[Fawn]

Strut of Ring-Necked

ROOSTER

42 Moons Cave-Guard Tribe of Forgotten Waters

Rooster flinched at the whisper that flitted into his ears. It was Mulberry, he recognized her scent before he saw her, but one look at his tensed jaw and wide stance revealed his state of mind. So many cats here... And so many of them were pain the likes of which he'd never seen. Grief. Fear. Abandonment. Hopelessness. Emotions he didn't even have names for, or were too complex, too multilayered for him to properly comprehend.

It put an indescribable itch in his paws, as if he wanted to run away and clear his head, or go fight whatever it is that had destroyed the valley's peace. But how do you fight an earthquake? You don't, you survive it.

"Can't sleep?" He glanced out into the misty mountain night, the occasional rumble in the ground - minor but still enough to put him on high alert - a sporadic reminder of what had just occurred. Rooster never had any problems talking. In fact, sometimes he voiced his opinions without invitation, happy to comment or butt his whiskers into the conversations of his fellow Cave-Guards. Now... he sat in a strained silence, stocky body the opposite of relaxed. "I wish they'd be quiet," he murmured with back-pinned ears, referring to the miserable noises coming from those in the cave too distressed to sleep.

Step back I'm goin' in
I'm crankin' up on the throttle
This is how legends are made

210 words & @ide

_{Art by Syman Kaye}

[Fawn]

Strut of Ring-Necked

ROOSTER

42 Moons Cave-Guard Tribe of Forgotten Waters

Mulberry winced, her empathetic reply accepted by Rooster in moody silence. The constant crowd of bodies had him too on edge, too overwhelmed to put himself in their pelts for the moment. Of course he didn't want to hear kits crying and elders shaking, their eyes wide and rolling from some unspeakable trauma. Of course it made his chest tighten, his heart punctured for them. But... The noise... They made it so much harder to focus on his duties.

It was a song that wouldn't stop playing, and unlike the howl of the wind or the crunch of fallen snow, he didn't know when it was going to end.

“... How long do you think they’ll stay here?”

Rooster grunted in surprise. Foxdung! Of all the questions Mulberry had to ask, why that one? Because it's the one everyone's thinking about. He was a Cave-Guard, he couldn't just shrug off this question with an I dunno, like some mossbrained to-be who hadn't learned anything his whole life. Rooster forced a smile, confidence worming its way into his voice as he tried his best at reassurance. That was his role in this life, in this Tribe. To be safety. To be an answer to a problem. "Probably not long at all," he cleared his throat, flicking an ear back towards the mass of bodies. "Skyteller would've warned us if they were going to stay the whole season."
The whole season! He almost wanted to wash his mouth out with soaked alder bark for that. Ancestors spare them that misery.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rooster saw a tired looking Tribemate, stocky of build and flint-eyed, making their way towards them. His guard duty must've been over now... But Rooster couldn't sleep. "Do you want to go for a walk?" He offered. "Somewhere quiet?" She obviously needed a break, and he knew she was too kind to wake someone up just to go for a stroll. So why not go together?

Step back I'm goin' in
I'm crankin' up on the throttle
This is how legends are made

320~ words & @ide

_{Art by Syman Kaye}