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Post by Fawn on Sept 8, 2017 14:31:52 GMT -5
Leaf-fall Day 2A pale elder waited at the scentline separating the forest from the mountains. Light eyes, like fragile sunlight on a winter’s morning, scanned the dense woodland for his lost kin.
Shortly after his arrival in TreeClan, a forest fire ravaged LightningClan and scorched some of his former home’s territory. It had been so long, the scents were alien to him, and the names were almost forgotten. The Great Maple had not been touched, the flames unable to cross the Clan’s major water source, a brook that was still swollen from the heavy storm he had arrived in.
Frost had generously volunteered to help hunt for the Clan. It was an excuse to get close to them, the three kits Camellia had left behind all those moons ago. The old tom had watched them from the shadows of the elder's den, identifying all three by their pale, semi-long coats and the way they carried themselves.
Lichenfrost. Appleshade. Sprucefur.
He yearned to speak with them, and the opportunity finally arrived on the night of the Gathering. While Lionstar, the Clan’s deputy and medicine cat led the Clan away to StarClan’s Claws, Frost saw his chance. Lichenfrost, unfortunately, had been out of his reach - but he’d made plans to remedy that.
”I knew your mother, Camelliablossom.” He had said.
Sprucefur, his son, was not exceptionally expressive, but his littermate Appleshade did enough expressing for both of them.
”You did? But how? Oh Frost, please - what was she… what was she really like?” There was such hope in her voice, that’s when he knew he had them. Their lives had not been easy, their mother deserting them in the midst of a scandal. Growing up believing Lionst--star was their half-brother.
Growing up in someone else’s shadow. He knew what that was like.
”I will tell you everything I know, but not here. Now, I must try to return to my Tribe.” Frost had watched Appleshade’s expression fall to dismay, but Sprucefur had nodded coolly.
”When are you coming back?”
”As soon as the season changes,” he promised, and managed, even, to smile a little. Yes, these three would make wonderful Tribemates if he could just convince them to let TreeClan go. ”I will return in early leaf-fall. Bring Lichenfrost, we have much to talk about.”
That was seven days ago. The weather was crisp now, and the leaves were beginning to fade from green to orange or yellow. Frost had not made it back to the Oasis, the journey was too far for his old bones - besides, he wanted to make that journey once and only once.
And with his family beside him.
 61 Moons || Senior Warrior || Tomthere's a light that you give me when I'm in shadow He had picked up Frost's scent on the dawn patrol. It had proven to be an exercise in discipline not to immediately return to camp in search of Appleshade and Lichenfrost. He had spoken to his aggressive sibling as soon as she'd come back from the Gathering, and while he shared her suspicions of Frost, he also shared her curiosity. Frost's words had ignited a hunger in his heart for answers.
He knew Appleshade had been dancing on her toes these past few sunrises, and she'd even taken on more border patrols than usual. When he finally returned from patrol, he'd found her sharing tongues with Lichenfrost in the middle of camp (and judging by his silver-furred sister's expression, she'd probably just said something snarky about a Clanmate). Sprucefur quickly told them what he had found. With a brief conversation with Gorsetail, and Sprucefur pulling away a moment to have a quick word with his mate, they set off for TreeClan's scent-line near the mountains.
As he walked, his heart beat a heavy staccato in his chest. The sensation of change was in the air. Not just for the weather. This conversation with Frost... It was going to change everything.
there's a feeling you give me, an everglow
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Word Count: 200~ Words
Tags: @medusa
Notes: (Gorsetail mention), BlooRey DVD (Feathercloud mention)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2017 16:09:53 GMT -5
Lichenfrost 58 Moons, TreeClan, (S) WarriorI've got a heart full of pain
A head full of stress Ever since Sprucefur had explained Frost's appearance and what he knew, Lichenfrost felt as though something was terribly wrong. This Frost, they knew nothing of him, he knew nothing of them. Maybe it was just her suspicious nature or the bad mood she had returned from the gathering with damn Fogsight and her weirdness. The silver cat was glad to learn that Frost had left the territory, thought that relief was quickly burnt out when Sprucefur explained that he was coming back.
Appleshade, on the other hand, was near ecstatic about the appearance of this strange cat - going on border patrols way more than usual - which had been angering Lichenfrost. She loved her sister dearly, but couldn't she see the potential danger he was. He knew their 'mother' and that meant he knew of their roots, and Treeclan cats already disliked them enough in Lichenfrost's eyes.
The silver she-cat had been sharing tongues with Appleshade, rolling her eyes at something stupid Feathercloud said - not that the dumb she-cat said anything smart. Lichenfrost's tail twitched as Sprucefur approached, hoping that he wasn't going to tell her off for mocking his mate. She hated it when her siblings told her off for stuff like that.
Nope, it was far worse. Lichenfrost's ears flicked flat against her head and she stood up - not looking forward to meeting Frost at all, even if her curiosity bit at her like a flea. Waiting patiently for her brother to finish talking with the deputy and a mousebrain, Lichenfrost glanced at Appleshade; letting her gaze show the apprehension she felt.
Silently, the she-cat followed her siblings pawsteps as they headed for the mountains - her head feeling heavy with dread. "Let it be known that I don't trust this Frost. At all." She huffed to her siblings, staring at the ground with her tail flicking uneasily behind her.
A handful of anger inside my chest ❆ |
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Post by Fawn on Sept 10, 2017 20:41:57 GMT -5
Sprucefur & Appleshade Sprucefur grunted his assent. He didn't trust Frost either.
"What could he gain from lying to us, though?" Appleshade's soft, feminine voice carried a layer of desperate hope that Sprucefur wasn't used to hearing from her. The mystery surrounding their mother must have been eating away at her for much longer than him or Lichenfrost. Sprucefur had cast aside any lingering doubts or questions about Camellia after he learned the truth; that she had abandoned them and run off to StarClan knows where without telling anyone where she was going.
That she had turned her back on her kits, and her Clan.
He didn't know what Frost had to tell them about her, but Sprucefur was almost certain it would not be positive. The memories of a tough kithood full of rumor and shame had permanently stained the pale tom's views of the cat who had birthed them.
"I don't know," replied Sprucefur somberly. "So take everything he says with caution."
Appleshade, in a show of solidarity, brushed her pelt against her sister's. Even if other cats found Lichenfrost's prickly nature unbearable or unpleasant, Appleshade could always see through the harshness there. Lichenfrost was her sister, and they had always had each other, even when times seemed tough. Her social circles had expanded and shrank and expanded again throughout the many moons, but there were two major constants in her life that Appleshade never underappreciated.
Sprucefur, who tried so hard to take care of them, and Lichenfrost, who tried so hard to take care of herself.
Whatever Frost had to tell them, Appleshade was relieved and proud that they would find out together. No matter what they thought of Camellia, Appleshade considered her family. Now that the opportunity was here to learn more about the mysterious she-cat she had never met, Appleshade couldn't let it go.
She just couldn't.
Though their brother was in the lead, it was actually Appleshade who greeted Frost first, raising her tail to wave it at the elder in a gesture of welcome. Frost That Clings To Branches ❆ "I was worried you would not come," said the silver tom slowly, his tone soft. "You do not know what this meeting means for me." There a glance exchanged between Sprucefur and Appleshade. Frost feigned ignorance. He knew they did not trust him; any cat with any brains would not trust a mysterious stranger from the mountains, claiming to have knowledge of their long lost kin.
However, Frost also knew that what he had to tell them was valuable. Meaningful. That it would have an impact.
"TreeClan knew your mother as Camelliablossom. I knew her by her Clan name, and by her Tribe name, Blossoms Falling In Water."
Appleshade's eyes widened. "Our mother was a Tribe cat? How?"
"Because we fell in love. I had left TreeClan many many moons ago, and then I met Camelliablossom. She was just as beautiful as you're picturing," Frost's heart ached, but he smiled through it, trying not to let those memories become poisonous. Become wounds that would fester in her absence. He looked at Lichenfrost, then Sprucefur. "And sharp. She would have stayed with you three, but I... I was stubborn, back then. I didn't give her much choice. We could either stay together as loners, and raise you outside of the shelter of a Clan, or we could leave for the Tribe of Rushing Water, and entrust you in the care of our parent Clan."
"Why do you say our?" said Sprucefur reproachfully, the suspicion clear as daylight. The younger tom's posture suggested caution. "Camellia's kits weren't yours."
Frost felt those words claw at his heart. He supposed he deserved that. Still, something challenging flashed through Frost's eyes, and he raised his head proudly. "Yes, they were. Badgerstripe was not your father. I was. We had to make sure you three were going to be taken care of, so Camellia lied, claiming Badgerstripe was your sire so her status as a loner wouldn't matter. No Clan leader would turn away their own deputy's kits." --- @medusa Notes: xD Lots of info, sorry! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2017 14:48:20 GMT -5
Lichenfrost 58 Moons, TreeClan, (S) WarriorI've got a heart full of pain
A head full of stress Lichenfrost glanced to Appleshade, a look of surprise on her face as she heard hope in her voice. Did this really mean that much to her sister? She snorted to herself; in her opinion, Camelliablossom deserved no such love. The lousy she-cat had abandoned her kits, right when she was the only cat they could truly trust. It made bile rise in Lichenfrost's throat.
The silver she-cat aggressively nodded her agreement to Sprucefur's caution. This Frost will receive the same friendliness that Lichenfrost would show her mother - which is none at all. Feeling Appleshade brush her pelt against her, Lichenfrost leaned into her carefully, not wanting to shove her sister.
Lichenfrost loved only two things in her life - Appleshade and Sprucefur. Both better than her in every way, in her eyes, and she would claw the tongue out of any cat that dare spoke different. No matter how far apart they became, she would always support them. Lichenfrost winced inwardly as she felt the twinge of loneliness that was becoming all too frequent lately - even if she only had her two siblings, they had other cats they loved whilst she didn't really have anyone...
The she-cat shook her head harshly as she spotted the tom called Frost. Who cares about other cats anyway? She was fine by herself. Stiff-legged and narrow-eyed, Lichenfrost sat down a fox-length away from Frost; making her distrust crystal clear. The she-cat stayed silent as Frost began to deliver his tale, pricking her ears whenever her siblings asked a question.
Badgerstripe was not your father. Lichenfrost's tail bristled and started whipping like an angry viper as Frost finished the last of his speech. He wasn't? Frost was? Maybe Lichenfrost should have felt relief, knowing that she did have more kin, but she didn't. Liquid fury bubbled through her veins and a savage growl erupted from her throat, her anger forcing her to take a few firm steps forward towards Frost. Was he saying, that all the stuff the three had gone through together; all the ridicule, all the rumours, all the distrust; was for nothing?
"Oh wow, let's hear a round of applause for father of the seasons!" She snapped, never feeling a rage this pure before. "I must have misunderstood this parent business, apparently abandoning your kits is the best way to show you care!" Lichenfrost rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if ashamed at her silliness, before turning her burning glare back to Frost.
"Do you have any idea what we've been through? The way we were treated?" She hissed, feeling some of her personal fears slip into her next few words. "Were you both so stupid, you actually believed that we would be raised right in a clan that viewed us as illegitimate loner kits?! The clan probably believed my own mother thought I wasn't worth the effort!" She stumbled to a halt, realizing her blunder, quickly trying to fix it. "I mean, our mother. And we weren't."
Her voice dropped in volume and Lichenfrost breathed in deeply, her voice dropping back into a level tone. "Why are you here, Frost? Are you here to claim us as yours? You have no right and you never will." She growled, flicking her tail over her paws to indicate she was done talking.
A handful of anger inside my chest ❆  Fawn |
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Post by Fawn on Sept 19, 2017 7:42:52 GMT -5
Frost That Clings To Branches ❆ "I know what it is like to be mistrusted and ridiculed," said Frost with the cold certainty of one who spoke the truth. Lichenfrost's outburst had been expected - and it shook his resolve a little to know that she was so much... like him. So capable of rage and pain. Fire and ice. "The journey to the Tribe was difficult - and it took moons to reach. The journey would have killed you, and killed Camelliablossom before we so much as set one paw-step in our new home. We did not make that choice lightly," Frost's eyes flashed. "Can you truly say you would have been better off as loners, or in StarClan before you'd gotten the chance to live?"
Frost could imagine the difficulties these three had faced. He could see it, especially in the eyes of Lichenfrost and Sprucefur; Appleshade's gaze was shocked, and she buried her nose briefly into her sister's fur - as much for her comfort as to comfort her sister.
He could imagine how his nephew had treated them. The betrayal Lionstar had felt over his father's scandal with Camelliablossom; the subsequent dislike and scorn that his kits did not deserve. It would mean little to them now, but if he had been there to defend them, he would have.
With tooth and claw, if need be. "Regardless of what you may think of me or your mother, it was important that you knew the truth. Camellia would never forgive me if, after this chance to see you three with my own eyes, that I didn't speak with you." The pale elder met Lichenfrost's infuriated stare, distantly amazed she was still here. A younger Frostclaw would have stalked off in a huff, too furious to hear any more reason or explanations he would have to offer. Frost suspected Lichenfrost would have done the same, if this conversation were happening twenty moons ago.
"I have no right to call myself your father," said Frost with a repenting bow of his head. "That doesn't change my reason for being here. I want you to know of your mother. Know that she loved you, and you were never forgotten. Camellia had always left a piece of herself in this valley." And it had gnawed at her each day, like an old war wound she could do nothing about. Sprucefur Sprucefur had struggled to contain his own outburst. The normally collected, rational tom had felt his insides melt to ice as soon as Frost claimed himself to be their father instead. All those moons of being forced to walk through whispers and rumors, as if they were blamed for their mother's transgressions - all those moons of knowing they weren't supposed to have been born - made his claws peek from their sheathes. Whatever Frost's reasons and Camellia's reasons, they would never erase the pain they had gone through. The now pointless suffering.
"I spent my entire life living in Lionstar's shadow. Now you tell me he is not our half-brother at all." Sprucefur's voice manifested as a low, distant hiss that surprised even him by it's bitterness. StarClan, there had been days and nights where he would dream that this was all somehow a big misunderstanding. That someone would appear out of the darkness to tell the Clan they weren't Badgerstripe's kits at all - but now that someone had... Sprucefur didn't know how he was supposed to feel.
"Badgerstripe was my brother," Frost locked eyes with Sprucefur, rooting him to the spot. "I know what it feels like to walk in someone else's shadow."
Sprucefur looked away, his pelt still bristled from the onslaught of unwelcome information.
Appleshade
The shock of Frost's revelation had been overwhelmed by the heartbreak she felt for Lichenfrost. The furious tirade from the silvery she-cat had made her flinch, eyes full of uncertainty and sadness, until Lichenfrost let slip her own true thoughts.
"The clan probably believed my own mother thought I wasn't worth the effort!"
Is that what Lichenfrost thought of herself? That she wasn't worth it? That she did not matter? Appleshade could have wept for her, right then and there. Instead, she pressed her nose to her sister's fur, trying to find the right words to heal some of that pain. Oh Lichenfrost, I hadn't realized you felt that way. What kind of sister was she, to not notice the insecurities in her littermate? To not see her own fears reflected back in? Sometimes she forgot that Lichenfrost couldn't let things roll off her pelt as easily as she made it look.
Lichenfrost and Sprucefur had always been strong, persevering even when they were knocked down.
She had forgotten that they were not invincible.
"You are worth more than all the stars in the sky to me, Lichenfrost," said Appleshade with as much resolve as she could muster. She didn't care if anyone thought her overdramatic or silly, just then. Lichenfrost was her kin. Even if their parentage was a muddled mess of scandal and heartbreak, they would always be related. They would always be family.
"Thank you, Frost," Appleshade mewed, trying to be the responsible one. "For trying to tell us the truth. It may take is moons to accept this, but at least now we know." Our mother loved us. Our parents cared about us, even if they showed it so poorly. "You've thrown us into a forest fire. We need time to recover."
Would they choke on the ashes of the past, or was there the chance for new growth after all?
"I know," said Frost with a respectful dip of his head, making eye contact with each one. "I do not expect forgiveness, or patience, or even respect. However, if you are curious to know more, I will be around. I turned my back on you once before," the pale elder's voice softened. "I could never forgive myself if I let that happen again." 987 Words Tags: @medusa Notes: sisters <3 |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2017 13:34:29 GMT -5
Lichenfrost 58 Moons, TreeClan, (S) WarriorI've got a heart full of pain
A head full of stress "Can you truly say you would have been better off as loners, or in StarClan before you'd gotten the chance to live?"
Lichenfrost held her tongue, she didn't have a retort to that. Even if his reason made sense, why didn't they stay? To actually be parents to the kits that they created, instead of running off the second they were weaned.
The silver warrior held back a choke as she felt her sister press her muzzle against, murmuring kind words that she hadn't heard ever since she was kit. Struggling to resist the urge to bury her face into her sister's flank, Lichenfrost shook the kit-like wants away but curled her tail over her sister's back - thanking her for her support silently. The silver warrior refused to break down, not now and not ever.
"Know that she loved you, and you were never forgotten. Camellia had always left a piece of herself in this valley."
She snorted at that, angrily. "Yeah, I see her. I see her in every piece of crowfood and foxdung I come across." She muttered, uncaring if Frost overheard her bitter words. That she-cat was not fit to call herself a queen or a mother. She birthed them, nothing more and nothing less.
Lichenfrost blinked her agreement with Sprucefur's next words, her feelings for Frost more similar to his aggression than Appleshade's curiosity. You can't just come back into your kits' lives when they've been through hell because of you - and she refused to change her mind on the matter.
"You've thrown us into a forest fire. We need time to recover."
Appleshade's calmness never failed to amaze Lichenfrost, staying collected even in a situation like this. As soon as Frost was done rambling, Lichenfrost stood and gave him a brief hiss as a goodbye. She turned and quickly began to walk back into the forest. "I've said all I've wanted to that bag of bones."
A handful of anger inside my chest ❆
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Post by Fawn on Sept 23, 2017 8:29:29 GMT -5
61 Moons || Senior Warrior || Tom there's a light that you give me when I'm in shadow A curt parting nod was all Sprucefur could manage. Appleshade's politeness didn't surprise him - her calmness did. He had expected her to fly into a dramatic I knew it! speech about how their mother had really loved them all along. But... Her age had finally caught up with her, and Appleshade was being mature about this.
Sprucefur brushed shoulders with Lichenfrost, feeling the anger that bristled off of her like a heatwave. He shared it. The decisions of their parents had had a negative cause and effect on their lives - no one could pretend otherwise. However... If their parents had not given them up, and they had been raised as loners, Sprucefur would not have the relationships he had now.
No Nightfury. No Badgerstrike. No Gorsetail. No Feathercloud. Sprucefur let out a heavy exhale, stricken by the thought that a single decision had meant the difference between the life he had now, and the life of a loner.
"We never asked him why he left TreeClan," mewed Appleshade. Sprucefur flicked an ear, considering her point.
"Does it matter? He may not have left at all. He could have been kicked out for all we know." His coldness made her flinch, Appleshade's eyes darting from his. Sprucefur chided himself for such a harsh tone with her; it wasn't her fault that Frost had gotten under their skin so easily. "Sorry, Appleshade. It's just that I've heard about as many 'truths' as I can take." He didn't care to hear more.
With heavy steps and brooding, churning thoughts, the three warriors returned to TreeClan.
This time.
there's a feeling you give me, an everglow
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Word Count: 264 Words
Tags: @medusa
Notes: Finished! Hurray! |
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