Username +id: ivyy. 998449
Clan Link: saguaroclanPrompt #: kit-7 & 8
Kitten/Apprentice growing:
butterflykitPrompt: [8]
Wind whispered over the desert, promising another chilly night out in SaguaroClan's desert. Luckily, tucked safely away in the crater-camp, winter rarely affected the Clan, especially not the small pair of kittens tucked away at their mother's side. Butterfly, Beetle, and little Caterpillar were buried in the flank of their parent. The whispering breeze that stirred the still sand had lulled the other two siblings to sleep; however, one remained wide-eyed and fearful. Bright specks among the vast sky lit the world around them, even though the sun stayed below the horizon until dawn. Fearfully, Butterflykit nudged her father gently, the older tom lay next to his litter with his head gazing outside of the den into the shadows of camp and the scattered spots of light that the stars gifted.
"Father?"
Her small whisper was barely heard, and the ginger-and-white tom flicked his ear to express that he heard her. Tilting his head towards the small striped kitten, he blinked slowly at her, sleepiness edging his gaze. "What are you doing up, my darling?" His voice was as soft as honey, but held a sort of wisdom to it that Butterflykit could hardly comprehend. "Why is the sky sparkling?" Crawling away from the warm sides of her brother and sister, she dragged herself between Orionspiral's front paws, curling against his soft, short chest fur. He blinked at her once, then twice, pursing his lips as he prepared a thoughtful answer. Clearing his throat gently, he pulled his daughter closer to keep her warm.
"The stars are SaguaroClan's guide, yours and mine. The Gods and Goddess guard them closely- they matter more than anything, in fact, their glow was a gift from a fellow named Plato-" A rough cough stirred from his maw, interrupting him. Her siblings stirred slightly beside him before settling once more. "I'm sorry, dear, I should tell you in the morning, okay?" Disappointed but tired, Butterflykit nodded gently and closed her eyes, soon to be dreaming of leaping comets and stars that never cease to shine.
[7]
"No no no..."
Above the campgrounds, the moon shone brightly, round and regal in all its glory. Winter had properly set in now, nights were colder and harsher, but days were still warm and inviting. Butterflykit wouldn't know how the warm sand would feel underpaw for at least another two moons, SaguaroClan would apprentice her alongside her surviving sister, Beetlekit. Caterpillarkit didn't make it long enough to see how big his sisters had grown, finally filling ambitious paws. As the last of the winter chill spiked the blanketed desert, a medicine cat paced back and forth from her herb stores, coughing, filling the hollow cave she knew to be her den and an isolation point for sickly cats.
Since the start of winter, it had been full to the brim with rasping she-cats and aching toms, their leader had lost all his lives to the illness the Gods had plagued SaguaroClan with. Beetlekit shifted nervously beside her, shivers racking her terrified body. Butterflykit couldn't help but feel the same way- their parents were in the den, hacking, one of the last survivors of the terrible sickness. Laurelcrown was skin and bones, having spent weeks treating the ill and ailing- nothing could save them, though, each and every one of the cats who had fallen ill joined the stars' ranks and became constituents of Evergreen. Agavestar sat solemnly murmuring in a group of the few cats who remained healthy, Dingomane had his gaze glued to his paws, and Oasishaze blinked away fear, hardening her expression to a familiar seriousness she carried like a crown.
Laurelcrown staggered out of the den, her cheekbones narrowly shadowed against her muzzle, her eyes shaded by a desperate veil of sadness and guilt. Butterflykit stood from her sister's side and rushed to greet the medicine cat, a hopeful, short tail lifted as she clung to the last bits of hope that her first winter wouldn't be her parents' last. The empty eyes of the thin medicine cat said all she needed to know- Cranewing and Verdantgleam were dead. A wail erupted from her throat as she crumbled to the floor- several shapes crowded around her, including her sister who laid over her, sobbing so aggressively her chest heaved. Cats murmured encouragements and apologies and shadowed them but she had felt none of it. Mother and father were dead.
Although no snow covered the empty, rolling dunes, it felt as though her heart and mind froze over.
Prompt #: kit-6 & 5
Kitten/Apprentice growing:
beetlekitPrompt: [6]
"Tell me how to be a bird!"
Demanding, a gray and white she-kit stood defiantly at the paws of her mother, a grin plastered on her round, kitten features. Cheek and tail fur spiked in excitement, a surprised
Ravenflick blinked to clear her prior thoughts. "What?" She asked, confused but entertained by the ball of spikey fur. Stamping a paw confidently, Beetlekit asked again. "You're
named after a bird so tell me how to be a bird!" She spoke excitedly, seemingly having dwelled over this for a good minute. Ravenflick shook her head in amusement and sat, indulging the little creature in her fantasies of growing feathers and wings.
"Well, it's awfully simple! I'm surprised you haven't figured it out for yourself." Ravenflick hurried to weave a story for the little she-kit as she stared at her with wide, curious eyes. "No, I haven't but Mom says I can be one if I
really really want to! She says the Gods and Goddesses may let me if I live my life to the fullest and treat every living being with respect!" Her voice mimicked that of her mother, stoic and stern as she repeated her inspiring teachings to Ravenflick. "Hmm, well, if you want to become a bird faster, try finding a feather and having Caterpillarkit or Butterflykit wave it at you. That's what I did for my little brother when he asked to be a bird!" Nodding eagerly, Ravenflick was barely able to finish her sentence before the tiny ball of energy tore off to the nursery to find her siblings.
[5]
Sorrow edged her gaze, and grief shadowed her every move, gaunt bones nearly pierced through her fragile skin. They turned seven moons old today. Butterflykit didn't even know that, did she? Now, hunched in a corner of the medicine den, she was barely a living, breathing creature, more of a husk of what sweet, inquisitive, and spiritual kit she had been before the deaths of their parents. Beetlekit held a small flower in her maw, smelling weakly of pollen and dry, desert peat. "Butterflykit? I... I brought you something. I thought maybe the smell of it would make you feel better." The silence was deafening. Although she had taken the death very hard, her sister had been refusing to eat and barely drank, only enough to stay alive. Beetlekit refused to let her sister succumb to a similar, cruel death that had taken her mother, father, and little brother. "Please. Please, Butterflykit." Taking a few steps closer, she walked over to her sister and sat by her side, facing the sandstone walls of the medic's cave.
Brushing against her ginger fur started her awake from what seemed to be a strange trance, "Beetlekit?" Her once silky, soft voice so full of hope and life had turned raspy and hollow- nothing in comparison to what had been. "Yes, yes, it's me, Butterflykit. See? I'm still..." Her voice trailed off, "I'm still here. For you. Please, come eat something, you're hurting yourself like this." Eyes drained of her previous joy, she searched her gray sibling's gaze with no clear intent. "Not until mother and father return. I want the Gods to give them back." A sharp dagger of grief pierced her heart. There was no way she could fulfill her sister's wish but... maybe, just maybe there
was something she could do. Jumping in excitement, Beetlekit dashed out of the medicine cat, mewing over her shoulder to stay put.
Only a few moment rolled past before she returned, nearly crashing into the wall Butterflykit had stayed blankly staring at. A colorful hawk feather was grasped carefully in her maw, teeth clamped on the hollow, white stick-like edge of it.
"I commend you to become a bird!"
