I want some kittens!Artist: Canadianhowl
Username + ID: Hazelfang + 941669
Last accepted form: 2/22Other username + ID: 0Zero0 + 780482
Other user's last accepted form: 2/20Cat 1: LostwindPermission: n/a
Last bred: never
Cat 2: HarvestmoonPermission: <3Last bred: 11/13/23Appearance or genetics based?: appearance please!
Would you like apprentice references for your litter?: no thank you
Items using: 1 BoF for
me; 1x
Star's Blessing; 2x
Shooting Star (both curled tail please!)
Allow for random NR edits?: yes please!
Roll for chance at random myth edit?: Yes please!
If this litter has more than one user involved, will you be splitting the litter?: no
Prompt:Their time together passed like leaves in the breeze. Here one moment, gone the next. However, the memories of their limited time remain in Lostwind's heart and mind forever more. Harvestmoon had been more to him than a "fling" as his Kin seem to suggest they were. No, it was far more than that. If not for fate, he would still be by her side even now. And yet, fate can be the cruelest of monsters.
Lostwind and Harvestmoon had met nearly two seasons ago now while he was on a journey as the assigned guardian for his marauder kin. One night, while he was protecting the temporary refuge they had made, he heard a cry far away. A cry so desperate, so terrified, that he couldn't help but rush towards it. With speed of a hare, he was already at the source of the sound only. Before him was a small she-cat corner against a tree with a young wolf snarling before her. Lostwind didn't dare take a moment to think, instead, he leaped towards the wolf, ripping it down onto its side. The following moments remain a blurr for the guardian tom as all he can recall was a crimson screen obscuring his vision. All he did remember is that he would have kept going if the young wolf didn't squirm its way out of his grasp and race off yelping. After the wolf had long escaped, he had returned his attention towards the frightened young she-cat only to see her looking up at him with huge, beaming eyes. "You're incredible!" Her first words. Those were the first words she had ever spoken to him. He would remember them forever.. and the flustered feeling that took over his heart at that moment.
After that, well, Lostwind was absolutely entranced in her romantic spell. He had spent the next days attached at the hip to her, practically neglecting his duty as a guardian entirely. The Kin that accompanied him were aware of his newfound love and thought it was harmless. Until the days grew harder without his guardianship. They tried to reason with him, to insist he should focus on the mission. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered to him when he was around her. She was his world, he couldn't imagine not being with her. Every moment he could spare, he was with her. And every moment with her was amazing. Laying beneath the clouds together, hunting within the trees, and cuddling beneath the stars. No matter how insignificant it seemed, it made him incredibly happy. He truly had never felt so elated in his entire seasons and he didn't want to ever stop... That is, until reality struck. Their journey was coming to an end, and so was their relationship. It was an internal battle that tore him apart. He begged Harvestmoon to return home with him. He promised he would keep her safe forever and make sure she felt perfectly at home within the Kin. He was confident she would fit in, how could the Kin not love her? But she refused. She was needed elsewhere, she'd say. She couldn't leave those who need her, she'd say. Every refusal placed another crack on his heart until it shattered. He had no choice but to leave. To return to his Kin. He wanted nothing more than to run away with her. To live together forever and ever. But he knew he couldn't abandon those who had given him a chance. Those who gave him hope when he was lost. He, too, was needed elsewhere. So he had to make a choice. A decision that cost more than he could ever imagine. He decided to return home without her.
Once with the Kin, he would be utterly inconsolable. Each day, he would do his job silently. He'd perform his role with no complaints and no joy in his eyes. Those he used to speak to wouldn't hear a word utter from him the entire time. He was a wreck, torn apart from the agony of being separated from the one he loves. He would wonder if life was worth living again. Perhaps he made the wrong choice leaving her. Perhaps the Kin would be okay without him and he could return to his love. He dreamed of racing back to her, cuddling once with her beneath the night sky. His dreams would be all that got him through the day. He believed his dreams would be the only time he'd ever get to see her again. That is, until one day, only two seasons after losing her, he would see her again. She would come to his camp and reveal they have kits together. That she couldn't raise them alone and wishes to leave them with him. She would still refuse to join the Kin, solemnly telling him of how she is needed elsewhere still. She would insist that he would be a wonderful father and that their beloved kits would be safe with him. Seeing her again would revitalize the pain in his heart. Yet, he'd soon realize that the little gifts she'd leave for him would bring him more joy than he could ever imagine. That the lonely hole she left in his heart could be filled by the love of another kind. He would finally become a father as he always wanted to. Perhaps, not quite as he expected. His vision of raising kits alongside his beloved Harvestmoon was certainly a thing of the past. A dream lost with time. But these kits.
His kits were now here. His dreams still lived on in the hearts of the tiny bundles of joy before him. His love could live on, thriving through his future with his children. They would never feel the pain and suffering of loss that he has endured time and time again. He was absolutely certain of that.
....
986 words
I have lots of happy fatherly moments planned for him after this 🥰 Lostwind was an orphan himself and never got to experience fatherly love, having been raised by his adoptive mother. So he works his absolutely hardest to make sure he does everything perfectly right! He strives to be the absolute best father without even knowing what that means. I even picture these cute moments where the other parents teach him what to do or times where he is pestering the Ministra to let him watch the kits. He also manages to convince the Magister to let him spend a moon in the nursery with the kits, as this usually breaks tradition (typically the parents only spend the first moon then the rest of the time is raised by the Ministra).
