paragraphbehind him, the screeches of fighting rose to the twilight sky. through the thick canopy of leaves and interlocking tree branches, it was impossible to see the stars, and it was too easy to imagine that there weren't any to watch the shadows in the darkness. the ground scraped against his pads, and he was sure that his paws were bleeding, though there was no time to stop and look to be certain. it was only occur to him later that he had possibly left a trail directly to where he had fled to. he thought: run. he thought: get away. he thought: survive.
paragraphthen he hid in the shadows of the trees, only half-aware that dawn would break soon, that the light would flush him out of his hiding spot. cold seeped through his fur, and his muscles ached from the hard run through the night. buzzing sounded in his ears, making him deaf to any outside noise until it was too late. the swish of fur against tree bark, the patter of pawsteps against the ground. the fur down his spine rose in anticipation, and sharp claws dug into the carpet of fallen leaves and soft grass, but he knew that he was too weak. his breath caught in his throat when he caught the first sight of long, feathery fur. they found me, he thought, preparing himself to scream, to struggle. he knew it would be for nothing, that they would get what they wanted, that they would always get what they wanted. he was young, yes, but he knew it all too well after watching and waiting. from the moment he opened his eyes, he knew that he needed to escape, but that escape would be impossible. he was too young, too weak. eyes flashed in the half-light, jaws parted to speak.
paragraph"hornetshade!" came the voice, but it wasn't their voice. it wasn't the voice that fit the cat across from him. but, again, it said his name, "hornetshade, wake up." confusion washed over him, dousing his fur. then he opened his eyes to see dippernose standing over him. past the older knight's shoulder, soft evening light washed into the den. the forest of his dream had been replaced by the soft scents of highgarden, the cat from his dreams replaced by his former mentor, though he knew well enough to know that the cat herself was not far away, only across the camp. for a long moment, dippernose fixed hornetshade with a curious gaze before stepping back to let him sit up. "are you alright?" dippernose asked at last, "you were tense in your sleep and kept twitching."
paragraph"i'm fine," hornetshade, too quickly, and dippernose tipped his head to the side. hornetshade shrugged, forcing his expression to remain neutral. "i had a dream that i was hunting. stupid mouse kept getting away," he added, mustering a laugh to try and sell it. either dippernose didn't want to push him further, or accepted the excuse, as he nodded once, though he didn't match hornetshade's forced grin.
paragraph"well, come on, tawnyrose called the clan together," dippernose said, straightening from where he had been crouched down. he turned to leave the den, only to pause and glance back over his shoulder to watch hornetshade stand and shake out his striped pelt. their gazes met before dippernose cleared his throat quietly. 'listen, i know that i'm not technically your mentor anymore. but if there's ever anything you want to talk about or need help with, i'm here for you." hornetshade swallowed around the lump in his throat before nodding, adverting his gaze down into one of the nests.
paragraph"thanks, i'll keep that in mind if anything comes up," hornetshade murmured, feeling dippernose's eyes on his for a heartbeat longer before the older knight ducked out of the den to join the clan gathered out in the camp clearing. alone, hornetshade sucked in a deep breath before following dippernose's lead, blinking away the final dregs of sleep to bask in the gathering twilight.
paragraphdippernose's familiar pelt pushed through the crowd toward the front to stand next to privetpaw. above them, tawnyrose was standing with bluetcrest and softglow on the boulder that marked the middle of the clearing. a hiss from one side caught hornetshade's attention, and his paws carried him to where tigergaze, iguanapaw, and warblerpaw were sitting. the tigergaze grinned when hornetshade settled down with the group, and his ear flicked teasingly. "i tried to wake you up but you didn't even budge. dippernose finally sent me out here, said he would drag you if he had to."
paragraph"gods know that it wouldn't have been the first time," iguanapaw teased, leaning into hornetshade's side. in front of them, mapleshadow turned to shush the group of younger cats, and it was only when the rose had turned back around that iguanapaw rolled her eyes.
paragraphhornetshade's attention, however, had been directed just past mapleshadow, where sagecloud was seated with ferretwhisker. the new root had haunted hornetshade's dreams since she arrived, had always been just at the edges of his peripherals, though he had gone out of his way again and again to avoid her. as if she sensed his eyes on her, ferretwhisker turned her face to the side, and time froze when their eyes met. hornetshade's breath caught in his throat. just as he though ferretwhisker might gesture to him, make some indication, hornetshade felt time snap back into itself, realized that warblerpaw was speaking to him.
paragraph"sorry, what?" he whispered to warblerpaw, watched as her whiskers twitched from amusement.
paragraph"i asked if you were feeling okay," she said, nudging her shoulder against his, "you've seemed really distracted lately, and tigergaze said you were asleep on your paws during your patrol." her voice was quiet, to avoid mapleshadow's wrath again, but her gaze was genuine. "if you want, i can go with you to merlinsong after this."
paragraphhowever, hornetshade merely shook his head. "i'm fine, thank you though. i just haven't been sleeping well. i think it's the new nest, still doesn't feel totally right just yet. i'll be okay, don't worry about it," he whispered back. he saw the way she hesitated then, but hornetshade was saved when tawnyrose, softglow, and bluetcrest separated. tawnyrose climbed to the highest point of the boulder, leaving the king and attendant to sit under her perch.
paragraph"cats of highgarden, thank you for joining me this evening. for tonight we call upon the gods to thank them for their blessings over the past moon, and so that we can greet a new rose of highgarden. privetpaw, here, came to us only recently, yet she has quickly become one of us," tawnyrose began, pausing long enough for several cheers to rise from the ranks of the clan. even from the back of the crowd, hornetshade could see the way that tawnyrose grinned, always one to let her clan voice their pleasure. 'privetpaw came to us after she had completed her training elsewhere, and dippernose has spent the past moon overseeing her skills and assessing her further to make sure that she would be properly suited for the life of a rose. and it is my pleasure to tell you that privetpaw has passed and is to be given her full name."
paragraphseveral more scattered cheers rang out for the young molly, who raised her chin, taking it in. tawmyrose descended from the boulder when she spoke again, "privetpaw, you came to us after living for life in pineclan. now i ask you: do you swear to serve highgarden as a rose 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?" indeed, privetpaw had only been in highgarden for a short period of time, just long enough for her to take her assessment and begin to understand the different system that separated them from many other clans.
paragraphall the same, her voice was steady when she answered tawnyrose, firm and resolute, "i do."
paragraph"then from this moment forward you shall be known as privetears, for your curious nature, for traveling so far out of your element to come to us and to learn our ways. the gods have blessed you with independence and inquisitive nature. highgarden is blessed to have you as a full rose." tawnyrose stepped back then, surrendering the center of attention to the newly named privetears, who turned to look at her new clanmates, who cheered and shouted her new name. though she was still one of the newest members, it was clear that she was liked, as the thorns especially shouted for the young rose. after a long moment, privetears finally dipped her head, first to the clan, then to tawnyrose, softglow, and bluetcrest. however, as the clan continued to cheer for privetears, hornetshade could focus only on ferretwhisker, and he felt his stomach roll.
paragraph"tawnyrose!" birchflame's voice carried across the camp when the queen of highgarden led her patrol through the entrance. at the sound of her name, tawnyrose glanced in the ginger knight's direction and flicked her ear once in acknowledgement, a silent request for him to stay put, before she turned back to finish her conversation with betonypetal. at last, the queen dismissed the pretty rose, and dismissed the rest of the patrol before she crossed to where birchflame was waiting, not so much as breaking stride on her way towards her den when she finally greeted him.
paragraph"good afternoon, birchflame, what can i do for you today?" she asked, voice even and calm, but unable to hide the curious undertones that were still present.
paragraph"i can to talk to you about my thorn," he said, and tawnyrose's ears pricked. at last, she halted at the entrance to her den, birchflame not a step behind. they turned to face one another.
paragraph"what is it?" tawnyrose asked, not giving birchflame the beat to answer. her eyes searched his face quickly, running over his features. "is everything alright with foxpaw?" quickly, she mentally ran through the different reports that bluetcrest had given her about the recent training sessions. nothing he had said indicated that foxpaw seemed to be struggling, nor that birchflame wasn't in control of training his thorn. if anything, tawnyrose had been surprised by how well bluetcrest had said all of the thorns had been performing in recent moons.
paragraphas such, her worries eased when birchflame shook his head. "foxpaw is doing well, they all have been. they're looking forward to taking their assessments, actually," he said, and tawnyrose's shoulders relaxed. she waited for him to elaborate further, which he did, only after taking a heartbeat to scrape his forepaw against the ground. "i meant, i wanted to talk to you about my next thorn. since i won the tournament, you said i get to pick, right?"
paragraphtawnyrose searched his face once more before she sat down, curling her tail neatly around her paws. "that is the tradition. very well, you want to mentor one of tulipstream's seedlings, then? my guess is stagkit. you wouldn't be the only one who's been showing interest in being his mentor."
paragraph'i want rabbitkit," birchflame corrected, though his head tipped to one side. "who's come to you about stagkit?"
paragraphthis time, when tawnyrose looked birchflame over again, it was with a small, pleased smile. she watched the way birchflame angled himself forward, clearly interested in hearing what was going on behind the scenes between the queen and her loyal clan. it was the moments like this in which she took the most pleasure, knowing that she had him right where she wanted him, right where she could strike at any moment. yet, even still, there was something to be admired about birchflame. beyond his clear strength, she saw something deeper - some cleverness that she had overlooked before. whatever game he was trying to play, she had no intentions of letting him have all of the fun. she broke their eye contact, drawing the moment out further by glancing over each shoulder. "ferretwhisker," she whispered, leaning closer to birchflame, "told me that she was very interested in training stagkit."
paragraphbirchflame's face fell immediately, but tawnyrose didn't hesitate to stand up and turn to walk into her den, leaving him to follow her lead. sure enough, the sound of pawsteps followed her, and she finally turned back to face him. "tawnyrose," he said, and she tipped her chin up at him, trying to ignore how loud his voice sounded in the quiet of her empty den, trying to ignore the way her chest tightened when she realized that they were alone, that bluetcrest was out in the camp and softglow was out on his own or with merlinsong. now it was just her and birchflame.
paragraph"you can have rabbitkit as your thorn when the times comes," tawnyrose said, swallowing down the dryness in her throat. "if that's all you need, i'm sure bluetcrest could send you on a patrol," she added, though birchflame didn't make any move to leave. instead, he took a cautious step forward, his expression changing from confident and curious to reserved, to something she might have marked as shy, if she hadn't known him better. "or you can stay for a little while, if you'd like to talk about something else."
paragraphagain, birchflame hesitated, but tawnyrose found herself exhaling through her nose and settling in her nest. "the king?" birchflame asked, his voice suddenly quiet, almost lost in the silence of the den. tawnyrose shook her head once and birchflame seemed to steel himself, his posture straightening with renewed confidence. "then i'd like to talk about you. what you do all day. what you think about?"
paragraph"and why," tawnyrose murmured, matching his volume when she drew a paw over her ear, doing her best to appear casual, "would i tell you what goes through my head?"
paragraph"that's up to you. i just asked the question." tawnyrose pondered this for a moment before, at last, nodding to the space in front of her, which birchflame appeared all too happy to occupy. and so they spoke.
paragraphit was rare when tawnyrose sent bluetcrest off on a patrol without her, rare that she went out on a patrol without bluetcrest. ever since they met, they had been nearly inseparable. just as it was meant to be between the queen and her closest of confidants. bluetcrest: he knew things. he knew more than anyone would give him credit for, and yet he was fine with that. bluetcrest didn't need to be told things, he didn't need praise. he liked being tawnyrose's attendant, and liked the perks that came with it. he didn't get the spotlight of being king, didn't have to deal with being a leader. he did as tawnyrose asked, did what she would want him to do before she even knew what she would want him to do. he was able to see into all of her meetings, but could also move about the rest of the clan. tawnyrose: she was smart, perhaps smarter than bluetcrest. she knew what an asset he was, what he could tell her if she ever asked. she knew better than anyone how important bluetcrest's role was, and how good he was in his role.
paragraphyet, despite all of that, she still decided to keep him towards the sidelines to watch over erasmus' shoulder. at first it made sense. he was openly hostile towards tawnyrose when they first met, he admitted his wrongs against groveclan, who was likely their strongest ally and was a border clan who had the population to be able to drive highgarden away if they so desired it. to keep the clan in balance and to avoid trouble, it made sense that erasmus be watched closely. but days passed, then moons, and bluetcrest was bored. he was worth more than marking how many times erasmus went to check in with spencer, how often he brooded. he was a dangerous cat, perhaps, but also a boring cat to watch. whenever bluetcrest tried to suggest that erasmus was just the type to frown, that maybe he wasn't out to destroy them all, tawnyrose brushed him away. it was softglow, who worried too much about everything, it was birchflame, who was distracting tawnyrose more and more with each passing day, and it was merlinsong, who would parrot back anything softglow said just to see the latter smile at him. none of them were as smart as bluetcrest. besides, it wasn't like erasmus didn't know that bluetcrest trailed him like a shadow through each and every step of his day.
paragraph"you look like you have something on your mind, bluetcrest," a deep voice said from the attendant's side. technically, bluetcrest was leading the patrol, though he gave smokemane and smallheart permission to scout ahead. from behind, he could hear the chatter between flickersky and swiftheart, though he didn't strain himself to hear whatever it was they were jabbering on about. instead, he shot erasmus a sideways glance.
paragraph"just hoping we can catch some prey to bring back to camp. i could eat an entire hare," he said in return, light and good-natured. erasmus offered him a snort of laughter in return, though it was impossible in the moment to tell if it was a genuine laugh, or if bluetcrest was being laughed at. he decided that he didn't care what erasmus thought of him.
paragraph"you work too hard, it's no wonder you're hungry," erasmus commented lightly. when they spoke, bluetcrest had to tip his head back to look up at the massive tom properly to meet his eyes. "always bustling around camp, or out on patrol, or doing something else. i don't think i've ever seen you sleep."
paragraph"not with you snoring so loudly all night. it's a blessing from the gods that anyone can sleep," bluetcrest shot back without missing a beat. "i like keeping busy. makes me feel good to be doing things."
paragrapherasmus hummed at that, dipping his broad head as a gesture of acknowledgement. "i admire it. i know i don't have the energy to keep up with you, even if i wanted to. but i guess someone has to keep the clan running. i'm sure tawnyrose must appreciate all you do, sometimes it looks like everything would fall apart if you weren't there." this time, bluetcrest took his time, narrowing his eyes up at erasmus before shrugging his shoulders.
paragraph"every member of the clan is important. we all do our jobs," bluetcrest said.
paragraph"you keep the clan going, tawnyrose lounges in the sun, and softglow pines over merlinsong," erasmus said, meeting bluetcrest's sharp look with a smile at the final point. "come on, don't act like no one knows, bluetcrest. softglow, he doesn't think like we do. he doesn't get subtly. he's in love, how could he?" it was an expression bluetcrest saw tawnyrose wear time and time again, like they had some grand idea and had cornered their victim so perfectly. it was the smile tawnyrose wore when they first questioned spencer and erasmus.
paragraph"and you follow spencer whenever you get the chance you get. you can't tell me you don't love him," bluetcrest said, sniffing when erasmus merely shrugged, not denying the truth. "you should mind the way you talk about your king."
paragraph"i still don't get all of highgarden's traditions, maybe you could help me," erasmus said, and bluetcrest felt his throat tighten. "the king is supposed to be the queen's mate. so how does it make sense that they aren't mates and never will be? how can he be the king when he has a mate that isn't the queen?" erasmus asked. he dropped his tone, feigning innocent curiosity, and bluetcrest felt his blood run cold. instead of answering, he glanced over his shoulder to where flickersky and swiftheart continued to chatter on, clearly not paying any attention to the threats happening only a few steps away, and smallheart and smokemane were still out of sight.
paragraph"i thought you would know enough to know when to hold your tongue, if you claim to be so smart," bluetcrest said lowly when he was sure that their conversation was still unheard. it was true that bluetcrest cared little for softglow, but the king was still the king. he still represented something special for highgarden tradition. he was important and shouldn't be disrespected. "you don't know everything, but let me tell you that treason is punishable in highgarden. and i have no doubt what tawnyrose would do if given the chance to punish you."
paragraph"oh, i know what she would do," erasmus said with another shrug of his shoulders, "i was just asking a question, bluetcrest. there's no need to get so upset about it." with that, erasmus paused midstep before turning away into the grass. "you're in luck, i think i smell a hare for you to eat." and then the massive tom ducked away, leaving bluetcrest in his dust.
actions
[ consumption ] highgarden eats one big fish and four mice
[ patrol 1 ] tawnyrose, bluetcrest, betonypetal, maplelily, smokemane, and flickersky
[ patrol 2 ] hurricanejaw, erasmus, dippernose, sagecloud, hornetshade, and jaytalon
[ hunting 1 ] softglow, mapleshadow, swiftheart, sunglow, tigergaze, and smallheart
[ hunting 2 ] bassflow, birchflame, clovershine, obsidianwing, sandstrike, wolfpaw
[ herb hunting ] merlinsong and spencer
[ notes to mod ] i'd like to trade in my den supplies for pebbles, if possible
i ask that no one die on patrols though injuries are fine xx
queen
tawnyrose, 30m, ♀
the wayward queen
king
softglow, 32m, ♂
the lost king
heir
name, age, gender
notes
attendant
bluetcrest, 34m, ♂
the wayward's attendant
herbalist
merlinsong, 37m, ♂ - 5sp
spencer, 32m, ♂ - 5sp
roses
sagecloud, 48m, ♀
mapleshadow, 46m, ♀
maplelily, 40m, ♀
betonypetal, 29m, ♀
flickersky, 28m, ♀
swiftheart, 24m, ♀
smokemane, 18m, ♀
sandstrike, 15m, ♀
privetears, 13m, ♀
name, age, ♀
notes
knights
erasmus, 44m, ♂
hurricanejaw, 42m, ♂
bassflow, 40m, ♂
newtmask, 39m, ♂
dippernose, 39m, ♂
birchflame, 31m, ♂
clovershine, 28m, ♂
smallheart, 28m, ♂
obsidianwing, 21m, ♂
jaytalon, 19m, ♂
sunglow, 18m, ♂
tigergaze, 17m, ♂
hornetshade, 14m, ♂
name, age, ♂
notes
thorns
cougarpaw, 11m, ♂
racoonpaw, 11m, ♂
foxpaw, 11m, ♂ bobtail
wolfpaw, 11m, ♀ bobtail
iguanapaw, 11m, ♀
warblerpaw, 11m, ♀
name, age, gender
notes
roots
ferretwhisker, 36m, ♀
- due in 1m
tulipstream, 32m, ♀
- mate: bassflow
- kits: stagkit, seedkit, rabbitkit
name, age, gender
notes
seedlings
stagkit, 4m, ♂
seedkit, 4m, ♀
rabbitkit, 4m, ♀
name, age, gender
notes
wilted
name, age, gender
notes
name, age, gender
notes
allies & enemies & borders
here
medicine
here
prey
total x59
mouse | x7 | 1 servings
vole | x8 | 1 servings
squirrel | x5 | 2 servings
rabbit | x5 | 2 servings
big fish | x3 | 3 servings
finch | x5 | 3 servings
den supplies
brambles x2
feathers x2
moss x1
rocks x1
sticks x0
mentors
bassflow, cougarpaw, 4
newtmask, racoonpaw, 4
birchflame, foxpaw, 4
clovershine, wolfpaw, 4
hurricanejaw, iguanapaw, 4
obsidianwing, warblerpaw, 4
mentor, thorn, 0
deceased
here
family trees
here
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