✦ Stars Catvent 2022

[Vivika]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: vivika + 966947
↬ clan archive: azeryn

↬ word count: 355 words
↬ prompt:
the legends were forbidden.

and perhaps… forgotten. too few could rehearse the legends from heart and even fewer could bring them to life in the aura of dancing flames. the gift of storytellers had gone dormant. lost. as history was rewritten, hope forgotten and a new hell rose upon a crumbling empire.

she knelt down next to the hearth, the brilliant azure of the flames gently flickering, warming her cheeks. and in the flicker, the twist and turn, of the flames, she could envision it all.

a timeline. stretching from past to present to future. the string of events knotted like translucent, silver threads, worlds of possibilities shimmering in prismatic hues. thousands of strands pulsed, gleaming with possibilities, glowing as brilliant as the morning star.

but there used to be more.

there used to be more possibilities that ended in their favor. more shimmering threads with gentle promises. but those threads had turned dark. obsidian and inky… from a generation who didn’t know their history. who couldn’t know their history.

she shook her head, her paws nimble against the parchment, scrawling out symbols and letters. forbidden, treasonous words. an impossible battle turned possible on the cliffs. a legend of sword and shields sealed by an unshakable bond bound by something deeper than blood. a love story forged past misunderstandings and heartaches. the history of the lunes - their lifeblood and energy source.

her paws ached as she jotted the last words down, gently tying it off a strip of twine and offering it to a little songbird. through the bars of her home, she offered it a small nod.

she’d never be able to tell those stories ━ never see those shining eyes, nor hear those soft gasps or hold the attention of those little ones. not even for an instant. but perhaps… perhaps someone would rediscover them.

perhaps someone would discover her last attempt at rebellion. her last attempt, her last hope, her last dream. perhaps someone would find it and cherish it and nurture it. someone who’d tell it around a campfire, rekindling those legends.

someone who’d have the courage she never did.

[Plushbunny]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: Plushbunny + 858001
↬ clan archive: BlizzardClan

↬ word count: 167 words
↬ prompt: They tell the story of the great battle that happened long ago (approximately 18 years ago, but they don't know that, it's been lost to time). The fierce battle of cat against demon, and the unfortunate ending: magical cats putting all their power together, banishing the demons to the dark forest forever... at the cost of the "ancient" clans completely falling apart. Some cats, especially Dreamstrider, seem to have a lot of information regarding the event. These cats share their knowledge together and others pitch in with their ideas of what they think must have happened. there are lots of gaps, and who knows how accurate it really is, but stories are a clan tradition and a great way to spend the winter time you're stuck inside a den. Or around a campfire, in this case.
unknown to any other cats, Winterbourne sits a distance away, listening. He was there when it happened. He has seen it all, and one day he will tell them the truth.

[strawberrymwilk]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: strawberrymwilk + 793492
↬ clan archive: eclipsed night

↬ word count: art
↬ prompt:

[Adamented]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: Adamented + 670829
↬ clan archive: [x] Gladewood

↬ word count: 731 words
↬ prompt:
Harja and Leijona sit curled up near each other close to the gentle, fading light of campfire. It's sooty scent is for some, young and bright eyed Wanderers, a pleasant reminder of this time of year when the Wanderers gather in the abandoned barn far south in the glade from its sharp freezing winds but for most a gruesome and horrific reminder of the loss of their home.

It's a fair question to wonder why the Gladewood Wanderers never settled into another camp, especially when they spend so many of their harsh, unforgiving leafbares in the shelter of this old faded barn. It was never really a decision made with careful deliberation but a survival tactic adopted by the whole group to avoid the sorrow of a lost home for the young of those that had to flee their smoldering Gladewood Grove, complaining novices and kittens would never understand the pain and sorrow and its a story never told because of the memories it still carries so vividly for many who lost more than just a cozy and safe den.

Instead, this time of year Harja looks up to Leijona as she begins the annual tale of when the Wanderers first discovered the old barn. So few of them remained, drawn to their home they'd hovered in the north close, but not too close, to the still smoldering remains of camp. However, they couldn't stay forever and one by one, shrouded in silence they began to follow the wordless steps of their leading Guidinglights who knew it was time to move on. The cold chased them further and further south until the frost moved further than they could make it in one day of nonstop travel. Exhausted, eight scouts were sent out while the rest of the Wanderers rested underneath the sparse remaining canopy.

They story varies depending on how old the novices are, but this year the youngest in the group are Harja and Leijona's own litter and by the way she tiptoes towards this part of the story he can tell she's decided that they are old enough to hear the whole story. She tells them about how the eight never return, her heart and her tenor sinking when she tells them about how five were found, one at a time, succumbed to cold. Succumbed to thirst. Succumbed to hunger. Attacked by a predator, slowed by the snow. Caught in a trap, hidden in a snow bank.

It was such a sorrowful winter, to find their strongest, fastest, and best left done in by the cold was devastating. However, the important part of the story wasn't only to remember and pay homage to those lost, but also to recall how they were saved.

A low burning fire, much like this one, sparked in the distance as three lone figures regrouped, cold, thirsty, and hungry, looking for comfort in one another. They all saw a fence post in the distance, half fallen and sought it for respite from the snowfall coming down even more dense with every passing moment. Their keen trained eyes caught one another and knew that their meeting again couldn't be mere coincidence, immediately they searched for a sign. Anything. Any reason they somehow knew to come here. In the distance as they followed the fence posts with their eyes into the horizon, a sigh of relief and gasp of elation left each of them to see a dim spark shining from beyond a worn red structure.

Some would be lost still to the cold in the days it took the last three to make it back to the group, who had been moving in their direction following the paths of the other scouts that passed, but eventually they all found shelter in the barn and were able to get through until the last frost faded from dry, dead grass.

Harja can tell they don't all understand the true breadth of this story, but they all for a moment share in the sorrow he felt when they found that first body, and even deeper when they found the third. That lithe body of pale fur much like his own, possessing none of the strength Harja had known him to hold. He doesn't tell them the significance of that individual and Leijona doesn't hint at it. He was one of five who almost deserved to be remembered today.

[nindroidzane]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: nindroidzane + 996925
↬ clan archive: frostclan

↬ word count: 72 words
↬ prompt:

most of the stories are ghost stories, but only because most of the stories are coming from huckleberry. does he love retelling the same stories dozens of times? yes. is scaring all the apprentices a fun bonus? also yes.

hardly anybody notices that littlepaw and minkpaw are an entirely different kind of uncomfortable. moon does, of course - she's been keeping an eye on those two. she'll figure out what they're hiding, eventually.

[faelyn]

↬ catvent day: 4

↬ username & id: faelyn #967122
↬ clan archive: faerie <3

↬ word count: #520 words!
↬ prompt: // featuring eli + his pirate crew

beyond shores of secrets and stardust… and far from the weeping willow tree with a little ruined sock, the prince of the seas wandered upon the rocking cradle upon the seas. a whimsical ship falling apart at the hull with newly placed nails placed into the splintering decks. a reminder of her.

fir she was still forever present in his mind.
a fairytale princess adorned with lilies and wilting thorns, whose curls unfurled in auburn waves as her laughter came ever-so enchantingly. she was his muse. the one he would daydream of til the end of his days.

even now… even as they were separated by the handiwork of the seas and the sirens.
it was like she was still next to him, her lilting murmurs a melody that he would be willing to listen to for an eternity to come.

“hey, eli? you done daydreamin’?” a raspy songbird’s bark, a little ways ahead of him, fierce gold eyes had caught his. such a spellbinding gaze that glistened with the aura of a lioness trailing her prey. “the crew is ready to start the fireplace… it’s freezing!”

like a strand of carmine rubies, gordo’s tail lashed, eyes still squinted and as usual… unimpressed and like a piroutting planet, they rolled.

“coming.”

and below the deck… the crew awaited.
captain edric.
ro.
evie.

all of them around a blossom of scarlet and rust, like a fire lily as the flame flourish from the confines of it’s cage. a prison like the ship and the sea were as the days ticked by without… her.

“the big guy is daydreamin’ again… must have parrots in his brains again.” letting out an exasperated snort, the tickle of robin tresses brushed against his shoulder as gordo head-butted him, his petite and slight frame softening the blow like a dainty zephyr. “what’s goin’ on in that brain, daydream boy?”

“nothing.”

“you’ve been a little homesick lately.” a lark’s lilit in the hush, evie piped up, her words seemingly delicate. “it might help to share what you are thinking about.”

eli grunted. “no.”

those lioness eyes rolled once more. “ah… he’s being macho again.” a little paw batted his face as gordo jabbed at him once more. “aren’t ya?

“i am not.”

“then, it doesn’t hurt to share.” daffodil eyes fluttered to his as evie’s head tilted… curious. “it’s been awhile since you’ve last told a story!”

and from there… a fairytale unravelled. the gauzy veil that had once been draped ever-so enchantingly had been pushed past to reveal the rosy rawness that lay behind those silk walls.

a fairytale of the muse of his heart. of a withered lily that had blossomed beneath the salty tears of the angels. of a princess dancing beneath a weeping willow tree. a princess who had taken his heart of glass, fathomed of the essence of fragility and weakness - capturing its rosy beat and intertwining the aura of her own broken songbird heart along with it. planting soft and delicate kisses upon every broken edge, with the promise of forever and happily-ever-afters.

and her name… her name was sandcloud.

[dragoness129]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: dragoness129 + 3218
↬ clan archive: Here

↬ word count: n/a
↬ prompt: Jayce around the camp fire. All alone until he finds more clan mates.

[galaxyy.]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: galaxyy. + 803669
↬ clan archive: jadeclan

↬ word count: 125 words
↬ prompt: blazing warmth, phoenix rising. the hearth danced in a fiery tango of glitz and glamor, an eye-catching performance for those gathered around it, yet overlooked in the face of the story being told. the sky had lost any semblance of light, completing the perfect atmosphere for such an evening.

a tale of a spectral being, banished from the land of the living. rather than haunt and mourn this loss of life, this spirit wandered the astral plane, floating, drifting, lacking ties to emotional antiquity.

found.

a shade finds the light, a being of pure radiance. no corruption, no darkness.

bestowed upon this cat, a gift of transience. a mere relic of what once was and what will be. a gift of mirth and merriment.

[Deercan]

↬ catvent day: four

↬ username & id: Deercan | 776756
↬ clan archive: Forum/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=4723570

↬ word count: 455 words
↬ prompt: Upon chilly winter grounds lay not only a light snowfall, as many fuzzy little warm bodies huddled up next to each other, the sight like a colourful quilt. The heat of the crackling fire and the warmth of each other kept the cats cozy on this night as they enjoyed stories by the small contained fire. Although the cats of the round table kept themselves protected from the cold winds behind their castle walls, tonight the railrunners came out of their dens to share precious memories together.

The soft mew came from a sleepy but curious kitten, huddled under their mama like a little chick would be found with a hen. "How do we have fire?" It asked, for the kitten was young and had never seen the sight before.

It was Dewdrop who returned with the answer, a gentle smile that shone in her eyes as if they were sparkling like the moon on fresh snow. "The cats that run the rails are the bravest you've ever met," she explained, "but we are also the most creative of all the paws in the universe, young runner. Many moons ago came the shimmering scales of the first dragon, and with it the gift of fire not long after. There had been many cats who tried to defeat the creature, out of fear or in search of a false pride. They viewed the dragon as something to be defeated, and it was this that left them gone as a whisper and as far as one may get from success in their plans."

She paused, smiling to herself at the wide blue eyes of the kitten who was drinking in her story like it was sweet river water. "It is not brute force or faerie trickery that wins against a dragon, but an understanding of a fellow creature. For it was then, after moons of failure from others, came a cat who had been running after the dragon since it had arrived. Their speed and determination impressed the beast, and the dragon invited the cat for but a simple chat."

"The cats family had been cold in the winter months, and they had been searching for the dragons fire to keep them warm, in return they offered the dragon a place alongside them, and a chance for the two animals to learn from each other and share their wisdom. The dragon agreed, under one circumstance.. the cat best them in a race home."

"And did they win?" The kitten pleaded for the answer.

Dewdrop purred. "Yes, for that cat was the first railrunner. That's how we have the gift of fire, dear, for the dragons lend it to us and in return we keep our special promise."

[faelyn]

your responses were all so diverse + interesting!! it was lovely to read through your lore <33

Catvent Day Four Results:
↬ the following users (below) have earned +100 stardust!


0zero0
archaeopteryx.
arrikanez
deercan
dragoness129
feather '
fleurs
griff
littleminicooper
nindroidzane
tomura
tula!
unohdettu.lupaus
vivika

↬ the following users (below) have earned +1 uncommon edit!


coffee.berry
craig?
dascanadiansparkle
faelyn
galaxyy.
grimmratt
kroger
lili041
plushbunny
strawberrymwilk
whovian5eva

↬ the following users (below) have earned +1 rare edit!


adamented
jay.
skywardthedragon

↬ the following users (below) have earned +1 shooting star (rare edit autopass in nursery)!


sunny-skies
thani

if you aren't on any of these lists and posted a response before rollover, please contact vivika (on cs/discord) as soon as you can! <3