[coppercanary]

To adopt you must be at least level 1 or not have a founder in progress or a founder at all. You must have an open space to be able to adopt.

What is the hardest thing they have ever done, or will do?
Answer in story form, with a limit of 1000 words and 1 extra of your choice. You by no means have to write that much, though!

End Date: 19 July at 11:59 CS time

Code: Select all

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Cat Name:[/b]
[b]Clan:[/b]
[b]Rank:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Prompt:[/b]

Username:
Cat Name:
Clan:
Rank:
Gender:
Age: moons
Description: Ginger spotted tabby with green eyes
Siblings: n/a
Parents: n/a

[.sins.]

Username: .sins.
Cat Name: Apollo
Clan: Cats Of The Earth
Rank:Healer
Gender: male
Age: 89 moons
Prompt:

The orange tom lept from tree branch to tree branch, around the trunks and flying through the air. The scent of his best friend close on his heels. This was their test. The first to make it. Well between them. All They had to do was make it to the end. The grey and white pelt of Icarus was now close to the end of his tail. The two trying to beat the other, always trying.

"You are going to have to try harder than that, Ic," the tabby called behind him, only to see his friend in front of him after racing around the next tree trunk.

"How was that, son of Light?" The white tipped tail racing further and further ahead of him.

Apollo hissed in annoyance and entertainment, Icarus had always been one to push him. And he to Icarus, knowing the others were no longer close, they must be close to the finish.

A heart wrenching scream and the sound of a solid thud to the ground made Apollo slide past the mentors waiting, and began to run back. His feet pounding against the earth with the mentors close behind him. A lump on the ground made the orange tom stop in his tracks. There was no way that it could be him. Not Icarus.

The others rustled the unmoving lump, calling, but nothing but ringing silence filled Apollo's ears as he stepped closer and closer, seeing the familiar pelt of his friend, and wished to be lover. Pressing his nose into the fur, the familiar scent of clay and pine filled his nose, making his heart and breathing stop.

"My Icarus, you flew to fast. How could you do this? You promised to be safe, as did I, and yet you still wanted nothing more than to beat me at my own game. Please come back to me my love," He buried his nose and claws into the soft grey fur, "Please don't leave me."

[honeybunchesofoats]

mark!!

[Sunniedew]

Username: Trash Mammal
Cat Name: Copperfluff
Clan: Peakclan
Rank: medicine cat
Gender: tom
Age: 40 moons
Prompt:

Copper always enjoyed going outside. Being a housecat was easy enough, having a warm place to sleep, humans who loved him, and even getting so much food all the time never felt so good. Honestly, everything was perfect for him.

But more and more he started to go outside. His humans didn't seem to mind though, they supported him in ways he wish he could express to them. He felt very safe going into the woods, looking down at the valley below from the cliffs. It was beautiful. As the days passed by, he kept going outside for longer periods of time, even sometimes sleeping underneath the stars. Stargazing was his favorite activity. He loved how they twinkled in the sky, as if they were trying to say something. I wish I could hear them. he would always think.

Every time he went outside to look at the stars, they seemed to twinkle brighter and brighter, as if they were calling to him. He felt compelled to try and speak to them. "Who are you?" he would ask each time. No answer. Perhaps they were having trouble reaching him?

One night, looking at the stars again, he saw his first shooting star. It flew across the sky, making him gasp in awe at it's beauty. His eyes widened as his vision suddenly warped, until he was suddenly seeing a different section of the forest. What's going on? Where am I?

He twitched his ears as he heard a desperate meow. He swerved his vision and saw what was making the cry. A pretty, young she-cat was trapped underneath a fallen branch! She was meowing in pain, and she was clearly afraid. Copper tried to take a step to help, but he was suddenly warped back to where he was standing. Before he had time to process, he heard the meow again, this time it was quieter, but he knew exactly where it was coming from.

He raced to the scene, his tail tingling in anticipation. He burst through the bushes and sighed with recognition. The cat he saw in the vision was the same cat, caught underneath the same branch! "Hold on! I'm here to help!"

"Oh thank you!" the she-cat explained as he pushed with all his might to lift the branch from her paw. She wiggled free and he set the branch down. He turned to examine her, and noticed her paw was bleeding, and twisted slightly. She's bleeding! his eyes widened in panic, though he took a deep breath and turned up to the stars again. What do I do? he asked them silently. The stars twinkled, and the idea instantly came to his mind.

He rushed to a pine tree with a small hole in the trunk. He stuck his paw in and swished it around, gathering a large wad of cobwebs. After he was satisfied with the amount, he rushed back to the she-cat. "Stay still, i'm going to patch it up." he instructed. The she-cat obeyed him and he licked the wound clean, and wrapped the cobwebs around it to stop the bleeding.

"I don't think your paw is broken, it just got twisted. Just keep these cobwebs on and the bleeding should stop." he assessed, and sat down to lick his ruffled fur.

"Thank you so much! You saved me!" she mewed, obviously tired, but that didn't make her any less grateful. "I'm Eveningmist, do you live around here?"

"I'm Copper, and yes I do." he replied, smiling at her. "I love this forest, but I haven't seen you around. Where's your housefolk?"

To his surprise, the she-cat wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Housefolk? No, I'm a clan cat!"

"Clan cat?" Copper echoed, clearly confused.

"Yeah! I'm starting my own clan called Peakclan. Would you like to know more?" she asked him.

Copper raised his eyebrows at her. He looked up at the stars again, which twinkled with what seemingly was excitement. He looked at her again and nodded.

---

For the next few days, Copper thought about what Eveningmist said. Clans, leaders, battles, freedom, medicine cats. It was all so interesting and... appealing. Copper paced in front of his housefolk's home, gazing at it every now and then, and sighing. Eveningmist asked me to join her clan. She said it would grow to become the rulers of the mountains. he looked up at the night sky with the twinkling stars. She said I had a natural talent with healing, and the fact that the stars respond to me meant I was connected with... what was it called? Starclan?

Feeling the connection was half of the struggle. He had to learn more, he had to become more connected. Being a clan cat would help him do just that. He gazed at his house and sighed. But my housefolk would be so heartbroken if I left them... They take such good care of me...

No I can't just ignore the will of... Starclan. We're connected! he start down and huffed, frustrated. What should I do? Oh what should I do?

He looked up at the sky, and gasped. Two beautiful shooting stars flew across the sky, and in the direction of the mountain peaks. I see. It's my destiny.

Copper stood up and began padding to the direction of Peakclan's camp.

---

"And from this moment on, and with the acknowledgement of Starclan, I announce that your new medicine cat name will be Copperfluff. Let Starclan look down upon you and your new name!" Eveningmist announced to the stars, standing on top of a tall rock in the middle of the camp. Even though there were no other cats with them, Copperfluff could hear the applause and approval of the cats above.

I will never forget you, humans. You raised me well. Now I will use what you taught me about caring and support, and supply it to my new clan life. Copperfluff vowed silently, as Evengingmist touched noses with him. She smiled brightly at him. excitement and anticipation in her eyes. "Welcome, first medicine cat of Peakclan!"

[BoopoThyDrago]

Username: BoopoThyDrago
Cat Name: Up in Flames
Clan: Broken Mountains
Rank: Gray Fox
Gender: Male
Age: 78 moons
Prompt:
"Hey Flames? Before we go, can you tell us a hard decision you made?"

"Yeah!!! Tell us a story, pleeeeease!"

Up in Flames sighed. He knew that there was no way they were going to leave until he told them one, and just one couldn't hurt.

“I suppose I can tell you a story while I finish healing your sister. The hardest thing I ever had to do was choose between my family or my friends. When I was a young kit, the tribe let my family stay for the winter. By the end of the longest and harshest winter any of the cats had heard of, I had made many friends among the tribe and I truly felt at home here. The challenge came when my family had to choose to leave the tribe or stay. By now, my siblings and I were grown up and able to live without our parents. I felt like I needed to stay with my family and the tribe, but the rest of my family did not feel the same way about the tribe. The tribe had helped me and my family and I would never see my friends and what I feel like is an adopted family. When I told my family that I was going to stay, they tried to talk me out of it. They told me they were going to travel and go to far off places. That I should stay with him so they could stay together. But my mind had been made. I was stubborn when it came to what I wanted, and this situation put my stubbornness to the test. I would not be able to learn how to heal, which I enjoyed deeply, if I left. I would not be able to see my friends again or make many new friends when we were traveling, as they did not want to stay in one place for too long. I felt like the best choice was for me to stay. My family was not pleased and when they left, they hardly spoke to me. They left after saying goodbye. And that, young kit, is the hardest decision I have ever had to make.”

"That is terrible! I couldn't imagine making a choice like that! Do you ever regret it?"

"I used to, but I think I made the best choice. I was never one for adventure like that, and I prefer it here anyways. Now you all need to sleep."

"But-"

"Nope. I do not want to hear it. You all need to rest. You have gotten in enough trouble today already."

With that the kits settled down. They were clearly tired, even though they tried to hide it, because they were all asleep rather quickly.

[EchoIre]

Username: EchoIre
Cat Name:
Clan: GladeClan
Rank:
Gender:
Age:
Prompt:

wip

[lennon;]

Username: lennon;
Cat Name: Brokenrunner
Clan: RyeClan
Rank: Warrior
Gender: Tom
Age: 32 moons
Prompt: "Come again?" Brokenrunner stared at his clan mate in disbelief. There's no way they were suggesting such a notion - the most likely case was he simply misheard them.
Duskglow simply smirked at the tom as he spoke, grooming their sleek black fur as they replied, "Yep. Killed her dead. I hear she'd do it again if given the chance - would probably kill the kits, too, if Cougarstar wouldn't be sure to figure out it was her."
Brokenrunner blinked and shook his head. "Duskglow, this is a serious accusation... How do you know for sure that Fawnstep-"
"Call it intuition," the dark furred cat murmured, rising to their paws and stretching their back with a satisfying crack. "I've shared tongues with Fawnstep. Walked by her den at night, too. She never really seemed all the way there, did she?" Duskglow paused once they'd seen that Brokenrunner was hanging onto every word, then said, "She talks in her sleep, you know. I've heard her - 'stop struggling' this, 'half breeds' that - it's pretty disturbing, really."

Brokenrunner paled considerably. "And... You never told anybody...?"
"What do I look like, an idiot?" Duskglow mused. "Of course I never told anybody. In case you haven't heard, Fawnstep was the founder of RyeClan - she set the laws in stone."
"So? This has to count for breaking one of them at least!"
Duskglow narrowed their eyes. "She also set the punishments in stone. You ever wonder why nobody speaks out against her? It's because she's psychotic. That girl would have my head on a stick if I so much dared as to utter a word about Marlo. To go out and pin her for the death of the leader's mate? That's absurd."

"But if we could tell Cougarstar, we could stop her," Brokenrunner quipped. Duskglow scoffed in response.
"You really think he'd believe us over his hysterical deputy? Please - you've got a definite death wish if you're about to go and do what I think you're about to do."
Brokenrunner silenced himself for a moment, allowing the information to process. "I... I guess we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh?"
"We?" Duskglow laughed harshly. "Speak for yourself. I'm perfectly fine - I don't plan on confronting Fawnstep any time soon. You're on your own, kid. There's no way I'm touching that mess."

Brokenrunner was about to plead with his clan mate to help when he heard a voice behind him. "Cricketsong, I need- Oh. Hello, Brokenrunner. Duskglow."
The two turned to look and see Fawnstep standing there, a sweet smile on her face. Duskglow narrowed their eyes and huffed out a greeting, while Brokenstar simply nodded in response. The she cat padded in, glancing around as if she were looking for something in particular. "Have you two seen Cricketsong? Newtpaw said he saw her in here last, and honestly I'm not sure where that old moggy has gone off to now..."

Duskglow shrugged. "Haven't seen her all day. Which reminds me - I haven't eaten all day. I'll catch you two later." And with that, they were gone. Leaving a conflicted Brokenrunner all alone with Fawnstep.
Brokenrunner watched Fawnstep's every move carefully - there's no way she could be as cold blooded a killer as Duskglow said she was, right? It was downright absurd - to think their deputy could do such a heartless thing as kill their leader's mate... It was ridiculous to even imagine!

However, he had heard her speak lowly about loners in the past - and he knew the punishment code for RyeClan was all too harsh and sinister. He'd heard rumors in the past of her doing strange things, exhibiting peculiar behaviors - she was two faced, he knew that much for fact. He'd seen how she could befriend a rogue and moments later be at their throat - would it really be that different with the leader's mate? And if she did kill Marlo, then why would she leave the kits alive?
"...Brokenrunner?"

The tom quickly snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head to clear them, glancing over to see Fawnstep staring at him with curious orange eyes. "Oh, good. You blanked out on me for a minute there, I got worried," the she cat laughed.
Brokenrunner chuckled nervously, swallowing thickly as he debated whether or not to bring this thought into fruition. However, just as he was about to open his mouth, an inkling of doubt sprung into his head.
What about Duskglow?

He blinked. What about Duskglow? Well, for starters, if he were to ask Fawnstep outright if she murdered Marlo, she'd certainly ask where he got that notion from. And he'd have to respond honestly - Duskglow was the one who mentioned it to him in a bit of gossip.
Then what would happen? With all the suspicions surrounding Fawnstep, he honestly wouldn't be surprised if the agendered cat turned up missing, only to be found days later in the Merrymaker's grasp.
What if she killed Brokenrunner, too?

He blinked yet again and sighed. "I'll help you find Cricketsong," he offered.
Fawnstep bounced with glee. "Thank you! I appreciate the help - I just don't know where she could've gone off to! You know her - she's always..."
As the she cat innocently rambled on, Brokenrunner watched her carefully, the roaring question eating away at his conscience. If Fawnstep really did kill Marlo, she'd have to be confronted about it eventually... But he didn't want to die, selfishly enough.

Sometimes, in order to maintain self preservation, you'd have to shut your mouth - even if it feels like the horribly wrong thing to do. And it was the hardest thing Brokenrunner has had to do to date.

If only he'd known what was coming in the future - maybe he would've said something sooner.

[958 words]
Extra: Choices (art by me)

[coppercanary]

Username: lennon;
Cat Name: Brokenrunner
Clan: RyeClan
Rank: Warrior
Gender: Tom
Age: 32 moons
Prompt: "Come again?" Brokenrunner stared at his clan mate in disbelief. There's no way they were suggesting such a notion - the most likely case was he simply misheard them.
Duskglow simply smirked at the tom as he spoke, grooming their sleek black fur as they replied, "Yep. Killed her dead. I hear she'd do it again if given the chance - would probably kill the kits, too, if Cougarstar wouldn't be sure to figure out it was her."
Brokenrunner blinked and shook his head. "Duskglow, this is a serious accusation... How do you know for sure that Fawnstep-"
"Call it intuition," the dark furred cat murmured, rising to their paws and stretching their back with a satisfying crack. "I've shared tongues with Fawnstep. Walked by her den at night, too. She never really seemed all the way there, did she?" Duskglow paused once they'd seen that Brokenrunner was hanging onto every word, then said, "She talks in her sleep, you know. I've heard her - 'stop struggling' this, 'half breeds' that - it's pretty disturbing, really."

Brokenrunner paled considerably. "And... You never told anybody...?"
"What do I look like, an idiot?" Duskglow mused. "Of course I never told anybody. In case you haven't heard, Fawnstep was the founder of RyeClan - she set the laws in stone."
"So? This has to count for breaking one of them at least!"
Duskglow narrowed their eyes. "She also set the punishments in stone. You ever wonder why nobody speaks out against her? It's because she's psychotic. That girl would have my head on a stick if I so much dared as to utter a word about Marlo. To go out and pin her for the death of the leader's mate? That's absurd."

"But if we could tell Cougarstar, we could stop her," Brokenrunner quipped. Duskglow scoffed in response.
"You really think he'd believe us over his hysterical deputy? Please - you've got a definite death wish if you're about to go and do what I think you're about to do."
Brokenrunner silenced himself for a moment, allowing the information to process. "I... I guess we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh?"
"We?" Duskglow laughed harshly. "Speak for yourself. I'm perfectly fine - I don't plan on confronting Fawnstep any time soon. You're on your own, kid. There's no way I'm touching that mess."

Brokenrunner was about to plead with his clan mate to help when he heard a voice behind him. "Cricketsong, I need- Oh. Hello, Brokenrunner. Duskglow."
The two turned to look and see Fawnstep standing there, a sweet smile on her face. Duskglow narrowed their eyes and huffed out a greeting, while Brokenstar simply nodded in response. The she cat padded in, glancing around as if she were looking for something in particular. "Have you two seen Cricketsong? Newtpaw said he saw her in here last, and honestly I'm not sure where that old moggy has gone off to now..."

Duskglow shrugged. "Haven't seen her all day. Which reminds me - I haven't eaten all day. I'll catch you two later." And with that, they were gone. Leaving a conflicted Brokenrunner all alone with Fawnstep.
Brokenrunner watched Fawnstep's every move carefully - there's no way she could be as cold blooded a killer as Duskglow said she was, right? It was downright absurd - to think their deputy could do such a heartless thing as kill their leader's mate... It was ridiculous to even imagine!

However, he had heard her speak lowly about loners in the past - and he knew the punishment code for RyeClan was all too harsh and sinister. He'd heard rumors in the past of her doing strange things, exhibiting peculiar behaviors - she was two faced, he knew that much for fact. He'd seen how she could befriend a rogue and moments later be at their throat - would it really be that different with the leader's mate? And if she did kill Marlo, then why would she leave the kits alive?
"...Brokenrunner?"

The tom quickly snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head to clear them, glancing over to see Fawnstep staring at him with curious orange eyes. "Oh, good. You blanked out on me for a minute there, I got worried," the she cat laughed.
Brokenrunner chuckled nervously, swallowing thickly as he debated whether or not to bring this thought into fruition. However, just as he was about to open his mouth, an inkling of doubt sprung into his head.
What about Duskglow?

He blinked. What about Duskglow? Well, for starters, if he were to ask Fawnstep outright if she murdered Marlo, she'd certainly ask where he got that notion from. And he'd have to respond honestly - Duskglow was the one who mentioned it to him in a bit of gossip.
Then what would happen? With all the suspicions surrounding Fawnstep, he honestly wouldn't be surprised if the agendered cat turned up missing, only to be found days later in the Merrymaker's grasp.
What if she killed Brokenrunner, too?

He blinked yet again and sighed. "I'll help you find Cricketsong," he offered.
Fawnstep bounced with glee. "Thank you! I appreciate the help - I just don't know where she could've gone off to! You know her - she's always..."
As the she cat innocently rambled on, Brokenrunner watched her carefully, the roaring question eating away at his conscience. If Fawnstep really did kill Marlo, she'd have to be confronted about it eventually... But he didn't want to die, selfishly enough.

Sometimes, in order to maintain self preservation, you'd have to shut your mouth - even if it feels like the horribly wrong thing to do. And it was the hardest thing Brokenrunner has had to do to date.

If only he'd known what was coming in the future - maybe he would've said something sooner.

[958 words]
Extra: Choices (art by me)

congrats! I enjoyed reading through your form and the art was a very nice add-on. let me know if you’d like to be added for a transparent ref!

[BoopoThyDrago]

Congrats!