His heart was pounding so hard he could barely think. Was this even real? He stood outside the nursery waiting for the news about Foxwillow and their new kits. Anxiety and excitement all at once clogged his throat. He paced back and forth his tail flicking from side to side. What was happening? Were they ok? Had something gone wrong? Would he be a good father? Was this a normal amount of time to wait? Should he be inside helping her too? Then he saw Rosepaw leave the nursery. He didn’t wait in two heartbeats he was inside the nursery.
He padded over to his mates side, and touched his nose to her ear softly. ”How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” There was a bit of worry in his meow, but that was to be expected. He then turned his attention to the kits. They were so beautiful! His mind went blank and he couldn’t speak. Nothing but joy filled up inside him. They were squirming around already! That had to be a good sign! He just stared at them while he waited for Foxwillow’s answer. Unable to move or think of anything to say. He was a father now!
Lilacfall comes over to him, giving her son a lick, "Hi, honey."
Blazekit continued to press harder on the den wall then feeling Lilacfall's gentle lick the tom uncurled himself and walked to his mother with a smile spreading on his face the tom purred while rubbing himself on his mothers leg
Brightpaw trotted into the nursery scents flowing through her nose she walked over to a fluffy red blanket and sat down on it. She waited for some cat to show up
The little kit scrunched back up into her pile of grasses, covering her nose as to not sneeze and give away her hiding place.
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"O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills," ~ O Captain! My Captain!; Walt Whitman ~ DesertClan Healing
His heart was pounding so hard he could barely think. Was this even real? He stood outside the nursery waiting for the news about Foxwillow and their new kits. Anxiety and excitement all at once clogged his throat. He paced back and forth his tail flicking from side to side. What was happening? Were they ok? Had something gone wrong? Would he be a good father? Was this a normal amount of time to wait? Should he be inside helping her too? Then he saw Rosepaw leave the nursery. He didn’t wait in two heartbeats he was inside the nursery.
He padded over to his mates side, and touched his nose to her ear softly. ”How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” There was a bit of worry in his meow, but that was to be expected. He then turned his attention to the kits. They were so beautiful! His mind went blank and he couldn’t speak. Nothing but joy filled up inside him. They were squirming around already! That had to be a good sign! He just stared at them while he waited for Foxwillow’s answer. Unable to move or think of anything to say. He was a father now!
++ Cherrykit = She/Her = ThunderClan Kit ++
Cherrykit looked up at the new car. "Father?" She tried.
Blazekit continued to press harder on the den wall then feeling Lilacfall's gentle lick the tom uncurled himself and walked to his mother with a smile spreading on his face the tom purred while rubbing himself on his mothers leg
Lilacfall purred back, he was so adorable! She then smiles, sitting down to play with her son.
Sootfur (he/him) Light grey tabby with blue/grey eyes
»»————- ☀︎︎ ————-««
A queen's yowl shook Sootfur from his sleepiness and made him instantly alert. Something was going on in the clearing.
The tom sprung out of the warriors' den and saw... blood. Staining a familiar orange and white pelt.
"Flameheart!" He let out a wail as he realized her mate was injured. Worry hung heavily in his head and almost covered his eyes in a fog of panic. "What did it happen? Who did this? Tell me how much you are hurt!"Please, let her be alright!
This was his first time witnessing... a loved one, in such state. If only I'd been there with her... A mix of emotions churned into the tom's chest, making it hard to think clearly and focus on one thing only. He could not leave his eyes off the red stainings on Flameheart's long fur. "Sundust! Rosepaw!" He yowled, struggling not to panic.
FOXPAW
She grinned openly at Flameheart. She was her first apprentice. For some reason, despite the other cats age, she felt like she had more experience in teaching sometimes, like Foxpaw was her second or third apprentice, but what from what she’d heard from others, Flameheart was always helping others out, so that didn’t come as much of a shock. This was only confirmed when Flameheart added the word ‘official.’ Of course she’d had other non-official ones. For some reason it made her feel just a tad jealous- not that she’d say that.
Ha. And now she was getting lectured on confidence, something that she really didn’t feel like she needed to know. She knew exactly what came with confidence, and sure, ego was part of it, perhaps an bigger aspect than she had thought. Yet she could still remember the feeling of being untouchable, on top of the world. That had shattered a long time ago, when one after another every cat she had started to care about died. One. Two. Three. All of them gone before she could say anything. And again and again she built up the idea that she could make it through without abandoning her trust. And again and again she watched them let her down. Flameheart was helping her now, but how long until she died or dissapeared as well? And when that happened she needed something to stop her from collapsing. That was where ego came in.
Confidence was never something she had been lacking. Trust, on the other hand, was something that she was damn well sure she had given up on. “Yeah, I guess I’m not untouchable.” Her smile had dropped a few moments ago, but she faked another one, pretending that she could what she was talking about. Confidence could lead to ego, but having confidence could work as a sheild as well. She needed help now, but the moment someone let her down, she was ready. It was a pattern that repeated over and over again, and when it did happen she’d be ready.
Flameheart started to speak again, and she moved her head back to the molly, gald to have moved off the topic. She didn’t want to think about anything, not what had just been discussed. “Hello, Sootfur.” She nodded her head respectfully. So they were mates, that was one thing she hadn’t gotten wrong. Her face twitched into a grin at her offer of answering any questions. As iun as that would be, she wasn’t interested in love, especially not now. Flameheart’s eyes moved back to Thunderwillow, and she whispered something Foxpaw couldn’t hear.
Sootfur’s response to their introduction was mildly entertaining, and a tad lovey. It was felt wrong, frankly, to hear this cat, multiple moons younger than her reassuring her that she would be an incredible warrior, but that wasn’t his fault. He seemed to notice Flamehearts reaction around the same time as Foxpaw, and she watched as he laid his tail across her back reassuringly. Something was going on there, but now wasn’t the time to figure out more. Her mood had dipped, and everything felt like it was going wrong.
Here they were, two new apprentices joining their ranks. There was more that she wanted to say, but she couldn’t think of it, her voice caught in her throat. “Vixenpaw! Woodpaw!” Her voice was drowned out by the others, but she still spit the words out. Her head tilted as Sparrowstar continued talking. What else was there to do? Oh.
This hurt. Why did it hurt. Her eyes moved to Softpaw, watching the shock on her face melt into excitement as she walked towards the Thunderwillow. Emberpaw’s face mimicked the same emotions. She should be happy for them. Come on Fox, be happy for them. They deserved it. They deserved to be warriors. They shouldn’t be apprentices forever. Not like her. It stung. She could see the pride in Sparrowstar’s eyes as she looked at the two of them. She wanted to be there. She wanted to be the one standing there with everyone grinning at her. She shouldn’t feel like this. Jealousy was an ugly emotion, one she hated. And one she couldn’t control.
It was the speech that did it, made her stomach turn, just a tad. “Softsky! Embertalon!” She made it through the names quickly, finishing before the rest of the chanting was completed. Softsky. She caught the name, and felt something jump up her throat. She didn’t know if it was intentional. Was she supposed to be named after Cindersky? She couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t a coincidence. Cindersky. One of the first cats who had actually tried. One of the growing list of cats who hadn’t gotten to live to see their legacy. Hey, she had a legacy now. That, that wasn’t too bad.
But she was still gone and that wouldn’t change anything.
Flameheart’s usual enthusiasm was matched by her mate, and Foxpaw turned back to her. “I’m going to go sit with one of my friends.” Not that there were any. She couldn’t deal with the enthusiasm. As much as she wanted to ditch the jealousy, it wasn’t leaving, and she couldn’t be around somehow who was just so… happy. She didn’t have anyone to talk to. Instead, Foxpaw wandered to the side of the clearing, away from everyone.
Embertalon looked shocked by something she couldn’t pick up on, but that was okay. She never was able to tell what anyone was thinking. It wasn’t something she cared about anymore. Softsky’s face was something easier to read, something closer to pain. She could remember more now, that Softsky had been Cindersky’s adopted child. Jealousy burst through her body again. She had barely known Cindersky, but she was someone who had mattered to Foxpaw. Cindersky probably never cared anymore about her. To her, Foxpaw was no more than that one cat at that one meeting. Softsky was lucky.
No, she wasn’t lucky. She had lost her and she knew the other actually cared. That was worse. Probably. She had to leave before she did something worse, but she couldn’t do that. It was important to stay in meetings, to listen to what was happening, not that she cared about what was important. The only important thing was that everyone else thought it was. She was fine. Nothing was wrong. Nothing was ever wrong. She couldn’t stay out here at the sides where her thoughts could get to her. Pick someone. Now. Her head swung around the clearing and she stumbled over to the closest cat who she remotely cared about.
“I hope you don’t mind.” She looked at Cinderpaw, before turning back to the Thunderwillow. Her face burned with embarrassment. This was the only one who was close to understanding and sometimes, she felt like she was the one who couldn’t get Cinderpaw. This other cat had died, and came back, and Foxpaw had barely noticed. She'd been through everything Foxpaw had, yet Foxpaw had barely noticed her existence. It was disgusting, she was disgusting. She’d been wrapped up in her own irrelevant problems the whole time. This was the first time they had spoken since, well, since Shadowclan, and even then it had never been the two of them. There was so much she wanted to say, but now wasn’t the right time.
She wasn’t paying attention when Sparrowstar continued, but it wasn’t complete ignorance. Her idea wasn’t the perfect solution, nothing was the perfect solution, but it would have fixed some of what came when she was younger. It just, didn’t fix everything, and so much it were simply opinions. Something was missing, but she couldn’t think straight. Her mind was running circles around her, and she had given up on trying to decipher it.
The news of new apprentices was always fun and exciting, Flameheart smiled fondly at the memory she carried of running to the Thunderwillow when she was still a fuzzy ball of energy. She was still a ball of energy, sure, but her fur was smoother and fluffy instead of fuzzy. Beankit will be a handful, I'm sure... I wish luck to whoever his mentor is. As for Vixenpaw and Woodpaw, they'll be fine warriors. I hope Beankit becomes one too... Hearing Foxpaw's voice beside hers, the young classic orange and white tabby Maine Coon turned her gaze to her apprentice.
"Have fun!" she purred and shuffled closer to her mate ( @Wingnettle ), she felt a little cold. "I remember our ceremonies... those were fun days, weren't they?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starlily
Quietkit
Quietkit looked a bit sheepish and apologetic as her brother started filling her in on Sparrowstar’s announcements and the events that had occurred before she had woken up at come out to join the meeting. It looks like she had missed some pretty important things after all. She was intrigued to hear of the two new warriors that had been appointed, and she looked over at them with wide eyes, wondering if she’d ever get that far. Of course it would be slow going since she’d been lost for so long in the twolegplace, but she was determined to make up for the time she’d been gone. She knew for sure that she’d be an apprentice long after her brother had already become a warrior, but she didn’t care. He had most likely been working hard and training, while all she’d been doing was wandering from one place to another trying to find her way back home.
She blinked in surprise when Rainpaw told her that there was a new curriculum for kits that was being put in place by Sparrowstar. That was definitely new and entirely unexpected, to her at least. She had no clue what might have happened here while she was gone for Sparrowstar to put that in place. That made her a bit apprehensive and disappointed though. Technically, she’d never had her apprentice ceremony, so she was still a kit. Did that mean she would have to complete those lessons before she could become an apprentice? It was a bit embarrassing to think about, and she hoped she didn’t have to, but if it meant becoming an apprentice, then she would gladly take those lessons. Even if it did mean that it would delay her apprenticeship ceremony.
Quietkit looked around as other cats started to volunteer for something, and she gave a confused twitch of her ears before she realized that they were volunteering to teach the lessons that the kits had to learn. She smiled as Flameheart stepped forward, still very grateful to her for helping Rainpaw find her the day that she rejoined. She doubt she would have ever gotten back to Thunderclan otherwise, given the condition she was in. She glanced at Rainpaw, wondering if apprentices could volunteer. She was pretty sure her brother would be an amazing teacher, especially with how thoughtful and kind he was in helping her get used to life back in the Clan. She looked back up at Sparrowstar, wondering if there was anything else that their leader was going to announce. She hoped so, as she didn’t want to have come to the meeting, just for it to be over!
Worry swept over his sister's gaze, which made the young tabby feel bad for her. She truly missed out on quite a lot, and it was a little worrysome. After all, he didn't want to see Quietkit's place in the Clan get questioned by Sparrowstar herself when at the age of 18 moons old. Sure, Sparrowstar didn't question Cinderpaw's place in ThuderClan, but that's because she fought in the battle for Firefly Cove and got major injuries that led to her death later on.
"Don't worry, I'll speak with Sparrowstar about it for you," he nuzzled her shoulder and smiled, if she still had to go through with this new... kit curriculum, it would be Rainpaw's job to make sure every Educator knew of Quietkit's disadvantage. "I'll tell you everything she tells me later, that's a promise."
Realizing she was staring at him as everyone was volunteering, the young tom chuckled and shook his head. "I'd only be able to assist the Educators... but I don't know much aside from the territory and all but one border. Sorry, sis."
Giving her a dismayed glance, Rainpaw went back to looking at the tan and brown leader, eager to hear what else she had to say. There was sure to be more!
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Characters
Crow (Purrks: Heightened Perception, Agatha Kitty, Hulk SMASH, Dreamwalker)
Ravenhawk
Re: ThunderClan Nursery
Re: ThunderClan Nursery
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