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.
Welcome to WCC! Here are our latest announcements:
Activity checks take place on the 1st of the month. If you miss one activity check, make sure you do the next one!
Leaf-fall is finally here, and with it, the promise of colder, crueler, days ahead.
Gatherings take place on the 1st of the month; keep your eyes out for a staff member's post!
Please feel free to hit up any staff member if you have any questions!
A normal sunlit afternoon... or it would be, if not for the heavy knowledge hanging over her like a tree threatening to fall. Bubblebeam shifted her weight anxiously from paw to paw where she stood, waiting for her sister to return from a patrol. She'd made her decision. Its finality tasted sour on her tongue, even with the promise of sweetness to come. Speaking with Hemlockfox had been painful, like tearing thorns from her paws, but the fact that he'd left her first--even unintentionally--had made it easier. Silverbird's presence had been strengthening, as well. And talking to Wolfstar had been agony itself, but nowhere near as difficult as the conversation that she knew waited for her. Sorrelmist... stars, Sorrelmist, her sister. Her littermate, her kin, the only blood sibling left in SkyClan. They'd both been devastated by Ploverwing's recent disappearance just a sunrise ago. It had been the final catalyst that Bubblebeam needed to move forward, but... she hated herself for it. She hated herself, because she was about to make poor Sorrelmist's life so much worse.
How could she even start? Hey, Sorrel, you know how our sister vanished just like our dad? Well, you're about to lose your last sister, too! Thinking about it almost made her want to vomit. How would she feel if Sorrelmist had done this to her? Lost, confused, angry, utterly destroyed. Just like the two of them had been over these horrible last few moons. She could never forget that her sister had been there for her at both of their lowest points. They'd shared every tearful night and woken up together to carry on the same tired facade of life. And now... now, Bubblebeam would be abandoning her for her own gain. Just because it would make life easier for her. Hemlockfox had his new job and support system in WindClan, and Ploverwing had whatever she'd left the forest for, but Sorrelmist? What did she have? What would she have, with her last sister fleeing to greener pastures? She almost wanted to extend a paw and offer for her sister to come with her, but she couldn't even say that in good conscience after what Hemlockfox had done to them, raising their hopes and then leaving them high and dry for moons. She couldn't do that to her sister. The only sister she had left. Stars, their family had truly fallen apart. Rather than stay as its last remaining root crumbled, she'd chosen to run away like a coward... but she had always been a coward. She had never been the strong warrior that her father wanted. She'd always hidden from strife, always sobbed at the first sign of trouble, always lost her nerve when it counted. She'd always been cowardly. It shouldn't be a surprise that she would take a safer path, even if it brought her more difficulty in the long run.
I don't deserve my sisters. I deserve to be alone.
These thoughts, compounded by the raw loss of Ploverwing, kept her nearly pacing herself through the ground of camp until the sunhigh patrol finally returned. Among them, she couldn't help but spot Sorrelmist. Her sister. The two of them looked nearly identical; it was impossible to miss the similar shade of their fur and the green of their eyes, though neither of them looked much like their father. How had they gotten to this place? How had everything gone so terribly wrong for them? How was it about to get so much worse? Stars. She was a monster. Yet, Bubblebeam forced herself to walk forward, though she was unable to muster a smile. No need to pretend; the two of them both felt the same grief over Ploverwing. Even though that grief was about to double. "Hey, Sorrel," she said quietly. "Can we talk?"
Sorrelmist was always grateful for the time to escape. Life, responsibility. The patrol had been welcomed, trying to blink away any thought of her sister - or any of the other faces that haunted her.
She did not expect to see Bubblebeam upon her return - in truth, she felt nothing but guilt when she looked at her sister. Her stomach would knot at the very thought of the grey cat; she had spent the past few moons with Ploverwing searching for their father and now she, too, was gone. She had been hunting ghosts, neglecting those still living - so seeing her sister’s face brought nothing but guilt.
The heavy feeling on her shoulders did not lift when her sister’s voice dropped, her chest tightening at Bubblebeam’s expression and tone, her mind showing her nothing but Ploverwing’s face. Was she alone, cold? Was she waiting for them, barely steps away? No trace of a smile had crept onto Bubblebeam’s face. Sorrelmist could not help but feel her paws trying to retrace her steps, to avoid whatever awaited. She couldn’t, though - and nodded tightly,
“You can always talk to me— has something happened? Has someone done something?” Sorrelmist whispered, though Ploverwing’s face did not leave her mind. She did not dare to ask what was wrong - so much was wrong, there would be no place to start. In a quiet voice she asked, bile rising in her throat at the very thought, “have they…Found her?”
Subject: Re: big girls don't cry (c) Sun 11 Aug 2024 - 16:36
The haunted, desperate emptiness in the back of Sorrelmist's eyes was a feeling that Bubblebeam knew all too well. She'd only barely managed to escape it herself, managed to stave it off during late nights staring at pine boughs by the border, but she felt it creeping back up on her whenever she spent time in camp. To have a request to talk met with such immediate worry, a fear that what little ground they had would fall away from them, only tightened Bubblebeam's resolve in the very same breath that it squeezed her heart with the firm grip of guilt. How could she do this? Stars, how could she choose herself over her sister? This decision would haunt her forever, she knew it. There wasn't any escape. And yet, the squirming in her stomach grew only worse at Sorrelmist's next question.
"Have they... found her?"
Her chest collapsed inward on itself. Ploverwing... Ploverwing, missing, probably gone forever. Just like their father. Just like when she'd vanished on the journey as an apprentice, except this time maybe she wouldn't come back. What did Sorrelmist mean? Found Ploverwing, as in her sister recovering and bouncing happily towards them to fix all ills? Or, found her, as in her still and lifeless form lying limp on the ground? The thought felt like an icicle piercing her heart, but she willed the image away with what little strength remained. "No," Bubblebeam said, the word squeezing itself out of her uncomfortably taut throat. "No... they haven't." Though that was what Sorrelmist would prefer, wasn't it? That Ploverwing would stay, and Bubblebeam would be the one to vanish? Well... she'd at least get half of that wish, if it were true. Stars, why was she thinking this way? It would be so much easier to leave if she could believe that her dear sister was able to feel anything towards her other than an empty grief. The gray-furred warrior swallowed past the nauseating shame and shook her head. "I wanted to talk about... something else. About our family, and about the future." The future... what a nebulous concept. Something that felt more and more impossible, farther away and darker every day until she'd been offered an escape. But she wouldn't back away from it and keep living day by day. It would kill her.
"You remember... Hemlockfox said he was going to come back for us. I thought we'd all go to WindClan together, but I don't think that's going to happen anymore." Regulating her voice into some semblance of calm, normal sentences felt like attempting to roll a boulder uphill. Still, her paws kneaded the ground beneath her for a moment, and she resumed speaking. Surely Sorrelmist would understand, if anyone would, right? Even though Bubblebeam was being horrible and selfish. They'd been through everything together. That was why this hurt so badly. "But, SkyClan is dangerous. Everyone's dying or disappearing. You've been here; you know. Graywind, Honeydew, Mintglade... Ploverwing... even Dad." She cut herself off for a moment, fighting back a convulsive movement that could have been some kind of sob. She wasn't going to cry, not this time. She'd shed too many tears recently. "What's to say that I won't be next? It's not pleasant to think, but I can't stand it. It could be any of us, and for what? To stay here and keep playing happy family when it's just the two of us left? I can only take so many nights sobbing over what we've lost, Sorrelmist. It's driving me insane." The tip of her bushy tail flicked anxiously back and forth. Words spilled out of her mouth so quickly she almost couldn't tell what she was saying, with the dam broken and the flood gushing forth. She never had been able to talk eloquently like Silverbird. But everything she said was honest, and true, and despite the pain, every word was meant to ease Sorrelmist's worries as well as she could. "I... have to leave. I can't stay in SkyClan any longer. It's, I... I've already decided, so don't try to change my mind, okay? But I had to tell you. I couldn't just walk away and vanish like everyone else. It wouldn't be right. I love you, Sorrel, I love you so much and I wish I could stay and try and repair everything that's been broken but I'm not strong enough. I can't do it. I can't fix it all, so... I'm going to go away. I can't live here. I have to make a life somewhere else."
