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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Subject: all that might have been (c) Tue 31 Oct 2023 - 21:30
The next day dawned, bright and cold. Felix saw his breath puff out white in the chilly air as he arose, stretching and yawning. Another day lingering near the forest. Another day circling around from the town to the barn to this farmhouse. He shook the dew from his pelt and looked toward the sky. Light, rosy hues of pink decorated the bright blue, though the sun had yet to quite peek over the tops of the trees. Another beautiful day. Another day of waiting. Waiting for what?
Waiting for her.
He knew it was foolish. Finally, the loner had admitted it to himself. All this pacing, haunting the wild cats' forest like a shade, was to catch a glimpse of her again. Was for the off chance that when their eyes finally met, she would recant her choice and leave with him, bringing all of their kits to a grand and glorious life in the unknown world. It was impossible, he knew. And yet... he had met some of his kits. Three of them. Were there more? And was it really so impossible to hope that Perch herself might make an appearance one day?
It was. He knew it was. And yet, despite it all, he waited. Waited for the day that would never come.
Just beyond the border of the territories, the subject of his thoughts--Perchstar, the leader of RiverClan--was walking with her kits towards the Twolegplace Farm. It was an area of the territory she rarely ever visited, and even less often these days with her busy schedule. But Mistwalker had said it was here that they'd encountered a black tom with golden eyes, who called himself Felix... and who spoke in strange riddles of his purpose. It would be just like that tom to not give a straight answer. With every pawstep forward, she found herself wanting to turn back. She did not want to see him again, she was sure. That was the source of this apprehension that tightened her throat and tensed her muscles. She was doing this for her kits, she told herself. It was only fair for them to meet him once. To look at him face to face, to meet the other half of their genetics. So that they could come to terms with it themselves. Now that they knew he was here, it would have been unfair and unkind of her to withhold the ability to meet him just once. To satisfy curiosity. That was why.
And yet, memories of that night would not leave her alone. With every blink she saw the gleam of his eyes. With every breath she felt his warmth pressing into her on a storm-drenched night. With every step she heard the words that had sunk their claws deep into her heart and attempted to yank her forward, leaving wounds that gnawed at her in the darkest moments of the night that she would never admit... wounds that stung and pulled at her even now.
"Not yet. But... I could. I could, Perch.
Those stars-cursed words haunted her in the very depth of her dreams. But why? She had rejected him. She would do it again; she would make the choice for RiverClan a thousand times. She did not love him. She was not even sure if she really liked him. So why...?
Before she knew it, they were coming up on the border. Perchstar prepared herself to talk to her kits, to assure them that they did not have to do this if they didn't want to, or to say that no matter what he thought of them, she still loved them as her own. But all her words stuck, caught, in her throat when she saw a dark shape just ahead. A slim figure covered in long, soft black fur. Small pointed ears that pricked up when they heard her approach. And, with a quick turn of his head, golden eyes. Those eyes. There was no mistaking him.
Felix froze in shock, unable to believe what he saw. It had to be a hallucination. But no--there she stood before him, as grand and regal as a cat had ever been. Every inch a leader. That silver-gray pelt, the way she held her head as if adorned by a crown. The vulnerability in the way she suddenly stopped, just as he did, her battle-torn ear flicking in an expression he knew to mean uncertainty. Ice-blue eyes that locked instantly onto his.
It was her.
It was him.
"Perch," Felix breathed. It was hard to tell whether the word was simply meant to be a name, a question, or some kind of prayer. Hesitantly, the tom moved forward, nearly stumbling on his paws. His golden gaze was locked on her face, drinking it in as if he had been dying of thirst until just this moment. His movement was as sleepwalking, as a trance. Dreaming, unfathomable. But before he could reach her, he stopped. Finally his eyes traveled down to the cats with her. All just like her--all sets of light blue eyes, exactly replicas of each other, all trained on him. "They... Are these...?"
Perchstar managed to seize hold of her oddly-pounding heart, and tear her eyes from the tom. She considered each and every one of the cats accompanying her. Her kits. Their kits. All her prepared speeches seemed impossible to stomach now.
"Meet Felix," she told them, her voice strangely wobbly as she did so. "...Your father."
~~PM me here or on Discord if you want a topic with any of my cats!~~ ~Signature and Avatar by Xaandiir!~
xaandiir Former Staff
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon; [B]lazekit Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; RC T5; RC T5; Rogue T1; WC App Number of posts : 3162 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 26
Subject: Re: all that might have been (c) Fri 3 Nov 2023 - 10:26
Willowpaw
Willowpaw walked carefully alongside her mother and the rest of her siblings as they ventured further into their territory and off towards a forgotten border. Nothing lay beyond the back border of their forest, except some twoleg land and some mysterious other world. She never really wondered what was beyond there, as she was happy with the RiverClan territory she was given at birth, but the closer they ventured to it, the more curious she found her stomach coiling.
Could their father really be waiting at this distant place? Mistwalker seemed sure of it and Tinyshadow corroborated the story. Wrenpaw even seemed familiar with the story told. Was Willowpaw the last to meet their father? It made her stomach do a flip again. She was never interested in him before, but now there was a familiar ache in her chest as she realized she was the last to do something yet again. Willowpaw tried to push that away and not let it bother her as her eyes scanned the fields in front of them the closer they grew to the old barn.
Then, there he was. Perchstar stopped suddenly and so did he. They stared at one another in a fashion that reminded Willowpaw of the stories Poppyshine told them as kits; stories of some fleeting romance, of a moment of recognition and impassioned love. And yet…it wasn’t exactly love that Willowpaw sensed from her mother; it was some emotion that she couldn’t identify, or perhaps didn’t have the language to put into words. She watched her mother for a long moment until Perchstar spoke, and then her gaze drifted back to the tom that was her father.
Felix, Willowpaw repeated in her mind. She studied him for a moment. He was not the largest cat, but he had thick dark fur that reminded her of the black pelt that Wrenpaw sported. He had foreign eyes; bright gold that was not passed onto a single one of them. It seemed that his genes were not present in many of them at all, save for the aforementioned Wrenpaw. She wondered if his personality was also like Wrenpaw’s, who was always far more expressive and excitable than any of them or their mother. She glanced at her sister. How does Wrenpaw feel about him?
The silence passed a couple of beats between the group and Willowpaw took a breath. As strange as she found all this, and how impossible it felt to identify her own feelings in her chest, Willowpaw did not want to leave this important meeting as a silent stand-off of shock.
She stepped forward and lifted her head. “Since I am the one you have yet to meet, I am Willowpaw.” Her ear flicked. She felt embarrassed that she didn’t have a warrior name to present to her father. It didn’t really matter; he didn’t understand the meaning behind their names anyway, given that he called their mother only Perch, and besides, Wrenpaw didn’t have a full name either…and yet, that embarrassment still poked and prodded at her heart even while she kept her expression steady.
Characters : Murkyriver ♀ | Snowvixen ♀ | Hollowgrove ♀ | Mountainpaw ♀ | Loonkit ♀ ~~ Copper was here Clan/Rank : Riverclan | Windclan | Shadowclan | Thunderclan Number of posts : 4989 Gender : She/Her - ash was here :3 and Ro! Age : 21
Subject: Re: all that might have been (c) Fri 3 Nov 2023 - 20:17
Mistwalker
“Are you listening?”
To finally be able to connect a face and name to a much deeper meaning had been a particularly odd experience. While the realization had donned on her during that fateful meeting with her family, the fact that the sense of familiarity had always been there never truly quite set right with the warrior. Not until those pieces had clicked together, linked in a bond that was stronger than any material that she had been able to encounter in this forest otherwise. Kin would always recognize kin, she now knew. It was what she had felt when she saw him. Why she had felt reason to come back and talk with him, to learn more about him. Why her first instinct was not to fight the intruder that was dangerously close to their lands... why he had taken an interest in her. In knowing who her mother was, who her siblings were.
How could she deny the desire of a father wishing to know who his children were? Who it was that carried on his genetics, be it that they were clan or not?
Even the stoicism that had been bestowed upon her in her lineage saw the reason in that. While Mistwalker never felt any strong desire to know who her sire was, there were times that she had pondered. Especially as she heard stories of cats growing with two parents to guide them. Naturally, that which was unfamiliar would come as curiosity. Something to be understood, comprehended, processed. Beyond that, though... there was no need. Perchstar had been more than a formidable figure in keeping her alive. Poppyshine had stepped in to fill where Perchstar was unavailable due to the mantle of her role, and even beyond that, their mentors had worked perfectly in shaping them to be the warriors they were all becoming. There had been no true need for another figure in their life to guide them. In a way, they had their perfect family.
It did not mean that there would be no room for Felix, but in what manner he would fit, Mistwalker was unsure. It was not of her decision, either. Was it to be of simple knowledge, that her genetics came from beyond the Clan borders? All of Riverclan had accepted them as if they were full-blooded kin. Did this change that fact? Perhaps. But it was not as if Perchstar had intentionally kept it from her Clan. For her knowledge, she had simply omitted telling anyone, as there had been no need to discuss it. It was not as if the warrior herself had bothered to prompt the question, having found other elements of life more pressing. Would he attempt to immerse himself in Riverclan, now knowing just what all he had here? Would he move on, now knowing his family was safe and strong?
Such facts were not hers to worry about. The thoughts drifted away into the internal mist of her mind as her sister stepped forth in greeting, providing her name. It was a fact that Mistwalker herself had glossed over. Willowpaw had been last to meet the tom, with Mistwalker having been the first. It was a situation that mirrored one that still bothered the warrior, despite the fact that for all intents and purposes they had resolved. To no fault of the apprentice's own had it occurred-fate just simply seemed to have different plans for her sister. Plans that she wished she understood to be able to assist with handling. So she allowed the time and space for her sister to have that greeting, to share that moment and perhaps form a bond with the onyx-pelted tom.
After time had passed, Mistwalker settled beside her sister. Movements that were the exact same as her mother's, just from another point of view. With slightly more youth, without as heavy of a weight that cloaked her shoulders. There was still a weight of responsibility, but it did not equate to that which the leader beside her bore. "I understand you, now." Her comment came on a nearly-monotone tongue. One that delivered purely fact, but none of the surprise that had come and gone overnight. Emotions were rare, fickle little patches of denser mist that she would tread through and disperse, simply adding to the denser fog that protected her entirety. She was well and truly fine with that, and if anything, her desire was to observe how the tom's mannerisms fit into her own life. Perhaps explained some of the differences between herself, her siblings, her mother. "Kin recognizes kin."
