#Or the Badger in the wrong Den

[kay9leo]

#MCtober2024 -Meet Iñaki "MC" Martinez Cariaga

Based on @lamieboo's #MCtober2024 event (click on #MCtober for more info).

Note that she's from a Hogwarts Legacy AU that takes place in the late 2000s. Hence why she says Dungeon Snakes Rulez! (if you don't get the reference, it's from Fallout 3). She goes by "MC" since she doesn't want people to call her by her entire double surname. She's also trying to mimic that Spiderman graveyard meme pose here lol.

Iñaki hates potions in the US not because she's bad at it, but because of how careful and focused she tries to be to do well in the class. However, in the UK, she hate History of Magic due to Professor Binns. She loves Ancient Runes and DADA with Professor Hecat being her favorite due to the fact all the things they do in class matter for real life as well. That and she finds Hecat to be a cool teacher Professor.

Iñaki also tends to keep her wand in her hair bun. Most people think that's just a hair stick holding her hair up. Nope, just her wand lol.(More on Iñaki below the cut.)

Originally when she came to Hogwarts, she and Fig were late to the point that they missed her sorting and she was houseless for a week before she was allowed to be sorted.

In that time, she ended up befriending Amit, Poppy, Natsai and Garreth. She didn't care much for Sebastian, finding him too cocky during their first duel in DADA. While Iñaki found it easy to befriend people from the other houses, Slytherins didn't seem as opened to making friends.

Which would work in her favor.

When it came time to be sorted, Iñaki had a plan.

Seeing that she wasn't really going to be in Hogwarts/the U.K. for that long (3 years at most, a year at the least -which is something that she hopes for), Iñaki figured there was no point avoiding the invertible and just limit her interactions with people that she liked. She already had a hard time saying goodbye to her former friends when she temporarily moved to the U.K., she wasn't going to go through that again when she would finally move back home to the U.S. permanently.

When the sorting hat was placed on her head, she was a hat stall for either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff (to most people's surprise when they learned about it). She asked the hat to place her in Slytherin and had to convince the hat as to why. Iñaki would spend 5 minutes on the stool making her case as to why she should join the den of the snakes and ultimately the hat allows her to join Slytherin.

(The hat was impressed by her ambition to not make friends and trying to leave Hogwarts without leaving her own mark on the place or vice versa).

However, before the hat made its decision, it gave her a piece of advice saying:"...things aren't always as they seem. Take a moment to step back and see things as they are and not as you wish.", before it yelled out: SLYTHERIN.

It was a huge surprise to everyone since most people thought she would either be a Lion or a Badger due to her personality. There were even some bets about her being an Eagle, but barely anyone betted on her being a Snake.

Unfortunately for Iñaki, she didn't account certain variables for her plan to remain friendless in the den of snakes. Not with Imelda, Ominis and especially Sebastian as her housemates.

....

More on Iñaki "MC" Martinez Cariaga

[weaselle]

These are both mustelids, or in the weasel family. the group Mustelids/weasels are to these guys what the group Canines are to dogs and foxes and wolves and things.

But within that group, these guys aren't actually very closely related. Each of these "badgers" is roughly as equally related to each other as they are to these other mustelids

Wolverines

Honey Badgers

River Otters

and Martens

bonus pic because i'm not sure people understand wolverine size

Anyway, both types of badger are fascinating, but they are very different.

The American Badger is volatile and ferocious. They are largely solitary, and don't dig their own burrows so much as murder a burrowing creature, eat them, and then remodel that burrow for themselves.

European Badgers live in communal dens, and dig activity-specific rooms, including a separate toilet room. They will sometimes have a networked multi-family den/burrow system, with a large extended family all having their own underground homes that are attached to each other. European Badgers will sometimes share their borrow amicably with foxes, rabbits, or raccoon dogs (which exist in the wilds of europe after having been introduced).

The denning with rabbits is interesting since rabbits are often a prey item for European Badgers, whereas the foxes and raccoon dogs are weird roommates for them because they have heavily overlapping diets and are direct competition for one another.

While they do often eat birds and small mammals, European Badgers will happily exist on a diet of earthworms, insects, fungus, and various plants... and so will red foxes. They are both extreme generalists, eating basically anything available.

American Badgers on the other hand... while they will eat worms and fungus and fruit in small amounts or if very hungry, they primarily eat small mammals, about 10 species of rodent, with some birds and insects and reptiles thrown in along with whatever larger animals they can scavenge. American badgers have been known to bury an entire deer or even cow carcass to eat later. They are bloodthirsty and voracious.

So... OP's take is not wrong. European Badgers will build and share little den villages and they eat a lot more worms and fruits and grains... while American Badgers steal temporary homes by murdering and devouring the previous occupants, and would generally prefer to eat as large an animal as they can get.

But don't let that fool you. Look back through those pictures. The European Badger is still in the family, and their butler persona is a lot like Alfred's the way they will get out the big guns for an enemy with zero hesitation and no fucks given.

BONUS bonus pic, here is my dog, who is about the same size as a badger, who has a stripey nose like a badger, and who's name is, in fact, Badger

[honeybadger16]

Honey Badger in the Lion's Den

Pairing: Max Verstappen x reader x Dan Riccciardo

Warnings: smut, threesomes, fmm, swearing

Word Count: 1.5k

a/n: Maxiel is real, prove me wrong. Let me know what you think about the pairing, I hope you enjoy it!

Summary: Being the girlfriend of Max Verstappen has its perks: traveling all around the world, attending luxurious parties, and grabbing the attention of a certain Australian driver who can't stop staring at you and Max.

You and Max had been dating for two years, and enjoyed every second of it. From traveling around the world to attending the most luxurious parties, Max made sure you were always comfortable and happy during the busy racing season. For him, most weekends consisted of tough practice sessions and grueling workouts.

You made it your mission to help him relax when necessary in order to prevent burn out. This consisted of massages or venting sessions before bed. If it was a particularly bad day rough sex in the bed or shower was usually the solution.

This weekend you arrived in Australia, just as Max and Daniel were doing media duties. You couldn't imagine any serious answers were given as the two drivers loved to mess with other during interviews. Watching the two interact from a screen there was no denying Max's boy crush on Daniel. This had been a long running joke online between fans, but it wasn't far from the truth. Max had been idolizing Daniel since they first met, and considered him a best friend. Max would never tell a soul, but whenever his imagination ran loose, the idea of Daniel on top of you made his pants get tighter. He thinks to himself it's wrong to imagine his girlfriend with another man, but it's just a harmless fantasy right?

Australia had been a total disaster for Max, not finishing the race due a gas leak was the last thing any driver wants on Sundays. Daniel had finished 6th, a respectable position considering he was driving in a shitty McLaren tractor-like car. Max was still in a bad mood as night fell on the racing city. Most drivers wanted to go clubbing and celebrate their earned points, including Daniel.

That's when the two of you heard knocking on the hotel door around 10 P.M. Opening the door you find Daniel's signature smile pulling you into a hug. "Hey y/n I haven't had a chance to say hi all weekend, how are you?" You responded by giving him a recap of the shops you visited and the restaurants you tried- his recommendations of course. Max hadn't looked up from his phone, not in the mood to match the Australian's cheery mood. "Are you guys coming out with us? The club we picked has the best champagne."

Max responds by telling him he's too tired to go out tonight and to have fun without him. Daniel could see through Max's bullshit response and looks over to you for an explanation. You shrug your shoulders not exactly sure what to say. Usually when Max had a rough race, him fucking your brains out helped him feel better. That's when you thought of an idea to cheer up Max. It was risky and could ruin one of the closest relationships Max had, but you were positive it would exciting.

Leaning closer to Max, you whisper, "what if we let Daniel watch as I suck your cock?" Max turns quickly around to face you, turning red in the cheeks, "what?" You snake your hand to palm his crouch, already hardening. You turn to face Daniel who's eyes glaze over with desire as he stares intently at the two of you sitting down on the chair nearby. "I think he also wants to watch me take you in my mouth."

Kissing up Max's neck, you unzip his pants and continue to palm his hard cock through his boxers. Max had given in to the pleasure and began making louder noises in response to your touches. You could hear the zip of Daniel's pants as he takes his semi-hard cock out beginning to slowly stroke it.

You decided it was enough teasing for one night and helped Max take off the article of clothing that was separating your mouth and his cock. He was already painfully hard, his tip was colored brightly red, begging for some sort of relief. You began at the bottom licking the shaft and taking his balls in the hands, avoiding the head. "Fuck-please take it all in y/n." You could see how much pre-cum had collected on top of his cock and collected it all on your tongue.

Max soon becomes confused as you get up and walk over to Daniel. He can only watch as you sat on you on one of Daniel's thighs and connected your lips together. After releasing your mouths apart you ask, "How does Max taste?"

"Like fucking Heaven" Daniel is quick to putting his hands on your shirt tugging it off of you. He was pleased to see you opted for a braless outfit as he began to fondle your breasts, kissing you once again. Max began to notice your hips moving against the Australian's thighs, in an attempt to give your clit some attention. Your hands found Daniel's cock and began rubbing him until he was fully erect.

Max thought he had died and was in his personal Heaven, this scenario only played out in his head when he was jerking off by himself, giving him the most intense orgasms. Yet, here they were, his girlfriend and best friend making out as Max got unbelievably harder. He could see y/n whispered something to Daniel as they both got up to remove the remaining pieces of clothing they both had on.

You came up to Max, while Daniel came from the back. Stroking his cock Max let his head fall back onto Daniel's chest. "That's it baby keep going" You however had another idea. You took one of Daniel's hands and placed it on Max's cock, molding it to go up and down the shaft. Max opened his eyes and began grunting louder turning to face Daniel. The two began to make out as Max was reaching closer to his orgasm. Daniel's lips tasted like the pre-game vodka he drank before he knocked on their door. Even though the taste of alcohol lingered on Max's lips he could get drunk on the feeling of having Daniel so close to him only. Why hadn't they done this sooner?

You removed Daniel's hand and instructed Max to lay down as you climbed on top of him and began rubbing his cock on your wet pussy. Finally, you push yourself down, having to adjust to his size no matter how many times you take him inside you. Riding on Max's cock you take Daniel in your mouth moving up and down. Sounds of moans and grunts could be heard as the three of you reach closer to the end.

Max moves his hips at the same time as yours to reach into deeper and faster. Max's cock curves perfectly into you pushing on your walls as you bounce on him in a faster, more desperate pace. He takes his fingers and rubs your clit, "come with me y/n." With the combination of Max deep inside you and stimulation on your clit, you explode first, Max following soon after. The two of you feel as Max's cum fills you up to the brim.

Daniel grabs your head and brings it down on his cock until your nose pressed against his abdomen. "Shit I'm going to cum." He pulls you off and releases his cum onto your lips and face, groaning as waves of pleasure ripple through his body.

You pull off of Max when Daniel puts you on your back, legs open towards him. Max's cum had started dripping out of you when Daniel began licking at your pussy. Throwing your head back in pleasure you couldn't believe you were close to cumming again so soon. He stuck his tongue inside of you licking up all of Max's cum and swallowing it. You finally reached your end as you tugged on Daniel's dark locks and made eye contact with him. As you rode through your second orgasm of the night, you noticed Max had gone to the bathroom and brought water and washcloths for the three of you.

Still breathing hard, you sat up on the bed and accepted the water giving a soft thanks, while Daniel helped clean you up. The room was silent, but comforting. Daniel and Max put on their boxers once more, while you wore one of Max's shirts. In the middle of the bed Max welcomed the embraces of both you and Daniel. He first kissed you also whispering a soft thank-you. He turned to Daniel and kissed him tenderly as the older man accepted the show of affection. Cuddling up all together the three of you drift to sleep, not worrying about the questions you would receive the next day from the other drivers about your absence.

[saturncoyote]

was just exploring your th and found needlebiter! seems like an interesting fella, can i ask their story?

Oh NeedleBiter ! My dear forgotten boy

His story is quite simple actually, he was a newly made warrior from (unspecified clan) who died during his first battle, after reaching Starclan he decided that there is too much suffering in life and so every single cat should join Starclan so that they no longer need to feel fear nor sadness ! So his favorite passtime is guiding cats from all clans into their demise, of course he'd NEVER kill someone with his own paws ! He'd rather just... tell them to cross the thunderpath at the wrong time, or maybe guide them into a conveniently hidden trap, or perhaps even a den with a very angry badger in it

[redux-iterum]

Charred Legacy: Chapter Nine

(AO3 counterpart here.)

“Cloudkit!”

Fireheart, chewing on the last bite of his breakfast of robin, felt his eyes crease as he watched his nephew stomping after Bramblekit. Despite already being a good deal bigger than the ball of fluff, his brother was fleeing like there was a car barreling down on him, his back-fur flared up and his eyes bulging with fear. Brindleface was chasing them both, calling for Cloudkit to no avail.

“Cloudkit, I said leave him alone!” She reached out to try and scoop Cloudkit towards her and missed as he ducked his head just in time for her paw to sweep over him. “You’re being mean!”

“Am not!” Cloudkit shouted. “I’m being a badger!” He continued his pursuit, his paws raised almost as high as his head before being flung down to the ground, creating a small ripple of sand. “Badger! Badger!”

Bramblekit skittered away from him, looking around wildly for protection. His eyes caught Fireheart’s and he immediately scrambled over to him. Fireheart dutifully rose into a sit to let Bramblekit squish himself behind his front legs, pushing them out a little and making Fireheart bend forward.

“No fair!” Cloudkit protested, stomping all the way over to Fireheart. “He’s not playing!”

“Fireheart’s the safe spot,” Bramblekit said, much less confidently and much quieter than Cloudkit. “If I touch him, you can’t get me.”

Cloudkit frowned up at his uncle.

Fireheart held in a chuff and gently tapped Cloudkit’s nose with the very tip of his front paw. “Sorry, I don’t make the rules. I’m the safe spot.”

“Aw.” Cloudkit made a sullen face. “Then what do I do?”

“You play nicely, is what you do.” Brindleface caught up to him and pulled him to her, giving him a stern look when he flopped his head back with his nose in the air to see what had grabbed him. “If Bramblekit doesn’t want to be chased, you don’t chase him.”

Cloudkit’s scowl was admittedly pretty adorable with his scrunched-up ginger nose. He looked back at Fireheart, as if seeking confirmation.

“It is pretty mean to chase someone when they don’t like it,” Fireheart said.

The little scowl pointed to the ground now. Cloudkit scuffed some sand at his paws and muttered, “Was just playing.”

“You have plenty of others to play with,” Brindleface said, still stern. “Why don’t you go find your siblings, or Tawnykit?”

This received no response. Cloudkit just grumpily pulled himself out of her grasp and skulked off towards the nursery, where Ashkit and Aspenkit were just climbing out. They both met up with him, and Cloudkit’s attitude was completely forgotten when Ashkit tackled him with a squeaky yowl.

“I’m not sure what to do with his attitude sometimes,” Brindleface sighed, watching her kits tussle. “He gets so upset when I tell him he’s doing something wrong.”

Fireheart squinted unconsciously, studying his nephew at a distance. “I’ll keep that in mind when I mentor him. How far away is his ceremony, again?”

“Oh, four months, at least.” Brindleface immediately cheered up, her tail curling over her back. She looked down at Bramblekit and said sweetly, “And you’re not too far behind him!”

Bramblekit hesitantly wormed out from under Fireheart, his face brightening. “Really?”

“Really.” Brindleface ruffled the fur on the top of his head with a delicate paw as he approached her. “You’re going to be Bramblepaw before you know it. And you’ll have a much bigger den to sleep in.”

Bramblekit straightened up a bit and looked at Fireheart, who nodded enthusiastically. With a high, if muted purr, the brown tabby turned and trotted off towards his sister, who had just woken from her nap near the elders and greeted him with an indistinct sound. Fireheart beamed at their headbump, then looked back to Brindleface.

“I know it’s even further away, but I’m very excited to see what their names will be as warriors.” She lowered her voice, seemingly speaking to herself. “I wonder if Cloudkit will ask for another name…”

“Sorry?” Fireheart tilted his head. “Why another name?”

“Oh—” Brindleface blinked and returned her attention to him. “Well, ‘Cloud’ might not fit him forever. ‘Cloud’ is for white cats, and he’s getting more and more patched by the night. I’m curious if he’ll be renamed entirely when he becomes a warrior, or even an apprentice.”

“Huh,” Fireheart replied faintly. His mind flew to his sister, imagining her struggling to remember his many names. “I wonder now, too. That would be interesting to see. Does he have to do it?”

Brindleface shook her head. “Oh, no, of course not. It’s just an option.” Her eyes returned to Cloudkit, foggy with distant thoughts. “But what he could be named otherwise…”

The pair went silent for what Fireheart presumed was the same reason: contemplating what other names Cloudkit could have. Brindleface had a near dreamy look on her face, while Fireheart was sure he was squinting a bit, thinking hard.

What did Mira tell me about names? he pondered. She said Morning is for paler ginger cats, right? But he’s white, too. What was the one she said once…Tip? Was it Tip? But would Cloudkit want to be named for a bug? I guess he could go for Daisy, too, from what mira said. But then he’d have to be pale enough—

“Hey, Fireheart!”

The ginger tom blinked and was back in the real world. Greystripe and Ravenwing had just come into camp and were heading his way, a cheery little Snowpaw trotting along behind them. His pretty white coat was covered in soil, a few twigs clinging to his tail.

“What on earth happened?” Fireheart got to his feet and hurried to meet them. “Is he okay?”

“He’s excellent,” Ravenwing said—and for the first time Fireheart could remember, his chest was puffed out proudly. “He had hunting practice today.”

Fireheart’s ears perked. “Oh! Did he catch anything?”

“Not yet, but he’s a sneaky little bugger, I’ll tell you that.” Greystripe looked back at Snowpaw, giving him a joking tap on the head with his tail. “He’s going to go far when it snows.”

Ravenwing twitched his whiskers. “He chased after a woodrat and tried to get into its burrow.”

Fireheart snorted and looked at Snowpaw. Once the apprentice met his eyes, he cocked his head and said, “Did you have fun?”, taking care to move his mouth more than usual.

Snowpaw nodded vigorously, dirty tail jumping all over the place.

“He’s getting better at that, too,” Fireheart said to Ravenwing. “Any more signs tonight?”

“Just one.” Ravenwing turned to his apprentice and twitched his ears and jaw.

Snowpaw took a step closer, still looking at Fireheart, and then lowered his head while pushing it forward, eyes alert and ears slid sideways.

“That’s for ‘hunting crouch’,” Ravenwing explained. “I’m trying to separate fighting and hunting signs. I can already see he’s smart enough for that.”

Fireheart blinked twice and nodded—well done—at Snowpaw, who beamed and stood almost as straight as Thornpaw.

“Snowpaw!”

The boys flinched in surprise as Frostfur darted through the small space between them, rushing to her kit. She began plucking and brushing the soil off of him, her voice fretful. “He’s a mess! What happened?”

“He chased a woodrat?” Greystripe said, much less confident than Ravenwing and leaning back when Frostfur gave him a cross look.

Fireheart snorted (under his breath, wisely) and took a step back to give Frostfur more room. His back leg kicked into something that squawked; when he looked back, Tawnykit was behind him and scraping sand off her chest.

“Sorry, sorry—” Fireheart turned around immediately. “Are you alright?”

Tawnykit got the last grains off and gave him an expression oddly dry for just a kit. “You got me sandy.” She looked past him to Snowpaw. “Can he talk now?”

“In his own way,” said Fireheart, following her line of sight. “He and Ravenwing are making signs for him to speak with.”

“Oh.” Tawnykit tilted her head. “Can we speak too?”

“We can! We just have to learn how.” Fireheart gave her a gentle nudge with his paw. “I’m sure you could in no time at all.”

Tawnykit studied Snowpaw for a long moment, watching him sign at his mother as she pulled the twigs out of his tail. She finally deliberated, “I bet I can learn it first.”

“I bet so, too,” Fireheart said affectionately. “You know, you could talk with Ravenwing, and he can give you a head start. Then you could help teach the other kits. That would be cool, right?”

Tawnykit’s dull blue eyes lit up at this, and her growing tail did a curious up-and-down dance. “Yeah. Really cool.”

As they spoke, out of the corner of Fireheart’s eye, Cloudkit grappled with Ashkit in his grip, the two of them squealing. The ball of grey and white-and-ginger rolled a little too close to the meeting stump, where Yellowfang and Cinderpaw perched with their heads close together.

To Tawnykit, Fireheart said quickly, “Go on and ask Ravenwing about it,” and then hurried to catch the little toms before they hit the already cantankerous seer. “Cloudkit, Ashkit, hold on!”

The kits made it a few more rolls before Fireheart caught up to them. With a careful paw, he caught them and pushed them the other way, like they were a toy ball. They didn’t even appear to notice the redirection, nor did they notice when Brindleface caught sight of them and ran after them, calling for them to play nicely.

“Sorry about that,” Fireheart said, turning to Cinderpaw and Yellowfang. “They, uh…”

He trailed off when he got a good look at the seers’ eyes. They were faded and distant, not even focused on each other, though they were face-to-face. Yellowfang’s jaw was stuck out, but the few teeth that matched up to each other were tightly grit, and her torn ears were against her head. Cinderpaw did not look much better—her claws on all of her feet, even her bad one, were flexing in and out of her toes, and she was chattering her teeth ever-so-slightly.

“Uh…” Fireheart hesitated, not sure whether he should interrupt. “Are you okay?”

Yellowfang’s orange eyes sharpened again as she glanced his way.

“Sorry to interrupt, um… this.” Fireheart gestured vaguely with his paw. “Is something wrong?”

Yellowfang grunted. “We seek StarClan’s voice. The fool has seen something in her dreams.” She looked to her apprentice, who was stone still aside from her claws. “It troubles her still.”

“Can’t you help her?”

“Boy, if I help her with every sign, she learns nothing.” The old mess of dark fur snorted at him. “And I’ve my own visions to consider.”

Fireheart’s curiosity immediately got to his tongue before he could hold it. “Really? What did you see?”

“Ach. An easy and hard sign at once.” Yellowfang narrowed her buggy eyes. “Teeth and blood, I find. No secret that the dogs are about—I saw how long those fangs were.” She made a face. “But of course, the cursed stars say nothing on where they’ll strike next. I can make a guess, and that is all.”

Fireheart’s stomach clenched. “Where… where do you think they’ll be?”

“I heard the rush of water,” she replied, voice even darker than usual. “We may hear from RiverClan next.”

Fireheart’s fur lifted on his back. “We– we need to warn them, then.”

“Did.” Yellowfang sighed. “The deputy sent the quick one to their border tonight. But I know RiverClan, the airheaded poets. They’ll assume they’re safe since their land is so flat, and ‘they can see everything’.” She ground her teeth in a more tired than frustrated fashion. “It’ll take a loss for them to be serious for once. Mudcloud will be the one to heed the warning.” She shook her head and turned to her apprentice. “That is their trouble now. We’ve our own future to beware of.”

Fireheart copied her and regarded Cinderpaw. Her muscles were tensing up now, her tail tapping like she was having a bad dream.

“Cinderpaw?” Fireheart asked, then looked to Yellowfang. “Can I talk to her?”

Yellowfang squinted, then rolled a shoulder. “Wake her for a moment, and none more.”

With a bit of hesitation, Fireheart reached out with a paw and touched Cinderpaw’s shoulder.

Immediately, a shout of pain broke the peace of camp. Many eyes turned in surprise as Cinderpaw leapt away from Fireheart, hitting against the stump and panting in fear.

“Oh—” Fireheart backed up a bit. “I’m sorry, Cinderpaw. Are you okay?”

Yellowfang did not give her a chance to respond to him, nosing her apprentice. “What did you see?”

Cinderpaw’s terror passed within moments. She blinked a few times and then looked around in confusion, breathing normally again. “Oh. Wow. Okay.”

“What was it?” Yellowfang prodded her again. “Speak words.”

“Uh…” Cinderpaw tilted her head, then flicked her broken tail-tip against her shoulder, where Fireheart had touched her. “I was seeing something huge and loud, and it was really hot, and then it felt like the sun had burned my shoulder, and, uh…”

Yellowfang’s tail twitched, but she didn’t look angry. “Describe it better, fool girl.”

“Like—” Cinderpaw gestured aimlessly, then nodded to Fireheart. “Like your pelt, Fireheart, but bigger than a tree and wider than a house.” She grimaced. “And it was hotter than I think even Horoa is capable of. I could barely breathe.”

Fireheart met Yellowfang’s eyes, and her expression was pessimistic.

“And where were you when you saw it?” she asked.

Cinderpaw tilted her head back and forth indecisively. “Um… I don’t know, somewhere bright. The ground felt dry, but I couldn’t see anything in all that… bright stuff.” She fidgeted. “There was so much of it, Yellowfang! I couldn’t even hear anything, it was roaring so loud. Like a monster.”

Fireheart unconsciously narrowed his eyes as he thought. That sounds familiar…

Yellowfang croaked a grumble. “Follow, child. We discuss this privately.” She turned her wrinkled face to the cats who were still watching. “And you all, fuss not about this! Leave it to me and the girl.”

Immediately, everyone coincidentally found something else to be interested in, talking with each other or looking away at something much more fascinating than a potentially dangerous vision.

Fireheart watched the seers limp into the dying ferns that served as their den. He said nothing to anyone as he sat down and groomed his pelt, trying to think.

Like my pelt but bigger… he mused to himself. And hot. I could swear I’ve seen something like that before.

[bonefall]

What was Leopardstar and Carpwhisker’s relationship like?

You know how in Fire Emblem Awakening how there's that side character whose entire existence is dedicated to a running joke that he's the biggest person in the room... but no one sees him, ever? To the point where they even end up thinking an extra goblet at dinner must belong to a ghost?

Face obscured by Chrom's knee on the box art, Mike Wazowski magazine style?

Carpwhisker.

I'm GUTTING Leopardstar's Haggis. It is in the bottom 5 WC entries for me. Leopardstar's childhood bullying was cheap and brainless. How fucking dare they, actually?

How dare they take their ONE confident, intimidating female character, DEFINED by how she was beloved in RiverClan and by her apprentice generation, had no romance, and wasn't a mother figure, and fuck up ALL THREE THINGS???

So. Anyway.

If anyone gets bullied it's Carpwhisker, still by Skyheart.

Brightsky didn't die; she became a kittypet. There were four kits.

Carp, Oat, Leopard, Water.

Mudfur took Carp and Leopard home, due to their resemblance to their famous ancestor, Volestar.

If Mudfur knew what Leopardstar would become... he would have left her there, with her mother. He regrets bringing her back to RiverClan

He feels he should have known better. He became a Cleric shortly after returning because he came to believe that the constant fighting was wrong, and yet...

What did he expect?

Carpwhisker is a nervous wreck who can't stand up for herself despite being as big as a badger, and Leopardstar eventually booked herself a rock appointment

I feel like at some point, Carpwhisker learned the secret about Brightsky... but keeps it to herself.

She can't imagine Leopardstar taking it well, "and um, she's..." (Carpwhisker grasps for words not wanting to outright say she's terrified of her) "...she's a wee bit intense about bad news."

You know that one post about the kid who got severely bullied in school, the teacher put on Dumbo, and they watched every single one of their bullies cheer for the underdog? All the bullies think they're Dumbo.

That's poor Carp. I feel like she used to really like Aftergatherings until Leopardstar told her about the reputation of those events, and that attending them was making Carp look disloyal.

People often take credit for her achievements. She was the one who made the Bonehill practical-- it's not solid bone, it's a mud facade with a layer of bone around it. Tigerstar said it was TigerClan's achievement, and his by proxy.

When Carpwhisker was struggling for breath to correct him, Leopardstar gave her a sideways glance and killed the thought.

So, Carp's relationship with Leopardstar is not great. But Carp defends her, and loves her, and insist she knows best.

Leopardstar is a better friend of Skyheart than she is a sister of Carp. Leopard's beloved by that whole group, and a natural leader from a young age.

I think when Leopardstar dies, Carp is distraught by it. Inconsolable, and it's really hard to tell her in that moment that it sounds like she's a lot better off without her.

She'd probably end up hanging out with Mothwing a lot, seeking spiritual advice. Moth just gives her normal, mortal, nonspiritual advice, but Carpwhisker thinks it's divine.

After all... they both did just lose very toxic siblings that they still loved very much, and are kinda working through that.

In terms of politics, Carpwhisker is a weak-traditionalist. Really, she just goes along with what's popular at the moment, and doesn't make waves. She's conflict-avoidant, and just tries to make others happy with her hard work.

Most of all she just wants peace, really. What if there were no problems forever and everyone was just nice and well-fed and we all took a big nap in this warm den I made. What then.

SO all that to say... She loved Leopardstar. Leopardstar was awful to her. "We're sisters! It's just like that!" (It Is Not Like That.) She was hidden in her shadow. She thought the shadow was normal. She's destroyed when her sister dies. She can only begin to recover once she's gone.

[darlincollins]

PACK NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

- david's (written down neatly in his planner with check marks by each one and blank spaces underneath to make update notes on his progress)

business goals: finish digitizing the security business files, reorganize the office space and meeting room, refresher training session

landscaping goals: put up the hummingbird feeders and pollinator rest stations around the yard, turn over/loosen the soil, complete work on planting a vegetable garden

personal goals: set up pack camping trip, work fewer late nights, learn 5 new recipes, do a deep clean of the house, go somewhere new with angel

- asher's (written on a piece of notebook paper creased from being folded and refolded a lot, stuck to the fridge with a magnet)

more kisses! more dates! more romantic surprises! <3 <3 <3

successfully cook something NO FIRES

organize the games and movie shelf

talk to people over the phone more :(((

take the security training session off david's plate and handle all the renewed leases/permits and tax stuff for the den/office

- milo's (typed up in the notes app on his phone because certain cats enjoy chewing or playing with paper)

get all the furniture shopping done and new pieces assembled, decide on color scheme and get the painting done

throw a homewarming party

make more time for date nights and days off with sweetheart

(underlined and bolded) do NOT lose any more bets that lead to having to play more terrifying games

organize photos on phone and go through with sweetheart to decide which ones will be displayed, get them printed and hung up

- darlin's (begrudgingly said aloud after much badgering at a new year's party and forgotten almost immediately afterward)

don't die (david: "what is wrong with you", sam: "at least they said 'don't'... i'll take it", david: "fair enough... at one point they probably would have said 'die in a badass way' so definitely an improvement")

commit more crimes

eat the rich

... FINE buy more groceries or whatever

talk less ("starting now" and then refuses to elaborate more)

sam's (thought to himself on a sleepless night while he watches the stars fading right before dawn)

go on more trips/getaways with darlin

take more pictures, write things down more, keep more mementos and a calendar

spend more time with the families

convince darlin that a family sized bag of tortilla chips does not constitute a meal

ask darlin to move in??

[thedo0zyslider]

At their happiest - 5k Words

Starclan cats look how they did when they were happiest in life. Jayfeather doesn't notice his own ghost's form until his mother points it out to him.

Tw: death, grief

Jayfeather lays down one day, and feels incredibly tired. When he mentions it to his apprentice, Alderheart just calls him an old badger, and says it because he's still working, even when he long should've retired to the elders den. "

This is different." Jayfeather insists, frowning. He knows this type of tiredness isn't the same. It feels different, somehow.

"It's probably fine-" His apprentice said, flicking his tail dismissively. You think, that as a medicine cat, he know to listen when cats tell him something is wrong. Jayfeather thought he trained this furball better than that!

"I'm gonna die soon, Alderheart." He says, maybe a little too matter-of-factly. But, Jayfeather doesn't know any other was he was supposed to deliver the news. He was never one for letting cats down slowly.

"Don't say that." Alderheart says, his amber eyes going wide. He looks scared, understandably so. It's njt every day some cat tells you they're going to die.

"But I'm right." Jayfeather mews, he knows he's right. Alderheart knows he's right. Jayfeather's not often wrong about things like this. It's always been his least favorite medicine cat skill. Intuition.

Alderheart sighs, and presses his muzzle against his old mentors cheek. "I know." The older tom isn't even dead yet, and there's already such sadness in his mew.

"I'll stay here as long as I can." Jayfeather promises quietly. He knows he will miss his apprentice greatly when he gets to Starclan, almost as much as the ginger tom will grieve for him. He wants to spend as much time with Alderheart as he can, before it happens. Maybe it will help, make Jayfeather miss him less.

"Thank you." Alderheart says, and lays down next to his mentor for one of the last times.

___________________________________

He goes to visit his brother in the elders den the next day, nosing his way through the entrance. It took him longer than it used too, his senses having dulled as he aged. But Jayfeather got used to it.

"Jayfeather." Lionblaze purrs, the sound rumbling deep in his chest. He's the only elder in the den right now. Good. This isn't a conversation for anyone else to hear. "Why have you come to visit little ole me?"

"I think I'm going to leave you soon." He says, settling down in the same nest as his littermate. Lionblaze, still a big hunk of fur in his old age, scoots over for him.

"Don't say that!" Lionblaze snaps, eyes wide. Jayfeather knew it would upset his brother when he told him. He didn't want to upset Lionblaze, to leave him on edge for days; waiting and fearing the moment for when his littermate would die. But he couldn't just not say anything either.

He's just glad he can no longer feel the fear or grief of whatever emotion is currently rolling around inside his brother. That would've made all this worse.

"I can hear them calling, Lion." Jayfeather says, flicking his ears to the right. Starclan's been speaking to him far too much for his liking, even if he can barely hear what they're saying. Bluestar is going on about something right now, actually, but it is easy to drown her out. "Yellowfang's being awfully annoying with all her muttering."

"Didn't they call to Dove before she went?" Lionblaze says, recalling what Dovewing had told her. It was the last time they saw her, the last gathering she ever went too. She had said voices were calling to her, voices of the long dead. She heard her parents, Rowankit, Rippletail, cats who had fallen in the Great Battle, and voices of countless Clanmates. From Shadowclan and Thunderclan alike.

Back then, Jayfeather had just found it unsettling. Maybe a sign of trouble to come, perhaps the stars sending them a warning, even. Lionblaze had just thought it weird, an old cat's imagination acting up. With hindsight, both of them should've said their goodbyes to Dovewing and made her see Ivypool again.

They were invited to her burial merely a few days later. Her sister had been inconsolable. Lionblaze hadn't spoken a word to anybody. Jayfeather was in one of the worst moods he'd ever been in for the next fortnight.

The medicine cat didn't like thinking about Dovewing, the warning signs, her death, and the fallout afterwards. So he didn't. Not until now, when the same thing was happening to him.

If where any other cat, one not star touched, all of this would be terrifying rather than comforting. It still is a little scary, to be honest, but not as much as it could've been.

"They did, for a week or so." Jayfeather mewed. Bluestar's voice was gone now. She must’ve figured out he wouldn't be listening. "Must be because we're the prophecy kits."

"If I have to hear Crowfeather, or Starclan forbid Berrynose, whispering in my ear, I might just jump into the lake." Lionblaze snorts, shuddering at the thought of both of those things happening. His brother's tail twitches in amusement. He doesn’t think Berrynose would be that bad. Not at first, anyways.

"You'll probably get Crowfeather, or Brambleclaw. I'm getting either one or both of them." Jayfeather mews. It had been hard to tell which one of his father's had been speaking amongst all the voices, but one of them had been there. He hoped it was Brambleclaw's. "Leafpool's voice has been there too."

"Who else?" Lionblaze asks, clearly curious. And probably wanting some hints on his own Starclan voices will eventually be. Even though Jayfeather's sure they're all gonna get different cats, with a few expectations.

"Briarlight. And Poppyfrost." Jayfeather listens for voices again as he speaks, to see if he can hear anyone new. It seems they are being oddly silent. Maybe Starclan can recognize the importance of this conversation, and had decided to shut up for once.

Lionblaze pauses before asking his next question, voice a but shaky. Jayfeather already knows what it is before he even says it. "No Holly?"

"Not yet. But she might be waiting 'till I get there." He says, letting a sigh escape him. He wishes his sister was there, whispering nonsense in his ear instead of some medicine cat he never met. Her voice would certainly be a lot more welcome.

"That sounds like her." Lionblaze rumbles, a soft smile flashing across his face. Hollyleaf was never one for toying with cats. "But I want you here for a little bit longer."

"I'll try to stay." Jayfeather promises, the second time he's done so, as Lionblaze rests his big stupid head on his brothers back. The promise means as much hear as it did with Alderheart.

"Good." The golden tom mumbles, relieved, voice muffled when he hides his face in his brother's pelt. "I don't wanna be haunted just yet."

"Ha! I'm gonna haunt your tail off!" Jayfeather laughs, cuffing his brother affectionately. The medicine cat is already planning his haunting methods, and what stuff would scare his brother best.

"I'll have some good stories for the kits then!" Lionblaze purrs, probably guessing exactly how his brothers gonna haunt his tail off. It'll still be a successful haunting despite that.

"Oh you bet you will!" Jayfeather snorts, resting his head on his paws. It'll be nice to spend one last afternoon, curled up next to his littermate like they were just kits again.

___________________________________

All his family are there when it happens, the closest to him awkwardly shoved in the medicine den together; while the a few more cats linger outside, waiting to enter. Jayfeather insisted most of them didn't have to come, that he would be more than fine with only Lionblaze and Squirrelstar and Alderheart. They all insisted otherwise right back, and hovered around anyways.

Lionblaze lays next to him the whole time, stuck to him like a burr in his pelt. Jayfeather doesn't mind. He wishes he could've curled around Hollyleaf like this when she died, and knows his brother does too. He will let the golden tabby have this, for the very last time.

"I'm gonna miss you, Jay." He mutters, head buried in his brothers fur. He sounds like he's about to cry, even when Jayfeather specifically asked him to cry afterwards, when he won't know about it. He doesn't like seeing cats cry, especially not over him.

"I know you will." Jayfeather rubs his cheek against Lionblaze's temple, taking in his scent for the last time. He's gonna miss this idiot more than he thought. "Insult Breezepelt for me, will you?"

"Of course." His brother lets out a weak purr at his last request, then starts to list off his own requests for their dead friends in Starclan. Because of course he had some. "Tell Berrynose he still sucks, and Cinderheart-"

"I'll tell Cinderheart you miss her." Jayfeather snorts, amused. He was going to do that anyways, weather Lionblaze asked him or not. He'd be a pretty lackluster brother and brother-in-law if he didn't.

Alderheart sits infornt of him, tail wrapped over his paws. He looks like his world is ending. Jayfeather told him to stop looking like that, he was only dying! Alderheart would still see him at half moon meetings! His former apprentice, clearly, was still a horrible listener.

He flicks his tail, beckoning Alderheart even closer. The ginger tom blinks at him, and shuffles himself closer uncertainly. Jayfeather resists the urge to say something snappy about it. Now doesn't feel like the time.

"It'll be okay, kid." He mutters, touching his nose to Alderheart's. His apprentice is trembling with grief infront of him. Jayfeather wishes that dying didn't have to be so sad.

Alderheart's voice trembles, his mew sadder than Jayfeather has ever heard it aound before. It makes his heart break, just a little bit. (More like a lot...) "How am I gonna-?"

"You're gonna be a great medicine cat without me. You already are." Jayfeather tells him, like he's told him a million times already. He's seen Alderheart heal for moons and moons now, he knows he'll be a great medicine cat without his mentor. He already is. Maybe even better than Jayfeather himself one day.

Alderheart moves back with a shaky nod, letting the next cat come to visit their dying loved on. He sits where Leafpool's nest once was. Right across from Jayfeather's..

His sister, Sparkpelt, is next to him, one if the cats Jayfeather said didn't need to be here. He was never that close with his adopted sister after all. But she had come anyways. If not for him, then at least for her mother and brother.

Sparkpelt starts to cover her brother in comforting licks, muttering sift words to him while she does so. Alderheart just nods stiffly at her. He doesn't say anything for the rest of the day.

Ivypool, another cat he'd told not to come, sits bext to Sparkpelt. Her head is bowed. She does not say anything, and cannot look at Jayfeather. He wonders if she's hear for herself, or because Dovewing can't be.

Thunderclan's leader is next to say her goodbyes, gently pushing past her kits. She sits down infront of Jayfeather, right where Alderheart had. He gets the impression that unlike her son, his leader will not be leaving his side.

"My kit." Squrrielstar murmurs, pressing her forehead against Jayfeather's. There is such a deep sadness in her voice, a sadness he has heard before. The kind that comes with losing a kit. He feels bad he is making his adopted mother live through yet another loss, but it cannot be helped.

His mother lays next to him, on the opposite side of Lionblaze. She doesn't say anything else. Jayfeather finds he cannot speak either. Leaving Squirrelstar, and being yet another one of her countless losses, has made him too choked up.

Hollytuft and Sorrelstripe enter the den next, the two cats he had kitsitted so many moons ago. Their younger sister, Spotfur, sits at the den entrance. He had told these three they didn't need to come see him. But they'd done it anyways. His family were all horrible listeners.

He's just glad the whole extended family didn't show up, that would've been far too many cats for anyone to handle on their deathbed. Especially for a cat like Jayfeather.

Hollytuft sits in front of him, Sorrelstripe on her other side. Jayfeather is going to tell Hollyleaf and Sorreltail everything about these two, even the stuff they already know. He doesn't need to tell Ferncloud anything. She's already met Fernsong. She already knows.

After many long moons, and with all his family finally beside him, Jayfeather closes his eyes for the very last time. And the last thing he feels in the living world is his brother purring steady, and his mother licking his ears as he goes. (It was the first thing he heard back as a tiny kit, too, in that old treestump in leaf-bare. It makes the whole process a lot more comforting.)

When he next opens his eyes, Jayfeather still cannot see anything. But his nose and ears feel as sharp just as they used too. So that's an improvement.

There's pawsteps bounding towards him, ones he knows well. Hearing them makes Jayfeather come to his sense faster. He hasn't heard those pawsteps in so long, he thought he would never hear them again-

"Jayfeather!" His sister calls, her voice sounding like music to his ears. It has been so long since he'd seen her, since Hollyleaf was never a spirt who liked to dream-walk. Not after her brother's powers. But that just made this reunion all the more special.

"Hollyleaf!" He yells back, right as a body crashes into him. The black she-cat sends them with tumbling to the ground in her excitement, giggling as she does so. Jayfeather cannot help the purr that escapes him, burying his muzzle in her soft black fur. He had missed his littermate so much, more than words could describe. It felt wonderful to finally be with her again

"I missed you." He says, hiding his face in her pelt like he did when he was a kit, scared of the too loud thunderstorms outside the nursery. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too." Hollyleaf says, purring still. Jayfeather can't remember when he last saw her this happy, when she last purred this much. But he didn't care. His sister was finally with him again, and that was all that mattered.

"Don't keep him all to yourself!" A voice calls, and Jayfeather's head shoots up. He almost can't believe that he's hearing her speak again. It can't be. It has to be. This is Starclan. It literally couldn't be anyone else but her.

"Briarlight!" He says, getting to his paws so quickly, he almost falls right down again. Hollyleaf lets him go with one last purr, most likely planning to steal him away once everyone else has said their hellos. And she can steal him away all she wants, but only after he sees her again.

"Jayfeather! I missed you so much!" Briarlight purrs, dragging herself towards. Jayfeather skidds to a halt infront of her, taking in her scent once again. Her scent, that no longer smells like the sickness that had taken her, and now holds the scent if Starclan's hunting grounds.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you, I'm so sorry-" Jayfeather whispers, pressing his muzzle against her cheek. Guilt chokes him even now, just as it had done since the day she died. If only he hadn't gone in the nursery with the sickness, if he'd just-

Briarlight cuts her old friend off, before he can keep apologizing for all eternity. "Hush. It was never your fault, silly."

Jayfeather moves back a bit, wanting to protest. But he stops himself. The look Briarlight is giving him, although he can't see it, is burning into his pelt. If he keeps blaming himself, she's probably going to smack him with her tail.

"Don't stand here saying sorry to me, not when you have other cats waiting to see you!" Briarlight continues, and two familiar scents hit Jayfeather's nose. Two more cats he'd missed dearly, and wished to meet again every single day. Seeing them now is almost like whiplash.

"Leafpool! Brambleclaw!" He calls, and before he knows it his mother and foster father are both curling around him joyfully. For once, he doesn't scowl at the affection they give. He's gone far too long without it to do that.

"Oh, my kit!" Leafpool rubs her cheek against her son's, purring louder than he's ever heard her purr before. Jayfeather gives in, and purrs alongside her. He had missed his mother more than he ever knew he would, just as much as he had missed his late sister.

"I've missed you." Brambleclaw rumbled to his right, and Jayfeather pressed himself against his father, burying his muzzle into dark tabby fur. Leafpool moved away to let them have their own moment, her amber eyes shining with enough love to fill the whole lake.

Poppyfrost is next to meet him, a loud purr coming from her throat. "There you are! You big furball!" She calls out, running to her friend's side. Jayfeather knows that stars must look beautiful in her calico pelt.

"Poppyfrost!" He exclaims, moving away from his kin and touching noses with her. "How have you been? And Honeyfern and Mousewhisker and Hazeltail-" Jayfeather asks about the cats they grew up with, most of them and their littermates having passed on already. He'd missed them more than he thought he would, missed sharing jokes and stories from their days as apprentices and young warriors, missed making references only they could understand. The Clan got lonelier and lonelier the less often he was able to turn to an old dennmate, and laugh at some stupid inside joke.

"They're all doing wonderfully." She assures him, sounding happier. A lot happier than she had ever sounded in life, especially after Honeyfern and Molepaw and Berrynose's deaths.

"Good." Jayfeather mews, touching his old friend's nose one last time. Then she moves away, letting the rest if his deceased kin come and visit him in her place.

Firestar and Sandstorm get to him eventually, both warriors drowning their grandson in affection. Jayfeather is too happy to see them to complain. He hasn't seen Sandstorm in moons, and Firestar longer. They bring with them Dandelionkit and Juniperkit, the two adopted siblings he couldn't save, and the kits run around his legs excitedly. Jayfeather purrs upon meeting them again, glad they are doing well in Starclan.

Once his family starts to file out, Hollyleaf behins to drag him away. She is excited to show him around Starclan's hunting grounds, and spend some much needed time with her youngest brother. Time that they did not have together in life, time that was stolen away from them. He is looking forward to spending time with his sister too, but not so much the exploring part. He hoped Starclan wouldn't be too tricky to learn his way around-

"Jayfeather." A gruff voice says, stopping him before he can follow his littermate into the starry field. Jayfeather stops, and turns back around. He knows that voice.

"Crowfeather." He greets his father with a nod. It has been many moons since he'd seen the gray Windclan tom. Jayfeather hadn't even gone to his burial. There was no reason for him to. And there was no reason for them to be any closer now.

Being dead changed nothing about their relationship, and he hoped Crowfeather wasn't expecting anything like that to happen. Because it wouldn't. He would have to wait for Lionblaze to have any luck in that department.

But instead of saying anything stupid, or sentimental, his father just dips his head. "Welcome to Starclan, son." He mews, and then steps away.

"Thank you." Jayfeather says, dipping his head in return. And that is that, Hollyleaf promptly ignoring their father and starting her tour of Starclan's territory. She promises to show him all the good spots to sun himself, and to introduce him to all the kits. Jayfeather doesn't think he could've had a better welcome into the afterlife.

___________________________________

"You know you can see if you wish too, don't you?" Yellowfang asks on his second day (or what Jayfeather thinks is his second day,) lounging in a rock next to him.

"Yes. But I don't want too." He says, still relaxed in the sun. Jayfeather had been blind all his life, only seeing in dreams and when he used his powers. The powers he'd lost moons ago, and the dreams he'd stopped having as he aged, and Alderheart took on more and more of his former role. Jayfeather had lived practically his whole life without seeing, it was normal for him. He was used to it, his body and mind where used to it. Suddenly being able to see everything now would probably just be more of a hindrance than anything.

"Besides, I've seen enough of your face already." He adds a minute later, not missing an opportunity to tease the old she-cat next to him.

Yellowfang laughs at that, a real, genuine one, and tells Jayfeather she missed their bantering. And for once, he couldn't agree with the old badger more.

___________________________________

He finds Dovewing quicker that expected, tracking her down on his second day. And tracking someone down in Starclan wasn't too hard. All you had to do was ask around. There were so many cats here, someone was bound to point you in the right direction eventually.

"You didn't greet me. What's with that." Jayfeather mews when he finds the gray she-cat, Dovewing sunning herself on some rocks. Hollyleaf had called this place Sunning Rocks on her tour, or something like that. "I thought we were friends or something."

"There were so many cats already!" Doevwing mews, jerking her head towards him. She must’ve been expecting him then. That, or Jayfeather was being as loud as a badger on his way here. "I didn't wanna steal anyone's moment!"

"You would've been welcomed, mouse-brain." He huffs, nudging her side with a paw lightly. "To make up for it you have to greet Lionblaze with me."

"That's fair." Dovewing yawns, shifting her position so that she gets even more sun. Get anymore than that, and Jayfeather thinks she'll be lighting her own fur on fire. "How is that old badger anyways?"

"Annoying as ever." Jayfeather snorts, flopping down on the rock next to her. He thinks Lionblaze will be annoying until the day he dies, and then when he gets up here as well.

"I expected nothing less." Dovewing purrs, resting her head on her paws comfortably, and then yawning one more time as the sun warmed her pelt. "And Ivypool?"

"Ivy's doing well. She's been muttering about retiring soon." Jayfeather says, remembering how the deputy had been complaining about her old, creaking bones and how she just wasn't young anymore. He had just laughed, and told her to toughen up a bit. Ivypool had retorted that he talked big for a cat who belonged in the elders den.

"Good," Dovewing puffs, Jayfeather atrechong out rigjt next to her, more than content to sit and enjoy the sun with an old friend. "She needs it."

___________________________________

"Hey, Jayfeather!" Berrynose's voice calls, the cream tom finding him in his first week of wandering Starclan. "Long time no see!"

"Berrynose." Jayfeather kews, faux exasperation in his tone. He turns to where his clanmates voice came from, feeling a rush of wind as the other tom stops beside him. "I see your still annoying as ever."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Berrynose jokes, the stub of his tail flicking playfully. Well, at least even he agrees he's annoying now.

"Lionblaze says you still suck, by the way." Jayfeather says, remembering what his brother had requested. He's sure Lionblaze will repeat the very same thing when he gets up here, whenever that is.

"Oh, of course he does!" Berrynose snorts, and rolls his eyes goid naturedly. "When he gets up here-"

"Where's Cinderheart?" Jayfeather cuts his friend off, remembering his brother's other request. Another thing Lionblaze will repeat when he gets up here, but something he'd been jn more trouble for forgetting than the Berrynose message.

"I think she was this way!" The cream tom says, getting to his paws once more. And he probably points to wherever this way is too, like Jayfeather could see that. "Hazeltail and Honeyfern are nearby too!"

"What about Mousewhisker?" He asks, noticing how he's not been mentioned yet. It's weird for the white and gray tom to not be with either of his littermates, especially Hazeltail. Those two were always stuck to each other like burrs.

"He's with Minnowtail, near where the Riverclan cats hang out." Berrynose calls over his shoulder, bounding through the undergrowth.

"No surprises there." Jayfeather snorts. Mousewhisker was almost as attached to his mate as he was his twin sister. The half-clan mate everyone had figured out he had but didn't say anything. It was a miracle they both got through the whole imposter thing undetected, really.

Berrynose leads him to where Cinderheart is, the gray tabby resting near bush. Jayfeather thanks him, and then shooes the annoying cat off and tells him to go bither Honeyfern or something. Which, thankfully, during his time in Starclan, Berrynose has learned to listen. But he does give a sharp remark as he leaves. Because he wouldn't be Berrynose if he didn't.

"Jayfeather!" Cinderheart purrs in greeting, reaching out to touch noses with her old friend. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too." Jayfeather mews, sitting down on his haunches next to her. "Lionblaze said he missed you. He really wanted me to pass that along"

"That big idiot." Cinderheart purred, fondness in her voice. She clearly missed her mate greatly, the longing for him shining through jn her face. And Jayfeather, despite only being here for little while, was starting to feel the same. It was the longest he's ever gone without his big brother by his side..

The two of them sit there, chatting for a little while. But Cinderheart gets restless. Jayfeather isn't expecting anything less. She was always too excited and rambunctious for her own good, especially in their younger days. Said rambunctious energy had also landed her in the medicine den too many times for him to count. She never listened to him, or Leafpool and Alderheart, when they said to calm it down.

"Ya know, there's a stream nearby." Cinderheart says, sounding mischievous again. He'd gotten so used to her as an elder, and her bones being as old as half the trees in the forest, he'd forgotten how much of a trouble maker his sister-in-law could be.

"What are suggesting?" Jayfeather mews, whiskers twitching. He knows exactly what she's suggesting.

"How about we take a swim? Like the good ole days?" Cinderheart bumps his shoulder with hers playfully, already padding off towards the aforementioned stream before Jayfeather can even get to his paws.

Jayfeather takes a moment to think, then shrugs. "Why not." He's in Starclan now. He can do whatever he wants here. No one can yell at him for going swimming anymore, and he certainly can't drown. Not in Starclan, at least.

Cinderheart let's out a whoop of joy, and starts heading towards the stream. Jayfeather gets to his paws, and manages to race her all the way there, the whole forest clearing the path for both of them.

___________________________________

"You know....Starclan cats look like themselves at their happiest." Leafpool says one day. The two of them are resting under the shade of a great oak tree, one his mother said looked like the Owl Tree; a landmark from the old forest territories. Jayfeather, never knowing what an Owl Tree was, just nodded along with her words.

"And?" He mews, expecent. Leafpool knows hr knows this, it's been told to him many times in dreams before. He just doesn't know she she brought it up out of the blue.

"Nothing it's just....the way you look." His mother says, looking at him softly. Jayfeather goes to flick his tail in annoyance, then stops.

"...How do I look?" He asks hesitantly, a little scared of the awnser. The medicine cat wasn't quite sure when he had been the happiest in his life, though he had some pretty good guesses. Chances are that none of them were right.

"Like you did the day Hollyleaf came home." Leafpool breathes. She sounds like just the memory of that day, of seeing her precious daughter again, can still take her breath away.

Jayfeather pricks his ears, and blinks. Well, thats an awnser he hadn't been expecting. How could she know what he looked like on one specific day out of the hundreds he'd lived? "How can you tell?"

"Well, there's less gray on your muzzle. You didn't have any gray fur at all, back then." His mother mews, her amber eyes sweeping over him, studying him. "Your scars less faded, too."

"Oh. I never knew it faded." Jayfeather mumbles, unconsciously going to lick at his shoulder, tounge rasping over the scarred skin. He'd thought it had been too deep to fade.

"Yes, it did. It was still visible in your later years, but it had faded quite a bit." Leafpool mutters, and then her words trail off. Like she is trying to find other ways he looked different on that day specifically. Jayfeather doesn't think she's going to find much more. Not unless his stripes had changed without anybody telling him!

"That's just...small differences like that." She mews eventually. Jayfeather believes her, even if you just do it's not the strongest reason. "Firestar and Sandstorm said they see it too."

"Well, I guess that was the happiest day of my life." Jayfeather snorts. And, when he thinks on it more, he struggles to find a memory happier than the one of his sister coming home. Even with all the other emotions tangled within it.

Leafpool nods her head in agreement. "It was mine too."

[lridescencee]

another passage from my project!!

Wanted to share another passage from my current project! this is a bit further into the narrative, around the inciting incident.

but please, enjoy! <3 (and don't take this and call it your own)

The dark shadow crept from room, the door splintering behind it. Lucille peered around the deserted den, everything amiss. Glasses sat smashed across the floor, residue smeared, and barrels of liquor drained and dripping. On any other day, that would have been a fantastic thing, yet she knew it was wrong. Knew it meant nothing good. Lucille crept along the room, palm gliding across the stucco wall as if it would keep her up if she fell. Peering into the foggy looking glass adjacent from the kitchens arch, she prayed it would reveal something. Reveal something other than the rickety preparation bench she’d spent so many morning sat atop of talking to Clara. Listening to Badger’s stories or laughing at Pip and Maddox’s jokes. Yet it sat empty as sudden silence fell. The rain ceased. The curtains calmed their billowing race. And blinding, white light slashed across the room. Bowing over and covering her ears, Lucille took a staggering breath, allowing the thunder to roar overhead. It didn't take long for her to stand back upright, noticing what had truly been revealed in the lightnings wake. A knife sat, its hilt so black it seemed to have swallowed all light from the room. Had it always been there?

[extravagantwolf]

iPad kid stance if I've ever seen one. Despite looking like an angry sewer rat, Heavywind is closer to a landmine with anime tears in his eyes. His lore is under the cut.

A prophecy swept through the dwindling numbers of CarrionClan: "The zenith of bloodshed is upon you." Shortly thereafter, more cats within the Clan perished, but several kits were brought in. Heavywind was among the Clanborn kits alongside his sister, Fireseeker, and denmate, Badgershadow.

Badgershadow was an extremist and staunch believer that CarrionClan shouldn't help the weak or filthy blooded. His father, Coalglare, strongly carried these beliefs due to his mate having been killed by a rogue shortly after Badgershadow's birth. It never helped that Badgershadow naturally had a longing for bloodshed either. Bloodthirst ran thick in his veins.

Heavywind didn't believe in the extremist values that Badgershadow did. In fact, he wanted to help others. However, every time he attempted, the outsider always met a cruel fate. It was as if his existence was a bane to life -- a curse. Even his leader succumbed to him, being killed by a badger right in front of him.

One night while wandering the territory, Heavywind found his crush killing an elderly kittypet. The cat couldn't have fought back against Badgershadow. He would have proved no threat. Terrified, he tried to back away as if he saw nothing, but Badgershadow approached. With pretty words and a confession of love, Heavywind lost himself in the joy to bury the conflict.

However, that wasn't the only murder. Several cats came after, and Badgershadow always had an excuse. A reason. An explanation. Heavywind knew it was wrong. He knew it was worse to help Badgershadow. Still, he was complicit and began somewhat falling for Badgershadow's propaganda as his mate rallied supporters.

His iffy stance was forced to bristle as Badgershadow laid down a plot to murder the deputy, Maplebreeze. Heavywind's mentor was Stormlurker, who became the mother of Maplebreeze's kit. He knew a lot of details about their unstable relationship, and he was very close to Stormlurker.

Badgershadow hadn't expected him to land the killing blow, nor to kill the deputy so swiftly. Freezing up and leading to so many cats being killed led Heavywind to develop into a formidable fighter despite his young age. When the blood hit his maw and Badgershadow's smile met his eyes, the horror sunk in, but Maplebreeze was dead.

Their moonlit stroll was hiding Maplebreeze's corpse in an active badger den, and for Heavywind, grappling with the weight of his actions.

[lavender-laney]

choking on sea salt, chapter three (part two)

chapter 1, chapter 2 part one, chapter 2 part two, chapter 3 part one

Joseph meets the pair at the entrance to town. The sun is well overhead by the time Sadie and Nikolai step up to greet him. He glances between the two, gaze searching, until he must find what he’s searching for, resolutely turning to Nikolai.

“Shepherd wants to speak with you,” he says simply. Sadie glances at Nikolai, feeling as though that phrase must hold more weight than she can understand. Her suspicions are confirmed as the man pales abruptly, nodding without a word and setting off for the large, well-kept house Sadie had noticed the night prior.

Joseph watches him go, shoulders tense. To Sadie, he attempts a smile, but Sadie only feels unnerved. 

“We’re to join the others for the mid-day meal,” he says, turning away from Sadie and beginning towards the building they’d eaten in the previous night. Smoke drifts from the chimney, and the smell of cooking meat turns Sadie’s stomach as she’s reminded of the musky scent of the barn.

The chatter from within the building fades as Joseph pushes the door open, then rises again when only Joseph lumbers in with Sadie trailing behind him.

“You can re-join the women,” Joseph says after they’ve both collected their plates, again with meager servings, scraping the last dredges of thick lamb stew from the bottom of the iron kettle.

Her eyes scan the room. Just as the previous night, the men sit together, backs hunched over their meal and tired eyes staring into their bowls. A low chatter fills the room, and Sadie picks out conversations about the weather, the season’s crop yield, a fence that needs repaired. Mundane. Useless. She refocuses on the group of women that have gathered in a corner table. Surely they will be more helpful, she thinks, mind returning to Edith’s odd reaction to Sadie’s questions. She knows something, Sadie thinks, eyes locking on the woman. Like a hound with its nose down a badger den.

Mary, Elizabeth, and Edith sit together just as they had the night prior. As Sadie sits, Mary avoids her gaze and her daughter seems to not notice Sadie’s presence, attention focused purely on the bowl in front of her. Edith, however, meets the girl’s gaze, eyes wary. Not a word is spoken, only the dull scraping of spoons against porcelain filling the air.

“Hello,” Sadie says, holding onto her nerve against the suffocating tension. “How are you ladies this morning?”

Mary glances up, eyes darting, turning to Edith for guidance. Sadie begins to wonder if Elizabeth even knows there’s anyone else at the table, considering the way the girl remains focused on the last bits of stew in the bottom of her bowl.

“Fine,” Edith responds, voice quiet, eyes flicking behind Sadie to where Joseph surely sits.

Sadie fights to keep a grimace from overtaking her amicable smile. “Great!” she says. “That’s great. Nikolai showed me the sheep barn this morning. They seem like… interesting animals. I spent time on a cow farm growing up, you know. They’re not too different.”

Mary looks up at that, a spark in her eye Sadie has not yet seen from any of the townsfolk. “We used to have cows here. My husband took care of them. The calves were always sweet things,” she says, voice wistful, gaze far away.

“Used to?” Sadie asks, voice a tad too excited. “What happened to them?”

“Drowned,” Edith says, tone flat.

Sadie can’t keep the shocked expression off her face, this time. She turns to meet the woman’s eyes, unsurprised by her harsh gaze. The lines beneath her eyes are deep and dark, and for a moment, Sadie is reminded of the empty stares of the sheep. She wonders what’s so wrong with this land to create such a look in its inhabitants.

Something in the water? Algae blooms? Something in the air, in the food? Is there something wrong with the population, genetic defects or diseases?

“What do you mean they drowned?” Sadie asks.

The harsh set of Edith’s frown deepens. “They drowned,” she repeats. “Creatures of the devil, dead-set on returning to hell. I don’t blame them.”

“Edith!” Mary gasps, setting a hand on the woman’s arm, chastising. She glances back to Joseph, quickly lowering her voice. “That talk is not appropriate, and certainly not at the dining table.” Turning to Sadie, shifting eyes meeting Sadie’s searching gaze, she says, “The animals were sick, they behaved strangely. That is all there is to it.”

That is certainly not all there is to it, Sadie thinks near-gleefully, mind racing. Before she can determine a way to continue her questions tactfully, she’s interrupted by Elizabeth lifting her head for the first time since Sadie arrived.

The girl looks up from her now-empty bowl, eyes locked on her mother’s stew. Mary has only eaten half of her meal, Sadie realizes. The woman’s cheekbones protrude sharply, eyes deeply set. Her hand, where it still rests on Edith’s arm, is near-skeletal, translucent where the blue-green of her veins is visible. Even with mere mouthfuls available as sustenance, she shouldn’t be skipping meals.

“Would you like the rest of mine?” Mary asks her daughter when she feels the girl’s piercing gaze, pushing the stew toward Elizabeth. The girl’s hands grab the bowl away like snakes spooked from their burrows, spoon scraping the sickly brown broth into her mouth, ensuring even the bits dripping down her chin are not wasted, scooping them towards her gnashing tongue without hesitation. Sadie is startled by the child’s frenzied behavior, while Mary watches with furrowed brows and a hopeless frown. Edith is as stone-faced as ever but shows a tick of nerves as chair scrapes against wood. Sadie turns to watch Joseph approach, a note of unease sparking at the grim expression on his face.

Mary, though she keeps her eyes low and face turned away, clearly sees the man’s approach, reaching out a hand to grab her daughter’s arm, gesturing for her to calm herself. Elizabeth jerks away, nearly spilling the stew, pulling the bowl off the table and into her lap, bent over it like a coyote with roadkill, a white-knuckle grip on her spoon. Sadie swears she hears a growl building in her concave chest. 

“Elizabeth—!”

“Is that any way to behave?” Joseph asks, voice tight.

A hush falls over the room.

The rest of the room’s occupants have averted their gazes from Joseph’s searching stare and harsh frown. Sadie, though, can’t pull her eyes away. She feels like a deer in headlights, if the deer was eagerly awaiting the impact of steel against its ribs, if it carefully placed itself in the center of the pavement hoping for its flesh to be left scraped across asphalt. Despite Joseph’s rigid expression, there is something regretful about the way he looks at Elizabeth. Mournful, almost. 

Sadie is fascinated.

“Please, Joseph, she didn’t mean anything by it—!”

Mary’s plea is easily silenced.

“You both are well aware of what this behavior will bring,” Joseph says steadily, nothing like the odd, timid man Sadie met at the town’s gates. He’s stood to nearly his full height, crooked back and bum leg straining under the effort. For the first time, Joseph’s stare breaks from the silent girl and her trembling mother to turn and meet Sadie’s wide-eyed gaze.

She startles, a jolt of caution shooting down her spine at the reminder that she is a participant in this spectacle, not an observer. His unnerving gaze captures her for a long, tense moment, before she is freed as he turns back to the mother and daughter.

“Show grace, Elizabeth,” Joseph says firmly, and Mary shudders, a hint of relief relaxing the lines of her face. She turns to her daughter and sets a tense hand on her shoulder, though Elizabeth stays turned away, legs tensed as if ready to run away with the bowl of stew, jaw tight like she’s prepared to defend her meal with her own teeth.

“Elizabeth,” Mary whispers, voice trembling. Edith has moved closer, a willowy hand resting on the mother’s shoulder, eyes mournful in a way Sadie can’t understand. Her eyes plead with Mary to give in, but the mother isn’t watching. She has only eyes for her daughter, half-feral with hunger. “Elizabeth,” Mary tries again.

The girl lifts her head from her meal, cold eyes meeting Joseph’s. Sadie cannot discern an ounce of respect or regret in her gaze.

“I’m sorry,” she spits, “I wasn’t meaning to be ungrateful.”

Every word drips with venom, and Mary looks somehow more panicked. Joseph watches the pair for a long moment, a war ravaging behind his stern expression.

“Get her under control, Mary,” Joseph demands, eyes not leaving the girl nearly vibrating with tension. “I want to believe this behavior isn’t,” he stumbles over his words, eyes flicking to Sadie, “—isn’t what I think it is, but this can’t continue.”

“I know,” Mary whispers, lips trembling as she reaches for her daughter. Elizabeth doesn’t react to her mother’s grasping hands, this time, neither to lean into the embrace or jerk away like she had before. She simply stares, looking abruptly like the lost, hungry child that she is, into the empty depths of her bowl. Sadie is filled with the urge to avert her gaze, and is spared from the guilt creeping up her spine by Joseph’s voice.

“Miss,” he begins, spine losing its tension as he refocuses his attention on Sadie, “Shepherd would like for me to bring you back to your vehicle so you can collect your belongings.”

Sadie simply stares at him for a moment, feeling like she’d missed something, like a conversation had occurred right in front of her without her notice. “Yes,” she manages. “Yes, that would be great.” The discomfort is abruptly more than she can handle, and she stands from the table. Her bowl is empty, but Elizabeth’s eyes dart up to follow as Sadie lifts it. “Let’s do that.”

༝ ˚ ｡⋆ 𓇼 ⋆｡ ˚ ༝

As they near the forest’s edge, Sadie realizes her wariness of the forest during the night wasn’t without reason. She follows Joseph between the trees, the beginning of autumn’s leaves crunching underfoot. Abruptly, the sound of distant birdsong becomes muffled. The breeze that had been tickling through her hair just moments before fades, the air growing stagnant. The sound of Joseph’s labored breathing and heavy footsteps is the only sound that fills her ears.

A question sets on the edge of her tongue, ready to ask why the forest is so strange, but the image of Joseph looming over Elizabeth’s stiff form brings her to a pause. These people shouldn’t be underestimated, she tells herself. Silverlee knew their danger, as did the man in the town Sadie had stopped in just a mere day ago, though it feels far longer. She holds her curiosity, for now, a writhing mass of questions growing between her ribs.

“How soon do ya think you can have your machine fixed?” Joseph asks, breaking the uncomfortable air between them. “It’d really be best for you to get on your way, a girl like yourself shouldn’t be out here with us folks.”

Sadie latches onto the phrase Joseph has used numerous times now. A girl like me? she wonders. She dismisses it momentarily, tucking it away for consideration later.

“I’m really not sure,” she says vaguely. “I need to take a proper look at it before I can determine how I can fix it.” Not for the first time, she wonders how Silverlee convinced the townsfolk to let her stay so long. Although the woman had only been journaling for her own sake, Sadie wishes she had been more detailed.

“Hmph,” is Joseph’s only response, though he seems more troubled than irritated.

The forest is different in the daytime. The sun streams weakly through the thick leaves, illuminating the undergrowth in places. As Sadie watches where she steps, she realizes none of the plants look as she thinks they should. She doesn’t often spend time studying the color or shapes of plants, largely because she doesn’t spend much time hiking through forests, but even she can see they’re not quite right. Nearly every leaf is browned and curling at its edges, stalks drooping and crumbling under the weight of a mere few stems. There are no flowers, and, at the back of her mind, Sadie remembers something from high school biology about pollination and male and female plants and wonders how they’re growing despite their collectively unhealthy appearances.

She glances up at Joseph’s back, thinking back to the meal that now feels so distant, and the overheard whispers about dying crops.

Finally, a break in the thick undergrowth, the sun’s light shining through more clearly. Sadie hadn’t realized it had gotten so dark under the trees’ thick branches.

“Alright, miss,” Joseph says, situating himself on a felled tree as Sadie steps toward her car. The man sits parallel to the car rather than across from it, leaving the contents of the hood out of his view. Sadie breathes a quiet sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t planning on forcing her to prove that the car is, indeed, broken. She was hesitant to damage her only way back to civilization to further her lie. When she slips her fingers under the lip of the hood, she finds herself straining to pull it open, hinges shrieking and metal splintering as she finally heaves it open. Edges of the metal dig into her fingertips, and her attempt to muffle her curse is proven pointless as her eyes land on the contents of the hood.

“Everything okay over there?” Joseph asks, beginning to leverage his body off the log.

“Fine!” Sadie responds quickly, stinging fingers gripping the edge of the hood. “Don’t worry, everything is fine!”

Despite the strained quality of her shrill words, Joseph shakes his head and settles back onto the log, breath rattling like he’d just completed a short sprint rather than a brief attempt at standing. Sadie hardly notices when her own breath begins to rush into and from her chest in the very same manner.

The engine is destroyed.

༝ ˚ ｡⋆ 𓇼 ⋆｡ ˚ ༝

Okay a bit of lowkey boring filler here before we move into the more exciting parts... in the next chapter Sadie will see the freaky sheep again and make an ill-advised trip down to the ocean!

I also want to take this as an opportunity to see if anyone would be willing to offer feedback on what they've enjoyed most about Choking on Sea Salt and what they think could be improved on...? I would super appreciate that input if anyone is willing, via comment or anon ask or whatever <3

it makes me SO SO excited to see people interested in my silly little story so I want to make sure I'm putting out the best work that I can :)

Tag list (lmk if anyone would like to be added or removed!)

@megarywrites

@at-thezenith

@repressed-and-depressed

@plasma-studios

@pb-dot

@phantomnations

@thelittlestspider

@silverslipstream

@i-rove-rock-n-roll

@your-absent-father

@ashfordlabs

@digital-chance

@boundedsea

@kaze-writes

@laneybeetle

[strelles-universe]

Strelles Shorts 7 - The Path Forward

Ao3 Link

“Mapietail?”

There was no response, not a sight or even the shuffling signifying that someone was there. He couldn’t even find it himself to heave a sigh as Briarflutter took his non-answer as permission to enter his den, the flutterseer’s pawsteps echoing in the dug-out cavern for leaders.

“Magpie, you can’t just lie here forever.”

“...”

The healer sighed and moved closer, walking around so Magpietail could see his paws in the limited light of the den. There must be a crack somewhere - he’d have to get some mud to paste it over. He couldn’t stand to be in the sunlight, he didn’t deserve to be in the sunlight after what he’d almost done. After what he’d actually done. Pale yellow eyes stared blankly as a small stack of herbs were dropped in front of his muzzle, the names and their uses twisting out of the grasp of his mind.

“Magpie,” his friend said, in tone gentler than he deserved. “Hey, I get it. Talking is probably a lot right now. Do you think you can at least move your ears? Show me you can hear me.”

Briarflutter was a good healer and a better friend than Magpietail would ever deserve - so he flicked his left ear, knowing the bob-tailed tom would sit there waiting for the sun to rise if he didn’t say anything.

“Good,” Briarflutter said, satisfaction in his tone. “Then can you tell me why you’ve been leaving managing the entire faction to Deadfeather?”

Magpietail couldn’t suppress the slight wince that emerged reflexively, tucking his tail closer to himself. As soon as they’d… come home, he’d entered his den and not emerged since. He vaguely remembers his lieutenant badgering him for a bit, rattling off an injury report of their legionaries and those who were injured of Nightrattle’s cats before seeming to grow frustrated by his lack of a reaction. He’d called out to him a few more times after that but Magpietail never responded and he assumed the tom had given up.

“...that’s his job,” Magpietail murmured into his forepaws. “Leading when I can’t.”

“Yes, when you can’t,” agreed Briarflutter. “Not when you won’t. So again, why are you leaving everything to Deadfeather who has a mate and a sicky cub to look after?”

“I-” Magpietail’s mouth went dry as a new form of guilt washed over him. How… had he forgotten? Before all of this, his lieutenant had brought it up, talked about he and Ashfeather’s family - how his lieutenant had even brought up stepping down so he’d have more time for them to be more present for Ashfeather who was still in such a bad place after losing her other cubs when they were driven out. His claws sank into the barren earth beneath him, catching on the remains of the nest he’d angrily left in a misshapen heap outside of the den. “I- I’m a terrible leader Bri…”

“You had a lapse in judgement Maggie-”

“I attacked him,” Magpietail blurted out, slammed him paws atop his head as the feelings of horror and disgust that he’d been trying to avoid clawed through him like a rabid hawk’s talons. Cardinalfire’s faced played on an infinite loop in his mind, Hreto’s ruddy red coat pinned to the ground beneath hs paws not bothering to fight back. Vivid green eyes lacking any hint of anger or fury, just resignation as he braced himself for claws he expected Magpietail to deal against him and the gripping realization that he might have gone through with it, that he hadn’t recognized him.

His face was just a bit softer, with less angles and more curves than Hreto’s but all it had done was make him look young. And in that moment, all he could see was his dead mate’s face, his eyes, his expression of disappointment.

I knew you weren’t a bad cat Mags.

“You were wrong!” Magpietail cried, his claws sinking into his skull. “You were wrong Hreto! I’m awful! I attacked him, I attacked your son!”

How could he not have recognized him? How?! Ever since he’d first laid eyes on that tom, he’d known - remembered the tiny, squealing body that had been pressed against Iyera’s chest when he went to visit. He’d known since he saw the courage in his heart when he defended one of his own elders even though he was visibly terrified of being on the deer-trail. He’d always known, the world had never hidden it - that was Hreto’s son and Magpie had almost-

“That’s enough of that.”

He was startled out his dark spiral by a firm lick to his nose, befuddlement immediately filling him as he stared indignantly at Briarflutter who had - at some point - crouched down in front of him.

“Did you just-?” he began.

“It worked didn’t it?” Briarflutter said, whiskers twitching with open amusement at his offense. His expression softened again and he shuffled forward a little, pressing the tips of his toes against Magpietail’s, a soothing purr beginning to rumble from him. “Can you match my breath?”

“I- a-alright,” Magpietail agreed shakily, mention bringing his attention to how his chest was stuttering. He tried to emulate Briarflutter’s deliberately slow breathes, shakily taking in a slow breath and struggling not to expel all of his air at once.

“Good, good, thank you for trying,” Briarflutter said soothingly. “Now, I need you to listen to me, can you do that?”

Magpietail bobbed his head awkwardly.

“Good. Now, let’s start out with the obvious - you did mess up this time,” Briarflutter said, and though his tone was gentle and lacked judgement, the words themselves still made Magpietail cringe. “You didn’t listen to Deadfeather or any of the heads when they told you the raid was a bad idea. And now, you’re hiding in your den refusing to eat or drink and making dirt right next to the same corner you’ve been sleeping in. You’ve abandoned your clans for half a moon now.”

“Half… No- no it’s only a couple days,” Magpietail stammered. 

“Magpietail, the next meeting is only around four sunrises away,” Briarflutter said bluntly, dropping the leader into a cold river. “You’ve been in here, hiding in the dark and wallowing for most of the moon and leaving your factionmates to try working around you.”

“...I’m sorry,” he muttered hoarsely. “I-I hadn’t realized so much time had passed…”

“Obviously,” said Briarflutter. “But that’s okay, everyone knew how much Hreto meant to you. And… Morningflower saw what caused all of this. The faction understands.”

How humiliating, Magpietail thought to himself. He dropped his eyes to his paws in shame - here he was, sulking in his den like a petulant cub. Plenty of other cats have seen their kin attacked in battle, he hadn’t even really laid a claw on Cardinalfire but… he shuddered at the idea of having gone through with it, nausea abruptly rocking his empty belly.

“...how can any cat possibly respect me after all of this,” he rasped tiredly. “Gods… will Cardinalfire ever forgive me for this?”

“You’ve definitely wandered astray these last few days Magpie but no cat is without their flaws,” the healer pointed out. “Grief is a terrifying beast and yet, he is what keeps us safe from Amberspirit’s clawed grasp. You realized you were wrong, you stopped and you called for retreat.”

He extended his right paw, flipping it over to show the gentle, pink pads and left it open to him.

“You’re trying to do everything all on your own again and punishing yourself when it gets too much. It didn’t work when we were cadets and it’s certainly not working now,” Briarflutter told him. “The first step is realizing you messed up. The next is trying to make amends.”

Magpietail took in another deep breath and was surprised when it came out slowly, evenly. His claws had slipped back into their sheathes and he could feel his tail swishing in the slow, passive way it always did when he was attempting to sit still. At some point, he’d calmed down and suddenly he was aware of… everything. The rank stench of dirt buried under the scraps of his nest that he was surprised Briarflutter wasn’t cringing from, the way his skin twitched from his fur sticking out in every direction, the crusts in his eyes, the agitated rumbling of his empty stomach and a pounding headache paired with his dry mouth.

“...ugh…” he groaned.

“Finally feeling it all huh?” the healer chuckled. “So Magpie, what do you say?”

“...I’m ready to start apologizing,” Magpietail said quietly, placing his paw shakily atop of Briarflutter’s. “And thanks for not giving up on me.”

“You’re my friend before you’re my leader Maggie,” he said, then adopted a slightly teasing expression. “First though - you need a bath. In the river.”

Magpietail opened his mouth to argue reflexively, thinking about how freezing cold the river probably was now that they were (apparently) entering the colder seasons only to pause. He twisted to put his nose in his flank and sniffed.

He gagged.

“Okay. River first.”

[lionews]

Killa started out by just stalking when they were online

In this same screenshot, you can see where she mentions that she sent a few item messages. Not just one, a few, in their words. That could be anywhere between two and like five.

A little bit later they're aware that the RL winner opened their messages, and that they should send a guide to every new player that wins a RL. I get trying to help, but it's kind of annoying. Not to mention PMs are blocked, so that means they'd have to evade that to send an item transfer or comment on their den page.

Within 30 minutes of this, the RL owner contacts Killa that someone had reached out about selling the raffle lioness' next heat and wanted a price check. Their 200 GB response was fair.

However, it's what happened next that rubs me the wrong way.

Arguable, there is no properly way to breed a raffle lioness. The new user was less than a month old player and bred her at random with no items used, which is completely within their right.

Killa managed to convince them to Cotton Root Bark, killing the litter and bark her back into heat. Yes it nice of them if they provided the items but is 100% telling a player what to do with their lion.

This isn't the first time Killa's done this either. This is a repeated pattern she does, especially with RLs she likes :/

She is constantly stepping on RL winners' heels and badgering them.

[brinkclangen]

BRINKCLAN - MOON 2

Pumastar led Tempestpelt away from where Havenkit shivered against Webshade's body. In a low tone, he murmured, "Did you find anything?"

Tempestpelt shook his head. "I smelled it before I left, but I have no idea what it was."

"It looks like a badger attack."

"I know what badger smells like. This was something different."

Skystripe sat beside Havenkit and groomed the sticky fur on Webshade's neck. How cruel, to lose you after all.

Dashpaw paced his chin on Webshade's flank. Pumastar joined Skystripe's efforts to clean the dead warrior's pelt while Tempestpelt stood nearby.

Darkness slowly descended over the camp. As the first warriors of StarClan winked in the twilight, the medicine cat began, "Webshade was loyal. She followed Briarstar and Pumastar no matter where they led."

"She was quick," Dashpaw rose his head to add. "I saw her avoid a burning tree right before it fell on her."

Voice deep with emotion Pumastar put in, "And resourceful. She was the one to find Tempestpelt and myself after the fire burned out."

Skystripe stroked her tail down Havenkit's back. "She cared for our kits. There's no more important role."

"May StarClan light her path," Tempestpelt finished gravely.

~

Tempestpelt returned to camp, goldenrod hanging heavy in his jaws. Finally, he'd found a decent patch of plants. Dashpaw followed with more of the herb behind him. Pumastar didn't allow cats to leave the camp alone anymore.

"Until we know what it is," he'd ordered.

All well and good, but it meant longer days of patrolling to keep every cat fed, the borders marked, and Tempestpelt's stocks at all supplied.

"Thank you Dashpaw," he nodded to the apprentice as he set the herbs down. "That's all I needed today."

Dashpaw ran his tongue along his mouth as he left. Probably to rid it of the taste.

Tempestpelt gathered the goldenrod together and tucked it safely into the storage area he'd made for herbs. There. Now if the next Clanmate to get wounded survived, he'd be able to treat them.

He hung his head with a sigh. Maybe he should ask Pumastar about taking Havenkit as an apprentice. The young kit didn't seem to have a connection with StarClan, but as things stood they needed another healer.

Leaving his den, he found Skystripe looking over the small pieces of fresh-kill. "Has Havenkit left the nursery today?"

Skystripe sighed. The kit had barely moved since Webshade's vigil. "I'll sit with her to make sure she eats. A story ought to cheer her. Don't you think?" Her voice and gaze turned pleaded.

"I'm sure it will," Tempestpelt purred.

~

Skystripe shouldered her way into Pumastar's den. "There you are!" she gasped when she saw Tempestpelt. "It's Havenkit. I thought she swallowed her prey wrong, but she won't stop coughing!"

She paced quickly outside the nursery as Tempestpelt went in. He emerged a short time after. "Let's move her to my den, and then I need you to come with me."

"What is it?" Skystripe hissed, ears pinned and fur standing along her spine.

"Something I can cure if I can find the right herbs."

[START] - [PREV] - [NEXT]

[warriorstickers]

A lot happened in Dewclan in their 1st year! (Events pictured have been bolded) -> Juncopaw takes a tumble off a ledge as he was practicing his battle moves. His mentor checks on him, and he is bruised but fine. Light duties for the next few days. Lakepaw babies him, and he pretends not to like her extra attention. ->  Whistleshimmer and Ryetumble chase off a coyote from their new home, securing the clan’s safety  -> Darkfleck gets into an argument with Almondstar, taking a disrespectful tone with his leader. Once the clan reminds him of her new position over him, he apologizes -> Rytumble and Juncopaw spend some time slacking off in the sun instead of training (as the mentor is still worried about his apprentice’s previous injury). They talk about how Ryetumble fell from grace with the clan, and the mentor tells it like a joke. -> Darkfleck tries to take Lakepaw to an eagle’s nest, but she flat out refuses to go, not feeling safe. -> Juncopaw is named Junkobramble, and is honored for his decisiveness. This comes after he and his mentor see off a fox from the clan territory, and he gains a bad tail injury. Lakepaw congratulates him on his new name, saying it’s a good one. He likes this.  -> Ryetumble and Deerrumble go out on a (hopefully) romantic border patrol. However, there they find a random cat they don’t know. The cat runs off when they see them. This prompts a conversation with Almondstar about how to treat other cats. Almondstar decides they need members, and with the blessing of the clan, agrees they will accept into their clan any cat who wishes to join, and is willing to contribute or learn.  -> Vinepatch and Darkfleck go out herb hunting, but the two argue over the nature of their purpose. There is no resolution. -> Almondstar suffers some heat exhaustion, as she tries to work double time to keep her tiny clan going. -> Darkfleck takes Lakepaw out to a badger set he found the other day. They’re shocked to discover the badger is actually there, and it attacks! Lakepaw is mangled, but Darkfleck manages to get her back to camp. There she argues with Darkfleck, telling him that he is welcome to prove himself to the clan by doing dangerous things, but not at her expense.  -> Lakepaw and Juncobramble bond more while in the Medicine cat den together

-> Rosemarypaw is made an apprentice to Ryetumble! She hopes the two will get along, and Ryetumble is excited to have another apprentice so soon. Deerrumble gives her some flowers for her pelt for the occasion. She has become a bit troublesome, and loves to brag about how their clan is better than the others. -> Lupinepaw is made an apprentice to Whistleshimmer! He has become quite playful. -> Juncobramble is healed enough to resume normal duties, though his tail is forever marked. However, shortly after he jumps and lands wrong, hurting his paw. He and Lakepaw joke about him being cursed. ->  Ryetumble tosses a snake out of camp, before it can hurt anyone. The clan is very grateful. -> Deerrumble was picked up and dropped by an eagle. She somehow survives, but the extent of the damage is serious.

-> Ryetumble and Rosemarypaw go on patrol. While Rosemarypaw doesn’t want to burden her mentor while his mate is injured, Whistleshimmer can tell she’s distracted, and asks her what’s up. Rosemarypaw admits she’s been struggling to sleep, because her dreams are filled with images and shadows that scare her.

-> Rosemarypaw is still struggling with a headache, but tries to ignore it to go about her daily tasks

-> Whistleshimmer confesses romantic feelings to the medicine cat, Vinepatch. He is rejected, which he expected.

-> Juncobramble and Darkfleck have gotten Whitecough

-> Rosemarypaw argues with her mentor Ryetumble about their training. After he takes the time to explain things to her, she apologizes. The two make up.

-> Vinepatch borrows Lakepaw to go herb hunting. While out, they discuss the dreams Lakepaw has been having. Vinepatch wonders if Starclan has something planned for her?

-> Juncobramble manages to overcome the Whitecough 

-> An infection is growing in Deerrumble’s broken bone.

-> Lakepaw is named Lakestrike! She’s clever and charismatic. -> Whistleshimmer and Lupinepaw go out to train. When Lupinepaw feels like they’re not getting the techniques down fast enough, Whistleshimmer offers some positive advice.

-> Deerumble’s infection finally leaves.  She is finally healed and able to return to duties. Her mate is thrilled.  -> Darkfleck has recovered from Whitecough, but it’s discovered that Almondstar has Greencough

-> Lupinepaw is named Lupinefeather! He is adventurous, and a good story teller. -> Rosemaryclaw is made a warrior! She is somewhat troublesome, but given who her mentor is, the clan isn’t shocked

-> Rosemarypaw gets some cuts in their pelts from a thorn bush

[antclan-blogs]

MOON 8

Berrypaw tripped over a rabbit hole and sprained his paw. Badgerdust brought a litter of two kits back to camp.

This moon’s story under the cut!

“Badgerdust?” Hushstep mewed sleepily, raising his head from his nest as the warrior’s white frame loomed in the entrance to the medicine den.

“Sorry to bother you at this hour, Hushstep.” The warrior sounded unusually formal, as if he were trying to conceal his feelings. “But this can’t wait.”

Hushstep, sensing that something was wrong, pulled himself out of his nest and yawned. “Sorry,” he apologised, “I’ve been dealing with Berrypaw’s sprain all day.”

Badgerdust dipped his head. “Don’t apologise. This…this is sort of my fault.”

Hushstep tilted his head to one side in confusion as Badgerdust flicked his tail as a beckoning to follow him. Shaking the tiredness from his brain, Hushstep blinked and followed.

“She told me she wasn’t expecting them, but I think she was. She always…always wanted to be a clan cat. This is like the next best thing.” Badgerdust explained cryptically as the two cats walked alongside each other, crossing the clearing swiftly.

“Badgerdust, what are you—“ Hushstep began, but the warrior had stopped outside one of Antclan’s spare dens: the one Slightstar had said would eventually be used for a nursery. With a swish of his tail, he cleared the bush that sealed the entrance and revealed the interior of the small, dark space.

Lying on a makeshift nest of tufty grass and leaves was a beautiful silver she-cat, and wriggling at her stomach were two tiny newborn kits.

Hushstep gasped and rushed forwards. “Who is this?” He whispered sharply, turning to Badgerdust.

“…She’s my mate.” Badgerdust admitted sheepishly, looking at his paws. “And these are my kits. Oh Starclan, I’m such a mousebrain!”

Hushstep looked down at the two kits fearfully. Would Badgerdust be exiled for mating with a loner? What would happen to the kits?

“I’m sorry about this.” the she-cat mewed quietly. She spoke with a strange accent, as if she wasn’t from the area at all. “I do not wish to keep them. I plan to leave and never return to the clans.”

Hushstep shook his head, trying to figure out what to do. “So…this is your mate, Badgerdust?” He asked in a low voice. He didn’t want the others to awaken and come running.

“Yes. Or, she was.” Badgerdust explained, sadness evident in his eyes. “Perhaps in another life…” he mewed, looking directly at the she-cat as he said it.

“And are these kits to be raised in Antclan?” Hushstep queried, gazing at the two little bundles. They seemed to be healthy enough, luckily.

“I hope they can be.” Badgerdust replied, leaning down to lick the tops of his kits’ heads.

“Ok…Badgerdust, you have to understand how serious this situation is. You could be exiled.” Hushstep tried to remain calm, but he was scared and confused—what was he supposed to do with two newborn kits and no mother to suckle them?

“I know. But surely Slightstar will understand that I MUST be where my children are.” Badgerdust told him fiercely. Hushstep could only nod.

“I wish to leave, Badger. Any longer with my children and I fear I won’t have the strength to turn my back on them.” The silver she-cat mewed urgently, gently moving away from her kits’ hungry mouths and standing up. “Please take care of them.” She whispered.

Badgerdust nodded with tears in his eyes and touched his nose to hers before she slipped out of the den, casting one long look back before turning tail and darting out of the camp.

The two Antclan cats sat in silence for a few moments, before Hushstep gently picked one kit up and began to carry it towards the medicine den, gesturing for Badgerdust to do the same.

Once the two newborns had been snuggled into a nest with Badgerdust, Hushstep began to think. Pacing back and forth, he slowly thought of a plan.

“Alright. I don’t like the position you’ve put me in here, but I have no choice.” Hushstep told Badgerdust. “I’ll send a patrol of warriors to one of the neighbouring clans now. We’ll have to beg for them to lend us a suckling queen, at least until these two are strong enough to go it alone.”

“And when will that be?” Badgerdust asked, sweeping his plumed tail around his kits protectively.

“In about a moon and a half.” Hushstep answered shortly before leaving his den and moving quickly over to Slightstar’s.

Pushing gently through the fronds, Hushstep cleared his throat to awaken his leader. As she opened her eyes and sat up, he explained the situation in full to her.

Upon hearing of Badgerdust’s predicament, the ever-calm Slightstar leaped up onto the high rock to call a clan meeting. Once the drowsy warriors had been filled in, a patrol was sent out to fetch a suckling queen from one of the friendlier clans that neighboured them.

Hushstep had waited by Badgerdust’s nest with bated breath for what felt like seasons before Rivernose, Sunleopard and Mossgleam eventually reappeared with a tired-looking queen and her own single kitten. Though rather disgruntled at having been awoken and made to journey all the way to Antclan, the queen settled herself into the medicine den and began to suckle the kits with a tender expression.

As the two toms watched on, Hushstep turned to Badgerdust. “What will you name them?” He asked out of mere curiosity.

Badgerdust thought for a moment before meeting Hushstep’s gaze. “The one on the left is Gladekit, and the one on the right is Stoatkit.” He decided.

“Fine clan names.” Slightstar, who had been watching them carefully from the corner of the den, remarked. “I’ve got half a mind to put you back on apprentice duties, Badgerdust.”

The newly-fathered tom smiled. “As long as I’m with my kits, I don’t care.” He mewed quietly, watching the two wriggling lumps of fur that he could now call his kin.

bro why is this clan so dramatic? like for what reason? anyway three cheers for gladekit and stoatkit the sillies