only makes you... stranger

(the title has nothing to do with the topic I just couldnt think of something and saw the topic "what doesnt kill you" below so decided to complete the phrase)


Swiftheart felt the cooler air, saw the slow changing of the leaves. The new color of leaves was pretty but she dreaded what it soon would mean for the forest. Winter was coming and that was her least favorite time of year. The constant cold and low amounts of prey were just not something she loved at all or looked forward to. Luckily, for now the prey was still running decently even though it had slowed down from the peak of the spring and summer moons.

A cool breeze went though camp and she did her best to fluff out her pelt ... eughh at least she didnt have to live in windclan ? Her shorter pelt was so not meant for this.

Spotting her sister, she went over to her. Harechaser had been her second apprentice as well and so they were pretty close, although swiftheart had been so busy lately with being a queen and warrior. She had felt so bad of what had happened to Roseburn and how Roseburn had been so hurt by that dumb badger and how she had spoken of that she just wanted to be noticed. She felt a tad of guilt not being there more recently for Roseburn, Harechaser, and Echomist. ... Gee she didnt even remember the last time she spoke to echo... ackkk

It was understandable, she had been busy with her family, had warrior tasks at all the time it felt like and time marched on waiting for no one. Still she was doing her best to try and get more time with her younger siblings now.

"hey you" she purred in greeting. Flicking her tail at the younger warrior a bit in a playful manor. "come on lets go do something" she suggested. "anything you want, I just want to hang out, feel we havent in too long

Harechaser had been resting near the edge of camp, trying to avoid the chilly breeze while remaining out in the clearing. It wasn't going all that well, truthfully, but it was far too early to retire to her nest, so she shivered away. It was colder than she'd ever known it to be, and so far, Harechaser had decided, she wasn't a fan of it. Perhaps moving around would help, but Harechaser wasn't sure that wouldn't just make her even colder. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in the medicine den because she'd gotten sick.

The sound of pawsteps made her glance up, expression immediately brightening as her older sister approached. "Hey, yourself." Harechaser grinned, playfully bumping her head against Swiftspirit's shoulder. "How have you been? How are the kits? Stars I've been a horrible aunt this time around, I really do need to swing by the nursery soon." She chirped. "It's so cold, too. I don't know how anyone can s- stand this." She added, shifting on her paws restlessly.

"Swiftspirit's shoulder." Ahh Hare is seeing starclan cats now its a ghossstttt XD I got to tease you a little bit kj :D hehe))


SwiftHEART purred happily so happy to see her sister. She was glad that at least one of her younger sisters was still glad to see her and was not so guarded that they could talk together. She had tried so hard to be there for Roseburn but it was ... difficult between full time warrior duties, being a queen to her kits and also trying to raise her younger sister Rose (who sometimes was more difficult than the kits). The time she had was thin and perhaps that led to alot of the trouble that Rose had gotten herself into. Nonetheless, Swiftheart still loved her lots and did her best to look out for her being family.

It was refreshing to see that Hare still looked generally happy to hang out and in good spirits.

"Aww no worries I understand how busy life can get" She purred

Swifthearts short / mid length fur was also not super happy about the cold and she nodded in agreement. "ugh... and I hate to tell you but it will only get worse..." she thought back to last leaf bear ... it was literally nicknamed the harsh season since it was the worst leaf bear they had in many years.

"Hopefully it wont be so bad this year... im already cold enough as is" she complained a little which was not super usual for Swiftheart but given all the family strife, Misty dying, the cold weather she didnt enjoy... she was not the most pleased in how events were going lately.

hmm come on lets go hunt, maybe we can even find a hare for you to ... ya know chase" she winked with a little playful giggle at her sister as she gave her a smug grin very satisifed with her "joke" . She flicked her tail and walked out of camp to see what they could find.

"I barely remember the cold. I'm not looking forward to it either." Harechaser half-grumbled. On one paw it was nice to not feel like the heat was going to suffocate her, but did it have to be this cold?

"Oh, ha." Her whiskers twitched, remember her first-ever catch. "Let's get to it, then. I love you, sis, but standing around talking won't catch hares." She grinned, and with that, cheerfully sauntered forward, jaws parted as she sniffed the air. A familiar, half-remembered scent caught her attention and she turned, dropping into a more serious crouch as she left Swiftheart's side.

Soon enough she spotted a fuzzy brown and white shape among the marshes, and Harechaser stalked forward carefully. It was smaller than the hare she remembered, but she was fairly certain she'd seen at least one rabbit on the fresh-kill pile too.

Closer and closer, she managed, until she was finally close enough to leap. The rabbit had turned, alerted by the change in the wind, but Harechaser refused to give up. She chased after the rabbit, and with a final push forward managed to catch it as it tried to dart around the wide base of a tree. Her claws hooked into the rabbit's fur and she quickly caught its neck with her fangs. With a smug, satisfied smile, she turned, searching for Swiftheart with her prize hanging from her jaws.

Harechaser attempted to catch a rabbit. Catch was successful.
137 / 140

The member 'kjSage' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Swiftheart purred very happy to see her sister snatch a catch so quickly. And a rabbit too huh?  She gave a nod and grin of approval.  hmm rabbitchaser now?? Will have to tell Nightstar to update your warrior name she giggled playfully. she pawed playfully at her sister in a teasing manor.  Swiftheart was always the playful type, in some ways, still had that energetic energy of a kit/apprentice.


The positive she cat walked along also looking for food.  Hmm nothing yet.

A part of her wanted to try and resolve the tension that had become between the siblings.  Nothing had come between her and Harechaser but Roseburn had recent issues with all of them it felt like.

Rose had blamed Swift and Night for not being there enough for her, and Swiftheart had heard through the grapevine that Rose and Hare had also had a ... difficult time to say the least lately.

How to even approach that though?? She wanted nothing more than for the siblings to all stay close together and have each others backs no matter what.  She felt that she was doing the best she could in doing this. Still, it was hard, the loss of Murkystar when the younger litter was just newborns made it hard for them and the recent passing of Mistyfalcon had not helped poor rose at all, or any of them for that matter.

Night was swamped busy with his leadership duties rightfully so.  She was trying to raise her family with her new mate Duskflight and was also packed between being warrior, keeping her kits from knocking over the nursery and and and... oh yeah and make sure Roseburn didn't feel alone and looked after... it was to no suprise that Night and her maybe had messed up in not being there enough for their younger siblings.  

She felt a tad guilty about this but Roseburn had not helped the way she guilt tripped Nightstar didnt sit well with her either. It was a difficult situation, and now Roseburn had a broken jaw and was pretty hurt physically as well as emotionally. But Roseburn had also been pretty cold to Night and Her she felt like. And she blew up at Swiftheart's good friend Snow during the one gathering and now she had gotten mad at hare too... ughhhh.

But how was she supposed to fix this? She was usually so good at being friends with everyone and she still was but it made it hard to try and lead things.  She was never a good leader like her older brother and littermate Night. She got along with everyone so well usually that it was hard for her to call others out when they were being brats or out of line.

And when it came to conflict like this?? ugh forget it.

She wondered what Misty would do... he probably wouldnt do anything just let it resolve itself he was never one to concern himself too much in relationships the introverted type he was, but this was hard for her to be this passive. She still held so much respect and love for her late father but looking to what he would do here was too far from what she was like...
What would Murky do? She was an amazing leader she could probably fix it instantly.  She dug her claws into the soft swamp below her a bit frustrated. What would she do?? that's the only question that mattered and frustratingly she didn't know...

She was so focused on this that she blindly was not paying attention and a frog hopped right in front of her and into the safety of its hiding spot (underground?? do frogs go underground??? i have no idea ... it went somewhere safe).

She blinked unbelieving she had just done that ... ugh foxdung... sorry she murmured looking to her hunting partner embarrassed that she had basically just let a meal walk right in front of her... that was probably the easiest catch of her entire warrior life and she had basically stood there and watched it absentmindedly as it got away. A kit could have caught that... heck even a blind elder could have caught that one!

"I just have alot on my mind right now" she admitted. This was her usual, talking and if something was bothering her she let it be said.

"I ermm she scratched her paw against the marshy ground . Stars even for her this was not easy to talk about. "I want you to know that Night and I are gonna always try and be there for you and Echo and Rose but we aren't perfect exactly . I just want us siblings to stick together. she glanced at hare with a sigh.

"Murky, Misty and Bat are gone... and between you and me on the very quite low down.. I dont think Basilblooms health is doing great.
Soon we will be what we have left. she said somberly.

"I know that... Rose can be ... Stars what was the wording for this?? "difficult? at times but we ... her voice trailed off... was she being to worried over all this? Overthinking it all? She had no idea anymore. Of all the siblings she was the most emotional.. maybe she was making a bigger deal over this than it even needed to be.

A laugh escaped Harechaser at her sister's words, and she returned the playful bat of her paw. "Don't be jealous, dear sister. You'll just have to catch up. Nightstalker doesn't need to change my name." There was no malice in her tone, only the friendly boasting between clanmates.

Swiftheart continued on in search of prey, and Harechaser blinked in surprise as she seemed to walk right past a frog. "You sure you're okay?" She asked, concerned. It could've been tiredness, and stars knew she must've been tired with kits, but maybe it was something else.

"You're doing your best. Nightstar too, even if he's busy." Harechaser tried to reassure her. "And don't worry, you're my favorite sister," She purred ...Ah, and there it was. Harechaser flinched at the reminder. How many cats had heard about her falling out with Roseburn?

"I tried to apologize for not being around much." Harechaser muttered, mismatched gaze dropping to her paws, "But Roseburn is Roseburn, and stars forbid she act rationally. She's so-" Frustrating was certainly one way to put it, Harechaser wasn't sure the word was quite strong enough to describe the willful troublemaker. "She hates me, and Echomist. She blames us for her own shortcomings and I don't know what I'm supposed to do to fix that." She huffed out a frustrated breath, blinking. She didn't need to cry about this to anyone, that was just what Roseburn did. She'd just have to accept it and move on.

"Basilbloom... I feel like I hardly know her." She admitted quietly. Her elder sister had always been frail and in poor health, but at some point it had taken a sharp downturn. "Do you think she'll recover?" Even as she asked, Harechaser knew it was unlikely. She didn't know all the specifics and hadn't spent much time around the former medicine cat herself, but she'd seen her clanmates and Fuzzybelly especially worry and fret over her to know it wasn't good.

Swiftheart felt somewhat reassured strangly enough hearing that Harechaser had tried to be there for Rose too and still got that response same as her and Night had... maybe it meant that Rose didnt blame swift, night or hare individually at all just that she was in a bad spot right now and blamed everyone. Which was not great at all but Swiftheart always tried to find the positive in any situation.

she giggled a little at the favorite sister part "well that went without saying" she purred joking along back with it.

"I ... I dont know if we can fix it really besides just giving her time and space maybe she shrugged not really sure.

"as long as we stick togeher we should be alright she repeated... she wasn't sure if she was telling herself this or Hare.


The next question startled her a bit though as the topic shifted to their older sister, Basilbloom... did she think Basil would recover???

Swiftheart was always optimistic and looked on the bright side best she could, however... Basil's health had been worsening alot and truthfully she did not belive her older sister would make it through the coming winter, another reason she dreaded the colder weather moving in.

She sighed heavily and looked to her younger sister. It was sometimes hard not to keep seeing her as her old apprentice and to remember that Hare was a full warrior now and that she could hear things that were hard to hear...

"I ... I always like to hope that she will recover.  But between us... I think Nightstar will soon be the oldest sibling. I dont think Basil will ... will see next newleaf she answered quietly.  Typically, the brutal honest answers were not her style and came from Night, but she wasn't going to play down how serious Basilbloom's sickness was, and she guessed that Hare would prefer the facts as they were anyways.

She shook her head to clear the thoughts... meh, come on bunnychaser there is no use worrying over things we cant change she purred with a small laugh at the nickname. It was nothing mean just the typical light hearted that they had back and forth. As she searched for more prey to make up for the blunder of the frog that had gotten away.

She spotted a mouse nearby ... well it was a scawny looking thing hardly worth but it was something.  She leapt for it!

Rolling dice...

She caught it! ... that was easy it didnt even try and run it was so weak and scrawny... eughh was this even worth being on the fresh kill pile?? Well if nothing else maybe a kit could target practice their hunting leaps on it.

The member 'speedy' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

"Maybe..." Harechaser muttered, though she couldn't quite hide the dubiousness that she felt at the idea of time fixing this mess. Rosethorn had always been... well, difficult was one way of putting it.

The answer about Basilbloom's health hadn't been unexpected, and Harechaser briefly pressed her shoulder to Swiftheart's. She didn't know her eldest sister well at all, but she could at least be there for the family who did know her, right? Their family had seen enough death in recent moons, and the thought of possibly more on the horizon was sobering. "I hope you're wrong. Sorry, sis."

After a moment Swiftheart moved off to hunt, seemingly returning to her typical cheerful self. 'Bunnychaser' won a short laugh from Harechaser, as she went to search for her own prey. Soon she spotted a mouse, and much like her sister had, Harechaser leapt for it. The catch was quick and clean, because of course it was. She and Swiftheart were simply the best hunters in Shadowclan.

Harechaser attempted to catch a mouse for -3 sp. Catch was successful.
134 / 140 sp

The member 'kjSage' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 6