[Yellow.]

Username: Yellow.
Name: Dustfur
Gender: female
Age: 14 moons
Rank: warrior
Clan: Ridgeclan

Prompt:
At twelve moons old Dustfur hadn’t had to make many decisions in her life, not on her own anyway, just simple ones like who to be friends with, what to eat, and how to play. But nothing like what she had to do on a seemingly normal day. Having been an apprentice for six moons already Dustfur had learned quite a bit, she was pretty good at hunting and could keep up with even the older apprentices in fighting. The day started like any other, with the energetic young cat bound over to her mentor early in the morning to find out what they had planned for the day. Assigned to morning border patrol was a bit of a letdown, considering nothing happened on morning patrols but Dustfur tried to hide her displeasure at the simple taste. With the small ground of four set along the ridge towards the river and the edge of the clan territory. 

“Are we going to do some training after this?” Dustfur asked her mentor once the camp was no longer in sight. 

“We might if you can pay attention in patrol.” The tom replied back simple while resetting the borderlines on the ridge. 

Dustfur sighed as he head dropped, continuing along with the others anyway. “But nothing ever happens on the ridge border, what’s the point in patrolling it?” She added in hope that she could get him to at least let her do something interesting. 

The patrol continued on even with Dustfurs complaints, all much more alert than the apprentice herself. 

“Maybe I could just hunt, I mean it wouldn’t hurt right?” Dustfur tried again her gaze set out into the forest instead of to the ridge like the warriors. When no reply came she turned back to the three, finding them all alert, hair standing on end. “What’s wrong?”

The tom hushes his apprentice without a moments pause, tail lasting out behind him as the three warriors face up the ridge, their mouth open to take in a scent Dustfur had yet to catch. 

Mouth snapping close with a snap, Dustfur lowered her head and moved behind her mentor, trying to figure out just what had the warriors so worked out. 

She wouldn’t get the chance to figure it out before the creature, raced out from the ridge in a blur of orange. 

The warriors reacted much better than the apprentice claws out as two of them began to attack the orange-furred creature, it chattering much like birds while the cats hissed and snarled back. 

Dustfur was stunned at the scene before her, unable to move even as her body began to tremble. Even as the creature evaded the two warriors and turned it’s attention to the easier target, letting her see the white foam coming from its mouth now. 

“Run!” One of the warriors called out, but it was too late the creature was already in the air. 

Out of nowhere, her mentor knocked the creature from the air, both falling the floor in a mess of claws and teeth. 

“Run and warn the camp.” One of the warriors yelled as the she-cat raced towards Dustfur, nudging her to move before entering the fight herself. “Tell them a rabid fox is attacking.” 

After what seemed like far too long Dustfur found herself able to move, able to run from the fight as the molly told her, to bring help to fight the losing battle. 

In the end, help would come too late, the clan finding all three warriors and even the fox itself dead by the time they arrive. When she’d run off Dustfur hadn’t known that would be the last time she ever saw them.

While everyone tried to tell Dustfur it wasn’t her fault she always blamed herself. She was the one who the fox turned and went after and lost the ground the warriors had been making on it. She was the one who couldn’t do anything as her mentor and clanmates were torn into it. She was the one who ran away, even if she was told to. It was her choice and in her mind, she made the wrong one. 

For a long time after Dustfur shut herself off from her clan mates, just going about her tasks as she was told and nothing more. It wasn’t until an elder laid it in her that she needed to work for her clan and show her mentor that he’d done the right thing by saving her. Show that she deserved to be the one who made it. It might not have been the right choice of words but Dustfur used it as her motivation from there on out to keep moving forward.

[dimi.]

Username: SpaghettiOhs
Name: Quietstorm
Gender: male
Age: 39 moons
Rank: warrior
Clan: JuniperClan (link in sig)

Prompt:

"Cats of JuniperClan, gather below the Clantree for a clan meeting!"

Quietstorm joined the group of cats that had congregated below the juniper tree that grew above the leader's den. Sagestar sat on a low branch and gazed down at the clan, her tail twitching anxiously. Quietstorm wondered if she was still feeling uncomfortable addressing them as their leader.

Once more of the clan members had collected, Sagestar addressed them again.

"As you know, there has been some activity from a band of rogues nearby," she began.

Quietstorm thought of the foster kit he and his mate, Robinfrost, had taken in. His mother had been murdered by the rogues. The thought deeply unsettled him; memories he'd kept buried for a long time threatened to resurface.

Sagestar was still talking. Quietstorm brought himself back to the present and tried to pay better attention.

"It doesn't seem like the rogues have intruded our territory yet, but it seems like only a matter of time."

The cats below her were suddenly silent. Tension filled the small clearing while they waited for Sagestar to continue.

"There have been signs that they've approached," she said. "But they have stayed just outside the borders. They've come in just twos or threes, but we guess that there are at least seven or eight of them. Probably more.

"For now, we want to avoid starting a conflict with these rogues. Cougarstrike will be arranging additional border patrols, and if anyone finds or knows anything that can help us to better understand what we're up against, please talk to Cougarstrike or myself."

Sagestar leapt down from the tree, dismissing the group. Cougarstrike began selecting cats to go on a border patrol right away.

Quietstorm slipped away, a pit growing in his stomach. Could it be...? No. Impossible.

***

That night, Quietstorm couldn't sleep. It was still strange trying to sleep in the warriors' den without Robinfrost beside him, even though she had been in the nursery with Dustykit for a quarter moon now. On top of that, Sagestar's announcement was bothering him still. He has a growing feeling that he should say something... But it couldn't be him. Impossible.

But as the night wore on, he knew he had to do something. He snuck out of his den, careful not to wake his sleeping clanmates. In the moonlight, he saw Cougarstrike sitting at the lookout point. Quietstorm climbed up the rock to join him.

Cougarstrike made room for Quietstorm to sir beside him, but otherwise didn't acknowledge him. He continued his steady gaze out into the dark territory.

Quietstorm cleared his throat. "Um, Cougarstrike? I... I think I have something I should tell you."

The deputy's only response was a nod to show he was listening.

"Well," Quietstorm began awkwardly, "You probably know that before I joined JuniperClan, I was part of a band of rogues. There's... more to the story that I've never told anyone. Not even Robinfrost."

Quietstorm hesitated, but Cougarstrike continued his silent watch. Only his ears angled towards him indicated that he was listening to Quietstorm.

"The leader of our group, Finch, was... ruthless. He had no mercy for anyone, even kits. He was also my brother.

"He wasn't always that way, though. Finch was charming and clever. He got lots of cats to trust him and follow him, including myself. It was a while before he let his darker side show, and by then it was too late to stop him. I just knew I had to get out."

Quietstorm paused again, waiting to see how Cougarstrike would react. Still, the deputy seemed to all but ignore him.

"So," Quietstorm continued, "One day, Finch, one of his... advisors, I guess... a good friend of mine, and I were walking through the forest, scouting out a new area. They were out ahead of me, and I was trailing behind. They were planning a raid on a little group of loners that had been spotted not far from there.

"Suddenly, out of nowhere, a coyote jumped out of the brush, cornering them. I guess it didn't notice me. But it attacked them, and I froze. I just watched as it tore into them."

He hesitated before continuing. His voice was low and hollow. "Finch called out to me. Begged me to save them. But I knew this was my chance. So I turned away and left. I sneaked away and left my brother and my friend to die. That was the last time I ever saw them."

This time, Cougarstrike actually responded. "Why are you telling me this?"

Quietstorm hesitated again. "I'm not sure. I just... These rogues sound awfully like Finch and his gang."

"But he's dead."

"I'm sure of it," Quietstorm insisted. "Or at least, I was until what happened to Dustykit and his mother. That's exactly the sort of thing that made me realize my brother had to be stopped."

Cougarstrike seemed thoughtful. "Thank you for telling me, Quietstorm... I'll discuss it with Sagestar and we'll decide what to do."

"Please..." Quietstorm begged. "Don't tell anyone else. I'm... not proud of who I was then. I've tried to put that life behind me."

Cougarstrike nodded. "Of course." He returned his full focuavto the watch, a clear dismissal for Quietstorm to return to his den. As he left, however, Cougarstrike called after him.

"If you don't mind my suggestion, you shouldn't keep it a complete secret. Trust the cats who are closest to you... They are likely to find out eventually, and it would be better to find out from you than from someone else."

Quietstorm acknowledged with a flick of his tail before slipping back into the warriors' den and curling up on his nest. Sleep still evaded him for a long time. Would he tell Robinfrost? Could he?

Congrats!

[SpaghettiOhs]

Oh yay!! I'm so excited, thank you!!