A Finch at Daytime

[Starphobia]

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Daykit
A small, brown kit with darker brown patches and white underbelly and paws. He has glassy orange and green eyes.
He/Him | ??? Moons | Timid
. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.
The endless wandering seemed to stop for a heartbeat, before it started again. Each step felt longer and more helpless than the previous. He had never seen this place before, and it felt oddly familiar. The star-covered sky almost felt like it was collapsing on him. Where was he, and who was he looking for? What was he looking for? He was confused and helpless, stranded in a place he had never seen before. He looked down at himself. He was alive, right? If he was dead, he wouldn't be able to see himself right now. But he could. So he had to be alive, right? There was no way he wasn't. He didn't feel dead, but he didn't feel alive. He felt... Empty. Empty like he was hollow inside, like a log. He felt as if someone was to put any pressure on him, he would shatter into a million pieces, much like the stars scattered across the sky. What was this feeling, he didn't know for sure.

"Hello?" He mewed, not expecting an answer back. He was surprised he could even speak. The words escaped his mouth, like it was instinct. He heard his voice echo across the starry forest. Nobody was here. He was alone. Alone. By himself. Again. Again? Not again. He was never alone before. But was he? He didn't remember. Where did he come from? How could he know he was never alone? Was he ever alone? This felt like it had already happened. The same, familiar hollow and empty feeling threatened to throw him into a frenzy but he kept still. Still as a dead log. A log. A dead tree.

He felt as if he had lived a thousand moons, yet everything seemed new to him. Where did he come from? Could this be where his life ends? Or would this only be the beginning? Hundreds of thoughts hit him like an ocean wave, overwhelming for his tiny head. He looked down at himself again. His pelt was dotted with tiny glowing specks. He looked back up at the sky, and saw the same tiny glowing specks there. He turned his head back down to stare at distance. He was dead, wasn't he? But if he was dead... Where was he?

The wandering slowed as he realised he would never be back home... Wherever home was. Maybe this was his home. But then, why did it not feel like home? He felt like he wasn't supposed to be there. Like something was screaming at him to leave. That this wasn't where he belonged. That he belonged somewhere else. Somewhere he loves. Somewhere he feels safe. Somewhere he knows. If this wasn't home... Then where was? What was the feeling of home? What was the feeling of safety? How would he know that he was feeling safe? How would he know that he was home, home where he belonged?

His wandering grew more frantic and helpless as time went on, and yet his mind raced as fast as ever. The everlasting amount of thoughts made his head throb. He expected home would not get him feeling like this. Home should feel much better, much happier. Home would...

Home.

Home...?

What was home anyways?

Did he know what home meant? He wasn't sure if he knew. Home. The word was short and simple, yet felt very welcoming and important. He'd never heard of the word. He'd never heard of anything, in fact. But for some odd reason, he felt like he knew the meaning of every word, that he could speak it without having to pause and think deeply. But it would never happen. He didn't know everything. In fact, he didn't know anything. He was only a lost soul in the stars.

{ @zozelen }
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[zozelen]

Finchpaw watched the stars in the sky shimmer above him, sitting alone in a grassy field, the breeze warm- the air never felt too cold here. He was a star, now, or at least that's what the queens in the nursery used to say. That's what happened to all the cats who came before them, and they'd watch over the clans forever more. Finchpaw did that sometimes. He'd watch his old home, Thunderclan, seeing the kits who he used to play with become apprentices... actually, Riversong had got a new apprentice recently- right? It was hard for him to remember what was happening in the real world sometimes, it felt so... disconnected. Like he was listening to them talk from underwater.

He was happy for his old mentor. He knew they were sad... very sad. That was one of Finchpaw's biggest regrets- although he had made his peace with the whole death thing, he wished Riversong didn't have to blame themself. It wasn't their fault. Nothing was their fault.

He'd watch his brother, too. In Starclan there wasn't much else to do but watch, especially for a spirit as young as him. He didn't know any of the cats here, and he just... didn't really want to talk to them. It felt like sealing his fate. The fact that'd he be forgotten one day, that Finchpaw never got to live for his clan like he always wanted to. He only got to die for them.

Blazepaw was his younger brother, actually. They were of course littermates, but Finchpaw was born a few minutes before him. Blazepaw always seemed a little bitter about that, haha... he always thought he was more mature then Finchpaw, more capable. Only one of them had the sense to not fight in the raid, so he supposed Blazepaw was right, in a way.

Unexpectedly, a little, far-away voice pulled Finchpaw out of his thoughts. When Finchpaw turned around, he saw a young kit far off in the distance, appearance obscured by the haze of fog between them. Kits in Starclan weren't an uncommon sight, but it did pain Finchpaw's heart whenever he saw one. They had never even got to be apprenticed, never were able to leave the nursery or grow up. At least he was able to train with Riversong, even if just for a moon or two.

The kit in front of him sounded... timid. Were they looking for someone? Maybe a parent, or a sibling... Finchpaw began padding towards them, hoping he wouldn't startle the kit. Who knows how long they'd been in Starclan, though.

"Hey. I'm here," Finchpaw called out, alerting the kit of his presence. Once he got close enough he could see their splotched brown pelt and orange and green eyes. "Are you lost, little guy?"

[@Starphobia]

[Starphobia]

╔══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══╗
Daykit
A small, brown kit with darker brown patches and white underbelly and paws. He has glassy orange and green eyes.
He/Him | ??? Moons | Timid
. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.
Daykit didn't show it, but he was relieved to find another fairly young cat, definitely not an adult, but not a kit either. He looked up at the brown tabby tom, his eyes shining with hope. Maybe this cat knew where he was supposed to be? Maybe this cat would tell him who he was.

"Where...?" He murmured, unable to form complete sentences. "I'm... Daykit?" He had heard from another cat that his name was, in fact Daykit, but he didn't remember who. It just sounded like a distant voice, like someone calling out to him. It seemed important, but he wasn't truly sure what it was. He wasn't even sure where he was.

{ @zozelen }
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[zozelen]

Finchpaw might've been right. Little Daykit did seem pretty lost, or maybe just shy... but probably lost. He remembered playing with and teasing the quiet, younger kits in the nursery- was Daykit one of those? Or maybe he used to be one of the happy kits who wouldn't stop talking, before he came here.

Speaking of which. "You're... well, you're in Starclan," Finchpaw replied, voice a little unsure. That was the best way he could think to answer the question. "Maybe you remember hearing stories about it? Right now though, we're in a field. There's not anyone else around, I don't think- just me."

Then the apprentice smiled, green eyes shining warmly. "My name is Finchpaw. Nice to meet you, Daykit."

[@Starphobia]

[Starphobia]

╔══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══╗
Daykit
A small, brown kit with darker brown patches and white underbelly and paws. He has glassy orange and green eyes.
He/Him | ??? Moons | Timid
. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.
"Finchpaw," Daykit repeated. It was a nice sounding name, a name he'd never heard before. He looked at his paws for a bit before turning back to Finchpaw. "Star... Clan..?" What was this "StarClan" and why was he here? He didn't remember hearing stories of it, in fact, he didn't remember anything at all.

{ @zozelen }
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[zozelen]

Oh. So Daykit had never heard of Starclan, then, or at least didn't remember it. Finchpaw had no idea how to start explaining that to a kit. But someone had to, right? Daykit deserved to know, and even though Finchpaw didn't have the soothing voice of a queen or the wisdom of a warrior, he would still try his best.

"So... since you're here, that makes you a clan cat. You were probably born in a clan, or one of your parents was. Either way, you have clan blood inside of you." Finchpaw took a seat next to the Daykit, inviting the younger to come closer, but hopefully not making him uncomfortable. This conversation might take a bit, after all. "There are four clans in the forest. Thunderclan, where I'm from- then Riverclan, Shadowclan and Windclan."

The name of the clan that killed him still left a bitter taste on Finchpaw's tongue, but he wouldn't say anything about it. Daykit was too young to hear about war, at least right now, and for all he knew the kit could be Riverclan himself. "The cats who live in those clans are called warriors, with some exceptions. The youngest ones, like you, are called kits. That's why you have your name." Finchpaw wasn't sure how much of this Daykit knew already, but it couldn't hurt to help him remember. "I'm an apprentice, which is why I have a 'paw' in mine. There are queens, like whoever your mom was... and the medicine cats, deputies and leaders. Elders too."

The brown tabby gave a sheepish grin, feeling like this might be a bit too much for Daykit. "You don't need to remember all that, though! So, no matter what clan you're from, or who you are, everybody goes to Starclan someday. Like you and me. Sometimes things can happen to living cats, like they can get sick, or hurt... and then, their soul comes here."

Could Daykit understand all that? He hoped he wasn't giving the kit a headache. Finchpaw knew that when he was in the nursery, his attention span was... poor, to say the least.

Finchpaw gave Daykit a small, encouraging smile, ready to try and answer any more questions he might have.

[@Starphobia]