by dimi. » Sat Jan 25, 2025 10:14 am
by ruethefangirl » Fri Jan 31, 2025 6:22 am
by dimi. » Fri Jan 31, 2025 7:24 pm
by Zentropy » Thu Feb 06, 2025 9:45 am
Clan Life wrote:Dawn breaks with much fanfare and an explosion of energy from creatures of the forest all around the small clan. Goosefeather is first to wake up, for he hasn’t been sleeping very well the last few nights. Being joined by two new cats, Cinderclaw and Windbird, was both consoling and concerning. Thankfully they both seem to be dedicated to their new life and willing to help out with the daily chores and patrols. It’s a lot of work, but there just aren’t enough cats to let anycat take a long break. The warmth and abundance in prey is certainly helping, and Goosefeather can feel that today will be a good day. Looking towards the fresh kill pile, his heart sinks just a little. There is only enough for everycat to get one meal today. They will have to really try hard to catch something tonight.
Soft laughter distracts Goosefeather from his thoughts. Cinderclaw has said something to Honeymouse that made her laugh, but she is trying to keep it under control as to not annoy the others who are beginning to stir as the sun rays pierce between the trees onto their makeshift camp.
“Okay okay, here’s another. Where do fish sleep?” Cinderclaw snickers, barely keeping his voice a whisper and a big grin on his face.
“Umm…” Honeymouse ponders, her ears twitch as she scours her mind for an answer. “In the water? I don’t know, it’s too early for thinking like that.”
“In a river-bed!” Cinderclaw cackles, flopping over with glee at the sour expression that twists Honeymouse’s face.
“Oh that is just terrible. Your jokes are awful!” She retorts, but the two laugh at it anyway.
“Good morning you two,” Dewleaf meows, her lips curling into a smile at the two cats amusing discussion. “I hope you prove to be a better hunter than you are a jokester, Cinderclaw.” Teasingly prodding his haunches, she continues, “How was your night? I hope the herbs I gave you returned some of your energy. When you passed out on the edge of our territory, and I saw how hurt you were, I knew we had to take you in. How long have you been running like that, if you don’t mind me asking?”
The group goes quiet and they evade their eyes. Everycat is curious, but also scared. What if whatever was after Cinderclaw came after them? Only Goosefeather is able to return Cinderclaw’s gaze, and seeing the silent plea in his eyes, he turns to the others and addresses the others.
“Alright, whatever it was that Cinderclaw ran from, it’s clearly not the time or place to worry about that now. We have a dwindling food pile and loose borders to enforce. I want everycat to do their best out there and bring back as much food as possible.” He throws a quick glance at Cinderclaw, who nods back in appreciation. “I’m just a curious about the pursuer as you are, but let’s let Cinderclaw make the call on when he’s comfortable to talk about it. We all just met a few nights before after all.”
With that, the cats disperse to start their day. Dewleaf pads over to an outcropping of stone, thinking about the location for her medicine den. As the only cat with the most experience with herbs, she rose to the challenge without really thinking. Windbird moves in beside her, meowing a greeting softly.
“Hello, I know you have some knowledge already, but if there is anything else that you might want to know. I can try and recall what my old clan kept lying around. Our territory was a bit different, as it was more exclusively large plains, but most plants seem to be the same around here.”
Dewleaf pauses, turning to look at Windbird. She can tell that Windbird is trying her best to be respectful, and clearly just offering a helping paw. She smiles, “Yes, that would be lovely. I’ll probably get started with collecting the herbs I know, and then see if there is anything that you could fill in the gaps with!”
Windbird looks relieved, glad that Dewleaf took it the right way. “Great! Just let me know and I’ll be over in a bound.” She heads off to the food pile, looking forward to exploring the territory and doing some hunting after a quick bite to eat. Dewleaf watches her clanmates as they bustle about camp. Honeymouse meets with Windbird and the two talk while eating the pigeon. Cinderclaw remains with Goosefeather back at the communal den, also in deep conversation. Their barely moving mouths and glancing eyes indicate that the topic is most likely about the pursuers, and they don’t want any eavesdroppers. Letting out a big sigh, Dewleaf picks herself up and returns to her task of organizing the medicine den. She better find some herbs quickly if there might be a fight on their hands in the near future.
-----------
“Thank you for changing the conversation back there. I know I need to come clean, but I don’t even know how long I can stay here.” Cinderclaw admits his ultimate dilemma. “The more you don’t know about me, the safer you’ll be…probably.”
“I appreciate you telling me this, but I’m not really the one in charge. We lean more towards collective decision making than one cat dictating it. Though this morning was an exception because I could tell you were in a pinch and –“
Cinderclaw cuts Goosefeather off, “It’s okay, I know you aren’t the leader, but, you stepped up and that is what’s important to this clan right now. I’ll tell the others soon, I promise. You haven’t been sleeping well these last few nights and I want to try and put at least one thing at ease for you.” Cinderclaw pauses when he sees the uncertainty in Goosefeather’s gaze. What can he say that won’t cause more panic? “How about this; I’m from a rogue clan from the south. I disagreed with their habit of relying on violence to solve all their problems, so I became a problem. When they exiled me, I was almost all but dead, so they probably expect me to be crowfood by now. If they were to send a scout out, it would be from the southern border. I’ll try to avoid that area for a moon at least, so as to not leave my scent, while you and the rest build up your territory markers along the forest edge. A single cat may get close, but I doubt they will cross your border if it’s well maintained. Now we just hope it rains soon, and hard.”
What Cinderclaw revealed to Goosefeather certainly didn’t ease his fears, but at least he has a name for it now. Rogue clans.
Hunting Patrol wrote:The spring air is unusually warm for so early in the season, but it doesn’t seem like anycat is complaining about it. Despite the state of their fresh kill pile, spirits are high and energy higher. All the cats set out to hunt while the sun makes its path towards the horizon. Goosefeather and Honeymouse seem to have little trouble hunting today, and both return to camp quickly with a lizard and a mouse.
Dewleaf seems to have a bit more trouble, deciding to go the field and hunt pigeons. Her jump needs a lot more work and the bird easily flies away and out of reach in a nearby tree. Not one to be discouraged by a single failure, she stalks some lizards by the creek. It scampers under a log at the last moment, her sweater snagging on a dead branch and alerting it to her presence. Two failures? Now that is discouraging. Returning dejectedly back to camp, Dewleaf keeps her gaze on the ground beneath her feet. That’s when a small patch of yarrow comes into view. Her heart skips a beat and the young medicine cat quickly makes a note of its location by the creek. She’ll have to keep an eye on it for when the clan needs more. Thinking clearly once more, Dewleaf decides to bring back some moss as well to help spruce up the communal den.
Cinderclaw remembers his promise to Goosefeather and avoids the southern forest while hunting. He first sees what naïve, young rabbits he can catch, but they all just barely evade his claws. His poor health is slowing him down, causing frustration to fill his belly instead of pride. If he doesn’t show his worth, he might be kicked out of Dawnclan before he can fully recover. Cinderclaw heads back to the tree line in order to rest and rethink his strategy. That’s when a big squirrel hops lazily across his path. It must have just woken up from its winter slumber, for it barely registered the danger it is in. The grey tom immediately crouches, and stalks his prey to the base of a giant elm. The squirrel has climbed up and is now sitting contentedly on a lower branch, enjoying the last rays from the warm sun. Cinderclaw seizes his moment and bounds up the tree, swiping out and snags the squirrel’s tail. It cries out and tries to run further up the tree when it slips and begins to fall. Following the path as if in slow motion, Cinderclaw twists and pushes off from the tree, intercepting the squirrel mid-leap and landing gracefully on the ground, prey in mouth. Looks like I still got it. He thinks smugly to himself, turn now for camp with his tail held high.
Illnesses wrote:Windbird skillfully returns to camp with two mice in her jaws. It looks like there is enough food to feed everycat once. Despite her success though, Windbird feels lethargic and uncomfortable. Her nose has started running and her paws ache. Oh no, I think I’ve caught something besides mice. Heading immediately to Dewleaf, who has just returned with a pile of herbs, Windbird breaks the bad news.
“I think I’m sick, I have a runny nose and everything hurts!”
“Uh oh, that’s certainly not good. How have you been feeling for the last day or so? Have you been working too hard recently? While movement and activity is good for the body, too much can exhaust you and make you more prone to illness. Plus with the change in the weather I think everycat is at risk of a respiratory disease.” Windbird impatiently shuffles her weight, hoping Dewleaf’s rambling will end soon. I can’t be sick, I have to support my clanmates and hunt, and patrol, and clean, and…
“Oh, yeah I think I’m overworking myself. I went hunting yesterday, and then I couldn’t sleep very well because I was keeping an eye on Cinderclaw. Then hunting today was particularly tiresome and I’m glad I caught those mice or else I don’t think I would have been able to catch anything. Do you have anything in stock to give me? Maybe some dandelion will do?”
“Hmm, I just got back with some yarrow, but that won’t help you. I’ll go and look around nearby, for now, I want you to isolate in here and rest for the remainder of the day. Don’t do anything that will put a strain on your body!” Dewleaf tries to give her sternest glare to Windbird, knowing anything less won’t be convincing enough to the energetic cat. “You do a lot for this clan, let us take care of you now. I’ll inform the others so they can look out for dandelion as well.”
“Okay, I’ll do as you say, Dewleaf. Thank you.” Windbird finds a comfortable spot in the makeshift medicine den and tries to close her eyes, hoping Dewleaf comes back soon.
by dimi. » Mon Mar 03, 2025 7:00 pm
by dimi. » Thu Mar 27, 2025 2:17 pm
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