WindClan: Life Before 2023's Fire

[Empress Of Evil]

Originally Posted by Spirit

 

Ferretpaw hesitantly came to a halt a bit away from Winterwisp. She didn't know how comfortable the warrior was with her yet, so she didn't want to sit too close, and yet she didn't want to sit too far away either.
Despite the older molly having been a bit of a bully to her in the beginning, Ferretpaw cared about her now. Ferretpaw knew there was someone of her own kin in the Clan now, and she really appreciated that. They might not be close, but that could be worked on... Right? Ferretpaw hoped so, to say the least.
The small apprentice tilted her head as she inspected Winterwisp for a few moments, before opening her mouth to answer.
"Well... Just out for a run through the territory really... My last one as an apprentice, it would seem. Blazingstar has deemed me worthy of becoming a full warrior. It scares me a little." Ferretpaw admitted, giving a sheepish smile to the black and white molly. For some reason, Ferretpaw felt herself open up to Winterwisp. She didn't think about telling the warrior that she was scared. She just blurted it out. Normally, she would hide any signs of weakness, as a self-defence due to her earlier moons of being brutally bullied.
"How about yourself? Are you doing okay lately?" She asked, a bit hesitant perhaps. She didn't know if Winterwisp felt the same way. If she was comfortable enough with talking about personal things with Ferretpaw just yet. Ferretpaw wanted her to feel comfortable. Wanted the warrior to use her as someone to go to if things got rought. Ferretpaw felt like she had a purpose greater than being a warrior of her Clan. That of being a supportive sister.

The molly was not at all comfortable with the idea of being nice to her younger sibling. She was not comfortable with the idea of being nice to anyone for that matter. She had never really had much of a reason to be nice to other cats within her current lifetime and she didn’t really want to learn to be nice. She liked being alone. She liked being closed off. She didn’t want to talk to her clanmates. They were nasty cats, cats who weren’t worth talking to. Perhaps she could try though. Perhaps she could try and be a good older sister. Just maybe.
“Oh.” Was all she could say. She had not realised that Ferretpaw was already ready to be a warrior. It was surprising, she still looked so small. Or maybe that was just her, every apprentice looked puny to the snappy she-cat. Winterwisp had the feeling that she was supposed to feel a specific emotion now that she had heard this ‘wonderful’ news. Pride wasn’t it? Or joy? Or maybe both. She tried to put those emotions onto her face. This was what she was meant to do as a sister right? She had the picture of a cat looking proud in her mind and tried to mimic their expression but it only made her look very uncomfortable. She felt uncomfortable. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t be the typical, good older sibling. It just wasn’t her.
“Eh, you be fine,” she said, her voice not exactly reassuring. “Being a warrior is the same as your last moons as an apprentice, except you don’t have an annoying mentor hovering over you all the time and you have to be more responsible with duties,” she continued, rolling her pale green hues at the mentor part. This was probably the best advice that the she-cat could give. It wasn’t the best because she sounded very dead as she let the words out and her choice of words could probably be worked on too, but in her opinion, Winterwisp didn’t think that it was so bad.
“I’ve been okay. Probably about the same as always,” she said, shrugging. The warrior didn’t say anything else and she didn’t ask anything to keep the conversation going. Winterwisp was a bit of a brick wall to talk to most of the time. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t usually want her conversations to continue so she wasn’t used to doing so.

[Mauve]

@Zero to Hero

To say she was nervous to be back in camp was an understatement. She felt as though every pair of eyes were on her as Jaypaw led her through camp. Instead of letting it get under her fur, the light colored tabby simply stared straight ahead. She was here to meet with Surgestorm and learn the basics of healing, nothing else. Blazingstar was nowhere to be found, and Heatherfur assumed he was either in his den or out - either way, she made it a purpose to avoid him altogether if she could. "Thank you, Jaypaw," she mewed to the escorting apprentice, who simply nodded as they came to the entrance of the medicine den.

"Let me know if you need anything... We miss you, Heatherfur," the young tom meowed, his tail tip flicking back and forth behind him as he spoke.

Heatherfur felt her pale gaze light up with nostalgia and she touched her nose to his head. "And I you." Without much other conversation, for fear that she would let her true emotions shine through, the RiverClan medicine cat padded into the den, letting her eyes adjust to the familiar dim lighting. It was just as she remembered it - somewhat tidy, with the scent of the moorland and herbs mingling every which way. Already up and sitting near the back of the den was Surgestorm. She felt a rush of grief flood her heart - the last time she had seen her former friend he had been trying to talk her into coming back to WindClan. He insisted that everything would be okay - Surgestorm was great at doing that - but she knew she had no choice. Once she mentioned to him StarClan's sign, everything else had melted away. Even Surgestorm knew he couldn't fight StarClan, much as he tried to. At least he had granted her training in place of her absent warrior ancestors, and for that the tabby was grateful. "Hello, Surgestorm," she purred, her pale green eyes lit up with a friendly greeting as she waved her fluffy tail in a hello.

[mvoxhu]

Originally Posted by Cosmo

Mothpaw jumped to her paws as Larkpaw got off her. She carefully licked a few specks of dust from her pelt. She didn't feel like she needed to look perfect, but even if she was already perfectly comfortable, after a tussle or something she liked to groom herself to make herself feel more comfortable. It was just a thing she did and she didn't know why. She knew everyone groomed themselves to get clean, but Mothpaw did it to calm herself down even if she felt calm. It just helped her prepare for whatever was coming.
Mothpaw smiled at the molly. It always made her happy when her friends were haapy, even if she herself was distruaght due to Lynxpaw constantlly talking about Larkpaw all the time. She didn't mind tagging along with him to wrestle with his boy best friend, but talk of Larkpaw with him around was always very uncomfortable. Especially when it was obvious he was looking for the tortiouseshell. "I'm glad you're doing well," She purred, no matter what thoughts were in her head, she could always be happy when Larkpaw was around, the upbeat molly just made everyone feel safe and happy. She could see why Lynxpaw liked her. "I'm pretty good, I ran into Lynx a little while ago," She said, "I'm glad he didn't talk about his crush on you this time,"

Her toes sunk into the earth ever-so-slightly, feeling the soft terrain slowly being imprinted by her paws. The she-cat was disheveled in appearance, hair oddly sticking out here and there, a crooked, mischief-indulging grin hanging loosely on her lips. At Mothpaw's words, the female gave a dramatic scoff, easily tossing another careless chuckle into the overcast skies above. As much as Lynxpaw was a nice tom and all, Larkpaw hated to say it, but she preferred to gaze at another feline. Although, she wouldn't be telling Mothpaw of her secret crush anytime soon, it was still thrilling to tease the young molly.
"Oh, Lynxpaw!" she enthused excitedly, tossing a toothy smile into the air, an aura of misinterpreted innocence flowing from the mere bodice of the Windclan apprentice. "I swear, with every day that goes by, his flirting is actually starting to work on me." Her stupor was now of an overwhelming expression, lips twitching into a circular shape, with tail dripping downwards. Yet, the molly's eyes were anything but disguised. They were bright and knowing, and eventually the rest of her bodice followed suit. With a wisp of air inhaling through her parted mouth, Lark then tossed her head sidewards and purses her lips. "I don't know how you can survive such a handsome cat talking to you.." Was that too much? She thought instantly. Although Lark's aim was to make her friend a little jealous, she also didn't want to upset her. Which was why the femme was perhaps just slightly concerned after what she'd said. Hopefully, Moth would just take it as sarcasm.

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by mompaws

Her toes sunk into the earth ever-so-slightly, feeling the soft terrain slowly being imprinted by her paws. The she-cat was disheveled in appearance, hair oddly sticking out here and there, a crooked, mischief-indulging grin hanging loosely on her lips. At Mothpaw's words, the female gave a dramatic scoff, easily tossing another careless chuckle into the overcast skies above. As much as Lynxpaw was a nice tom and all, Larkpaw hated to say it, but she preferred to gaze at another feline. Although, she wouldn't be telling Mothpaw of her secret crush anytime soon, it was still thrilling to tease the young molly.
"Oh, Lynxpaw!" she enthused excitedly, tossing a toothy smile into the air, an aura of misinterpreted innocence flowing from the mere bodice of the Windclan apprentice. "I swear, with every day that goes by, his flirting is actually starting to work on me." Her stupor was now of an overwhelming expression, lips twitching into a circular shape, with tail dripping downwards. Yet, the molly's eyes were anything but disguised. They were bright and knowing, and eventually the rest of her bodice followed suit. With a wisp of air inhaling through her parted mouth, Lark then tossed her head sidewards and purses her lips. "I don't know how you can survive such a handsome cat talking to you.." Was that too much? She thought instantly. Although Lark's aim was to make her friend a little jealous, she also didn't want to upset her. Which was why the femme was perhaps just slightly concerned after what she'd said. Hopefully, Moth would just take it as sarcasm.

Mothpaw's eyes darted to the ground, she began to bat a pebble around gently, feeling that the conversation was getting to awkward to look Larkpaw directly in the eye anymore. Mothpaw hated awkward conversations, especially with her friends, when she was around them things shouldn't be awkward! They should be fun, everyone should be having a good time!
Yes, Lynxpaw, the cat who I stupidly brought up and we are now waisting our conversation on.. Mothpaw still didn't look up, she felt to awkward and upset, like the conversation was completely ruined. "I'm sure it is," Mothpaw mumbled. When she watched Lynxpaw flirt with Larkpaw or some other beautiful molly she saw how he could quickly charm them. However she found flirting to be disgusting, and strange, and was very glad she was not taught how to flirt. She certainly would not be easly be charmed be flirting. Mothpaw flicked the pebble to far away, and seeing that there were not enough pebbles left, began to study her paws. Mothpaw looked up suddenly when Larkpaw spoke, than she dropped her head again. "You think he's handsome..." Mothpaw's voice trailed off, and she blinked violently to keep her eyes from welling up. After a few seconds Mothpaw was able to not have her eyes well up, and look back up at Larkpaw. "I guess you have a crush then," Mothpaw said somberly.

[Zero]

Originally Posted by Mauve

@Zero to Hero

To say she was nervous to be back in camp was an understatement. She felt as though every pair of eyes were on her as Jaypaw led her through camp. Instead of letting it get under her fur, the light colored tabby simply stared straight ahead. She was here to meet with Surgestorm and learn the basics of healing, nothing else. Blazingstar was nowhere to be found, and Heatherfur assumed he was either in his den or out - either way, she made it a purpose to avoid him altogether if she could. "Thank you, Jaypaw," she mewed to the escorting apprentice, who simply nodded as they came to the entrance of the medicine den.

"Let me know if you need anything... We miss you, Heatherfur," the young tom meowed, his tail tip flicking back and forth behind him as he spoke.

Heatherfur felt her pale gaze light up with nostalgia and she touched her nose to his head. "And I you." Without much other conversation, for fear that she would let her true emotions shine through, the RiverClan medicine cat padded into the den, letting her eyes adjust to the familiar dim lighting. It was just as she remembered it - somewhat tidy, with the scent of the moorland and herbs mingling every which way. Already up and sitting near the back of the den was Surgestorm. She felt a rush of grief flood her heart - the last time she had seen her former friend he had been trying to talk her into coming back to WindClan. He insisted that everything would be okay - Surgestorm was great at doing that - but she knew she had no choice. Once she mentioned to him StarClan's sign, everything else had melted away. Even Surgestorm knew he couldn't fight StarClan, much as he tried to. At least he had granted her training in place of her absent warrior ancestors, and for that the tabby was grateful. "Hello, Surgestorm," she purred, her pale green eyes lit up with a friendly greeting as she waved her fluffy tail in a hello.

Surgestorm had risen early in the morning, waking up with the sun just peaking above the horizon. He hadn't slept well; too excited and kind of nervous to have Heatherfur joining him and Oriolepaw in this training session today. He had spent his time deciding which things to teach today and how exactly to phrase it. He would it over in his head a few times as to not wake the sleeping Oriolepaw in her nest a few fox-lengths away. He turned at Heatherfur's arrival, surprised that the time had gone so quickly. "Hello, my friend!" He meowed, hopping to his paws. "How were your travels?" The WindClan medicine cat padded casually over to his sleeping apprentice, shaking her gently to wake her up. He hadn't meant to let her sleep in so long, but time had given him the slip. His yellow orbs returned to the former WindClan warrior after a moment to observe if Oriolepaw had stirred, awaiting her response now.

[graves]

Originally Posted by Suspiciousmindz

Blazingstar gasped dramatically as Fireflare landed on top of him. Heelllppp!!" he called in a amused cry. His eyes were alight with play and his ears flicked back and forth with each swat the other orange tom landed on his ears. His back paws pummeled into Fireflare's stomach lightly as a response. Blazingstar eventually went limp and just stared at Fireflare, his whiskers twitching in amusement. "No extra funk here, just extra fluff," he replied, attempting to shove Fireflare off again. He wasn't putting much force into what he was doing, just small shoves and bats.
@king kaleb!

[/FONT]

Fireflare simply laid on him, looking comfortable and not moving anytime soon,"Youve got a lot fo fluffy here, its the perfect stuff the line my nest with." he joked,"or maybe ill just start laying on you instead. you dont seem to really mind." he snorted, shifting so he was simply laying flat on blazings stomach without a care in the world. as cats would walk by them in the clearing hed mumble "nothing to see here" under his breath, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea. fireflare was the straightest straight tom around, blazingstar was simply his other half in the most nongayest way.

[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Cosmo

Mothpaw didn't like to be considered sensitive or called sensitive, because she actually was. She could stand her ground, and she was fine with play fighting and other types of games that Lynxpaw and his toms friend played. She was just really emotionally sensitive. Talk about families and friends could make her very emotional. She knew that not all cats understood the families were one of the most important things in life. Mothpaw didn't find jokes about family members funny, and she was quick to smart mouth them or give them a lecture for joking about it. She stood up for her opinions, or at least tried to. She never wanted to hurt someones feelings, because after all she had to be nice to her clanmates if she wanted to build herself up to a warrior almost entirely on social interactions. Besides the fact she was greatly improving with her hunting skills the only thing that was good about her apprenticeship was her friends. It was great knowing there was someone to support her. Actually, four people to support her. Lynxpaw, Larkpaw, Cloudedpaw, and Rowanpaw. When Lynxpaw said she was moody, she couldn't really disagree, because if someone mentioned something that was part of a sensitive topic to her she got really moody. She didn't say anything, because she didn't have anything to say. She didn't really believe Lynxpaw was just toying with her, but if it ended the arguement she was fine with it. In a few seconds, Mothpaw was off. When they were kits Mothpaw had always been faster, Lynxpaw had beaten her at everything else, everything except for chasing, tag, or racing. She wasn't sure about now, but she was pretty confident. She ran as fast as she could, and pretty soon she was close to Lynxpaw, she leaped at him, aiming for his shoulder.

Lynxpaw would run far enough, using his long legs as to his advantage, so he wouldn’t be caught by the following feline. He swerved through the other cats, throwing out multiple apologies as he tried to avoid being tagged. A bright smile broadened his features, as he looked back to see if Mothpaw was near him. It almost brought him into nostalgia of when they were kits. Whether his or her parents would be arguing, the two of them had each other, lost in their own little imagination...until he became a apprentice for her and started to trade her friendship in for others around his age. Evidently, the tom was more than pleased when his Mothy became an apprentice. He thought his meows were the loudest in the crowd, honestly! Lynxpaw had slowed his pace, only for Mothpaw to catch up to him before he was running at full speed again. He didn’t think she could keep up with him, but he felt her pounding paws behind him, and when her paw hit his shoulder, he was too late to dodge it. Lynxpaw has dropped to the ground, completing a three-sixty roll over, hopping back on his paws and growling playfully at Mothpaw. That meant one thing; she better run.

[lone]

Originally Posted by RedHead

Quailpaw was a bit surprised at how open Mercurypaw was being with her. When she had first run into him when he was an older kit, a couple moons ago, he had been very standoffish to her. Now though, she was hearing things actually about him. He was telling her about himself. Quailpaw didn’t understand that. She listened to the story about his mother, her eyes still not holding his gaze. If she had not been treated so badly in her young life, then she probably wouldn’t have believed his story. She wouldn’t have believed that someone in a clan would be able to get away with things like that. But she’d experienced it. And her mother, although dead now, had gotten away with plenty of that. Flicking her ears a bit, she glanced over at Mercurypaw, unsure of how to answer his question. She could tell him no, she could close off the conversational topic, and keep herself safe from others. Or she could finally tell another cat what horrors she’d gone through as a kit. Does it really matter if he knows about my mother? That’s nothing about me, so it should be safe. Quailpaw wanted to so badly talk mouse-dung about her mother. Her impulse and wants took over her guarded logical sense, and she gave into telling the younger apprentice. “She was worse than a badger. A real piece of fox-dung. No good in that thin body of hers. And when she grew old and feeble with greencoich, I stood by and laughed. Because then she finally knew how it felt like to be weak and humiliated. But unlike me, she was old and spent. She couldn’t change herself, couldn’t train endlessly to strengthen herself and make herself better. Her life was over. And it ended in the best way for her.”
Quailpaw’s yellow eyes sparked with anger as she remembered this experience. The sickening joy she had felt when her mother had lay in her nest at her paws, coughing, depleting of oxygen at each feeble breath. “She never deserved the cats she had in her life. She deserved no one.”

Quailpaw had growled about her mother before Mercurypaw had spoke again. Her voice had been low and gravelly, so when she snapped out of her state she supposed Mercurypaw might not have heard her.
As he asked for help and “pointers” with his skills. Quailpaw instantly shook her head. “No.” Was her instant response, her tail lashing as she turned away. “I can’t teach in a way you’d understand. I’ve had to adapt.” She meowed, gesturing her tail to her clouded eye. Quailpaw had never wanted to teach anyone, and she sure hoped she never got an apprentice. No one understood the odd way she hunted and battled. This was just her adaption to her condition. And she couldn’t teach Mercurypaw, he seemed perfectly healthy to her.

Quailpaw’s story about her Mother forced Mercurypaw to actually try to remain calm. She sounded like a bad cat… there was a difference between weeding out the weak to make the Clan stronger, and simply taunting them until they could take no more. Now, Mercurypaw was not a typically merciful cat, but he preferred the former option. After all, the latter would take some time, and it was a waste of better-spent energy. ”That sounds horrible. Your Mother truly deserved to die, to go to the Dark Forest.” Ah, the Dark Forest. It wasn’t that Mercurypaw didn’t believe in a “good place” and “bad place,” as most kits were taught, but he preferred the Dark Forest to StarClan. After all, the Evil Era leaders had followed the Dark Forest, and although they had ultimately been taken down by the others, their reign had been one of power and change.

Mercurypaw wondered if there was even a chance that he could be the same way someday. He found it doubtful, the leaders were on the lookout for that sort of thing now - weren’t they? Or perhaps they believed all of Singenight’s followers to be gone by now. ”I believe that. My Mother was the same way - good cats all around her, trying to help her… me, for one thing. I was always trying to help her. But, cats like that, there just isn’t a lot of helping them.” This was even less true. Mercurypaw remembered his Mother, at least a little bit, and none of his siblings or his parents had liked her - he had gone with them, because why shouldn’t he? They were his family, they wouldn’t lead him astray. His Mother was simply a biological tie, not true family. He shunned her, left her be, pretended that she didn’t exist here - or in any world. Quailpaw’s hard “no” at his request left Mercurypaw stunned.

His eyes narrowed, and a harmful comment was at the tip of his tongue when he remembered his cover. Good cat. Play the good cat card, get her trust, get what you want. Then go back to who you are. Hiding who he was was not for fun. Mercurypaw liked who he was, he was comfortable with it. But you couldn’t manipulate and cheat your way through life if everyone knew that’s what you were trying to do. You had to be charming, smooth, calm… cats like that were charismatic. Eventually, everyone was drawn to them. ”Oh, I understand. You must have adapted extremely well to deal with that… I’ve never understood how cats with such harmful disabilities can stay in WindClan. Or be loners, for that matter. Is it hard, training?” Mercurypaw asked, feigning concern and curiosity. The one true thing that he’d said was that he didn’t understand how cats with disabilities like that could stay in WindClan. It hurt the Clan. They were useless, although Quailpaw seemed to have adapted surprisingly well - perhaps she would be useful, later on. Right now he was just testing her out. So far? She was passing with flying colors.

Originally Posted by spring

"I'm doing the best I can." Tawnypaw murmured bluntly, her eyes diverting down towards the ground as she stared down towards her paws. She was done with crying, after all- the only thing that remained was a sense of numbness, an empty feeling in her chest which hadn't gone away since the day her friend had been attacked, even before she'd died. Tail flicking across the floor of the camp almost restlessly, the she-cat kept her mouth shut for a few moments before finally snapping her head back up towards the other apprentice, eyes closing as she let out a long, winded sigh. "Life goes on, Aspenpaw." She murmured softly, though it appeared as if she wasn't intent on taking her own advice. She'd been closer to Moonpaw than her own family, but now... both things seemed to be gone. Both things except for a couple nieces and nephews she'd never even met, and a father who she hadn't talked to in what seemed like moons. "...How have you been?"

”But, you’re going to be okay?” He questioned, looking over his friend anxiously. Tawnypaw was one of those cats that made him nervous - he wasn’t sure she was telling him the whole truth, and his fear was that if she wasn’t, something bad would come of it. That same dull pain was still present in his eyes… it would go every once in a while, but for the most part, it was a horrible aching. It was hard, missing someone from his life. Missing a few cats, actually. It might go on, but it’s not the same! He wanted to shout, to complain, to do anything to see how badly she was actually hurt. Tawnypaw had been like this for a while, and Aspenpaw wasn’t sure how to fix it. There might not be a way to. He might just have to accept that she was… well, that she was gone. He had to think about her question before he could answer. ”I’ve been alright. Surviving, I guess.” That was pretty much all any of them could do in the end. It all came down to survival. And while Aspenpaw hadn’t felt like he needed to be much of a survivor before, now… now things were changing.

[Cosmo]

@Zero to Hero @Mauve

Oriolepaw leaped to her paws after Surgestorm shook her awake. She shook her head to get rid of the weary feeling. With an enormous ammount of enthusiasum, she padded over to Heatherfur and looked at the RiverClan molly curiously. "Hi Heatherfur!" She purred happily, looking at the former WindClan warrior with great respect. She knew that Heatherfur, just like her was learning herbs, but she still respected Heatherfur. Heatherfur had left WindClan to become RiverClan's medicine cat, in Oriolepaw's opinion that was very, very cool.

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by Brilliance

Lynxpaw would run far enough, using his long legs as to his advantage, so he wouldn’t be caught by the following feline. He swerved through the other cats, throwing out multiple apologies as he tried to avoid being tagged. A bright smile broadened his features, as he looked back to see if Mothpaw was near him. It almost brought him into nostalgia of when they were kits. Whether his or her parents would be arguing, the two of them had each other, lost in their own little imagination...until he became a apprentice for her and started to trade her friendship in for others around his age. Evidently, the tom was more than pleased when his Mothy became an apprentice. He thought his meows were the loudest in the crowd, honestly! Lynxpaw had slowed his pace, only for Mothpaw to catch up to him before he was running at full speed again. He didn’t think she could keep up with him, but he felt her pounding paws behind him, and when her paw hit his shoulder, he was too late to dodge it. Lynxpaw has dropped to the ground, completing a three-sixty roll over, hopping back on his paws and growling playfully at Mothpaw. That meant one thing; she better run.

Mothpaw felt her paw thud of Lynxpaw's shoulder and quickly turned. She was smart enough to know that even if she was faster than Lynxpaw, that he was not stupid and could easily catch her if she teased him by staying near him when he was obviously ready to catch her. The calico molly charged at full speed around the camp, her legs moving in violent motion. She carefully avoided several cats, apologizing to only a few as she was rather out of breath from chasing Lynxpaw and now running from him. She was tired, and wishing that she could be running with her friends instead of away from them, even if that was the whole point of tag. Mothpaw loved tag, if she didn't get tired as easily as she did Mothpaw would play tag all day. As long as she stayed away from Lynxpaw, and kept him in sight though, she wouldn't get tagged. Mothpaw slowed her pace, keeping her gaze locked on Lynxpaw. After a few seconds, she bolted away.