[tomatotomato]

Username: tomatotomato + 410576
Cat Name: Appledew
Gender: molly she/they
Rank: mediator
Clan: meadowclan
Age: 37 moons
Prompt:

Appledew is a bit of an odd bird...pretty literally. She's always loved climbing trees, hiding in trees, sleeping in trees, hunting in trees...she likes trees. When she used to live on a farm, she would spend most of her days in the apple orchard. She could catch birds by leaping from her branch and catching them midflight. She kept her nest only in the barn at the behest of her parents, Dusk & Oats, who insisted she stop sleeping in trees after they heard the farmer Truman complaining about a fox somewhere beyond the orchard. At a compromise, she made her nest in the upper part of the barn, along a beam that feels as close as it can to tree branches.

Her relationship with birds changed one day when she ventured to the far side of the orchard for a change. She scaled the tree as usual, only to find a pristine bird nest, no mama in sight, just a few baby chicks who looked rather hungry. That night, Dusk told her all about what birds do and eat and she made a pact to raise these birdies — especially since she was pretty sure she was the reason they didn't have a mama.

Now a part of clan life, Appledew still has her little birdies as regular companions. Unfortunately for her clanmates, she didn't stop at just birds. Whenever she has free hours away from clan mediation, she'll go climb trees like she always used to, but ironically, raising birds made her consider the ground for basically the first time. If you run into Appledew during her downtime, you'll most likely be greeted by her rump sticking out of a hole in the ground, as she's always sticking her head in burrows and dens of creatures just to say hi. Not even Frostblur can talk her out of whatever she gets up to, just send her off to Willowclaw when her habit of sticking her nose in others' business gets her in trouble.

[ToraOkami303]

Username: ToraOkami303
Cat Name: Autumnheart
Gender: Female
Rank: Crafter/Healer
Clan: Eagle Camp
Age: 1yr
Prompt: Autumnheart is abnormal because she always seems to attract the most interesting animals to her. She just seems to give off an energy that screams to other animals that she is safe and will not hurt them. Most do not stick around for very long but will let her get right up close to them and sometimes even let her gently take a feather or some fur that is coming loose. Her constant companions of a handful of cardinals will sometimes help with this endeavor seeming to know without her ever speaking a word that she needs something, which is good since she cannot speak a word. She once even walked right up to a bear with a thorn in it's paw and helped remove the thorn, like something out of a fairytale. She is one of the only healers in camp that knows how to treat other animals.

She loves this little "superpower" of hers and if asked why she can do it she will often point to the almost heart shaped splotch on her pelt crediting the marking with gifting her the ability to approach all manner of interesting animals.

[Word Count: 192]

[osamu]

Username: osamu
Cat Name: dawn shining overhead (dawn)
Gender: female
Rank: eucalyptian
Clan: eucalyptusclan
Age: 28 moons
Prompt:
buckle up for this one.
dawn is....
normal.
and thats the weird thing about her!!! coming from a tribe whose members were all cursed with something or other, somehow she was spared??? its become a running gag to try to guess whatever curse she got, because there's absolutely no way shes just straight up normal. i mean, come on! someone ended up immortal and shes just there?!? how is this fair at all????????

[.Fluffy.]

Username: .fluffy.
Cat Name: Dawnplume
Gender: Male
Rank: Warrior
Clan: SunnyClan
Age: 18 moons
Prompt:

I tried to go for the character archetype of pretty boy/tsundere, something different <3

~🐦☀️🐦~

Dawnplume has always been different. From the moment he was born, a single amber feather drifted from the sky and landed beside him, a sign so undeniable that some cats whispered he was destined for greatness. Others, of course, scoffed, calling it a bad omen. But for Dawnplume, it was just another thing that set him apart. The real kicker, though, was the birds. All kinds, robins, sparrows, magpies, flocked to him, as if he were some sort of bird magnet. They chirped in his ears, hopped along his paws, and even brought him gifts such as seeds, shiny stones, feathers. It was honestly ridiculous.

At first, Dawnplume hated it. Who wanted to be surrounded by a bunch of chirping, flapping annoyances? And with his delicate, almost feminine features, he was already looked at like some kind of soft, dainty she-cat. He’d heard the whispers. He’d felt the ridicule. “Fragile,” “too gentle,” “pretty boy.” The teasing stung, but Dawnplume was never one to show weakness. His sharp tongue and quicker wit were enough to shut anyone up, though deep down, he longed to be seen as more than just a pretty face.

Eventually, his frustration reached a boiling point, and Dawnplume left his old Clan. He needed a fresh start, somewhere he wouldn’t be judged for his looks, or for the birds that followed him.

Then he met Tulip. At first, he thought she was a weirdo. The cheerful, absent-minded she-cat was obsessed with collecting all sorts of creepy-crawlies, snails, lizards, bugs, and he couldn’t quite understand why anyone would bother with such things. But there was something captivating about her. She didn’t treat him like some delicate kit, she treated him like a cat. In fact, she treated his birds like they were just fine, saying they were just as much a part of him as anything else. And the way she talked about his connection with them, like it was special, made him stop and think. Maybe, she saw something in him that others didn’t.

Tulip helped him see the birds in a new light. They weren’t his curse or a nuisance, they were allies, even companions. Dawnplume stopped hiding from them, learning to use their behavior to his advantage in hunting and tracking. In return, he felt himself drawn to her carefreeness. He wanted to protect her, no one else seemed to understand her, but he did. And despite his self-assured exterior, Dawnplume found himself feeling at home around her.

Now, Dawnplume isn’t afraid to admit he likes being different. He’s a skilled warrior, using his connection to the birds to hunt and track. He may still blush when someone calls him a “pretty tom,” but with Tulip by his side, he’s starting to realize that what makes him stand out could be his greatest strength.

~🐦☀️🐦~

[Zentropy]

Username: Zentropy
Cat Name: Swiftfire
Gender: AFAB
Rank: Warrior | Warlock
Clan: Sableclan
Age: 3 years, 2 moons
Prompt: 500 words

“Have you ever heard the superstition that to see
a cardinal means an angel is near?”

It was during the hottest day that Swiftfire took her first breaths while her mother rasped hers out in exhaustion. The clan’s medicine cat was baffled; despite the terrifying circumstances of extreme heat plus a first time mother, the birth was somehow a success. “Praise Starclan! You have a beautiful kitten who looks as healthy as a spring hare.” The new mother weakly lifts her head to nuzzle and breathe in her baby’s scent. “I’ll name her…Swiftkit, for how swiftly she wanted to be born in this world.” Unbeknownst to the two cats in the nursery den, a piebald cardinal sings of celebration in the trees above.


“Today we celebrate the beginning of a new chapter for an extraordinary cat. One of quick wit and passion, a ceaseless hunter and fearsome warrior. She has proven herself a worthy champion to the [redacted]clan name and we shall witness her journey under the new name…Swiftfire.” Loud cheers erupt throughout the clan. Swiftfire lifts her head, soaking in the praise and the warm rays of sunlight, excited to become a fully-fledged warrior. Then, a shadow darts across her face. She looks up to spy a small bird circling far in the sky. An unusual behavior for a normal bird; but this one, Swiftfire recognizes, is no normal bird. It has been a near constant presence throughout her life and she vowed to catch it one day, to rid herself of this strange stalker


The day is hot again. “Curse the blasted sun, I’d rather it be night all day than have to see another sunrise.” Swiftfire scoffs to herself. A flash of red and white stands out starkly against the yellowing foliage. Swiftfire’s eyes lock onto it, and are met with unblinking pools of moonless night. The Bird…the piebald cardinal is right there, almost teasingly. It speaks out in a booming voice, “You have been chosen, child, chosen to become my new vessel. Rise and accept your fate and together we shall forge a new world in an inferno and ashes.” Swiftfire is shocked into silence and doesn’t budge. The voice again, “Accept your destiny, I compel you! You are the chosen vessel to bring glory and destruction in the name of [redacted]!”
Something inside Swiftfire begins to stir, and it contorts until it has filled her entire body, forcing her to stand. “I…I a-am…” She stutters out, fur standing on end and tail quivering. “To be…” Swiftfire relaxes, closes her eyes for a moment before looking back at the bird, peering curiously up at her. “What are you, a bird-brain? I refuse, find someone else before I eat you!”

Swiftfire’s “angel” turned out to be a blood-thirsty deity in need of a vessel. She’s abnormal because she is completely immune to the creature’s compulsion spell, despite being truly destined to bring about the end of the world, and is now heckled by it all day long

[Baobabel]

Username: Baobabel
Cat Name: FeatherTalk
Gender: Male
Rank: tbd/scout
Clan: SecludedGlade
Age: 3.5yr
Prompt:
FeatherTalk can talk to birds. Not just really good at reading body language and notes or having a superpower to control them. It's more like he was born a translator chip. He can understand birds and their language. Very early on he began practicing how to replicate their sounds. Now his replies are indistinguishable from actually birds. From the kitting den, he could hear them calling and conversating in the nearby forest. He even started making chirps more than mewls. His siblings were often confused when he'd talk about the lives and gossip or individuals they had never met. His mom was concerned he had a delusional imagination. It wasn't until they started leaving the den that he could point out exactly where the voices were coming from. The rest just saw plain ol' regular birds but for Feather, he was learning about a whole other world.
Into his apprenticeship, he began more intentionally to replicate the bird calls. By the end of his apprenticeship he was able to have simple conversations with a few of the bolder birds. He also had fun tricking his clanmates a few times by replicating calls so accurately. The avians had been noticing how much this little cat paid attention to them. When he started to speak their language they were shocked! Cats were supposed to be unsophisticated land monsters. Their curiosity peaked; several began hanging around him. As FeatherTalk became a warrior, got better and better at speaking Bird, and made more friends in the avian community, his hunting behavior shifted. While some in the clan wish he would use his skills to get more birds as prey, the bulk understand his choice to not hunt any bird. He's fine with the rest of them doing it but for him, he can no longer see them as prey.
If you find FeatherTalk outside the camp, you'll often see him with at least 1-2 birds, if not a whole flock around him. Not only are they dear friends but they also help each other out. The birds are a vast system of communication and can often give warnings well in advance.

[faelyn]

Username: faelyn
Cat Name: aeri
Gender: female
Rank: chef
Clan: faerie
Age: thirty moons
Prompt: honeycomb dusted his lashes, blackening the world with neon yellows and tarnished golds. there was a maddening desperation in the way he moved, hands shaking as an insatiable hunger coursed through his blood. he was feverish with it, keeling over, head-first in tin cans brimming with spoiled cream and fruitflies-

“get out of my trash!”

the crone looked like she was about to crawl out of her skin.
there was such raw rage carved into the panes of her face, her teeth bone-white as her lips contorted into a snarl.

his ribcage screamed as he slammed into the street. burnt sunlight pooling as rotten tangerine sap went molten against his skin. there was a ringing in his ears as blood roiled in his head. gods, he was going to die like this... hungry and-

he saw it then. food. lots of it— atop bluebell ceramics were strewn with billowing sheets of steam. the watery taste of saliva goaded him onwards and....

“going somewhere?”

there was a keening noise in his throat. he had been caught.

he waited for the scream of his ribcage as he slammed into the street. he waited for burnt pools of sunlight to kiss his bruised skin. he waited for rotten tangerine sap to sink into his curls blackened with grease and grime.

but there was nothing.

“you can open your eyes now.” her voice was a beautiful thing. the very sound of it was opulent, accented with titterings of rosy songbirds whose heads tilted at impossible angles. “here i have something…um-” the bluebell plate shifted in her palms as she set it down in front of him with a flourish. “these are sweet potatoes with honey and-”

was this a trick? was this poi-

“don’t give me that look- no, this is not poison!” she laughed then. her laugh, violent and boisterous and soul-deep as it fused to the very marrow of his bones. “eat up! you look as skinny as a dirt grub!”

this couldn’t be. this shopowner was crazy. strange. abnormal.

but there was such warmth in her eyes. it was as if she swallowed saturn and all of its many rings. and now she burned with the revelry of raw starlight and inhabited the ebb and flow of its gravity. he would've gorged himself on the honeyed taste of sweet potatoes and buttery sunlight, but everything faded as every fibre of his being sang— impossibly drawn to this strange shopowner with her bluebell ceramics and rosy songbirds and her talk of dirt grubs.

it was almost as if they had known each other in another life. as if there was a golden tether on their souls, leading them through moon-washed seas and time and space… only to end up here.
here. with bruises and rotten tangerine on his skin as they were bathed in deep cerise and tarnished gold. here. with honeyed sweet potatoes and bluebell ceramics and tittering songbirds.

here. together once more… right where they were meant to be.(499 words)

[razr]

this cat has been extended to 1/31 rollover by request !!

[Vivika]

Username: vivika
Cat Name: laïna
Gender: female
Rank: order of the corrupt
Clan: xxx
Age: unknown
Prompt:

my name is laïna. i don’t know if it’s my real name or just a meaningless rasp of syllables i grasped when i woke in this hellish place, but it’s the only name i have to give.

if you’re reading this, then you know of limbo. you know of the trialworld. you know of regen. you know of neon bullseyes and monochrome waves. you know that time is a cruel creature and memories are merciless monsters.

or maybe not. maybe you’re here because you can’t quite grasp this new reality—this strange, terrible existence. is it existence? i won’t promise it gets easier with time.

you may not understand, but you know two things. to leave, you must pass the trials in the trialworld. fail and you reset here: to limbo.

limbo. a space where time has no meaning—you don’t age, you need no food or water, you cannot die. you linger only on the memories from the trialworld. the only moments you can truly remember.

everyone here has hundreds if not thousands of attempts in the trialworld. their tallymarks scour cold stone, an emblem of their experiences. i can tell them by their eyes. distant, hollow and haunted from the weight of a thousand lifetimes locked in a nightmare.

i have three attempts.

and i don’t intend to try again. you may think i’m crazy, but look me in the eye and tell me it’s worth it. to steel yourself against your worst nightmare when the terror never dies. it is fresh, it is new, it is reborn each time. tell me it’s worth trying over and over and over.

if you fear water, you are not just drowning. you are on a ship at sea, the waves whipped white, maddening in your mind’s eye as the wind wrenches you overboard. fail, try again. you are in a stone prison, a single drop of water falling from the walls, filling your watery grave. one. drop. at. a. time. fail, try again. you just have to drink a cup of water. lift it to your lips. swallow. but no one tells you that once you start, you cannot stop. water sloshes, an eternal torrent, filling your stomach then your nose and lungs and seeping into every crevice of your soul. fail, try again—

no. i refused then, i refuse now. i have theories, ideas, alternatives about how to make it out of this place, but no one listens. i am a corrupting influence, a destroyer of the natural order. shunned. i wonder if we’ve always ostracized those we don’t understand, silenced ideas that disrupted the status quo, forced everyone to march under the same song. i wonder if life outside of this world is any different.

if you’ll hear me out, come find me. find the three birds tattooed on my shoulder. they come to life in the trialworld, and they’re the only thing i truly miss about it. my pepper, pita, and pickles.

i’ll be waiting.


-stories carved in stone


500 words

[SushiFoxx]

Username: SushiFoxx
Cat Name: Zaira
Gender: Female
Rank: Gatherer
Clan: Fallen Rose Kingdom
Age: 4 years
Prompt: