#Splashtail my beloved

[crowleyramwire]

Splashtail my beloved. he can do no wrong whatsoever

an evil dictator? nah. he's just a cutie patootie

i've been drawing him a LOT recently. Might post his full ref sheet I made for him later. Also made a headbob gif for him last night, so I might post that too if Tumblr doesn't bug out.

I headcanon that with each cat he kills, he adds a feather to his tail. I imagine him, after the gathering that revealed Frostpaw is still alive, him dejectedly plucking a feather out of his tail and spending the whole night moping, only to excitedly replace it after Harelight.

[ectoplasmer]

in the middle of reading the new wind excerpt and god. oh my god. someone sedate me

[bonefall]

heyyyy bonefallll!!! So uhm. Wind released. And if you read it, what do you think of it?

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I started ASC off with a lot of excitement. I had known to not get my hopes up, but for the first time in a long time, I felt like they actually had something meaningful to say about the problems in Clan society. For once, it felt fresh.

A conflict based on a murder mystery and a power struggle, political radicalization within another Clan with anti-Clanswapper bigotry turning violent, and the reluctant heir of a legacy sprawling several generations. Like a dark echo of TPB, implying the root issues had never been truly addressed by Darkest Hour. The Clans still have a terrible ruling system. The culture is still bigoted. Firestar failed to destroy the obsession with legacy-- he just founded a new bloodline.

And even if it wasn't THAT deep, it was at least a grounded plot that was based in the characters more than faith in StarClan. If Nightheart's arc about legacy fell apart, I'd still enjoy watching him struggle, lose people, grow, and find his purpose. Or seeing Splashtail juggle the power he'd managed to snatch and was just not smart enough to hold onto. Or the cool fights that would surely result from an invasion of RiverClan.

Wind tossed it. It was already having a downturn in the previous book, but this is a book that seems so afraid of having interesting conflict that it spends 75% of its time debating if something interesting should happen, and 25% of its time barking, "EVIL HEATHENS WHO HATE GOD WILL DESTROY OUR SOCIETY!!"

I can't get over how awful Splashtail's "descent" is. He's having a dumbass atheist stoner debate with Podlight when they go to the Moonpool, musing that maybe you have to eat 9 mice to get 9 lives, and then 2 appearances later he's foaming at the mouth with a dictator speech and kills harelight no miss.

They even seem to have tried to replicate Stonefur's execution but badly. It's jarring. Splashtail had a big dictator speech, killed the beloved deputy suddenly, and the whole camp looks Super Scared and Upset so that you know it's the Evil Leader and not a systemic problem.

His "TALENT FOR MANIPULATION" is saying he heard Curlfeather murmur evil plans in her sleep and (apropos of nothing) accusing her teenage daughter of "getting the wrong idea" about his adult romantic interest in her. I keep coming back to this because the ENTIRE book's plot is based on this successfully smearing Frostpaw's reputation.

you may be tired of hearing it, but I'm definitely more tired than you because I had to read and analyze an ENTIRE BOOK founded on it.

The plot is endlessly arguing over if they can trust Frostpaw or not, gathering "evidence" to this end, while Sunbeam and Nightheart's POVs uselessly languish in ThunderClan doing mentoring stuff.

Im SO sick of being forced to sit in thunderclan while more interesting things happen offscreen. stop adding MORE cats to ThunderClan, you already have Stormcloud and you do NOTHING with him why are they also getting WAFFLEPAW

Everyone's praising the fact that the book can remember previous entries, but actually, I'm going to drop a hot take; It's actually bad if they CAN obviously reference old material, and then it doesn't influence the actions the characters take. They namedrop Nightstar several times and then come up with excuses for why they still need to sit around and do nothing!!

THAT'S WORSE, ACTUALLY.

SCALDING TAKE, I'd RATHER see the cats have the memories of goldfish if the alternative is "We remember Nightstar! We're simply going to purposefully disregard Nightstar, because the plot needs to happen"

They also muse that maybe Splashtail's evilness is making all the RiverClan cats act evil, and they'll go back to normal once he's removed. This has been implied before, but never so blatantly stated.

But most of all, I can't stop going back to "Godless Heathen Bloodlust." What a fucking joke. For a shining minute it looked like we were going to have interesting villains, but no, they really are just coming out and saying that lacking faith is an indicator of a moral failing. What makes Splashtail so uniquely bad and scary is that he "disrespects the ancestors" (hey podlight. what if eating 9 magic mice gives you 9 lives? woah dude look at this. the bugle chips look like claws. lol haha) and hates love and peace and won't even let Jesus guide him.

The scenes with Frostpaw and her allies are the only parts of this book worth reading. Shadowsight, tigerHeartstar. Clinging to Whistlepaw like she's a life preserver. save me windclan

[ratfishii]

Splashtail my beloved <3

[himboblaze]

the idea of curlfeather becoming a guardian ‘angel’ of sorts to frostpaw after she dies lives in my head rent free.

curlfeather who never leaves her daughter’s side, who lays with her when she’s grief stricken and mourning, who beams with pride at her warrior apprentice ceremony, who’s heart swells with joy finally seeing frostpaw able to live a normal, happy life without overwhelming responsibility…

curlfeather, who’s hatred for splashtail is so intense she could start forest fires wherever she walks from the rage and disgust burning through her veins, as she can do nothing but watch in horror as he almost murders her beloved kit. who cries and begs and yowls for anyone to save her little one, knowing no one can hear her.

who reluctantly leaves frostpaw’s side, knowing she won’t survive without immediate care, and races across the moorland, desperately searching for anyone who could help.

who finally finds whistlepaw, and uses all of her strength to send a strong gust of wind carrying several small, curled feathers rushing by the apprentice, urging her in the direction of where her baby lays bleeding out.

it is in that moment, where curlfeather lay exhausted and terrified beside her dying kit, that she wishes most intensely she could actually be there for her daughter. in that moment, curlfeather’s deepest desire is realized, if only for a few precious seconds, and frostpaw inhales a comforting scent she hasn’t in so long, before drifting uneasily into unconsciousness.

[sparrowlovesskittles]

Thunder review time I guess??

I'm gonna be real I don't have much to say about Sunbeam or Nightheart this is gonna be 90% rambling about Frostpaw

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

Sunbeam

- I like her trials, especially the one about training the kittens hehehe.

- I like her bonding with Nightheart's family and learning to find a place in ThunderClan even when he isn't there!! I think it's a really important aspect of switching clans actually. The cats should be able to be comfortable and happy with their clan even without their mate by their side.

- She really gets some good girlboss moments in!!!!!!! You GO Sunbeam yell at Cherryfall!! Publicly shame Berryheart several times in a row!!!!!!!!

- God is it just me or does she have SO much chemistry with Myrtlebloom

Nightheart

- Him and Frostpaw bonding is quite sweet :)

- Love him nearly drowning in a covered pool and it sounding all scary and dramatic and then we switch to Frostpaw's perspective and she's just like 'that idiot nearly drowned in a tiny little pond the other day ugh 🙄🙄'

- Literally WHY did he just run away without telling anyone at all that's so funny and why does NO ONE even bat an eye LMAO?? Poor Sunbeam

-Idk man he's just kinda there

FROSTPAW

- GIRLIE!!!!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POOR BABY!!!

- Shoutout to Frostpaw the first warrior cat to be canonically spayed!!!! That's so funny I love how Smokey is just like 'yeah that happens lmao' and her and Whistlepaw are just like 'huh. okay then'. Anyway from now on I'm drawing her with a nicked ear like they do to cats in TNR programs

- Speaking of Whistlepaw. THEY'RE SO SWEET! AND GAY!!!

- Girlie is a mess she's so traumatized literally just nearly got murdered and she fucking SNAPS at StarClan when they refuse to tell her shit. AS SHE SHOULD!! SHE DESERVES TO!!!! RIVERSTAR IS FUCKED UP FOR DOING THIS TO HER, ACTUALLY.

- OTTERS!!!!!!!! About time they got mentioned again, the last time was like literally TNP I think. It was implied otters lived at the lake but now Frostpaw confirms they don't anymore (but the elders definitely know about them). When are we getting the Minnowtail's Genocide novella where she plans the mission to drive the otters out of the lake and then marries Mousewhisker huh warrior cats??????

- Why was Frostpaw more traumatized by climbing a tree than she was by literally being chased by a dog. DGMW it's a good scene, I'm INCREDIBLY glad her PTSD was mentioned in the first place, but I feel like it's kinda weird for her to struggle with the tree when one day earlier she encountered a dog and just sort of... hissed at it a bit and then moved on.

- The park cats have canonically survived for longer than the clans and I am so sorry but that's BS. You're telling me no one in the past like 100 years killed these cats or TNRed them??? How many parks have they been through at this point??

- Frostpaw learning to meditate is so good though actually. Especially when she realises how fucked up the clan system is. If she doesn't fuck up Splashtail and then fuck up StarClan and fix the entire clan system in the next two books I'm gonna riot.

- I adore that she's FAR more distraught about Curlfeather being evil than she is about Splashtail. Like yeah! That's her mother!! That would fuck her up, Actually!! It's refreshing for a character to have familial relationships that are more important than their romantic ones.

- Frostpaw also feels like such a genuinely realistic victim. When she admits that she feels like it was her fault Splashtail was able to manipulate her because she was so naive? And then the park cats all cuddle her and tell her that it wasn't her fault and that HE'S the fucked up one? That scene actually made me cry a bit ngl.

- Hehe Frostpaw meditates now she's a true hippy stoner.

General

- WHY DID THEY PULL A RISING STORM ON US. FROSTPAW JUST STAND UP AND SHOUT AT EVERYONE. ITS NOT TOO LATE. ARGHGDHDHDJDHSJDJHS (I understand she's going through a lot and is very panicked but come ON)

- I like the more personal vibe of this book- the conflict is largely internal, with her realising in her own time that Splashtail was evil. It's not the big dramatic scene I was hoping for- but at the same time it's kind of... Nice? I think it's cool. And I'm sure there will be more drama left to come!

- My prediction for the next two books is that she gets rid of Splashtail and then spends the remainder of the arc yelling at StarClan and fixing the clans. Ideally then I think we should have a soft reboot and jump forward in time, the clans are all operating under new rules, none of the cats are the same, etc. But that's not terribly likely to happen.

- YEAH DOVEWING YOU YELL AT IVYPOOL!! Ivypool deserves it honestly. Dovewing took none of her shit and that's beautiful.

- SQUIRRELSTAR!!!! I wasn't initially too jazzed about this, and I still have my grievances, but I think this is the right time for her to become leader. Go girl give us conflict!! Give us drama!!!!!!!!

- Riverstar is a dick lol??????

[pwurrz]

curlfeather my beloved i am so sorry the authors forgot about you. your potential was through the roof and they were scared to make you too interesting lest you overtake splashtail in popularity. rest in peace girlie you could’ve been an amazing antagonist

[theblankest123]

Some random thoughts on the thunder leak we got so far

The way the person wrote it, it really sounds like Splashtail is actually genuenly alarmed and in horror with Frostpaw dissapearing and then Whistlepaw telling him that she got carried off by a buzzard. Like that seems like a bit of a weird of a guy that we suspect of attacking frostpaw with the intention of murder. Makes me wonder if Splashtail was not the one that attacked her? Maybe he genuienly thought of Frostpaw as a good asset to him becoming a leader and did not actually want her dead? Does he know who might have attackled her but cannot comment on it? Very curious.....

Sunbeam i hope you dump your impulsive ass bf but stay in TC with your brand new adopted family. The way they all support her a ton and the way how she seems to both enjoy and be good at mentoring, doing the task, it sounds cute as hell. Someone mentioned that she might be given one of the kits as an apprentice to signify that TC trusts her which hell yeah thatd be great :]

Didnt really like how they tried to make squirrelflight at the time sound unreasonable with Bramble being the reasonable one in that one chapter after the first moonpool visit failed, wether it was the person writing it in the forum or the book, but alas. Ooooo Brambe is the reasonable one and Squirrelflight/star is SOOOO unreasonable therefore bramble is in the right always and squirrel is wrong and bad. Like shuddup. Hope thats not what they were going with. Either way a minor pet peeve its just bramblesquirrel arguing again like always

Frostpaw my girl my beloved little gal. Ily. She is now the chosen cat by starclan tasked to go on a journey, break riverclan appart and then rebuild it. Little girl's gonna fuck shit up hell yeah

Curlfeather is absolutely in darkforest kitty hell isnt she. Ooo man. And starclan did not want to tell Frostpaw that because oof she is already going through a lot lets not drop that bomb on her juuust yet, she'll figure out that her mom was doing shady things and might have been involved in Reed's death eventually.

They are absolutely gonna use the being spayed plot point as a means to cause a bit more angst for Frostpaw arent they. She was thinking of maybe having children one day and naming one of em after her mom. Poor gal. Well, at least we wont have another female wc protag end up being reduced to mom. Let's hope that the erins handle this not absolutely horribly.

Tigerstar: its fiiiine that im still in control of the RC territory i mean look how much i have helped them look how great they are doing with me!

River Clan: *is in complete fucking shambles*

[blazingmicah-wc]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JUST READ THE STAR TEASER AND ACKKKKKKK

okso so far ive only seen ppl talk abt the prologue but the rest!!!!!!!!!! frostpaws chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all rc cats are enemy #1 especially berryheart. love to see splashtail going through the horrors. cloverfoot my beloved. ffuck berryheart all my homies hate berryheart i cant believe they trusted her skank ass

[luxrayz64]

star thoughts after reading btw

i think something can be defined as good by virtue of quality (ie being well written) but still be really fucking awful. warrior cats is that to me

obviously they fumbled the end of this arc bad. splashtail is ultimately poorly characterised, flies completely off the handle into a complete fucking caricature.

like, we do know why; curlfeather was fucking with him Bad through the whole book. we see in the prologue that this is why he killed harelight. but cmon dude, the immediate jump to threatening kits? feels like there should've been more of an arc to get to this point.

also evil atheist as per usual. people who reject god for whatever reason will murder your children

the way riverclan immediately folds too... I stand by my bitching abt tigerbabygirlstars attempted annexing of riverclan. but holy fuck the way they were written to just fall apart is insane. he had maybe three hardcore supporters? it felt like a lot of riverclan became suddenly insanely crueller than they were - am i meant to believe gorseclaw was living in fear, when he was blocking the shadowclan patrol on the island and jeering at them?

like this happened overnight too. this was insane

anyway

i do love nighthearts growth through this arc. I love how intensely he is Best Friends with frostpaw throughout. her number 1 cheerleader. I do still kind of wish he and sunbeam had broken up but not as bad as i wish moonpaw of next arc was their kid instead

the conclusion of sunbeam and berryhearts arc..... I don't know really

berryheart is, i think, a very real villain, in that she is a horror story that has happened to a lot of people

she's been radicalised into a hateful husk of herself. the people around her are either encouraging this in her or dont know how to help her. she was, more than anything, probably just scared. she wasn't like this before.

it's the kind of thing that happens all the time in real life, watching your mother or another beloved family member get radicalised and not knowing how to reach them as they become hateful, knowing that this is not the person they used to be

i do kind of like that they treated berryheart with so much kindness. with her family choosing to remember the person she was, rather than the person she died as. sunbeams reckoning with just how far gone she was and struggling to remember the kind mother she'd known vs the cruel cat she knows.

she still went to hell. she cannot make up for what she's done. but she did still love sunbeam. the love was there. even if it was dulled and twisted and hard to see or feel. whether or not that matters is different person to person. and it was important to sunbeam

god i wish curlfeather got that much though

i do actually like that curlfeather was too stubborn to apologise. that she feels frostdawn should have been grateful. I love that characterisation for her. I love that frostdawn doesn't forgive her. I think that sunbeam and berryheart are a great mirror to frostdawn and curlfeather, being two radicalised mothers who hurt their children to fix a perceived wrong, fucked it all up bad and then died to save their children but never apologised for it.

the love was there. sometimes that doesn't matter. it didn't to frostdawn.

god i still want to know more about her so badddd. I wouldn't mind seeing her return somehow like how tigerstar haunted the series up til oots

as for frostdawn herself, holy shit i cheered when she got to take down splashtail. i fucking love that she had to choose to come back to riverclan. that being part of this clan is hard and difficult and that they ask too much of her and always have.

even after everything, she still just wanted her mum. cries.

getting to see jayclaw too!! oh i want to know his thoughts so bad. he just wants things to be easy for her. I love that both her parents are a little bit selfish in their own ways. wanting to be with his daughter instead of encouraging her to live......

was also just very happy with how fucking climactic this book was, with a full on war finally FINALLY breaking out. this arc has been ridiculous promising war and then not fucking following through.

idk im tired of typing i probably have more to say. I think i liked this arc overall even though it stretched a little thin and fumbled in quite a few ways. it was good for wc standards though. was never 'bristlefrost stands next to the moonpool for several chapters hoping her boyfriend who she fell in love with off screen' bad.

[redfoxiii]

Flowerpelt, Rowanfall and Splashtail! My beloved sibling babies <3

It was so fun to work on their designs, gonna make references for them soon!

Also I’ve opened for symm icon commissions like this! More info can be found here

[poptartfandom]

Asked my beloved friends 4 pop tart requests LOL this one’s from @splashtail​ xp

[newprophecy-redux]

Chapter II

-----------------------------------

The moon hung in the sky, nearly at it’s highest point by the time Stormfur and Feathertail finally emerged from their nests in the warrior den. They could hear Mistfoot, the Riverclan deputy, speaking low, but clearly, organizing the night’s patrols.

It was strange, though she was their mother’s cousin, Mistfoot acted more like an aunt to the brother and sister pair than anything. “Ah, good. You’re awake.” The dark silver-blue molly meowed, beckoning the siblings closer with the crook of her tail.

Feathertail was still leaning heavily on Stormfur’s shoulder, blinking lazily, and biting back a yawn, still struggling to wake up. “Just barely, Mistfoot. Did you need us?” He asked with a small laugh, and she nodded.

“Leopardstar wants us to do a border-check at Sunningrocks and renew our scent marker by the falls.” She explained quickly, but kept her voice down, certainly not wanting to stir up any excitement in the younger warriors and the easily impressionable apprentices.

Feathertail sighed. “Do you think she’ll try to make a move against Firestar for it so soon?” She asked. “Newleaf’s only just begun.” The young she-cat pointed out.

Stormfur was worried about his sister. She didn’t sleep very well at all last night, whimpering and crying in her sleep. It woke him up a few times too, and he tried to soothe her the best he could, but when he asked about it, she couldn’t give him a clear answer about the weird dreams.

So maybe this was what she needs. To get out and stretch her legs, get some fresh air. “I know. But you know how much we all enjoy Sunningrocks...If we can take it for ourselves, and have it for the elders, it could benefit us later on as a possible hunting place as it warms up.” Mistfoot commented on her own, and Stormfur could see where she was coming from.

Besides, even after all of these moons -- There’s always been tension between Riverclan and Thunderclan over that prime basking spot. Even before Oakheart and Redtail...No. Tigerstar…

“Anyway. I’m going to lead one party, with Shadepelt, Primroseheart, and Splashtail.” Mistfoot continued. “Beechfur will lead the other, with you two, and…” The deputy looked around, trying to find any other available cat still around in camp. She’d hate to have to wake anyone else.

They were stretched quite thin over the course of a long, unforgiving leafbare, and knew they all still needed some time to recover.

“I’ll go, Mistfoot.” A new voice sounded, and all three heads swiveled around to see who it was.

“Hawkfrost.” She answered smoothly, carefully, eyeing the unnaturally beautiful tom. His muscles rippled beneath a sleek, perfectly groomed pelt. “Thank you, but weren’t you already a part of the evening patrol earlier?” Mistfoot asked.

“Well, yes. But I really don’t mind. Still a bit too exhausted to try and sleep yet, you know? Antsy paws.” He replied, sitting down among them, angling his ears in greeting to Stormfur and Feathertail.

His sister smiled brightly, as usual, trilling her own hello’s, and Stormfur grunted softly, dipping his head.

“...Alright. And I want to send out a hunting party, too. Reedwhisker and Blackclaw, and I think I want Mosspelt to round it out. With their apprentices, that should be more than enough.” Mistfoot finished, pleased with her own choices. “Can you two go and ask your mother about that? I’m going to gather the rest of my group.”

Feathertail nodded. “Okay Mistfoot, we will. Good luck!” She said, and Mistfoot stood with a small smile, shaking herself out, before disappearing behind a patch of dense underbrush.

“That just leaves me, then. I’ll wait for you at the entrance.” Hawkfrost said, turning on his own heels, and vanishing with a whisk of his elegant, plumed tail.

Stormfur could still feel his unnaturally icy blue eyes watching them, even as Feathertail nudged his shoulder, guiding him along to go and seek out Mosspelt.

“I never know how I feel about him.” He muttered, glancing back over his shoulder more than once as they went.

“Oh, come now. He’s a good, loyal warrior. We’re lucky to have him, whether we know where his sire comes from or not.” His sister was much less offput by strangers than him, always friendly and welcoming, and always willing to give the benefit of the doubt. He only hoped that it wouldn’t leave her scorned and jaded one day.

“What about Mothwing?” Hawkfrost’s sister, and Mudfur’s apprentice had started out training as a warrior along with her brother, much like Stormfur and Feathertail, but eventually, she had found her calling elsewhere, when Leopardstar had encouraged her father to find an apprentice to start training for his retirement. Just like him in his younger days, so long ago.

The elder tom certainly wasn’t getting any younger, so it was a blessing from Starclan themselves when he had received a sign in the form of, wouldn’t you know it? A moth’s wing, just outside his den. It didn’t get much clearer than that, and she moved into the medicine cat’s den within the next few days.

“What about Mothwing?” Stormfur echoed Feathertail, tilting his head in some small confusion as to what she was getting at.

“I mean, you weren’t nearly this…” Her whiskers twitched, searching for the right word. “Not mistrusting, but. You know what I mean.” She decided. “When she was helping Mudfur patch you up after that scuffle with Duspelt and Thornclaw last moon.” She teased, brushing her tail over the newest scar on one of his forelegs.

“Thunderclan’s tough, I don’t care what anyone else says.” He snorted, shaking his head. “I’m just glad Father wasn’t there.” Stormfur said, some small curiosity lingering there as to whether or not Graystripe’s good friend would tell him he’d fought  his son in a border skirmish.

Feathertail grew silent, something more there behind her clear blue eyes whenever either one of them brought up their parents. Either of them.

“Besides, why are you defending him, anyway? Do you fancy Hawkfrost?” Now that...That was a jarring thought that all but made his pelt crawl. The thought of Feathertail falling in love...Taking a mate...Having kits.

He’d heard stories of their grandmother, Willowbreeze. How she’d succumbed to illness so soon after her own kitting. And then, of course, their birth-mother Silverstream.

There was an unsettling, horrifying pattern here. And as they say, ‘it comes in three’s’.

Who’s to say that he wouldn’t one day lose his own beloved sister, if she tried to start a family of her own?

He couldn’t bear it. But, it wasn’t as if he could ever...Would ever try to stop her, either.

Ultimately, he wanted nothing for her but happiness. No matter what it meant for his own sake.

But as ever, like some sort of link between them, Feathertail could sense when his thoughts were darkest, giving a bright, cheerful laugh to bring him back. “What, do you?” She teased in turn, just the same, leaving him flabbergasted as usual with her antics.

“Wh-What? Where’d you ever get an idea like that?!” Stormfur shook his head vehemently, giving her a rough, but playful shove of the shoulder. “I’m just saying.” Suddenly feeling hot under his fur, he cut his eyes away to look elsewhere.

“And I’m just saying he’s not so different than us. Both of them. Mistfoot and Stonefur trained us to be loyal to Riverclan, as did Hawkfrost and Mothwing’s mentors. I don’t doubt that they wouldn’t give everything for us.” Feathertail rationalized calmly, and somehow, he couldn’t come up with another sharp retort this time.

He could hear his former mentor’s voice in his ears now, chiding him for being so quick to judge another with no reason for it. After all, they’d been born half-clan as well, whether they knew it from the beginning or not.

Once more, yet again he realized just how strangely similar the circumstances were, the string of events that happened in these particular clanmates’ lives that brought them all together.

It wasn’t Hawkfrost’s fault. Perhaps he should try to be more open. Try to be more like Feathertail and give him the benefit of the doubt. “Alright, alright. I suppose it’s a good thing he’s coming with us. He’s a good hunter.”

“See? There you go!” Feathertail purred happily, nosing the tip of his ear. “But we should really hurry, we don’t want to keep him waiting.” She said, and he sighed heavily in response, the two of them hurrying along to find Mosspelt, who was nosing at a piece of fresh kill from the pile.

“Mosspelt.” Stormfur called, and the tortoiseshell female immediately lifted her head, a mother’s sheer instinct to look around and find whenever she heard one of her kits call. Though she didn’t kit them, she nursed them and loved them as her own alongside her only son, Beechfur.

“There you two are! I was wondering where you wandered off to when I didn’t find either of you in your nests.” She smiled, having to stretch up on her toes to meet Stormfur to touch noses with him, and then give Feathertail a lick between the ears.

“Sorry, Mistfoot wanted to talk to us.” Her adopted daughter explained, and the older molly’s brows raised in surprise.

“Ah, I see. Well, nothing bad, I hope?” When they both shook their heads, she nodded, once more turning around to nose at the few fish and water vole carcassses upon the pile. “A bit small. I was going to pick something out and take it to Dawnflower. She had some trouble kitting, so Mudfur wants to make sure she keeps up her strength.

Stormfur shuffled his paws. “Everyone’s alright, though?” He asked.

Mosspelt nodded for herself, giving a smile. “She’s strong, the kits are healthy. Leopardstar is pleased with them.”

“Maybe we can go see them tomorrow, after she has some more time to rest.” Feathertail commented, and Stormfur shrugged. “Oh, speaking of. Mistfoot wants you to join Blackclaw and Reedwhisker on a hunting party. She’s going to take a patrol to the falls, and Feathertail and I are going to be part of a second group to go and check our side of Sunningrocks.”

It was evident that Mosspelt had much of the same trail of thought that Stormfur did earlier, about Leopardstar possibly going to try and make a move against Thunderclan sooner rather than later, but only time would tell.

“But she didn’t want to go with her son? That’s odd.” Mosspelt voiced instead, and Feathertail’s visage turned solemn.

“She’s going to be with Primroseheart this time instead. I guess after Perchkit passed away, and then Pikepaw joined Starclan way too soon afterwards...She and Blackclaw still might not be on good terms.” But it was evident that the deputy was still trying to keep some small sense of unity for her little family, heartbreaking as the last year had been for all of them.

Terrible disease, and a brutal winter both were heartless killers of the unfortunate young and old alike.

“I see. Well, if you see her before you go, let her know that I’ll be glad to join them. I’ll go and see if I can’t catch up with them now.” Mosspelt gave a smile nonetheless. “Is Beechfur going too?” She couldn’t help but ask about her third kit.

Stormfur nodded. “Yes, he’s actually going to be part of our patrol.” He answered, and there was no masking the flash of pride on the she-cat’s face at the thought of all of them together again. It didn’t happen very often now that they were warriors. “Good! I’m sure he’ll be glad. Good luck, and be safe out there.” She warned goodnaturedly.

“Of course. You too. We’ll see you when you get back.” Feathertail promised, and once more, the small group of cats broke away, the two of them heading for the thick patch of reeds that marked the entrance of the camp.

--

Hawkfrost was already waiting for them there, as he said, Beechfur crouched there with him, down at his side. Sitting up when the pair of siblings came closer, he gave a languid stretch. “Alright, that’s all of us then. C’mon.”

At first, it was an odd sort of setup. Feathertail was walking shoulder to shoulder with Beechfur taking up the point, talking happily and excitedly with their other brother, with Stormfur just behind them for the time being, and Hawkfrost taking up the rear.

That wasn’t unsettling at all.

“...You look like you’ve got a burr in your tail.” Hawkfrost suddenly rumbled quietly behind him, nearly making him jump. Forcing the fur along his shoulders to lie flat, he gave an awkward sort of laugh.

But the other tom didn’t react, blinking at him with brows raised. “Ah...Sorry. Guess I’m a bit anxious myself.” Stormfur cleared his throat, and Hawkfrost twitched his whiskers, something like a smile, pushing ahead to walk in step with him at the moment.

“What, afraid Shadowclan is going to come creeping up and attack unexpectedly?” He asked, and Stormfur was left almost reeling. Was...Was he trying to make a joke?

“Uh...Ah, hah. N-No, of course not. They might like dark, but we’d smell them coming from fox-lengths away.” Stormfur replied, trying to mimic the same cool, aloof atmosphere that Hawkfrost seemed to radiate so effortlessly.

Really, he and Mothwing were only a few moons younger than him and Feathertail, so why was he getting him in such a tizzy?! Honestly!!

“Mm, yes. We would.” Hawkfrost agreed simply, though his tail did lash once with some emotion that Stormfur couldn’t quite place, pushing ahead yet again to come up on Beechfur’s other side, muttering something in his ear that Stormfur couldn’t hear from this distance.

Conversation over, now it was Feathertail’s turn to fall back and join him, at her usual place at his side. “Well?” She asked.

“Well what?” Stormfur muttered, pinning his ears slightly, trudging along.

“...Nothing, nevermind.” She smiled gently, keeping him company by making idle chat about nothing in particular. Sunningrocks wasn’t too far, and it didn’t take them long to get there, stopping up on something like a gentle rise, a hill that overlooked the area where the mighty stones sat cooling in the night on Thunderclans’ side of the border.

Stormfur’s nose wrinkled at the multiple different scents of the other clan cats. Firestar obviously wasn’t shirking on keeping it marked, boasting his clan’s pride about currently owning the prime spot.

Beechfur hissed slightly, but there was no use getting so worked up over it now. They couldn’t do anything unless Leopardstar gave the say-so, or if any Thunderclan cats stepped out of line. And if there was anything Firestar could do, it was keeping his own clan in line, at least.

Hawkfrost worked his claws in the earth slightly, pulling up grass and dirt. “We’ll have it back soon enough.”

“Oh, I’m sure of it.” Beechfur responded, the two toms saying nothing more, just staring out silently into the darkness, before they broke off into pairs, working their way down to their faint borderline. Smelled like it was a good idea for them to go ahead and come out this way.

No reason to give Thunderclan a reason to think they were weak and couldn’t even defend their own scentmarkers.

He and Feathertail brushed up against a few patches of grass here and there together, scenting along some rocks, and other things of the like, moving on down the invisible trail. “I wonder how Graystripe is? I hope we get to see him at the next gathering.”

“Me too.” Stormfur hummed. They’ve always had a good relationship with their rival clan’s deputy, and thankfully, after everything they’ve been through, Leopardstar never again held it against them to see him and talk to him during the night of peace.

Everything’s different now, and so far, it’s seemed to have changed for the better for the whole forest.

“Feathertail! Come here.” That was Hawkfrost, his voice calling from further down the way, and the siblings looked at eachother, before rushing along to meet up with him and Beechfur to see what’s wrong.

But they didn’t even have to ask. The wind shifted just slightly, carrying a strong, acrid stench across to them from within Thunderclan territory.

“Do you smell that?” Beechfur growled, and even Hawkfrost, normally so calm and collected for a cat so young, was bristling, eyes like hard chips of ice.

“A badger?” Feathertail was horrified, and Stormfur felt his tail bristle in aprehension. The scent wasn’t strong. A few hours old, at least, but there was obviously an altercation at some point earlier. Some stale cat-scent mixed along with it, but no overwhelming metallic tang of blood, at least.

Whichever Thunderclan cats came across the horrifying black and white beast must have managed to chase it off. But which way did it go from there?

The thought briefly occured to Stormfur to suggest if they should try to track it. Corner it, and try to fend it off for themselves. Make sure that it was gone for good, but. Even with four strong, quick, capable warriors, there was no guarantee. In the end, it could be a suicide mission.

He and Feathertail remembered when Firestar reported that Willowpelt, one of Thunderclan’s senior warriors, had been killed by a badger last leafbare...Unknown to them, their own grandmother. She was a good cat, and all four clans mourned her death, especially her three kits, Sorreltail, Rainwhisker and Sootfur. Could it be the same one?

Hawkfrost spat, shaking his head. “We need to tell Leopardstar and Mistfoot about this.” They needed to warn the clan, and make sure the apprentices and the queens were aware of the danger. For once, Stormfur completely agreed with him.

Beechfur nodded. “I don’t think it crossed this way, at least. They’re good diggers, but not great climbers. Hopefully it just moved on, but…” Brows knit, his whole body was still tense. “We should get back. I think we all know what’s going to happen next.”

With a tick of his tail, the quartet of Riverclan cats turned round and trotted swiftly back to camp, long tails streaming behind them. They didn’t want to rush and cause a premature panic until they did some more investigating in the daylight, but there was no time to waste.

So much for the forest being a safer place with Bloodclan gone!