[TheNyanCatMinecart]

(CLOSED except for those Twistedpaw directly interacts with!)

~ TWISTEDPAW OF WINDCLAN ~

Small, skinny, black she-cat with a light gray belly and tail-tip; has a crooked jaw, mangled tail, and one blind eye.

Placeholder ref sheet can be viewed here.

Surely we won't be walking for much longer? Twistedpaw wondered silently as they trekked across the grassy green moors. A stiff breeze blew through her matted black fur, driving away the greenleaf sun's warmth with its chilled touch. Her paws were beginning to ache, and her crooked jaw swung disturbingly. A shiver rippled through her skinny body. After the disastrous conclusion to their tour of the newly-named Twilight Falls, she was eager to move on and explore more of WindClan's new territory. But the move to the next place was longer than anticipated, and Twistedpaw certainly wasn't the strongest cat. She'd built up stamina over time, though, so that had to count toward something.

As they ascended an incline, the black-and-light-gray apprentice glanced at Brightpaw. She wondered how her foster sister was doing. Then they reached the top of the hill, and Twistedpaw couldn't help but let out a small gasp as she looked through the bodies of her Clanmates and at what lay beyond.

It was beautiful. Long green grass stretched toward an open sky, vast, blue, and endless. Many types of wildflowers bloomed in shades of red, violet, orange, and yellow. Twistedpaw noticed Wolffang eyeing them and vaguely wondered what the large, muscular warrior was thinking; he didn't seem like the type of cat to be interested in wildflowers. But she didn't dwell on this, so lost was she in the grandeur of the place. So many flowers... She remembered how Cowtuft had said he wanted to make flower crowns. Maybe he'd like to get some from here?

Then she noticed the mound of freshly moved earth and listened to Twilightstar's grim words. Twistedpaw's mismatched eyes widened, first in shock, then shame. Poor Maplepaw... She remembered the ginger apprentice with the smushed-in face. She'd wanted to talk to him, and now she never would. I hope he's happy in StarClan. This place was going to be the new Juniper's Rest, a sacred burial ground for WindClan's dead. I can't pick the flowers. I shouldn't even think of picking them. They weren't hers to take. They belonged to the dead.

 

This place held a different sort of beauty than Twilight Falls. While the water glimmered with dancing, golden sunlight, a place of warmth and light, the flower meadow was a place of mourning, the flowers a symbol of those spirits that would never rise again. It made her quite sad. "I... I wish Fireflame was here," she whispered to Brightpaw without thinking. Tears sparkled in her eyes, one colorless, the other a dull shade of blue. "I... I think she liked flowers." Her distorted voice was more choked than usual, and she barely remembered to tense her crooked jaw so it looked less atrocious.

What about Willowsky? she wondered, feeling a twang in her heart. Her poor mother, exiled for her daughter's mistakes. Her daughter's deformities. The daughter she didn't want. Twistedpaw swallowed hard, hastily swiping her pink tongue around her black mouth to erase the dribble of drool that escaped her mouth. The crooked jaw, her mangled tail, her blind eye... all examples of what made her so despicable to her beautiful mother. I don't know what's happened to her. I really, really hope she's alive. But what if...

Twistedpaw shook her head. She didn't want it to be true. Desperately didn't. If she does die... I wish she could've been buried here. This place had one thing in common with the falls: It was beautiful, unlike Twistedpaw.

The she-cat's gaze swept across the flowers. Colors bobbed and danced, swaying to an invisible melody of birdsong as tears continued to cloud her gaze. "It's beautiful," she whispered once more, suddenly feeling the urge to convey her thoughts to Brightpaw and Mousefern. Subconsciously, she raised her voice. "Like Twilight Falls, but... different. More sacred. Where the dead go..." Her throat clogged for a moment before she managed to speak again.

"Where cats go to join StarClan. Under the open stars, too, so close to the sky, like Twilightstar says. With all those flowers and the grass... It's like a Starry Meadow."

@Moonraven @Lillian (For the [inadvertent] name suggestion!) @~LeafRabbit~ (Brightpaw) @Omari (Mousefern)