paragraph"let's start from the beginning," softglow said to break the lasting silence that settled over the group gathered together in the corner of highgarden's secondary camp. with newleaf coming, the clan had been quick to pick up their lives and move out of the valley in preparation for the coming floods. with tulipstream's small kits and the number of young thorns who still were learning how to swim - they all remembered hornetpaw's near-drowning - it was best for them all. with the move came the discovery of the three cats seated across from softglow, tawnyrose, and bluetcrest. tawnyrose sat in the middle, though she appeared more preoccupied with pulling a pesky splinter from between her pads to address the trio of strangers, and bluetcrest looked half-asleep, uninterested in actually assessing to see if these cats might be assets if they were to be accepted into highgarden. which left softglow to start the proceedings. "hurricanejaw said that he found you two," he said, glancing between the pair of toms, one large and dark, the other smaller with light fur. "and dippernose spotted you while he was training his thorn. where are you from?" he asked then, his eyes skimming over the molly who sat apart from the toms, though the question was left open for anyone to answer. when no one spoke, bluetcrest cleared his throat and leaned over to tawnyrose to whisper in her ear.
paragraphtawnyrose's eyes slid up to look over the three before landing on the small tom with wide blue eyes. "you," she said, making him jump, "what's your name?" she asked him. he shuffled his paws and seemed to shrink under the interrogation, and his bulkier companion opened his mouth, though tawnyrose sent him a withering glance. "i didn't ask you, i asked him. i'd like to hear him answer on his own." her voice was bored and monotone, and it was clear to see that she wished she was doing anything else in the moment. she tried again when the large tom hunched his shoulders, and softglow watched her eyes soften when she regarded the skinny cat again. "your name, hon, what is it? it's not a hard question." in the moment, softglow could almost fool himself that tawnyrose was actually kind, her tone becoming warm and welcoming whereas she had just shut up a cat twice her size not a heartbeat earlier.
paragraphfortunately, it seemed to coax the tom who looked between the queen and his paws before finally answering, "spencer."
paragraph"spencer," tawnyrose repeated, allowing a gentle smile to grace her maw when the tom - spencer - nodded. "has anyone told you who i am?" she asked him then, craning her head so that she was in his line of sight. at last, he met her eyes.
paragraph"the patrol said that we would be brought to meet the queen," spencer said, "so you must be the queen."
paragraph"i am. my name is tawnyrose. and it's very nice to meet you." when she introduced herself, spencer tried to duck his head shyly, though she held his gaze and ducked her head back into his sight. "your friend here, what's his name?"
paragraph"erasmus," spencer replied, this time with less hesitation, and tawnyrose rewarded him with another smile, which he returned.
paragraphsoftglow dared to shoot a sideways look to tawnyrose and bluetcrest. tawnyrose kept her gaze locked with spencer's, though bluetcrest met softglow's eye. the queen's attendant offered softglow the slightest shrug of his shoulders, clearing not having expected this behavior from tawnyrose either. this was an entirely new side of the queen that not even her best friend had seen yet. when this began, softglow was expecting her to act dismissive as she always had. but still, she continued, having picked spencer to continue speaking, "where are you and erasmus from?" she asked him, and spencer tried to look to erasmus before answering, but tawnyrose stopped him, "i'm asking you, hon, just tell me."
paragraphonce again, spencer shifted uncomfortably but was pulled back in by tawnyrose's green eyes. "we were part of a clan that disbanded," he explained, clearing his throat to stall, though the rest of the cats remained silent. off to the side, the strange molly kept her eyes locked on the floor, though softglow saw her brow furrow as if deep in thought. for the moment, however, softglow tracked his gaze back to spencer and erasmus. while spencer gave off a nervous energy, erasmus unnerved softglow, though the smoky tom seemed to only sour in expression. when he turned to look at softglow, the king met his eyes without blinking.
paragraph"what was your clan called?" he asked, feigning nonchalance. something prickled the back of his mind, like this was important information. he looked not to spencer for an answer, but to erasmus, and he felt tawnyrose shift beside him, suddenly interested. for a long moment, it seemed that erasmus might not answer until he finally let out a dark laugh.
paragraph"the kingdom of shattered bones," he answered, letting out another laugh. softglow could feel bluetcrest's eyes burning into the side of his head, though he was too enraptured by staring erasmus down, not wanting to look away first. indeed, the larger tom swung his gaze around the spacious den until he stared at tawnyrose. "i've heard of highgarden. you're friends with groveclan." though it seemed that erasmus looked to intimidate the queen, tawnyrose's expression morphed again, from the gentle look she gave spencer to coax him into speaking, to unimpressed and passe, as though the cat before her bored her. the effect was that the mighty tom's laughing stopped and he flicked his ears. "we kidnapped their kits. they came to get them back. our leader killed one of the kits. did you know that?" he asked her.
paragraphtawnyrose, to her credit, let out a bored sigh and went back to examining her paw for the splinter. "i hear a lot of stories. i hear that a lot of cats kill a lot of other cats. you think you're the first cat alive to have claimed to see a murder?" the word claimed was stressed when tawnyrose spoke, with clear intention. at that, erasmus bristled, though he stood only when he appeared to boil over, triggered when tawnyrose had the audacity to yawn. in that moment, several things happened: first, tawnyrose yawned. then erasmus snarled at her and stood up. in the next heartbeat, bluetcrest and softglow stood to defend their queen and the strange molly recoiled into the corner of the den and tawnyrose continued to examine her paw pad. finally, spencer managed to scramble to his paws and turned on erasmus.
paragraphspencer spoke frantically to erasmus while butting his head into the larger tom's broad chest. it was only when erasmus grunted and sat down that softglow and bluetcrest stepped aside at tawnyrose's order. "you call yourself a queen," erasmus spat with a flick of his ears, "i think you're pathetic."
paragraphthis time it was tawnyrose's turn to laugh. "you want to know what i think?" she asked, this time addressing all of the present cats, though it was clear that she wasn't searching for an answer, "i think that you've known about my clan for moons now. and you knew who our allies are. you knew, and yet you come here anyway. which means you either want me to send you to groveclan for them to deal with you, or you want something from me." with a thoughtful hum, she drew her paw over her ear, allowing for a beat of tense silence. "maybe you're scared. scared what groveclan would do if they found out where you are. maybe you're gambling that i won't turn you over to them. but why?" again, it was clearly a rhetorical question, and she turned her attention to spencer. "i think it has to do with you, my dear. he wants to protect you. it's too dangerous to be out on your own, so he brought you to me, probably hoping that i would offer you a place here. am i wrong?" she asked, glancing back to erasmus and humming again when he didn't meet her eyes. then, to spencer, she asked, "what's so special about you?"
paragraphwhen the silence pressed, it was evident that she was asking him to answer, and she didn't don her gentle persona with him this time. "i don't know," spencer admitted after a long moment, dropping his gaze to the floor, "i just healed his sprained paw once. i'm not special."
paragraph"you know how to use herbs?" she asked him, to which he nodded at the ground. at last, tawnyrose stood and glanced over the three. "good, merlinsong could use the help. our thorns like to get themselves into trouble." at that, she turned to softglow with a slight nod, "softglow, if you wouldn't mind introducing spencer to merlinsong when he gets back, that would be great. you two are good friends." then, she nodded to the other molly, "you - what's your name?"
paragraph"sagecloud," came the answer.
paragraphtawnyrose studied her a long moment before giving a slight nod. "welcome to highgarden. there's a hunting patrol leaving at sunset. go with them and we'll see what you can do." sagecloud blinked in surprise at tawnyrose, clearly shocked that she wasn't interrogated as fiercely as the other two, but nodded quickly.
paragraph"thank you, i'm very grateful for -" sagecloud began to say, only to be cut off by tawnyrose who flicked her tail.
paragraph"just pull your weight to show your thanks. you can talk to softglow or bluetcrest if you need anything or have questions." with that, she turned to leave, beckoning bluetcrest with another pointed flick of her tail. without hesitation, bluetcrest moved to follow her, though softglow paused, noticing the way spencer looked to erasmus, who had set his jaw.
paragraphjust as tawnyrose was about to step out of the den, erasmus spoke up, "and what about me? going to shove me off to groveclan?"
paragraphtawnyrose's smile was cold and her eyes glittered with mischief. "now where's the fun in that? like i said, there's a hunting patrol at sunset. but one paw out of place and i'll send you and him," she said, thrusting her nose at spencer, "to groveclan personally. welcome to highgarden."
paragraphhighgarden's secondary camp, in hornetpaw's eyes, was a definite downgrade from the camp he was used to. the old tower was an intimidating and ugly building that cast a long shadow over the central clearing. instead of being able to bask in the sun after a long leafbare, hornetpaw was left to shiver in the wake of the tower where tawnyrose and softglow had made their nests. back in the main camp, hornetpaw, at the very least, had the chance to relax after a long day of training by stretching out in the dying rays of sunset, but that was no longer afforded to him until the flood waters had receded. instead, the thorn was curled into a tight ball outside of the thorns' den, his nose tucked under his tail. he looked up only when a soft voice sounded above him. "you look cold," the voice said, and hornetpaw blinked up at warblerpaw.
paragraph"oh, hey. i guess i'm a little cold," hornetpaw said a little dumbly. admittedly, hornetpaw hadn't had the chance to get to know most of the younger thorns better. he knew iguanapaw from the earlier days of the clan, before hurricanejaw's family joined highgarden, before warblerpaw was taken in by a patrol. now, most of his time was spent training with dippernose or hanging out with tigergaze, smokemane, and sunglow. hornetpaw looked warblerpaw up and down before he noticed the bird at her paws, and he sniffed the air. "did you catch that?" he asked, searching for something else to say.
paragraphwarblerpaw smiled and nodded, nudging it in his direction. "i did," she answered, "and i was wondering if you wanted to share it with me." for a long moment, hornetpaw blinked up at her before he finally shrugged and gestured to the space beside him.
paragraph"sure, thanks," he said, and together they ate in silence, taking turns to bite into the bird until it was reduced to feathers and bones. after that, hornetpaw assumed that she would leave him alone so that he could return to his previous position of huddling in the cold shadow of the old tower. even still, it loomed above him as a reminder that he was not in the nest he liked so well. though their main camp was only a short walk away, the old tower continued to make hornetpaw antsy and wish for everything to return to normal. however, warblerpaw merely shifted to begin grooming her fur.
paragraph"you never hang out with the rest of us," she said, so casually that hornetpaw nearly disregarded the comment entirely until he caught her staring at him from the corner of her eye between grooming her chest fur. hornetpaw made a noncommittal noise, unsure what else she could possibly be expecting him to say. at that, she shrugged in turn. "i mean, you talk to iguanapaw sometimes, but racoonpaw says that you just don't like the rest of us. did we do something?" she asked, with the same tone that made hornetpaw dizzy.
paragraphat last, hornetpaw shifted his focus to grooming his ears, licking his paws and drawing them over his ears in long strokes while he considered what to say. "no, of course not. i've just known iguanapaw longer, and i'm just trying to focus on a few things. i'm prepping for my assessment in a few moons. i don't want to screw up." when he said it, hornetpaw couldn't shake the feeling that he was being truthful, but also lying at the same time. there was no reason why he couldn't be friendly with the other thorns as well as tigergaze, why he couldn't train but also make friends. when put so plainly, it didn't make sense, and hornetpaw winced at his weak excuse. at least warblerpaw had the grace to not say as such, instead raising her brow when hornetpaw coughed to clear his throat, "but i should try to be with you lot more. you're all fine and i like you all. i guess my head isn't in the right place." only days earlier, tigergaze mentioned that hornetpaw had been more distracted than usual, and hornetpaw couldn't help but agree.
paragraph"i mean, i think that's something you need to work out for yourself," warblerpaw said, letting out a yawn. "the others just wanted me to ask, they were scared you hated them or something." at last, she paused in her grooming to offer a genuine smile when hornetpaw shook his head vigorously and opened his mouth to argue. "i believe you." at that, hornetpaw ducked his head, smiling slightly at the ground. warblerpaw leaned forward to touch her nose to hornetpaw's ear in a comforting gesture. "whatever it is that's bothering you - whether its the assessment or something else - i think we should be friends, don't you? friends can be there for each other."
paragraphthe softness in her tone made hornetpaw wrench his head up to meet her gaze, but warblerpaw stood and turned away with a wave of her tail. "see you at training in the morning," she called over her shoulder and hornetpaw watched her go to where cougarpaw, racoonpaw, foxpaw, and wolfpaw were huddled together, clearly waiting for her return. immediately, the group brought their heads together to whisper, though hornetpaw caught warblerpaw's eye, and she winked at him.
paragraphwhen softglow walked into the herbalist den, he initially forgot that spencer had taken a spot of helping merlinsong with gathering herbs and taking care of any patients, and the king was momentarily startled at the sight of another cat sorting through the stacks of herbs that merlinsong kept in strict order so long as he had been in the clan. spencer, in turn, startled at softglow's unexpected arrival and nearly upended one of those piles that softglow recognized as marigold (or was it fennel? softglow couldn't be sure, though he was certain merlinsong had showed him before). after a heartbeat, however, the smaller tom's expression relaxed and he managed a small smile, "good morning, softglow," spencer said, and softglow nodded a curt greeting.
paragraph"hi," he said, already peering over the other cat for a trace of his friend. "i'm looking for merlinsong, is he here?" with the same meticulousness merlinsong always cautioned when in his den, softglow walked on his toes through the maze of leaves, not waiting for spencer's answer to take a look further inside.
paragraph"he mentioned that he was stopping by the nursery to check on tulipstream and her kits," spencer informed softglow, who halted in his snooping to look at the tom over his shoulder. spencer's eyes were wide, even when he didn't appear particularly startled or stressed in the moment, which made him appear incredibly innocent and kit-like, though he was full grown. the staring must have made spencer uncomfortable, however, as he tore his gaze away from softglow's and shuffled his paws. "i'm sure he'll be back soon, if you wanted to wait for him," spencer said to fill the silence that softglow was willing to let linger. however, he dropped his gaze and nodded once, stepping over the herbs the same way he came in.
paragraph"that's alright, i'll find him," softglow said, shaking his pelt out when he reached the entrance. he turned to leave, but paused for a moment long enough to glance at spencer over his shoulder. "thanks for your help," he said, catching the beginning of spencer's smile before he ducked out.
paragraphsure enough, when he reached the nursery, softglow found himself looking in to see merlinsong bent over tulipstream and her trio of kits who were sleeping against her belly. tulipstream spotted the king first and motioned him in, to which he offered a short greeting. "i'll come back to see them," he promised, "but i was wondering if i could steal merlinsong from you for a few minutes," he added when merlinsong hadn't yet turned to face him. however, at the sound of his name, merlinsong let out a hum and flicked his tail.
paragraph"i'll be out in a second," the herbalist said, and softglow recognized that it wasn't worth arguing with him. instead, he nodded more to tulipstream before backing out to wait outside of the nursery's entrance. just as he sat down to wait, bassflow came by with a mouse in his jaws. the bulky warrior blinked kindly at softglow before pushing through into the nursery to see his mate and kits. from inside, softglow could hear the muffle of voices before, at last, merlinsong appeared and fixed his gaze on softgow. "where are we headed?" he asked, then waved his tail as if to dismiss softglow's answer before he even had the chance to give one. "somewhere quiet, i'm assuming. this is something important, eh?"
paragraphdespite the nagging in his head, softglow couldn't help but let out a short laugh, "you could deduce that much just by looking at me? what if it isn't important?"
paragraph"please, you already know that you're not funny so just don't even bother trying," merlinsong scoffed with a roll of his eyes. he steered softglow away from the nursery, then out of the camp entirely. together, they began walking towards the distant windmill, where the spinning wheel continually creaked from the breeze that swept from over the mountains. the sounds of the camp steadily faded away as they walked, with merlinsong commenting on the weather, then on tulipstream's kits. he rambled on, and softglow was more than happy to listen to him until, at last, they settled under the windmill, where the creaking wood would drown out their words if anyone followed them and tried to eavesdrop. "okay," merlinsong said when he finished explaining the properties of poppy seeds, "what is it that you wanted to talk about?"
paragraphthough softglow knew that the windmill would protect them, he couldn't help but search the clearing with wide eyes, just as a final check that they were truly alone. with a sigh, he turned back to merlinsong. "what do you think of spencer?" he asked, not missing the slight tilt of merlinsong's head.
paragraphmerlinsong studied softglow's expression before wrapping his tail around his paws and blowing out a long breath. "you know there aren't a lot of cats i would let work with me," he said, to which softglow smiled and nodded his agreement. "he's a little skittish, i suppose, but he knows what he's doing. i'm not about to let him take care of tulipstream's kits, but that's just because he's new to highgarden. tawnyrose was right - i could use the extra paws now and then," merlinsong said, then flicked his ear, "why are you asking?"
paragraph"i don't trust erasmus," softglow heard himself say. he closed his eyes tightly and exhaled deeply. when merlinsong said nothing, softglow cracked his eye open and looked to his friend - his only friend, if he was being honest. "tawnyrose is planning to have bluetcrest keep an eye on him, but you know bluetcrest. he's - well, he's bluetcrest, he's just like she is," softglow said, feeling himself begin to panic. over the past few days, he ran over the meeting from spencer and erasmus' arrival over and over in his head and he tried to digest exactly what happened, but it still didn't sit right with him. "when he talked about his old clan, he laughed and it chilled me to the bones. he talked about the death of a kit, and he laughed, merlinsong. i don't trust him. and i don't trust bluetcrest to be able to handle it." the entire time, merlinsong simply sat back and listened. a long moment passed, and softglow's breath came rapid and heavy before his voice dropped to a whisper. "tell me i'm just crazy and paranoid."
paragraph"i don't think you are," merlinsong said, and softglow looked up at him, his breath still coming ragged. at that, the herbalist leaned forward to lick between softglow's ears in what he supposed was supposed to be a calming gesture. sure enough, the warmth of the herbalist's fur so close to his own made softglow relax, his shoulders slumping. "it's natural to be wary, and we all know that bluetcrest is... to use your words, bluetcrest is bluetcrest. he mimes tawnyrose's shadow and isn't the brightest, but they both want the best for this clan. as do you." in the moment, softglow could only mumble his agreement. "exactly. but if it makes you feel better, i'll keep an eye on spencer and keep him busy so he can't get up to anything. surely erasmus won't do anything so long as spencer is here."
paragraph"i hope you're right," softglow said with a heavy sigh. silence fell between them and softglow felt his nerves settle thanks to the creak of the windmill overhead.
actions
[ added cats ] spencer and erasmus from the kingdom of shattered bones x, sagecloud x
[ consumption ] highgarden eats one big fish and three mice
[ gods visit ] n/a
[ hunting 1 ] tawnyrose, bluetcrest, betonypetal, maplelily, smokemane, and flickersky hunt
[ hunting 2 ] softglow, mapleshadow, swiftheart, sunglow, tigergaze, and smallheart hunt
[ supply gathering ] erasmus and sagecloud
[ training ] hornetpaw learns how to swim
iguanapaw, warblerpaw, cougarpaw, racoonpaw, foxpaw, and wolfpaw learn how to fight
[ herb hunting ] merlinsong and spencer
[ notes to mod ] i ask that no one die on patrols though injuries are fine xx queen (2/2)
tawnyrose, 27m, ♀
the wayward queen
king
softglow, 29m, ♂
the lost king
heir
name, age, gender
notes
attendant
bluetcrest, 31m, ♂
the wayward's attendant
herbalist (2/2)
merlinsong, 34m, ♂ ✿✿✿✿✿
spencer, 29m, ♂ ✿✿✿✿✿
roses (19/20)
sagecloud, 45m, ♀
mapleshadow, 43m, ♀
maplelily, 37m, ♀
betonypetal, 26m, ♀
flickersky, 25m, ♀
swiftheart, 21m, ♀
smokemane, 15m, ♀
name, age, ♀
notes
knights
erasmus, 41m, ♂
hurricanejaw, 39m, ♂
bassflow, 37m, ♂
newtmask, 36m, ♂
dippernose, 36m, ♂
birchflame, 28m, ♂
clovershine, 25m, ♂
smallheart, 25m, ♂
obsidianwing, 18m, ♂
sunglow, 15m, ♂
tigergaze, 14m, ♂
name, age, ♂
notes
thorns (7/10)
hornetpaw, 11m, ♂
cougarpaw, 8m, ♂
racoonpaw, 8m, ♂
foxpaw, 8m, ♂ bobtail
wolfpaw, 8m, ♀ bobtail
iguanapaw, 8m, ♀
warblerpaw, 8m, ♀
name, age, gender
notes
roots (4/10)
tulipstream, 29m, ♀
- mate: bassflow
- kits: stagkit, seedkit, rabbitkit
name, age, gender
notes
seedlings
stagkit, 1m, ♂
seedkit, 1m, ♀
rabbitkit, 1m, ♀
name, age, gender
notes
wilted (0/5)
name, age, gender
notes
name, age, gender
notes
allies & enemies & borders
here
medicine
here
prey
total x36
mouse | x16 | 1 servings
vole | x4 | 1 servings
squirrel | x3 | 2 servings
rabbit | x2 | 2 servings
big fish | x1 | 3 servings
finch | x1 | 3 servings
den supplies
brambles x0
moss x0
rocks x0
sticks x0
mentors
dippernose, hornetpaw, 3
bassflow, cougarpaw, 2
newtmask, racoonpaw, 1
birchflame, foxpaw, 2
clovershine, wolfpaw, 2
hurricanejaw, iguanapaw, 1
obsidianwing, warblerpaw, 2
mentor, thorn, 0
deceased
here
family trees
here
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