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swampclanclangen · 4 months

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Month 1 - Newleaf

“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Lowback asks, glancing over his shoulder. He meets the eyes of the kittypet behind them and quickly looks away. “What are we going to tell Strikestar?”

“Exactly what the kittypet told us. She wants to join and become a warrior.” Yarrowtuft replies, not taking her eyes off the path in front of them. She ducks under a low hanging fern, spotting the dip of the grotto up ahead.

“We’re almost there.” Yarrowtuft looks over her shoulder, giving the kittypet a stern look. “Stay close to us and don’t talk to anyone. Got it?”

“Got it!” The kittypet jumps forward, shouldering her way between the warriors. “Oh, I’m just so excited! I’ve always wanted to be a warrior!”

“You have to be accepted by Strikestar first and there’s no guarantee of that.” Yarrowtuft meows. She hops down into the grotto and pads down the path, leaving Lowback to make sure the kittypet didn’t fall off. Yarrowtuft pushes through the bush and stops, waiting for the others.

“Wow! This is amazing!” The kittypet exclaims as she comes through the bush. She looks around the camp in awe, eyes wide and mouth open.

Yarrowtuft watches the kittypet for a moment, feeling a slight warmth fill her chest. It reminded her of the way kits looked on their first day out of the nursery. The kittypet suddenly looks at her and the black mask around her face briefly flickers to a dark red. Yarrowtuft flinches and looks away.

“Yarrowtuft, you ok?” Lowback’s voice makes her look back up. The younger warrior had a knowing look on his face.

“Fine. Now come on.” Yarrowtuft turns and stalks towards Strikestar’s den. She pushes her head through the sparse lichen hanging down in the entrance, spotting Strikestar sorting out some rocks.

“Strikestar? We need you for something.” Yarrowtuft meows, gaining the leader’s attention.

“What is it?” Strikestar asks, standing and padding over to her deputy.

Yarrowtuft pulls her head out and gestures to the kittypet standing next to a seated Lowback. “We found a kittypet by the border. Says she wants to join.”

“A kittypet?” Strikestar’s brow furrows, looking at the big gray tabby. She approaches the kittypet, tail swaying easily behind her.

“Strikestar, this is -”

“Hyeridrizzle! It’s nice to meet you!” The kittypet steps forward, butting her head against Strikestar’s shoulder in greeting.

“Hyeridrizzle? You told us your name was just Hyeri.” Lowback says, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Well, if I’m going to be a warrior then I need a warrior name don’t I?” Hyeridrizzle says, smiling at the tom.

“That’s not how it works.” Lowback starts but is cut off by Strikestar.

“Nevermind that. What made you want to be a warrior?” She asks the kittypet, settling into a seated position.

“I’ve been watching the clan cats for moons and always dreamed of being able to join you guys.” Hyeridrizzle explains, gesturing with a paw around the camp. “I noticed you guys a lot closer than usual and decided now was my chance.”

“You do understand what being a clancat means right? It’s not going to be easy. You’ll have to hunt for your own food, fight, you might even die.” Strikestar says, voice serious and face stern. “I can’t in good conscience let you make this decision without telling you the risks.”

The bright and playful look on Hyeridrizzle’s face shifts into a somber expression. “I enjoyed being a kittypet, I won’t deny that, but I’ve always felt like I’ve been missing something. Something that I couldn’t gain from merely exploring my garden.”

Strikestar nods. She stands, puffing out her chest.

“Hyeridrizzle, do you promise to put your clan before yourself and honor the warrior code?” Strikestar asks.

“I promise.” Hyeridrizzle replies, holding her head high.

“Then I welcome you as a warrior of Swampclan.”

“Thank you, Strikestar.” Hyeridrizzle dips her head to the older cat. She lifts it back up after a few heartbeats.

Strikestar nods before turning around and disappearing back into her den, making the lichen swish.

“Would you like us to introduce you to the others?” Lowback asks, looking at Yarrowtuft for confirmation that she wanted to help.

Yarrowtuft nods and steps forward. “The others can look scary at first, but they’re really kind.”

“I’d love that, thank you.” Hyeridrizzle says, smiling at the warriors. She looks around the camp, spotting only a few cats in the clearing.

“Well you already know Strikestar, our leader, and Yarrowtuft and I. Yarrowtuft is our deputy, which basically means she’s in charge when Strikestar can’t be.” Lowback says.

“What are you?” Hyeridrizzle asks.

“Hm? Oh, I’m just a regular warrior.” Lowback replies. “Now come on, let’s go see Shinepelt. He’s our medicine cat.”

Hyeridrizzle follows after the young tom, eyeing the small cave next to the entrance. A small white and black cat was spread out in front of it, head on his paws.

“Hey Shinepelt!” Lowback quickened his pace and stopped next to Shinepelt, putting his paws on his shoulders and shaking the medicine cat.

Shinepelt jerks away, rolling onto his back to get away from Lowback. He gives the warrior an annoyed look. “Rude.”

“We have someone to introduce.” Lowback flicks his tail behind him, pointing to Hyeridrizzle and Yarrowtuft as they come up. “This is Hyeridrizzle. She’s a new warrior.”

Shinepelt rolls onto his stomach and pushes himself up. He smiles at the older warrior. “Nice to meet you, I’m Shinepelt.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Hyeridrizzle dips her head.

“A head dip? That’s a first.” Shinepelt turns to Lowback. “You should try that sometime. Might make me like you more.”

“You love me.” Lowback smirks, lowering his head to Shinepelt’s height. The smaller tom leans forward and presses his muzzle against the warrior’s cheek.

“That’s up for debate.” Shinepelt pulls back. “Now go along, I got work to do.”

“Must be so tiring to lay around in the sun.” Lowback teases, but pulls away.

“Mouse-brain. I’ll come see you later.” Shinepelt purrs. He turns away and trots into his den, but not before flicking Lowback with the tip of his tail.

“Alright, come on casanova. We don’t have all day.” Yarrowtuft says, rolling her eyes fondly at the two.

Lowback chuckles and takes the lead. He pads across the clearing to the rest of his lounging clanmates.

“Hey Lowback!” Palepaw calls, waving his paw in the air.

“Hey guys. We want to introduce you to someone.” Lowback sits down, gesturing to the she-cats settling down beside him. “This is Hyeridrizzle. She’s a new warrior.”

“Hello!” Hyeridrizzle meows, dipping her head in greeting.

“Are you from one of the other clans?” Palepaw asks, tilting his head in confusion. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“No, I was a kittypet. I decided it wasn’t for me though, so I asked Strikestar if I could join.” Hyeridrizzle explains.

“And she said yes?”

“Well I wouldn’t be here if she said no.” Hyeridrizzle says, smiling.

“Oh, right.” Palepaw says sheepishly, scuffing his paw in the dirt.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Fennelpelt speaks up from his spot next to Palepaw. “I’m Fennelpelt.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

“Where’s Dawnpaw?” Yarrowtuft asks, looking around. She spots a small brown flash before Dawnpaw appears in front of Hyeridrizzle, a clump of yellow flowers in his jaws. The apprentice sets them down at the older warrior’s paws.

“These are for you. As a welcome gift.” Dawnpaw meows, shyly ducking his head.

“Thank you, Dawnpaw I presume.” Dawnpaw nods. “They’re lovely.” Hyeridrizzle leans down and grabs the flowers.

“And that is everyone.” Lowback says, looking over at Yarrowtuft. “I think we’re going to continue our patrol. I’ve noticed the prey pile looking pretty skimpy. Unacceptable this far into newleaf.”

“You just want an excuse to run around.” Yarrowtuft says, but pushes to her feet. She stretches out and starts walking to the camp entrance. “Well, let’s go before it gets dark out.”

Lowback hops to his feet, flicking his tail in goodbye, and quickly follows after Yarrowtuft. The two warriors make their way out of the camp and into the forest of their territory.

“Where do you want to hunt first?” Yarrowtuft asks, matching Lowback’s steady pace.

“I thought you said we were just running around.” Lowback meows, shooting Yarrowtuft a teasing look. He quickened his pace, jumping over a log. Lowback pulls ahead, laughing in glee. He had missed being able to just run like he did back in Patchouliclan. He finally skids to a stop in a clearing, watching in satisfaction as Yarrowtuft bursts through the undergrowth.

“You’re still the slowpoke you were in Patchouliclan.” He meows smugly.

“You have longer legs than me.” Yarrowtuft pants, tail dragging along the ground.

“Excuses, excuses.” Lowback scans the clearing, ears pricked. A faint crackling noise catches his attention. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Yarrowtuft looks where Lowback is, ears flicking around. She pads forward, eyes squinting to see if she could spot what was making the noise. Orange peeks through the leaves, growing closer.

“Fire. Fire!” Lowback grabs Yarrowtuft’s tail and yanks her back. Just as he did, flames shoot out from the undergrowth, licking greedily at the grass. Lowback flinches away from the heat, pulling Yarrowtuft further away.

“Lowback, run!” Yarrowtuft exclaims, pushing at the younger warrior’s chest.

“You first. I’m faster, I can get away.” Lowback shoves Yarrowtuft forward.

Yarrowtuft leaps away, paws hitting the ground just at the edge of the clearing. A pained yowl makes her stop, turning back around. Lowback was stumbling away from the fire, holding his injured back paw off the ground.

“Lowback!” Yarrowtuft moves to go to him.

“No! I’m fine, you go.” Lowback stumbles forward, hissing in pain. When Yarrowtuft doesn’t move he lets out a low growl. “Run!”

Yarrowtuft springs into action, paws hitting the ground in rapid succession. Fear fills her chest as the heat and roar of the fire draw closer. A sense of dread follows when she realizes she can’t hear a second set of pawsteps behind her. It felt like ages when Yarrowtuft finally stopped, the heat and crackling no longer there. She turns around, frantically scanning the underbrush, trying to find any chance of white or silver fur. Grief fills her heart as the minutes pass by. In one last ditch effort, Yarrowtuft takes a deep breath.

“Lowback!” Yarrowtuft waits for a reply, but, as she expected, none came. Finally, she turns, making her way back to camp, tail dragging a trail across the ground. The walk back was a daze, seeming to last for an eternity. She didn’t come back to her senses until the drop into the grotto stopped her. Yarrowtuft stares down into it, eyes dull. All the color from earlier seemed to have drained from the camp, leaving it washed out. Finally finding the energy to move again, she makes her way down the trail and through the bushes.

“Yarrowtuft?” Shinepelt appears in front of Yarrowtuft, startling the deputy. “Are you alright?”

“I…” Yarrowtuft trails off. “I need to talk to Strikestar.”

“She’s in her den. Where’s Lowback?” Shinepelt asks quickly, not taking a breath between sentences.

Yarrowtuft pads away without answering. She pushes through the lichen covering the entrance and pauses. How was she going to tell Strikestar this?

“Yarrowtuft?”

“Lowback’s dead.”

“What? Yarrowtuft what do you mean?” Strikestar hurries forward, staring down at her deputy in surprise. “What happened?”

“There was a fire. He…he didn’t make it out.” Yarrowtuft drops onto her haunches with a sigh. “What are we going to tell Shinepelt?”

Strikestar frowns, looking outside the den to the anxiously waiting tom across the clearing. “You let me deal with that. For now, go rest.”

Yarrowtuft nods. She heaves herself up and follows Strikestar out of the den. Yarrowtuft slowly makes her way to the warrior’s den. Just as she’s about to go in, an anguished wail echoes around the clearing. A fresh stab of grief hits her heart. Yarrowtuft pushes into the den and collapses in her nest. She covers her ears with her paws to block out the cries coming from outside and closes her eyes.

******

Shinepelt sorts through his storage of herbs, ears pricked to hear the singing of birds outside the den. He raises his head, eyes squinting at the light shining through the entrance. It had been a couple of weeks since Lowback passed. Shinepelt refused to leave his den, instead opting to stay in the dark of his cave. Focusing back on the herbs before him, he notices how the moss crinkled and broke apart in his paw. Sighing, Shinepelt pushes himself to his feet. He couldn’t let grief stop him from his duties as a medicine cat.

He steps out of his den, ignoring the way the light hurt his eyes. Shinepelt scans the clearing, still expecting to see the white and silver pelt of Lowback amongst his clanmates. Instead, he’s greeted with the sight of a dark gray tabby walking up to him. He raises his head, eyes narrowing as he tries to recall the newcomer’s name.

“Hyeridrizzle, right?” Shinepelt asks.

“Yea. Do you need any help?” The she-cat asks, eyes gentle, but not pitying. Shinepelt appreciated that.

“Yes, actually. Do you mind coming with me to find more moss? Mine has become old.” Shinepelt replies.

“Of course. I’m ready when you are.”

“Let’s go, then.” Shinepelt walks away, heading to the camp entrance. Once out, he makes his way to the best moss patch he knows. Hyeridrizzle quietly follows behind him. After a few minutes of walking, Shinepelt stops in front of a thoroughly picked-through moss patch.

“It looks like some other animals got here before we did. I’ll have to come back another time.” Shinepelt sighs.

“I’ll come with you when you do.” Hyeridrizzle says, stopping next to Shinepelt.

“Thank you, Hyeridrizzle.”

“No problem.”

******

Palepaw trots after Fennelpelt, tail swishing happily behind him.

“Did your old mentor ever teach you how to climb trees?” Fennelpelt asks, looking over his shoulder.

“He told me about it, but we never actually went out to climb.” Palepaw replies. He pulls up beside Fennelpelt. “Is that what we’re doing today?”

“Yep! Don’t worry, though, we’ll start off small. Just a little mangrove. They have lots of places to put your paws.” Fennelpelt stops, looking up at the mangrove in front of them.

Palepaw follows his gaze, eyes widening.

“Now what you want to do is-Palepaw!” Fennelpelt jumps forward to grab the apprentice but just misses him as he scampers up the tree.

Palepaw propels himself up, easily finding pawholds in the twisted bark of the tree. He hops to a branch, digging his claws in, and looks out over the territory.

“Everything looks so small from up here. I can almost see camp!” Palepaw exclaims, stretching up on his tiptoes.

“Careful Palepaw! It’s dangerous up there.” Fennelpelt calls from below, voice slightly exacerbated.

“It’s not that ba-ah!” Palepaw scrambles to the trunk, fear striking his chest as he looks down. Fennelpelt was small under him. Everything was small under him. “H-How do I get down?” “If you had waited. I would have told you before you went up there.” Fennelpelt says, sitting down.

“Well can’t you tell me now?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know. Might let you figure it out.”

“Fennelpelt, please! I’m gonna fall.” Palepaw digs his claws deeper into the bark.

“You’re not going to fall.” Fennelpelt rolls his eyes. “Just come down the same way you went up.”

“How do I do that?”

“Face the tree and slowly lower yourself down. I’ll be right here to catch you if you fall.” Fennelpelt stretches up on his hind legs and puts his front paws on the tree.

“You just said I wouldn’t fall!”

“I’ll make sure you fall if you don’t start making your way down.”

“Fine! I’m coming.” Palepaw pushes himself away from the trunk, looking down.

“Don’t look down. That��ll make it worse.”

Palepaw turns his attention back to the tree. Slowly, he lowers himself down, taking extra care to put his paws in each crevice he could. After a few moments, he looks down. Relief fills his chest when Fennelpelt comes into view just under him. Suddenly, a mischievous idea comes to mind.

“Don’t you dare.” Fennelpelt says, eyes narrowing.

“I didn’t do anything.” Palepaw says, looking away. He pulls one of his paws out of a crevice.

“But you want to do it.”

“I don’t know what you're talking about.” Palepaw pulls another paw out. He starts to tip backwards.

“Palepaw!” Fennelpelt gasps as a heavy body hits him, bringing him to sprawl on the ground. Laughter erupts above him and he can’t help the grin from coming across his face.

“Palepaw.”

“Yes?”

“One.”

“One? What do you mean by one?”

“Two.”

“Wait. Fennelpelt, no.” Palepaw jumps to his feet, slowly backing away. He watches Fennelpelt climb to his paws and turn to him. “There I got off. Everything’s fine.”

“Three.” Fennelpelt lunges forward.

Palepaw yowls and scrambles away, Fennelpelt quick to follow him, laughing.

Updated Ref Sheets

Authors Note

Lowback quickly became one of my favorite cats and I find it very cruel that I could only have him for two moons. He died so young too, he had so much potential left

#clangen #cats #drawing #swampclan #warrior cats #original character #story

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