''✧ ━ difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations"

My gallery · by **Katrione** » Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:29 pm

My gallery · by **Katrione** » Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:33 pm

the young she-cat purred softly, nuzzling her nose into the damp tortoiseshell fur of her only kit. she had been looking forward to having kits for such a long time, and was extremely excited that her first kit was a she-kit. the medicine cat nudged the dirty moss towards his apprentice before turning back towards the new mother. "do you mind if i check on her, hivesting?" the red tom asked. the young queen tensed up, starting to bare her teeth in a snarl when the medicine cat reached for the kit. remembering who the tom was, hivesting relaxed and nodded.

"yes, go ahead fennelpelt."

fennelpelt gave her a nod and scooped the tortoiseshell kit, who let out a shocked squeal, away from the queen's belly and began to start cleaning the kit. moments later, a large black tom squeezed himself into the den, looking briefly towards the medicine cat and kit before trudging over to hivesting. he nuzzled into her side, giving her a comforting lick. "it took you long enough, shadowfang," the queen teased, earning an eyeroll and a playful shove from the tom. "we have a daughter." she purred, nodding towards where fennelpelt was.

the medicine cat froze suddenly, staring at the young kit in shock for several moments before turning his head to look at the new parents, a nervous look flashing in his eyes. hivesting's eyes narrowed slightly in worry, her gaze never leaving the medicine cat as he picked up the tortoiseshell and made his way back to them, setting the kit in the crook of the new mother's belly.

"i have something i need to tell you about your da- err, kit," fennelpelt began. hivesting and shadowfang shared a scared look before they returned their attention to the medicine cat, hoping that whatever was wrong with their kit wasn't life-threatening. fennelpelt shifted his paws, unsure of how to report this to them. "while i was cleaning the kit and checking to make sure everything was fine, i noticed something odd..."

when the medicine cat trailed off and went silent, hivesting let out an annoyed hiss and lashed her tail. "just get on with it, won't you?!" fennelpelt flinched away from the queen's hiss and spiteful words, the fur along his spine bristling.

"normally tortoiseshells are all she-cats," fennelpelt mewed. "but i noticed that your kit is different. this is very rare but it seems that your kit is a tortoiseshell tom. in all my seasons as a medicine cat, i've only seen one tortoiseshell tom. i've spoken with the medicine cat from his clan a long time ago, back when that tom was an older warrior, and he said the tom could never conceive kits with his mate no matter how long they tried. i'm not sure if that is the case with all tortoiseshell toms but i thought i might as well bring it up."

hivesting gaped slightly, unsure of what to say or how to react. shadowfang, on the other paw, jumped to his feet and lashed his tail angrily. "that can't be possible?!" he shouted, causing some of the other kits in the den to cry, including his son. "tortoiseshells are she-cats, not toms," the black tom spat before glaring over his shoulder at hivesting and the kit. "keep that thing away from me." he growled at hivesting before shouldering out of the den.

the ginger queen let out a choked cry, stunned by her mate's reaction. she was shocked as well, but she knew she could never disown the little tom. it wasn't his fault that he was different. hivesting curled her tail around the tom and drew him closer, a faint smile tugging at her lips when he let out a long squeal that sounded more like a howl than anything else. "my little howler."

My gallery · by **Katrione** » Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:34 pm

howlerkit kneaded the ground excitedly as spiderstar was drawing a warrior ceremony to a close. the tortoiseshell tom knew him and the other kits were next and he was so excited to finally become an apprentice. hivespring was purring softly, clearly just as excited as her son was. the young kit looked across the clearing to where a large black tom loomed, his golden gaze locked on howlerkit.

the tortoiseshell stiffened slightly, his heartbeat quickening as he raised his tail in a wave to his estranged father. shadowfang's eyes narrowed and he frowned, turning his attention back to spiderstar, who happened to be his sister. howlerkit's tail drooped sadly and he looked up at hivesting, who was glaring at her former mate. "we don't need him." she murmured, rasping her tongue across howlerkit's ears.

"howlerkit, come here." spiderstar called. howlerkit looked up, shying away slightly at the irritated look in the leader's eyes. during the time he had been looking at his father, spiderstar had called up the kits. duckkit, daffodilkit and littlekit were peering over their shoulders towards the tom, all but daffodilkit glaring. howlerkit muttered an apology and hurried to join them, giving daffodilkit a small smile as he stepped up next to her. she returned the smile before turning to look up at spiderstar.

the ceremony passed by in an blur since howlerkit was too excited to pay enough attention, causing spiderstar to snap his name a few times. the four kits turned to face the crowd as they called the four new apprentices names. slowly, howlerpaw started to feel a pang in his chest when he realized his new name wasn't being called.

duckpaw, daffodilpaw, littlepaw!

howlerpaw's gaze dropped to his paws, his ears pressing back against his head. why don't they like me? what did i ever do to them to deserve to be treated this way?

"howlerpaw!"

his gaze jerked up when he finally heard his name. howlerpaw turned his head to look at hivesting, who had obviously been calling his name already but wasn't loud enough to be heard over the crowd. hivesting had her head turned and was gaping at someone else who had been calling her son's name.

shadowfang had his head tilted back, a slightly annoyed look on his face as he called the tortoiseshell tom's new name. once the noise died down, shadowfang snapped his muzzle shut, got to his paws and stalked off to the warriors den. slowly, the rest of the clan trickled back into their dens.

duckpaw bumped roughly into howlerpaw's shoulder, glaring at him as littlepaw made her way to the apprentices den. "don't pick a nest next to me, freak." he hissed before following after his sister. daffodilpaw paused next to howlerpaw, muttering an apology for her brother's behavior before heading to the apprentices den as well, leaving howlerpaw alone in the clearing.

My gallery · by **Katrione** » Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:36 pm

howlerpaw strayed away from the gathering patrol for the hundredth time, going to investigate something else that caught his eye. his mentor, a dilute calico she-cat named floodstone, huffed loudly and paused to wait for her apprentice to catch up again. several of the clan cats paused as well but not for long, deciding that getting to the gathering as soon as possibly was more important than waiting for the young apprentice. "howlerpaw!" floodstone snapped, lashing her tail. "we need to get going, the others are leaving us behind."

the tortoiseshell tom looked over his shoulder, smiling sheepishly before hurrying to rejoin floodstone. floodstone shook her head, her twitching whiskers the only thing giving away that she was amused. howlerpaw perked up slightly, pleased with himself for having entertained her. "when we get to the gathering, i want you to go and explore. sticking by my side won't help you make any friends." floodstone ordered as they finally caught up to the rest of the group. howlerpaw started to protest but stopped when the she-cat glared at him.

the clan made their way into the gathering place, many of them immediately dispersing and hurrying off to join other clan groups. floodstone started to walk away but stopped to look back at howlerpaw. "remember what i said, alright?" she mewed softly, touching her tail briefly to his shoulder. the she-cat had a fond yet worried look in her eyes, a look that howlerpaw usually only received from hivesting. howlerpaw nodded slightly, watching the warrior as she left. the apprentice looked around the gathering place, his ears slightly pressing back against his head as he noticed how much cats were actually there. he relaxed slightly when he noticed the ginger tabby pelt of his mother among the cats. hivesting seemed busy talking with another she-cat so he decided not to go bug her.

"howlerpaw!"

the tortoiseshell tom looked over when he heard his name being called, perking up happily when he noticed that the cat calling for him was daffodilpaw. howlerpaw started to head towards her, stopping when duckpaw moved in front of her. littlepaw stood next to her littermates, her white pelt bushed up slightly as she eyed the tom. daffodilpaw glared at duckpaw before casting howlerpaw an apologetic glance. he shrugged slightly back at her before retreating further away from the trio, keeping his head low so the watching cats couldn't see that the encounter had bothered him.

howlerpaw wandered around the clearing, studying the other clan cats as he did so. with a sigh, the tortoiseshell tom paused in the middle of the clearing. after circling the clearing a few times, howlerpaw hadn't found anyone that seemed like they would be interested in talking to him yet. he did notice that he got a few looks from a few tom cats from other clans, but he didn't think much of it.

the apprentice looked over when he heard a cat clearing their throat. a silver tabby tom was standing nearby, a pink flower dangling from his jaws. howlerpaw narrowed his eyes slightly, confused by what the tom wanted. the tom set the flower down at howlerpaw's paws. he brushed against howlerpaw's flank, a cocky look on his face as he smiled down at the apprentice. "i couldn't help but notice you wandering around and you seemed lonely," the tom began. "i'm lizardleap. what's your name, beautiful?"

howlerpaw narrowed his orange eyes even more, his jaw clenching as he tried to contain his irritability. "...howlerpaw," he mewed slowly, a hiss slowly edging its way into his mew. "and i'm a tom."

the silver tabby stiffened in surprise as he heard howlerpaw's voice and the words he spoke. "uhh." lizardleap turned and hurriedly disappeared into the crowd, leaving the pink flower behind. howlerpaw watched after him, his tail tip twitching irritably as he tried to figure out what just happened.

"well that was awkward."

howlerpaw looked over his shoulder to see floodstone standing there, amusement glittering in her eyes. "come on, i think you've had enough with trying to make friends for today." the dilute calico laughed. howlerpaw snorted slightly, shaking his head as he joined her. "just saying, you would make a beautiful she-cat."

"shut up."

My gallery · by **Katrione** » Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:38 pm

hivesting shoved through the rest of the clan cats, her eyes wide in shock as she halted in front of her son. howlerfang looked down at his mother, his golden eyes welling up with tears. "why are you leaving?!" the ginger tabby she-cat cried, her ears flattening back against her head.

howlerfang bent his head down to brush his muzzle against hers. "i don't belong here mom," he mewed quietly. "no one wants me here and i need to find my own place somewhere." the tortoiseshell looked over towards daffodilfall, who jutted her muzzle up defiantly when she noticed him looking back at her. daffodilfall had been one of the very few cats who didn't care that he was different, she had claimed to love him but left him for another tom after they tried for moons to have kits and failed. the once sweet she-cat had turned bitter and spiteful towards him. on top of losing daffodilfall, howlerfang had lost floodstone. his mentor had moved into the nursery a few moons after he had become a warrior and had passed away during her kitting. now, all he had was hivesting and he was about to lose her too.

"you belong with me." hivesting sniffled, nuzzling into her son's side. "i want you here. who cares what others think?!" the ginger tabby she-cat looked away from her son when she noticed someone else moving towards them. shadowfang paused several pawsteps away from his former mate and son, an unsure look on the large black tom's face. "what do you want, shadowfang?" hivesting hissed.

shadowfang shot the ginger tabby she-cat a brief glance before returning his attention of howlerfang. howlerfang suddenly felt small under his gaze, even though he was by no means a small tom and was the same size as his father. "h-howlerfang," shadowfang began, coughing slightly to clear his throat when his voice started to catch in his throat. "i am so sorry for how i've been treating you, and i'm sorry i allowed everyone to treat you like you were less of a cat. i know you can never forgive me and i know this won't stop you from leaving but i just needed you to know that i'm proud of the warrior you have become."

howlerfang gaped slightly, unsure of how to react. his whole life, this tom had rejected him and rarely ever acknowledged him. but now here he was apologizing for everything. the young tom dipped his head slightly to the black tom. "i forgive you." he whispered. shadowfang let out a slow, relieved exhale and stepped forward to touch his nose to howlerfang's ear.

"i'll miss you, and hivesting will miss you." shadowfang mewed as howlerfang stepped back. howlerfang nodded slightly before turning back to his mother, who still had a confused and unsure look on her face.

"i will see you again. i won't be gone forever." howlerfang promised. hivesting nodded sadly before licking howlerfang's cheek. howlerfang nuzzled her before nodding his goodbye to shadowfang. the tortoiseshell tom cast one look around the camp that had never really been his home before turning and disappearing through the camp entrance.

✧✧✧✧

howlerfang ducked down behind clumps of heather and gorse, pressing his stomach flush against the ground as he tried to make himself hard to find. his golden eyes peered through his cover as a small group of she-cats slowly passed by. he could've sworn there had been three she-cats but there was only two. the former clan cat watched the dilute calico she-cat pause and turn towards her companion, a brown tabby and cream she-cat with a heavily scarred muzzle. she was whispering urgently to the scarred she-cat, her dark green eyes darting around as if she was checking on something. howlerfang froze for a moment, swearing that her eyes had stopped on him and lingered.

"what're we looking for?"

the tortoiseshell tom shrieked, jumping to his paws and whirling around to see a pretty cinnamon and white she-cat crouched next to the spot he had just been in, her orange eyes glittering in amusement. "w-where did you come from?" howlerfang questioned, lashing his tail as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

"well, you weren't exactly aware of your surroundings so i don't think it matters," the she-cat laughed, waving her tail to signal for her friends to come over. "what're you doing here?" she questioned.

howlerfang looked between the three she-cats, his tail-tip twitching as he tried to figure out if they were going to attack him. "just traveling." he replied.

"hmm, i'm sorrelbone, this is blossombelly and thornears." the cinnamon and white she-cat mewed. howlerfang perked up slightly at the odd sounding names, recognizing them as clan names.

"you're clan cats? i was too. my name is howlerfang."

the scarred she-cat, thornears, eyed howlerfang suspiciously. "howlerfang doesn't sound like a she-cat name." she sneered.

howlerfang narrowed his eyes. "that's because i'm not a she-cat." he sneered back.

sorrelbone and blossombelly shared shocked looks before they surveyed the tom, shocked that he could have a pelt that they had never seen on anyone but she-cats. "well, i think your pelt is lovely," sorrelbone chirped in after a moment of silence, her bushy tail wagging happily. the cinnamon and white she-cat brushed against his flank, purring in a welcoming tone. "i'm sure our leader would love to talk to you and invite you into the clan." she mewed, steering him in the direction of where their camp must be.

howlerfang looked over his shoulder to blossombelly and thornears, who seemed to still be a little shocked by the tom's odd pelt. when they noticed him looking, they both flashed a smile before hurrying to catch up and bombarding the tom with questions about himself and his past.

they actually want to know about me? he thought as sorrelbone laughed loudly over one of the comments he had made. howlerfang smiled at the she-cat, shaking his head slightly. i could get use to that sound

My gallery · by **Katrione** » Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:40 pm

howlerfang raised his head, blinking sleep from his eyes as he tried to find who was jabbing him in the side. sorrelbone was crouched next to his nest, her paw already poised to give him another jab. when she noticed his eyes were open, the cinnamon and white she-cat dropped her paw back down and flashed him a happy smile. "come on." she whispered, cutting him off when he was about to speak. she gestured to the other cats in the warriors den, showing that they were all still asleep and it wasn't a good idea to wake them up, especially the permanently cranky thornears. the tortoiseshell tom hauled himself to his paws and followed the she-cat out into the gorseclan camp clearing.

sorrelbone moved away from the tom, hopping across the small creek that cut through the camp as she made her way out. howlerfang looked around the clearing before following after her, his jaws parting in a wide yawn. "sorrelbone, what is it?" he questioned as they set out into the open moors that made up gorseclan's territory. the she-cat flicked her tail at him, silencing the tom. he pouted slightly but said nothing as they moved past gorse's run and headed towards the high knoll.

the pair climbed to the top of the tallest hill on high knoll, settling down next to each other. "what is it you wanted to talk about?" howlerfang questioned. sorrelbone turned her head away from the tortoiseshell tom, her gaze focused on the sun that was slowly starting to rise.

"you've been with gorseclan for a few moons now and i feel like we've grown really close," sorrelbone mewed, curling her tail over her paws. "i wanted to ask you to be my mate."

howlerfang's orange eyes widened slightly in his shock. "but you know that i can't have kits," he responded. "you always talk about how you want kits, sorrelbone. you can't have kits with me." the tom looked down at his paws, his ears pressing back against his head as he spoke.

sorrelbone nosed her muzzle under his, purring slightly. "oh, howlerfang," she snorted. "you are such an idiot. i don't need to have kits, i can do without them as long as i have you."

"i don't want to take that away from you." howlerfang retorted.

"if kits are such a big deal to you, we could always get one of the other toms to help surrogate for us." sorrelbone mewed. "or we could adopt any kits that palestar decides to bring into gorseclan. howlerfang, i just want to be your mate. that's all that matters to me."

howlerfang looked at her, twining his tail with hers. "you'll really be okay with all of that?"

sorrelbone purred loudly, resting her head against his shoulder. "of course, howlerfang. i'll do any of those options as long as you want to. you're all that i absolutely need."

the tortoiseshell tom smiled, nipping at her ear before turning his gaze back towards the rising sun. his life had been by no means easy. he had been treated differently because of something he had no control over, and he had lost the few cats that had truly cared about him. he had been lied to by a cat who claimed she loved him, but in turn he found a she-cat who truly loved him. when he thought about it, he wouldn't change a single thing. even if his life had been difficult, the contentment he felt now more than made up for it.

a difficult road often leads to a beautiful destination