[Fate Admin]

The lost battle for their home had been the single most worst day of Cricketleap’s young life. She could never remember ever feeling so… unhappy, before or since. It had been heartbreaking… completely and utterly heartbreaking, to turn her claws against a friend. And the aftermath… her parents, gone… Badgerfang, gone… poor little Pebblekit…. Cricketleap had never been so subdued as after that battle, plodding along with her battleworn Clanmates into the mountains and to their exile. She’d had scratches and bite wounds, but she hardly felt them. She hardly felt anything. She had just been… numb. She had followed her Clanmates blindly, not really seeing where they were going. Occasionally she would take a turn carrying one of the kits, sometimes her own siblings, her only remaining kin, her little brother and sister. She had been one of the least wounded warriors. She felt lucky to have survived when so many more experienced cats had fallen that day.

The sheer coldhearted treachery that LightningClan and RainClan had exhibited had given her nightmares and taken away her appetite for days afterward. If they would sneak into their camp and ambush them while they slept, what was stopping them from pursuing them into the mountains until every last one of them dropped dead to join StarClan? Gradually these fears ceased as they found a sheltered place to stay with a strange group of cats calling themselves ‘MountainClan’ and there was no sign of LightningClan OR RainClan in pursuit of them. Gradually… life took on a semblance of normalcy and her appetite returned. She could eat more than a few forcefully swallowed bites of prey and indeed her hunger seemed multiplied by her days of hardly eating at all.

Cricketleap was no longer quite so naïve as she had been, sitting vigil after receiving her warrior name, thinking everything was sunshine and rainbows. Death could appear in the dawn just as easily as a rainbow, and a violent Storm could block the sun for days. Part of her was still trying to come to terms with what LightningClan and RainClan had done. Why? That was a main question. What had StoneClan done to anger them so much? She often pondered the question when she was alone with her thoughts, but for the life of her she could not figure it out. Surely they must have done SOMETHING to deserve this?

Today, however, she had a mission. Batear had asked her if she might teach Ivypaw some basic defensive maneuvers. Always thinking ahead, he had said he wanted to be sure Ivypaw would be able to defend herself long enough for help to arrive should they ever be attacked by anything… or by LightningClan and RainClan again. They had lost Blackeagle in the battle, they could not afford to lose Ivypaw. Batear was not the deputy, nor was he even quite a senior warrior, but he always acted to mature and his words always made sense. Cricketleap was of no mind to deny his request of her and now here she was on her way to Ivypaw’s little corner of the oasis. It was strange here. There were no real dens. Most cats just sorta flopped down wherever they felt like it and slept. The MountainClan cats had been nice enough to let Ivypaw have her own little space to care for sick and injured cats though.

“Hey Ivypaw! I thought maybe-well not me, Batear thought… that maybe I could teach you some defense techniques in case… well… in case you ever need to use them… for anything.” She shuffled her paws awkwardly. She didn’t really want to talk about the battle or about LightningClan and RainClan. She was sure Ivypaw would understand her meaning either way. The medicine cat wasn’t stupid, nor was she without her own losses from the battle. Eager to get the subject away from such depressing matters, she spoke again, “If you want I can help you gather some herbs too, when we’re done.”

[Deleted]

IVYPAW
Medicine Cat of StoneClan

 

Ivypaw hadn't been expecting any visitors. In fact, the young medicine cat had just returned from seeing to one of StoneClan's most troublesome kits, Tumblekit. The young tom-kit seemed to have this crazy idea in his head that he could fly and was now renown for jumping off of high places, supposedly demonstrating 'flying'. He was always getting injured because of this and had caused Ivypaw a lot of trouble in the last few moons. Why couldn't he just get it into his head that he couldn't fly and that getting injured all the time was a bad thing, that it wasn't normal?
Shaking the thoughts to the back of her mind, the creamy-furred medicine cat padded along the back of her little corner of The Oasis, checking the levels that remained of each herb. Hmmmm, we could do with stocking up on some tansy. And some chervil, coming to think of it.

When soft thud of pawsteps pulled the pale ginger she-cat from her thoughts and instantly Ivypaw swivelled round, the memories of the attack of 'StormClan' still fresh in her mind. The deafening thunder of paws as the combined forces of RainClan and LightningClan poured into StoneClan's old camp still haunted the creamy-pelted medicine cat.
Startlingly green eyes landing on her visitor, Ivypaw instantly relaxed, releasing a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. It was just Cricketleap.
“Hey Ivypaw! I thought maybe-well not me, Batear thought… that maybe I could teach you some defence techniques in case… well… in case you ever need to use them… for anything.”

The creamy-furred she-cat studied Cricketleap for a moment, stepping forward to stand in front of the young warrior, ears pricked in mild interest. Defence techniques? For battle? Why would I need- Ivypaw instantly stiffened. Of course, with the events of the past couple of moons, the whole clan, Ivypaw included, had been shaken. Blackeagle had died in the battle against LightningClan and RainClan, StoneClan couldn't afford to lose Ivypaw.
The young medicine cat surpassed a shudder at the thought of coming to the same fate as her dear former mentor, I'm not ready to join StarClan yet, my clan need me.
Swallowing her grief, Ivypaw forced a small smile, "Uh, okay, sure, that'd be... That'd be good?"

“If you want I can help you gather some herbs too, when we’re done.”
Ivypaw blinked gratefully at the young warrior, glad for the quick change in conversation. The creamy-furred medicine cat didn't want to be further reminded of the fateful battle, her dreams did enough of that for her already.
"Thank you," Ivypaw smiled warmly, tail flicking from side to side, "That'd be great! I mean you don't have too, but it would be nice, to have some company for a change" the young she-cat fumbled about with her words, "I mean, I haven't really had any company out gathering herbs since Blackeagle... Since Blackeagle... Since he..." the words died in her throat. Since Blackeagle died...
Ivypaw cast the thoughts to the darkest corner of her mind, blinking, "Sorry, back to topic," she met Cricketleap's gaze, "Defence moves then? It's certainly nothing like collecting herbs, but I'll give it a try."