.)

---

Shiverpaw wasn't stupid. Morningspot also seemed to have come to that conclusion, upon looking into her eyes and noticing her skepticism. The warrior started grooming herself nervously under the weight of the healer's gaze.

"...Someone needs marigold?"

"Y-Yes, that's right. Marigold helps with cuts, right?"

"Which clanmate is injured?"

Morningspot looked like a dog vanished into thin air. Her mouth hung for a moment, as if she had something to say, only to close it and stammer, "M-Me. It's, um, it's me."

"Where's your injury?"

Frozen and caught again.

Shiverpaw stared at her for a long while, before the young warrior's fear seemed genuine. Shiverpaw's heart tightened, and she decided to answer softly. "Morningspot, it's okay if it's not for you. Is it a clanmate?" she stopped, then asked with a bit more hope, "Did…Riversnow change her mind about taking herbs? Maybe she's embarrassed to ask?"

"Isn't marigold bad for…" Morningspot thought out loud before her eyes widened. "Oh, wait! Yes, yes that's right, she…um…she…"

Shiverpaw winced. "Morning, come on…"

Morningspot stopped and let out an exasperated hiss. She closed her eyes and her ears flattened. "...Ohh, it's no use. I'm awful at this," she groaned. When she opened her eyes again, she stared at the floor in shame. "...I…I want to tell you, but I can't. I…I promised I wouldn't let anyone in the Clan know, but…"

Shiverpaw's ears twitched intently. She slowly started to reach for the marigold, but couldn't bring herself to grab it. Windfur would notice. He would ask. She needed an explanation. If someone in the Clan was hurt, Morningspot would've just said so. She wasn't hurt. So someone else was.

"Morningspot, I'll help you with the marigold…but I have to come with you."

Morningspot's fur bristled before Shiverpaw continued. "Please, Morningspot. I don't need their name. I understand, you're trying to keep their privacy. But if they're hurt…then I want to make sure their injury doesn't get infected."

A tense quiet fell in the medicine den between them. It was interrupted by the sounds of Cloudthunder's kits squealing as they play-fought outside the nursery. After a few moments, Morningspot's fur flattened and her tone fell with defeat.

"Okay. If it means she gets help…"

******

Shiverpaw had a bit of difficulty keeping up with Morningspot. Not that she was running or anything like that, but she was speedwalking towards their destination. Shiverpaw worried about the condition of the cat Morningspot found. Were they more injured than she let on? Shiverpaw offered a prayer to StarClan and hoped that she could help them - quickly enough before anyone noticed her or Morningspot's absence from camp.

Morningspot's amber eyes brimmed with worry as she leapt on top of a fallen tree. The path must've been traveled often, Shiverpaw noted - the log was free of snow and ice, cleared by animals that traveled over it.

"Are we getting close?" Shiverpaw asked as she followed her lead. Morningspot tasted the air, then looked around nervously.

"I saw her around here. We're getting close. Please, please don't panic, okay?" Morningspot asked.

Shiverpaw's fur bristled. "...Why would I panic?" Shiverpaw refrained herself from adding if she should be worried.

"She's - look, I…it'll look bad, but she's really resistant to help. She only agreed to herbs if I didn't tell anyone else, and…"

Oh, good. Shiverpaw sighed. It was already enough that she and Windfur couldn't convince Riversnow to take strengthening herbs for her pregnancy. She wasn't keen on facing that again, but…

She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. This wasn't about her. Someone was scared and by Morningspot's words, it seemed they really needed help. Compassion. Someone who cared. She could do that. She could care for a cat in pain.

A few minutes passed before they found themselves close to the border, near the Twoleg Greenleaf place. Then, after a few moments, Shiverpaw smelled wet earth, blood, and cat. Her fur bristled on end. Morningspot must've picked it up too, but she had a different reaction than Shiverpaw anticipated.

"E-Endie? Are you there? I…I have the marigold," she called out hesitantly. Shiverpaw looked at her friend incredulously.

"Morning?" Shiverpaw's voice was tight.

Morningspot let out a silent hiss and brought her front paw to her mouth, indicating for the younger cat to stay quiet. Morningspot's ears twitched as she strained to hear something, then hesitantly stared at the tracks in the snow and started following them towards a nearby trench of stone and dirt. Shiverpaw cautiously followed behind the warrior, her fur still bristling.

"Endie?" she called again, looking around.

Morningspot looked at a lowered pine branch, layered in snow, and stared at it. Shiverpaw felt her paws prickling with unease. She tried to level her breathing and pick apart the smell. The scent of Woodcrawler was faint - it was like how Tree's claws smelled when Windfur was treating them, last leaf-fall. The smell of blood was dry.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a hiss came from under the lowered pine branch.

Morningspot began stammering. "Wait, Endie, please, I…I know that - "

"I said you could give me marigold if you told no one," a snarling voice retorted. Shiverpaw's eyes widened as she realized what was being shielded beneath the branches, their form dug beneath the snow and sheltering around the roots of a pine tree. She barely noticed the cat that hid below, their long, brown fur nearly blending with the bark and the dead nettles layering the floor.

Their head was shadowed by the pines. She couldn't see the cat's eyes.

"I tried, I really did, but…"

"No, you didn't. You brought someone from your wretched cult here," the cat hissed again with more vitriol.

Shiverpaw's eyes widened with surprise. Cult? She thought for a moment about Riversnow. She had made passing comments about ForestClan being "a cult", seemingly as a joke, for the first moon that she was here. She had stopped saying such things the longer she spent time speaking to them, but for a while, Shiverpaw didn't understand why she got that idea.

Morningspot's ears flattened against her head. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, and looked at the hidden cat. "Shiverpaw is my friend. She's a healer. She…she knows more herbs that can help you. No one else but her knows about you, Endie, I promise. She won't tell anyone."

"Won't tell anyone, just like you?" Endie's voice ended in a haggard laugh. "Of course. Why should I expect anything else from a Clan cat?"

Shiverpaw's heart raced. Slowly, she lowered herself to follow Morningspot's lead. Then, her eyes widened.

Oh.

The left side of Endie's face was covered in crusted, dried blood. She still couldn't see the upper half of her face - but considering the amount below, Shiverpaw was haunted by what must have happened to this poor cat.

She understood why Morningspot asked her not to panic.

"What are you looking at? Deciding if I'm a good sacrifice?" Endie hissed at Shiverpaw.

Normally, Shiverpaw would bristle and defend herself. But her heart just wasn't in it. She knew. She knew what it was like to be chased by a Woodcrawler. To…to see a horrifying monster beyond one's imagination and believe, in that moment, that the world was filled with hatred, and apathy. To believe that she was going to die.

The panic and derealization when she realized that she was alive, and would have to keep living in a world that tried to kill her.

Shiverpaw calmly took her herb pouch, and opened it. She gently began pulling out herbs, and unraveled a long weave of cobweb - strengthened with linen from boiled grasses, split until it became simple linen. Gently, she spoke.

"I'm a medicine cat apprentice. I want to heal you."

"Ha. Apprentice? Oh, good for you, the woods didn't eat you," Endie hissed. "I don't want help. Not from you, and not an untrained cat."

Shiverpaw's ear twitched. Again, she felt her heart tense to retort, then leave her body. She remembered Olive lashing out at Windfur. Grief. Pain. Endie was in pain. That's all this was. "I am trained. I have been taught how to heal wounds. I am capable of helping you."

Shiverpaw heard the cat's tail thrash on the forest floor. "I don't want your help. I wanted your marigold and for you to leave."

Morningspot rose to her feet, looking at Shiverpaw anxiously. "S-Shiverpaw, maybe…maybe we should just…"

Shiverpaw shook her head. If they left, she would likely die. She didn't want that. "I can give you the marigold. But horsetail would be better for you. I also want to apply a bandage over your injury."

"I said I don't want your help."

"Will you be able to escape the Woodcrawler again, as you currently are?" Shiverpaw's words held no bark, she was asking in earnest. If the cat could still see out of their left eye, then that would be enough. An eerie silence sounded Endie's reply.

"...I wasn't attacked by a…whatever the hell a Woodcrawler is," Endie hissed.

Shiverpaw was caught off guard by that for a moment. Based on the smell, and what Morningspot told her, she just assumed… "Then…what injured you? Was it an infected predator?"

"I'm not telling you what got me. I've been healing fine."

"But not well enough, right? It's why you agreed for Morningspot to get marigold."

Silence.

Shiverpaw continued. "I'm not asking you to trust me, or to like me. I'm asking you to be honest about your condition."

"I'm not going back to your stupid camp!" Endie bit back in anger.

Shiverpaw tilted her head. "I'm…not suggesting that? I have the medicine right here. You don't need to come back to camp with us." In truth, Shiverpaw really wished this rogue would come back to camp - she would be able to get more suitable treatment there. Especially if she wasn't attacked by a Woodcrawler like she said - but if Endie didn't want to come with them, then she would have to do the next best thing. Shiverpaw softened, and stared at the shadows beneath the pine tree. "Please. I…I don't know what you've heard about ForestClan, but it doesn't sound like it's anything good. I can't change your mind on that. But…I'm just a young cat who wants to help others."

A tense silence fell again. Endie's tail grazed the dead pine needles on the ground. Then, she said coldly, "You may be different. But your leader isn't."

Shiverpaw's pelt bristled. She felt like she was getting nowhere. "Then how about this - I treat you right now. As I said - I want to give you horsetail alongside marigold. I have it here. If you can let me treat you here and now, then we can part ways, and no one has to know we were here today."

There was a long pause. Endie had lowered herself and inched out from under the pine tree slightly. "...Why risk punishment for a stranger?" she asked. Shiverpaw noticed the genuine confusion in her voice.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

Endie scoffed, but after a few hesitant moments, she slowly crawled out from her hiding place, revealing the true extent of her injuries. Her right eye, a bright emerald sheen, was filled with skepticism.

The left side of her face had been torn. Most of her left ear was torn out, and her cheek fur was sliced off. Shiverpaw could barely tell where her injury started - she was coated in dried blood from her ear to her lower shoulder. Morningspot failed to suppress a gasp, which received a retaliatory hiss from the rogue.

Shiverpaw hadn't seen a wound this bad before. She closed her eyes as she forced herself to remember something from her early training. She remembered Windfur's teaching. You have to stay outwardly calm. Even if they're on death's door - if you're afraid, then your patient will panic.

When she opened her eyes again, she calmly approached Endie and slowly brought her nose to the side of the injury. Endie flinched, her paw raised off the ground, but she refrained.

Shiverpaw traced the line of the injury with her gaze, nervous. The shoulder seemed to have scabbed successfully - it wasn't as inflamed as she expected. But her head was the worst of it. No animal would have done this. The faint smell of rot told her all she needed to know.

The fact that this cat was alive was a miracle.

The trio sat in silence as Shiverpaw mixed a poultice of marigold and horsetail and applied it to Endie's head. The brown molly hissed at the sting, but said nothing. Shiverpaw then gently started wrapping the bandage around the worst of it.

"You should keep this on for as long as you can. If you can find more marigold, it'd be useful to reapply it every day. This is all I brought," Shiverpaw mumbled. She backed up slowly to see if her work was satisfactory, and she decided that it would do. She could feel the brown tabby getting tense the longer she worked.

Morningspot watched quietly the whole time, then softly piped up, "Is your left eye okay?"

Shiverpaw's fur turned hot. Oh, mousedung, she completely missed that Endie kept her left eye closed. She started forward to examine it, only for the rogue to raise her tail to stop her.

"It's fine," she grumbled. "I can open it just fine. Just didn't want blood getting into it."

"Can you open it for Shiverpaw? Just in case. Please," Morningspot pleaded, her voice small. "Just…to make sure."

Endie scoffed, her tail twitching. But she took no action to appease the warrior's request.

"...The blood is dried. Your wound is covered. There's no reason to keep it closed anyway, right?" Morningspot prompted again.

Endie's tail twitched. She paused, then made a tacit decision. She turned towards Shiverpaw, who returned her gaze. The brown tabby then slowly opened her left eye.

And

something was

wrong

…and

everything

was fine.

Everything was fine.

There was nothing wrong with her eyes.

"Um…S-Shiverpaw?"

Shiverpaw blinked. All of a sudden, the world recentered around her as she felt a paw on her shoulder. Her head swiveled to meet Morningspot's amber eyes, her expression concerned. Shiverpaw blinked quickly in confusion, feeling displaced.

"Y-...Yes?" she forcibly stammered.

"Is her eye okay?"

Shiverpaw looked back at the injured tabby, and…yes. Her eye was fine. She was staring at Endie, her green eyes flickering with intent. Her left eye had avoided any kind of damage from the attack. Her pupils were even.

There was nothing for her to do.

Shiverpaw swallowed, feeling like a stone had settled in her stomach. Something was wrong, but she couldn't explain it.

It didn't help that Endie was suddenly very, very calm. "It's alright. Isn't it?" she asked.

Shiverpaw couldn't explain it. Staring into her eyes felt like an impossible task. But what else could she say? She saw nothing wrong with them. "They're…they're fine," she forced out.

"Okay. That's good," Morningspot replied. She turned towards the rogue with a relieved expression. "Thank you for letting us help you, Endie."

The tabby stayed quiet for a moment. Shiverpaw glanced at her and noticed that her prior aggression had lessened. She was still wary, the tip of her tail twitching. But there was something else in her deep green eyes now. An emotion that flickered in and out of her eyes.

"...That's not my name, you know."

"It…isn't?" Shiverpaw said. The young she-cat froze as the stranger's eyes fell back on her.

"...Endie is the name I give formally. Less…explanations to provide."

Morningspot tilted her head at her, an there was a soft flame of hope that rested in her expression. "...Endie is a fine name for strangers." Morningspot blinked slowly with reassurance. "Do you…have a different name to offer to…friends?"

Shiverpaw expected the brown tabby to retort or scoff, but instead, she heard a ragged mrrow of amusement. "No, not friends. Bold of you to make that offer. You're a stranger, and it will be left as such."

Morningspot's ears folded sadly at her side, but she perked them up rather quickly. "Well…if not Endie, what would you like to be called?"

Shiverpaw found herself unable to tear away from the injured stranger's gaze. Despite everything in her paws telling her to slowly step away, she found herself frozen. For a brief moment, she felt like…like the time she saw the monster in the wall, in the bunker. Unable to leave. Unable to move.

A small smile spread across the cat's face.

"Endless." ---

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