[Shadowflight13]

I have extended the deadline on this to December 6th! That gives you an extra day. c:

[clouds-move-on]

Username: ☁Lady Raincloud☁
Cat Name: Brokenpaw
Clan: NocturneClan
Rank: Apprentice

Gender: tom
Age: 16 moons
Prompt:

Brokenpaw has go into his share of trouble while in NocturneClan; but perhaps his most interesting antics were from his life before joining.

It was early morning when Harepaw poked his head into the medicine den, taking in the strong, tangy and sweet smell of herbs as he slipped under the tree. He was coming to visit 'Broken', as they'd nicknamed the cat they'd found. A few weeks prior, the mysterious young cat had slipped into camp, attempting to steal prey while the clan was having a festival outside camp. He took Harepaw 'hostage' by pinning him on guard duty, but once Snowsight awaoke from her nap and alerted the other cats still in camp, it was over.

It was then they discovered the young cat had done all this with one broken paw. Since that revelation, Harepaw- who was younger than Broken and a bit intimidated by him- was fascinated as to how he managed it and how it got injured. He had tried to ask several times, but either the medicine cats shooed him off, or Broken was too moody to talk. Finally, however, Broken was recovering- he seemed more cheerful, and had spoken to the apprentices a few times in a friendly manner.

"Hey, Broken! Wake up!" Harepaw said as he spotted Broken laying in his nest across from him. Luckily, Crimsonsparrow had fallen asleep elsewhere, and Chickenpoppy was away visiting his kinfolk.

No one is around to interrupt! He could tell me his story!

Broken shifted slightly in his sleep. Harepaw inched closer, his short, scruffy brown fur bristling slightly as Broken rolled over, shooting him a harsh glare that made him want to duck back out of the den.

"What you want kid?"

"Uh!"

"You want to hear how I got injured again?"

"Yes?"

Broken chuckled. He had an odd manner; like an adult trapped in the body of a young cat. He sat up straighter, and Harepaw cast an uneasy glance at Broken's injured leg. It was healing well- but it was still bandaged. Harepaw was relieved to see no blood, though. There'd been a gash there when he'd arrived; it, too, had healed nicely.

"Glad your doing better!" Harepaw squeaked, relaxing the moment he heard Broken's almost fatherly chuckle. Broken simply snorted in reply, giving his long ears two, sharp flicked, and his dark paws a few licks before saying "Yeah, well... I'm feeling pretty good about it too. But back to how it happened... I, I supposed I don't mind telling you."

- - -

Broken had been an unwanted child. He didn't recall his parent; their faces were obscured in shadows on eh past. Yet, he did have cats raising him- an odd band of civilized rogues who were very practical, having no time to sweet talk and raise a kit as a mother would, with love and affection and extreme care. No, they were training him to survive- it wasn't that they were cruel, but he never developed a child-parent bond with any of the cats.

They grew up in an old abandoned schoolhouse- that's what the house dwelling kittens called it anyways. Apparently humans, back in the day, used to mill in and mill out to be taught. Broken thought this was fitting; if this was a place of instruction, he was growing up a student, not someone's loved child.

He didn't have siblings, only kittens he called his 'cousins', who were an assorted bunch of kittens from various litters. The females helped each other care for their kits, and in the confusion it was hard to tell who was originally who's kits. It added an extra layer of strictness to the air of the place!

Broken therefore fought for everything; for milk, for attention, for prey, for space- space, space was precious. There seemed to be other cats crawling everywhere, eating everything, hunting and filling the area with their scent and trying him nuts. As soon as he could leave the schoolhouse unattended he did, and would even leave the little group for several days to hunt in the forest, alone. When he came back, there was some murmurs of concern for him; but they were quiet murmurs. He felt this meant no one deeply cared.

It was on one of his adventures he met the house dwellers; a group of kittens, a bit older than himself, who were all wearing pretty band around their necks- called collars- and who all were very curious, very brave and extremely reckless.

It was a shocking thing for Broken; here he had been, raised in a society which taught you had to fight to survive, that you had to be careful to survive, and that you had to be serious to survive; and yet these cats... they thrived. Yet they didn't seem to have a care! One in the group was even particularly plump, and spoke of his humans obeying his every wish and the abundance of food he had- another had never been sick a day in their life, but also never had hunted before, or even scouted for herbs- yet another was quite a daring fellow- he did all sorts of things what he thought were challenging, from sliding down a hill of pebbles, from jumping from tree to tree, to diving deep into the river! Yet he always said. "I'm not worried about injures; my human, he's a doctor. He'll patch me up and anything goes south!"

Broken, since he met them, went to visit them every day, exploring and playing pranks on them, strangers, and his own group with them. They became a band of regular troublemakers; and throughout, Broken learned more and more about the mysterious humans. From what he was told, they sounded like dutiful servants- in some cases, even like the parents Broken had never had.

He wanted to get his own human someday, but when he saw them he always wanted to bolt; they frightened him, they looked so odd. It would take adjusting to.

"I want a human. But they make me nervous." He admitted to one of his friends one day. It was the chubby cat, whose name was Theodore. They'd been planning a sneak attack on May- that one was the one who had 'never been sick'- but she hadn't shown.

"That's silly; humans are friendly. Most, anyways! If you like you can come meet mine? Well, actually I have several. I wouldn't mind sharing!"

Broken found himself, not long after, at Theodore's house. Sure enough, the humans acted friendly enough to Broken. He was cautious, but they were so gentle and kind, and being petted felt so nice, he felt he'd finally found a place he could have humans caring for him.

However, it didn't last. He remained a few days, but found the crowding like the crowding that kept him away from the schoolhouse; humans, Theodore, Theodore's mother and siblings, crawling everywhere, fighting over the food place on the floor and always being beaten, being shoved off of sofas when the humans didn't want him there, and the scent, everywhere, of each person, living in the same, small space. It wasn't long until the collective scent, and manner, and very being of the place went to his brain and left a mess of confusion. And finally, out of frustration, he leaped up and bit- very hard and deep, too- one of the human children who pushed him off the sofa. Enough was enough!

The human let out a shout and whacked him hard on the head- it wasn't actually that hard, in reality- it was only with a pillow- but it jolted awake some old, fading fear he had of humans. He took off in a random direction, and was soon running mad, looking for an exit, an escape. He dodged some things, and crash into others, while all the while the humans and other cats tried o catch up with him.

"Calm him down!"

"Hey, stop!"

"Come back!"

"No don't!"

Broken had found an exit! It was a window; it was also the top floor. He jumped, he fell, and pain- oh, the pain that shot up his leg. It stopped him for a few minutes, but it wasn't long enough for them to get him. Still in his nee to escape, he jolted upright and fled into the forest, the true pain and extent of his injury only hitting him once h'd lost himself in the darkness.

- - -

"... That's it?"

"Pretty much yeah."

[Shadowflight13]

Username: howlingtothestars
Cat Name: Lynxkit
Clan: Cinderclan
Rank: Kit

Gender: Tom
Age: 4 moons
Prompt:
Want a fun song for this? Try this one! "The Villain I Appear to be" by Connor Spiotto

The moon slowly drifted upward, painting the leaves of the forest in soft silver. Wind calmed to a gentle breeze, and the clan's territory released a gentle sigh, slowly fading into the slumber of night. As Petalfall - the only queen in the nursery - drifted off to sleep, Lynxkit became acutely aware of her breathing. His amber eyes flicked open as her breaths steadied out, and he sprang to his paws.

His paw reached out, gently tapping Foxkit's shoulder. Her eyes sprang open and a large grin spread on her muzzle. Lynxkit returned the smile, then slipped to the front of the den, checking on the guard. It was Brightstorm tonight, and she walked quietly to her position, her back turned to the nursery. With a flick of his tail, Lynxkit signaled to Foxkit and the two took off, dashing from the nursery and directly into a small hole in the brambles the older kits couldn't fit into. Just like that, they were gone.

Lynxkit led the expedition, dashing with long, smooth strides through the thick foliage. He didn't slow, though his eyes drifted often to catch glimpses of silver foliage dancing above. His paws soared, the feeling of the ground racing beneath him carrying his heart higher and higher. He glanced back at Foxkit and the two smiled, communicating the shared feeling of bliss and freedom.

Leaves shuffled and Lynxkit skid to a stop, Foxkit stopping beside him. They examined the leaves, crouching slightly to hide in the shadows of the grass. When, from the leaf pile, a squirrel's head poked up, Lynxkit's eyes illuminated with excitement and determination. He turned to look at Foxkit, who gave him an uncertain smile.

Lynxkit lifted his hindquarters a little too high, then launched forward awkwardly, scrambling on a few leaves before darting forward and springing through the air, landing on the squirrel.

The prey animal was larger than expected and immediately went into a frenzied and panic rush of flailing and bucking. Lynxkit tried to hang on, but was thrown off easily. He tumbled, rolling on the ground once before catching himself and dashing after the squirrel as it sprinted to a tree, Foxkit close behind him. He came to an abrupt stop as it scaled the tree, and a new light illuminated in his eyes as he watched it. He looked back at Foxkit again, whose eyes were tainted with doubt.

Lynxkit grinned broadly at her, then ran again, moving towards a tree with particularly rough bark. He quickly scrambled up, climbing twice his height before clinging with all four paws - stuck. He paused for a moment as he considered the squirrels method, then proceeded to semi-hop and climb up the tree, moving upward in small, rapid bursts. He looked back at Foxkit, who stared up at him in confusion, then determination as she began to follow him up the tree.

They climbed the height of five adult cats before Lynxkit reached a branch and pulled himself onto it. He turned soon after and grabbed Foxkit by the scruff to help her up. There, atop the tree branch, they sat together and enjoyed the scenery. The leaves shimmered and danced and the peace of night fell upon their pelts. Just as Lynxkit began to feel content, something in the distance caught his eye.

It shimmered, brighter than the moon, and twinkled like starlight. He pointed it out to Foxkit with a flick of his ear and gazed at her with excitement. She was hesitant, and was about to answer with an ear gesture when both heard foliage moving below.

Lynxkit stood and looked back, locking eyes with Wolfpaw. He grinned at the apprentice below and met Foxkit's eyes, speaking for the first time since they left, as they weren't able to hide any longer. "Come on! It's either we go now, or we wait eight moons!"

As Wolfpaw began to climb the tree, Lynxkit sprang from the branch, landing on one a little further down and running along it to jump to a branch connected to the next tree. Foxkit gulped, looked down at Wolfpaw, then sprang after Lynxkit, following on unsteady paws along the tree tops.

Lynxkit ran without a hitch along the branches, jumping up and down and across towards that shimmering light in the distance. He would have stayed in the trees, were it not for Foxkit's call. "Lynxkit! Is there another path?!"

He looked back and watched as Foxkit scrambled for a moment, almost falling from her branch. Behind them, Wolfpaw was in the trees, jumping along sturdier branches, her eyes locked onto them.

"This way!" Lynxkit jumped from his branch and landed in a bush. Branches scratched at his pelt, but he ignored the brief sting and looked up as Foxkit fell and landed beside him. In a flash, they were off again.

"Foxkit!"

The two looked back at Tornhawk, Foxkit's father, as he quickened his pace after them. Excitement sparked in Lynxkit's chest and he dove between two rocks which were surrounded by spiny bushes. Foxkit followed suit, and Tornhawk stopped abruptly before it, being too large to fit.

The light was closer now, and Lynxkit's paws moved quicker beneath him. He could hear more cats around them, and though he kept mental notes of where they were, he didn't slow. Foxkit ran frantically behind him, more unsure than ever, but still trusting him. When at last, they broke through the bushes which blocked them from the light, Lynxkit and Foxkit came to a skidding stop as they took in the sight.

It was the lake, larger and vast as the sky and bearing a second moon which hovered in it's crystalline surface, twinkling with the brightness of a thousand stars.

Lynxkit only had time to smile broadly before large paws pinned him to the ground as Wolfpaw finally caught up. Soon after, Foxkit was scooped up by her father, his pelt ruffled and his breath frantic. Wolfpaw picked Lynxkit up by the scruff, and the two carried them back, meeting with other cats which had helped search along the way.

Back in the nursery again, Lynxkit curled up, his starry eyes watching the sky as Petalfall rested her tail on him, sure to feel if he would try to run again.

Congrats! This one was a fun read haha. I also want to give an HM to ☁Lady Raincloud☁ for her story! I loved Broken's character, you made this very hard to judge (hence why it took me so long).

[clouds-move-on]

Thank you so much for the hm! Congrats Howling. c:

[Hail.]

AH! Thank you so much ;U; And congratulations Lady Raincloud for the hm! Your story was great ^^