#Furledstar

[dawnclan-duskclan]

The kingbird fell under Foggypaw's claws. He looked up with a wide grin on his face, expecting praise from Gingerstorm. She'd been teaching him how to properly stalk a bird since Starhigh, and Foggypaw got one this time!

But his mentor wasn't where he'd last saw her. Foggypaw picked up the kingbird, tucked it under the tumble of stones where they'd stashed the one Gingerstorm had caught, and climbed atop the rocks for a better vantage. He hadn't heard anything odd, and Nightbeasts typically weren't known for their stealth…

Gingerstorm's red pelt was easy to spot against the grey-and-green patchwork of moss and stone. Foggypaw didn't expect to see Furledstar at her side: the leader looked visibly upset even from a distance with his ears pinned back, his tail low, and his jaw snapping shut with every word he said.

Something was wrong.

Sound carried oddly in caves. Even as kits, Foggypaw and Tulippaw had learned how to use the rock and moss to muffle their pawsteps, or how to use the curved stone to project their voices directly into the elder's den from across camp, far enough away that Maplesong couldn't box their ears for startling her awake.

So it was clear to Foggypaw that Furledstar had intentionally led Gingerstorm to a dip in the stone where their voices wouldn't carry to his ears. It could have simply been to avoid interfering with Foggypaw's catch, but the grey and white apprentice had the sinking feeling that they were keeping quiet because they were talking about him.

Furledstar knew he was watching from atop the rock. The silver leader's eyes had tracked him when he'd first scrambled up onto the peak, and Gingerstorm's sideways glances his direction only increased in frequency as the conversation went on.

Yeah, any hope that Foggypaw wasn't the topic of their private conversation had long flown away with the Snowbirds.

He was tempted to hop down from his perch and interrupt--they hadn't explicitly told him to stay away, after all--but as he watched Gingerstorm's body language start to grow agitated to mirror the Furledstar's… well, he wasn't exactly keen to rushing into the inevitable tongue-lashing he was about to receive.

Was it because of his run-in with the DawnClan patrol last moon? Moon and Sun, he didn't think the DawnClan duo would gossip about that, not in a way that would reach DuskClan ears.

Well… Foggypaw had worried about it a little (he'd worried about it quite a lot, really) but after several Starcycles passed and the metaphorical tree hadn't fallen on his head, Foggypaw thought he'd managed to avoid that particular talking-to.

It seemed he let his guard down too soon.

"Foggypaw!" Furledstar called, his voice low.

Foggypaw took his time crossing the moss-covered clearing. He knew dragging his paws wouldn't save him from anything, but it gave him a few extra moments of peace, to draw up a hasty defense.

Furledstar loomed. Foggypaw tried not to let it get to him.

"Do you want to explain why a DawnClan patrol saw you lurking the Dimreaches alone last Halfsun, Foggypaw, or would you rather I draw my own conclusions?" Furledstar said. Irritation simmered in his low growl, but most of his hostile body language had stilled, intense but focused, waiting on his answer.

Foggypaw licked a scrap of moss from between his paw-pads to gather his scattered thoughts. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to consider; Furledstar wielded logic like a second set of claws, and the best shot Foggypaw had at getting through this (without being confined to camp for the next season) was to come clean.

"I was meeting with Fluffypaw, Furledstar." The apprentice kept his eyes down, his grey ears back. He heard Gingerstorm hiss but ignored his mentor. "I was curious about DawnClan and, well, it's funny right? How our names are so similar and we're the same age. I thought I could learn something from her."

It wasn't exactly that, of course. Foggypaw's intention wasn't to spy on DawnClan, or to use Fluffypaw in any way--he wanted her to trust him. He wanted a friend, a friend that was his age and that wasn't his brother.

Furledstar didn't understand what it felt like to be the only cat under fifty moons in the entire Clan, he couldn't understand why Foggypaw needed this so badly, he'd break the Code and go against all of his Clan's history to achieve it.

"We talk, that's all," Foggypaw added.

"And did you learn anything of use?"

"Furledstar!" Gingerstorm hissed. Startled by her venom, Foggypaw looked up. His mentor's hackles were raised, dark crimson, and her bushy tail lashed behind her. He'd never in his life seen her so passionate about… anything before. "You can't possibly encourage this, this nonsense!"

Furledstar raised his dark-tipped tail, silencing her, his chartreuse eyes grabbing hold of Foggypaw's, demanding an answer.

Right, Furledstar had asked him a question. "Um, well," Foggypaw fumbled, desperately trying to sort out how much information he wanted to give away. "We've only met up once before." A lie, but a believable one. More believable than the truth: that they had snuck away four times since Zenith, once even to the Daylands. Foggypaw did not want Furledstar to know how easy it was for him to slip away from Gingerstorm. "She talked about the waterfall? On DawnClan's territory? And how to hunt lizards there."

Furledstar waited. Foggypaw swallowed past the guilt. "They have a cat that can see ghosts," he admitted, mentally sending an apology over the Horizon to Fluffypaw. He didn't want to give up any of the secrets she had trusted him with, but he had to choose something juicy enough that Furledstar wouldn't try to push further.

Like an eagle that spotted a carp, that bit of information caught Furledstar's attention, just like Foggypaw hoped it would. The leader sat down. "Oh?" he prompted, and if this tidbit was all Foggypaw had to give up, then he'd do so gladly. He couldn't see any way that Furledstar could use it against DawnClan or against Fluffypaw.

"Fluffypaw said Ridgeshadow--the molly that sees ghosts--is really weird. Lives in a cave all by herself, doesn't participate in patrols much, doesn't like talking to anyone. The other DawnClan cats don't like her very much. Fluffypaw is scared of her."

"A cat that sees ghosts? Not MoonClan--or StarClan?" Gingerstorm cut in. At least Furledstar's de-escalation had calmed her a little, enough that she lowered her hackles, though her tail betrayed her lingering anger.

Furledstar flicked an ear. "Yes. It's a rare ability, but not unheard of. Cloudheart's great grandsire had the ghostsight, I believe." Even as he spoke, it was clear Furledstar's mind was elsewhere, scheming, chewing at the new information. It made Foggypaw's pelt crawl.

He felt guilty, both for betraying Fluffypaw's trust, but also guilty that he even felt guilty in the first place. Loyalties were frustratingly confusing, and it was with another dose of guilt that he realized this might be why DuskClan cats didn't talk to DawnClanners.

Then Furledstar came back to the present, his yellow eyes blinking, intensity returning as he spoke: "You'll continue to meet with Fluffypaw, regardless of your punishment," he said, both a prediction and an order. Foggypaw winced. "You will tell me when and where each of these meetings will occur, as soon as you know the details. A warrior will shadow you to and from these meetings. You are very lucky it was only a DawnClan border patrol that interrupted your last rendezvous and not a Nightbeast, Foggypaw."

Foggypaw bristled at that. He might be an apprentice, but he knew how to take care of himself! His four other meetings with Fluffypaw was proof of that! But arguing would force him into admitting to those other meetings, and he couldn't do that.

Foggypaw dropped his head with a sigh, his tail drooping. "Yes, Furledstar."

Furledstar stood, the silver tabby tom flicking a pebble with his claw. "I can't ignore that you broke the Code, and thought you could sneak around behind my back. You'll replace the moss in every den. Cloudheart will release you when she deems your work satisfactory."

"That's a light punishment for Code breaking," Gingerstorm said. Foggypaw had almost forgot his mentor was there; Furledstar had demanded all of his attention, overshadowing everything else when he spoke. Foggypaw didn't know if that was a Furledstar specific thing or if all leaders were that way.

Furledstar considered Gingerstorm's words for a moment, tipping his head. "He'll gather fresh moss, then. Foggypaw cannot use any of Mothpuddle's stores while completing his task. Will that suffice?"

"It'll keep him busy for a few extra Starcycles." Why did Foggypaw get the feeling that Gingerstorm didn't give a mouse's tail about the punishment and simply wanted an excuse to not train him for as long as she could get away with it? He ducked his head as he rolled his eyes.

This was... good. He could deal with five or six Starcycles in camp changing bedding, and he was now doubly glad he hadn't admitted to the true frequency of his meetings with Fluffypaw: so long as he was careful, he could tell Furledstar about a few of their meetings, every HalfSun or so, and the rest he could sneak away without the leader's knowledge. He was fairly confident he would be unnoticed, though he'd have to be extra careful the next few Suns until Furledstar lowered his guard again.

Sun and Hearthfire, what was he going to tell Fluffypaw?

<< 1.2 || FIRST || 1.4 >>

[eastcoast-envy]

Welcome to LightClan!

Somewhere up upon the mountains lives a cat and her kin (Clan, I mean, though she has many descendants). After her and a handful of other cats felt wronged by the system of their former Clans, they decided they'd live close to their ancestors and their light. As the years go by (6 so far!) she wonders if she really did the right thing...

[fleetclan]

hey, sorry again for being so slow with updates! I've been struggling to draw recently with fleetclan for some reason but!! I do want to keep working on stuff

for now though, take some cats from my other clan, Mireclan!!

(In order from top to bottom, left to right:)

Rapidstar (She/her), Bristleflame (he/him), Furledstar (He/him), and Fallenscar (she/her) !!!

[bumblewish]

Springbite, Moleface, Furledstar, and one of Snapheart’s sons, Scorchbee.

[dawnclan-duskclan]

CW: NIGHTBEAST, CLAUSTROPHOBIA It was hard to miss Nightbeast scent. Each Nightbeast smelled different, but in a way, they were all the same: so sour it curled his lip and made Plumstripe sneeze, buzzing with ozone and with a hint of carrion, of something long dead and rotted.

This Nightbeast also carried the musk of a reptile and an earthy scent Plumstripe couldn't identify. "Peat moss?" he suggested.

"Pond earth?" Furledstar added. DuskClan's leader crouched beside the drop of dark ichor, his nose wrinkled, either from concentration or distaste.

It was Tulippaw that had the most insight, the young tom's grey eyes going wide as he checked the scent beside his mentor. "It's willow bark," Tulippaw said, licking the scent from his lip. He looked surprised to have recognized it. "Mothpuddle gave me some for headaches, it smelled just like that."

"Nice, Tulippaw," Plumstripe praised the black tabby tom, who ducked beneath the praise, bashful.

"Have none of you ever had headaches before?" Tulippaw mumbled.

Furledstar flicked his tail, calling Fireglide back from where she'd been watching on a nearby Star jutting from the ground while the others investigated. "Let's see if we can't get eyes on it. We don't know how big it is, so I'll leave it up to you, Plumstripe. But don't take unnecessary risks."

"Sounds good."

The Nightbeast's trail ran parallel to the Nightlands, so Furledstar took Tulippaw south, back towards DuskClan's camp, leaving Plumstripe and Fireglide to take the northbound tracks. "It got far too close to camp," Fireglide said softly, once the two were on their way. The scent was thick and impossible to lose, the trail following the path of least resistance through tumbles of rocks and pools of water.

"That's why we're here," Plumstripe noted. "Furledstar and Tulippaw scented it earlier, when they were training, but didn't risk investigating further since it was far into the Dimreaches." It was always disturbing to find one, though. Usually the Nightbeasts were hesitant to venture into the Twilight, and finding one brave enough to stay on their borders for so long meant it was certainly dangerous.

The trail led into a tunnel, where the cavern walls pinched close together. It would open back up on the other side, Plumstripe knew, but the narrow tunnel was long and dark, Stars absent, and they couldn't see more than a few paces into it. The idea of being trapped inside made his hackles prickle. "Wait here," he said to Fireglide, gathering his courage. "I'll scout it out first. If it's clear, I'll call you." And he wanted someone to protect the entrance on this side, so he'd have somewhere to retreat to if things went sour. The last thing he wanted was to run from a Nightbeast on that side, only to be boxed in by another threat on this one.

"Yeah, totally, sure," Fireglide said, looking relieved that he'd offered to go into the darkness. Plumstripe knew Fireglide was faster than he was, but the tom couldn't bear putting her in harm's way, especially when Furledstar had left him in charge.

Plumstripe didn't give himself a chance to second guess himself, pushing into the darkness. It wasn't actually that narrow, plenty wide enough for two cats to walk shoulder-to-shoulder and tall above besides, but it certainly wasn't open like the rest of the Caverns, and the absence of Starglow was stark, the darkness absolute after only a few moments. But while he didn't like being in the dark, he certainly had been in plenty of dark tunnels before--it was hard to avoid them, really--and so he was confident relying on his other senses--touch and scent, mostly, but also the air pressure on his fur and whiskers--to navigate the space.

It was also how he realized that the Nightbeast was here, in the tunnel with him. Its rasping breath echoed, a warmth pressing into his fur. It was close.

Plumstripe didn't hesitate, he ran. And not a moment too soon, as he heard jaws snap behind his tail, a sudden wind pressing against the backs of his paws as something large displaced the air. He pushed his paws faster. From the feel of it, the Nightbeast would struggle to push its mass through the narrow tunnel, but that didn't stop Plumstripe from running as fast as he could towards the smudge of light at the end of the tunnel.

He burst free. He didn't need to warn Fireglide, who was already at his flank as they left the tunnel behind and climbed a short hill. Only once they had a vantage did Plumstripe look behind him, skidding to a stop when he knew the Nightbeast wasn't close on their heels, collapsing against the moss-covered stone when he didn't see it erupt out of the tunnel's mouth behind them.

Fireglide sounded the alarm, a high-pitched yowl that would echo through the Twilight, alerting Furledstar and Tulippaw that they'd encountered the beast and needed backup. She kept on her toes, watching the tunnel entrance so Plumstripe could gather his breath and his thoughts. It was only now, sitting, that his paws began to sting and he stifled a hiss of pain as he licked the blood from the scrapes.

"How big was it?" Fireglide asked, once his breathing was even. The Nightbeast still hadn't appeared, and by this point, Plumstripe doubted it would. It had struck fast as a snake, but perhaps it was slow at walking. That would explain why the scent trail was as thick as it was.

"I couldn't tell, I was still in the tunnel when I ran into it. Has to be small enough to fit in there, though," he said, flicking his tail towards the dark mouth. "And either it got to the other side and was coming back through, for some reason, or it was small enough to turn around in there because it certainly snapped at me." There were only a few places in the Nightlands that bigger Nightbeasts could come through, and it hadn't been spotted at any of those, so it was likely that the creature wasn't more than double the size of a cat.

Still, with the potential of venom or other dangerous weapons, even a small Nightbeast was deadly. "We should try and trap it there," Plumstripe decided. "It would be hard, but if we kept watch on both sides of the tunnel…"

It was then that Fireglide saw Furledstar approach, standing and hailing the leader with a wave of her tail. Plumstripe waited until the patrol was together before continuing. "It smelled aquatic," he said. Now that the danger was past, he couldn't help but yawn, exhaustion tugging on his limbs. His paws still stung and would probably need Mothpuddle's attention when he got back to camp too.

"We should trap it in the tunnel," he put forth again. "It's headed for the marshes, and I fear it will be impossible to drive out once it reaches water." Furledstar looked about to argue, but then tipped his head, regarding the tunnel beyond. "I don't think we should fight it. Maybe it will dry out."

"DuskClan doesn't have the resources to guard the tunnel for more than a day, maybe two," Furledstar said, but Plumstripe could see thoughts turning behind the cunning tabby's yellow-green eyes. "But if it is truly aquatic, perhaps that long away from water will weaken it enough that we could kill it there. The terrain certainly works to our advantage, if we have enough cats."

In the end, they left Fireglide to watch the tunnel with Tulippaw to serve as messenger, while the two other toms returned to camp. "You've done enough today, Plumstripe. Have Mothpuddle look at those paws," Furledstar had said, helping the ginger tabby to his paws and back to camp. They talked strategy the entire way back--Furledstar did most of the planning, using Plumstripe as a sounding board to smooth out some wrinkles--and by the time they heard the twin waterfalls of DuskClan's camp, they had a solid plan for dealing with the Nightbeast.

Plumstripe wasn't chosen for the battle patrol, as he was ordered by Mothpuddle to rest his scraped feet until they healed. But he worried the entire time, at least until Tulippaw and Foggypaw raced into camp, matching grins on their faces, eager to tell everyone that hadn't been there--only Plumstripe and Mothpuddle in the healer's den, and Cloudheart and Maplesong in the elder's--how successful the fight was. "Furledstar thought of everything!" Foggypaw gushed. "He even let us fight!"

<< 0.8 || FIRST || 1.2 >>

[dawnclan-duskclan]

Furledstar tried to keep his frustration from showing. He stilled his twitching tail-tip, spoke calm and slow. But Tulippaw wasn't hearing a word he said, the apprentice's grey eyes dull as stone. Furledstar snapped his jaw shut, biting back the next part of his lecture on how to find crawfish burrows, and it was his mentor's sudden silence that finally brought his apprentice to blink to attention, his ears twitching.

"Would you rather be picking burrs from Cloudheart's pelt?"

Tulippaw shook his head quickly, as if ridding it of bees. "Uh, no. No."

A pause.

Furledstar's eyes narrowed and Tulippaw wilted under his gaze. Boragebud was better at reading cats, but Furledstar was a fair hand at it himself and if he looked closely, he could swear Tulippaw was nervous. His breathing was uneven, his ears pinned back, and his white tipped paws flashed with curling claws, as if he was unsure whether to fight or flee. Unusual, as Tulippaw rarely hesitated on anything--it was something Furledstar appreciated about his apprentice. This floundering was unseemly on him.

Furledstar padded away from the muddy stream bank, searching out a dry, moss-covered ledge to sit on, and curled his tail over his paws. Tulippaw looked meek as he followed and Furledstar's frustration with his apprentice quickly turned to concern. "Tulippaw?"

Another slight hesitation before he replied: "…yes?"

Furledstar slowly lowered himself onto the moss and stretched on his side, trying to look relaxed, approachable. He took his eyes off Tulippaw, peering instead at a lilac-hued Star crystal behind the apprentice. Of course, he was actually watching Tulippaw out of the corner of his eye. He decided the best way to go about this was to face the Nightbeast in the cave with his fangs. "Something is bothering you. Is it something I can help fix?"

Tulippaw's grey eyes went wide at that, his tail suddenly going still. For a heartbeat, Furledstar thought his apprentice might flee. He didn't allow his own muscles to tense at the thought of having to chase his apprentice down, and through effort, kept his posture relaxed. Furledstar took a deep breath, prompting Tulippaw to subconsciously follow his lead, and when he let it out, Tulippaw broke.

"Ivebeenhavingnightmaresand-"

"Tulippaw," Furledstar interrupted, his voice soft. MoonClan bless, he wished Boragebud was here to deal with this. "It's alright," the leader said, soothing. "Deep breaths, and we'll figure this out, alright?"

The dark tabby nodded, followed Furledstar’s prompting with another calming breath. "Sorry," Tulippaw mumbled, but Furledstar waved his apology away, asking him to continue, slower this time. "I've just… I haven't won any spars yet and--" he paused, closed his eyes. The leader didn't mind, if it helped him draw courage. "I've been having nightmares. I--I'm on patrol, and a Nightbeast is there."

Tulippaw opened his eyes wide, searching for Furledstar, who gave him a slow blink and a small nod. "Nightmares of Nightbeasts are common," he reassured the young cat. "It's good to have a healthy dose of fear for them."

"Yes but…" Tulippaw hesitated again, but the fear was mostly gone from his eyes and posture, replaced by nervous embarrassment as he licked at his shoulder. Furledstar gave his apprentice time to collect his thoughts, grooming his own silver tabby fur while he waited. "It's not the Nightbeasts that make me afraid, I don't think. It's… In the dreams, I'm there with Foggypaw, or with Mothpuddle or… Yarrowflight, and the Nightbeast is there and I jump forward and it just--it hits me away and I'm stunned and I can’t do anything--" Tulippaw choked up, a sob trapped in his throat.

Furledstar's paws moved before he made any conscious choice, wrapping around the young tomcat and pulling him close, licking over his head with long strokes of his tongue. Silent comfort, a communal urge to defend a member of his Clan. "I haven't won a single spar yet," Tulippaw said, his voice softened by Furledstar's shoulder, muffled a bit by the leader's purr. "I don't feel ready."

"That's something we can fix," Furledstar mewed, resting his chin on the apprentice's head. "Though learning to fight, it takes time, Tulippaw. You've only been training for one moon."

"But Foggypaw can do it! He beat Gingerstorm yesterday!"

Furledstar knew the molly was going easy on him, they all did when training with new apprentices, but he felt that information wouldn't help Tulippaw feel any better right now, so he kept it to himself. "And you caught twice as much prey the day before," he said instead, and was pleased when the black tabby's purr joined his own.

"Yeah, I did," Tulippaw said, sounding much more like himself.

Furledstar gave one more lick over the apprentice's ear before unwinding, stretching, his claws popping through the carpet of moss. "We can do more battle training, if you'd like. I don't want you to push yourself too hard, but practicing the move Gingerstorm taught yesterday wouldn't hurt."

Tulippaw lit up, hopping to his paws, his anxiety forgotten as the prospect of battle training eclipsed his fear. "Really?"

"Yeah. Though I'm going to test you on the crawfish hunting method after." He was teasing, and twitched his whiskers as Tulippaw's face went bright with shock.

"Uh, I--"

Furledstar turned and started towards the training grotto, grinning once his face was hidden from Tulippaw's sight. He'd let him stew in that mundane fear a little, to distract him from his anxieties, while "accidentally" allowing their training session to go too long and graciously extending the test until tomorrow. After all, he was still a little upset that Tulippaw hadn't paid any attention to his carefully crafted crawfish hunting lesson. Furledstar had spent half the night working on it!

<< 0.2 || FIRST || 0.4 >>

[dawnclan-duskclan]

Heavy rains in the Daylands dimmed the Sun and cast the world in grey, washed out and overcast. It was a gloomy landscape that brought forth gloomier thoughts. Boragebud's uncertainty festered in the silence as she padded out onto the marshes in the wake of the storm.

"Do you think I'm doing a good job as deputy, Mothpuddle?" Boragebud said. A singular drop of water splashed onto her nose, cast far from a Waterwing's feather, and she twitched it off. "I thought I would spend lifetimes reaching Maplesong's wisdom. I thought I would never come close, but now…"

Boragebud paused, recalled the conversation she'd had with her mother before the patrol:

"I don't know why you keep bugging me about this. You're deputy. You already have the answer." "Yes, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. Something that you saw and I missed." "Ha! I can hardly see my own nose now, starflower. I assure you: your eyes are far keener than mine." "Mother, I meant in a metaphorical sense." "Literal, metaphorical, rhetorical, take your pick. The only place I have you beat is spiritual, and that's only because half my paws are rooted in MoonClan by now." "Mother!" "Ah, just teasing, flo. But you really don't need my council, you have this under your paw. Show 'em what you've got."

Boragebud shivered at Maplesong's words, wishing it was only the not-quite-fog that settled over the lake which had caused her hackles to rise, her fur to prickle.

In front of her, Mothpuddle stopped on the lakeshore, her paws touching the boundary between earth and mud, and there she started sniffing around at the green shoots poking from the wet, rich soil. How she could distinguish any scent from the pungent lakebed muck was beyond Boragebud's comprehension.

"Do you want to know what I think?" the golden healer finally replied, turning half her face. She had the same authority Maplesong had--maybe that quality ripened with age--but none of the playful softness of her mother's voice, only cold, hard certainty. "I think MoonClan's growls hurt."

"Hurt?" Boragebud asked, confused by the sudden change in topic. "Hurt who?"

"MoonClan. I think the rumblings are unpleasant for the spirits."

The rumblings of MoonClan were what brought life to the Caverns, what made growing all these herbs possible. It was MoonClan's growl that kept the Night away, their purr that led souls to eternal rest.

If that the rumbles of stone were unpleasant, if they were painful to MoonClan, if keeping DuskClan alive caused their ancestors pain…

Boragebud shook her head. It couldn't be.

"It's pain that makes things grow. MoonClan's pain nurtures us, and your pain will nurture you, Boragebud."

The deputy couldn't help it, she laughed. "How is pain anything more than painful?"

"You're feeling pain, yes? Emotional, but obviously that doesn't stop it from hurting. If you didn't feel that pain, how would you ever feel pressured to improve? To question your own choices and biases, and then decide to do better?" Mothpuddle said. Even as she spoke, her claws were gently chopping green stalks, stacking them into piles. "Ergo, pain--or fear of future pains--gives us the motivation to make ourselves better."

"Perhaps for living cats. But what makes you think MoonClan's growl is painful?"

Mothpuddle shrugged. "Nothing. Everything." The golden healer dropped the last mallow stalk onto the pile and walked away, already sniffing through the mud for another patch.

Boragebud shook her head and wrapped the bundles Mothpuddle left behind, tucking the stalks into the hide pouches she wore across her back to carry back. She would never understand MoonClan, not like the old healer did, but at least it distracted her from her own troubles.

<< 1.4 || FIRST || 1.6 >>

[dawnclan-duskclan]

"There's been a Nightbeast spotted--"

"For all the Stars and Hearthfire," Cloudheart swore, loud enough to draw most of DuskClan's attention. Furledstar winced as even Mothpuddle poked her head from the healer's ledge to gawk at the commotion. "There's always Nightbeasts, Furledstar. Or did ya forget about that since last summer?"

"No, but--"

"But nothing," the elder interrupted.

Maplesong rested a tail on Cloudheart's pale shoulder. "He only means to help," the dark tabby elder said. She had the kind of voice that naturally made cats want to be quiet and listen, soothing and melodic. "He wants to keep his Clanmate safe."

For all that Maplesong was trying to help, Furledstar struggled to keep his hackles from bristling as his mother spoke for him. As if he wasn't standing a tail-length away.

As if he wasn't DuskClan's leader.

The silver tomcat had to bite his tongue and bear it, though, because if anyone had a chance of talking any sense into Cloudheart, it would be Maplesong. If his goal was to keep Cloudheart safe--and it was--then logically, he should keep quiet and let his mother handle the Clan's eldest member.

Except: "I didn't think I was a prisoner of my own Clan!" Cloudheart spat.

Furledstar couldn't hold back a small growl, the fur on his shoulders bristling. He nearly snapped a sharp response, but Mothpuddle of all cats beat him to it. When had she gotten here? "Acting against the leader's orders is against the Code, Cloudheart," the golden-furred healer said, her voice cold. "Retirement does not mean you can ignore the Code with a wave of your tail."

Cloudheart narrowed her yellow eyes, still sharp despite the molly's age. "I heard no orders."

"Because you kept interrupting him!" Mothpuddle hissed back. "If you'd let Furledstar speak, then--" Furledstar stepped between the two, cutting the healer off before she could say something she would later regret. Though, knowing Mothpuddle, he doubted she'd regret anything she said here, no matter how harsh.

"Stop," he said firmly, looking sharply between the two until both took a step away. Cloudheart waddling back to Maplesong's side, Mothpuddle stepping back more gracefully, but also more reluctantly. "Mothpuddle, this doesn't concern you." He could sense the healer opening her mouth to argue and Furledstar turned his back on her so she wouldn't have the opportunity, a clear dismissal.

He didn't check to see if she actually left: he found that if he expected a cat to follow his orders with enough confidence, they typically would acquiesce.

Which still left him with his current problem. Cloudheart stood solidly, her eyes narrowed and shoulders set, challenging him to order her to stay in camp. The silence dragged as he weighed his choices. If he ordered her to stay, she'd be safe, but she'd also throw a tantrum and he'd probably have several warriors lined up at his den to complain about it by Starfall. If he let her go, however, she'd know that making a scene would get her what she wants. This wouldn't be the last time they'd be having this argument if he caved to her demands.

"I'll go with her," Maplesong said. "And we'll take Boragebud along with us. If we stick to the Dusklands, we'll be safe enough."

"That's what I said!" Cloudheart huffed.

Furledstar sighed, but he knew it was the best compromise he was going to get. "Fine," he said, just to get this over with. He turned away, his tail flicking sharply behind him. He'd taken too long to make a choice and now Maplesong would think that he needed her to solve all his problems. He'd thought he'd gotten out from under his mother's paw when he was made a leader, then again when she retired.

He held his poise until he stepped through the thin waterfall that hid the leader's den. Once he was well out of sight did he let his frustration explode outward, ripping his nest to shreds, only stopping when the moss was scattered so completely that his claws scraped stone.

The silver tabby leader's breaths heaved as he stood in the middle of the mess. He wanted to screech but though the waterfall's burble could be trusted to drown out regular conversation, he knew anything louder than that would carry to DuskClan's camp beyond. So he stood in silence until his rage burnt itself to its root: shame.

[dawnclan-duskclan]

Unlike his DawnClan counterpart, Foggypaw could compartmentalize, at least enough to pay attention to Gingerstorm's lecture.

He wished Gingerstorm would actually teach him something.

"Or... maybe it was like this?" The ginger molly curled her paw in a convoluted and frankly uncomfortable looking position that even Foggypaw could tell was more likely to hurt the user than the recipient in battle.

"I think you had it right yesterday," Foggypaw said. He mimicked the move Furledstar had shown him and Tulippaw the day before: the swipe was an interesting concept, made specifically for younger cats that didn't have enough strength for a true blow. But Foggypaw could already see the applications in which an adult cat could use the technique. Like if they needed a quick move after a failed tackle to keep their opponent off balance, or if they were pinned and didn't have leverage for something stronger.

He practiced on his own while Gingerstorm tried several permutations of the move, twisting her body (and thought process, Foggypaw guessed) into knots. At least he had Furledstar's lesson from yesterday to focus on, enough for him to start on the repetitions.

Boring repetitions, however, made his mind wander to what he'd planned with Fluffypaw later that evening.

It wasn't the time for such thoughts, but Gingerstorm wasn't paying much attention, so Foggypaw let his mind pick at it, just a little bit. He was going to meet Fluffypaw at the southern border--where the stream connecting DuskClan's river to DawnClan's spring crossed the Horizon--when the Stars were brightest. Neither apprentice wanted to be that far from camp (or that close to the Dimreaches) when the Stars were dark. That was just asking to be eaten by a Nightbeast.

Besides, if he was going all that way for a secret meeting with a friend, he'd like to be able to see her!

Excitement flushed his pelt. There was something compelling about the forbidden and Fluffypaw's blatant disregard for the rules, so unlike his instinct to follow them, fascinated him. She also brought stories of DawnClan, of a land past the Horizon, a world so close, yet so different from his own. Fluffypaw said she'd talk about the waterfall today, which she said was much bigger than the ones in DuskClan's camp, and he couldn't wait to let her words paint in his mind--

"Foggypaw!"

He blinked, shocked out of his wandering thoughts. He recognized his brother's voice in an instant. Tulippaw tackled him and Foggypaw was too embarrassed that he'd let his thoughts get the better of him to properly defend himself, allowing Tulippaw to tumble him into the soft, mossy carpet that covered the training cove. Tulippaw cackled, pushing his paws into Foggypaw's chest with a grin. "Did Gingerstorm teach you anything new? Show me!"

It was so like Tulippaw that Foggypaw snorted. "No, nothing new. Just practicing yesterday's lessons."

"Hey! That's what we came here to do! Let's practice together!"

Foggypaw shook his head. "Sorry, I have a hunting patrol after this. Maybe tomorrow?" It would be good for Tulippaw to have some lessons on his own, no matter how much Foggypaw wanted to have some actual training under Furledstar.

It's just... Tulippaw was so clingy. Foggypaw loved his brother, but he'd always assumed they'd find their independence as apprentices. Tulippaw still wanted to do everything together. It was hard to say no, and Foggypaw often used Gingerstorm or his duties as excuses to put a little distance between them.

But it still hurt to see Tulippaw's crestfallen face, the disappointment dulling his eyes. "Hey, maybe Furledstar will teach you something new, then you'll have something to show me!" Foggypaw said, poking Tulippaw's shoulder, and was glad when the excited glow reappeared in his brother's grey eyes.

"Oh, yeah! I can do that."

Guilt prickled Foggypaw's pelt as he followed Gingerstorm out of the mossy hollow, leaving Tulippaw behind with Furledstar. He didn't tell Tulippaw about his meetings with Fluffypaw and never intended to. It was weird, keeping a secret from his brother, but… his secret friendship with Fluffypaw was his and his alone, the one thing he didn't share with Tulippaw. He liked it that way. He needed it to be that way.

For once, he didn't try to spark a conversation with the gloomy Gingerstorm on the way back to camp. Foggypaw was too full of other thoughts to spare any on his mentor's mood.

He didn't think she would notice the difference anyways.

<< 0.4 || FIRST || 0.6 >>

[dawnclan-duskclan]

DuskClan Allegiances -- Year One

LEADER: FURLEDSTAR - A silver tabby tom with a white dapple on his back and yellow-green eyes. Troublesome, clever, natural intuition. 54 moons. Troublesome Furledstar. The rest of the Clan would have preferred his sister, Boragebud, to take the position, but they needed Furledstar's clever battle strategies and ruthless nature to overcome the focused Nightbeast attacks that decimated the Clan and killed their old leader, Sneezestar. In times of peace, Furledstar's boredom prompts him to make rash choices. The only cat that can talk sense into him is Boragebud, which is why he made her deputy. He has a massive crush on Gingerstorm, and has since they were apprentices. APPRENTICE: TULIPPAW

DEPUTY: BORAGEBUD - A medium-furred cinnamon classic tabby molly with yellow-green eyes. Wise, good speaker. 54 moons. Her brother has the strategic intellect and the ruthless nature to follow through, but no cat denies that it's Boragebud who runs DuskClan. Her steady insight can be seen in the Clan's minutia and she thrives on managing patrols, inter-Clan disputes, and ensuring DuskClan runs smoothly.

HEALER: MOTHPUDDLE - A long-furred golden agouti tabby molly with dark blue eyes. Strict, fantastic healer. 112 moons. A snappish molly who rules over the healer's den with an iron paw. She is the best healer the Caverns have seen in generations and she knows it. No one can question her cures without a cuff over the ear. For a long time, she's refused to take an apprentice, not wanting to sully her kingdom with clumsy paws, but now that her counterpart in DuskClan retired, she's almost regretting not forcing Foggypaw into the position (being the only one of the two she could tolerate). WARRIORS: FIREGLIDE - A medium-furred ginger and black spotted torbie molly with copper eyes. Daring, steady paws. 90 moons. A thrill seeker through and through, Fireglide is a free spirit who struggles with taking responsibility for her own actions. She does what she wants, when she wants, and it's hard to direct her towards a task. However, when she puts her mind to something she will do it to obsession. She has a habit of occupying her paws with fiddly tasks to keep them busy. PLUMSTRIPE - A medium-furred dark ginger sokoke tabby tom with pale yellow eyes. Bold, great hunter. 89 moons. A quiet but steady tom, Plumstripe is the only real dependable warrior in DuskClan and he carries that responsibility with a tired humor. He often wears himself thin on patrols, picking up after other cats' slack, and will cover for them and make excuses even if he probably shouldn't. GINGERSTORM - A long-furred dorsal striped dark ginger molly with faded white points and green eyes. Gloomy, talented swimmer, great storyteller. 59 moons. Gingerstorm is a cat that's nearly always in a bad mood. She carries pessimism around her like a shroud and always gripes that she's not a good warrior and that she shouldn't be trusted. She resents Furledstar for forcing her to be responsible for an apprentice, and resents Foggypaw even more for being so damn likable. APPRENTICE: FOGGYPAW

APPRENTICES: FOGGYPAW - A long-furred grey ticked tabby tom with heavy white spotting and sage eyes. Charismatic, lover of stories, oddly observant. 7 moons. Foggypaw is smarter than he looks. He seems playful and easily excitable and he is those things, but he plays it up because he knows other cats talk more around him if they think he's a brainless young cat. He has a secret friendship with Fluffypaw of DawnClan, teasing her that their mothers were only a whisker away from picking the same name. He knows his mentor, Gingerstorm, doesn't like being chained to an apprentice and is trying desperately to get her approval. TULIPPAW - A black tabby tom with white stomach and paws and grey eyes. Childish, splashes in puddles and constantly climbing. 7 moons. He's quieter than his brother, but causes much more trouble. Tulippaw is rather impulsive and Furledstar does nothing to curb his reckless behavior, even goes so far to encourage his habit of climbing trees and jumping into the river without checking for Nightbeasts first. Tulippaw thinks himself invincible and no cat can tell him any different. He looks up to Foggypaw and hangs onto his brother's every word. ELDERS: CLOUDHEART - A pale grey rosetted tabby molly with yellow eyes. Troublesome, great hunter, talented swimmer. 143 moons. Cloudheart might have retired a few seasons ago, but she refuses to stay in camp, wandering the Twilight and hunting as much as she pleases. She figures that if she feeds herself, then the other cats don't have to work so hard and she gets a chance to quell her boredom. Everyone wins. She loves putting her paws into the stream by the waterfall and is always trying to convince some warriors to take her on a patrol to the lake.

MAPLESONG - A medium-furred dark grey sokoke tabby molly with crow feathers and yellow-green eyes. Confident, good mediator, natural intuition. 122 moons. Mother of Furledstar and Boragebud. A sharp-minded molly, she imparted her eye for strategy to Furledstar and her confident, people-reading skills to Boragebud. She's very close to both her kits and can be a bit smothering at times. She has a beautiful voice and loves finding small nooks and crannies near DuskClan's Rockfall in camp that have the best acoustics.