WindClan: Life Before 2023's Fire

[marshy]

@tutler

Wolfpaw padded out of the apprentice den early in the morning. "Ahh, what a nice day." He thought to himself. He still wasn't sure he trusted his mentor at all. Actually, he knew he didn't trust his mentor. "Everyone is different" he thought to himself. "Maybe he will be better than the other cats I've met." He wondered where the cat was. It was like, Coyotesnarl right? This was the first day of Wolfpaw's training, so where was he? He sat down while he waited for the darn cat to get over to him.

[mochi]

this post is for the Testing Reality plot and is mainly used for character development,
in which i'd prefer no one interacted with Goatkit until the plot is over with <3

Goatkit
Everything seemed...strange to Goatkit. His clanmates were acting weird and some of them had even become violent. He had no idea what was going on and since most of the queens were panicking as well he didn't have anyone he could ask, or anyone that looked sane enough to give him a straight answer anyways. And something had seemed off with him as well, ever since he was brought back into camp by Lynxsight after Alpinekit and him had an adventure outside the camp walls.

He had begun to notice a shadowy figure in the corner of his eyes, right at the edge of his vision. And whenever he tried to get a closer look at whatever it was, it kept vanishing.

Goatkit's fluffy white fur shot up in alarm as one of the warriors barrelled into the nursery, panic blazing in his eyes. "RiverClan has invaded the camp! Stay inside!" Then, just as quickly as he'd entered, he was gone, the thick curdling smell of fear in his wake as the queens began to make even more of a racket.

RiverClan? Here? He thought in confusion, crawling towards the opening of the den and sticking his head out to peer around. No fishy scent wafted towards him, and the only cats he saw in the clearing were his own clanmates. Some huddled to themselves speaking in hushed voices to no one in particular, and others fought with the air or each other with a viciousness he'd never seen before. A cat yowled nearby and Goatkit winced as the body of a warrior fell in front of him - its opponent standing on top of the corpse with a victorious howl. Luckily they didn't see him crouched there, completely stiff in shock as it bounded away towards another warrior with bared teeth. Though just as the warrior ran off, a looming black figure suddenly appeared in front of him, peering down at him with wide black holes for eyes.

With a gasp, Goatkit jerked back inside the nursery, pushing himself into the wall as the black shadowy figure followed him inside with smooth, unhindered steps. He tried to call for help from the other queens but they didn't seem to see the shadowy cat, preoccupied with their own issues as they were while the unknown shadow came ever closer.

It finally stopped mere inches from him, and did nothing more than to stare down at his quivering form. Not moving, not speaking, not making any indication of what it wanted from him. That is, until Goatkit caught a whiff of its scent - weird, considering shadows didn't really have scents - and his fear melted away. Replaced by a sense of deja vu, curiosity, and sadness. The shadow smelled of a long forgotten dream, of warmth, milk, and wildflowers.

It smelled of his mother.

A strangled gasp left his throat, and he let himself take a step forward, then another as he neared the shadow that once filled him with fear, and now only brought him wonderment. "Mother?" He asked hesitantly, paw held hopefully in the air in mid step as he waited for the shadow to do something, anything. And just as he was beginning to think he wouldn't get a response, the shadow's emotionless figure shifted to show an open kindness. Her scent washed over him as she closed the gap between them, curling her shadowy body around him in a familiar comforting way. He may not recall the color of her eyes or the shape of her face, but he could still clearly remember her warm love and the scent of sweet wildflowers.

It was as if everything else was blocked out: the fighting, the screams, the crazed mumbling. And now the only thing he knew, was the happiness he felt at being able the feel his mother's warmth once more.

[mochi]

this post is for the Testing Reality plot and is mainly used for character development,

in which i'd prefer no one to interact with him just yet <3

Rosepaw
"No, no, no, no, no-" The creamy reddish-brown apprentice mumbled to himself, sharp claws digging into his skin as he clutched his head firmly in his front paws. His chartreuse eyes were wide, and flickered around the den as if searching for something that could be hiding under any of the nests. "He's going to kill me. He's going to drag me out there and tear out my throat and break my legs and rip off my ears and claw out my eyes and bite off my tail and-" He rambled in a panic filled daze, his breaths short and choppy as he crouched in the far back corner of the den, wall pressed firmly against his back.

He had seen his mentor out in the clearing only moments before, his eyes were wild and his pelt ragged as he stalked around the clearing, fangs bared and dripping with saliva. It was like his mentor had become a beast, one that would maul anything that got in it's way.

And Rosepaw was a prime target.

His mentor had never liked him, he knew that, and while he was abusive and would occasionally beat him, he'd never actually caused Rosepaw to almost die. But now, it seemed his mentor didn't have anything holding him back, and Rosepaw could just see it all happening right in front of his eyes - almost as if he were seeing himself in third person - as his mentor ripped him apart, piece by bloody piece.

The apprentice shuddered, caught up in his own visions as the camp raged around him, unbeknownst to the nightmares going through this young tom's mind.

[mochi]

@sunflowerseed

Lightpath
He had always been a devout follower of StarClan; a firm believer in the ancient starry ancestors that resided in the glorious lights of Silverpelt. He'd never doubted their existence or strayed from their teachings, believing wholeheartedly that StarClan held all the answers.

He wished he had all the answers now.

StarClan hadn't forsaken his clanmates, they just couldn't. But then why were they all acting like crazed beasts that knew not the love of their starry ancestors? It made no sense to the religious warrior, who stood in the clearing amidst the carnage that stormed around him like the wild, ferocious winds that would occasionally tear across the moor.

It was chaos, and there seemed to be no way to stop it.

Golden eyes widened as the starry figure of a cat appeared on the Breezerock over the turmoil, making eye contact with the large, soot-striped tabby. It said nothing, and there were no emotions in those white eyes, but he knew.

StarClan wanted him to take matters into his own paws.

An unnervingly wide smile spread across his face as everything started to make sense. Of course! His clanmates were the ones who had forsaken StarClan, not the other way around. And StarClan entrusted him, their most devout follower, to purge the lowlife scum to the deepest, darkest pits of the Place of No Stars. That was why they had come to him in this daylight vision. He was the chosen one. He was the one StarClan chose to rid WindClan of these vile beings who did not deserve to stay in the land of the living for even a single moment more.

"Very well," he spoke, deep voice booming as he spoke not to his clanmates, but to his ancestors above, "I will become your benevolent claws and purge WindClan until it is pure once more."

And with that, he leaped towards the first warrior he saw - who was spouting nonsense about how RiverClan was invading the camp - and barreled into the warrior's side, quickly and easily snapping his neck with a clean twist of his head. His next target was another nearby warrior, one who mumbled about how the bushes were turning into cats, and he took her out just as quickly with a jerk of his head and the snapping of her neck.

More and more delusional warriors fell prey to Lightpath's purge, and even some apprentices were added to pile - some who had become violent, and even some who had done nothing besides mumble about the strange shapes they were seeing. Some struggled against him, but Lightpath was a large and powerful warrior, much larger than most WindClan cats tended to be. Most likely due to his rogue heritage. And the more and more he purged the more powerful he felt, and the more intense his eyes glowed. No longer was he smoothly snapping their necks. He'd decided himself that these deserters needed to pay for forsaking their ancestors. He was even starting to find it thrilling to rip into the foul bodies, drawing out their screams and grinning wildly as he spilled their innards onto the torn grass below

"You see!" He boomed, placing a large paw on the neck of a squirming kit. "This is what happens when you turn your back on StarClan!" He pressed down, crushing the small windpipe and watching as the kit coughed up a mouthful of blood. Golden eyes gleamed as the kit stilled after a moment more of weak struggling, its fluttery heartbeat disappearing completely. "Perhaps StarClan will grant you a new life, not one filled with the strife you faced in this one." He murmured, peering down at the lifeless body without a shred of grief or regret in his gaze.

He was given this responsibility by StarClan, and he was going to see it through to the end.

[Snail-paw]

@caswshay617

Sheepfur ran across the moors, smiling as he felt the breeze through his fur. He jumped up on a rock lifting his head to sniff the air of any prey or clanmates nearby. He sat down after not catching any good scents and rested his head on his paws. Swishing his tail, he drifted off into thought losing himself.

[touka]

sweetbreeze saw sheepfur, dosing on a rock and wanted to play with him a bit so she went up licked his ear and rubbed her tail on his flank,"wake up sleepy head"she said

[RedHead]

Originally Posted by gemini

@RedHead
there was a fox it was right there at the edge of camp and barreling towards him Cottonspirit could see the thing running through the camp wall and none of the other cats were doing a thing about it. he stumbled back hitting another wall of the camp as he could see the red vial creature looming over him. the white tom’s eyes grew wide with fear, he knew what happened the last time he was put in this position he almost died no matter how much he denied that fact to aster and himself. he felt the blood seeping down the side of his flank and out of his scar and his fur turning bright red he felt like he has been popped open as he watched his fur turn cherry red all of it.

the tom’s breathing began to speed up faster and faster as he tried to pick himself up from the ground struggling to get onto his paws as he saw a hoard of foxes approaching him from the other side running and chirping he felt himself growing dizzy even though he couldn’t smell them. he just backed up more in fear curling into a shivering ball his white tail wrapped around his seemingly red body as he flattened his ears and tried to toon out the chirping before opening his mismatched gaze and realizing something, where the heck was aster?!?

he got up from his ball to try and find the other too running back into the wall and seeing him slowly appear in front of him as he opened his eyes “Asterbounce! We need to go, we need to go! it’s not safe!” he helped at the shape of his mate against the wall. As he got no response from the cat in front of him he just looked on afraid “Aster...”

Everything had been chaos and the tomcat didn’t know what to do. He needed to find Cottonspirit. Yes, he needed to make sure his mate was okay within all this madness. Spotting the white tomcat at the edge of the camp, Asterbounce made his way over quietly, sticking to the camp walls as not to be noticed by the other raging cats, that had seemingly gone mad. They were attacking their clanmates, and he heard yield and claims of shadows. But he didn’t see anything. Just chaos. He had a major headache but that was about it. He just needed to get to Cottonspirit.

Finally reaching his mate, Asterbounce approached, coming up to te side of him, ears flicking nervously. Cottonspirit, I’m right here. You’re um.... talking to a wall..” He meowed, worries green gaze flicking from the camp wall to the white-furred tom. “Are you.... okay?”

[sunflowers.]

Rabbitpaw whimpered as the cats attacked the shadows entering camp. He saw a shadow, his own sister! Beside her, Littlewish loomed closer, his eyes dark pits and his ribs jutting out of his pelt. Runningpaw wasn't much better. She was grotesque, anger burning in her dull eyes. "Nooooo!" Rabbitpaw wailed, running and hiding behind a rock.

@Lilyfur2

[tye]

Breath pale against the numbing air in a winter afternoon as the snowflakes gracefully reached the green grass covering the meadow in a thin white blanket. How long have I..been walking? His mind started to slow down just like his mid-trot in search of some prey to stock up. Since last night, his stomach felt like rocks weighing down, tearing him inside as every wave of pain got more intense. Windclan still hasn't decided on a medicine cat so the young apprentice only whimpered back to sleep only for him to get up every hour. Now, it felt like his mind was going slow motion..perhaps it's still a dream? Cowpaw's blank eyes stared at a rock for a while , squinting to see it started to move! It morphed into a small splotchy brown tom that he knows very well. "Hogpaw! Oh, I didn't know it was you," his excited mew sounded tired and strained. He quickly nuzzled his friend. "Miss ya, friend-.." Taking a second glance his friend was gone and there was only a rock he was greeting. "H-huh? What..weird. I swear it was Hogpaw but I guess the weather is getting to me, haha."

[Open]

[xoyami]

@vermin
Thistlefeather rushes toward Cow, light eyes wide with worry. He had heard strange mewling sounds coming from the area, and had hurried as fast as his frostbitten paws could take him. A small gasp rasps from his throat at the sight of Cowpaw, and the self-proclaimed tom rushes to the ailing apprentice's side. "Cowpaw! What's the matter?!" Thistle immediately busies himself with lapping at the apprentice's fur, trying to warm the young cat up.