[Abyss]

Newleaf 25 - The sun is bright and strong. There is a faint breeze, though ultimately it is pleasantly warm out and a fine day for hunting, battle training, or basking in the heat of the day.

The Treeclan Apprentice's heart had been racing that morning. It was the day that most, if not all, cats looked forward to, or at least he assumed so. It was the day of the Gathering! The thought of the gathering had caused Leopardpaw to wake from his nest earlier than usual, a little bit before the sun would cast its bright and warming rays across the valley from over the distant mountains. The yellow-amber gaze of the tom opened almost instantly as soon as his body began to wake. His head lifted, only to realize that he seemed to be the only one awake. As much as he didn't want to, he chose to stay in his nest for a bit. He had been laying on his side, his wounded leg facing towards the ceiling of the den, when he heard a familiar voice. When he heard Lionstar's voice boom through the camp, a hopeful fire blazed in the tom's chest as he stood and slowly exited the Apprentice den. His eyes locked onto his Leader, ears perked and eyes hopeful. Lionstar was announcing who would be going to the gathering. Leopardpaw waited and waited and waited until a large smile formed over his face. His name had been called! He was going to his first gathering!


Walking at a limp alongside his clanmates, Leopardpaw found himself travelling in the direction of Starclan's Claws, a place he had been to once or twice previous. He had been in the clearing before, but only when it was empty. This time would be different. The clearing would be full of cats and all of the clan Leader's would be there. As he walked, at first all he could think of was how many cats would be there. But then a thought crossed his mind. Windpaw! There was a chance that Windpaw was going to be there! A slight spring erupted into the tom's injured pace at the thought of seeing the silver tabby. He hadn't seen her in almost a whole moon, and the last time he had things had went from cheerful to disastrous. Luckily, that fox hadn't been spotted anywhere around the territory.

As Treeclan arrived to the gathering, the handsome tom's eyes grew wide. There were already a bunch of cats, and, if he was correct, not all of the clans were even there yet! He saw only two Leaders at the perches overlooking the clearing. One was quite a large, sandy-brown tabby tom with broad shoulders. The other was a very bright cat with a coat of snow white fur adorned with darker markings and bright blue eyes that he could see from the other side of the clearing. He didn't know the names of the two Leader's, nor did he know which clans they led, but he was still excited regardless.

As all of the Treeclan cats began to disperse, Leopardpaw looked around, hopeful that a familiar face would appear. But even as the final two clans arrived, he felt a slight disappointment when that face didn't appear. Even though he did have that thought in his mind, he was still excited and still held a smile on his face. He sat somewhat near the edge of the clearing, giving his leg a break. He took a seat and adjusted himself so that his wounded leg slightly stuck out from his body. He probably looked quite uncomfortable, but his expression didn't show it.

Admittedly, he did feel pain still, as to be expected. After the incident with the fox and the three large cuts down his back right leg he had received, for about a week he found himself in the Medicine Cat den. His cuts had taken forever to stop bleeding, but they did eventually form into scabs, which only made it slightly more painful to move his leg and much easier to make them bleed again. It was difficult being confined to the den surrounded by the mingling scents of herbs, but he wouldn't say he disliked it. He got to talk with Falconstorm a bit and got to see things from a different point of view. When the scabs had dried up enough and the cuts had each started to slightly heal, Leopard was released from the den, but was instructed to return if any of the cuts opened again or if he needed a pain-killer. Now, almost a moon later, the smaller scabs that had formed over the smallest of the three cuts had fallen away and his skin was hairless and bright pink in that spot. The other two scratches were still getting to that point.

Once all of the clans had arrived, Leopardpaw waited for when the announcements would begin.


Words: 789 | tags | Notes:

[Ghost the Undead Goddess]

Ebonypaw,

Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams

Pale pools of green scanned slowly and observantly over all the cats that slowly filed into Starclan's Claws. The owner of the mossy orbs was sitting patiently beside her mentor and the other clan healers as the gossiped at their spot near the deputies. 

Her interests were captured quickly, curiosities swarming through her head as the black she-cat caught sight of a handsome golden Bengal, limping his way through the mass of cats. 

Quickly standing upon her large, flat paws the black feline gave a slight flicker of her tail nub before making her way towards the tomcat. His scent, though almost drowned out by the wide variety of smells, was strong enough to label him as Treeclan. She recognized it as the same scent Falconstorm carried.

Slipping up to the young cat, who couldn't have been a handful of moons older than her, Ebonypaw gave a proper dip of her head to him.

"Good evening." Her tone was sharp but respectful as she spoke. Those pale green pools held his gaze properly for a moment as she continued to introduce herself to this stranger. "I'm Ebonypaw, Stoneclan's Medicine Cat apprentice." Pleasantries and introductions were always a standard when it came to the fluffy black she-cat, her mother had made sure of that.

However, once she was finished, those pale pools quickly rotated to the injured limb of the golden and black tom she was now talking to. It seemed to be mostly healed, save for the pinkish skin that hinted to the possibility of scarring, and the lack of fur around the once injured area. 

"My, what did you tangle with to get such a result?" It had to be something larger than he was, those healing slices were big, and obviously strong enough to leave a limp for when the Treeclanner walked. She'd have to bother Falconstorm later as well, figure out all he did to have it heal up so nicely.

9 Moons StoneClan Medicine Cat Apprentice

Abyss || Made by Fawn || 344 Words

[Abyss]

L E O P A R D P A W

The Gathering was just as he had imagined it to be. So many cats from different clans all in one clearing. The five Leaders standing atop their perch, preparing to make announcements about the well-being of their clans. There, of course, were some tensions within the crowd. He overheard a few more aggressive remarks from different cats, but he tried to avoid them. This was his first Gathering. He had to try to enjoy it while it lasted.

Though, it was difficult to do so. With his current predicament, he couldn’t really go around and talk to anybody without using his leg. He did want to meet some other Apprentices. But there wasn’t much he could do when he couldn’t move very easily. He had managed to get to Starclan’s claws with his clan without too much of an issue, minus a few small pings of pain when he stumbled or hit his paw off of a root. But now that he was sitting and was actually relatively comfortable, he didn’t want to put much pressure on his leg until it was time to leave.

Luckily, he would get the chance to meet another Apprentice without having to go anywhere, for a somewhat small, fluffy, and black-pelted she-cat approached him. He had never seen or met her before, but that subtle earthy and rugged scent suggested that she was from Stoneclan. What hit him right after this, though, was the strong smell of herbs wafting off of her. There was no way that she wasn’t a Medicine Cat Apprentice.

At her greeting, he bowed his head briefly to her in respect, before locking his golden eyes onto her own. She then introduced herself as Ebonypaw, also confirming his prediction of her being a Medicine Cat.

“I am Leopardpaw of Treeclan. It is a pleasure to meet you, ” he introduced, a slight purr in his charming voice at meeting someone new that was likely around his age. He honestly could not deny that she was a pretty little she-cat. Long and luxurious midnight black fur that he could imagine was just as soft as it looked, a very small tail hidden behind her, and large pale green eyes that reminded him of leaves. She appeared to be stronger in muscle than he thought and had that herbal scent that he had way too much experience with as of late. Though, that scent going across his tongue didn’t bother him quite as much now, only because she was from Stoneclan rather than his own clan.

He watched as her eyes quickly turned their attention from his face to his leg. He hadn’t thought about it until now, but it was likely his obviously injured leg that had attracted the she-cat’s attention. She was a Medicine Cat afterall, she probably was interested in any wounds she saw that weren’t from her own clan. It took her hardly any time at all to question him about the wound. A small smile formed over his face at her question, his own gaze turning down towards his scarring leg.

“Me and-”

Don’t say her name.

“-a friend of mine were near the border talking and a fox attacked us. I managed to damage one of his eyes, but not without him digging his claws into me too. I may have made it worse by climbing a tree to get away from it right after it did that to me, ” he stated, his face turning slightly embarrassed at his last point. But he was a Treeclan cat. It would have been stupid for him not to climb that tree. Not only for his own safety, but for Windpaw’s as well. Of course, he didn’t want to say that it was Windpaw he had been with. He didn’t know if Ebonypaw knew her, so it was better to keep that part a secret.

WORDS: 647 | Ghost the Undead Goddess | NOTES: -

By Cotton of Template HQ

[Ghost the Undead Goddess]

Ebonypaw,

Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams

While the young healer listening to the Treeclanner's story, those pale green pools of her continued to examine his leg. She could almost picture how the scene went down within her head, the claws of the fox torn down his limb. She could only imagine how much pain her had to have been in. 

Foxes were a danger. The Medicine Cat before her, the mentor of her mentor, had been killed by one of those vicious canines. The fact that Leopardpaw and his friend had not only fought, but survived such an encounter were both frightening and impressive, to say the least.

Ebonypaw was sure that Falconstorm fixed him up properly and correctly, but she couldn't help but list out the process in which to go about healing such a wound within her mind once the young Bengal had finished his wild tale.

Finally pulling her attention away from the healing leg, Ebonypaw turned those pale green pools with an unreadable expression onto the older tomcat. There was a slight flick of her ear as other spoke and moved around the two apprentices of different clans, though she continued to give Leoaprdpaw her undivided attention.

Otherwise it would have been rude, and Ebonypaw was one for manners and poise.

"Climbing in the tree saved your life, even if it did agitate such a wound more." Her whiskers wriggled ever so slightly in amusement as she pictured the somewhat annoyed face of Falconstorm when the Bengal came limping into his den.

"I'm sure Falconstorm would probably rather heal a damaged leg than to clean up the bones of an eaten apprentice." Though she gave the joke lightly, there was the smallest bit of truth within her words. Stoneclan had had the unfortunate luck of having an apprentice taken away by such creatures. Not to mention Dawnblossom and Eagletalon. 

Of course, that all happened while she was still safe within the nest with her mother. Rabbitfur had told her the story of that horrid Gathering only a few days later, believing it was better to keep Ebonypaw informed rather than oblivious to the outside world. 

Shifting, the long coated feline lowered her haunches to sit down with the Treeclanner, as well as getting comfortable. Ebonypaw gave a quick lick to her chest, smoothing down the lengthy, soft fur before once again speaking as her maw parted.

"Your friend is safe too, right?" How traumatizing could it be to survive when another didn't. It almost sent a shudder through her pelt, if she hand't already had to deal with death. Leafbare had been hard, the second she had been apprenticed she had to help try and heal seriously sick cats. Many of which did not survive to the next season.

9 Moons StoneClan Medicine Cat Apprentice

Abyss Justice - Falconstorm mentions|| Made by Fawn || 480 Words

[Abyss]

Seasons fill my mind and cover me,
bringing back more than a memory...

When Ebonypaw spoke once more, he flicked his ears at her statement, considering that day. If he remembered correctly, he hadn’t felt too much pain at first. He had felt the fox’s claws dig through his leg, but he didn’t remember the pain kicking in right away. He must have been a bit too lost in the moment to pay attention. He did recall a dull pain when he rushed to the tree and began to climb. But it didn’t really kick in until he had reached the safety of the branch next to Windpaw.

Leopardpaw wasn’t quite sure what to say to her first, but her voice spoke once more. What she said this time, though, made his eyes widen. Not one to usually think about those things, he thought once again back to when the fox attack happened. What would have happened if Windpaw had been too scared to climb the tree when he told her? What would have happened if he hadn’t gotten far enough up the tree in time? Would the fox have dragged him down and tore him to shreds? Would Windpaw be dead? His eyes drifted to the ground. The thought of Windpaw being killed by a fox right in front of him was something he did not want to think about.

Luckily, the Stoneclan Medicine Cat Apprentice spoke once more, bringing up a slightly different topic. She asked if his friend was alright. That was a difficult question to answer. He hadn’t seen Windpaw since that day, so he really didn’t know if she was safe. The last he saw of her was her tail as she was escorted away by a group of Lightningclan Warriors. He hoped that she was still alright, since she hadn’t been injured during the attack. But he couldn’t act like he didn’t know. If he said that he wasn’t sure if she was or not, it might have sounded suspicious. A thought came to mind, though.

“Yeah, she is alright. She was a bit terrified to leave camp after that, but other than that it has been fine.”

Leopardpaw

Warrior 16 Moons TreeClan

351 Ghost the Undead Goddess Using the new template!!