by eagle, » Sat Nov 03, 2018 2:57 pm
last moon
redstar, surprisingly, found it hard to keep up with cyanslash. from his quick pawsteps when running over the moor, it was clear that he was far more comfortable with the terrain than tallpeak or ivystripe were, and redstar couldn't help but admire that about the young tom. though young and sarcastic majority of the time, it was clear that cyanslash had the makings of a strong warrior and would surely grow into the role soon enough. "cyanslash," redstar puffed, increasing his pace so that he was shoulder to shoulder with the young warrior, who appeared amused by the leader's tired state, whereas he appeared to be traveling easily.
"yeah, boss?" he asked, turned his head slightly, swift stride never breaking when he spoke. his ease carried through to his tone, which seemed to be barely winded.
redstar flicked his ear, but managed to stay in stride when the ground dipped slightly. the last thing he needed the new warrior to see was just how much he was struggling to keep up. "remind me again exactly where we're going?"
cyanslash nodded his head forward, slowing slightly when they reached one of the narrow creeks towards the edge of the moorland. "like i said, i met a few cats before i found you. i think they might be interested in joining your clan."
redstar nodded once, taking the momentary pause at the creek to halt cyanslash with a wave of his tail. thinking carefully, he dipped his head to lap up the cool and clear water. "friends of yours?" he asked. in any other circumstance, he would have been suspicious, as if he should have brought tallpeak in the case of an ambush. but he was inclined to trust his young warrior. after their first meeting, cyanslash could have killed him in his sleep, and there was no reason not to trust him.
cyanslash sniffed the air, only to shake his head in answer. "i wouldn't say that," he answered, catching redstar's questioning glance. "i'm not sure where your old friends went, but i met them with a few other cats at an old barn just over that ridge," he clarified with a sweeping gesture of his tail. sure enough, just over the slope of the ground, a dark shape was looming at a point to suggest the structure described. "a lot of cats go there for shelter when it rains. there are some mice in there and it's usually warm, away from the wind and all that. two of them said they came from clans. thought that might interest you."
"how do you know that they'll still be here?" redstar asked, unflinching when they crossed the shallow stream.
the glint in cyanslash's blue eyes told him the answer, but the younger warrior grinned happily. "i don't. but it's worth a shot, boss, don't you think?" he thought of ivystripe and tallpeak back at camp, and knew the younger tom was right. they needed the numbers if they were to be a true clan, as starclan intended for them.
they had barely made it over the crest of the hill when a voice called out, and cyanslash's ears pricked. "is that cyan? i thought we got rid of him over a moon ago," the voice shouted, and cyan let out a playful hiss and nodded to redstar.
the tom who spoke approached, his thick and sandy colored pelt rippling under lean muscle. while not as small as cyanslash, he appeared young and energetic. cyanslash glanced from redstar to the other tom, and flicked his ears. "allow me to introduce falconflight. met him a few moons ago, and he's been a pain ever since. falconflight, i'd like you to meet redstar."
redstar opened his mouth to speak, but falconflight beat him to it, stepping up further to get a better look. "redstar?" he asked. the quizzical expression replaced his playful one, and he glanced to cyanslash. "you said you were going to try and find the leader on the moor, but we didn't believe you would find anything..." when he trailed off, redstar couldn't help but notice the way his whiskers trembled. "you should come. blizzardrush needs to see you for himself."
falconflight led the way up to the barn, with redstar and cyanslash in tow. "i thought you said the clan on the moor fell apart," he said, directing it to cyanslash, who merely shrugged. "i wouldn't have taken you to join a clan." the cats squeezed through a gap in the barn's outer wall. inside, the space was still, but falconflight didn't hesitate to launch himself up into the higher levels. "blizzardrush, c'mon, i have someone to show you."
"i was sleeping, falconflight, can't it wait?" a white shape shifted, and cyanslash motioned for redstar to wait while he followed up the ladder. with a hiss, the young warrior pounced on the stranger's white form, who redstar could only assume was the so-called blizzardrush. "cyan!" the white tom cried, and in a shower of hay from above, redstar could only watch the white tom sit up, his fur fluffed out while cyanslash and falconflight laughed.
"didn't you miss me, you lump? besides, it's cyanslash now." the youngest said, his chest puffing out proudly.
blizzardrush's eyes darted down, suddenly aware of the newcomer. "you found the leader you were talking about?" he looked from redstar to falconflight, then back to cyanslash, who nodded.
at last, redstar stood and shook out his rich red pelt. "my name is redstar. cyanslash mentioned you as his friends and that you might be interested in joining our clan."
by the time they returned to camp, two new warriors were making their nests in the warriors' cave.
and the clan only grew further. another warrior, duskflower, happened upon a patrol while she was with her daughter. patchpaw was given to tallpeak to train, seeing as blizzardrush and falconflight were still growing accustomed to the territory, and cyanslash was still inexperienced in comparison to tallpeak. the pair of mollies seemed pleased with one another's company as well, contrasting cyanslash and his friends.
from where he watched the clan gathering together at the base of the camp for organizing patrols among themselves, redstar was only faintly aware of ivystripe coming up behind him. the medicine cat had taken to flitting from their clanmates, and spoke fondly of each of them. "someone is thinking particularly hard this morning." she said, flicking his flank with her tail.
redstar rolled his eyes but nodded once, curtly. "just... they make me think of my old apprentice and friends." when ivystripe nodded, prompting him further, redstar sighed heavily. "so positive and energetic. so full of life." back in the old quickclan, redstar had been given his first apprentice when most of the clan had been ill, running sick with greencough, but thistlepaw had been a ceaseless bundle of energy, always bustling around and eager to learn. it had taken moons to temper it so that he wouldn't scare away prey, but it gave him the speed to chase down the fastest rabbits. in the beginning, redstar had needed to call on one of his friends, also a young warrior at the time and one of the other few who wasn't sick at the time. splashfall had been one of the fastest cats in the clan and his energy match thistlepaw's well. redstar sighed softly, remember all of the times he and his friends had taken off on a hunting trip across the moor, and he missed those he knew so well. his current clan was already growing well, though it was not the same.
"don't despair. fate is a funny thing," ivystripe purred when she began to pad away, down the trail towards their warriors.
later on, when redstar and blizzardrush ventured out into the moor for a patrol, an earthy scent carried on the breeze. redstar stopped dead in his tracks, recalling his conversation with ivystripe. it couldn't be. but he knew the scent and, sure enough, a white and tabby shape appeared some distance away, chasing a lithe rabbit. there was no mistaking splashfall. without waiting for blizzardrush, redstar darted forward and called out his old friend's name.
splashfall, sure enough, stopped dead in his tracks and forgot about the rabbit. absolute joy passed over his face and he redirected, lopping across the open stretch of ground until he could touch his nose to redstar's. "redthorn! i've been looking everywhere for you!" questions flooded through redstar's mind instantly. how had he known he was still alive? did he know where any of the others were? but splashfall was as eager as ever and didn't hesitate to begin filling in the blanks. "i was visited by starclan. they said you started a new clan, and that i needed to find you."
it made sense - redstar had requested a new clanmate from starclan. somehow, they managed to send one of his close friends to him. it was more than he ever could have hoped, especially when splashfall appeared to be unharmed after darkclaw's attack. "i'm redstar now," he answered shortly, nodding to blizzardrush when splashfall's eyes widened in shock. "blizzardrush, this is splashfall. he'll be joining us."
this moon
just as expected, splashfall was accepted in the group of young tom warriors, his energy meshing well with falconflight and cyanslash, especially. the cats settled easily into a routine. while tallpeak and patchpaw were out training and ivystripe was looking for herbs to keep her supplies stocked, redstar and blizzardrush patrolled. it was clear to see that blizzardrush was the quiet one from the group from the barn, subdued while his friends were constantly chattering and carrying on. it was easier to take him on patrol alone, where they could work efficiently while the faster warriors went hunting.
more often than not, redstar was sure to send duskflower out with falconflight, cyanslash, and splashfall, both because she was a good hunter and could keep up with their speed, but also because he trusted her calm nature to bring the toms back down to the ground and focused on the task at hand. the group was skilled and fast when hunting, but would fare better with duskflower's level head to make sure that they remembered how important hunting was for the rest of the clan. more than once, the patrol came back with competition lighting their eyes while they compared prey. at the very least, he trusted that duskflower would keep the younger warriors from getting into too much trouble while hunting. the running would do them good by expending some of their energy, and the competition didn't seem to do any harm.
"you seem distracted," blizzardrush said while they padded along the border, and redstar blinked rapidly. the white tom shot his leader a curious look, but didn't press. in contrast to his friends, blizzardrush was usually calm. more than once, he saw ivystripe questioning the white warrior as to how he managed to survive their whirlwind. each time, without fail, he shrugged and brushed off the questioning. "they're not so bad," he said at one point, while the rest of them watched cyanslash and falconflight tussled playfully. at least he had the decency to look bashful. "i blame cyanslash most of the time. falconflight wasn't so bad when we were in the barn without him." the trio had been friends for several moons before cyanslash went off to look for the leader on the moor. at the time the others called him crazy, saying that he finally lost his mind. unlike falconflight and blizzardrush, who found their way to the barn based on chance and cyanslash's generosity to let them in, cyanslash grew up on the moor until he was the only member of his family left. the barn had been the tom's home. blizzardrush and falconflight had both been from different clans, and cyanslash led them both to the barn when they first arrived on the moorland, buffeted and looking for shelter. the young tom was helpful, whether or not he was an energetic nuisance besides.
"i've just been thinking..." redstar answered, not missing the way blizzardrush's whiskers quivered. maybe he wasn't so far-removed from his friends, after all. then it occurred to him. maybe blizzardrush knew something about sweetecho. "actually, did you meet other clan cats before you went to the barn? cyanslash said he met a cat who i think i used to know."
"it's possible," blizzardrush allowed with a slight nod. "it seemed that he knew everyone who passed on the moor. not anymore, since he likes chasing rabbits with falconflight more, and he only has eyes for falconflight, but... it wouldn't surprise me." redstar hesitated, momentarily perplexed by the words about cyanslash and falconflight. however, he brushed it off. "but i didn't get to travel around much before he helped me out and i met falconflight. after that, we just kinda hung out in the barn. i didn't meet anyone from the old quickclan, if that's who you're talking about." the warrior paused, and redstar knew he wasn't done talking yet, even though his own heart sank, let down again. it was just another dead-end. "have you tried asking starclan? they sent splashfall to you. they must know about your other friends." and that, redstar decided, was possibly one of the best ideas he ever heard.
Last edited by
eagle, on Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.