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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Newleaf is finally here, and the Clans hope to find reprieve from the tough Leaf-bare.
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Subject: fish inside a birdcage [C] Wed 7 Dec 2022 - 0:34
Birdchaser
With great effort, Birdchaser pushed herself to her paws. Plumleaf was determined to check on her leg regularly, and Birdchaser was just as determined to avoid her. It wasn't that she intended to avoid her sister, or did not appreciate the care that was being extended towards her, she just... The large molly shook herself out as she walked. There were so many other, better things Plumleaf could be spending her time on. Surely she would need to be gathering new herbs, or routine injuries, or those less mundane, or supporting those that bore invisible wounds. The wound on her leg had long since stop bleeding every time she stretched. Sure, it had given her a limp, and it still ached day in and out, but the pain was manageable. She would recover just fine by pushing forward.
But she could only avoid Plumleaf's summons so long before she started to feel guilty over avoiding her- out of guilt. Nearing the corner of the clearing they'd devoted to what was left of their medicine den, Birdchaser cleared her throat when her eyes found her sister. "Hi, Plumleaf." She said gently, shifting awkwardly between paws. In some sad irony, the dull pain in her leg felt worse now that she was standing here. "You can look at my leg, like you asked. It's fine though, I think. It only hurts enough to keep me awake at night now." A tired smile pulled at the edge's of Birdchaser's maw, but it did not extend to the rest of her expression. The attempt at humor only made a deeper weariness unfold in her chest, exhaustion from the fear and the pain of the last half-moon.
Subject: Re: fish inside a birdcage [C] Thu 8 Dec 2022 - 17:02
Plumleaf stared at the herbs in front of her, trying to focus on organizing them in a last-ditch effort to distract herself from the guilt roiling within her. She couldn't help feeling like maybe she could have prevented things from going so badly if she'd only warned her clan. In her defense, she didn't exactly have a lot of time to do so, but maybe if she'd been quicker they would have been able to evacuate, or prepare, or something. Now Briarstar was missing, and several of her clanmates had been captured by twolegs. Cats had sustained injuries in the earthquake and she barely had enough herbs to treat them all. She would have gone searching for more, but she was afraid as soon as she left something else would go horribly wrong. The vision played over and over in her head, a constant loop of terror. But how could she tell her clanmates, who'd been through so much already, that Starclan had warned her there would be worse to come? She sighed, idly shifting a stack of horsetail from one side of the pile to the other. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her name, and she looked up to see Birdchaser limping over.
Forcing a nervous smile, she beckoned her sister closer.
"Well then, have a seat and I'll see if I can find something to help with that." It was a struggle to get her voice to sound normal, to sound like the calm, capable cat everyone expected her to be. Rummaging through her stores, she found the poppy seeds she'd been storing on a dock leaf and separated a few for Birdchaser, along with some of the comfrey root she'd been able to grab when they'd fled camp. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the injured leg.
"Hm." She muttered to herself, running her paw gently down her sisters fur and feeling for the spot where her bone had been fractured. It was... definitely healing, though not as fast as Plumleaf would have liked. Fleeing from twolegs probably hadn't helped, along with the fact that Birdchaser probably hadn't properly rested since the earthquake.
"This comfrey should help." She explained. "Chew the roots into a pulp and that should help the bone heal and stop some of the pain. Before you head to your sleep, eat a few of these poppy seeds, and you should be able to sleep a bit better."
"How are you feeling though? You know, besides the leg pain. I know things have been difficult for everyone the past few days, but you've done a great job taking care of our clanmates despite everything. Just... don't forget to take care of yourself, okay?"
Subject: Re: fish inside a birdcage [C] Sat 17 Dec 2022 - 6:46
Birdchaser
With gentle smile and tired eyes, Plumleaf waved Birdchaser close, and she stepped forward obediently to settle down at her sister's side. There was a weariness in the medicine cat's voice, but then the same tiredness was present in all of them. Still, it made Birdchaser's ears lower sadly. "Sorry to trouble you," she whispered as Plumleaf pawed through what herbs she had left. If her siblings hadn't been so persistent about her at least trying to care for her injury, she never would have bothered. Plumleaf needed to spare her herbs, and more importantly, she needed just to rest. She's probably thinking the same thing about me. A sigh. This was tiring.
Seeds and stems were procured quick enough, and Birdchaser bent down to give them a curious sniff while Plumleaf moved nearer to her leg. The sharp scent to them was almost a distraction from the incoming pressure, but the hiss that left her was poorly muffled. Her sister's touch was gentle, and the injury certainly hurt less than it had suns ago, but it still hurt to touch. Birdchaser's tail thumped against the earth. Still, Plumleaf didn't look horrified when she touched it; mildly disgruntled, maybe, but that was enough for Birdchaser to assume it was healing well. Nodding at the instructions given to her, she bent down to pick up the root between her teeth, giving it a cautious bite. She almost spat it out like a kid, but she forced the bitterness down with only a grumble.
Her sister's next words made her blink, lifting her head away from the seeds still scattered across the leaf to focus on Plumleaf. A weary smile lifted the edges of her maw. After a beat, she rasped, "I appreciate it, Plum. It's... hard. I certainly wasn't expecting to be entirely in charge of SkyClan now." A sharp laugh hissed past her teeth. There had to be some humor she could find in this, or else she might go mad. I'm too young for that. I'll save the insanity for when I'm old and tired. As her family tended towards. "I'm... I'm alright though. Tired, but we all are. Leg hurts, but... I'm getting used to it. Managing. I can still walk and talk, so I think I'm doing fine." Birdchaser nodded, pleased with that sentiment. She knew it was a terrible approach to life and it very well might kill her young, but... she had more to worry about than her fleeting mortality. She was alive now, and death would not be a concern until StarClan came for her.
"How are you though, Plum? You look tired, too. I'm sure we lost herbs running to Fourtrees– do you want a few warriors to see if they can find anything outside of Fourtrees, would that help you at all? Or maybe some of the apprentices can help you out. With Fogfeather gone too–" Birdchaser sighed. Where had their family all gone? "It's... hard. You need to rest, too. You're no good as a medicine cat if you die from exhaustion." Another bitter laugh left her. Maybe it was a poor joke, but... it was true, at least. "But really, Plum. Don't exhaust yourself. We're going to be fine, just... not right now. Someday. Soon, I hope."
Subject: Re: fish inside a birdcage [C] Sun 18 Dec 2022 - 14:48
Plumleaf's belly roiled with guilt. Her sister sounded so sad and weary, how could she bear to hear that the clan's troubles might only just be beginning. She wanted to give her clanmates hope, but how could she when the only word she'd heard from Starclan had been the dismal warning of something even worse?
"About that, Bird. I- well, the last time I visited the moonstone, I got a rather... disturbing prophecy. I wanted to talk to you and Briarstar about it, but I didn't have a chance before... you know." Alright. Best to just get it over with now. If Birdchaser was going to lead the clan, she couldn't be kept in the dark because her medicine cat (and sister) was afraid to hurt her feelings. Steeling herself, she began to describe the horrifying vision she and the other medicine cats had been shown. The earth-shaking growl, the looming, cavernous hole that had appeared beneath the territories, swallowing everything in it's path. By the time she finished her voice was shaking with fear, but she couldn't describe the relief she felt upon sharing the burden of the prophecy with someone else. The weight hadn't entirely been lifted off her shoulders, but she found comfort in the fact that she at least had someone to carry it with.
"I didn't notice any warning about twolegs, but I fear the earthquake has something to do with the hole in the earth. I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner."
Subject: Re: fish inside a birdcage [C] Sun 1 Jan 2023 - 8:33
Birdchaser
Birdchaser's ears tilted back when Plumleaf started on about the Moonstone, and they only lowered further as the medicine cat went on. The territory stretched out below her; a giant, yawning hole rumbling open while she was helpless to stop it, only able to watch from above as the forest disappeared into the hungry maw of the earth. Birdchaser couldn't stop a mild shiver from running through her. The bitter taste lingering on her tongue was no longer just from the comfrey root.
After her sister finished with an apology, Birdchaser was quiet for a while, her muzzle screwed up in thought. Eventually, she managed, "That's... interesting." Interesting. That was one word for it. Her thoughts were moving too fast for her to properly voice them yet. Surely, there was nothing more to it. It was a prophecy about the earthquake, that was all. That's why Plumleaf felt the rumbling, when she... when she watched the world crumple. Birdchaser's tail thumped the earth again. Why would StarClan only give them a shadow of a moon's time to react, to prepare? Why wouldn't they tell their favored oracles of the twolegs, of those that would go missing? Was it carelessness, indifference, or–?
Slowly, wearily, Birdchaser turned her head. First, she simply looked across Fourtrees, watching the bodies of those she had known her whole life moving about. Then, out into the treeline. No twolegs had come to storm the hollow again; but they found their way to other sacred grounds? How many other cats from other Clans had been taken? What more destruction would they bring with them? And finally, she turned her head skywards. The stars had long disappeared for the day, but she squinted into the sun still, as if she could will Silverpelt into making an early appearance. What did StarClan know? What didn't they know? And what were they doing to aid their kin beyond frightful prophecies and enjoying their eternal rest?
With a sigh, Birdchaser rose up and leaned forward to press her nose comfortingly against Plumleaf's cheek. "Don't apologize. You had no time." She started gently, offering a fond smile. "I'm sure the whole thing was just... I'm sure we'll be fine. The forest is falling apart, with so many lost or hurt or... worse. That's all. As long as we can survive and keep SkyClan together until the twolegs leave, we'll be fine." Birdchaser wasn't sure if she was trying to convince her sister or herself. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more coming, proper destruction brought upon them. But all they could do now was worry about what was happening now; and, if there was more to come... her eyes flicked briefly to the heavens again. StarClan would send them a clearer message.
