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: Hickorypaw's Moonstone Journey Sun 23 Jun 2024 - 21:42
thymelight
"she'll walk with springtime wherever she goes."
t3 medicine cat | skyclan | she/her
Thymelight had mixed emotions about tonight's Moonstone journey. She hadn't led an apprentice down the path to Highstones in a long time, but the cat that would end up breaking this empty streak was her son. She was so proud of all of her kits, but she knew that warriorhood was on the horizon, which meant that a life was already dangerous was about to become scarier.
She had called Hickorypaw out of the apprentice den a few moments before settling by the camp's exit and waiting for him to emerge with the traveling herbs spread out at her paws.
discord: chuufacts | timezone: est | code (c) kieer
Hickorypaw was awoken by the sound of his mother’s voice, and he quickly made his way out of his nest. ‘What could she want this early in the morning!’ He thought to himself as he released a large yawn and stretched his way out of the apprentice den.
“Morning Mother.” Hickorypaw mewed as he sat beside her and wiped the sleep from his eyes with his paws. The smell of herbs made him stop mid swipe and he looked down at them then over to the medicine cat. “What’s that for?” His mewed, his voice was rough from his throat being dry. The warm summer was sucking up every ounce of moisture it seemed. He quickly lapped up some water from a nearby moss ball before his mother could speak.
"Good morning, love. These are for you... I'm going to be taking you to the Moonstone today." Thymelight greeted her son warmly. She gingerly pushed the herb bundle toward Hickorypaw and waited for him to eat and swallow them before they started their trip. She had become more and more skilled at hiding just how worried she was under a smile. The medicine cat refused to taint such an important day for him solely because she was scared of the future that all of her children faced.
She had been so busy recently, so consumed with work and other ideals that friendly conversation was something that she hadn't had the chance to indulge in recently. It pained her to know that her duties meant that she wouldn't have as much time to spend with her kits as she would've liked, but she embraced the opportunities that she was given.
"How do you feel? Are you excited?" She asked as they walked, wanting to know what her son was thinking.
discord: chuufacts | timezone: est | code (c) kieer
Moonstone… Hickorypaw had heard about that place before. This meant he was one more step closer to becoming a warrior. He would go talk to some dead cat and then that would prepare him for being a warrior. He didn’t understand it, but he didn’t care either. His orange eyes landed on the herbs in front of him. He didn’t understand them either, but he lapped them up.
“Gross!” He growled as he tried to wipe the taste from his mouth. Hickorypaw’s fiery gaze cut over at his mother. Was this some kind of joke? He went to speak but his mother was talking, and his ears flicked at her voice. Even when he wanted to be, he couldn’t stay mad at his mother. She was a sweet and caring cat, and she loved him and his siblings more than anything. He was sure of it.
Hickorypaw gently brushed against her. “I feel fine and yeah, I am excited.” He purred with as much enthusiasm as he could muster; but honestly, he didn’t feel anything. He wasn’t excited or nervous. He wasn’t happy or scared. He was just there in the moment with his mother. He didn’t care about this moonstone or this journey, but he was thankful to spend time with his mother. Not that he would let anyone know that.
Hickorypaw’s ears tilted back as he followed his mother into the cave where the moonstone was. The air was cool and wet against his pelt, a welcoming feeling after the heat of the Greenleaf days. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness and even when they did it was still difficult to see. The young tom stayed close to his mother as they walked through the narrow entrance.
A shimmering light ahead signaled they were close and soon Hickorypaw emerged from the tunnel into a small room with a stone in middle of it. An uneasy feeling washed over the young tom as he followed the medicine cat’s order to step forward. His stomach started to churn as he lay down and looked back at Thymelight. Something didn’t feel right. Hickorypaw fought the urge to turn around and run. He didn’t belong here. The room seemed to spin and twist around as Hickorypaw forced his nose against the stone and the world around him faded into black.
A soft chirping from a nearby cricket made Hickorypaw’s ears twitch. It wasn’t often they got a cricket in the den, and it wouldn’t be long before one of his den mates made it into a quick snack. The chirping continued. Ears flicked in irritation followed by the fiery orange gaze of Hickorypaw’s eyes opening, but it quickly dissolved into confusion. He was lying in the grass, and he was alone.
The young tom sat up and tried to recall what happened. He was at the moonstone with his mother last. Something must’ve happened. “Mom?” Hickorypaw called out in a soft whisper. “Where are you?” He stalked his way through the thick grass, disorientated and nervous. What had happened where was he?
”Your mother is in the world of the living.” mewed Hollyshard, stepping into Hickorypaw’s line of sight. The bengal bent down, blue eyes meeting his fiery orange ones, searching for some inclination of what she needed to tell him. If only StarClan had gifted her with the ability to read minds. Instead she was made to play guessing games with the information she was given and then hope whatever mousebrained apprentice she was graced with listened to her. The last apprentice she’d guided hadn’t, he had died young and promptly been dumped far away from StarClan. He’d actually done quite literally everything differently to what she’d said. He was foolish, and she… Well, she’d made her mistakes and now she was made to eternally prevent them from occurring again. At least her lack of a mother hadn’t driven her insane. No, all things considered she’d done quite well to wind up in StarClan.
Hollyshard reeled back, settling on her haunches, feeling hard done by everything that had happened to her in life and now what happened in the after life. ”Hickorypaw, I am Hollyshard. I’m going to give you advice whether you like it or not and you’re going to listen.”
Hickorypaw’s ears pinned back as a cat seemingly stepped out of nowhere. ‘I’m dead?’ The young tom thought as the cat spoke, ‘No, this is what happens after a cat touches the moonstone. I am ok.’ His heart was beating fast in his chest, but he tried to push down his rising anxiety. He followed the bengal’s movements and sat down in front of her, then rasped his tongue across the fur on his chest.
His eyes widened a bit as the cat said his name. ‘Geez starclan is creepy.’ He thought as he looked back up to the molly. She was straight to the point although he didn’t really care what she had to say. She was dead after all, what could she have to offer him? “Ok, I’ll bite what do you have to say, Hollyshard.” Hickorypaw coldly mewed.
Her eyes narrowed at the tom’s brazen tone. Hollyshard scoffed, shaking her head. Without hesitating she was back on the attack, her words snappy and short. “There’s your attitude for starters. You think anyone wants to work with a cat as arrogant as you, wants to be around you? I can tell you from experience they don’t. So much bark and yet when it comes down to it I doubt you’ll ever see your words through. At least have the gall to say what you mean. That’s where we differ; I actually stood on business.” She was on her paws, basically nose to nose with him. “Are you even going to take my advice if I give it to you? Your half-brother didn’t and he ended up dying alone in the jaws of a dog.” She shook out her paw, flicking away dust that wasn’t there, sharp eyes darting up to meet his. ”If you open yourself up to what I have to say I’m sure you’ll find we unfortunately have quite a lot in common. Despite my harshness I do want to help.”
Hickorypaw’s eyes mimicked the molly’s and his tail flicked with irritation as she spoke. A smirk formed on his lips as she spoke of his attitude and his eyes gave a hint of amusement. ‘If she thinks that was an attitude, she hasn’t seen anything yet. Which means she doesn’t know anything either.’ He thought to himself as his tail curled around his front paws, the tip of his tail flicking in a steady pace.
“If you’re done assuming things about me, may I speak?” Hickorypaw growled as Hollyshard finished speaking. “I’ll have you know, for starters, I do not care if cats want to work with me or be around me.” His orange eyes glowed eerily as he stood on his paws and stared right back into the starclan cat’s eyes. "As for bark and bite, I'm not afraid to bite!" His tone was low and steady.
His ear flicked at the mention of his kin dying to a dog, but his eyes never wavered. “If what you say is true, then my half-sibling was weak and had crows’ food for brains. I don’t need advice from a cat who is dead. They’re dead for a reason and I’m no medicine cat which means I don’t put blind faith in the dead.” His tail flicked angerly behind him as Hollyshard waved her foot around. “What could you possibly know about me or anything outside of this ghost clan besides what you've already assume; and I doubt I have anything in common with a you, a dead cat.” Hickorypaw hissed as his eyes met the starclan cat's again.
Characters : [S]ilverdusk, [L]ouse, [N]ettleweaver, [V]iperpaw, [P]etalkit, [C]lovermottle, Brackendawn* Burningpaw*, Oakberry*, Ospreypaw*, Weaselpaw*, Gladepaw*, Darkflower*, Pumapaw*, Hazeflight*, Driftcloud*, Spructhorn*, Hollyshard*, Ospreypaw*, Blurrypaw*, Dapplekit*, Jaguar* Clan/Rank : [S] ThunderClan T5 warrior [L] T3 rogue [N] Shadowclan T3 warrior [V] WindClan Apprentice [P] ThunderClan kit [C] RiverClan perma-queen Number of posts : 2364 Gender : any pronouns Age : 20
Subject: Re: Hickorypaw's Moonstone Journey Sat 10 Aug 2024 - 8:33
“HA!” barked Hollyshard, unable to contain the laugh that erupted from her mouth. Was this what Addertongue and her father had dealt with? No, she had never been this foolish even as an apprentice, and when she had both of them were as snappy as she was. Yet, they had still helped guide her just as she would have to do with this foolish apprentice. “You’re right though; your brother was a half-wit for ignoring me, same as you seem to be.” Her tail flicked against the ground. Her words had been her protection and her doom and it seemed now she’d have to open herself up in order to accomplish anything with Hickorypaw.
“I lied when i said we had a lot in common.” she raised a paw, silencing him before he could begin parroting at her again. “I died young and you won’t, because you will listen to me. You will get nowhere on your own, do you not see how useless rogues are? Do you want to be a useless rogue? I doubt it. I was so consumed with the paw i was dealt and how i was wronged that I was resentful and angry my whole life. I pushed away every cat that cared about me. I died young, alone and unloved, is that what you want? You don’t need advice from the dead, but it sure helps if you want to live a long life.” spoke Hollyshard her tone sharp.
“I was the result of a forbidden relationship too, so trust me I know a thing or two about what you’re going through.”
Hickorypaw's ears flipped back as Hollyshard begin speaking again. 'I'm no half-wit!' The young tom growled to himself as the starclan cat continued to speak. His mouth opened as he went to speak his mind but he was quickly silenced.
His tail swished as he half listened to the molly's words. Hickorypaw had never ran across a rogue but he figured any cat that could make it on their own was no mouse-brained fool and he could easy be a rogue if he wanted to. He was smarter than this dead cat. "HA, you act like you know me but if you did you'd know I don't push the ones I love away. I just have few cats I love." He mewed bluntly.
Hickoypaw's eyes narrowed as Hollyshard spoke of his parents forbidden relationship. "And who do you think forbid the relationship of my parents? Starclan that's who! If my parents would've followed Starclan's silly rules I wouldn't even be here! So I'm sorry that I don't want to listen to the 'clan' that has insanely silly rules." His tail was lashing out fiercely now and his pelt stood on edge. Hickorypaw's chest flared out as he took in small sharp breaths. He was way over this conversation and just wanted to return home. "Send me home, we're just going in circles here!" He growled as he sat down. Discord: ChaoticCrow | Timezone: Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) | Code (c) Kieer
“You’re a free thinking individual, does being dead suddenly rid me of my autonomy? What a mousebrained way to think.” An exasperated sigh left her maw. “I want to know my mother and my siblings, but that’s not going to happen, and so what I want now is to make you see sense. That is all I want, just listen and let me help you. Is it that hard?” At Hickorypaw’s demand, sitting up straighter. “Go then, wake up. I’m not keeping you.” mewed Hollyshard tail flicking “But the only reason we are going in circles is because I think you’d already chosen that you weren’t going to listen to my advice, and that everything I’d say was worth as much as mousedung. Did you decide the same for anyone else that tries to help you?”
”I hear you, what more do you want from me?! Don’t be a mousebrain and get myself killed? Got it! What does Starclan even have to offer me?! The lot of you give us a whole bunch of words but don’t do anything down there to help us! You just give us words. I can’t use words to protect myself! This is pointless!!!” He howled out towards Hollyshard.
Hickorypaw’s head hung below his shoulders as his lips curled into a snarl. His teeth tightly clamped together as his tail swished behind him. His dark angry eyes staring at her; his claws were itching to tear into flesh, but there was no point. He turned and stomped away, heavily throwing his body onto the ground and he closed his eyes as tightly as he could.
A cool breeze rustled the tom’s fur, and he jumped up, orange eyes opened in panic. Hickorypaw was in the moonstone cave. He angrily swatted at the stone before stomping out of the little clearing, into the tunnel and out into the forest. Hickorypaw didn’t stop to see if his mother followed behind him, he headed straight for skyclan and was hoping someone would attack him so he could tear into them.
Unfortunately for the angry apprentice, nothing bothered him on his way home. Hickorypaw stormed through camp, bumping into cats, then hissing at them like it was their fault. He pushed into the apprentice den and curled into his nest. Angry orange eyes fighting off the sleep that he so desperately needed. Finally his eyes closed and he slipped into a restless slumber.
