[Ginger]

Emberlight

"In the darkest times, hope
is something you give yourself."

The sky was looking lovely tonight. A slight chill had crept through RainClan's camp and into Emberlight's den, and naturally, the only way he saw to get rid of the cold was to take a nighttime walk along his favorite border.

Emberlight had always been intrigued by NightClan. Of all five clans, they lived the most unique lifestyle. While the other four clans slept, NightClan was out and about conducting their business. While NightClan slept, the rest of the clan world was awake. The orange tom had to give it to NightClan cats - by being active at night, they had access to a great deal more prey. Emberlight had noticed from his nighttime walks that the prey tended to be more active when the sun was covered by StarClan's thick veil. 

Or maybe it was just RainClan's prey that was more active at night, aware that its hunters were lying dormant in camp.

Before he knew it, Emberlight had arrived at the border between NightClan and RainClan. The smell of pine, mud, and moss all clashed together in a beautiful symphony of smell. If only the clans could get along as easily as the flora of the valley. If only they saw no need to war, for dissent. So much beauty and love could come out of it. He for one knew about the love part. Half of his heart was in StoneClan.

Before the tom knew it, he realized he was surrounded by NightClan's scent. Oops! 

Maybe he would miss whatever NightClan patrols were out and about. He took quiet steps back towards RainClan. He had no hatred for NightClan, but he was aware of some of the more...radical members of the clan that would see no wrong in mauling the petite deputy.

65 Moons. Deputy. RainClan

Notes.Katara.295 words

[Katara]

[googlefont=Playfair Display] [googlefont=Roboto] [googlefont=Kumar One]

if i was born as a blackthorn tree
i'd wanna be held by you, felled by you
fuel the

PYRE OF YOUR
enemies

clover

clovermask.

NIGHTCLAN DEPUTY // 51 MOONS

C

lovermask curled her lip in distaste, determinedly ignoring the throaty croak of a toad nearby. The rest of her Clanmates might find a toad a worthy meal, but she couldn't sink her teeth into one without wanting to retch, so she wasn't even going to try to catch it. It wasn't Leafbare yet, so she wasn't desperate enough to do it anyway, and she felt confident she could find something else before the end of the night. The croaking suddenly cut off - telling Clovermask someone else on her hunting patrol must have caught it. She liked to have her warriors disperse when she led hunting patrols, since she'd never enjoyed the patrols in her apprenticeship when she'd had to hover near everyone else while each of them took their turn to catch prey they found one-by-one. She firmly believed a warrior off on their own would do better than they all would in a group; and, besides, the pine forest was safe now that Deathclaw was dead.

Her ears swiveled then, hearing the unmistakable flap of wings not far away. The NightClan deputy prowled forward swiftly, following the sound, and watched keenly for signs of movement low among the trees. As she predicted, she noticed a black shape dart between the pine trees: a bat, flying too close to the ground in its eagerness to feast on the bugs. It was either too young or too hungry to know its mistake; the cats of NightClan had treated bats as their prey for a long time, and they had begun to adapt by flying higher to catch their bug-meals. Luckily, plenty still tried their luck closer to the ground, just like this one tonight.

Clovermask followed her prey, weaving between the trees with her gaze focused on the fluttering thing just ahead of her, waiting until just the right moment to pounce. A heartbeat later, she did, giving a mighty leap and slapping the bat out of the air. It hit the earth with a squeak, and the bengal she-cat darted over to it, finishing it off before it could fly off again. When she was still a young warrior, she'd made the mistake of playing with her bat-prey before killing it, and had been surprised when it had suddenly flown off after recovering quickly from being batted from the sky.

She raised her head, surprised to see she was in a marshier area, with the RainClan border in sight. No sooner had she noticed where she was that she noticed she wasn't quite alone - the pelt of a ginger cat, bathed in moonlight, was creeping a little too close to the border for her liking. She left her prey, making her way over to the would-be intruder, unafraid to be upwind of him so her scent would warn him. If he was smart, he'd start running - but then she recognized him, and she immediately abandoned all thought of chasing off the RainClan cat with her claws on his heels. It was the RainClan deputy, Emberlight.

Well, well, well... She wasn't going to ignore an opportunity that sat on its paws right in front of her. She opened her mouth, checking no other RainClan cats were nearby, and confirming it wasn't some sort of ambush. "Isn't it a bit late for a stroll for a day-walker?" she called out, her tone light. NightClan cats liked to tease the other Clans by calling them day-walkers - as if they were they weird ones for being up during the day, and not NightClan for being up during the night. "I'd say you're looking for trouble this close to the border, but, forgive me..." She padded out of the shadows, sweeping her gaze over him, "You just don't look like you're the troublesome type. Emberlight, right?" she asked, dipping her head to him - a gesture of respect from one equal to another.

[attr="class","cltag"]tagged Ginger

[attr="class","clnotes"]notes --

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[Ginger]

Emberlight

"In the darkest times, hope
is something you give yourself."

Emberlight felt her presence half a moment before she spoke, but he still stiffened slightly at the sound of her voice. With a sheepish smile, the orange tomcat turned around to rest his eyes upon a figure that had only recently became new to him: NightClan's newest deputy, Clovermask. 

She seemed sensible enough the times he had seen her. Emberlight doubted he was in any mortal peril at this moment, so he relaxed his stiff posture to his usual carefree one and sat down right where he was. He meant no harm and wanted her to know that. He nodded as she asked his name: spot on.

"As we age, the cold creeps into our bones earlier and earlier each leaf-fall." He dipped his head in return, blinking slowly at NightClan's new deputy. 

As he continued to look at her, a sort of curiousness formed. Rainfur, NightClan's last deputy, had been the calm to Darkstar's storm. Were those same choices made for Clovermask? He couldn't help but wonder.

"How is your new role as deputy treating you?" His question arose from both his curiosity and a sense of empathy. Sometimes it could be hard. 

65 Moons. Deputy. RainClan

Notes.Katara.194 words

[Katara]

[googlefont=Playfair Display] [googlefont=Roboto] [googlefont=Kumar One]

if i was born as a blackthorn tree
i'd wanna be held by you, felled by you
fuel the

PYRE OF YOUR
enemies

clover

clovermask.

NIGHTCLAN DEPUTY // 51 MOONS

W

hen Clovermask didn't show him any hostility, he seemed to relax, and though her instincts as a warrior told her not to let her guard down in front of the enemy, she told herself to relax as well. She tilted her head at his words, her whiskers twitching in dry amusement. "Most cats would just move closer to the center of the den," she pointed out. But she could hardly critique him when she'd been notorious for wandering far from her own camp as a younger warrior while her Clanmates slept, always in the direction of a different border. And he wasn't doing anything wrong, so long as he stayed on his side of the border.

His question made her pause, considering how to answer. Others had asked her the same question in the past couple moons, and she'd given simple answers almost every time. "It's different," she said, after a moment. "I always thought it would be easy to make the decisions and give the orders, but it's not quite as simple as I thought it would be." Which was true. She'd been confident in her ability to make decisions quickly and easily, but some situations required more thought than she'd ever anticipated, and it was mainly because she struggled to empathize with her Clanmates. And there was the matter with Darkstar, whose storm of a personality could be difficult to temper. At least tensions with TreeClan had eased; she wouldn't have wanted to be in Rainfur's position when the war with TreeClan was still raging.

"But it's a good challenge," she added quickly, not wanting to make it seem like she was adjusting poorly to her new duties, because she wasn't. "And it's an honor to serve my Clan like this." Her green eyes regarded him curiously, knowing he'd been deputy for far longer than her - and he was probably a senior warrior in age, too. "How was it for you, when you were first appointed? Any hard lessons?"

[attr="class","cltag"]tagged Ginger

[attr="class","clnotes"]notes --

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[Ginger]

Emberlight

"In the darkest times, hope
is something you give yourself."

Emberlight chuckled. "Most cats don't get to talk to NightClan's deputy." His walks were a blessing. He had met so many personalities by simply wandering. He had met Honeynose while doing nothing more than sitting on his favorite rock on the RainClan-StoneClan border. It seemed he was blessed with serendipities.

Clovermask spoke again, a more serious note in her voice. Emberlight understood completely. There always came respect with being a capable warrior in the clan. Many warriors even had the authority to command others. But being deputy was different. You were not given authority through your actions and the respect of your clanmates. No, you simply had authority over them. It made them look at you a different way. Emberlight still struggled with that. He loved his clan, but he now understood the loneliness that came with power. It was only when he was sitting on the border with Honeynose that the loneliness didn't feel quite so large. In fact, it was gone with her.

"There is no greater honor than serving your clan," he started, his voice soft. "But truly living is about more than just honor." 

He looked directly into Clovermask's piercing gaze. Maybe she needed to hear this, maybe she didn't. "No matter what you do, no matter how much they love you, you will always be separate. That was the hardest lesson for me to accept." He paused for a moment. Did she need to know details about his life? He'd keep it vague. "It still is."

"Tell me, have you noticed a difference in how your clanmates see you? A separation masked by a guise of respect?"

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65 Moons. Deputy. RainClan

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Notes.Katara .272 words

[/div]

[Katara]

[googlefont=Playfair Display] [googlefont=Roboto] [googlefont=Kumar One]

if i was born as a blackthorn tree
i'd wanna be held by you, felled by you
fuel the

PYRE OF YOUR
enemies

clover

clovermask.

NIGHTCLAN DEPUTY // 51 MOONS

H

er whiskers twitched, faintly amused. It seemed that their feelings were mutual: Both of them felt lucky to have crossed each other's paths that night, though certainly for different reasons. Emberlight did not occur to her as the ambitious type, and the feeling became more certain as their conversation went on. He must have been appointed because he was a good warrior, not ambitious, and she didn't know why, but the thought was very interesting to her. He seemed many moons older than he probably was in reality, and already she was feeling a growing respect for him, despite the ginger tom being from a rival Clan. She had no problem respecting cats in other Clans and, after all, she could be sitting across from RainClan's future leader right now. Earning his respect would make a difference when she eventually took the helm of leadership in NightClan.

When he looked directly at her, she held his gaze unflinchingly, though the words he spoke might be daunting to someone else. She knew how Bluecloud would react; he'd look at his paws, overwhelmed, because his greatest desire was to be everyone's friend. But she didn't want Emberlight's sympathy, did she? Clovermask flexed her claws. She wanted to say she'd always be separate from them anyway, so it didn't much matter to her one way or another. But that would lead Emberlight to believe she felt different from her Clanmates, and she didn't want that either. So what did she want?

Her eyes flickered away from his inadvertently, when Shrikesong wandered unbidden into her mind. Even if she had convinced her to join NightClan to stay by her side, would she have experienced this separation Emberlight spoke of? Shrikesong was the only cat she'd ever felt a strong connection with, and she swallowed as she considered the idea that they may have broken in a very different manner, had things gone Clovermask's way. Would they have drifted apart when Clovermask rose to power? "Surely it's different when it comes to friendships?" she countered, thinking not just of Shrikesong now - but of Bluecloud. A new mask was forming now - one just for Emberlight.

Tell me, have you noticed a difference in how your Clanmates see you? A separation masked by a guise of respect?

She knew what he spoke of, but her current mask didn't want to admit it, so she looked away from him again, as if in turmoil. "There is a difference," she admitted. "My former mentor and I are quite close, and he's a senior warrior now. The way he treats me isn't a senior warrior to another senior warrior - it's different... more distant. But there are sacrifices to be made on the path of leadership, and I'm not afraid of this one. Loneliness doesn't frighten me." It wasn't as if she'd never been lonely before.

[attr="class","cltag"]tagged Ginger

[attr="class","clnotes"]notes --

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[Ginger]

Emberlight

"In the darkest times, hope
is something you give yourself."

Emberlight nodded. "Yes, friendships are always special exceptions. It is important to surround yourself with those who will keep you grounded." He looked at the deputy as she looked all about. "It's easy to become lost without them."

A melancholy look dashed across Emberlight's face, and he grew slightly stern. He meant no harm, but he was concerned about Clovermask's words. "Do not accept loneliness into your life. It will come no matter what. So while you can, do your best to fight it with a network full of those you love." He had lost family. He had lived in the dark for so long. He did not want to see someone else launch themselves into the dark. Especially a future leader of a clan known especially for its volatility. She needed strength. She needed love. She needed friendship. 

Sadly, it was not his role to provide a good friendship with her, seeing as they were ranking figures in opposing clans. They could, however, have mutual respect. Respect went a long way in terms of politics. 

"I am glad I ran into NightClan's deputy." A toad croaked in the distance, and Emberlight couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Breafast calls?"

65 Moons. Deputy. RainClan

Notes.Katara.202 words

[Katara]

[googlefont=Playfair Display] [googlefont=Roboto] [googlefont=Kumar One]

if i was born as a blackthorn tree
i'd wanna be held by you, felled by you
fuel the

PYRE OF YOUR
enemies

clover

clovermask.

NIGHTCLAN DEPUTY // 51 MOONS

L

ost. Was she lost without Shrikesong, the only true friend she ever felt she'd had? Bluecloud and Crowstalker were fine, but she'd been in a mentor-apprentice relationship with both of them before, so it no doubt altered their dynamic. Shrikesong was the only cat she'd made a connection with outside of any obligation to do so - wasn't that true friendship? Was she lost without it in her life? She had a moment of introspection, searching for some void, some part of her that was missing. But she came up with nothing - of course. She was certain Emberlight meant well, but his needs were very different from hers, she was sure of it. She didn't need friendship to rise to power; in fact, she'd become deputy only after she'd cut ties with Shrikesong. Still, she couldn't say any of this to the RainClan tom, so she flicked her ears at him in acknowledgement, and agreed with him, "You're right."

Something flickered across Emberlight's face, as if he could sense something she hadn't meant to betray. His words came more sharply, urging her not to accept loneliness into her life. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her. Did he see a young deputy, hiding her loneliness with her pride? His manner seemed so genuine she couldn't bring herself to internally taunt him as she had with so many others. In fact, she rather liked him. "I will heed your advice," she promised. "We may be from different Clans, but I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other, and I see no harm in it."

"I am glad I ran into NightClan's deputy."

Clovermask let out a purr. "As am I." She had gained what she'd wanted from this - getting to know RainClan's deputy better. A toad croaked nearby, making her ears twitch, and laughed as Emberlight commented on it. "Certainly someone's breakfast." She'd choke down toad if she had to, but not tonight. "I'd better go track it down. Travel well, Emberlight - I do hope your den will be more welcoming by the time you return." She flicked her tail, amused, before dipping her head to him and heading deeper into her own territory. She had a toad to kill.

[attr="class","cltag"]tagged Ginger

[attr="class","clnotes"]notes finished! <3

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