[stormzien]

res

[Yuroshi]

.

[Wet Bread]

Username;; Wet Bread
Cat Name;; Spruceshine
Gender;; she-cat
Age;; 114 moons
Clan;; Brightclan
Rank;; elder queen

Prompt;;

The kits were mewling. Loud. It had been three days since their father had gone out hunting for them and Spruce hadn't heard or seen even a hint of him. She didn't even have the time or energy to ponder what had happened to him. Probably something terrible. Spruce knew that she had to put her kits above all else. Spruce hefted herself up, forcing herself away from her squealing kits. She had piled some soft moss around the little ones in hopes that it kept them somewhat soothed and warm just long enough for Spruce to hunt. As she left the tunnel she used as a makeshift den, she covered the entrance with brush to mask it from any potential predators. She prowled through the nearby trees, perked up for prey out and about. It felt like moons before she saw anything, but Spruce finally managed to catch herself a few mice. Nothing too filling but it was enough. Spruce would keep producing milk and her kits would live another day. With the weight lifted, just a bit, Spruce hurried back to the den where her kits were waiting.

~~~

Spruce was balancing on one of lowest limbs of an oak tree. It was yet another day alone, another day that Spruce had to make sure her kits were safe. Today she managed to sneak out while the kits slept, so she wasn't nearly as worried about them making noise. She waited on the tree branch, hoping to catch a nice plump bird today. She was worried about her kits' nutrition if she kept a diet of just mice. Spruce froze as the bushes nearby rustled. She lowered herself as close to the branch as possible, her fur bristling in apprehension. She watched as a coyote emerged and sniffed among the grass. Spruce kept very still, not even breathing. The coyote moved about, eventually scaring a rabbit out of the brush and giving chase. Spruce waited until she was sure the coyote was gone before taking off in the opposite direction. This territory was too dangerous for them. They couldn't stay.

~~~

Spruce struggled to find an answer to her problem. There was a coyote living in this territory. Which meant there were more nearby. Spruce would have to travel far to get out of their territory. The problem was, Spruce's kits were way too young to travel. They couldn't even walk on their own. But Spruce couldn't leave them alone like this. Coyotes were capable of digging out a den like this fairly easily. Despite all this, Spruce did stumble on one heartbreaking solution. Before she had her kits, Spruce had met a kittypet that lived not too far from here. This kittypet had been pregnant as well, just a little further along than Spruce. The two of them had become fairly close. If Spruce could just get her kits there she was sure the kittypet would take them in and her kits would be safe. It was hard to do, but Spruce delivered the kits, one by one to the twoleg house, watching for coyotes along the way. She left them in the flowerbox by the window, where she was sure their mewling could be heard, and watched from the trees as they were discovered and taken indoors by the elderly twoleg. Spruce let out a sigh of relief. "You'll be safe now, my kits." She whispered, voice filled with love and sadness. She began a long journey with many agonizing steps away from her kits. At least they would be safe now.


Word Count: 596

[hawkfire102]

Username;; hawkfire102
Cat Name;; Brackentail
Gender;; Male
Age;; 54 moons
Clan;; SycamoreClan
Rank;; Warrior

Prompt;;

Brackentail gritted his teeth at the pain radiating from his muzzle. His opponent got a good hit on him. He shook the pain away as they continued to circle him.

"Giving up, Shrub?" The tom jeered at him. Brackentail's ears pressed back. There was muttering around him from the crowd of cats that gathered. He glanced to his side to see a large tom watching them from a tree branch. He must have glanced away for too long because his opponent used that time to lunge at him. Brackentail was quicker, he managed to dodge him and kick him away. The tom skidded across the ground before staggering to his paws.

"You've gotten stronger, but why stay with that Clan. You're too strong for them." The tom from the branch called down to him. Brackentail stood tall and looked up at him.

"Because that Clan is my home. It's shown me more kindness and support that this group ever will." He replied, squaring himself as the tom jumped down from the branch and approached him.

"And you would choose strangers over your own family?" The tom looked him in the eyes, his gaze cold and calculating.

"You may be my father, but you aren't family." He spat at him. The tom narrowed his eyes at him. Brackentail turned and padded away from him, causing the crowd to quickly part.

"You'll regret this day!" His father yowled after him, "You'll regret ever leaving and joining those weaklings!" Brackentail lashed his tail in response before disappearing into the dark of the forest.


The sun was just starting to rise as he approached the camp entrance. His head and tail were low as he allowed himself to brood before returning to his stoic facade once he pushed past the barricade. He made his way to the warrior's den and flopped down into his nest. However, he gently rested his head on Cypressfang's flank. The smaller male nuzzled closer to him in his sleep and let out a quiet chirp. A small smile formed on his face.

He had always wondered if leaving his family's group was the right decision. He had been raised to be strong and uncaring to the world around him. When he left, he left with a bunch of wounds but not without leaving some behind. It was a trial to escape them and it seemed to still be ongoing. But with moments like this with his mate, it was all worth it. He closed his eyes and nuzzled Cypressfang before he started to let himself relax. He relaxed so much that he didn't feel the cat under him starting to stir.

"Brackentail, what happened!" A screech pierced the entire camp.

Still worth it.

[I Like Bees]

Username;; I Like Bees
Cat Name;; Eelstripe
Gender;; Trans female (dmab)
Age;; 45 Moons
Clan;; PetalClan
Rank;; Warrior

Prompt;;
In a Clan, your name mattered. It defined who you were, made a statement as to which of your qualities were the most distinguishing. Your pelt, eyes, skills, personality... Clan names had unlimited potential, and, with so many options, there could never, ever be a mistake.

Or so she thought.

--

"Crayfishcorpse!" a cat called. "Come on; you'll be late for patrol!"

The turquoise-eyed molly -- Crayfishcorpse -- snapped out of her thoughts with a slight shake of the head, then stood and followed the departing hunting patrol. Her tail twitching in frustration, Crayfishcorpse's thoughts turned to her parents. This was their fault, after all.

Firestorm.. It was her fault Crayfishcorpse had the mouthful of a prefix 'crayfish'. "It's an old family name," Crayfishcorpse mocked under her breath in the high-pitched voice of her mother, "and you should be proud to have it." The molly rolled her eyes.

And then there was Pikestar. Why would anycat, ever, even consider the suffix 'corpse', especially for their own kit? Pikestar might as well have said, "Look, I don't like you, so I'll just name you Deadfish. Is that okay? Okay." Crayfishcorpse snorted. At least 'Deadfish' was shorter.

The patrol leader stopped, and quickly assigned every cat a different direction to hunt in. Crayfishcorpse was sent to the cove. As the molly paddled through the relatively shallow water, she thought about how different her life could be with a different name. She would most certainly have been better respected, and her fellow apprentices -- now also newly-made warriors -- wouldn't have had as much to tease her about.

Something brushed by Crayfishcorpse's feet. The molly took a deep breath, and dove under, hoping to catch the fish. Instead, the beady eyes of a large eel stared back at her, almost daring her to attack. The warrior held still, trying to come off nonthreatening.

Despite the potential threat in front of her, Crayfishcorpse's thoughts continued to wander. Eel. Eel would be a wonderful prefix. Short, simple, and normal. Maybe she could convince Pikestar to at least change her prefix...

The eel turned, swimming away in a burst of bubbles. The cat wasn't worth its time. Crayfishcorpse surfaced, slowly catching her breath. Eel.. leap? No. Perhaps something water-themed? Eelsplash, Eelpuddle, Eelstream, Eelriver, Eelwave..

The molly sighed, and another fin brushed against her leg. She dove, this time lashing out before looking. Her claws dug into the slippery, struggling scales of the fish, which she dragged above water after snapping its spine. Crayfishcorpse began paddling towards the shore.

What about a suffix based on appearance? Eel.. stripe? Eelstripe.. Eelstripe wasn't too bad. She'd need to hear it aloud, of course, which she couldn't do with a fish in her mouth, but it seemed.. right. Better than Crayfishcorpse, at least.

The molly dropped her catch on the shoreline, watching the scales gleam in the sunlight. "Eelstripe," the warrior meowed aloud. "I'd like to be Eelstripe..."

What was stopping her? Crayfishcorpse raised her head, staring in the direction of her Clan's camp. She didn't need to be here, in a Clan where she had a terrible name, no friends, and parents who would trade her for a son in an instant.

A moment later, the warrior's mind was made up.

--

Crayfishcorpse crossed the border, and Eelstripe -- identical, with the exception of an new air of confidence -- appeared on the other side. She looked back, just for a moment, and knew this was the right decision. She'd miss the familiarity of her Clan, but she'd find a new home. A real home.

[opti-mism]

Username;; opti-mism
Cat Name;; Lilystep
Gender;; she-cat
Age;; 42 moons
Clan;; Saltclan
Rank;; Warrior

Prompt;;
She dragged herself out of the frigid winter water, gasping for breath and coughing water out of her lungs. The tiny kit she had hauled up onto the dusty stone from the depths wasn't moving, still dripping. Ignoring the help she needed for herself, she crawled over to the tiny form, licking furiously to bring warmth back into their body. Had it been to long? How long had they been in the water, to get this cold? "Help!" she whispered, her greencough-wracked lungs struggling, but afraid to leave Mousekit. Time seemed to crawl, seconds feeling like they stretched into hours as she tried to bring life back into this innocent kit, who's life had hardly begun. The subzero wind blowing in harshly from the salty spray froze the longer strands of her fur, her movements only getting stiffer. If this was her trial, so be it. She was the one who was supposed to protect the sick kits in the quarantined den, Her licking slowed as she felt the pound of paws against the stone, the small shape of Minnowstar appearing before her fading vision as the sodden Lilystep sunk to the ground. The last thing she saw before her vision went black was Mousekit's chest rising, air rushing into her lungs.

[Yellow.]

Username;; Yellow.
Cat Name;; Owlmask
Gender;; malr
Age;; 65 moons
Clan;; Ridgeclan
Rank;; warrior

Prompt;;
Could love be considered a trial? A hardship that one has to endure even when knowing that the outcome is anything but favorable. Well even if no one else considered it to be trouble Owlmask did, trouble was all love ever was for him, something to push away and ignore. It should have been so easy with Iceeyes, but then again when were things ever easy?

——

“Why again am I claiming your kits, it’s not as if anyone's going to ask who the father is anyway,” Owlmask asked his voice tired and worn as he laid next to the lakeshore, watching her pace back and forth along the rocky coast. Why did he like this molly again? Oh right because she thought like him and with her help, he was finally going to get what he wanted.

“Because could you imagine what people would say if they found out that Fenris was the kits real father. I still can’t believe I let myself get that close to him as it was. Beside cats have already been talking about how we spend a lot of time together, they wouldn’t bat an eye at the idea of you being the kits father.” The younger molly stopped her pacing, turning to look at the tom as she spoke to him.

“And what if they come out with a short coat, how will you explain that?” It was a good point, all of the cats in Ridgeclan had long thick fur so they could survive the harsh cold that bare leaf brought, Fenris though like the few other spies had short coats, causing them to leave in the winter or work harder to not feel it’s effects.

Iceeyes pondered over this for a moment before shaking her head and pushing it from her mind, “It’s happened before, if Fenris knows what’s best he’ll keep his mouth shut and no one will question.

With a sigh, Owlmask agreed to the plan if it made her feel better what was the worst that could happen?

——

The kits, the kits were the worst thing that could have happened. The little bundles that made Owlmask question everything he’d grown up knowing to be true. Everything the shadows whispered in his ears for as long as he could remember. Kits born into Ridgeclan with as pure a soul as any. If he thought his feelings for Iceeyes were anything, he was wrong.

The trial wasn’t loving Iceeyes, not he knew now that he didn’t love her and the more time he spent around her the truer it became. But he loved the kits he called his own. He loved the kits that called him father even though the lie stung for many moons. He could feel the narrowed eyes of Fenris as he passed, but as predicted the tom didn’t say a thing.

Owlmask loved the kits and having there love was probably the worst and best thing. The shadows wanted the distraction gone, even after he tried to convince them that they could be useful. Iceeyes wanted them gone as well, never having wanted them in the first place. Owlmask wanted nothing more than to be with the kits, they were all that mattered now.

The kits where his trail and no matter what happened they wouldn’t be the ones to face the consequences.

[SurgeFire]

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edit: closed

[SurgeFire]

Username;; WolfTales
Cat Name;; Wolfpaw
Gender;; Female
Age;; 7 moons
Clan;; Howlclan
Rank;; Medicine Apprentice

Prompt;; Wolfpaw held the herbs in her mouth tightly. Her eyes were wide in fear and anguish. Rain pounded against her and the ground, her fur clung to her body as if trying to warm itself. The scene before her was horrific. Trees and branches everywhere and lots and lots of water. The path she had taken to find the herbs was completely and utterly flooded.

She growled in frustration through her teeth and herbs. There had to be another way past the flood, she just had to get back to camp with the herbs. Otherwise, Ravensong would surely die.

She paced up and down the flood for several long minutes, unable to find a way across without chancing the river. She glared at the emotionless unliving water. Wolfpaw was scared but angry, her friends and clan mattered way more than her fears though. The young cat took a deep breath and held it as she sprinted toward the water and flew straight into the rushing currents.

Her jaws were hot with pain and stiffness from clenching them so hard as she struggled to keep the herbs in her mouth and paddle at the same time. Her head bobbed in and out of the water and the flooded currents thrashed her around like a leaf in a tornado. Several times her body was thrown into rocks and broken tree limbs. Yet she clung on to the herbs and her strength until she reached the island in the middle of the river.

The river had grown wider now and Wolfpaw was drained of her energy. She dragged herself away from the water and let her jaws relax, dropping the herbs to the ground with a splosh. The apprentice looked toward the other side. She could make out the rocks where she was given her name and the large tree of Ebonystar's den. But it was all so far away. Too far even. Wolfpaw slumped to the ground and sighed. 'Now's not the time to sleep Wolfie. No matter how tired I must carry on!' Slowly and surely the apprentice picked up her bundle of herbs again and dragged her paws to the rushing water.

All she had to do was get to the other side. Even if it killed her. "For Howlclan!" She mewed breathily and weakly but with some effort once again braced the rapids. It was much harder this time than the first and Wolfpaw almost was swept too far away from the territory. But, she had made it to the other side, drenched and still dragging herself through the storm.

It's an experience Wolfpaw looks back on quite often. She learned to be determined and to be prepared when things go wrong. In the end, she was somewhat glad her path had been flooded and her only option was to brace the rapids because she has yet to have a harder experience to go through.

486/600

Congrats! I loved how you described the story and trial and how you expressed her determined nature.
I’d love to give a HM to Yellow..