[jay.]

MARK

[allynabean]

mark oohh

[Knickknacks]

Username: Knickknacks
Cat Name: the wandering sage ; "sage"
Gender: male
Rank: storyteller
Clan: Knollclan
Age: 5 years, 7 moons
Prompt: [572 words]

His arrival in the heart of Knollclan was a peculiar thing, much like the individual himself.

It was almost as if something had fogged the memory of the past generation- all of them knew he had arrived of his own accord one day and settled down to stay- but none of them could pinpoint exactly when, or how. Nor could they recall life before the wandering sage had arrived. Knollclan prided itself on traditions, on roots that ran deep- and despite arriving from outside, once he arrived he became inextricably entwined within the rhythm of clan life, as though he had always been there to begin with.

The bewilderment surrounding his origins was not helped by the fact that he refused to answer questions head on. No matter what the question, or who was asking it, the sage never gave a straight answer, but rather smiled his enigmatic smile and would set out to weave a tale for the questioner. Some speculate that his tales are wholly made up, and merely happen to contain disguised fragments of wisdom that serve as his answers. Some suppose that it's possible these answers are true, experience doled out by a cat with firsthand experience, and a life well lived. But it is impossible to know- and likely that the true story of the wandering sage's origins will never be explained for certain.



-----


"What's the greatest place you've ever been?"

That was a question the sage had been asked, once, by an inquisitive apprentice. The young cat had been eager to listen, hoping to hear fantastical tales about the world outside of Knollclan's borders- and the sage had been eager to tell. He had purred, straightened his posture, and began.

"There once was a cat-"

"-and the cat is you, right? Right?"

"That matters not. Regardless- there was once a cat who loved to travel. In his lifetime, he traversed an uncountable number of pawsteps. He crossed through great fields of grasses in every color one could imagine, raced down the peculiarly hard surfaces that humans laid out in their lairs, climbed over rocks and skidded along sand. Sand was by far his least favorite- the grains would stick in his fur, and the surface would burn his paws when the sun scorched down. Sand is a menace, and you'd do well to steer clear of it, young one."

"There's- but sage, we have sand in the creekbed."

"That is forest sand. Desert sand, however- that's another animal entirely."

"But sand isn't an animal- and my question! Sage, you haven't answered my question yet!"

"Ah, forgive me. Do remember the warning about sand, though. I'm sure you'll find it useful in the future.

"This cat traveled all over, seeing great mountains and strange beasts, cats that tried to speak the language of birds and humans that tried to speak cat. Mostly they failed miserably, on both counts. But that's neither here nor there. The sights the cat saw throughout his life and travels were fantastic, and often strange. But the best sight of all was the one that awaited him when his travels finally reached an end: the sight of his own nest to lay down in, and dream of the roads he had traversed before."

"That's kind of a corny ending, if you don't mind my saying so, sage."

"This is the wisdom I have to offer. No takesie-backsies, especially not for impertinent kittens."

"Hey-!"

[Deercan]

mm possible mark gonna see what I can write up

[NaCl]

Username: NaCl
Cat Name: TwistedGrove
Gender: Male [he/him]
Rank: Guardian (Formally a Scout)
Clan: Root Clan
Age: 40 moons
Prompt:

TwistedGrove was born as Grove, both his parents being well renowned Scouts in the clan, he was told that he should become one as well. When his test came along, he passed with one of the highest scores Root Clan has seen in a long time, and was deemed fit enough to become a Scout.
Grove trained under the leader herself, RiverSong, an honor very few cats in Root Clan's history ever got, being trained by one of the leaders was everything Grove could have dreamed of. His parents were incredibly proud of him, and held him to much higher standards than any of his other, siblings, all older than him.
Grove finished his training far sooner than expected, and once again had the clan singing his praise. At his ceremony, he was named HiddenGrove. Quickly, he rose in respect throughout the Scouts, quickly becoming a promising candidate for the next Scout Second. But there was a day that changed everything for him, and threw his life and morals into question.
HiddenGrove was crossing the channel with a scouting party he was leading, they needed to assess a blockage further down the channel and determine the best way to deal with it. The part of the channel frequently got blocked by fallen trees, branches, and general debris that flowed down the river, this wasn't the first time HiddenGrove and his chosen scouts had been sent to assess a blockage.
What was different though, was a rainstorm had passed by not long ago, it had downed many trees, and a lot of those logs that fell into the channel, ended up at the blockage. While HiddenGrove was trotting over the logs bobbing in the water, he had slipped, getting his hind leg caught between two logs, when he called out for his patrol, they quickly attempted to rescue him, but they were unable to pull him free, and needed to get a patrol of Guardians, the stronger cats of the clan.
HiddenGrove had to wait, clawing at the log to keep his head above water, trying to pull his trapped leg free as he desperately called for the help of his clanmates. Help took longer to arrive, as Guardians are not as well versed in swimming as Scouts are, and had to take the long way around. Eventually, he was pulled free, but his leg was twisted and scared beyond repair, and that was what the Herbalists told him.
He spent moons getting better, and relearning how to walk with his new injury, but when he was finally well enough to rejoin scout duties, he found himself falling behind and losing the speed and agility he had been used to. He spent countless nights cursing himself for his arrogance, not bringing a larger patrol, not bringing a guardian, not walking on those dumb logs!
A moon after he fell behind in his duties, the leaders announced that HiddenGrove would be no longer be a scout, and would instead be a Guardian, and specifically assigned to being a camp guard. HiddenGrove cursed out the leaders, saying that he just needed more time, more practice to get used to his new permanent injury, but RiverSong and WhiteBerry would hear none of it, WhiteBerry even going so far to rename him TwistedGrove.
After this, many cats showed pity to TwistedGrove, his former scout friends trying to be there for him, but he quickly grew bitter and snappy to those around him. What really got to him though, were the reactions of his parents. They practically disowned him, saying that no son of theirs was to be a Guardian, that they were a family of Scouts, and he was a disgrace. His older siblings showed him no kindness either, as his parents had named TwistedGrove the favorite until this point, alienating him from his other siblings. He learned his parents love for him was conditional, and he was only loved for what he could have been, and not who he was. This revelation made TwistedGrove more bitter than he already was, resigning himself to simply waking up, doing his duties, and going back to sleep, becoming a shell of his former self. Before, he was regarded as a proud and friendly scout, perhaps a bit arrogant in his abilities, but still well loved. Now, he was resentful, bitter, and snappy, only doing what is needed of him, and nothing more.
TwistedGrove longs for the day he can prove himself worthy of his former title, rejoin the Scouts, and prove his leaders and parents wrong, but as the days go on, that dream seems further and further from his reach.

[espen.]

Username: quirky;
Cat Name: Ruzar | Ruz for short
Gender: Libramasculine
Rank: Stygian Guard
Clan: The Principality
Age: 250 moons
Prompt: Ruz has lived a long life, and seen many different kinds of destruction.

His youthful days were mostly spent hunting rabbits and having fun in the sun. Ruzar was always an obedient child, never put up a fuss, and his parents doted on him relentlessly. The only break he had was when he'd go out and play with his friends by the eerie Pit of the Obsidian Tiger. It was said by their village elders, that the spirits of the gods themselves resided in there, swirling into a massive shadowy cloud. The young kits never really thought much of the stories, as they were just stories to them.

But as the time passed, and the ever-growing kingdoms around the world started to destabilize, Ruz felt that something was coming. It was as if the shadows darkened as the unhappiness in Ophigar, especially, grew. The cat's family was worried, and all around them, neighbors were packing up and going to the faraway lands of varying biomes. Some went to the jungles, others to the snow tundras to keep themselves safe from the turbulent Ophigaric leaders. However, Ruz and his family stayed. Until one day, after all of his friends had left him, his parents finally gave in and told their child they were going to the tundras.

Ruzar ran away from the news, crying. His paws led him to the Pits, his eyes blurry with salt water. He sat down on the flowing green grass and just sobbed, practically coughing out his sorrow and bitterness. Time passed and Ruz finally calmed down enough to walk. Strolling slowly and numbly along the worn path, he barely heard the blasts coming from his meager village. Cats yowled and screamed. He blinked and sniffled. His ears had taken control as they blocked out the world. He was gonna leave the only place he ever knew and loved. All of his memories, gone. Every warm summer spent playing by the Pits would be erased like the sand on the beaches. All of his friends and their fun laughs and colorful fur would be pointless to try to recall.

He kept walking, head down as he finally reached his village. The ground was covered in a dark brown earthy powder, mixed with grey flakes. The cat looked up and the breath was knocked with out of his chest. Dens were crisped with black, trees were ablaze, and bodies were everywhere. Ruzar shrank back, low to the ground. His mind raced from one action to the next, but ultimately rested on just running. Clearly, there was nothing left for him here. The young cat turned and ran on pure adrenaline pushing his 'fight or flight' instincts.

Ruzar was so very focused on getting away that he didn't quite notice the deep creaking of a burnt tree, as the insides gave up and splintered, sending the giant black stalk whistling towards the ground. He almost cleared its path, but on his last stride his hind leg was stretched too far and was caught in the colision. Ruz's body was renched backwards, abruptly stopping his racing mind, running feet, and coursing adrenaline. The cat was panting hard, trying his best to ignore the pain as he tugged on his leg. Panic set in as it took more and more time to get it out. Maybe the attackers would come back...Ruz had to clear the thought and try harder to escape.

Eventually the feline had pulled his back half free, but the paw was badly twisted, and skin was torn farther up, and it couldn't be used to run, clearly apparent by the intense throbbing he felt. Ruzar had to walk back along the sandy path, slowly.

The cat pushed himself up, taking one step forward with his front paw, and hopping to get his back half to catch up. He repeated this, and took frequent breaks to rest his front legs. During this rests he looked around and saw familiar sights. There was the creek he caught his first fish in. It was now browning from the poisoning debris. And over there, up on that hill was the gigantic rock. One time he'd climbed to the top and he swore he could see the entire world from the vantage point. It was now splattered with mud that told of the recent struggle. Ruz hobbled faster, keeping his gaze down at the morbidly bland ground. It took the feline what felt like hours to get back to the Pit of the Obsidian Tiger.

Ruzar heaved his body up the last little grassy hill and fell down, breathing incredibly deeply from the new effort. A few minutes passed and he looked up, into the depths of the Tiger's maw. Shiny jagged stalactites held onto the ceiling, forming the beast's teeth. Their ground-dwelling twins matched with the bottom half. Inside was pure black, seeming to go on forever. It called to him. Whispered truths and lies, tales of old and new. Ruzar was filled with both strength and curiosity as he struggled to stand upright and walk into the darkness. He didn't know how, but he felt like his entire future was swirling away in the black.

- Over the years, Ruz slowly learns to accept his fate and his family's and lives inside the cave, adapting to the lack of light -

The mighty Stygian Guard had grown in fame and reputation over the hard years. It was well-known that if you had a dire question, going to the Pits was the only sure way of getting an answer. It all started when a group of weary travelers happened upon the black cave and went inside to seek shelter. Ruz was hobbling out around the same time and intercepted the group. He explained that the gods themselves resided in the depths and were not to be disturbed. Of course, the group asked why he was allowed in there, but not any of them.

Ruzar wasn't patient enough to argue with them, so he let them inside to set up camp. When he came back from his little errand, all the cats in the group were hiding inside a bush to the left of the cave. They explained what horrors they had seen and Ruz, without thinking, interpreted the visions. He stopped, and realized that what they saw made perfect sense to him, but no sense whatsoever to them. How had he gotten one clear answer, from a bunch of jumbled up nonsense. One of the traveling cats piped up and proposed the idea that the gods sent these visions to answer questions they all had, and Ruz was the only one who could interpret them. The feline sat with this for as long as the group camped there. Once they left, he let go of the idea and went on with his life.

Moons passed, and the cat saw his home slowly grow anew. No longer did the trees reek of ash and fire, nor did the rivers run brown with pain. Ruz began to heal. He saw his leg grow stronger, but never completely fix. His vision got better in the dark and he even set up a more permanent residence inside the cave. He began to meditate in there, and commune with the gods, asking them of his potential gift. They never gave any straight answers, but somehow, Ruz always knew. He knew what he was meant to do. He knew why he had experienced so much pain. It was to help others along the same journey. The journey of pain, leading to questioning everything, and finally to peace. Peace with the final result. And so that is how the Stygian Guard, named by the people, came to have great fame across all the lands. Ruzar has spoken to mighty knights, lowly peasants, and even monarchs of varying kingdoms, helping each of them with their burning questions.

[mal du pays]

Extended 1 week, to the 14th of January!

[Griff]

Username: Griff
Cat Name: Mysticeye
Gender: Male
Rank: TBD
Clan: https://toyhou.se/griffhighwind/charact ... er:2507939
Age: 17 Moons
Prompt:

They were known as the cat that had been tossed into the seas... and welcomed back. As a kitten, it was clear that Mysticeye had issues. Between the strangely colored eyes and the back leg, how could he ever grow to be a formidable warrior? It was for this reason that his own clan had tried to toss him into the seas, in the hopes Moon would find him and lend him a better second chance. Remake and mold him into something better.

What they could not know was that Moon had indeed found him. But she deemed he was just right, as he was. "There is nothing wrong with you, deer Kitten," she reassured. "Show the world who you are, show them that you are wonderful." She gave him a soft kiss, her blessing, before releasing him back down upon the world. To a fledgling clan, only a handful of moons old. Clan Ember took him in with welcoming paws, teaching him what they could. It was discovered that the kiss of Moon gave him an extraordinary connection with Starclan, and those who resided upon the higher levels. Through this connection he gave his new family stories, wisdom, and ancient advice.

Mysticeye proved to everyone they were worth their salt, and became a valued and loved member of the clan. Many moons later, he encountered those that had thrown him away. He held his head up high, smiled, and walked away without a word.

[mal du pays]

Closed, any posts/edits made beyond this point will result in disqualification
bare with me, thank you!

[mal du pays]

Hi, sorry for the delay!

I've decided the winner of this kid is quirky;! I really love the visuals that I got from your form while I was reading it!
I will get the archive form squared away shortly.

Unfortunately I do not have the means to offer a RU of sorts or else I would 😔
Thank you all for your entries, though! Best of luck in future contests <3