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: To Build a Home [Solo - Tortoise's Introduction] Mon 7 Oct 2024 - 0:43
TORTOISE
Greet the world with open arms...
Once upon a time, in a land not unlike the one in which the Clan cats lived, a tiny kit was blinking the sleep from his eyes.
He had fallen asleep alongside his littermates, as he’d done every day since he was born. The warmth that had surrounded him had been familiar and comforting; the gentle smell of milk and sleep hovering in the air, the warmth of his siblings pressed beside him.
But now the first sensation he noticed was cold. It was not a sensation he’d known before. Tortoise had never left the coziness of his family’s den - he had not been permitted to, though his mother had never told him why. Now, as he blinked his eyes open and found himself thrown into the waking world, the first thing that hit him was the crisp chill in the air, and he fluffed his pelt out against it with an irritated squeak.
Then he looked around, and realized he did not know where he was.
This odd new world was on first impression very green. Dark green bushes, lush verdant grass, and towering pine trees surrounded him as far as the eye could see. Even now, at the beginning of leaf-fall, each bush was decorated in vibrant, colorful flowers - more colors than Tortoise had ever seen before. The grass was abloom with clover and dandelions. Tortoise looked around in awe, his eyes bright as he took in this new world. It was beautiful! Why didn’t his family live here?
Tortoise was so lost in his observing that he almost wasn’t paying any attention to the sounds around him. But as he stared wide-eyed at the dens, he realized he could hear voices nearby. Were they just around the corner of that den? Tortoise gulped - he was curious didn’t want to take a single step closer to the unfamiliar den. It was huge and it smelled weird. But as he strained to hear, he realized he recognized those voices. Yes! It was papa, and his mother! They would tell him what was going on, and surely they would get him out of here.
The little tom stumbled forward eagerly. Here I come! They had to be wondering where he was. A familiar twinge of pain shot down his left paw as he tried to walk forward, so he shifted his weight and began to hop along. A short sigh escaped his lips. Walking had always hurt, but that didn’t make it any better. He didn’t mind if it took him longer than his littermates to get anywhere - he just wished it didn’t make his leg ache the way it did.
Still, excitement moved him forward, and the voices grew louder as he came closer. When he stopped for a short rest, less than a foxlength before turning the corner, he pricked his ears and listened. What were they talking about? He wanted to call out, to let them know he was right here, duh, but his curiosity got the better of him. He kept quiet as he strained to hear.
"...I do not care, Tadpole. My leader will not allow him to stay with me. He is too weak. Too slow. I have wasted enough of my milk keeping him alive as it is. Porcupine and Raccoon are much stronger. And I am not ashamed to call them my blood - unlike him."
Tortoise paused. That… that was his mother speaking, right? Who was she talking about? He had been called slow before, but his mother had never said anything to him with half as much malice in her voice. Now, her words were laced with venom, as though she wasn’t holding back. Who was she so ashamed of? It couldn’t have been him. But Tortoise’s stomach churned in the long silence after her words.
Finally, papa spoke. His voice was shaky, like he was halfway between anger and tears. "How could you even… even say something like that? He’s our son. How could you be ashamed of him? You -"
"They will kill him. The weak do not have a place with us. When they see - and I mean when - they will leave him to die. If they do not kill him themselves."
"And you - you would just - just let them? You would let them kill our son? Drive him off? That…" Papa sighed so loud Tortoise could hear it from where he stood. He sounded exhausted. "You’re not the cat I thought I knew, Hedgehog. I thought…" Papa’s voice seemed to falter. Tortoise held his breath, as though they might hear him breathing and stop their conversation, and he wouldn’t get to hear the rest.
"You thought what, Tadpole? That I would raise a cat bound to die before his first year? I wish I had never birthed him." He could hear the snarl in his mother’s voice, even from where he stood.
Tadpole drew in a long, shaky breath. "You’re cruel."
"I am a realist."
Another stretch of silence. When papa spoke again, he sounded defeated. Like he knew arguing with Hedgehog was pointless. "...Give him to me, then. If you can’t care for our son - need I remind you, by the way, that you insisted the kits live with you? - then… then let me take him. My housefolk and I will raise him."
Mother laughed, a barking, humorless laugh that made Tortoise shrink. "Do you honestly think your housefolk would spend their resources on that?"
"That - that’s between me and my housefolk. And I know they would. Give me my son, and never come around here again. Okay?" Tortoise had never heard his papa angry before. He’d never heard his parents fight before.
Hedgehog was silent. A moment passed before she huffed and turned away. He could hear her pawsteps growing louder as she walked toward the spot where he stood. Tortoise froze. He couldn’t get away quick enough - she’d see him wobbling away, and she’d know he heard everything. Whatever they’d been talking about. They kept saying our son, my son, and that made Tortoise wonder which of his siblings they were referring to. Hopefully not Frog… Frog was a little silly, but he definitely wasn’t weak.
When his mother finally rounded the corner, she saw him, and stopped abruptly. Her ears were pinned back against her head, and her tail was lashing in annoyance. Tortoise was used to his mother being in a certain mood, but the argument with his papa had clearly ticked her off even more. Her anger was frightening, and Tortoise subconsciously stumbled a few steps back.
She didn’t seem to react to the fact he’d heard of everything. She let out a strangled hiss instead, but Tortoise didn’t know if it was directed at him or the argument. Then she bent down, scruffed him a bit roughly, and carried him over to his dad. Tortoise swung uncomfortably in the air, and he let out a small mewl as she set him down at papa’s feet. Why was she being so rough? She’d never carried him so roughly before.
Tortoise scrambled to stay on his paws after she set him down. His paw hurt from the effort. When he finally looked up, he saw an odd look on his dad’s face. He seemed to be fighting something back - words? Tears? Tortoise didn’t know.
"Here." Hedgehog said flatly - then she turned and began to walk away without another word.
"Where’s she going?" Tortoise asked as he looked up at his papa, confused. Nothing that was happening made sense.
Tadpole didn’t answer at first. Instead, he watched her leave with a grim expression. Then he looked down at Tortoise and forced a warm smile. "Don’t worry about it, little one. Come on, now - let's go see my housefolks’ den and get you out of this cold." Tortoise didn’t have time to answer before his dad was bending down and scruffing him gently. He held him soft but firm, so Tortoise didn’t swing from side to side like before. Then he padded toward one of the massive dens without a word, and didn’t answer any more of Tortoise’s questions about his mother or his littermates.
The small kit watched his mother disappear as his parents walked in opposite directions of each other. He only looked away once she was a small brown speck on the horizon, and he could not see her anymore. Mama?
![To Build a Home [Solo - Tortoise's Introduction] Aa9d24d70df9858f985c454d207b8b3cdc4cf12e](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5dfa3a48a131a2e6d3e25ebfb5b62262/d338c5a9b790fd70-3d/s250x400/aa9d24d70df9858f985c454d207b8b3cdc4cf12e.gifv)