#aldereyesstar

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Aldereyes picked restlessly at his claws. With Myrtlewing away at the Half-moon meeting, he didn't have anyone to complain to. Or complain about to. Or smack around. He liked his other Clanmates...to an extent, and he would never admit to himself how much he grew to care for the clumsy idiot. But right now he was gone, which meant Aldereyes was stuck in boredom.

"You could go on a hunt."

Aldereyes flinched, not noticing his father had padded over to stand beside him. His presence felt looming, his shadow covering Aldereyes's body like the snapping teeth of a predator. Stormstar's eyes betrayed nothing, warmth nor anger. "Make yourself useful, instead of laying uselessly around your working Clanmates."

"I wasn't–" Aldereyes began, but cut himself off. He knew Stormstar hated nothing more than cats arguing with him–other than non-Shadowclan-blooded cats. He also knew that pointing out that it was night would only anger Stormstar more. Many of their Clanmates were still up and working to repair dens or collect moss for the elders.

"He was waiting for me," a new voice piped up. Hootpetal hurried over to join Aldereyes, nudging his shoulder. "Sorry it took so long for me to get ready. I had a bur on the back of my neck I couldn't quite reach. Ready to go?"

"Uh.." Aldereyes looked at her, then to his father. When she nudged him again, he returned his gaze. "Yes! Yes!" He stood up quickly, dipped his head to Stormstar, and led the way hastily out of the camp. When they were out of earshot, he turned to Hootpetal. "Thank you for that."

Hootpetal grinned mischievously at him. "For what?"

They took a few steps into the trees before Aldereyes realized, "we should catch something. Really sell the story."

"How much will Stormstar expect?"

"From me..probably the whole forest."

Hootpetal blinked sympathetically at him. Aldereyes looked away. He didn't need to feel like a sniffling kit. "How about a competition, if you're up for it?"

Hootpetal's eyes rounded with intrigue. She tilted her head. "What would it entail?"

Aldereyes thought for a moment. "We split up. Whoever catches the most prey by...." he looked up at the sky. The moon was just beginning to lower. Myrtlewing likely wouldn't be back until dawn. "Dawn? Wins."

Hootpetal's eyes seemed to glow in the night light. "Sounds fun!"

"Good. See you then." Aldereyes darted off before she could react, laughing into the cold and feeling nothing but warm.

—---------

His legs were aching by the time he brought all the prey back to where he and Hootpetal had started their race. But it was a good ache, reminding him of the hard work he had done whilst distracting him of why he had done it.

He managed to catch four froglets that were trapped in a shallow pond, not quite ready to jump and escape it. He carried them in his jaws by their half-tails, alongside two voles. On his second trip, he brought back two crows and a magpie, and on the third, puffing, he carried a fat lizard, and two newly hatched ones it had been guarding.

Hootpetal didn't do too bad either. After several back and forth of her own, she had a collection of three mice, four lizards, and, most impressive, a snake. She didn't seem at all disappointed in her loss, only smiling and saying how she had fun, and the Clan would benefit.

Aldereyes nodded. He thought to himself how this would certainly shut his father up, then realized to his surprise that he hadn't thought of Stormstar since the competition began. He blinked at Hootpetal, taking her in for what somehow felt like the first time as she picked up some of her catch. He noted how while Myrtlewing helped him talk and extinguish what bothered him, making him feel in a way seen, Hootpetal was good with keeping such thoughts away from his head at all, instead allowing him to focus on things that made him happy.

And now, even with thoughts of Stormstar returning, it couldn't keep the spring in his step down. Picking up his own catch, he followed Hootpetal into the camp.

===================================

I’m working on making art for the MyrtleAlder story (starting with Alder’s pov), but because of all the school work and studying, I didn’t have much time to work on it and felt bad. 

Luckily, the lovely @umbranoxs​ was able to help out! They drew this scene for me, and honestly I could not have asked for a better way to do it! Their expressions, especially, are spot on! You can just tell that Alder is a bit absent while Hoot is in the moment.

Also, this is the first chapter where we get to see Alder and Hoot’s relationship! Get ready to see more in the future!

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Decision in a Crumpled Nest (short story)

Aldereyes hadn’t realized that he had shredded his mossy nest completely until he felt the dried grass beneath it poking at his belly. His mind, as it had been for the past quarter-moon, was overflowing with endless, criss-crossing streams of thoughts, and he could only focus enough to capture so many. 

Myrtlewing was a killer. That knowledge, as horrifying, unsettling, and shocking as it was, was beginning to fade into something not quite normalcy–it can never be normalcy. But now that enough time had passed for Aldereyes to question every single one about Myrtlewing being a killer, different thoughts had the opportunity to take root.

Myrtlewing had been honest when he told Aldereyes that he really did like him. Aldereyes knew that he had been genuine, even if every instinct called him an idiot because Myrtlewing was apparently a very good liar. He could tell it was true. He just could. It wasn’t wishful thinking. Was it? No? Yes..No, it wasn’t. Now that Aldereyes knew he was a liar, he could spot his tells, and he showed none.

Okay, so Myrtlewing did like him, romantically, and–Star’s damn it–Aldereyes liked him too. Myrtlewing was the only one who had ever seen Aldereyes for who he was and not simply as another Clanmate. His words of encouragement, his teasing, everything he said, he meant it for Aldereyes. Everyone else, fellow warriors, elders, his father, never spoke to him af if he meant anything more than any other Clanmate. He was only important to them because of that contribution, but Myrtlewing liked him, really liked him, so much so that he was willing to risk his position as medicine cat to give him a silly flower to prove it!

…So much so that he was willing to keep Aldereyes alive, even if it meant putting his own life in jeopardy. 

Aldereyes had, reasonably, avoided Myrtlewing, glaring in his direction if he so much as acknowledged his existence ever since he found out, with the exception of that trip to the medicine den earlier that day. Even then, Myrtlewing refused to hurt him. 

Was it really a question of why Aldereyes was different, or of why Myrtlewing killed who he did? Were they bad warriors, destined for evil? That didn’t explain Myrtlewing telling him that it was fun, or the smile Aldereyes was surer and surer that he had seen. Or…maybe it was his imagination, mixed in with the dreams he had had every night since that dawn? 

Aldereyes couldn’t help but picture it now, Myrtlewing killing their missing or dead Clanmates. He pictured him smiling, frowning, staring blankly, and everything in between. All felt incredibly accurate to how he felt to him now, and he realized, heart racing cold water, that there was only one way to know the answer with certainty, and put an end to these spiraling thoughts. 

He waited until the sun had set and everyone went to their nests, then he slipped away and through the fern tunnel, heart somehow both quickening and incredibly even as he padded to Myrtlewing’s snoring form and nudged him awake.

“W-wha?”

“Next time you do it,” Aldereyes told him, “take me with you.”

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Why Not Me? (short story)

Myrtlewing was surprised when Aldereyes’s scent wafted toward him. It had been so long since the golden tom had been in his den that the usual linger of his smell had begun to fade. He looked over from where he was burying shriveled and dried herbs and saw him standing in the entrance. The sun was setting directly behind him, casting his outline a-glow and shadowing his face so that Myrtlewing couldn’t see his expression.

Not wanting to say the wrong thing, Myrtlewing remained silent, watching as Aldereyes cautiously entered and stood on top of the nearest nest to the fern tunnel.

“Do you want to lay down?” Myrtlewing tested.

“Not around you,” Aldereyes replied harshly. 

“What brings you here, after so long?” Myrtlewing guessed it was some injury. 

Aldereyes lifted his paw, turning it over so that Myrtlewing could have a clear view of the tiny hole in it. It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened, but he couldn’t quite tell if Aldereyes pulled the thorn out himself because of his pride or because he was avoiding Myrtlewing. Myrtlewing guessed, from their past lack of interactions, that it was the latter–and that thought sent an unfamiliar and very unwelcome twinge to his chest.

Myrtlewing took two dock leaves from his herb store and began chewing them, nearing Aldereyes as he did so. Aldereyes stood, every muscle visibly tense and ready to fight or flee within a second’s notice. He stretched his paw as far from his body as he could, claws unsheathed. 

Myrtlewing wasn’t afraid of being clawed, but it was nonetheless disheartening to see Aldereyes act as though Myrtlewing were his enemy. He was the one warrior Myrtlewing actually cared for. He tried to show him this in the careful and gentle way he applied the poultice to Aldereye’s paw, but the tom only swung it back toward his own body the second Myrtlewing was done. 

He shifted to leave, and Myrtlewing called him back, sensing a lost opportunity if that happened.

“What?” Aldereyes demanded, jaw set so that Myrtlewing could see the lines it made down his throat.

“Those scars should be seen too, as well,” Myrtlewing said, and realized that it was true. Aldereyes had three claw marks on his left shoulder, near his throat. Given that Aldereyes hadn’t seen him for herbs when he had first gotten it, it was likely to gain an infection. For a moment, Myrtlewing wondered if he should let it, only so that Aldereyes would have to spend more time in his den as it healed. He decided against it, and went back to his herb store for the right herbs.

“How can I trust it?” Aldereyes asked, eyes wide and sharp, as Myrtlewing was about to smear the poultice into his wound. 

“It’s only dock leaves,” Myrtlewing told him.

“I don’t know herbs. For all I know, that could be poison.”

“Why would I use poison?”

“So that I can’t tell anyone what you did!”

“But you could,” Myrtlewing pointed out. “Even if it kills you, poison in a wound isn’t quick enough to prevent you from speaking. It doesn’t make sense,” he added when Aldereyes opened his jaws, “to kill you now and put myself in jeopardy of you revealing the truth when you’ve already decided against it.”

“You know what doesn’t make sense?” Aldereyes snapped, “you killing–”

“Shh!” Quickly, Myrtlewing placed a paw over Aldereyes’s mouth.

“Don’t touch me!” Aldereyes hissed, hitting Myrtlewing’s side with an extended paw and flipping him so that Myrtlewing lay with his back on the ground. 

Frustrated, Myrtlewing got to his paws, shaking dust from his pelt. For not the first time, he was thankful that the medicine den was muffled for outside ears. Looking Aldereyes in the eyes, he visibly swallowed the herb mixture down. “See? It’s safe!”

Aldereyes only sniffed. 

Myrtlewing went back for more dock leaves, chewed those, and applied them into Aldereye’s wound.

“Ask,” he told the warrior, watching how his eyes searched to and fro across the ground, as if there he could find an explanation for everything.

“Ask what?” Aldereyes growled. “Why you did it? Would you even give me a straight answer?”

“Ask whatever you want. You want to, and here’s your chance.”

Aldereyes remained silent for a long moment as Myrtlewing checked over the rest of his pelt and applied the poultice anywhere he found nicks and scratches. “Why?” he asked at last. “You said it wasn’t the first time, that you killed others too and–......why?” His voice cracked, and he coughed.

“I don’t know,” Myrtlewing answered honestly. “Not killing is as strange to me as killing must be for you.”

“But they trust you!” The rage in Aldereyes’s voice was falling quickly, replaced by a wretched sadness. “Why would you kill them? What joy does that bring you?”

Myrtlewing shrugged. “It feels good. It’s a rush, probably how you feel when you hunt, but better.”

“It’s nothing like hunting,” Aldereyes said firmly. “You swore to heal them, to keep them safe! All this time you’ve been lying to them!”

Myrtlewing could hear him falter on the final word. Aldereyes didn’t care that Myrtlewing had lied to them all, only that he had lied to him. 

“Why haven’t you ever killed me?” Aldereyes’s voice was almost a whisper.

“I thought about it,” Myrtlewing told him. “Only for a second. It was the first time I ever didn’t want to kill anyone. I thought that I was sick,” he added with a chuckle, hoping and failing to lighten the mood. 

“Explain.”

“It was when you kept coming in with small injuries. I got some poison to give you instead of herbs.” It felt strange admitting that right after Aldereyes had thought that he might be doing just that. “But the thought of killing you, of making you go away….I didn’t like it, so I put them away and gave you the real herbs.”

“What made me different?” Aldereyes leaned forward, expression somehow both entirely open and unreadable. 

“I like talking to you. I don’t have to pretend and fake laugh, or look for excuses to leave. I enjoy when you come into my den and complain about your father, or when you drag me training or hunting even though I’m a medicine cat. I like you.”

Aldereyes nodded slowly, perhaps subconsciously. He looked down to his paws and was silent for several slow heartbeats. Myrtlewing had long finished checking him over, and now sat next to him, waiting for a response.

“That flower…” Aldereyes spoke at last. “It wasn’t poison?”

“I told you not to eat it.”

“So you….It was really for me?”

“Yes.” Why was Aldereyes now so focused on a plant?

Aldereyes’s eyes shifted to and fro rapidly. Then he quickly got up. “I got to go,” he said almost under his breath, and before Myrtlewing could question him, he was hurrying away through the fern tunnel.

=========================

--Aldereyes did think about the fact that Myrtle loves him (he thinks, at this point) but during the argument, he could only focus on the fact that he was a killer. When Myrtle says ‘I like you’ (which he means platonically, at least at this point--he hasn’t really thought about the kind of love it is yet), Alder remembers thinking that Myrtle loves him and questions him. So wondering why he’s special is both a question of just ‘why am I different?’ and ‘why do you love me but kill them?’

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Sisterly Comfort (short story)

Aldereyes yelped and pulled back his paw. So caught up in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed that he had neared a cluster of brambles. Lifting his paw to check it, he saw a thorn embedded in his toe pad. 

“Ouch,” Hollyclaw sympathized, coming up beside him. “Best get back to camp and have Myrtlewing take a look at that.”

Aldereyes’s heart began to race within an instant. He had been avoiding Myrtlewing for little under a quarter moon. Anytime he saw him, he would also see the blood smearing his fur, dripping from his chin. He would see the crazed spark of his eyes and wonder if they were meant to be the last thing he ever saw, if he hadn’t found out. 

Too, he would taste the bile rising in his throat, nausea building as though Myrtlewing were greencough itself, flooding him with watery vomit all throughout his limbs as punishment for what he did to Fallendust. And in the back of his mind, where the thoughts he left obscured and unfocused, he wanted to avoid the dreams he had of that recurring moment. It was the same event, but it was never how it had really happened. In his dreams, Aldereyes was happy, smiling wide, and he would meet Myrtlewing’s eyes, his own just as crazed.

It was a manifestation of his guilt. Nothing else. He didn’t enjoy killing her, he knew that and would not dare question it. It had not even been intentional, he wouldn’t have done it if his body reacted for him. Why had his body reacted in such a way? Why kill Fallendust, and not……

Aldereyes jerked his head down and yanked the thorn from his paw. A small blood began to pool. 

“Woah! What was that?” Hollyclaw looked at him as if he were crazy.

Was he?

No. He just didn’t want to see Myrtlewing. If Hollyclaw knew his reasons, she would do the same thing. He licked his pad until the bleeding stopped, then began limping away. “We have a patrol to finish. Are you coming, or not?”

“You’re out of your mind!” Hollyclaw exclaimed. “You shouldn’t mess with wounds right now. Everyone needs to be as healthy as possible, or have you forgotten we’re at war with Windclan?”

“It’s not war,” Aldereyes snapped, still limping along their side of the border. Stormstar had wasted no time in taking revenge on Windclan, launching an attack on their dawn patrol the very next day, and the battles went on from there. 

Aldereyes had participated in the battles, there was no reason he shouldn’t as far as anyone knew. But those cats were innocent, blamed for a crime he himself had committed, so he never fought with claws unsheathed, relying on dodging attacks and not initiating them. He had earned many nicks and scratches, and the scars on his shoulder particularly bothered him, but even so he had not set foot in the medicine den. He would lick his wounds clean, and that would be enough.

“What would you call battle after battle with another Clan? Seriously, what is with you? I know you haven’t been the same since Waspheart and Fallendust–”

“I’m fine!” Aldereyes hissed, whipping around to glare a whisker away from her face.

“All evidence points to the contrary,” Hollyclaw said with a head tilt, pointing at his behaviour. “Did something happen? Something else?” She asked, more gently this time, and Aldereyes was reminded that, although neither felt so close, they were siblings. 

Aldereyes sat down heavily, keeping his paw tucked toward his chest. He wanted to tell her everything–tell someone everything, but the only cat he had ever felt comfortable confiding in, in being  vulnerable around, was Myrtlewing, and he damn well wasn’t going to let himself be vulnerable around that murderer ever again. “Tensions are high.”

Hollyclaw nodded. “I know. I feel it too. But I mean…something with Myrtlewing?”

Aldereyes flinched. “No! What makes you think that?”

Hollyclaw narrowed her eyes quizzically. “That reaction, for one thing. And, I’ve noticed you’ve been ignoring him.”

“I haven’t.”

“You would get up and walk away anytime you saw him near. I’m not the only one who’s noticed, by the way. We’ve noticed you never take herbs for your wounds, either. Did you have a fight? Or is it because you were both there when…?”

Aldereyes wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Yes,” he admitted after a long moment of silence when he realized Hollyclaw was not going to let up without an answer. “If I see him…it’ll be acknowledging everything that has happened–to Fallendust and Waspheart. I’m not ready for that yet.”

Hollyclaw nudged him softly. “I get that. But don’t neglect your friends or your health because of a death you can’t take back. They wouldn’t want that of you.”

Yes, they would. Aldereyes was sure they would be glad to see him eaten by a fox. 

Hollyclaw rose to her paws. “Stand up. We’re going to the medicine den–and no, you cannot get out of it.”

“It’s just a thorn.”

“No excuses,” Hollylcaw was nudging him again, insistently poking. 

“Alright, alright!” Aldereyes growled. He exhaled a deep sigh and led the way to the camp. To the medicine den. To Myrtlewing.

==================================

--If Alderstar’s grandkit is going to be named after his sister, they should probably have some good moments together.

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Tell The Clan (short story)

Myrtlewing could only stare back into Aldereyes’s eyes while his mind searched for the best solution to this surprise predicament. He had considered what he would do if he were ever caught, and the answer was simple, he would kill anyone who saw him. 

But not Aldereyes, the one and only one in the entire Clan that he genuinely cared for. Losing him could very well mean losing part of himself. Meeting Aldereyes’s horrified gaze, repulsed by Myrtlewing, was bad enough. Myrtlewing couldn’t imagine the guilt at having to kill him. 

So he didn’t move, only stood with the blood clinging to his wet chin, its warmth emphasizing how he must look. It was truly amazing how quickly he had gone from excited thrill to cold stillness as Aldereyes and Fallendust crashed through the undergrowth.

Fallendust was another problem, another witness to his crime. She was shouting, calling him horrible things and saying how he would be punished. She didn’t dare near him though, likely too frightened, and obviously waiting for Aldereyes to make the move. 

“We’ll kill you!” she snarled. That was likely true, but he wasn’t afraid, didn’t much care, really, whether he was alive or dead. What he wasn’t okay with was the fact that Aldereyes knew, that he was seeing him for what he truly was and clearly didn’t like it at all.

He didn’t have much time to contemplate this, however, as, with a snap so sudden, Myrtlewing was sure he had imagined it, Aldereyes twisted and stood, biting into Fallendust’s throat while she gasped weakly. He blinked, then blinked again, then a third time, to be safe. His eyes were not deceiving him, and he was sure this wasn’t a fantasy created by his mind. Aldereyes had killed Fallendust.

Was it on Myrtlewing’s behalf?

By the look of even-more-horrified on Aldereyes’s face, he guessed that whatever Aldereyes’s reason, it was subconscious and entirely unplanned. He dropped Fallendust quickly and spat out the remaining blood still pooling in his mouth. Other than the swift kill, his eyes had never left Myrtlewing’s, and they stared, exchanging so many thoughts, yet not knowing at all what they wanted to say or what the other’s next move would be. 

Then Aldereyes shifted, rising as though he had been asleep and just woke up. “Come on,” he said, picking Fallendust up and hauling her onto his back. 

That certainly was a surprise. Myrtlewing blinked a few more times, not moving. Aldereyes could tell, but he had also just killed Fallendust. What was he planning? It was also possible he wasn’t planning at all, that his mind had gone blank and he was operating subconsciously. Would he snap out of it when they got to camp? Would Aldereyes turn on him then?

“Now’s not the time to be useless!” Aldereyes barked, harshly.

Myrtlewing joined him, helping settle Fallendust across his back before he placed Waspheart onto his own. Aldereyes began to march back to camp, and wondering if he should, Myrtlewing followed. There was a chance Aldereyes wasn’t going to tell. Myrtlewing didn’t want to flee if he didn’t need to just yet. 

Aldereyes didn’t talk, didn’t so much as look at Myrtlewing. He kept silent all the way back to camp, expression blank. 

When they entered the camp, Briartalon stopped midway through sending the dawn patrol out to rush over, yowling “what happened?” 

“Fallendust?” Echofoot screeched in dismay. “No! My kit!” She rushed over to Aldereyes, who gently laid their Clanmate onto the grass.

The commotion was enough to wake the rest of the Clan, who came rushing out of their dens, freezing and gasping at the sight of their two dead Clanmates. Gorsedaisy stepped out of the elder’s den only a foot, then with a dark shadow across her features, returned inside.

“What happened?” Stormstar demanded above the cacophony, pushing past the warriors that made a circle around the two bodies. He turned his attention to his son. Myrtlewing did the same, glancing sideways at his golden, red-splattered companion. What did happen? What would he say?

“We were ambushed,” Aldereyes explained, his voice surprisingly clear. But by the look on his face, it wasn’t his mind speaking. No, his mind was hiding right now, away from this situation and everything it meant. He was talking absently, but luckily for the both of them, he was good at it.

“By whom?” Stormstar questioned. “Who sent you out?”

“Windclan,” Aldereyes answered. “Fallendust and I couldn’t sleep, so we left the camp to hunt. We met Myrtlewing gathering herbs, Waspheart was helping him. We decided to patrol together as it would be safer. That’s when they attacked.”

“Could you not protect them?” Stormstar accused. “Your medicine cat has scars to show that he tried, where's yours?” 

Myrtlewing could hardly be thankful that Waspheart’s claw marks now proved his innocence, but he could only hold back a growl as Stormstar glared at his own son. “We were taken by surprise,” Myrtlewing explained. “Fallendust was killed before we had time to even realize we were being attacked. We all fought as hard as we could–as you can see by the blood in his mouth, Aldereyes didn’t hide from the fight–but there were too many of them, and Waspheart was lost as well.”

“But..But he…No!” Owlfang wailed, collapsing against his brother’s supporting shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry,” Aldereyes murmured, staring blankly at the ground. 

“Something must be done about this,” Stormstar decided. “For now, we grieve. Bring Fallendust and Waspheart to the centre of the clearing so that we may honour them with a vigil.” 

Owlfang and Echofoot were the ones to drag them along. Myrtlewing and Aldereyes touched their noses to their fur, then Aldereyes padded away in the direction of the warrior’s den. He didn’t look at Myrtlewing, made no indication that he was even thinking about him. As Myrtlewing began to pad in the direction of his own den, he could only wonder what would happen when Aldereyes returned from his trance.

=============================

--Echofoot is Fallen’s mother, Owl Wasp’s father!

--It does say that Myrtlewing only cares for Alder even though Hoot is also a Clanmate. He does come to care for her deeply as well (thought obviously not as much or in the same way), but right now he barely knows her anymore than their other Clanmates.

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Myrtlewing pushed through the Shadowclan camp entrance feeling light. With the buzz of a working camp in his ears, he gazed around the clearing. Aldereyes stood next to the fresh-kill pile, a mouse in his jaws. Hootpetal was with him.

"Hey, Myrtlewing!" Rainbur called from where he stood patching the nursery. "How was the Moonstone?"

"Good, no terrible visions!" Myrtlewing joked back.

Hearing them, Aldereyes turned to see Myrtlewing. He dropped his mouse and stomped over, fuming. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

Myrtlewing looked at him. "Coldwater needed some help with herbs."

Aldereyes sniffed. "She's been a medicine cat for moons and can't do it herself? Idiot, you're our only healer after Hickoryskip retired, you should be here."

Myrtlewing pricked his ears. "Did something happen?"

Aldereyes blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "No! But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be here in case something did, or do you want to be responsible for the death of your Clanmates?"

Myrtlewing had little time to think of the irony of that question when Hootpetal padded over, eyes warm. "Ignore him," she said to Myrtlewing, "he was worried."

I know, Myrtlewing thought. He came to know the hidden meaning in Aldereyes's words almost more than what he spoke aloud.

'Where have you been?' Was 'Are you okay?'

'You should be here.' 'I want you where it's safe.'

Aldereyes half-gaped at her, then quickly composed himself. "Worried for our Clanmates that could have been injured or sick and with no one to heal them!....Not that this idiot could do much anyways."

Myrtlewing glared.

'Idiot.'

'Be mad at me for calling you an idiot before you notice how worried I was.'

He shared a knowing look with Hootpetal, who seemed to understand the same thing. "Pacing around the camp, was he?"

"Practically shredded the grass where he walked," she answered.

"I don't have time for this," Aldereyes broke in. "I'm taking Wolfburn and Mossflake training." To Myrtlewing, he said, "when you've woken up, try to be helpful." Then he was off, strolling confidently away, as though shielding his embarrassment.

========================

--Once again, HUGE thanks to @umbranoxs​ because they did the art for the previous scene, I was able to finish this one faster and therefore work for the story at a faster pace. 

--The story in order can be found either on Wattpad or my DeviantArt (Arewco). The DA one focuses on Alder’s pov first so that the “surprise” is more, you know, surprising. Wattpad focusing on both and you know right away that Myrtle is how he is.

--I’m working on how to better to she-cats. Maybe a smaller nose next time.

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Aldereyes: oh shit, Myrtlewing just killed someone!

Aldereyes: oh shit, he looks good doing it!

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Delivery and Curiosity (short story)

Myrtlewing’s eyes widened as the meaning behind Aldereyes’s words hit him. Then both of their eyes shot open and heads turned toward the fern tunnel as a yowl broke the air. Aldereyes was already racing through while Myrtlewing scrambled to his feet to follow.

In the clearing, Maplefall was crouched by the fresh-kill pile, a vole at her paws and her muzzle wrinkled with pain. Myrtlewing was at her side in a heartbeat, beaten only by Wolfburn, who hopped from one paw to the other, panic sharp with every movement. 

Myrtlewing nudged Maplefall gently but strongly. “Let’s get you to the medicine den.”

“I’m fine!” Maplefall insisted, but she staggered, her fur puffing out. 

She wouldn’t be able to make it through the fern tunnel at this rate. Myrtlewing stirred her instead to the nursery. Wolfburn helped on her other side, his mother, Echofoot, saying soothing words next to him. It was a struggle, but at last they managed to enter the nursery.

They aimed for the nearest nest, but Maplefall was pulling away. “No! That one!” she pointed with a trembling paw to a nest at the far end of the den. It was the freshest of all of them. With no nursing queens, the moss in the nursery had not been replaced. Myrtlewing guessed that they had fixed up one themselves, and had planned to have their kits there. But Maplefall was hardly able to walk. “You can move them there later,” he told her firmly.

Maplefall opened her jaws, likely to argue, but a pained moan escaped her instead. Deciding it wasn’t worth it, she followed them to the closest nest and flopped heavily onto her stomach. 

—-

Purs of mother and father filled the den. Myrtlewing was glad that Wolfburn and Maplefall were so distracted by each other and their new daughter that they didn’t notice the gag Myrtlewing couldn’t help making. Of all of his duties as a medicine cat, helping a birthing queen was by far the most disgusting one.

Echofoot, who had left the den after helping Maplefall settle and waited patiently outside, poked her nose in. “Can I come in?” she asked softly.

Wolfburn looked at Maplefall, who nodded. “Yes!” He answered eagerly.

Echofoot padded in slowly, though by the look of her twitching pelt, she struggled to contain her glee and remain as undisturbing as possible. “How beautiful! Have you two thought of names yet?”

Wolfburn nuzzled Maplefall’s cheek. “Blossomkit and Cherrykit were our top favourites for she-kits.”

“After your parents.” Echofoot blinked warmly at Maplefall. “How sweet.” Grief mingled with the love in her expression. Myrtlewing guessed that she was thinking of her lost daughters. Was this a way to overcome that loss for her, through the kit of her only living son?

Maplefall licked her daughter’s ears. “I like Blossomkit.”

“Blossomkit it is, then,” Myrtlewing spoke up. He leaned forward to inspect the kit, checking over that it was healthy. She was cute, the pinkness of her pads bright as the light of the sunshine shining through the gaps in the leaves above touched them. Her tiny whiskers quivered. It was interesting how endearing Myrtlewing found his Clanmates when they were born, and how quickly that affection left him the moment they were no longer cute.

He looked at the small kit, taking her in, and felt no less warm as he wondered if she would ever bleed beneath his claws. 

He turned from the den, leaving the new parents and grandmother to fawn over the new addition to the Clan, who faced him now, collectively holding their breaths. “One she-kit,” he announced. “Completely healthy!”

The worry overhanging the camp evaporated quickly enough for Myrtlewing to question if it had ever been there, replaced by the cheerful buzzing of warriors chattering about the wonderful event.

Myrtlewing padded past them, stopping in front of Aldereyes. “What you said, are you sure?”

“Yes,” Aldereyes replied with little hesitation. 

“To stop me?”

Aldereyes looked around, his swiveling head clear to anyone who paid attention. He would need to work on his secrecy. “I promise, I won’t get involved. I just need to see it.”

Myrtlewing narrowed his eyes questionably. “..Okay. Three nights from now?”

Aldereyes swallowed. “Yes. That works.”

“Okay.” Myrtlewing looked at him for a while longer. Then Briartalon’s coughing sounded from the medicine den, and he turned and padded away. That was certainly an unexpected change of recent events. Was Aldereyes really not planning on stopping him? If not, why would he come along if he were only going to do nothing? What was he thinking?

=============================

--Myrtle does trust Alder for the most part, but considering how he has acted recently regarding Myrtle’s murder, it’s fair to wonder what the change is about.

--Anyways yeah this chapter features Blossomkit! Idk if she should have been born sooner, but maybe she was a late birth. 

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

+Alder, Hoot, Myrtle, and Grouse relationship in life (AKA post ‘we can be a poly’) is something I so much want to dive into

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Nine Reluctant Lives (short story, part 1)

Aldereyes stared in spite of the burning blue light. Before him, the Moonstone stood glittering with the light of one thousand Starclan warriors, illuminating the cave that had been pitch-black moments ago until Aldereyes could see every detail of the stone walls. Through the hole in the roof above it, a crescent moon gleamed down like an angry claw.

He shook himself. It was just a fancy stone. Then he shook again, more of a shiver. It was a fancy stone that determined whether or not he would receive his nine lives. Anxiety had built within him throughout the journey, and now it threatened to bubble over. 

He wasn’t afraid about not being good enough or not being given his nine lives– although he didn’t like that last thought. Afterall, he was already killing his Clanmates. He killed his father, the previous leader, not for his position but because he had been horrible. He did it for himself, for revenge, bashing his skull against a stone during a harsh storm that was later blamed for his death when his body had been found the next day.

“Staring won’t make this go any faster,” Myrtlewing’s voice had broken into his thoughts. Aldereyes turned to him, but Myrtlewing spoke up again as though the look was all he needed to read his deputy’s thoughts. “It’ll be fine.”

Would it? Aldereyes couldn’t help but wonder. He would face warriors that had done and would probably still do anything to protect their Clan. They certainly wouldn’t take too kindly to him. Could they attack him? Kill him? He almost had to laugh at the irony of his worry. Whatever they do, they would certainly think the fear served him right.

Myrtlewing went on. “Crouch down. Touch your nose to the stone, Starclan will handle the rest. I’ll be here when you wake up, whatever happens.” 

Alderstar faked a face of displeasure at that, then followed his instructions. He wasn’t sure what to expect, imagining an explosion of light, or maybe simple darkness until he woke again. Something poked at his sides--grass?, and he opened his eyes to find himself in a small clearing. He blinked, sitting up, and realized that this was Shadowclan territory. More than that, he realized, heart sinking, that this was where his first murder had occured. Surely if this was where the ceremony was taking place, he would not be greeted with cheers.

Aldereyes continued to stare around, waiting for someone to show. He was beginning to believe no one would when a shadow pressed overhead and instinctively he looked up. The trees stretched as far as he could see, their twisted branches coated with the pelts of what must be all of Starclan. Then, one by one, nine cats leapt and formed a circle around him.

Aldereyes forced himself not to hiss in defense. They weren’t trying to surround him. It was just a ceremony. Nine cats were around him. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? Surely they wouldn’t tell him one after the other that they wouldn’t give him any lives?

An old she-cat stepped forward, one Aldereyes didn’t recognize. She didn’t bother introducing herself, and when Aldereyes dipped his head at her approach, she hissed, “save it.”

He held his breath as she touched her nose to his head. 

“With this life, I give you independence. Use it,” she added sharply, before disappearing into the crowd. Aldereyes decided it best not to glare at her as she left, even if the pain from the life that she had given still sheered through his skull and his legs buckled so badly he thought that they would collapse beneath him.

He was still recovering when another, still unfamiliar, cat stepped forward. He looked even more peeved than the last, stretching his neck far like Aldereyes was a sickness he didn’t want to catch. “With this life–” Aldereyes could practically feel the vibrations through his gritted teeth– “I give you a life for wisdom. Use it to see your actions for what they are.”

The pain was much broader now, but no less severe, crushing in from all sides like a collapsing tree on top of him until he was gasping for breath. Then in an instant, it was gone. 

A third cat stepped forward. This time, Aldereyes knew her.

======================================

Next part: https://at.tumblr.com/residents-of-the-darkforest/nine-reluctant-lives-short-story-part-2/hcglcl7w97jg

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

the “oh no” bisexual / gay realiziation meme but it’s Aldereyesstar and/or Myrtlewing in the early years of their relationship

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Aldereyesstar: the rest of the clan won’t care if I beat you up lol

Myrtle: did it perhaps slip your mind.. that I am the medicine cat?

I feel like this is a good time to mention that whenever Alderstar knows he lost / is losing an argument, he just tells the other character, which is often Myrtle, to shut up

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

new headcanon: Aldereyesstar would force take Myrtlewing out to the training fields when he had free time because he was worried he couldn’t take care of himself properly (and likely said it was because they would be mad if he wrecked the shit of another, useful, warrior, but if it was just Myrtle they wouldn’t care -- and Myrtle would go along with it because he knows that excuse is bullshit, Alder just can’t express his feelings like a normal person), and anyway Aldereyes would teach Myrtle how to properly fight

which....may or may not have become useful

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

talk about grousemane! :)

Okay so!

--he was a loner first. Myrtlewing and Alderstar saved him from being attacked by more rogues, and he joined their Clan. He was also away from the Clan when the two of them died, hence why he didn't believe it when he heard they were in the Dark Forest

--He went to Starclan, but went to the Dark Forest to find Alder and Myrtle and 'prove' that they were put there wrongly. But then he actually found them and Starclan didn't let him return. He didn't mind after a while.

--His relationship with the other characters can be classified as "drinking buddies," or the Warriors version of it.

--He had a major crush on Myrtlewing the moment they met.

--He encourages Myrtlewing into doing dangerous tasks, but is also very protective of him. He may encourage him to climb a rotten and skinny tree, but would put himself in front of seventeen dogs to protect Myrtle in an instant.

Alderstar to Myrtlewing: "don't EVER climb a flimsy tree like that again. Are you an idiot? you could have been hurt. You have NO self-preservation."

Grousemane to Myrtlewing, singing as Myrtlewing climbs a tree: "Spider-man, Spider-man, does whatever a spider can...."

--He didn't get along with Stormstar. Stormstar didn't like loners, rogues, or kittypets, and he argued with Aldereyesstar over whether or not he could join.

--he's a huge fricken flirt. Sometimes not even when he's attracted to them, he just likes to flatter.

--He didn't get with Myrtle / join the polycule until after he joined them in the Dark Forest, before it was mostly subtle flirting (it's possible that Myrtlewing didn't understand that he was trying to flirt).

--His relationship with Alder is more along the lines of annoying sibling that gives you nicknames that are between affectionate and belittling

I think I'll stop here and stop the post from getting too long

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

okay still not done with this it would seem

Aldereyesstar would still be shocked about Myrtlewing being a serial killer, even after the first few kills he joined in on.

It would be like 

*Aldereyes quickly tears someone’s throat out*

*Aldereyes looks over to see Myrtlewing full on ripping them apart, a warm glint in his eyes*

Aldereyes:

I mean he definitely got used to it after a while and became just as or at least nearly just as chaotic about it, but yeah this was his life for some time

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Aldereyesstar used getting hurt as an excuse to see Myrtlewing, the medicine cat, and that was pretty stupid of him. The worst was when he twisted a paw trying to fight off a badger on his own (he survived because a patrol came to help), and he had to stay in the den for a moon (during which he and Myrtle worked together a lot to get it feeling better).

It probably also helped Alder connect with his Clanmates, ‘cause he isolated himself quite a bit but seeing Myrtle seemingly talk with them so smoothly motivated him to be the same way

He doesn’t like talking about it because he doesn’t like others knowing that he liked someone so much he was willing to get hurt just to be around them instead of, you know, talking to them

@ambitiousauthor​