[Abyss]

ASHPAW

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Dark shadows loomed over the boulders and crevices that made up the territory of Stoneclan, the sun not yet breaching over the distant mountains. The sky was shifting from its typical deep, dark blue and black into a lighter blue-gray, with small traces of yellow and orange in the far distance. With dawn only just approaching, not too many cats were awake just yet, in some of the clans, at least. Yet there were still very small glimpses of movement across the many stone fields.

A dark figure meandered through the holes and gaps within the boulders that surrounded him, amber-orange eyes scanning the land ahead of him. His fluffy tail hovered behind him, just barely touching the ground, and his somewhat larger paws were quiet beneath him. Though his long pelt brushed across the stones around him, he didn’t truly feel it, for he was smaller than he appeared.

As he walked, half-stalked really, he was vaguely aware of a presence somewhere nearby, a presence that was not one he wished to push away. He and his mentor had agreed to explore closer to Starclan’s Claws rather early, getting a head start on hunting and border marking. Though it hadn’t been actually discussed, it had become a sort of “test” of stealth along the way, Ashpaw slinking into the shadows to see how well he could avoid detection. Or, rather, how good he was at blending in. He was sure that Cloudtail had eyes on him at all times, but it was easier to go along with the idea that he was hiding out of view.

Before long, their destination came into sight ahead: a gently sloping hill, void of too many rocks and stones, with one singular tree perched at the top. Reaching the base of this hill, the fluffy gray tom took a few steps forward, moving away from the stones he hid between and into the light. His gaze was lifted, peering at the tree with interest. He had been here a few times, but this tree never ceased to catch his eye. As far as he knew, there were no cats within any of the clans who truly knew what kind of tree this was or how old it was. He found it very intriguing.

As he took his first steps to ascend the hill, a slightly off-balanced dent caused his paw to tilt sideways. He did not twist his paws or fall or anything, but the movement sent a small jolt of pain up his leg. It stopped right at his shoulder, ending in a soreness that had been there for about a day now. He grimaced silently, his body still.

The previous night, he had been woken up by some of his denmates, telling him they had something to show him. Though it was late, he followed, just in case something happened or they got angry. Where they led him was not too far from camp, a little outcrop of stone. At the center was a baby bunny, one of its legs twisted in an odd position and its body lifeless. ‘Look at it! We scared it so bad that it jumped off a ledge!’ Irritation and anger flared in him at this, though this only showed through the expression on his face. What was wrong with them?! Did they think this was funny? Why had they even showed him in the first place? ‘We know how much you love babies…’ had been their answer. They were taunting him. Ashpaw was never one to grow angry, nor was he the sort to snap. But he had this time. This wasn’t the first time something like this had been done by this same group, and he was getting sick of it. ‘What in Starclan is wrong with you?! Do you get joy out of doing stuff like this?! You are all horrible excuses of Stoneclan cats!’ The moment he said the final line, he felt that small burst of bravery and anger fade away as even deeper anger filled the eyes of the others, one in particular. It had ended with him getting thrown, tossed against a boulder and spat at.

While it hadn’t done a lot, he still felt a decently sized bruise aching beneath his fur on that shoulder. He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly, before he kept walking. He felt the bruise ache with each step, but he pushed it aside, walking as normally as he possibly could. When he reached the top, his chin lifted to the sky, examining the tree.

He didn’t have to turn around to know that Cloudtail was right there with him. “Is there truly no one who knows anything about this tree? Its so...ancient.”

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792 | Jos | Notes

[Jos]

CLOUDTAIL .:. SC

Dawn had yet to rise over the clans as Cloudtail and his apprentice began their morning patrol around One Tree.

He and Ashpaw had made a game of dawn patrol in these parts, with Ashpaw slinking around through the shadows to hide from his mentor. At first his apprentice was laughably bad at sneaking around, as all apprentice inevitably are but Ashpaw was a swift learner and now, if Cloudtail did not watch carefully, he could lose sight of his small apprentice entirely. He turned his eyes away for a moment to see how difficult it would be to find him again and was pleased at the shock of panic in his pelt when he thought he had well and truly lost his apprentice. Just as he was about to call out to Ashpaw he spied a little shadow moving among the stones.


There was something strange about how Ashpaw had frozen, ever so slightly. Was he in pain? Cloudtail began to close the gap between himself and Ashpaw but when he began moving again, the white warrior stopped and allowed the distance to grow.

Soon enough a small, withered, ancient tree that stood alone among the stones. When Cloudtail was an apprentice, he thought the tree was a stone itself and that some stones simply happened to form in the shape of a tree. But his mentor, and the elders of his time, assured him that this had once indeed been a living plant. How old was it? No cat knew—no cat had ever seen the tree alive.



Just as Cloudtail had again closed the gap, Ashpaw asked about the tree. The white warrior’s whiskers twitched with amusement, “That is an excellent question. Unfortunately I think the only cats who know the answer are about as old as the tree itself, if not older. Only Starclan knows about the tree. It is one of Stoneclan’s great mysteries. When I was an apprentice I thought the tree was just a big stone that happened to look like a tree.” He turned to Ashpaw, “But enough about this old stump. We’ve got a patrol to finish. You do that side,” he flicked his tail to the left, “and I’ll do this side. After this maybe we can even get a quick hunt in before we head back to camp.”



This was the first time he had sent Ashpaw to mark by himself, and Cloudtail was eager to see how his apprentice would perform. Not that he expected anything terribly exciting to happen aside from maybe a lizard darting out of the stone. He’s doing well, Cloudtail thought to himself, but he looks a little stiff today. I wonder why….

He made a note to talk to Ashpaw later, though how much help he could provide was up for debate. At the very least, Cloudtail decided as he marked a stone on the Lightningclan border, he would try his best. 

Whitethorn

Whitethorn had woken up that morning for a run about the territory. He was on no particular patrol and so offered himself some time to do whatever thing he fancied. Maybe it was rolling the grass, maybe it was hunting mice, maybe it was just having a mindless stroll about the territory. He was quite happy to do all those things and have time to think.

With no particular route in mind, the tuxedo tom found himself at the edge of Stoneclan territory. He parted his jaws to scent the air and was gratified to find that he was not alone at this unearthly hour. He recognized the scent of Cloudtail, the ornery white Stoneclan warrior who was about as palatable as travelling herbs, and a scent he did not quite recognize. An apprentice, perhaps. He decided to go to the border and begin marking, hoping that the two cats would notice him and bring some conversation to his otherwise solitary morning. He always did like to chat.

When they were not noticing him fast enough, Whitethorn sat at the edge of the border and yawned very loudly to catch their attention. He would be ignored by no cat.

(Abyss I decided to have Whitethorn be alone for right now but Hellion can bring Dandelionpaw in later if she wants )

[Abyss]

ASHPAW

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The dark-furred tom listened quietly, at first to the quiet sound of his mentor's pawsteps, then to his explanation on the lone-standing tree. He couldn't deny that he was slightly disappointed, for he found this tree really interesting. A tree all by itself in the middle of nowhere, standing tall for many many years, and no one to tell its tale? It was a bittersweet way to exist in his eyes.

He side-glanced at the pure white tom next to him, a touch of sadness in his gaze. He wished that they could lay down and rest at the tree's roots, both for the sake of his own aches and to just be near the old plant. It reminded him a lot of his grandfather, ancient yet still stood tall. Though much to his own sadness and grief, life had proved that none could stand forever. The valley had already taken a greatly-loved Warrior of the clan from them. How long would it be before this tree stood its final day?

 After a final glance back to the tree, Ashpaw turned and began a slow hike down the hill the tree stood upon. He couldn't help but keep returning to the ache in his shoulder and the fact that the denmates he slept alongside on the daily were rather ignorant and sadistic in nature. He adored his clan, and he loved his family. But sometimes he wondered how a clan like Stoneclan could produce such awful young cats.

Lost in thought, he only just barely caught a faint scent on the wind, breezing past from back where he parted from his mentor. He stopped and turned, gaze scanning the border for any signs of life. The scent he had caught was most definitely another cat not of his own clan, but where were they? And what did they want?

He began a continuation of his slow hike, only in the opposite direction along the border and with more caution. His amber gaze kept alert for any movement or change of scent. To no surprise, the scent slowly got stronger. By the time he finally spotted something out of the ordinary, he also had Cloudtail in his sights as well.

The cat he saw first was one he did not recognize, a black and white cat who sat casually at the edge of the border, yawning rather loudly. Kind of bold for a cat of a clan they were often at odds with to just sit so leisurely at the border between them, much less to practically announce their presence.

He approached slowly, looking back and forth between the stranger and Cloudtail. He hadn't had many border encounters, and in the ones he had he had been quick to show them friendliness. While that was his first instinct, this stranger was unfortunate enough to catch the usually welcoming tom on a rather bad day, aches and all.

He looked to Cloudtail, a very unsure and confused expression on his face. With his head lowered, he glanced back back this other cat, choosing not to speak first.

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515 | Jos | Notes

[Jos]

Cloudtail caught the scent only moments before he heard the Lightningclan cat yawn obnoxiously at the border. It was a lanky tuxedo tom that Cloudtail had seen perhaps once at the Gathering, and the only notable thing about him was that he made Cloudtail seem nearly palatable in comparison. It would be nice to be able to cuff him around the ears, just to teach him some respect. The white tom padded towards the newcomer, forcing the fur on his shoulders to lay flat.

“You’re awfully close to Stoneclan border, Whitepaw.”



“Actually, my name is Whitethorn now.” The other tom purred insidiously, making Cloudtails fur prickle with distaste, “And I could very well say the same about you and your little apprentice, lurking about the Lightningclan border. You’re lucky I came out here to have some rest and relaxation or otherwise I might have to do something about you two. But,” oblivious to Cloudtails rising ire, or perhaps unconcerned by it, Whitethorn stretched and yawned again, “A stoneclan warrior and an apprentice aren’t anything to run back to camp about. So? How are you rock lovers doing over yonder?”



Starclan give me strength!

Cloudtail took a deep, steadying breath, though the fur on his shoulders had begun to rise and the tip of his tail was thrashing. “It is none of your business, but we are doing just fine.” He growled through gritted teeth.



Whitethorn snorted and nodded to Ashpaw, “Some mentor you’ve got there. He’s like an angry badger trapped in a cat’s pelt! I don’t want to imagine what your training must be like. If you ever want a better mentor, I’m sure I could put in a good word for you in Lightningclan.”



Cloudtail glared at Whitethorn, too furious to even speak. Meanwhile, Whitethorn looked as if he was enjoying antagonizing Cloudtail, his pale green eyes sparkling with mischief as he goaded Ashpaw on.


(Sorry for the late reply!!!! )