ARPG WRITING CENTRAL

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Okay, So I've joined like 5 arpgs that use writing for leveling and for the life of me I can't be bothered to make a seperate thread for every single one of them, so this is going to be a mish-mash of them all, I'll try to keep it organized but no promises. Feel free to post if you wanna

[TheSongOfTheStars]

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[TheSongOfTheStars]

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[TheSongOfTheStars]

A piece of Songclan lore
1,036 words
Once, there was a tall gray cat who lived in the sea and spoke to the creatures in the waves. His name was Fisheyes and he was the most cunning and the most kind of all cats ever to exsist.

He was also the only cat ever to love the water. He breathed it like a fish and could travel to anywhere in the world he wished with a tail like a dolphin. Thusly, he could get into many times the trouble than any other cat.

One day Fisheyes was swimming near a beach when two seagulls flew close overhead and started shouting at him.

He lifted his head out of the water to ask them what was wrong, for Fisheyes could speak to birds as well as sea creatures, and right away the two seagulls dove and plucked his eyes right out of his head.

Without his eyes, Fisheyes is not only blind, but he cannot breathe underwater anymore, so quickly he found his way up onto the beach where his old friend, Singinghawk, the only cat ever born with wings, was waiting for him.

"Fisheyes, Fisheyes," he cried "I was coming to warn you, but I see I am too late!"

"Singinghawk?" Poor Fisheyes called "Warn me of what?"

"The Great White Owl of the southern mountains has sent every bird out to steal your eyes for he wishes to be able to swim as you do."

"Well he has succeeded!" Fisheyes said, sitting down as he was afraid of walking back into the sea "Certainly he has them by now."

"I'm afraid you must be right," said Singinghawk sadly "And he is guarded by every owl that flies."

He flew down and sat next to his friend, wondering what he could do to help him, but Fisheyes' quick mind was already schemeing.

"Now listen," said Fisheyes, tapping his otter tail "The Great White Owl wants eyes that can make his soft feathers immune to water? I'm certain that he should also want to be immune to fire as well."

Singinghawk laughed dryly "And feathermites and old age I suppose, but what of that?"

Fisheyes stood up smiling "Singinghawk, do you know whither the Great White Owl make his home?"

"Of course, he's chased me off many times, but why? Certainly you don't already have a plan to get your eyes back?"
"I certainly do, but I shall need your help."

Singinghawk, who felt bad that he hadn't been in time to warn his friend, agreed immediately to aid Fisheyes.


"First, find me two round stones that are exactly the same, you must do it as I cannot see anything."

Mystified, Singinghawk did as he was asked, bringing two round black stones to Fisheyes.

"But what are you going to do with these?" He asked, putting them at Fisheyes feet.


"Watch," Fisheyes said, picking up the stones and putting them in where his eyes had been.

"They're too big," Singinghawk said "And they don't look much like eyes."

"They'll do," Fisheyes said "Now, guide me to the Great White Owl's tree, but as soon as we get there you must hide yourself or they will suspect a trick."


So, Singinghawk guided Fisheyes deep into the forest, until they came to the great tree where many owls slept.

"It's growing dark," Singinghawk whispered in his friend's ear "They'll be waking soon."

"Perfect, now I must go on ahead alone, but keep close and hidden friend!" And Fisheyes crept forwards alone, using his whiskers to feel his way.

He had no idea what was around exepct for the ground beneath his feet and suddenly there was a great screech and a voice high above him cried out imperiously "Stop, cat! You have no business here amongst the owls."

"Oh but I do," Fisheyes tilted his head upwards to seem as though he was looking up at the owl "I've come to thank the Great Owl."

"Thank him? For what?" Came the confused replied.

"Why, for taking my eyes of course! For if he had not taken those old useless ones I surely would never have found these wonderful new ones!"

"What?" Screeched another voice, for, without Fisheyes knowing it, the Great White Owl himself had been watching and listening and now he came flying down out of the tree to land in front of Fisheyes "What do you mean wonderful new eyes?"

Fisheyes dipped his head respectfully "You must be the Great White Owl."
"I am and I demand to know why your new eyes are so much better than the old ones!"
"You mean the ones you stole? Well after they'd been stolen from me I sank to the bottom of the sea for I cannot swim without my eyes and there a great clam took pity on me and bestowed his two pearls on me as gifts. These new eyes not only allow me to breathe water but they make me immune to fire, disease, and the effects of time. These eyes are so much better and I never would have gotten them if you had not stolen my old eyes."

"And what's to stop me from taking these new eyes?" The Great White Owl asked angrily, for now he felt tricked, as if it was Fisheyes who had wronged him rather than he who had wronged Fisheyes.

Fisheyes recoiled as if horrified "These are magical eyes Oh Great White Owl and they where made for me alone, they could never work for you. "
"Oh is that so?" And the Great White Owl snatched the two black stones out of Fisheyes face and dropped the two real eyes onto the ground.

Quickly Fisheyes snatched up his eyes and put them back into his head just as the Great White Owl realized he could see nothing
"I'VE BEEN TRICKED!" He screeched, flailing wildly about, searching for Fisheyes.

But the quick cat had already gotten out of the way "I didn't trick you!" He called over his shoulder "Those eyes won't ever work for you or anyone else for they've turned to stone inside your head!"

And that kits is why the white owls of the forest have black eyes instead of yellow, like other owls."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Contest form for Willowsun Includes poem and, story snippet, and two pieces of art. 300 words total

Mother, Oh Mother, if you don't come back to love me, who will?
A poem that Willowsun's mother composed in her daughter's honor and recited it days before she succumbed to a fatal illness.

300 for poem + story snip

I looked to the horizon
And I saw with my dull eyes
The sun shining
Brighter than the crystals
In the caves

I felt it's golden warmth
playing through the fur on my back
As I sat beneath the willow tree
Watching water running by

I heard the tree weeping
Shedding summer-leaf tears
All around me

I asked her
"Oh willow
By the swift stream
Why do you weep?"

"I weep for you"
she said
"For soon you shall depart
From these hills."

"Weep not for me"
I said
"For these hills
Are not
My home
And my breath is not my own.
But when I go
I will not be alone
For the stars
Hold the souls
Of the ones I love the most."

"But do you not fear
That dark path
You must travel first?"

"No," I replied
"For the love of those
Still living
Lights my way
Like golden stars."

"I shall miss you!"
Cried the willow.

"I shall miss you too,"
Then I slipped away.


The thin white cat laid still on the dew-drenched grass, her flanks no longer rising with the struggle to bring breath to her disease-riddled lungs.

Mist cloaked dawn's first light, turning the fire of the newborn day to an ocean of crawling clouds.

The claws of damp played around Willowsun's paws as she stared at her mother's form, still and peaceful as if in sleep.

Tears pricked like a mouse's sharp teeth at the corners of her eyes and breathing was hard as swallowing stones.

"Let it out," said a soft voice beside her "Scream if you need to."

The young cat looked into the tender eyes of her leader and shook her head.

She stepped forwards and gently nuzzled her mother's cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered then stepped back "Goodbye."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Contest form for Moustoes, a poem, 98 words

Little streak of sunlight
Quick teeth always ready to bite
Quick claws always ready to fight

Silent little shadow
Don't know when to stop
Don't know when you've reached the top

Sneaky little smile
What'd you get away with now?
There's no good asking how


Mousetoes! Mousetoes!
Snarkly little liar
Sparky spitfire

Sad little eyes
Lonesome little heart
On the inside fell apart

All by himself
In the forest, abandoned
Afraid and stranded

When we found him
He was mad
But on the inside still sad

Mousetoes! Mousetoes!
You'll find your feet someday
You'll walk your own way

[TheSongOfTheStars]

A song taught to kits, 38 words
(To the tune of Twinkle-twinkle little star, Ba-ba black sheep, or the Alphabet song)

Mousie Mousie
In the grass
My oh my
you run so fast

But I am very hungry
So I will catch you quickly
And eat you all up

Mousie Mousie
in my tummy
My oh my
so yummy

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Level up task-Write about your clan's camp-Foxdowns
616 words

"Oh my word, Wildeyes," Redsparrow exclaimed, craning her neck to look all around her in awe "This place is huge!"
Wildeyes beamed at her adopted sister's enthusiasm "It's the slab of stone overhead that keeps this whole place together. The foxes who dug this certainly knew what they were doing."
"But how on earth did you find it? I didn't see it until we where literally on top of it!"

"Well," Wildeyes sat down, curling her tail over her feet "You know how I am. I can't stand to stay in one place very long. But with a clan to look after I can't exactly go jaunting off to the ends of the earth. So we've comprised."

Redsparrow sat down as well, though it had been many seasons since she'd last seen her sister, little had changed and now she could tell that Wildeyes had a story starting.
And once Wildeyes started on a story, there was no stopping her.

"We're a wandering bunch, have several dens spread out over the whole forest, but for a long while we didn't have anywhere safe to stay when we came up here."

Redsparrow didn't bother pointing out that there was an option of simply not coming out to the spacious grassy glades and simplify staying in the thicker parts of the woods where shelter was easier to come by.
If Wildeyes decided that there should be a den, then nothing could stop her, and nothing had apparently.

"So, I decided that Sandclaw and I- he's the deputy by the way, you'll meet him later- we went off to have a bit of a scout around to see if there was any good place for us to maybe dig out our own den. So off we went, near evening, sticking our noses down holes and what not, when old Sandy goes and stuffs his snout down a badger hole, which just so happened to have a live badger in it! So we go off running for our loves, grumpy badger fully intent on ending those lives. And after a few seconds I realized that Sandclaw and the badger have gone off in a different direction then I have. So, I sneak back around looking for them and I see the badger standing out in the middle of this grassy patch snuffling and pawing at something and I think "Great, I've had this clan less than a season and I've already got my deputy killed." So I waited until the badger left and went to investigate. But instead of a body I found a hole in the ground! So, naturally I jumped in and nearly landed on Sandclaw's head. After apologizing for standing on his whiskers, we decided to look around the hole, since it seemed to go on pretty deep and after a while we figured out that it was am old fox's den, several actually, since it seems that one fox dug their den on one side of the rock, then a while later another dug their den on the other side. It was the simple matter of connecting the two and enlarging the entrances and now we have the perfect place to rest our weary paws from wandering!"
"With room to spare," Redsparrow noted as she glanced around, realizing there was more empty space than cats taking up space.
"We're a small group right now," for a second Wildeyes smile slipped off her face "We've lost some good friends," then it returned full force as she leaned closer to Redsparrow and rubbed the top of her head against her sister's shoulder "But we'll work it out now that you're here."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Level up task-write about your clan's camp- Riverden
676 words

If Wildeyes heard the phrase "are we there yet?" one more time, she was going to break someone's neck.

As if to test her, a young voice called out.

"Are we there yet?"

Eyes blazing a warning she glanced back at the crowd of cats straggling behind
She didn't have to look far to find the whiner. Mousepaw was tagging right at her heels, his face curled up in a sour squint.

"Do you see a river?" She asked with false patience.

He scowled at her.

"We'll be there soon," Redsparrow said, giving the unruly apprentice a friendly nudge "Then we can go snail hunting."
"I don't like snail hunting."

"Well, maybe if you weren't as slow as one you would be able to hunt other things," Wolfblaze, Mousepaw's mentor, said, tapping him lightly.
He harrumphed and was was to snap something saucy back to her when Sandclaw came bounding out of the bushes in front of them.

"Is something wrong?"

The question came from many mouths, but foremostly from Wildeyes.

"In a sense," he said with a sigh.
"Predators?" That was what she'd sent him to scout for.

"No...."
"Then what's wrong?"

"Well.." his tail lashed back and forth "Riverden's gone."

"What?"
"Gone?"
"How'd you loose an entire camp, stupid?"


The last comment came from Mousepaw and he was quickly silenced by a heavy swat from Wolfblaze.

"I did not loose it," Sandclaw said coldly "I said it's gone."
"Well what does that mean?" Someone in the back called.

"It means- well come and see what it means," Sandclaw snapped and turned, the tip of his tail still flicking with contained irritation.

------

"See? It's gone."

In perfect fairness, Riverden had never been much to begin with, several thick bushes up on a bank overlooking the river, the cats had hollowed out the ground a bit near the roots so that they could sleep without leaves in their ears. But other than that, it had barely been a camp at all.

Now it was some leaf paste smashed into the ground.

And some crushed twigs here and there.

"What...what happened?" Wildeyes asked, her voice horrified.

"Well, remeber last time we where here? And I mentioned that we might've been fishing a bit too much?"
Sandclaw gestured to the wide webbed footprint on the ground.

"The otters," Wildeyes sighed, sitting down and squeezing her eyes shut.

"How dare they!" Wolfblaze shouted, stomping forwards "We should go and teach them they can't mess with us!"
"No," Wildeyes said seriously "We were at fault. We overfished the rivers and depleted their sole source of food."

"But they flattened our den!"
Wolfblaze couldn't seem to grasp the concept that they'd been wrong rather than having been wronged.

"It'll grow back," Redsparrow said with less confidence than Wildeyes wished.
"Yeah, well, where do we sleep until then?" Willowsun asked, trying to step around Wolfblaze's bulk.


"We'll just have to push on to Badgerhollow," Wildeyes said wearily, thinking dismally of the river fording they'd be forced to make to reach the nearest camp.

There was a chorus of groans and Sandclaw leaned close to speak in an undertone to Wildeyes.

"We've travelled a long way and it's longer still to Badgerhollow. Maybe it would be best if we simply made due for tonight."

"Well if we're gonna go, let's go," Mousepaw said loudly, overriding Sandclaw's sensible word of advice.


There were several consenting mumbles and several more dissenting ones.

"Alright," Wildeyes said, standing up "We'll stay the night here and come morning we'll head to Badgerhollow."

"Why don't we just go now?" Mousepaw whined, but everyone ignored him as they wandered over to the scraped out hollows and started making themselves as comfortable as possible.

"So, what did we learn from this?" Sandclaw asked as he and Wildeyed watched the rest of the clan settling down.

"Keep Mousepaw near the back when we travel."

"Wildeyes," he said with a touch of reproach.
She sighed "We need to pay more attention to what's going on around us. We're not just passing through anymore."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

North-Day-Winter-Snow-Heavy
1,206

Graystorm trudged through the half-frozen mud, his head down, his whiskers frozen.
The city cat was far removed from his normal surroundings, deep in the wild, winter-torn mountains and he was lost.
For days he had run and for days longer he had wandered, never finding a safe haven.
He tilted his head towards the stars, eyes pooling with tears.
If there was ever a time, if there was ever a moment, for a sign to be given him...
It was now.
For a breathless second he stared, blinking hard to clear away the snowflakes.
A sudden light seared across the sky, like the ripples of a sunlit stream pouring through the cracks of reality and soaking the midnight stars in an ocean of green.
Directly above the highest peak of the distant mountains.


Sandclaw and Firedark stalked through the deep drifts of shifting snow, fighting the wind.
Exhausted, the two cats paused in the shelter of a downed tree, both panting breathlessly and glad to be out of the wind.

"Can we...go back now?" Firedark asked, puffs of hot air accentuating his words.
"Not until we have something to report back to Wildeyes," Sandclaw replied, lowering his head as he panted.
"But there's nothing out here. Nothing's dumb enough to try and hunt in this snow."
"Redsparrow swore she heard someone shouting for help roundabouts here."
"It was probably just a bird," Firedark shook the settling snow from his shoulders.
"Regardless, I want to make a circuit around those trees. Then we'll head back."
"Alright," Firedark stood up "Let's get this over with."
Sandclaw stood and shook the snow from his own coat, catching Firedark rolling his eyes.
Sandclaw gritted his teeth but said nothing as they started walking.
The black cat was a decent warrior, Sandclaw could give him that, but that was all. Otherwise, he was nearly intolerable. Stubborn, thickheaded, dull, and sometimes downright insubordinate. He knew Wildeyes would never turn Firedark out of the clan, but sometimes he wished the annoying tom would just disappear.

He glanced sideways as he heard Firedark mutter something under his breath. Sandclaw was just about to stop and ask if he'd like to repeat what he'd said a little louder when Firedark did exactly what Sandclaw wanted.

He disappeared.

For several seconds Sandclaw stared at the now blank patch of space, then slowly looked down at the ragged dark hole in the ground.
Leaf litter from the previous fall had built up over some sort of pit or ditch and snow had fallen over that, creating an entirely imperceptible trap.

I couldn't see the bottom of it, Wildeyes, poor Firedark, he must've broken his neck when he landed. I'll sure miss him

"Sandclaw! Sandclaw where are you?"
Sandclaw sighed in disappointment "I'm up here, Fire, are you hurt?"
"No I landed on some soft- oh sweet Ancients."
"What? What is it?"
"Sandclaw," there was a strangled horror in Firedark's "It's a cat...I landed on a cat and I think he's dead."
"Oh Ancients," Sandclaw groaned "Alright, watch out, I'm coming down."
Biting his lip, Sandclaw leapt down into the darknes, narrowly missing Firedark as he landed.
"Where is it?"
Firedark shuffled aside, allowing Sandclaw to see the limp form.
"It's a young 'un," Firedark choked "And he's as cold as ice."
Sandclaw gently nuged the still cat's chest "He's breathing Firedark."
"He...he's alive?"
"Mm-hmm," Sandclaw nosed against the stranger's face "C'mon... C'mon, wake up..."
The cat whimpered softly and stirred, then his green eyes flickered open.
For a second he stared blankly at Sandclaw, then his pupils dilated and he shot up, breathing hard.
"Easy, easy," Sandclaw and Firedark backed away from the nervous tabby "We're not going to hurt you."
"Who...where... where am I?"
"Currently? You're down a ditch with the two of us," Firedark supplied helpfully.
"You're in Songclan territory, and, as Firedark said, a bit stuck," Sandclaw tilted his head to peer at the hole "Don't worry, it shouldn't be too tough to get out though."
"No, I can't."
"You can't? What, do you like it down here?"
"Firedark, just stop," Sandclaw was back to wishing that the warrior would disappear "Kit, what's wrong?"
"I am not a kit," the tabby snapped "And my paw's sprained. I can't jump."
"Great, well, have a nice winter."
"Firedark! If you don't stop, I am going to use your dead body as a stepping stool to get him out of here!"
"I'd like to see you try."
"Uh, if you guys are going to kill each other, I'm going to go over there."
Sandclaw sighed through his teeth "No, kit. We're going to get you out of here. Promise."
"My name is Graystorm and I am not a kit!" The young cat said, his voice raising with an edge "I want nothing to do with this Songclan if the pair of you are what it's like."
"No," Sandclaw growled "No. You don't understand....We don't get along, Songclan isn't... The only problem with Songclan is that we're too nice, we let in any lunkhead who wanders along."
"A-anyone?" Graystorm asked, in a much quieter voice "Anyone can walk in, no questions asked?"
"For the most part," Sandclaw frowned "Why? Suddenly interested in joining."
"I...it's just that...I don't have anywhere else to go."
"It's fine, Wildeyes'll let you stay as long as you want. If we can get you out of here, anyways."
"Yeah, how are we supposed to do that anyway?" Firedark asked, peering concernedly up at the hole.
"I'll get up and pull and you stay down and push," before Firedark had a chance to argue Sandclaw leapt out of the hole.
"Alright, Graystorm, now just-"
Firedark didn't wait to listen to Sandclaw's instructions and abruptly shoved his head beneath Graystorm's stomach, then boosted the squealing cat up on his broad shoulders.
"Stooop!"
Sandclaw lurched forwards and clamped his teeth onto the scruff of Graystorm's neck.
"Owowowowo. Ow. OW."
Graystorm collapsed in the snow, holding his front paw tucked against his chest.
"Coming up!" Firedark boomed as his bulk came heaving out of the darkness "Hey, what's wrong with him now?"
"His foot's hurt, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Can we go back now?"
"Of course. Graystorm, can you walk?"
"Uh...yeah, I'm fine," Graystorm hobbled forwards on three legs, barely able to push through the snow.
"Okay...Firedark, you lead the way."
"Really?"
Really? Did he not realize that Sandclaw wanted him in front to break through the snow and not for any other reason whatsoever.
"Yes, really, I'll stick with Graystorm and makes sure he can keep up."
"Thank you," Graystorm whispered as Sandclaw came to his side.
"No problem, kit."
Now that he was out in daylight, Sandclaw realized that the young cat was painfully thin and there was something...something about his demeanor that was familiar.
"You a city cat?"
"Yeah...How'd you know?"
"I'm one too. It leaves a mark."
Graystorm's ears tucked down miserably.
Finally, he thought he'd found somewhere no one would be able to see that he was different and at the last second have all hope of fitting in snatched away.
"Hey, don't worry, bunch of cats have straggled from the city, you won't stick out."
Graystorm smiled weakly "Thanks."