We're all we have [Open]

OOC: Would love it if cats related to Ivy in some way joined. Set-Pre-Final DF Gathering

RiverClan cats were always sleek but Ivyfall was simply skin and bone. Grief broke the once proud warrior, the loss of her brothers, her children, her apprentices. It was all too much. She liked to visit the nursery, it was the only balm for her soul, to see her daughter, Willowbreeze with her kits and Oakcloud's litter from her deceased son, Toadclaw. They were so young, so precious, she swore that while she'd failed their parents, aunts and uncles, she'd fight for their future. Whether she had to submit to Dark Forest or fight for StarClan, she'd do anything to keep them all safe. Never again would she look down at another dead corpse of her kin. 'Kin. Duty. Honour.' Her family would come before her duty and her honour.

Lying in the clearing, the silver tabby watched with half-lid eyes as kits played and cats entered/exited the camp. The presence of Dark Forest cats set her fur on end, but she pointedly ignored them, choosing to focus on the good.

Tawnypaw padded up to her mother, watching the kits. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" she said after a while. "It feels weird being an aunty already."

"Beautiful. And innocent." The latter she said pained, eyes glancing over to Blossompaw, the Dark Forest apprentice tore into a fish, spilling it's guts with one sharp claw for her amusement. As a dead cat, she was unable to eat, but she seemed to find delight in scaring apprentices and warriors alike with her macabre displays of violence.

"You may be an aunt, but I'm a grandmother... Your brother should have been here to see them and his own kits grow old." A bitter tang seeped into her voice.

Reedfang saw his sister sitting over with another apprentice. The brown tabby's tail lowered slightly as he remembered that she had just lost one of her kits. He knew how that was.. Most of his kits weren't even alive anymore. Goosestorm went missing not too long ago... He was a bit devastated himself, Halfmoon even more so. The warrior glanced over to Frostfall who was busy setting things up, who didn't really have time to just relax anymore. The white tabby cast a sad glance in the direction of her mother, and uncle probably wishing to join them, but couldn't.

Brown eyes looked back to Ivyfall, and the tom let out a small sigh. Reedfang moved over and sat close to his sister. "I believe his is watching them. Even if it's from the sky that may be far away." He didn't know where Starclan was but he still had faith in them.

Willowbreeze padded out of the nursery, making sure not to wake her kits as she got up. She was gonna grab a piece of prey off the fresh-kill pile but noticed Blossompaw having a "great" time, it seemed, tearing up a, once, perfectly good fish that someone could have eaten. She shook her head in disgust before she noticed her mother, sister, and uncle sitting and talking. Her look of disgust changed to a warm smile as she padded over to them. As she padded over, she heard Reedfang talking about somebody watching over "them" and assumed it was about her brother. Her smile faltered a bit, and as hard as she tried she couldn't keep it there. She was usually good at hiding her emotions, but it had gotten harder when Toadclaw died. She sat down next to them and nodded, "I like to think so." she mewed softly.

"He should have been here.....and now his kits will never know their father because of some stupid cat who...who...murdered him." The last words choked up the tawny tabby a little - as it sunk in that Toadclaw's death was no accident. "I promise I won't die. It's inevitable, but I refuse to die of anything but of old age. But if I'm in battle....I won't go down without a fight. I'll have kits and they'll grow old with me." She sighed. "Toadclaw wouldn't have gone down without a fight."

She turned back to the kits playing idyllically. "Innocent. They're innocent, like you said. They don't know about the Dark Forest - or StarClan. They aren't plagued by despair for the future, or grief. They dream about being the bravest, best and strongest warrior. The leader of the Clan. Innocent dreams - dreams without responsibility. The sad thing is though...one day, they'll learn about the harder things in life. The sad things. The responsibilities. And even though we don't want to, it's inevitable."

"He better be." She replied to Reedfang, her words a little sharp as she redirected her unavenged grief upwards to her son in StarClan. Without some cat to claw and blame, she couldn't help feel mad at her son, at StarClan for not allowing him to see his own kits grow old. But she had no quarrel with her brother, if anything, after nearly losing him, she felt the need to keep him close, hold onto whatever shards of her family that remained. She casually laid her tail on top of his, taking the sting out of her words in an unspoken apology for being snappish before blinking in loving greeting to her daughter, Willowbreeze.

To Tawnypaw, who seems so young and innocent herself in Ivyfall's eyes, she pulled her youngest daughter in and rubbed her chin over her head. "You're so young, little one. Don't think too deeply on matters like this. Leave that for old cats like us." She butted her brother's shoulder in a rare gesture of playfulness, trying to bring levity to this moment. "You better not die though, you and Willowbreeze both." Locking eyes sadly with her brother, her tone unfortunately took a somber tone once more. Perhaps after all she'd been through, happiness could not last long within her. "No parent should have to outlive their kit. I pray that you will never know our pain, Willowbreeze. And if I have a say in it, none of you or your children will die before us..."

Oakcloud forgot most of her past and only knew Ivyfall as her mother, even though she wasn't her biological mother. She walked up to the happy family "I wont let that happen to my kits either!" And then she remembered Toadclaw, whom she forgot complety was her 'brother', after Tawnypaw Brought It up "I miss Toadclaw"


(#AdoptedIncest)

Willowbreeze listened as her sister talked about the innocence in kits and laughed softly as her mother responded to her. She nodded, smiling slightly as her mother talked. "I don't plan on it anytime soon, and nothing will happen to my kits, and Oakcloud's, as long as I'm alive." She mewed assuredly. Being a mother and having her brother die had made her even more protective of her loved ones than she already had been, and she knew that she wouldn't let anything else happen too her family. When Oakcloud mentioned missing him, she glanced up at the sky and sighed, "I miss him too." she mewed quietly.

Oakcloud loved her family, it grew so fast these last few moons. She would make sure this family never ended


(Until i saw this topic i almost had Oakcloud kill muddy and then i told thin no and now she mad DX)

"I'm just saying, I think about things, and it's pretty hard not to think when things are as crazy as they are now." Tawnypaw said. "And I'm not that young - I'm old enough to earn my warrior name in a half-moon. I can't just stop myself from contemplating these things, you know?" She looked toward her brother's kits. She could see him in them,as played as innocently as kits do. "I miss him too."