♂ 6
♀ 5
total 11
servings 3
xx
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xx
gods anytime
kitting none
injury none
archive here
paragraphthe first breeze of fall tore across highgarden's territory when before the sun reached its highest point in the sky, and softglow found himself grateful for his thick coat. the king of highgarden rested in the middle of camp, bright blue eyes watching the clouds race across the bluing sky, and he remained his posture even when merlinsong emerged from behind him and spoke, "up early this morning, aren't we?" when softglow merely flicked his ears in answer, theking heard merlinsong's amused huff. the herbalist padded closer and sat so that their fur just barely brushed at their shoulders. "how fares the queen?"
paragraph"tawnyrose is fine," softglow murmured at last, "though i've already come to find that the queen likes to speak for herself," he added, then to himself, or if it's bluetcrest speaking in her stead. though the dynamics of the clan had been explained to him moons earlier when he first joined, he found that the intricacies of tawnyrose's relationship with bluetcrest still escaped him. even when he and tawnyrose were alone in their den, he still found himself feeling that bluetcrest was still there, joined with tawnyrose with each moment. as long as they were both alive, they would never be apart. "you're up early as well, merlinsong," softglow said, looking to change the topic of discussion quickly. his eyes darted to the side, only to find that merlinsong's pale eyes met his in that moment, and his breath seemed to escape his chest completely.
paragraph"i'm always up early," merlinsong answered, seemingly unaffected. instead, he stood and step away just far enough to stretch his body. his tail flicked, up towards the gods, and his eyes closed for a brief moment. "the earlier i'm awake, the sooner i can get out of camp before the chaos starts." the herbalist, in softglow's knowledge of him, was a normally quiet cat, and this was the first time he heard him speak so much in so little time."before long hornetpaw will be jumping everywhere for attention, smallheart will be falling over himself after flickersky, and iguanakit will be getting under all of our paws. no cat here has any sense."
paragraph"no one?" softglow echoed, "not even yourself?"
paragraphfor a moment, the breeze seemed to stop stirring the air and time seemed to pause. once again, merlinsong met softglow's gaze, his head cocked to one side, as if measuring softglow until he smiled, as if he liked what he found. "no, definitely not me. i might be the worst of all." before softglow could consider an answer, merlinsong turned and padded back, past softglow and back towards his den at the same time that iguanakit's voice could be heard. the herbalist muttered something indiscernible under his breath but glanced back at softglow at the last second, "tell tawnyrose i said good morning, won't you?" and softglow could only nod before merlinsong disappeared into his den and was out of sight.
paragraphwithin time, the camp began to come to life. mapleshadow, who had been guarding the camp overnight, slipped through the camp entrance and nodded to softglow. "all's clear," she reported, coming to a stop in front of the king. "how are you, softglow?" she asked, blinking her pale green eyes, though there was no warmth within her tone. softglow had already come to learn that these cats knew little warmth.
paragraphsoftglow made to open his mouth, but was cut off by hornetpaw's voice. the young thorn had spent the moon since his arrival posturing across camp. his mentor, dippernose, was no better, and didn't encourage hornetpaw to calm himself. instead, their confidence made an unparalleled match, though tawnyrose maintained that dippernose would be the best mentor. he was immature, she had agreed when softglow brought it up, but flickersky, smallheart, and swiftheart were all too young. merlinsong decided that the gods would laugh if he tried to take hornetpaw under his training, and the queen, king, and attendant were all too busy to take a thorn.
paragraph"dippernose says he's going to take me swimming, aren't you jealous? i'm going to be the best swimmer in the entire clan," hornetpaw gushed when he nosed between the rose and king, ears pricked and eyes wide with excitement. his entire body seemed to tremble with enthusiasm, and he missed the way mapleshadow rolled her eyes.
paragraphinstead, mapleshadow nodded over softglow's shoulder, where dippernose himself appeared from his den. the handsome black and white tom stretched his lithe body before waving his tail. he spotted his apprentice and crossed the clearing until he stood behind hornetpaw. "so, we heard you're going swimming today?" mapleshadow asked, and dippernose smiled.
paragraph"yes. tawnyrose mentioned that it might be a good idea considering how much water is on own territory. just in case of any floods," he said, though softglow couldn't help but feel a flicker of uncertainty in his gut. hornetpaw was still small, despite the way he carried himself. he was only a few moons older than iguanakit, who was still in the nursery. surely it was too early in his training to be swimming. but he held his tongue, thinking that none of these cats would actually pay heed to what he had to say. he was only the king, and his power was minimal at best. mapleshadoe was more likely to laugh in his face than agree, and hornetpaw was too excited.
paragraph"might want to keep it brief, though," he said instead, whiskers twitching from the way his stomach rolled with unease. all eyes turned to softglow, who kept his unblinking eyes on hornetpaw, "you know, there's a bit of a chill in the air. i'd hate to start the harder seasons off with cats getting colds."
paragraphhe could only nod stiffly when hornetpaw shuffled his paws, still as eager as ever. "don't worry softglow, i'll be fine! i'm sure of it!"
paragraphhornetpaw was slightly less sure later that afternoon, when he stood on the edge of rose lake. the current pulled lazily along through the territory and past dippernose, who stood only steps away. his mentor had already taken to the water, which lapped at his fur. "softglow doesn't know what he's talking about," dippernose huffed, seemingly unperturbed by the water. "it's not even that cold, so don't worry about it. it's all going to be fine." he flicked his tail, sending a spray of water droplets in hornetpaw's direction. the small thorn's ears flattened against his head and he recoiled when the water hit his nose, though he appeared to relax when he still stood, unharmed. "c'mon then," dippernose encouraged.
paragraphat last, hornetpaw began to ease into water, hesitating only a moment at the foreign sensation of the water soaking into the fur on his legs. but he looked further across the lake, where he'd been told that the water fed into groveclan's territory. if any of those soft groveclan cats are watching, they'll see me being the best swimmer in all of the clans. with a renewed vigor, he met dippernose in the middle of the water. where the water reached only dippernose's legs, the water began to soak into hornetpaw's stomach and sides, and he raised his tail to keep it above the water's surface. "i'm fine," hornetpaw mumbled before dippernose had the chance to ask. "are we going into deeper water?"
paragraph"i'd think that it would be the best way to try and learn how to swim," dippernose answered, a laugh hanging on the edge of his words. clearly he found hornetpaw's discomfort amusing, and the young thorn sought to prove him wrong. he would be the best swimmer ever. the rocks and sand shifted under his pads and the water pulled at his fur, but he moved forward before dippernose could instruct him further. the water pulled at his fur, as if greedy and looking to pull jim under, but hornetpaw preserved even when the water rose over his back and the base of his tail.
paragraph"easy now, it's like running in the water, keep your paws moving," dippernose called out, though he seemed further away than hornetpaw anticipated. surprised by how far he'd waded in, hornetpaw turned suddenly to find dippernose only slightly further in than he had been originally. from the turn, the ground shifted under his toes and his head bobbed under the surface. for just a moment, panic flared deep in hornetpaw's chest, though he stamped down on it and found his footing once more. when his head broke the surface, he coughed and shook his eyes free. "are you alright?" dippernose called.
paragraph"fine!" hornetpaw answered, already resolving to move further out. from his current position, he could imagine seeing a groveclan patrol pass by, could smell their scent across the air. later, he would tell iguanakit how he managed to swim across the border and confront them. he'd tell her that he fought off their leader and deputy while still shaking water from his fur. tawnyrose would have no choice but to give him a full name. with that in mind, he kicked out with his hind legs, feeling the ground give way to more water and he was suddenly swimming. he tipped his chin back to keep the water out of his face, and churned his paws to stay afloat. the currently pulled at his fur the further away from the shore he went, but his confidence swelled though his legs ached with effort.
paragraphit was only a few moments later that hornetpaw heard dippernose shout out to him again, urging him to come back, that he tried to turn around to find his mentor. dippernose stood up to his chest in water and looked suddenly small. when hornetpaw tried to find his breath to begin moving back towards dippernose, exhaustion crawled up his limbs and nothing came out from his jaws. instead, the water pulled at him again, and his head slipped under the water. he broke the surface a moment later, but could no longer fight the current to paddle back towards dippernose. "help!" he cried, and, even at a distance, he could see dippernose start towards him, splashing in his hurry to reach hornetpaw. "dippernose, help!" water splashed into his ears and nose when he flailed, suddenly helpless as he was carried away from highgarden's shore.
paragraphhornetpaw wasn't sure exactly what happened next as the current carried him. he could hear a series of shouts and assumed that it might have been a border patrol, then a splash near him. it was only when he was struggling to get his head back above water that he saw a mass of black and white fur and thought: dippernose is a fast swimmer.
paragraphbut when he was finally able to feel dirt under his paws, hornetpaw looked at the black and white cat through half-lidded eyes and blinked his surprise. not dippernose. instead, the tom was no bigger than hornetpaw himself, and he carried a scent that was, distinctly, not-highgarden. "is this groveclan?" he asked a heartbeat before his legs collapsed underneath him, too tired to do much more than cough up water. "sorry - you were probably looking for fish, huh?"
paragraphby the time dippernose found hornetpaw, the thorn had managed to cough up most of the water he'd swallowed while nearly drowning and exchanged introductions with midnightpaw, the apprentice who rescued him from tragedy. dippernose panted from the effort of running and swimming to find hornetpaw, and nodded to the groveclan warriors who accompanied the apprentice. "thank you," dippernose exhaled, pausing long enough to take in a deep breath. "it's his first time swimming - i can assure you we won't be drowning near the border again."
paragraph"hey dippernose," hornetpaw cut him off, "midnightpaw saved me, he's my hero."
paragraph"we're not telling softglow any of this," dippernose sighed, "not if we can help it."
paragraphiguanakit, merlinsong decided, had a knack for getting in his way. when the small kit was brought in with the patrol, he assumed that one of the mollies would be willing to take her in, that tawnyrose might have bluetcrest babysit. at the very least, he assumed that he would not be the one tasked with making sure that she didn't snick her nose where it didn't belong. and yet, smallheart had said that they couldn't simply leave her alone in the nursery. it was half-built, first of all, and she was too young to sleep in there on her own. least a clan come and invade, or a fox come looking for a midnight snack. no, the rest of the clan decided while merlinsong was out looking for herbs before the first frost of the year came to kill the plants off, the only place for a lone kit in a clan without nursing queens was the herbalist's den.
paragraph"hey, merlinsong, what do these do?" iguanakit squeaked, nosing his pile of celandine. the herbalist sighed deeply and turned to face the lone kit.
paragraph"they help make cats feel better," he answered, using the same line he'd given each time she asked to know what any particular herb did. they all helped the cats, merlinsong told her, and she'd nod with a pensive look on her face. this time, however, she flicked her tail and shot him an impatient look.
paragraph"but how?" she asked, gesturing to the rest of the den, where merlinsong had been stacking various herbs to clear out any that had dried up. "you say everything makes them feel better, but how?" iguanakit's large eyes blinked up at him, and merlinsong found himself speechless for a moment, as he hadn't been expecting such an outburst.
paragraph"well," he began, clearing his throat. he pushed aside his pile of yarrow and sat down across from iguanakit, deciding that she would get the full answer she asked for. "it depends on the herbs and what's wrong with the cat." he expected that, at any moment, she would direct her attention elsewhere, that her attention would waver. however, she held his gaze steadily, showing that she was listening intently. "for example," merlinsong continued, "if someone has an issue with their eyes, i would chew up celandine leaves and apply them to their eyes," he said, nodding to the pile of herbs she'd asked him about.
paragraph"but if a cat had a cough, they would need to eat catmint," he added as another example, placing his paw on the neatly stacked pile of catmint. when he glanced back at iguanakit, she was nodding slowly. at last, she looked up at merlinsong.
paragraph"it sounds complicated that you know all of this." she dipped her head low to sniff the celandine, only to scrunch up her nose at the bitter smell. "and everything smells bad."
paragraph"it takes a different type of training. roses and knights need to train hard to learn how to fight and hunt, an hornetpaw had trouble with learning how to swim. it's part of being in a clan," he told iguanakit, who shuffled her paws. when the air about her turned tense and uneasy, merlinsong leaned close to lick her gently between the ears. "what is it?"
paragraphiguanakit refused to meet his eyes, opting instead to shrug her shoulders and stare at the ground between her paws. "i guess i'm just scared that i won't be good enough, that tawnyrose will make me leave. everything just seems too difficult." already, the news of hornetpaw's mishap spread throughout the entire clan when they watched the shivering thorn be led into camp with dippernose. thankfully, merlinsong had been able to allow hornetpaw to return to his den to get warm and sleep off his exhaustion, but it was only a matter of time until the entire clan knew since swiftheart was the first to see the pair of toms arrive. she spread the news to the other roses and knights, which didn't take long since their clan was still small. it made sense that iguanakit would be nervous, since hornetpaw walked around camp like he was already a named knight instead of the young thorn he already was.
paragraph"hornetpaw is proud, and it caught up with him. maybe he'll learn his lesson and do better during his next training session," merlinsong said, though he highly doubted hornetpaw would ever learn to be humble. "but you need to make mistakes before you can get better. next time he'll know how to swim better, and dippernose will know to keep a better eye on him. the rest of the clan knows not to send young thorns into the river during their first training session." iguanakit nodded, though she kept her eyes low, as if uncertain whether merlinsong was telling the full truth. again, he sighed and asked, "did tawnyrose kick hornetpaw from the clan?"
paragraph"no."
paragraph"no," merlinsong echoed, ducking his head to meet her lowered eyes. "because tawnyrose knows that all cats make mistakes and fail sometimes. but we all deserve to be here. so don't be scared of failure, but look forward to doing well," he encouraged, smiling widely when iguanakit finally nodded and met his gaze. though she still appeared uncertain, the glint had returned to her eyes and he knew that she would be okay.
paragraph"so," bluetcrest asked late one evening, after the sun had set and majority of the clan had finished their meals and set in to groom themselves for retiring for the night. across the camp, mapleshadow was sitting guard for the night while softglow and flickersky spoke to her, the latter pair about to go out for the final patrol of the evening. "what do you think of him?" bluetcrest's white fur appeared silver in the gathering moonlight, and his yellow eyes were round when he addressed his close friend. without naming names, tawnyrose knew who he meant.
paragraph"not what i expected," she said simply, pushing aside the final scraps of a mouse they had eaten earlier. "not how i remember my father or my sister's suitors to be." to be fair, during her mother's reign as queen, tawnyrose paid little attention to how her father acted in the role of the king, nor did she care about how her sister acted around toms. she was aware, of course, that all of the knights wanted to be king, either so they could be mates with lighteyes, or because they wanted the distinction. back then, had she known that she would have been queen and would have a king, she might have paid more attention.
paragraph"my mother picked my father after watching his fight in the spring tournament. he proved that he was the strongest knight because he beat all of the others. he wasn't the biggest or the fastest, or even the smartest," tawnyrose said. she shifted, ducking her head to pull a strand of grass from between her claws.
paragraph"then how'd he win?" bluetcrest prompted, noticing the way tawnyrose paused, clearing looking to draw out the dramatic effect. bluetcrest was lying on his side, though he lifted his head, interested in the story.
paragraphtawnyrose purred softly, clearly amused and thankful that her attendant played along. "i'm not entirely sure, i never asked. but i could tell my father loved my mother. yellowrose wasn't easy to love. she was grumpy and didn't show a lot of emotion, not even when we were kits. but my father, he definitely loved her."
paragraph"you really think that he won because of the power of love?" bluetcrest cut in, narrowing his eyes, suddenly skeptical.
paragraph"gods - no, of course not," tawnyrose said, shaking her head with a laugh. "i'd say it was pure luck. maybe none of the other knights even wanted to win, or weren't feeling well. but i don't think that matters much since my mother picked him. she chose him, and he became her king. and they ruled well together."
paragraphsilence stretched between them for a moment, with bluetcrest furrowing his brow, looking for tawnyrose's meaning by the story, and tawnyrose returning to clearing her paws. at last, bluetcrest spoke up again, "but you didn't choose softglow," he pointed out, "your mother chose your father, but the gods chose softglow. why?" he asked.
paragraph"because both of my parents are dead. my mother's choice didn't save any of them when the floods came." tawnyrose shook her head slightly. "at least i can trust the gods to make this choice for me, so i won't mess it up."
paragraph"but you don't seem to like him much," bluetcrest said after a moment. by that point, they were alone in the clearing, with softglow and flickersky off on their patrol and mapleshadow searching the outer perimeter of the camp. the rest of the clan was in their dens, away from the cool fall air. "shouldn't the queen like her king? he's your mate, after all."
paragraphtawnyrose nodded once, looking off into the distance as if in contemplation. "i suppose so. but i thought i might like the king the gods sent. i didn't expect him to be boring." another laugh escaped her, and bluetcrest joined in soon after. "i hoped that he might have a bit of spirit to him. someone like dippernose, or even smallheart. at least they have a personality."
paragraph"tawnyrose, be fair," bluetcrest said after another stretch of laughter between them. "he can't be all bad." though bluetcrest already knew how tawnyrose felt about the blue-eyed tom. the truth was that, no, he was actually a rather good cat who was decidedly nice and gentle, though that was just the issue. he was nice but there was no real ambition to him that tawnyrose could find. he would make a good king, for sure, as he was fair and would not offend any other cat, whether within highgarden or outside of it, but there was otherwise no true substance to him. he was merely nice where tawnyrose wanted adventure, and he bored her. "at least he's handsome," bluetcrest added, and tawnyrose laughed again before standing and shaking out her fur.
paragraph"i suppose that is the most important thing. so thank the gods for his beauty then." with that, highgarden's queen turned to her den, bluetcrest a step behind, as he always was.
actions
[ consumption ] highgarden eats one finch
[ gods visit ] n/a
[ hunting 1 ] tawnyrose, bluetcrest, dippernose and flickersky hunt
[ hunting 2 ] softglow, mapleshadow, swiftheart, and smallheart hunt
[ training ] hornetpaw learns how to stalk
[ herb hunting ] merlinsong
[ notes to mod ] hello hello, i'm sure we're going to get along just fine !!
if you have any questions about any of highgarden's traditions/cats, just dm me and i'll get back to you asap!
also i have a few cats from readopts you can choose to send if you'd like, they are linked here queen
tawnyrose, 23m, ♀
the wayward queen
king
softglow, 25m, ♂
the lost king
heir
name, age, gender
notes
attendant
bluetcrest, 27m, ♂
the wayward's attendant
herbalist
merlinsong, 30m, ♂
roses
mapleshadow, 39m, ♀
flickersky, 21m, ♀
swiftheart, 17m, ♀
name, age, ♀
notes
knights
dippernose, 32m, ♂
smallheart, 21m, ♂
name, age, ♂
notes
thorns
hornetpaw, 7m, ♂
name, age, gender
notes
roots
name, age, gender
notes
name, age, gender
notes
seedlings
iguanakit, 4m, ♀
name, age, gender
notes
wilted
name, age, gender
notes
name, age, gender
notes
allies & enemies & borders
here
medicine
here
prey
total x27
mouse | x18 | 1 servings
vole | x0 | 1 servings
squirrel | x0 | 2 servings
rabbit | x0 | 2 servings
big fish | x2 | 3 servings
finch | x1 | 3 servings
mentors
dippernose, hornetpaw, 0
mentor, thorn, 0
deceased
here
family trees
here
