ShadowClan Leader's Den - Page 91

**sturgeonwind** · #**901** May 18th, 2025, 01:42 PM

PINEKIT | CINDERGROWTH
male - he/him | ??? - it/they
shadowclan kit | noclan creature
real | hallucination
purrks:
silver tongue t1 [t2 purrchased, post count too low for it to work] - inactive
″ take it... and throw it out the window!! ″
★ - ★ - ★
- @Undertaker - he's not wrong... but he's not right either. -

Heeeee couldn't reeaalllllyyy answer that question without looking like the worst hypocrite known to catkind or saying "idk :3" in basic terms. Both of those options were off the list. You know... the creature kinda did look like his father. It had green eyes both sides. Yeah, yeah it was his father. But why was his father here? Did he really have something to say? Or was it just a figment of his imagination? It didn't matter, he could question them later. Yes. Probably was just his own Dovekit. Mushroomkit would turn to paw soon enough. He wouldn't. Pinekit felt no longer any wishes to apologise. This may have been his fault, but she was still... not great. She was spreading this stuff everywhere, now nobody liked him. He wanted friends. But. No. He couldn't have them. It wasn't fair. She got friends. She had Adderkit (still kit in his head. couldn't be bothered any further.) and probably Tinywolf and everyone. And Pinekit had no-one. Nobody at all. It wasn't nice, he didn't think so. It was tiring, trying to find her. Sometimes. When he could be bothered to care about her. But there wasn't much point anymore. He could blame it on Tinywolf. He wasn't really a deputy.. but he sure would be some day. Just Dawnstar wait! He'd be the deputy of her, or Mistlewhisker, or something. That would be the time...

Oh. Yeah.. Replying to Dawnstar. That had completely slipped his mind. (Just like this post and me. Grrr.) The creature just meowed something unintelligible, something in probably another something nobody could understand. B-but she couldn't reaally send him to the Twolegs... that would be evil. And ShadowClan was his home! Okay well maybe he wasn't sure about that because who knows where his mother came from - apparently she had a brother somewhere who she never met which was weird. Urgh. Stop getting DISTRACTED. He didn't really know. But. Uh. "My father... He told me. I don't know where he is." he meowed, and if he could have been more panicked he would have been but anything more would probably kill him. Dawnstar wouldn't kill him, would she? Mistlewhisker said no but like what if Mistlewhisker was L Y I N G like he did not very often at all????

That was all.

Uh,
It had to be.

Saying more would make his situation...
worse?

He was probably stuck in the nursery forever and ever now. Or getting kicked out. This was probably it. Oh no. Why.

***Undertaker*** · #**902** May 20th, 2025, 10:46 AM

Dawnstar flickered her tail as she watched the furball scrambling to come up with something she assumed to appease her. Huh? She didn't know what was going on in his head, but it seemed like they were having some sort of misunderstanding. She was tempted to leave it alone as it was entertaining watching the furball squirm, but the interaction was slowly becoming stale.

"I'm not tossing you out because you're trespassing and prey stealing, furball, I can't let you in to the clan without a punishment for your rule-breaking, is all. You can carry out your punishment while you're in training." She meowed, hoping he'd stop freaking out now.

"First thing to learn is when I speak, you better start listening since I abhor repeating myself." The bulky muscles underneath her pelt grew tense as she spoke again. "What is your name?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estelle

ׂ╰┈➤ Sleepysunrise ✘ Shc Medicine Cat ←
☽ She/Her, 14 Moons ✧.* Petite dark semi-long-furred feline with white tufts across her body, white freckles and piercing blue eyes ☾
Shadow Fiend * CALL ME MONSTER * Silk Spinner * Purrk

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Worry. Family left.

She wanted to take those words at face value. A part of her believe her grandmother exhibited true concern, that her grandmother didn't want her harmed like those words suggested. She wanted to believe them, and her eyes downcast when they rang in her ears. Sleepysunrise didn't respond. The demons that plagued her mind said otherwise. They whispered differences, that it was just another trick, that it wasn't true -- who would care, anyway? She did wonder, and was compelled to give in to the temptation of remarking on it. But it was true. Even for Sleepysunrise, Dawnstar was what little family she had left, if not the only living feline whom she openly gave her trust to. Sleepysunrise didn't want to lose Dawnstar. She didn't want to lose her grandmother. She couldn't lose her grandmother. So whatever Dawnstar said, she would take it at face value, fool herself into believing the sweet words. Even if they weren't true.

Regardless, her stance visibly relaxed when Dawnstar granted her permission to stay the night within her den. She trailed her gaze after the leader, her paw steps soon following. She almost hesitated - before this, she had always slept in a nest different from her grandmother's. This was the first time she was openly invited to join her nest, and Sleepysunrise almost didn't know what to do with herself. But a part of her was tired. Tired of delusions and constant voices, tired of always being on edge. She stepped over the snake bones that surrounded the nest, and settled in next to Dawnstar. The feeling of fur brushing her side felt odd, she tensed at initial contact before settling in fully. It was warm.

Despite her initial reaction, despite her mind still running a hare a minute, it was calming. The medic found herself leaning against her grandmother's side and remaining close, be it for comfort or warmth, she couldn't tell. She lowered her head to her paws.
"Thank you... For always letting me stay."
Sleepysunrise spoke softly, eyes lowering to the ground as she focused on the familiar scent of the den. Deep within her mind, distorted memories of her youngest moons plagued her mind, memories flashing from the little time she spent with her mother to the day she got cast out of her own nest. It sent a painful feeling through her chest. She should have seen the signs. But this was different, right now Miss Grandmama was here for her. For her, and no one else. She resisted the urge to affirm these thoughts aloud for those who haunted her to hear.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

⊹ [ @Undertaker - Dawnstar | @/mention - Character ] ⊹

Dawnstar grunted softly as the smaller cat got settled in her nest. She didn't really understand why she was being thanked for something like this. Her kits didn't run around thanking her when they tolerated their nonsense or climbed into her nest. Was this not something that she'd naturally accept? She's never turned Sleepysunrise's away before. Maybe it was because Sleepysunrise had something called manners that she asked instead of assumed. Dawnstar decided not to think too hard on it as she rested her chin on the she-cat's back. She was tired and sleep was far to enticing to ignore.
[Gonna consider this wrapped up]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sturgeonwind

PINEKIT | CINDERGROWTH
male - he/him | ??? - it/they
shadowclan kit | noclan creature
real | hallucination
purrks:
silver tongue t1 [t2 purrchased, post count too low for it to work] - inactive
″ take it... and throw it out the window!! ″
★ - ★ - ★
- @Undertaker - he's not wrong... but he's not right either. -

Heeeee couldn't reeaalllllyyy answer that question without looking like the worst hypocrite known to catkind or saying "idk :3" in basic terms. Both of those options were off the list. You know... the creature kinda did look like his father. It had green eyes both sides. Yeah, yeah it was his father. But why was his father here? Did he really have something to say? Or was it just a figment of his imagination? It didn't matter, he could question them later. Yes. Probably was just his own Dovekit. Mushroomkit would turn to paw soon enough. He wouldn't. Pinekit felt no longer any wishes to apologise. This may have been his fault, but she was still... not great. She was spreading this stuff everywhere, now nobody liked him. He wanted friends. But. No. He couldn't have them. It wasn't fair. She got friends. She had Adderkit (still kit in his head. couldn't be bothered any further.) and probably Tinywolf and everyone. And Pinekit had no-one. Nobody at all. It wasn't nice, he didn't think so. It was tiring, trying to find her. Sometimes. When he could be bothered to care about her. But there wasn't much point anymore. He could blame it on Tinywolf. He wasn't really a deputy.. but he sure would be some day. Just Dawnstar wait! He'd be the deputy of her, or Mistlewhisker, or something. That would be the time...

Oh. Yeah.. Replying to Dawnstar. That had completely slipped his mind. (Just like this post and me. Grrr.) The creature just meowed something unintelligible, something in probably another something nobody could understand. B-but she couldn't reaally send him to the Twolegs... that would be evil. And ShadowClan was his home! Okay well maybe he wasn't sure about that because who knows where his mother came from - apparently she had a brother somewhere who she never met which was weird. Urgh. Stop getting DISTRACTED. He didn't really know. But. Uh. "My father... He told me. I don't know where he is." he meowed, and if he could have been more panicked he would have been but anything more would probably kill him. Dawnstar wouldn't kill him, would she? Mistlewhisker said no but like what if Mistlewhisker was L Y I N G like he did not very often at all????

That was all.

Uh,
It had to be.

Saying more would make his situation...
worse?

He was probably stuck in the nursery forever and ever now. Or getting kicked out. This was probably it. Oh no. Why.

His father? Who the hell was Pinekit's father again? Sadly, the leader was blanking on that. Whoever he was, it didn't even sound like he was around. How troublesome.

"You don't know where your father is, yet you blindly follow his advice?" That sounded stupid to her. But kits were stupid creatures. "I would ask you who your father is, but I don't really care right now. Quit lying and harming your clanmates. This is your own and only chance to start straightening up. I will not be merciful if I hear you causing any more trouble. You'll either find yourself without a clan or dead." She finished with an ominous glare.

"You're dismissed."

**Estelle** · #**903** May 26th, 2025, 05:52 PM

ׂ╰┈➤ Sleepysunrise ✘ Shc Medicine Cat ←
☽ She/Her, 14 Moons ✧.* Petite dark semi-long-furred feline with white tufts across her body, white freckles and piercing blue eyes ☾
Shadow Fiend * CALL ME MONSTER * Silk Spinner * Purrk

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

"I don't... Understand. Miss Grandmama."
Her voice was quiet, but carried into the darkness of the den, her whiskers twitching. Uncharacteristically, she didn't wait long for the leader to let her inside, the moment a mere sound came from the confinements of the den, the girl found herself entering with narrowed eyes and a cocked head.
"Hazycry." She explained, "What purpose does she find in telling the clan that she can see?"
It didn't make sense to her. Why spread such a dumb lie? Her senses were mildly impressive, sure, and yet even her Grandmother seemed to believe the bold claim - everyone seemed to believe the claim - and the withering stare which the warrior gave her when Sleepysunrise spoke her surprise to Birdecho was puzzling at best. One would think she ousted some big secret.
"She can't have been lying about being blind for all these moons, right?" She waved her paw, a bit of a dramatic movement as her eyes momentarily rolled back. "Why is she lying about being able to see now? What purpose does that have now??"
Her brows knit with confusion and her head tilted - probably for the thousands time - to the other side, and her eyes shot up to her grandmother. Not to mention, the question filled her gaze, why didn't Miss Grandmama correct her if she knew? And why did she allow the rumours about her mama's sight spread, too? Was she keen on letting Hazycry spread her tall tale for some amusement? The medic contemplated the possibility, expression growing thoughtful, as unlikely as it seemed; it didn't seem in character for her grandmother to encourage such harmless fun like that, it didn't seem in character for her grandmother to lie about mama's sight either. She gave her a questioning look, speaking softly, almost mumbling as she tried to process her thoughts and words at the same time.
"You said you knew... I would have expected you to shut down such nonsense from the start. Why didn't you? Why did you say mama was the same?"

As far as Sleepysunrise was concerned, Lostspark had never lost her sight in the first place. Such were the difficulties of being young and ignored, her questions left unanswered when asked; a young Sleepysunrise's curiosity had not been entertained nor was given enough time of day to notice her mother supposedly being blind. Call her stupid for never realising, but she didn't. To Sleepykit, Lostspark had wounded but working eyes. Perhaps an oversight on her part now that she was older, even so, she couldn't make sense of it.
"How could a blind cat possibly regain their sight?"

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

⊹ [ @Undertaker - Dawnstar | @/mention - Character ] ⊹
[ Edited to better fit post-Dawnstar's post at the Enforcer challenge, since I originally wrote this to be taking place afterwards ]

**Morrigan** · #**904** May 27th, 2025, 11:51 AM

Venompaw
Shadowclan apprentice
Purrk: Shadow fiend(inactive)

As soon as Quietraven had returned her to camp after their outing Venompaw was racing across the clearing, raven clutched in her jaws. One might have expected her to just throw it on the prey pile but no. Why should she let a stranger snatch such an awesome to,en of her greatness? This trophy would be gifted to the only one cooler than herself, one, the only-

"MAMMY!!!" Venompaw shrieked in delighted avidity as she burst into the gloomy den. Happy growls and purrs erupted from the young cat as she attempted to greet her mother with loving nuzzles, still holding the bird mind you so it was pretty likely she could've hit the poor woman in the face with it. "Look, look! I caught dis!! Ya see?! "

The toygress was again shoved the raven in Dawnstar's face, eager to show off her achievement. "Do you like it?? Well it's yours now!!!" Smiling like a chesire cat, she plopped herself down and chucked the scruffy winged creature at her paws. Amber eyes sparkling with joy as she awaited a hopefully positive response to her very generous gift.

@Undertaker

**sturgeonwind** · #**905** June 2nd, 2025, 02:50 PM

Pinekit walked out. He was not scared at all. (very)
- @/Undertaker

***Undertaker*** · #**906** June 2nd, 2025, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estelle

ׂ╰┈➤ Sleepysunrise ✘ Shc Medicine Cat ←
☽ She/Her, 14 Moons ✧.* Petite dark semi-long-furred feline with white tufts across her body, white freckles and piercing blue eyes ☾
Shadow Fiend * CALL ME MONSTER * Silk Spinner * Purrk

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

"I don't... Understand. Miss Grandmama."
Her voice was quiet, but carried into the darkness of the den, her whiskers twitching. Uncharacteristically, she didn't wait long for the leader to let her inside, the moment a mere sound came from the confinements of the den, the girl found herself entering with narrowed eyes and a cocked head.
"Hazycry." She explained, "What purpose does she find in telling the clan that she can see?"
It didn't make sense to her. Why spread such a dumb lie? Her senses were mildly impressive, sure, and yet even her Grandmother seemed to believe the bold claim - everyone seemed to believe the claim - and the withering stare which the warrior gave her when Sleepysunrise spoke her surprise to Birdecho was puzzling at best. One would think she ousted some big secret.
"She can't have been lying about being blind for all these moons, right?" She waved her paw, a bit of a dramatic movement as her eyes momentarily rolled back. "Why is she lying about being able to see now? What purpose does that have now??"
Her brows knit with confusion and her head tilted - probably for the thousands time - to the other side, and her eyes shot up to her grandmother. Not to mention, the question filled her gaze, why didn't Miss Grandmama correct her if she knew? And why did she allow the rumours about her mama's sight spread, too? Was she keen on letting Hazycry spread her tall tale for some amusement? The medic contemplated the possibility, expression growing thoughtful, as unlikely as it seemed; it didn't seem in character for her grandmother to encourage such harmless fun like that, it didn't seem in character for her grandmother to lie about mama's sight either. She gave her a questioning look, speaking softly, almost mumbling as she tried to process her thoughts and words at the same time.
"You said you knew... I would have expected you to shut down such nonsense from the start. Why didn't you? Why did you say mama was the same?"

As far as Sleepysunrise was concerned, Lostspark had never lost her sight in the first place. Such were the difficulties of being young and ignored, her questions left unanswered when asked; a young Sleepysunrise's curiosity had not been entertained nor was given enough time of day to notice her mother supposedly being blind. Call her stupid for never realising, but she didn't. To Sleepykit, Lostspark had wounded but working eyes. Perhaps an oversight on her part now that she was older, even so, she couldn't make sense of it.
"How could a blind cat possibly regain their sight?"

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

⊹ [ @Undertaker - Dawnstar | @/mention - Character ] ⊹
[ Edited to better fit post-Dawnstar's post at the Enforcer challenge, since I originally wrote this to be taking place afterwards ]

The leader was in the middle of cleaning up wounds; she had scratches all over her chest, shoulder, flank, muzzle, and a sore tail. But nothing overly concerning (at the time of this post) that demands she visit the medicine den. Perhaps it was homage to Elmshadow, but the she-cat's taken to cleaning her wounds as best she could to avoid wasting her medicine cat's time. The majority of her wounds would heal up quickly without medicine cat interference, but the deeper cuts she'd have to see Sleepy for. The nerves in her shoulders were so scarred up and damaged that she was shocked she could still feel anything there, as the one on her flank that one throbbed like waves ebbing and flowing, when she breathed out.

She was carefully lapping at her shoulder when Sleepysunrise swung by for a visit and a chat. She chuffed silently as she strolled right in. Dawnstar had been hoping to catch a nap after cleaning up and go visiting the medicine den after, but it seemed that it was clean up, talk to nosy granddaughter, take a nap, and then visit the medicine den. She always slept the best after a good fight.

"You're still on that?" Dawnstar huffed, licking up some of the blood on the side of her muzzle. "Come help me clean up," urged the she-cat to make herself useful. Not that she wasn't usually useful. She did find Sleepysunrise's disbelief hilarious in a way.

"Have you asked Birdecho why she can change her voice at will?" The dark tabby asked, cleaning out a clump of dry blood from her pelt. "Or why some cats come back to life and others don't, or how some cats can practically melt into the shadows." Dawnstar stopped pondering that stuff a long time ago when she got the same answer for every weird thing that happened in the clans, StarClan.

"I don't see how it's so hard to believe that a blind cat could regain her sight with phenomena like those happening all the time. At this point, I'm assuming that it's the ancestors' gifts for being so neglectful to the clans, but who knows?" The leader stretches out her forelegs and turns to meet Sleepysunrise's blue eyes.

"I already told you I'm not a fan of lying to family, your mother did the same thing that Hazycry did," something Dawnstar still found funny, how hypocritical everyone was being about it. "She just hid it better, I'm surprised to hear that Birdecho was aware of it, but not you." She was being blunt there, not realizing how those words might hurt.

"Since we're playing twenty questions, how is Silentpaw's training coming along? Also, with Darkpaw no longer an aid, do you have any other cats in mind?" Dawnstar had some cats in mind, Wildstorm, possibly Blackjaw; she didn't care if they had any interest in healing, just that they were around when needed and were not utterly incompetent. Besides Blackjaw's loss against a pup made she wondered if he'd be better in the medicine den. He was far too weak in her eyes.

Venompaw competed with Scorpionpaw for the title of Loudest Parasite. The clan leader didn't bother lifting her head as her daughter came bursting into her den. She didn't bother returning Venomonpaw's affection gestures as she was smacked in the face at least three times, if not more, by the big bird she was holding in her maw. By the time the brat drew back, there was a noticeable twitch in the leader's muzzle as she restrained herself from yeeting her kit out of the den.

Venompaw had more Slytiger in her than Dawnstar liked to admit. She cranes her head back when the excitable brat shoved the bird in her face again, the wing bumping irritatingly into her nose. After a small sneezing fit, Dawnstar stared at Venompaw with a deadpan expression.

"You are so lucky that instinct demands I have to love you unconditionally." She meows in a flat tone. Venompaw was getting stuck up there with Weepingpaw, Houndpaw, and Scorpionpaw as migrain-inducing hazards.

"Despite your need to work on personal space, I'm surprised you can catch a bird so large at your age. Birds are one of the most difficult prey to catch. It's proof that you're an excellent huntress. I'm proud to see that running your mouth is not your only talent." Insult mixed with praise, take what you can get.

"Thank you for being so....thoughtful," she paused in the sentence, clearly wanting to say something else.

"Do you want some of the feathers for your nest or your siblings' nests? You can play with them, tickling each other and whatnot, but do not poke each other with the ends. I'll ban feathers from the apprentice den if I hear from Sleepysunrise about feather-related injuries from anyone." The quills on feathers were sharp and hurt if you jabbed a cat with them.

**Estelle** · #**907** June 3rd, 2025, 11:06 AM

ׂ╰┈➤ Sleepysunrise ✘ Shc Medicine Cat ←
☽ She/Her, 14 Moons ✧.* Petite dark semi-long-furred feline with white tufts across her body, white freckles and piercing blue eyes ☾
Shadow Fiend * CALL ME MONSTER * Silk Spinner * Purrk

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Dawnstar spoke as if it was a completely normal thing. Sleepysunrise huffed as the first words left her grandmother's mouth, cheek puffing up. Of course she was still on that, it made no sense! And Dawnstar was acting far too nonchalantly about it for her taste. Obeying her grandmother, Sleepysunrise did not speak as she stepped forth to help clean the leader's wounds. Though her nose scrunched up for a moment, and the young medic spoke a few words before beginning to lap at the wounds she could reach (she was practically half her grandmother's size, if not less, a mere dwarf compared to the hulking leader. She couldn't reach as high without the leader leaning down).
"I can fetch herbs to treat you, later."

Being set on the now familiar and repetitive motion of cleaning her grandmother's wounds, albeit not how she normally did it, calmed some of Sleepysunrise's nervous ear flicking and head tilting.
"An odd talent and a myth,"
Sleepysunrise reasoned as her grandmother spoke of Birdecho's voice and the strange cases of cats returning to life. She had never considered Birdecho's talent to be unnatural, and as tempting as the thought of resurrection was, as much as she would want to control it, she had never seen a cat return to life. Not knowingly, that is, still believing any sightings of Daykit were a mere illusion.

Speaking of her mother, Sleepysunrise couldn't help the scoff that left her maw, ear giving a dismissive flick.
"Mama always favoured them."
She explained, so of course they would be aware of such a secret, but not her.
"Mama never bothered telling me she was blind in the first place...;"
Added the she in a quick mumble, eyes cast aside before speaking up again. She paused her cleaning.
"How does that even work? You mean to say there are just... Weird, supernatural, whatchamacallit, things and they're... normal? The blind can regain their sight at random and, what, you've died and come back to life before too? How does any of that make sense?"

She looked up at her grandmother for several instances, brow quirked in evident confusion. She knew the dead could visit dreams... Probably, she still wasn't quite sure if they were actually real or just a figment of her imagination. Somehow the living could also appears in the minds of others, but the medic had told herself long enough that they were just weird illusions everyone was having and couldn't be factual. Her Grandmother seemed to actually believe all this however, and that begged the question whether there was some actual merit to her words... Or if age had gotten to her and she lost her mind (though she would never speak that thought out loud).

When her grandmother mentioned Silentpaw, Sleepysunrise puffed up her cheek in a momentary pout. Way to shift the topic of conversation. Even so, after a heartbeat, the little cat walked to Miss Grandmama's other side and resumed cleaning the leader's wounds.
"Silentpaw is anywhere but the medicine den. He seems more interested in everything that isn't healing or learning, ..." She huffed a breath. "I forget he exists most of the time. He is useless to me, nothing more than a liability and a headache."
If it was up to her, she would have long demoted him.
"I would be better off with three or four aids and no apprentice."

At the mention of aids, she grew pensive. Her whiskers twitched and Sleepysunrise paused her cleaning for a moment, eyes drifting around the den as she thought.
"Flytail has pit in him. Embercloud was worried over those kits... I suppose she might want to learn. Houndpaw would be a funny one." Though he would probably make a mess, came the thought moments after, as she was listing the few cat names she actually knew. "Ohhh, can Birdecho be my aid?? I could use someone like her. And what is the status on Rookfire, anyway? I know the Stars warned him off, but he does know bunch of herbs. Can I work with him to learn more?"

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

⊹ [ @Undertaker - Dawnstar | @/mention - Character ] ⊹

**Wingnettle** · #**908** June 6th, 2025, 04:14 AM

Black

#thevoidwithin
11 moons | he/him
Shadow Fiend, Chill of Death

Black tensed himself as the Big Shecat spoke her next words. She wasn't tossing him out? Well, did I not expect that? How fun. He dipped his head, as he had seen before the vice-in-command do when she entered this weird cave.
"Yes, ma'am." He replied steadily, staring in her eyes with all the courage he could summon. He was lucky, he knew that. And he couldn't but have admiration for this cat, who seemed so strong and authoritative before anyone.

"My name is Black." He replied, before turning briefly his gaze to the other scarred Shecat. Had this giant group of cats always been ruled by shecats? How weird. He imagined his deceased Mother in the Giant Shecat's position, ruling over a whole community with the strength she did not hold. It was a weird image.

I am to train here... and carry out a punishment. I'd never imagined I would live with other cats one day, but it seems so normal here. He looked around in awe, though he did not let his expression slip that away. Everything in this camp seemed incredible compared to the hole he'd lived with Mother his whole life.

@Undertaker

***Undertaker*** · #**909** June 9th, 2025, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estelle

ׂ╰┈➤ Sleepysunrise ✘ Shc Medicine Cat ←
☽ She/Her, 14 Moons ✧.* Petite dark semi-long-furred feline with white tufts across her body, white freckles and piercing blue eyes ☾
Shadow Fiend * CALL ME MONSTER * Silk Spinner * Purrk

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Dawnstar spoke as if it was a completely normal thing. Sleepysunrise huffed as the first words left her grandmother's mouth, cheek puffing up. Of course she was still on that, it made no sense! And Dawnstar was acting far too nonchalantly about it for her taste. Obeying her grandmother, Sleepysunrise did not speak as she stepped forth to help clean the leader's wounds. Though her nose scrunched up for a moment, and the young medic spoke a few words before beginning to lap at the wounds she could reach (she was practically half her grandmother's size, if not less, a mere dwarf compared to the hulking leader. She couldn't reach as high without the leader leaning down).
"I can fetch herbs to treat you, later."

Being set on the now familiar and repetitive motion of cleaning her grandmother's wounds, albeit not how she normally did it, calmed some of Sleepysunrise's nervous ear flicking and head tilting.
"An odd talent and a myth,"
Sleepysunrise reasoned as her grandmother spoke of Birdecho's voice and the strange cases of cats returning to life. She had never considered Birdecho's talent to be unnatural, and as tempting as the thought of resurrection was, as much as she would want to control it, she had never seen a cat return to life. Not knowingly, that is, still believing any sightings of Daykit were a mere illusion.

Speaking of her mother, Sleepysunrise couldn't help the scoff that left her maw, ear giving a dismissive flick.
"Mama always favoured them."
She explained, so of course they would be aware of such a secret, but not her.
"Mama never bothered telling me she was blind in the first place...;"
Added the she in a quick mumble, eyes cast aside before speaking up again. She paused her cleaning.
"How does that even work? You mean to say there are just... Weird, supernatural, whatchamacallit, things and they're... normal? The blind can regain their sight at random and, what, you've died and come back to life before too? How does any of that make sense?"

She looked up at her grandmother for several instances, brow quirked in evident confusion. She knew the dead could visit dreams... Probably, she still wasn't quite sure if they were actually real or just a figment of her imagination. Somehow the living could also appears in the minds of others, but the medic had told herself long enough that they were just weird illusions everyone was having and couldn't be factual. Her Grandmother seemed to actually believe all this however, and that begged the question whether there was some actual merit to her words... Or if age had gotten to her and she lost her mind (though she would never speak that thought out loud).

When her grandmother mentioned Silentpaw, Sleepysunrise puffed up her cheek in a momentary pout. Way to shift the topic of conversation. Even so, after a heartbeat, the little cat walked to Miss Grandmama's other side and resumed cleaning the leader's wounds.
"Silentpaw is anywhere but the medicine den. He seems more interested in everything that isn't healing or learning, ..." She huffed a breath. "I forget he exists most of the time. He is useless to me, nothing more than a liability and a headache."
If it was up to her, she would have long demoted him.
"I would be better off with three or four aids and no apprentice."

At the mention of aids, she grew pensive. Her whiskers twitched and Sleepysunrise paused her cleaning for a moment, eyes drifting around the den as she thought.
"Flytail has pit in him. Embercloud was worried over those kits... I suppose she might want to learn. Houndpaw would be a funny one." Though he would probably make a mess, came the thought moments after, as she was listing the few cat names she actually knew. "Ohhh, can Birdecho be my aid?? I could use someone like her. And what is the status on Rookfire, anyway? I know the Stars warned him off, but he does know bunch of herbs. Can I work with him to learn more?"

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

⊹ [ @Undertaker - Dawnstar | @/mention - Character ] ⊹

The pouting bit was new. She didn't think Sleepysunrise did that often, if ever before, but now she seemed to pout about every little thing. Dawnstar usually considered it cute, but she could see other cats finding the usual stoic she-cat's show of emotion disarming. Her cheek hurt too much to smirk about the pouting. Talking was already pulling at bits of scap and dry blood on her muzzle.

"No need, I'll visit you later in the medicine den." Dawnstar leans further down in acknowledgment of Sleepysunrise's small stature. For a ShadowClan cat, she was itty bitty. She supposed she should blame Lark for that, she hadn't a drop of ShadowClan blood in her. However... actually, Darkfall wasn't Sleepysunrise's father. If she remembered correctly, Lark had already been pregnant when she got together with Darkfall. Or maybe not... she was pretty sure Sleepysunrise wasn't Darkfall's kit. A topic to bring up later. Oh, that's right. They also needed to talk about Daykit.

The thought of Sleepysunrise's neglecting to tell her something like that left her feeling bitter and antsy. She swallowed the irksome lump in her throat, and pushed the negative thought to the back of her mind. She'd ask about that another day. It was exhausting getting upset over speculations and paranoia.

The leader gingerly swiped her tongue over her chest wounds and twitched her whiskers. She had thought it had been pretty obvious that Lark had been blind. But she supposed if you never told a kit they'd never know what blindness looks like in a cat. Dawnstar once thought Lark had a close relationship with her firstborn, but she guessed not. She had figured the same about their relationship as well. Shows you what she knew.

"Do you ever question how the dead can talk to us?" She quipped back to her former apprentice and parted her maw in a yawn. "StarClan and the Place of No Stars are supernatural if you think about it. Can you explain how random dead cats can appear in our dreams at will? There is unexplainable stuff going on around us all the time. Let me know when you come up with a logical explanation for any of this." She never knew Sleepysunrise was a skeptic till now. It was an intriguing discovery.

"You've never seen me come back to life? I'll have to keep you closer during battles." No, she wouldn't try to get herself killed, but it might be fun to see Sleepysunrise's reaction if she did die and come back to life.

There was that pouting again. Dawnstar didn't chuckle as she often did. That meant nothing good. She wasn't too surprised to learn that Slilentpaw was a complete waste of space. "I would say I'm disappointed, but I'm not shocked. Darkpaw and Silentpaw might have been bad calls. It's been a while since I've shoved actual apprentices in healing roles." Every single cat that Dawnstar had as the medicine cat apprentices were never apprentices. They were all fully trained warriors. Perhaps she should stick with that.

"I'll demote him at the next meeting," She scoffs and shakes her head lightly. "I'm not happy about not having an official apprentice, but I'll tolerate it if we add more aids. However, I'll allow it for now. You'll have to pick out a new apprentice from among the aids." There was a certain edge in these words. The whole reason Dawnstar had aids was so she didn't have to waste her time finding new medicine cats and retraining them from scratch. She wouldn't tolerate Sleepysunrise picking out a brand-new, untrained apprentice from the clan. It was the aids or no choice at all.

"You can take Flytail and Embercloud, as for Houndpaw and Birdecho. You're going to have to convince me." She didn't understand what she saw in either of them. Houndpaw was a mess, a literal mess, she saw him burying all the clan's herbs or getting dirt into wounds and causing infections. As for Birdecho, that joker seemed to lack a serious bone in her body, and Dawnstar's tolerance for that one's wit would only extend so far. Dawnstar also wasn't keen on taking another apprentice after Darkpaw and Silentpaw's failures.

"You can learn whatever you want from Rookfire, have him fetch whatever herbs you'd like for patrols, but he's not allowed near the herb storage. I'd rather not see him in a healing role, he does well enough as an Enforcer. If you aboustely need him for more complicated cases, as in life and death situations, I'll allow it, but otherwise he stays out of anything medical."

Black, that was a self-explanatory name. It wasn't like Dawnstar could complain; it wasn't like the clans didn't do the same when naming their kits. The leader flickered her tail and glanced at the bird between her paws.

"From now on, you'll be known as Crowpaw. You'll live amongst my clan as an apprentice and be trained as one. Your mentor will be Hazycry, she'll teach you everything you need to know to be a proper ShadowClan cat. You do not leave camp without your mentor or a warrior accompanying you. For the trespassing and prey stealing, you can clean out the nursery, the elders' den, and the apprentice den. I want all their bedding cleaned up and replaced with new. Hazycry can explain how to get it done." It was too soft a punishment if you asked her, but the dens could do with cleaning, and hard labor seemed better than camp confinement or starvation.

"I want it done within seven sunrises or sooner. You can report back to me when you're done. You'll be officially introduced to the entire clan at the next clan meeting. You have skill and show promise, so I do hope that you do better than those who came before you." She meowed dismissively. "Mistlewhisker, take him to see Hazycry," Dawnstar ordered, nearly forgetting that her mate was in the den.

[Done. So in the future, please do not start roleplaying or submitting your cat into ShadowClan until the joining is officially complete IC. Crowpaw must have at least three posts with 50 words, one in each den, showing that he's cleaned up the den by June 16 or earlier. Crowpaw has to respond here with three links to the chores so Dawnstar knows they're done.]
@Mica