Weather:
A blizzard has set in. Snow has already covered everyone's territory, causing even the tallest cats to struggle through it. Be careful where you place your paws, you might end up in trouble. Be careful with sending the same cat out multiple times, they might caught whitecough, or even worse, greencough. New cats will be easy to find, since a lot of them are searching for shelter from the blizzard.
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Heda wrote:It was rather frustrated for the hunting patrol, Copperflame caught nothing neither did Eelswoop, Burntpath and Boneleaf both caught something. Nothing amazing and it wouldn't feed the whole clan, at least they had stocked up on the last remaining fish in the river. Boneleaf walked beside Copperflame as the entered camp, she dropped the vole in the fresh kill pile and smiled at him. "Why are you so upset" Copperflame stared at her for a moment but he couldn't help but crack a small smile and gave a shrug. "Lets split something small from the fresh kill pile and tell me about your first time in Skullclan." Copperflame liked this idea a lot, he was truly head over heals for her and a chance to talk was perfect. "You know I would like that."
Eelswoop's tail flicked as she watched the sky get darker for a moment before smirking at the apprentices, she had agreed to join in on a little game that Cedarmouse and Aspinswirl made up, Aspenswirl didn't go out on a hunting patrol or patrol so he was sitting with them explaining the rules. Eelswoop found it a little confusing at first but she soon started to get it as Aspenswirl gave some examples. Blizzardpaw was invested in it along with Kestrelpaw who seemed determined to beat Blizzardpaw at the game, Rainpaw looked a little distracted though and Eelswoop just had to ask. "Are you ok?" Rainpaw seemed to snap out of her day dream of some sorts and looked at the black she-cat. "I don't think things are good between my parents...." Eelswoop knew this was true as Runningsong had talked to her about it the other day. Eelswoop was silent for a minute but soon she looked at Rainpaw and sighed. "Maybe, maybe not but you need to focus on your training that you just started rather then that." Rainpaw gave Eelswoop a look before looking at the game Kestrelpaw was arguing with Blizzardpaw over.
Troutleap, Cedarmouse, and Runningsong had presude the two-leg scent. Close to the pine forest was a tents and a fire along with dogs, the cats didn't stay for long and soon were walking back to camp. "We won't tell anyone except Soulstar and Aspenswirl when we get back." Runningsong rolled her eyes. "No we need to tell the clan about this, so they know of the dangers." Troutleap looked at her quite angrily and shook his head, letting out a fustrated huff he growled. "They can't, because it would cause panic." Runningsong shook her head and Cedarmouse could only draw back as he didn't want anything to do with this argument, that he felt had a deeper meaning to it. "I don't think that's the way to go, Skullclan cats are strong and relsiliant and they can handle-" She was cut off by an aggressive snap from Troutleap. "Last time I checked you weren't the bloody deputy Runningsong!' Cedarmouse's ears went back and he looked at Runningsong who was looking at Troutleap rather sharply. "I am aware of that but sometimes your decisions are unclear." Now Cedarmouse's eyes went back to Troutleap, his ears still back. "And maybe you should get your priorities straight." Troutleap growled back and glared at her. Runningsong stopped right in her place. "Maybe I do have my priorities straight and they don't evolve you!" The scream was loud and aggressive and full of hurt. "Since you're so caught up with other she-cats that you can't even spend time with your own mate maybe it's better if you don't have one." And with that statement she dashed off into the dark night and back to camp. Troutleap stood there in silence and all Cedarmouse could think how awkward this was and he had no idea what to say. Troutleap started walking and Cedarmouse followed him in an awkward silence.
The group returned that night and Nightstone was the first to walk into the clearing with a huge grin on her face, she approached Burntpath. "How was that?" She sat down by the large tom her tail flicking against his own. "Interesting, Coastclan is a waste of time, and Blazeclan is full of themselves. The only one that seemed rather interesting was the clan Coastclan had mentioned." Burntpath watched his sibling walk in with a stern look Flintscreech ignore his gaze and Burntpath then looked at Nightstone. "What clan?" She was also watching the rest of the group walk in. "Roseclan,they seem rather interesting to tell you the truth. Well what I have heard from." Soulstar had mad his way towards Basileyes which Nighstone made note of.
Emberslash looked at the very disturbed Troutleap, "Is everything ok?" Troutleap looked over at Runningsong who was talking to Aspenswirl and Flintscreech. "You could say me and Runningsong aren't exactly mates anymore." Emberslash looked at him with a shocked expression but she hid it after a moment. She wasn't sure what to do but she knew she had to be there for her friend.
This moon
Basileyes laughed and little. "Why didn't you take me!" Soulstar grinned a little a shook his head, "Because you were injured at the time." Basileyes sat up and laughed again. "I want to see this Soaringstar, Blizzardpaw talks about his fur like its legendary." Soulstar really couldn't help but laugh at this. He was fluffy, fluffier then normal. "Well I must go to the moonpool, in another moon or so we will be having our first big gathering with Coastclan and Blazeclan, potentially another."
Emberslash and Aspenswirl walked together with their apprentices, they were going to train together today and Rainpaw was busy going on and on about how she was made to be skilled in fighting and Kestrelpaw should become an elder at an early age. "You know that is ovensive." Rainpaw grinned and shook her head as she laughed and the two continued in a fit of laughter a chaos as they went on with their training.
[Two servings of snake were eaten.]
[Hunting ; Nightstone, Troutleap, Flintscreech, Emberslash, Basileyes]
[Patrol; Aspenswirl, Copperflame, Burntpath]
[Herbs ; Ivythistle, Beetlepaw ]
[Quailfur trains Blizzardpaw in fishing]
[Emberslash trains Kestralpaw in combat]
[Aspenswirl trains Rainpaw in combat]
[Troutleap and Runningsong are no longer mates]
[Copperflame and Boneleaf become mates]
[Soulstar asks for a queen at the moonpool]
Nightstone grunts loudly as she collides with Troutleap. The scrawny squirrel shrieks in alarm, retreating back into its burrow. Nightstone turns on Troutleap, her fur bushing up in anger. "I had that!" She snapped, her claws sheathing and unsheathing. Troutleap bristled slightly, his lips curling back from his teeth slightly in a snarl.
"I did too! You got in the way!"
Nightstone growled, her muscles tensing as she readied herself to leap on the deputy. Flintscreech, Emberslash and Basileyes intercepted the two. "Calm down. You both messed up that catch, there is no use blaming the other one. Let's just get what we already caught and head back to camp." Flintscreech mewed. Troutleap glared at the tom before turning and heading back towards where he buried in catches from earlier. Nightstone glowered after him before doing the same, following the rest of the hunting patrol back to camp once she was done.
[ Nightstone, Troutleap, Flintscreech, Emberslash and Basileyes caught two snakes and a vole while out hunting ]
"I lost her scent." Copperflame mewed, panic starting to edge his way into his tone. Aspenswirl placed his tail over the younger tom's shoulders.
"We'll find her, she couldn't have gotten far." The tom mewed before turning and following after Burntpath, who had already returned to their search. The three had been patrolling when they stumbled upon a heavily pregnant she-cat. By the time the patrol realized the she-cat was there, she was already disappearing back into the undergrowth. Copperflame felt worried for the she-cat, knowing that it was dangerous to be a pregnant she-cat during leaf-bare, especially if you were alone.
The sun had almost fully sunken back into the earth when Burntpath's mew called back to Copperflame and Aspenswirl. "I found her!"
[ Aspenswirl, Copperflame and Burntpath found a pregnant queen while they were on patrol ] Ivythistle pawed away the snow, huffing in annoyance when she found that yet another patch of herbs had been killed by the snow. "Are those dead too?" Beetlepaw questioned, returning to his mentors side. The brown she-cat nodded with an annoyed flick of her tail.
"Let's just take what we found back to camp." Ivythistle mewed before picking up what she had managed to find. Beetlepaw nodded and picked his up as well.
[ Ivythistle and Beetlepaw found beech leaves, bindweed and blackberry leaves while out hunting for herbs ]
Quailfur looked down at the frozen surface of the stream. Blizzardpaw looked up at the brown she-cat. "What are we going to do?" The pale she-cat questioned.
"I can still teach you the basics of how to fish." Quailfur mewed, turning to her apprentice and crouching down. "See, you curve your paw like this to scoop the fish out. You need to make sure your shadow doesn't fall across..."
[ Blizzardpaw learned the Fishing skill while out training ]
Rainpaw let out a startled gasp as Aspenswirl bucked her off his back. The grey she-cat scrambled back onto her paws, a determined look sparking in her dark green eyes. Aspenswirl flashed a smile at the young she-cat. "You ready to head back?"
The apprentice shook her head stubbornly. "Never."
[ Rainpaw learned the Fighting skill while out training ]
Copperflame, Aspenswirl and Burntpath filed into camp, the pregnant she-cat close behind them. Copperflame broke away from the patrol just as Boneleaf slipped out of the medicine cat den, excitement sparking in her heterochromia blue and green eyes. Her gaze searched the camp briefly before landing on Copperflame. The white molly took off across camp to skid to a stop in front of him.
"I'm having kits!"
[ Boneleaf is expecting kits! They are due in two moons ]
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Peachycupcake525 wrote:𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓂𝒸𝓁𝒶𝓃
A deadly disease swept through Flowerclan one day. Willowstep had never seen it before. By that time, the kits has become apprentices and were about halfway through their training. Powderpaw had tried out being a medicine cat, but had switched to being a warrior along with her brothers after she had learned that it didn't suit her. Willowstep had been working day and night to try to cure the clan, but was unsuccessful and had fallen ill herself. The only ones left healthy were Powderpaw and Thundersun. Graystar told them to leave, to start the clan again and live. At first, they didn't want to, but Graystar convinced them to. They all knew that there was no hope left for the sick ones. Powderpaw continued her training under Thundersun, until the day that Thundersun died. She took on the name Powdersun in honor of her mentor. She then started a new clan, called Stemclan.
The Stemclan territory is crisscrossed with small streams. There is little dry ground, so their main prey is fish. They are built exactly right for swimming, and rather enjoy it. If the rivers freeze over, they have fish stored away, so they at least won't starve.
They are a very peaceful clan, and not very interested in the affairs of others. They don't particularly like interaction with the other clans, so they may not do much at a gathering, and they will skip gatherings if needed.
[ Powdersun is now the leader of Stemclan ] ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Mika. wrote:Emberstar smiled "It's okay." She gave a a small little friendly smile, to him. Steamheart looked up at the ember and gave one back flicking his tail in happiness. After some questions about each other, emberstar accepted him into the clan. Sometime goes by and Ember and Steamheart are at the clan, giving of a little yawn Emberclaw started to show Steamheart around the clan and what going to happen to it if more Ember goes to the moonpool from time to time.
Emberstar asked Steamheart to go hunting for them and Steamheart nodded and went of into the forest. Emberstar sat down onto the high rock as she saw Steamheart leave the clan border. Wind was blowing into embers face as she closed her eyes seeing the blackness of nothing.
{Steamheart as gone hunting}
Streamheart crouched low, his eyes never leaving the chickadee that he saw sitting on one of the uncovered roots of a tree. Stay there... The grey tom thought, as he carefully stepped through the snow. Once he was close enough, the young warrior launched himself forward, his paw pinning the bird to the branch. He delivered the killing bite, pride swelling in his chest as he picked it up and trotted back to camp.
[ Streamheart caught a chickadee while out hunting ]
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zephyrine wrote:"Good morning, Dewpaw."
The white tom started, his head jerking up and his eyes widening a little, but he relaxed when he found that it was only Frigidrose. "Good morning," he mumbled. "How does some training sound? I know it's a bit early, but it wouldn't hurt." Dewpaw grumbled something inaudible as he curled up into a tight ball again, taking a quick moment to savor the warmth of his nest before suddenly jumping to his paws. "Alright, let's go." His mentor smiled and turned away from the den. The young tom scampered out after her, and the two quietly hurried out of the camp, careful not to wake the rest of the Clan. As soon as they had left the shelter of the camp, Dewpaw's teeth began to chatter with the cold. "You'll be alright," Frigidrose assured him. "A good warrior should be able to focus on their task at hand and block out everything that would distract them. This will be good for you." This statement of hers brought a question to Dewpaw's mind. "What if one was injured very badly and they could hardly think because of the pain?" Frigidrose smiled and rested her tail on his back before purring, "Ah, what a great question. Even the greatest pain should be ignored. Anything that stands in your way should be ignored or destroyed." The apprentice tilted his head to the side a bit, mewing quietly, "Destroyed? What do you mean? You can't destroy pain - or this freezing leaf-bare." The she-cat didn't respond for a moment and seemed to be contemplating whether to share with him what was on her mind or not. At last, after a nudge from her apprentice, she meowed calmly, "No, pain and leaf-bare cannot be destroyed, but... some things can be." Dewpaw let out a noisy sigh. Why was she being so cryptic? Every answer she gave seemed to evoke yet another question from him. "What things?" he mewed a bit irritably. The only answer he received this time was a smile - not a grin, not a happy smile, something he hadn't quite seen before.... It was as if she knew something he didn't. Something that should only be told to those worthy of it, he thought. Why wasn't he worthy? He was her apprentice and they had grown closer and closer through all of the times she had comforted him when he was teased by his sister. He thought they could share everything with each other. She was like his mother - she understood him when even his own mother didn't. What had he done wrong? "How can I get you to tell me?" he blurted suddenly. Frigidrose gave him a sidelong glance and smiled that certain smile again. "Oh, I don't know," she purred. "Perhaps..." she trailed off before stopping in her tracks to look him in the eye, directly, intently. He held her gaze, preparing to listen for every little detail. "I know. You master every skill I teach you. Every skill, whether it is considered normal training or not. You will not question me either. You will do exactly as I tell you," she spoke, her eyes gleaming with carefully contained excitement. It almost scared Dewpaw. "Do we have a deal?" Dewpaw hesitated for a brief moment. The gleam in her eye and her being so vague again were frightening him slightly, but he needed to know what she hadn't wanted to tell him. He needed to be worthy of it - the idea that he wasn't already angered him. He didn't give much thought to the idea of this extra, unusual training when perhaps he should have. He made his decision quickly and unthinkingly.
"Of course."
The Clan was up and moving by the time Frigidrose and Dewpaw returned from their training session. That is, all except Falconpaw. The older apprentice was dozing in the den and had to be woken by his siblings. "Falconpaw, get up, lazy-bones!" Heatherpaw called as she came bounding toward the den. Her brother only curled into a tighter ball and let out a heavy sigh. "Come on, get up already," Pinepaw meowed irritably, giving him a hard prod in the ribs. "Ow!" Falconpaw cried before swiftly getting to his paws. "I was just trying to sleep." Heatherpaw laughed, "Oh, we know that. Seriously, we're almost warriors - you can't be sleeping in this late!" With a flick of her tail signaling her brothers to follow, she hurried out of the den. Upon noticing the direction in which they were heading, Falconpaw inquired, "Why are we going to the leader's den?" "Mom wanted to talk to us," Heatherpaw replied. Falconpaw thought that was strange. Wouldn't Emberstar just come find them to speak with them? Why was she having them come to her den? Was something wrong? He began to worry and increased his pace to a trot. "Mom? What is it?" he meowed as he entered the den. He stopped at the sight of his and his siblings' mentors sitting before the leader. Suddenly he realized what was happening and struggled to contain his excitement. Heatherpaw didn't care if her happiness showed and so she let out a squeal of delight when their mother beckoned them inside. "Good morning," Emberstar meowed with a smile. "You all slept well?" The three nodded quickly, eager for her to get to the point of this meeting. "Wonderful," she purred. She allowed a pause before jumping to the subject she wished to discuss, "I believe from what I've heard from your mentors that you three are ready to be warriors." She gave each of them a long, meaningful look. Each apprentice's heart was pounding at having heard those words. Finally! - they were going to be warriors! Emberstar turned to the mentors. "You believe they are ready?" Frostpath, Birchwing, and Stormbreeze each nodded, glancing at their apprentices with a spark of excitement in their eyes but also one of sorrow, for the long, often enjoyable hours of training had at last come to an end. "Alright. Falconpaw, Pinepaw, and Heatherpaw, please join me for a patrol," Emberstar meowed. She was unable to keep the wide grin from making it onto her face at the idea of her kits becoming warriors.
The Clan consumes two birds (six servings)
Training: Ivypaw, Dewpaw, Russetpaw, Otterpaw, & Brightpaw
Patrol: Emberstar, Falconpaw, Pinepaw, & Heatherpaw
Hunting: Webfang, Briardusk, Honeydapple, Cloudtalon, Breezeclaw, & Cinderdawn
Herb Hunting: Willowcloud & Appleheart
Becoming warriors: Falconpaw, Pinepaw, & Heatherpaw -> Falconchaser, Pinedust, & Heatherpond
Russetpaw giggled loudly, kicking Brightpaw off of her. "You call that an attack?" The orange she-cat taunted,
hauling herself back onto her paws. Brightpaw snorted at her sister before launching herself at her again, cuffing her ears.
"Like you'd know what an attack was." Brightpaw smiled. Ivypaw watched the two littermates, an amused look on her face, before turning to Dewpaw and Otterpaw.
"I think we should join in." Ivypaw laughed. Dewpaw and Otterpaw nodded, moving into their attack positions.
[ Ivypaw, Dewpaw, Russetpaw, Otterpaw and Brightpaw learned the Fighting skill while training ]
Emberstar sighed slightly, her tail tip twitching in annoyance. Falconpaw moved to stand next to his mother, looking at the snowy expanse as well. "We should head back to camp. There isn't going to be anything today." She mewed, turning and heading back towards where Pinepaw and Heatherpaw were waiting,
Falconpaw looked back over the expanse for a moment, wondering if they wouldn't found anything if they had kept looking. He sighed and turned, following his mother and littermates back to camp.
[ Your patrol found nothing ]
"Briardusk, Honeydapple." Webfang called back to the two she-cats. The pair raised their heads, pausing their conversation to see what the tom wanted. "Gather your catches, we're heading back to camp." Webfang turned and went to retrieve the rest of the hunting patrol.
[ Webfang, Briardusk, Honeydapple, Cloudtalon, Breezeclaw and Cinderdawn caught a vole and two birds while out hunting ]
Willowcloud frowned slightly at Appleheart, who was staring across the border that they shared with Echoclan.
The she-cat had noticed that her apprentice had started to become a lot more absentminded lately. "Appleheart?" She mewed.
Willowcloud waited a moment before repeating his name.
Appleheart shook his head and turned to look at his mentor. "Yeah?"
"Let's get back to camp."
[ Willowcloud and Appleheart found coltsfoot, daisy leaves and lavender while out herb hunting ]
"I, Emberstar, leader of Leafclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Falconpaw, Pinepaw and Heatherpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"
"I do." The littermates mewed.
"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior names. Falconpaw, Pinepaw and Heatherpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Falonchaser, Pinedust and Heatherpond. Starclan honors your teamwork and bravery and we welcome you as full warriors of Leafclan."
"Falconchaser! Pinedust! Heatherpond!"
[ Falconpaw, Pinepaw and Heatherpaw are now warriors; Falconchaser, Pinedust and Heatherpond! ]
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Simonpet wrote:"As it's almost time for Applepaw's assessments," said Honeystar from the Speaker's Tree, "I will accompany him and his mentor to the Moonpool."
"Why?" called Palefur. Though he fit in well, it had only been a moon since his joining and he didn't yet know all the intricacies of clan life.
"So that Starclan may accept Applepaw as a warrior."
Everyone nodded in agreement. This seemed like a fair way of measuring the worthiness of an apprentice, although no one yet knew just how the cats of Starclan would accept him. Or decline, in the worst-case scenario.
The leader leaped down from the tree and padded up to the proud mentor and his apprentice. "Are you ready?" she asked. Her only response was a nod from both. "Then let's go." To the rest of the clan she called, "In my absence, Birchnose will take over my duties."
Birchnose nodded, grinning. She was extremely excited, and hoped that nothing would go wrong in Honeystar's absence. The rest of the clan simply watched as Honeystar left, Acornstream and Applepaw close behind. As soon as they were out of sight, Birchnose leapt onto the Speaker's Tree to annouce the day's patrols.
"Alderclaw and Briarwhisker," she called, "will go hunting. Dawnstorm and Palefur will go on a border patrol. Those whose names I did not call will remain in camp." There was no complaint, only the shuffling of paws as the assigned patrols left the camp on their respective missions.
***
Briarwhisker wasn't talkative, and certainly didn't appreciate rambling. She was glad that Alderclaw knew when to keep quiet. Like now, when they were hunting in the snow, and it was extremely important not to scare away the scarce prey.
"I hear you're a good hunter?" murmured Alderclaw, only partially concentrated on the conversation.
"The best in the clan," Briarwhisker replied proudly. "And with Birchnose..."
"How much prey can you catch?"
"More than you'd believe."
***
Palefur shivered in the leafbare air. "Is it always this cold?" he asked.
Dawnstorm looked at the other tom worriedly. "Are you okay? It's just for the leafbare. The newleafs and greenleafs are really warm."
"I-- I don't know."
"Come here and sit down." Dawnstorm moved closer to Palefur and the two huddled. "When we get back to camp, get some freshkill and go into the warriors' den. It's nice and warm in there."
"I know." They sat together for a bit, before finally Palefur stood and shook his fur. "Let's go." Despite Dawnstorm's worry, the pair completed the border patrol.
***
Crowcloud had volunteered to show Dustkit his den and teach her a little about medicine cats and healing, so Duckpelt had allowed the two to be together while everyone else was out on their patrol or, in the case of Snowfoot, sleeping in the warriors' den. The other three kits were wrestling together.
"Getting their training started early, I see," purred Birchnose, who was stretched next to Duckpelt. The two mollies had become good friends and when the queen wished to take a break, Birchnose was always the first to volunteer to watch the kits.
"They'll need it," laughed Duckpelt.
"Yes." Birchnose sobered quickly. "Who do you think should mentor them?"
Duckpelt blinked. "I haven't thought about it yet... But..." She thought for a moment, before speaking. "Perhaps Alderclaw for Boulderkit. And Dawnstorm for Barleykit. Maybe Briarwhisker for Adderkit. And...Snowfoot for Dustkit, if she doesn't stick with her desire to become a medicine cat."
"I'll think about it."
"Thank you."
***
Honeystar led Acornstream and Applepaw to the Moonpool, ignoring the apprentice's questions. When they finally arrived, it was darkning.
"We'll stay here tonight and head back tomorrow," said Honeystar. Turning to Applepaw, she said, "Just drink some of the water and go to sleep." Applepaw nodded and did what she recommended. He fell asleep quickly, heedless of the two pairs of eyes on him.
"What do you think will happen?" asked Acornstream worridly.
"I don't know," Honeystar replied.
***
Applepaw woke up surrounded by mist. However, it soon faded to reveal the Moonpool. Only Honeystar and Acornstream were missing. Where were they. Where was he?
"You're in Starclan," said an amused voice.
Applepaw whirled around to see an elderly tom, who looked similar to Palefur, only his markings were darker and he had tabby stripes. "Who are you?"
"Come walk with me," said the tom, ignoring the question. He stood and headed into the forest, and Applepaw had to stand quickly and hurry to avoid losing sight of him. After they had traveled into the forest, the apprentice realized that the territory looked very similar to that of Forestclan.
"How did we get here so quickly?" he wondered aloud.
The elderly tom stopped and looked back. "In Starclan, distance means nothing. This used to be my clan's home before Honeystar found it. In life, I was Minkstar, leader of Cherryclan."
"But I've never heard of Cherryclan."
Minkstar sighed. "We failed many seasons ago. Long before Honeystar was born. The first winter caught us off guard, and after some of our warriors died, the rest fled. I never knew what happened to them. I stayed here until I died, living alone with no comfort from Starclan or the other clans."
Applepaw blinked. "That's a sad story."
"Indeed. But I want you to remember Cherryclan. We never had kits. No apprentices. Just adult cats that fled as soon as hardship was presented." Minkstar smiled kindly. "Do your best. Don't shrink from adversity. Be the best and most loyal warrior you can be."
Applepaw nodded vehemently. "I will!" he promised.
"Then go. And tell those kits of yours a story."
The scene began to dissolve around Applepaw and this time, when he blinked his eyes open, he saw Honeystar and Acornstream sitting in a silent vigil. When Acornstream noticed him, he purred. "What did you see?"
"I'll tell you when we get back home."
Forestclan consumes 4 servings (one hare, one vole)
Honeystar, Acornstream, and Applepaw go to the Moonpool
Alderclaw and Briarwhisker go hunting
Dawnstorm and Palefur go on a border patrol
Briarwhisker let out a shocked gasp as the snow started to fall again, this time harder than before. "Come on."
Alderclaw mewed loudly, snatching up his catch and hurrying back towards camp. Briarwhisker snatched her catch back up, nodding a hello to the border patrol as it headed back to camp as well.
[ Alderclaw and Briarwhisker caught a squirrel and pigeon while out hunting ]
[ The patrol found nothing ]
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Chamrosh wrote:[center]Nettlekit jumped onto the ledge by the sheet of vertical ice a little clumsily, having to shuffle her foot back into place, and stared out in wonder at the world outside.
“It’s so pretty! Why’s everything so white? Is it always white?” Nettlekit asked her mum, but her sister replied, instead.
“That’s snow, and it only comes when it’s cold.”
Nettlekit didn’t question how Sparrowkit knew that. She made a loud “ooooh” noise. Their mother didn’t miss the strangeness, however.
“How do you know what snow is, Sparrowkit?”
“Papa told me.” Sparrowkit hesitated just a tiny bit before saying that, and her tone sounded a lot wobblier than it had a few seconds before, but both of the other mollies just accepted this.
-----
Osierfang shivered against the cold, her legs only just barely making their way through the snow beneath her to the ground. It wasn’t her fault she was short! For her size, even if she was the one saying it, she was a pretty skilled warrior. She was sure she could find somewhere willing to take her in, where she could get shelter from the icy blasts that seemed to channel their ways through here with such ease.
She was delighted when she saw the two warriors on patrol, and pretty much forced her way into coming back to camp with them. They were friendly enough, although she was sure she’d interrupted them somehow. Osierfang could tell they both thought- rightly- that she was very young to be on her own, but that didn’t bother her. She’d have a warm nest and a full belly to keep her interest instead, tonight.
-----
“Mummy! Mummy, look what I’ve got!” Boulderdash wouldn’t have done so if Nettlekit hadn’t practically jumped straight onto her stomach, in an awkward furry lump. That and if Nettlekit hadn’t been yowling loud enough to wake Starclan. “Shellpaw gave me an old leaf, Mummy! He tried to give me some ‘snow’” (she clearly struggled to pronounce that word, as it came out slow and prolonged) “but it turned into water! Does Starclan turn it into water? Do they send water like that sometimes instead of rain because it’s nicer, and because it makes fur less icky?”
Boulderdash moaned, grumbling as she roused. “Questions in the morning, Nettlekit.”
“But I have questions now! What if I can’t remember them in the morning! Then I‘ll never know the answers, and I’ll always be sad! You can’t do that to me, Mummy!”
“Go to sleep, Nettlekit, or I’ll steal and destroy all the nice things Shellpaw gives you.” Sparrowkit answered.
“No! That’s mean!”
Despite her protests, Nettlekit went to sleep almost straight away after that, and by the morning neither Nettlekit or Boulderdash remembered to question how Sparrowkit had known what to do.
-----
“I have a suggestion for training this moon, Myrtleclaw.” The grey warrior perked up at hearing that from Argusheart, waiting for her to continue, and she only did so when she was sure he wasn’t about to egg her on anyway. It was an awkward pause. “Seeing as they are brothers, it might make sense to train them together. And I was thinking, they might be able to learn more than one thing. See, if I take Shellpaw off with me to practice hiding and stealth for a bit, and you and Droserapaw practice hunting us down, and we swap at Sun-high, both will learn about stealth and tracking.”
There was another pause, this time filled with Myrtleclaw’s surprise at that idea, rather than awkwardness. “...You’re brilliant, you know.”
“I do know that, yes.”
-----
“I’ve been thinking.” Chubtail introduced, as he bounced up proudly to where Heronstar was lying in her nest, and curled up close beside her. “Once Leaf-bare’s nearing its close, I’d like to have more kits with you.”
Heronstar beamed for a second, then became slightly uncertain. “I’d love to have more kits, too, but I’m aware how hard your job was to keep up before, when we had fewer cats to manage, and I don’t want your job as deputy to become undoable.”
Chubtail gave her a knowing side-nod, acknowledging the concern, and nuzzling against her. “Which is why I was thinking; we could have a sort of… secretary. When we’re busy or predisposed in any way- kittings, injury, illness, anything- we just appoint a cat- or maybe two or three cats- who can take over what’s needed for a short time. We still do whatever we can, but if we can’t quite manage a few things, they do them instead.”
Heronstar’s happy expression grew brilliantly wide at that. “That is genius. It might even help cohesion to have the role passed around each moon, so everyone can take an active role in maintaining Gustclan.”
“Is that a yes for more kits next season, then?”
“Oh definitely. I’m just trying to work out who I’d pick to be secretary- or whatever we decide to call it- first.”
------
[Earlier]
"Sparrowkit.”
Sparrowkit sleepily opened her eyes to look at the ceiling of the den, having rolled around onto her back during her dreams. Her jaw opened a few times, her tongue making a satisfying click when she did so. She rolled onto her side. She was sure she’d dreamed of someone talking to her.
Something crinkled underneath her- Shellpaw had brought more leaves in overnight. Sparrowkit stretched her paws out in front of her, and her tail flopped gently behind her. It was still dark. Sparrowkit rolled over, moving close to her mother, but she stopped as she heard someone’s voice again.
"Sparrowkit! Listen!” Sparrowkit’s eyes flew open. That was weird. It sounded almost like her sister had spoken, but the voice had sounded more like Heronstar, if anything. That was strange. It was the same pattern of speech, the same tone, the same inflections as her sister, similar to their father, but the accent was very different. Very much like Heronstar.
"Sparrowkit, you’re not imagining me. Listen!”
Sparrowkit groaned, and murmured, under her breath. “Fine, I’ll listen, whocha want?”
"I’m Elmkit.”
Sparrowkit laughed loudly, loudly enough that Nettlekit rolled in her sleep, and fidgeted like she was waking.
"I’m not meant to speak to you, but it’s lonely here. Most clan’s don’t bother sending their dead kits to Starclan, they just let them pass; most kits don’t know where to go. It’s just me, and the few who got here on their own, and the kits whose mothers died before childbirth. And most clans don’t ask for us to become warriors, so even a load of those are deaf-blind.” (Elmkit may have been exaggerating to make her point about boredom, but Sparrowkit didn’t pick that up).
“So why do you want me?”
"It’s lonely... I’m meant to be wise, and guide the living, but I never lived myself. So I want to guide you, I want to be able to experience the world of the living through you, so I can do my job... And I want a friend.”
That seemed reasonable enough, especially paired with what Elmkit had said about the number of kits in Starclan. “Why not Nettlekit?”
"Are you asking me to prophesy now?” It was strange to hear a Starclan cat sounding amused. Or at least, Sparrowkit assumed it was, not having heard Starclan cats before. "You’re just the smarter choice, okay?”
Sparrowkit’s eyes flew wide open, terrified at what that could mean.
[Osierfang joins Gustclan]
[Argusheart and Shellpaw, and Myrtleclaw and Droserapaw, go out as a group to train track (and stealth) together]
[Chubtail, Pearstone and Osierfang go out hunting]
[Boulderdash and Harrierpelt stay with the kits; Sparrowkit and Nettlekit stay at camp]
[Heronstar requests a warrior from Starclan]
[Gustclan consumes 1 squirrel and 1 mouse - 3 portions]
(Could the requested warrior be black furred, please?
(I’m also going to assume that my apprenticing system is okay? Unless otherwise specified, in my summary bit, it’s okay from my perspective to just give an apprentice whatever skills you feel like in whatever order.)
Shellpaw and Droserpaw crouched next to each other, their noses wiggling slightly as they scented the air. "Do you smell Argusheart?" Shellpaw whispered to Droserpaw. Droserapaw lashed his tail in annoyance.
"I can't smell anything in this darn snow." The russet tom growled. Shellpaw shrugged his white and grey shoulders before returning to trying to scent the mentor. "Wait, I think I smell something strange though."
[ Shellpaw and Droserpaw learned the Tracking skill while out training ]
[ Starclan sent a warrior] Chubtail let out another frustrated growl as his prey got away from him. "I think we caught enough." Pearstone mewed to the deputy. "We should head back to camp anyway, the snow is starting to get worse." Chubtail looked back at the white tom and nodded with a sigh.
[ Chubtail, Pearstone and Osierfang caught two squirrels and a rabbit while out hunting ]
imagination 
