[sunny-skies]

[ Start of Round ]

"thank you so much for your replies, everyone! I'm so sorry for the wait!

April Quests

Quest #1

nindroidzane -- +20 xp

Quest #2

chimingcloud -- +45 xp
StormSerpent -- +30 xp
Knickknacks -- +45 xp

Quest #3

chimingcloud -- +30 xp
ethium -- +45 xp
Knickknacks -- +60 xp
Whovian5EVA -- +70 xp

Please remember to link to this post in your next explore post to use your exp!

"here's something extra to those who put in some extra hard work into their responses! you can use this to buy some pretty cool things in starclan's shop!"

chimingcloud -- +150 stardust
Knickknacks -- +210 stardust
Whovian5EVA -- +140 stardust

"everyone's answers were so cool, but these were my favorites!"

Quest #1: nindroidzane
+c myo

Quest #2: chimingcloud and StormSerpent
+un myo

Quest #3: ethium and Knickknacks
+1r myo

"wait wait wait, I still wanted to ask you something!

A new round has begun!

QUEST #1
what is one of your cats' relationship with their family like?
You may write and/or draw your response to this prompt.

QUEST #2
what is a fun hobby that one of your cats has?
You may only draw your response to this prompt.

QUEST #3
when was a time that one of your cats lied for a friend? how did it affect them?
You may only write your response to this prompt.

[coffee.berry]

Ooh, mark! <3

[shawty-cs]

mark!

[Archaeopteryx.]

Username: Archaeopteryx.
Clan: Clan of Eternal Sun

Quest Number: 1
Response:

xxxxEarthriver has the largest known living family in the Clan so far. Two grandparents, four parents, and a sibling.

xxxxThey were born to Falcon, a standoffish loner-turned-trickster spirit who values independence above all. Earthriver is supposed to care about him—it's not like he abandoned them, after all, just gave them to a family who would value them more, but it's hard not to feel abandoned by him. They spoke much more often in their youth, but after Earthriver returned to the Clan as a scavenger, they haven't spoken.

xxxxThey are, however, closer to their second biological parent; Everstumble. Though they view him more as a cool uncle than as a dad, the two will often spend time together. Earthriver inherited Everstumble's love of pranks, and any scavengers who get put on a patrol with the two together know to keep an eye out.

xxxxEarthriver's actual parents, Spiritmask and Swiftdance, have always been caring parents. The two adopted Earthriver shortly after they were born, giving them the kit-name Jerboa and raising them along their own child. Spiritmask has always been slightly more awkward around his children, never quite sure how to communicate their feelings, while Swiftdance fell into the role of the guider and nurturer, teaching his kits much about the desert they live in.

xxxxObsidianwatcher, one of the Clan's two Watchers, never interacts with their grandkits. Sometimes, Earthriver catches them staring. Earthriver doesn't like them, much.

xxxxAnd Oddwhisper, their sibling, is the cat they're the closest too. Though Oddwhisper is a researcher and Earthriver is a scavenger, the two are rarely apart. They might as well be twins, the way they interact with each other. They took their liminal quest together, both of them studying the unnatural tunnels within the desert in their own ways.

Word Count: [296 words]

[Goatmom]

Username: Goatmom
Clan: Grove Clan

Quest Number: 2
Response:



Word Count: n/a

[Goatmom]

Username: Goatmom
Clan: Grove Clan


Quest Number: 1
Response:

( tw! Mentions of death and kit loss)

There are several interesting families in Grove Clan. The one with the most eyes on it is Owlstar's family.

Owlstar is a great leader, dedicated, respected, wise, but she is only an okay mother. Don't get me wrong she loves her daughter, Antvine, more than life itself but when her kits were born the clan had only been in their new home four moons and leafbare was looming over the clan.

Owlstar didn't know she was expecting kits until a moon after the Great Storm while she and her clanmates were searching for a new home. Her mate had died during the journey and she had only just received her nine lives. She was overwhelmed and pushed the thought of her kits to the back of her mind, focusing instead on protecting her clanmates and finding a place to rebuild the camp.

Then when they found a place to settle down she jumped straight into building the camp, exploring and marking the territory, and hunting to provide for the weak clan.

Moons of tireless work culminated on the first truly cold night of leaffall. Owlstar had finally sank into her nest in the makeshift leaders den when the first pain hit.

A few hours later Owlstar lay exhausted in a nest in the nursery. A single tiny chocolate tabby suckled at her belly while two kits lay still between her paws. Two stillborn kits. One a very dark brown- almost black tom kit and the other a grey tabby she kit.

Owlstar named the surviving kit Antkit because they were so very small. The other two kits she named Thistlekit and Shrewkit after the founders of her old clan in hopes the legendary cat would care for her kits in star clan.

She spent three days in the nursery with Antkit before returning to her duties as leader, leaving Antkit with Ashsoot who was expecting kits. She would return to feed Antkit every so often but mostly focus on her work.

As Antkit grew she became close to Ashsoot and her kit maplekit but always looked forward to her mother coming back to the nursery. By the time she became and apprentice she had noticed the lack of attention from her mother. She spent her apprenticeship desperately trying impress Owlstar, hunting more, asking for more training and patrols, even volunteering for dawn patrols.

Owlstar did notice. She watched her daughter with pride but was desperate to not show favoritism. This lead to her coming harder on Antpaw than the other apprentices. Which in turn began to grow resentment in Antpaw.

By the time Antpaw had passed her assessment and was ready for her warrior ceremony she barely spoke to her mother and often outright avoided her .

This led to Owlstar calling for Antpaw to join her in the leaders den the night before her warrior ceremony. Antpaw worried something was wrong, went.

Owlstar told her to sit down and she reluctantly did. Owlstar asked her what was wrong, why she was avoiding her.

Antpaw unloaded. She all but hissed at her mother about how unfair she was to her, how hard she tried to impress her, everything. And to her credit Owlstar sat and listened.

By the end both she cats were crying. Antpaw had her face buried in her mothers chest fur and Owlstar had her tail rapped around her daughter.

Once Antpaw had calmed down a bit Owlstar apologized to her. She explained how when she had Antpaw and her siblings she had felt so guilty about Thistlekit and Shrewkit's death that she had been afraid to get close to Antpaw and loose her too. She told her how proud she was of her and how she had been worried about showing favoritism when the clan was only just starting to get stronger. But most importantly she told Antpaw that she didn't expect her to forgive her for being so neglectful but she hopes she would give her the chance to be better.

Antpaw tearfully agreed, and the two sat up most of the night talking.

The next day Owlstar calling the clan together for the warrior ceremony. She proceeded with the ceremony as leaders had done gor generations. Then she got to her daughter.

As she looked down and her daughters bright yellow eyes looked back up at her she knew the perfect name for her daughter.

" Antpaw , do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" She spoke clearly.

" I do." Antpaw replied confidently

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Antpaw , from this moment on you will be known as Antvine. StarClan honors your Determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Grove Clan." Owlstar smiled down at her daughter.

From then on the two began making time to sit and talk or patrol together to strengthen their bond. It will take many moons yet but slowly they are growing closer as mother and daughter.

Word Count: 843

[coolrat]

Username: coolrat
Clan: Preserved Clan

Quest Number: 2 (what is a fun hobby that one of your cats has?)
Response:

Amberstar enjoys watching the fish swim in the river!

[OmbreCoyote]

Username: OmbreCoyote
Clan: Poppyclan

Quest Number: 1
Response:
Nettlefern's relationship with her family is in one word: messy. She was born as Nettle to a young rogue queen named Owl, and for the first few moons of her life, she knew only the company of her mother and her three siblings. Her father was a flaky and unreliable tom named Scratch, who she only ever met twice, and who never lifted a paw to help her little family.

She was born at the very end of leaf fall, and the cold and lack of prey combined with her mother's inexperience led to the preventable deaths of half of her litter. Her two siblings, Sparrow and Pounce succumbed to the elements, and with them, Nettle's trust also disappeared. While the loss of her siblings embittered Nettle, it sparked a much more prominent change in her only remaining brother, Marsh.
Marsh was hardened and jaded by loss and became aggressive to any outsiders, remaining soft only around Nettle. He was especially cruel towards his mother Owl, and while Nettle had never been able to become close to her in the face of Owl's failure to protect her kits, Marsh went out of his way to be cruel and dismissive of her.

When Nettle and Marsh were both only eight moons old, Marsh announced that he was leaving, and asked Nettle to come with him. Forced to choose between her mother and brother, Nettle reluctantly followed Marsh as he set off, and left her mother behind. Before long, Marsh had gathered a small group of rogues who were as hostile as he was. Nettle found herself being dragged along as her group tracked down and ambushed other single rogues and loners for their prey and territory, and began to question her loyalty to her power-hungry brother.

Over time, Nettle's uneasiness grew as her group's actions became more violent and severe, until eventually, after witnessing her brother and his goons set a trap with seemingly abandoned prey and ambushing a young and vulnerable loner, she decided that she had had enough. Without even a parting word to her brother, she left him, and joined the small young cat who her former group had attempted to ambush, and is now setting out to make a better life for herself with a group of cats who will actually care for one another.

After changing her name to Nettlefern and getting to know her companions Cloverspark and Flickwhisker, Nettlefern finally began to settle into her new life. Though she is glad that she left, Nettlefern still sometimes finds herself missing Marsh, reminiscent of the kind young cat she once knew before grief changed them both.

Though Nettlefern never quite lost her gruff exterior, she has softened considerably, and her past experiences with losing her young sister and brother left her with a soft spot for young cats and a fierce protective streak, as she is determined to never lose any of her family, whether they are chosen or by blood, ever again if she can help it.
Word Count: 502 words

[shawty-cs]

Username: shawty
Clan: futuraclan

Quest Number: no. 1
Response: Now in the stars, the only family he has ever known … resting
peacefully among their ancestors. And as tradition, wolfsnarl makes it his duty
to speak to them every moon phase but, waning crescent is the most abundant
time to speak to his kin. Tight-knit they are, even in the afterlife. Every night
before he goes to sleep, wolfsnarl tells his family about his day. Conversations
goes on for minutes, even hours, and every so often conversations stretch til
sunrise. oh how much he misses them, he tells them every chance he gets…
He can’t wait til the day he can join them again and be together for eternity.

Word Count: 110 words

[I Like Bees]

Username: I Like Bees
Clan: The Travelers

Quest Number: 2

What is a fun hobby that one of your cats has?

Response:

Freckle enjoys sitting in the sun and chewing on the plants.
"What do you mean, grass isn't food? If cows can eat it, so can I!" -Freckle

Word Count: N/A


Quest Number: 3

When was a time that one of your cats lied for a friend? How did it affect them?

Response:

"Who broke it?" Frog asked with a sigh, tail gesturing at a shattered vase that lay on store's floor.

The two kittens shuffled their paws awkwardly, their gazes focused on anything but Frog or the vase. Puddle seemed to shrink in on himself, his tail tucked close to his side and his fur lying flat enough that he appeared to be made only of skin. Cinnamon's quick glance at her friend

Cinnamon glanced quickly at her friend, the fear on his face causing her to make a split second decision.

"I did it," Cinnamon announced, raising her gaze from the floor to make eye contact with the chocolate tabby watching over the two kittens. Her tail began to twitch at the lie, but Frog probably didn't notice, right?

Frog frowned, nodding slowly. "Alright, Cinnamon, since you broke the vase, you'll clean it up. Puddle, you're free to go, but please do be more careful around fragile objects. I'd rather not have to pay for another of these."

Puddle stood up, then hesitated and said, "I.. I should help Cinnamon clean up. Because we're friends, not because I broke it or anything, I just want to be help-" Cinnamon slapped a paw over Puddle's mouth before he could say anything more.

Frog shook his head, the corners of his mouth twitching as if smiling. "That's a great idea, Puddle. You two take care of this then, and I'll go explain to the shopkeeper what happened." The kittens nodded together as he walked away.

"Thank you for that," Puddle said, sitting down again as if exhausted from the stress of the situation. "I really appreciate it."

Cinnamon poked her friend's shoulder, grinning. "No problem, Puddle. I'm an excellent liar, after all." Her tail twitched at the lie again, catching both kit's attention.

"Do you think he knows you lied?" Puddle asked.

"Absolutely," Cinnamon replied with a nervous laugh.

Word Count: 316