Username: stqrveil
Cat Name: Antspeckle
Gender: tom
Rank: Warrior
Clan: VerdantClanAge: 16 moons
Prompt:Antspeckle paced restlessly at the edge of the border, stopping every so often to look across to an unknown land. Should he really leave? Would it be worth it? VerdantClan had offered him everything he needed, yet he still was unsure.
“Hard decision eh?” the voice nearly scared him out of his skin.
Emerging from the undergrowth was a sleek blue cat, her fur washed grey by the moonlight. She approached and sat calmly next to the shocked tom.
“Minnowtail I-” his confusion turned to irritation, “why are you here?”
“Luckily I was the only one who heard your racket leaving camp, you should really work on that. But If I may ask, what are you doing? I know for sure that you aren’t extending the territory, Sunstar hasn’t said anything about that, and no cat comes out this far for a walk.” she meowed.
Guilt weighed Antspeckle down like a craggy boulder. She knew he wanted to leave, He couldn’t lie to the she-cat. “I just feel...trapped here.”
Minnowtail tilted her head a bit.
“When I was a loner there was no rules set in stone, there was no borders, no boundaries, no code. Just each cat’s perception of what is wrong and right. I don’t mean this in a selfish way at all, I just don’t feel like I could live this way after living as a loner for so long. It’s almost, constricting.”
Minnowtail looked at him with a deeply thoughtful look in her eyes.
“I understand, though I don’t quite agree. When Sunstar found this place, and asked for me to join the Clan, I was not used to the change, it wasn’t welcoming. But after a couple moons I found that I didn’t need to rely on myself anymore, the Clan helped me like a family would, and the code led cats to prosperity, not collapse. And we can rely on StarClan to see what is best for us.”
Antspeckle stuttered, “I still don’t know.”
“The choice is yours.” Antspeckle heard a note of sadness in her voice. She stepped back to reveal a wide horizon and an endless sky dappled with stars. It called him. Starting with a few paces, he bounded across the lush, unknown terrain finally feeling free. The slight weight tugging on his pelt indicated his slug companion, and he enjoyed the presence of his quiet friend. For a moment he stopped and looked back at his old home, seeing a bluish shape glance at him then disappear into the shadows. He felt the weight of guilt come back to his chest. His clanmates had done so much for him, would he choose to just throw it all away? He shook his head trying to clear the words that hung in his head like fog. “We can rely on StarClan to see what is best for us.” Oh the fantasies of dead, ancient cats that cared, though he thought that it might be comforting to believe. He continued a few steps. What was this feeling? Homesickness? Loners don’t have homes, but the memories he had with VerdantClan flashed in his mind. Sunstar’s care and welcoming, Puddlepelt’s diligence and wisdom, Morningsky’s stories, and Minnowtail who had easily befriended him and showed him how to live like a warrior. Though the the Clan was little more than just a measly group of cats, nothing extraordinary, he felt like he was still a part of it, he still had a role. He belonged in a Clan. Responsibility felt like a burden, but if it meant living, serving and dying next to the cat’s that he cared for, it was certainly worth it. Life of “freedom” now didn’t appease him at all he realised as he bounded back to the edge of the territory. This was home, he felt it in every beat of his heart, every crunch of his paws in the bracken, every- His thoughts were cut short as he barrelled straight into Minnowtail out of carelessness. He recovered and tried vainly to shake the mud off of his pelt.
“You crazy furball!” Minnowtail said while playfully prodding his ear, “come back to scare away all the prey now have you?”
Antspeckle shook his head, “Ha! You’re gonna have to deal with me for a long time.”
yuck
