{ rise: bearclan writings } • DNP

[Micki.]

Tearoot {called by her kittypet name Tea}, various ancestors


write about a meeting between high rank and ancestors


A thin, dappled she-cat yawned, stretching out across the windowsill where she lay. Her green eyes peered through the pane of glass, staring intently at the trees beyond her yard. 'What lay beyond your own home, Tea?' she thought, her eyes glinting as she imagined a world of wonders. 'Forests of catnip, hills of tuna! What a glorious world it must be out there!' Tea thought, smiling to herself lazily - the sun was hitting her bright pelt just right, making her feel more and more sleepy.

Before long, the she-cat had drifted off into sleep, the light jingle of the bell on her collar like a lullaby.

---

Tea smiled, her paws hitting the lush grass of her yard. It felt so cool, so pleasant under her small paws. Still, though, the dappled she-cat couldn't bring herself to stay there - something about the trees beyond was calling to her, almost as though someone were whispering.

And, as though someone else was controlling her limbs, her paws were carrying her towards the unknown, towards the new. She didn't smile as she moved through the woods. There was a somber feeling in her bones, too somber for her to manage even a weak smile. It was very unlike her, but, still, she couldn't manage it as she went deeper and deeper into the woods. Slowly, she got the feeling that she wasn't in the same woods, that she wasn't in woods at all anymore.

'No,' she thought,'I'm in the forest now.'

There was something familiar about the place she walked. Images flooded to the front of her mind - almost as though they were memories, almost as though they were moments captured in time, pulling her into someone's past.

Not from the same time, though.

Not from the same cat, either.

It was an incredible feeling, a rush of emotions and pictures. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, and there was something in her that almost felt that she had been missing this her entire life - something that felt like she was being called home. The she-cat closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, desperate to smell the rich forest, to breath it into her bones.

When she opened her eyes, she was encircled by strange cats. Their pelts looked like the stars she had seen from her window sill, and their forms seemed almost like mist, forever shifting and changing shape. Tea didn't so much as gasp, though. She could feel, instantly, that these were the cats that had shown her their memories.

More than that, these were the force that had been calling her to the trees all her life.

These were the cats that were her family...

Her clan.

(453 words)

[Micki.]

x

Whiterush, Littleleap {Little / Littlepaw}, Tearoot


write a scene of your choice


The young molly looked up at Whiterush defiantly, her ears flattened and eyes narrowed.

"I thought we had an agreement, Little," the large tom huffed, more exhausted than anything.

She shook her head stubbornly, sitting down as if to signal that she wasn't going anywhere.

In all honesty, the young molly hadn't obeyed a single command Whiterush had given her since he'd brought her back to camp. Not a single one. So it was a mystery why he thought making an "agreement" with her would be more likely to work.

Whiterush let out a big, long sigh and sat down opposite the small molly. He looked at her, brow raised, but said nothing. She didn't say anything, either, so the two sat in silence, just looking at each other. Neither moved, neither talked. And they stayed like this for a long while before they were interrupted.

"Whiterush where have you been we've been looking all over fo-" Tearoot's words faded as she processed the scene before her. The she-cat shook her head, making a light tsk tsk sound, and walked over to them. She plopped herself down next to them, and smiled gently, "What seems to be the problem, you two?"

"She won't cooperate with me," the tom answered, his tone very matter-of-fact.

His answer garnered an eye roll and a low grumble from Littlepaw.

Tearoot raised a brow at them, shaking her head lightly before she spoke, "Don't blame Littlepaw. Perhaps you aren't cooperating with her either."

Her statement made Littlepaw grin triumphantly in response, while Whiterush looked at her with half-lidded eyes, clearly very done. If she noticed, however, she showed no signs, and instead continued speaking, "What is it that you want Littlepaw to do?"

No response.

Tearoot prodded Whiterush lightly with her paw to get his attention, "Well?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was too busy not cooperating."

Littlepaw rolled her eyes, but Tearoot couldn't help but smile in response. "Well, if you'd like to join us in the land of cooperation, please do."

Whiterush and Littlepaw exchanged glances, both wrinkling their brows in a similar manner - a manner that clearly read 'did she really just say that?' The large tom let out a small sigh and answered despite it, though, "Thistlebrook was having issues getting her to go into the water. All I did was ask her to let him teach her to swim."

The young molly let out a huff, but said nothing.

Tearoot glanced at her, smiling knowingly, and turned her attention back to Whiterush, "And how exactly did you ask?"

"I made an agreement with her - she would learn to swim from Thistlebook, and I would teach her to hunt fish."

The she-cat raised a brow at him and made a light tsk tsk sound before responding, "Oh, so you said you would teach her something else to do with the water that she doesn't like if she learned to swim?"

The large tom opened his mouth to protest, but closed it in favor of giving her another 'I'm done with you' expression. As she had before, she ignored the look and instead poked him with her paw to get him to answer.

"Well it sounds a bit ridiculous when you put it that way," he mumbled, expression unchanged.

"Because it is," she said, simply, before finally turning her attention to Littlepaw, "And what do you want to learn, Littlepaw?"

Her eyes lit up at the question, and she practically shouted in response, "I want to learn to fight a badger!"

Whiterush laughed in response, his chest swelling with joy. She was difficult, and she was unnecessarily sassy towards him, but oh did he love her. "I won't go out and find you a badger to fight, but I suppose I can teach you how to fight," his voice was warm with a hint of amusement still, and his eyes shone as he looked down at the molly.

At his daughter.

(658 words)

[Micki.]

x

Smokestream, Clovercreek, Thistlebrook


write a scene of your choice - one


"No!" Clovercreek hissed, flattening her ears and batting at her brother.

Smokestream let out a small huff in return, half-heartedly batting her paw away, "Really? And why not?"

"Because I don't want to!" she retorted, glaring at the blue tom. How dare he even suggest such an awful thing? 'I mean, it's truly abhorrent,' she thought, still glaring at her brother bitterly.

The tom just let out an impatient sigh and sat down, meeting his sister's harsh glare with a soft look. He knew that it wouldn't be easy to convince her, but he had hoped she would be a little less, well, volatile. When he spoke again his voice was soft, "It's just one night, Clover."

"One night of pure, brutal, unrelenting torture!"

Smokestream let out a loud huff at that, "You are entirely too dramatic! It's not like he's going to give us rabbit with a side of water hemlock."

"No, of course not," the she-cat hissed, flattening her ears as she continued, "Only with a side of deathberries."

He rolled his eyes at his sister and let out another impatient sigh, "You're being ridiculous. He's our father, not some murderous fiend. I hardly think he's capable of killing his own children, no matter how difficult you can be."

Clovercreek glared at him harder and stuck out her tongue in defiance.

"We're going to have a nice time at the feast, and we're going to share our meal with our father."

(243 words)