[Eyeris]

Username;; Senbeat
Cat Name;; Lyric
Gender;; Tom
Age;; 27 moons
Clan;; Shadowfell
Rank;; Soldier

Prompt;; “You’re shockingly bad at this.”
Lyric gasped as he staggered, the sparrow in front of him quickly flying off as he slammed clumsily into the ground where it once sat. He rose to his paws, shaking the dirt off his pelt as he glared over at his critic. It was a lanky, silver pelted tom with pale green eyes and very distinct scars over his left eye. The kittypet eyed the probable clan cat up and down, analyzing him as he murmured in response. “Astute observation, my friend. Absolutely astounding. And who might you be…?”

The tom smiled gently as he padded towards the small kittypet. “They call me Leviathan,” he purred. “I am the leader of the Shadowfell.”
“The what now?”
As Leviathan explained, Lyric watched him with a newfound interest. A clan cat - a leader, at that - but not exactly. This Shadowfell sounded intriguing… And Leviathan seemed genuine enough in his politeness with Lyric’s (probably stupid) questions, so when the older tom offered a tour of the Shadowfell’s camp, Lyric found no qualms in accepting.

When they arrived, Lyric noticed one of two things.
One - this place was dark and foreboding; he almost felt as though some wolf was going to come bursting out of the brush and eat him. He figured this was one of the reasons the name had “Shadow” in it.
Secondly - he wasn’t the only kittypet. At least, he wasn’t the only one wearing a collar, that is.
This other cat - a long furred blue point molly with stunning blue eyes, much like Lyric’s own - wore a periwinkle blue collar, with a small golden bell on it. It probably didn’t do much for hunting, he figured, but it was pretty.

“Isabella! Come meet our new friend!”
Lyric was jolted out of his thoughts by Leviathan’s booming voice sounding out through the clearing. The molly turned towards them and smiled kindly, hurrying over and touching noses with the leader. “Leviathan-odun, you’re back!” she purred happily. “Thank goodness for that - Hollywood is acting odd again, and I’m almost positive he’s just doing it to scare the kits. Would you mind…?”
“Already on it,” the tom chuckled before turning to face Lyric. “You’re in good company with Isabella, friend,” he smiled. “If you have any questions, I’m sure she’ll be able to help you flawlessly.”

Isabella’s face flushed in appreciation as Lyric nodded, watching as Leviathan darted off in search of this cat named Hollywood. As he stared off after the leader, he heard a soft laugh from Isabella. “Nice collar.”
He turned to give her a look. Her statement, surprisingly, wasn’t at all demeaning - in fact, she seemed to be admiring it as she spoke. “Peach is such a lovely color, wouldn’t you agree?”
The tom paused. Was she setting him up for a joke? Hesitantly, he dipped his head in a nod, lips remaining tightly shut.

Isabella giggled. “Now, now, don’t you get shy on me. What’s your name, bub?”
Lyric blinked and relaxed a bit. “It’s Lyric. I take it you’re Isabella?”
“You catch on quickly,” she teased before remarking, “You’ve a beautiful name. Did you choose it yourself?”
He smiled broadly - the molly was unknowingly stroking his ego and he was taking it all in stride. “Yes,” he purred, “indeed I did. Isabella is a lovely name as well - as is your collar. I love the bell.”

“Thank you! It makes such a gorgeous sound when I run,” she smiled. “Would you care to continue our conversation over a meal?”
Lyric’s eyes sparkled. “I think you and I will get along beautifully, Isabella.”
600/600

[ataraxic_gone]

Username;; dewly_noted
Cat Name;; DewDapple
Gender;; male
Age;; 37 moons
Clan;; BeachClan
Rank;; wave runner

Prompt;;
FalconLeap and CloudDust were at it again. Some fight over a piece of prey even though at this point the conversation had drifted far from the original topic. FalconLeap was getting riled up while CloudDust argued for the sake of it. She was very good at that; throwing words and hoping that they'll stick. They were sticking too, at this point FalconLeap was covered in them, and the exasperated sighs her was making signified just how close they were to finally having that dual that was always rumoured. Who was the better between the two? CloudDust, the rebel underdog or FalconLeap, the captain of the coast guard.

It was all rather so-so.

DewDapple wanted nothing more than to finally drag his sister out hunting- as she had promised they would but the daylight was dwindling and they two showed no signs of making amends. Beside him was BrookShade, watching this unfold with him. She'd been speaking with FalconLeap before the two had started bickering and now Dew was sharing a mutual understanding with her.

BrookShade looked over at DewDapple, eyebrow raised.

xxxxxxxx"Come around here often?"

She asked, an amateur attempt at extending and olive branch. DewDapple snorted a laugh.

xxxxxxxx"All the time."

Dew said in an annoyed, yet amused tone, pausing a moment before continuing.

xxxxxxxx"I just want to go hunting." He pleaded, voice shaking as his head dropped to look at the earth below.

xxxxxxxx"And FalconLeap swore to me we'd practice underwater combat."

Voice tutting as she shakes her head, BrookShade looks towards the entry to the camp.

xxxxxxxxxxxx"They're going to be at that for a while," Brook states.
xxxxxxxx"Yeup," Dew replies.
xxxxxxxxxxxx"I need to get something done today,"
xxxxxxxx"What are you thinking?" Dew asked, finally turning to face the tortoiseshell.
xxxxxxxxxxxx"Want to go do that hunting?"

--

As it so turned out, over their debut into the forest the two had a lot more in common than the quarrelling between CloudDust and FalconLeap. BrookShade had issues with her sibling being over protective and a blundering idiot, DewDapple had issues with CloudDust being equally over protective and feigning stupidity. DewDapple wanted to protect his own, as did BrookShade. Unlike everyone else in the clan, BrookShade was the first to relate to the struggle of already having a family upon joining the clan. Everyone else didn't have any family and, through the mutual understanding melded into a new family, it was why BeachClan was so easy to accept new faces. Yet DewDapple, CloudDust, LoonThorn and BrookShade? They had siblings already, they didn't connect like everyone else. They were outsiders looking in.

xxxxxxxx"I think they just see that you've already got a family, ya know? Don't want to mess it up, it's not like they don't like you, I think they are all just waiting for you to make the first move."

BrookShade mused as she nudged the sparrow she had caught with a paw.

xxxxxxxx"Yeah but they've all got each other- even when I do join conversations it just feels like I'm.."

DewDapple petered off, trying to think of the right words to describe it.

xxxxxxxx"Ruining a moment?"

BrookShade offered, understanding clear in her tone. Dew nodded a couple times, smiling ever so slightly. She understood like no-one else in this clan did. Dew opened his mouth to say something but yet again couldn't find the right words to express his meaning. BrookShade understood.

xxxxxxxx"What's your thoughts on underwater combat?"

xxxxxxxx"Sounds riveting, do tell me more." Dew said sarcastically, causing BrookShade to wheeze with laughter.

Yeah, we could definitely be friends, Dew thought as BrookShade began her tangent on underwater combat. [600/600]

[Eyeris]

Good luck, folks!

[mewmew.]

I loved this little story. Congrats

Username;; Knickknacks
Cat Name;; Cloudgaze
Gender;; Male
Age;; 34 moons
Clan;; NorthClan
Rank;;Warrior (will become medicine cat in the future)

Prompt;;

“The stars are so bright tonight.”

Cloud gave a small hum of agreement, swishing his tail across the grass. He felt like if he talked, some sort of spell would be broken and the cat beside him would lapse back into the standoffish personality she’d presented when he first met her.

Pine wasn’t easy to get to know- she was secretive, and somewhat suspicious. Cloud supposed that was because she was surviving on her own, with no parents to watch out for her. He sometimes felt especially naïve compared to the world-wary she-cat. He’d tried to convince her to stay with his family on multiple occasions, only to be met with a yellow glare and flat denial.

But here they were, now, looking at the stars. Cloud risked a glance at Pine, noticing that she looked more relaxed than he’d seen her before. Her eyes were almost glowing in the reflected moonlight.

“My parents,” he ventured, hesitant to break the peaceful silence, “tell me stories about the ancient Clan that lived on the tundra.” He paused to allow time for Pine’s customary snort that she let out whenever he mentioned his parents’ stories.

“The cats of the Clan believed that when you die, you become one of the stars- a part of StarClan. That way you can hunt with your ancestors and watch over those you loved in life.”

Pine snorted again, more softly this time. There was an almost wistful shine to her eyes that prompted him to continue.
“Your parents are up there, too, I’d guess,” he said softly. “I’m sure you’ll see them again.”

Pine turned to look at him, her fur prickling.

“You think so?” she asked hesitantly. Cloud nodded tersely.

“Hm,” she said, turning back to look at the stars, the rumble of a purr in her throat.

“Aha!” Cloud exclaimed, causing Pine to startle. “You’re purring! You are capable of expressing happiness after all!” He twitched his whiskers as Pine whirled to face him with a mock-outraged look. “Maybe you don’t mind my company so much after all!”

Pine narrowed her eyes and, without warning, leapt at Cloud, bowling him over.

“Here’s what I think of your company,” she said, cuffing him around the ears. The quiet of mere moments before faded away as the two cats scuffled in the grass, laughing.

After they had tired themselves out, the two young cats separated, breathing heavily but still laughing. Cloud began to wash himself, smoothing his rumpled fur. Over the rasp of his tongue, he almost missed Pine’s quiet words:

“Thank you, Cloud. For the story.”

That was when he knew that, despite their differences, he was going to be friends with Pine.

**this prompt includes a (currently NPC) character concept of mine- Pineshadow, who is currently a NPC. I'm trying for her in this comp, but if I don't win that one I'll recycle the concept in a future cat ^^"

[Knickknacks]

!! Thank you so much, Mew!