Be Smarter (short story)
Marigoldpaw wheezed as she walked, and she wondered if they had ever travelled so far before for a training session. “What…what are we here for?” She asked when they finally came to a stop.
She had been coughing on and off since her birth, but slowly her scratched throat had healed over the past two moons, though her voice was still raspy and it hurt to talk. She felt a familiar pang of unease as she recalled hazy memories of her littermates: Lionkit, Peonykit, and Sunkit, who had all succumbed to the sickness that had gripped them all the day they were born. Should she remember them more?
Dullahan, her older brother and mentor, faced her with his naked scar-marked tail folded neatly around his paws. “Because you’re weak,” he told her bluntly. “You need to learn how to be strong.”
Marigoldpaw didn’t understand why that meant she had to travel so far, especially with her lungs still recovering and her legs weak enough to collapse under her should she stand for too long–a reason she was now laying on her stomach. “I can’t force my sickness to leave,” she pointed out.
Dullahan’s pupils, sharply purple, were as thin as the thorns that guarded their home, the colour behind them almost entirely clouded by black fog. He showed his long, crooked teeth in what most would consider a threat, a danger, a look of insanity. Maybe it was, but to Marigoldpaw and the rest of their family, it was simply a smile of amusement. “We can have a head start, teach your mind before you can teach your body.”
“H….How?” Marigoldpaw wheezed.
Dullahan stood, sweeping his scarred tail around at the undergrowth surrounding them. “Look around you! You’re small and weak–”
“I’ll get bigger!”
Dullahan continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “You are vulnerable to anyone who chooses to attack, and right now, anyone who chooses to attack you will be stronger than you. But what will you be?”
“Smarter?”
“Correct!” Dullahan grinned. “Look around,” he repeated, “what should you do?”
“Uh..” Marigoldpaw tried to think. She tried to look around, but the movement dizzied her. She closed her eyes, placing a paw on her head to still the spinning.
“If I attacked you right now, what will you do?”
Marigoldpaw blinked at him, trying to think. “I..Uh..”
Without warning, Dullahan leaped. He landed directly above her, placing his paws on either side of her, and digging a claw of a back leg into her tail, keeping her still. Marigoldpaw shrieked.
“What should you do?” Dullahan demanded, voice raising, jaws pressing closer to her face. “Look around!”
Marigoldpaw strained her neck as she took in the plants closest to her. She knew her brother wouldn’t hurt her–not hurt hurt, but even so, the situation still threw her heart into her throat and she struggled to breathe, while the pain in her tail crowded her thoughts.
Think think…Focus focus…
There!
Marigoldpaw stretched her neck out, bit around the stem of the plant, and swung it at Dullahan’s eyes.
“Argh!” Dullahan let go, backing away as he wiped at his eyes.
Marigoldpaw watched him with worry. She hadn’t blinded him, had she?
Then Dullahan began to shake, laughter booming through the clearing and making the hair on Marigoldpaw’s pelt stand on end. “Perfect! Oh, I was hoping you would go for it!”
“Dad told me it’s stinging nettle,” Marigoldpaw told her, recalling the plants Myrtlewing showed her while she still stayed in his medicine den. “He said the stem is fine to touch, but the leaves–”
“Sting?”
“Yeah.”
Dullahan wiped his eyes again. “He wasn’t wrong about that.”
Marigoldpaw leaned toward him. “Are you okay?”
Dullahan waved a dismissive paw. “Don’t be so soft!”
“I can be soft to family,” Marigoldpaw retorted. It was the way of their family. It didn’t matter how they treated non-kin, so long as those who share blood were cared for. “Lay down.”
Dullahan looked at her, then shrugged to himself and did as told. Marigoldpaw raised up and began to clean his eyes and the surrounding area–curling her lip and struggling against the horrible taste. When she was sure she reached every spot, she sat back. “Better?”
Dullahan blinked, feeling his face. “You take the fun out of getting hurt,” he joked.
Marigoldpaw nudged him playfully. “I’m your sister. I’m supposed to take the fun out of everything for you.”
Dullahan grunted. "I guess I should clean your tail."
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This is either Marigoldpaw's first training session as an apprentice or the second or third--definitely early.
Added the last part because I forgot about her tail lmao.
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Hypokits my beloved…
So, this one’s weird a bit, and I’m not sure how would you react (was not on the black list, but still), so sorry in advance if you don’t like it, feel free to ignore
What would Spark and Alder look like if Bramblestar chose Jessy at the end of BSS and they were hers?
idm Jessy x Bramblestar, even though I don't ship it myself [he at least was never shown to be consistently shitty towards her, though I can't see them lasting because Jessy, like Squilf, is a spirited and stubborn cat]
I will admit I don't keep them together in this AU, BUT that's a small detail and you're free to ignore it
also after the initial awkwardness, Jessy and Squilf do become friends and Squilf was Alderpaw/heart's mentor cause Jessy trusted her the most with her nervous son
and Jessy never takes a warrior name cause I like the idea of her refusing to give up her name
[ID: the image depicts four cats - two alive and two spirits. The living cats are sitting back to back with one sibling behind each of them. From left to right -
Rumblekit is a dark brown tabby tom with a gray-brown muzzle, gray-brown chest, and a gray-brown underside. He has brownish amber eyes that are solid in color due to being a ghost. He has a swoop of fur going over one eye and a thick-furred tabby tail. He is hovering lightly in the air and his hind legs are covered by Brandypelt's head. He looks worried.
Brandypelt is a lighter brown molly with darker brown points and two stripes on the side of her face. Her underbelly is a creamy brown color, which she also has on the lower half of her dark brown tail and at the bottom of her paws. Her eyes are reddish in color and she has some light creamy brown markings over her eyes. She is facing to the left and sitting down. She seems determined. She wears two claw earrings in her right ear and her tail, like Rumblekit's, is thick.
Next is Alderheart, who is a dark brown tabby with a light brown face, light brown chest plus underside, light brown paws, and a thin tail. His eyes are magenta in color. He seems nervous, his head lowered, one paw raised to his chest, and his tail wrapped around himself. The fur on the top of his head is sleeked back. He has a tuft of fur on his chin that looks like a scruffy beard.
Finally is Flowerkit, who is a brown molly with dark brown ears, dark brown legs, dark brown over her eyes, and a dark brown tail. She had a brown-gray streak on her nose, a gray-brown chest, and pinkish eyes that are solid colored due to her being a ghost. She is mostly blocked by Alderheart's head, but she appears to be worried and reaching a paw out to her living brother.]
so!
let's start with the two little elephants in the room; I also did Juniperkit and Marigoldkit [Rumblekit and Flowerkit respectively here].
Rumblekit was originally going to be named Thunderkit, because Jessy was trying to celebrate how she was brought to ThunderClan, but Bramblestar didn't like the idea. After some thought, he agreed when she suggested Rumblekit.
Rumblekit had a heart condition and that's what eventually caused his death after the stress of Flowerkit's death was too much.
Flowerkit was named somewhat after her grandma, Goldenflower, though mostly because Jessy thought Flower would make a nice name and so she figured that name would be the most fitting.
Flowerkit passed from sickness after a long struggle
now onto the next part;
Brandypelt [Sparkpelt] was a big stress for the couple when it came to naming. Bramblestar wanted her to have a normal name while Jessy refused to let up on naming her after her friend, Minty's sibling, Brandy.
Bramblestar refers to her as Bramblepelt cause he doesn't understand what a 'Brandy' is. Brandypelt does not get along with her father at all.
Alderheart's name stayed the same because I couldn't figure another name that fit and naming him after a tree just felt right. So he got to stay Alderheart.
Alderheart got his name as a warrior, but because I imagine Jessy and Bramblestar broke up after their kids became warriors, Bramblestar did proceed to put his son in the medicine cat den cause he thought Alderheart would do better there.
/
as a side note;
Jessy 100% approves of her son's crush on Velvet and would've defended his feelings for her.
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