Aridclan wip

[hazilnut]

A writing thread for by Rise clan. I’m on mobile so coding is a total wip. Please do not post.

[hazilnut]

“No.”
“Huh?”
“I said no.” Mothstar’s tone was final, her stern gaze locked on the fluffy brown and white kittypet, but her twitching tail tip betrayed her anxiety. She had gotten too caught up in early-morning hunting and now that it was nearing sunhigh she was surely needed back at camp.
“Please? I’d train super hard! I’d be a good warrior- I just know it!” Frost pleaded. Her blue eyes were full of youthful determination, lacking the tired sheen that Mothstar found in her reflection every time she took a drink, and despite the fact that Frost was around apprentice age she was about as big as the leader herself, though that could well be an illusion considering how much of the kittypet’s body mass seemed to be composed of fur. “I tracked you didn’t I? And you’re a strong warrior yes? I’ve seen you ordering other cats around.”
Surprise shot through Mothstar, though she kept her expression neutral and composed. If this kittypet had been keeping tabs on their camp and no Aridclan warrior had noticed, perhaps there was more to her than Mothstar had thought. It was true that Frost had managed to track her over quite a distance even with her bright white coat, an impressive feat given Mothstar’s nerves. “I’m the leader of Aridclan yes. Which means it’s my job to keep the clan safe, which means I can’t go admitting every kittypet with impressive,” Frost perked up at the word impressive, “tracking skills. It’s brown-grass season now and I can see you’re sweating. How would you cope during green-grass when it’s hottest? Could you stand an empty belly when your bright fur scares away every tuco-tuco back into their burrows?”
“Well we won’t know you test me out,” Frost challenged. Mothstar was impressed with the molly’s brave front. Even though she could tell Frost was a little nervous now, moons of covering her own nerves gave Mothstar a unique insight, the molly was holding fast admirably. Mothstar felt a treacherous part of herself soften towards this young cat who braved the badlands to satisfy curiosity.
“Okay.”
“I can join?”
“We’ll do a test run first. You’re staying at the upstander camp yes? I’ll be here every morning and we’ll start your training. Miss one day and it’s all over, understood?”
Frost nodded fervently. “Thank you Mothstar. I won’t let you down.”
“I’m sure you won’t Frostpaw.”

[hazilnut]

Slateheart was not Mothstar's first deputy but he was always her first choice for the position. They had been an incredibly close mentor-apprentice pair. Slateheart hadn't listened to his mentor at first, and truly he never would, but he always looked up to her and made up for the lack of confidence that Mothstar had in herself. Mothstar in turn took Slateheart's input to heart, finding wisdom in the tom where others only saw bravado. This tight knit dynamic carried over into their partnership as leader and deputy, to the chagrin of some of the more dissatisfied senior warriors. The pair most blamed for numerous deaths during the drought, even if those deaths were in pursuit of a solution, were now together in power. At least when Cardonfang had been deputy Mothstar's willingness and ability to change Aridclan tradtion was limited. With Slateheart at her ear there was no telling what the insular pair would come up with and at what point the rest of the clan would hear of it.