beansprout
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he followed the deputy, paws trailing in the mud. dust slowly began to cake his soft paws, until in the end, there was a thin layer of dirt from his toes to his ankles. and yet, he didn’t care. he didn’t have the energy to lift his paws. all that kept him going was pure willpower; he wanted so badly to honor kestrelstar. he wasn’t going to let the leader down.

"hey, um. i’m sorry. you have some… pretty big paws to fill. but," he continued l, hoping his words wouldn’t come across as mean-spirited. "you e got plenty of cats around to help, right? i mean, i don’t know you all that well. but i’m here to help you if you want. with anything. i just— i wanna be more useful. i want to prove to kestrelstar that he made the right choice letting me back in riverclan." with that, he began to walk away, lingering just long enough for the other cat to react if he wanted to.

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ @Memento Mori | @door~ ]

➢ Following the mourning procession, the oriental longhair looked down at his paws in a silent, grieving manner. Kestrelstar and him hadn’t spoken that much since they had met, but with those few nice interactions they had together, Snowleap had gained a friend out of the clan leader. He had seen something special within him and that’s why he was a Riverclan shield to this day. Remembering what everyone had done during Talonkit’s vigil, the Riverclan tomcat lifted his head for a moment, looking around for some flowers. It was the start of Newleaf and there were bound to be some flowers growing around here, right? There had been some frozen ones available for Talonkit, so it seemed more than appropriate to leave some for Kestrelstar. Sure enough, after a few moments of searching, they spotted some lovely white-colored flowers grown in a small patch next to a tree in the thicket. Snowleap swiftly padded over, bending down and plucking a few from the ground, holding them in his mouth as he rejoined the group of clanmates. As the clan leader’s body rested in the center of the thicket, the tomcat sat down, leaving some room around him for his family -- Lynxfall, Shadepaw and Raccoonear -- to sit beside him.

Lowering his head, Snowleap rested the small white flowers next to Kestrelstar’s body, gently pressing his nose to the gray-furred tomcat’s side and closing his eyes. “Thank you for everything, Kestrelstar. You were more than a clan leader to me, you were my friend and you always will be,” The Riverclan shield murmured in a quiet prayer, “May you rest well in Starclan with your loved ones. I will protect and serve Riverclan for as long as I breathe. Goodbye, Kestrelstar.” With that now said, the tall dark-furred shield drew himself away from the clan leader’s body, not moving from his spot where he sat, but giving other clanmates room to say their peace and tell Kestrelstar goodbye just as he had done. Snowleap now sat in silence with his head hung low, silently grieving among his family and clanmates. He could not predict the future, but the oriental longhair swore to keep his promise to Kestrelstar. Riverclan was his home and it would be his home until the day the shield died.

[ Small fact about a detail of this post: The flowers that Snowleap picked are known as snowdrops, which are flowers that bloom in early springtime. They symbolize consolation and hope -- which I believe are rather fitting. ]

☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ @Zesty Mango | @RiztheHuntress ]

➢ The small black-and-white apprentice followed after the group of Riverclan cats, keeping up with them as best she could with her little legs. She had never been to this place -- the Sleepy Thicket -- before. Kestrelstar had never had the chance to show her this part of Riverclan’s territory before he… passed away. Cloudpaw stuck close to the Riverclan members who carried her beloved mentor’s body, not wanting to lose sight of him. Not yet. As the cats moved along, she glanced back at those who trailed along behind her, noticing one of them break away from the pack for a moment - Snowleap, one of Kestrelstar’s shields. He was a friend of one of her mamas if she remembered correctly. She watched with a slight curiosity as the tall tomcat plucked some flowers up from a patch growing by a tree. Oh! Was that something that cats did to honor those who had passed away? Cloudpaw quickly scampered over to the small white flowers, picked some for herself before turning and quickly rejoining the procession, trying not to stumble over her paws or drop any of the lovely delicate flowers in her mouth.

Once they had all reached the center of the thicket and the clan leader’s body was laid down on the forest floor, Cloudpaw glanced at the cats that were gathered around. Sparrowskip and Snowleap were the only two that she knew by name, but there were many others that were here too, saying goodbye to her mentor. She let a few cats go ahead of her, saying their goodbyes and praying to Starclan, until eventually Cloudpaw stepped forward. The small fluffy apprentice rested the tiny flowers that she had picked next to Kestrelstar’s body and sat in front of his still form. “Hi, Kestrelstar… I don’t know really how to do this, but I just want to thank you for being my mentor - even though you didn’t get much of a chance to teach me much.” She thought, struggling to think of what to say, “I’m sure you were loved by a whole lot of cats, but now you’re in Starclan… Blizzardsky said you’re watching over me. I hope that’s true… Moonfrost is taking care of me now and Spiderpaw is my new best friend. I hope I’ll be able to make you proud someday...”

Cloudpaw went and buried her face into Kestrelstar’s fur one last time, closing her eyes, trying to keep herself from crying again, “I… I’m gonna miss you a lot and I wish you could be here with me, but I know that’s not possibly now. You were the closest cat I ever got to having a dad… I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to save you… I’m so… sorry…” That was when she started to break down again, tears spilling from her eyes as she held the still clan leader’s body, “I’m not ready to do this without you! I’m not ready to say goodbye! I’m so scared… I had so much to learn from you and now you're gone.” After that, the Riverclan youth didn't know what to say, so she pulled away, tears rolling down her face as she quietly cried while sitting near her mentor's body. "G-Goodbye, Kestrelstar... dad." She whimpered, wiping her face with one paw as the tears refused to stop, "I-I-I'll become a g-great warrior s-s-someday, I p-p-promise." Cloudpaw vowed to do her best and honor her fallen mentor, no matter what. Her tail curled around herself.

☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ @RiztheHuntress | @Kunaiskrill ]

➢ As tears silently dripped down the young Riverclan molly’s face, she watched as Moonfrost was next up to say her goodbyes to Kestrelstar. Cloudpaw’s eyes flickered to the leaf that the mute warrior had placed next to the sunflower that Wolfsong had placed aside the gray-furred tomcat’s still form. She turned away to give her newfound mother some privacy as she silently said her farewell to the clan leader, her ears lowering to the low sound of Moonfrost’s low sobbing noise that not many could probably hear. After that was done, the older shecat stood up and Cloudpaw felt her tail rest across her shoulders. She blinked up at Mama Moon while wiping her face with one small paw again, the Riverclan youth nodded silently and scooted a little away, allowing Nightleap to have a turn to grieve. Like she had done, Cloudpaw heard the nursery queen refer to Kestrelstar as her dad, which made the small fluffy molly give a pained smile. It seemed like her beloved mentor was a father to more than just her. Maybe Nightleap and her were sisters in that way, making the dark-furred queen her big sister. Hah. She had never had a sister before, being raised along four bigger brother littermates. It made the shecat wonder if Cloudpaw had more clanmates to view as her family than she originally thought. Such a thing felt bittersweet.