"Me too, being an apprentice must be so exciting right? Can't wait!" Vinekit meowed, as a question popped in her head "i haven't seen Snowcloud in a while, what happened? I must've missed whatever happened to her be announce or something, did i? " she asked
Buckbranch hummed in quiet acknowledgement. “I… I don’t really miss it, if I’m being honest.” Everything had rested on his shoulders. Every choice, every life, every death.
No. No, he did not miss it.
…There it was. He hadn’t expected her to just dismiss it, or not notice it at all; she’d always been perceptive. He shrugged, as best he could while lying on his back, eyes still flickering over each individual star painted in the sky far above.
“I just went out for a walk,” he said softly. It wasn’t even a lie - it really had started out as a walk. “I wanted to… clear my head, get rid of some thoughts. I ended up going too far, ran into a kittypet, stayed out talking for too long.” And, honestly, if he wasn’t so easily distracted by someone’s warm smile and contagious enthusiasm, he probably would have been back a lot sooner.
He definitely wouldn’t have been planning another “walk”.
“...I’m not running away, if that’s what you were thinking,” he added after a moment, twisting back to his stomach. He had planned it once; obviously it had not come to fruition, because he was very much still here. “It was just a walk. I just lost track of time. That’s all.”
Cinderstar
Ever since the patrol the two of them had been on, Cinderstar had felt this sort of... rift between them. Nothing had been done to really patch it up, though she had acted amicably with the tom since. Part of the words sued still weighed heavily on her mind paired with a twinge of regret. But perhaps too much time had passed, and bringing it up now would only serve to reopen a wound already healed.
"You're welcome to go where you please. I know your heart, Buckbranch. While it may have lost its direction once, I trust that it knows its path now." She kept her gaze on him, thoughtful and slightly inquisitive. There was obviously more to it than just being a walk, but Cinderstar didn't wish to pry. After all, he was a full grown cat and so long as he kept his vow made to swear loyalty to ThunderClan, she didn't see the harm in a walk - her and Sparrowflight were going to do the same thing whenever they both had a free moment to seek out and find Ridgeclaw.
Looking up above as a small light dashed across the sky, the leader let out a soft sigh. "I hope you know that your presence, and your willingness to stick with the Clan throughout all these past moons... it has not gone unnoticed. I want to thank you for taking some of my words to heart. Even though there were some which were spoken by mistake." She kept her gaze on the stars for now as she spoke, briefly wondering if he and his daughter had reunited yet. They had to, right? Icicleripple had been back in the Clan for some time now.
@marni
This post was kind of hard to write - I'm sorry if some things are a little off!
She smiled. Cinderstar always seemed so kind and relaxed. The young molly wondered how she did that - sometimes, Sunnykit just felt stressed out and couldn't stop that. And somehow, the ThunderClan leader never appeared to have such moments... at least not when there were watchers. Admiration was evident in her clear green eyes as she gazed at the other molly. "If you haven't already guessed... it's because of my leg. Well. The leg I don't have." She gestured to her missing hind leg, a sigh escaping from her maw.
"I... understand if you don't want me here, in ThunderClan. I can walk straight out of our camps' entrance if I won't be a good addition to ThunderClan. But... if I can stay...I was wondering if it's still a possibility for me to become a warrior. Everyone says it's 'harder' - but I've never heard anyone say it's impossible. So... I was wondering what you think. Could I become a warrior if I really put effort into my training?" She wasn't dismissing her first few lines of course. However, she wondered what she would do if she really got kicked out of ThunderClan. There'd probably be three options. Join another clan, become a kittypet or die. Sunnykit was feeble when by herself - she wouldn't be able to survive in the wild.
A second sigh escaped from her maw before she could stop it. Tail twitching in anticipation, she sat back, wondering what Cinderstar would say. Have there ever been cats that have made it to warriors with a missing leg? I guess that would give me hope. But has it really happened already? I'm not sure about that.
Everyone else always seemed perfect, and then there was her.
Cinderstar
Ah. Just as Sunnykit spoke of the reason for her visit, Cinderstar's expression softened even more. While part of her felt for the young kit who had been born with missing limbs and birth deformities, she was proud that there were several cats within the Clan today who had all made fine warriors despite their own hurdles. The leader never really saw them as disabilities per say - became each and every cat overcame them as though they truly weren't.
"First of all," she purred as she settled down eye level with the kit, a smile perched delicately on her face, "your home will always be ThunderClan. It's not a matter of me wanting you here - which I greatly do - but a matter of you belonging here. ThunderClan blood runs through your veins." She hoped that might put the young kits mind at ease when it came to worrying about her future. Sunnykit was young; such thoughts were a burden she should not have to bear.
With a flick of her tail and a small nod, Cinderstar mewed, "My last apprentice had an issue with her leg. She had it for a majority of her apprenticeship, before Sundust and her decided to remove it." She didn't bother going into detail how much the decision had shocked her, or that it had even been possible; Sunnykit didn't need to know all the details. "And she recently became a warrior; her name is Cloudyflight." Pride was evident in her voice as she spoke of the young she-cat. "She was diligent in her training and had a desire to be better than that which made her "weak". But between you and me, I think it made her stronger."
Laying her head to the side a bit the silver bengal leader reached out with a small paw to brush it against one of the kits smaller ones. "I am positive that when the time comes, you will make an excellent warrior - once that ThunderClan will be proud to have."
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpiritedWarrior
Seeing that Cinderstar was in her den, Flamepaw flicked her tail for Violetpaw to come over.
She then approached Cinderstar with a concerned gaze in her eyes and looked back at Violetpaw, beginning to speak, "We thought you should know Violetpaw is concerned about the rogue who killed Robinflight and Snowcloud."
Violetpaw followed behind Flamepaw and looked up at cinderstar
Cinderstar
Looking up from where she had been sorting through some of the flowers and trinkets brought to her by her Clanmates, Cinderstar took notice of two familiar faces in her den. She had been seeing a lot of the two lately, not that she minded. A flash of concern lit her gaze up as Flamepaw mentioned the reason for their visit. "Oh?"
Shifting her gaze to Violetpaw, the leader turned so that the two apprentices had her full attention. With his display of brutality against his own Clanmates, Cinderstar had her suspicions that Smokeclaw had been the one to kill Snowcloud - given that he had already attacked her once. But she supposed the possibility of rogue couldn't be ruled out.
"How can I help?" If there was something she could do to perhaps ease the concerns Violetpaw had, Cinderstar was ready to hop on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zenosaurus
BRIGHTPATH
⸻⸻⸻⸻
➣ It was a dreary day with depressing overcast clouds again and the slender tortie had been plagued with nightmares all throughout the night before. They had told themselves time and time again that they would tell Cloudyflight about what they had done, but that moment had never happened and it seemed to haunt Brightpath every second of every day, following them like a predator stalking prey. Such a feeling made their stomach hurt and it was on this day that the ThunderClan warrior decided they would come clean about their sins. To whom, one might ask. Well, after what happened with Sleethound, Brightpath had remembered the clan leader being quick to defend them and felt comfortable in their assumption that Cinderstar would be understanding towards what had happened several moons ago. If not, then they would welcome whatever happened to them. That’s all they could do, after all. They just wanted something, someone, to tell them that they weren’t some heartless beast.
“Cin… Cinderstar?” There was hesitation in Brightpath’s voice as they poked their head into the ThunderClan leader’s den, “Can I talk to you about something? It’s… important.” Was it? Their paws felt like they were trembling and the slim warrior wondered if they should’ve provided more context to their visit, but all of this was so scary and Brightpath wondered if they would get in major trouble for the things that occurred. Would they be exiled? Put on trial like Nectarflame had been? They were overthinking everything, but with their heart pounding in their chest with each second, it was hard to not do so. Oh StarClan.
Cinderstar
With the day being long and dreary starting off, Cinderstar had decided to steal away to her den for a moment of stillness. It was one of those rare moments where it was empty - Nectarflame out doing something or other, perhaps bringing her back more flowers. The silver bengal would have to return the favor at some point. Though it made her smile to think that the golden she-cat everyone viewed as hard and stoic was actually rather squishy at her center. She chuckled lightly to herself, wondering if she should risk voicing her thoughts to her mate.
Before she could make a decision one way or another, a voice sounded at the entrance of the den. Twisting around, Cinderstar was pleased to see Brightpath. The young tortie and her hadn't spoken in some time it felt like - not since the Sleethound incident - and she had been meaning to ask how they were doing. But by the look on their face and the tone of their voice, it was clear that they were perhaps not doing well at all. "Of course, Brightpath. Come in."
Cinderstar gestured to a spot next to her, blue eyes round and watchful as she awaited the newly named warrior to join her. Though many thoughts raced through her head as to what could be troubling the young cat so much, she decided to wait to hear whatever the reasoning was from Brightpath themselves.
Re: ThunderClan Nursery
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