๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
population: 01 cats [ 02 fem : 01 male ]
servings required: 02
population: 01 cats [ 02 fem : 01 male ]
servings required: 02
๐๐ช๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐จ๐ฉ
moderator: deimos - next moonstone: 5 jan
moons since last nonsense: 1
moons since last nonsense: 1
โฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌ
- ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ ๐จ.
Paws pressed against the snow, grounding Sloane's paws as she gritted her teeth against the howling gale. Over the rise of the mountains, she could see the faint glow of the two-leg's massive light trees, although she had observed none on their strange planks swooping down the smooth face of the mountain. Even in leaf-fall, the conditions here verged on 'terrible' from time to time. And this was one of those times. Sloane's glittering blue eyes squinted into the swirling snow in front of her, trying to make out the next foothold as she hunkered down close to the rock. Unable to see anything beyond directly in front of her own face, she turned to look back at the two-leg village.
She was thoroughly cocooned in the snowstorm, unable to see the visage of her home in the distance. Or, what constituted as her former home. Sloane's eyes narrowed at the bitter memory of Varvara's glittering amber ones staring back at her. The mere thought of the slender chocolate she-cat shot a twisting pain through her heart, although she wasn't sure whether it was from the betrayal of her love, or the bitter anger that Varvara had played her card before Sloane had the chance to play hers. Either way, Varvara and Boscoe had made it clear she wasn't welcome there anymore.
But there was nowhere else to go.
From her right, there was a sound like the chime of the metal tubes that hung from the roof of a two-leg nest by the river, the one with huge oak trees whose gnarled branches reached into the yard of the elderly two-leg and littered the ground with orange-red leaves. Sloane's ears pricked, and she turned toward it, dragging herself along until she was suddenly sheltered from the snow by a cave. She blinked, pulling herself inside, and shaking the snow out of her fur. She glanced back outside, seeing the snow swirl violently where she had been standing just moments before.
"Sloane." The voice was whispery and soft, and the she-cat's ears perked, as she got to her paws. "Who's there?" She called, taking a step forward. There was no response, but deeper into the hollow, there seemed to be some light emanating. Cautiously, Sloane stepped forward, and then again and again, until she ducked out the other end of the apparent tunnel, and into a basin. Curiously, the snow-storm seemed contained to overhead, the occasional drop of snow falling to land at the paws of an elegant white she-cat with stars twinkling in her bright blue eyes.
"Hello Sloane," the she-cat said, blinking carefully, "I'm pleased to see you made your way here in one piece."
"Who are you?" Sloane snapped back, ears flattening against her skull. The she-cat smiled patiently, sweeping her fluffy tail over her paws as she blinked, clearly not bothered by Sloane's hostility. "My name is Northstar," she mewed, "I was the leader of a clan that lived here some moons ago. StarClan has heard your laments on your lack of a home, and I would like to offer you my old one, on the condition that you take up my mantle."
"I feel that statement has more to it than you're saying," Sloane said, head tilting to the side as she stared at Northstar. The other molly smiled wryly. '"StarClan does not approve of my desire for vengeance, so I've been instructed not to mention it, but the rebirth of NorthernClan hinges on you, Sloane, and if it sweetens the deal, perhaps it is right for me to mention it after all." She leaned closer, blue eyes no longer reflecting the stars. "I want to see my clan take revenge on those who betrayed us, the ones you call the Merchants. I want to see NorthernClan rise from the ashes, bigger and stronger before, and I believe you are the cat who can do it."
"And what would you have me do with the Merchants?" Sloane's voice wavered, feeling her heart hammer in her chest. Northstar's eyes were cold and hard, like ice. "I would have you tear them apart and scatter them into the howling gales. They will be lost to the snow, unable to survive the frost, and those that wish to live will come grovelling to NorthernClan for salvation." Sloane's mind flickered to the hard glint in Varvara's eyes, the sharp leer of Boscoe's yellowing teeth.
"I'll do it," Sloane said, without hesitation.
"Then I dub you Sleetstar, leader of a NorthernClan reborn. To lead your clan, I bless you with nine lives- one for each courage, discipline, reason, justice, decisiveness, loyalty, knowledge, love and," she paused, that cold flicker in her expression making a reappearance, "a life for retribution, to right the wrongs of the past. Use these lives to lead your clan well, Sleetstar. I will be with you."
Suddenly, Northstar vanished, and Sleetstar collapsed to the ground, suddenly feeling drained of all energy. All around her, snow started to swirl into the basin, painting her vision entirely white as she closed her eyes, and let sleep take her.
๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐จ๐ง.
In the last days of leaf-fall, the weather had cleared up a little more. Sleetstar was panting heavily as she looked up and around the basin. It had taken a lot of work to clean out the dens and replace them with softer, fresher nests, as well as creating new blockades for the front of the dens to shield them from the biting wind. An ear swiveled backwards at the sound of paws against stone, and Sleetstar turned just in time to see two patched cats exit the tunnel and stand before her in the basin.
"Can I help you?" She asked, blinking at them slowly. The smaller cat, a black and white molly, glanced upward at her taller companion. "We're looking for a 'Sleetstar' of NorthernClan," said the taller cat, in a silken voice, "we were told in a dream by StarClan to follow the North Star to her, because she needed us more than our current clan needed us then." Sleetstar looked between the pair of them, before she drew herself up a little taller, trying to match the tallest cat's height. "I am Sleetstar," she said, "leader of NorthernClan reborn. Welcome... er."
"Summitsky," the tom replied, "and this is Hollyfeather."
"Hello," she mewed, taking a seat and curling her tail over her paws, "we're at your command, Sleetstar. I'm sure there's a lot to do around here." It hit Sleetstar, suddenly, that being a leader of a clan meant she would actually be expected to lead it. This factoid had escaped her mind, momentarily, but it wasn't as if she hadn't been preparing to lead before. Leading a clan couldn't be that different to leading anything else.
"Right," she said, clearing her throat, "Summitsky, you're with me then. We'll see if we can find something to eat. Hollyfeather, you can patrol the borders, but be careful around the west and southern borders as there are a lot of two-legs around there usually. You should be able to find the borders by my scent markers. After that, I need to converse with StarClan, so you two can do... whatever you want to do. Understood?"
"Crystal clear," Summitsky said, with a nod. Hollyfeather got to her paws, ducking her head a little. "Absolutely, Sleetstar. We're here to help NorthernClan be the best that it can be."
-
Sleetstar broke away from Summitsky as the tom made his way back to the camp with their fresh kill. The path to the moonstone was more treacherous than most around the territory of NorthernClan, as Sleetstar had found. She stuck close to the craggy wall, even as her fluffy pelt caught against the sharp, pointed snags of the cliff-face. Eventually, she ducked into the tunnel that lead to the cave housing the moonstone, exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding on the narrow path prior.
The large crystal glistened as the last rays of the day's sun shone through the gap in the top of the cave, illuminating the way that flecks of gold danced under the smooth surface. Sleetstar wasn't sure what kind of rock this was, or how it had come to be in the first place, but it seemed that Northstar had a fondness for appearing whenever the pointed she-cat was near it. Sighing, Sleetstar found a comfortable place to lay down. She hesitated a moment, staring at the rock, before she took a deep breath and touched her nose to it. For a moment, nothing happened, and then suddenly, she seemed high above the world, mist rolling around her paws and stars glittering all around her.
"Not bad for a moon's work," a familiar voice said, and Sleetstar turned to see Northstar's sleek form coming toward her. She stayed silent, folding her tail over her paws as the past leader sat down, shoulders drawn up tall and regal. "We still have a long way to go, of course, but what you've accomplished in just a moon is perfect. The camp is ready for cats, you've established your territory, and with my help, you've even got two warriors."
"I feel like most of that was you, not me," Sleetstar said dryly, rolling her eyes as Northstar dismissed her with a sniff and a flick of her tail. "Anyway, this is just the beginning for NorthernClan. You're going to need to build up your ranks. You need a deputy, and a medicine cat, especially for the cold months. StarClan will do their best, but if you're not careful, you'll find yourself with a terrible sickness and no one to help with it. Mark my words, illness runs rampant in NorthernClan winters."
"Contrary to your seemingly popular belief, I have actually lived here all my life," Sleetstar snapped, "I know how to survive a winter, and I know all of this. So, what, this is a hint that you're going to randomly drop a medicine cat on me next with no prior warning?" Northstar glowered at her, the pair of mollies facing off, before the pure white she-cat sighed and swished her tail, conjuring an image of a massive tom. Sleetstar's eyes widened. He was huge, with rippling muscles and a fluffy coat that made him look twice his size, glittering amber eyes seeming to pierce her very soul.
"This tom will be of great importance to you. I am sending him to you as we speak, just so you're prepared."
"That's the medicine cat you want me to have?" Sleetstar sounded incredulous as she looked the visage of the tom up and down, taking in his charcoal black face and his smoky chest scruff, and the elegant slope of his nose. Northstar sighed impatiently, as if Sleetstar was a pesky apprentice who just wouldn't learn the battle move she'd been trying to teach for hours, shaking her head airily.
"No, don't be silly. This tom will play a much larger, more important role than that. You need to make absolutely sure that he remains on your side, no matter what."
"You're sending me a tom that might betray me?" Northstar's gaze hardened.
"I would be very wary, Sleetstar, of assuming that everyone will support you by virtue of your name. Cats have their own agendas, some clearer than others. It is foolish to believe that those agendas may be pushed aside for any one cat." Glittering amber eyes flashed across Sleetstar's mind, and she flattened her ears.
"I know this better than you could ever hope to understand."
"Good. Then you won't mess this up."
Sleetstar woke with a start, finding herself alone in a damp cave. Through the hole in the roof, rain had started to pellet down, leaving her pointed coat soaked to the bone. Sleetstar glanced one last time at the Moonstone, before she hauled herself to her feet, trudging out of the cave and into the pouring rain, directing her bedraggled form toward the camp of her new clan.
โฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌโฌ
` servings consumed
0/2 - stockpiling
` clan events
summitsky and hollyfeather of wildclan join northernclan
summitsky and sleetstar hunt
hollyfeather patrols the borders
sleetstar requests a warrior from starclan
` servings consumed
0/2 - stockpiling
` clan events
summitsky and hollyfeather of wildclan join northernclan
summitsky and sleetstar hunt
hollyfeather patrols the borders
sleetstar requests a warrior from starclan
- ` leader
`` sleetstar | 45 moons | โ | โฆ
` deputy
`` name | age | โ/โ | โฆ
` medicine cat
`` name | age | โ/โ | โฆ
` medicine cat apprentice
`` name | age | โ/โ | โฆ
` warriors
`` summitsky | 48 moons | โ | โฆ
`` hollyfeather | 23 moons | โ | โฆ
` apprentices
`` name | age | โ/โ | โฆ
` queens and kits
`` name | age | โ/โ | โฆ
โช kit names
` elders
`` name | age | โ/โ | โฆ
` ally clans
none currently.
` enemy clans
none currently.
` borders
โ | open | user
โ | open | user
โ | two-leg village
โ | ski slope
` medicine store
Herb | Usage
Herb | Usage
` fresh-kill pile
vole | x0 | 1 servings
rabbit | x0 | 2 servings
stoat | x0 | 2 servings
small fish | x0 | 2 servings
hare | x0 | 3 servings
bird | x0 | 3 servings
` mentors
mentor | apprentice [#]
โช skills learned
` deceased
name | cause of death
` family ties
parent + parent
โช kits
none currently.
` enemy clans
none currently.
` borders
โ | open | user
โ | open | user
โ | two-leg village
โ | ski slope
` medicine store
Herb | Usage
Herb | Usage
` fresh-kill pile
vole | x0 | 1 servings
rabbit | x0 | 2 servings
stoat | x0 | 2 servings
small fish | x0 | 2 servings
hare | x0 | 3 servings
bird | x0 | 3 servings
` mentors
mentor | apprentice [#]
โช skills learned
` deceased
name | cause of death
` family ties
parent + parent
โช kits