Looking down at Lightningkit as she stopped the seemingly neverending whining and pummeled into Dove, the queen purred affectionately and reached down to gently rub the little kit's back. "It'll all be alright, sugar. What's gotten you so upset?" Lotuskit kneaded her paws on the older cat's head, purring as the lilac tortie point perched atop the fluffy gray feline. Turning to smile at Sootfur as he approached her, a smile blooming on her face in greeting to her friend. "Hi, Sootfur." Wincing good naturedly as the lively Lotuskit bounced around, she glanced up at Bumblebreak, a paw still placed comfortingly on little Lightningkit's back.
"HEY THERE SOOTIE!" Lotuskit crowed excitedly, unable to contain her excitement at her first Clan meeting. And she had a great view, too! "LIGHTNING COME UP HERE I CAN SEE EVERYTHING!"
As the impish child wiggled around on her upper back, Dovefluff looked over at Sootfur as he spoke, brow creasing slightly. She appreciated him trying to put a positive spin on things, but she was sure it wasn't needed. "Yes, I'm sure it is." She murmured brightly, partially for her own sake and partially for the kit's sake. Not that Lotuskit would think twice about anything she said.
Then it all went to hell- pardon her language. Listening in shock as the Clan was reduced to one High Rank, Dovefluff felt anxiety creep up her skin, growing into a sharp, fearful intake of breath at one of the last things the deputy uttered.
it'll be your pelt lining my new nest.
Her mind darted to Dawnstar's den, where countless pelts of deceased cats lay, and she found herself reaching over to gently clutch at Sootfur's arm. Not to hurt him, but to get his attention in her awkwardly terrified state. "Sh-she means metaphorically... about the nest lining thing, right?" No. No. Her new home could not be crumbling into ShadowClan. She just stood frozen, holding Lightningkit snugger, to try to keep the two children under her care safe from these horrible words. Reaching over to gesture for a particularly familiar and overwhelmed looking apprentice, she tried to capture Autumnpaw's attention.
"Do you want to come sit with us, sweetheart?" She called, wanting to get as many children under her "wing" as she could. Shield them from this increasingly hostile environment. Reaching out once more to try and hurry the sobbing Frogkit into her embrace, the fluffy queen felt Lotuskit's excited bounces turn to cowering as the young Siamese buried herself in Dove's thick fur.
You've seen Shadowclan. We all say we can't turn into those monsters, but we'll be getting awfully close if we let a cat like this become our leader.
Her name being spoken before, and then her birth Clan being spoken again brought Dove's attention to Cinderpaw as she spoke, a visible flinch growing on her paling, anxious face as she tried to ignore it. There were frightened kits. But she couldn't stop a panicked squeak from escaping as Bumblebreak jumped down from the Stormcrest, getting closer to Cinderpaw. She remembered watching as Dawnstar slaughtered Heatherrain without even waiting for the young eyes to look away. Anxiety turned to panic, but she just held whatever children she had close.
"It'll all be okay, sweeties. Everyone's just a little frustrated with each other, but everything's going to be just fine." She kept her voice firm and steady, but then snuck a glance at Sootfur. Will it all be just fine? I don't want to lose my home again.
Frogkit continued wailing. "Thunderclan is gonna be sniff all deadddddddddd" He continued sobbing at the thoughts of the Curse. He would call it the Sparrow Curse. Because this, all started with Sparrowstar. Slowly, all the cats will disappear. Starting with the high ranks. All the way down to the weakest elder or the prisoner. Soon, everyone in Thunderclan would end up in the Blank. He didn't have a name for it, he just called it the Blank.
" Sobbing We're all gonna die to the Sparrow curse and end up in the Blankk "
An OUTLIER!? HOW DARE SHE!? He had no idea what that was, but he was nonetheless very offended! She brushed off his concerns like it was nothing! This wasn't fair!
Hackles bristling, the hot headed tom growled out a couple of harsh curses. " Ugh! Well obviously our opinions mean nothing to you! And by 'our' I mean MINE- "
Stamping a paw, the frustrated tom remained seated: half afraid that if he got up DUMBble'break would squash him like a bug. "And if Spider'throats just going to watch over the murderer Rose'raven.... Then, WHY IS HE GETTING TO BE A MEDICINE CAT!" Seething now, Crackle'paw dug the black talons into the dirt below.
At this point he wasn't terribly bothered that Cinder'paw got booted, it was the fact the Bumble'break was being stupid! He didn't know how she was being stupid... But she just was! " Do you know how dumb that sounds! I bet he has ZERO knowledge about those-uh- herb things! It'd be like giving the medicine cat rank to a stupid kit!" He cast a wry glance at Dove'fluff and her herd of miniature idiots. Could you even imagine what'd it be like if those drooling mange balls took charge? Ack! It was a very frightening idea indeed. Focusing back on the matter at paw, the apprentice shifted his gaze to Spider'throat " And can you really trust him? He just made fun of Sun'dust like he could do better! This half-witted charlatan is a far cry from a medicine cat!" throwing a disgusted look at the new 'healer', Crackle'paw lashed his rat like tail before wrapping it around his paws. He couldn't believe he was wasting his time on something so stupid! And what was even worse he was actually sticking up for someone... And that someone was Cinder'paw of all cats!
While he wanted to continue to argue pointlessly, he figured that the very mentally unstable, and biased Bumble'break would demote him or something like that.... Cuz that's just what petty cats did.
// @Dino, @Starfall for the mention of Spider'throat, @jupiter and for the judgement cast upon Dovie and her little minions \\
(dino you can have Bumble ignore this if u like Plz don't kill my baby ;-;)
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" Death is not mercurial. It's patient... unlike life."
Ohhhh boy. Thrushstar's gone? I wonder why he left... was he really ashamed of what happened between him and Crowpaw and what the Clan thought of him? Despite the mistakes the feathery tom made in the recent past, Flameheart really did love him, mostly because he was her adopted father. Granted, he adopted her late into her warriorhood, so he really never had the chance to raise her like he did his biological kits. And Cinderpaw's demotion... I understand it, but we had just moved to this new camp, so... shouldn't she be given another chance?
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Characters
Crow (Purrks: Heightened Perception, Agatha Kitty, Hulk SMASH, Dreamwalker)
Ravenhawk
Last edited by SpiritedWarrior; May 28th, 2023 at 09:40 PM.
The calico tom was frankly torn. Cinderpaw was someone he actually knew enough to consider a friend (or at least a close acquaintance), but Bumblebreak was his mentor, someone who he trusted. He felt like he had to choose a side, and he didnt like it. Should he be logical, or should he fall back on his emotions? He couldnt do both, so could he just... do neither? Really, who said he had to pick one or the other? Cinderpaw was demoted, but she was still part of the clan. That was something. The news of Sundust shocked him a bit, but that would probably be sorted out soon. It wasnt like he was dead, he was just...missing? Well, hopefully, anyways.
The news of who would be temporarily replacing the medicine cats, however, was something he didnt want to stay silent on. He didnt trust Roseraven, not in the slightest, but at least Spiderthroat was at least compatent. He was no Sundust, but as long as someone was there to breathe down Roseravens neck to make sure she didnt murder any more families, that was all good in his book (he was choosing to ignore he was pretty much guilty of the same thing, just to a somewhat lesser degree). Well, at least it was temporary.
Cracklepaw didnt seem to catch on to that, though. letting out a heavy and very audible groan, he swung his head around to look directly at the other apprentice, "What part of your barely existent brain didn't catch on to the fact that she said temporary? What, do you you should be in that spot instead? Would it give you a power trip, being in that position? Bet you wouldn't be complaining then, would you? Are I hear is the whines of a kit, so as long as you are dead set on offering nothing of worth to this meeting, keep your mouth shut"
Well. This was certainly shaping up to be a fascinating meeting.
Ears perked forwards as Bumblebreak began an impressive speech; claiming the title of acting leader, announcing the missing status of Thrushstar and Sundust, and to top it all off, demoting their medicine cat apprentice. Slowly blinking as he processed the sudden announcements, the large, golden tom merely let a rumbling hum echo from his chest. Perhaps Thunderclan would be gaining a new backbone after all...
As his deputy leapt off the Stormcrest to confront Cinderpaw directly, he slowly pushed himself up to his paws. No need to jump to conclusions, but if a brawl broke out he'd be in a better position to intercede if he was on his feet rather than staying as an onlooker...
However a rather dismayed sound caught his attention, and amber eyes flicked over to Dovefluff and their kits. Perhaps repositioning himself would be beneficial.
Large paws calmly padded over to just in front of the distressed queens position and a brief (hopefully reassuring) nod was sent her way before he turned his focus back to the intriguing scene before him.
Whatever the outcome, Lioncrest was confident Thunderclan would remain in solid paws.
Roseraven??? Fireflykit cast a horrified look at Bumblebreak and Cinderpaw as the news came. Swift, unforgiving. Her stomach curled and wide, horrified golden eyes were frozen forward, and she was unable to move. I'm so tired of this. I'm so tired of always being scared. I'm so tired of being tethered to this HELL. Rushed, pained thought swirled in her head, but the expression on Firefly's face made it clear where her mind was. She was back in the clearing, the blood on her paws and the screams all around.
She was in the nursery again, blinking awake to the sounds of screaming. Who was screaming? Firefly rolled onto her side of her small nest, trying to let her eyes adjust. Another scream. She saw the Plantcat standing over a Queencat, and the kit furrowed her brow. Looks like the Plantcat heard the screaming and came to help!
There was a kit laying on the ground, sleeping in an odd position. Fireflykit frowned, rising to her paws. Maybe Plantcat needed help. But as she attempted to swing her short kit legs over the edge of the nest, she saw something. WOW, where did that kit come from? It was like magic, where there used to be... air, there was now a whole kit, wiggling around. That was cool. But the Plantcat seemed to disagree, she quickly started... stomping on the kit. Why was she doing that?
"Hey! It's really breakable, so be care-" Fireflykit was listening to the last time her voice had risen more than a whisper. Firefly stood there, but in her head she knew what was about to happen. No. Run. She didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to watch it again.
CRACK.
Firefly still confused as to what was going on, but Firefly knew. The kit was broken. Plantcat stood, stared, and then the Queencat screamed and fell asleep. Or... what Fireflykit had thought of at the time as sleep. The Plantcat fled the nursery, and Firefly ran forward. The limp, wet kit was twisted weirdly. Well that couldn't feel good. Red water slowly creeped along the ground, staining her paws. It smelled weird. Like rocks. And... something else that made her stomach churn.
Nosing the twisted kit, the lean tortoiseshell tried to wake them up. "Hey, kid. You okay?" There was no answer. She tried again, nudging the abnormally still kit. Nothing. She tried again. And again. It was broken, limp. Unnaturally still.
Nothing.
Wide, cloudy, dead eyes stared at her from where the Queencat lay, and Firefly made eye contact. Stumbling back, she tripped over an empty nest, covered in blood. The confusion was too much, so she sprinted out of the den.
Limp. not like a good kind, it was.... broken. "There...." The tortie soon followed Rosie out of the den, a sense of dread prickling her chest.
She saw a lot of sad faces, and she stood there, the red of the queen staining her snowy white paws. "there was a crack." She squeaked, voice trembling with some sense of fear. Firefly needed someone to clarify. "Why was there a crack?" She pleaded, soft voice rising on the end. Why couldn't she understand? She looked around for someone, anyone, to help her understand. She looked down at her paws. "and what's all the red stuff?" She cried, completely oblivious to how no one was going to pay attention.
The kit heard the crack again in her head, and and the shriek of the queen, and she was so, so confused. Her little white paws weren't supposed to have the red on them. Maybe she should have stayed asleep. She really, truly should have just stayed asleep. But the kit looked around now, still standing in the nursery entrance, eyes and soft, confused whimpers pleading for someone to help her understand.
And it was almost 6 moons later and she still didn't understand. She didn't understand why the kind Bumblecat who had comforted her all those moons ago was now bringing back the nightmare that she had tried to wake up from. The reason she never went into the medicine den. The reason she had never set paw inside the nursery. The reason she had slept in the cold night of leafbare just to escape the terrible memories. Her chest was tight and she couldn't breathe. Fireflykit stumbled back. One step, two step, and she fell on the third, falling into a crouch, eyes wide as she inhaled and exhaled desperately.
Moments went by and she still couldn't breathe. No. No. Not again. She was so close to being a good cat, so close to being unproblematic. So close to being back to where she would have been if it wasn't for the Crack. And she was falling, plummeting down the mountain she had come so close to summitting. Tears squeezed out of wide, terrified eyes as she let out desperate squeaks, trying to get the air. She needed air. "whyamisoscrewedup" She wheezed out, the sobs making it harder to breathe. Placing a paw on her chest she tried to breathe steadily, blocking out any thoughts that might cause the struggle to return.
Finally, her breath grew steady, but she stayed crouched, staring at the ground. Then, staring at the camp exit. Why stay? She had no friends. She had a family, but she hated being such a pest to Aster and she was terrified of her other family. She was a 7 moon old kit because no one bothered to finish her training. Why stay locked in this hell when she could run? How else was she supposed to face the problems? She could just run. Far, far away. And no one would notice. Except maybe Aster. But they would get over it, right? She was just a massive pest who was taken into a family out of pity.
But her paws were frozen, and she only let out a small scream when Bumblebreak leaped down from the Stormcrest, scrambling back. No more tears came, because she was all cried out. Just terror and exhaustion laced her features, and she wished she could just run into a den and cry and sleep her problems into oblivion.
Roseraven shur her eyes. She was happy Bumblebreak was here to handle the situation. Really. Although she was a tad scared for the clan. What her generation had gone through clearly didn't make good high ranks. Just look at Cinderpaw. And Her.....No. You know what. No. Not her. No more self-blame. Everyone else was already blaming her. It was her against the world. Why make it harder by taking away her only ally: herself.
As expected, Cinderpaw shrieked. Predictable. Throwing accusations around. Oh nooo, Bumblebreak didn't drop freaking everything for some kits that one time, what a tragedy!
Of course Cinderpaw immediately had to bring up her accident too. Accident. People in this clan looooved to blame each other, for intentions or accidents. Hey, maybe she should start blaming dead Redfur for not FREAKING TELLING HER SHE HAD SO MANY MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS! For deciding to have kits AT ALL with such poor health. Redfur's mate had passed away too, maybe blame him for agreeing to have kits with her. Blame Sundust for not being there. Whatever. She was done blaming herself. And if one more person called her murderous she might actually give them a reason to. Lessons with Albatrossflare had made sure of that.
"Cinderpaw, I genuinely do not care for your opinion. It means literally nothing, the opinion of a person so delusional they literally cannot perceive the world and its facts. And I know you're going to invalidate my opinion by bringing up what you INCORRECTLTY PERCIEVE happened to me. I don't care. Anything I say is going to be used against me. I don't care. I just want you to shut the hell up and stop making a scene, go somewhere quiet, and maybe hopefully come to the conclusion that you should be a perma-queen, since the only straw you grasp at when proving you're a good person is how much you care about kids. Just shut. The hell. Up."
Roseraven turned to Bumblebreak. She wanted to scream the truth, to explain yet again what REALLY happened!...But it wouldn't matter.'GeE wHiZ, rOsErAvEn, HoW dArE yOu MaKe ExCuSeS!?' Nobody would listen.
"I'll see what we have in the herb storage. I might need to sent out an herb patrol after all, which I assume you'll let me do." she said. Her blue eyes were cold. Unfeeling. Not mean, per se, her eyelids weren't hooded and her eyebrows weren't furrowed. Just numb. Cold and dead and glossy, like those little stones human kits dropped in the forest sometimes while playing with them. Like something that someone made to look like an eye but clearly wasn't because of how lifeless it was.
The young she-cat shifted her gaze onto Spiderthroat, with the same neutral, eerily unreal expression. It was perhaps incorrect of me to describe her gaze as shifting. Her head shifted, but it was like her eyes were unfocused.
"Are you going to try and learn some healing or just breathe down my neck?" she asked with no malice. All the malice had boiled for Cinderpaw and had now cooled into ice.
Last edited by Shade.; May 29th, 2023 at 03:34 AM.
Looking down at Lightningkit as she stopped the seemingly neverending whining and pummeled into Dove, the queen purred affectionately and reached down to gently rub the little kit's back. "It'll all be alright, sugar. What's gotten you so upset?" Lotuskit kneaded her paws on the older cat's head, purring as the lilac tortie point perched atop the fluffy gray feline. Turning to smile at Sootfur as he approached her, a smile blooming on her face in greeting to her friend. "Hi, Sootfur." Wincing good naturedly as the lively Lotuskit bounced around, she glanced up at Bumblebreak, a paw still placed comfortingly on little Lightningkit's back.
"HEY THERE SOOTIE!" Lotuskit crowed excitedly, unable to contain her excitement at her first Clan meeting. And she had a great view, too! "LIGHTNING COME UP HERE I CAN SEE EVERYTHING!"
As the impish child wiggled around on her upper back, Dovefluff looked over at Sootfur as he spoke, brow creasing slightly. She appreciated him trying to put a positive spin on things, but she was sure it wasn't needed. "Yes, I'm sure it is." She murmured brightly, partially for her own sake and partially for the kit's sake. Not that Lotuskit would think twice about anything she said.
Then it all went to hell- pardon her language. Listening in shock as the Clan was reduced to one High Rank, Dovefluff felt anxiety creep up her skin, growing into a sharp, fearful intake of breath at one of the last things the deputy uttered.
it'll be your pelt lining my new nest.
Her mind darted to Dawnstar's den, where countless pelts of deceased cats lay, and she found herself reaching over to gently clutch at Sootfur's arm. Not to hurt him, but to get his attention in her awkwardly terrified state. "Sh-she means metaphorically... about the nest lining thing, right?" No. No. Her new home could not be crumbling into ShadowClan. She just stood frozen, holding Lightningkit snugger, to try to keep the two children under her care safe from these horrible words. Reaching over to gesture for a particularly familiar and overwhelmed looking apprentice, she tried to capture Autumnpaw's attention.
"Do you want to come sit with us, sweetheart?" She called, wanting to get as many children under her "wing" as she could. Shield them from this increasingly hostile environment. Reaching out once more to try and hurry the sobbing Frogkit into her embrace, the fluffy queen felt Lotuskit's excited bounces turn to cowering as the young Siamese buried herself in Dove's thick fur.
You've seen Shadowclan. We all say we can't turn into those monsters, but we'll be getting awfully close if we let a cat like this become our leader.
Her name being spoken before, and then her birth Clan being spoken again brought Dove's attention to Cinderpaw as she spoke, a visible flinch growing on her paling, anxious face as she tried to ignore it. There were frightened kits. But she couldn't stop a panicked squeak from escaping as Bumblebreak jumped down from the Stormcrest, getting closer to Cinderpaw. She remembered watching as Dawnstar slaughtered Heatherrain without even waiting for the young eyes to look away. Anxiety turned to panic, but she just held whatever children she had close.
"It'll all be okay, sweeties. Everyone's just a little frustrated with each other, but everything's going to be just fine." She kept her voice firm and steady, but then snuck a glance at Sootfur. Will it all be just fine? I don't want to lose my home again.
Frogkit continued wailing. "Thunderclan is gonna be sniff all deadddddddddd" He continued sobbing at the thoughts of the Curse. He would call it the Sparrow Curse. Because this, all started with Sparrowstar. Slowly, all the cats will disappear. Starting with the high ranks. All the way down to the weakest elder or the prisoner. Soon, everyone in Thunderclan would end up in the Blank. He didn't have a name for it, he just called it the Blank.
" Sobbing We're all gonna die to the Sparrow curse and end up in the Blankk "
LIGHTNINGKIT
The little kitten was still hanging onto Dovefluff's side when she felt the paw on her back comfortibgly. She relaxed slightly, before tensing as her sister yelled up for her to get on Dovie's back. Her heterochromatic eyes widened, and get gave a timid whisper to Dovefluff to answer her question. "Dovie, we're gonna make you sick! If you're sick then no one's gonna look after your kits and we won't be able to play with you no more!" Poor sweetie still didn't realize that walking slower was not always a sign of sickness, so she just held onto Dovefluff's pelt in wide eyed anticipation. She gave a whining noise, and tried to bump her head again her sister's paws.
But it all seemed to shatter when the first yells broke over the clan. The little kitten froze, her eyes widening as ice trickled down her spine. Loud, was her first thought, and she reached to cover her ears with her paws. Loud, she wanted to whine, but as she tried to speak, she found her own voice swallowed her everyone else's. She gave a louder, more persistent whine this time. Wait. What if this noise made Dovie's even more sick?! Panicked, she reached toward the queen's head with both her paws out, trying to cup them over the queen's ears. Drat, she couldn't reach!
"Lotus, Lotus, I'm scared," she said, small tears streaming down her face. "I don't like yelling! I'd rather have Lavie never play with me again! I don't want- I don't- I hate..."
Well that was odd. She'd never hated something before. Well, she didn't like loneliness, she didn't like it when Lavie was mean, but this was different. Was this hate? This heart wrenching feeling? No, this was something familiar...
Ah. This was fear.
Her cries grew louder as she continued to try and block Dovie's ears with her own paws. This was terrible. She was scared, and she was just so tiny she couldn't do anything. She wanted Lotus to hug her, she wanted Lamby and Leafi and Lavie all to come and just hug each other until it all went away, and then she wanted to eat and take a nap. She didn't want to yell. She didn't want people fighting.
"Dovie!" She said, frustration evident in her voice. "You've gotten cover your ears, don't get sick," she said, a small tone of begging taking place. "Don't get- oh, would everyone just shut up!" She bawled, panic setting into her heart. "Stop fighting, stop fighting! Just like Bumby do her job and let Rosie do her job, and everyone do their own job and stop YELLING!" But seeing as how she just contributed to the yelling, she clapped her paws over her mouth and started crying.
Then Froggy came and began yelling in her ear, which made Lightingkit cry harder. "Don't say that, don't say that!" She shrieked. "Dovie, Dovie we're not gonna die! Right? Tell Froggy we're not gonna die!"
Re: ThunderClan Stormcrest
