OakClan
Riverstripe - 82 moons - Tags:
The sound of Blizzardclaw's grief-stricken wail echoing from the medicine den made Riverstripe's ears shoot up, and he felt a chill run down his spine as he saw what he had most hoped he wouldn't: Beestar's limp, lifeless body, being carried by Blizzardclaw and Robinwind from her den to the center of camp. Riverstripe had to hold back a wail of his own. Though his infatuation with OakClan's leader had ended long ago, when he'd found true love with Elmshade, he had never stopped caring for her as a dear friend. Now, he found himself moving slowly towards his friend's body, each pawstep feeling heavier than the next, and stopped just a tail-length away. Beestar was surrounded by her grieving family--which Riverstripe was not a part of. Though he longed to push his muzzle into her fur, he suddenly felt unworthy. At a loss, he sat down, silently willing the patrol that Elmshade was on to come back soon.
Splashfeather - 64 moons - Tags: Jackdawflight
Splashfeather flicked her ears in acknowledgment of her mate's concerns. "EagleClan is a bit unpredictable right now," she admitted softly. Beestar and Southstar had both been generally peaceful leaders, but things had been far tenser ever since Streamstar became leader, and Splashfeather wasn't sure what was going to happen now that Beestar was gone. "But Streamstar should know better than to start something with us now. We could have easily taken advantage of EagleClan just a moon ago--they were so shocked and preoccupied after the scandal with Southstar, they would never have seen us coming. But Beestar chose not to. It would be a low blow for EagleClan to come after us now, at our weakest, when we showed respect and mercy to them at theirs."
Dustpetal - 51 moons - Tags: Falconwing
Dustpetal stuck like tree sap to Falconwing's side as Beestar's family gathered to mourn her. The OakClan leader's two sons had been Dustpetal's first real friends outside of her own family, and Beestar herself had always been kind and gentle toward Dustpetal, especially as an apprentice--something she'd so desperately needed at that time given her timid nature. Now, although still quiet, Dustpetal wasn't nearly as shy as she once was, and she knew she had many cats in her life to thank for that. Beestar was one of them. Say hello to Stormwhisker for me, she prayed silently. Though her heart now lay with Falconwing, she couldn't deny that it was his brother who had stolen her heart first--and broken it when he died.
Flamefur - 47 moons - Tags: Creamflower, Poppyspring
Flamefur cracked a small, bittersweet smile at the mention of his father, before his expression returned to a more somber one as Creamflower went on. He knew that Blizzardclaw wasn't the only one who had lost their love to death twice; he'd been told that Creamflower, too, had had a mate and kits before Sunflare, but that they all died. Moons later, she found love again with his father. But although Sunflare had passed, nearly all of Creamflower's kits were still living, save for two: Mistysky and Cloudfur, the latter of which had gone to live in EagleClan with her once-forbidden mate Sandstrike. Both had later succumbed to the same illness that took their father. Sunflare's heart ached again at the thought, but he had to remind himself that he, his mother, and his living siblings still had each other. "It will be hard for Blizzardclaw," he responded at last. "But at least he has his kits and grandkits. And Mistflower and her kits, too, even though they're in EagleClan." He had only ever seen Mistflower at gatherings, but he knew that she and Blizzardclaw were kin, and that they were quite close. And speaking of kin, it was right then that Flamefur spotted his older brother Poppyspring, looking quite numb and shocked, and raised his tail to get the older tom's attention.
Thymeshadow - 38 moons - Tags: Raccoontuft
Thymeshadow's eyes widened at the sight of Beestar's lifeless body. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone, given how sick the striped she-cat had been lately, and yet he still found it hard to believe. Although they weren't related by blood, Beestar had been his grandfather's mate and an important figure, perhaps a sort of mother figure to his own father, Weaselstripe. Thymeshadow often envied those who had close relationships with one another, but it was at times like these that he thought it might be better to never get close to anyone. He couldn't imagine the pain that those closest to Beestar were going through--and he didn't want to. Glancing around camp, he saw that Raccoontuft was sitting farther away from everyone else, and padded over to her. "If you want to pay your respects to Beestar, you might want to go over there soon, before those closest to her watch her vigil," he told her well-meaningly, nodding toward the crowd of cats around Beestar's body. He wasn't sure if Raccoontuft had ever been particularly close to the leader, but she was an older warrior and as such she was likely to be more expected to pay her respects. He glanced at Spottedthorn and Patchedheart from afar, and added, "Maybe let them know, too." The younger warriors seemed to be caught up in their own world.
Magpieflight - 37 moons - Tags: Elmshade, Bearsong, Roseleap
Magpieflight merely flicked his tail in response. He had never been a very sociable cat, except for when it suited him. And right now, the only thing that suited him was getting back to camp and finding out what was going on--because he knew something was going on. He could feel it in his whiskers. As they neared camp, scents of grief and shock hit his nose, but no fear-scent. And when they finally arrived, Magpieflight wasn't at all surprised by the sight that met their eyes: Cats huddled in a circle in the center of camp, around a body he couldn't yet see, but who he already knew belonged to. Beestar. It had finally happened.
EagleClan
Tigerblaze - 110 moons - Tags: Streamstar
Tigerblaze's tail flicked from side to side as he surveyed the camp. He had just sent Quiverheart to lead a dusk patrol, which she was assembling now, and the hunting patrols had already brought back plenty of prey that day. Greenleaf had been treating them well so far. But as the sky was beginning to darken, Tigerblaze couldn't help but feel as though something was off--change was on the wind. He could smell it, taste it. His eyes darted to the leader's den; that would be his den one day, but when? Flexing his claws, he finally rose and headed to said den, to see Streamstar. "Streamstar." The word was but a gruff grunt. "I'd like to discuss something with you."
Littleflower - 88 moons - Tags: Swiftbadger
"Oh, yes!" Littleflower remembered that place fondly. Oatleaf had shown it to them moons ago, and it had always been one of their favorite places to go when they just wanted to spend some time alone. "That sounds wonderful," she purred. "We haven't been there in a while." Things had been...tense in EagleClan as of late, to say the least, ever since the reveal of Southstar's affairs, when Streamstar had taken over and chosen Tigerblaze, the former OakClan warrior of all cats, as her deputy. Perhaps even more surprisingly, Mistflower had born the golden tom's kits. It was no secret that Mistflower was once an OakClan cat and had been mentored by Tigerblaze in the short time she'd spent there, but ever since her leaving for EagleClan, the two had been on bad terms. One could imagine her shock, then, when her friend announced she was carrying her former mentor's kits.
Nightwish - 67 moons - Tags:
Nightwish grabbed a plump vole from the fresh-kill pile and passed the medicine den, hoping to ask Daydream if he wanted to eat with her--but her ears flattened slightly when she saw that he was busy talking with Willowthorn. Medicine cat duties call, I suppose, she thought bitterly. Not a day went by when she wished that Daydream could retire from being a medicine cat, as his mentor Russetswirl had all those moons ago. He was about the same age that Russetswirl was when he retired too, if she remembered correctly, and Willowthorn was a fine medicine cat all on her own--even if she didn't want to be. Sighing, as she settled in a secluded part of the camp with her vole, she secretly wondered if StarClan had made any mistakes in choosing EagleClan's two medicine cats. Neither had wanted to walk the path they were on, so why had they been chosen for it? As far as she knew, Robinwind of OakClan had always been content with his position as a medicine cat. Perhaps EagleClan is just destined to be miserable, she thought. Ever since the scandal surrounding Southstar and his kits, herself included, EagleClan had never felt the same, especially under Streamstar's leadership. She had once respected the smoky gray she-cat when she was deputy, but now she felt hated by her, as did much of Southstar's kin. It's not like we asked him to father us, she thought bitterly, tearing chunks out of her vole.
Darkclaw - 61 moons - Tags:
Darkclaw was grooming himself in one of the last few sunny spots of camp. He had been sharing tongues with Quiverheart, up until Tigerblaze had sent her on dusk patrol. He paused mid-lick to cast a glance at the deputy now, who seemed to be lost in thought as he watched the camp and flexed his claws before heading into Streamstar's den. Darkclaw flattened one ear. He knew that Tigerblaze had mentored Jackdawflight, a good friend of his from OakClan, and that the jet-black tom had looked up to him quite a bit--but Darklaw couldn't understand for the life of him why. Tigerblaze was a powerful warrior, yes, but there was something...off, about him, and he had disliked him from the moment he waltzed into EagleClan as deputy. It was no surprise, then, that there was also something terribly off about the deputy's only son, Creekbelly, who Darkclaw tended to avoid. Leopardtooth was the only one of Tigerblaze's and Mistflower's litter that Darkclaw somewhat got along with, but that was admittedly most likely because he had mentored her.
Embercloud - 47 moons - Tags: Liongrowl, Larkpaw, Foxfeather
"That bird is even bigger than the one I caught the other day! And I caught a pretty big one." Embercloud winked at Larkpaw. "Good work." Turning his gaze back to Liongrowl, he nodded. "Meet you there." With a wave of his tail to the duo, he turned and headed toward the border with OakClan. The cool evening breeze rustled his short tortoiseshell fur, and he quickened his pace, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his face as he trotted through the undergrowth. He finally slowed to a stop when he came to the stream, and lowered his head to lap up a few drops. But his ears pricked at the sound of a she-cat's voice nearby, and he looked up suddenly to see a pretty calico on the other side of the stream, staring up at the stars with a look of sadness in her eyes, and murmuring some words Embercloud couldn't quite hear. He froze, feeling as if he had just witnessed something he wasn't supposed to, but decided that since he was already there and the she-cat was likely to notice him if he moved, he might as well make the most of it. "Hello," he meowed casually from across the stream. "Foxfeather, right?" He had recognized her from previous gatherings. "You, uh...you okay over there?"
Mallowfang - 40 moons - Tags: Redflame
Mallowfang was just heading out of camp when she bumped into Redflame, who was heading back in. "Oof--Oh, sorry, handsome," she purred, sounding more flirtatious than apologetic. "Didn't see you there. What were you up to? Doesn't look like you've been hunting." She nodded at the tom's empty jaws. She herself wasn't exactly planning on hunting--the patrols that day had brought back more than enough prey--but like many of her Clanmates lately, she needed some time away from camp, although perhaps for different reasons.
Specklefeather - 40 moons - Tags: Pigeonheather
Specklefeather's stomach growled as cats began to file back into camp, their jaws full of prey, and she suddenly realized how hungry she was. She grabbed a water vole from the fresh-kill pile, but hardly ever one to finish prey by herself, she glanced around for someone to share it with, and spotted Pigeonheather from afar, looking like he was in his own world. Making her way over to him, she set the vole down at his paws and mewed a greeting. "Hey, Pigeonheather. Want to share this with me?"
Windstorm - 30 moons - Tags: Rainwhisker, Newtclaw
Windstorm followed her friend's gaze to Newtclaw, who was eying them curiously as he ate his food at the far side of camp, and let out a sigh. It wasn't that she disliked the tom, but did he have to tag along with them nearly every time they went out? Sometimes she just wanted to be alone with her friend. But when she remembered how hard the deaths of Mintbriar, Stagleap, and Messfur had hit Newtclaw, she always felt bad for him and could never find it in herself to say no. "I suppose that's fine," she muttered. "Hey, Newtclaw!" she called to him, waving her tail in the air. "You want to come along?"
Ambereyes - 20 moons - Tags: Vanillasplit, Frozenkit
Ambereyes had just returned from hunting by herself, and the first thing she did when she got back to camp was bring a fat thrush straight to the nursery. Setting it on the ground inside, she mewed a greeting to Vanillasplit and her kit. "Evening, you two. Are you hungry at all?" She nosed the thrush. "I just caught this on my way back, so it's quite fresh."
Doestep - 17 moons - Tags: Brightpebble, Quiverheart, Mistflower
"Great! Let's go, then!" With a skip still in her step, Doestep made her way to the camp entrance, where her mother and Mistflower would be waiting. "I bet you I catch the most prey--again," she challenged Brightpebble with a mischievous wink. Doestep had a tendency of turning every mundane task into a game, a challenge, or a mission. To her, hunting patrols were just an opportunity to see who was the best hunter, who could catch the most and the best prey.
Mosspath - 17 moons - Tags: Thunderstrike, Blossombreeze
Like his siblings, Mosspath had been sunbathing in a separate part of camp, soaking in the last of the day's warmth, when he overheard them conversing about how eventful their days had been...or uneventful, as he thought. Rising to his paws, he decided to join the conversation and strode over to them. "Boooriiing," he interrupted with a yawn. "Seriously, do you guys ever talk about doing anything that's actually exciting? Hunting...patrolling...marking borders...what's so great about that? We do that stuff every day. Sure, it was exciting when we were new apprentices, sort of. But we're warriors now! We can do whatever we want! And guess what?" He narrowed his eyes mischievously. "We don't need to ask anyone for permission to do it." Mosspath had always been this way, ever since they were kits. He never meant to be rude to his siblings; with their parents gone, Blossombreeze and Thunderstrike were the closest cats to him. But, he had to admit, he wished they were a bit more...adventurous, daring, like he was. Rules were made to be broken after all. "So, what do you guys really wanna do? You know, without asking Tigerblaze or Streamstar."
Creekbelly - 14 moons - Tags:
Creekbelly had returned to camp just a moment after his sister did, although where he had been wasn't clear; if he had been hunting, he hadn't succeeded, as he brought no prey back. He watched as Leopardtooth deposited her own prey on the fresh-kill pile, and judged from her gaze into the leader's den that she was waiting for someone to come out--either Streamstar, or their father. Narrowing his eyes, Creekbelly stalked towards Leopardtooth, barely making a sound until he was right behind her. "What are you waiting for?" he asked when he was less than a mouse-length away, his tone low and suspicious.
