✦ Stars Catvent 2022

[Tomura]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: Tomura + 260167
↬ clan archive: ThistleClan

↬ word count: 1,271 words
↬ prompt: Achoo!

Willowheart let out a groan, rolling over. She could not manage to fall asleep no matter how hard she tried -- every single time she got close to dozing off, she'd either sneeze, or cough, or she'd swallow and become painfully aware of her sore throat. Sighing quietly, she tried once again to sleep...

Cough!

She suddenly broke into a coughing fit, and buried her face into her bedding in order to muffle the sounds. She knew she'd probably wake her Clanmates up with her loud coughing, but she really didn't want to bother the medicine cat Frederick, since the two of them weren't really close enough for her to trust him. When the coughing didn't subside, she reluctantly rose to her paws, slowly leaving her den and making her way towards the camp entrance. Maybe some fresh air will help...

Just when she was about to leave, a voice called out to her. "Willowheart? Where are you going in your condition?"

Willowheart turned to see Frederick standing by the medicine den, his head tilted in confusion. His hat was a little crooked, as if he'd hurriedly put it on and rushed outside. She glanced at the camp entrance and then back to him. "Well, I'm feeling a bit... achoo!" He snorted, but didn't say anything as she continued, "I'm just a bit congested, I'll be back soon."

"If you leave, I'm telling Thistlestar," he threatened, though his tone was lighthearted. "And I'll tell him that you snuck off to meet some old friends a few nights ago, too..."

"How'd you know about tha- ahh cough cough," she began, breaking into another coughing fit before she could finish.

"You're not as quiet as you think you are!" He purred. "Oh, and your friends also stopped by to say hello after you'd gone to sleep, since I was awake at the time." Before she could respond, he said, "Anyway, come into the medicine den -- I bet your throat is pretty sore from all that coughing."

She glanced once again at the entrance, then back at the medicine cat. She tried to tell him she was okay, but only managed a weak cough in response. Defeated, she followed him into the medicine den; she'd been there a couple of times before, but this time was different -- she couldn't smell any of the various herbs that Fred had collected over his time in the Clan. She almost missed the scents, though they could be a bit overwhelming sometimes.

Frederick motioned for Willowheart to sit down, and she obeyed, unable to really protest in her condition. He dug through various medicines, eventually pulling out a couple of different items and dropping them in front of her. "Okay, lick some of the honey first, it should soothe your throat. I also have some nice House- uhh, Twoleg knowledge to share, I can make some 'tea', which will help a lot, too."

The she-cat nodded, bending down and licking the honey up. Instantly her throat felt much better. "Thank you, Frederick," she meowed, through her voice was raspy.

"No problem. Oh, and make sure you eat this too. Don't worry about what's in it, and hold your breath. It might be gross." He pushed a bundle of herbs towards her, and she scrunched up her nose despite not smelling it. If he was warning her... With a deep breath, she held her breath and gulped up the herbs. She could taste it very faintly, and it actually tasted kind of good. She gave him a weird look, as if asking him a silent question. He only laughed. So he knew it wouldn't taste bad.

"Okay, you stay right there, I'll get some tea brewing," he said. The ex-Kittypet fumbled around with some sticks and leaves for a couple of minutes, and suddenly the den was brightly lit with flickering orange flames. She flinched back, a bit worried, but the fire seemed confined to a small area. She actually remembered seeing something like this at one point -- there were a bunch of Twolegs sitting around one of these, except theirs looked more refined and less... sloppy.

Then he got an odd, shinny gray rock, scooped some water into it, and balanced it on top of a contraption he'd built atop the fire. Upon seeing her confused look, he grinned at her and said, "This is a 'pot' and I'm going to boil some water and leaves in it!"

Water and leaves? Sounded pretty gross. She stuck her tongue out, letting him know what she thought of his idea. He only laughed again. After what seemed like forever, he pulled the steaming 'pot' away from the fire, and carefully set it down in front of her. "Wait a bit before drinking it," he warned. "It's very, very hot."

She wasn't sure she wanted to drink it at all. "Thanks..."

"It won't be gross, I promise," he said, though he sounded really amused. "If it's gross, then you get my share of tomorrow's freshkill. Promise."

Reluctantly, Willowheart dipped her head and began lapping up the tea. The taste was bitter, and very leafy, but... oddly delicious. Before she knew it, the tea was all gone, leaving only an empty pot. She straightened up, licking her lips. "It was gross," she joked, "you owe me freshkill."

"Wh-what!" Fred gasped. "No way, no freshkill for you. Actually, you owe me your freshkill!"

She giggled, and he gave her a gentle shove. The two of them continued to joke around, laughing and playing, until eventually Fred yawned and said it was time to sleep. When she protested, he rolled his eye and gave in, boiling another bigger pot of tea. "For both of us," he said, placing it in front of her. "So don't drink it all." Then he settled in beside her, leaning up against her fur. The two of them shared the pot of tea, talking and laughing the night away. Because Willowheart was sick, she didn't need to go on patrol or out hunting, leaving Thistlestar to go alone. So Frederick stayed with her throughout the day too, leaving only briefly to help Thistlestar when needed. And at night again, he stayed by her side, brewing her some more tea and giving her more medicine.

This continued on for several days and nights as the warrior recovered from her illness. Soon she felt well enough to leave the den, but she was just a bit reluctant to. She knew that when she left the den, he'd no longer hang out with her often, and she liked having him around. He was a pretty cool friend. She didn't realize he was so kind or funny. But sooner or later, she'd have to go help her leader, since he was doing things pretty much by himself... Well, Fred had actually gone out on multiple patrols, leaving her by herself in the camp.

I'll leave once it turns dawn, she told herself one night as she cuddled with the medicine cat, her nose buried in his bandanna. He nudged her a little. "Don't sneeze on it, it takes forever to clean it!"

"I'm not gonna..." she murmured, then faked a sneeze.

"Hey!" He shoved her away, but she only moved back to her spot, her nose once again buried in his bandanna. "Oh, for StarClan's sake!" Fred groaned, and Willowheart let out a quiet chuckle. The two of them then sat in silence, watching the small flame flicker inside the den. The only sounds came from the fire and their quiet breathing. Until...

Achoo!

(Hope this is good, not polished because I have work early in the morning! Lovely prompt though, I had fun!)

[coffee.berry]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: coffee.berry, #1008279
↬ clan archive: Peaceclan

↬ word count: 234 words <3
↬ prompt:


Silverstar sat down beside Mosslily and Ashheart. "Oh, hey, mom!" Ashheart grinned.
"You alright? Do ya need any help..?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. Mosslily and
Ashheart were Silverstar's daughters, but she'd never spent a lot of time with them.

"No, I do not need any help." Silverstar laughed. "I just wanted to spend some time with
my two favourite kits." Mosslily snorted. "Ah, but we're your only kits, mom. And we're
22 moons, so we're practically grown cats now, not kits."

"You'll always be kits in my eyes." Silverstar licked the two cats. "Now, what do you guys
want to do? It has to be really fun - something you both dream of." At this, the siblings
looked at each other mischievously, their eyes twinkling.

"DRAGON RIDING!" Mosslily and Ashheart chorused. Silverstar thought for a moment. "I guess
we could do that," she said slowly. "Typhon has told me that he can take a few cats for a
ride if I want that. Silverstar nodded, thinking about the huge Drakon in the Cave of Secrets. The
siblings giggled with excitement, even though they were 22-moon-old cats.

Four hours later, three cats were seen laughing loudly over Peaceclan on the back of a huge dragon.
All the Peaceclan cats laughed, too - what a strange way for families to spend quality time together!

[unohdettu.lupaus]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: unohdettu.Lupaus | 946652

↬ clan archive: x

↬ word count: 687 words
↬ prompt:
She hadn't seen crimse for the whole day yesterday and now when she had woken up crimse had already left the camp, she was worried about him..he was her brother after all, she left to look for him after she had eaten a little bit

she had been looking for crimse for a while already, she was losing hope of finding him in the territory, she knew he wasn't hurt, he could take care of himself but something was clearly wrong

when she was about to turn back she noticed crimse sitting on a tree stump a little further away in an open field, as she walked towards him she noticed he was looking troubled…


“Crimse?” apricot asked as she walked over to him “ are you alright?” she asked as she jumped onto the tree stump to sit next to him
“y-yeah..im..fine” he lied as he looked the other way

“please.. dont lie to me, i can see something troubling you..” she said as she looked at crimse

“i… i'm fine really..dont worry” he said as he turned to look at her with a fake smile

“Crimse…” she sighed “ you don't need to be happy all the time you know, you can talk about your feelings and you don't have to hide your emotions “


he took a deep breath as he turned to look at the horizon in front of them “ i know..im sorry .. its just that i'm not used to talking about my problems..” he took a break before continuing “i'm just..- just so worried..” he sighed
“ about the future I mean..it's just so..so scary, Misha is about to choose her successor as the next crown royal.. i know that sheep won't be chosen as shes the only seer our group has but..then there's kefira who doesn't want to be a crown royal and then there's wolf who..who isn't really suited to be a crown king..don't get me wrong he's a great guy and all but he's just a bit too impulsive in my opinion, of course i know i don't really have a say in who misha chooses but.. I still worry for the group's future and for Kefira.. i can see that they're anxious about who misha chooses..and then there's the fact that our group is running low on members and our food supply is getting thinner”

“Crimse, i know the future may seem scary.. and our situation doesn't help at all but you do not need to worry about it so much,you need to have faith in the sun and the moon, they will help us when we need it, they will keep the balance going, they will help us make the right choices when the time comes to choose a path” apricot spoke about the sun and moon who the group believe to be deities who keep the world in balance

“but..what if something happens before they have a chance to help us?” Crimse asked

“that won't happen, they have always helped us and will always do so, and if somehow they don't want to help us anymore I will personally go and fight them!” she said trying to cheer up Crimse

“and i will come and help you fight them then” he chuckled a bit, he was in a little bit better mood now

“ofcourse! we will fight them together! they won't have a chance against the best sibling duo!” she laughed as he hugged him

“thank you.. for being here for me” crimse thanked his sister as he hugged her back

“That's what siblings are for!” she smiled “ though we should start heading back kefira must be worried sick about you” she said as they stopped hugging

“Want to race to the camp?” Crimse asked as he stretched himself on the tree stump before jumping down into the snow

“you bet!” she said as she jumped down too and started running

“hey! that's cheating!” he laughed as he ran after her

the siblings had so much fun racing each other that they can't even remember when they last had so much fun
…

[Adamented]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

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

↬ word count: 63 words
↬ prompt:


During the coldest days of Leaf-bare, Gladewood cats often break off into groups and huddle in together in dense cuddle piles to get through the worst of the season, now that their family is so large Leijona and Harja and their seven children make up their own pile... often with Vaikkya mewling loudly and squirming in their sleep on top of the pile.

(head empty, I've got nothing y'all.)

[I Like Bees]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: I Like Bees 904964
↬ clan archive: The Travelers

↬ word count: n/a
↬ prompt:

[Archaeopteryx.]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: Archaeopteryx. || 334452
↬ clan archive: Enurian

↬ word count: 100 words
↬ prompt:

They stopped for a moment, in their eternal wandering, to set up camp and rest their tired paws for a spell.

Carrion groaned, falling onto his brother's flank with a dramatic sigh. And Three, tired of using his words, promptly swiveled his head around to bite him.

Carrion bounded upright, trotting off to go look for something to eat. As he went, he turned— eyes lingering on the missing stump of his brother's forearm.

The one he had to remove.

He smiled softly, whiskers upturned. And yet, despite the horrors lingering from that distant night, everything had turned out fine.

[changeling.]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: K1NGCL3M3NT1N3 + 756856
↬ clan archive: lily meadows alliance

↬ word count: 1,304 words [i am so sorry SJHSIS]
↬ prompt:
with the snow storms that had been plaguing the alliance’s territory for days finally fading away, the alliance cats felt it safe enough to be able to venture the territory without fear of weather. all the time they spent in camp had made shivering’sea think. of course, they often spend their time thinking and daydreaming, but… well, after firefly’flitter had met someone from her past once again, shivering’sea had begun thinking of their own life before they left to pursue the life they believe the spirits set out for them.

they take small, careful steps in the snow as they take the time to wander the territory mindlessly. for once, salvi isn’t on their shoulder or hovering nearby them- they assume the small brown moth was also relishing in the change of weather and taking advantage of the clear skies to fly around in. shivering’sea doesn’t blame her one bit, but it does make them feel a little more lonely as they pad through the soft snow.

it pauses when it realizes its paws have taken it to the ocean, though it hadn’t even realized it had been traveling through kirsi’s valley until it looks back and sees the flowery meadows far behind it. shivering’sea’s head turns back to the ocean and it pads closer, until it is standing on the rocky beach. the water of the sea laps at its paws as it stares out at the flowing waves, and the ice-cold of the water brings it back to what it was thinking about.

shivering’sea’s family is across this ocean. its heart hurts as it stares at the waves. it can’t help but think about how it will never encounter someone from its past again- at least, not without great effort. the vast, wavering blue of the ocean separates it from everyone it once cared about.

it should be home with them right now for the solstice. shivering’sea only lived through one solstice with its family before leaving, but it was the most wonderful thing it had ever experienced. it’s trying its best, now, to share what it knows with firefly’flitter, and later with the rest of the alliance. but it’s not the same, being separated from the family it used to share these traditions with.

it knows it was the right thing to do, the choice that the spirits destined it to make but… staring out now, it doesn’t feel anything but loneliness. its mind wanders back to the days before it left across the ocean on a human ship, guided by nothing but its moth and the hopes that the spirit in its dreams truly was guiding it.

the sun, though clouded, watched over the little family of cats that day as the eldest of the youngest generation stood in front of the rest. they had cleared their throat, tried their best to keep their tone level, and said, “i need to cross the ocean. i’ve been seeing the spirits in my dreams. they’re calling me to leave.”

it was silent for many moments. two cats, a light tabby like mist and a ginger lynxpoint, looked the nearest to speaking, but an elder one, theon, started first. “a spirit?” he asked doubtfully. “saying your destiny is across the ocean? you can’t go that far, mist, and besides, you’re only 15 moons old. not even old enough to have a true name yet. no true spirit will guide a kit across the ocean, miles from their family.”

mist shrank, and the family fell back into silence, before the flamepoint said, “mist, why don’t you speak to me and your mother?” and then, with a glance towards the elder cats and the younglings, he added, “alone?”

they hardly recall the conversation with their parents, if they’re honest, nerves eating them up until they hardly knew what they were saying. all they can remember is their parents surrounding them close and nuzzling them, their father curling his tail over their back and their mother with her check pressed to their head. “we support you, mist,” their mother had murmured reassuringly. “always.”

“you’re young, and of course we’re worried,” its father had added, but he pulled it closer as he said, “but we believe you. do what you need to do, and know that we’ll always love you.”

the day it was meant to leave on the ship to travel across the sea, to depart from its family forever, mist said goodbye to its little siblings.

“where are you going?” asked heliodoros, the youngest of the kits, his twin sister lilika at his side and the slightly older dyani sitting close. mist paused, unsure of how to answer their young siblings, how to reassure them, but finally murmured, “i’ll be going very far away.” they curled their tail around the younger cats and pulled them all close to them. “i’m not sure when i’ll see any of you again. the spirits have called me for a destiny that lies across the water. i love all of you very much.”

as it seemed to hit the kits that their older sibling was leaving, they all came close to tears, with little helio not holding them back and sobbing. mist tried to hush him, but they jumped at the loud noise from the ship, and turned to see humans starting to board it.

mist turned to its siblings- and the rest of its family only a little ways away- and said softly, “i- i have to go.”

the family had wound around it, none of them wanting it to go but for the most part understanding, and that’s all mist needed. its parents stay close to it even after everyone else pulls away, and it’s mother speaks.

“i know you’ve been struggling because you haven’t found the right name yet,” she said, and it was true. even mist’s youngest siblings had come up with names they’d felt connected to, but mist was still stuck with their birth name. their mother smiled sadly and continued, “i didn’t want you to leave without a proper name. if you don’t mind it… i’m giving you the name izhi.”

the small tabby paused and looked their mother in the eyes. izhi. it… it was perfect. they bumped their head into their mother’s, then their father’s, and whispered tearfully, “thank you.” they pulled away and looked sadly at the rest of their family.

“i love all of you!” izhi called, and then it turned and ran.

“izhi?” comes a call to shivering’sea’s back. they turn and spot the torbie pelt of firefly’flitter, with salvi hovering nearby. she darts closer and asks, “oh, izhi, are you alright?” her paw reaches up to wipe at their eyes, and it’s then that shivering’sea realizes that they had been crying.

“i’m… okay,” it murmurs, though it turns back to look at the ocean again. firefly’flitter follows its gaze and lets out a small breath, leaning into shivering’sea’s side enough that it feels safe leaning back into her and letting her carry its weight. the two them sit there on the rocks of the beach for a while, silence sitting between them as shivering’sea sniffles every once in a while and the ice-cold waves bite at their feet.

“i… understand missing your family,” comes firefly’flitter’s voice, finally, and she’s hesitant as she shifts to rest her chin on top of shivering’sea’s, the smaller cat’s head tucked to her chest. “it must be worse with them so far away.” shivering’sea wordlessly nods, and the two of them sit in silence again. firefly’flitter’s tail rests over their back, and salvi settles on their shoulder, closer to the fluff of their neck than she usually rests.

sitting here, shivering’sea thinks, i miss my family. but i wouldn’t trade the life i have now for the world…. especially my best friend.

[this whole thing got a lot more sad than i originally was going for but <3]

[jay.]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: jay. 688591
↬ clan archive: the aurora borealis

↬ word count: 542 words !
↬ prompt: ft. marigoldwish + mollybook

mollybrook sat hunched over in his nest, shivering under the cold draft that had found its way into the den ; the colder season had began to hit and he still was not used to it, his short coat not doing him any help in keeping the cold out. he had been shifting in place for hours trying to get comfortably but the draft would not leave him alone, not that he could even escape it if he wanted as his nest was located near the entrance of the den.

across from the room was another figure, curled up in her own nest - warm. marigoldwish had occasionally opened her eyes while shifting around to observe her surroundings, yet this time she managed to catch a glimpse of her brother sitting adjacent from her, clearly uncomfortable. observing with curiosity she eventually pulled herself up to her paws and paced over towards him, making her presence known with a friendly purr. mollybrook looked up, throwing a smile over at his sibling.

"why are you still awake? is something wrong?" marigoldwish asked, concern in her voice as she scanned her brother over. he slowly shook his head, still wearing the same smile. "no, nothing's wrong, it's just cold - that's all." he muttered, earning a frown from his sister. she knew what mollybrook was like - he was usually energetic and optimistic, so seeing him like this was unusual. she knew that the cold was clearly bothering him a lot more than he was letting onto if it had caused a complete shift in his demeaner. nudging his shoulder she stepped back, gesturing her head towards her nest near the back of the room.

"come, you can sleep over here." she suggested, though it was more of an answer than a question to his problem. mollybrook hesitated. "i can't do that to you-" "nonsense, come on, stop being so difficult." marigoldwish quickly interrupted him as he huffed and rose to his paws, making his way over to the she-cats nest. kneading his paws into her nest for a moment he looked up, locking eyes with her with a concerned look. "are you sure you're okay with giving up your nest?" he asked, only getting a quiet giggle in response.

"what, give it up and leave you still cold? seriously, i thought you'd be smarter than that." she grinned, waiting for the tom to get comfortable before stepping into the nest herself, wrapping her tail around the short-furred cat and leaning into him to share her body warmth with him. "if you think i'm going to let my brother get cold out of sheer stubbornness, you are beyond wrong." she purred once again, resting her head on her paws. "now try to get some rest, please, i don't want you staying up." and with that she shut her eyes, leaving mollybrook alone with his thoughts.

he debated going back to his nest for a while, feeling like too much of an inconvenience to marigoldwish, but her kind gesture meant too much to him and he eventually snapped out of it, too resting his head down and sleeping, now warmed up by the coat of his sibling. she didn't have to do that at all, but he appreciated it greatly.

[mal du pays]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id: aftonbuilt 186503
↬ clan archive: https://toyhou.se/aftonbuilt/characters/folder:2315966

↬ word count: 252 words
↬ prompt:


"Daaaad!"
"Now, now, Meteorite. Come back over here."
The small brown kitten was scooped up and placed back over by her sister, Pineapple, and she huffed. Triptych ran his tongue over her forehead as he groomed her, and the little girl pouted. Her sister gave a giggle.
"I don't wanna be cooped up in here!" Meteorite pouted.
"Now, what would Papa say, honey?" Triptych reminded her. Pineapple perked up a little, looking to him with wide eyes.
"Papa would say to wait until we're bigger!"
"Atta girl." Triptych gave her a nuzzle. "I'm sure when he comes back that we can spend some time outside of the den, okay?"
This arrangement didn't seem to please Meteorite, but there wasn't any real point in complaining; she'd be able to go play outside soon if Starlight came home.
"Okay.." She settled down, a little fussed, but she laid her head down against Triptych's side. The black tom gave a soft purr as he settled down, and Pineapple sprawled herself over her sister, much to her annoyance.
"I promise we'll go and play outside when Papa gets back home. I don't have enough eyes to keep track of the both of you, you know."
She could tell her dad was purring, and she hunkered down a little more. It would only be a little while until Starlight came home, and then she & her sister would be able to run around all silly outside.
She kept that thought in her mind as she fell asleep.

[Thani]

↬ catvent day: seventeen

↬ username & id:Thani#509675
↬ clan archive:Pebbleclan

↬ word count: 000 words; n/a, if only art!
↬ prompt:

The day Phloxglow met Crowcrawl was a memorable one. It was otherwise a normal day in the clans territory, Beetlebranch and Petalstep were outside her homecave discussing the next moves they were going to make in the mines when a cry came out from the direction of the forest.

Phloxglow was quick to respond, rushing outside to discover Spiderstep and a mysterious other cat barely hanging onto their side. She rushed to help them inside and got to work immediately on helping them recover from their wounds. The mysterious cat introduced themselves as Crowcrawl, an outcast from the other side of the mountains. Phloxglow made him swear he would stay safe and take rest so he wouldn't get more injured but he was adamant on continuing on his journey. After plenty of arguing she managed to get him to agree to stay for a few days to recover and promised she would make him a basket of goods to take with him on his journey forward.

Over the next couple of days, however Phloxglow, shadowed by Spiderstep, Kept Crowcrawl company and the three of them became strangely closer as the moments went on. And soon 2 days turned to a week, a month..and before they knew it Crowcrawl almost wordlessly decided that maybe staying in one spot wasn't so bad. And the compassion and love Phloxglow and Spiderstep showed him was something he did not know he was missing in life.