paragraphblood pounded in hornetpaw's ears when he drew himself forward through the tall grass of the mother's grounds. with the warm weather coming in full force, highgarden's entire territory seemed to be lush with growth. the young tom's belly fur brushed against the grass, and he held back the urge to rise from the ground, lest he reveal himself. in the distance, he could make out the sound of pawsteps in the grass, of a cat walking carelessly through the trees, and he pressed on. the task was simple: to find tigerpaw before tigerpaw could find him. for the first time in moons, hornetpaw felt focused on his training, and he hoped that he would finally succeed, that he would be able to satisfy dippernose, who had grown a tendency to become frustrated during training. though hornetpaw would be willing to admit that it was his own fault for being distracted most of the time.
paragraphthe wind shifted, making hornetpaw freeze in his tracks, pressing closer to the ground, praying to the mother that he would still be downwind of the rustling, where he assumed tigerpaw was. he knew that smallheart and dippernose weren't far off, watching the apprentices stalk one another in the grass. at any rate, tigerpaw was old enough to receive his full name any day, and he had mastered most of his skills in hollowclan, though it seemed that smallheart and tawnyrose agreed that he would spend at least another moon as a thorn. tigerpaw, as far as hornetpaw could tell, wasn't upset about that. if anything, he seemed plenty content to keep training.
paragraphwhen the air settled, hornetpaw began again, pausing only several steps away from the rustling when another noise came from behind him, the crunch of grass and a twig under a paw. in the time it took him to turn, hornetpaw found himself bowled over, tigerpaw's larger, more toned body on top of his own. his friend smiled broadly in his moment of triumph, though hornetpaw could only ask, "if you were stalking me, then who was i following?" he questioned. tigerpaw's expression froze and he lifted his head. the grass shifted suddenly, as if a cat was turning around, until it exploded. without saying anything, tigerpaw disengaged from hornetpaw to follow in pursuit, hornetpaw scrambling to his paws to follow. whoever it was, however, was faster than either of them, and not even tigerpaw's long legs allowed him to keep up. when they reached the edge of the tall grass, the clearing opened up before them, empty save a single leaf falling from a tree.
paragraphby the time dippernose and smallheart found their thorns, the friends were looking blankly at one another. "what was that?" tigerpaw asked hornetpaw, who shrugged in turn.
paragraph"i thought it was you," he said.
paragraphtigerpaw shook his head, though it was clear that it was not the case. his gaze followed smallheart, who padded in the direction the stranger had run off to, his nose raised to the wind. "we'll have to tell tawnyrose and softglow, have them organize a patrol," he said at last, looking back to dippernose, who nodded in turn. with that, the knights gathered the two thorns, deciding that it was time for them to return to camp. dippernose and smallheart led the way back, tigerpaw and hornetpaw following several steps behind.
paragraphwhen it became clear that smallheart and dippernose were too engrossed in their own conversation to listen to the thorns, tigerpaw leaned down, closer to hornetpaw to whisper in his ear. "what are the odds that it's that groveclan apprentice you like so much?" he said, his tone light and teasing, though there was a glimmer of curiosity in his eyes, as if he truly believed that it might be midnightpaw. hornetpaw, in turn, swiped half-heartedly at his friend.
paragraph"don't be dumb," hornetpaw said. "he's going to be a warrior soon, he has better things to do than hide in the mother's grounds." tigerpaw leveled his stare at hornetpaw, who ducked his head at last. "besides, he's just a friend," he said, "we just hang out at gatherings sometimes."
paragraph"right," tigerpaw mused, his tail tip flicking. "and we'll just pretend that you don't stare off over the border whenever you get a chance."
paragraph"i do not!" hornetpaw snapped, lowering his voice when dippernose glanced back at them, his ears pricked. tigerpaw waved the knight off, and hornetpaw lowered his voice, "i don't," he repeated. in response, tigerpaw mustered a laugh, giving hornetpaw no chance for a proper retort before he trotted ahead to catch up with dippernose and smallheart.
paragraphas the days passed, more reports came forward of patrols spotting strange cats in the territory. for the most part, tawnyrose and bluetcrest seemed unimpressed by the reports, brushing the incidents off as passing loners or rogues. softglow sat with the queen and her attendant when they discussed these matters among themselves, though he found it clear with each day that passed how immature the pair truly was, more concerned with their daily dose of sun than looking any further into the instances. when pressed, tawnyrose stated that they had more important matters to attend to - making sure that there was fresh-kill, that the thorns were being properly trained, that iguanakit would be given her rank as a thorn soon. while it was true that it all needed to be handled, softglow also found the queen's instance not to worry all the more troubling.
paragraphafter flickersky and hurricanejaw mentioned a fresh scent by the rose lake - a scent that they agreed was not groveclan - softglow found himself pacing in merlinsong's den, finding solace in the herbalist's company. any member of the clan, merlinsong included, would likely say that the herbalist was eccentric and strange. he had eyes that looked through a cat's pelt, and a laugh that was pitched, but his den was cozy and warm, even without iguanakit to keep it lively. in times of stress, listening to merlinsong talk and breathing in the thick air of herbs was a welcome retreat to softglow, who basked in it. "iguanakit keeps coming through to ask me who her mentor will be," merlinsong was saying while he sorted his herbs, either not caring or not noticing how softglow paced back and forth in the den. "i keep telling her that no one tells me anything, that i just sit here all day and talk to the gods, that i'm not interested in what the rest of you are doing out there."
paragraph"you say that like you don't do anything important for highgarden. you do," softglow argued, momentarily forgetting about his other stresses. "you do more than most other cats around here."
paragraphat that, merlinsong paused and sat back on his haunches. his eyes we half-lidded, lazy, and he regarded the king for a long moment. finally, he pushed aside a pile of leaves and nodded towards the empty space in front of him. "sit," he urged, "all of your pacing is making my fur crawl."
paragraphsoftglow obeyed the herbalist, taking the spot with a slight nod, then ducking his head to smooth down his chest fur. when merlinsong asked what was wrong, softglow hesitated for a moment, looking towards the den's entrance, as if to make sure that no one was lingering there, that there were no ears to hear his complaints and spread them. as far as he was concerned, there was already too much about him that was spread among the roses and knights. the fact of the matter was that rumors and half-truths spread quickly, that highgarden bred big mouths. merlinsong, however, was the one cat softglow believed he truly could trust. he was an outsider too. "it's tawnyrose and bluetcrest," softglow said quietly, looking down at his paws. "they don't like me, i get that. but i'm the king, and they don't seem to care what happens outside of the camp. all of the roses and thorns are seeing strangers on our territory, and it's dangerous. but tawnyrose - she neglects the big problems." softglow sighed then, dared to glance up at merlinsong, who was listening carefully, his head tipped slightly to one side.
paragraphat last, merlinsong rose to his paws and stretched, his spine angled and claws gripping the floor of his den. softglow met his gaze, curious, and merlinsong tipped his head towards the entrance. "let's go deal with it ourselves then. i need to gather herbs, and you have strangers to find," he said, heading out before softglow could say anything further. the king hurried after the herbalist, stammering:
paragraph"it could be dangerous, though, we shouldn't go alone," he argued, to which merlinsong laughed.
paragraph"alone? of course not, that's why you'll be coming too." softglow paused then, his blue eyes wide, though merlinsong pressed on, halfway across the camp. he glanced over his shoulder, waiting, and softglow hurried after him. together, they walked side by side out of the camp and to find the strangers that had been causing so much trouble lately.
paragraphafter leaving azedga, it had been storm who decided that the best move for he and prometheus would be to change their names, to try and find a new clan to call their own. the journey had been a long one, crossing through many territories until they finally happened upon the valley of roses. more than once, they caught scents of loners and passerbys, and it was also clear that a clan lived in the territory, and they ran into patrols more than once. when they were certain that they were encountering patrols, that this was a clan, they got together. it was prometheus' idea to take new names, lest they ever be tied back to their past. they couldn't yet trust these cats, though they were well-aware of the dangers that staying without a group posed. they had the advantage of sticking together, but that might also make them appear as a bigger threat to the clan.
paragraphso prometheus called himself birchflame, storm changed his name to clovershine. and so it was. they stayed back, watching the patrols, tried to understand these strangers. they discovered that the clan was small, unlike the larger clan they came from. they lived in the heart of the valley, it seemed, and they rarely crossed into the stretch of thin trees, though they frequented the surrounding patches of their territory. the cats appeared much different than the scarred ice nation cats they had come to know over the past seasons, and clovershine came to recognize several of the cats - a striped apprentice-aged tom, his black and white mentor, and a pretty ginger molly who carried her head high and commanded whatever patrol she was on. early on, clovershine realized that birchflame was keeping an eye out for the molly. when asked, birchflame shrugged his shoulders and brushed clovershine off, saying that he just thought she might be the leader. clovershine wasn't entirely convinced that was the sole reason.
paragraphthe sun was high when birchflame left clovershine, saying that he was going to hunt, that it would be better if they stayed apart, as there would be less of a chance that they would be seen. so clovershine stayed put in their hiding spot, venturing out only when the sun began to dip closer towards the horizon, still no sign of birchflame. the shadows of the sparse trees stretched across the ground like scars, warping the further the sun moved, and clovershine busied himself by keeping watch, waiting for his only remaining friend to return. movement caught the corner of clovershine's eyes, and he twisted his neck to see a lithe gray cat emerge from between the trees, and clovershine immediately tensed, prepared to run. the wind shifted, bringing the cat's scent across his muzzle, and it became clear that this was one of the clan cats. "you're on highgarden's territory," the cat called, his pale green eyes reflecting the setting sun.
paragraphinstead of replying, clovershine turned. while he trusted his fighting abilities, he doubted that it would work out well in the end. he didn't know what this cat was capable of, this cat who lived in this territory, who could return to the valley to bring the rest of the clan to hunt clovershine down. running, in that moment, seemed to be the most logical move. however, when he turned, he found himself face to face with another tom with brilliant blue eyes. "allow me to introduce myself," the second cat said, effectively blocking clovershine's path. he was outnumbered, outmatched. fear and uncertainty kept his paws rooted. "my name is softglow, and i am the king of highgarden. this is my friend, merlinsong," he said, nodding towards the darker gray tom, who came ever closer, trapping clovershine between the pair.
paragraph"what's your name?" the first cat, merlinsong, asked, and clovershine hesitated for a moment.
paragraphhis old name tasted sweet on the tip of his tongue, inviting him to say it aloud, but birchflame's words echoed in his head. it was better if no one ever knew where they came from. "clovershine," he said bluntly, his eyes flickering between the two highgarden cats.
paragraph"are you alone?" that was the king, softglow.
paragraphclovershine nodded. "yes, clearly."
paragraph"then why don't i believe you?" despite his name, softglow's voice was distant and cold, cutting into clovershine, accusing him.
paragraph"do you see another cat here?" clovershine hissed in return. despite himself, his tail lashed and he felt his fur began to bristle along his spine, defensive over his lie. he balked at the fact that a tom named softglow would accuse him of lying. however, before he could say anything further, birchflame's voice sounded through the trees.
paragraph"clovershine," birchflame called out, and the white tom felt the anger drain from his body as soon as it had come. birchflame carried himself with grace and poise, standing tall, his expression void of emotion when he approached his friend and the strangers. his gaze trailed across the highgarden cats, and he addressed them when he spoke next. "please excuse my friend. we've suffered greatly over the past several moons. it's made us wary of strangers," he said, and clovershine nodded, swallowing down the bitter taste of his pride. "my name is birchflame. we come alone, looking for refuge." in that moment, his glance cut to clovershine, who met it with his own gaze. it was a look that said trust me, play along, we'll talk later. it was a look that clovershine was inclined to trust.
paragraph"we can take you to see the queen, so you may present yourselves to her. if it is a home you're looking for, tawnyrose will decide if you are welcome," softglow said, and birchflame dipped his head.
paragraph"there is nothing that we would want more." and so they followed the king into the valley flourished with roses, and clovershine put his trust in whatever plan birchflame concocted along the way.
paragraphtigerpaw and hornetpaw lazed in the warm evening sun, their muscles sore from training, when iguanakit darted out of merlinsong's den and over to them. the small seedling skidded to a stop between the thorns, her tail sticking straight up, and she kneaded the ground with her forepaws, still panting when she began to speak to them hurriedly. "i think i found out who my mentor is going to be," she said quietly, just loud enough for her friends to hear.
paragraphtigerpaw and hornetpaw exchanged a quick glance, and tigerpaw sat up. "you've been saying this for the past moon. you've said every cat in the clan expect hornetpaw and merlinsong. you've even said that i'm going to be your mentor, and i'm not even a knight yet." behind tigerpaw, hornetpaw let out a laugh, though iguanakit huffed indignantly at her friends.
paragraph"i thought that tawnyrose was going to give you your name," she argued, sighing again when tigerpaw shrugged, unimpressed. "fine, fine, but this time i actually figured it out. i heard bluetcrest and hurricanejaw talking," iguanakit said, lowering her voice even further and glancing over her shoulder, which prompted hornetpaw to comment that her subtly was lacking. iguanakit sent hornetpaw a withering glance, then directed her attention to tigerpaw. "bluetcrest said that tawnyrose would give me my new name in a few days, that he would be training me."
paragraphsince the black and white tom's arrival, he had been rather quiet, speaking mainly to dippernose and merlinsong. mentions floated by of a mate and kits in another clan, though neither tigerpaw nor hornetpaw had the time or chance to properly meet hurricanejaw, or the two strange warriors merlinsong and softglow brought back. across the clearing, clovershine and birchflame were speaking in low voices, contrasting where flickersky and swiftheart were talking and acting out the events of their hunting patrol to smallheart and mapleshadow, the latter of which looking entirely unimpressed.
paragraph"you're sure?" tigerpaw asked, and iguanakit hummed happily, flashing a broad grin. "i'm happy for you," tigerpaw said, leaning forward to lick iguanakit between her ears, to which she backed away and swiped a paw in his direction. with that, the conversation shifted, and hornetpaw glance up at tigerpaw.
paragraph"any news about your assessment?" he asked, to which tigerpaw sighed and shook his head.
paragraph"no," he admitted, disappointment lining his tone. "smallheart said he talked to bluetcrest and tawnyrose earlier this moon, but he hasn't mentioned it since."
paragraphiguanakit padded forward and flopped down on her side next to hornetpaw. "are you worried?" she asked, blinking earnestly up at tigerpaw.
paragraphtigerpaw shuffled his forepaws and shrugged his shoulders, pretending to be nonchalant, though his nose wrinkled and the gesture was unconvincing. "a little, i guess," he murmured. "but that's natural, right? i wasn't even trained in highgarden. it would make sense that i would nervous, right?"
paragraph"sure it is," hornetpaw assured his best friend, reaching up to nudge tigerpaw's shoulder with his nose. "but you're ready. you're bigger than smallheart and faster than dippernose."
paragraph"and a better swimmer than hornetpaw," iguanakit chimed in, squeaking when hornetpaw nipped her ear. her tail lashed and she reached out a paw to bat against his nose. "hey - it's not my fault that it's true." the trio laughed softly, and tigerpaw broke the silence, looking down at hornetpaw.
paragraph"have you seen him recently?" he asked, rolling his eyes when hornetpaw glanced away and mumbled an answer. "it's not like it's a secret, we all know that he's the reason why you're so distracted all of the time."
paragraphtigerpaw opened his mouth to continue speaking, but hornetpaw stood up suddenly, his previous amusement gone. "just drop it, tigerpaw. we're just friends and i like talking to him sometimes. but he's from a different clan and it doesn't mean anything. alright?" he said, eyes burning. tigerpaw and iguanakit held their tongues, and hornetpaw turned towards their den, muttering that he was tired and going to sleep.
paragraphafter he was gone, tigerpaw and iguanakit shared a long glance, ending only when iguanakit stood and brushed past tigerpaw, headed back to merlinsong's den. "stupid tom," she muttered, and tigerpaw couldn't help but agree.
paragraphever since he left echoclan in the wake of the red plague, hurricanejaw sought a chance for something new, which he found in highgarden, but he also mulled over his past choices. he wondered if he did the right thing - leaving echoclan, that is - or if he should have stayed, or should have tried to find a way to make his life better without running away. the thing was, hurricanejaw had never seen himself as the type to flee. he thought of himself as steadfast, maybe a little headstrong, but sure of himself. after nearly two moons in highgarden, he accepted that his choice was his choice, that there wasn't any turning back, though his gaze remained set on the horizon even still.
paragraphafter softglow found clovershine and birchflame, the clan thought that the sightings of strangers would end, though flickersky reported spotting a small, thorn-aged cat by the old tower, and smallheart and tigerpaw both claimed seeing a group of cats on the way to the training hollow, though no one had gotten a close enough view. dippernose mentioned that hornetpaw had seen a smaller cat in the mother's ground earlier that moon, but nothing could truly be confirmed. however, after nearly a full moon of listening to the knights and roses talk about what they saw, tawnyrose decided to send out a patrol to find the cats and bring them to her, so that she could speak with them.
paragraph"what do you think tawnyrose is going to do with them?" that was flickersky, who bounded alongside birchflame, who flicked his ear. no on had been present for when tawnyrose, softglow, and bluetcrest met with clovershine and birchflame, though the pair had been announced to the rest of highgarden that afternoon, presented as new members. whatever happened then, hurricanejaw could only assume based on when he first met the queen.
paragraph"invite them to join, i'd suppose," swiftheart piped up from the rear of the patrol. ahead, dippernose pressed forward to lead the patrol. smallheart flanked the other side of the patrol, and hurricanejaw spotted him sniffing curiously at a bush, though he rejoined the group by the time flickersky spoke up again.
paragraph"maybe she'll chase them away. they've been staying in our territory for too long. they probably don't even want to join. if that's what they wanted, they could have done that by now if they weren't hiding," she said, shooting birchflame a sideways glance when the ginger tom snorted, though he offered no further comment, and flickersky didn't ask. with a flick of her tail, she picked up her paws to catch up wit dippernose, who disappeared over a gentle ridge. through the trees, the old tower came into view, and hurricanejaw felt his muscles tense under his fur, flushed with sudden anxiety. he urged his paws to move faster, to catch up with dippernose as well, motivated with the sudden need to see the cats before the others.
paragraphwhen they were gathered together, dippernose signaled with his tail, urging the patrol to be quiet. "you can hear their voices," he whispered, and the group quieted themselves. sure enough, a multitude of voices carried on the wind, and birchflame broke the silence.
paragraph"there are a lot of them," the tom said, and hurricanejaw could see him counting their numbers, comparing them to the possible number of intruders. flickersky guessed that there were four, smallheart guessed six, and hurricanejaw mentally concluded that there were at least eight - too many for their patrol to handle if it came to fighting. in turn, dippernose looked at his patrol and came up with the plan to send a cat closer to investigate. swiftheart stepped up, volunteering, though dippernose looked uneasy. before he could think of anything better, hurricanejaw offered himself, and dippernose narrowed his eyes slightly, but nodded.
paragraph"don't start any trouble," dippernose murmured softly, "see how many there are and come back." hurricanejaw agreed, and he was off. keeping his body low to the ground, hurricanejaw crossed through the field that led to the old tower, which had been, reportedly, empty as long as any highgarden cat could tell. that is, until hurricanejaw heard the voices coming from inside, and he pressed on through the entrance, which sloped inward to where the cats were gathered.
paragraphhe stuck to the shadows of the tower, in the corners where he wouldn't be seen as easily, and padded slowly through the spaces, until he saw the first flash of fur. indeed, the cat was small, hardly any bigger than iguanakit, and he realized that the cat must be apprentice-aged, until he saw several other smaller cats huddled together around a half-eaten mouse. then he saw the back of the first tom, younger than swiftheart, and another grooming a molly with a belly swollen, clearly pregnant. it was in the same moment when paw steps brushed the ground behind him, and hurricanejaw turned just as a body smacked into his. he found himself pinned on his back, face-to-face with a long-furred gray and white tom, who snarled in his face. "who are you?" the tom hissed, and hurricanejaw stared up at him, overcome with the sense that he knew this cat, had seen this cat before, that he should know exactly who this was. and then he heard her voice.
paragraph"hurricanejaw?" the strange tom twisted his head at the sound of his mate's voice, and hurricanejaw couldn't held the laugh that tore from his throat, oddly-pitched and near-hysterical. "is that you?" she asked, and her voice swam into view.
paragraph"maplelily," he breathed out in turn, feeling light-headed. "what are you doing here?"
paragraph"i could ask you the same thing," she said, and hurricanejaw turned his head as much as he could while under the tom's grip. hurricanejaw could see several other pairs of paws, and maplelily spoke up, "waveclan disbanded. newtmask, get off of him." hurricanejaw sat up when newtmask disengaged, and he looked out at the other cats with maplelily, surprised to find his kits looking back at him. as if reading his mind, maplelily continued, "we didn't have anywhere to go. we thought about echoclan, but everything happened so quickly. we wound up here, and we've been hiding from the clan that lives here."
paragraph"i left echoclan," hurricanejaw heard himself say aloud, saw the way maplelily's eyes widened, though he continued to look at his four kits. "it just wasn't for me anymore. but this clan took me in. they have a leader, she calls herself queen. i'm sure she would take you all in as well," he said, aware that the patrol was waiting for him, that he only had a matter of time before they came after him, to make sure that he hadn't been killed. if not for maplelily, he might have been. at last he met his mate's eyes. "i'l protect you. all of you," he said, sure of himself.
paragraph"tulipstream is due any day now," one of the other toms said, voice rough from where he was standing protectively in front of the pretty molly. bassflow, hurricanejaw recognized with a start, maplelily's brother. "do you have a medicine cat?" he asked, and hurricanejaw nodded.
paragraph"we do. please, let me help." again, he looked towards his kits, so small, with wary eyes still full of hope, hoping that he would bring them to a safe place. "let me take you to highgarden."
actions
[ added cats ] birchflame and clovershine x, maplelily's family x
[ consumption ] highgarden eats one big fish and two mice
[ gods visit ] tawnyrose asks the gods for a rose
[ kitting ] tulipstream is kitting. merlinsong uses x1 chervil. bassflow is her mate
[ rank changes ] iguanakit is old enough to become a thorn, her mentor will be hurricanejaw
tigerpaw is ready to take his assessment. if he passes, he will be named tigergaze
[ hunting 1 ] tawnyrose, bluetcrest, hurricanejaw, maplelily, smokemane, and flickersky hunt
[ hunting 2 ] softglow, mapleshadow, swiftheart, sunglow, and smallheart hunt
[ training ] hornetpaw, cougarpaw, racoonpaw, foxpaw, and wolfpaw learn how to hunt
[ herb hunting ] merlinsong
[ notes to mod ] queen
tawnyrose, 25m, ♀
the wayward queen
king
softglow, 27m, ♂
the lost king
heir
name, age, gender
notes
attendant
bluetcrest, 29m, ♂
the wayward's attendant
herbalist
merlinsong, 32m, ♂
roses
mapleshadow, 41m, ♀
maplelily, 35m, ♀
flickersky, 23m, ♀
swiftheart, 19m, ♀
smokemane, 13m, ♀
name, age, ♀
notes
knights
hurricanejaw, 37m, ♂
bassflow, 35m, ♂
newtmask, 34m, ♂
dippernose, 34m, ♂
birchflame, 26m, ♂
clovershine, 23m, ♂
smallheart, 23m, ♂
sunglow, 13m, ♂
name, age, ♂
notes
thorns
tigerpaw, 12m, ♂
hornetpaw, 9m, ♂
cougarpaw, 6m, ♂
racoonpaw, 6m, ♂
foxpaw, 6m, ♂
bobtail
wolfpaw, 6m, ♀
bobtail
name, age, gender
notes
roots
tulipstream, 27m, ♀
- mates with bassflow
- kitting: now
name, age, gender
notes
seedlings
iguanakit, 6m, ♀
name, age, gender
notes
wilted
name, age, gender
notes
name, age, gender
notes
allies & enemies & borders
here
medicine
here
prey
total x30
mouse | x20 | 1 servings
vole | x2 | 1 servings
squirrel | x0 | 2 servings
rabbit | x1 | 2 servings
big fish | x2 | 3 servings
finch | x0 | 3 servings
mentors
dippernose, hornetpaw, 1
smallheart, tigerpaw, 4
bassflow, cougarpaw, 0
newtmask, racoonpaw, 0
birchflame, foxpaw, 0
clovershine, wolfpaw, 0
mentor, thorn, 0
deceased
here
family trees
here
________________
