#on their first herb-hunting patrol

[selenetic]

[yuki2sksksk]

[ Trollhunter Guardian (Y/n) ]

Centuries ago

(interpret this however you want (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠))

A few notes of you living with Angor Rot:

TW: slight suggestive

You first didn't stay directly in his living space, being given a small spot on your own when you were allowed to live with the trolls.

But you often go over to his place and one sleepover after late night talk leads to numerous visits that often have some belongings of yours in his place.

The other trolls talked amongst them of how close you and Angor Rot were.

You helped them a lot with your magic and pretty much got along with most of the residents so they had no problem with you.

So when everyone finally found out about your relationship with Angor Rot, they were mostly baffled by the idea of their warrior being in a relationship.

Angor Rot didn't always stay in his quarter, often going around to patrol and help any trolls in need.

But ever since you came, he found himself coming 'home' more than often.

His living space now had some soft texture objects like mattress and curtains because of your influence

It also smells like herbs and you. He liked that a lot more than he thought he would.

So. Did the two of you ever sleep together?

More than laying on each other's side?

Yeah, but that stage took around a year and a half after you two were official.

It had been in your mind for sometime, mostly in a curiosity of how compatible your bodies might work despite the differences

Then it just happened one early morning.

You and Angor Rot came back from some hunting together, drenching from the sudden heavy pouring rain.

Clothes sticking to your skin, you had trouble getting off your gears and he offered to help.

Close proximity contact + shown body curves + had been thinking about it.

And that happened.

There was a lot of discovery happening.

[kudossi]

hear the crack of lightning (where your heart will break)

“Don’t you understand?” Hawkfrost hisses, spits like it’s deathberries, like poison curling his tongue and blackening his gums. “We’re the same, you and I!”

Hollyleaf stares at him, still as the grave.

“Hollyleaf, no!” Dovewing shouts out. Thunder rips across the sky, breaking and rending and tearing apart. Lightning flashes, hot and acerbic, the taste of ozone and the dizzying light of uncountable seasons of greenleaf suns.

Hollyleaf doesn’t move. She’s a dark outline in the aftereffects of lightning, against smoke sputtering toward the sky. “You’re wrong,” she says, quiet, and Dovewing pictures rolling hills covered in prairie grass, whistling softly, something beautiful and magnificent and simple all the same, her teacher and her friend and her family, all wrapped up in one cat. “End this, Hawkfrost. You don’t have to do this.”

Hawkfrost snarls. “I think you’ll find that I do,” he says, anger and fathomless, incomprehensible emptiness.

The sky opens. Rain pours down around them, obscuring Dovewing’s vision. Maybe that’s why she isn’t quick enough. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t see the blow levied for her until Hollyleaf intercepts it, bowling Breezepelt over in the span of a blink. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t comprehend Hawkfrost’s movement, the way he digs his teeth into Hollyleaf’s scruff and his claws into her throat.

Hollyleaf gasps.

Dovewing had always wondered what would happen when the prophecy came to bear. She had pondered over it on sleepless nights, during early patrols, when she guarded the camp while the Clan slept around her. The night before hadn’t been any different — she had tucked herself underneath Hollyleaf’s chin, leeching comfort from her pelt, and the thought had come — what would she do if something happened to her?

She’d thought she would rage, would scream to the sky, would take her revenge with tooth and claw. But instead she stands stock-still as Hollyleaf struggles to stand, as Hawkfrost’s bloody mouth turns to her, as Breezepelt grins, crooked and eager.

Hollyleaf laughs. It’s choked with her own blood. “You’ll have to get through me first,” she says, this self-exiled loner, this fully-trained warrior, a cat who had watched her grow up and had realized what she held that Hollyleaf herself had not; a cat who had come looking anyway, who had come to rescue her when everything else had gone hopeless and fuzzy at the edges.

“No,” she breathes, and Hawkfrost leaps, but Hollyleaf is ready, and her fangs sink deep into his throat. Black blood spurts from any gap her mouth creates, stinking and shiny like the puddles they sometimes found on Thunderpaths. It’s muck and mire, not clean blood, and yet—and yet—

Lionblaze and Icecloud interrupt her panicked musings, fighting back-to-back as they take on Breezepelt, as Hawkfrost’s body deflates like waterlogged moss, as Hollyleaf slumps back, stunned, her face and neck dripping.

Dovewing knows what to do. She knows what to do — what Hollyleaf taught her to do between battle practice and hunting, in the mornings and the evenings where being prophesied might as well have been a death sentence, where even Hollyleaf’s simple knowledge of herbs might give at least a slim, wild chance —  but as she rolls Hollyleaf on her side, she knows that anything she does will only prolong the end.

She does it anyway.

The herbs don’t matter anymore — nothing matters anymore. Breezepelt and the monsters behind him could kill them all where they stood and it would make more sense than this, than Hollyleaf bleeding out at her paws, than the way the cobwebs run red with blood, than the way the herbs she presses in don’t help the clotting.

She can’t think. It’s only instinct. No, no, her heart beats. No, no, not her, not her, anyone but her.

Dovewing presses more and more cobwebs to the wound.

A voice echoes from somewhere, and it takes Dovewing a moment to realize that it’s from Hollyleaf. “I knew you’d make a good medic,” Hollyleaf manages. She reaches out a paw to tap one of Dovewing’s, a purr in her throat. “You’ve made me proud. So, so proud.”

No. Dovewing snatches the paw back as if Hollyleaf had touched it with fire, and she busies herself again — herbs, herbs, what to stop the blood, what would stop the blood?

“It’s okay,” Hollyleaf says. “I always knew, Dovewing. I always knew this would be my fate.”

“It’s not okay!” Dovewing snaps. “You have your whole life to live, and, and—I’m going to stop the bleeding, and we’re going to go home, all of us, and you can be deputy one day, and then leader, Hollyleaf, you deserve it, and maybe I can train as a medic — really train — and Ivypool can be your deputy, and nothing will hurt — nothing will hurt ever again, Hollyleaf, wouldn’t that be nice?”

Hollyleaf says nothing. There’s a gentle smile on her face, something knowing.

“Why isn’t—why isn’t it stopping?” she asks. “I’m doing everything you taught me, everything, Hollyleaf, please—”

“Sometimes… it’s not enough,” Hollyleaf whispers. Dovewing flinches away, reaching blindly for more, and Hollyleaf’s paw touches her again. “Hey. Hey, Dovewing. It’s—it’s no use. You have to save those, okay? You can’t go using them all on me.”

“I’ll get more, okay? I will!”

“Dovewing.”

“I’ll—I’ll use more moss, and they’ll take patrols past the borders—”

“Dovewing.”

“—and it’ll all be okay, Hollyleaf, you’ll see—”

“Dove!”

Dovewing reels back, slipping in Hollyleaf’s blood. For the first time since she’d started packing herbs into the wounds, Dovewing looks Hollyleaf in the eye. They’re green, of course — a shade so similar to her own that it was as if they’d been born to be two halves of a whole.

The light in them is dim, the life slipping steadily away. But she sees affection there, sees pride, sees love.

Gently, Hollyleaf offers Dovewing her white paw.

Trembling, Dovewing puts her own white paw atop it. She’s warm, so warm, like life and sunlight and those stolen training days, where nothing mattered but the next herb, the next piece of knowledge to slot into her mind so easily, so perfectly that she’d known it had always meant to be there.

“You’ll find another cat to teach, won’t you?” Hollyleaf asks, a weak smile on her face. “Illicitly, of course?”

Something bubbles in Dovewing’s chest. She thinks it would have been a laugh, any other time. “This isn’t funny.”

“No,” Hollyleaf says quietly, “but I wish you wouldn’t cry for me.”

Dovewing snorts, the sound watery. “A little too late for that.”

Hollyleaf purrs, exasperated and fond. “Look at you, Dove. You’re—you’re fully trained, in every way you could be. Let Jayfeather tell you how proud he is in my stead, won’t you? When you don’t have to be a warrior anymore? I—I had wanted to be the one to tell you, after this all was over. After you didn’t need to fight anymore… when you could rest.”

“Then why won’t you let me save you?” Dovewing demands. “You could—you have a future, Hollyleaf. Don’t you want to seize it? To take it for yourself, to live it?”

“My future has always led me here.” Hollyleaf coughs. Blood splatters on the ground before her, bright for only moments before the rain whisks it away. “But I would have liked to.”

Dovewing looks down at her wound, at the bloodied herbs scattered at her paws, at the empty forest where Lionblaze and Icecloud and Breezepelt and faded Dark Forest cats had once stood. “Kestrelflight!” she realizes. “I can get Kestrelflight!”

“You know you can’t get Kestrelflight,” Hollyleaf says kindly. “He wouldn’t make it here in time. I know you know that.”

“No—you—please—what am I supposed to do without you? There was so much left for you to teach me. You can’t go, please, Hollyleaf—”

“It’s okay, Dovewing. Dovewing, look at me.”

Dovewing looks studiously at the wound, as if a solution is going to drop into her paws like the prophecy she’d never asked for. 

“Shh. Look at me, Dove. It’s okay.”

Her peaceful expression made her look impossibly young, impossibly happy. Dovewing releases a hiccupping sob, trying to memorize each individual whisker. If—if she looked hard enough now, maybe—maybe she could remember.

“I’ll be with you, I promise.”

“How can you promise that?”

“Because I know. I know, okay? I’ll be beside you with every patient, every time you look for herbs, every time you lie in the sun. I’ll be in every blade of grass and every leaf on every tree. I’ll never leave you. I won’t.”

Dovewing held back a sob. “Please.”

“I wish I could give you what you want,” Hollyleaf murmurs, “but this’ll have to do. I’ll watch over you, wherever I go, as much as I can. I want you to—to live, and love, and do everything you’ve ever wanted, and I don’t want you to let anyone stop you.”

“I can’t go on without you,” Dovewing pleads. “I can’t.”

“You have to,” Hollyleaf wheezes, her breath coming shorter. “There are other cats to treat, other cats who need you. And it doesn’t hurt, Dove, not anymore.”

It hurts for me, Dovewing doesn’t say.

“I can hear—you never met her, but—my birth mother’s name was Leafpool,” Hollyleaf murmurs. Her sides rattle as she takes a breath. “I can—she chose me, once. I betrayed her, and—and she’d suffered enough, but StarClan doesn’t forgive even the cats they ask to do impossible things.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Hollyleaf says softly. “I can hear her. It’s been… it’s been so long. She’s—she’s telling me about marigold. Marigold! As if—as if I were six moons old again… I thought… I miss her.”

“I’ll remember her for you,” Dovewing says softly. “I’ll teach the kits when I’m old and gray. I’ll threaten them into telling their kits, too.”

Hollyleaf laughs. It’s a horrible, wheezing thing. “She’d like that,” she murmurs. Her eyes are glazing over. She’s looking—she’s looking so far away, as if she can see something seasons and seasons past.

Dovewing hopes she can.

Hollyleaf doesn’t speak for a moment, the only signs of her life the continued rise and fall of her flank.

“I’m sorry,” Dovewing says, low enough to where she knows Hollyleaf won’t be able to hear. “I’m so sorry.”

Hollyleaf’s breaths hitch for a moment, then resume. Her eyes slide closed and then open again.

“Can you still hear her?”

“I can see her,” Hollyleaf says deliriously. “We’re—having my favorite prey. She’s going to—she’s going to teach me everything she ever wanted to.”

Dovewing rests her head on Hollyleaf’s shoulder. “It sounds beautiful,” she murmurs.

“It is,” Hollyleaf mumbles. “It’s—forgiveness, Dove. I forgive her. I forgive them all.”

Her breath rattles in her throat. The rain beats on the leaves above, unheeding.

Hollyleaf stills, and Dovewing does too, as if every part of her needed to match Hollyleaf’s. As if syncing their bodies will give her enough of Dovewing to come back.

She doesn’t, of course.

Dovewing weeps.

[shellclan]

Moon 1 pt2/2 Border patrols and herb hunts

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Idk what’s more frustrating: manually creating the comic boxes since I’m too stupid for procreate tricks, or making the text look alright

Ask box is open btw! I’m not sure yet if I’ll do responses in character with art because of how much time that would take, but I’m definitely keeping it for consideration

[sketchsprite]

combining my current interest with my forever interest here is psych as warriors... quick blurb ab the plot and character details below

shawn is a kittypet living near a twoleg neighborhood. his dad (an ex thunderclanner) picked up and left the clan after separating from shawn's mother, and life with twolegs is all shawn has ever known. shawn has kind of started running off on his own, wandering around and he meets acornpaw (gus) - a medicine cat apprentice of thunderclan. the two become besties over time. shawn's "ability to be hyperdiligent "psychic" abilities are presented in the form of starclan - who he had heard tales of from his father, but always assumed that were just made-up stories - speaking to him. someway or another, acornpaw mentions it, and sablestar (chief vick) has her interest piqued. she decides to drag along her deputy, bristleheart (lassiter) and his apprentice, poppypaw (jules) to interrogate the kittypet. shenanigans ensue.

this is just the basic introductory plot! i would love to work on this more and i would love further recommendations. im not 100% set on names or designs yet (though pineapple is technically a valid warrior name) but any suggestions are much appreciated! here are some more character things i thought of hehe

shawn:

has a little pineapple pendant on his collar!! very protective of it.

knows very vaguely of the clans, as his father would sometimes tell him stories of his "glory days" in the forest.

has no intention of joining the clan... but probably hangs out there more than he does with henry or at the twolegplace.

probably has a longtail vs rusty esque fight with bristleheart, minus the getting his collar ripped off - that is where he draws the line!

acornpaw (gus):

tentatively the medicine cat apprentice right now, mostly because im only on season 3 and dont know if there are any fitting characters to be his mentor at the moment.

is very skilled at herb knowledge and applications

good friends with poppypaw, overall liked within the clan!

keeps his side of the med den very organized - he can't speak for his mentor's side.

bristleheart (lassie):

very judgemental and skeptical of shawn when he first learns about him - just like canon!

very short-furred cat - think an oriental shorthair - minus a very fluffy salt n peppa chest

someone please get this cat some brown contacts

decently young for a deputy, but he absolutely worked hard for his position

very overprotective of his clanmates (though he doesnt like to show it), especially his apprentice, poppypaw. she was wounded and left with a torn ear on one of her first border patrols and he feels very guilty that he wasn't able to stop it

poppypaw (jules):

pretty close to having her assessment! she has been working very hard to have a flawless warriors exam

doesn't mind her ear being torn - she thinks it looks really cool!

will often accompany acornpaw herb hunting

quick on her paws and very resourceful

sablestar (vick):

a noble and wise leader, very fit for her title!

still has all nine lives - i like to think shes a relatively new leader

while she keeps up a level-headed facade, she definitely has a silly side to her as well

leader mark is the white tabby "m-shape" on her forehead!

[m1d-45]

discretion advised

summary: during the hunt, a handful of people know the truth. the only problem is, they don’t hold any influence, and must help you in their own way.

word count: ~2.6k

-> warnings: blood mention, barely any spoilers save for character names + roles, imposter au things

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yum1x

< masterlist >

diluc trudged down the path through the whispering woods, kicking aside overgrown bushes. his patrol had proved worth his while, the hilichurls near starfell lake had begun to regroup, and were fashioning shields. they were easy enough to take care of, but the smell of ash clung to his clothes and his arms were rather sore. perhaps he should cut tonight short, he had been doing quite a bit of labor today…

whispers off the side of the path caught his attention and he stopped to listen, turning slightly.

“-grass isn’t edible!”

“is too! teacher had a book about it!”

he stepped and pushed aside the bushes, startling those beyond them.

two figures hunched around a patch of lamp grass, the blue light doing little to help with the dense canopy overhead. two visions shone in the dark, one purple and one red, and he identified them after a moment.

bennett, eyes wide and on scuffed knees, and his friend from the forest, the one lisa was teaching grammar, hunched over in an odd crouch.

“what are you two doing out so late?”

“is lamp grass edible?” razor asked, pointing to the glowing plant, and diluc stared.

“…it’s used in a few recipes, yes, but-“

in an instant he snatched up the plants, ripping up some of their roots in his haste to shove them into his jacket.

“we leave now,” he said simply, standing and pulling bennett up with him. “thank you, master diluc.”

diluc stepped to block their exit. “you didn’t answer my question. bennett, what are you doing out? friend or not, your dads would have your head if they knew you were in the woods after dark.”

“i wasn’t just wandering! i was-…” he stopped suddenly, as if aware whatever he would say would get him into trouble. “we were looking for some stuff.”

“that doesn’t answer my question. anything would be easier to find before dark.”

“we looked with the sun,” razor interrupted, the soft glow from his pocket slightly illuminating his disappointment. “but nothing was found.”

diluc sighed. he couldn’t be mad at them, not really, mot when it was clear they never meant to stay out so late.

“whatever you’re looking for can be found in the morning. for now, come with me back to the city. razor, we’ll stop at a waypoint so you can return to wolvendom, okay?”

the two boys nodded, and he let them cross into the path.

“but don’t do this again, understood? and if you need help, ask.”

they both nodded, and diluc was left to wonder why they needed lamp grass in the first place.

“oh! sir albedo!”

albedo stopped, finishing his sentence on his clipboard before looking up, seeing noelle rushing over to him from the direction of the library.

“lady noelle. are you in need of something?”

she shook her head, metal gloves clicking together as she clasped her hands. idly, albedo noted the many scratches on them, presumably from the same action. “oh not at all, i’m alright, but lisa wanted me to remind you that your copy of ‘common medicinal herbs and their uses’ was due for either renewal or to be turned in soon, and to please not poison yourself again.”

albedo took the small card she handed him, noting the date. “i see. i’ll make note of this, and i’ll be sure to turn it in shortly. thank you, noelle.”

he took a step away but she stopped him with a hand, a flicker of irritation running through him.

“is there something else?”

“well, not from lisa, but i wanted to ask why you were researching this? normally you’re in dragonspine and studying ley lines, not stationed just outside of springvale and renting books on plants…”

he turned fully towards her, tucking away his pen and holding his notes close to his chest. “i am an alchemist, and the study is not fully about ley lines. i admit this is somewhat outside of my usual range of work, but sucrose is currently on medical leave—as i’m certain you already know—and i have no other sources of information aside of field research. this project is not an assignment, merely an interest of mine, and as such it has not made its way onto any formal paperwork. however, i can assure you i am not behind in any of my work.”

“ah- i never meant that you were behind! i was just curious!”

his papers crinkled under his hand. “there is no need to be. good day, miss noelle.”

without another word, he turned on his heel and left, making his way down the stairs and out the front gates of mondstat. taking his clipboard away from his chest, he reread the last portion of his notes to get his bearings, pulling out his pen to finish the report.

‘i’m not certain as to why you’d need these notes, klee, considering the knights are well-equipped to handle injuries, but please do not try to make your own medicine. it’s dangerous near wolvendom on a normal day, and you know what’s been going on lately. please, come see me or the healers for any injuries you may have.

‘remember, the knights are here to help.’

“diona? what are you doing out here?”

fish scattered as boots stomped through the shallow water, glittering scales barely visible through the splash.

“wh- hey! you scared off the fish!” diona shouted, tail lashing behind her. all that time she spent, waiting for the plumpest fish to swim up from the depths of the lake for nothing! now she had to wait even longer!

“fish? what do you need fish for?” draff asked, stopping near her as she sat on a rock, collecting her things. “are you hungry? oh, do you need more scales? i know the traveller helped you last time, but i have pretty quick reflexes too! i could catch you some.”

“as if,” she mumbled, glaring at where he was still standing in the lake. “and it’s fine, i don’t need your help.”

he watched in confusion as she brushed right past him, reaching to pluck snapdragon instead. “diona… you know you shouldn’t be out here, not now. it’s dangerous, and i don’t want you caught up in-“

“i’m fine.” she carefully put the flowers in her bag, pulling out her bow and scanning the waters. all the fish were far too lean, barely anything on their bones, but she might as well get something, right? “just stay still this time.”

before he could say anything—or worse, step forward and scare off the fish again—she nocked an arrow, collecting cryo on the tip. as soon as a fish got within range she let it fly, the cryo forming a spear that stabbed through the gills, pinning it in place. she set down her bow and carefully pulled the fish out, twisting the arrow to kill it before removing the small icicle and throwing it aside. it wasn’t a clean kill, and definitely not worth all the waiting she did, but… it was better than nothing.

“what do you need a fish for? we have plenty back in springvale…”

she ignored him, putting her bag over her shoulders and picked up the fish by the tail. “it’s fine. you better go back soon, you’re due for a patrol.”

her father hesitated, eyes wide and lost.

“diona, is this about last night? i already said i was sorry-“

“and i heard you then. now get out of the lake, your socks are going to get wet!”

he looked down and quickly stepped out of the water, taking off one boot to check that no water had gotten in. by the time he confirmed there wasn’t, she was gone, only a swaying bush to indicate where she had gone.

draff sighed.

razor stayed low to the ground as he ran, one hand on the strap of his bag. the patrols had gotten too close again, he’d heard lisa talk about it, and he couldn’t follow her orders to stay away.

‘it’s dangerous,’ she’d said, distaste apparent in her eyes. ‘and i’d hate for you to get involved in such things. you’re too young.’

‘too young.’ him?

he climbed up a cliff as quick as he could, the scrape of stone against his fingertips familiar, and pushed through the thick bushes at the top. thorns pulled at his jacket, denser than they should be, but he continued anyway, gritting his teeth through the pain.

‘too young.’ too young to read notes stained with droplets of blood, too young to sneak books about medicine into his reading practice, too young to bite through the bitter skin of wolfhooks in accordance with the notes albedo had taken at klee’s prompting.

too young to see knights swarming the place he’d come to know as safe, too young for the stench of blood to reach his nose, stronger than just the small drops beading on his skin.

kaeya was the first one to spot him, quickly excusing himself and walking over, attempting to block the scene even as razor cranes to try and see around him.

“razor! what are you doing here, huh? wasn’t your pack further south?”

in between people, he could see the stone he used to tuck supplies under, the white of a paper just barely sticking out amidst the shadows.

“what happened?”

kaeya sighed. “a patrol ran into somebody that we’ve been looking for for a while.” just say it. “things got.. a bit messy. are you alright, by the way? the bushes around here are incredibly thick…”

his arms barely stung. he kept his eye on the stone tucked between two wolfhook bushes. “i’m fine. here for wolfhooks.” he pointed through the crowd and kaeya looked, turning back with an odd twist to his lip.

“i think you’re better off finding wolfhooks elsewhere, razor. if you go down the path im certain you’ll find more.”

he knew. he shook his head anyway. “need these ones.”

another sigh. why was everybody sighing today? they had nothing to fear for.

“alright, fine. just stick close to me, alright?”

he put a hand on razor’s shoulder and let him through the crown of people, keeping his body between him and the source of the blood-smell. it didn’t matter.

razor crouched purposely close to the bushes, setting his bag right on top of the stone. he reached for the further wolfhooks first, knocking down the ones closer to him, dropping them into his bag on top of the skewers he was meant to leave. he picked up two of the fallen wolfhooks and hid the paper against his palm, pretending to rearrange the berries as he buried the note deep into his bag.

when he stood, kaeya turned with a smile. it was forced. “all done?”

razor nodded, clutching his bag close to his chest with both arms.

“good! now do me a favor and stick close to springvale for a while, okay?”

razor nodded again. “swear.”

hidden against his jacket, two of his fingers crossed.

jean’s chair scraped against the floor as she sat at the head of the meeting table. “so, any news on the hunt?”

heads shook all around the table. a few hands clenched, a few jaws ticked, but nobody spoke up.

jean held back a sigh, reviewing the papers in front of her. “we have to catch them before they leave mondstat… has the only time we’ve seen them been with captain kaeya’s patrol?”

everybody nodded, but kaeya himself didn’t seem satisfied. instead, he stared across the table at klee, who was drawing on a notepad.

“klee?”

she looked up at his voice, and though jean raised an eyebrow, he continued, leaning forward in his chair. “have you spoken to razor recently?”

klee thought about it for a moment, but eventually shook her head. “nope!”

“klee’s been in solitary for the past few days,” jean cut in. “why are you asking about razor?”

kaeya shrugged. “he showed up at the scene and seemed pretty insistent on getting the wolfhooks there-“

“and you let him?”

“look, lisa, it would have been harder to say no. you want me to explain to him what’s going on? you haven’t.”

electricity crackled across lisa’s fingertips. “he should never have been allowed to get close.”

“he popped up out of nowhere, what was i supposed to do? shove him back into the bushes?”

“kaeya.”

the silence that followed was only broken when klee put her pen on the table with a loud clack!, smiling widely at her finished drawing.

jean sighed, directing her attention towards her to try and break the tension. “klee, before you went to solitary-“ her excitement dimmed, her smile slipping to a pout, and jean’s heart hurt a bit “-did you talk to anybody? outside of the knights, of course.”

she thought about it again, carefully putting away her pen and tearing off the sheet of paper with her drawing on it. “nope! klee’s stayed within the walls for the last… month, maybe? i don’t want to get in the way!”

albedo looked up from his notes—did he ever stop working?—with a frown. “then why did you ask me about herbs?”

herbs?

she shrugged. “curious! bennett needed help with a friend of his, so i wanted to ask you because you’re super smart!”

a few of the knights smiled. albedo did not.

“a friend…”

klee picked up her notepad, free hand on the edge of the table. “can i leave?”

jean sighed. “sure, klee. stay out of trouble, okay?”

she nodded with a wide smile, pushing herself away from the table and walking away, leaving her drawing on the table.

jean picked it up, “klee, you left this!”

she paused for a moment, turning, but eventually continued. “you can have it!”

jean’s lip picked up in a small smile as klee reached for the door handle, carefully closing it behind her. she picked up the drawing, turning it right side up.

it was simple, as most children’s drawings were, and though the pen that albedo got her had multiple kinds of ink inside, she was still limited on color. two trees stood on either edge of the page, and three figures stood on grass. one was small, with a red hat and bag, labeled ‘mE!’. another had goggles and a weird circle at its side, named ‘bEnnY!’, and besides him was somebody in what looked like a jacket and with fluffy hair, named ‘razor!’.

it was cute. the z in razor was backwards, and the bushes were little more than some scribbles, but she had clearly put effort into it. there was even some wolfhooks on a bush, with a little label of….

“jean? is something wrong?”

jean slammed the paper on the desk and stood, uncaring of the way her chair skid as she pulled her jacket off the back of it, quickly putting it on.

“all of you, with me.”

the wolfhooks weren’t wolfhooks. they were eyes.

eyes labeled ‘the creator’.

[hadescabin]

TW// GROOMING, MANIPULATION breaking down tigerheartstar and dovewing and why i think its awful ik I said that I dont really like warrior cats anymore but recently i've been thinking about some stuff regarding the series and its fandom and there's one thing that's been particularly bothering me. dovewing and tigerheart. it's just crazy to see the shift of support for tigerdove considering early 2010s warriors fandom seemed mixed on them. now there seems to be this equivocal support for them, probably because most of the fandom's exposure to the couple has been the recent books which frames them as man who loves his wife x burnt out prophecy kid who will do anything for her malewife. which theres nothing wrong with that dynamic, i think it's cute, but people really seem to forget about how tigerheart straight up groomed and treated dovewing awfully throughout oots and even in tigerheart's shadow. it seems to be a forgotten fact that tigerheart was a full grown warrior by the time he was pursuing dovepaw, who was a newly made apprentice. for perspective, this was a 6-7 moon teenager with someone almost the age of her mentor (a little younger). people try to use the excuse "oh but they're cats" and "the age gap isnt that bad" but even the recent books acknowledge with frostpaw and splashtail, that a warrior and apprentice dating is WEIRD. tbf oots was released in the early 2000s, but the fact that canonically speaking the age gap is seen as a teenager and adult relationship gives me the ick. it really puzzles me to see people get on ships like dustfern and bramblesquirrel (both of which i hate btw) for their age gaps but come up with every excuse in the books to defend tigerdove. its not even just the age gap too, again, their relationship has consisted of tigerheart manipulating and grooming dovepaw to do what he wants. in the first two books (esp the second book of oots) dovepaw is presented as someone who got attached to the cats from the journey and doesnt necessarily understand why they must act like they shouldnt exist anymore due to the borders. this is something that tigerheart LEARNS and actively takes advantage of when dovepaw questions why hes at their borders (tldr its dark forest stuff). he shifts the topic and then goes on about the journey and how he felt that they almost became friends, and that if they were in the same clan things would be easier. this may not seem like a big deal, but this goes on for the rest of their interactions whenever tiger needs to pressure her to do something she doesnt want (meeting up, trusting him, etc.) He realizes that the subject of different borders resonates with her and uses it to his advantage whenever he wants something out of her. This can especially be seen in the next book, “Night Whispers”, which kickstarted their relationship. Dovepaw accidentally ran into ShadowClan territory while hunting, and Tigerheart happens to find her there. Once again, he gives her a speech about borders being meaningless, before asking her to meet up with him before the ShadowClan patrol catches them. There’s also other examples in later books where he coerces her into meeting up or trusting him since “that’s what friends are for” or even later in that book, where he manipulates her into using Ivypaw as a captive for herbs. 

When you take this into account, plus him as a full grown warrior, starting a romantic relationship with a barely apprenticed Dovepaw who is shown as having a childish/ immature perception on romance/mates (such as her argument with Ivypaw and claiming that she should “find her own mate”), Tigerdove feels very much like grooming to me. According to the dictionary definition grooming is, “the action of attempting to form a relationship with a child or young person, with the intention of sexually assaulting them”. Of course, in this case, since it’s a young adult book, it’s to form a romantic relationship, which could also be another goal of grooming. Groomers tend to display manipulative behaviors towards the victims in order to coerce them into trusting them more. Whether that be through compliments, gifts, trying to resonate with them or make them feel special. They tend to try to get them to keep and “share” secrets, which is another tactic they utilize both to isolate the victim and to get them to feel more comfortable. 

A lot of behaviors that Tigerheart displays towards Dovepaw falls under this, including the examples I mentioned. There are a couple of other comments that he makes which come off as creepy such as Dovepaw “being his favorite sister”, which as I established, is something a groomer would say in order to make the victim feel as though they’re special and garner their trust. Which is especially the case when you note that he makes that comment in reference to Dovepaw asking about his ties to Ivypaw, which he actively lies about, and quickly reassures her that there’s nothing going on. 

This tactic of manipulation, where he either makes her feel special, or even love bombs and dissuade her from standing up for herself, doesn’t stop when she’s an apprentice. It continues when she’s a warrior, and is constantly used throughout OOTS and “Tigerheart’s Shadow”. At one point in the series, Dovewing and Tigerheart get into an argument about Dawnpelt wrongfully accusing Jayfeather of murder. When Tigerheart defends his sister, Dovewing stands up for Jayfeather, which prompts Tigerheart to try and manipulate her out of the conversation. He jumps straight to talking about how much he loved and missed her, and guilts her by asking why they had to argue like this, and why they couldn’t just “meet like before”. As for Tigerheart's Shadow, he actively goes against what she wants (to raise her kits outside the clan) and actively pressures and guilts her into coming back, before she finally relents. He doesn't care about what SHE wants, it's always about him. Whether it be secretly meeting up, or in The Last Hope, he tries to pressure her to date him again (which she FINALLY refuses and scolds him for thinking about his own needs when they're right before a final battle. as she should). It's especially upsetting in the newest book that tigerheart seems to be the only think at the center of her character. when she argues with ivypool, it's less about the two sister's interpersonal conflicts and more about her and tigerheart's relationship. which...feels like a lot of missed potential to me? i want them to argue, i want dovewing to stand up to herself against ivypool, but why does the entire conflict have to revolve around him? why can't dovewing have her own thoughts and feelings without it tying back to her awful husband?

[fallenclan]

Ooh, do you have any lore for Stormsight and Silverbelly, as well as Mossfrog and her kits?

STORMSIGHT,,,, my poor boy is so overlooked. i miss him

-Stormsight was a very good hunter when he was alive. He and Goosewing used to go out on hunting/herb gathering patrols, and would sometimes swap duties.

-Silverbelly was in a depression for moons after Stormsight died. He was her best friend--she only managed to shake it off a few days before it was revealed that Otterslip was the murderer.

-Mossfrog didn't want to adopt Cloudtuft (then Cloudkit) when Rustbee first brought him back to the clan, because she was afraid to be a mother. Rustbee convinced her, and then raising Cloudkit convinced her further that she was ready for biological kits of her own.

-Cloudtuft sometimes feels like he doesn't matter as much to his parents as his sisters do. This obviously isn't true, but he still tries to make up for his perceived inadequacy by devoting his life to looking after his little sisters.

-Ficklefern is the oldest of the four sisters. She always had her head in the clouds as an apprentice, but by the time she became a full mediator she was a lot more down to earth--though she still has a very vivid imagination, and spends a lot of time in it.

-Moorthistle is a huge nerd for different clans' cultures. If Cherrystar let her, she would spend her days traveling to the other clans and pestering them for information on their day to day lives. As it is, she always begs to go to the gathering every moon.

-Finchbeak secretly wants to be clan leader some day, but thinks she would never be able to actually be one, due to her social anxiousness.

-Blossomfur is the youngest of the RustMoss kits and abuses this. She's very empathetic, but also very childish and incredibly clever. She can and will sweet-talk her way out of chores.

[vainvenus]

hey freaky ppl. my request is really simple bc i need to recover from this angst fic i read of sejanus LMAO

so i was thinking of peacekeeper sej and covey reader, but the way they meet is completely different. he would catch the reader sneaking off over the fence with a bag of supplies.

i’m thinking that someone at the covey had gotten ill and the reader was met with the task of gathering herbs needed outside of the fence.

i feel like sej would first be what any other peacekeeper would be and follow and be like “wtf are u doin” but then like he’d understand and let her keep running off into the woods and meadow. IDK I THINK THIS IS CUTE

⌲;꒰ Fence girl. ꒱

Pairing :: Peacekeepers!Sejanus x Fem!Reader

Synopsis - Sejanus catches someone sneaking over the fence and tries to do his job ( he doesn't).

Includings :: Covey member!reader, sejanus hating his job AND being bad at his job, he has a soft spot for (everything) reader, horrible first impressions, mostly fluff, this is kinda short

An :: Sorry this took so long...jumping from fandom to fandom is NOT for the weak

Sejanus never truly wanted to be a peacekeeper, yes he wanted to help people but obviously not in this kind of way.

Peacekeepers were often cruel and stern, they stood their ground for what they stood for and their morals were aligned in a way that didn't quite align with Sejanus's.

But it was far too late to turn back, he already was at twelve and already buzzed his curls so he was stuck here with a job he hated. Not much could be done.

And Sejanus did try to do his job, he tried to be like his friend Coriolanus who was stern and took the job very seriously but of course, there were times where he struggled.

Like right now, he was frozen with confusion as he watched a girl with [h/c] hair scaling one of the fences. She had a dark brown bag around her shoulder. His brows furrowed even more as he wondered what was she doing.

But then he had to remember his job and how what the girl was doing was very much something he had to report.

No one was allowed beyond the fences because one, it was seen as dangerous because they were made to keep wild animals.

And two, it was seen as rebellious since at some point if anyone was able to get far enough they could leave the district and start their own life far far away from all of this mess.

Sejanus looked around, slight panic wavering in his eyes as he realized he was the only one who had noticed the girl climbing up and over the wall. She was almost out of his sight, her dark green skirt blending in with the scenery.

He cursed under his breath as he started to climb up the fence, hopping over it and looking in the direction of the girl. She seemed to be in a rush as she looked around the field.

"Excuse me! You know you're not allowed to be here, right?"

His voice seemed to have startled her as she jumped a bit, she looked him up and down quickly. She clenched the brown bag as he eyes glanced to the gun he was holding and he saw how she tensed up, her eyes growing wide.

She looked scared– no, terrified. Like a rabbit behind hunted by a fox.

That was another thing Sejanus hated about being a peacekeeper, no matter what he was always going to be feared because of that stupid uniform and the firearms they had to wield while on patrol.

It didn't matter how gentle he was as long as he was in uniform.

"Please...don't hurt me."

"Hurt you? I..I wasn't gonna- look, you're not allowed to be past that fence. I won't report you or anything, I swear. But you could get hurt or lost-"

"I know where I'm going." She had cut his worried rambling short, grip tightening on her bag.

His brows furrowed in slight curiosity. "And just where is that?"

"There's a few herbs down from here near a river." She replied. "I need to get them for a friend of mine...she's sick and we can't exactly afford medicine at the moment." She murmured the last bit but loud enough for Sejanus to frown.

He knew he shouldn't. He knew he should have done his job and escorted her back over the fence.

But of course Sejanus's heart always won over his brain so before he could even stop himself he had said;

"Alright. You can go."

A warm smile had spread onto the features of the girl in front of him, her eyes glistening with hope as she uttered; "Really?"

Sejanus nodded, looking over his shoulder just to be safe. "Yes, really. But, I have to walk with you and you need to make it as quick as possible."

"Deal! I'll be quicker than two shakes of a lamb's tail." She giggled and Sejanus couldn't help but smile as he followed beside her.

As they walked, Sejanus took small glanced over at her. Her sense of style didn't seem to fit twelve, everybody remotely dressed the same with mostly dull colors or neutral tones but she had a much more lively pallette with splashes of red, orange and yellow.

"Starings rude, you know."

He quickly looked away, pressing his lips together in a thin line as she had cracked another smile before laughing and playfully hitting his arm.

"I'm just playing around! Jeez, for a peacekeeper you sure are sheepish." She hummed as she looked up at him and he glanced back over at her.

"Yeah, I'm horrible at my job I know."

"I'm not complaining, just glad I got one of the good ones." She smiled before she realized they were near the river and she crouched down near one of the nearby trees.

Sejanus watched as she pulled out a small jar and began picking dark purple berries, careful placing them into the jar. He tilted his head a bit while he watched her like a curious child.

"Elderberries." She spoke and his brows knitted together before she continued to explain. "Help with the immune system. We crush em' and brew em' into a real sweet tea."

Sejanus nodded as he knelt down. "Can I help?"

"You really are different, hm?" She tilted your head up at him, giving a teasing smile. "Kind, thoughtful and helpful? Are you sure you picked the right job?" She asked as she handed him one of the small jars and he shook his head.

"I wanted to be a medic." He said as he carefully picked the berries, putting them into the jar and the girl beside him hummed in amusement.

"That's surprising. What made you change your mind?"

"A friend. I'm only here because of him, oh and a little bit of rule breaking back home.." He sheepishly admitted and she giggled, standing up.

"Well you are just full of surprises, huh?"

Sejanus shrugged with a smile as he placed the jar carefully into her bag. "Guess I am."

As the two had walked back to the fence, Sejanus had picked a perfect spot where there was no one on patrol at the moment. It was like she had never even went over the wall.

He helped her over it, giving her a small boost up before climbing over it himself and he dusted off his uniform as he placed her bag back in her hands and she hummed a 'thank you' as she put it back over her shoulder.

"Y'know, I hope we meet again. Under better circumstances, of course."

"Me too- wait, I never caught your name."

She giggled, turning on her heel. "I never threw it!"

|★|

It had been a couple of weeks since his run-in with that [h/c] haired girl. Weeks since and he hadn't seen her again, he hoped that meant that her friend had gotten well enough that she didn't have to sneak over the fence again.

He was still thinking about her as he sat with Coriolanus, sitting at one of the tables as he was watching Lucy Gray perform. He was never as wowed, mainly because unlike those in the capitol he grew to already appreciate music.

"Whoops! Coming through, Blondie!" A familiar voice giggled as a girl with [h/c] haired brushed past the two to set some drinks off at the table next to them and Sejanus's eyes widened.

The fence girl.

He immediately stood up and walked over to her and as soon as she had turned to face him her face broke into a smile which he copied.

"You again!"

"Me again."

She gave him a skeptical gaze yet there was a playful smile on his face. "Are you stalking me?"

"Yeah. And it was just so hard because you never tossed me your name." He sighed like a damsel in distress, shaking his head.

She had giggled, holding out her hand. "[Y/n]."

He shook it, keeping a gentle yet firm grasp on it. He thought that maybe being a peacekeeper wasn't all too bad now.

"Sejanus."

[skyscratch-wc]

Skyfall Clan Ranks and Structure

UPDATE 9/2/2024: Changed Doctor and Priest from RiverClan to WindClan. Head Mentor is now a ThunderClan specific role.

I have made significant changes to the clan structure and ranks for my AU. I wanted to create a backdrop to make the cats easier to characterize and to give the clans a wider range of jobs beyond fighting stuff.

Each clan has a slightly different set of ranks, but all clans include the following:

The Leader:

This role functions identically to canon. The Leader is the cat selected by the clan and Starclan to be the final decision maker. These cats lead their warriors into battle, perform ceremonies, and are the role models for their clan. They receive 9 lives from Starclan and thus have a longer lifespan than the average warrior.

The Deputy:

The Deputy is the second-in-command to the leader. Selected by the leader (and voted on by the clan in the case of Modern Skyclan), this cat organizes patrols and the day-to-day operations of the clan. They help select mentors for apprentices and step in for the leader if they are unavailable.

Clerics:

In all clans except WindClan and Modern Skyclan, the Cleric is the same as the Medicine Cat role from canon warriors. They are both doctors and spiritual leaders within their clans. In WindClan and Modern Skyclan, however, these roles look a little different.

In WindClan the role of Cleric is divided into two: the Doctor and the Priest.

The Doctor is responsible for the well being and health of the clan, while the Priest is a dedicated spiritual guide who acts not only as the clan's connection to Starclan, but also as an emotional support figure and the main cat to perform religious rituals at birth and death.

In Skyclan the role of Cleric is similarly divided, only they refer to the ranks as the Heart and the Soul, although when they arrive at the Lake cats may also refer to these ranks as the Doctor and the Priest. These roles function effectively the same as WindClan.

Senior Warriors:

Within each sub-rank (see below) there is a Senior Warrior. This Warrior, called the "Head [Rank Name Here]" is responsible for leading and maintaining their sub-rank of cats. There is one senior warrior per sub-rank and they are advisors to the leader and deputy.

In ThunderClan there is a Head Mentor, who oversees all apprentice training. All clans also have a Head Queen/Caretaker, who makes sure the voices of the parents and kittens are heard in clan decisions.

Warriors:

Warriors are split into sub-ranks, but as a collective are referred to as warriors. On a day to day basis though, most cats will identify with their sub-rank within being a warrior. Sub-ranks include the following:

Protector - These are cats specifically trained to patrol and usually lead battle patrols. They are the clans first line of defense and are usually most skilled fighters in the clan.

Hunter - These cats are specialized in, as their name suggests, hunting

Crafter - These cats are artisans that produce leatherwork, ceramics, and other tools for the clan. This role is especially coveted in Shadowclan, Riverclan, and Skyclan.

Collector - These cats collect materials, herbs, and other knick knacks for their clan. They tend to work in tandem with Clerics and Crafters, going out into the territory or town to collect needed items. They also trade with local non-clan cats, making them the most knowledgeable in the clan as far as non-clan information goes.

Tunneler (Windclan Only) - These cats dig and survey the tunnels that run under the moor for both battle and hunting

Tanner (Shadowclan Only) - Due to Shadowclan's extensive use of hides, Shadowclan has a cat specialized in tanning and preparing hides for use in crafting

Sentinel (Riverclan Only) - Sentinels are 1-2 cats from the protector group that patrol the territory for signs of flooding and monitor weather patterns in order to warn the clan ahead of flooding or similar disasters

Trail-Builder (Thunderclan Only) - Trail-Builders are 1-2 cats that clear paths in the dense undergrowth of Thunderclan territory in order to make traversing the territory easier, especially for the young and old making their way to gatherings. These cats are usually protectors, but can come from any rank.

Mediator (Modern Skyclan Only) - This cat leads clan voting and discussion and is responsible for mediating clan relationships and helping maintain a sense of closeness and community within the clan. Mediators may also help with inter-clan diplomacy.

Scout (Ancient Skyclan Only) - In Ancient Skyclan, these cats were sent out ahead of battle patrols to scout enemy positions and where often the first to attack as an ambush patrol from the trees. These cats were a specialized group within the Protector rank.

In Modern Skyclan, the ranks above are named differently and some ranks may not exist at all. More detail in the Skyclan Culture post linked here [COMING SOON]

Queens and Caretakers:

This rank includes nursing parents and other cats directly responsible in the raising of kittens. This rank can be temporary while raising a litter or a permanent position (Example: Daisy and Ferncloud in Thunderclan). Most pregnant or nursing mother cats will take the title Queen, however, some cats may opt for the title Caretaker, especially toms and gnc cats. Either title is welcome to be used by a cat of any gender, however.

Queens and Caretakers are responsible for the care and raising of kittens. This ranges from suckling kittens to teaching them basic hunting skills to teaching them clan history and lore (a job also undertaken by the Elders).

Apprentices:

Apprentices are young adult/"teenage" cats, usually between 6 months and a 1 year old, who are training to become warriors, clerics, or caretakers. Kittens are made apprentices at 6 months and most graduate around 1 year. Cleric/Doctor/Priest apprenticeships often last a few months longer than warrior apprenticeships. Apprenticeship looks slightly different from clan to clan, and details about that can be found on the various Clan Culture posts.

Apprentice names take the form of First Name + -paw.

Kittens:

Kittens are young cats under 6 months of age.

Kitten names take the form of First Name + -kit.

Elders:

Elders are the oldest cats in the clan who have retired from warrior duties. Most cats retire around 10-12 years old, although some cats may chose to never retire to retire earlier for various reasons. Elders help perform burial rituals and are the storytellers of the clan.

[sleepyfan-blog]

Author's note: Mer-Cedric's Debut in Celestial Seas’! I hope you enjoy it. Bakerin and Quilterin (Arnault's Bonded) belong to the wonderful @kit-williams! Thank you for letting me borrow them. The song Cedric is singing is Amen and Attack by Powerwolf. Next fic

Warnings: none, please ask to tag!

Tagged: @egrets-not-regrets @@the-pure-angel @kit-williams @bleedingichorhearts

Summary: Mer-Cedric trades with a couple of allied baseline humans.

Cedric hummed softly to himself as he gutted and de-scaled the half-dozen large tuna that he had hunted down and caught. He was currently sitting on one of the sand spits that appeared near the shore of the nearby beach. He checked the temperature of the fire by placing a hand near the crackling base of the flames before returning to the task of preparing the tuna.

Most of the time, the young shark mer ate his kills fresh and raw, but he'd recently come into possession of an unspoiled pouch of delicious smelling herbs and spices, and the occasional cooked meal wasn't a bad thing. Besides, the parts of the tuna he wasn't going to be making into grilled steaks were going into the boiling water as part of the stock for a hopefully delicious stew he was also making. He'd sent a request to some of the local humans to please bring fresh vegetables - for which he was happily going to trade some of his tuna meat in exchange - to build out the body of his stew. He'd added some kelp and sea asparagus to the slowly cooking stock, but he was looking forward to trying potatoes and onions for the first time.

Maybe some corn, too! Or mushrooms...

He began to sing one of the holy hymns that his older brothers had taught him as he worked “Fight the demons of this world, no victims left to hide. Eins! Zwei! Amen and attack! Make them pray or make them pay! It's time to swim up right. Drei! Vier! Amen and attack.”

Preparing the tuna felt meditative. He continued to sing as he sprinkled seasonings on half of the tuna steaks, spearing each on a stick and setting them over the fire to cook, his mind wandering to past battles that he'd partaken in, as his voice once again lifted in song.

“When the night is cold and black, we sing amen and attack!”

Deamons and Traitors rarely attacked during the day, preferring instead to use cowardly and weak tactics in order to try and catch their would-be prey off-guard. While the local humans could do little against such supernatural forces, the shiver Cedric belonged to had taken to patrolling the area, ripping into the heretics and demons with their wickedly sharp claws and jaws.

In gratitude, the humans helped however they could. The medical supplies they left out were incredibly useful to Cedric and his fellow apothecaries as they tended to their injured brothers.

“And we lead the storm of the wild! Be the wildest of the pack! Screaming amen and attack!” Cedric belted out as he carefully turned over the tuna steaks, to ensure they were being heated evenly. Even though a majority of his training focused on how to keep his brothers alive and in fighting shape, that did not mean his combat training was lacking.

As an Apothecary of a Black Templar Shiver, one of his duties was to mitigate damage.. and if that meant taking out the largest or most dangerous opponents at range with the weapons he had at his disposal, so much the better. The God-Emperor had blessed them with strength and abilities far beyond mortal ken, and their duties were to protect and defend their charges from all threats.

A duty that Cedric took most seriously.

“We fight with Him on our side! Amen and attack! Attack! Attack! Amen and attack!” Cedric continued to sing. The half of the tuna he wasn't cooking he had carefully wrapped up in treated kelp leaves, to keep the meat fresh and easily transportation.

He hoped that some of the humans who had promised they would come were going to arrive soon. The first of the tuna steaks were nearly ready!

Cedric was about to sing the next verse when he heard approaching footsteps from behind and to the left of him, prompting the young Apothecary to turn and look at the pair of approaching humans.

It took him only a moment to recognize their scents and trilled a greeting to two of his older Brothers' Favorite Humans! He recognized their scents and faces immediately! “Hello Miss Bakerin! Hello Miss Quilterin! It's wonderful to meet you again!”

Both of the baseline humans smiled in response as they came close enough to enjoy the warmth of the fire. Miss Bakerin spoke first “Good afternoon… You are Cedric, yes? The… The healer in training?”

“Yes I am.” Cedric affirmed with a nod, tail flicking happily in the water. As with all Apothecary mers, his tail was primarily white with red flecks. He did have black striping, to match his non-apothecary brothers. “I have tuna to trade! Some are cooking. The rest are raw, and wrapped, as asked for.” He patted the kelp-wrapped meat carefully with a clawed and webbed hand. He could see that both of them had covered baskets and looked curiously at them.

“We… We've brought a bunch of things.” Miss Quilterin explained, setting down the basket she was carrying. “I.. I've been making these out of water-proof fabric.” out from the basket she pulls out a large, patch-work piece of fabric. Each square has a little scene going on, and Cedric can easily tell that she put a lot of work and effort into making this thing.

“May I touch it?” The young mer asked, intensely curious, though he was trying to be polite. “What is it?”

“This is called a story quilt. Arnault has told me about some of the battles all of you get into, so I tried to make a story quilt out of one of his victories… I hope it turned out okay…” miss Quilterin explained, her face calm but her scent showing her anxiety and uncertainty.

Cedric handled the quilt with the proper awe and respect that such a glorious woven-story deserved. The fabric slipped and slid under his fingers, so he gripped it a bit more tightly “this is amazing, miss. Arnault is going to love this when I show it to him.” Given how long it took to carve the glorious victories of the shiver in sandstone, this quilt was worth at least half of his catch. “By the emperor… If I had know that you were going to be bringing such things, I would have been out hunting for longer!”

“R… Really?” Miss Quilterin stuttered, surprise chasing away her nervousness.

Cedric nodded, entirely serious. “It is difficult to keep more permanent records of our battles, in part because we tend to move from sea to sea. From world to world, and must pack light because of it. That and much record-keeping is difficult to manage underwater or in the depths of space. This is a wondrous gift, miss. Thank you, truly.”

He startled at how red Miss Quilterin got “i… truly? That's… I… Oh Goodness…” She stuttered, her eyes huge and her scent fluctuating rapidly between emotions.

and immediately scooted over to her, dragging his tail up and out of the water, carefully telegraphing his movements as he placed one large hand on her forehead, checking her temperature? “Are you not feeling well, miss Quilterin? Please sit down, I do have some of my medical supplies nearby. Is the heat of the fire too much for you?”

Bakerin chuckled and placed a restraining hand on Cedric's elbow. “Easy, Cedric. She hasn’t taken ill or is affected by heat stroke. She rarely gets such high praise for her work and is having difficulties processing what you're saying with grace.”

Quilterin pouted at Bakerin's words and murmured “I… That's not… That's not exactly true! I just… I didn't know that you would think so highly of this story quilt.”

“Uh huh. See what I mean, Cedric? She flustered easily. She's alright.” Bakerin explained with a playful smile. She reached up and ruffled Cedric's hair. “I brought the vegetables you asked for, as well as some bread. You should eat the bread above water, or it will get soggy.”

“Thank you, Miss Bakerin!” Cedric responded, smiling contentedly. “Do you want cooked or raw tuna? Or a mix of both?” he asked the both of them.

“I'll take four uncooked pieces of raw tuna and two of the cooked pieces, please.” Quilterin asked. “I also brought several quilted slings, as Arnault mentioned that they've helped…”

“Miss, when I said the quilt is worth half of what I've caught, I meant it.” Cedric pointed out, carefully gathering up and pushing the correct amount of Tuna in trade for the quilt alone. “The slings are much appreciated, but will need more tuna to pay for… Or, I did see mussels and class near the shoreline, I could grab some of them for you in trade for those, if you'd like a selection of sea food.”

“I… This is too much, Cedric! I won't be able to eat all of this before it goes bad.” Quilterin protested, shaking her head a little.

“The kelp leaves will help keep the tuna fresh for weeks, and older brothers have told me that tuna freezes well and will last for months that way. I can also use some of the curing salts I brought with me to turn some of them into… I believe it's called jerky in this language? Dried meat that can be stored longer. But you will be getting paid what you’re owed.” Cedric responded. He wasn’t going to steal from this kind human, nor short her what she is owed. A pity the pearl oysters aren’t ready yet and have been claimed by Brother Roland and Brother Arnault for gifts for Miss Bakerin and Miss Quilterin. Not that he was going to ruin that surprise.

“I… Even so, this is far too much high-quality meat for one person to have all at once. We baseline humans don't eat as much meat as you do.” Quilterin explained “Nor do we need as many calories.”

Cedric sighed internally, pouting a little. He did have a small handful of treasures he had found and kept - just in case he found a human he wanted to bond to, like brothers Roland and Arnault have, but the slings were too useful and the quilt too expensive, if she wouldn't take the fish meat he offered. “Well… I also have these, if you are interested.”

From one of his armor’s pockets, he pulls out several pouches. In the first pouch, he lays out a dozen carefully polished abalone shells, which he'd found and treated until they shone, their pearlescent luster almost luminous in the afternoon sunlight. From the second pouch, he pulled out six of the best pieces of ocean jasper he'd found. From the third pouch, he pulled four larimar gemstones, their sea-foam coloration and patterns striking against the brown sand spar they were on. “You may choose up to four from these, along with the meat you requested, miss Quilterin.”

She inspected each of his offerings, and he turned his attention to Miss Bakerin asking “Do you want tuna in trade for your goods? Or would you like a mix of things as well?” he was trying not to fidget.

“Tuna works great for me, Cedric.” Miss Bakerin answered with another smile and hair ruffle. “I've brought bread and vegetables, which aren't as expensive. I would like to try that stew your making, when you're done. If you don't mind.”

“Not at all! But there are tuna guts and scales in the stew, and I intended to make it for my brothers, who are out among the shoals right now.” Cedric warned, aware that baseline humans could get picky about things like that. Some of his brothers were wary about baseline humans and were nearby in case of attack. But Miss Quilterin and Miss Bakerin have always been very nice and kind to him - and Cedric doubted that Brother Roland and Brother Arnault would have chosen untrustworthy baseline humans. He handed over the tuna - raw and cooked in trade for the food she'd brought, immediately getting to work on chopping up the vegetables before putting them in the stew.

“I don’t mind the occasional fish scale in my stew.” Bakerin reassured him with a smile.

“Then I’d be happy to share some of it with you, when it’s ready.” Cedric answered earnestly.

“I've picked out which of these gems you're offering… You're sure that the quilt and the slings are worth this much,” Quilterin spoke up. She was holding up two of the abalone shells and one each of the Larimar and ocean jasper stones.

Cedric was sad to see them go, but it was worth it for the high quality supplies offered. “Alright, they are yours, along with the meat you requested.”

“If you don't mind me asking… What was that song you were singing when we were walking over?” Bakerin asks curiously as she arranges the tuna meat he’d given her in the basket she'd come with.

“Oh! It's one of the battle hymns my older brothers taught me.” Cedric explained “I learned it recently and it's been stuck in my head. I hope that the lyrics weren't too off-putting.”

“Nah, you're fine, Cedric. You've got a good singing voice… Does Roland sing? I haven't heard him sing, not that I remember, anyways.”

Cedric blinked in surprise at that “... But… Brother Roland has one of the best singing voices of the entire shiver! He leads the battle choir. Thank you for the compliment, miss.” He checked how the vegetables were cooking, nibbling on a piece of potato. The texture felt off, so he let the stew continue to cook, happy to chat with Miss Bakerin and Miss Quilterin as the veggies cooked.

[adventuresoftumbleclan]

MOON 2

Moon 2 starts off well. Wrenstar had been observing the apprentices, and one stood out to her. The eldest, Umberpaw. And so, Wrenstar requested a test to be made, one unique to their new clan. She and Oleandersprout worked, determining that the test would consist of mountainside hunting, as being able to scale the cliffs was an important part of their new life.

She passed with flying colors.

Umberpaw walked up to the steps they called their meeting place.

"We meet here today to award the progress of one of our apprentices, one that has done nothing but work hard to help our new clan." Wrenstar mewed warmly, looking down at the apprentice.

"Umberpaw, do you vow to protect Tumbleclan with all your heart and soul?"

"I Do." Umberpaw mewed with excitement.

"Then it is settled, Umberpaw, you will now be known as Umberdust."

Wrenstar was unsure of how such a kind heart such as Umberdust would place in war, though she never let her uncertainty shine through.

Going to check on her paw, Robinpaw finds her small cut from the thorn has healed nicely!

However, such good fortune can only last so long.

Oleandersprout had been following an unfamiliar scent. It was that of some predator, and he needed to make sure that it wasn't too close to camp. That's when he hard it. A growling, snarling, then barking... A large dog. That's what he had been tracking.

Oleandersprout attempted to get away, but did not escape without injury. The other cats saw Oleandersprout stumble into camp, a large bite wound heavily bleeding.

Robinpaw needed to help, somehow. That's it! She would go get herbs! Teaselspeckle had been teaching the apprentices about herbs! She would go find some! trotting along, Robinpaw eventually realized she didn't recognize these trees... She was in Fawnclan territory. And Fawnclan did not take very kindly to the mixed scent of their old cats.

(side note this is one of my favorite drawings so far)

Robinpaw sheepishly told Wrenstar about her outing, and Wrenstar sighed.

Patrols were interesting with the deputy unable to send them... The cats organized themselves to patrol.

Wrenstar and Crowdapple take Umberdust on her first patrol as a warrior! And they catch a good bit of prey to take home! Most of the time is spent giggling, joking, and having fun.

Robinpaw doesn't like herbs anymore. Herbs got her in trouble, and got the clan in trouble. So imagine her annoyance when Teaselspeckle takes her and Cricketpaw on a patrol to gather them. Robinpaw stuffs her mouth full of tansy, not caring. Teaselspeckle hisses at her, explaining that it can kill elders and pregnant queens and kits! And if Robinpaw swallows that, it will make her pretty sick! So have some respect!

After Robinpaw's little adventure, the cats decide that it would be a good idea to outline their borders a bit better. Rowanghost, Iciclehusk, and Stonehowl all go around their borders, before encountering another patrol! Blissclan! The two patrols walk close to each other, nodding and acknowledging each other before going on their way.

[aquanightau]

Chapter Four:

“How’s Tidepaw doing, Shellpaw?” Lichenstar inquired, his green eyes filled with fear. His black tail swiped the sand back and forth on the ground as he waited for Shellpaw’s response.

“He’s alright,” Shellpaw answered with a smile that seemed to relax Lichenstar, “A few nights and he should be up and about again.”

Lichenstar’s stiff shoulders dropped as he stared at Shellpaw’s amber eyes. “No wonder Rootdash wanted you as her apprentice. You’ve done well, I’m glad to have you as our medicine cat.”

“You mean medicine cat apprentice,” Shellpaw almost smirked as he corrected Lichenstar.

“No,” Lichenstar began, a proud yet sad parental look plastered on his face, “I’m glad that we have you as our medicine cat.”

Shellpaw’s mouth slowly opened in shock, “B-but AbyssalClan hasn’t recognized me yet!” His protest seemed to have been louder than he thought, attracting nearby cats to come closer and listen in. “I can’t be considered a full-fledged medicine cat without AbyssalClan’s approval.”

“That’s true,” Lichenstar meowed, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize you as KelpClan’s medicine cat. I’m going to give you your name.”

Shellpaw looked down at his paws, clenching the sand tightly. “Can…you wait until Tidepaw recovers?”

Lichenstar stared at the apprentice, a curious look on his face. He seemed to ponder Shellpaw’s request to delay his naming, “That works with me.”

“Thank you,” Shellpaw responded, voice shaking as his grip loosened from the ground. Shellpaw was still stressed This isn’t right. I can only get my name after AbyssalClan recognizes me. What is Lichenstar thinking? 

Amid his trainwreck of thoughts, a familiar voice called out to him. “Shellpaw! Join us on a patrol!” Claypaw shouted with her typical bright smile.

Hovering above Claypaw was her mentor; Sandslash, with a welcoming gaze just as warm as Claypaw’s was. Nearby was the clan’s deputy, Turtlesplash. He was also the mentor of Redpaw who had been staring daggers at Shellpaw with a sour face.

As he padded over, Turtlesplash spoke out, “You don’t have to come, Shellpaw. I know you have a lot to deal with ever since your mentor went missing.” 

Shellpaw shook his head, returning a smile, “It's fine. Tidepaw’s doing well enough and I need to find some herbs anyway. It’ll be safer going in a group, especially since an otter decided to attack Tidepaw on a patrol.”

“That’s true,” Turtlesplash meowed, flicking his tail at the patrol to get going.

The patrol took a long route, heading to the Dippers first. As they reached the location, Shellpaw gathered oysters that could be eaten and used as containers later. Catching up to the patrol after almost being left behind, they arrived at Kelp Crevices.

The location was often used as a safe ground for hunting, but recently otters like the one that attacked Tidepaw began drifting near. 

As the mentors trained their apprentices, Shellpaw drifted nearby in search of herbs. As he scanned the area, he came across a bedding of sea grass. They were overgrown, and deciding that it was a good time to harvest, his paws began to get to work.

Shellpaw flexed his claws out, cautiously cutting the sea kelp like his mentor had told. The recall of the memory distracted Shellpaw as a turtle shell flung out of the sea grass and at his face, causing him to wince in pain. 

He stared up at the turtle shell that began drifting away as the other cats came to him at the sound of his yowl. 

To his shock, Redpaw had a concerned look that disappeared when he looked at the group.

“Are you alright?” Sandslash asked, Turtlesplash continuing, “We heard you yelp. What happened?”

“I’m alright, a crab was hiding in the seagrass and clawed my paw.” He lied, not wanting the truth of what happened to come to light. “Sorry for the false alarm.”

“That’s what we’re here for, no?” Claypaw inquired, “If something happens to you, we’re here to help!”

Though Shellpaw didn’t show it, he almost felt like crying. His mentor was gone, and he should be helping everyone, no the other way around. He took a breath in before responding.

“Yeah. Yeah, thank you,” He meowed, his voice slightly unsteady.

WE'RE GETTING SO CLOSE TO ACTION POINTS YALL!!!

There's still so much left to build before we can actually do that but have this lovely chapter 4 that I am kinda proud of and kinda not. Feel free to analyze some of the events in this chapter, who know maybe I left a few hints at the next few chapters >:D.

Also, I'm trying to get a back log of chapters due a show I will be in that is coming up!

SIGNING OFF, LOVE YOU GUYS

[dawnclan-duskclan]

Mothpuddle hated the Season of Waterwings. She hated the clouds of grey mist that frizzed her long fur, hated the splattering of chilled droplets drooling from heavy leaves, she even hated that she had no one to keep her company, no cat to complain to.

She was alone.

There were some missions she simply couldn’t trust warriors to help with, not without hurting themselves in the process, and that was a risk Mothpuddle wasn't willing to tolerate. 

Because Mothpuddle was on the hunt for deathberries.

Yes, those deathberries. They did have some medicinal use in the right doses, like any other herb in her stock. Because in a way, all herbs were poisons and therefore, all poisons could, potentially, be cures. She liked to have some deathberries around, just in case, hidden in the far reaches of her herb stores, behind a boulder that was horrible to remove or replace, but that ensured that the more dangerous substances she kept weren't in reach of curious kits, or warriors, or any other cat stupid enough to poke around where their nose didn't belong.

Not that Mothpuddle allowed any cat to poke around her herbs for any reason.

So even if the rainy groves made her bones ache, she pressed forward, wrinkling her nose when mist-drenched leaves tipped water across her ears as she shouldered her way through the dense underbrush of the Daylands.

She scowled. Another clearing, bare of anything useful.

The fog pushed down on her like a physical force, growing heavier and heavier the further into the Daylands Mothpuddle ventured. The pelt on her back kept some of the wet off, but the sodden thing also added weight and so did little to help her mood. She spotted a Waterwing flying her direction and had just enough time to duck under a cluster of dense palmetto before a deluge of cold raindrops

The water would be good for the plants--even this early in the season, the deciduous trees glittered with dewy buds, nearly blinding where Sunglow hit them, and many of the bushes were flush with soft, green leaves. Supple sedges cushioned her paws, keeping them blessedly free of mud so long as she picked her way carefully from tussock to tussock.

She was drawing close to the Horizon, the Sun crystal directly over her head. It was impossible to scent anything in this weather: not only did the wet fog muffle smells, but the overwhelming perfume of rich, wet soil ached on her tongue, so bitter she could taste it. She wouldn’t be able to scent if a DawnClan patrol had come by recently, but she did keep her eyes towards the east, scanning the undergrowth for movement each time she found a vantage to do so. Even in this dismal weather, the lone healer really shouldn't go further, not without an escort. If Boragebud knew how close she'd gotten now, she'd never hear the end of it as it was.

With a defeated rumble, Mothpuddle gave one last glance for the late winter berries, then turned around. Water carved rivulets of her scowl.

She could have plotted a new path back (slightly north, perhaps, where the soil was wetter) in hopes of covering new ground and potentially coming across the berries she sought. But she opted to follow her own paw-prints to DuskClan's camp, as she'd mentally mapped a few minor herbs she could bring back. It was a consolation prize at best to gather a few shoots of tansy near the edge of the forest, hardly enough to fill a single pouch on her side, but if that was all MoonClan deigned to offer her, then that's what Mothpuddle would take.

At least the golden molly left the heavy fog behind in the Daylands. Only a few stubborn tendrils of mist and a scattering of heavier rain drops from solitary Waterwings made it into the Dusklands, where the layer of soil grew thinner and thinner, unable to support the deep roots of large flora that dominated the Daylands and its wealth of eternal Sunglow. Trees, then shrubs, and then even grasses and clovers fell away as her paws transitioned to smooth stone and occasional drifts of moss that made up the Twilight. 

Home.

FIRST || 0.2 >>

[bonefall]

Herb Guide for Warrior Cats: Epilepsy

Requested by an Anon!

A guide to providing treatment to a Warrior Cat OC with epilepsy. Still requires a bit of a leap in logic as nothing can replace our friend phenobarbital, BUT, if you would like herbs and strategies for managing a Warrior’s epilepsy, this guide is for you.

I researched herbs historically used for epilepsy, chose plants growing wild in a ‘common’ clan biome (temperate Europe and North America), and removed things that a cat could not use. Because of the nature of epilepsy, I also delved into some other treatments and strategies your medics can use!

So, keep in mind, this guide is written for a Clan doctor treating an epileptic cat. NOT from the perspective of a patient who has it.

I would recommend doing extra research into first-hand accounts of what it’s like to live with epilepsy when creating your patient character.

Disclaimer Time! I tried to filter out as much ‘quackery’ as possible, but remember that I am not a vet nor do I have formal training in pharmacognacy. You are also not a vet. This is for fake battle cats. LOOK AT ME. YOU WILL NOT USE THIS ON YOURSELF OR A REAL ANIMAL.

Below the cut is:

What is epilepsy?

Diagnostics

Non-herbal treatments

Managing the different types of seizures

Preventative herbs

What is epilepsy?

‘Epilepsy‘ is the broad term for dozens of different disorders, resulting in recurring epileptic seizures. A warrior could be born with it, develop it over time, or get it after recovering from brain injury (stroke, infection, head trauma, etc).

Epilepsy also varies wildly, and can be so mild it’s hard to detect, or so severe it could put the cat in too much danger to do warrior duties at all. For most cases, however, the warrior would still be able to do normal tasks* as long as they don’t hunt or patrol alone.

* = Head injury and stress from fighting can worsen epilepsy. Going on battle patrols is a risk the warrior must be made aware of.

Diagnostics

So before anything else, your medic will want to identify what triggers the seizures, if anything. There isn’t always an identifiable trigger such as a flashing light/quickly moving object, but seizures can be made worse by stress, lack of sleep, or hunger. Taking note of the warrior’s state preceding a seizure would be extremely helpful for treatment.

Does Wheatwhisker seem to have more seizures when she’s doing certain activities? When she has one, did she sleep well the night before? What has she been eating lately? She may be able to feel it coming-- including sudden intense emotion, an oncoming headache, hot or cold sensations, so on.

Like dogs, cats can detect oncoming seizures. A good medicine cat would take note of all the behavior before its onset to reduce their frequency.

NON-herbal treatments

Once correlation and causes have been identified, the medicine cat should have some lifestyle changes to suggest.

For example, Wheatwhisker has more seizures when she is tired, so the medic prevents her from going on dawn patrol. They’re sometimes triggered by the fluttering of bird wings, so she’s been told to hunt small mammals instead.

A change in diet can also reduce the frequency of seizures. Fatty foods specifically, such as red meat, eggs, and large fish. Trout and carp would be the two easiest* things for a warrior to hunt on a regular basis-- though if the given Clan can’t catch those, it may be worth it to consider trade with another group.

* = If your warriors can cook with fire, fat drippings can be cooked back into the epileptic warrior’s meals. This would make the special diet much easier to prepare than always catching specific prey.

Managing the Different Types of Seizures

Generally there are three types of seizures- ones localized to a specific body part, ones that may seem like “daydreaming”, and ones that cause the well-known convulsions. Less severe seizures are more common.

Seizures do not usually cause pain on their own, except for fatigue in the muscle or headaches. Injury is sometimes caused by external forces, such as slamming against something during a convulsion, falls, tongue biting, or hitting sharp objects.

After any seizure, nausea or a headache may develop-- feverfew will soothe headaches, mallow or fennel will soothe stomachaches. Even if the Epileptic warrior does not take regular medication, the cannabis and valerian root mentioned in the ‘preventative herbs‘ section can be taken on occasion to help the warrior relax post-seizure.

-Localized

One part of the body (leg, head) seizes or convulses. Can usually be self-managed by the warrior, loss of conscious is uncommon. Rest in a quiet area would be the best treatment afterwards. If the muscle fatigue is bad, kneading the limb will help.

-Daydream

The warrior will seem suddenly ‘absent,‘ like they’ve left their body, for typically less than 15 seconds. They may simply wobble and stare ahead (even pausing mid-sentence), or seem to ‘faint‘ and fall over, but in any case they will not remember the seizure. Prevent them from falling on something dangerous, if this seems likely.

In many cases the warrior will just be able to keep going about their day in a few minutes, or even immediately. If not, just like before, let them rest in a quiet area.

-Convulsions

A panicked cat may make convulsions worse by fearfully running around as a seizure starts-- if a warrior MUST be prevented from doing this, it’s VERY important that they are not completely pinned or restrained. JUST kept laying down. Do NOT attempt to stop the convulsions themselves.

Such a circumstance will be extremely rare in a Warrior Cat setting, where the cats are capable of reasoning like a human. There may be a situation where an epileptic cat needs to be brought out of harm’s way-- that’s fine.

Clear the area of anything sharp or hard that the convulsing warrior could hurt themselves on, like stones, or brambles. Roll them onto their side, if they aren’t already. Lastly, cushion their head with something soft, like moss, if possible.

After the seizure is over, the warrior will probably be disoriented and confused. Don’t overwhelm them or offer food or water until they’re fully alert again. Once they do, they might have partial paralysis, nausea, muscle soreness, a bitten tongue, or any variety of symptoms. Just like before, bring them to a quiet area to rest.

If your warriors wear restrictive accessories, such as belts or collars, the medicine cat will remove or loosen them during a seizure if possible.

-what NOT to do

There’s some harmful ideas out there you may have encountered, so here’s some things to keep in mind your medics would NOT do to treat a cat having convulsions:

They would NOT pin them down (this even happened in the books once yikes) Why: This could cause injury to both the restrained, and the restrainer.

They would NOT put anything in their mouth Why: Could damage their teeth or jaw, it does not prevent them from biting their tongue. (also; while tongue biting is common, it is a total myth that an epileptic will choke on/swallow it)

They would NOT start firing out questions as soon as the seizure is over Why: The warrior will likely be disoriented, and not in a state to answer properly. Give them a minute.

Preventative Herbs

Once a seizure is happening, it will have to play out. Warrior cats do not have the medical capability to stop one once started. The anticonvulsant herbs here will help to reduce the frequency and severity of seizures... but they can’t eliminate them entirely.

Anticonvulsants will need to be taken on a regular basis. Stopping these suddenly will cause dangerous side effects; if the warrior’s epilepsy isn’t severe, or herbs are a scarcity for your Clan, it may not be the best choice to medicate them.

Chamomile

Common, and naturalized all over the world. In high doses, this herb will poison a cat. Careful preparation is required to make it safe for the epileptic warrior-- it needs to be steeped in water, like tea*. The leaves should not be eaten.

* = If your cats don’t have fire to brew tea, that’s fine, it can be soaked cold.

This herb also has a side effect of drowsiness. It may make the warrior lethargic and less responsive.

Cannabis

Cannabis is a golden herb for a thousand reasons, it can be made into rope, paper, cloth, oil... but, the thing of note here is CBD oil. Cannabis grows wild all over the world, but ESPECIALLY in North America-based Clans (where it’s called Ditchweed)

Ditchweed has high CBD content, and low THC content. This makes it safe for your warriors (and also prevents them from getting high). Your cats will NOT smoke it, which will damage their sensitive respiratory systems, they will eat it like a standard herb.

Because cannabis is a depressant, this treatment is best for warriors not involved in active tasks. Epileptic warriors that prefer calm, camp-related activities will use this herb. Den-building, tunnel digging, helping the medics, crafting if your Clan makes accessories, so on.

Valerian Root

Known as a sleep aid in humans, Valerian has VERY interesting effects on cats; this is the only Epilepsy treatment that can avoid lethargy entirely. However, in contrast to cannabis, valerian will mostly be found in Europe-based Clans.

(with both, however, it is possible to find each in the other continent.)

Valerian Root has catnip-like effects, perking a warrior up and often filling them with energy. There are some cats for whom this herb will act like cannabis, calming them down, but if there’s a choice, the Epileptic warriors who enjoy active tasks will prefer this herb. Hunting, fighting, patrolling, so on.

[violet-fire-cat]

👀

Another 👀 ask, another AU ramble!!

For today, let's go wiiiiiith- hm. What do I even call this one, I'm so bad at naming aus. Uh. How about ~

Alien Avatar AU This one takes inspiration from the movie Avatar. Yes, the one with the blue aliens. I have a tendancy to watch a film/show or play a game and go 'I can make an AU out of that'. And this is one of many examples of this pfft.

Anyway! This ones more sci-fiy, but only partly so. And. Also, once again, Ethubs. Yeah. (sorry not sorry) There's also some art! Design doodles for a while ago, so that's fun ~

Bdubs is a scientist on a research vessel that's travelling to other planets to study them. He's a biologist, mostly focused on plants and how they grow. The ship is full of other Hermits with various areas of study, as well as the tech guys and medics and such.

Etho, however. Is an alien living on one of the planets that the humans want to study. His species are much earlier into their development, living in small clans and villages in the thick forests and snowy mountains of their home world. Etho is a scout and a hunter, often patrolling the territory around his village, or hunting for food to feed his people.

Bdubs' ship arrives in the planets orbit to do some research. They are aware of the native species but limit time spent on the surface and keep their distance from settlements. They don't want to interact with the locals if they can avoid it. They just want to do their research, study the planets flora and fauna, it's ecosystem, terrain, climate, etc. And then leave.

The extreme cold, heavy snow and rough terrain of the planet below is very difficult for a human to navigate safely for any length of time. And sure they aren't spending much time down there, but they still want to gather some samples and specimens to study on the ship, and to explore a little. So a few of the crew members have 'avatar' bodies made using both their own DNA and previously collected genetic material from the locals.

Bdubs is one of the people who gets one of these things, and he's a little weirded out by it at first. It looks like him, but covered in fur. It's strange. But he still makes use of it to collect plant samples for his work. He's never down there for long, and he's been told that there are no signs of a native settlement in the area he's in, so the chance of him stumbling across anyone is low.

Low. But not impossible.

He's collecting plants in the forest when something sneaks up behind him. One of the locals. Bdubs has seen pictures, but encountering one up close is different. And he's a bit concerned! The stranger is crouched low and watching him closely. Dressed in what look like animal pelts and leathers, his white fur camouflages him against the snow. He's not hostile, but he's definietly cautious and wary.

This, of course, is Etho. Who's not quite sure what he's just found. A stranger. From another clan? He doesn't look like any others Etho has seen before. He looks weird, his hair and fur are so dark. He stands out against the snow. He doesn't seem to understand his words, the other nearby clans at least speak the same language, so he must be from far away. Why is he here? Etho doesn't know. But he doesn't think this guy is dangerous. Was he collecting plants? Herbs maybe? Hm.

It'll be dark soon. Etho won't leave someone out in the snow at night. There are wild animals, and the bitter cold of winter nights is tough, even for them. It's not safe. He's still wary, but he leads Bdubs back to his home. Bdubs shouldn't follow, but he does.

The village is small, but these people have simple structures and homes built into the rocks and hillside and a fire burning bright in the middle of the settlement. The rest of the clan are curious of Bdubs, but they listen to whatever Etho tells them.

Someone passes Bdubs a bowl of hot food. Like soup. It's meaty and delicious and warms him against the winter chill. He's given a place to sleep in Etho's den, and that's where he spends the night.

When the alien body sleeps, Bdubs wakes up in his human body back on the ship. And- he has so much to explain to the others, this is going to be complicated. God he hopes he doesn't get in trouble for this it's not his fault he got found, okay!!

Technically, they should get Bdubs' alien avatar out of the village and back to the ship. But- those people don't know that Bdubs isn't from this planet. If they don't kick Bdubs out as soon as the sun rises, maybe keeping him there wouldn't be so bad. They've been granted quite an incredible opportunity to learn about the locals, about their culture and way of life. Surely they should pursue that?

Bdubs isn't sure at first, but he eventually agrees, and the next morning he links back up and rejoins Etho and the rest of the clan. They don't try to chase him out, and so begins Bdubs living an odd double life.

Over the following months Bdubs basically intergrates into Etho's clan. Learns about their language, their culture, their enviroment. The way they hunt, cook, make clothes, make medicines. It's fascinating and he's learning a lot of new skills alongside everything else. And then every night he debriefs to the other Hermits back on the ship, and they're able to add new info to their database.

Bdubs and Etho become good friends, especially as Bdubs' grasp of the language improves. And... With time, they start to become something more.

Bdubs didn't plan on falling in love with the alien! Of course not! It just... Sort of happened. And by the time he'd realised it he was in way too deep to get out.

It's becoming increasingly obvious that Etho feels the same way too... Oh dear.

Bdubs is confronted with a romance he wants but really isn't sure that he should allow. And, later, with the fact that his secret won't stay secret forever. That one day Etho will learn the truth of where Bdubs comes from. And the reality that is Bdubs eventually being expected to go back to Earth... This trip really wasn't supposed to be this complicated!!

Aaaand yep! That's all for this one! I really love this au and it's definietly one I'd love to write some time, but I'd need to figure out what order everything happens in and how certain plot points actually play out and- various other things. I don't know. Maybe one day!

But yeah, drawing Bdubs all fluffy is so fun hehe, that art is from a few months ago now and was just me experimenting a bit, but I like it!

If anyone wants to know more about this AU feel free to drop me an ask, I love to talk about these things, if you couldn't already tell pfft. Still got more of these asks in my inbox too, so expect another long AU ramble from me very soon ~