by eagle, » Wed Jul 08, 2020 5:49 pm
listed in order of preference
Username (cs + site):
Clans: quickclan, highgarden, smokeclan
Name of the Clan your cat/group is going to: highgarden
Which cat/group are you trying out for: sagewater (changed to thymelace)
How will this cat/group fit into your Clan?: after the collapse of the shadowed kingdom, while many of her former-clanmates went off to join clans where they had already made friends, had family, or found a calling, sagewater found herself completely alone. she felt abandoned by the cats that she had thought of as a family, and the loneliness persisted as sagewater lost all sense of direction. for several moons, she continued to live in the ruins of the shadowed kingdom's former territory, even after the others had gone and their scents began to fade. a sentimentalist by nature, sagewater did her best to mentally recreate her memories from her time in the shadowed kingdom. she recalled watching kits play in a stream, she imagined that she was joined by a full patrol as she hunted through the trees, bringing back just enough prey to eat in the abandoned den she had once shared with friends. it was a cold, lonely time for sagewater. her voice grew cracked and dull from a lack of use, she could no longer remember what it felt like to awake for a dawn patrol, to hear the snores of her denmates as she picked her eyes through the den, bleary-eyed and trying her best to avoid stepping on the tails of sleeping warriors. once a happy, bright-spirited molly, sagewater found herself with friends, without a direction, and without any proper drive. she wished for company, for some companion, for some place where she could belong again, but she felt helpless. in the shadowed kingdom, sagewater believed that she had friends, a new family where she would be safe and protected by the same cats that she vowed she would risk her life to protect and serve. over and over again, she replayed the promises she had given blackstar when she joined the shadowed kingdom, but as the days blurred and blended, sagewater found that it was harder to remember. the glimmers of memories began to grow dim. sagewater found that she couldn't remember what some of her former friends' faces looked like, and names ran together in a tangled blur.
however, it was in the very moment that sagewater began to give up hope that she would ever find solace again, while she was out on a hunting patrol, that she was met directly by a small group of strangers that had wandered onto her clan's former territory. from the cover of bushes, she watched as a group of highgarden cats chased a wayward hare over the faded border markings that had once separated the allied clans. in past times, sagewater knew that the shadowed kingdom, despite their strong ties with highgarden, would have been deeply offended by the disregard, and sagewater felt her fur began to bristle until she realized that the shadowed kingdom was no more. she felt the desire to retreat and the need to go closer, to hear voices call warm encouragements at each other, for the cats to congratulate one another on their catch, to watch they way friends weaved around one another without the notion of what it meant to be alone. once, sagewater left her twoleg home because she wanted a chance to catch her breath in solitude, but it turned out that she missed the comfort of clan life. still, her paws remained rooted to the ground until, at last, she stopped a familiar white pelt as stormshroud bounded easily over the border with his new clanmates. it was the final straw, the embodiment of betrayal, of the cats who had left sagewater behind to fend for herself without any lasting regard. at last, all of the hurt and pain of solitude reached a pitch and boiled over until sagewater emerged from her hiding spot to make herself known to the highgarden cats.
when sagewater left the cover of the bushes, she wasn't sure what she was to expect. perhaps that the highgarden cats would try to chase her away, or that stormshroud might sneer at her. instead, however, the knight blinked at her in confusion and asked where she had been the entire time; the other highgarden cats asked what her name was, they asked if she was hungry, they asked if she was hurt. and sagewater was hurt. she was hurt that the shadowed kingdom had fallen into ruins, she was hurt that she had been alone for moons. she wanted to scream and be angry, but just as quickly at her anger bubbled over, it simmered into grief for all that had been lost, and she looked to stormshroud.
"why did you all leave me?" she asked him. at first, stormshroud appeared confused, with his ears pressed back against his head. and then his eyes softened, and he offered sagewater his shoulder. like that, sagewater knew that she would forgive him, that she had already forgiven them all. she knew that it wasn't out of malice. perhaps they had all been afraid in the aftermath. perhaps they hadn't meant to leave sagewater, but confusion and fear made it hard to reason and to make sure that everyone had made it out and would be on their ways to new homes. perhaps, sagewater thought, she had been waiting for a home to come back to her when she should have gone out on her own to find a new home. but, instead, she was led to highgarden with the rest of the patrol, with stormshroud's deep laugh in her ear as one of his kits told sagewater about all of the excitement that had taken place since coming to highgarden. she was introduced to new friends, a new family, and she would ask for a new name. the last time she left home, she had taken a new name to symbolize a fresh start to her life. now, she would cast the name sagewater off and leave it behind, where it would rest with the ruins of the shadowed kingdom. her new family in her new home with a new name: thymelace. she wouldn't be alone again.
Username (cs + site): eagle,
Clans: quickclan, highgarden, smokeclan (site)
Name of the Clan your cat/group is going to: smokeclan (site)
Which cat/group are you trying out for: ashfrost (keeping his name)
How will this cat/group fit into your Clan?: the collapse of jungleclan and ashfrost's subsequent departure from the life he had known for so long left ashfrost bitter and cynical, disbelieving that clan life could be stable, considering his beloved jungleclan had fallen. however, ashfrost quickly found that he despised being alone, and he wished for nothing more than a place in a group again. during his travels, ashfrost came across sparse loner groups who were going in no particular direction, roving rogues with lashing tails and shifty eyes, and strict clan borders that he decided would soon fade in due time. despite his resistance to clan life, however, ashfrost couldn't help his own curiosity when he came across smokeclan, a clan that knew suffering well and continued to persist despite the odds. when ashfrost crossed paths with smokeclan, it was to find a paranoid leader, an overworked medicine cat afriad of his own shadow, injured warriors, young kits who didn't understand the turmoil around them, and a deputy who wanted nothing more than to keep smokeclan from drowning under the weight of their own demons. as an outsider with no connection to smokeclan by any length, ashfrost was able to see though the cracks of the brave faces that the smokeclan cats tried to maintain. he was able to see how talonsight rarely slept, how blizzardslash shied away from most interactions, how spiderstar bristled at the slightest turn of a nose, and how one of the queens, partridgefeather, was not a traditional warrior, but a kittypet turned warrior by her own stubbornness.
though ashfrost vowed to never join a clan again and how smokeclan's perils only validated his disbelief in clan life, he found himself staying with the traveling clan as they continued to search for their lost friends and former clanmates before disaster tore them apart. in time, ashfrost came to admire alfalfadash's gentle charm, dustmask's resilience as a deputy, icecloud's love for her family and the clan that had become her family, and partridgefeather's determination. it was the latter relationship that ashfrost stayed in smokeclan for. at first, ashfrost found partridgefeather unbearable - a pampered kittypet who became too bored behind her fence and wanted to venture out into the world. he thought that she was selfish, that she cared only for herself and was entirely oblivious to the way she leeched on the clan. he came to look down upon partridgefeather and her kits, who were, in his mind, unable to fend for themselves. while the rest of smokeclan worked tirelessly to provide for all of the members, it seemed to ashfrost that partridgefeather was the least inclined to clan life and that she would never be able to fit in like the clan-born cats. in turn, partridgefeather saw ashfrost as a rival. she was quick to notice that ashfrost treated her differently from their clanmates, as if she was incapable of performing in the same way that they were able to, or that she wasn't up to his standards. not to be outdone, partridgefeather challenged ashfrost time and time again, but ashfrost continually denied her, believing that she would only embarrass herself and that it wasn't worth the effort he might have to exert to best her at hunting or fighting.
it was only when smokeclan fell to another tragedy that ashfrost finally saw partridgefeather's stubborn, competitive, and determined nature for the strength it was. in the same moment, he also witnessed as smokeclan rose together, as a unified, strengthened clan. in the final hour that would decide if smokeclan bent or broke, ashfrost expected them to collapse and scatter as jungleclan had. however, smokeclan surprised him by rising from the ashes of their beaten states. smokeclan would see a new dawn, and ashfrost would be with them, standing side by side with his clanmates and partridgefeather, and ashfrost would find his faith in clans restored.
Last edited by
eagle, on Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.