Juniperpaw bounded forward, territory tour, I am going on the territory tour her mind sang.
Snowstripe purred ready to take her to the borders "now keep in mind you will be learning other scents and things today some you will not like others you will." she mews looking at her apprentice. The senior warrior was glad to be teaching again. But from time to time wandered about Featherspirit.
The rawness of loss had yet to fade. Lilycreek doubted it would ever fade. One did not simply forget their child, much less one they had formed a bond with.
Silversnow.
It was Sproutkit all over again. Her little Sprout, who was so far away from her. Playing among the stars. He had died moons ago, and it was only recently that she could think about her son without feeling the need to shatter the sky into pieces.
Silversnow.
Moons. It had taken moons for her to heal. Would it take even longer for her to heal from this? She had four moons with Sproutkit- Silversnow had been with her ever since Sproutkit's death. That was what? Seven, eight moons ago? Almost twice the time.
Lilycreek was beginning to think she would never heal. That she'd go about becoming bitter and vengeful for the rest of her life. Because she had lost too much in this world.
Sproutkit. Rosemarypaw. Codkit and Coldkit, whom she hadn't even had time to know. Adderscale. Pearlshine, Blackfin, Cindernose, Sugarbee. Willowkit. Pineflower. Bluebellpaw. Mother. Father. Codpaw. Lynxkit. Snowypaw. Spottedspirit. Koipool. Goosecurl. All of the cats she loved, all the ones she had lost.
Every time she lost one, a piece of her heart seemed to shatter with them.
Silversnow.
But as a familiar call broke over camp, Lilycreek found herself moving instinctively. Her other kid, Briarpaw. The queen wearily dragged herself outside. Had Briar found something? Did something happen-
Oh. Dully, the queen stared at Antlerstreak's body. Briar's father. Lilycreek stared at Briarpaw, frowning. What was he doing so close to an edge? Antlerstreak wasn't blind. Painfully ignorant to his children, nerve-grating and reckless, but not blind. Or perhaps the tom had been more useless than Lilycreek gave him credit for.
But, Lilycreek just padded over to Briarpaw, and wrapped her in a hug. Silently, she rested her cheek on the apprentice's head, stroking her back with her tail rhythmically. There was nothing else she could do, nothing she could offer. She did not like Antlerstreak one bit; but Briarpaw did. She loved her father, so much.
So much more than he deserved.
But the queen did nothing, just continued to gently hug her daughter, resting her cheek onto of the apprentice's head. If Stonepaw would allow her, she'd pull him close as well. [ @carmen ]
There was no room in her heart to grief for Antlerstreak, no room to sympathize for him. But there was always space for Briar. "It's okay." She whispered softly. "You can cry. It's going to be okay, my little Briar. You've been so strong."
Briarpaw almost wailed with relief as Lilycreek made an appearance, wobbling slightly as she clung to her brother. Lilycreek's embrace made the apprentice sag, crumpling against the molly, still holding on to Stonepaw as she pressed her face into Lily's ginger and white fur. This cat that was like a mother to her held her close, and the words that the queen uttered struck Briarpaw right in the heart. Lily's going to be here. Forever and always. You don't have to be strong right now.
She could be strong later.
The thought was followed by the apprentice letting out a low sob, her chest aching with the suppressed wails as she buried herself against the forever queen's fur, anguish and grief sending cold shocks throughout her body. Her sobs were muffled, and her shoulders shook. "Dad..." She blubbered hoarsely, paws shaking as she blindly fumbled for her brother. To make sure he was still there. That he wasn't shattering or being crowded.
[so sorry for the shorter post, I'm trying to knock out all replies out tonight since I'm going on a small break on the 12-14 and want a clean slate for when I return!! ]
He couldn't help but look back at his dad occasionally, limp and ragged and bloodied and hollow. It hurt, stars, every few seconds he felt like he was the one with a head on a rock. His dad was gone. Antlerdad. Antlerdead. His dad was gone. Whatever this flesh prison was, it wasn't his dad, because if it was, Antlerstreak would've sat up, he would have smiled or laughed or simply nrushed past him with a grin. This wasn't Antlerdad, cause Antlerdad was alive. He wanted to stay with him, he wanted to stick together, but hobbling up the hill towards camp, leaning against his sister, trying not to look at the maine coon that had been their father, all he could think was that he couldn't cry.
Thoughts swirled as they set hisa body down, and Stonep[aw sat back, numb. Would anyone even care? For them, it was just another clanmate, number four to the three that had already died during Beansprout's leadership. Cats died every moon, the leader wpuldn't even bat an eye. He dpubted anyone would. He wanted to make them care, but instead all they'd do was mutter something about the stars and walk away. Forgotten by tommorrow. That wasn't right. Maybe Pikestars idea of a water burial wouldn't work, but it'd be better than leaving them in the ground. It'd be more meaningful. Give them more time to grieve. Make it so no one could ignore each death.
Be strong. For Briarpaw. Be strong.
His sister had explained the situation and he had pressed against her as he dropped down to his dad, touching his nose against his fur. "I'm sorry." To Dad. To Antkit. To Briarpaw. Sun and moon, he was sorry. At last, his face turned wet again and he broke into sobs once more. Heaving gasps, he stood up and looked around, this time trying to pull Bri closer to him. She looked tired, and now it was his turn to be the strong one.
A neutral face muttered the same words as always and he nodded dully at Nightspark. At least he had come outside, at least he was going through the motions. Another seemed to be pushing herself to stay, speaking while holding back green. Usually he would have jumped into action, moved her away, but he was so tired. He didn't want to move, he couldn't move.
With the recent events, three dead cats, why was this happening, what were they doing wrong, why were they being punished. The molly’s amber hues traveled to the clearly distressed young cat, Briarpaw, was it? Pity and condolence was apparent in the torbie warrior's gaze, that young cat didn’t deserve that, no cat that young did, to see a loved one, dead, hurt more than anything.
Someone stole his sister from his. Even if if she didn't move, he could feel them pulling apart. Lilycreek had already started to replace Antlerstreak for Bri a long time ago and here she was now. Wrapping her in a hug. Stealing her away. But what he hadn't been expecting was to be pulling into the hug himself, to be comforted. To be protected by someone who didn't need to protect him. So he collapsed, and so did she. And they were all in a lump together.
"Okay Tinykit, let's start the hunt!
The first thing I want you to find is a BIG shiny green bug!
Bring it right back to me when your done, and I'll tell you the next thing!
Off you go!"
Poppyseed sat down to wait for Tinykit.
"Okay Tinykit, let's start the hunt!
The first thing I want you to find is a BIG shiny green bug!
Bring it right back to me when your done, and I'll tell you the next thing!
Off you go!"
Poppyseed sat down to wait for Tinykit.
Tinykit dashed away, giggling with delight. She loved bugs! She stuck her nose into bushes and crevices, searching for the perfect specimen. She lifted up a rock- but there was no bug. She moved on to the next stone and found a huge green beetle. Well- huge for a kit anyways. 'Hi there! You're gonna come with me back to my mom so I can show her!' Tinykit crouched down and let the insect crawl on her paw. She lifted her paw up to her head and giggled again. With the beetle riding on top of her head, she trotted back over to Poppyseed. 'Look momma! I found a green beetle! Isn't it the most humongous bug you've ever seen?'
Last edited by MooshedMushroom; June 15th, 2023 at 12:04 PM.
Re: RiverClan Clearing
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