(Tell me if I’m wrong, but don’t cats
groom each other normally?)
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“Need any help?” Dawnleaf asked softly. ‘Knots are so stupid!’ She thought. @Pluto!
Last edited by Celestial_Sky; January 18th, 2023 at 06:25 PM.
Twistedpaw hardly registered Batglare carrying her into the medicine cat's den. The heady scent of herbs and the shade that fell over mentor and apprentice were processed a few heartbeats late, and before she knew what was happening, the massive senior warrior had deposited her in a nest. The moss was soft and warm, but Twistedpaw didn't care. She lifted her head weakly and stared at the mist clogging the entrance to the den. Willowsky... what happened to Willowsky? She had to know. But she couldn't move. Her small, skinny body was depleted of all energy, shaky and weak, and the meeting played on repeat in her mind. Willowsky's furious screech, how she'd leaped onto Twistedpaw and clawed her with burning rage, Fallownose detaining the former queen, Batglare dragging Twistedpaw away... The excitement of getting her apprentice name and having her curse lifted felt very, very far away. Willowsky hates me. She... she didn't want me to become an apprentice because I hurt her. Because I was cursed. And Twistedpaw was still cursed, in a way. Her deformities had ruined everything. They had broken her family and made her ugly, different. She wanted to be better... she wanted to be loved... but how could she, when she looked like this?
The black she-cat glanced up at Batglare and immediately wished she hadn't. Her mentor was staring at her intently, his yellow-green eyes narrowed into a glare that pierced her soul. She shrank back and ducked her head. Batglare didn't seem to like her. Would anybody, after what I've done? What I look like? That question was soon answered. I know a lot of nice cats. Fireflame, Brightkit, Twilightstar, Cowpaw, Leechscar, Dreamlight... The list was rather long, yet Twistedpaw still worried about the rest of her Clanmates. Just because some cats were nice didn't mean she wasn't wrong and ugly and everyone else was judging her. Hating her. Willowsky... Any thought of her mother sent a chill and a wave of sadness through the young apprentice. It was difficult to think of the cat she loved so dearly who didn't love her back. It also made the scratches on her sides and tail, along with the two new cracks in her already mangled and broken tail, burn more fiercely.
This train of thought brought her back to Batglare. What was he thinking as he gazed down at her, his expression full of what Twistedpaw could only assume was disapproval and judgment? Did he hate her for what she looked like? Or did he view her as Flutteringkit did, an idiot who didn't realize how awful and pathetic she was? I do know that... don't I? She constantly thought about how she was different, wrong, but she still had hope that she could be better. That she could be a warrior. That isn't wrong, is it? She was cursed with her deformities, but she wasn't cursed in the same way she had been as a kit despite what had happened with Willowsky at her apprentice ceremony. She couldn't be. She didn't want to be. Twistedpaw wanted friends. She wanted to be happy despite who - what - she was. Stupid, selfish, featherbrain, ugly, vile, murderer... The words were a mantra in her head, and she didn't think they'd ever grow quiet.
Batglare's movement made her let out a distorted squeak of surprise. She couldn't stop herself from curling in on herself, not moving away but still showcasing her fear. In addition, the stink of fear-scent tinged her matted fur. The tom looked so angry at her. Was he going to nip her? Twistedpaw thought back to the moment he'd carried her, when she'd desperately thrashed and wailed and tried to get to her mother - she felt a brief pang of panic, but she knew she couldn't do anything now, and this realization made her feel guilty, albeit briefly because she was focusing on her mentor - and realized that he had not bit down on her scruff. The old scars from Willowsky weren't punctured or aching. And he'd set her down rather gently. Maybe he won't hurt me? Reluctantly, Twistedpaw made herself relax. What Batglare did didn't matter. He was the one in charge, and whether he was just inspecting her or her wounds or ready to deal a blow was up to him. That didn't stop her from being scared, though; the bulging, dented, light gray tip of her tail twitched, and her non-blind eye didn't leave Batglare as she allowed the dark-brown-and-white warrior to do whatever he was intending.
Although she seemed to be skeptical at first, Twilightstar had quickly warmed up to the idea that Badgerpaw had suddenly sprung on her. The WindClan leader was one he thought highly of and had a true connection with. The gray leader was more of a mother than Ziggy was, though he still loved his birth mother. That connection would never go away nor be replaced. Twilightstar was his second mother. And he would fight alongside her and serve WindClan for her until the day he dies.
"You're the best mother anyone could ask for." he replied and wrapped his paws around her neck in the form of a hug- his first hug. "And I'm glad to serve WindClan." he added in a whisper.
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Characters
Crow (Purrks: Heightened Perception, Agatha Kitty, Hulk SMASH, Dreamwalker)
Ravenhawk
"Thank you non-the-less, my siblings always had a hard time getting knots out of my pelt." Storm'Chaser said rather indirectly, not wanting to adress his mother
Re: WindClan Warriors' Den
