paragraph"you're sure about this?" dippernose's question reached hornetpaw's ears from where they were sitting outside of tawnyrose's den. hornetpaw breathed deeply through his nose while his eyes tracked the queen's movements across the camp, where she was speaking amicably with tulipstream, joining the root to watch her trio of kits tumble with one another in the warm patches of sunshine. "tawnyrose has been good at picking names, so if you're worried about that, it'll be fine and -"
paragraph"i'm sure she has something great in mind, that's not why i'm asking for this," hornetpaw said, squaring his shoulders just as seedkit and rabbitkit pounced on their brother. stagkit jumped up, only for seedkit to latch onto his tail, holding on tightly. their three voices chorused their enjoyment. now that the weather had cleared, tulipstream made a point to bring them out of the nursery more often, giving them a chance to meet the thorns, roses, and knights. it was clear that the trio were adored by all of the clan, and highgarden rejoiced in the feeling of lightness that seemed to surround the camp ever since the spring tournament. more than once, hornetpaw saw softglow chatting with bluetcrest, hurricanejaw and newtmask were seen returning from a hunting patrol side-by-side, and even the quiet mapleshadow joined flickersky and dippernose on patrols. it was a time of happiness for the entire clan. "this is just... important to me. can you respect that?" finally, he looked to dippernose, who had his head tipped to one side.
paragraphthe knight's gaze studied hornetpaw's face for a long moment before he nodded. "of course," he said, though hornetpaw didn't miss the way his mentor's eyes were round with unspoken curiosity. before dippernose could ask anything further, however, hornetpaw stood, realizing tawnyrose's approach, the queen's chin tilted towards the sky. she regarded the pair with a leveling look, one they had all seen when tawnyrose was acting in what hornetpaw and his friends had dubbed as her queen-persona. whereas the tawnyrose of a moment earlier was more than willing to play with kits, now she was a cool and collected leader.
paragraphwithout any further pretense, she nodded towards her den. "shall we go inside?" she asked, leading the way inside when hornetpaw and dippernose nodded. the next several moments were long and drawn out, and tawnyrose seemed to relish in the precarious silence. the ginger queen took her time to situate herself across from the pair of toms, perching herself in her nest with her paws and tail arranged with poise, if not coming off as entirely vain in hornetpaw's eyes. at last, she cleared her throat and glanced between the thorn and his mentor. "what can i do for you both?" she asked, ultimately looking to dipprnose for an answer, only to slide her gaze back to hornetpaw when the striped tom spoke.
paragraph"i know what i want my knight name to be," hornetpaw said without breaking eye contact with tawnyrose. for a moment, the queen was silent and hornetpaw felt his blood run cold, fearful that she would reject the notion entirely, and he felt dippernose shift uncomfortably until tawnyrose nodded once, gesturing for hornetpaw to continue. at that, he ducked his head to try and hide his relieved smile before looking up once again. "i want to be called hornetshade."
paragraphonce again, the den lapsed into silence until tawnyrose addressed dippernose. "you approve of his decision."
paragraph"he said he has his reasons. i've no reason to disagree," dippernose said, and hornetpaw couldn't help his next smile. "and i have no reason to doubt his choices."
paragraphagain, tawnyrose nodded and flicked her tail, dismissively. "so be it. your ceremony is tonight, better get some rest before it," she said, and dippernose took the signal to leave hornetpaw a beat behind him. however, just as hornetpaw turned to leave the den, tawnyrose spoke up, "does it have anything to do with the groveclan apprentice who saved you? his name was midnightpaw, wasn't it? that's quite similar to shade," she asked, and hornetpaw heard himself blurt out his response.
paragraph"his name is midnightstream now," he said, pausing when tawnyrose's brow furrowed. at that, he drew in a deep inhale to calm his nerves. "would it be bad if he was the reason?" he asked in turn.
paragraph"no," tawnyrose said simply, her eyes glinting with something hornetpaw didn't quite understand. was it empathy? was it disdain? was it something else - hornetpaw couldn't tell. "but you could tell me if he was."
paragraphthe feeling of eyes burning into his fur made hornetpaw feel hot, uncomfortably so, and he shook his head slightly. "he's not the reason," he said, turning back to dippernose in the same instant, not wanting to stay along longer for further questions. he felt as if tawnyrose could see through him to the truth, could see that he was lying. that she could see that it went even deeper than his friendship with midnightstream. as he padded back to the thorn's den and settled in his nest, images flashed behind his eyelids. the images he had been seeing for moons in his nightmares.
paragraphthe dark strands of fur that blocked out his sight; the dripping water that gathered into a dirty puddle; the shadows cast by the trees, swaying from side to side; the darkness of the water closing over his head and the black pelt of his hero. all emphasized even further by the yawning chasm of empty darkness that swallowed him from inside out as his loneliness settled in with each passing day, the darkness that settled before him when he closed his eyes to rest before his own naming ceremony.
paragraphwhen maplelily came to hurricanejaw and asked if he would join her for a walk, he had originally been slightly wary, unsure of what maplelily might want, until he spotted his kits gathered around their mother when he padded over to meet her. wolfpaw perked up at the sight of hurricanejaw, and she bounded over to touch her nose to his. "mom said you were running late, that you always run late, but i said that you wouldn't miss being with us, that you would be on time. and i was right," she said, looking over her shoulder to smile widely at maplelily, who rolled her eyes teasingly in turn.
paragraph"of course i want to spend time with you scraps," hurricanejaw replied, licking wolfpaw between the ears before he herded her back to where maplelily and his sons were waiting. after he greeted racoonpaw, foxpaw, and cougarpaw, hurricanejaw looked to maplelily quizzically, "i just didn't know that you lot were coming with us, or i would have been here early," he said, touching his nose to maplelily's, though she didn't meet his gaze yet. instead, she blinked silently at him before herding their kits towards the camp's entrance.
paragraph"come on, there are birds for you all to scare. or maybe catch and we can have a nice meal out in the mother's grounds." sure enough, the apprentices charged off, chatting loudly as their started off. when they had only walked a short way, foxpaw turned with a bright smile full of mischief, asking if they could run ahead and try to catch some prey to bring back for tulipstream and her kits. maplelily waved them off, though hurricanejaw could hear their shouts even after they had disappeared into the trees, and he figured that they had already scared off all of the prey in the valley. as if reading his thoughts, maplelily looked to him, and hurricanejaw became hyper-aware of the emptiness of the forest around them. if he wasn't mistaken, they hadn't been alone like this since, "we became mates. when you were still in echoclan and i was still in waveclan, huh?" maplelily said.
paragraph"it feels like a lifetime ago," hurricanejaw said, and maplelily murmured her agreement. for several moments, they walked together in a tense silence until, at last, hurricanejaw's pelt began to crawl and he stopped, maplelily having no choice but to face him. "what is this, maplelily?" he asked, "why are we doing this?"
paragraph"before you found us, i hadn't seen you in moons, hurricanejaw," maplelily said, her eyes flashing, "and suddenly you show up with the news that you left echoclan and have suddenly joined this new clan with a queen as the leader and they don't believe in starclan?" maplelily shook her head, and hurricanejaw was taken aback at her outburst.
paragraph"i helped you," hurricanejaw said, surprised by the bite to maplelily's tone, as if she was accusing him of what he couldn't understand. "tulipstream was having kits, our kits were going to freeze in the old tower if they didn't get to better shelter. i was trying to be nice and do what anyone decent would do. as for echoclan - that's an unrelated story and has nothing to do with highgarden. i'm glad they took me in, or who knows where any of us would be," he retorted, feeling himself growing agitated before he had the chance to stamp down on the flare of anger. before he said something he might regret. "it's not like i knew that any of this was going to happen, it just did. and i'm glad it did, because i want to be a father for those kits."
paragraphmaplelily was silent for a moment before relenting, ducking her head. "i'm sorry," she said, "i'm still not used to being here. or being with you all of the time. and seeing you with them - they worship you, hurricanejaw. i used to tell them that their dad was far away and busy being a great warrior. and then yo show up when we needed you, calling yourself a knight of highgarden," she laughed then and bumped her shoulder against hurricanejaw's. "they they see you fighting against all of these other cats, training iguanapaw, all of these things. you're perfect." hurricanejaw furrowed his brow from confusion, despite the growing pit of warmth in his chest. maplelily's voice held an undercut to it, something that was one part fond, one part nostalgic.
paragraph"i love our kits," hurricanejaw said simply, looking off in the direction they had disappeared to. "i'd do anything for them."
paragraph"what about me?" maplelily asked, so bluntly that hurricanejaw was momentarily stunning. in his silence, maplelily's expression fell and she nodded her head once. "right, of course. i shouldn't have assumed that."
paragraphshe began to pad away, but hurricanejaw caught up easily, panting. "when we first got together, we were young and impulsive. i want to get to know you, not just some pretty molly on the border. i want to know everything about you. and then, maybe someday, there can be an us again, maplelily. but right now... i don't love you. right now i just want to know you, be a good father, and commit myself to highgarden." he could see that his answer didn't please maplelily, though she forced a smile and nodded.
paragraph"sure, hurricanejaw. friends?" she asked at last, and he nodded, leaning forward to touch his nose to her cheek.
paragraph"thank you. friends."
paragraphthe chatter of the highgarden cats came to a hush when tawnyrose emerged from her den, flanked by bluetcrest and softglow, though the pair of toms came to a halt, seating themselves when the queen climbed to her perch to address the clan. when the clearing had fallen completely silent, tawnyrose smiled down at her clan. "today is a day in which i can find only joy. over the past moons, highgarden has grown, and we all celebrate together as one of our own is given his full name." all eyes turned momentarily to hornetpaw, who sat in the front, and tigergaze bumped their shoulders, earning a laugh from those seated around them. "several of you will remember hornetpaw when he first came to highgarden. loud, prideful, and impulsive are a few words that come to mind," she continued, and several laughs rose from the crowd. "but hornetpaw has been training hard, and was highgarden's first thorn. and he has grown into a strong young cat with a lot to give to his clan. and today we celebrate him." with that, she waved hornetpaw forward, and he stepped away from the crowd to meet tawnyrose when she climbed down from the boulder shaped by generations of paws before her.
paragraph"hornetpaw, do you swear to serve highgarden as a knight until you are no longer able, loyal to the clan above all else, even if it means giving up your own life? do you pledge yourself under the light of the seven gods: the mother, the maiden, the father, the warrior, the smith, the crone, and the stranger?" tawnyrose's voice rose to the heavens, echoing through the otherwise silent clearing, though hornetpaw didn't miss a beat.
paragraph"i do."
paragraph"then, from this moment forward you shall be known as hornetshade. the gods have blessed you with enthusiasm and spirit. highgarden is blessed to have you as a full knight." at that, the newly named hornetshade stepped forward and allowed tawnyrose to tough her nose to his forehead, before the queen moved away. the clearing filled with cheers for the popular young knight, who was immediately tackled by first tigergaze, then iguanapaw. dippernose followed close behind, offering his congratulations, before hornetshade's eyes met warblerpaw's.
paragraph"congrats, we're going to miss you in the thorns' den," she said, ducking her head with a small smile when hornetshade purred, brushing his fur against hers.
paragraph"you really think that you'll get rid of me that easily? no, i'm going to be bothering you for a long time yet. and you'll be a rose soon enough. just you wait."
paragraph"i look forward to it," warblerpaw said.
paragraphsoftglow led his patrol through the rose pass, intending to track down a potential fox scent that birchflame's patrol reported the day before. around him, the knights and roses were speaking to one another - to one side, tigergaze was telling hornetshade about a bird he nearly caught that morning, if not for a squirrel that climbed up a tree and created enough noise in the leaves to scare the bird away, behind softglow, betonypetal was busy explaining the difference between a swan and a goose to clovershine, and to his other side, he could hear smallheart's laugh sounding out at whatever flickersky had said a moment earlier. there was a sense of peace in the air, and softglow felt entirely content in the moment, and he smiled from the feeling of the warm breeze ruffling his chest fur.
paragraphin that same moment, a shout went up from the back of the patrol, and softglow turned to see betonypetal and clovershine bent over a patch of mud, and the patrol was quick to gather around to see the paw print that was clearly visible there. "it looks fresh," smallheart commented, and softglow hummed his agreement.
paragraph"there's someone around here," he said, scanning the surrounding trees with his bright blue eyes. "no one from highgarden has been this way since last night. we'll split up, tigergaze and hornetshade, you're with me. the rest of you go together, shout the signal if you find anyone." with that, softglow led the pair of young knights further in the trees, opposite of smallheart's group. it wasn't long until they found a tuft of fur snagged on a bush, then another print in the mud. just as they went to collect the others to follow the faint scent trail, a twig cracked, and three heads turned to where a group of cats were, staring back at them. three of the cats were wide-eyed and crouched low, submissive, though the fourth cat, a molly, blinked at the group, taking them in, only to start when her eyes landed on hornetshade. she stepped forward, and softglow made to stand in front of the young knight, but hornetshade brushed past softglow to meet the molly halfway.
paragraph"ferretwhisker? is that you?" he asked, and the molly purred loudly, bounding forward to greet hornetshade.
paragraph"gods - brackenkit, is this where you've been this entire time? it's been moons, kid, ever since -" though she was cut off when hornetshade pulled back and shot her a fierce look.
paragraph"my name is hornetshade now," he said, with a purpose that had softglow looking at hornetshade with a renewed interest. questions swirled in his head about who this ferretwhisker is, how she knows hornetshade, why she called him brackenkit, and why hornetshade was suddenly so curt, though there was no time, as hornetshade looked to the king. "softglow, this is ferretwhisker. i used to know her... before highgarden. though, i don't know your friends," he said, his tone shifting once more, this time curious.
paragraph"it's a long story, but did he call you softglow?" ferretwhisker asked, addressing softglow, who nodded once. "ah, good. i've been told to ask for tawnyrose? the queen? brack- hornetshade, i've no clue our luck, but i had a dream a moon ago, telling me to come here. and i ran into a few companions along the way. good thing, too, as i'm expecting kits soon." the molly rattled on, and she turned towards her so-called companions, who stared back at the highgarden cats. "this is sandstrike, jaytalon, and the little one there is privetpaw. they come from different clans, all looking for new homes." again, she looked to softglow. "highgarden, is it? do you accept clan refugees?"
paragraphsoftglow couldn't help but snort out a laugh at that. among his patrol, nearly half of the cats came from disbanded clans. clovershine, smallheart, tigergaze. highgarden was a clan built from absorbing in other cats who needed a home, and they had yet to turn anyone down - though softglow thought that several cats might be worth turning away, with one standing out in particular. "we can take you to tawnyrose, and we will hear your stories, certainly, and see if you will be a good fit for highgarden." he glanced at the group, taking in their disheveled state and shifting eyes. "you are most welcome here."
paragraphin truth, tawnyrose tried to stay away from the herbalists' den as much as possible. the scent of bitter herbs wafted on the breeze through the camp and reached even her own den from across the clearing on days when she was particularly unlucky. it was a scent that repelled her, and she had no keenness to spend her time in the presence of merlinsong - it was no wonder to her why he and softglow spent majority of their time together, they were both outcasts for being peculiar, though tawnyrose decidedly preferred the quiet and sensible softglow to the eccentric and enigmatic merlinsong - and she had no love for spencer and his darker bulk of a shadow. even still, tawnyrose sought spencer out after sending bluetcrest on a patrol with erasmus, her beloved attendant bounding off after a characteristic eye roll and comment that "right, need to make sure he isn't plotting all of our deaths while gathering feathers." tawnyrose had granted her best friend an affectionate purr and a promise to make sure that he could go on a hunting patrol to watch erasmus the following day.
paragraphthough tawnyrose wasn't a large cat by any means, she felt that she towered over spencer when she entered the den and approached him while he was sorting away stacks of herbs in a pattern that appeared, to her, entirely inane and certainly one that came from merlinsong's head. when he noticed her, however, spencer seemed to curl into him, making himself even smaller, though he still managed to a polite smile. "good afternoon, tawnyrose," spencer greeted with an exaggerated dip of his head. surely, tawnyrose thought to herself, he hadn't forgotten their initial meeting, when she pried information out of him by offering up a few gentle words. tawnyrose would be more surprised if he wasn't cautious and guarded when around her.
paragraph"how are you doing, spencer?" tawnyrose asked him, looking for an opening, attempting to catch him off-balance. as she spoke, she brushed past him to survey the meticulous arrangement of the different leaves and berries that the herbalists were always collecting. "i haven't had the chance to check in with you much, but i wanted to see how you were settling in. if merlinsong was being nice, if there's anything i can do to help you at all, with anything," she continued with a casual tone, leaning forward to sniff at a large green leaf, only to recoil at the bitter stench, which pulled a laugh from spencer.
paragraph"everyone has been very sweet, thank you. and merlinsong has been very kind as well. highgarden is a very nice place to live, i'm glad we found it," he replied, and tawnyrose caught the slight edge to his tone, curious and uncertain. even still, tawnyrose found her opening and she smiled to herself.
paragraph"good, good, i'm glad to hear it. you fit in well," she commented, widening her smile so that spencer would see the expression as genuine. "and i'm glad erasmus is liking it as well. he's certainly been busy with helping out with patrols and all that. and he came so close to winning the tournament last moon - what a day indeed."
paragraph"the tournament was very nice, i'd never seen anything like it. and erasmus always likes the chance to show off, be strong and everything." spencer's tone was so fond in that moment, his eyes so bright and softening the longer that they spoke that tawnyrose nearly felt bad for needling him like this. however, her pity wasn't so much that it stopped her, and she pressed the conversation further.
paragraphshe turned to face spencer, tipping her head to one side in a way that made her appear genuinely curious. "do you love him?" she asked and spencer froze, just as she had expected. "i mean - it's obvious that he cares a lot about you. i just want to know, i mean, i don't think i've ever loved anyone before. but i see cats like you and erasmus, or tulipstream and bassflow and i can't help but think... how do you know when you love someone?"
paragraphspencer dropped his gaze to his paws, and tawnyrose drew in a breath, waiting for him to take the bait. she needed to know everything she could about spencer and erasmus, and getting spencer to speak was easy. when he met tawnyrose's gaze, shyly, she knew she had him pinned down. "when we first met, i was helping him heal from a sprained paw. i'm not sure why but i just knew that i wanted to help him, more than i had any other cat before. and he scared me - he's so big and intimidating, how could be not? but he was sweet to me," spencer said with a shrug, "and i was only in the kingdom for a short while, and it disbanded quickly. it was chaos and everyone was scrambling to get out alive. and i didn't have anywhere to go, there wasn't anyone to help me, you know? but erasmus did. and then we were wandering for a long time, trying to avoid clans out of fear that they would kill us. we looked after each other. and somewhere along the way, i realized that i couldn't live without him. that i would do anything, be anyone if it meant that he would be safe and happy." as spencer spoke, tawnyrose sat down to listen, drinking in his words, absorbing them and committing them to memory. "he accepted me and believed in me when a lot of the kingdom thought i was useless and tossed me aside. he knows me better than anyone, and he understands me for who i am. he inspires me to be better, and, yeah, i love him." he opened his mouth to say something else, but paused and nodded to tawnyrose. "but, i mean, you must feel that way about softglow, right? he's your mate," spencer said, and tawnyrose le out a practiced sigh, feeling spencer's flash of scrutiny.
paragraph"the gods are so good to have sent softglow here. we don't always see eye to eye, that's nothing new," tawnyrose said with a nod, "but i care for him more than anyone else, even if we bicker. but after i lost everyone i used to know in the flood, i don't know what love feels like. i think i'm scared to love anyone, scared that if i love him, something bad will happen." it was an answer that tawnyrose had practiced before, and it came from her mouth with the right touch of emotion, and she tore her gaze away from spencer's, as if she couldn't bare the thought of losing her darling softglow.
paragraph"i can't imagine your pain," spencer said, coming forward to try and comfort his queen, though he held back, as if unsure if he would be able to heal a wound that couldn't be seen. "and if there's anything i can do for you, please feel like you can come to me."
paragraph"i just -" tawnyrose started before breaking herself off, as if too overcome with emotion. she closed her eyes tightly. "i just want to love softglow in the way he deserves. oh - please don't tell anyone what i've said. they wouldn't understand," she said, looking back up to spencer with widened eyes. in that moment, he pressed close to reassure her, and tawnyrose knew that she'd accomplished exactly what she intended to do. with a few more moments of acting overcome and choked with emotion, she bid spencer farewell and promising to check back with him soon. when she left the den, however, and he was out of sight, she wiped her expression clean of sorrow.
actions
[ added cats ] sandstrike and jaytalon x, privetpaw x
[ consumption ] highgarden eats one big fish and four mice
[ rank changes ] privetpaw is ready to take her assessment. if she passes, she will be known as privetears
[ patrol ] tawnyrose, bluetcrest, betonypetal, maplelily, smokemane, and flickersky
[ hunting 1 ] softglow, mapleshadow, swiftheart, sunglow, tigergaze, and smallheart
[ hunting 2 ] bassflow, birchflame, clovershine, obsidianwing, warblerpaw, wolfpaw
[ supply gathering 1 ] dippernose, erasmus, hornetshade, sagecloud, cougarpaw, foxpaw - priority for sticks
[ supply gathering 2 ] jaytalon and sandstrike
[ training ] iguanapaw and racoonpaw learn advanced hunting
[ 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, 29m, โ
the wayward queen
king
softglow, 31m, โ
the lost king
heir
name, age, gender
notes
attendant
bluetcrest, 33m, โ
the wayward's attendant
herbalist (2/2)
merlinsong, 36m, โ โฟโฟโฟโฟโฟ
spencer, 31m, โ โฟโฟโฟโฟโฟ
roses (22/20)
sagecloud, 47m, โ
mapleshadow, 45m, โ
maplelily, 39m, โ
betonypetal, 28m, โ
flickersky, 27m, โ
swiftheart, 23m, โ
smokemane, 17m, โ
sandstrike, 14m, โ
name, age, โ
notes
knights
erasmus, 43m, โ
hurricanejaw, 41m, โ
bassflow, 39m, โ
newtmask, 38m, โ
dippernose, 38m, โ
birchflame, 30m, โ
clovershine, 27m, โ
smallheart, 27m, โ
obsidianwing, 20m, โ
jaytalon, 18m, โ
sunglow, 17m, โ
tigergaze, 16m, โ
hornetshade, 13m, โ
name, age, โ
notes
thorns (7/10)
privetpaw, 12m, โ
cougarpaw, 10m, โ
racoonpaw, 10m, โ
foxpaw, 10m, โ bobtail
wolfpaw, 10m, โ bobtail
iguanapaw, 10m, โ
warblerpaw, 10m, โ
name, age, gender
notes
roots (5/10)
ferretwhisker, 35m, โ
- due in 2m
tulipstream, 31m, โ
- mate: bassflow
- kits: stagkit, seedkit, rabbitkit
name, age, gender
notes
seedlings
stagkit, 3m, โ
seedkit, 3m, โ
rabbitkit, 3m, โ
name, age, gender
notes
wilted (0/5)
name, age, gender
notes
name, age, gender
notes
allies & enemies & borders
here
medicine
here
prey
total x48
mouse | x11 | 1 servings
vole | x8 | 1 servings
squirrel | x5 | 2 servings
rabbit | x5 | 2 servings
big fish | x1 | 3 servings
finch | x2 | 3 servings
den supplies
brambles x2
feathers x2
moss x1
rocks x1
sticks x0
mentors
dippernose, privetpaw, 4
bassflow, cougarpaw, 4
newtmask, racoonpaw, 3
birchflame, foxpaw, 4
clovershine, wolfpaw, 4
hurricanejaw, iguanapaw, 3
obsidianwing, warblerpaw, 4
mentor, thorn, 0
deceased
here
family trees
here
________________
