- ▬▬▬(ＶＡＮＩＬＬＡＳＴＡＲ)
(( forty-five moons • tom • h. leader • h. alleyway • tagged;; pebblesky, mousestep, frostcloud mention;; sunpaw, beetlestar
- The comfort of Pebblesky did little to soothe his aching heart and body. His feathery tail swayed lazily across the dirty gravel, picking up loose rubble in the process. It felt like the end of days. The end of existence. He bit those feelings back, not daring to give off his worry for their failure in survival.
He blinked his dry eyes. Vanillastar was prepared for a variety of things but what cat could have polished him up on home destruction? Their plentiful heaths were being renovated for two-legs in exchange for nothing but the clan cats tears. He sighed, trying to let Pebblesky’s words settle him. Regrettably, settle him they did not. His swaying tail picked up in speed, jittering in agitation.
A new fire burned inside his belly as Pebblesky rose a solution of her own, stirring Vanillastar’s own grievances further. His claws gripped the rigid ground in poor attempt to control his anger. He thought carefully before letting out strained words.
"Go to Mapleclan you say?" He swallowed back the growl climbing his throat.
Vanillastar licked his maw, whipping his head away from Pebblesky. His cold face began to grow feverish. Vanillastar let his claws sheath and rested his paws under him. He kept his gaze off of Pebblesky for a dawn out moment. He contemplated her words.
His ears began to stray from their focus however as they picked up on Sunpaw’s lament. He huffed out of his nose. Sulking? Sulking indeed. Vanillastar shook his dirty pelt of its water. The other pointed cat was right about their inaction. He pulled his gaze back up to his deputy.
"Then go." He rose to his paws as Finchstep padded over to them, concern written clear in the molly’s eyes. "Bring your choice of warriors and don’t come back until Mapleclan is in tow. When they do come, I shall announce to the clan our actions of partial merger. We have no room for disagreement after all right now."
He finished his orders with a flick of his ear, dismissing the molly before Finchstep could interact. The cream faced tom watched as Finchstep began to unravel before him. He wrinkled his nose, mind feeling heavy from all the problems laid before his paws. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his foggy head.
"Yes, the twoleg’s have made survival difficult here. I wonder how even they survive." He snorted in disdain for their concrete structures. But I have noted tiny fields we came through during our escape. He drew his mind back to the gardens fenced around twoleg nest. Some contained kittypets and others dogs. Sometimes even both. Strange.
He pawed at the ground, calculating the risk of those fields. If those canines tolerated feline companions then they might turn a cheek to them as well. He shook that thought away. Too dangerous. It was smarter to find one with no living creatures in it. There was the option of backtracking even more to the last few strips of field of Mapleclan that bordered their forest and the twoleg’s homes’. Perhaps that was also too risky. No cat knew how far those monsters had progressed. Not to mention he knew not of what was there save all the burnet that smacked him in the face as he ran. He would have to consult Beetlestar on that if the stocky tom ever showed. "We could investigate those fields and cautiously he put emphasis on cautiously," Heathclan needed no more limp bodies. "Test out the small strip of field on the outskirts of Mapleclan territory. Pebblesky will be trying to get Beetlestar to agree to join us in our quest to survive. He could tell us what is there. But we must wait until morning to take action. I want everyone," his mind wandered to Mapleclan. "With us."
Vanillastar’s eyes rolled over his clan once more, spotting his sister in the midst of them. He blinked longingly. He had many roles to plan. A brother was one of them. He wanted his litter mate near more than anything right now. Vanillastar supposed he could steal a few moments of peace with her. "Come Finchstep," he briskly walked over to Frostcloud. "Find some rest with my sister as we wait for Pebblesky’s return."
- ▬▬▬(ＣＬＡＹＦＵＲ)
(( thirty-six moons • tom • m. warrior • m. alleyway • tagged;; rowanstep, mousestep, stagleap, owlpaw
- Surprise rattled his spine, causing his fur to spike up. He hadn’t expected Mousestep to come discipline him. He looked at her with apprehension tensing his body. He wanted to fight against her reasonings. Prove her wrong in all her words. However, Clayfur’s jaws never moved.
He knew the medicine cat was clearly correct. None of his idealistic dreams could compare to her practical thoughts. There was quite literally nothing for Mapleclan to go back to. Only destruction and sorrow for the rubbish their homes had become.
His ears flattened at the thought of a new home. He despised the truth in it. They must move on to find new territory but Clayfur felt unwilling. He only had one home. He belonged to the Maples. He belonged to the fallen leaves. To the tree branches.
The sting of realism only hurt further as Stagleap concluded Mousestep’s talk with an agreeing nod.
"I guess," He mumbled, taking his head away from Mousestep’s fur. He was growing restless sitting around doing nothing but collecting dirt in their pelts. He rolled his eyes playfully as Owlpaw overheard their conversation and raised the suspicion they planned to home here.
"Over my dead body!" He chuckled, pawing gently at the apprentice. His ears perked as Rowanstep and Stagleap began discussing journeying out, Mousestep jumping in with smart opinions. "I think Stagleap is right as well. Groups are better. We should definitely consult Beetlestar first as Mousestep has said." he meowed "I don’t think he’d be too happy if everyone ran off randomly." He began to scratch at his mass of fur when Rowanstep dismissed himself from the group. He nodded at the departure of his friend.
- ▬▬▬(ＳＣＯＲＣＨＥＤＰＡＷ)
(( eight moons• molly • h. apprentice • h. alleyway • tagged;; otterpaw, creekpaw mentions;; hawkfeather
- Happiness started to find its way to her once more. Despite the devastation the clan had faced, she tried to endure and make the most out of the nothingness. Feeling Otterpaw’s wet presence near her and Creekpaw brought her joy. There we all here together after all, safe from the terrors of yesterday.
She slowly clawed the air near Otterpaw. "Ew, no one wants your wet pelt ruining this." She rose to her back legs, swatting playfully at Otterpaws face. She came back down to all fours, bunching herself up in preparation to launch at the older apprentice. Scorchedpaw’s assault was stopped short by Creekpaw’s words. The tiny molly untensed her muscles, sitting upright once more.
She glanced at the sky in thought. Maybe they could ask their mentors about training them? Scorchedpaw grimaced at that thought, glancing at Hawkfeather. Training was the last thing she wanted to do. She was wet, cold and most importantly, hungry. A new idea popped into her head.
"We should ask our mentors to take us to look for food tomorrow." She suggested. "I mean, have we ever gotten to explore a twoleg’s place?" She twitched her whiskers, amused by the idea of adventurous exploration. Curiosity was starting to consume her. What could possibly be hiding in the shadows of the twoleg’s home? Sscorchedpaw had never met a cat that had journeyed through the maze of the city. "In the meantime, however," Scorchedpaw bent down once more. "I will quell your dying need to do something." With that, she changed her idea of attacking Otterpaw to attacking Creekpaw. She leap at him, wrapping her paws around him. She bit lightly into his fur before pulling back, spatting out loose fur and dirt. "Yuck do you groom yourself?" She eyed him despite being filthy herself.
