[ℋoney]

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[Shadowflight13]

Username: paper planets
Cat Name: coppercreek
Clan: slateclan
Rank: warrior

Gender: tom
Age: 33 moons
Prompt:


before the fire
haze — amber run


as an apprentice, coppercreek thought he was invincible. he was reckless and believed that he could do anything he wanted and not pay the price for it because his father was the deputy. well, unfortunately coppercreek’s luck ran dry and he is forever haunted by what he did.

when the clan was pineclan, a fox wandered into the territory and attacked unsuspecting cats. copperpaw, annoyed that the apprentices had been ordered to stay in camp, decided to take matters into his own paws. he slipped out of camp and tracked the fox down. he found it’s den but immediately realized what a mistake he had made..

the fox towered over him, it’s yellowed teeth were shoved closely to his face and it locked it’s crazed eyes onto him. he was doomed. copperpaw reacted with a loud yowl of surprise and a quick swipe of his claws when the russet creature lunged at him. he wished he had just listened to orders and not left camp alone — or not left camp at all.

copperpaw was backed into a corner, he feared the end and prayed to starclan to help him. then a guardian angel shot out in front of him, claws unsheathed. the large cat balanced in his hind legs and swiped at the fox. his father had come to his aid. he faced off against the fox and, for a moment, copperpaw thought that the fox — as it flinched away from each attack — would run. then it retaliated. the beast lunged forwards and sunk its teeth into his father’s shoulder. as the deputy screeched in pain, copperpaw joined in with his eyes wide and filled with horror. other cats arrived and launched themselves onto the fox. his father bravely shook out his pelt and growled as he went in for another attack. that was the last copperpaw saw of his father before he was ushered to camp.

the events after that were what shattered copperpaw’s life to pieces. the patrol came back, the solemn warriors carrying a familiar brown pelt on their shoulders. his father, once full of life, now limp and heavily wounded. the fox was chased off, not after it killed his father, though. for moons after that, even when copperpaw got his warrior name, he blamed himself and stayed up, unable to sleep, thinking of ways that he could have prevented it. he looked to the stars for help, but they never answered. they simply glistened on. silent.





the fire
shallows — daughter


coppercreek never stopped blaming himself for his father’s death. he never stopped believing that he was a murderer. time passed and it became apparent that he was cursed. no good would come for him again and, if fate had anything to do with the steps that led him up to fleeing in terror from his home, he decided that faith in fate was simply a ploy to make you feel less responsible for the bad things you’ve done. he was quite good at accepting that he was a bad person.

a fire ripped mercilessly through pineclan’s home. the dry pine trees crackling in the swiftly growing inferno. all the cats could do was run. coppercreek had pushed everyone in the warrior’s den awake until boulderstar ordered everyone to run. he did. he ran because his life depended on it. he had spent so long telling himself that if he were to die it would be starclan repaying him for killing his father. but, now, as he faced death, coppercreek relied on his instincts alone and they told him to run and don’t look back. and maybe he wasn’t ready for death quite yet.

when he escaped the flames he was in a world that he didn’t recognize. he wasn’t in the territory anymore and he didn’t know where to go.

a bitter rainstorm — which lasted for two days — came and extinguished the flames. it kept coppercreek under a bush, shivering as the cold droplets seeped through the leaves and chilled him to his core. but he was cold already. he only figured out how to stay numb when he searched for the clan only to find nothing. the territory was scorched and empty. except for the small reminders of what once was something more: a circle of flat ground was the camp, but all the dens were gone. everything was gone. only ghosts remained. he felt like a ghost.



coppercreek ran again because that was the only thing he knew how to do. he ran from his past and tried — and failed — to escape him demons. he came upon a twolegplace bordering a rock-covered shore along a river. maybe it was the same river that bordered pineclan, maybe not. he had lost track of what was where at this point. within the twolegplace he felt more lost than before. until a young loner found him one morning.

her name was petal and, staring at her wide eyes, he saw himself — only younger — reflected back at him. after petal slowly eased her way into his life, he found comfort in not being alone anymore. she was a wild card, she stole from the twolegs for fun, no fear or caution laced her life. she just lived. she inspired him. maybe he didn’t need to escape his past, he just needed to live in the present. she taught him how to stop lingering in the past.

though, curses never go away, they only hide and pop up when you least expect it. when petal wandered into the twolegplace after boasting about how she could steal a shiny twoleg object that was right out in the open, he should have warned her not to. he should have helped her. maybe if he had been quicker and no so caught up in this haze of games, she wouldn’t have been taken. the last spark of light, captured from his life.

petal was captured by the twolegs that day and he had seen only fear in her gaze. not knowing what else to do he turned and ran.



the aftermath
someone to stay — vancouver sleep clinic


a life alone — a life filled with self-loathing — isn’t a life. you can’t live without forgiveness. which means you also have to forgive yourself eventually. sometimes you just need a little push.

coppercreek wandered aimlessly. when he crested a large boulder that showed him the view of the whole rocky shore. he felt his breath leave his lungs. a group of cats had stopped and were staring towards him. was that black and white she cat not nighthaze? the cat who he had played in the nursery with? behind her was that not lightningmask? the jittery warrior who was always so kind?

pineclan had become slateclan and the ranks they lost in the fire were quickly replaced by curious outsiders. the clan had changed. he found that they were much more accepting. pebblestar allowed him to join immediately. he realized that boulderstar hadn’t escaped the flames. so much loss and pain. even after finding his clan he didn’t know how to escape it. when he looked around he only saw what they had all lost. pebblestar lost his father, paletuft lost her siblings. even after they found their new territory there were deaths. pebblestar lost a life, nighthaze lost her mother. there was no end to this suffering.

coppercreek had lost his faith to starclan. he went about clan life normally, and found his heart thaw after so many moons of being numb when he was kind to others. helping them feel better made him feel better too. but he still couldn’t escape the feeling of betrayal. they lost so much and starclan did nothing. they had never even answered him when he silently prayed each night after his father’s passing that he had reached the cosmos safely.

but, he found a true friend in nighthaze. when he finally opened up to her about his darkest secret. she silently led him through the territory. they stopped at the edge of the territory and paused right at the river’s edge. nighthaze has lost her mother to these very waters and he could see the terror that crossed her face as she stared into the murky depths. but, for him, she swam across the and guided him up a large cliff. they called it starfall. the place where cats could visit their ancestors. in pineclan only medicine cats could contact starclan, but here, each of them could openly speak to their ancestors. he laid down on the spongy moss and closed his eyes. they opened and he saw his father standing before him, eyes glittering with stars.



coppercreek was finally able to truly let go of the past that night. he looked to his future. to the stoic nighthaze who suddenly gazed at him with an unseen warmth in her gaze. she sacrificed her fear to bring him here. she didn’t look at him like he was a monster.



1, 492 words

Congrats!! Could you possibly provide me with the link to your clan? Thanks. c:

[paper planets]

of course! slateclan
Thanks so much!! I love this guy with all my heart already I have many many plans for him!! I fell in love with his story and I’m so glad to have won!! C: