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[Divantae]

Username: Divantae
Cat Name: Carrotpatch
Gender: Male
Rank: Nester
Clan: Shaded Hollow
Age: 60 moons
Prompt:
With five years of life experience under Carrotpatch's pelt, many a cat would be hard-pressed to find what exactly got under his skin, what would cause him to shiver and quake with fear. In fact, nothing seemed to phase him at all, as Birchspots would attest to how often he'd tease him at the campfire, conjuring up spider-like shadows of long forgotten beasts terrorizing the residents of Shaded Hollow. He's heard it all, perhaps the most out of any cat in the quaint treetop village. Why is that? you may ask yourself, since such recollections are usually reserved for the eldest members of camp. Well, it's not just ghastly stories he taps into. He collects every secret there is to find in Shaded Hollow, you see, as he has the lucrative job of grooming and styling hair, picking ticks out of fur, treating flea infestations, and above all else, gossiping. Always chipper, this bright orange cat can work out any story from an unsuspecting victim. Carrotpatch is not nosy, so he says, he's just trying to make his job fun! And what better way than swapping tales? He bears his own secrets for all to hear.

Given the wealth of information this cat is privy to, nothing even slightly surprises him nowadays. However, there was this one little conspiracy theory that chilled him to the bone. It was a couple things, actually, that caused alarm bells to ring in his head. First, he stopped by to do a routine trim of Witherwillow's matted black fur. After a few niceties, she had steered the conversation to a dark place, the disappearance (well, most others would call it death) of her mother, Shadowsong. As you can imagine, Witherwillow still couldn't believe that Shadowsong, once deputy of Shaded Hollow, a fierce and often vicious warrior, would just vanish one day without a trace. Her companion bird, Ruestorm, was nowhere to be found as well, which only played into Witherwillow's suspicions that Shadowsong was actually still alive and living somewhere out in the woods, as the hawk would routinely traverse back and forth between pioneer settlements and the main camp without its owner. But why would she be in exile when she had no reason to be? This was where the far-fetched part came into play: Mayor Morelmare had been the last to see her, so what if he scared her into staying away? What if he, in a struggle for power, had done something to ensure she'd never return, allowing him to vie for and eventually earn his current title?

As agreeable as he was to the idea, it seemed like wishful thinking to Carrotpatch, since there were very few cats who would be able to stand against Shadowsong. But he supposed that Morelmare would've had the best shot at it. Still, he had no reason to suspect him of any wrong-doing, there were beasts that prowled the woods of Shaded Hollow and any one of them could've caught the former deputy off guard. Even one of the more common shape-shifting foxes would be able to make her vanish without any trace, calling her in cat tongues to a foggy, shrouded place there was no return from.

Now here's where it started to really bother Carrotpatch: he was making his rounds with the High Council, an elite, governing group of senior cats, picking fleas out of ornery Foghowl's pelt. This cat, with his clouded blue eyes darting about as if taking in new prophecies by the second, was actually Morelmare's father, hard as it was to believe by how little they interacted. Perhaps the best way to find the truth was to confront the ones closest to the Mayor, as asking about Shadowsong to the last cat to see her was still a bit of a sore spot after all these years. It was something that happened when Carrotpatch was just a kit, so he could only rely on those older than him.

He couldn't get a word out before Foghowl knew exactly what was on his mind. He wasn't a particularly spiritual cat, but by the way the ancient, graying tom backed him into a corner, drawing up his shackles and hissing, pupils glazing over with moonlight, he knew there was no logical explanation for what came next. The yowls of cats in battle emitted through his yellow teeth, recorded in amber, voices dancing in the hut, cutting through the sudden pelt of hail outside. Then, a singular, deep feminine voice. It could only be one, crying out, then the screech of a bird, too. A sudden crashing, maybe of rocks, a cliff? Trees splitting, possibly. A chill washed over him as he recognized one final note in Foghowl's message: the bell on the neck of Morelmare's companion owl singing eerily in the wind as the bird beat its powerful wings. Thunder crashed outside just as Foghowl suddenly came to, blinking tiredly, bags under his eyes. Before he could offer any explanation, Carrotpatch fled from the den, tail chasing behind him as he leapt from bridge to bridge, then branch to branch, perching high in the shadowy limbs of trees, praying no one would come looking for him. Of course, no one came, not in this kind of weather, in the stillness of night. He sat, mind whirring, breath rattling against his heaving chest. His bow clung to him limply, translucent and dingy.

What was that? He's never had a soothsayer do that before. And his message, was that what really happened to Shadowsong that day? Did Foghowl know more than he was letting on? Did Morelmare really attack- and possibly kill- the former deputy? He felt he owed it to Witherwillow to tell her what he heard tonight, but he couldn't move, paralyzed by sudden realization, a sickening lightness in his stomach that was inflamed by the swaying of the tree. Carrotpatch surveyed the murky shapes of Shaded Hollow below, standing tall in the pine tree, and he realized there was more than even he knew about this town.

As he looked to pick out the faint glow of the Mayor's den in the distance, propped up tall in the canopy of leaves, he swore he saw two shiny eyes staring back at him. Black, like an abyss, the sooty owl's starless gaze, joined by Morelmare's blood red eyes, and the ring of a bell.

[ԏєѧѻӆғוѓԑ]

this cat's closed for judging ! i'll announce the winner shortly :>

[ԏєѧѻӆғוѓԑ]

Divantae is the winner of this cat ! your entry was well written and full of lively details, and i loved the conspiracy story and the extra detail that carrotpatch usually isn't bothered by anything.

RUs are going to KittyandCat for a vivid snapshot into this poor cat's life among twolegs, and yutashu... how dare you. (/j) you made me laugh so much. pls don't traumatize the boy

[coffee.berry]

Congrats, guys!! <3

[Divantae]

Thank you so much! I'll take good care of him and hopefully he can forget about that conspiracy theory lol. Congrats to the other winners!

[KittyandCat]

congrats everyone! and thank you so much for the RU <3