𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐍.
population: 17 cats [ 09 fem : 08 male ]
servings required: 04
𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙩moderator: deimos - next moonstone: 26th mar
moons since last nonsense: 0
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𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐨.
"-and so Y'ya ran and he ran and he ran... faster and faster around the world, trying to escape the the burning of the fire-ball tied to his tail, stopping for rest only when his paws were too tired to drag the sun any further. And that is why we have the day, because of Y'ya and his pranks!" Bearears puffed her chest out proudly as the cats gathered around her purred their gratitude for her story.
"Your tales from your clan are always riveting," Howlingeye mewed, his blue eyes glittering with genuine amusement, as Poppywish lounged against his flank. Their tails were curled together idly, Poppywish's rumbling growl growing louder when Howlingeye would absently clean behind his ears every few minutes.
"Thank you!" Bearears mewed, brightening up. "My clan believed that telling the stories of our ancestors was the best way to honour them, and the best way to learn from their mistakes. Y'ya is as much to explain why the world works the way that it does as he is to remind kits not to do foolish things such as provoke Ultoliqe, because he'll tie the sun to your tail, and if you don't run fast enough, the sun will catch you and burn you to a crisp."
"Charming," said Splitface, and Brackenstrike rumbled a low laugh that echoed around the gathered cats.
"Those names are something," said Twilightflower, the new queen that had apparently been sent by Northstar. Her eyes were bright and green, intelligent and curious. "I've never heard anything like them... and yet, you have a proper clan name." Bearears ducked her head, a shy smile on her maw, before she seemed to make a decision on how much to tell them.
"When kits are born, we are given a name for the body, and a name for the soul. The name for the body is the one which you all know- Bearears- but the name for the soul is to only be spoken to those you are closer to than anyone else. It is a very sacred and special thing to be told the soul-name of a cat. Before my clan was massacred, only my family members and one other knew." Bearear's voice caught in her throat as her brain tracked what she had said. A hush descended over the group. It was the first Bearears had spoken of the fate of her clan.
"I think that's a beautiful concept," Summitsky tired, awkwardly, but it didn't quite land. Bearears shook like a leaf, trembling terribly as the rest of the cats eyed her up, unsure how to continue. Finally, the shifting of paws drew attention to Howlingeye, as he stood, and stepped across Poppywish to press close to Bearear's side.
"Hush." He said. It was simple, and Bearears melted into him with a whimpering mewl. Howlingeye bent under her weight, pushing her to her paws as she shook. He nodded to Poppywish, and the pair of them flanked her, keeping her standing between their shoulders. Without another word, Howlingeye started forward, leading Bearears away from scrutiny, to the safety of Poppywish's den. As they got further away, Howlingeye's baritone carried as he murmured something secret to the young molly.
"Massacred," Hollyfeather said gravely, shaking her head, "no wonder she shakes like a leaf in the wind. What do you suppose happened?" Brackenstrike shook her head firmly.
"It's not something we should discuss. It's clearly taken a toll on her, and this kind of trauma can only be undone and overcome when she is ready. Until then, we should respect her privacy and not speak any more on the matter."
-
"You're turning in already?" Midnightblaze paused, halfway up the trail to the warrior's den. He paused, turning back to blink at Hollyfeather, where the young warrior stood. Her brow was drawn and her eyes were watching him carefully. It wasn't so much a question as it was an inquest, and Midnightblaze knew he was the object of scrutiny. This was the last thing he needed, really, but the past few moons had drained his energy to the point where he no longer cared.
"Yes," he said with a nod, "I'm tired."
"It's early."
"I've had a long few moons." Hollyfeather didn't say anything to that. "Goodnight, Hollyfeather. I pray StarClan blesses your dreams." She remained silent as he dipped his head and turned, making his way up the rest of the trail, and vanishing into the warrior den. Hollyfeather remained on the trail, watching the spot where his form had disappeared. Midnightblaze was strange to her. Every cat here was strange, strung together by Northstar and her invisible grand design, but Midnightblaze made less sense than most. She and Summitsky had been allowed to leave to follow a destiny. Poppywish was a vagrant, everyone else had tales and allusions to their clans falling, but Midnightblaze retained a heavy clan scent in his thick pelt.
"What was that about?" Hollyfeather turned to find Summitsky sidling up beside her, looking concerned. "Are you having problems?"
"No," she shook her head, "I just think he's weird, is all." Summitsky blinked at her, his eyes hardening as he tilted his head curiously.
"What makes you think that?" Summitsky's tone was one she hadn't heard before. All her life, Summitsky had been a kind, reliable constant. He was gentle and sweet and he had a laugh like a summer thunderstorm and eyes that twinkled like amber in the midday sun. Now, Summitsky's tone was perfectly calculated, a little sharp around the edges and punctuated with a curiosity that didn't seem at all benign. But Summitsky was Summitsky, and so she told him.
"I can't be the only one who's noticed that he has clan-scent on him. We all do now, but when we found say... Poppywish or Howlingeye, or even Thunderjaw, the clan scent was faded. Their clans had been gone, fallen apart for a while before they came here. Midnightblaze's is fresh, and he never talks to any of us. He's always just... here. Watching, but from the patrol structures, it doesn't seem like he's learning anything, and so I wonder why he is here, really."
"Maybe losing his clan is still too fresh to him," Summitsky suggested, "it must be pretty traumatic." Hollyfeather thought back to Bearear's earlier outburst.
"I don't think he lost his clan at all," Hollyfeather said, shaking her head, "I'm going to check on Bearears. Coming with?" Summitsky's eyes were trained on the warrior's den, high above them. When he didn't answer, Hollyfeather simply shook her head and started for Poppywish's den, leaving Summitsky gazing thoughtfully into the darkness.
-
"Do you think this is some kind of torture?" Thunderjaw tilted his head, blinking up at Minkfur as she wandered across the fallen tree next to him. "Surely they've figured out that we're no longer not speaking to each other. The get-along patrols seem redundant now." Thunderjaw's maw quirked into an amused smile, as he used his paw to scoop snow upward at her, although it spattered harmlessly against the tree trunk, while she scuffed some fallen snow onto his head.
"Are you saying you don't like hanging out with your dearest friend, Minkfur?"
"You're alright," she said, feigning an indifferent sniff, "I just think it's odd. Every day like clockwork: Minkfur and Thunderjaw, border patrol. Even the hunting parties get switched up sometimes, Howlingeye gets to escort Poppywish, the apprentices go... but never on border patrols. It's always just you and me. Why do you think that is?" Thunderjaw was quiet for a moment, carefully weighing up his words. Ever since his revelation, he had felt that it was better to be honest with Minkfur, but he knew she had lingering anxieties about the breakdown of her old clan.
"I think," he said, deciding for honesty, as he always did, "that Sleetstar would have preferred to have Brackenstrike or myself as her deputy, or even you, but for some reason Northstar doesn't want Sleetstar to consolidate power within NorthernClan, and so the appointment of Midnightblaze as deputy makes Sleetstar nervous, and unwilling to work with him. I also think that Midnightblaze is inexperienced, and without Sleetstar's guidance- which would mean very little in the first place, because Sleetstar is an isolationist who hasn't really taken the time to get to know her clan, but as a figurehead she's managed to isolate Midnightblaze from anyone who would help him as well- Midnightblaze is trying to roll with what he knows. And what he knows is that you and I are big and strong, we're experienced fighters, and we've never come back from a patrol bruised or battered."
"You've been thinking on that a lot, huh?" Thunderjaw gave a tight nod, and Minkfur blew out a sigh, flicking her ear in a manner that Thunderjaw had come to understand as nervous irritation. "I suppose we do make a good team. I just... worry."
"Everything's going to work itself out," he assured her, gently, "Sleetstar's tough, and you and I both have good heads on our shoulders. If push comes to shove, I'm sure we can wrangle some semblance of leadership into place. Brackenstrike and Splitface like you well enough, and I think Viridianfire would at least back me if you wanted to go casting orders about. And I would back you, one hundred percent of the time. I have the utmost faith in you." Minkfur gave him a wry smile.
"Flatterer." She fell silent for a long moment, before her ears pricked forward again. "What you said about Northstar... it sounds like you don't trust her, even if she brought you here. What's going on there?" Thunderjaw looked away, jaw grinding as he thought about what to say. Minkfur had almost given up on getting a reply out of him, when he spoke.
"There are things about her that don't add up. I think she's strange, and I don't trust strange cats."
"Every cat in NorthernClan is strange." Thunderjaw gave her a tight smile, but he didn't say anything. At that moment, a familiar scent wafted to him, and he turned, sharply, in time to see a chocolate brown pelt slipping through the trees toward him. Minkfur hissed above him, and Varvara paused, turning brilliant golden eyes toward Minkfur. She looked distinctly bored, as she turned her gaze back to Thunderjaw.
"I was hoping little miss was still dodging you," she said, without an ounce of actual emotion in her voice, "but oh well. It's not nearly so important that I catch you alone, so she can stay. I guess I can't fault you for being functionally hunky." Minkfur shot Thunderjaw a confused look. Thunderjaw appraised the molly.
"You're quite far in land," he said evenly, and Varvara's maw curled into an amused smile.
"You don't give anything away, do you Wonderboy?" Thunderjaw shrugged, and she took a step closer, winding around him. "You know that Sleetstar lied to me. Does your friend know that? The rest of your clan? It sounds like you're crumbling already, from what you were saying of this 'Midnightblaze'. I wish I could say I was surprised that a coup was already etched into the roots, but it is a clan headed by Sleetstar, so I do suppose it shouldn't come as such a shock."
"Thunderjaw?" Minkfur asked, tone warning.
"What I know is that you got very far into the territory, and Sleetstar probably said whatever she felt was right to get you away again," Varvara's eyes glittered, sharply, and it was Thunderjaw's turn to smile, "ah, I see. You're prying for news of her." Varvara sniffed, turning from him with her tail raised as she wandered across the ground, mushy from the meager summer-time snowfall. She turned to look back at him, voice airy.
"I couldn't care less what Sleetstar is doing," she mewed, "I just think this whole experimental clan thing is quite funny! I can't wait to see how long it lasts, although it hasn't taken long already to crumble to pieces, has it?" Thunderjaw was still smiling.
"I was mistaken," he mewed, "and out of the loop on clan romances. Sleetstar is carrying Summitsky's kits." Varvara froze, face shocked for all of a second, before a furious cloud drew tight across her features. She glanced between the two cats; tall and proud Thunderjaw, and the stocky molly on the branch behind him.
"We'll meet again, Thunderjaw," she said, tone frosty now, "ta." And with that, she vanished into the trees. Minkfur blinked down at Thunderjaw, face creased in concern.
"What was that?" She asked.
"Nothing good."
𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧.
"Are you okay?" Sleetstar's pacing paused as a voice came from behind her. She whipped around, finding herself facing the most recent addition to the clan. Twilightflower was bigger than she was, naturally plumper without the added weight of the kits growing inside of them. Sleetstar hated it. She felt sluggish and weak, each step reminding her of all the things she could no longer do. Summitsky did his best, but he didn't seem to understand where her real annoyance lay.
She doubted he would ever understand her well enough to get it.
"I'm fine," she said, tightly, "I just wish that I was out there... on patrol. It gets boring around here, being all on your own." She shrugged, awkwardly, as if this were no big deal. Twilightflower gave her a simpering smile that showed no real allegiance to her or her emotions. At least she didn't openly try to hide it, Sleetstar decided. It would have been worse if Twilightflower had acted like this circumstance meant they should be friends.
"You were alone before," she said evenly, "but I'm here now. One could argue that you choose to be alone, and that you've no one to fault but yourself." Sleetstar balked in shock as the black molly watched her, head tilted with an amused smile on her face. "I find ways to entertain myself, Sleetstar, so do not mistake this as a plea for your companionship. Consider it the olive branch. It's clear that being here isn't where you want to be, but the fact of the matter is, you are here, and you have to be, at least for a few more moons."
"I really hate it when literally anyone else is right," Twilightflower laughed, then, looking amused. Sleetstar couldn't help but smile, feeling some of the tension dissipate. "It's just... hard. I don't think I want to be a mother. But I have to be. And I don't want to explain that to you either, so I won't, but I've made some decisions that seemed right at the time and... now I'm starting to think that perhaps they weren't."
"In hindsight, you always have perfect vision," Sleetstar fixed Twilightflower with her blue eyes. The black molly shrugged. "My father used to say that to me. He always said if he knew the kits were coming on the day my mother kitted, he never would have left their camp. And then he always said that, and reminded himself he could never have known, and it's lucky he got back when he did so that my siblings and I didn't freeze to death."
"Your father was right, I suppose, but I just can't help but feel that maybe I am supposed to know. And I hate it. I hate feeling useless and I hate feeling alone in this, but I've no one that I can trust with how I feel." Twilightflower didn't say anything for a long while, the pair of them standing together in the campground as dark clouds gathered overhead.
"I doubt we'll be friends," she said finally, "but we're likely to be stuck together most days for the next two moons at the very least. If you ever want to talk, you know how to find me, and it's not as if I have anyone to tell your feelings to. I'm not sure how much of a help that is, but in any case, I'd also like to give you some advice. It's much easier and much nicer to focus on what you can do then what you can't."
"There is nothing I can do." Sleetstar muttered bitterly. Twilightflower's smile was wry.
"Then perhaps you are not looking hard enough."
-
"Found anything interesting back there?" Splitface jumped as Brackenstrike's shoulder brushed her own. She shook off the weird feeling in her stomach, turning to fix the tabby molly with her best unimpressed face. Hollyfeather and Midnightblaze had been quick to split off from the patrol to hunt on their own, but as always, Brackenstrike and Splitface hunted together. Having the other she-cat around made Splitface feel better about the growing anxiety she felt at the inkling that someone might be following her, but it didn't stop her from checking over her shoulder.
"Do you feel as if someone is following us? Watching us?"
"No," Brackenstrike's face grew worried, "are you okay? We handed off the rune, you can relax now."
"I know," Splitface sighed, shaking her head, "I guess I'm just not used to this. I'm probably just psyching myself out. I've... never really had a home, you know? Not like a clan, anyway." She paused, ducking her head shyly. "It's um. Maybe it's forward of me to say, but I've never had a place where I felt like I could have... a future. And you. Well, you always remind me that perhaps I can. Have a future I mean." Brackenstrike grinned, broadly, before it faltered.
"That's not too forward of you at all," she assured her, but Splitface had seen the brief hesitation.
"Is that... not what you want?"
"No! No, it's not like that at all- look, I really like you," Brackenstrike's face was melancholy, "you know that I do. But... I guess I'm the same. I haven't really considered the fact that I have a future anywhere, because everyone I love leaves me eventually. And that's not... meant to be a guilt trip or some way of forcing you to stay if you ever decide you want to leave, it's just a fact of life. I know it must be pure coincidence, but a part of me... a part of me wonders if StarClan does exist, and StarClan has a plan for everyone, if their plan is that I should be alone. Because I always have been- surrounded by cats but still lonely."
"I hope I can alleviate that pain," Splitface pressed closer, "for as long as you need me to. For as long as you want me to."
"I can't ask that of you," Brackenstrike touched her nose to Splitface's cheek, "you're kind, but I know you would struggle. It's not fair of me to ask you to make a promise when you've barely had time to let the dust settle. I want you to take care of yourself first and foremost, okay?"
"You really are a rock," Brackenstrike laughed, "but... all things considered, I'm glad it's your shoulder that I have to lean on."
"Very romantic," Brackenstrike assured her, "now come on. We should try and catch something so that Sleetstar doesn't absolutely lose her mind if Midnightblaze and Hollyfeather come up short... again." Splitface rolled her eyes, affection settling easily into her features. She watched Brackenstrike take a few bounds ahead, paw poised to follow her. Still, the unsettling feeling came back, crawling up her spine.
She spun, quickly, and something moved in the shadows. She froze, breath stuck in her throat, but the trees did not shift again. Up ahead, Brackenstrike called for her. Splitface hesitated, and then bounded after her, forsaking the movement for the comfort that came with hiding beside the brown tabby molly. And still, for the rest of the day, until the sun had set low over the horizon and she and Brackenstrike were curled together in a nest at the far end of the warrior's den, she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
-
"Good," Summitsky's voice rung out across the clearing, where Galepaw had pinned her brother, "you're getting the hang of that quickly, both of you. Swap over again. This time, Whisperpaw you can hunt Galepaw. Good job everybody." The two apprentices nodded, and Whisperpaw returned to Summitsky's side with his eyes shut. Galepaw vanished into the trees to hide, and Bearears took off in another direction to find a new vantage point. The clearing was quiet.
"Am I really doing a good job?" Whisperpaw asked, startling Summitsky from his count.
"What? Yes, of course you are! I wouldn't say such things if I didn't think you and your sister were genuinely doing good work." Whisperpaw smiled, pleased, as his ear twitched. Summitsky paused for a moment. His apprentice oftentimes confused him, seemingly wise beyond his years but nervous with the naivety of youth at the same time. "Is there... something wrong?" He tried, finally. "Do you still feel unsure about some things?"
"No. Galepaw and I have had to be good at this for a long time, else we would be dead." He opened his eyes, looking around the clearing, before fixing Summitsky with his even stare. "It's been two minutes, no?"
"Ye- yeah," Summitsky stammered, watching in bewilderment as his apprentice got to his paws, and disappeared into the thicket. He didn't know what to say, or what to make of the nonchalance with which Whisperpaw had delivered a statement that might as well have been a box around the ears. Perhaps if Sleetstar had been around, or even Thunderjaw, who seemed keen-eyed and quick-witted, he wouldn't have felt so hopelessly lost.
As it were, the wind swirled around him, lifting green leaves from the soft ground and twirling them about his pelt. The clearing was silent, and he felt almost cocooned in his won world. Finally, feeling like a millennium had passed, Summitsky drew himself to his paws, making his way toward the direction Bearears had gone in. He met her halfway down the track, and the pair of them scented out the apprentices together.
"What do you know about Galepaw?" Summitsky asked, finally, in the burgeoning silence. Bearears blinked, flicking her rounded ears idly.
"Not a whole lot," she conceded after a moment, "she says a lot of strange things that I can't really make heads or tails of, but mostly I think that whatever she and Whisperpaw have been through, it wasn't good. And I don't think their parents dying was as big a factor of them coming here as they would like us to believe." Summitsky blinked, turning to look at the molly. Usually sunny and exuberant, over the past moon she had seemed more withdrawn, her face now pulled tight and more serious than he had ever seen it.
"What makes you say that?" Bearears shook her head.
"It's... not important. Don't worry yourself too much about it." A yowl sounded from somewhere deeper in the forest, and Bearears burst through the thicket to find Galepaw pinned by her brother, whose smile was quiet but pleased. He lifted his eyes at the rustling noise, and when they met Summitsky's, he realized there was something behind them he had never seen in another cat's eyes as long as he had lived.
He hoped to never see it again.
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` servings consumed
4/4 - x2 hares
` clan events
poppywish searches for kitting herbs
summitsky & bearears teach their apprentices to hunt
` patrols
hunting-
1 - midnightblaze, hollyfeather, brackenstrike, splitface
2 - fallowstep, hawkeyes, viridianfire, howlingeye
border-
3 - thunderjaw, minkfur
` leader
`` sleetstar | 53 moons | ♀ | ✦
` deputy
`` midnightblaze | 59 moons | ♂ | ✦
` medicine cat
`` poppywish | 44 moons | ♂ | ✦
` medicine cat apprentice
`` name | age | ♀/♂ | ✦
` warriors
`` summitsky | 56 moons | ♂ | ✦
`` hollyfeather | 31 moons | ♀ | ✦
`` thunderjaw | 51 moons | ♂ | ✦
`` howlingeye | 34 moons | ♂ | ✦
`` brackenstrike | 62 moons | ♀ | ✦
`` splitface | 59 moons | ♀ | ✦
`` bearears | 26 moons | ♀ | ✦
`` minkfur | 49 moons | ♀ | ✦
`` fallowstep | 51 moons | ♂ | ✦
`` hawkeyes | 56 moons | ♂ | ✦
`` viridianfire | 18 moons | ♀ | ✦
` apprentices
`` whisperpaw | 8 moons | ♂ | ✦
`` galepaw | 8 moons | ♀ | ✦
` queens and kits
`` twilightflower | 31 moons | ♀ | ✦
↪ due in two moons
` elders
`` name | age | ♀/♂ | ✦
` ally clans
none currently.
` enemy clans
none currently.
` borders
↑ | open | user
→ | open | user
↓ | two-leg village
← | ski slope
` medicine store
catmint [3] | greencough
poppy seeds [1] | pain
burnet [1] | strength
lamb's ear [1] | strength
lovage [1] | coughs; c
broom [1] | broken bones
lungwort [1] | yellowcough
raspberry leaves [1] | strength
ragwort [1] | strength
` fresh-kill pile
vole | x4 | 1 servings
rabbit | x5 | 2 servings
stoat | x2 | 2 servings
small fish | x1 | 2 servings
hare | x3 | 3 servings
bird | x3 | 3 servings
` mentors
summitsky | whisperpaw [1]
↪ battle
bearears | galepaw [1]
↪ battle
` deceased
name | cause of death
` family ties
fallowstep + hawkeyes - ravencall; surrogate
↪ batkit, racoonkit & beaverkit (snakeclan)
sleetstar + summitsky
↪ due in 1 moons
mother + father
↪ whisperpaw & galepaw
twilightflower + father
↪ due in 2 moons
