|
Private
Dec 25, 2018 15:44:15 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 25, 2018 15:44:15 GMT -5
The Thunderclan leader lifted his head up again very briefly to glance at the Windclan cats. “I’ll be ready by tomorrow.” He insisted although the look Wildberry gave him made it clear she didn’t think she would be able to recover very quickly. The leader didn’t seem to notice though. As he slowly sunk down again he mumbled it almost as an afterthought. “Brackencall will take care of things until then.” The tom mewed, not realizing that Brackencall still wasn’t in camp. Before he could be corrected the tom’s Eyes had already fallen closed again.
She sighed when the tom had finally seemed to have finally fallen quiet. There was a lot that needed to be addressed, but none of it could be dealt with if Sprucestar couldn’t recover quickly from all of this. She was appreciative that Ravenfang hadn’t tried to bring it up. Wildberry flicked her tail at Ravenfang’s question.
“Yes as much as can be spared.” Her head slowly turned to look at the bare herb stores. She winced a little at what she was about to ask. “If you go back to camp can you bring some herbs back for me.” She flattened her ears against her head. They barely had any herbs to spare, but if something bad happened in Thunderclan they would have no way to help the clan. “Sprucestar’s daughter should still be around camp, maybe she can help you get it all back?” The medicine cat couldn’t hide how frazzled she really was. Too much was happening too quickly for how few cats they had.
The Windclan she-cat listened as Shadowpaw seemed to have something on his mind. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the words out as a figure hurried towards them. Turning her head sharply she watched an injured Hawktail coming towards them. She didn’t register his suspicious looks towards them, more occupied by his question about Whispersong. “No, I saw her talking to Dogclaw early this morning, but since then no. Is something wrong?” Hazelrunner questioned with a frown on her lips, having to table her and Shadowpaw’s conversation for right now. With all the cats getting hurt and attacked any cat missing was concerning.
The one-eyed molly was standing over Longshadow to monitor his breathing. She looked out of the corner of her good-eye to see Emberkit peaking in. An amused look on her face as she motioned her tail slowly towards a wriggling pile of moss that had a dark grey tail trailing out of it.
|
|
Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
|
Private
Dec 25, 2018 16:11:22 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Dec 25, 2018 16:11:22 GMT -5
Ravenfang nodded, unaware that Brackencall was nowhere to be found inside the camp. As Wildberry affirmed his getting prey, and then asked additionally for herbs, he took in a sharp breath. zHe knew theynwere already running low themselves. His voiced hushed as he spoke, barely a whisper, as he said "Wildberry, with Leaf-bare approaching, we don't even have enough for ourselves. The injuries, and sickness, and whatever threat we will have to face, we have to...." He glanced at Sprucestar. Wildberry already knew everything he was saying. She was aware of all these things and yet she was still asking. Sighing with exhaustion, he shut his eyes and nodded curtly. "What herbs?" He had to hope this would not cost them lives.
Hawktail grimaced as if something was on his mind, but he shook his head. "I haven't sen her in a while. I'm kind of concerned, you know? With all that has been going on," he sighed quietly. "Keep an eye out for her, okay?" He trotted off without waiting for a response.
The kit slowly emitted a grin as Lilyheart gave away the wriggling kitten, not that he would have been that tough to spot anyways. He slowly approached on silent paws, readying himself to pounce on top of the moss pile and conquer his sibling.
He leaped forward and bellyflopped on top of his brother, then gave a mrrow of triumph as he held down on the pile of moss.
|
|
|
Private
Dec 25, 2018 17:29:24 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 25, 2018 17:29:24 GMT -5
The medicine cat’s eyes narrowed when Ravenfang took up a tone and seemed about to try to give her a lecture about the importance of conserving herbs going into Leafbare. “Of course I know all of that.” She hissed softly shaking her head as she turned to look at the Thunderclan leader slumped in his nest, then to the barren stores behind them. “They can use anything we can spare.” Wildberry muttered to herself. As if they had anything to spare in the first place. A shortage of something could be the difference between life and death for a cat. She snapped her head back to the deputy. “Ask Lilyheart or Proudpaw to bundle up any common herbs we can spare.” She dropped her voice stressing the word common, the ones they could replinish quickly, at least that was what she was hoping.
Hazelrunner slowly nodded her head, but by the time she did Hawktail was already turning and leaving. She stared after him in puzzlement before turning her head to Shadowpaw. “Maybe we should go check some of the borders on our way back to camp. Make sure Whispersong hasn’t gone over the border?” She suggested, seeming to forget about Dogclaw wanting Shadowpaw to get back to camp. Concern was clear on her face as she thought about what had happened to Hawktail when he had escaped from the Shadowclan cats in Riverclan.
She blinked as she looked at his face for a moment longer. “You were about to tell me something before Hawktail came weren’t you?” The she-cat asked already turning her body in the direction of the Windclan border with what had been Riverclan...now she didn’t really know what to call it anymore.
Cinderkit was giggling to himself under the pile of moss. There was no way that Emberkit was going to get the better of him. Upsetting Wildberry was probably enough to keep him from coming into the den. As a weight suddenly came down on top of him he was proven so wrong. Yowling and wriggling under his brother’s weight the moss fell off him. “Starclan curse you!” He yowled up at his brother. Longshadow stirred in the nest close by causing him to freeze before Longshadow stopped moving again snoring loudly to himself. Sighing the little kit pushed out from under his brother shaking off the moss from his pelt.
|
|
Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
|
Private
Dec 25, 2018 23:23:16 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Dec 25, 2018 23:23:16 GMT -5
Ravenfang sighed. The point was that they didnt have anything to spare at all, but she still wanted them to give up herbs. He nodded with a second sigh as she asked him to get bundles for the Thunderclan camp. "I'll be back, alright?"
He turned out and left the camp, and increased his speed to something of a fast trot.
Shadowpaw watched after Hawktail as he left, sharing puzzlement with Hazelrunner as he did so. He quickly nodded after she finished suggesting they look about for Whispersong. "I think we should. Is it okay if I come with you?"
He averted his gaze when she mentioned what he had been about to say. He began following along with her, hoping that he couldmbe helpful in some way. "Uhh...let's um...focus on this, maybe...." His gaze was still averted, and he seemed to dance around her question like he wasn't sure he should even mention it anymore.
Ebonykit was giggling wildly and excitedly squishing his brother. He froze instaneously with his sibling as it seemed to stir the cranky old warrior. His eyes widened with horror and he felt the blob of his sibling frozen beneath him as well.
He sighed with relief as Longshadow began loudly snoring once more. He stood up (on top of his brother without thinking about it) and then stepped off quickly once he realized.
|
|
|
Private
Dec 26, 2018 0:22:35 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 26, 2018 0:22:35 GMT -5
Wildberry sighed softly and nodded watching him disappear out of camp. The medicine cat turned to disappear back into the den, when she caught sight of Blueweed watching the Windclan cats from the shadows of the warrior cats den. The young warrior quickly slunk back into the warrior cat den. Wildberry shook her head and hurried back into the den to watch over Sprucestar.
“Of course let’s get going.” The she-cat smiled trying to stay positive despite the fact that Whispersong’s disappearance was more than a little alarming. She was hoping that Whispersong was alright. She started to move towards the border. Inclining her head slightly to the side she looked over her shoulder at Shadowpaw. “Yeah of course. This is more important after all.” Hazelrunner brushed it off before quickly turning her head around to look at the border ahead of them.
Hazelrunner had to hold back a sigh of frustration. It didn’t seem like there was any room to step back, find out how her friends and clanmates were holding up. She was left guessing about how they were feeling. Flattening her ears against her ears her head she quickly moved towards the border.
Popping back to life the kit looked at his brother before looking up at Lilyheart seeing her seemingly amused expression at their antics. “We better get out of here. I don’t want to wake up the sleeping badger.” Cinderkit whispered, well whispered for him. It was still plenty loud enough for the other cats in the den to hear.
The large tom slowly snaked up as he stared at the two kits. “Too late!” The old warrior slowly sat up in his nest, yellow eyes glaring down at the tiny balls of fuzz.
|
|
Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
|
Private
Dec 26, 2018 1:17:06 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Dec 26, 2018 1:17:06 GMT -5
Shadowpaw felt a weight press down on his heart as she agreed, saying that it was clearly more important than what was weighing down upon him. He didnt know it but he was noticably grimacing, his ears drooping somewhat as he padded along quietly with her. "Yeah, of course..." he mumbled, somewhat dejectedly. He wasn't very good at keeping his feelings covert.
He tried not to think about the loneliness that was beginning to plague him. Whispersong might need help. Hazelrunner was right; it was irrelevent in comparison. It was selfish to focus on his own feelings, especially when some cat was in danger. He needed to police himself to make sure he wasn't fixated on irrelevent things like that.
Ebonykit cried out in fear as Longshadow snapped at them, darting for the den entrance and slamming accidently straight into Lilyheart's paws, sprawling down on the floor at them in a dizzy daze.
|
|
|
Private
Dec 26, 2018 10:39:25 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 26, 2018 10:39:25 GMT -5
When she looked back to him, her heart twisted as he deflated right in front of her eyes. She’d made it sound like his feelings weren’t important right now. Maybe they weren’t but, Hazelrunner couldn’t bare to see him shut himself off again. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel like he couldn’t talk to her. “I didn’t mean it like...well how I said it. You said you didn’t want to focus on it right now so, we won’t dwell on it I guess. But, if you don’t want to talk I’m going to.” Her voice was soft as she quietly tried to work out her words without really knowing what she was trying to say to him.
“I’m frustrated with everything that seems to be going wrong for all the clans. I’m frustrated that all those things had to happen to you. I’m always frustrated. Except when I’m around you. I feel happy..like a kit again when I’m around you. I want to protect you and make you happy. Please, after this is over, we can sit down and talk uninterrupted alright?” She glanced over at Shadowpaw with a bashful smile, already getting heated under her fur. She didn’t know what exactly she had said, but she said it. Clearing her throat she then turned to look at the river that separated the moor. She slowed down as she padded towards it, briefly pushing aside what she had just said to Shadowpaw to look for signs of life.
Something slammed into her back leg, causing her to teeter for a moment before falling to the ground the herbs at her paws going everywhere. She blinked as she got up to her paws again, swiveling her head to get a look at the culprit she sighed when she caught sight of Emberkit. “Not so fast. Now you’re going to have to help me resort all of these. Or I’ll let Speckleflower and Lavenderfur know how much trouble you two are making.” Cinderkit froze when she said this.
“No anything, but that!” The kit squealed flopping down on his side in the most dramatic way possible, peeling open an eye he waited to see if it had worked. When Lilyheart merely shook her head he popped up and looked at his brother.
|
|
Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
|
Private
Dec 26, 2018 13:35:51 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Dec 26, 2018 13:35:51 GMT -5
Shadowpaw began experiencing a range of emotions as she spoke to him about what she had said, or more importantly what she had meant to say. He sensed some aspect of guilt in her as she spoke, and he felt compelled to believe the words leaving her mouth.
His mind turned dark and dreary again as she brought up the recent misfortunes of the clans. He thought through all of the death recently, starting with his own mother. Hurt and emptiness came to the forefront of his heart as he remembered the last time he had been with her. It was burned into his memory...
Suddenly, Hazelrunner caught him off guard. She was frustrated that all of thishad happened to him, that Shadowpaw had been at the center of so much of this. This wasn't what stunned him; really, many cats already knew how she felt about that. No, what caught him off guard was her proclaiming that being around him brought her happiness. His eyes widened a little and his mind began racing as she continued speaking. He wasn't very tuned in as she continued speaking, moreso trying to comprehend what she had just said.
It made her happy to be around him? How? What about him could make her happy? He was an anxious mess who couldn't hunt, fight, or patrol properly. He knew nothing about being a proper warrior, or existing as a functioning member of a clan, or even a single thing about this really strange warmth that was soaring around his chest area and that was making him really uncomfortable!!
I want to protect you and make you happy. Her words repeated themselves in his mind again and again. He could not find the rationale for why, but the fact remained that she wanted to. For some reason. He couldn't doubt the validity of her words like when they met. She had so much faith in him, and had done so much for him. Even if he did not understand why, Hazelrunner had a why.
After running through a range of emotions and confusion, he absentmindedly nodded, not exactly sure what he had agreed to. His dreary deflated demeanor was replaced with a confused, but at least, not downcast demeanor.
"NOOO!!" Enonykit gave a whine along with his sibling. "I'll do anything you say!!"
|
|
|
Private
Dec 27, 2018 23:14:46 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 27, 2018 23:14:46 GMT -5
Although she was unaware of the emotional tail spin she’d subjected him to she might not have said it. Or at least she wouldn’t have said so much at least. She probably shouldn’t have said so much. A lot of the feelings she’d talked about she couldn’t quite explain if asked to actually explain them. She could hardly explain them to herself. She only knew how she felt. Or more accurately how he made her feel. Even if Dawnstar hadn’t asked her to promise to protect him she probably still would have. He was a strong and sweet cat for everything he’d gone through. And, she liked being with him.
Her face brightened when he nodded, although seemed rather dazed. Still, she was going to take it as comfirmation that they would actually talk soon enough. Now, they just had to look for signs of Whispersong wherever she had gone. Slowly prowling towards the river she couldn’t make out any clear signs of life. The only sound was the stream running close by and the wind rustling the grass. She prowled a short way up the bank, heading towards the pond. She turned and started to pad the other way. There was the sour scent of Shadowclan on both sides of border.
“There’s Shadowclan...No Whispersong though.” She mewed softly as she looked back at Shadowpaw. She wasn’t at camp so, she was wondering where the warrior had gone off to.
The she-cat sighed as she looked at the wailing kits. “If you don’t want me to say anything then you will need to clear up this mess. Pile all the leaves that look and smlle like each other. Don’t mix up the piles.” She instructed softly as she motioned to the different leaves to direct the tiny kits to which leaves went over.
|
|
Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
|
Private
Dec 27, 2018 23:36:59 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Dec 27, 2018 23:36:59 GMT -5
Hanging his head dejectedly, the kit obediently stalked over to the herb piles, able to distinguish their disgusting smells quite easily. Scrunching his nose he began the process of making them into their respective piles.
Shadowpaw followed along with her, keeping his gaze wandering around them to keep an eye out for anything noteworthy. Once Hazelrunner finally came to the conclusion that there had been Shadowclan around this area, but no Whispersong, he grimaced. "I hope she is okay." He quietly mumbled. Whispersong had been fairly welcoming to him. He didn't want anything to happen to her.
He scented the air, and his eyebrows slowly narrowed. "Doesn't...wait..." He mumbled a couple more words before turning to Hazelrunner, something of an urgent look on his face. "Isn't that scent...that's..." The truth was, he was still acclimating to most of the Windclan scents, but he was trying to develop a general sense of it. Of course Hazelrunner's was his best memory--this one was different from her's, but he had a worried, gut feeling that this scent... "Isn't this a Windclan scent? You said it isn't Whispersong, but...its intermingled with my clanmates..." To the Shadowclan cat, this scent stuck out.
|
|
|
Private
Dec 28, 2018 12:44:17 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 28, 2018 12:44:17 GMT -5
The small tom-kit slowly trudged over the pile to help his brother sort the rest of the herbs. As he slowly started to sort through the leaves, sullenly dragging the leaves into small little piles. As Cinderkit sniffed the herbs he crinkled his nose. The strange scents tickled his nose. Turning away from the herbs he went into a sneezing fit. Sniffling he flattened his ears as he heard Lilyheart laughing softly to hereself.
“This stuff smells horrible.” He mumbled softly as he started sweeping up the leaves with his tail trying to keep from having to get too close to them now.
Hazelrunner had already been prepared to move on, only really able to pick out the overwhelming scent of Shadowclan cats. That was until Shadowpaw pointed out that he could make out some Windclan scent among the Shadowclan. Swishing her tail she opened her mouth to try and get a better idea of who the scent could belong to. It took a lot of concentration for her to pick up any other scents. Finally thought she was able to pick out a familiar scent. “You’re right.” She mewed softly with a frowned as she narrowed her eyes in concentration.
“I smells kind of like...Amberberry...maybe..I don’t know...” Her voice trailed off a little before turning her head to look back at Shadowpaw.The scent was so intermingled with others it was hard to tell exactly what she was smelling quite yet. “We should probably go back to camp to let someone know..” Her voice was quiet and uncertain.
She couldn’t be sure, but if that mangy furball had gotten in with the Shadowclan cats there could be a lot of trouble up ahead.
|
|
Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
|
Private
Dec 28, 2018 13:01:49 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Dec 28, 2018 13:01:49 GMT -5
Shadowpaw didn't say anything more. The scent stuck out to him, and so he was able to pick out its path from the others rather easily. He looked to Hazelrunner with uncertainty, then pointed his tail in the trail's direction. "The Windclan cat went a different direction," he observed, as the scent diverged from the group of Shadowclanners. "I...think..." He slowly began walking after it. If the cat was alone, it wouldn't be much trouble, right? If it was Amberberry, and he had joined with Shadowclan, they could at least get a visual confirmation of that fact.
"Come on. Let's follow it, a little bit..." He quietly stepped towards Hazelrunner. He felt a pang of urgency. If there was a Windclan cat, even a former one, with Shadowclan...well...They needed to know that their camp could be compromised.
|
|
|
Private
Dec 28, 2018 14:06:27 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 28, 2018 14:06:27 GMT -5
She was quietly picking out the scent, detangling it from the others. The longer she smelled the more sure she was it was Amberberry. He still had some of his Windclan scent even if he was no longer with their clan. Her tail lashed like snake getting ready to strike. If she ever saw that cat again she would want to make sure he got what he deserved. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Shadowpaw suggested following the scent right into Shadowclan territory. “Shadowpaw, that would be extremely risky.” All she could think about was all the Shadowclan cats that wanted him dead.
Flattening her ears against her head she tried to weight the outcomes. The scents were still fresh now so they would be easier to follow. In the time it took them to get back to camp Amberberry could be long gone by then. “I-I don’t know Shadowpaw..” She mewed uncertainly. If they got caught then she was sure Nightstar would want them dead. “I don’t think we should go alone at least.” Maybe it they could find more cats she might consider it as a possibility.
|
|
Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
|
Private
Dec 28, 2018 14:24:41 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Dec 28, 2018 14:24:41 GMT -5
Shadowpaw frowned, looking out towards the direction of the scent. It was separated from the rest of the Shadowclan cats, but...she was right. It was still Shadowclan territory. If some cats stumbled upon him, surely they would not respond kindly. Nor to Hazelrunner.
A cold sweat stung at the back of his neck as he thought of this. Hazelrunner in the claws of his father and Shadowclan. He was uncertain of where his father would draw the line, if ever. Grimacing, he stepped closer to her. "You're right. We should...go tell Ravenfang."
A ginger-orange cat, fat and comfortable despite the coming Leaf-bare, was entering the territory of Windclan from the direction of the Twolegplace. Stinking of dry cat food and the ugly twoleg aroma, she drifted through the early parts of the territory, not having any real directions to guide her. She had waited long enough for the clan cat to come see her, and her patience was running thin at this point. Didn't the tom know it was rude to keep a she-cat waiting?!?
Unfortunately for her, she wasn't very versed in the ways of these lake cats. The tom had told her some things about occupying a moorland and being fast and all that, but it was all quite dull to her. Now she was venturing into the land for the first time in her young life, as a result of his tardiness. She could find him herself!
|
|
|
Private
Dec 28, 2018 15:06:21 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Dec 28, 2018 15:06:21 GMT -5
She sighed softly when she agreed with him. She wasn’t willing to possibly deliever Shadowpaw back to his father. If any of the stories were half true, she didn’t want to think what would happen to Shadowpaw, she couldn’t stomach it. Sighing again she brushed her pelt against his. “We’ll let him know what we’ve found. He’ll hope to know, I hope.” Hazelrunner had seen the stress and confused fog the temporary leader seemed to be in, but he needed to know.
“Come on let’s head back, it’s getting late.” She mewed motioning to the sun already starting to sink lower in the distance. The Windclan she-cat picked up a brisk trot away from the border. She wasn’t sure what Ravenfang would want to do. They already had their paws full with everything else going on. She could only hope that he could come up with something.
There was absolutely nothing in camp for him to do. It was maddening being a clan, but not really being part of clan. Redsky and Applepaw still looked to him for some guidance, so he did what he could to keep all of the Riverclan cats productive. He’d sent Redsky and Applepaw back to camp with the prey they had all managed to catch, mostly fish unfortunately. Otterfur’s paws still inched so, he’d gone off on his own to do some patrolling on his own. It gave him time to think. All of this was almost too much for him to keep up with anymore.
The wind rustled the grass around him, bringing the smell of twolegs with it. Snapping around he spotted a flame colored cat strolling across the moor with not a care. Narrowing his eyes the tom’s stiff shoulder made him reluctant to run quickly, but he had to confront the cat still. Muttering under his breath the deputy gathered up his muscles and launched forwards. Moving towards the trespasser he didn’t slow down even as he reached the top of the hill to confront her. “You! Stop where you are!” The tom hissed as he skidded to a halt with his fur standing on end and his claws already unsheathed. She stunk of twolegs, so why she was on clan territory he didn’t know. But, she certainly didn’t belong here.
|
|