The future's in your paws. Shape it well.Roleplay in a cat Clan of warriors. Based off the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Takes place in an AU before the cats in the books existed.
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MALLOWPAW ! Mallowpaw gazed wordlessly at the camp entrance, shrouded by leafless bushes and trees. The snowfall had stopped after coming down ceaselessly for the last few sunrises, leaving behind an expanse of soft, white crystals that crunched satisfyingly underpaw. It was one of the constants of this world, he found. Snow was something that happened no matter what cats wanted, regardless of whether or not cats enjoyed it or hated it. It was there and it would come. Snow was like the war that loomed over the heads of the SkyClan cats. Some cats enjoyed war, some cats hated war. Some cats wanted war, some cats wanted nothing to do with it. Mallowpaw didn't understand the purpose of snow and he didn't understand the purpose of war. He knew Leafbare had a purpose and that was to let the forest rest and recover, but why did it have to be cold and why did there have to be snow? War, on the other paw... It resolved nothing and brought death and grief.
What was more was that he didn't even understand why they were going to fight. He heard from the talk of other cats when milling about camp, that Beechfang wasn't worth fighting over, or that RiverClan needed to get over the past, or that they were just as confused as he was. He never bothered Stoneheart about the reason for war; Mallowpaw just trained as instructed. Beechfang seemed like a nice enough cat to fight for. He didn't know her all too well, but she tolerated him on the tour she organized for the Clan. He'd fight for any other cat - even some wicked she-cat like Cricketpaw.
And yet, RiverClan hated her so much that they were going to attack SkyClan for having her. Because of what she's done, Mallowpaw reminded himself. She killed some cat, Mallowpaw had gathered that much. Surely she had a reason for it? SkyClan was filled with such noble cats that he found it hard to believe she would kill a cat in cold blood. Then again... His eyes drifted towards the apprentice's den, bathed in the light of the moon above. Sometimes he was sure that a few cats he slept beside would be willing to do so to him, even when he'd done nothing wrong. Sometimes he worried it would be Yewpaw. His heart ached at the thought of the piebald tom standing over him, his teeth stained with Mallowpaw's blood. He shook his head violently, shooing the image away. Yewpaw would never do that! He was a SkyClan cat. And by proxy, neither would Beechfang.
He rose from his space and let his gaze sweep around the camp until he found who he was looking for; the reason why he was thinking so hard. "Beechfang?" He mewed hesitantly, lowering his head in a respectful dip. He let his blue eyes move about her frame, taking in every detail. She was a battle-hardened molly, no doubt. Battle-scarred, too. A brief whisp of fear rose within him at the thought of disturbing the elder. If she killed a cat, would she do the same to him if he spoke out of turn? One blow from those paws and he'd be out cold! No. This was his Clanmate and in his few experiences with her, she'd been nothing but kind and tolerant. He was being irrational. "I hope I'm not bothering you, I... I just... Had a question, if you could spare a heartbeat or two for me." Mallowpaw blinked warmly at her, offering a timid smile. "I just want to get to know my newest Clanmate better."
Subject: Re: the world keeps spinning [c] Tue 13 Feb 2024 - 19:47
Having helped reinforce a few sections of the camp wall that needed it, Beechfang rested quietly near the edge of camp. In a bit she would go hunting or patrolling, anything to keep her paws moving and be productive. Resting for long had never been something the old she-cat was capable of, and she didn't intend to start now lest Birdstar think she wanted to be in the elder's den. Which would be never.
Her head turned at the approaching apprentice. Mallowpaw, if she remembered right. A question, and Beechfang could imagine it was one of several dozen, though each one she could think of seemed like something many of her clanmates - the younger ones especially - would ask.
"You're not bothering me... What'd you want to know?" She replied, tucking her paws beneath her. "Mallowpaw, right?"
MALLOWPAW ! "Mallowpaw, yes! That's right!" Another warm blink. This was going well, and lucky for him she'd tuck those massive paws out of sight. It didn't mean he was safe from them, however. He was certain that a cat of her caliber could react quick as a striking viper and there would be poor little Mallowpaw, strung out in the snow. Stars above, he hoped that if some cat were to put him out of his misery, it'd be some cat with compassion and outside of his own Clan. "That's me..."
The apprentice took a seat across from her, about a tail-length of space between them. Then frantically lay himself down. It was probably better to be on eye-level with this molly! "I, uh..."How can I phrase this?"Well, a lot of the Clan says RiverClan hates us because of you."Don't phrase it at all. His mews were all word vomit, tumbling out at a speed he feared Beechfang wouldn't be able to grasp. "I mean-" Mallowpaw screwed up his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, "-oh feathers... I mean, how come RiverClan dislikes you so much? I just... I don't understand, Beechfang. I'm sorry. I'm sure plenty of cats ask you that." He looked like he was going to shrivel up like a grape in the sun. "Sorry." He mumbled again.
Subject: Re: the world keeps spinning [c] Thu 15 Feb 2024 - 14:02
Beechfang let out a soft snort at the tom's mannerisms. Jumpy, clearly. She could only imagine what stories of her were told by the queens in the nursery... Probably not the most flattering or heroic ones. Her mistakes had cost the clan plenty over the seasons, she reflected with a pang of guilt.
On the heels of that thought came the words tumbling from the apprentice's mouth. Yep, Riverclan. It had replaced Dawnhawk as the hot topic of discussion, just as Dawnhawk had replaced tales of the Righteous Few and of ShadowClan before it. In time she'd be forgotten too... Not any time soon, that was for sure. Mallowpaw attempted to backtrack a bit, rephrasing the question, but it amounted to the same line of thought.
"I'm surprised there's a cat here who hasn't heard a variation of the story by now. It's alright." She shrugged, "There's a lot of backstory but the short version is that I drowned their medicine cat. We went to war with Windclan, and she and some Riverclan's were... Not what we expected to find in their camp. She was hurt in the fighting - there's a reason medicine cats should stay off the battlefield if they don't have training. I was a medicine cat back then, myself. Our interactions from that point were... Well. You see the scars on my pelt - because she started an argument at a gathering shortly after that war with Windclan, and someone else decided claws were an appropriate response. From then on we were barely civil to each other. She had a mouth on her, I had no patience or the foresight to simply walk away when she approached me one day at the border. Spewing foxdung - me and my family were the source of the forest's problems... Not untrue, but she brought my unborn kits into it as well as my older daughter. She crossed the river and approached me." She grimaced at the memory, at the rage that had burned hot beneath her ruined pelt. Really, she'd just wanted to make the obnoxious loudmouth shut up. And she had. Permanently.
"The body was found, I confessed. So Riverclan demanded my exile. My father was leader at the time and refused. His mate stepped in. It... Could have gone much worse than it did. I was exiled, my father went with me in protest." She was grateful for it, though she still hadn't approved of Bloodstrike's actions. "A year later, and Birdstar asked me to come home. She knew the risk, we both did. Maybe a different cat would have said no to their daughter, would have walked away. I'm not that sort of cat, consequences or not."
"Birdstar had allied with Riverclan, they were under the assumption that I was still exiled. Toward the start of leafbare when we traveled to the lake, they found out. Probably spotted me from a distance... Not exactly easy to hide when the clans are traveling together." She sighed. "So Perchstar has the right to be angry. I killed her medicine cat, was exiled and... Now I'm back where I shouldn't be." Perchstar was ready to throw her warriors at them... Foolish of her. But almost forgivable. She hadn't been alive to see the mistakes made with Windclan. Her crusade for justice was no different than Beechfang's crusade of vengeance against Dawnhawk. Shortsighted, and would do anything but solve the problem. She would realize it eventually, but not until more blood had been spilled. They weren't so different.
It wasn't as black and white as that though, even Mallowpaw knew that. She had killed another cat, but she had her reasons for it. Still... Mallowpaw couldn't imagine holding enough rage to kill someone out of anger. Had RiverClan's medicine cat overstepped that far? Words could hurt, but did it warrant killing her? He was starting to consider himself lucky that Beechfang hadn't lashed out at him just now.
This was a tricky situation. Beechfang was Birdstar's mother. Instead of declining the offer to return, as she stated any other cat would do, she selfishly came back to the Clan. She came back knowing it would cause trouble, and Birdstar was just as selfish for forcing the Clan to fight for Beechfang. This cat, who'd been a medicine cat once, had broken the warrior code, hadn't she? And this wasn't the first time Beechfang had brought war onto them if Mallowpaw understood right. A misunderstanding - or argument, as she called it - with the same RiverClan medicine cat before their untimely death launched them into a battle back then as well.
At least Beechfang sounded somewhat remorseful. Regretful? Mallowpaw looked down at his paws which were twitching restlessly against the snow. "Perchstar is sending cats to die for this." The young tom mewed slowly. "But so are you and Birdstar." His eyelids drooped down as he looked back up to the older she-cat. He felt sick to his stomach. "If things were different, and this had all happened to a different cat, what would you do, Beechfang...? Would you fight for them to, just because your leader asked you to? Some of us... A- a lot of us don't know you too well. I'm fighting for you because you're my Clanmate and I think that's what I'm supposed to do, but..." He turned a paw over so his pads were exposed to the cold air. "I don't know."
He had reservations. He also had extremely conflicted feelings about this whole thing. The core of it was that Beechfang and Birdstar just wanted to be together again as a family, but at what cost? It was so selfish. All of this was selfish and if he disobeyed orders he'd be seen as a traitor. "Do you regret any of it, Beechfang? Are you worried about whats to come? The consequences... The consequences are on all of us. The whole of SkyClan."
Subject: Re: the world keeps spinning [c] Sun 18 Feb 2024 - 19:21
"Perchstar... I understand where she's coming from. In her position I did the same, when Windclan sheltered a known murderer who was actively killing Skyclan cats." Beechfang muttered, "You know what that led to? More Skyclan deaths and this situation with Riverclan - their mistake to get involved at all. Cloverheart... If you experience even a small drop of what she put me through, you will understand why I acted as I did. It wasn't right, and none of it was worth this outcome. Can't change the past, however much I regret drowning her." A weary sigh escaped the warrior. She was tired... So tired. But she had resolved to fight, to die in her home clan.
She could understand where the young tom was coming from with his words. He hardly knew her, or even some of the older cats in the clan, she suspected. There was nothing personal in this fight to him beyond those he cared about being put at risk by the actions of the few. "Because of solely a leader's word? No. I've seen where a leader's word can put a clan already at risk. You can ask Windclan about that some day. But to threaten my family and friends, my clan? Of course I'd fight. If not for defense of one cat, for them."
MALLOWPAW ! "But... But Beechfang, our leader's word is putting us at risk. Against two Clans!" Mallowpaw mewed, his eyes rounding with a grief that was yet to hit him. How was SkyClan supposed to defend itself against ThunderClan and RiverClan? The odds weren't in their favor. "I like you, I really do." It was honest, just as he always was. He didn't have the capacity to hate, to dislike any cat at all. Every time some cat had an issue with him, he only wanted to fix it and make it better, to resolve it. He did his best to spread kindness in this Clan even if it was for naught. "And I'll fight for you because you're my Clanmate, but I hope you know none of this is fair. I think you're a good cat at heart, and I am glad that I met you, but not every cat has a leader on their side."
He looked away with a frown. He felt ashamed of himself; Beechfang had to know none of this was right. She'd admitted regret to him, but would she really change any of it if given the opportunity? "I am almost certain that if it was any other cat in your position, Birdstar wouldn't be telling us to fight to keep them. I think she'd cast them out. But you're her mother. I... I can't imagine how hard it is to be separated from your family, but it... It's not fair to the rest of us who might lose someone." His shoulders sank down. "Honeydew's related to you, right? She's... She's one of my best friends. Some of us don't know what we're fighting for, but we're doing it because Birdstar said so. What if something happens to Honeydew? Or... Or Wolfblossom, or Birdstar?"
Mallowpaw didn't have it in him to say it out loud. It was obvious enough, wasn't it? He was calling her selfish without using the word. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, lowering his head onto his paws. "I shouldn't be pouring all this out onto you. I... I just don't want any cat hurt because of all of this. Not even you. I just... I want everyone to come back safe."
Subject: Re: the world keeps spinning [c] Wed 21 Feb 2024 - 16:46
"If it were any other cat, I would hope Birdstar knew better. If I were in her paws and it were my own mother..." Beechfang grimaced at the thought. "Love is blinding. So is the desire for vengeance, and to hold onto what family you have left after you've lost most of it. It's... Not a situation you can think clearly in." She hated to admit that about her kits, or even herself, but it was true. There was nothing rational about this, it was selfish to the highest order.
The apprentice continued as Beechfang listened quietly, not interrupting. The tom clearly cared for his friends, for his clan. It was admirable, even as he was calling out Beechfang and her kin. The former medicine cat offered him a slow nod. "You're upset because you care, and your leader's actions confuse you. They are supposed to protect the clan, not just family, and sometimes protecting the clan and doing what might be morally right to one cat aren't the same thing. This isn't going to be easy for anyone. It's not fair to them." She agreed with him, truly. "You had to say it to someone, might as well have been me. I might be a selfish foxheart... But I do care." She mewed softly. "In a way it's... Good to know that not everyone thinks about this with blind passion."
MALLOWPAW ! Mallowpaw swallowed the bile that had been rising in his throat. He couldn't believe that he'd been so afraid of Beechfang just a few minutes ago. She was still a force to be reckoned with, that was true, but she was also a Clanmate. She wouldn't harm him and she was... She understood him, she understood why he was upset and she hadn't greeted any of his words with anger or lashed out at him. She'd let him approach her and ask his questions, give him her truth and then hear his complaints. The young apprentice blinked slowly at her, his eyes shining with respect and admiration.
Beechfang had made a mistake once and that was killing Cloverheart. In the seasons since then, she had suffered and all she wanted in that time was to be with her family for just a little while longer. Mallowpaw couldn't be upset with her for that; like he'd said earlier, he couldn't imagine how lonely life had been. Every cat made mistakes - granted, not every cat's mistake was murder - but she wanted to atone, didn't she? "You're no foxheart." He said softly, raising his head from his paws. "You're SkyClan and you're family. I'm sorry I got upset." He inched forward some so that he could place a respectful lick on the she-cat's shoulder. "Thank you for answering me, and... And listening to my blabber. I'm glad you're here."
He turned his head to look behind himself. "Any cat that's judging you without talking to you first is a mousebrain. I'm... I'm glad you're back."
Subject: Re: the world keeps spinning [c] Thu 22 Feb 2024 - 12:57
"You have nothing to apologize for." Beechfang simply shrugged at Mallowpaw. "Cats have a right to question it or be upset those they care about are threatened." She had questioned things enough herself that she couldn't exactly be upset with others for doing so, and so many of the younger cats in the clan only had their leader's word to go off of, and he brewing war was far from something that any cat would appreciate.
"You seem like you're level headed and want to understand things, not just blindly follow along. That's a blessing and a curse, if I know this clan. But more cats could stand to use what's between their ears more." Her whiskers twitched in wry amusement. It seemed like most of Skyclan's younger cats were headed in the right direction, at least. Birdstar and Wolfblossom, for their faults, had brought up a clan that was slowly starting to learn from the brash, single-minded warriors she was used to.
"I'm glad I'm back, too, consequences aside." For however long she was able to stay. This hadn't been the same clan she had left, but she had come to realize that wasn't a bad thing.
